The Cross of Changes.
"The truth may set you free, but it usually pisses you off as well!"
"A Warwolf comment."
"Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately
explained by incompetence."
"Napoleon Bonaparte"
"They have been here!" said Mamoru removing his hands from ground and standing up.
"Thank the kami." Said Usagi leaning against him in relief.
Mamoru wrapped his arms around her. "We found them Usa, its only a matter of time now until we find them. This campfire is a two days old, I guess. So we have to press on and try to catch up with them."
"A last." She said, leaning her head back and looking into the sky, "Mamoru-chan I believe this has been the worst five days of my life."
He smiled "well lets see if stop it becoming a week." Grasping her around the shoulders and leading her on. He looked down at the fox that lead them.
"Kitsune, seek, we follow." With that the fox jumped up and with its nose to the ground lead them away into the forest.
'Being married to the King of Terra had its advantages.' Mused Usagi. 'The willingness of animals to obey his requests, even though only asks and does not command. I see this wisdom in that. I wish I had been able to show such wisdom five days ago, if I had none of this would have happened.
*** Flash back ***
"Usagi, this is madness." Shouted Rei over the sounds of screaming people, smashing glass and metal.
"Ami and Makoto are in the middle of this mess, we have to find them." She said dodging the groping hand and kissing lips of a foaming at the mouth salary man. Minako grabbed hold of him and delivered a kick in the crouch that lifted him a meter into the air, he landed five meters away, unconscious and with an externally strange look on his face.
The way forward was rapidly become blocked up with more of the 'changed' residents of Toyko all of them had eyes on the three women.
"Rei that car." Said Usagi pointing to a small compact car just to left of the crowd. A moment later she summoned one of her "stinger" disks as she called them and threw it at the gas tank. Rei followed though a moment later with one of her firebolts and a moment later the cars open gas tank exploded, scattering the crowd, with howls of fear and some pain.
"Come on!" Yelled Minako and the three ran past the now burning car.
"We have to find them," said Usagi. "I wish those two had evolved, I would be a lot less worried now." As she said that a cold chill ran down, Usagi's back, followed by the feeling of her hair standing on end. Minako and Rei came to a halt.
"Do you feel that!" shouted Minako.
"You spoke too soon Usagi." Said Rei.
*** End flash back ***
It should have been a time of celebration, we saved the day, we kicked some serious butt and all my inner senshi had moved to the next level. When two weeks later we gathered our house, the first snows of winter had fell. The night was cold, the sky clear and fresh fallen snow, gave the whole night a fairy tale like quality. That and the amount of wine we had drunk. Then I came upon a sight I would have never imagined.
*** Flash back ***
"If I was a bottle of wine, were would I be?" said Usagi to herself as she entered the small kitchen, slightly the worse for drink. Her eyes suddenly widened and her jaw dropped to her knees by the sight that revealing itself in the light from the open fridge.
Ami and Makoto wrapped around each other engaged in a passionate kiss, which if they awarded metals for such things, would have won Japan the Olympic gold.
Usagi, rubbed her eyes and looked again. Nope, still there. As she watched Makoto's hands began to gently rub there way up and down Ami's back. Usagi feeling like a voyeur coughed politely.
It had no effect.
She coughed a little louder.
Still no effect.
She coughed as loudly as she could.
Nope, not happening.
Grabbing a large brown paper bag shopping off the side, she blow it up and with a twist in the top smacked it together with a satisfyingly loud bang.
They looked up, Usagi, her right eyebrow popping up to her hairline with a questioning look. Ami and Makoto, turned bright red that out glowed the fridge light. Ami moved as if to move away, but Makoto held onto her and whispered to her. "she is our princess, we must be honest to her."
"Do you have something to tell me?" Asked Usagi.
Taking Ami's left hand in her own Makoto said.
"We are in love!"
"Well they accuse me of stating the blindingly obvious," said Usagi. "When did this all happen?"
"About two weeks ago." Answered Ami. "We realised we had been holding it all in, then it came out after we cleaned up the mess left by the cult."
Usagi was silent.
"Usagi, please say its alright, if we lose your friendship it will break your hearts!"
Usagi began to smile, how could she hate them for finding love. But then events took an unexpected course.
"TRAITORS!" screamed a Luna.
*** End flash back ***
"Usago."
She shook her head, "Sorry Mamoru-chan I was thinking about Luna's reaction that night.
"How were you to know that they had broken some ancient taboo from the moon kingdom."
"She made no comment about Haruka & Michiru though."
"I imagine she wanted to but by the time it all came out, it was all pretty much excepted as a done deal. Now however."
"It was her calling for there deaths that really freaked me."
*** Flashback ***
"YOU'VE DONE WANT!" screamed Luna.
"Made love." Said Makoto in a quiet voice.
"35 times!" added Ami.
"35 times in two weeks." Said Usagi, with a shocked look on her face. She turned and looked a Mamoru. "Your letting the side down. What was is ten times in the past, mummpmhhh" as a hand covered her mouth.
"To quote a phrase, meatball head, tooooo much information." Said Rei.
"They have to die." Said Artemis in a flat tone.
"WHAT!" screamed everyone.
"It is the highest form of betrayal the sentence is always death. Carried out by Venus or by Pluto."
At that point a white faced and shocked Ami, turned grabbed hold of Makoto. A moment later sailors Mercury and Jupiter stood in their place and proceeded to disappear in a flash of light.
*** End flash back ***
"Never known two inner senshi be able to teleport like that." He commented.
"Our abilities are very much tied to our emotions. " she smiled a bittersweet smile "The power to lose everything and the power to save everything."
"Usa?"
"Sorry, one of my moments of revelation came back to haunt me."
He smiled and with an understanding hug, he lead her on down the trail the fox was leading them on.
Day was rapidly turning into night as they came out of the forest and emerged in a clearing at the side of a small lake. The quickly retrieved a large tent out of Mamoru's Subspace pocket and sleeping rolls out of Usagi's. As full dark came a fire was lit and two large pots of camp food was on.
"I would kill for one of Makoto's dinners right now!" commented Usagi, sniffing at the pots.
"Well if nothing else, we know Ami will not be going hungry."
She leaned back on him, his arm automatically coming around her shoulders. Silence fell for a while.
"Have you worked out what you're going to say?"
"Firstly an apology." Turing to look at him," then I don't know. Part of me can see Luna's point of view, in a dangerous situation who they going to protect first, each other or me. On the other hand, how can I deny them their own happiness. Both have had little in the past."
"I am sometimes glad that I have not found my four generals yet." Mamoru said thoughtfully. "I do not have your way with people, my queen."
"Mamoru, Kunzite, Jadeite, Nephrite and Zoisite were they friends first? Or did you become friends later?"
Thinking back into the distant past, "I think they were friends first. I would have to go back and read more of my sisters dairy's to be sure."
"Then I imagine your new generals will be friends first. Advisors later."
At that point a soft flutter made them look up from each other. A brown and grey had landed next to them. It looked up towards Mamoru, blinked its eyes twice and then bowed to him. He offered his arm to the owl, which jumped on to the padded forearm of his jumper and looked up.
"Kitma has found them!" was his comment after a moment of concentration.
"Where?"
"A flight away… Sorry owls have very little sense of time or distance."
"More than an hour?"
"I don't think so."
"Will she lead me there?"
"Usa, you want to do it now?"
Usagi gave no answer, apart from shifting into Eternal Sailor moon, her flying helmet appeared, and then the large white wings emerged from her back. Even the owl looked impressed.
"Kitma, fly, lead my mate to those who are lost." Raising his arm to the sky, the owl took to the wing.
"When I get back I will have to have words about that mate line." Said Sailor moon, crouching down and leaping for the sky.
"Good luck!" whispered Mamoru as owl and his angel climbed over the tree line and disappeared into the night.
Sailor moon, alighted on a sturdy branch of a large oak tree and looked down on small camp site. It was a glade beside a fast moving stream, far way enough from the lake to avoid the clouds of insects that seemed to gather around still water (apart from when Mamoru was around, no insects every bothered him or those with him.)
A neat and ordered camp site, a fire burnt in the middle. To one side of the fire a small two man tent sat and to the other was two figures wrapped in a large blanket. With her senshi enhanced senses Sailor moon to just hear conversation. The short haired figure raised her hand to the sky's as if to point out the stars.
"An astrometry lesson, even after we have finished school and university, she's attempting to teach us."
The flight had clamed Usagi, after her initial fear of flying she had come to love it, now she had to make a decision, how to deal with this. She watched as Makoto leaned over and tenderly kissed Ami. Usagi, smiled to herself.
"They do make a cute couple." She said out loud.
"That they do." Came back the answer she was not expecting. Only a death like grip on the branch prevented her from falling to forest floor.
"Mother!" she said looking at the figure sitting on the branch next to her.
"Daughter, Queen." Said the spectral image of Queen Serenity, "Its funny how you can know someone for years and not know them."Gestering towards the couple." For example do you know how many times before she met you, Ami sat looking at a full bottle of sleeping tablets, with a bottle of whiskey to wash it down or the time she sat on a railway bridge waiting for the express to come and the only thing that stopped her from jumping was her concern for the mental state of the driver. Do no harm is the doctors creed and a young Ami took that to heart."
"And what of our young Amazon, strong, powerful, did you know the tears she cried at her parents grave, wishing she had gone with them, so that they could have died together. The time she sat with her grandfathers sword pressed against her chest trying to find the courage to push it in and end the pain."
"Both of them would have been dead by now if you had not met them your know. Makoto by a bullet in a gang war, Ami by falling from her apartment when she had too much to drink."
"That's horrible!" said Usagi covering her mouth and feeling slightly sick.
"It unfortunately is rather inevitable, senshi-hood imposes a great toll on both mind and bodies. Though out time Mercury's and been brilliant people, intelligent, wise, but always prone to depression, which is difficult to pull them out of. Jupiter's different case altogether, they readily find a cause worth dying for, but find it difficult to find a cause worth living for."
"Love is always worth living for." Said Usagi, in an understanding tone.
"In most cases yes, my daughter, these two have found each other though you. Mercury's and Jupiter's tend to establish soulmate bonds early in their lives as these two have and since Kunzite, Jadeite, Nephrite and Zoisite refuse to enter the cycle of rebirth they are better together then separate. "
"Endymion generals refuse to come back, why?"
"Guilt, they all hurt the ones they loved even although the dark kingdom controlled them totally that and the fact that they would never be totally forgiven by this generation of senshi. Don't worry my dear, none of your senshi are destined to be alone even Rei. Just some will take longer than other and some will be more stubborn than others too."
Two tears formed in Sailor moons eyes. "Thank you mother, all is clear now, all I need to deal with Luna."
Queen Serenity began to fade from sight, "The queen make the rules with advice for those around her, but she can change her mind." And with that she was gone.
Makoto and Ami, were just settling down to sleep when a winged figure landed right in front of them. Which moments resolved itself onto a blond haired figure throwing itself at them in a flood of tears.
"ThankthekamiIfoundyou,Iwasthinkingtheworst,IloveyoubothandyoumakeareallygoodcoupleandIamreallyreallyhappyforyouboth!"
And that night stories were exchanged and some promises extracted.
Epilogue
"And so Ami and Makoto will be coming back in a few days time after they have completed the vacation together. I imagine a welcome home party will be in order as well as some serious apologies and a bit of serious grovelling should probably not go amiss. Minako can you insure that there bosses don't have any problems with them being away."
"Consider it done!" said Minako. "The teaching hospital already think that Ami had a bad reaction to a hepetitus C jab and Makoto fell of a ladder and badly hurt her ankle, entending those are no problem."
"Usagi, I still cannot believe you are letting this stand." Shouted Luna. She had been mumbling and grumbling all the way though the meeting and frankly Usagi had enough of her advisors attitude.
"Luna, who am I." She asked.
"A foolish girl who's going to be harmed if she does not change her mind!"
'Right that's it!' thought Usagi. And shifted.
"Who am I now!" she asked.
Luna looked up and the unearthly blue eyes, the long silver hair, white dress and white wings of neo-queen Serenity. Luna gulped.
"My queen." She offered tentively.
"That's right." She said with her eyes boring into Luna's eyes, this was one staring match a cat could not win. "If I remember the rules, what I say goes. Right!"
"Yes, my queen."
"So if I decide that I need a pair of black cat skin gloves, I get them don't I."
Luna gulped again. "Yes!"
"And is I over turn an old law that is of no further use in the modern world, there's no problems IS THERE!"
Luna gulped again "Yes my queen!"
"Good! Now we are clear on that! There will be no more said right. Any more questions, no, good."
"Oh and one more thing, "she became Usagi again." I get to be chief bridesmaid at Ami and Makoto's wedding. So no arguments!"
Sometimes being queen is good.
Authors note.
The title is from song and album by Enigma, have a listen it sums up a lot of things.
This story is dedicated to Chris and Mary and is be no little means inspired by the events of their announcement of their relationship and the proceeding troubles that happened. I thought mad mothers and fathers threatening there children with trips to the physiatrist's and getting ministers in to cure there children of their pervasion was the work of fiction and newspapers.
Boy was I wrong.
Sadly.
My story has a happy ending, who's going to say no to a superhero, I pray to the Goddess that there's a happy ending for Chris and Mary. Good luck this summer my friends, they have to get a clue sooner or later or lose there only daughters (and in one case only child.)
Just encase there's anyone who's interested in my story arc. This will be worked in at a later date. Usagi is 22 at this stage and married Mamoru about six months before hand, Ami is a year from qualifying as a doctor and Makoto.. well I let that be a surprise. Hey an author has to have few secrets ;-)
Jo – July -7 - 2002