Author's Notes at Bottom This story is a series.. bla...bla... you have heard this how many times? ^^;; ~~~~~~~~ Don't Let Me Go: Eternity Chapter: 3 By: Bethany and Patch Rated: PG Editor: the wonderful, Meara ^_^ Email: Bethany212@aol.com and Patchkhan1@hotmail.com ~~~~~~~~ 9:42p.m. The moon's rays filtered through the sheer curtains, casting a white glow over the room, almost giving it an unreal quality. Slowly Chiba Usagi, Queen of the Earth and Moon, groaned heavily. "Pleeeease!! Chibi-Usa, I beg you to go to sleep!! Mama needs sleep too, ya know!" The answer was the giggling of the two year old as she ran across the nursery and woke her sister up. "No! Chibi-Usa! Onega--" "Mama up?" Kioko looked up from her toddler bed and smiled happily at her mother. "Ohayo Mama!" Usagi buried her head in her hands. "Sleep, that's all I ask for." Mamoru walked back into the room, rubbing his hands over his face. Blood shot eyes looked at his wife. "Go to bed, I can handle them." "Mamo-chan, every guard in this palace couldn't handle them," she deadpanned. "True, Love, but I'm their father - they will listen to me." "Oh?" Usagi rose from the rocker she had slept a few hours in and walked to where her husband stood. "You're their father, ne? They will listen to you, ne?" An audible gulp sounded in Mamoru's throat. "Hai," he started nervously. "I can handle them." "Then. You. Go. Right. Ahead." Usagi punctuated every word by poking Mamoru in the chest. "*Poppa*." He nervously turned around and saw nothing but the innocent smiles of his little girls. They can't be that bad, he thought, his expression softening. Usagi must have been exaggerating. He walked up to the girls and picked up Chibi-Usa. "Ne, you two, it's time to sleep. It's late and you guys need your sleep." "Iie Poppa, we need a bedtime story first!" Kioko said brightly... with every trace of sleep wiped from her eyes. "Demo... didn't Mama read you guys one already?" "Hai!" Kioko chirped. "But we want another one!" Chibi-Usa chimed in. "The one about Sailor Moon!" "Another one? Well, okay, but you two have to get into your beds first." "Poppa has to pick me up!" Chibi-Usa cried from his feet, her arms raised up. Mamoru did just that and when he had placed her in her bed, he turned around... to find Kioko at his feet. "Poppa has to pick me up too!" "But... weren't you in your bed already?" "Poppa has to pick me up too!" the little girl repeated. It was at that grateful moment that the nursery door opened once more, a petite girl coming through. "Oh! Your Majesty!" Momoko greeted him brightly. "You are up late." Grunting, Mamoru swung his head around and looked at the girl. "I haven't been to sleep since nine o'clock, p.m." "The girls went down at eight, doushite?" Momoko asked innocently. An almost evil gleam came into the King's eyes before he dismissed it and shook his head. "The girls thought that an hour was long enough to sleep. How long are they napping for?" "Well, yesterday they slept from two until five-thirty." Mamoru was for sure his eyes would pop from their sockets. "They.. they slept that late and for t-t-that long?" he asked incredulously. "Hai Mamoru-sama. Is.. that bad?" Momoko inquired, tilting her head to the side and moving her hand to make one of the girls stay in bed. "Bad. Bad? I.." Slowly the King gathered himself together and plastered a bright smile on his face. "It's okay, really. Just, please, from now on - nap them from twelve until two, okay? No later, I *BEG* you." By the end of his statement, he looked more like a man on the verge of hysteria. "Oh Kami, I need a vacation," Mamoru mumbled, heading out of the nursery. Outside the door, Venus snapped her fingers together and grinned. "Hai Mamoru-san, that is just what you need." Slowly Minako tilted her head to the side. "And I know how to get it for you." She quickly ran towards Rei's room. This called for a Senshi meeting... one without Usagi. The next morning, Usagi turned in her sleep to avoid the bright rays of the sun. Suddenly she stilled. Bright rays? Of the *sun*? Her eyes shot open. She was always up before the sun even had a chance to show itself. So what was she doing in bed... with the sun quite high in the sky? She realized that her husband also lay sleeping next to her. What was *he* doing still in bed? She leaned up on one elbow and shook him... roughly. "Mamo-chan," she hissed. "What are you doing in this bed?" Mamoru peeked one eye open warily to look at his wife. "Am I not allowed to sleep in here anymore?" he asked drowsily, slowly closing his eyes. "No! Not in this time of day! It's probably late morning by now!" There was a moment of silence and then Mamoru shot up. "Late morning?! That can't be possible! We're up before dawn! It can't be late morning." "Well look outside baka o' mine," Usagi said dryly, gesturing to the balcony windows. "The sun is awfully bright for the mornings dawn." "Kami... the twins!" They looked at each other and then quickly scrambled off the bed. Mamoru strode to the door and pulled it open... well, he tried to. "It's locked!" he yelled, pulling at the knob. "Nani? That's not possible!" She came to stand next to him and then began banging on the door. "Someone let us out!" Mamoru helped her and together they hollered for someone to let them out. "It's your day off!" came a muffled voice suddenly. "Nani?!" They both asked. "I said, it's your day off, you two need a day off!" Usagi realized it was Makoto's voice and ordered her to open the door. "Mako-chan, there is no such thing as a day off in our lives right now. The girls need us, unlock this door!" "And we have other responsibilities that must be attended too," Mamoru added. "All the more reason for you guys to have a break!" "Mako-chan, if you don't open this door, I swear we'll find other ways to bust through," Usagi answered threateningly. The couple heard a sigh, then a click and was pleased to see the door swing open. "Thank Kami you came to see reason," Usagi said as she walked past the other girl, "we simply would not have been able to stay in there." As Mamoru and Usagi walked away, Makoto watched them go. "That's why you're not going to stay in there," she whispered mischievously and then flipped out her walkie-talkie. "Ne, just like we expected. Plan A did not work. It is time to move on to the real thing... Plan B." Down the hall, Minako and Haruka each picked up a twin, Hotaru grabbing the diaper bag. The three snuck through the halls like thieves in the... day. Michiru took the piece of paper from her pocket and laid it on Kioko's toddler bed, then proceeded to follow the other three Senshi. ~~~ "Shimatta!" Mamoru growled, reading the note again. "Ne?" Usagi walked over and found the diaper bag to be missing as well as the girl?s sandals and some of their favorite toys. "King and Queen of Earth, you have hear by been ordered to take a relaxing vacation. Do not worry about the twins, they are in the capable hands of the Senshi," he read aloud. "Capable?" "Ordered?" Mamoru looked at the note again, as if to be sure he wasn't seeing things. "They can't order us!" "It would seem as if they did," a female voice came from the double doors of the nursery. Slowly Ikuko walked in, a pleasant smile planted intractably on her face. "And if I were you, I would enjoy it instead of fighting it." "Demo," both parents said at the same time. "But what? I know if someone had insisted on taking you and Shingo off my hands, you wouldn't have heard a word of complaint from me!" Ikuko pointed a slender finger at her daughter. "Queen or not, you still need relaxation like every other human being young lady, now shoo! Go!" "But Kioko.." "They have her allergy medicine," Ikuko stated. "And Chibi-Usa.." "They took her stuffed horse! Don't worry so much Mamoru, they will be fine!" Ikuko pushed them out the door. "Enjoy!" The nursery door slammed behind them with a thud. "Well, what do we do without our kids?" Usagi asked, leaning against her husband's arm as they walked down the hall. "Oh.. I can think of a thing or two.." he winked, picking Usagi up and carrying her in the bedroom. ~~~~~~ A giggle. Another giggle. Then a long silence. Hotaru was on cloud nine and working her way up to cloud ten when suddenly Shingo broke their kiss off. "Nani?" she asked, still slightly dazed. "Did you hear something?" "No, why?" she asked, pulling him closer. "Because I thought I did," he answered. "It was nothing. Now, weren't you busy?" "Hai..." he grinned, pulling her to him again. "EWWWWWWWWWWIE!" Hotaru and Shingo pushed away from each other and stared down at the origin of the sound. Two sets of pink haired girls with red eyes and watermelon dresses stared back at them. "EWWIE! Shingo-oji* put his tongue in Hot-chan's mouth! EWWIE!" Chibi-Usa covered her eyes as her sister made a gagging sound. "We telling Mama on you!" Kioko announced, turning on her heel and running, Chibi-Usa following closely behind. Shingo ran his fingers through his blond hair. "Oh boy, we will *never* hear the end of this..." Shortly after, Setsuna and Haruka ran past the two. "What are you doing?" Haruka demanded. "Never mind that," Setsuna countered immediately. "Have you seen the twins?" "H-hai," Shingo answered, forcing the blush from his face. "They went that way." "Arigato!" Setsuna called, pulling on Haruka's arm as she glared at Shingo. "I?ll want to know later what you were doing!" Haruka's voice drifted back to Shingo like the voice of doom. Hotaru pulling on his hand brought him back to reality. "C'mon! If we find the twins first, maybe we can bribe them!" Kioko looked out from behind a bush. "Chibi-Usa, come! We have to find Mama!" Silently the two two-year-olds ran in the opposite direction of the Senshi. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Mmm, it's been far too long since we've had some time alone," Usagi said happily, snuggling her head against Mamoru's chest. "Hai, I guess we should be thankful for the Senshi's intervention. If they hadn't interfered, we would have never had this..." he hauled her up to kiss her and then continued, "?wonderful afternoon." "Only an afternoon?" she asked teasingly. "I think we're supposed to have the whole entire day to ourselves." Her hand began to trace patterns on his chest and Mamoru caught it and then interlaced his fingers with hers. "Oh, I think we can arrange that. I have no problems with that," he replied grinning, bending his head toward hers. "Neither do I," she answered, smiling, her eyes closing. They inched closer together, their breathing intermingling and then... *BAM* The doors of their bedroom were flung open and the couple opened their eyes in startled surprise. "Mama!" "Poppa!" *Groan* Usagi tucked the sheets around her as she and Mamoru sat up against the headboard. Seconds later, their two children bounded onto the bed, giggling, their shiny hair bouncing every which way. Kioko climbed into her father's arms and Chibi-Usa went to her mother's. "Where are the Senshi, sweetheart?" Usagi asked her little daughter whose eyes were positively gleaming with mischief. But Kioko interrupted her sister before she could even speak. "Shingo-oji put his tongue in Hot-chan's mouth!" the little girl exclaimed. Chibi-Usa, who immediately forgot her mother's question, joined in. "Hai, they were acting just like you with Poppa!" She said, pointing her finger at Mamoru who had closed his eyes and laid his head back against the pillows. Usagi looked at him and saw a suspicious red creep up his face. She suppressed her smile and turned to look at her daughters. "Now that wasn't very nice. How many times have I told you two that you are *not* supposed look in other people's business?" "Add in knocking on doors before entering," Mamoru added, his eyes still closed, a hand raised to press against his forehead. "Hai, that too. You two will have to be punished the next time," Usagi said sternly. "Demo..." "We were only playing hide n' seek..." "With Ruka-chan and Set-chan!" Before Usagi and Mamoru could come up with something to say to their daughters, a loud bang outside the hall caught their attention, followed by the sound of Hotaru's sneakers as they squealed to a stop on the marble floor. "AH HA!" she shouted, a fist rose in the air. "Shingo! I found them!" "Where?" came the male voice from down the hall. "In... eh.. your sister's bedroom!" "SHIMATTA!" ~~~~~~ * oji means "uncle younger than one's parents" *ducks flying object and tries to get her explanation in for taking so long in updating this story* AHHHH! Okay... *whew* ^^;; My computer go kerplunk... meaning I had no access to my files. Well, back in the day when I thought Packard Bell was going to fix it at a descent time, I was just going to wait it out and then finish. But then they took forever and ten years.. - so we rewrote this chapter for you all ^_^ Next week is the FINAL chapter! I PROMISE it will get out unless something awful happens to me. And for all of you all that were thinking of killing me.... I can't finish if you do that ^_~ HUGE thanks to all of you all that have emailed us and kept with us through the delay in finishing this up **HUGS** Look Raven! No coughs and colds for Bethany ^_^ Email us!! Bethany212@aol.com and Patchkhan1@hotmail.com <3 Bethany and Patch