Forgotten Voices
Act Three
"Usagi, are you still having trouble sleeping?"
Rei's smooth voice caused the blonde to flinch and turn in her direction. Her arms were crossed one over the other while her chin rested on her wrists. Seated at Rei's small bedroom table for the second time in one week was becoming more bothersome than helpful. How was a girl supposed to study if she wasn't sleeping properly? Not to mention the rain and the promising storm didn't make matters any easier. In any event, she nodded her head, answering the flame Goddesses question without a word.
"You'll be all right." Ami said from across the room.
Usagi lifted her chin off the table and turned to the bookworm. "Last night wasn't so bad; Chibi-Usa spent the night with me."
"Aw," Minako flashed a sweet smile for everyone. "That's nice. So it helped?"
Usagi nodded her head once again. "Yeah."
"Maybe you should make it a habit." Makoto managed to pull her nose out of her book and turn to her princess.
Oh how she would love to make it a habit. Even if she didn't admit it out loud, having the little brat around wasn't as bad as she vocalized it to be. In fact in their few years together, they had begun to fight less. Days with Chibi-Usa started to feel shorter and their laughter grew. But how long would it last? She did have a home to get back to after her Sailor Warrior training was finished.
Usagi allowed her chin to fall back to the wrists. "What will I do when she leaves?"
Silence. That meant that neither girl had any good answer for her. The sound of the rain hitting the window echoed in the tiny room. Usagi watched as the smiles on the girl's faces changed to a set of sorrowful frowns. She hated to be the bearer of bad news and bring that subject into play but it was a realistic thought that needed to be taken into consideration.
What would she do without Chibi-Usa? Her infectious laugh, her heartwarming smile and that adorable pout she displayed when she didn't get the last piece of cheesecake. Usagi couldn't imagine living without it.
CRACK!
Before she could think or say anything else the sound of the thunder caused Usagi to squeal and throw her arms up over her head. She ducked down to the floor, her shriek causing the rest of the girls to flinch. When had it started storming out? Ugh! First a few sleepless nights and now a storm? There was no way she'd get to sleep this night.
"Get a hold of yourself, Usagi!" Rei bent down beside the blonde and patted her on the back.
The sliding front door to Rei's room slid wide open to reveal an excited Chibi-Usa. Fresh cookie crumble stuck to her cheeks as a smile crossed from ear to ear. What was she so happy about? It was raining out!
"Mamoru's here!" She exclaimed before whirling around on her heel and dashing out of the room, leaving the older bunch to follow after.
Ami jumped from her seat and extended her arm toward the door. "Chibi-Usa! Wear a jacket!" She called before giving chase.
What did she just say Mamoru was here? Any fear from the loud thunder escaped Usagi's heart and she leapt to her two feet. This was what she needed, her knight in shining armor to whisk her away! He would wrap his warm arms around her body and cradle her until all her fears had melted away. Ah, just the idea of him caused her heart to jump into her throat.
"Mamoru!" Usagi squeaked with joy before making a mad dash for the door.
"Usagi!"
Rei, Makoto and Minako's calls echoed in the distance but they could wait. If Mamoru had stopped by the temple for a visit then she wasn't going to keep him waiting. Besides, letting Chibi-Usa be the first to give him a kiss on the cheek was something she would not allow!
Usagi rushed out the door until she was outside, in the rain. A cold wind blew over her head, causing her long blonde hair to fly left and right. She pushed one leg before the other, propelling herself forward as fast as she could go. She jerked her arms back and forth until the image of Mamoru came into sight.
He wanted toward the shine with a large purple umbrella hovering above his head. He managed to crack a smile as their eyes met for the first time in days. Oh, how those days had gone by so slowly! To imagine it had been hours since their last embrace it was almost enough to drive her crazy! But it wouldn't be long until she was wrapped in his warmth once again.
"Mamoru!" She called out with joy.
A bright flash tore through the sky, igniting the area.
"Usagi, wait! You're going to fall down!" Makoto's voice traveled from somewhere behind here.
She hardly noticed the rain as she grew closer and closer to her beloved. The slight precipitation wasn't anything close to a downpour but it was sprinkling enough to get her hair wet. Slippery concrete or not, she was going to see her Mamoru even if it meant she tripped!
CRACK!
Usagi dropped to her knees as the loud thunder boomed across the sky. Her arms jerked upward and her hands wrapped around her ears. She released a small shriek before shutting her eyes tight. That one sounded close, closer than the last one.
"Usagi, are you okay?" The sound of Ami's sweet voice allowed Usagi's tense shoulders to relax.
She reopened her blue eyes to see that Ami had halted her pursuit of Chibi-Usa and had turned around to comfort her. Usagi then lifted her chin several inches and glanced over her shoulder to see that Rei, Makoto and Minako had managed to catch up. Ami reached out to the shaken girl and placed two arms around her shoulders.
A golden flash along with loud crack caused all five girls to duck. Wait, a golden flash? Since when did lightening turn the sky a bright shade of gold? And since when did lightning and thunder happen at the exact same time? As the orange light faded from the sky, Rei lifted her body from the ground.
"What was that?" Rei muttered under her breath, her eyes scanning the area for any form of threat.
"Thunder and lightning, at the same time?" Makoto was second to rise from the floor. "No, this was different."
"Usagi?" Ami tightened her grip on the shaken blonde before she gave her a solid shake. "Can you stand up?"
"Yeah…"
Usagi fought back the urge to stay grounded and pushed her energy into her legs. With one push she moved her body upward until she was standing along with Ami. The blue haired female's hands remained on her shoulders, her grip now tighter than ever. Was she scared too? She broke her concentration from Ami and moved her eyes to Rei. The priestess had her nose tilted toward the sky, her eyes never breaking from the air around her. What was she sensing?
"Mamoru!"
That voice, Usagi knew that cry. It was Chibi-Usa.
"Usagi!"
Said blonde jerked her chin over her left shoulder and glanced a good ten feet from the group to see Luna and her mate, Artemis, making a mad dash for them. Had they seen the golden flash too? The look of urgency in their faces meant trouble.
"Wake up, Mamoru! Wake up!"
No, not that screams again. Usagi turned away from Luna and began to make a beeline for Chibi-Usa. The call of her voice soon led the princess to the smaller female. Chibi-Usa stood in front of Mamoru, tugging at his blue polo shirt. Her tiny pale hands jerked at his shirt over and over, only to have no reaction from the older male.
Why wasn't he moving? What was wrong with him?
Usagi made it to Mamoru's side without hesitation, jerking her arms outward to him. Her fingers touched his cold t-shirt. The fabric refused to move no matter how she tugged or shifted the fabric. What was going on? She released her grip on his clothing and fisted both hands. She then began to pound on his chest, trying her best to get any reaction from him.
But nothing came.
"Mamoru?" She called to her lover. "What's wrong Mamoru?!"
"He won't wake up!" Chibi-Usa called out. "He won't move at all!"
Was he dead? Paralyzed? No, this couldn't be happening, not again. Whatever this was, whoever was doing this, why now? Just when she had begun to celebrate her victory against Pharaoh 90, just when the world seemed to finally become peaceful, this happened. When would they ever rest? Did rest even exist?
The lack of sleep tore her emotions in half. Her heart sank and the tears began to flow. Usagi slowly feel to her knees, her fisted hands dragging down Mamoru's chest in the process. As the tears fell from her cheeks, the princess pressed her open palms against her closed eyes. Just one day, that's all she wanted, was one day to be normal. Couldn't things be easy, just for once? Just one day alongside Mamoru, that's all she asked.
She couldn't lose him again, not like the first time.
"Endymion!"
Not like that day so many centuries ago.
"What's wrong with him?" The sound of Luna's high-pitched voice entered the air.
"What was that light?" Artemis spoke next.
"It couldn't have been lightening," Minako, voiced her opinion. "It wasn't normal."
"The rain!"
Usagi flinched as Ami exclaimed. She pulled her hands away from her tear-soaked eyes and looked up to see all five Sailor Warriors with their chins toward the sky. The rain had stopped mid drop from the ground as if time itself had come to a stop. The clouds refused to move and all became silent. Mamoru, the rain, the clouds, everything had come to a complete stop.
"Everything's frozen." Minako whispered to herself.
"Maybe Sailor Pluto did this…" Luna's voice cracked.
The sound of Chibi-Usa crying caught Usagi off guard. The blonde turned to see the smaller girl crouched down on the floor with her hands placed over her weeping eyes. Her tiny shoulders hiccupped up and down as the small squeaks escaped her lips. Was she scared? No, she wouldn't be scared of an enemy, she was scared for Mamoru. The one man she cared about beyond anyone else.
The tears left in Usagi's eyes rolled down her round cheeks, had she really stopped crying on her own? All because she was worried for Chibi-Usa? In what world did that happen in? Since when did all of her childish emotions stop just because Chibi-Usa was upset? What was with the sudden urge to wrap her arms around the pink-haired princess and cradle until the tears stopped?
Dare she think that her friendship-like love for Chibi-Usa shift to a motherly like affection?
"USAGI!"
Usagi's shoulders jerked backwards, allowing her back to arch all the way up. That tone in Rei's cry, it was a cry that she only heard in the heat of battle, why was the war Goddess screaming out now? She jerked her head over her shoulder to see Rei with her arm extended outward. Her jaw had dropped wide open and her eyes appeared shocked.
Before Usagi could reply, a warm fuzzy embrace on her ankles caused her to flinch. Her eyes dropped to the floor only to see a bright pink bubble emerging from the ground. The pink, bubble gum like object had encased her lower half and was crawling up her waist with each passing second.
"USAGI!" The other girl's voices cracked through the silence.
Quick to act on her actions, Usagi turned to Chibi-Usa. By this time the strange pink bubble had enclosed around the smaller female. The blonde reached out to her future daughter and wrapped her arms around her tiny shoulders. Holding the smaller girl to her chest, Usagi shut her eyes tight and held her breath.
The warmth from the substance draped around both bodies until they were completely enclosed within the material. After a short second, Usagi released her held breath and cracked open her blue eyes.
"Usagi!" Rei called out as she ran toward the growing bubble. The black-haired priestess moved her fingers further toward the mass until her tips just touched the surface. As if she were expecting the bubble to be solid, she placed all of her weight in her touch. Within the moment of coming into contact with it, she was absorbed inside.
"Rei!" Ami was fourth to come at the bubble, Makoto, Minako, Luna and Artemis quick on her heel.
Just two feet before she could touch the 'gum', Ami lost her footing on the wet ground. She tumbled forward and became a barrier for the two remaining girls. Minako slammed into Makoto and Makoto slammed Ami. The girls propelled themselves forward, all toppling over one another.
The three girls released a loud scream before falling into the bubble; now all together, the girls squirmed about, kicking and punching the sides of the strange material to no avail. It was then that the strange pink bubble then began to drift up from the floor until it was hovering mid-air.
As they struggled, Usagi pulled Chibi-Usa deeper into her bust. If she already lost Mamoru then there was no way she was going to lose Chibi-Usa as well. She would protect her no matter what, no matter what was going to come next.
Below them their cat guardians watched as they began to soar into the sky. "Usagi!" Luna shouted as they drifted away.
"Minako, hold on!" With all of his energy and might, Artemis pushed his tiny feet off the floor until he had jumped several feet in the air. The pink aircraft absorbed the small white cat with little effort.
That left Luna on the ground, alone. No, there was no way Usagi was going to leave Luna alone down there. Not when time had froze and certainly not by herself. Releasing one hand from Chibi-Usa's shoulder, Usagi extended her hand toward the wall of the bubble. Her fingertips touched and poked the sides, expanding the mass of the object.
"Jump, Luna!" Usagi's muffled voice vibrated throughout the bubble.
As if on cue, the gray cat leapt from the ground. With her front paws pushing out as far as they could go, Usagi pushed further. Just as the pink material seemed as if it would tear, the bubble swelled until it absorbed Luna. Once her fingertips made contact with the cat's soft fur, she clenched her hand, bringing in Luna into the space.
At once the world began to fade to a world of white light. Everything in one instant was gone. The dojo, the rain and Mamoru had all disappeared within the snap of a finger. All at once everything she cared about had been ripped right out of her hands.
Act End.
