Chapter 2 - Leading Us On and On and On


Usagi's brow furrowed as she began to wake; the air was thick with the scent of the ocean... But that didn't make any sense... She was at her party, laying in the grass with Mamo-chan after gourging on Makoto's delicious cake, and...

Wait...

The terrifying stranger.

Rei and Minako holding her tightly.

A gun against her forehead.

Her breath hitched in her throat and she couldn't move. It was for the best that fear held her still; there was no telling what she now faced, upon waking.

She was laying down on a hard, cold surface that was swaying... It felt like Haruka-san's water-bed, only nowhere near as soft... The sound of water lapping against a hard surface surrounded her...

She'd been.. kidnapped!

But where were Minako and Rei?

Usagi cracked her eyes open, only to find that her nose was inches away from a wall- if they were there, she had no way of knowing, unless she called out to them.

Opening her mouth to do just that, she remained quiet when she heard.. Someone singing?

"Over the seas, we go men! We're shovin' right off, we're shovin' right off, again!" A man's voice, tenor and relaxed, sounded from directly above her. "Nobody knows where or-"

"If you want to dirty your mouth with those Human songs, that's your business." Usagi almost whimpered; it was the voice of the man who'd had the gun. "But I won't have you dirtying my ears with them, Maxwell."

"I can't help it- music is music. Lighten up a little, would ya?" Maxwell sighed dejectedly, feet shuffling against the floor.

"Music is music," the second man echoed, the sneer audible in his voice. "That sort of reasoning is no better than one of Them would give."

There was a poignant silence.

"Ouch, Wufei," Maxwell said quietly, his words carrying a hurt that was impossible to mask, and Usagi felt sympathy welling up for the poor guy- until she remembered that he was associating with the man who'd kidnapped her.

"...I apologize, Duo," the man with the gun, Wufei, said stiffly, as though asking for forgiveness was an act foreign to him. "Being out there, surrounded by Them, and seeing everything..."

"Don't worry about it, buddy," the other man responded, his voice back to it's relaxed tone. There was a soft patting sound; Maxwell- Duo? -must have clapped Wufei's arm.

"If you two are finished, it would be prudent to concentrate entirely on our task," a third voice spoke, eerily calm. How many men were there? "A little further, and it's Duo's turn to row, and Wufei's to keep watch."

"Right, Trowa," Duo piped up, clearing his throat.

"By the way. She's awake," Trowa added tactlessly after a pause, as though having taken a moment to decide whether or not he cared enough to add that bit of information.

Usagi went rigid, pretending that she was unconcious, hoping they wouldn't start torturing her if they thought she wasn't awake. She scrunched her eyes closed, and tried not to breathe as she felt a form bending over her.

"Hey, do you want to sit up? You don't have to keep laying there," Duo said, not unkindly.

Without waiting for her to respond, he grabbed her by her arms, hoisting her up effortlessly and sitting her beside him. At this, Usagi did cry out, wrenching her wrists when she found she couldn't move her hands- they were bound tightly behind her.

"Stop rocking the boat," Wufei frowned, continuing to row.

Usagi heard him, though she didn't pay him any mind in her panic. Azure eyes wide and staring all around her, she let out another desperate cry; she was on a small boat, in the middle of the ocean, with no land in sight. The sun was beginning to set- how long had she been unconcious?

"Take it easy," Duo said slowly, growing alarmed as the boat gave a particularly harsh dip with Usagi's struggling. He grabbed her shoulder, only to yank his hand away sharply as she gave a shriek.

"Don't touch me! Where am I? Who are you guys? Why did you kidnap me? Where's Rei and Minako?" Usagi asked in a rush, voice elevated and higher pitched than usual as she stared at the young man next to her.

He as thin and dressed entirely in black, with large, violet eyes and a well-structured, heart shaped face, his brown hair was worn long, shorter sections in the front falling about his eyes and temples, while the back was tied into a braid. He didn't look that much older than herself- and neither did Wufei. But unlike Wufei who apppeared disgusted at best, Duo looked taken aback, unsure as to how to respond to her barrage of questions.

"Be quiet, and stop thrashing." Trowa's orders cut through her hysterics like a blade.

She hadn't even noticed him- and he was sitting directly behind Wufei, taller by more than a few inches. Flinching under his sharp eyes, his brown hair blown back by the wind so that his features, set in a cold indifference, were visible, Usagi almost did as instructed. However, looking at these three men who'd kidnapped her and had probably hurt her friends, she started once again.

"I will not be quiet! I wanna go home! And what did you do to my friends? They had better be alright, or believe me, you're gonna regret it! Untie me! Let me go!" she wailed louder than before.

"Maxwell, do your job," Wufei muttered, teeth gnashing- he was about two seconds away from taking matters into his own hands.

"Please, uh, shut up, 'cause you're gonna give us all a headache," Duo started, voice straining as he tried to keep his tone nonthreatening. "And if you keep rocking the boat like this, ah, our feet are going to get soaked with all the-"

Continuing to pull at the bindings about her wrists, Usagi considered her options as he spoke. There was no help in sight, there were nobody but these three psychos in sight, for that matter, and she honestly had little chance of getting out of this in her current position. And so, taking a deep breath, she chose to do something that had remained an unspoken taboo for as long as she could recall.

Her hands wouldn't come free, she could only feel the reassuring shape tucked against the hollow of her chest, but... Closing her eyes, and hoping with her entire heart that it would work, she cried out, "Moon Eternal-!"

She got as far as the first syllable in 'eternal' before she choked on her words, with the last bit coming out as nothing more than a sound of despair. Duo had the barrel of his gun pressed against her temple at the start of her second word, and her eyes snapped open to find that two other men had guns aimed at her as well.

"Serenity, in order to assure that you complete the journey unharmed, I highly suggest you banish any thoughts of trying that again," Trowa said calmly, the hand that held the gun never wavering or lowering. "Though I speak for myself when I say this, I'm certain my associates agree that you won't be asked so politely in the future."

"It would be in your best interest not to make another sound, for that matter," Duo added grimly.

The petite blond slowly twisted to regard them all individually: Trowa, with his stoic, unreadable expression and frighteningly clear eyes; Wufei, viewing her with unabashed dislike, his lip curling in a half-concealed sneer; and Duo, his mouth set in a firm, unforgiving line, the tip of his gun still trained close to her head.

Her throat tightened, her heart thrumed painfully, and her entire frame trembled.

These men somehow knew her true name and knew who she was capable of becoming- there was no hope of escaping this obviously armed and trained trio, and even if there was a chance, where would she go? She was in the middle of nowhere.

And the cold steel of guns invoked quite a different sort of fear than a Dark Energy wielding foe.

Bowing her head until her tiny chin brushed against the smooth material of her stained and wrinkled kimono, Usagi's lower lip quivered, her eyes welled up, and she prepared for a good bawling session.

"By the gods- Maxwell, just gag her."


Some time later, land came into view- at first, noting more than a distant line against the horizen, quickly broadening and growing until it loomed before the boat menicingly. The sun had set some time ago, and the rocky outcroppings and sandy turf were reduced to little more than splashes of blackness and dark shadows.

Duo, Wufei, and Trowa worked as a silent unit once they'd reached the shoreline and it came time to unload.

Duo easily draped Usagi over his shoulder and carefully pressed his gun against her side as he steadied himself, Wufei drew in the oars and gathered their supplies, and Trowa hopped out of the boat now that they were in the shallows, dragging the vessel until it was safely lodged in the dry portion of the beach.

Usagi's heart pounded in her ears as the blood rushed to her head, her teeth jarring as Duo set into a jog to match the pace of his two companions. As dark at it was, she couldn't see more than a foot in front of her, and she briefly wondered how the three were managing through the denser foliage without tripping or snagging themselves on outstretched branches. Her nose was still swollen and stuffed from her earlier crying, and her eyes burned- however, she didn't make a single noise as they continued moving. Oh, she wanted to voice her feelings of anger, fear, discomfort- but none of them had made any move to remove her gag (or untie her wrists).

The men came to a stop as abruptly as they'd started forward, and Usagi felt herself tense, having no way to support herself. She needn't have worried; Duo's arm tightened gently around her waist to secure her, and she heard him sigh faintly, "Home sweet home."

Usagi started to twist in his grip, wanting to get a look at what exactly is was that he considered 'home,' but Duo made a quiet, negative sound and prodded her with his gun so that she remained still.

They went up a flight of stairs, the sound of their boots against the stone steps loud around her ears, and they stopped once more, this time on a wide enclosure- a foyer.

It was either Wufei or Trowa who twisted a key in a lock, and then the three were stepping through the front door to a building that was as bright inside as it had been an empty dark outside.

Usagi blinked against the light, squirming slightly and then bracing herself for impact when Duo uncerimoniously dropped her. She bounced once before falling back against soft cushions- a couch.

Wriggling and kicking her legs, tangled in the layers of her outfit, Usagi managed to sit up on her own. Round globes, balanced on thin, three legged pedistals, were emiting the white light that bathed the spacious room. Aside from the strange lamps and the couch she sat upon- a bland tan color -, there was no other trace of furniture- no rugs covering the hardwood floors, no paintings or pictures or tapestries against the walls, no curtains covering the wide windows.

Duo sat on the floor across from her, back braced against the wall and legs folded beneath him, fiddling with his gun and paying her no mind. Wufei had gone down a different hallway upon entrance and hadn't returned. And Trowa...

The tallest of the three stood nearest the windows, half his form aglow with the artificial light of the room, his other half set in shadows. His posture was rigid, his arms crossed against his narrow chest- he could have been made of stone.

Turning, his gaze fell to meet hers, and she cringed- and when the ghost of a smile suddenly touched the corners of his mouth, never reaching his eyes, she shivered.

"You're terrified, aren't you?" his voice was smooth, quiet, and altogether unsettling. "If you knew how long we've dreamt of this day, of the time, of this moment, perhaps you would instead feel flattered. Perhaps then your skin would burn with a woman's chaste modesty."

He approached her, tendrils of his hair masking half his face, his visible eye staring with such intesity down at her that Usagi tried to backpeddle across the length of the couch, her bound wrists twisting awkwardly under her back, anything to get away- his disturbingly neutral persona, she could stomach.. but this...

"For no name has known such reverence as yours. No name has ever been spoken with such passion, such yearning before this era. Tsukino Usagi.. Tsuki no Hime.. Serenity," he breathed, eyes closing, face absolutey expressionless. "We've all but worshipped your memory and become inebriated with the desire to find you."

Usagi's pale cheeks reddened with a blush, and she swallowed hard- what he was saying now scared her more than any of the men's actions had before.

A bark of laughter interupted the palatable stillness that had thickened the air. "I haven't heard you speak like that since... Since before we came here, Trowa," Duo said, twirling his gun on a finger before slipping it out of sight on his person. "I missed it; didn't think I'd ever hear you spouting poetry again," he added wistfully.

Trowa's eyes opened once more, and when he stared down at Usagi now, they shown with mute amusement. "Nor did I... However," he walked away, back toward the windows, "Hope can give rise to the strangest creations, just as it can breathe life back into that which we thought lost..."

"Well spoken!"

Looking to the doorway from where the newest voice had come, Usagi felt her heart lift with hope- luminous in the white light of the globes, with pale hair falling around equally pallid, fine boned features, his garments too large for his lithe frame, the material billowing about his arms and chest, for a moment, she had almost believed it was Helios standing there; it was a rediculous notion, but desperate and alone as she was, it was the first that entered her thoughts.

"Quatre, you should be resting." Trowa's graceful steps brought him across the room and to the young man's side, his slender hands twitching toward the other man, as though contemplating whether or not he should drag Quatre back the way he came.

Quatre laughed softly, and canted his head, sea-green eyes falling upon Usagi. It had only been for a second that he had resembled Helios, and now that he moved, and spoke, Usagi wondered what could have possessed her to think that in the first place. They looked nothing alike- this man's rumpled hair was shorter, and undeniably a shade of blond, he was taller than Helios, and lacked the pure tranquility that Helios' golden gaze held- not to mention a horn-, and he wasn't wearing silken slacks and tunic- just a white shirt, the ties halfway undone and two sizes too large over a pair of beige pants.

Usagi sighed dismally; she would have given anything to see a familiar face.

"I believe you said it best yourself, my friend," Quatre laid a hand on Trowa's shoulder reassuringly, grining up at him. "Hope can rejuvinate."

The taller youth made no move, and Duo snorted loudly.

"...Alright. Truthfully, I couldn't rest easy." Again, Quatre looked to the captive blond on the couch, and this time he smiled amiably. "Her Life Force is something of a disturbance, not to mention the emotional ride she's putting me through."

Two murderous gazes joined the friendly one, and Usagi whimpered, shrinking down and wondering what exactly it was that she'd done to warrant their ire this time... Besides existing, of course.

"I'm going to see what's keeping Wufei," Trowa stated shortly, before disappearing down the corrider with hardly a sound.

Nodding, Quatre walked into the room, gingerly seating himself on the edge of a cushion before twisting to study Usagi once more- all of the men had been doing quite a bit of that this evening, scrutinizing the tiny blond half-expectant, half-intrigued... She disliked it, and didn't bother trying to meet the new man's eyes. Because of this, she didn't notice his movements, and when she felt the tips of his fingers dusting across her damp cheek, she jerked away forcibly, nearly throwing herself from the couch in the process.

"Please, Serenity, allow me to assist you." Quatre's voice was sweet and gentle, so much kinder than any she had heard since her awakening and subsiquent journey. And though his voice wasn't nearly as deep or wonderful, the way he spoke to her made her think of Mamoru.

The girl blinked back a new wave of tears- she'd cried so much already, Rei would tease her mercilessly if she knew! -and after a slight hesitation, nodded to Quatre.

"Ah.. Quatre, buddy, I don't want to be a nuisance, but are you sure that's a good idea?" Duo shuffled to his feet, pressing back against the wall as he rose. "Wufei's the one who ordered the gag in the first place..."

"Treating her in this manner, while necessary over the course of her transportation here, is both cruel and degrading at this point in time," Quatre said quietly, inching closer to Usagi to undo the knots that kept the thick strip of material bound tightly around her mouth. He offered her another warm smile, and she tried not to sniffle too loudly. "You won't cause us any problems, will you?"

Usagi shook her head, her hair swinging emphatically with the gesture.

Tugging out the last knot, the cloth fell away, and Usagi immediately uttered a quick stream of sentances that had Duo rolling his eyes and Quatre patiently searching his pockets for a handkerchief. "How do you guys know who I am? Why did you kidnap me? Where are my friends? Where am I? Where are you from? Why do you have guns? What do you want-"

Quatre placed a silencing hand over her rapidly moving mouth, and dabbed at her cheeks with the handkerchief, his expression bemused. "I'm going to have to ask that you refrain from questions... For now, at least." Usagi closed her eyes and he carefully swiped a bit of the material over her long, moist lashes before folding the handkerchief in half, and holding it over her nose. "Blow."

Feeling her face redden all the way to the roots of her hair, Usagi did as instructed. It was embarassing to have a stranger tending to her like this, but she supposed that it was better than sitting there with the sniffles. "Thank you," she murmured, shifting in her seat. "It wasn't very comfortable."

"If you weren't such a chatterbox, you wouldn't have had to wear the gag in the first place," Duo snickered, plopping down on the couch at her other side so that both she and Quatre bounced with the fall of his weight.

Instinctively, Usagi drew away from him, and closer to Quatre; she hadn't forgotten that Duo was the one who'd gagged her in the first place, or that he had so casually held a gun to her head with every intention of using it if she acted out of line. "If you had been kidnapped and taken away from all of your friends, you'd want answers too," Usagi said indignantly.

Duo leaned back, arms going up and crossing behind his head as he chuckled at her words. "Pssh. I wouldn't have been kidnapped. Period... Speaking of which, you're heavy for such a little thing, did you know that? I thought I had it easy, carting you up to the mansion instead of our supplies. Boy, was I wrong."

Usagi gaped at him, aghast. "You kidnap me, you ruin my birthday, and then you insult me?" she sputtered, blue eyes wide in disbelief.

"Hey, we are what we are," Duo shrugged, sniffing slightly as he further reclined in his seat, stretching his back. "I don't think I'd call it an insult to state the truth."

"I'm not fat! You're just a.. a weakling," the poor girl huffed after giving him time to retract the statement, and finding that he wasn't going to. Flinging herself against the couch and ruining Duo's full-body stretch, she looked to her other side, intent upon ignoring Duo and talking to Quatre instead, only to find that the blond haired man was gone. "Where did Quatre..?"

"He left a while ago. Gods, no wonder it was so easy to nab you, you sure don't pay much attention to anything, do ya?" the braided youth shook his head mockingly.

There was no time for Usagi to take offense- Wufei had all but matrialized within the doorframe, his approach as silent as the other three carried themselves. "He's ready to meet with her now," he stated curtly, as though Usagi weren't in the room. "You're to escort the girl to his quarters."

"Up we go," Duo said lightly, springing to his feet before reaching down to pull Usagi to hers. "Leader-sama doesn't like to be kept waiting."

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Well.. I had planned on posting this chapter this Monday.

But after all those wonderful reviews, I couldn't wait any longer. Thank you SO much; you all have no idea how much they mean to me, knowing that this is the second time I'm posting the opening chapters of this fic after having been gone for so long, and finding that you are all still so supportive.

I think I may be getting way too sentimental over it, lol, it was a really mushy moment when I opened my emails to find these. -big happy/teary smile!-

Chuu x Infinity!

- Zangai