A/N: This chapter and the seven dwarves are dedicated to escape-reader.13 who in her/his review for TOBITF's Chapter 23 wondered what fun things Serena and the little girls would be up to in Darien's and the boys' absence. The review triggered this scene in my mind. So, thanks! ;)
trish1573: LOL. I'm so far from perfect! But, I'm so glad you liked it! I hope you have sweet dreams every night and a smile on your face all the time! ;)nickybluejess: They are fun scenes to write and I'm glad you approved! Thanks you! :) familychibatsukino: Muchas gracias! I will! ;)catgirl505: LOL. I thought so too! ;) Miss C. Royal: I can't tell you how glad I am with the way you perceived and described my stories. Your review had me smiling for quite awhile! Thank you so much! :)Natasha: LOL. Thanks! I tried! ;)Emily: It's okay Emily. I'm just glad you are still reading my stories and more glad that it made you smile. Thank you. :) Moonprincess998: Thanks! There are a number of ways to write jealousy scenes aren't they? I'll experiment some more in future chapters and hope you'll enjoy the result! ;) CherrySerrenity-sama: Did you know that you have a beautiful sense of humour and a creative, imaginative mind? Well, I certainly think so! I actually imagine Darien's mother to be spirited and temperamental (in the Ever After world she will be!) so she probably did teach him the secret trade of carrot stealing! Somehow I don't think either Mina or Kevin will feel threatened by those pictures. Both are just too secure in their own skin! Mina would probably love to be called adorable! ;) And the white silk and water bottle comment took me a moment to decipher. LOL. I didn't think of it! Probably could have made Mina and Raye tripped with their bottles but Saori would probably used that as an excuse to join them instead or worse…get Darien's shirt to cover the new look! I ca't do that to Serena! ;p Wondewomanbatmanfan: New reader! *gleeful smile* Welcome and thanks! Here's your update. Hope you like ;) GraphicsChyk: Welcome to my TOBITFworld! Thank you. I'm really glad you thought so :)
Thoughts are in Italics.
(Standard disclaimer: I do not own any of the Sailor Moon characters. All characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi.)
S plus D equals little s squared plus little d squared (S + D = ss + dd)
13. Suri's Seven Dwarves
Timeline: takes place after Chapters 23/during Chapter 24 of TOBITF
Rating: K
No. Of words: 1359 words
Four year old Sara Shields touched her twin's arm in concern and slight apprehension. "Suri, I don't think it's a good idea. Remember Darren's…"
"Darren didn't ask for permission, Sara," Suri cut in confidently, "I will. And everyone will love our new friends. You'll see. You love them, don't you?" a stubborn note entered her voice as she looked at her sister.
Sara immediately nodded her head. "It's just that…Mummy…" she bit her lip before continuing, "I think Mummy might be…scared of our new friends."
Suri shook her head. "Mummy's the bravest person we know. Even Daddy said so."
Assuaged by that statement, a smile bloomed on Sara's face and she became as excited as Suri, "Let's ask them now!"
"What are you two girls whispering about?" Amara asked. She and Michelle had been watching the two little girls as the others helped Lita and Nathan set the picnic up, "Are you two up to no good?" she teased.
"No. Of course not, Ruka Uncle," Suri answered innocently, giggling in the process.
"We're just going to ask Mummy if our friends could join us for the picnic," Sara told the Scout of the Sky.
Mina and Serena turned from the blankets they had spread under the tree and walked eagerly towards Lita and Nathan, each taking one picnic basket from the two.
"What do we have in here, Lita?" Mina asked excitedly.
"Please tell me we have some fruit tarts in here," Serena requested eagerly.
Lita laughed happily. The picnic had been her idea to take everyone's minds off their worries over the other half of their group that are half away across the world from them. "We sure do!" she assured, "We have plum and apricot tarts with hazelnut cream."
"And fritters? Do we have fritters?" Mina asked hopefully.
"Banana and Apple fritters." Lita confirmed.
"Please tell me we have something healthy in there." Kevin said as he joined them. He had been scanning the area for danger.
Nathan laughed, "With me making half the feast? Of course!" he laughed even harder when Lita elbowed his rib. ""We also have fondant potatoes and bread and butter pudding with pannettone." He announced proudly.
Serena and Mina sighed in relief. The word healthy somehow brought the image of green vegetables or some oat containing dish. Fondant potatoes and pannettone with pudding definitely did not go into the same category!
Seeing the look on their faces, Kevin's lips curved at the corners, "Pudding with pannettone…healthy? Really Nate, sometimes I worry about you," he teased his friend in his usual serious tones.
Nathan just continued laughing, "Just take your shoes off, Kevin. No shoes on the blankets," he instructed.
"Mummy, Aunt Lita, is it okay if we invited some friends to join us?" Suri sweetly asked as she tugged Serena's hand to get her attention.
Serena's brows drew together as she looked around and surveyed the area. "Friends?" she asked, "Don't you think it may take awhile for them to get here?"
"The food might be finished by the time your friends arrived." Mina added gently. Being out here in the open was a security risk. One she was willing to take to lift everyone's spirits but they couldn't stay out too long.
"Oh, don't be greedy Rena, Mina. There's plenty of food. Enough to go around," Lita teased her blonde friends and turned to the little girls, "Though you might want to ask your friends to hurry," she told them with a wink.
"They're already here, Aunt Lita," Suri said.
"All seven of them," Sara added.
Lita paused and looked around, fondant potatoes in her hands, "Seven? I don't see anyone."
Suri gestured to Lita's feet. "They're there Aunt Lita, at your feet."
As everyone's gaze followed her pointed finger, everything seemed to happen all at once but perversely enough, as if in slow motion.
Gasping in shock, Serena and Mina pushed away from the blanket and were up on their feet in an instant.
Startled, Lita dropped the fondant potatoes and took an immediate step back.
Michelle grabbed Amara's arm and held on. Her face drained of any colour.
Oblivious, Suri crouched down to her little friends, "Hey guys," she said gently, "Meet my friends and family. Don't worry, they're really nice. They won't hurt you. Come, say hello to my Mummy first."
Serena squeaked at that and immediately grabbed Mina's hand, horror written on both faces as they both, involuntarily stepped back in unison.
When little feet scurried over her own feet to get to Serena, Lita couldn't prevent the shudder and her hand shifted of its own accord. Lightning shot out of her fingers before she could stop herself.
"Aunt Lita!" Suri was appalled and shocked but Lita was too aghast to notice.
Seven rats scattered and started scurrying all over the blankets. A few screams were heard all at once.
Serena and Mina grabbed onto each other, full body hold.
Lita stomped her feet trying to get the feeling of little feet off of them, shuddering and cursing all the way. Mina and Serena jumped up and down, screaming in alarm every time they felt tiny feet or tail moving on their bare feet.
Amara's incredulity gave way to hilarity and she and Nathan started laughing very, very hard.
Suri was trying to get her little friends to calm down and stay in one place while Sara looked around at the commotion in confusion.
A shrill terrified scream overcame all the other sounds and stopped Lita before she could fire another shot of lightning from her fingers. Amara stopped herself from covering her ears just in time while Mina and Serena stopped their own screaming and jumping up and down, but couldn't seem to let go of their hold on one another.
Everyone turned to look at the source of the scream. Their seven new 'friends' temporarily forgotten.
"Michi?" Lita asked hesitantly.
The usually serene and composed Sailor Neptune took a few more steps back away from the blanket. Her face was now completely red as she put a fisted hand over her mouth to prevent another scream.
Taking a few deep breaths, she gave a hesitant smile that was both sheepish and apologetic. "I'm sorry. It's just that I have a very intolerable fear of rodents."
Suri's gasp was immediate and horrified. Even though she didn't know the meaning of the word, the way it was said, suggested something bad. "Michi Auntie! You can't call Sleepy, Sneezy, Bashful, Doc, Happy, Dopey and Grumpy a bad name! You'll hurt their feelings."
"It's not a bad name sweetie. It's the class of animals that rats are classified into," Kevin explained gently when everyone else seemed too shock to respond and in the case of Amara, too busy laughing.
Nathan slowly closed his wide gaping mouth, "Sleepy, Sneezy…and who?"
"You named your friends after the seven dwarves?" Mina asked slowly, disbelievingly.
"From Snow White?" Serena added, just as slowly, just as disbelievingly.
The cousins had finally stopped hugging one another. Though, their fingers were still intertwined firmly together.
"They're our guests, Mummy. You said we should always treat our guests politely," Sara said earnestly.
"I'm sorry, Dopey. I'm sure Aunt Lita wasn't trying to electric you on purpose," Suri said as she picked up one of the rats, unaware of the mortification on Lita, Mina, Serena and Michelle's faces.
"Electrocute." Kevin automatically corrected the little girl.
Nodding, Suri continued talking softly to the rat in her hand as she turned to face the Sailor Scout of Thunder, "Yes. I'm very sure Aunt Lita wasn't trying to elec…trocute you. I'm sure she'll apologise nicely to you."
Gesturing for Lita to bend down, the little girl placed her hands which cupped the rat, directly in front of Lita's face.
Serena and Mina swallowed hard, Michelle held on tight to a laughing Amara and Lita bit her lip hard to keep the horrified squeak from coming out, her hands fisted on her sides to stop more involuntary lightning shots. Even as the brunette glared at her laughing boyfriend, the courageous Amazonian couldn't quite control her shudder as she faced their new guest.
Posted on fanfiction: 18 October 2014
A/N: This little incident was relayed to Darien by Serena in the latest instalment of TOBITF (Chapter 24: Of Visions & Memories, Tales & Legends) which for some reason, is not getting as much response as TOBITF's other chapters. I don't know if it's my writing that's gone bad or the readers that's lost interest or may be both. But, it is a bit discouraging. TOBITF chapters are relatively longer and they take time and energy to write. I wonder if I'm wasting mine when I don't even have enough to begin with.
For those of you who have read it, it was edited slightly a few hours ago.