Chapter Two
"Excuse me, but are you open?"
Rei looked up. There was a girl standing in the doorway. She had odd hair, like there were odangos on her head, and her eyes were sharp and blue.
There was a mark on her forehead identical to the one on Artemis's head. In the girl's arms there was a black cat with the same crescent moon.
"Artemis!" The cat bounded out of the girl's arms and ran to nuzzle the white cat, and although the girls' should have been used to talking animals, they were still surprised. "Artemis, I found her!"
"Found…" Minako stood up, moving fluidly around the table and to the girl. She stared at the newcomer's forehead, at her hair, into her blue eyes. "Princess?"
"Venus." The princess smiled, and held out her hands. "I'm so glad. I've finally found you!"
What followed was a bewildering flurry of hugs. The Princess hurried around the table, embracing them all wildly, tears leaking form the corners of her eyes. Her crescent mark glowed as she smiled a wide, joyful smile that seemed to light up the room. "My Senshi!"
"The princess rescued me." Luna, the black cat, explained proudly. "She recovered her memories at a young age and has been looking for us, although she had some difficulty with the glamour that protects you all from being recognized."
"I was worried that we might never meet." The princess said mournfully. "But here you are! I saw Mars outside and I knew the rest of you must be nearby. We were inseparable…before…"
"Before?" Makoto asked softly. Artemis had mentioned their past lives, but no one could provide them with the full details. Apparently they would remember when they needed the memories. Secretly, Makoto hoped that when everyone remembered, they'd all become friends and she wouldn't be alone anymore.
"Yes, on the moon…before…she turned on us." The Princess swallowed. "My name is Tranquility. When we lived on the moon, we were happy. Peaceful, even. Until, one day I…I…I fell in love." Tranquility buried her face in her hands. "Even though it was forbidden, I slipped away to Earth and met the Prince of Earth in secret…Oh, Endymion…"
"Princess." Luna murmured, rubbing her head against the princess's knee.
"There was this woman on Earth, named Beryl. Endymion had refused to wed her, so she unlocked an ancient evil in hopes of destroying the moon and winning him. She destroyed the moon, all right. She destroyed everything…including Endymion. He died…right in my arms…and then Beryl struck me down."
"Princess Tranquility." Minako knelt before the sobbing woman, stately as a queen. "I vow, as Venus, Senshi of love, and as Minako Aino, to protect you and help you no matter what."
"And I." Makoto got up and joined Minako, moved by Tranquility's speech.
Ami and Rei hesitated. Ami, because despite everything, she still had a hard time believing in all the magic and didn't know if it was wise to pledge herself to an unknown woman, and Rei, because she was loathe to give up any more of her freedom, especially to a sobbing woman with a sad story. She didn't mean to be cruel, but she was putting everything in danger for the Senshi already.
"You two?" Artemis asked. "Join them. It's your destiny."
"Says who?" Rei asked, her temper flaring. "You? A talking cat tells me I need to give up any chance at a normal life to protect this so-called princess and find a mystical jewel, tells me I need to put myself and my family in danger for what? A past life I conveniently can't remember?"
"Mars?" Tranquility asked. "Don't be angry! You don't have to swear to anything…I don't mean to be trouble…"
"I…" Rei caught sight of the princess's face and winced. "I don't know if I can do this."
"You're free." Tranquility insisted over Luna's protests. "You've already died for me once. Be happy."
"I…died for you?" Rei repeated incredulously. "When?"
"All of you did. You died trying to defend our kingdom."
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Motoki was watching them fight again. They were an unlikely pair of friends, but he could tell that, despite themselves, they were thoroughly enjoying the bickering.
Usagi's brain-mouth filter had always been a little slow; her fits of temper were usually brief and dramatic, her grief tended to easily cured by something like ice cream, and her smiles were easy and ever-present. She'd been a regular ever since she began junior high, and he looked forward to showing her the new games and gave her discounts on her milkshakes.
Mamoru he had only known in passing. While he attended the same school, and even had lasses with him, Mamoru stuck to himself, and wasn't particularly social. Motoki had only known him by reputation and the few, short conversations they'd had before Mamoru had met Usagi. Before, Mamoru had come in once or twice a week to drink something and left immediately.
Now he came everyday for the sol purpose of antagonizing Usagi, and Motoki had made a valiant attempt at befriending him. At first he'd felt as though he should protect poor Usagi, being hounded by a heartless older student. Then Usagi had thrown her books at Mamoru's head and Motoki had realized that they were good for each other.
Now Motoki felt he could call Mamoru his friend, and he hoped that if Mamoru didn't withdraw back into himself, he would accept Motoki's advice and just ask Usagi out already and put himself out of his misery.
While Usagi waved a packet of pink paper in Mamoru's face and he tried to fend her off, the arcade doors opened and admitted a group of five girls in junior high uniforms. That in itself wasn't unusual; plenty of students came to the arcade for fun. No, what surprised him was the shortest girl, standing in the middle of the group, wearing a sad smile that looked as if it belonged on the face of someone much older.
Her hair was pulled into two buns on either side of her head, trailing down in yellow ribbons. Her eyes were blue. And her face was strikingly similar to Usagi's although the features of this new girl were a little more angular.
"There are two of you now?" Mamoru commented, looking over Usagi's head at her look-a-like. She glanced over to he booth where Mamoru and Usagi were sitting and froze mid-step, staring directly at Mamoru in shock.
"You didn't tell me you had a twin, Keiko." Minako laughed, trying to diffuse the sudden tension that filled the air. It didn't help-the air between Mamoru, Usagi, and Keiko seemed to be crackling. Slowly, Keiko approached the table. She hesitantly smiled at Usagi, who returned the expression with far more sincerity.
"How strange." Keiko murmured. "We do look alike."
"They saw everyone has a twin out there somewhere! But where did you learn to do your hair? My mother actually did mine when I was little as an accident and she thought it was cute so she left it that way…are you new in town?"
"Yes, I've just moved here. The hairstyle is a family tradition, passed down for generations." Keiko's eyes moved back to Mamoru, who was watching the exchange with a frown. He rubbed his temple, looking irritated. "I don't think we've been introduced…?"
"Mamoru Chiba." He answered. His voice was cold, and Usagi whipped around to glare at him before waving him off.
"I'm Usagi Tsukino! Mamoru is just a jerk so you should just ignore him, 'kay?"
"It's fine." Keiko said. "I have an appointment. Excuse me." She turned around and left the arcade, followed by a confused group of Senshi.
"What was that?" Rei demanded.
"Endymion." Keiko whimpered, collapsing against the nearest building. "He's Endymion!"
"Your lover from the Silver Millennium?" Makoto asked. Keiko nodded. "Then who's Usagi supposed to be?"
"I don't know." Keiko sighed. "Endymion! How can you not remember me, when we were so…" Tears trailed down her face. "My love." She broke down sobbing and fell into Minako's embrace. The girls crowded around, trying to comfort her awkwardly.
Minako looked at the princess who she had sworn to follow and vowed to herself that she would bring Endymion back to Tranquility, no matter what she had to do.
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"Ah…" Usagi lay sprawled out across his couch, her bag lying half open on the floor in a way that made his neat-freak tendencies wince in agony. "I'm sooo tired…"
He ignored her, flicking another rose towards the dartboard on the wall. It hit the bulls-eye-he'd discovered he had a natural talent for throwing sharp objects, or plants and having them hit. The rose vanished into a cloud of golden sparks, and he sat down on the end of the couch next to her stocking-clad feet.
"Mamoru…" She yawned, stretching. He tried not to notice the way her shirt slid up to reveal her stomach and picked up the nearest book. Advanced physics had never failed him yet. "Mamoru, are you going to fill it out?"
"No, Odango atama."
"Please? Everyone has done one! Then you can compare and find true love!"
"I don't believe in true love through a compatibility test." He was already half in love with his odan-with his princess. He repeated the thought several times and tried not to examine Usagi's face for the marked resemblance she bore to his dream woman for the thousandth time. He already knew she had the same face as the princess in his dreams; it did not mean she was her. That girl-Keiko?-at the arcade had looked like his princess, too, but he wasn't obsessing over her.
Actually, the instant Keiko had come in, he'd come down with the most awful headache, and it had cleared up as soon as she was out of his sight. Normally he would have dismissed it, but ever since Mamoru had realized he could make plants bloom by touching them, heal himself, and move things with his mind, he'd become increasingly suspicious of coincidences.
The sound of panicked, screaming people and the roar of a youma wafted in from the open doors of the balcony. He snapped the books shut and laid it on the table.
"Why is it always us?" Usagi complained as she followed him down the stairs, hanging onto his arm so he wouldn't outpace her.
"Shut up and come on, Odango." He replied, yanking her around the side of the building. There was something large and purple, with flailing tentacles, trying to grab people and drain them of their energy as the civilians ran away in terror. They pressed themselves up against the wall, keeping behind a dumpster.
"Watch out!" Before he could stop her, Usagi had tackled a little girl out of the way of one of the monster's tentacles. As the two rolled onto the other side of the street, the youma made another grab at them. Mamoru pinned the appendage to the street with a rose and pressed one hand to his forehead. A golden symbol glowed there.
Satisfied that the magic that kept him from being recognized or noticed was working, he blasted the youma away from Usagi as it tried to snatch her ankle. She pushed the little girl away, and as son as the child was a safe distance form her, she ripped off the ribbon and pressed a hand to the crescent moon it had covered.
A beam of silver light hit the youma, eliciting a howl of pain as half of its body evaporated. Usagi scrambled to her feet and moved to his side. People were starting to poke their heads out of windows and doors as the noise of the youma intensified, but the two knew hat the magic emanating form their forehead marks would keep them from being remember or even seen.
"Are you going to keep attacking, Odango?" Mamoru asked impatiently.
"I am, I am!" She fired back, sending out another beam of silver. This time the entire youma crumbled into nothing, leaving only a crater where it had been. The people it had managed to suck the energy form were still lying prone on the ground, too exhausted to move. Usagi immediately began rushing to help them, leaving Mamoru to follow after her and scold as he forced her to use his strength to heal.
His excuse was that he was sick of having to carry her. If told he was worried about her overexerting herself, he would deny it.
'Thanks." She said as she finished with the last of the victims. "Let's go." The sound of sirens approaching followed them as they made their way back upstairs.
Usagi flopped down onto the floor. "I'm sleepy."
"I told you.' He reminded her. She yawned, too tired to spar with him. "Come on. I'll take you home."
"'Kay." She didn't move, though, and he realized that she'd fallen asleep.
He stared at her, lying on the floor of his apartment, fast asleep. She was cute.
He groaned. He was doomed, all right.
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"I think I've figured out who that Usagi girl is." Artemis declared the next morning. He looked tired, as did Ami, whose help he'd enlisted. "She's the Silver Imperial Crystal."
"How can a girl be a jewel?" Minako asked. She scarfed a chip from the bowl sitting in the center of the table. Makoto had ceased bringing snacks and no one else seemed to care, so Rei had snatched up some stale chips and poured them into a bowl before inviting the girls in.
"The power of the Silver Crystal was the reason we were all reborn. The crystal itself also had to travel through time so that it could be used by the Moon Princess. I think that girl, Usagi, was born as a carrier for the crystal. Her resemblance to Tranquility probably is an effect of the queen's final wish."
"You think Usagi is the crystal?" Makoto raised an eyebrow. She had met Usagi when she'd arrived at her new school. Usagi had approached and immediately began praising her lunch and questioning her about her past, as though she hadn't heard or didn't care about the rumors. Makoto had first thought the blonde was crazy to not be afraid, then thought she ad started a malicious rumor and shunned her entirely. She couldn't imagine the kind, ditzy girl as the possessor of an enchanted jewel.
"We won't know until I can get some readings." Ami muttered. She was tapping away at the Mercury computer. "The crystal should be completely dormant, but there have been some odd incidents in the last few months. Minako reported that dark forces had turned one of the streets to glass. Ever since then, there have been youma that have been destroyed without our interference. No one knows how they've been killed. It's possible that Usagi has been able to use the crystal without knowing it."
"She can't have activated it on her own?" Rei questioned.
"She doesn't have the power. It takes immense concentration and skill to use an artifact like that. Judging by this girl's grades and personality, there's no way she could have done it." Luna explained. "The next time there's a youma, we have to try and see if she is nearby. If she manifests any power, we have to go after her. And be careful of Mamoru, whatever you do."
Tranquility nodded. "Endymion has not regained his memory, but he's drawn to that girl. He might have mistaken her for me."
"Shouldn't we be trying to make him regain his memories, then?" Makoto asked. "he could help us."
"Endymion will be in danger if he awakens. His Golden Crystal will attract all our enemies if it begins working. And if he is exposed to us, or to the Silver Imperial Crystal, he will remember." Tranquility said. "It's for his safety that we're staying away. I'm sure, eventually he'll know me…and then…"
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"Who are you?" Kenji Tsukino demanded as he stared at the strange man holding his daughter. Mamoru gulped.
"Mamoru Chiba."
"What are you doing to me daughter?" Kenji wasn't particularly loud. He sounded almost friendly, which left Mamoru terrified. Glancing down again at the sleeping girl who'd gotten him into this mess, he explained.
"We were studying and she fell asleep. I knew there was no way she was going to get up, so I brought her home." Kenji looked satisfied, and Mamoru allowed himself relief.
"How old are you, anyway?"
"I'm eighteen. Can I bring her in, Mr. Tsukino? She'll get cold if we have to stand out here much longer."
Defeated by Mamoru's logic, Kenji moved aside and allowed him to lay his daughter down on the sofa. Mamoru put her bag on the floor nearby and hurried out of the house before the overprotective father could try and hurt him.
On the roof of a nearby building, Jadeite watched him run to his car with a smile.
"You two will the ones to lure out my Prince."
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