Destiny Thwarted

Part 5

By Charma & Jana (neomoonies@hotmail.com)



"Omigod!  Run, guys!" Mina shouted.  The princesses had reappeared 
directly in the middle of a dirt road in what they assumed was Earth, 
when they noticed two people racing straight towards them on horseback.  
They all jumped out of the way, luckily before the horsemen could hit 
them.
	"Mark, is it just me, or did those peasants come out of nowhere?" 
one of the horseback riders asked to the other.
	"It's just you," Mark replied, shaking off the feeling that he had 
just witnessed something magical.  "Hurry up, or I'll beat you, no 
contest!"  And they raced on.
	"Phew, that was close," Serena sighed, getting up out of the dirt 
and pulling twigs out of her unnaturally black hair.
	"Some welcome to Earth," Charma added, looking around her at they 
forest they had arrived in.
	"It's beautiful," Lita breathed.  "So lush and green!"
	"Hey, look!" Rei called from within the trees. 
	The girls followed the sound of her voice and when they found her, 
they also found a gorgeous stream of clear, clean water, burbling down a 
path to a large pond decorated with water lilies and little marine 
animals.
	"Wow, this is like nothing on the moon," Jana observed, being 
accustomed to the ornate, man-made fountains on the Moon rather than 
natural springs. 
	"It's so quiet," Anya said in a hushed voice.
	"Oh, look!  What are they?" Mina asked, pointing to a couple of 
animals strange to her eyes.
	"They're, ah..." Ami thought for a moment.  "Deer.  That's it.  
They're pretty common on Earth, actually.  Aren't they pretty?  Ooh, 
look at that one's antlers!  It's so majestic."
	"On Earth?!" Serena squealed suddenly, scaring the deer away.  "I 
can't believe we actually did it!  We're actually here, on Earth!  This 
is so exciting!"
	"You know, I'm glad you got us to come here," Rei conceded.  "I'm 
liking it already."
	"So am I.  But what do you guys want to do?  Where do you want to 
go?" Charma asked.
	"It'd be fun just hanging out here like nymphs or something, but I 
want to see what the people are like too," Ami said.
	"How about going to a village?  Or marketplace, or whatever they 
have here," Lita suggested.
"Good idea.  But where do we find one?" Serena asked.
	"Why don't we just follow the road in the direction of those two 
wild horseback riders?" Jana asked practically.
	"Okay," Serena assented and started to lead the way down the road.  
"By the way, should we use our real names in public?"
	"I don't see why not," Ami answered.  "We're so little known on 
Earth that I don't think it will be a problem."
	"Good, I don't think I could handle a name change along with this 
face change," Rei said.
	"Oh, but I love how we look like totally different people!  It 
means we can do crazy things without having to take responsibility for 
them when we go back to the Moon!" Serena exclaimed, always the one to 
look on the bright side of things.
	After walking about half a mile, during which the girls oohed and 
aahed over the new scenery and animals, they reached a bustling, though 
small village.  People were everywhere, selling things, buying things, 
dancing, laughing, talking, yelling.  It was an overwhelming sight for 
the newcomers but they took it all in stride and joined and added to the 
commotion by being loud and happy themselves.  Because it was so small a 
village, everyone knew each other and everyone most definitely did not 
know who the exotic foreign gypsies were.  
	One of the braver, more friendly townspeople walked up to them in 
an effort to satisfy her curiosity.  "Hello!  You're new to this 
village, aren't you?  I don't remember seeing you around these parts.  
Where're you from?"  Seeing the blank looks on the girls' faces, the 
woman queried, "Do you speak English?"
	Ami was the first to recover.  "Ah, yes, we do.  We're actually 
from a tiny village called Leibnitz," she supplied, naming a mountain 
range on the moon.
	"Leibnitz, huh?  I don't believe I've ever heard of that."
	"Oh, well, not many people have.  As Ami said, it's tiny, and it's 
also pretty far away from here," Serena responded quickly.
	"Oh," the woman replied, wanting to know what it was that brought 
them to her village, but not rude enough to ask.  "I'm Mary Wickam, and 
it's nice to meet you all."
	"It's nice to meet you too," Serena said, glad that the woman 
wasn't going to pry.  "I'm Serena, and this is Ami, Rei, Lita, Mina, 
Jana, Anya, and Charma."
	"What a charming family," Mary said, beaming.  "You are sisters, 
right?"
	"Yes, we are," Anya spoke up.
	"Are you planning on staying long?  Because I'd love for you to 
stay with me and my family."
	"Really?  I--we were afraid that we'd end up having to sleep on 
the streets," Lita confessed, visibly relieved.
	"Oh no you won't," Mary kindly replied.  "Why don't you come with 
me then?  It's getting late and I was planning on going home pretty soon 
anyway."
	The girls all followed Mary to a sizable cottage at the outside 
edge of the village.  The quaint structure sat on a stretch of beach, 
the water quietly lapping the shore in the light of the setting June 
sun.  
	"It's so peaceful here," Charma breathed.  
	"Yes, it's lovely," Jana sighed.
	"Thank you so much for taking us in, Mrs. Wickam," Serena said 
sincerely.  "We really do appreciate it."
	"Oh, it's not a problem.  And my daughter, Anna, would love having 
you girls around-she's about your age.  She's not usually around girls 
her own age, as she mostly keeps in my sons' company.  You'll meet my 
husband, Anna, Will, who's 19, Jacob, who's 16, and Matthew, who's 12, 
tomorrow, because they have gone to Bingimton to do some trading.  I 
personally don't like going there except for the Market Fairs, and it's 
a good thing I didn't go today, or else I wouldn't have met you sweet 
girls."
	"What's Bingimton?  And what are Market Fairs?" Mina asked before 
she could stop herself.
	Mary looked at her curiously for a moment before answering.  "You 
know, Bingimton is the royal city of Earth.  Not only is it where the 
King, Queen, and Prince of Earth live, but it's one of the biggest 
cities on this planet.  This little village is nothing compared to that!  
As for the Market Fairs, well, they're held in Bingimton twice a year.  
It's basically a very large trade festival.  Actually, the next one is 
going to be held next month and, if we could persuade you to stay here 
that long, we'd be happy to take you.  It's fun."  They must be from 
very far away not to know what Bingimton is, Mary thought.
	"We don't know how long we were planning to stay," Serena began 
carefully, looking at her friends, "but if you would allow us to impose 
on your hospitality for that long, we'd love to go."
	"Impose!  Nonsense!  Consider it our pleasure," Mary responded,
smiling.  "These two are your rooms.  I hope you don't mind having to 
put four to a room, but this is all we've got.  There's a door joining 
the two rooms, as well as a bathroom."
	"We don't mind having to put four to a room at all.  In fact, in 
our home in... Leibnitz, we had to put seven of us in a room together," 
Rei said, smiling inwardly at the thought of the very large suite that 
the princesses, minus the Moon Princess, shared in the Moon Palace.  
	"Well, I hope you girls are comfortable here.  I'll let you get 
settled now.  Good night!  Until morning!" Mary sang, closing the door 
behind her.  
	"Phew!" Lita sighed, plopping down on one of the beds.  "That was 
hard."
	"Yes, but Mrs. Wickam seems very nice and we got through that all 
right, didn't we?  I hope you're not mad at me for convincing you to 
come," Serena said in a small voice.
	"We're not mad!" Charma said.  "Just a little... worried."
	"But Serena's right.  We did get through that more than all right.  
I know I didn't even think of where we were going to stay when we got 
here," Anya said.  "But we found a nice home and a nice family."
     "I didn't either, until Mrs. Wickam asked us to stay with her!" 
Jana confessed.
	"I don't think any of us did," Mina said.
	"So this is turning out okay so far, right?" Serena asked eagerly.
	"Yes, but we just have to remember that we're from Leibnitz-by the 
way, nice thinking, Ami-and just hope that no one is nosy enough to ask 
any more than that," Rei said.
	"I'm kind of interested in going to that Market Fair in Bingimton.  
Aren't you curious about Earth's royalty?  How the King and Queen do 
things here?" Ami asked.
	"I am, but is it safe for us to stay a whole month?" Jana asked 
worriedly.
	"Serena was right before when she said that Mom and Dad wouldn't 
mind if we were out 'exploring Jupiter' for awhile, as long as we 
checked in every so often," Lita answered.  "So it'll be okay."
	The princesses went to sleep that night, not as worried as they 
were before about their situation, and wondering about how their 
adventures on Earth would turn out.
	
	Serena yawned and rolled over in her comfortable bed, jarring the 
sleeping Rei next to her.  Rei jabbed her back, mumbling obscene 
obscenities.  Charma sleepily opened her eyes, and looked out the large 
window that was closest to the bed she and Ami were in.  Her eyes, 
however, soon lost their sleepiness when she saw what position the sun 
was in.  
	"You guys," she hissed.  "It's practically noon!  We're late for 
breakfast!" 
	Charma jumped up, and threw the door open to the other room, where 
Jana, Lita, Mina, and Anya slept peacefully.  A devious thought crossed 
her mind, and she slipped back into her room.  She picked up the fluffy 
down pillow and went back into the other room.  She crept over to the 
closest bed, which held Jana and Lita.  Charma lifted the pillow over 
her head, and with a evil glint in her eyes, she slammed it over their 
heads.  A moan was heard from under the pillow, and Charma couldn't 
contain her laughter.  
	"What do you want?" Lita growled.  
	"Oh, nothing.  I just thought that you might like to know that 
it's practically NOON!" Charma finished, half-screaming, half-
whispering.
	"WHAT?!" Mina and Anya cried in unison.  As quickly as they could 
manage, the girls all threw on their gypsy clothing.
They stumbled down the stairs to the kitchen, following the 
enticing scent of frying eggs, sizzling bacon, and homemade pancakes.  
The girls sat down at the table, and Mary set 8 plates of steaming 
breakfast food in front of them.  
"How did you girls sleep?" Mary asked pleasantly.  "I hope the 
rooms weren't too cramped."
"Oh, of course not, Mrs. Wickam!" Serena exclaimed.  "The rooms 
were so comfortable.  That's part of the reason that I am afraid we 
overslept and made you keep breakfast hot for us."
"Dear, you aren't any trouble, really.  My family isn't the kind 
to sit down to a meal together very much.  The only meal that we are 
rather particular about is dinner," she hinted nonchalantly.  
Lita picked up on the hint and asked, "What time is dinner?"
"It's at six-thirty," Mary said, smiling.
"Okay," the girls all nodded and continued eating.  
After breakfast, they helped her clear the table and wash the 
dishes, something none of them had ever done before.  Their awkwardness 
with the task piqued Mary's curiosity again and she asked, "What kind of 
village was Leibnitz, anyway?"
"It's very different from here," Anya began.  "You're probably 
wondering why we don't know how to wash the dishes!  Well, where we're 
from... we, ah, ate off of large leaves-clean leaves, of course, and we 
ate with our hands, so there were no dishes to clean," she quickly 
adlibbed.
"Huh.  Well, why don't I teach you how to do it quickly and 
effectively.  Dish washing is a useful skill to learn, and it can even 
be fun sometimes," Mary said and then proceeded to teach the girls 
dishwashing skills and techniques.  
After that messy task, everyone, including Mary, ended up dripping 
wet and laughing deliriously.  "You girls should change out of those wet 
clothes, or you'll catch cold!" Mary managed to advise through her 
laughter.  
"Oh, but this is really all we have," Jana said.
"Hmph.  We won't have that.  Anna has more dresses than she can 
even fit in her wardrobe, so you all can wear some of those."  With 
that, Mary led the girls into Anna's room and lent them each a dress 
that wasn't as loud as their gypsy outfits, but was pretty nonetheless.  
"When is the rest of your family arriving?" Serena asked.
"They should be here in a couple of hours," Mary informed them.  
"Why don't you girls go outside and enjoy yourselves?  It's a beautiful 
day."
	And it was.  The sun was shining cheerily on everything that warm 
June afternoon and enjoy themselves the princesses did.  They explored 
the long stretch of beach, exclaiming over the caves they found and ooh-
ing at the dolphins they saw in the distance.  They were so caught up in 
their new surroundings that they didn't even notice people watching them 
until they saw Mary standing out of earshot outside the cottage, talking 
to who they presumed was her husband.
	"Eight girls?"  Was what Mary's husband was asking in disbelief.  
"You invited eight strangers stay at our house for a month?  Are you 
certain that was wise?"
	"Oh, Phil, they're lovely girls!  Look at them!  So young, so 
innocent.  I couldn't just let them sleep on the streets.  There's 
something special about them, I can just feel it," Mary said with 
conviction.
Mary and Phil's four children came up behind their parents.  
"Whoa, Mom, I never thought you'd ever actually pick up some nomads off 
the street," Matthew commented.
	"They aren't nomads," Mary contradicted.  "They're from a small 
village called Leibnitz.  But they did look like gypsies-you should have 
seen what they were wearing!  Their dresses were so beautiful and 
colorful, but we got them a little wet washing the dishes today."
	Anna and Will exchanged looks, while Jacob spoke up.  "I don't 
know about their clothes, but they're beautiful."
	"Stop talking with your hormones, Jacob!" Anna tossed her 
strawberry-blonde head of hair.  "I don't know about you guys, but I'm 
going to go introduce myself.  They seem like decent people."
	Mary shot her sons looks that said, "Go follow her," so the boys 
did as were told.  
	"Hi, I'm Anna, and I'm really glad to meet you," Anna introduced 
herself to the princesses-in-disguise.  "It'll be nice to have female 
company for once," she added, throwing a look at her approaching 
brothers.
	"We're really glad to meet you too," Serena said with a smile.
	"And your brothers too, of course," Mina included with a sly 
smile.
	"Believe me, they're not as charming as they seem," Anna told Mina 
with a wry grin.  "But, since you probably should know their names, 
Will's the tall one with the blonde hair, Jacob's the brunette, and 
Matthew is the little red-head left over.  You probably won't see 
Matthew so much because he's usually off with some of the younger boys 
in town-they have some sort of 'boy's only' club or something silly like 
that.  Oh, they have arrived."
	"Hey," Will said with smiling brown eyes.  
	"Hi there girls," Jacob said in what he hoped was his best suave, 
sophisticated voice.
	Matthew remained silent, and stood apart from the crowd.
	After an awkward silence, Serena said, "Your mom was telling us 
about the Market Fair that's coming up.  What's that like?"
	"It's great fun," Anna said, eagerly jumping on the topic.  "There 
are so many people there, so you get a taste of all different cultures, 
and you get to see the royal family.  The prince is very good-looking, 
if I may say so myself."
	"But the main attraction is not the prince," Will intervened.  
"Since people from all different parts of Earth are going to be there, 
the trading is great."
	Anna rolled her bright green eyes and shoved Will aside.  "That's 
Will, future trader of Earth, speaking.  The fair is really much more 
fun than he makes it sound."
	"So, Mom told us you were from Leibnitz," Jacob said, swiftly 
changing the subject.  "If I am correct, isn't that also the name of a 
mountain range up on the moon?" he asked, proudly showing off his 
intelligence.
	Ami groaned inwardly but easily replied, "Is it really?  I don't 
know if the name of our village is connected to a mountain range on the 
Moon, but that's an interesting fact that-"
	"-we didn't need to know," Anna finished.  She gave Jacob a look 
that obviously said, "Don't pry."
	But this little piece of conversation got them all talking about 
the different planets in the Moon Kingdom, and the princess' first-hand 
knowledge combined with the Wickams' impressive intelligence made for an 
interesting conversation that could've lasted awhile, had not Mary 
called them all in for dinner.
	"See," Mary told her husband with a smile.  "I told you they'd get 
along.  This will be a nice month."

	The month that the girls stayed with the Wickams was nice indeed, 
consisting of long, fun-filled days interrupted only by occasional calls 
from Lita to her parents on Jupiter.  The Wickam kids and the princesses 
formed strong friendship bonds, and got to know each other very well.  
The princesses felt guilty about their disguise because they were 
deceiving people they grew to care about, but they knew that they had no 
choice but to keep their true identities concealed.  
June was over before they knew it and the day of the Market Fair 
eventually arrived, bringing with it the last day of the princesses' 
stay with the Wickams.  They cried with Anna privately the night before, 
but the next day, were decked in the gypsy clothes they wore the first 
day they arrived at the little village.  Somehow, all fourteen people 
crammed into the Wickams' two horse-drawn wagons, and they set off for 
Bingimton, the royal city of Earth.

	When they got to Bingimton, 5 hours later, the princesses were 
awestruck by the size and magnitude of the city.  "The Moon is so quiet 
compared to this," Serena whispered.  
	Will looked at her strangely, uncertain of what he heard.  "What, 
Serena?"
	"Oh."  Serena blushed, kicking herself for being so loose with her 
disguise.  "It was nothing, really."
	Will wasn't convinced, but he let it go.
	"Hey guys," Anna said.  "Look at the castle."
	The princesses all looked above and past the little buildings in 
the city and found themselves staring at an impressive edifice made of 
stone, its tall walls and towers covered with rich green ivy.  The 
castle sat on lush green rolling hills and was protected by unbelievably 
tall evergreens.  Beautiful flowers grew all around to make the harsh 
stone castle seem like a soft, inviting palace.
	"Wow," Charma said softly.  
	"Yeah, wow," Jana seconded.  "That is one nice castle."
	"You better believe it," Jacob said.  "It took the Royal Family 
three decades just to get the thing built!"	 
	"No way!" Lita's hazel eyes widened in disbelief.  
	"It's true," Phil supplied.  He smiled, and a look came over his 
face that told everyone that he was taking a trip down Memory Lane.  "My 
father would take me to the construction site every day when I was about 
eleven or twelve," he said, still wearing that goofy look on his face.  
His children groaned, a clear sign that this was a story that they had 
all heard at least three dozen times before.  But, Phil ignored them, 
and continued his story for the eight princesses who listened with rapt 
attention.  "I had strict orders never to go up there on my own, for two 
reasons: 1. It was Royal property, and 2. It was very dangerous. Of 
course, being a pre-adolescent, I tried not to obey my father in public.  
So, one day, my friends dared me to go over to the construction site and 
write my name in paint along the wooden floor.  I accepted the dare, and 
that night, around twelve, I snuck out and took some paint with me.  I 
got to the castle, and I walked only a little into the hallway, and 
wrote my name.  I wasn't caught, and when my friends went to look, they 
were so shocked.  I had written my name, but in white, which was the 
color of the wood the workers had used!" Phil ended, laughing.  The 
girls all laughed with him until they had tears in their eyes.
	The girls, including Anna, all went off on their own, and they 
found their way into the clothing section of the Market Fair.  The girls 
were rapturous over the array of beautiful gowns and dresses.  They were 
quite surprised, to say the least, when the merchant, an elderly lady, 
advised them to pick some out and try them on for size.
	"Do you mean it?" Anna asked, flipping her strawberry blonde 
ponytail over her shoulder, her blue eyes bright with interest.  
	"Well, of course, little lady!  I never say anything I don't mean.  
Or at least, I try not to," she added in an aside, almost to herself.
	So the girls accepted her invite and picked out some dresses.  
They laughed and giggled as they sorted through the piles and piles of 
colorful clothing, each girl trying some that she liked and some just 
for fun.  Soon, they all had armfuls of bright dresses and the merchant 
showed them to a small building, where they could try on dresses in 
little cubicle-things.  They each filed into their own tiny room, and 
they began a fashion show of sorts.
	The girls had each decided to first try on some light, summer 
dresses they had picked out.  Rei was finished first, and she wore a 
short, royal red halter dress that suited her petite figure perfectly.  
The only thing was that the red didn't quite go with her blonde hair and 
gray eyes.  When Anna brought that up with as much tact as she could 
muster, Rei and the Scouts exchanged worried glances.  
	Lita had on a knee length, short sleeved, emerald green, cotton 
dress and would have loved it, but her hazel eyes didn't really look 
good with such a bright, Irish green.  
	Ami had gone for blue, but, unlike her friends, then realized that 
her now changed looks weren't too compatible with blue.  So, she went 
for pink, much to the surprise of everyone present.  When she came out 
of her little stall wearing a dress of layers of short pink sheer gauzy 
material, everyone was astonished, but Serena regained her composure.
	"Ami!  That dress is so adorable!  It really looks good on you!" 
she gushed, sincere in her praise.  Serena definitely would have loved 
to have owned it had she still been blonde and blue eyed, but she 
wasn't.  So, it looked good on Ami, and better than it would have been 
on her.
	"I like your dress a lot, too, Serena," Charma returned, her dark 
sapphire eyes glowing with mirth.  Serena's intense elegance wasn't in 
tune with her easy-going personality or with the dress she was wearing.  
Her dress was ankle length, pastel patchwork with an empire waist and 
spaghetti straps.  Serena's bright green eyes glowed as she waltzed 
around barefoot, humming like a nymph.
	"I know it doesn't really look that good, but I like it so much," 
she said dejectedly.  Her expression was one of disappointment, but Rei 
consoled Serena by showing her the inside of her own cubicle which 
contained garments of nothing but red.  Serena laughed whole-heartedly 
with the rest of the group, along with Rei.
	"Charma still looks good," Ami brought up.  She wore a long, mid-
calf length, lavender dress of the same gauzy material as Ami's.  The 
sleeves were short and loose, and the collar was round.  The lavender 
contrasted with her auburn curls, which had been let loose, only because 
she hadn't been able to find a hair tie to hold all of her hair.  
	Jana had only been sticking her head out of her stall through all 
of this, and hadn't come out until Anya, who wore a summer dress of ice 
blue, the shade of her eyes before they came to Earth, physically pulled 
her out.  She wore a dress of pale yellow which went down to her knees.  
	"You look great," Anna said.  "Why didn't you want to come out?"
	"Because it would have looked better befo-," Jana started.  
Charma interrupted and said, "Jana just thinks that it would have 
looked better if it were a different color, that's all."  She sent Jana 
a killer look, and smiled at Anna.
	"Oh, that shade of yellow looks great on you!  Just like that 
apple green looks really good on you, Anna," Rei declared, ending the 
glaring war that was going on between Charma and Jana.  All the girls 
heartily agreed that the simple, pretty, green dress looked fabu on 
Anna, and they all thought that she should buy it.  
	"But none of us have any money!  And besides, we're just here to 
look," Anna protested feebly as Ami pushed her into her dressing room to 
change into another dress.
	They all gasped as she came out wearing the prettiest evening 
gown.  It was a shade lighter than the first dress Anna had been 
wearing, and went down to the floor.  The first layer was made of a 
satiny material, and the bodice was tight and scoop-necked.  The top 
layer was made of an off white lace which covered the entire dress.  The 
sleeves were just lace with no under layer of green material.  The lace 
extended past the hem of the dress to form a small train in the back.
	Anya immediately went up to Anna and twisted her hair in a simple 
up-do.  "Can you see it, girls?" she asked, smiling mischievously.
	Everyone grinned and nodded.  They knew what she was asking.  The 
thing is, Anna didn't.
	"You just stay right here," Anya said, her eyes glinting with fun.  
She pointed to the rest of the girls and said, "You, come over here."
	The girls complied and went in a corner to discuss the present 
situation.  All Anna heard was the buzz of whispering, and once in a 
while a laugh or a screech.
	"Girls, Anna needs that dress.  And I, for one, am not about to 
ask her mother for the money," Anya said plainly.
	"Well, I think that we all agree that she should have that dress, 
but if we aren't going to ask Mrs. Wickam for moola, how are we going to 
get it for her?" Mina asked, for once totally not in tune with her 
sister.
	"I was so hoping that you were going to ask that!" Anya squealed.  
"We know that everyone here can dance, and no one knows who we are, so I 
was thinking that, since we have our gypsy clothes on, we could dance 
for money!" she finished at an ultra-fast speed.  
	"WHAT?!?" Lita screeched.  She looked behind her and saw Anna 
looking, so she lowered her voice.  "Do you really expect me to go out 
there and dance for money?"
	"Hey!  It's a good idea.  I'm all for it, and if you have a 
problem with it then you don't have to help out our friend," Mina said, 
sticking up for her sister, as always.
	"Please?" Anya beseeched in a small voice.  Her dark gray eyes 
pleaded with everyone.  "Let me help a friend like you guys helped me!" 
she whispered.  
	Lita heard her last statement and her stone wall of defense just 
about crumbled into a pile of pebbles.  "Okay, okay," she consented 
wearily.  "I'm for it."	
	Anya's eyes brightened as she realized that her fight was won.  
The only one that had really opposed her plan was Lita, and she agreed.  
Anya threw her arms around her and repeated her thank you's over and 
over.  Everyone laughed at Lita's surprised expression, and they all 
Laughed again when they heard Lita.
	"I have a feeling that I am really going to regret this," she 
muttered.
	"Okay, Anna, it's a good thing that you dressed like us today!" 
Anya said, cheerily.  
	Anna narrowed her eyes in suspicion.  "Why?" she asked, her face 
unreadable.  
	"You'll see," Anya chirped.  "First, everyone has to get dressed 
and put away all of the clothes, except for your dress," she said, 
pointing to Anna.  "You can give that one to me."
	Everyone just stood where they were, and Anya clapped her hands.  
"C'mon, peoples.  We don't have all day, you know."


	
	"Okay," Anya assumed command once every girl was out of the 
dressing room and had returned their dresses.  Anna walked past her, 
carrying her armload of clothes when Anya glimpsed some off-white lace 
underneath some other dresses.  
	"What do you think you are doing, missy?" She pretended to scold 
Anna while pulling the fancy dress out of the heap.  Anna sighed, and 
went back to the counter, where she placed the rest of the clothes she 
hadn't tried on.
	"What are we doing, you guys?" she asked, finally running out of 
patience.  "You guys are up to something, and I want to know what it is 
because I know that it has to do with me and that dress.  Now, c'mon.  
Out with it," she demanded.  
	"Okay..." Serena said slowly, after Anya kept silent.  "Well, we all 
thought that you need that dress, and since we have no money, and you 
have no money, and we really didn't want to have your  parents pay, we 
thought of a way to make money." She toyed with the colorful scarf that 
was tied around her waist.
	"Spit it out," Anna ordered, growing weary at Serena's apparent 
hesitation.  
	"Well, we always wanted to act like gypsies, and now's our chance, 
and well, we just kind of wanted to see how much we could make by, well, 
we're all really good dancers-," Mina blubbered, beating around the bush 
as long as possible.
	Anna cut her off.  "YOU WERE GOING TO DANCE IN THE STREET FOR 
MONEY?!?!" she yelled.
	"Well, we were going to..." Anya trailed off, blushing. 
	"Wait.  Let me see if I got this right.  You people wanted me to 
dance in the streets for money just so that we could buy some stupid 
dress?" Anna asked skeptically.
	"Exactly what I said," Lita mumbled.  Charma jabbed her in the 
side.  
	"But it's not 'some stupid dress!'" Serena cried.  "It looked so 
good on you, and you know that you really liked it!"  
	"But where exactly am I going to wear it?  There's no where near 
fancy enough to wear that dress to.  I'm no princess," Anna protested.
	At that moment, Lita's communicator started to beep softly.  She 
said, "Um, could you guys excuse me for a second?  I have to use the 
john."
	"Sure thing, Lita.  In fact, I kinda have to go, too," Rei said, 
staring hard at Lita to let her know that her communicator had gone off, 
too.
	"Okay, let's go see if we can find one.  We'll be back in a 
flash!" Lita waved, and ran off behind a  building.
	She answered her communicator with a breathless, "Yes?"
	"Oh, good.  I was hoping you'd pick it up," Lita's little brother, 
James, said.  "There's a ball at the Earth palace tonight, and Mom was 
going to call, but I said I would since she had a lot to do.  She wants 
you to come, and the rest of the kings and queens want the rest of the 
Scouts to come.  I'm supposed to relay that message, and Mom wanted you 
to come home and then teleport from here.  What should I tell her?"
	"Wait a minute," Lita said, thinking.  "I thought that we couldn't 
visit Earth until we were older!"
"Yeah, but this ball is really important," James replied.  "It's 
like the coming of age for the prince, or whatever."
"Oh," Lita said.  "And that means...?"
"Well, Mom said that all the royalty from the Moon Kingdom were 
invited because he's, uh, well, I don't know.  He's coming of age... uh, 
oh, he's 18, and that's supposed to be a really big deal for some reason 
or another."
"Oh, okay.  I guess I can see why we have to be present," she 
mused.
"Well, what do I tell Mom?" her brother asked, impatiently.
"About what?" Lita asked, confused.
"About the teleporting!" James cried in frustration.
"Oh, umm," Lita thought quickly.  "Tell Mom that we'll teleport 
straight to Earth, and that we can find dresses from there.  Okay?  I 
have to go, but see you there!"  Before her brother could poke any holes 
in her explanation, she disconnected and turned her communicator off.  
Then, she went off in search of Rei.
	As she rounded the corner, she bumped into her, and said, "Did you 
hear?" 
	"Yeah!  The palace ball couldn't have come at a better time!" Rei 
agreed enthusiastically.  "What did you tell your mom?"
	"Oh, it was my brother, and I told him to tell Mom that we were 
going to teleport straight here, and that we could find dresses.  What 
did you tell your mom?" 
	"I told her that we'd decide what to do, and then I'd call her 
later.  Should I call now?" Rei asked.
	"Yeah, and after that, turn it off.  That's what I did," Lita 
replied. 	
	"Okay," Rei agreed, and she went off to contact her mom.
	"Lita, we convinced her!" Anya cried happily as she made her way 
towards her group. 
	"You WHAT?  Omigosh, I never thought that that would happen.  Aw, 
man.  This means that I have to do it too, doesn't it?" Lita asked, a 
fake grimace on her face.  
	"Mm-hmm," Anna reassured Lita.  In response, Lita groaned.  
	"So, what are you guys waiting for?  Let's get going!"  Anya said, 
beaming.
	"How, exactly, are we supposed to dance for money?" Ami asked, 
skeptically as she fingered her bright red gypsy skirt.  
	"I don't know," Anya admitted, a bit sheepishly.  "I guess we just 
dance.  You know, like gypsies do."  
	"Well, that's helpful," Rei said, a bit sarcastically.  Jana 
nudged her in the side, and Rei muttered an apology.  
	"Does anyone have a tambourine?" Lita asked.
	"Why would-" Jana started, but she was cut off by a blaring voice 
coming from the town square.
	"COME TRY YOUR HAND AT THE GAUNTLET!  HE WHO WINS RECEIVES A KISS 
FROM THE QUEEN!" 
	Serena colored angrily, and said, "What if it's a she?" 
	"Uh-oh," Mina groaned.  "You aren't seriously going to do that, 
are you?  You could so get hurt!"
	"No I won't!  You know that any of us could beat that thing any 
day!"  Serena said, obviously referring to their Scout training.  
	"So?"  Rei asked, her grey eyes clouding over with worry.  "You 
know you shouldn't do that!"
	"And why shouldn't I?" Serena asked defiantly. 
	"You know EXACTLY why you shouldn't!" Rei replied, hotly.  
	"I don't care!  I want to show these stuck up, sexist yuppies what 
girls can do, and no one's going to stop me.  Is that clear?" Serena 
took on her princess, I'm-in-charge voice that she didn't use often.  
All the Scouts bowed their heads slightly, and Anna was shocked at their 
sudden submission. 
	"Serena!  You can't do this! PLEASE!" Anna pleaded.  
	"Why not?" Serena asked, lifting her chin obstinately.  Her dark 
green eyes glittered with antagonism.  Her whole stance just seemed to 
scream, "Just try to change my mind!"  
	When Anna didn't reply, Serena nodded.  She quickly lifted her 
skirts and ran towards the gauntlet.  The Scouts groaned, but followed 
their princess, leaving Anna alone to wonder where their senses had 
gone.  She then sighed and followed Serena, too.
	When she reached the square, her jaw dropped in amazement.  She 
had never seen the gauntlet before, and the huge contraption looked like 
a killing machine!  Razor sharp knives swung back and forth, hissing 
hideously.  Wooden beams popped up from the ground, catching full grown 
men and throwing them effortlessly to the ground.  Serena's going to try 
to run through this death trap of axes and knives and swords?  Anna 
covered her mouth, and whispered, "Oh, Serena.  What are you doing?"
	The other Scouts found Anna standing in the middle of the square, 
and Charma hurried over to her.  Laying a comforting hand on her 
shoulder, she said confidently, "Don't worry.  Serena can do it.  It's a 
piece of cake for her.  I promise."
	"But, how-" Anna stuttered.  She was cut off as Serena and her 
competition stepped up onto the ledge.  "Omigod!"
	"What?" Charma looked to where Anna was staring.  "What is it?"
	"She's running- Serena's running, omigod, she's competing against 
the Prince of Earth!"



To be continued...