Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, X-men Evolution or the X-Men movies.
Author's Note: I was quite happy with the reception this story received. It was popular the first time it was posted, so I'm hoping it will have equal or greater popularity this time around! It was noted once or twice that the previous chapter was rather short – it was just the prologue, and my chapters are usually longer than that, as you can see by this one. For those of you who are looking forward to the interaction of the X-Men, they will be present a great deal more by chapter two.
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The young girl moved swiftly about her bedroom, preparing herself for the coming day. She tied part of her pale golden hair up into two buns on either side of her head, leaving the remainder of her curls to fall in two streamers to her shins. She choose her outfit – a pink halter top and jean skirt with casual pink sandals – with care for the warm temperatures before carefully applying her make-up for the day. Then, she picked up her backpack and moved to the door.
For an instant, her head turned, and she gazed solemnly at the bed. Her mind supplied the picture of a medium-sized black cat curled up in a ball, sound asleep, on the edge of the cover. When she blinked, the image vanished, leaving her with a lingering sadness as she exited the room.
Tsukino Usagi slipped down the steps of her family's new home without so much as a creak of the stairs. Her efforts to avoid her family were in vain, however, for they were all wide awake despite the early morning hour and seated in the dining room. At the bottom of the stairs, she found herself the recipient of four identical looks of outright shock.
"U-Usagi?" Her younger brother, Shingo, made a show of rubbing his eyes in disbelief. He peered at his sister and blinked rapidly, then shook his head. "Mama, I need to get my eyes checked. I could have sworn I just saw Usagi standing in the doorway before noon."
"Shut up, Shingo," Usagi hissed at him, flushing slightly. She narrowed her crystalline eyes at him, sending mental poison darts his way. "You are so asking for it..."
"Usagi, don't threaten you brother. Shingo, eat your breakfast," Ikuko ordered, mopping up a syrup spill. The young mother rolled her eyes in exasperation at her bickering children as they glared at each other.
"Where are you headed off to this early, anyhow?" Kenji questioned, peering at his daughter over the newspaper. He furrowed his eyebrow, wondering how much objection he would face if he ordered his oldest child upstairs to change.
"Wherever it is, can I come?" piped up a soft voice. Crimson eyes peered excitedly at Usagi over a mountain of syrup drenched pancakes.
"No, Chibi-Usa, you can't," said Usagi, edging towards the door. She paused just long enough to slip her sandals on before grabbing the doorknob. The door was partially open when her mother's voice rang out.
"Usagi, it would be a big help if you took her with you today," Ikuko told her.
"But Mama!" protested Usagi, frustration flashing in her eyes.
"It's either that, or you can help me clean all day," said her mother calmly, ignoring the pleading look she was receiving. "It wouldn't kill you to spend some time with your little sister, and I'll be able to get a lot more done if she's not underfoot."
Although she pouted and whined, Ikuko would not be deterred. As soon as her youngest was finished with breakfast, she took the child upstairs and dressed her in shorts and a t-shirt before handing the little girl over to her sulking sibling. After a moment's thought, she also slipped her eldest some ice cream money, which soon had a reluctant smile on the girl's face once more.
The siblings exited the home hand in hand and began to walk towards a nearby park. Usagi, glancing around as she lead the way, sighed to herself. She was irritated with the lack of familiar sights in her neighborhood. Even after a month, the street still didn't feel like a home. Secretly, she had her doubts that it ever would.
About a month and a half ago, Kenji had received a promotion that had him re-locating to America. Even though Usagi had begged and pleaded and cried, she had been forced to move with her family to a little town that she had never even heard of before. To make the move even worse, her soul was weary and pained with longing for her old neighborhood and for the friends she missed so dearly.
After the battle with Chaos had been completed, the inner senshi had reverted back to the ages of fourteen. Chibi-Usa had become seven, Hotaru had become nine, Haruka and Michiru had become eighteen, and Setsuna had become twenty-one. Their memories erased, the senshi had been transported to various places around the globe. Usagi and Chibi-Usa had remained in Japan for nearly a year before they had been forced to move. Usagi was now fourteen, and Chibi-Usa eight.
Mamoru was of no concern to her now. Shortly after the fight, but before the senshi were scattered, he had confessed to his true feelings. He no longer loved Usagi as Endymion had loved Serenity. Although she had been heartbroken, Usagi had used her powers to revert Mamoru to the age of twenty-one and send him to wherever Setsuna was. Privately, she hoped that the two of them would become a couple, because she had long since known of Setsuna's feelings.
Chibi-Usa continued to exist simply because of Usagi's desires. Shortly after the senshi left, Usagi had made a wish on the Silver Crystal for Chibi-Usa's return to her. The little princess had been delivered to her promptly, protected from the timeline by the combined powers of the Silver Crystal and the Rose Crystal. Even this was technically forbidden, Usagi didn't care. Chibi-Usa was her baby.
There was only one flaw in Usagi's plan. Without the outlet for her magic that she gained as Sailor Moon, her powers had come to the surface in a more unusual way. Usagi now had the ability to make sparkly dust fall from her hands, although she thought of this as more entertainment than power. She could also heal both herself and others through touch, which was definitely a remnant of her days as a senshi. Her most unusual and unforseen power was that of shapeshifting – she could become a small white kitten with pale blue eyes.
Usagi didn't really mind these new powers. She was of the opinion that they were kind of fun to have, especially the dust. But she worried constantly about her senshi, who undoubtedly would be having power break-outs of their own. Mutants, as otherwise normal humans with powers were named, were mostly shunned by the world. She feared that the peaceful existence she desired for her friends would not happen and worse, that they would be harmed.
The only one she could keep an eye on was Chibi-Usa, who didn't appear to be exhibiting any powers as of yet aside from her somewhat unusual coloring. Usagi believed that the reason for this was most likely the child's youth. She knew that sooner or later, Chibi-Usa would display a power that was considered to be mutant-like. It was inevitable.
"Usagi, I want ice cream," Chibi-Usa cried, tugging on her hand and disrupting her thoughts. She pointed eagerly to the street lining the park, where an ice cream truck was parked. A group of customers were already lined up, and more people were quickly approaching.
"Okay, okay," responded Usagi, smiling in spite of herself. She enjoyed watching Chibi-Usa be a carefree, if somewhat mischevious, youngster.
The two girls got into line. While Chibi-Usa mulled over the choices, Usagi was fiercely reminded of the time she had been out on a date with Kou Seiya. Seiya had insisted on buying her ice cream, even when Usagi tried to protest. Her heart lurched at this memory, and she blinked to avoid tears. Thoughts of the Starlights made her soul ache more, for she had begun to love the three as she loved her own soldiers.
"I want the Cherry Raspberry Syrup Swirl in a candy cone, and then I want strawberry syrup on top, please," Chibi-Usa declared, eyes dancing. She giggled as both the vendor and Usagi made disgusted faces at her order.
"Er... I'll just have a scoop of Strawberry Cheesecake," Usagi requested, inwardly thinking of how impossible it would be to put her sister to bed that night.
The man handed out their orders and Usagi paid him. She took Chibi-Usa by the hand and led the child to a bench a few feet away from where the truck was parked. They sat down on the painted bench and devoted themselves to devouring their sweet treats. Usagi was so involved in her ice cream that at first, the sound of crumbling metal didn't register. The sound of frightened, horrified screams did.
"Usagi, look!" cried Chibi-Usa.
A car had rear-ended the ice cream truck, sending the truck jolting forward over the curb and into the family that had been ordering at the time. Several people who had witnessed the event were yanking out cellphones and dialing for help as fast as they could, while others rushed forwarf to see if they could aid.
A sick feeling engulfed Usagi as she and Chibi-Usa drew closer. Pushing her way through the crowd and pulling her sister along, she could see a young woman in her late twenties crying hysterically. A man crouched next to her, a vibrant bruise darkening on the side of his face. Grief gripped his expression as he tried to comfort the gravely wounded five-year-old in his arms.
"An ambulance is on its way," someone from the crowd said. The man nodded without glancing up, eyes focussed on the face of the child. It was clear that the child, who had a severe head injury, would not survive until help arrived.
Slender hands closed around Usagi's leg, and she glanced down to see Chibi-Usa holding onto her. The little girl was crying out of sympathy for the dying child. For a moment, Usagi imagined Chibi-Usa as the one who had been hit. The wave of unbearable anguish that nearly overwhelmed her clinched her decision.
Usagi pushed forward, her eyes filled with determination. She approached the family and knelt beside the weeping woman, compassionately touching her shoulder. The woman glanced up, and Usagi's heart went out to her. She couldn't have been more than twenty-eight, and she looked so devestated that it was impossible to not feel for her.
"I understand how you feel," Usagi told her in a whisper. "I have one of my own. I can help your baby, if you will let me."
The woman's deep green eyes flicked past her to Chibi-Usa for a moment and she shrank back, realization flashing into her eyes. Usagi tightened her grip ever so slightly, causing her to glance up. A silent communication passed between them, and then the woman took her child from the arms of the man. She brushed a kiss over the forehead of the child, then slowly handed the child to Usagi, pulling her hands back quickly.
Usagi's eyes closed, and the barely visible silver crescent moon on her forehead flared into life. Pulsating white light bubbled up from her hands, sliding over the child she cradled in her arms. The light was soothing and warm, like a mother's touch, and the child's cries stopped as her wounds vanished.
A hushed silence fell across the murmuring crowd. Everyone was staring at the child. The face of the young woman was filled with hope as she gazed anxiously at her child, then at Usagi. The girl's eyes fluttered, then her mouth stretched wide in a yawn. She blinked, revealing pale green eyes, and looked surprised to find herself being embraced by a stranger.
"Mommy?" she asked, voice unsure.
"Carrie! Oh, thank god. You're all right!" the woman sobbed, reaching for her baby. "Thank you, thank yoou, thank you," she gasped out, regarding Usagi as if the younger girl were an angel sent from the heavens. "Thank you!"
Usagi gave the woman a kind smile, relieved to see that Carrie was able to stand up and move around as if nothing had happened. Her lips parted so that she could inform the woman that thanks were definitely not necessary, but a voice rang out across the crowd before she could speak.
"Hey! Somebody stop that kid! She's a mutant!"
Her head snapped up and Usagi stared at the man who was trying to shove through the crowd to reach her. He stumbled forward when two teenagers moved aside, his hands outstretched, and caught her by the wrist before she could rise. His fingers gripped her cruelly, constricting around the delicate bones until a squeak of pain caught in her throat.
"She's a mutant!" he bellowed once more, his eyes flashing. "Get the police!"
The majority of the crowd picked up on his cries, echoing them in loud, piercing shouts. Chibi-Usa shrank back, fear in her eyes, as several of the adults pressed forward. One woman reached out and snared her fingers into the cotton candy hair, but Chibi-Usa yanked away before the woman could pin her down.
The man had turned to Usagi and leaned in close, his sour breath washing over her face as he spoke in a low tone. "My sister was killed by one of you mutant freaks," he hissed. His free hand went to his pocket and drew forth a small black object from which a silvery blade sprang. "I think I'll justify it by killing one of you in return. It's always self defense, after all!"
He gave a hoarse shout in the next instant, for Chibi-Usa had tripped into him in her rush to get away from the woman. The man lost his balance and fell backwards, dragging Usagi for a short distance before she was able to free herself. Her instincts promptly snapped into gear and she staggered back. She didn't even have to motion to Chibi-Usa – the little girl was fleeing before the man had finished cursing. Usagi tore off after her baby with the man and several others on her heels.
The woman still seated on the ground gazed after them. She touched the red curls of her daughter, gaining a sweet smile in return, and mentally vowed that she would never again fear a mutant.
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Ororo Monroe moved silently through the halls of the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, her forehead creased in thought. She brushed a few strands of snowy hair out of her dark eyes as she approached her destination. Her hand came up to knock on the door, but then she paused and a slight smile creased her lips. Of course, there was no need to knock.
"Professor," Ororo said as she pushed open the door to the room. "There is a news cast on the television that I feel you need to look at."
Professor Charles Xavier glanced up with curiosity in his eyes. He directed his wheel chair around the desk and towards the television in the room. Ororo picked up the remote and turned the TV on. She flicked through the channels until she came across one with a young man on the screen. He was holding a microphone and speaking very quickly.
"... in other news, a car being driven by several teenagers had a collision with an ice cream truck today. Although there were multiple injuries of both parties, a five-year-old girl who was ordering ice cream with her parents at the time suffered a severe head injury. Incredibly, another teenager who was at the scene at the time healed the child. She fled the scene shortly after with another child who is believed to be her daughter or her sister.
"The teenager has been described as having golden blonde hair done up in a very unusual hair style – two buns on either side of her head. She has blue eyes and looks to be about five foot seven. The child is described as having light pink hair done up in a similar style and dark red eyes. If you have seen either of these two girls, you are advised to call your local authorities.
"Police say they believe that the driver of the vehicule was under the influence at the time of the crash. The driver's identity has not been disclosed, but due to the nature of the investigation we believe that he or she was under the legal drinking age..."
The relevant part finished, Ororo snapped the television off. "It's been repeating on all of the news stations," she said quietly, the disgusted fury in her voice apparent. "That girl saved that child's life and they're treating her as if she did something wrong!"
Xavier was silent during this speech, his hands knitted together as he pondered. At last, he looked at Ororo. "We must find this girl. Take Scott, Jean, Kitty, Kurt and Mina with you. I'll use Cerebro to lock onto her positioning while you gather them. I believe she may be quite elusive otherwise."
Ororo nodded her understanding and swiftly exited the room. Xavier shifted his position and sighed to himself as he turned to gaze out the window. There was truly something wrong with the world when so-called human protectors would try to harm an innocent mutant who had only saved a five-year-old child from death.
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