Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Forgotten one ❯ Things Are Really Strange... ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6

"Is there anyone there? Hellllllllllllllllooooooooooooooo……." whispered a voice in the inky black darkness.

Behind her, a masculine voice responded, "Serena, I don't think anyone is up at this time! It IS midnight!!!!!"

"Yeah, you're right Patrick," Serena replied, slightly embarrassed that she didn't think about that herself. Looking left and right in the doorway, she peered slightly into the ebony mist that surrounded the foyer of her Victorian style home.

Or, at least, she THOUGHT it was a darkened foyer.

"SERENA TUSKINO!!!!!!!!!!" growled a feral yet strangely familiar voice, as a light in the living room snapped on.

Oh no, Serena flinched at the recognition of her own name, BUSTED…

Standing right in front of her, eye to eye and only inches apart, stood the most terrifying and domineering characters in the life of Serena Tuskino: her own mother. Heaven forbid, Serena loved her mom, completely with all her heart. After all, Ikuko Tuskino was the woman who had given birth to her, a chance to continue the life she left as Princess Serenity, which was cut tragically short.

"SERENA TUSKINO, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? YOU WEREN'T OUT WITH THAT COLLEGE BOY AGAIN, WERE YOU? WE HAD STRICT RULES ON THAT!"

Sigh, thought Serena, groaning slightly. She will never get over the idea that I am 16 and can make my own decisions…

"Mom, I wasn't out with Darien tonight! Remember? You already asked about that when I was studying with Amy and you looked in on us and my head was on the desk…"

"Yes, I remember Serena, but it looked like you were more SLEEPY than depressed!" retorted her mother, "and besides, who's standing behind you? I KNOW IT'S A MAN! WHO'S OUT THERE!!!?!??!?!?"

"MOM!!!!! This…..is…. uh……" Serena stumbled on the words, looking frantically at Patrick for some words of advice. He smiled slyly, and opened the rouge colored door wide open, revealing himself to Mrs. Tuskino. Serena, Frantic and embarrassed, tried to push him out the door, half -crazed because she had no idea how to explain the stranger at their door.

Then suddenly everything got slightly weirder than expected.

Not looking even slightly phased, Mrs. Tuskino glanced at Patrick, and suddenly went misty-eyed. "Why Patrick! What a nice surprise!!!!! You will have to excuse your COUSIN," she glared at Serena with a scowl, "she hasn't been herself these past couple of days. How's your mother?"

COUSIN? The words rang in Serena's ears, too dumbfounded to even move out of the doorway. Since when is Patrick my cousin? Mom and Dad were BOTH the only child of their family? So how did I gain a cousin?

Moving past Serena in quickened steps, Patrick began to talk quietly to Mrs. Tuskino, and led her into the kitchen.

"My mom's doing great Auntie Ikuko…"

"That's great! I'm happy that she's doing so well! How about your father?"

"Fine! He's become quite successful as a Photo journalist…"

And on and on it went. Drowning them both out, Serena moved away from the door, shutting it as she went, and drug herself over to the couch, pulling off her shoes and socks as she went. It seemed like something was really draining her these days, and she couldn't shake the feeling that something menacing was going to happen. Sure, she was happy at the park, and she loved meeting up with Patrick, but on the inside, it seemed like that same happiness could shatter in an instant. Now, more than anything, she wished it WAS Darien who came with her back home, and carry her through the threshold. She wished he could be here, right by her side, and assure her that everything was going to be alright.

The conversation in the kitchen began to come back into focus.

"Really? Now, what are you planning to be in a couple years? I don't think your mother ever told me…"

"Well, I wanted to study the planets..."

At this, lifting herself out and off the couch, Serena peered into her favorite room in the world. Intently, she listened in on the conversation taking place, now that the word `planets' was said. Ever since she had learned of who she was in her past life, Serena was always interested in the planets. Where did they get their power? What were the other kingdoms like on Mercury or Mars, Jupiter or Venus? She listened a little more carefully.

"Really? WOW, I didn't even know they taught astrology in high school…"

"Oh no Auntie Ikuko, I'm in college now! I thought Mother told you that already…"

Laughing, Mrs. Tuskino rose from where she sat, and started to move out the doorway, and toward her room down the hall. "Well, I guess Serena really did bring home a college boy! Ha, ha, ha!!!! Patrick, you have your father's charm in you, I can see it! You may sleep in Serena's room."

"HHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!" shrieked Serena, forgetting her weariness and pouted at her mother.

"YES, PATRICK," scowling back at her daughter, Mrs. Tuskino repeated, with an air of an icy tone, "you may sleep in Serena's room. She can always sleep with Rini."

A slow smile crept up onto Patrick's face. "Nah, I don't wanna be a hassle."

Yes, yes, yes! I get my own bed!!!!!!! Yes!!!!!!! Thank you lord!!!!!

"I'm sorry Patrick, but I must insist! Guests' comfort and welfare is more important over our own. And Serena's bed is the most comfortable one available at this time."

NO! NO, NO, NO, say no Patrick!

"Alright then Auntie Ikuko! Thanks!"

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!! Why do I have to sleep with RINI tonight? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY……………" wailed Serena.

Mrs. Tuskino, red in the face, glanced over her shoulder at her daughter. Her face was not one of happiness.

"SERENA TUSKINO!!!!!! YOU WILL MAKE YOUR COUSIN AS COMFORTABLE AS POSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!! AND YOU WILL SLEEP WITH RINI!!!!"

"But Mom…"

"NO BUTS!!!!!"

Flinching and cowering back, Serena could just barely make a meek and tiny, "yes ma'am" come out of her lips.

"Good! Thank you Serena! Good night to both of you!" and with that, her mother went forth into the darkened corridor.

Sighing, Serena slowly walked over top Patrick, looking at him shrewdly. "How in the world did you convince my mother you were my cousin?"

Smirking, Patrick looked towards his left and right, like he was watching a car go by in the street. "Well Snowball Serena, the magicians never tell their secrets."

"HEYYYYYYY!!!!!!! Don't call me Snowball Serena!!!!! You're luck I brought you here at all!!!!! You should be nice to me; after all, you're not on the street, underneath a cardboard box…"

To this, Patrick rolled his head back and laughed, "Yeah, I am glad for that! So, where's your room?"

"Down the right hallway and to the right. I better not find anything trashed or missing when I go in there tomorrow!!!!"

"Ha, ha, ha, you won't. YET"

"Heeeeeeeyyyyyyyy……."

Laughing some more, Patrick sauntered away, shaking and almost falling over. Halfway down the hall, he turned back to her, and said, "Good night Serena."

"Night Patrick."

And in a blink of an eye, he was gone, engulfed in the surrounding shadows of the darkened corridor.

Well, I better get up to bed, thought Serena, it's past my bedtime. Yawning, Serena began to trudge to the stairway next to the kitchen door, and upwards up the short stair case. Dimly seeing, she shuffled her feet, the terrycloth rug on the floor of Rini's bedroom tickling the bottoms of her bare feet. Too tired to do anything else, she walked up to Rini's bed, where the sleeping little girl was sound asleep in the middle of the bed.

Her tousled Pink hair was unwound from her usual bunny eared buns, and most of the hair from her pigtails now semi covered her face. She looked peaceful, her tiny mouth curled into a small smile.

Awww, so cute! Serena grinned with delight and pride, her face lighting up like a Christmas tree. Rini looks so adorable when she's asleep! She smirked. Now if only she could sleep MORE OFTEN!

Laughing silently at her future daughter, Serena put her arms around Rini, moved her over to the right side of the bed as swiftly and carefully as she could, and slipped quickly into the bed. Rini did not show any signs of stirring.

Huh, the little runt must be dreaming really deeply about something. Probably about someone! Serena looked to her right at the sleeping Rini, and put her arms around the small little frame. It's probably Helios she's dreaming about. I better not disturb her too much.

Leaning backward into the pillows, the blonde haired young woman started to get comfortable in Rini's bed, twisting slightly this way and that. When she was finally in the right position, she glanced up at the colorful constellation of stars and planets on her future daughter's ceiling. In almost perfect stellar orbit, the planets glowed, with hints of scarlet red from Mars, a deep blue from Mercury, an emerald tint from Jupiter, and a golden yellow from Venus. The outer planets were almost pulsing with faint light, with Saturn outlined in deep violet, Uranus in a neon yellow, Neptune in an oceanic aqua, and Pluto somehow was glowing a neon grayish color, not quite white, but neither black either. The Earth seemed to glow the most, a multitude of color whirls, swirls and mixes, and the moon glowed half pink, half white in a sort of Ying Yang shape.

It's amazing how much alike we are to our astrological horoscopes; that match our planets, mused Serena, as her eyelids became weighted like lead, and slid downward. There's only one thing missing, a sun…

As sleep overtook her, she hugged slightly tighter to her daughter, and breathed in a faint smell of roses. SO this is what it's like to be a mom. As she drifted off to sleep, Serena thought of one thing more before she gave in to her tiredness. I wonder what it would have been like to have another daughter…