Second Sight
Sailor Moon is copyrighted to its appropriate companies
and authors. The Chibi Scouts are property of Angel Raye and I am only using
them with her expressed permission. I do not claim to own any of these
characters and am doing this strictly for entertainment purposes and am not
making any profit from this story. No infringement of these said characters is
intended.
Rini
sighed and tried to stay awake. She was in her final year of Junior High and so
studying for High School Entrance Exams had begun. Her teacher, Ms. Haruna had
given them a free study period. Rini's guess was that her fiancé had decided to
take her wedding shopping that day.
Rini was studying with some of her
best friends; one was Rachel, Molly and Melvin's daughter. The other two were
Emily and Naomi. Rachel had dark brown hair and dark violet eyes. Emily had
light blond hair and piercing green eyes. Naomi had deep red hair and light
blue eyes. They were some of the few that didn't call her a palace brat.
Although as she had grown, the insults had turned to older profanity.
Rini was concentrating on the math
right at the moment. She hoped that she could get that down so that she
wouldn't have to practice with Amy. As much as Rini liked Amy, she was too
strict on studies for Rini's liking. Maybe if she got the math down, her mother
would let her take a break from Amy's studying tonight.
Knowing Serenity, she would but her
father would be stricter. But maybe the queen could convince him that night.
She had her ways.
Before Rini could daydream anymore,
she heard a scream. Every student in her classroom leapt up. They all raced to
the window. There below them, laid several teachers, sprawled out on the grass,
lifeless as paper dolls. Hovering above them was a youma.
Rini narrowed her deep red eyes.
Soon everyone was filing into the
hall, racing for the back exit. Rini went with the flow but as they raced by a
bathroom, she ducked inside. Seeing that she was alone, she removed her
transformation broach from her school uniform and lifted it high.
"Moon Cosmic Power! Make–Up!"
Immediately a rush of power flowed
through her veins. Two circles of hearts intertwined her and shifted their way
around, gradually melting to form her body suit. A wave of hearts swept down
from the bottom of her leotard, forming her skirt. She spun around, holding her
arms out, letting ribbons wash over her hands, forming her white gloves.
Ribbons wrapped about her legs, dissolving to form her tall pink boots. A
crescent moon appeared on her forehead and then her tiara formed around it.
Rini Tsukino was gone.
In her place stood Sailor Cosmic
Moon.
The Odango-haired warrioress ran out
towards the sound of the cries.
* * *
The youma was an intimidating sight.
It had the body of a nude dark
skinned woman, with dark red eyes and bright green hair that fell to her feet.
It extended and snapped her victims' necks. It had long claw like finger nails
that dripped acid. Also it seemed to fire some sort of magic from its palms. It
was floating a few feet over its victims.
"Hold it right there!"
The youma turned from the students
it had been planning on killing and turned. One of the teenagers, a red haired
girl named Misa cried in excitement,
"It's Sailor Cosmic Moon!"
The pink haired warrior fell on to
the grass, her scepter raised,
"How dare you terrorize people that
work so hard to accomplish their dreams! I won't allow this to continue! A
pretty soldier in a sailor suit, I'm Sailor Cosmic Moon and in the name of the
moon I'll punish you!"
That said, she swung her scepter,
"Moon Princess Healing Kiss!"
The youma dodged and ran. Cosmic
Moon took off after it.
The youma led the Sailor Scout
around the school grounds and down the corridors of the school. The eldest
Cosmic Scout managed to keep up and soon was gaining on it. On a sprint of the
moment, she used her scepter like a club and knocked the youma down. She
delivered a Healing Kiss at point blank range.
The youma was hurt but not killed.
Cosmic Moon considered calling for help but quickly
dismissed that option. The Chibi Scouts were still in elementary school and she
didn't need them missing school to help with a single monster. She had to
handle this herself. She raised her scepter again.
The youma charged at her, claws outstretched. Cosmic
Moon raised her scepter and used it to block her claws. She turned it and
delivered another Healing Kiss. The youma growled in pain and anger. It could
have attacked again, finished her. Yet, it retreated.
But as it did, it flung a mass of
colored mist at Cosmic Moon. It was too fast for her to dodge and everything
went black. She heard the youma laugh hideously. A strange feeling over whelmed
her. She felt weak in the knees for a moment and then grabbed her scepter
tighter. She fell to the ground for a moment before the feeling passed. She
shook her head and got to her hands and knees. Rubbing her eyes, she opened
them.
Fear shot through her heart. She
rubbed her eyes again. No, still…
Tears filled her eyes and flowed
down her cheeks. She detransformed to see if that would fix it.
No…. Rini's voice echoed,
"NO!"
She saw nothing, nothing at all.
Her sight was gone.
* * *
Rini sat there a long time, weeping.
Until finally, a hand fell onto her shoulder.
She instinctively turned to see who
it was. But her eyes had betrayed her. All she saw was darkness. Not even
shadows, or patches darker than others, just a pure plane of midnight black.
But her ears recognized her teacher's voice,
"Rini? Cosmic Moon defeated the
youma, it's safe now."
Rini merely nodded, refusing to
admit that she was blind. She had never longed for her mother more. But not
even the Silver Crystal could reverse blindness. And Amy couldn't help either.
She could have helped if she had only lost a little bit of her sight but it was
all gone. Now if her parents found out,
her team was without a leader. She refused to let their independence be
crushed. If she could get home she could make her way around the Crystal Palace
without her sight.
The question was simply how.
Rini smiled and remembered a trick
she had learned when she was younger. She started to stumble in her steps
beside her teacher and clutched her forehead. Ms. Haruna immediately rushed to
her side. She liked Rini and her mother. Rini clamped a hand over her mouth and
then felt someone rushed her into the bathroom. She recognized it by its smell.
Using a trick that her friends had
taught her, she hunched over, hiding her face from her teacher and stuck a
finger down her throat.
She felt around for the sink and
promptly threw up.
That made her feel dizzy for real.
She leaned back and felt her teacher grab her by the shoulders.
"The flu is going around Rini. I
think you may have a faint strand. Do you feel dizzy?"
"Yes."
"Are you well enough to-"
Rini felt the tears come them and
they were genuine tears from what had happened to her,
"I want my Momma."
Ms. Haruna nodded. "I'll get you
down to the nurse's office and we'll call your mom alright?"
Rini nodded. She was grateful that
her teacher knew her. Her teacher knew that the Princess and the Queen had a
tight bond. Rini was relieved. She knew that if her mother found out she'd
thrown up, she'd go and get her, no matter what Amy or anyone else said.
And if she found out that there was
youma attack she would come and get her anyway, like many of the other parents
were doing. And it would be especially important for her if she thought that
Rini'd been sick during a fight.
"Lie down Rini," she heard her
teacher say as she laid her down on a cot. Rini stretched out and shut her eyes,
not that it made any difference. "I'm going to call your mother. Then you can
talk to her. Then I need to go help the other teachers, alright?"
Rini nodded.
For once, she was glad she was the
Crown Princess. She got extra attention when she was sick because of that, at
least at school. And her parents always fussed over her too.
She felt someone hand her a phone
and she held it to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Ves?" Rini asked, "It's Rini. Can I
speak to Momma?"
* * *
The Sailor Scouts were gathered in
the council room. The Queen and King were in their specific seats and listening
intently.
Raye spoke out, "And I just got a
fire reading the other day. It was a plane of complete black and then blood.
Then I passed out."
Amy added, "And Greg and Ariel have been
getting visions of disaster as well."
The Queen nodded. "Mirchiru-san?"
She nodded. "My mirror has shown me
some visions but very faint. But I can feel the restlessness of the sea."
Before anyone said anything else,
the door opened and Ves walked in. "Your Majesty, your daughter wishes to speak
with you."
Serenity got up immediately. She
looked at her teammates apologetically. They smiled at her.
"Go on," Haruka said. "We all have
kids."
The queen nodded and walked out,
followed closely by her husband.
As soon as the two royals entered
the room, Serenity took the phone as Ves left. She heard faint sobbing.
"Baby?"
* * *
Rini let out a sigh of relief at her
mother's gentle voice,
"Momma."
"What's the matter, sweetie?"
Rini took on her most pitiful voice.
That wasn't hard as she was miserable.
"I don't feel good, Momma. My
stomach hurts, I'm dizzy and I threw up. And there was a youma attack today."
Serenity's voice turned even softer.
"Okay Baby. Tell your teacher that your father and I are coming to pick you up.
Do you think Amy needs to check you out?"
Rini couldn't have that. She might
find out she was blind and Rini was fiercely independent. If her parents found
out….
"No, Ms. Haruna said it's probably
the flu."
The queen nodded. "Okay, sweetheart.
Daddy and I are coming. Love you."
"You too Momma. Thank you."
She hung up. Then, she closed her
eyes. How she didn't know but she dreamed.
The next thing Rini knew was the
feeling that she was being carried. She opened her eyes but again fought tears,
as she saw nothing. She nuzzled into the form carrying her and immediately
recognized her father's strong arms.
"Daddy?"
The King smiled down at his
daughter. "Hello there, Sleeping Beauty."
He opened the door to their car and
got in, handing Rini to his wife. She cradled her in her arms, letting her rest
her head against her chest. It had been a trial getting the others to let them
come without guards but the Queen finally ended it with,
"We're. Going."
And that
had been the end of it.
Finally the King pulled back to the
palace and took Rini in his arms. He walked in and carried her up to her
bedroom while his wife went to inform the scouts she'd be there in a moment.
Then she went up to her daughter's room. The King had laid her in bed and was
helping her sip some water at the moment.
Serenity came in and sat by her
daughter. She fingered the girl's pink pigtails and kissed her forehead.
"Rest, Rini. Your father and I will
be here if you need us."
"Thanks Momma."
Her parents left and after they were
gone, Rini buried her face into her pillow and she cried.
* * *
The weeks went by fairly normally
although for Rini it was a challenge. She bumped into people a lot at first but
excused herself saying maybe some of her mother's clumsiness had come back.
The younger scouts didn't notice and
the older scouts didn't either. But not a day went by where Rini didn't think
of sight. She had taken it for granted before. Now she would have given up her
eternal life to be able to see a rainbow, to see her mother's caring bright
blue eyes, to see Gloria's antics. If had cost her, her youth, she would have
surrendered it to see Helios' beautiful face.
None of those things were an option.
Rini sighed. They did not know what
they had. The others…they had sight, they could see…
"Rini!"
Instinctively, the teenager turned.
But she still was cursed with blindness. She tried to place the voice and
guessed,
"Ariel?"
The small girl nodded. "Yeah. I
wondered if you'd take Madelyn and me to the park. Our parents said we could go
if you took us. We're off for the week, remember?"
Rini nodded, she knew that. Their
schools had the same vacation dates. She took Ariel's hand and said, "you guys
gotta hold my hand until we get there and then come when I call you though."
Ariel nodded. She gestured Madelyn
over who took Rini's other hand. The
two girls immediately started to run and Rini had to jog to keep up with their
pace because she couldn't risk letting go of their hands. When they finally
reached the park, the girls took off. Rini called,
"Stay in eye-earshot!"
"Okay!"
Things went well for a while. Then,
Ariel called, "Rini! A youma!"
Rini leapt up and tried to remember
where the voice had come from. She heard it again and followed her ears,
shouting her transformation as she ran. She prayed that the transformation
would restore her sight but it didn't. She had to trust her ears. She felt on
her wristwatch until she found her communicator button for all the Chibi
Scouts. She pressed it.
"Rini?"
Rini growled, she'd pressed the
button for only one scout and with the static she couldn't tell whom. She
guessed,
"Maggie?"
"No, Daisy. Can't you see? Are you
not getting a visual?"
"Sorry. Look I need you to signal
the rest of the Chibi Scouts for me. My all call button's not working." That
wasn't a complete lie; she couldn't find that button, it might not be working.
Daisy nodded. "Got ya, Rini. Where?"
"The park."
"Okay, we're coming."
That said, the connection was
severed. Rini ran towards the sound of battle. She heard Ariel and Madelyn's
attacks and summoned up her scepter. But as she got there, she realized she
couldn't attack. She didn't know where the youma was. Well, she had an idea but
she could hurt Ariel and Madelyn!
"Rini! Look Out!"
The princess immediately turned to
the voice but without her sight was suddenly flung backward. The pain was
terrible. She fought her way up.
"EARTHQUAKE TREMORS!"
The youma was thrown from Rini as
the rest of the Chibi Scouts arrived.
"Dust it, Rini!" Hope demanded,
grabbing her leader's arms. "Dust it!"
Rini said simply, "I…I can't."
"Why not?"
Before Rini could answer, the youma
struck, knocking her down.
"TIDAL WAVE!"
A coolness, mist like swept over
Rini as hope launched her attack. Then she heard,
"Mercury
Icy Glacier!"
"Jupiter
Deadly Lightning Bolt!"
"Venus
Beautiful Shockwave!"
"Earthquake
Tremors!"
"Mars
Firestorm!"
"Destructive
Ray!"
"Screams
of Destruction!"
Rini
heard the youma scream. Then as she sat up, Gloria stated, "I thought you were
our leader. Why didn't you fight?"
Daisy whirled to Gloria. "Shut up!"
Rini held up her hand, fighting
tears. She knew she had to tell them.
"No, don't Daisy. I…is the youma
beaten?"
Daisy shook her head. "It
retreated."
Rini buried her face in her hands.
Not even Gloria made a snide remark. Little Ariel could feel the gravity in her
stance, in how she held herself. Maggie put a hand on Rini's shoulder,
"Rini?"
"Guys, I have to tell you something.
But you have to swear not to tell my parents or anyone else. If they need to
know I'll tell them."
The Chibi Scouts exchanged glances
and nodded, even Annika who rarely kept secrets.
"Alright, did you say yes?"
Faith stepped forward, "yeah, now
what gives?"
Rini slowly began to speak; "I had
to fight a youma, that same youma I suppose at school a few weeks ago. I
managed to drive it off, but before it retreated it threw a mist of some sort
of magic into my eyes. I didn't feel any pain, just a sucking feeling. And…"
Faith's voice was soft, gentle,
"And?"
Rini looked up where she knew her
team was,
"I'm blind, girls. I'm blind."
* * *
The Chibi Scouts stood, stunned.
Finally, Daisy spoke,
"Kami-sama!"
Rini kept her face buried until
Annika came over and hugged her. Rini finally looked up and held her hands out.
"Give me your hands girls. I need to
be able to tell you by hand alone. Grab my hands, let me practice."
Faith grabbed it first. Rini rubbed
her hands and then gradually went up to her fingers. They were short, a bit
sharp. She swallowed,
"Faith?"
The girl nodded. "Yeah, I bite my
nails. Hope doesn't."
Gradually each girl grabbed their
leader's hands and helped her memorize what they felt like. Not even Gloria
complained. She felt terrible that she had even considered it. Once finished,
it was Gloria that suggested that she make sure she knew their voices.
That took a little bit longer but
gradually Rini got it down. By then, it was starting to get dark.
Rini felt Madelyn and Ariel grab her
hands. Ariel spoke out,
"Now I know why you were clutching
our hands so tightly on the way here."
Rini nodded. Maggie spoke,
"Our parents are gonna wonder where
we were. It's almost dinnertime."
Gloria spoke out, "Tell them we were
at the park when we got caught by a bunch of youma."
Even Daisy agreed with that.
Then, the team headed home.
* * *
From then on, with the exception of
school, one of the Chibi Scouts was always near Rini. If someone was coming
they'd tell her who. They'd tell her from where and what they were wearing.
This was all done through the communicators so to the observer, it looked as if
Rini was checking the time.
Ariel and Annika had worked on her
communicator, hardening a 'S' onto the button for a single call followed by the
said senshi's symbol. They had put an
'A' onto her all call button.
Before long, Rini could hear someone
coming long before the girls saw them, she could tell some people's footsteps.
She knew all the senshi and Palla and Cere's.
She had told Rachel that she was
temporarily blind so Rachel led her around school and to the girls' elementary
school before letting go. Then, Daisy and Maggie would greet her and help her
home. She knew the way but she couldn't see dogs or pedestrians.
She usually got lucky with training
as she usually got to go with one of the Chibi Scouts. She had recently gone
with Chibi Pluto. They would whisper to her where her opponent was. Even Chibi
Venus helped her. Rini decided that as bratty as Gloria could be, she had a
good heart.
Rini heard footsteps as she did her
homework. Unknown to anyone else, Ariel was with her and would read what the
problem said. If anyone came in, Ariel would say she was curious. To make it
seem normal, she'd take her homework with her and say sometimes that Rini was
helping her.
Rini stopped as she heard distant
footsteps. Although her sight was gone, her hearing had become amazingly acute.
Ariel had read up on sight loss and said that her other senses would improve
out of necessity. Rini believed her. She could tell three things by that faint sound
that she knew Ariel had not heard.
"Ariel get your homework out," she
stated. "My mother's coming, she's got on high heels, she's probably got some
fancy news to tell me. She's on the fourteenth step from the top."
Ariel nodded. She had just gotten out
her worksheets when the door opened and the queen came in.
"Hello, Rini, Ariel."
Ariel gave the queen her contagious
smile. "Rini's helping me!"
The queen smiled. "That's nice dear.
Why don't you go and ask one of the others though, I need to talk to Rini."
Ariel nodded and took off.
The queen looked at her daughter.
"Rini, your teacher called. She said
you failed your last test, the English one."
Rini gulped. She hadn't been able to
talk so she couldn't ask Rachel what it said. She had estimated what they were
asking. Apparently, she had been inaccurate.
"I…. I'm sorry, Momma. English is
hard."
The queen smiled. "I know Darling.
Your father and I have arranged for Amy to start tutoring you tomorrow."
Rini gulped. She had to think of
something and soon.
"Okay, Momma."
The queen got up just as the door
opened. Mina ran in,
"Rini, scout practice starts in two
minutes!"
Rini leapt up. "Sorry, Mina." She
transformed and ran after Mina's footsteps. As she ran, she asked,
"What are the pairs today?"
"Daisy and Gloria, Annika and Faith,
Ariel and Maggie, Madelyn and Hope."
"What about me?"
"You're going solo today."
Rini stopped. "S.. solo?"
"Yeah, you've done it before."
Rini forced a shaky smile. "Right,
no sweat."
But inwardly, she was trembling.
Training was never the same. The youma were never the same and because she was
a Cosmic Scout when she went solo, the attacks were more real, they could cause
a tad bit of pain. Rini felt the tears come,
"I'm dead and buried."
* * *
Sailor Cosmic Moon waited, her heart
pounding. She knew she would have to go solo, it terrified her. She was blind.
"Cosmic Moon!" Rini turned to Venus
voice. The elder senshi stated,
"Go for it!"
Rini started forward but then felt
Hope and Faith grab her hands. They weren't trying to stop her but gave her
hands a gentle squeeze of encouragement. Taking a deep breath, Rini ran forward
into the hologram and vanished from sight. For a time, everything went fine.
She would hear any obstacles and could avoid them.
Then the youma showed up.
Rini felt the heat and dodged. But
she unknowingly dodged directly into the blast.
Heat swarmed over her and she
collapsed onto her back. She scrambled up and perked her ears up. She wished
for Helios' hearing. He could have dealt with this. She could not. She
swallowed her fear and held her scepter out.
The youma struck her from behind and
she collapsed face down.
She felt the mildly sharp claws on
her chest and kicked it off.
Claws tore into her left arm and she
winced in pain. She had not minded being a Chibi Scout. The attacks were just
holograms. At the worst, she would have gotten knocked down. But now the pain
was very real. She rolled to the side and then leapt up only to be knocked down
again.
For the first time, Rini wished that
Venus would stop the hologram.
But she couldn't give up, Rini was
stubborn.
She swung her scepter like a club,
knocking the creature from her chest. Scrambling up on trembling knees, she
swallowed and strained her ears. Then, the youma slammed her against the wall.
Pain shot through Rini's back and then dulled to a mild sprain. She jerked her
knee up and the youma hologram loosened it grip. She did a swing up of her left
leg, knocking the youma far from her.
She tried to run forward but her ankle
failed her. She tripped and landed on her face. Her ankle was throbbing. She
felt down on it and her hands came back wet. She put a finger to her tongue.
Blood. She was bleeding. She stumbled to her feet.
Her balance was off, her head hurt.
She felt her temple. Blood was gushing out. She was hurt worse than she
thought. Venus typically left for a moment or two when she trained to grab a
sip of water or go to the bathroom. Rini felt the youma slam her down again.
She couldn't take the pain anymore. She
was weak, she felt like she'd throw up from pure exhaustion and pain.
For the first time, she screamed,
"Sailor Venus! Turn it off!"
* * *
Venus was washing her hands when her
daughter came running in, screaming,
"Mom!"
That was enough for Venus. She
whirled around and saw her daughter, her bright blue eyes wide with concern.
"What is it Darling?"
"The youma are real in Cosmic Scout
sessions?"
"Yes, darling. They're solid. Not as
dangerous as real youma, they can only attack physically. Once your Cosmic
Scouts you can take more than Chibi scouts-"
"Turn it off! Rini's screaming for
you to turn it off!"
Venus' heart stopped. She tore past
her daughter and back outside. She cursed herself as she did. She usually left
Rini alone for a few moments because she had been a senshi longest and usually
did fine. It figured the one day she stayed a little longer away, Rini'd have a
hard time.
Mina thought her daughter was
exaggerating. But as she got out there, she heard Rini's absolutely horrified
cry:
"Sailor Venus! Turn it off!"
The Chibi Scouts turned as Venus
rushed over and ceased the hologram. Chibi Venus and Chibi Mars rushed into the
training facility. Venus ran in when she heard them scream. The other Chibi
Scouts were just behind her.
"Mom!"
Venus halted in her tracks and put
her hands up to her mouth.
"Oh God."
Rini's fuku was torn, her forehead
was bleeding and a deep gash ran down her left leg and across her ankle. Claw
marks marked her left arm.
"Oh God!" Venus ran to Rini's side
and took her from the two girls. She supported the Princess in her arms and
ordered Chibi Mercury.
"Contact your mother. Tell her to
get down here, now."
The girl nodded and swiftly called
her mother. Venus picked Rini up and cradled her. She ran out, not failing to
notice the Chibi Scouts' guilt traced faces.
Amy was waiting as she came out.
"Venus, what-Oh my GOD!"
She immediately transformed and
started scanning Rini.
"She'll be all right but she needs
immediate attention. Give her to me."
The golden haired senshi nodded and
watched as the doctor vanished with her patient.
She sighed. "Now I have to tell the
King and Queen."
* * *
Serenity raced towards Amy's
quarters with Endymion right behind her. Venus had told them their daughter had
been hurt severally in Scout training. Knowing how dangerous her sessions could
get, they raced to Amy's office before she had finished talking.
Serenity knocked and Amy gave her
permission to enter.
They opened the door and Serenity
flew to her daughter's side.
"Baby!"
Amy smiled and wrapped a bandage
around Rini's left leg. It was the last repair she needed. Rini would be in
pain for the next few days but she would recover without any scars.
"What happened?"
Rini couldn't answer. She knew what
had happened. She couldn't see. Normally those youma couldn't even get near her
before she dusted them. She knew that Venus would be talking to her parents.
"Darling?"
Rini answered, "Yes?"
The queen answered, "We're having a
Scout meeting about this tonight. I want you there, all right?"
Rini nodded. Amy smiled, "well,
aside from pain and your pride being hurt, how do you feel?"
Rini shrugged. "Okay, can I see the
Chibi Scouts before the meeting?"
The queen nodded. "Of course,
sweetie. Once you're done, meet us in the conference room though."
Rini nodded and Amy shooed the Chibi
Scouts in. Sensing they wanted to be alone, she left.
"Rini," it was Daisy. "You okay?"
Rini nodded. She fought tears
though. Gloria put a hand on hers. To everyone's shock it was Gloria, the
fiercely independent one that suggested it,
"You have to tell them, Rini."
Rini sighed. "But, then you all
won't-"
"But," Maggie interrupted. "You're
endangering yourself this way!"
Faith added, "Yeah, we're
independent but we like having you around more."
Rini let out a sigh of defeat.
"All right, girls. I'll tell them."
* * *
"What's your excuse, Small Lady?"
Rini bowed her head at her mother's
stern words. She knew that the other senshi were shocked by the news.
Amy cut in, "Do we need to lower the
settings?"
Rini shook her head. "No."
Mina spoke out, "Then what, Rini? If
Gloria hadn't alerted me-"
"I have a reason, okay?!"
That stunned everyone. Rini almost
never shouted, and she never screamed at adults.
Endymion spoke, his voice harsh,
"Serenity…"
Rini sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you
why."
To their shock, tears were starting
to stream down her face. Everyone cooled a great deal. Rini wiped her eyes.
"It started when I had to leave
school early. Momma I wasn't sick. I just had to leave. There was a youma
attack earlier that day. I couldn't kill it."
Mirchiru spoke out, "Is it that same
youma you girls have seen a lot?"
Rini nodded and wiped her eyes again
at Mirchiru's choice of words. Haruka spoke,
"Go on."
"But before it retreated, it threw
some sort of ball at me. Some sort of magic. I felt a sucking sensation and
then-"
"And then," Lita pressed.
Rini screamed,
"I CAN'T SEE!"
She turned hysterical, oblivious to
the gasps that escaped from every throat.
"I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO SEE FOR
WEEKS! I'M BLIND! THAT'S WHY ARIEL'S ALWAYS WITH ME AT NIGHT! SHE HAS TO TELL
ME WHAT MY HOMEWORK SAYS! I CAN'T SEE A DAMN THING! I CAN'T SEE! I CAN'T SEE! I
CAN'T SEE!"
Rini buried her face in her hands
and pushed off the hands that tried to hold her. She stretched her arms out and
grabbed someone.
"Momma! I want Momma!"
The King fought the lump in his
throat and gave his daughter's hands to his wife's. Rini felt up, over her
mother's face. She let her hands travel up and felt that familiar hairstyle.
She flung her arms around her mother' neck and she wept. All that pain and
sorrow escaped. She crawled into her mother's lap, something she hadn't done in
years and cried.
The Queen, barely holding in her own
tears, held the girl tightly and as if she was a little child again rocked her
until her cries ceased.
* * *
Neo-Queen Serenity smoothed through
her daughter's hair as she cried.
"Oh, Baby," she cooed gently. "Why
didn't you tell us earlier?"
Rini didn't answer, merely clutched
her mother tightly, inhaling her scent. The queen began to smooth her
daughter's brilliant pink hair. The crown princess, sobbing, buried her face
into her mother's chest, crying.
"I didn't want you to take the Chibi
Scouts' independence away," Rini said simply.
She sensed that they were thinking
of just that and accused, "You're going to do it anyway, aren't you?" she
looked directly at where she guessed Raye was. She could smell Raye. Her
perfume was strong and familiar.
"Raye, you know for a fact that the
Chibi Scouts are capable of defending themselves, just because I'm blind
doesn't give you a right to take away their independence."
Raye took a breath, "Rini, you and
the others will understand when you become parents. Once you have Chelsea,
you'll understand how we feel."
Rini sighed. "You mean that Annika
will be that protective of Brooke?"
Haruka leapt up, "how do you know
about Brooke?"
"I was walking by the room when
Chelsea brought them, I saw them." She took a breath, "All of them…Maggie's
daughter Rose. Daisy's daughter Violet. Ariel's daughter Marina. Faith's
daughter Taylor. Hope's daughter Grace. Gloria's daughter Celine. Madelyn's
daughter Hannah. Annika's daughter Brooke. I still remember that."
Raye felt a surge of fear spring up
in her heart. "Annika, she knows…"
"No," Rini assured her. "I never
told the girls. I think it's wrong to keep secrets from your children but
that's not my decision."
Raye let out a sigh of relief. Rini
went on,
"Everything's a memory now. And
already, things are starting to dull. I wish I could see your faces."
The queen smiled sadly and rubbed
her daughter's hair.
"So," she asked, "What are you going
to do about the Chibi Scouts?"
The queen exchanged glances with the
others. "We'll discuss it. My idea is that when a serious battle comes up they
call one of us."
The others nodded. Rini cleared her
throat. They realized they hadn't spoken and she couldn't see their response.
Hotaru spoke,
"We agree, Rini."
The girl sighed, "I thought you
would."
She got up and started to the door.
Mirchiru grabbed her arm.
"What is it, Mirchiru-san?" the aqua
haired woman answered,
"Let me help you."
Rini, being independent, jerked her
arm away, "I can go to my room myself."
"But," Mina protested, "You can't
see."
"But I remember, I've been here for
fourteen years."
That said, she left.
* * *
The Chibi Scouts lounged in Raye's
quarters, miserable. Their parents had told them that since Rini was blind and
henceforth could no longer fight, they were to call them if the youma showed up
again. Faith and Daisy were quick to announce their disapproval.
"This sucks."
Daisy and the others swiftly agreed
with Faith's assessment of the situation. They could not believe this!
Annika was also feeling a presence
as if something were coming. She sat up. Gloria, right by her, turned.
"Annika?"
"I have a feeling," she stated, "a
force is near, an evil force."
The girls immediately drew their
wands.
"Mars Power!"
"Venus Power!"
"Mercury Power!"
"Jupiter Power!"
"Uranus Power!"
"Neptune Power!"
"Saturn Power!"
"Pluto Power!"
In unison, the eight girls yelled,
"MAKE-UP!"
In a flurry of signs, nature, and
flashes, eight sailor suited warriors stood in their places. Almost as soon as
this change took place, the wall was burst open and the same youma they had
fought many times sprung in. the senshi scattered. Chibi Venus spoke first,
"How dare you interrupt us when
we're moping! How dare you take our leader's sight away and in turn rob us of
our independence. As the warrior for Venus, I won't allow it. In the name of
Venus and in Cosmic Moon's place for the sake of the moon,"
The others cut in, "And our
planets!"
They finished as one.
"We'll
punish you!"
"Pretty little speech, kiddies," the
youma sneered. "Any truth in it?"
"I'll show you, you monster," Chibi
Uranus declared as she powered up.
"Earthquake
tremors!"
Her attack hit but it did not even
phase the youma.
One by one they attacked.
"Mars
Firestorm!"
"Mercury
Ice Glacier!"
"Jupiter
Deadly Lightning Bolt!"
"Venus
Beautiful Shockwave!"
"Uranus
Earthquake Tremors!"
"Screams
of Destruction!"
"Destructive
Ray!"
"Tidal
Wave!"
Not a flinch. Then, Chibi
Venus said,
"No choice, Sailor Planet Attack!"
The others nodded. They were stunned
how with Rini out of the picture, Gloria naturally took over. Chibi Uranus
mentioned that to Chibi Jupiter. The girl replied,
"What surprises me more is that I'm
listening." Was her reply.
"Mars Power!"
"Jupiter Power!"
"Neptune Power!"
"Saturn Power!"
"Mercury Power!"
"Pluto Power!"
"Uranus Power!"
"Venus Power!"
Their powers combined.
"Sailor Planet….ATTACK!"
The force of power knocked the youma
down and left the Chibi Scouts exhausted but it didn't kill it. Chibi Mercury
was just going to call for her mother when…
"Moon Princess Healing Kiss!"
The Chibi Scouts turned.
"COSMIC MOON!"
Rini nodded. "You'll have to be my
eyes, girls."
They nodded.
"To the left! Now!"
"Moon Princess Healing Kiss!"
The youma dodged, "Missed,
Princess!"
Chibi Mars called, "To your right…now!"
Every time the youma dodged.
Finally, the youma let out a blast that knocked Cosmic Moon down. Raye heard as
she came back into the quarters from a Scout meeting. She raced in.
"Cosmic Moon! Chibi scouts!"
The youma hit the Chibi scouts with
the same blast but instead of knocking them down, they glowed brilliant red and
vanished.
"ANNIKA! GIRLS!"
The youma laughed, "Come to my base
in the Artic. Or you'll receive your girls back…in more than one piece."
The youma vanished.
Cosmic Moon was shaking. Raye fell
to the ground. Cosmic Moon knelt by where she could hear her sobs. Raye shoved
her away. Her anger burst.
"This is your fault!" she accused,
pointing a finger. The Cosmic Scout stumbled back. Raye started to scream, "You
and your damned independence!"
She went on,
"If you had accepted help, but NO
you had to fight! Knowing you had no way to fight! Damn you Rini Tsukino!"
"RAYE! BY ORDER OF THE QUEEN STOP!"
Raye whirled. Neo-Queen Serenity
stormed in.
"You're hysterical. But you have no
right to speak to my daughter that way. We'll find Annika. We heard the
shouting and guessed the rest. Now calm down or I'll have Amy sedate you."
* * *
Diana purred and rubbed against
Rini's hands.
"It is my fault."
"No it isn't," her cat assured her.
"It isn't."
Rini fell silent a little while
longer. The she stood.
"Small Lady?"
"That's my team, my friends, my
family. Blind or not, I'm getting them back."
That said, she snatched her wand and
started for the door.
"Small Lady! No! You're blind!
Don't! You'll be killed."
Rini answered, "There are worse
things," and then was gone.
* * *
Diana raced after Rini but the
Princess of Crystal Tokyo shut the door and locked it, leaving Diana inside.
Her heart ached to hear her cat yell in such pain. She could hear Diana, the
pleading and heartbreak in her voice. But she forced herself to ignore it. She
walked down the stairs, ducking into spare rooms when she heard anyone coming.
As she crept by the council room, she stopped for a moment and listened….
"We have to get my daughter back!"
Raye screamed, as she stood. Amy pulled her down.
"Raye, all our children are missing.
We're as worried as you are."
The black haired senshi nodded and
tried to clam her racing heart. She noted Neo-Queen Serenity still looking at
her with distaste. She shouldn't have blown up as she had and she knew it. She
decided to say something before the feelings grew.
"Serenity…"
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry, I…I know it wasn't
Rini's fault. But I was hysterical. I wanted someone to blame, anyone."
Serenity got up and walked over to
her best friend. She wrapped her hands around her. "Don't worry, Raye, we'll
get them all back. That's a promise as Queen of Crystal Tokyo."
The woman nodded as she accepted her
best friend's arms as comfort. The tears were drying as the sadness was
replaced by anger. She leapt up.
"That bitch said to come to her base
in the Artic."
The queen and inner senshi
shuddered. The outer senshi, all but Pluto, looked at them oddly. Uranus spoke,
"What's wrong with the Artic?"
"That's D Point." The queen said
plainly. "Where we fought Metallica."
Amy cut in, "And where Serenity saw
all of us killed one by one."
The queen held her head in her hands
at that memory. Endymion put his hands on his wife's shoulders. She swallowed.
"So that's where we have to go."
"You should stay here, Serenity."
Lita stated, "It's-"
"I'm going, Lita Kino!" she spat.
"That bitch blinded my daughter."
The determination in her voice was
immediately recognized and the argument stopped.
Rini took off. This was her job. She
ran outside, following her memory and ears. She stopped outside the gate.
Focusing the power from her locket, she mentally commended,
"D Point, Artic."
Then she vanished away.
* * *
Diana finally managed to get out of
Rini's room, via the window. She saw her charge vanish and then saw the senshi
walk out. The King and Queen followed close behind with her parents. She leapt
down and landed in front of the royal family.
"Diana!" the queen shouted in
surprise.
The grey cat took in a breath and
screamed,
"Small Lady's gone after them!"
The queen's face turned snow white.
She let out a scream, making the senshi whirl about.
"Your Highness?" Neptune asked.
The queen transformed immediately
and tore towards them.
"Rini went after them!"
Raye opened her arms to her queen.
She knew the feeling. That plus the fact, she loved Rini as if she were a
second daughter. To Rini, she acted as a surrogate mother when the Queen
couldn't be there. When the small Princess had been younger, before Annika was
born, she'd come to Raye when her mother wasn't readily available. That was
probably why Raye had adjusted so easily to Annika's personality; she'd had
practice with Rini.
The senshi comforted their queen a
moment longer and then joined hands.
"Sailor…TELEPORT!"
* * *
The senshi immerged in the same
plane the Inner Senshi had emerged on so many centuries ago. The Inners turned
to their queen, remembering how the first time she'd been miserable.
It was evident how much she had
changed. She stood up, not a whimper or a sneeze of cold. She turned to
Mercury.
"Mercury?"
The blue haired senshi had already
removed her computer and visor and was typing furiously.
But before she could come to any
conclusion, she cried,
"Look!"
Following her finger, the senshi was
faced with the familiar youma. Raye ground her teeth and removed her flame bow.
"Give me back my little girl!" she
demanded. The senshi echoed her words. In return, the youma laughed and fired a
ball of fire.
The senshi scattered.
"Mars Flame Sniper!"
The youma caught Raye's arrow,
surprising her immensely. If the youma could do this to her attacks, what could
their children do against it?
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"
"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"
"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!"
"Deep Submerge!"
"World Shaking!"
"Dead Scream!"
The youma got hit but instead of
faltering, it absorbed their attacks. Then with a wicked laugh, sent them
flying back at their owners. The senshi immediately flung themselves over their
queen to shield her. Saturn stood up.
"Silent Wall!"
The attacks did not counter as she
expected but merged onto her wall. When she tried to dismiss the wall to fight,
it wouldn't vanish. She swallowed and tried again. The wall remained.
"Saturn!" it was Mars. "Why won't it
vanish?"
Saturn swallowed, "I don't know."
The youma laughed. Then as the
senshi watched, it summoned their children up. They were bound and unconscious
and detransformed. The youma smiled,
"I did think it would best to let
you watch your loved ones die." The youma looked directly at Mars. "Yours
first."
Mars ran to the wall and pounded her
fists against it, spitting, cursing.
"You bitch from hell! You touch a single hair on her head and I'll
tear you apart, limb by limb!"
The youma ignored her. Raye began to
rip at the wall with her bare hands, making her fingers bleed. Uranus and
Neptune tried to restrain her but Raye kicked them away. She was starting to
cry,
"Annika! Wake up! Wake up! Damn it! Wake
up!"
The wind blew her deep violet hair.
"ANNIKA!"
The youma looked at the small girl,
trying to decide. Finally, the monster took Annika in dark black hands and
began to twist her neck.
A blast of silver power stopped it.
Annika fell as the youma dropped her. Raye turned to the source, she screamed,
"RINI!"
Cosmic Moon twirled her wand around.
"I can't see because of you, youma. Now you think of taking away the lives of
my surrogate little sisters. I won't stand for it!"
She held her rod out and perked up
her ears. She could hear the youma breathing.
"Moon Princess Healing Kiss!"
The youma caught the attack and
threw it back at her. Cosmic Moon felt the heat and dodged just before it hit.
"Rini! Darling!"
Rini turned towards the voice,
"Momma."
Then she turned her attention back
to the battle, straining her now acute ears.
Neo-Queen Serenity stood helpless.
She couldn't do anything. She could not use the Silver Crystal because Saturn's
barrier would restrain its power at the level it would be when she began to use
it and at that level it would kill them all. But the mother within her was
burning with tears and worry. She put her hands against the barrier, tears
flowing down her face.
Cosmic Moon was very aware of the
danger she was in. she lifted her wand.
"Rini!"
Cosmic Moon instinctively turned to
the voice and recognized the tone as Lita's.
The youma took advantage and hit her
hard with a blast of fire.
"Rini!"
The Princess of Crystal Tokyo fought
her way up and stood slowly. Her knees shook and her heart was pounding. She
swallowed and then put her hands into an x over her chest. A bright flash
illuminated and when the senshi and youma could see again, Rini had turned into
her Princess self, her dress flowing and the crescent moon on her forehead
glowing.
"Rini!"
The girl opened her eyes, which had
a pink haze over the pupils from her blindness and lifted her wand.
"Let's settle this. Moon Princess
Healing Kiss!"
The youma reacted by firing a stream
of fire. The two forces met.
Rini couldn't see it but she rather
felt the strength of the blow. Her feet slid over the ice and she squeezed her
eyes shut against the heat and brightness of the light. She couldn't see it but
the heat made her eyelids burn. She felt herself slipping and heard the cries
of the senshi begging her to stop and run. Rini refused.
As she began to feel her power
faltering, she tried to bring out some more power. She didn't know where it
would come from but she knew she needed it or she wouldn't leave here alive.
Just as her hands began to sway, visions began to swirl through her mind.
Ariel, tiny little Ariel, rushing
back into the palace, tears running down her face. They had teased her again,
they never let up. She spied Rini by the gates, already home.
"Your mom's in a meeting Ariel," she
told the small girl.
Ariel stopped, her eyes welled up.
Rini knelt to Ariel's level. "What happened?"
Ariel couldn't say; she wanted her
mother. Rini put a hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Ariel, I know I'm not your mother
and you don't have to say what happened. But can I try and make you feel
better? How about some ice cream? My treat?"
Ariel's eyes lit up. The joy in her
eyes was enough to make Rini forget about how much homework she had to do.
"That's what I thought, let's go."
Ariel took her hand as tears dried
on her cheeks.
"Rini?"
"Yeah?"
"You're cool."
Rini felt the youma increase power.
But her thoughts were now on the children she'd come to think of as little
sisters. She heard Ariel's words in her head again: "You're cool. You can do
anything as long as it makes people happy, can't you?"
Gloria was about to head home to be
grounded again when she heard crying. She figured it was Annika and went
towards it. Instead, she found Rini on the hammock, weeping. A rare feeling
came over the girl. Pity. She rarely revealed her feelings but now she felt
like she had to do something.
"Rini?"
The princess turned, her eyes wet.
Gloria sat by her,
"What's with the waterworks?"
"I…I…"
"I got that part." Gloria sneered.
"I'm suspended for a week."
Gloria took in a sharp breath. "What? You? That's my
job!"
Rini nodded. She rolled up her left sleeve, showing
Gloria a dark black bruise, covering most of her left arm's
underside.
"I was protecting one of my friends. She has a
disease that makes her bones really fragile so she gets picked on a lot
at
school. But they were pushing her. I help out so I get in trouble."
Gloria nodded. She knew that
feeling. "Don't worry Rini. The King and Queen will let you off."
Rini looked at her and Gloria gave
her a rare non-joking smile, "I mean it. Mom'll hound me if I do that but your
parents know that you don't do it regularly."
Rini smiled. "Gloria?"
"What?"
"For a rude and obnoxious brat,
you're pretty nice."
"Thanks. But don't you go telling
anyone I was being non jokative, kay?"
Rini smiled, "Your secret's sealed."
Rini sighed. The visions kept
coming, Maggie coming to her for help, Daisy going to her with boy problems,
Madelyn asking things about her mother's past she was too scared to ask Hotaru
herself, Hope on her opinion on beauty, Faith came to her to help her through
prejudice against her princess status; about her intelligence, and finally,
little Annika and her kind heart, forever there for her.
Anger filled Rini's heart,
"The light of our love, the sacred
love that keeps us alive, will burn you to dust!"
"MOON PRINCESS HEALING KISS!"
Her scepter shattered as the silver
light spilled over the youma. The youma let out an agonized scream and then
vaporized. The last thing Rini heard before unconsciousness was the sound of
the Chibi Scouts and the senshi screaming as one,
"Rini!"
* * *
Rini woke up several hours later.
Annika smiled. "Hey, Rini! You
scared us!"
Mars put her hand on her daughter's
head. "But you did it Small Lady, you beat the youma."
"Totally dusted!" Faith added as she
trotted in.
Rini heard her mother's voice. "You
did Rini. You saved the Chibi Scouts and us. We're all proud of you." She
hugged her daughter and handed her a stick. Rini heard a gasp come from Mina's
throat.
"That's-"
"My Eternal Tier. I have my first
scepter if I need it. Rini's earned it."
Rini rubbed her eyes and opened
them. The tier was beautiful, bright pink and red with...
"Wait!"
Every head jerked to Rini. She
looked up.
"Mom…Dad. Girls…"
"What's wrong Rini?" Ariel asked as
she crawled onto the bed. Tears filled Rini's eyes as she took in Ariel's
features.
"I CAN SEE!"
She hugged Ariel tightly and Annika
soon flung her arms around Rini's neck. Rini hugged each Chibi Scout in turn
and then leapt into her mother's open arms. Amy smiled,
"The destruction of the youma lifted
the force field on Saturn Silent Wall, it must have lifted the spell form
Rini's eyes."
Rini just glanced around, sealing
everyone's image into her mind. Never again would she take her sight for
granted. But she had beaten the youma because she was a senshi. And a senshi
did not just use her eyes. Their sight was special. They fought for justice.
The love of people was blind.
The love of a senshi closed its
eyes. When Rini had thought of all her little sisters that she was protecting,
her heart opened its eyes. It was a sense that only those with a pure heart
possessed.
The second sight.
"Rini?"
Rini smiled at her mother. "I
understand now, Mom. Every senshi has a duty. To protect even when the odds are
seemingly one-sided. Because we always have a sight to use. I found that out
when I heard all the Chibi Scouts threatened."
She smiled at her mother. Putting a
hand over her heart, she stated,
"When your eyes fail, use your
heart, it's the one sight that cannot go blind."
The End