Aiko's Fall Spectacular

Kalei made himself comfortable on a large, flat rock in a partially-hidden nook in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Though half-hidden, it wasn't unknown, particularly to the Sailor Jedi who lived in the secret Room Behind the Waterfall not far from that large, flat rock. Chouko had deemed it an ideal place to read her morning manga; and sprawled out on the rock behind her, Kagerou colored intently.

"You don't mind if I join you on this rock, do you?" Kalei asked as he flipped through his book to find where he'd left off.

"Nope," Chouko said cheerfully without glancing up. Kage-kun reached for a vivid green crayon and carefully filled in the bold outline of the starship he was coloring. A few minutes later, he moved on to a smiling pilot. Chouko closed her manga and excitedly pulled another from her blue shoulder bag, decorated with colorful butterflies cut from assorted patterns and fabrics. Before it felt like any significant time had passed, Kalei realized he'd already read two chapters. He didn't know it, but that would be the most he'd read all day.

Suddenly, there was a series of splashes nearby, and then a young girl's bright voice. "Daddy!"

Kalei looked up to see his future-daughter, Aiko, climbing out of a nearby fountain that several gentle waterfalls trickled into. She skipped over and hoisted herself up onto the rock, spraying everyone whenever she moved one of her dripping wet blonde ponytails. Kagerou, panicking somewhat, sat up and tried to move his coloring book where it would be safe, but soon realized that was an idle dream. "What are you doing?" she asked, wringing out her skirt.

"I'm reading," Kalei said. "What were you doing?"

"There's this really cool snail at the bottom of that fountain!" she announced, clapping her hands quietly while she said it. "It's like... it's red and it's orange and it's blue and it's yellow and it's... it's green I think. I tried to pick it up but it stuck itself to the bottom. I bet it could walk on the ceiling! Wow! I wish I was a snail!"

"You jumped into the fountain to see a snail?" Chouko asked, reluctantly lowering her manga.

"Yep! You wanna come see it?"

"Maybe later," she said.

"Daddy, do you want to see it?"

"Not right now, love."

Aiko turned her brown eyes to Kagerou, whose own dark green eyes widened as he hugged his coloring book and used his feet to scoot himself back, as close to Chouko as he could get. "Do you wanna see it, Kage-kun?" she asked.

"No!" he said immediately, having learned that Aiko had a habit of grabbing his arm and dragging him away without waiting for an answer.

"Oh, okay," Aiko said with quiet surprise. She looked back at the fountain she'd just climbed out of and stared thoughtfully before whipping her gaze back to Kalei. "Do you think Sai would turn me into a snail?"

Kalei raised an eyebrow, still attempting to read. "Probably," he said, resisting a smile. "I kind of like you as a girl, though."

Aiko considered that, then turned to Kagerou again. "Kage-kun, do you think I should become a snail?"

Kagerou stared at her for a moment, then looked up at Chouko, who was trying not to giggle too much at the expression on his face. Finally, he grappled for the nearest crayon and bent into his coloring book on the driest part of the rock. "I'm coloring," he informed her as an answer.

"Ooh, can I color with you?" she asked, clapping her hands again.

He glanced sideways at her from behind his scribbling crayon. "Do you have a coloring book?"

Aiko frowned. "No," she said, drawing her knees up to her chin and toying with the buckle on her shoe. She sighed as Kagerou colored, Kalei read, and Chouko went back to her manga. She looked from face to face to face, not liking that they were all turned away from her. "What are you reading, Daddy?" she finally asked, with uncharacteristic shyness.

He blinked up from his book and gave her a quizzical look. He reached one arm around her small shoulders and pulled her closer to him, despite her wetness. "I'm reading about the history and culture of the native tribes on the forest moon of Endor."

Chouko suddenly laughed. "Hehe, this manga's so funny," she muttered.

Aiko hesitated. "Will you read to me?" she asked.

"I'd love to," he said. "What do you want me to read to you?"

"That."

"This?" Kalei asked, pointing at the book in his hand. Aiko nodded. "Are you sure? I mean... you might find it a bit... boring."

"I want to hear what you're reading," she insisted. "Just because I'm only six doesn't mean I don't want to hear about the forest tribes of the moon's history."

"Okay," Kalei shrugged. " 'The majority of the sentient population on this moon is comprised of the race known as the Ewoks. The Ewoks build their dwellings high in the forest trees (see figure seven-thirty-six b), and are overall an innovative, constructive, and spiritual people. As for their view of outsiders, Ewoks tend to be wary; however, there are as many reports of cordial welcome into Ewok communities as there are reports of hostile encounters.' " He looked down at Aiko's face. "Are you okay?"

"Yep," she said.

"Do you understand this?"

"Mm-hmm," she said, nodding quickly. "But, um... are there any pictures of Ewoks? I've never seen one."

"Well yeah, there's one in here," Kalei said, thumbing through the portion he'd already read. "Right there."

"Oh!" Aiko grinned. "It's cute! Kage-kun, look at the Ewok!" The little boy peeked over his coloring book till he could see the picture, and then descended into it again without a word. "Keep reading, Daddy," Aiko said, rapidly tapping his hand around her shoulder.

"Okay," he said, going back to the page they'd started on. "This section is called 'The Clan System and Daily Life in Present Ewok Society'..."

Chikako left the Room-Behind-the-Waterfall wearing a comfortable khaki dress that swung loosely around her knees and a pair of brown, lace-up boots that almost reached its hem. She had a brown leather belt around her waist with a few items and storage pouches clipped to it, but most of that was hidden under a bulky brown button-up sweater. As she walked passed, she glanced curiously at the big rock where Kalei, Aiko, Kagerou and Chouko were sitting, engrossed in their various quiet activities.

"Oh, you're here again," she said to Kalei. He winced. Chikako bit a fingernail. "Oh, I didn't mean to sound -"

"My dad is allowed to visit me whenever he wants," Aiko announced.

"I didn't mean -"

"It's okay," Kalei said. "Where are you off to? Uh, if you don't me asking, I mean-"

"No, I'm just going to drop this off." Chikako reached into one of her sweaters roomy pockets and pulled out a small package. "Maiko left her favorite leggings here, so I'm going to send them to Alderaan." She returned the package to her pocket, leaving her hand there with it. With her other hand, she started toying absentmindedly with her hair, pulled tightly into two very short braids over her ears. "Then I'm going to spar with Koumi-chan-sensei."

Kalei glanced over his shoulder at Chouko for an instant, as she'd made an unusual noise, probably in response to Chikako's linguistic contortionism. "That sounds productive," he said, turning back to Chikako.

"Yes, I'm going to be a powerful Jedi," she informed him, shoving her other hand in her other pocket.

He followed the movement of her hand as it slipped down her sweater into her pocket and then looked over the rest of her outfit. "Standard Jedi robes have a changed a bit since the last padawan walked past this rock," he said in Aiko's ear.

"Mommy's not 'standard,' " Aiko answered, turning pages in Kalei's book and searching for more pictures while his attention was elsewhere.

Chikako ignored both comments. "So... what are you guys doing?"

"Reading," Aiko said. "We are reading about the seasonal festivals and rituals common in Ewok culture."

"Sounds fascinating," Chikako smiled.

"It is," Kalei assured her.

"Why are you all wet, Aiko-hime?"

Her eyes widened and she sat up as she remembered her exciting discovery. "There was a SNAIL! Do you wanna see it?"

"Not right now," Chikako said. "I'll be late."

"Okay," Aiko sighed, slouching back onto Kalei's chest. Chikako waved to them and began walking away. "Wait, Mom!" Aiko called, jumping off Kalei's lap and running after her.

"What is it?"

Aiko motioned for her to come closer, and Chikako bent down so the first-grader could whisper in her ear. "I'm gonna tell you something later, okay?"

Chikako laughed. "Okay."

"Okay," Aiko said, and ran back to the rock. "Okay, read," she commanded Kalei.

He smiled and shook his head as he began. " 'One of the largest and most cherished of the Ewok celebrations is the Great Autumn Festival. Nearly every sociologist and anthropologist who studies Ewok culture is quick to point out the peculiarity of this phenomenon. Many cultures have important festivals near their world's autumnal equinox, usually celebrating the harvest; it's the fact that the Ewoks are a hunting and gathering society and have no real harvest in the fall that makes them unique. Some scholars say the significance attached by the Ewoks to their Great Autumn Festival possibly indicates a period in the past when Ewoks may have depended more on agriculture. Most anthropologists, though, agree that while there is some archeological evidence of this, most signs point to...' "

"The festival starts on the twelfth night after the Ewok shaman declares the tallest 'Lifetree' in their city has started changing color," Aiko told Sai as the two girls walked through the garden where the former had found the latter playing with her pet frog, Kentucky. Well, Sai walked through the garden, aside from the occasional hop over certain stones she'd declared 'unlucky' in the path through the garden; Aiko generally skipped, copied the hops, and ran in circles around Sai while she talked excitedly about the Ewok Great Autumn Festival. "All of the Ewoks spend that day piling up wood and preparing food," she continued, stopping to pet Kentucky on the head, "and they've been preparing the food all week. And at sunset, the leader of the festival blows a big horn and they light the bonfire! They have the hugest bonfire in the entire galaxy I think! It's so big!" she exclaimed, holding her hands over her head and jumping to give her friends some idea of just how big this fire was. "And then, they eat the food they made all day and all week and the weeks before that!" Her voice had grown higher in pitch as her excitement rose, and now she had to take a deep breath before starting all over in her normal voice.

"Do they roast marshmallows?" Sai asked.

"Yes!" Aiko exclaimed, despite the fact that she had no idea what marshmallows were.

Sai sensed this, and decided to test it. "Do they roast... elephants?"

"Yes!" Aiko exclaimed, even more excited. "Marshmallows and elephants and everything you can imagine! Except gross stuff. But wait till you hear about the rest of the Festival! It's two weeks long, you know! Two weeks, isn't that a long time?!"

"Yes," Sai agreed, holding her wand by her nose and winking one eye as she aimed it at a nearby shrub. The shrub turned from pale purple to fluorescent pink. "How's that, Kentucky?" she said in a low voice.

"Oh my goodness oh my goodness!" Aiko squealed, jumping up and down at an inhuman pace and nearly fainting from the excitement. "You turned it pink! Oh my goodness Sai you turned a tree pink! Oh my goodness!"

"What's the big deal, Aiko?" Sai asked, putting her hands on her hips. "You know I'm magic!"

"Oh my goodness I have an idea!" she grabbed Sai's arm and forced her to jump up and down, too. "I have the best idea in the world; it's the best idea I've ever had and it is the best idea!"

"What is it?" Sai asked, growing impatient when Aiko stopped squealing unintelligibly and started breathing for the first time since the tree had turned pink.

"It's the best idea," Aiko repeated, panting and still jumping. "We can have a Great Autumn Festival here! We can be just like the Ewoks and we can have a festival here right in the Room of a Thousand Fountains and... and..."

"How we gonna do that? It's not fall."

"You can make it fall!" Aiko announced, throwing her arms out in both directions. "You can turn the whole Room of a Thousand Fountains fall colors! And you can be the Ewok shaman and declare when the festival is going to start because you can make the first tree change color, and I'll be the festival leader and blow a big horn!"

"That would take a long time!" Sai exclaimed. "This is a really big room!"

"But you can do it, right?" Aiko said. "Or, or, or you can just make it cold in here! Yeah! You can make it cold and the trees can start changing color by themselves!"

"I could do that," Sai said, putting her finger to her mouth as she thought about it. "Yeah, all I'd have to do is find the temperature control thingies and... make them not work anymore! That would be easy!"

"Yay! Let's have fall!" Aiko shrieked, jumping and clapping. "We're gonna have a Great Autumn Festival! Oh wow, we better learn Ewok songs! Do you know that music is very important in Ewok culture?"

"Aiko, they're not gonna let us have a fire in here!" Sai suddenly realized. "Not a big giant fire, at least. What if we burned down the Temple?"

"We won't burn down the Temple," Aiko assured her, but she stopped jumping and looked a little worried. "They won't, will they?" she said reluctantly. "At least not the kind of fire I want. Hmm. What are we going to do? We have to have a fire."

"I don't know," Sai said, furrowing her brow and twirling a stray lock from her disheveled ponytail. "Well, we can ask. Or we can just do it and hope we don't get in trouble." She looked at Aiko, who was frowning, and lightly punched her arm. "Don't worry!" she said with a wink. "We'll figure something out."

"Okay," Aiko said, smiling again. She reached up on top of Sai's head and pat the frog that was sitting there. "We'll figure something out. Right, Kentucky?"

Sai giggled. "Okay, now where was that really cool snail?"

One of the first things the girls did was gather support for their cause. "There's even more that I didn't tell you, Sai," Aiko said when they, along with Aisu, Hisako, Chakra, Niji, and Kleppa, were gathered in an impressive tree house in an obscure corner near the top of a high waterfall in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Rumor had it that some students at the Temple had built it years ago, but had grown out of tree houses. Aisu had found it during a game of hide-and-seek, and it was considered one of the most important discoveries ever among the smallest chibis. "See, the Ewoks sing and dance around the bonfire every night of the festival, but a lot of stuff happens in the daytimes too, besides eating. For example, the seventh day of the festival is Gift Day." Aiko giggled a little and bounced in her seat on the floor. "Everybody makes gifts for everybody they love and they give them on Gift Day, all day long, people just give gifts to each other. And it's really fun! And there's also Game Day, and a special Singing Day even though they sing all the time, and a special Hunting Day but I don't really want to do that because then we'd have to make traps and spears and it would be even more songs to learn, because they have hunting songs too!"

"The problem is," Sai interrupted, "we have to have a super big bonfire, but we asked on the way here and your mom -" she looked at Aisu and Hisako "- said No Super Big Fires in the Temple."

"Plus, where would we get the wood?" Hisako wondered.

"I think I can make a big magic fire without wood," Sai said, tilting her head as she thought about it. "Oh! I wonder if it would be okay if we just made a magic fire, not a real fire?"

"We wouldn't burn down the Temple that way," Aisu said. "Do you know how bad it would be if we burned down the Temple? I think we would go to jail for ninety-eight years and then they would finally let us out but only if we promised never to burn anything down and by then I would already be born and then there would be two of me and everything would be messed up all because I burnt down the Temple! Now I see why Mom said no fire!" she said, looking at her sister.

"Look!" Sai said, pointing her wand at Aiko. A small fire suddenly started burning on her head.

"Wow!" Aiko exclaimed, trying to look at the top of her own head. "I'm on fire! And it's not hot! Wow!"

Sai giggled and turned off the fire.

"That will be great!" Aisu decided. "I'm sure they'd let us have a magic fire that didn't burn stuff up. I'm sure they would because there's no reason not to if it doesn't burn stuff up."

"Especially if it burned right on Aiko's head and she didn't even say it was hot," Hisako added. "Ooh! I bet if all of us came back with fire burning on our heads they'd for sure let us have a fire when we have our Autumn Festival!"

Kleppa suddenly started laughing. "Sai, please make my head catch on fire!" she begged.

"No," Sai said. "It might scare everybody and make them mad at us and then they wouldn't let us have an Autumn Festival."

"We have to have an Autumn Festival!" Aiko said, widening her brown eyes.

"We will!" Sai assured her. "Okay, now, Aisu and Hisako, you guys ask your mom and dad if we can have a fire that doesn't burn; Chakra, tell Nom to start making lots and lots and lots and lots of food -"

"Lots and lots and LOTS," Aiko threw in.

"Yeah, and I'll start turning it Fall, and Aiko, find out what else we need, and everybody make sure you tell everybody that we're going to have a Great Autumn Festival and everybody has to come -"

"Everybody!" Aiko interjected.

"And it's going to start in twelve days from today!" Sai announced, pointing her wand at the tree their tree house was built in. With a soft bang, every leaf on the tree turned from bright green to a deep, vibrant sunset red. "Ta-da!"

"It's fall!" Aiko sang, swinging out of the tree house with the others close behind. The six girls jumped right into the waterfall - it was a tried and tested one - and landed with giggles and splashing in the pool far below. From there, they floated down a small creek and under a footbridge into a small pool that emptied itself out with a quiet trickle of a waterfall into another pool below, which was destination to several other quiet trickle waterfalls. The girls jumped down one by one. "Don't forget to look at the snail on the bottom," Aiko reminded them before she herself went over with the gentle stream of water dripping into the lower pool.

"You're all going to get pneumonia!" Chikako yelled teasingly, smiling as she walked back towards the secret entrance to the Room Behind the Waterfall with Koumi. Her skin was still flushed from her all-day workout; seen not only on her face, but her bare shoulders, now that she had her brown cardigan wrapped around her waist.

"We're gonna get new what?" Sai wondered when she surfaced. Chikako just laughed and disappeared behind the waterfall.

"Oh, darn, I wanted to show her my snail!" Aiko said, smacking the water when she remembered.

Sai quirked an eyebrow and produced her wand.

Chikako screamed when water suddenly poured onto her from nowhere. Koumi, though she'd already gotten splashed, stepped away from her. "What happened?" Annika asked, looking up from the candy she was organizing by color on the floor of the main living room in the Sailor Jedi lair.

"Oh, you got the carpet all wet!" Kairiku said. "You have to clean it, Chikako!"

"I am certainly not doing it again," Nom said, not looking up from the cookbook she was critically scanning. She took a pencil and began making adjustments to various recipes, crossing some out entirely.

"I didn't do it!" Chikako squealed, wringing out her braids.

There's something on your nose, Koumi said, taking another step back.

"On my nose?" Chikako went cross-eyed in her attempt to see what Koumi was talking about. "What is it??!"

Kairiku stepped cautiously forward, glancing up in case another invisible bucket of water decided to overturn. "It's a snail!" she cried.

"GET IT OFF!"

"It's kind of a cool one," Kairiku said, looking closely but making no attempt to remove it.

"KAIRI-CHAN! GET IT OFF!! KOUMI!"

Koumi stepped even further away and finally plopped onto the couch.

"ANNIKAAAAA!!!!!"

"I'm eating," Annika pointed out, rolling her eyes. "I can't touch a snail!" She plucked a candy from the carpet and popped it into her mouth.

"NOM! SOMEBODY!"

Just outside the slightly cracked door, the guilty culprits were doubled over onto the floor as a result of their attempt to laugh without making any noise. Chikako turned around slightly, almost looking right at them. The actual sight of the snail on her nose made things twice as hilarious for the girls. "We should probably go back to the tree house for a while," Sai whispered when she'd stopped laughing long enough.

"Right," Hisako said. "She's armed."

The girls took one more look at Chikako, burst into another fit of giggles, and sprinted back to their secret tree house.

When she thought it was safe again, Aiko knocked on Chikako's bedroom door. It slid open right away, and she found her mother sitting cross legged on her bed with her journal. Ari-Forbee was right next to the bed chattering like a squirrel and balancing a tea cup.

"Wow, are you going to bed already?" she asked, noticing Chikako's blue flannel pajamas printed with tiny yellow daisies.

"Soon," she said, looking down to redo a daisy-shaped button that had slipped out of its hole. "I worked hard today."

"Oh," Aiko said, climbing up next to her.

"Oh, and I think I met your snail," Chikako smiled.

"What snail?" Aiko blinked, then laughed once Chikako did.

"So what's up?"

Aiko bit her lip, and Chikako reached for her teacup. The droid's volume increased for a second until Chikako thanked him. "Do you like Dad?" Aiko finally asked.

Chikako stopped her cup halfway to her mouth and Ari sounded a low whistle. "I - I - Sure, but my number one priority right now is to fight evil," she nodded determinedly. The droid made a sound that resembled human snickering. Aiko frowned.

"You can't fight evil and like Dad at the same time?"

Chikako glared at her. "Do I like your dad in the future?"

"Yes," Aiko assured her, sitting up on her knees and shortening the distance between their faces. "You like him a LOT."

"Then what are you so worried about?" Chikako said, finally bringing her teacup to her mouth. Aiko didn't respond, and she slowly sipped her hot drink while the little girl traced the contour of a rose on her bedspread.

"When you do like a boy, how do you get him to like you back?" Aiko asked suddenly.

Chikako almost baptized her journal in chamomile tea when she realized the conversation wasn't about her. "Boy?" she said, struggling to actually swallow the liquid in her mouth. "You like a boy?"

"I didn't say that," Aiko said. "I just wanted to know in case I... ever do."

"Right," Chikako said. "Well, I'm afraid I can't help you much. When I like a boy, I usually just buy a lot of newspapers or popsicles or flatbread or whatever he happens to be selling. It doesn't really work."

"Daddy likes you," Aiko said.

"Yeah, well," Chikako looked at her without turning her head to face her, "I didn't have anything to do with that!"

Aiko touched the green jewel on Chikako's left hand. "Xanthus liked you."

Reflexively, the blue-eyed senshi withdrew her left hand and tried to hide it under her right as she hastily tossed her teacup onto Ari's top casing. "I didn't have much to do with that, either; but I wouldn't really recommend a boyfriend like that anyway."

"Why not? Because he fought against you with Cyrus? I guess that wasn't very nice. You're right, he wasn't a very nice boyfriend. But he gave you that ring, didn't he?"

"Yeah," Chikako sighed shortly. She looked like she was going to say something more, but just shook her head instead of talking.

"Mommy, can I tell you a secret?" Aiko said.

"Sure."

Aiko leaned up and cupped her hands around Chikako's ear, whispered her secret, and then bit her lip, waiting for a reaction.

"You like Kage-kun?" Chikako said out loud.

Aiko's eyes went wide as she clapped her hands over her mother's mouth. "Oh no!" she wailed as the droid beeped wildly. "Ari's gonna tell! Why'd you say it?"

"Ari's not gonna tell!" Chikako said, pulling Aiko's hands off her mouth. "And nobody would understand him if he did!"

"What if they did?" Aiko cried.

Chikako looked at her droid. "No telling, Ari. It's highly classified information to be accessed by no one but Aiko-hime and myself. Got that?" The droid somewhat reluctantly beeped its assent. Chikako turned back to her future-daughter. "Happy?"

Aiko looked anything but happy. "Mommy, I don't think he likes me!" she said in a trembling voice, waving both hands frantically.

"Oh, Aiko," Chikako groaned, dropping her head into her hands. "You require far more energy than I've got."

"What am I gonna do?" Aiko wondered.

"You're going to go to bed and think about silly things like boys in the morning," Chikako said.

"But - but - but - I don't think he likes me! I have to do something! What can I do?"

"You can go to bed and think about silly things like boys in the morning," Chikako repeated, waving her hand slightly this time.

"Okay," Aiko hopped off the bed and hurried to the door before stopping suddenly and turning around. She squinted her eyes and pointed at Chikako. "That is not nice, Mom," she said. "You promised you wouldn't do that to me!"

"When did I promise that?!"

"In the future."

"Go to BED!" Chikako whined. Aiko, pausing briefly to stick her tongue out, finally did.

The next morning, Aiko waited impatiently outside Kirin Yukiko's bedroom door. "Yes!" Hisako cried as soon as the door closed behind her and her sister.

"What'd she say?" Aiko asked eagerly. "Did she say yes?"

"Yep!" Aisu said, clasping her hands together. "She said as long as the fire doesn't burn and it was just a magic fire and wouldn't hurt anyone she didn't see any reason why we couldn't have a fire somewhere in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, but she would like it better if there was a grown-up there too."

"Well of course there's going to be a grown-up there," Aiko said. "Everyone's gonna be there! Okay, we better get to work!"

So Aiko and her friends spent the next eleven days - whenever they weren't in lessons, of course - preparing for the Great Autumn Festival. They recruited whoever was available to help them cook goodies for the festival, they reminded the older senshi about it at every opportunity, they sat in their tree house practicing Ewok celebration songs, and they made what they needed for Gift Day. Aiko was a little worried about finding a big horn in time for the first night of the Festival, but Sai discovered that she could easily turn a tiny lilac blossom into a giant purple bugle. When the day finally arrived, Sai and Aiko made final preparations while the Kirin-Skywlker twins and the other little chibis ran around making sure everyone knew where to be at "sunset."

Yoda, wearing his winter robe, walked along one of the mid levels of the Room of a Thousand Fountains with his fellow councilor, Mace Windu. "Scheduled to be Fall now in this greenhouse is it, Master Windu?" he said, surveying the patchwork of deep red, golden-orange, and bright yellow that had taken over the lush green that formerly covered the giant Temple greenhouse.

"No," Mace said, shaking his head solemnly. A smile played on his lips as he paused to watch the crystal blue waterfalls sparkle down between the vivid explosions of color that had affected every photosynthesizing tree in every garden and every park of the enormous room. He couldn't resist swinging his foot through a deep layer of crunchy, wide brown leaves that had gathered on the path. "It's rather nice, though."

"Mmm," Yoda agreed, and they walked on.

Chikako walked into the kitchen with pomegranate on her mind and found Aiko at the table with Kalei, telling him all about the great festival they were going to have. "You're here again!" Chikako said. She blushed and hit her head with her hand. "Oops. Can I try that again?"

Aiko and Kalei watched curiously as she backed out of the kitchen and out of sight, then walked in again a second later. "Hi Kalei, nice to see you again," she said.

Kalei acknowledged her with a half-smile and turned back to Aiko, though his eyes often darted over to where Chikako was hunting through the refrigerator. "Damn!" she suddenly interjected during Aiko's recitation of the Ewok hunting song that she didn't have to learn but did anyway. "Annika ate the pomegranate again!"

"Aww, Mommy swore!" Aiko whispered.

"How do you know it was Annika?" Kalei asked.

"I can just sense it," she claimed, pushing the fridge closed as she spun around and faced them. "It's, like, my special gift through the Force or something," she said, motioning with her hands. "Plus the fact that she ate the last pomegranate and the one before that and the one before that. And the one before that, she shared, but only because I hunted her down."

"Maybe you should buy your own pomegranates," Kalei suggested.

Chikako gave him a look like he was being absurd, when Annika suddenly walked in. Chikako's hands went to her hips. "And then there's the fact that her fingertips are dyed purple!"

"What?" Annika asked, turning on the sink to wash her hands. "I'm going to make some tea; anyone else want some?"

"Sure," Chikako said, flopping into a chair. "I suppose it's the next best thing to a pomegranate."

"Oh, I just ate one!" Annika said. "It was really good!"

Chikako shot a smug smile in Kalei's direction. "Like I said."

"I'm sorry, Aiko-hime," Kalei said, finally turning his full attention back to her. "What was that song again?"

"Ok, from the beginning? Listen to this, Annika! It goes: oodi ra ba na da toobi fa jagala da -"

"Aiiii!" Annika suddenly squealed, interrupting her again. "There's a mouse in the cupboard!" she jumped back, dropping the box of tea she'd just taken down.

"A mouse?" Chikako groaned.

"Gah! It's coming after me!" Annika cried, backing right up against the opposite wall. As soon as she ran into it, with a thump, a small brown fur ball sailed out of the cupboard toward Chikako. "Oh my, it's on your head!" Annika said.

"What?" Chikako squeaked, shaking her head to try and get it off, but it didn't budge. "Help me!"

Aiko gasped and leapt over the table towards her mother. "Honey Pie!" she squealed, standing up on Chikako's lap.

"What's she doing?" Chikako asked.

"Eh, she seems to know the mouse," Kalei said.

"It's not a mouse," Aiko giggled. "It's Honey Pie! My pet!"

"Get your pet off my head!" Chikako demanded.

"Come on, Honey Pie," Aiko coaxed. "You know she doesn't like you."

"Exactly," the fur ball said in a high pitched voice.

"Oh great, it talks," Chikako lamented. "Just what we need!"

"She's my guardian," Aiko said defensively, holding out her hands for Honey Pie to step into. "I don't know why you don't like her. Dad likes her."

"I do?" Kalei asked.

"Yep," Aiko said, climbing off Chikako's lap. She set Honey Pie down on the table and everyone leaned in for a closer look at the little creature. She didn't look much like a mouse at all; she had large black eyes, soft brown fur, long pointed ears that stuck up, a collar of fluffy white fur, and a puffy tail with a white tip. She was about three inches high and sat on her hind legs like a cat. "What took you so long?" Aiko asked her. "I thought you were supposed to come back in time the same time I did?"

"I was," Honey Pie said, sticking her chest out and her nose up. "But Mademoiselle Sailor Yavin was paying so much attention to you, Princesse, zat I was lost in ze time and space continuum," she said dramatically, and sniffed. "Thankfully, I ended up in a nice place called Paris. When Mademoiselle Sailor Yavin finally remembered me, she was again not quite careful enough and opened ze time gate in a cupboard. I nearly starved in zere!"

"Yeah right," Annika laughed, pulling a chewed through box of crackers out.

"Zose biscuits were much too stale," Honey Pie scoffed. Annika shrugged and tossed them into the trash chute.

"Oh, Yay! Honey Pie, I'm so glad you're finally here!" Aiko said, gathering the little animal into her arms and squeezing.

"Why did you need to bring your pet to the past with you?" Chikako wondered.

"I am not just a pet, Madame - I am ze Princesse's guardian!"

"You?" Chikako grinned, sizing her up.

"Oui," Honey Pie said, her black eyes sparkling. From that, Chikako sensed she'd probably be better off not to press the issue.

"I'm going to my room," she announced, pressing her palms onto the table top and rising. "I promised Ari I'd take him for an oil bath."

"Don't forget about the festival!" Aiko called after her. She looked at Kalei. "She won't forget, will she?"

"I'm sure she won't," he said.

Aiko turned to Honey Pie for her opinion. "Madame may need to be reminded," the guardian said sweetly, her black eyes flickering to Kalei for a moment to read his face for disapproval. But since he'd only just met Honey Pie, he didn't yet know enough to disapprove.

Aiko giggled knowingly, setting her guardian right on top of her honey-blonde head. She told Kalei she'd see him later, gave Annika a spontaneous hug and reminded her of the Festival, then ran straight to her room.

Kalei looked at Annika and shrugged. She giggled and sat down at the table. "I think Honey Pie is adorable!" she said. "I wonder why Chikako doesn't seem to like her?"

"I don't know," he said. "She likes everyone - except me, and sometimes Aiko."

"Oh, she does too like you," Annika said, rolling her eyes. She laughed again at the skeptical look Kalei shot her, but insisted. "I can tell! I'm empathic!" she announced.

"All right," he conceded.

"Hey, do you want to share a pomegranate?" Annika offered, popping out of her chair and opening the fridge, reaching far into the back behind a box of mysterious leftovers and pulling out a brown paper bag. "You just have to promise not to tell Chikako where I hide them!"

"I have so many sings zat I want to do!" Honey Pie declared when they were safely behind closed doors. "I had forgotten zat Monsieur does not know us here. We will be able to get away wiz so much more!"

"Honey Pie," Aiko warned, grinning in spite of herself.

"Just because he looooooooooves her so much, does zat mean zat I must not play any itty bitty jokes on Madame?" Honey Pie lamented. "Monsieur is so kind and so sweet, but he is much too protective of Madame!"

"He just knows that she doesn't like you," Aiko said.

"I simply do not understand zat," Honey Pie said. "Now, how do we remind Mommy about ze... what is it?"

"It's the Great Autumn Festival!" Aiko announced, bouncing on her bed. "It's going to be so wonderful and everybody has to come! It starts tonight!"

"Magnifique!"

Aiko gasped. "I've got an idea!" she said, running to her bright red cabinet for construction paper and crayons. "I'm going to make signs and you're so little you can sneak into her room and put them everywhere! I'll distract her for you! You can stick them in her books and under her pillow in case she takes a nap and to her mirror and in her jewelry box and on her dresser and Oh! You can tell Ari that he has to start beeping very very loudly right before sunset comes so she remembers!"

"Zat is good," Honey Pie said, nodding as she thought it over and silently made her own adjustments to the plan. Aiko sprawled out on her floor and got to work, carefully printing time and place with a thick crayon on each bright sheet.

Chikako sat on her bedroom floor with her legs spread out in front of her and a thick catalog centered between her knees. "I want that in my garden," she said, pointing to a picture of an ornamental sundial carved with beautiful Flussian-style designs. She flipped the page and saw a large, intricately-woven wicker trellis. "Oh, and my dad would love that!" She bent down and squinted at the price, and breathed a low whistle when she saw it. Ari echoed her, happily turning endless circles on her flower printed carpet after his long-awaited oil bath. "That's right," Chikako said, glancing up at him and whistling again. "So what does that mean in Droid-ese?"

Ari just tittered and kept spinning. "Ooh, check out these shepherd hook lantern thingies! One of those would be great in Dad's garden! I've got to visit this store. It's like, twice as far as Kalei's, though."

A sharp knock on the door forced her to set aside her gardening catalog for a moment. "Mommy!" Aiko squealed when the door slid open. "Hurry up! You've got to come! Sai has turned Peetie into a potato!"

"A what?" Chikako cried, climbing to her feet. "Are you kidding?"

"No!" she insisted, tossing her bright yellow backpack down just inside Chikako's door. "I'm not kidding or lying or fibbing or anything! He's a real live potato!"

Chikako groaned and followed her, and didn't see Honey Pie slip in just before the door closed.

Aiko led her to Yoshiko's room, where the older chibi sat in fluffy pink slippers with her holovid camera. It was pointed to a potato sitting alone on a beanbag. Sai sat still on the couch, with a frog peeking out of her shirt pocket, looking a little amused, but mostly bored. Yoshiko occasionally giggled unprovoked.

"What's going on?" Chikako asked, leaning against the doorframe. She noticed a photo taped to the door of Peetie staring at the camera with his mouth wide open, Yoshiko in plaid pants and a blue sweater monogrammed with initials other than her own, and a cute older guy with longish black hair and bright blue eyes wearing a flightsuit.

"Peetie's a potato," Yoshiko said from behind her camera. Aiko slipped past Chikako and took a seat next to Sai.

"That's what I hear," Chikako said. "Sai, why did you turn Peetie into a potato?"

"He wanted to be a potato for a while," she said.

"Are you sure?"

"Oh yes. Right, Yo?"

"Right-o," Yoshiko affirmed.

Chikako shot Aiko a look wondering why she'd brought her here; if Peetie wanted to be a potato, that was his problem. Aiko didn't look back at Chikako, though. "I just thought it was interesting," she said. "You can leave now."

"You just thought it was interesting," Chikako repeated, still looking at Aiko but stepping away from the door, out into the hallway.

"Okay," Sai said, standing up. "Come on, Festival Leader. Let's go get ready."

"Okay Ewok Shaman," Aiko said, following Sai out of the room and past Chikako. As they left, Sai turned around with her wand, nearly whipping Chikako with her untidy ponytail, and zapped the potato back into an eighteen-year-old boy with Technicolor hair.

"Dude, that was psychedelic," Peetie said into the holocamera between Yoshiko's giggling. Chikako sighed and went back to her room.

Honey Pie, crouching behind Aiko's now-emptied yellow backpack, slipped out of the room when Chikako returned as discreetly as she'd slipped in. "It is so sad zat I will not get to see Madame's reactions," she pouted as she trotted down the hall in search of her Princesse. "But if I were to stay, she might find me and zat would make it much harder to play little tricksies in ze future, I sink." The little creature tittered her equivalent to a devious giggle.

"Gah! What's that?" a girl with a long brown braid exclaimed with a start as she came around the corner just in time to see Honey Pie.

Her companion, a girl with two blonde buns, tilted her head at the little guardian. "I, uh... I think it's an Eevee!"

"An Eevee, Mika-chan?" the first girl said skeptically.

"Is that sort of thing really so strange around here, Chouko?" Mika asked.

Chouko glanced sideways at her friend as she realized the truth of her words, and finally a smiled crossed her face. "Gotta catch 'em all, eh Mika?"

Mika giggled and the two immediately sprinted off in Honey Pie's direction. Honey Pie shrieked upon noticing two human girls gaining on her and doubled her pace, turning her leisurely trot into a gallop. "Why is zis happening?!" she gasped. "Princesse! Sil vous plait! Help meee!"

"Cute, Aiko," Chikako mumbled, pulling a reminder about the Great Autumn Festival out of the catalog she'd left on the floor. Ari started beeping nervously, if it was possible for a droid to be nervous. Chikako shot him inquisitive glance before returning to browsing through her catalog. The droid moved over by the door.

When she reached the end of the book, Chikako got up and walked over to her bed, where she sat down and began going through her nightstand drawer, looking for a credit disk she knew she'd lost somewhere in her bedroom. She suddenly realized her bed felt a little crunchier than normal and stopped rummaging. "What the heck...?" she wondered, reaching up and pulling down her bedspread. A few more handfuls of homemade flyers about the Great Autumn Festival were stuffed under her bedspread. Chikako looked slowly back to her nightstand drawer and realized that similar flyers composed most of what she'd been rummaging through. "Dude," she giggled. "When did she do this?" Ari beeped softly and moved a little closer to the door.

She pulled a few more flyers off her mirror, and picked one out of her jewelry box. She found another in her dresser drawer, on top of the yellow sweater she slipped over her red sundress. Ari started trilling a high pitch. "What is your prob- Ohh!" Chikako cried, turning around to address her droid and getting her feet tangled over a box she didn't remember leaving in the middle of the floor.

"Oooh," Chikako moaned after a bit of a hard fall. She picked up the box between her feet. "Where did this come from?" She pulled the top of and BANG - a small explosion sent a wild potpourri of items flying to the farthest corners of the room, and covering Chikako and everything in its way. "Ehhhh?" Chikako cried, unable to find words as she pulled a piece of dried seaweed off her head. A tiny firecracker parachute sailed down into her lap. She picked up the note attached. " 'Don't forget to come to the Great Autumn Festival,' " she read. "AIKO!" she squealed, trying to get to her feet but slipping on a strawberry in her haste and falling over a roller skate. Some colorful confetti shaped like hot peppers finally reached her, slowly sailing down from its trip to the ceiling. Ari spun frantically, trying to shake a string of flamingo-shaped lanterns off, but only spinning himself into the mess left from a broken jar of honey that had also sailed from the magic box. Chikako violently pulled the string of lights off him when she finally made it to her feet stably enough to storm past him out the door. He tried to slip out behind her, but the honey prevented it.

"You remembered!" Aiko yelled, carefully handing a strange purple bugle that was almost as big as she was to Sai before running towards Chikako.

"You made it impossible to forget," Chikako said curtly, though her initial temper had been curbed some by the impressive sight of the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Every tree she looked at was more vibrant and beautiful than the one before: there were deep royal purples, fiery reds, shimmering golds, springy greens, warm oranges, and amazing combinations on stunning half-changed trees. The ground was covered with crisp and colorful fallen leaves, and some of the gathered senshi were running around finding the prettiest ones. Chikako could see a bright green one with a red and yellow pattern fanning out into the fingers of the leaf peeking out of Aiko's pocket.

"Well, we're about to have the sunset, and Sai's gonna make the fire right there," she pointed to a round fountain in the center of a wide clearing, "so you might want to find a good place to stand. Daddy!"

Chikako turned to see Kalei approaching. Aiko jumped into his arms and showed him her leaf. "Yes, it is 'splendorous,'" he agreed, setting her down when she announced that she had Festival Leader business to take care of. He moved next to Chikako, where they stood in silence, watching the other senshi enjoy the sudden autumn. Niji ran by, squealing for sheer delight, then Hisako and Aisu, playing a game they'd invented and dubbed "leaf tag." Kalei turned to say something, but when Chikako turned to face him, he broke off, and said instead, "Do you know you have peas in your hair?"

"Aiko," Chikako groaned, blushing as he started picking peas out of her hair.

"Look everyone!" Mika announced as she neared the group. "I've caught a Pokemon!" She held up a very unhappy little creature.

"Put me down zis instant!" it squealed.

"Honey Pie!" Chikako and Kalei said in unison.

"Honey Pie?" Chouko asked.

"Monsieur! Madame!" Honey Pie called. "Please, make zis one let go of me!"

Chikako shook her head and backed away, eyeing the peas collecting in Kalei's hand. She narrowed her eyes at Honey Pie.

"Oh good, you're here!" Aiko said, running up and snatching Honey Pie from Mika's arms. "It's time for the festival to start!" Honey Pie jumped happily onto Aiko's shoulder and they returned to Sai and the purple bugle. The two girls climbed a low tree and began to address the crowd. "Everyone!" Aiko shouted. "Thank you for coming! As you can see, it is sunset!"

The large group moved closer to the tree so they could hear, and looked around as artificial night began rapidly taking over.

"As Festival Leader, I hereby begin the Great Autumn Festival! Shaman Sai?"

"Ready!" Sai said, holding up her magic wand and pointing it at the fountain. Aiko nodded and picked up the giant purple bugle, took a big breath, and blew into it with all her might. As the mellow sound echoed through the huge greenhouse signifying the beginning of the festival, Sai pointed her wand at the selected fountain. The small sprays stopped bubbling up over the surface, and suddenly, a giant fire exploded over the water. Its great crackling nearly drowned out the 'oohs' and 'ahhs' of the senshi.

"And now there will be songs and dances and food!" Aiko yelled, jumping out of her tree. Sai followed and made a beeline for Nom's treats. Aiko began mingling with a purpose. "Join me in a round dance!" she called to each grouping of revelers, then proceeded to dance around the fire, singing Ewok songs to those she'd managed to recruit.

"This is impressive," Kalei said, snatching a treat from Aisu as she sped by with a large tray. He broke it and offered half to Chikako, who refused it.

"Excuse me," she said, walking away. Kalei followed her with his eyes as she left the crowd around the fire and met a concerned-looking Yukiko near the entrance to the Room Behind the Waterfall. Chikako's face fell as the two senshi talked, and she looked back at the festival with a sigh. Annika approached the pair, and Kalei watched her experience a similar reaction to Yukiko's news. She nodded sadly, then returned to the festival.

The pink-haired princess signaled Aiko away from the fire and called Sai from the food. She knelt down with the two girls, a hand on each of their arms as she explained. Aiko burst into tears and ran to Kalei; Sai remained with Annika, her brow creased, protesting whatever had just been said.

"We can't have the Festival because we have to save a planet!" Aiko sobbed into Kalei's shoulder. Honey Pie tried to comfort her by licking her face with her tiny tongue, but the gesture went unnoticed.

"Can't you continue when you return?" Kalei asked.

"It'll probably be too late!" Aiko wailed, shaking her head. "You can't just have it whenever you want!"

Kalei saw Sai stomp her foot and cross her arms. Annika tilted her head. "Sweet, you're a Sailor Jedi," Kalei said. "It's your job to save the worlds. No one else can do it." He juggled her in his arms so that she had to face him. "I'm sure there will be plenty more opportunities to have festivals," he said, stuffing the uneaten half of his dessert into her mouth and wiping her tears, "but this might be your only chance to save that planet."

"What if there's not other festivals?" Aiko said with her mouth full.

"There will be," he assured her. He watched as Sai, pulling out of Annika's embrace, reluctantly aimed her wand at the giant bonfire. The great flame shrunk, then disappeared; the revelers all turned in surprise as the fountain on which the fire had been burning began running again like normal. Kalei set Aiko down. "Now, you're going to be a strong superhero, right?" he said.

"Yeah," she sniffed, pulling Honey Pie off her shoulder and into her arms.

"Good. Now go find your mom, and do whatever she tells you, okay?"

"Okay," she said, turning to go. She paused and turned back, motioning for Kalei to bend closer. "Be good," she said, standing on her tiptoes and kissing his nose.

"You too," he grinned as she ran away, her golden ponytails streaming behind her.

Priire watched as the globe on her viewscreen slowly sunk out of the way and revealed a greenish moon in its tow, which soon grew into a bright planet itself. "So this Brunskl Corporation does what exactly?" she asked.

"They manufacture starship components," Ippin said, "but they turn entire worlds into industrial wastelands in the process, sometimes in a matter of months."

"That's... awful," Priire said, biting her lip. "Um, not to sound insensitive, but why are we getting involved with this?"

"Do the Sith have something to do with it?" Minae wondered.

"No," Yuki said. "True, the Brunskl Corporation is run by inconsiderate profit-mongers, but this new factory they're about to build doesn't seem to be directly involved with the Dark Side."

Priire shrugged. "Well...?"

"It's just very important that this particular planet does not turn into an industrial wasteland," Kairiku said. "Some crucial aspects of the future depend on it."

"Oh, I see - the future." Priire rolled her eyes.

Ippin pulled some coordinates up on the computer. "Land us here," she said. "It's not far from the factory construction site."

Down on the surface, the senshi, veiled by the forest undergrowth, squinted into the sunset, spying on a large barren spot where the forest had been cleared to build the first factory. "It looks like they're having a groundbreaking ceremony," Sailor Yavin IV said.

"What's the plan?" Asteroid asked.

"We don't need to attack them," Hoth said.

"Just scare them?" Myrkr suggested.

"Kind of," Hoth said. "We need to make it clear that they can't be here. This company isn't one for negotiation, so we just need to make it clear that this moon is off-limits. We may have to remain here for a time to make sure they realize that."

"So scare them so that they won't come back," Yavin summarized. "Sounds easy enough."

Sailors Chibi Myrkr and Nar Shaddaa exchanged looks. Couldn't this have waited till after the festival? "I probably could've done this single-handedly," Salior Nar Shaddaa whispered.

"Oh! We're going!" Sailor Chibi Hoth said, following the rest of the senshi as they encircled the groundbreaking ceremony in preparation for their "attack."

"Oh my goodness!" Chibi Myrkr gasped, grabbing Nar Shaddaa's arm and pointing.

"What?" Nar Shaddaa asked, following her friend's gaze. "Oh!" The two stared into a pair of round black eyes, staring back at them from within a hollow log. The girls looked at each other, and then around for the other senshi as they realized they were alone now with the Eyes, except for a trembling Dantooine Knight.

"Chouko-mama," he called, not daring look away from the Eyes that he, too, had spotted. "Chouko-mama, there's a Log Thing!"

Suddenly, the Eyes disappeared. "Wait!" Sailor Chibi Myrkr yelled, diving into the log after it.

"What are you doing?" Nar Shaddaa squealed, hesitating before grabbing the little Knight and dragging him after her. "You can't just follow Eyes in the middle of a strange forest! We don't even know what planet we're on!"

"Don't worry!" Chibi Myrkr called back. "I think they're friendly Eyes."

"I don't think so!" the Dantooine Knight said, making a rare interjection.

"Friendly Eyes?" Sailor Nar Shaddaa considered at the entrance to the hollow log. "Hm. Yeah, you're probably right, Chibi Myrkr. We're right behind you!"

"No. I'm staying here and waiting for Chouko-mama," the Dantooine Knight said, staying stubbornly outside of the log while Nar Shaddaa climbed in.

"By yourself?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at him. She shrugged. "Okay!"

The littlest knight nodded and watched the girls disappear into the log. He glanced around, wondering when the others would come back. Suddenly, he was sure he'd seen another pair of Eyes shining in the intense orange beams of the disappearing sun. "Oh no," he mumbled, as more and more Eyes appeared, only to vanish every time he turned fully towards them, shading his eyes from the brilliant sunrays. "Chouko-mama?" he said timidly, but only the quiet buzzing of forest insects answered him. "Girls?"

Suddenly, the forest seemed to get unnaturally silent, and he was sure someone was standing behind him. "Hello?" he called without looking. No answer. Slowly, he turned around and looked straight into a very real, very black, non-vanishing pair of...

"EYES!" he screamed, diving into the log and crawling as fast as he could until he was face to face with the bow on the back of Sailor Nar Shaddaa's skirt. "Faster!" he urged, tapping the soles of her shoes as she crawled forward.

"Wow, this is a very long log!" Sailor Chibi Myrkr marveled, stopping to peek out of a tiny knothole.

"There's a Thing behind us!" the Knight said, still trying to urge them forward by rapping on Nar Shaddaa's shoes.

"A Thing?" Nar Shaddaa turned around as best she could within the log, and Chibi Myrkr tried to get a look back as well. "I don't see anything."

"Really?" he asked.

"Really."

The Knight decided to venture another look behind him, as the girls were taking their time anyway. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found the log empty, aside from a few ants and fluffy caterpillars Sailor Chibi Myrkr had taken a particular liking to.

"I can turn you into one if you want," Nar Shaddaa said. "Or I can turn Kage-kun into one." She glanced over her shoulder and winked. "Just kidding!"

Not particularly amused, he just turned and peeked out the knothole Chibi Myrkr had found a few moments earlier. "We're almost at the end!" she called back. "This is the coolest hollow log I have ever crawled through!"

Just then, a strange trumpeting noise filled the forest, echoing through the log. "What was that?" Nar Shaddaa asked. Chibi Myrkr started crawling double time.

"It sounded like a... horn!" she said, tearing through the log at the expense of her often skinned knees. A moment later, the three children tumbled out of the log into a thick, soft pile of crunchy brown leaves. "Wow!" Chibi Myrkr breathed as all three pairs of eyes, widening to the size of dinner plates, reflected the biggest bonfire they'd ever seen in their whole lives.

Sailor Yavin dusted off her skirt. "Think it worked?" she asked, surveying the now-abandoned clearing.

Sailor Asteroid watched the Brunskl Corporation ships disappear into the twilit sky. "I wouldn't be surprised if rumors start flying about the strange and vicious mini-skirted guardians of Endor," she said.

"No one will ever set foot on this world again, except for mystery seekers with amateur video recording equipment," Sailor Myrkr said, deactivating the lightsaber she'd pulled out to deflect a few panicked blaster bolts.

"What's wrong with amateur video recording equipment?" Sailor Chibi Tatooine asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"No, Myrkr, I'm afraid rumors of wild women scaring away multi-planetary corporations won't deter the future imperial stormtroopers," Sailor Hoth sighed.

"Or the 'rebel scum,' " Chibi Dantooine added.

"Thank the Force!"

"It looks like all is as it should be," Bakura said. "Should we set up camp nearby in case they come back?"

"Good idea," Sailor Yavin said.

"Wait," Chibi Dantooine said. "Where's Kage-kun?"

Sailor Myrkr scanned the area for him, then moaned. "Perhaps he was abducted by Aiko-hime," she suggested nervously, blushing at the fact that she, too, had managed to lose her future child.

"And Sai?" Bakura asked. This prompted a quick headcount, but they found everyone else present and accounted for.

"Great," Yavin IV said. "Of course we'd lose the three smallest people! Should we organize search parties?"

"Of course not," Sailor Hoth said. "They may be lost, but not to the Force."

"Oh, right," Yavin IV grinned sheepishly. Within minutes, the trio had been located and the troupe set out in their direction.

"Is that smoke?" Sailor Honoghr wondered, noticing darker streaks against the deepening sky straight ahead.

Sailor Yavin nodded. "Yeah, there's a fire burning over there. A huge one!"

A bright, four-pointed leaf let go of a tree and sailed past Sailor Myrkr's face. She stopped walking. "A giant fire?" an ironic grin pulled at her mouth. "It can't be!"

"What?" Sailor Bakura asked when Myrkr started walking again.

"You guy‚" wouldn't happen to know if there are any Ewok settlements around here, would you?" Myrkr asked the group.

"Yeah, they're all over the forest," Salior Asteroid said. "We landed near a big complex of 'em. I'll be surprised if they haven't carried off the Dreamer one part at a time by the time we get back there." She giggled, stepping over a tree root growing inconveniently above ground. "Before you know it, their tree cities will be redecorated with a strangely familiar 'black fire' motif."

"Not if they're too busy partying," Sailor Chibi Tatooine snickered, as the wild rumpus came into view. The senshi watched in wonder as they cautiously drew nearer to the fire and the Great Autumn Festival that circled it. No reenactment, even with all the childlike enthusiasm and magic fire in the Galaxy, could ever quite do it justice. Ewoks were everywhere, dancing, singing, playing music, eating, laughing, shouting, and generally enjoying themselves. At the heart of the action stood Aiko and Sai, dancing gleefully and not much taller than the rest of the crowd. Further examination of the scene revealed Kage-kun by a table of local delicacies, cautiously tasting the less intimidating dishes with boisterous (if undesired) assistance from an old woman Ewok.

As soon as the first Ewoks saw the approaching soldiers, notice of them spread like wildfire through the city, and several spears made their presence known. A rhythmic drumbeat cut off as the musician stood to see who was coming. The senshi stopped advancing.

"You found us!" Aiko shouted, running towards the senshi with an enormous smile on her face. "Can you believe this? It's a real live Great Autumn Festival and here we are!" She attacked Sailor Myrkr with a tight hug, then returned to her place in the dance, signaling for the newly-arrived senshi to follow. As the Ewoks realized the new visitors were friends, the drumming slowly began again, then the singing, the dancing, the eating, the shouting, and the other sounds of general Ewok merriment.

"If we're gonna hang around Endor for a while," Sailor Asteroid said, grinning at a pudgy Ewok who had taken it upon himself to supply her with desserts, "I think this is the place to be."

Sailor Hoth responded, but her voice was lost in the commotion as two furry dance partners took her hands and pulled her into the party. Chibi Naboo was adopted by a gray Ewok intent on teaching her the words to his favorite hunting song, and Sailor Myrkr was handed something like a tambourine and thrust into the action before she had a chance to think twice.

After being quickly assimilated into the festivity, the senshi found the Ewoks to be generous hosts when they squeezed them into their cozy huts at "bedtime" not long before sunrise the next day.

"Isn't this wonderful?" Aiko, so tired she was almost delirious, sighed into Chikako's ear as they snuggled into their close quarters among several other senshi and a few fuzzy Ewoks. "It's too bad it only lasts two weeks!"

"Mm," Chikako replied in her exhaustion, smiling as she closed her eyes.

"I can't wait for tomorrow!" Aiko whispered.

"Better go to sleep then," Chikako murmured. "It will come faster."

"I'm so excited I don't know if I can sleep," Aiko said, already slurring her words as soon as her heavy lids closed over her sparkling brown eyes.

"You will," Chikako assured her, already half-dreaming.

"I can't wait for the day after tomorrow, either," Aiko whispered, forcing her eyes open. "Or Gift Day! Oh, but I left all my gifts at home!"

" 's'okay," Chikako said voicelessly.

"But I... Mommy, will you help me make a gift for Kage-kun before Gift Day so he'll like me?"

"Mm," Chikako said.

"Shh," Annika said softly from the other side of Aiko, one arm stretched over both Sai and Aisu. "Sleepy time now..."

"Okay," Aiko whispered, snuggling deeper between her and Chikako, finally letting her eyes stay happily closed. But somewhere beyond Aisu, between Chouko and a snoring Ewok, Kage-kun's eyes were opened wide.

"Chouko-mama?" he whispered bewilderedly.

"What?" she said.

"Um... Aiko... um... she said... um..."

"Oh," Chouko said, trying to roll over but not having much luck. "Maybe sleep will help."

"Huh?" Kage-kun frowned, but Chouko was too far gone to explain her unrelated solution. He sighed, shrugged, and closed his eyes; the sound of dry leaves rustling in the trees around him wasted no time ushering him into his dreams.