2) New Beginnings

[Lady1Venus]

Prologue

Life was defiantly different now since the Negaverse had returned. Four months had passed by since everything went all crazy for everyone. In that time the Sailor Scouts got settled into their new lives. Molly and Neflite were happily married and were getting excited about their upcoming child. They both knew Neflite wasn’t the father as the child was created out of a violation, which was orchestrated by the Negaverse and were hired by the woman who raised Molly, who happened to be Molly’s Aunt by blood not mother. But Molly’s life wasn’t the only that was twisted around.

Raye had learnt her mother was still alive and she was the Queen of Mars reincarnated. Also the evil creature that lived within him when Raye was first born and tried to kill his own daughter possessed Raye’s grandfather. Serena’s parents lost their home in a fire, no thanks to the Negaverse, trying to destroy Serena, but thanks to Mina’s ability to see the future, the Sailor Scouts were able to save the family and now they were living with Neflite and Molly.

Neflite was a former general was brought back to life. But he wasn’t the only one. The other three Generals, Malachite, Zoisite and Jedite were alive as well. The three former Generals were dating three of the Inner Sailor Scouts. Malachite was with Mina, Zoisite was with Amy and Jedite was with Raye. One major turn around for the generals was when they worked for Queen Beryl, Zoisite actually had a gender change and he was turned into a woman. But now that he was revived, he was back to being a man.

As for the others; Amara and Michelle were beginning to have some difficulties. They had started dating Lita’s friend Ken and Greg but the relationships didn’t seem to be working out at all. The two women were not happy and they can’t seem to figure out why. Lita, Hotaru and Trista were still doing well with their new boyfriends, the Starlights. The six of them had been often going on triple dates, just so they could all get to know each other better. Serena and Darien’s relationship was going very strong. They loved each other very well. Serena was still bouncing back and forth from Staying with Darien and staying at Neflite’s mansion where her family now lived.

As for Molly’s family, she was united with her real mother, who she had learnt she had been stolen from her mother when she was born, when her first cousin died at childbirth and her Aunt refused to allow her twin sister to be happy. When Molly’s father, well actually her uncle, learnt of the betrayal, his own wife had him killed to keep the secret. She then learnt he had willed everything to Molly and then she wanted to have all his money for herself and therefore had hired the Negaverse to do terrible things to Molly, which caused her to get pregnant. Thankfully Molly was able to move on with her life when Neflite was revived.

During the course of the changes, Raye’s mother gave off important information. Telling the scouts some were related to one another, well at least Moon history wise. But not only were the scouts related to one another, but also Molly and Rita were former Sailor Scouts known as Sailor Earth and Sailor Sun. The two women were in complete shock that they were part of the Silver Millennium. Also it was big shock to Rita when she learnt her friends were female warriors. But with all the changes the Scouts have gone through one thing remained the same, their friendship and their determination to put an end to the Negaverse once and for all.

While the scouts were waiting for the next time the Negaverse would attack, they were beginning to get worried and anxious. Time was going by and there was not one word from their enemy, except for the odd youma attack. Summer ended and fall began and it was now nearing on Mina’s birthday. In that time, Molly’s unborn child continued to grow and she was now past her first trimester and was now showing. Of course to her she always knew the baby would constantly keep kicking her.

And this morning it was no different for Molly as she woke from her wonderful dream. But not only had she been woken up to being kicked by her baby, but the morning sun shining in the room also woke her. She had dreamt of her honeymoon, three months previously. Lying beside her was her beloved husband, who had died for her and came back to life. There was no way she was going to pass him up for anything in the world.

As she continued to lie on the bed, allowing herself to fully wake up without disturbing her husband, she remembered her honeymoon. On their honeymoon, they travelled to Italy and then to Egypt. It was the first time ever that she had been out of Japan. Her father had once traveled to Italy and he had brought her back pictures. And she vowed that one-day, she would go.

To travel, the two had used a private jet. Molly didn’t want to know how he had acquired a private jet but she did presume it was from during his days as being a Negaverse warrior and portrayed himself in public as Maxfield Stanton. They had a wonderful time, exploring Venice and then Rome. During their trip to Rome, both began to have memories of seeing the structures before. Neflite was able to recognize the memories as part of their Silver Millennium past.

After their exploration to Italy, they turned their attention to Egypt and saw some ancient buildings and abandoned cities. They made sure not to go to any tombs, afraid of the ancient curses that could still exist today. Molly Stanton was quite fascinated at the ancient world of Egypt.

As Molly continued to remember her honeymoon, she did not pay attention to the bed shifting and the man at her side woke. He turned and looked at Molly with a lovingly look. His hand crept over to rest against her belly, pulling her out of her thoughts. She turned to him and smiled.

“I’ve just been thinking about our honeymoon.”

“Thinking about our honeymoon,” Neflite chuckled. He then sat up. “Come on, breakfast will be ready soon. And by the time we get downstairs, it will be ready. You how the cook is.”

“Yeah, I know.” Molly rolled over and stood up from the bed, retrieving her housecoat. She was already four months pregnant. Once Molly was ready to head downstairs, Neflite put on his robe and followed her downstairs.

Before they got married, they had hired a butler, a cook and some maids to help keep the house clean. It was too big of a house for one person to clean, and they weren’t the only ones in the mansion. The Tsukino’s, Serena’s parents and brother, were also there.

But that wasn’t all. The scouts would often meet at the mansion almost every day. Instead of them using Raye’s temple as their meeting spot, it was a lot easier to use the mansion. The property was large and had lots of space so everyone could get together and not be disturbed. At Cherry Hill Temple, it was a tourist attraction for the locals so they were constantly dealing with the public.

There had been a few occasions, a youma would try and strike at some humans, but the Sailor Scouts were always able to keep things under control. Besides the youma were always the weak ones. It was as if Beryl was teasing them. The ex-generals knew Queen Beryl was planning a huge offensive but it was the wait that was killing everyone. One way for the scouts to keep the stress level done, they would go to the mansion just to have fun. Of course, Neflite didn't mind at all. He enjoyed it, and so did Molly. She was able to get reacquainted with her best friend.

“Good Morning,” Ikuko said as she looked up to see Molly and Neflite enter the kitchen.

“Good Morning,” Molly said. “What’s for breakfast today?”

“Pancakes,” Sammy said. “I love pancakes.”

“That’s a breakfast I haven’t had in a long time,” Molly said. “Neflite, have you ever had pancakes?”

“I think I did once, years ago, back during the Silver Millennium,” Neflite said. “But I can’t remember if it had another name back then or not.”

“And Serena was back in that time?” Kenji asked. He already knew the answer but being the father that he was, he didn’t want to believe it.

“Yes, Kenji. She was. She was a very graceful princess. Though I do believe she was clumsy and always kept asking questions when she was young,” Neflite said.

“I just have a hard time believing Serena was - is, I mean, ruler of the universe,” Kenji explained.

“Yeah, sometimes it’s hard for me understand it too,” Molly said. “I went three years not knowing the truth, but now I do.” She took a smell of the pancakes. “Now, let’s eat, I’m hungry.”

“And you’re eating for two,” Neflite added with a chuckle.

Ikuko went to the fridge, bringing out some milk for Molly and served Neflite some coffee. She even brought out two plates and the bottle of syrup. Sammy was waiting patiently for the pancakes from the cook. Kenji was reading the morning paper as he was waiting for his breakfast. He also had a cup of coffee sitting beside him and was sipping at it slowly. Seeing that all drinks were dealt with and all plates were out, Ikuko took her seat at the table and waited for breakfast. She was still getting used to the idea of not needing to cook and serve her family all the time.

It would seem the two families were adjusting very well to their new lives. Two different families living under one roof but how long would the happiness last? No one had an answer for that. But one thing was for sure; life was going to soon change for them the moment the Negaverse would finally come out of hiding. But what sort of hell and chaos would they bring? That was what was worrying everyone the most and Neflite was making sure Molly didn’t stress too much as stress was harmful to the baby. She had enough stress in her life and she didn’t need anymore of it.

[Lady1Venus]

Chapter 1 - Trip Out

Three of the Sailor Scouts, Lita, Hotaru and Trista were in the process of getting ready to out on a triple dates with the Starlights. Trista went and picked up Hotaru and the two went over to Lita’s apartment to get ready. It was becoming a tradition for the girls, as the guys would show up as a group to take their ladies out. When Hotaru was the last to be ready when the guys arrived at the apartment. Trista was in the process of helping her with her hair so that left Lita having to answer the door.

Not to her surprise, Seiya was the one who knocked on her door. She gave a smile as she greeted him. “Now this is a pleasant surprise.”

“Just the face I wanted to see,” Seiya responded with a smile. “You look nice.” He eyed her outfit seeing she was wearing a nice short sleeve forest green dress. It was simple but matched her eyes very well.

Lita’s smile widened. “Why thank you. You don’t look too bad yourself.”

As she eyed him, she noticed he was dressed in simple causal dark brown dress slacks with a soft cream color shirt. A matching dark brown sport coat covered most of the shirt. Behind him were Yaten and Taiki. Taiki was dressed in a navy blue causal pants with a matching sport coat and white shirt while Yaten was dressed more in a dark gray causal dress suit with a white shirt.

“Well you three might as well come in,” Lita continued offering them into her home. “Hotaru is just finishing up and Trista is helping her. Would you guys like a drink while we wait?”

The three men shook their heads no. They walked into the apartment and took a seat in the living room to wait. They weren’t the in the living room long when Hotaru and Trista exited Lita’s bedroom. Trista was wearing a soft blue skirt and matching blazer. She looked like she was heading to the office or something. Hotaru on the other hand was dressed a long sleeve simple navy blue dress and flat shoes. The top of her hair was pulled back into a clip. Trista’s hair was in her usual style, top of the hair pulled back into a bun and the rest of the hair falling down. Both Lita and Trista were wearing black pumps.

Trista walked over to Taiki, giving him a light kiss on the cheek as Yaten strolled over to Hotaru, taking her hand, giving it a gentle kiss. “I think the more I see you the more I like you.”

Hotaru blushed. “And you’re just a hopeless romantic from the sounds of things.”

Seiya clapped his hands together. “So, shall we get this evening started?” He held out his arm for Lita to take

“Let’s go,” Lita said for the girls. Each couple then exited the apartment.

Where it was a mild evening, the couples decided to take their date to the streets and walk to walk to where they were going. They were first going to have dinner and then perhaps end the evening off with some dancing, which was why they were dressed nicely. Everyone knew there were a few good restaurants nearby Lita’s apartment and even a dance hall. The three couples weren’t walking long before coming upon a restaurant with an unusual name.

“This one is different,” Yaten spoke out.

Trista inspected the sign and was able to realize the sign was written in English. It then hit her about the name. “It’s an American family-owned restaurant called Orchandle.”

“Let’s eat here,” Hotaru suggested. “I actually recall hearing about this place and have heard they have good food.”

“I heard the same thing,” Lita said. “The family opened it about a year ago and their food is actually imported straight from the United States. At least that’s what I’ve read.”

“Well then,” Seiya smiled. “I guess we better check out the cuisine.”

Taiki, being the closest, went and opened the door for the ladies to walk in front of him. He continued to hold the door open as his brothers also went in before him. The restaurant was styled in a nineteenth-century American theme; even the waitresses wore nineteenth-century style clothes. An all you can eat salad and desert bar sat over in one corner. In the center of the restaurant was a round fountain, giving off a peaceful feel. The walls were painted with trees and nineteenth-century American buildings. The ceiling painted with hues of sky colors. The entire restaurant had the feel sitting outside.

Upon entering, a sign, written in both English and in Japanese saying ‘please wait to be seated’, rested just five feet away from the door. No sooner had they read the sign a waitress wearing a brown full-length American style peasant gown of the era came up to them. “Welcome to Orchandle. Table for six?”

“Yes,” Lita answered. She watched as the waitress pulled out six menus and then walked away. It was a good indication for them to follow her. She walked towards an area, nearby the fountain and set them to a round table for six people.

“You’re waitress will around shortly,” the waitress instructed and waited for the six to sit. “While you’re waiting, you can check out the menus and I’ll bring you some water in the meantime.” The waitress then gave a traditional Japanese bow and left their table. One could tell by her looks, she was Japanese.

Taiki picked up his menu and scanned it over and then scanned it a second time. Just like the be seated sign, the menu was set up in both Japanese and English. It was quite unique seeing such a set up. In fact all the signs in the restaurant were in both languages. He began to wonder if the owners were Americans with Japanese heritage or if they were indeed full Americans.

“Do you guys know, we should stop having so many triple dates,” Yaten said.

“Oh, la, la,” Seiya joked, laughing. Taiki and Lita laughed too.

“Stop that, Seiya,” Trista hissed, slapping Seiya's arm, since she was sitting next to him.

“What was that for?” he asked, pretending to nurse his arm.

“Hotaru is shy enough as it is. She doesn’t need any more embarrassment from you,” Trista said.

“Trista’s right,” Lita said soberly. “Not only is Hotaru shy, but she is still quite weak. But she has the most destructive power of all the scouts.”

“I almost destroyed the city when Sailor Moon helped me destroy Phorah90 a couple years ago,” Hotaru said.

“Let’s change the subject,” Taiki said. He picked up the menu once again, giving it a scan for the third time. “Who would like what?”

“Is there a special?” Lita asked.

“It’s...Tuesday...Let’s see. Here we are, ham, mashed potatoes, peas and corn. Plus the all-you-can-eat salad and desert buffet.”

“Well, it looks like you just ordered for us,” Trista said.

“Ha ha, very funny,” Taiki said sarcastically. “I guess now we have to find a waitress.”

“Well maybe she’s our waitress,” Hotaru said as she pointed to another woman dressed in a similar brown dress, and was heading towards them. Her black hair was pulled back into a bun. Just as she reached their table, the sounds of a huge crash, from the opposite side of the room, disrupted the peace. Everyone turned towards the sound to witness another waitress having trouble with a customer.

From the looks of things, the customer was arguing with his waitress and it did not sound like something about the menu or the food. In a sudden rush of anger the customer stood up, flipping his table, smashing everything on it. The waitress fell to the floor with a squeal.

“Oh, no,” the scouts' waitress whispered, flinching.

“What’s wrong?” Hotaru asked, catching the woman’s words.

“They are married and he’s been trying to control her. She’s afraid to go to the police,” the woman answered, nervously

“Is she being abused?” Trista asked.

“Sexually and physically.”

“Well, it’s ending right now,” Seiya growled, standing just as his brothers, getting ready to stop the angry man.

“Please don’t,” the waitress insisted. “You’ll make things worse.”

Taiki glared towards the scene. “I will not stand around and allow domestic abuse to take place.”

The waitress opened her mouth to protest but Lita came up behind her and placed a gentle hand on the waitress’ shoulder just as the Starlights headed towards the disturbing scene.

“It’s ok,” Lita said to the waitress. “They can handle it.”

As the Starlights drew closer, they now could hear what was being said. The brothers had been warriors long enough to know there was no need to discuss a plan of action. They just knew what had to be done. Upon approaching, each of them immediately knew what the others would want to do. Quickly, Taiki went to the left side, Yaten to the right and Seiya to the middle.

“You will listen, woman!” the man growled. He stood, revealing an expensive-looking business suit in a shade of gray. It actually matched the foul mood the man was in and by his facial appearance he appeared to be about in his late twenties.

“Please,” the scared waitress whimpered. “We’re in public… my place of work.” Being on the floor, she tried to push herself backwards a little to get further away from her husband. But as she did so, her long gown, proved to show some difficulty. It was the one thing she hated about her ‘uniform’.

“I don’t give a damn!” he hissed. He raised his hand as if ready to slap her.

The woman closed her eyes in fear, ready for the sting of the slap. Before his hand could swing, something grabbed his wrist, forcing his arm to stay put. He turned his head to see who or what had stopped him. When the slap never occurred, she wondered why. Usually nothing would stop his hand from finishing the swing. Taking a chance, she slowly opened her eyes to see three men with long hair in ponytails. The tallest man, with long brown hair, had a strong hold on her attacker.

“Who do you think you are?” the man hissed. “This is none of your business!”

“I make it my business when a beautiful woman is being assaulted,” Taiki growled. “As do my brothers.”

The man turned to see his wife being comforted by a shorter man with long silver hair and a taller man with long black hair.

“Get the hell away from wife!” the man commanded.

“Do you know abuse is wrong?” Seiya sneered, ignoring the command.

“Interrupting is also wrong!”

“Not as wrong as abuse. Besides, abuse is illegal,” Yaten said. He turned to their table to see the Scouts were still standing at the table. “Lita, Hotaru and Trista. Can you girls escort this lady to the ladies room?” The three girls came over in an instant.

“Yaten,” Hotaru said as she touched his arm. Lita and Trista began to help the waitress to her feet and started to take her towards the ladies room. “This is a restaurant. Please try to refrain from hospitalizing him.”

Yaten gave her a kind look. “Don’t worry. Just worry about the wounded lady.” Hotaru nodded left with the others.

“Yaten? What kind of a name is that?” the man demanded.

“The name of my brother,” Taiki hissed. “He is Seiya and I’m Taiki. We are known as the Starlights.”

“The singing Starlights?”

“Give the man a prize,” Yaten mocked with the roll of his eyes.

“We’ll give you two minutes to calm yourself and if you don't, we’ll do it for you,” suggested Seiya.

“Someone, please call the police?” Yaten asked to anyone who would do it. He looked over to his table to see that their waitress was still there. He also noticed that there were a few other customers who were watching.

The angry customer also looked at the waitress. At first she hesitated but then went to comply.

“Don’t try it, Keiko. You’ll regret it,” he barked. She took a step back.

“You’re in no position to give orders,” Seiya said. “Keiko, go and call the police. This idiot won’t hurt you.” He was taking the assumption Keiko was the name of their waitress.

“I’m not an idiot!” the man yelled.

“Could have fooled me,” Yaten said. “So what do we call you?”

“James,” the man yelled again but this time in pain as Taiki snapped his arm down.

-

In the ladies room, the scouts were helping the young waitress. The four ladies weren’t in the bathroom long when the frightened woman introduced herself as Kim.

“Please, you shouldn’t have involved yourself,” Kim pleaded softly when she was calmed. “You'll only make things worse.”

“Listen,” Lita said. “We don’t take kindly to people abusing other people. A friend of ours was abused and we won’t stand for it.”

“Why are you with this man?” Hotaru asked.

“My father arranged my marriage. Last night was our first anniversary and I refused to sleep with him. I went over to Keiko’s before he had a chance to hit me.”

“Yaten just asked a waitress to phone the police,” Trista announced. She was standing by the door watching the guys.

“No!” Kim jumped. “I’ll lose everything. I’m pregnant.”

The three scouts looked at Kim in shock.

“Kim,” Lita said, recovering quickly. “I lost my parents when I was young. I believed I lost everything until I met these two and the men we're with.”

“I’m 3 months pregnant and James doesn’t care!”

“I'd rather be a single parent than to raise my child in an abusive home,” Hotaru said, remembering her past when her father was possessed by an evil force and he created the ‘Witches 5’ organization.

“Hotaru’s right,” Trista said. “It would be better for you to get away from him. If there are any problems with social services, go to a lawyer or contact us. If you stay with that man you'll lose your child, either to a miscarriage or to social services, which then the baby will be forced into foster care.”

Trista turned her attention to the public eye to see a non-Japanese man walk out from the back. “It looks like the manager just arrived on the scene and he doesn’t look happy.”

“Who could blame him?” asked Lita. “I mean this one customer has decided to disrupt the entire place just because of a domestic dispute with his wife.” She turned to the woman before her. “If you don’t press charges, we will,” Lita said as she helped to wash the woman’s unwanted make up off. “Considering he’s disrupting the peace.”

“I do want out of this marriage,” Kim said with a heavy sigh, which was the truth and being around theses three women, she began to feel like she could do anything. There was more about the women before her than meets the eye but she wasn’t going to pry. She stood with Lita’s help, decision in mind. “All right. I’ll do it.”

“That’s the spirit,” Trista grinned as she turned away from the scene in the restaurant to look at Kin.

“Thank you,” Kim weakly smiled. “You are nice people. But I don’t have enough money to afford a lawyer.”

Lita grinned. “Why don’t you leave that to us. We have a friend who has the money to help you. All he needs to know is your situation and he’ll arrange everything.”

“But I can’t do that. Your hospitality right now is good enough for me,” Kim tried to protest.

“It’s no problem,” Hotaru answered. “Besides our friend is none other than Neflite Stanton.”

“You mean the millionaire?” The girls nodded, each with a smile. “Didn’t he just get married a few months ago?”

“Yep! We were bridesmaids,” Hotaru said. “His young wife is someone Lita went to school with.”

“Wow!”

“Let’s head out and see how the guys are doing,” Trista announced.

With a nod from Kim, the four girls exited out of the ladies room. In the main room, James was trying to squirm out of Taiki’s grasp. When he was able to get free, he grabbed Taiki and threw him against the other two Starlights. The three men tumbled to the floor. Seeing this, Lita went up to James.

“No one holds me back!” James shouted.

“And no one pushes my friends around!” Lita snapped as she approached the man.

“What are you going to do?” James challenged Lita with a laugh. "You're just a weak woman!"

James swung his fist, but Lita ducked under his arm, easily dodging the attack. She anticipated the attack before he swung. She made it her own personal goal to study her opponents and dealing with a human being, it was very easy to determine what was going to come next. Grasping his other arm from behind, she swung her leg out, knocking his legs out from under him. It was a good thing she wasn’t wearing a skirt that restricted her movements. He fell to the floor with her above him. With that same leg, she pushed into his back, pushing him further into the floor as she braced herself on his back.

The manager wanted to say something but he was at a loss for words. He had never seen a woman act so quickly before, sending the man to the floor in a blink of an eye. He had hoped that soon someone would do something about that man. He was a menace to his business. At first he thought of firing Kim, but that wasn’t fair to her. Besides his own wife wouldn’t let him fire Kim. It wasn’t Kim’s fault for the man’s violent nature. Of course what many didn’t know was he was actually the owner of the restaurant. He ‘was’ Orchandle.

“Didn’t think women could fight, did you,” Lita snarled. “Well, think again. Push my buttons any further and you won’t see the police arrive. You’ll be unconscious from my fist connecting with your head. And believe when I make my threats, I honor them. If this wasn’t a public place, I’d rearrange your face and then give you a first-hand idea of how it feels to be physically abused like your pregnant wife!”

“What?” James choked out.

“You mean you didn’t know,” Trista said coming to up them.

Mr. Orchandle turned to Kim. “Is this true?”

“Of course he wouldn’t know. Why would he?” Kim said becoming brave, standing close to Mr. Orchandle. “He’s too busy thinking about himself to care about anyone else.”

When the Starlights were finally able to get back to their feet and wanted to assure the customers that everything was all right. Yaten went outside and waited for the police.

Taiki and Trista went over to the fallen table and began to help pick it up and help the other waitress, who had taken them to their seat, to pick up the broken dishes and put some fresh linen on the table. The three were finishing up on cleaning the table when the police arrived, with Yaten coming up the rear.

“Good,” Lita said, finally getting off of James. “The sooner you get this thing out of here, the sooner my friends and I can have dinner.”

“You still want to eat here?” asked Mr. Orchandle.

“We came to a good restaurant for a reason,” Taiki said. “And nothing is going to stop us from dining here.”

Orchandle looked at the tallest Starlight. “Well I want to thank you for your services. You will always be welcomed here at my restaurant.”

Trista blinked. “You’re the owner? I thought you were the manager.”

“No. I’m the owner but tonight the manger called in sick.” He turned to Kim. “Can you still do your shift?”

Kim nervously nodded. “Yes.”

“Good.”

“Kim, why don’t you stay with me tonight and tomorrow we’ll figure out what to do?” suggested Keiko as she stepped forward.

“I think that would be a good idea,” Orchandle replied. “Keiko, please go over to our customers and offer them a coupon for a free meal.”

“Yes, sir.” Keiko picked up her skirt and walked over to the cash and then went over to the other customers who were wondering if they should leave or stay.

Orchandle then looked to the scouts. “For your efforts your meals tonight will be on the house.”

Seiya shook his head. “That’s not necessary. We will pay the proper price.”

It didn’t take too long before statements were given and Kim took the courage to press charges but she wasn’t the only one. The Scouts were pressing charges, as was the owner for damages of the place. James tried to speak his side of the story but with too many witnesses around, he didn’t have a prayer for a defence. Just as the police arrested James, the scouts went back to their table and ordered dinner.