Curiosity Killed the Senshi

Annika, Rune, Yuki, Minae, Xarae, Lys, Rene, Ippin, Kairi-chan, Koumi, and Nami, in their normal forms, sat together at lunchtime in the Jedi Temple. They all seemed to be looking at the same thing, some wearing confused and curious faces, while others appeared unfazed. Rene, in particular, had a face that reflected curiosity and just a touch of worry.

What they were staring at was a table quite a bit away, where a girl with a long, brown braid was talking to a very handsome boy with black hair that had green highlights. Both seemed to be getting along very well with each other, and it was apparent that their conversation was interesting to both.

A girl with icy blue hair noticed the expression on one of her friend's faces, and, after swallowing a bite of her lunch, asked, "Hey, Rene, what's wrong?"

"Oh, it's Chouko, Yuki. She can't flirt, can she? She isn't even born yet, for Force's sake! I haven't even met her father yet!" Rene said. "I should be the first to know about this kind of thing. I don't want my future daughter to be heartbroken or hurt." She narrowed her eyes at the boy.

"Well, just because she isn't technically born yet doesn't really affect much. I mean, Sutaru has a boyfriend, and she won't be around for a long time!" Nami said. She took a sip of her drink. "Besides, she doesn't have to go yelling at the top of her lungs that she does or doesn't have a boyfriend, am I right?"

Four of the other girls murmured in agreement. Koumi grinned mischievously and giggled to herself.

"Why're you giggling, Koumi?" Kairi-chan asked.

Oh... nothing.... nothing at all, Koumi mindspoke with an innocent grin on her face, hiding something. Kairi-chan gave her a strange look. Really. It's just all this curiosity about others. Curiosity killed the cat, you know.

"You're lucky Solai isn't around to here that." Kairi-chan said, smiling.

"I wanna know the truth," Annika said, a look of resolution on her face. "We're a group! We should at LEAST know if any of us are in love!"

"I agree," Lys stated. Annika looked surprised.

"You agree with me, Lys?" Annika asked. "I didn't think we'd agree on ANYTHING after the whole chair fiasco."

"Well, I'm your daughter... future-wise, anyway. We have to be alike SOMEHOW," Lys explained. Annika nodded.

"Love conquers all." Xarae said. "It's a very important thing, secret or not. Besides, they could just be talking."

The Sailor Jedi stopped and thought for a moment. Just then, a small pink kitten strolled up to them with a yawn. "Hey, all. What's up?" the kitten asked in her typical high voice. "Nothing like a good sunbath to relax you."

All of the girls, with the exception of a still grinning Koumi, simultaneously pointed at the table, which was now empty. Looking around, they saw that Chouko and the boy were now finished with their lunch, and with a wave, the two parted. The boy walked out with a few other Padawans, while Chouko seemed to be on the way to the Room Behind the Waterfall.

"Was she flirting?!" Pinku spluttered. "I am Chouko's guardian cat, and I will not have her flirting with anyone!!"

"That's just it! We don't know," Kairi-chan said, exasperation in her voice. "And keep your voice down, will ya? What would the Padawans think of a pink, talking kitten?"

Minae looked up from Pinku's spot on the floor, where the frustrated kitten was obviously restraining herself from tearing off from the spot and reprimanding Chouko. Minae looked around the table and counted the number of senshi again... Something was wrong... "Hey, everyone, where's Annika and Rune? They were here one minute... but now... it's like they've just disappeared!"

Everyone else looked around the table before shrugging. A look of realization dawned on Rene's face, and she stood from the table. "Well... I gotta go. I'm gonna... um..." she looked down at Pinku. "Give Pinku a bath! That's it!"

"SAY WHAT?!?!" Pinku exclaimed, her voice reaching an unpleasantly surprised squeal. Without another word, Rene grabbed Pinku and walked briskly away. "Not a bath! No! I'm a kitten! I HATE water! Nooooooooo...." The 'no' was drowned out by what sounded like a muffle as Rene walked around some Padawans.

The other senshi stared at the spot for a minute before returning to their lunch. Kairi-chan looked up again, her eyebrows furrowed. "I'm... gonna go help Rene... sounds like she could need some help 'washing the cat.' " With that, Kairi-chan walked off, obviously confused as to why someone would VOLUNTEER to give a cat a bath.

Lys also stood up. "They're gonna wash a VERY unwilling pink kitten, huh? This I gotta see." She walked off. "Hey, Kairi-chan! Wait up!"

The remaining five sweatdropped. "Who else thinks this day is gonna be long and very memorable?" Yuki asked. Xarae, Ippin, Nami, and Minae all raised their hands. Koumi's grin had subsided, and she now had an expression of secretive knowing about her.

Secrets are fun, Koumi mindspoke to herself.

"OW!!! Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!! Annika!! That WAS my foot!!" Rune exclaimed while hopping up and down. She held her left foot in her hands as she bounced around, howling "ow!"s constantly.

"Hush!" Annika exclaimed as she yanked Rune to the ground. They were hiding out in the Room of a Thousand Waterfalls, hoping not to be noticed by anyone as they hid in the watery shadows and nearby water plants that grew to the side of one particularly large waterfall. "Do you want anyone to HEAR us?" Annika whispered.

"No..." Rune said, massaging the tip of her left foot.

"Good. Now, you know we have to wait until we definitely know where we can find someone with the right information," Annika stated.

"Okay... but does that give you the right to kneel on my feet?" Rune said, giving Annika a slightly peeved look.

"If injured feet mean we're on our way to uncovering the truth about all this and having our curiosity satisfied... then... yes," Annika said, smiling. Rune raised an eyebrow at Annika and just shook her head slowly.

"I'm bored." Annika muttered. Rune was braiding some long, slender leaves of some water plants in a distracted manner.

"Can we go now? My butt's all wet from this waterfall," Rune stated.

Annika opened her mouth to speak, but sounds of several people yelling were heard. The two bored girls' attention spans were snapped back into focus, and they waited for whatever had made the sounds.

A pink blur zoomed into the Room of a Thousand Waterfalls and ran around. It sounded like it was screaming, "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!! NO BATH!! NO!" Annika and Rune's eyes widened as they saw Rene, Lys, and Kairi-chan come in, chasing the pink blur.

"Hey.. is that Pinku?" Annika whispered to Rune.

"Uh... I think so. It looks like a very quickly running, agitated, and unwilling Pinku, but... Pinku nonetheless," Rune said.

"Oh, come on! Pinku stop!" Rene yelled.

"No! Baths are evil! I'm a kitten, I should know this kind of thing!" Pinku exclaimed.

"Oh, how? Water isn't evil!" Lys protested.

"YES IT IS!!!" Pinku shrieked. "Haven't you ever seen "The Wizard of Oz"?! Water equals EVIL!!"

"Pinku!! Just slow down at least!" Kairi-chan demanded. However, Pinku ran through a nearby waterfall, shouted in surprise at the water, and continued running.

As she ran through the waterfall last, Lys questioned, "What's 'The Wizard of Oz'?"

Annika and Rune stared in disbelief at what they had just seen. "We will forget this ever happened, okay?" they said at the same time. Sinking back into their hiding place, they were ready for another long wait.

So, you really like Raeil, don't you? Koumi asked in mindspeak as she and Chouko walked entered the Room of a Thousand Waterfalls.

Chouko sighed. "Uh-huh. He's just... wonderful. He listens, he cares, he's been giving me the basics about the Force... and his eyes are to die for!" She giggled a little. "Plus, he heard me speaking Japanese, and he wants to learn it. It's really fun how awkward he is at it. He's getting the hang of it, though... slowly, but he's getting the hang of it."

He's teaching you a bit about the Force? Now don't go stealing my mindspeak way of communicating! Koumi mindspoke with a smile.

"Don't worry. If I never exercise my voice, I'll never be able to sing professionally." Chouko scratched her head. "That is if I ever figure out how that works here."

There's N'aboo. They're singers "here," Koumi mindspoke.

"Er... no. I don't think that counts. They were born in this galaxy."

Well, technically, weren't you? I mean, your mom-in-the-future is Rene and she was born in this galaxy. It'd make sense if you were born here too, you know.

Chouko frowned. "I don't know. I was born on Earth, but apparently I was born here too... in the future, of course."

Hm. Past lives are weird, huh?

Annika and Rune were napping in the waterfall's shadow as Chouko and Koumi approached. One of Annika's eyes slowly opened, and she snapped awake when she saw them. "Rune! Rune, wake up!" she said, shaking Rune.

"Five more minutes..." Rune grumbled in her sleep.

Annika shoved Rune hard and whispered, "We won't get a better chance than this! Wake up!" Rune awoke, and gave Annika a ticked-off stare. Then, she noticed Chouko and Koumi walking up, not noticing the curious and hiding Annika and Rune as they talked.

At the same time, Annika and Rune stood up from their hiding place and said, "Hey, Chouko! We've got a question!"

Rune turned to Annika. "I wanna ask her!"

"Me!" Annika exclaimed.

"Me!" Rune countered.

"Me!!!" Annika yelled.

"No! Me!" they said at once, getting into a small shove-fight. Eventually, they both lost their balance and landed with a loud SPLASH right into the very waterfall they had hid nearby. Both of them continued to shove for a minute, before the fight dissolved into a laughing splashing contest.

Koumi and Chouko stared at the two who were now splashing water at each other. Synchronized, Chouko and Koumi each raised one eyebrow.

Completely mental, Koumi mindspoke as she and Chouko walked away quickly from the splashing Rune and Annika. They've gone beyond nuts.

"I couldn't agree with you more," Chouko said, knowing that whatever Annika and Rune had wanted to ask was now forgotten for the time being.

"GOT HER!!" Kairi-chan exclaimed, clasping her hands around Pinku. "Aha! Now I finally get to find out why in the world someone would even WANT to give a kitten a bath!"

"Awww... dog spit! Now I havta take a bath!!" Pinku whined. "I dun wanna take a baaaath!"

Rene and Lys ran up to Kairi-chan. They'd been chasing that little pink fuzzball for the better part of the day, and Lys was just as curious as Kairi-chan as to why they even bothered. In fact, they had chased her from the lunchroom, through the Room of a Thousand Waterfalls, through the Room Behind the Waterfall, back to the Room of a Thousand Waterfalls, and finally to the grounds of the Jedi Temple. Rene smiled. "Y'know, Pinku-chan... you are a very useful kitty."

"No no no no no no no no! No bath, no!" Pinku spluttered.

"No, we aren't going to give you a bath," Rene said, smirking in a way that screamed that she knew something nobody else did.

"You're not?" Lys, Kairi-chan, and Pinku all chimed at once. Kairi-chan's voice seemed even MORE confused, Lys' was slightly disappointed, and Pinku's was brimming with hope.

"No. We aren't. That was just a distraction," Rene said simply. "This is all going according to my plans."

"You mean to tell us we've been chasing this kitten around all day... for no... good... REASON?!" Kairi-chan exclaimed.

"No, no! Far from it!" Rene said defensively. "It was just to give us an excuse to snoop."

"Uh... huh..." Lys muttered.

"Then why did you wanna scare the fur offa me??" Pinku asked as though she was hurt.

"It was just because some of the other girls think we should leave well enough alone. Well, not me! Chouko is my daughter in the future, and if she's in love, I should know it!" Rene stated.

"Right. Uhm... then... couldn't you just ask her?" Lys asked. "'Cause she's right over there." Lys pointed to two figures who sat under a tree watching the sunset, one with a recognizable braid.

Kairi-chan, Rene, and Pinku's jaws dropped in sync. "Well... what're the odds of that?" Pinku muttered.

Just as they were about to approach the two, a loud, "Heeeeey!!!" sounded out. The three turned to see Yuki and Xarae dragging a soaked Annika, Ippin and Nami pulling an also-soaked Rune, and Minae walking nearby, looking as though she could burst into fits of uncontrolled giggles if she was given the chance. Koumi was leading them.

"Wow," Lys muttered, looking at the soaked Annika. "Future-Moms are weird."

"Hey..." Rene said.

Well... this is certainly interesting, Koumi mindspoke. May I ask you three... Pinku mewed. Oh, sorry. May I ask you FOUR what you are doing?

"I was just about to ask that myself," Chouko said. She stood up with the other figure and walked up to the group of girls. The other figure was the boy they had seen in the lunchroom. Upon a closer look, he appeared to be around fourteen years old. He had raven-black hair with green highlights and crystalline green eyes, and he was very handsome for a fourteen year old teenager.

"Thanks, Koumi, but I can take it from here." Chouko smiled to Koumi.

Of course, Koumi mindspoke back. It's just some people can be SO nosy. She looked at Rene, Lys, Annika, Rune, and Kairi-chan.

Chouko turned to the boy. "Raeil, these are my friends. Yuki is the one with blue hair, Xarae is the one standing near Yuki, Annika is the wet one held by Yuki and Xarae, Rune is the other wet person... You two will HAVE to tell me about that later," she stated. "Ippin is the girl with orange hair with red tips, Minae is the one with light brown hair, Nami is the one with the striped blue hair, Lys is the one with the really short hair, Rene is the one with the pink and purple hair, and Kairi-chan is the one with the Gungan-like hair. You met Koumi when you first met me." She sighed afterwards. Pinku mewed in an urging way from Kairi-chan's hands. "Oh... and that's my kitten Pinku." Chouko leaned close to Pinku and whispered in the kitten's ear, "Ix-nay on the alking-tay around Aeil-Ray, okay?"

The boy smiled, and it seemed as though that smile was so mind-numblingly cute, it could make you forget to breathe. "Konnichiha," he said, struggling to pronounce the word right.

"You speak Japanese??" everyone but Chouko and Koumi asked.

"Well... not really. Chou-chan's been teaching me. I'm Raeil Sepheus from Alderaan, and any friend of Chouko's is a friend of mine," the boy said, bowing a little.

"Nice to meet you, Raeil," everyone except Koumi chorused again.

He seems like a nice boy. I don't have anything to worry about, Rene thought to herself.

"Sorry I can't stay, but my Master wanted me back before the sun went down entirely," Raeil said. "I'll see you tomorrow at lunch, Chou-chan?" he asked.

"But of course, Raeil!" Chouko said happily. Raeil smiled that melting smile again and kissed Chouko on her cheek. "See you, then!" he ran off in the direction of the closest entrance of the Temple, looking back occasionally. Chouko felt her face go beet red as the rest of the senshi stared at her.

"Chouko's got a boyfriend! Chouko's got a boyfriend!" Pinku sang. Chouko sweatdropped and gave the kitten a noogie.

That's that, then! Koumi mindspoke to the rest. Chouko likes Raeil, and Raeil likes Chouko, now... leave the girl alone!

"It's okay, Koumi," Chouko said in a dreamy sort of way. "But... I don't think I'll ever wash my cheek again." She sighed in a wistful way.

"Well, I think it'd be a good idea, unless you wanna get a zit, or something." Pinku said. Chouko snapped out of her dream-state and whacked Pinku with her braid while the rest of the senshi laughed.

So, that's how curiosity killed the senshi... or at least embarrassed some of them.