The Birth Of Crystal Tokyo Chapter 1: Unfinished Business, a sailor moon fanfic

THE BIRTH OF CRYSTAL TOKYO
Chapter 1: "Unfinished Business"
A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

In the chambers of Japan's Diet, the elected representatives sat at their desks and waited with almost as many moods as there were people present. The chamber and the Diet Building had survived the two years of ice and cold that had put the entire world into deep hibernation. Some of the members had died, unable to endure the cold and slip into hypothermic suspended animation. A few had survived and not returned, the brush with Armageddon compelling them to reassess their lives and their desires. Those who did survive and reported to work were ready to get to the business of restoring Japanese civilization to what it had been.

They all waited for the appearance of their saviors and potential new monarchs, Endymion and Serenity. And some of them were spoiling for a fight. Prime Minister Hino may have proposed abdicating in deference to Sailor Moon and her husband, and the general population may have demanded her ascension to power in every way but the impending referendum, but nobody consulted the Diet on any of this and there was more than one member determined to cling to power as tenaciously as they had clung to life while encased in ice.

At once, the Sergeant-At-Arms announced the arrival. Everybody turned. In came a man, tall and willowy like a tree. He wore a tuxedo colored pale gray and walked with steady confidence and determination. His black hair was tousled and thick. As he walked to the speaker's podium, his eyes would shift from one side of the aisle to the other, taking measure of the room. And the whispers began.

"Where is Sailor Moon?" more than one person asked. For Endymion was alone.

"Members of the Diet," Endymion spoke from the podium. "Thank you for coming. We have an arduous job ahead of us, rebuilding a society and an economy left in shambles by disaster. By setting aside personal goals and working together, we can achieve this in record time. Should the impending referendum go as many expect it to, my wife and I will be leaning on your expertise in government very heavily in the coming months . . ."

"Excuse me, Sir," one of the Diet interrupted, rising from his seat. "Just where is Sailor Moon?'

"Serenity," Endymion corrected him in a controlled manner, "has an important matter to attend to. She hopes to join us later."

"More important than addressing the Diet?" another Dietman asked pointedly. Endymion recognized him as Jinro Takahaski, one of the elders in the Liberal Democrat Party.

"She thought so," Endymion replied, trying to convey that he wasn't impressed by the man without coming across as arrogant. "And I've learned to trust her judgment."

"Now see here," another Dietman began, he being a ranking politician in the Democrat Party, "I don't care what Hino said. If you think you can just march in here and take command of the government . . ."

"If it's the will of the people, Dietman," Endymion replied like he'd expected such opposition. "But that's down the road. I should think our priority right now is to help the people you were elected to represent get their lives back."

"Don't take that tone with me," the Dietman snapped. "We are the legitimate government of Japan . . ."

"Then act like it," Endymion replied calmly. "We have more important things to worry about than fighting over power. There are people still suffering and many more with an uncertain future. They are what's important. Do you know the Yakuza is mobilizing to aid displaced and destitute people at this very minute, just as they did after the Tohoku earthquake, while you sit here and guard your power base? Do you all need to be taught that lesson a second time?" He refocused on the main body. "Now, I've outlined some immediate goals for getting the economy back on its feet and I'd like to hear your thoughts on how best to implement them."

Fukushima in the north; the two year ice age had actually neutralized the damaged reactors of the Daiichi Power Station, freezing the fuel rods to a point where even they couldn't throw off enough heat to be dangerous. But since the thaw, the heat and radiation from the rods were growing to critical levels. And the repair crews had been handicapped by deaths from the deep freeze, so that they were hopelessly understaffed and falling behind in containing the remains of the accident.

In one of her spare moments, Ami Fujihara had used her senshi computer to check on the plant. Her alarm was immediate and she reported her findings to Serenity. To the consternation of all of the senshi, Serenity responded by levitating into the sky and silently flying north. Now she was hovering over the ghost town that was Fukushima, the site of one of her greatest failures and the single greatest tragedy in Japan since World War II.

The empty city tugged at her heart. It was a city where time stood still. Wreckage was still strewn in the streets from three years earlier. Buildings were empty. Possessions were abandoned. The city had been off-limits to survivors except for brief visits, due to radiation levels. Save for the camp where the plant workers lived, the only life in the area were the vegetation.

Shaking herself, Serenity set down near the Daiichi plant. Some of the clean up crew spotted her and came over.

"You're Sailor Moon, aren't you?" one worker asked. "I heard you had saved us from the ice monsters. Thank you," and he bowed.

She nodded with a kind smile.

"You really shouldn't be here," he continued. "It's dangerous. The radiation . . ."

"Please get all of your workers away from the plant," Serenity gently requested.

When she wouldn't explain further, the worker got on his radio. Twenty minutes later, all six reactors and their control stations were evacuated.

Serenity spread her arms from her body. Her long gown began to billow in the wind off of the ocean, her trails of golden hair waving like streamers. Her head gently fell back and her eyes closed, her lips parting from slightly open teeth. The clean up crew began to gather, watching Serenity as she stood there, her chest rising and falling rhythmically.

Then a bubble of energy began to form around the entire plant. It had a vaguely silver tint to it, but was transparent enough to still see the plant. As Serenity brought her hands up, the bubble and the plant within rose up from the ground into the air, amid gasps from the onlookers. It hovered several feet above the ground, a giant chasm beneath it where the foundation had been. The workers looked at Serenity and could see the strain on her face. Her arms began to quiver and several of the onlookers began to fear she was doing too much.

Suddenly her arms shot forward. The bubble propelled up into the sky, growing smaller and smaller until it disappeared. Everyone was stunned by what they had just witnessed. Nothing human could have done it. But then, she was Sailor Moon.

Uttering an exhausted sigh, Serenity crumpled and was caught by several men. They eased her to the ground and knelt protectively next to her.

"Are you hurt?" one man asked.

"N-No," she shuddered out. "J-Just. . . does anyone have some tea?" One of the workers pulled a thermos from his lunch box and passed it to her. Serenity drank with shaking hands. She shuddered out a breath.

"That was amazing," he said, helping her steady the thermos. "Where did the reactors go?"

"The sun," Serenity wheezed out. "I pulled it from Ami's mind. It was the only safe place to put it . . . so it wouldn't harm anyone. . . ever again."

As Serenity put the thermos to her mouth again with shaky hands, several of the workers whistled in amazement. But they had seen it with their own eyes. And their Geiger counters were already registering a drop in background radiation in the area.

"W-Where's Usagi-Mama?"

Makoto tried to calm the young girl by stroking her hair, but she flinched away. Nervously Setsuko looked around the room, almost frantic for some sign of the woman who had rescued her from an oblivion of pain and hardship.

"Setsuko, it's OK," Makoto offered, trying to calm the girl. "She just had to do something. She'll be back."

Setsuko's response was to pull her legs up to her chest and surround them with her arms. She wouldn't look at Makoto. She wouldn't look at anybody. Makoto turned helplessly to Ami.

"Pronounced separation anxiety," Ami murmured clinically. "Seeing her parents killed in the disaster, then her brother murdered by looters has been a severe trauma to her. She's become afraid almost to the point of paranoia that she's fated to lose anyone she becomes close to and is separated from."

"So what do we do?" Makoto asked.

"Provide her with a safe, secure environment that allows her to learn over time that separation is not automatically permanent," Ami recommended. "Perhaps I can call Mother and have her stop by. Setsuko seemed to accept her as a trustworthy guardian." She pulled out a cell phone, but scowled upon activating it. "Assuming I can contact her. Cell service is still spotty at best in the city."

"You and your Mom work things out?" Makoto asked.

"We," Ami paused, "reached some common ground. There are still some very stubborn difficulties between us - - but at least we're talking again."

"That's good," Makoto smiled. "I always thought the two of you were making a big mistake being so stubbornly angry with each other. Sure, parents can drive you nuts. Anyone you love is bound to drive you nuts in some way. It's just the way we humans are. But intentionally pushing a parent or a child away - - maybe I'm talking out of turn. But it just seems like you and your Mom wasted a lot of time you both could have enjoyed, time neither one of you will ever get back, all because you both were too stubborn to admit that the other one had a valid point or two. And one day you're going to wish you had that time back."

Ami burned, both with embarrassment and just a little resentment at the subtle judgment of Makoto's words. Then the logical part of her brain analyzed what had been said and couldn't find a flaw in it.

"I didn't mean to embarrass you," Makoto offered.

"It's all right," Ami mumbled, not looking at her. "I suppose it needed to be said. And your conclusion is logical - - painfully logical. I don't regret standing up to her. But I regret letting it go as far as it did. Thankfully I think she does as well." She offered Makoto a timid grin. "Once more I bow to your wisdom."

"Wisdom? Me?" Makoto marveled. "More like bitter experience."

"USAGI-MAMA!" wailed Setsuko. Both women turned to the child. Ami knelt down to her.

"Setsuko-Chan, please don't be afraid," Ami said, trying to allay the child's fears. "You're safe and among friends, and your Usagi-Mama will be back."

Suddenly Setsuko lunged for Ami and wrapped her arms around the woman's neck, burying her face in Ami's shoulder. Surprised, Ami folded her arms around the girl to support her.

"It must be my resemblance to Mother," Ami goggled, glancing over to Makoto.

"Maybe," Makoto smirked. "But whatever the reason, you're doing all right so far. I always thought you had the potential to be a really good mom."

"That," Ami replied uncomfortably, "that really is an unsubstantiated hypothesis."

But the tighter Setsuko clung to her, the more it seemed to feel natural to Ami.

On Sendai Hill, where a Shinto shrine once stood, Rei Hino sat amid the stone rubble that had once been buildings and broken trees that had once decorated the grounds, and stared. She didn't stare at anything in particular. It was like she was listening, waiting for a sign. Or else she was just too depressed to move.

A page blew in the wind and caught against her ankle. Rei looked down at it. It was a page from an issue of Nakayoshi, the manga she read mostly for Usagi's feature, "Fire Princess Rika". The magazine was in tatters now. The page, from another feature, bent around her ankle and came to rest.

Everything was gone. The bedroom she had grown up in. The alter she had worshiped at. The room where Makoto and Usagi and Ami had all been married in. The garden her grandfather had obsessively maintained. All gone. Even the marker that stood on her mother's grave was gone. And Akira - - her fellow priest had died on these grounds. Akira had been a good man. He hadn't deserved what happened to him.

A lot of people hadn't deserved what happened to them.

"Really did a number on the place, didn't they?"

Rei looked up and found Minako standing about twenty feet from her.

"How did you find me?" Rei asked listlessly.

"Artemis traced you through your communicator," Minako replied. "It's really too bad about this place. It really did a lot of people a lot of good. And Akira-Sensei was an all right guy."

Rei didn't respond.

"But hey, we're alive," Minako offered. "We can start over. Serenity's already built you a new shrine in the palace. I know it may not be the same as this one..."

Rei didn't respond.

"Earth to Rei," Minako said. "Look, we all suffered through this. My Mom and Dad lost their place. But they're still alive, so I call it a win. We can rebuild, start over."

Phobos flew down and landed on Rei's shoulder. The crow nuzzled Rei's cheek, but she didn't respond.

"Where's the other one?" Minako asked.

"Gone," Rei responded flatly.

"Hey, I'm sorry," Minako offered. "I know you were close." Then she got a thought. "You haven't seen more trouble, have you?"

"What?"

"With that priest mumbo-jumbo of yours. There's not another disaster coming, is there?"

"I don't know."

"YOU don't know?" Minako asked skeptically.

"My sight's messed up," Rei admitted. "I'm not comfortable in the dark. Or in closed in spaces. I don't sleep as much as I did. If I dream, I don't remember. Unless it's a nightmare. Boy, I remember those." Tears began to form in her eyes. "It's like the gods abandoned me in that prison cell." She wiped her eyes with her wrists. "Maybe they're ashamed of me now."

Minako was kneeling in front of her before Rei realized it. The woman gripped the priest by her upper arms.

"Then they're stupid," Minako said. "You're not a person to be ashamed of. You're one of the bravest chicks I've ever known."

Rei averted her eyes. "You don't know what it was like; what I went through; what I did just to survive."

"No, I don't," Minako replied seriously. "Hope I never do. But I know you. You've always had a ten foot stick up your butt, but you're a good person - - better than all of us at a whole Hell of a lot of things. And whatever you went through and whatever you did while me and the rest of the world were on ice is on the people who were holding you. Not you."

Rei contemplated this.

"Who has a ten foot stick up their butt?" Rei scowled. Minako smirked.

"Now that's a little more like it," Minako chuckled. "This was probably worse for you than any of us, because you weren't asleep for it all. I'm here for you. Don't know how much good I can do, but I'll give it a shot. And I'm sure you'll let me know when I screw up. Now how about we blow this place and rejoin the living?"

"Don't know how much good I'll be," sighed the priest. But she got up. Together the pair headed for the steps down to the street level.

"So, you think you can smudge your face a little so you're not so much competition in the gorgeous department?" Minako asked. Rei didn't respond, but she did scowl.

It was something.

"I'm just glad to know you're safe, Dad," Michiru said over the phone. She was curled up on the sofa of the home she shared with her life mate, Haruka Tenoh. The home had survived the ice with little damage, as had the garage and to Haruka's absolute relief the Lamborghini Reventon housed within. "I'd have called sooner, but with the chaos in the city and the spotty phones, it's the first chance I had."

With the initial shock of the disaster passed and the knowledge that rebuilding was ahead of them and Sailor Moon would lead them, the city had settled into a calm. This allowed the senshi to pursue some personal agendas.

"Yes, tell Mom that Haruka's fine," Michiru replied. "No, we were luckier than most. We got out with nearly everything intact." Michiru thought back to learning that Usagi's parents had been killed during the disaster. "Yes, Dad. The Gods did smile on us."

She heard Haruka returning from the garage.

"I've got to go, Dad," Michiru said. "When things calm down a little, you and Mom and Haruka and I need to get together for dinner." She smiled. "I think you can pry yourself away from overseeing rehab on the canning plants for one night." Something he said made her roll her eyes. "Yes, Dad. Bye, Dad."

Looking at Haruka when she entered, Michiru immediately saw the concern in her mate's face.

"I'm driving out to Niigata," Haruka announced.

"Is there trouble with Junko?" Michiru asked.

"I don't know. I can't get her on the phone."

"Haruka, it may be nothing," Michiru advised her. "The ice downed a lot of land lines and cell towers and phone service is still pretty hit and miss yet."

"Yeah. Sure. That's what it could be," Haruka nodded. "But I gotta know."

"Do you want me to come along?" Michiru asked.

Haruka considered it. "No, Dumpling might need you here."

"All right. And forgive me for saying this, but drive carefully."

Normally such a statement would have been an insult to Haruka, who handled a car at high speeds like normal people handled a pair of gloves. But given her anxiety over Junko's fate, the warning was justified. Haruka smiled and nodded. She turned to head back to the garage and the Reventon.

"Oh, and Haruka," Michiru added, smiling wryly, "that's Queen Dumpling from now on."

Haruka chuckled as she opened the door to the garage.

Continued in Chapter 2