Chapter 10 - The Whisky Bottle
Scattered clouds carved up pieces of the sky, even blocking the moon's bright glow. The bright lights of New York were enough to illuminate the city but not in Serena, Lita and Raye's apartment. One lone light shined down onto the kitchen table where Raye sat staring at a half empty beverage. Her expressionless eyes open, she didn't move a muscle. Her hair hung down along each side of her face. She was alone.
Lita came into the kitchen tying her green bathrobe. She kept her eyes on Raye as she pulled out a chair perpendicular to where Raye was sitting. The raven-hair didn't even catch a glimpse of the brunette as she sat down silently. Lita folded her arms onto the table. Raye finally took another sip of her drink. Lita could see a bottle of Whisky opened. Luckily, it didn't appear she had poured too much.
"Since when," Lita said with a bit of optimism in her voice, "Do you drink Whisky at 4 in the morning?"
Raye didn't answer or even look at her.
"Come on Raye," Lita unfolded her arms, "You haven't said a word since you cussed out Tony. What's going on?"
"I saw Mina," Raye finally said without moving a muscle.
Lita's eyes opened, "You saw her?"
"I saved her life," Raye said, "Atop of the building where they busted that drug dealer."
Lita could count on the media's love affair with Sailor V to clue her in on everything they did. "Were you suited up when you saved her?"
"Yeah."
Lita's eyes vacillated, "The media didn't say anything about Sailor Mars making the scene."
"I snuck away."
There was silence.
Finally Raye let her guard down and sighed. She looked at Lita, "You know what the worst part is? I enjoyed it!"
"You enjoyed saving your girlfriend?"
"No," Raye snorted and recoiled, "Well I mean I'm glad I saved her, but-" Raye closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts. "Getting back into that Sailor uniform, running up onto the roof. It was the rush I've been missing since we got here."
Lita nodded her head.
"Hey," Serena's voice grabbed their attention. Serena stumbled into the kitchen wiping her eyes. She was dressed in her pink bunny pajamas. Lita and Raye were not in the mood to chastise her about them.
"I know exactly what you mean," Lita said turning back to Raye. "Everytime I see another story about Sailor V and Sailor A, I get a little jealous. I want to be out there kicking the crap out of those drug dealers for hurting Mina." She slammed her right fist into her left palm.
Serena sat down at the table and looked at the bottle of Whisky. She reached for a glass off the counter and poured herself a glass. "Maybe this will help me sleep."
"Don't tell me you're sulking too?" Lita turned to the blonde.
"I want to go back out there," Serena put the bottle down, "And be Sailor Moon again."
Raye looked over to her friend.
"I thought leaving Sailor Moon behind," She continued, "And living a normal life in New York would be fun, but what's the point if I can't share it with Amy? I'd rather be out there fighting bad guys with her by my side than sitting around this apartment without her."
Raye turned to her blonde friend, "You know I hate to admit it," she said sincerely, "But you are absolutely right."
Serena smiled and Raye grabbed her hand.
"Guys," Lita interjected, "Don't forget about the bounty on your head-"
"Lita," Sailor Moon closed her eyes in annoyance, "There is always going to be somebody out there wanting me dead. Am I just supposed to hide for the rest of my life all because of some stupid threat?"
Luna entered the room softly hearing everything.
"I'm so conflicted," Raye said pushing her glass away. "I can't be mad at Mina anymore. God damn it, she's the only one of us who refused to walk away from her destiny." She hesitated, "But at the same time, I think we still need to listen to Luna. Serena is a marked girl and we can't afford to lose her."
"You're not the only ones who are conflicted," Luna's gentle English voice chimed in. She jumped right onto the table. "Artemis and I have discussed this over and over."
The three girls listened carefully to the cat's words.
"We want you to go back out as the Sailor Scouts," The cat continued, "It's who you are! But if God forbid something happened to Sailor Moon, our future is doomed."
"Luna," Serena whined, "Don't you miss Amy?"
"Of course I do," Luna continued, "Mina too, but they made their decision."
The girls all hung their heads and continued to drink.
"It's just," Raye hesitated, "Mina got hurt pretty bad. I'm a little worried about her."
"Oh Raye," Luna smiled, "She's Sailor Venus. She was Sailor V before any of us came along. I'm sure she'll be all right."
A white cat suddenly burst open the window in the living room and jumped onto the kitchen table.
"Artemis?" Luna said.
Atermis was struggling to catch his breath. "Something terrible has happened!"