Mother, may I? "So how's your friend?" Setsuna asked Juri quietly. They were sitting in the kitchen of the Outers' house, enjoying their cups of coffee. Juri had come over to see her late last night, and instead of her going home they had spent the night together. "Sober," Juri smiled back wryly, "a definite improvement." She drank from her cup, savoring the taste of good coffee. Haruka and Michiru stumbled in, Haruka doing a slight double-take at seeing Juri sitting at the table. She opened her mouth to say something about Juri's rumpled clothes, only to be cut off by a swift elbow in the ribs from Michiru. "Good morning Juri," Michiru said demurely. "Morning," Juri raised her cup in a toast to the two of them. Hotaru stumbled in, giving them all an absent minded wave as she retrieved her carton of orange juice from the fridge. A glass full of juice in hand, she wandered out into the living room to watch her cartoons. "She's taking my being here well," Juri noted, sounding just a bit nervous. "Hotaru usually does," Haruka agreed, "I can only think of one or two times I've seen her even mildly thrown off by something." "She'll probably have a few questions for me later, though," Setsuna noted. Michiru groaned softly, remembering something. When no explanation was forthcoming Juri asked, "What?" Haruka smiled, sipping her coffee. "Hotaru got let out of school early," she explained, "and walked in on us while we were..." she trailed off. Juri blinked, then, "Oh ho!" "Exactly," Michiru was blushing faintly. "Hotaru left as calm as you please, and we figured we were fine. A few days later she asked poor Setsuna what we were doing, and she described in detail what she saw." "Personally, there were some details that I just really didn't need to know," a blushing Setsuna said mildly. Juri was still chuckling to herself occasionally when she headed back to the city. 'Wish Setsuna could be here beside me,' she thought, steering her sports car expertly, 'but her nursing job keeps her pretty busy.' Juri returned to her apartment first, showering and putting on a fresh set of clothes. She looked much more businesslike as she strode out into the Shinjuku district, taking a short walk to a busy restaurant nearby. She picked out an early lunch, and polished it off in record time. The calendar hanging on the wall caught her eye, and with a slight twinge Juri noticed it was nearly Mother's day. She remembered the tall, aristocratic woman everyone said she resembled. It had been a long time since she had actually seen her mom, a few months after she had been throw out of the house. She knew it had been a difficult moment for them both, her mother's stumbling attempt at an apology, and Juri's own anger and resentment flaring up in return. She had said some harsh things that day, things that she regretted saying now. The gift shop was on her way home, and Juri stepped inside to look around. The card was easy, a simply designed Mother's Day card, then she looked at the gifts. There were so many it was confusing, but then the chocolates caught her eye. 'She's always liked chocolate,' Juri remembered with a smile. Chocolates, card, a nice box and wrapping paper, and Juri put it all together in the store. Deciding what to write on the card was the hardest part. After a few moments of thought she settled on a simple, 'Thank you, love, Juri.' Not giving herself too much time to think about it, Juri put the stamps on the package, wrote the memorized address, and had it in the mail in a few minutes. It was too early to open the Locket, but Juri swung by the building to make sure it was still locked up tight. She stood in front of the building thoughtfully, considering what to do for the hours before the Locket was going to open. "Juri-sama!" a happy voice squealed, and a young woman all but throttled her from behind. "Wakaba?" Juri blinked, recognizing the curly haired friend of Utena. "I knew this place had to be yours as soon as I heard the name," Wakaba beamed. The girl had gotten a bit older, but other than that the perky young woman remained the same. "What are you doing here?" Juri asked curiously. "I was in town visiting Utena," and Wakaba's eyes darkened a bit, "had some time on my hands." She perked back up, "I was looking around, and heard about this place." 'Wonder from whom?' Juri thought ruefully. "We're not open yet," Juri said, "but why don't you come in, look around?" "Really? Could I?" Wakaba was practically bouncing up and down. Juri chuckled softly, opening up the front door. They walked down the hallway into the main room, the empty dance floor, the bar, karaoke stage and dining tables nearby. Off in the corner, the library and it's couches looked comfortable and inviting. "So what do you think?' Juri asked curiously as they walked over to lean up against the bar itself. It was odd, but she found that it actually mattered to her, what this acquaintance from the past thought of Juri's bar. "It's incredible," Wakaba beamed. She looked over at Juri thoughtfully, "And it's just for women, isn't it?" "Yes, it is," Juri said gently. She poured them both a ginger ale, "Are you really surprised?" "No, not really," Wakaba smiled back. Juri looked over at Wakaba, thinking about some of the stories that had been going around then. "You weren't always joking," Juri said softly, "when you told Utena that you loved her." "Hmmm," Wakaba blushed faintly, looking down and having some of her drink. Deciding it would be cruel to push Juri took a different tact, "Maybe you should stop by this evening, see what the place is like when it's open." Wakaba smiled back cheerfully, "I'd like that." They walked out together, Juri locking up the place before driving off. 'One more errand to do,' Juri thought with a little smile. Later that day, a visibly tired Setsuna drove home from a hard days work. Stopping at the mailbox she pulled out a large package, recognizing Juri's writing of her name. 'What's this?" Setsuna thought, flipping up the little attached card. 'Happy (early) Mother's Day,' the card said in cheery script. Setsuna unwrapped the box carefully, and sighed softly as she saw the chocolates inside. "Juri, you spoil me," Setsuna sighed happily, popping one into her mouth. Characters this Episode: Arisugawa Juri, Wakaba, and Utena are from Revolutionary Girl Utena. And Haruka, Michiru, Hotaru, and Setsuna are from Sailor Moon. Another 'Out of the Locket' episode. A few fans were concerned that Juri and Setsuna might be breaking up, so I thought I should address that. I haven't dealt with Juri's family much, and with Mother's Day here I thought I'd tackle it.
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