--Author's Notes at Bottom-- IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ THIS!! This story is a SERIES. Which means there are more chapters before this one! You can start here, I can't stop you, but you will be confused, I can promise you!! The story, in order, goes as follows Don't Let Me Go: Broken Promises Don't Let Me Go: Insanity Don't Let Me Go: Roses Don't Let Me Go: Apparition Don't Let Me Go: Debauchery Don't Let Me Go: Analogous Don't Let Me Go: Barrage Don't Let Me Go: Crystallization And this week - the final chapters - Don't Let Me Go: Eternity Oh! Please, please don't go screaming away and not read it ::sniff:: I promise the first couple of chapters aren't *that* long... ::sniff:: ^~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Don't Let Me Go: Eternity Chapter 1 By: Bethany and Patch Rated: PG Editor: Meara Email: (insert a hint here) Bethany212@aol.com and Patchkhan1@hotmail.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~ The girls sat around a floor table, each with a piece of paper before them. Ami leaned back, palm top in hand and sighed heavily. "I think we covered it all. I have checked Internet site after Internet site and we have listed every possible thing that we will need for a baby shower for Usagi." "I really want Usagi to have a large baby shower," Rei commented, also leaning back on the floor. "Her wedding wasn't as large as she hoped. And, at least we know it will be a girl." "That's not completely true.." Setsuna remarked, causing all the girls to look at her. "Now wait just a second!" Minako raised a fist in the air. "Chibi-Usa is Usagi’s only child, ne?" Setsuna closed her eyes, as if asking for guidance from some unknown force. Slowly she began speaking. "I have told you girls, the future is not set in stone - it could change." "Are you saying it might not be a girl?" Makoto inquired, looking at the list in front of her with a gleam in her eye. "Or that Chibi-Usa is not Usagi's only child?" "...I can't say," the Guardian of Time responded evenly. "Then that means that Chibi-Usa is her only child, right?" Haruka insisted. "Perhaps... but I can't say otherwise," Setsuna replied, her mind coming up with quick, painless ways to get out of this conversation. It would take only a thought to open a portal into the Corridor of Eternity that housed the Timegate. Doing one of her disappearing into thin air tricks seemed pretty appealing at the moment. The small clicking noise from the opposite side of the room came to a halt, followed by Ami lifting her mini-lap top up and giving an, "AH HA!" causing everyone around Ami to looked at her in surprise. "The chances of Usagi-chan having any other child, at this time, besides Chibi-Usa, are slim to none! Unless Chibi-Usa lied about her age when she came to the past. She didn't look a day over seven to tell you the trut--" "She was 903," Michiru stated softly. "NANI?" Minako slammed her hand down. "Oh dear," Ami sat down and re-opened her laptop, erasing all the calculations she had done over the last half hour and starting over again. The small Senshi of Saturn had a way of unobtrusively placing herself where she would be out of the way of the others. But this time, she slowly came out from behind Haruka and cleared her throat. "I believe yellow is a good color to use if we are not sure." "Yellow?" Rei spat. "That's a girly color." "I think it should be pink and blue and yellow, that way we cover all the bases," Haruka inserted. "If blue is boy, pink is girl... what is yellow?" Makoto asked, her eyes crossing. "Well, I want to use pink and get it over with! There is no *proof*," Minako insisted, looking towards Setsuna who was now backing slowly away from the group. "That it will not be a girl." "Okay, all in favor of pink - say 'I'," Luna suggested. "I!" shouted all of the room, with the exception of Setsuna. The tall, elegant Senshi of Pluto quickly took a couple more steps back and turned on her heel. "I think I should go.. to the party store and buy plates and a cake, drinks; you know?" Minako gave a halfhearted grunt before turning back to the table. "OH! And Setsuna-san? Pick up one of those diaper cakes while you're out!" "No!" Makoto intervened immediately. "Just pick up the stuff for one, I can make it!" Rei groaned and looked at the list of games in front of her. "So, has any of you been to a baby shower? How do you play these games?" "It looks easy enough," Michiru commented, looking at the instructions that Ami had printed off the computer. "Look at this one!" Makoto pointed to a game. "We should practice this, I don't believe I have ever changed a diaper in my life!" The girls decided to try the games out, so after acquiring a baby doll, a newborn sized diaper (from the package Rei had bought for Usagi); Ami got out her stopwatch and set the timer. "Okay, you have one minute to put the diaper on the doll." Minako gulped and looked at the doll before her. It always looked so easy on TV.. "Go!" The other girls watched in awe as Minako opened the diaper and studied it for a second. After seemingly figuring out which end went where - she placed it on the doll. "Stop!" Ami walked slowly towards where Minako sat, a doll in her lap and sweat dripping off her forehead. "That was intense..." she commented, handing the doll to Ami for inspection. A sweat line appeared on Ami's forehead as she turned the doll over in her hands. "Eh.. Minako-chan? I think the velcro straps are suppose to go on the outside." "Minako-chan no baka!" Rei huffed, taking the doll from Ami and removing the diaper. "Let me try this." Ami reset her watch and looked up at the determined face of Rei. "Okay. Go!" Rei stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth, determination etched in her features. The rustling of the diaper soon turned to the sound of ripping then on to the sound of Rei cursing under her breath. "Stop!" Ami walked pensively over and picked the doll up, shaking it slightly to get rid of the pieces of cotton coming from the holes that had been punctured in it. As she turned the doll over, a small grin of amusement came to her lips. "Rei-chan? Now, don't get me wrong, I haven't done this much myself. But I think that you have some how managed to put this on upside down." "What? How?" Michiru took the doll from Ami and inspected it. "Rei-chan, there were already places for the legs, you need not made some." She giggled lightly and removed the mangled diaper. "Ami-chan, time me?" Ami nodded and again set her watch. "Go!" A pin could have dropped in the room and made an echo from the vast and uncomfortable silence. Every female in the room watched in pure awe as the Senshi of Neptune gracefully placed the diaper on the doll and strapped it. Forty-five seconds later she held the doll in her arms for them to see. "Wow Michiru-san, I'm impressed!" Minako nodded and studied the doll. "How did you do that?" "Well, we did raise Hotaru from a baby; I have had some practice," she giggled, laying the doll down. "Cheater," Rei mumbled unhappily. "What is the next game on the list?" "Okay, this one is where you put a blind fold on, put a plate on your head and try and scoop cotton balls from a bowl and place them on the plate on your head," Haruka explained, looking strangely at the paper in her hands. "What is the point of this?" Most of the girls shrugged while Makoto and Hotaru set out to find the supplies needed. A few minutes later Haruka sat in a chair, a blindfold over her eyes and a paper plate strapped to her head. "Now, I'm going to hand you the spoon and put a bowl of cotton balls in your lap. You have to scoop them up and place them on the plate. You have one minute," Minako explained, handing a tablespoon to Haruka. "Can't I use chop sticks?" Haruka asked. "No, this is supposed to be more fun!" Makoto answered. "Now.. go!" Haruka successfully placed the spoon in the bowl and carefully scooped it into the cotton balls. A few seconds later she started moving the spoon towards her head; empty. Carefully and very slowly she brought it to her head and dumped the 'cotton ball' on the plate. ~~ "Stop!" Ami called and Haruka dropped the spoon. Makoto moved forward to take the bowl of cotton balls as Haruka removed her blindfold. "See? I told you it was a piece of cake.." her voice trailed off as she saw the cotton balls lying on the floor around her. Slowly she reached up and placed her hand on the plate - bringing one cotton ball down. "Who took the rest of my cotton balls off the plate?" All the girls giggled. "You only got that one to your head," Michiru pointed to the pile of cotton balls on the floor. "The rest never made it." Grumbling, Haruka got up from the chair and sat back down at the table. "I still think you cheated." Her eyes wandered back down to the list of games on the paper. "Let's try this one, I bet I could beat you all at it!" Everyone sat at the table, a piece of paper before them that said 'Usagi Mamoru' at the top. "Now, you are suppose to see how many baby items you can come up with out of the letters of the parent's names in two minutes. Ready?" Ami prompted. Everyone nodded and Ami set the timer. "Go!" Setsuna opened the door slowly and entered the room quietly. The first thing that caught her attention was how all the girls seemed to be working very hard on something. The next thing she noticed, however, were the cotton balls and pieces of plastic laying on the floor. I do not want to ask, she thought and set her bags down on the floor. The beeping of a stopwatch caused all the girls to put their pens down and sigh. "Stop!" Ami said, swatting at Minako's hand that still held a pen. Minako looked sadly at her blank paper. In that entire two minutes, she could not make one single thing concerning babies out of those letters. She decided they should have used their last names as well. "What did you get?" Ami asked, looking at the others. Everyone shook their head, showing empty papers. Except Haruka. "I got one," she stated proudly. Ami looked at the names again and then up at Haruka. "Really? What was it?" she inquired, impressed. "Gas." "Nani?" Rei asked, everyone's faces turning red. Holding her paper up, she repeated. "Gas, right there! Babies have a lot of gas, don't they?" Her reply was a lot of groaning. ___________________________________ Setsuna sat there and wondered why she had no memory of these things happening. Were other disaster could be coming that she didn’t remember? After a moment, she dismissed that idea. No, she decided as she watched the others huddled together in a frenzy of pre-natal activity, I must have blocked this one incident out. There are some things too horrible to contemplate for too long. Happy with her conclusion of events; she once more ventured into the kitchen where Ami, Makoto, Minako and Haruka were. Now, she never thought she would see the day that Haruka was so interested in a baby shower - among other things - but there the Senshi of Uranus was; sitting on the counter watching the girls with a keen eye. "I say four layers." "Minako-chan, we don't have that many diapers." Makoto pointed to the small package of diapers on the counter and sighed. "It will have to be three." "Where’s the flour and sugar - and eggs, where are the eggs??" Haruka asked, searching the counter for anything pertaining to a cake. "It's not made of cake," Ami explained. "It just looks like one, see?" The petite girl held up a picture of a cake shaped...object, that had baby bottles, binkies, rattles and the like attached or sat in it. "You make the main part from rolled up diapers, then wrap receiving blankets around it and finally you place all the baby items inside and around it. It's very cute." "And very expensive," Rei noted, walking in the kitchen with a receipt. "Why did you have to buy peanuts, Minako-chan?" "I was hungry?" "An extra large jar?! That was my money you were spending so graciously!" Rei fumed, ripping the receipt in half. Minako slowly backed up, twisting her hands nervously in front of her. "Can we say it was for a good cause?" Before Rei could explode, a bell rang. "Oh no! It might be Usagi-chan! Quick! Hide everything!" Makoto yelled, shoving diaper bags, bottles and bibs in cabinets and drawers. Everyone managed to stuff everything away and all run to the hallway outside the kitchen, the door slamming behind them. "Wow minna! I didn't know you all wanted to see me so badly!" Hotaru giggled; watching all the girls loose the 'innocent' smiles and head back towards the kitchen. Michiru and Hotaru followed shortly, and watched with amused smiles as the girls pulled everything from their hiding places. "Eh, minna?" Minako said in one of her I-done-something-stupid-and-I'm-going-to-be-killed voices. Rei thought for sure that Usagi's spirit had invaded Minako. For there the girl stood with a melted bottle in her hand. "You put the bottle in the oven?! You baka!" "Now Rei-chan," Minako giggled unconvincingly. "The apple doesn't run far from the tree." Everyone in the room looked up, puzzled, along with Artemis groaning. "It’s 'fall' Mina, 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!' And what does that have to do with anything?" he sighed and buried his head in his paws. Before Rei could reach out and grab Minako's neck, Hotaru stepped between them. "Rei-chan, don't. It's just a cheap bottle we can get more. We can't replace Minako-chan if you kill her." "Who said I wanted her replaced?!" Rei bellowed, once again grabbing for Minako. This time Haruka and Michiru came between Minako and imminent death. "Rei-chan, you seem kind of stressed out about this whole baby shower thing, why don't you take the afternoon off, ne?" Michiru softly suggested. After a little more convincing, Yuuichirou was persuaded to take Rei out to dinner, leaving the rest of the girls working on the mysterious diaper cake. ~~~ "I don't get it, how is this blanket suppose to stay together?" Makoto grunted, tying a large knot in the back of the 'cake'. "According to the picture, it just folds down some way," Ami showed the picture to Makoto. Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna and Hotaru sat at the table watching the scene unfold. For more than two hours Makoto had been working on the diaper cake - and had yet to get past the bottom layer. "Just.. a.. little.. tighter.... AHH!" Makoto, along with the rest of the girls, jumped back as diapers flew everywhere. "Damn it!" Hotaru pulled an unrolled diaper from her head and handed it back to Minako. "Is there anything else that needs to be done before tomorrow?" she asked. "We have the decorations, the real cake, presents, games.. I can't think of anything," Ami listed, her mini-lap top open in her hand. "Perhaps we should just buy a diaper cake, Mako-chan?" Hotaru suggested softly. Makoto groaned and wiped the sweat from her forehead before turning around. "Why?" she asked through gritted teeth. "I am a master baker! I can make any cake!" "But Mako-chan," Minako pointed out. "This isn't a cake that you bake." Minako's eyes grew huge as she suddenly found Makoto leaning over her, a fist in her face. "Are you saying I can't put some diapers together and call it a cake?!" Minako gulped while weighing her options. One - say yes and be killed. Two - say no and be a coward. The latter was looking pretty darn good at the moment. Luckily for the blonde Senshi, she didn't have to answer. Haruka did it for her. "Well, so far you haven't made much progress... " "NANI?" Makoto lunged across the room, her hands wrapping around Haruka's neck. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Taking the opportunity to actually get anywhere near the 'cake', Ami looked at the paper and then looked at the diapers. Her eyes lit up as she started rolling the diapers together. Michiru and Setsuna finally pried Makoto's hands away from Haruka and sat her down. The taller girl bolted out of her seat and back towards the counter; and that's when she noticed it. Ami grinned happily as she turned around, a four layer diaper cake in her hands; ready for the decorations. "ARGGGGG!!!!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~ **An hour, two four foot ropes and some pepper spray later** ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hotaru scooped up the bags of decorations and motioned for Michiru to follow her. "While all of you do the rest of the food, we'll decorate!" she called, walking out the door. The two started down the hallway when suddenly Hotaru stopped. "Michiru-mama, hold on a second, okay?" Michiru barely had time to blink before Hotaru shoved the bags in her hands and walked down the opposite hall. A few moments later Hotaru returned, dragging a very reluctant Shingo with her. "Come on! You don't want me to climb up on a chair and fall trying to do the streamers, do you?" she pleaded, her violet eyes getting watery as she looked at her boyfriend. "Demo Hotaru, you have fought lots of enemies, died and been reborn, I'm sure you can climb in a chair to hang streamers," he protested. "Shingo!" she replied, stomping her foot. "Don't make me use my Silence Glaive!" Michiru giggled to herself as Shingo started walking towards her, a look of defeated on his face. "Women," he mumbled as he took the bags from her. "Can't live with them and don't want to face the Silence Glaive if you refuse them." Following behind was Hotaru, smiling happily. -End Chapter 1. Wellll.... there it is! What did you think? I had tons of fun writing this ^_^ My cousin had a baby shower the weekend before last, that is where the idea for this came. My mother, sister and I was in charge of getting ready for it and it was very.. interesting to say the least ^^;; But it got me thinking what could happen if the senshi were to give a baby shower... hehehe (insert evil grin here) DOMO arigato to everyone emailing us!!! **HUGS** You guys are the best ^_^!! Huge thanks to our editor, Meara, for all her help, spelling etc ^_^ *hugs* So we have 3 more chapters to go before this story is said and done - *covers eyes from the light at the end of the tunnel* I almost was begining to wonder if we would finish it ^^; Next chapter - be ready for a big surprise - but that's all I'm saying *shh* ^~ Email! Email!! Email is GOOD. Email is GOOD. *brings out her watch* You are getting very sleepy... very sleepy.. ..... you will email us! you will email us! now, when I snap my fingers, you will open your eyes and Email us!!! ;) Okay.. okay.. corny, I know - but I want mail, what can I say? >_< Bethany212@aol.com and Patchkhan1@hotmail.com <3 Bethany and Patch http://www.geocities.com/Palla_Palla_Play_House http://anime.at/bethsere