*Prolong:
Girl at the Door*
By:
Kohan
AN:
Rei, Usagi and Hotaru are 18. G-Boys are 19. Setsuna is...old.
Micharu and Haruka are 20.
***
Rei
opened her door at the sound of knocking. There was Usagi, tear
streaked and barefooted, standing in the rain.
"Usagi, what the hell are you doing?" Rei asked, but
Usagi just continued to cry, not her babyish -your-so-mean cry,
but a true cry, a heartfelt one. Usagi walked into the entryway
of Rei's house, she was dripping water on the floor. "I'll
get you a towel, Usagi..." Rei said and went to get a towel,
she could still hear Usagi crying. When Rei returned with a big,
blue towel, Usagi was sitting on the bench, wiping her tears
away, which didn't help much on account of her hair was dripping.
Rei wrapped Usagi in the towel and guided her to the living room.
"What happened?"
"He...he...he doesn't love me anymore, Rei-chan. I saw him
with another girl,"
"Mammoru? But-."
"I can't stand to be here, Rei..."
"Usagi...this isn't logical...are you sure?"
"I thought he loved me, you know...that we were destined to
be together. But now I see it was all in vein, I remember what
Pluto said... 'the future is only what you make it.'"
"Usagi..."
"Please, will you come with me, to another place? Somewhere
far from here?"
"I-I don't know...where..." Rei was at a loss for
words.
"Rei-chan, I don't want to be alone, we could go...somewhere
no one could ever find us."
"Your tired, and soaking wet...it's 1 o'clock in the
morning...you should get some rest before you decide to do
anything, it could all be a misunderstanding..."
"Rei-chan, can I use your shower, and borrow some clothes? I
don't want to go back home tonight." Usagi asked, looking up
from her hands, which she had been staring at through the whole
discussion.
"Of course you can, I'll put your clothes in the dryer and
get the guest bed ready." Rei said. The guest room
was her grandfathers, she had been using it ever since he died at
the end of the last year.
"Thank you," Usagi said, getting up, she then walked
slowly to the bathroom, and when Rei heard the shower
start she got up and picked up the mobile phone. She called
Haruka fist, she hoped she wouldn't make Haruka
too mad. But it wasn't Haruka who answered the phone When the
receiver clicked with the sound of answer, it
was Hotaru's voice that came on.
"Moshi moshi?" she asked sleepily.
"Hotaru?"
"Rei-chan?"
"Gomen for calling you so late, is Haruka there?" Rei
asked.
"No, her and Micharu and Setsuna went out about an hour ago,
what's wrong, Rei?"
"It's Usagi, Hotaru. Do you know where they went?"
"Setsuna went to her midnight medical class, and I don't
know where Haruka and Micharu are."
"Do you have Setsuna's number? It's very important."
"I have it, I could call, if you'd like."
"Yes, and have her meet me at my house, could you come over
after you get off the phone, Hotaru?"
"Hai, I'll get dressed." Hotaru said, "Ja ne"
"Ja ne" Rei said, and hung up the phone. She then went
to the window and closed the curtains. Rei walked into
the guest room and prepared the bed, then she went into the
bathroom to gather Usagi's wet clothes and lay out some of her
own. A few minutes later, the phone rang.
"Moshi moshi?" Rei said.
"Rei-chan, is Usagi there?" Minako's voice said,
"No, she's not here, Mina-chan." Rei lied.
"Oh, gomen for calling at this hour." The receiver
clicked.
"Ja ne." Rei said to empty space. "Maybe
forever."
Usagi got out of the shower, and put on the clothes Rei had
provided. The tear-streaks were gone from her face, but they were
not gone from her heart. She felt like dying. Usagi walked out of
the bathroom and into the
living room, where Rei was sitting. Hotaru was also there, her
hair was wet, like she had come a long way in the
rain. Usagi wondered how she had gotten here, she must have
walked. Then Usagi remembered that since Hotaru had been reborn
after she saved the Senshi when she was Super Sailorsaturn, her
body was much stronger physically.
"Hotaru, what are you doing here?" Usagi asked.
"I asked her to come, Usagi," Rei said. "I thought
we might need her and Setsuna's help. Why don' t you go lay down,
I'll come in when Setsuna gets here." Rei said. Hotaru
nodded in agreement, and Usagi gave in. Walking to the bedroom,
Usagi saw fresh bed sheets and a soft looking bed. She let
herself fall into it and cried softly into the pillow.
When daylight came, it found Rei, Setsuna and Usagi asleep.
Setsuna had arrived around 2 o'clock, and insisted that Hotaru go
to bed. Hotaru had refused, and said that she would stay awake
and answer any phone calls that they would receive. Ami had
called once, and when she questioned Hotaru about why she was at
Rei's house and awake, Hotaru had simply stated that they were
having a slumber party. Since Ami was smarter then the average
Senshi, she didn't take Hotaru seriously. Hotaru then, very
boldly spoke out and told Ami that it was none of her buisness.
Makoto had also called, sounding very concerned, but since she
was Minako's best friend, Hotaru decided not to take any chances,
and said that Rei was sick and that she was taking care of her.
Minako didn't call again, and Mammoru didn't call at all. Hotaru
figured it was probably better this way, but she was getting
awfully tired.
When the phone rang next, it was Haruka with only 6 words for
Hotaru: Where the hell have you been? Haruka was calm, in the
only way that Haruka could be, when Hotaru explained the
situation. (AN: In other words, she flipped). Haruka hung up on
Hotaru, saying that she would be over with more clothes for
Hotaru and Setsuna, Hotaru sighed and hung up. By that time it
was 7 o'clock, and Rei had woken up.
"Did you get no sleep last night, Hotaru!?"
"I was answering phone calls, Ami and Mako called, and
Haruka is coming over with fresh clothes for Setsuna and I."
"Hotaru, you should get some sleep..."
"Rei-chan," Usagi said from the doorway, she had woken
up, and she looked so small and fragile with her hair
down in Rei's nightclothes. A girl with a broken heart. "I
still want to go somewhere, but not alone." Usagi said.
"That can be arranged," Said Setsuna from the couch
where she had been sleeping. I could send you to another time.
That way there would be no sour memories..."
"Could you Setsuna, I could start over."
"Usagi, are you sure?" Rei asked, a little bit of a
pained look on her face, although she wouldn't mind leaving.
There was nothing for her here. Usagi nodded her head and
whispered "Hai."
"I'd like to come with you, Usagi. To protect you."
Hotaru said. "But could we please wait for Haruka and
Micharu? These clothes are really beginning to bug
me."Hotaru tried to smooth out her rumpled clothing to no
avail.
"We'll wait, that way Rei-chan will have enough time to cut
my hair." Usagi said.
"You want me to...cut..." A strange look came over
Rei's face, she looked almost frightened. "But Usagi, you
love
your hair..."
"I just want it as short as Hotaru's, that way...when I look
at myself, I won't remember..."
"But your odango...Usagi..."
"Enough of this, I have to go prepare your stay,"
Setsuna said, "I imagine that Haruka and Micharu will want
to
come with you?" Setsuna asked Hotaru, who nodded. "I
realize that this may sound a bit unsympathetic, but
this happened just at the right time. You see, I didn't tell you,
Hotaru, but I have to go guard the gates of
time once again, to make sure no one comes in the wrong ways,
we've been getting a lot of that lately." Setsuna explained.
Hotaru looked a little hurt.
"It's okay, Setsuna-mama, I know you'll visit often.
"Hotaru said. Setsuna transformed in a single flash and
opened the gates of time, and with that she was gone.
"Come on, Rei-chan, just use Hotaru-chan as a model."
Usagi said, with a little bit of a renewed spirit. Rei
stood, holding the scissors, somewhat shakily to Usagi's hair.
"Okay," Rei took a deep breath, and began to cut.
Hotaru was sitting on a kitchen barstool watching. Within 10
minutes, Usagi's hair was as short as Hotaru's, and Usagi was
looking in the mirror with a brush in hand.
"Actually, I think your hair frames your face better
now." Hotaru said, standing behind Usagi.
"I like it, it makes me feel like a new woman." Usagi
said. Suddenly, the front door opened and Haruka and
Micharu came in Haruka and Micharu came in, complete with a bag
of clothes and all.
"How you doing oda-." Haruka started, she walked into
the bathroom and saw Usagi by the mirror. "How you doing,
Usagi?" She rephrased her words. "This look is good on
you."
"It's you." Micharu agreed. "Hotaru, we brought
you some clothes."
"When Hotaru told us about your situation, we-I decided that
we should come with you...there's nothing for us here without
you, um, Usagi." Haruka said proudly. Hotaru smiled, and
took the bag of clothes from Micharu.
"Usagi, can I drop you at your house for some clothes or
something?" Asked Micharu.
"No, I'll buy something when we get where we're
going...wherever that is."
"Here, Usagi, you can wear a pair of my shoes, since you
came with none." Rei said, handing Usagi a pair of white
shoes.
"Thank you."
A
few minutes later, Hotaru came out of Rei's room in a light
purple summer dress that Micharu had packed. Outside, the rain
had stopped, and the sun was coming out. Again the phone rang.
"I'm not here," Said Usagi. Rei picked up the phone.
"Moshi moshi." She said, somewhat annoyed at all the
phone calls she was getting.
"Rei-chan, let me talk to Usako." Mammoru said.
"USAGI isn't here." Rei said.
"Let me talk to her, I need to."
"This is all your fault, Mammoru, If I had half a mind, I
would let Hotaru rip you apart." Rei said, and hung up
she dusted off her hands. "Yup, all in a days work."
Rei said.
***
AN: Sorry that was so short, but it is the prolong, after all! More to come shortly, and soon it will really be a crossover!