A Love of . Science?
Chapter 2
by Aisuru
***** Ami's POV *****
I opened my eyes with a sense of dread. Morning already. I knew I could not face them, not together, not after that sleepless night full of romantic dreams involving Tetsuya ... It figured that I would not realize my feelings for him until it was too late. Now I was sure he was almost Usagi's, and I knew I could not face them.
Groggily and with a rolling stomach, I reached for the phone and dialed Usagi's number. Her mother answered: "Hello?"
"Good morning, Tsukino-san," I replied. "This is Mizuno Ami. Is Usagi-chan awake yet?"
"No, I'm afraid not, Mizuno-san," she replied with a laugh. "Would you like her to call you when she wakes up?"
"No, could you just tell her that I will not be able to make it to the library today? I'm really not feeling well." I decided this was not *really* a lie as my heart was breaking. "Please urge her to go to the study group without me," I continued, swallowing my sadness. "I don't have our study partner's number, and I do not want him to show up and not know where we are."
"Okay, I'll give her the message, Mizuno-san." Usagi's mother chuckled. "The library, eh? Well, its about time Usagi became interested in studying!"
***** Mamoru's POV *****
I was fully engrossed in my Physics text when Usagi's sweet laughter broke my concentration. She was walking towards a large, empty table in a corner of the library, carrying a text book I recognized as 9th grade Earth Science. "That makes more sense," I thought. She was wearing a white shirt and a long blue skirt, and she had blue ribbons on her odangos. I could tell that she had put on just a touch of lip gloss. "She is always so beautiful," I breathed. I noticed that she was wearing her gold broach again. It must be a favorite.
Then I noticed her companion. He looked at her shyly, whispering something that made him blush and made her giggle. She leaned in towards him, really close, and whispered something that made him blush even brighter. Then she asked him a question I couldn't quite hear, and he nodded. She looked thrilled, and pushed her Earth Science text book aside and scooted her chair closer to his to share his book -- the Microbial Pathogenicity text!
"This must be the guy!" I muttered. I couldn't help the anger and despair that flooded into me as I watched them. He was explaining the text to her and answering her questions. I was puzzled because she looked truly interested. Then I remembered Ami's comment that she was working really hard to impress someone. I was angry again, and eager to disrupt their little study session. I strode to them confidently.
"Well, well, well, what have we here? Is the Odango Atama trying to cram more science into that dumpling head of hers?" I heard myself say. 'Great start, Mamoru,' I scolded myself immediately.
Usagi turned red, only she wasn't angry. She seemed more embarrassed. "Oh, Mamoru-kun! What are you doing here?" She looked incredibly uncomfortable. Strange...
"This is the library. I'm often here. I suppose *I* should be asking *you* that question," I commented smoothly.
She looked from me to the boy several times, as if trying to decide something. "Uh, Tetsuya-kun, do you know Chiba-san?" she asked, probably trying to change the subject. 'Chiba-san?' I thought. Since when had I been Chiba-san to her?
"Not officially," the boy replied. He stood and gave me a short bow. "Uh, pleased to meet you, Chiba-sempai."
Then I recognized the boy. He was one of the tenth graders at my school. I frowned at him, deciding to pull rank. "Come here for a minute, Tetsuya- san," I said, walking to one of the aisles of books and away from Usagi's table. He looked startled and maybe a little frightened by my tone. 'Good,' I thought. When I had him out of Usagi's earshot, I asked him quite bluntly, "What are your intentions with Usagi-chan?"
"In... intentions?" he fumbled, looking at his hands and turning red.
"Yes, you heard me, intentions." I was becoming annoyed.
"Um, we are just studying, sempai," he replied. He glanced back at Usagi. Usagi was looking at him with concern.
"Yes, well, I seriously doubt that!" I exclaimed. "Does Usagi-chan go to your cram school?"
"Um, no."
"I didn't think so. And is there any reason why Usagi-chan should be studying Microbial Pathogenicity, of all things, when she has never had the slightest interest in the sciences?" I asked.
"Um..." he glanced back at Usagi, who now looked really antsy, and then back at me. "I, uh, I can't say."
"You can't say?" I asked.
"Um, no... " he looked back at Usagi with desperation in her eyes.
Suddenly Usagi looked angry at me for questioning Tetsuya. She stormed towards us, her eyes flashing at me. "Now look here, you big zero, not that its any of your business, but I am trying to set Tetsuya up with Ami-chan, but she couldn't make it today," she whispered with harsh fire in her voice. I thought Tetsuya would die right then and there, he was blushing so hard.
"Well, if Ami-chan couldn't make it, why are *you* still here?" I asked coolly. She faltered.
"Um... well..." Tetsuya rather hesitantly began: "Well, sempai, Ami-chan asked me to..."
I noticed Usagi frantically waving for Tetsuya to stop talking. Then Usagi's watch started beeping. She turned away from us, and I thought I heard a voice talking to her from her watch... That is when the headache hit me. 'Oh, no, not again!' I thought.
I could faintly hear Usagi's voice, as if from far away: "Yes, I'm here... Where?... The park?... Okay, I'll be right there!" I was aware of her turning to Tetsuya and apologizing, and saying that an emergency had come up. She grabbed her Earth Science book and ran out of the library. Tetsuya stood there, watching her run, and blinked. That was the last thing I remembered before I blacked out.
***** Ami's POV *****
I was so relieved when I saw Sailor Moon arrive at the park. This was a youma unlike any youma we had ever dealt with before. It was not some ugly- faced over-voluptuous under-dressed woman youma throwing weapons that were predictable based on the youma's costume. This was a dragon -- a real life dragon! It was beautiful in a reptilian way, with crimson scales edged in black, causing a sort of rippling blend of color when it moved, powerful wings I hoped it wouldn't use, and sharp talons that tore up the earth as it turned to face us. Its eyes glowed an unusual purple, and seemed out of place.
Sailor Mars and I attacked without waiting for Sailor Moon's arrival. The dragon had already caused extensive damage, and I figured that even distracting the dragon from more destruction was better than sitting by and watching it torch the park. I covered the area with my Mercury bubbles, and Mars attacked with her fireball, which did no more than burn away the fog I had just created.
"For disrupting the peace on a beautiful Sunday..." I started our speech.
"For using your fire for evil and destruction..." Sailor Mars added.
"You will not be forgiven!" -- this was said in unison.
"In the name of Mercury..."
"In the name of Mars..."
"We will punish you!"
On this final unison portion of our speech, I cast my Mercury bubbles again. The dragon responded by shooting his fire blindly, missing us but causing more of the damage we had been trying to prevent. Mars attacked with more fireballs, but the dragon was immune -- I guess a fire-breathing dragon would have to be immune to fire. We were useless except as a distraction, so I attempted to take readings on it between castings of fog.
The battle shifted off of the soccer field and towards the benches and fountain in the center of the park. "Where is Sailor Moon?" Sailor Mars cried. "She should be here by now!"
I silently agreed, but then I heard her voice and saw she shimmer of her golden tiara through the smoke and my own magical fog. "I'm here, I'm here," she called, rushing towards us.
"It took you long enough!" Mars said, picking a fight.
"Not now, Mars!" I scolded, sending another blast of Mercury Bubbles to give Sailor Moon extra cover as she approached us. "This is no normal youma," I told her. "My calculations tell me that this is a real dragon, not a Dark Kingdom creation. It doesn't belong in this dimension."
"Forget that!" Sailor Mars cried out as yet another of her fireballs proved useless. "How do we beat this thing?"
I turned back to Sailor Moon, who had just tossed her Earth Science textbook on the ground beneath a tree. "Sailor Moon, fire isn't working against this, uh, creature. Try your tiara."
"Um, okay," she answered, stepping a safe distance away from me as she started focusing her energy into the tiara, pulling it from her forehead and turning it into a glowing discus. "Moon tiara..." she began.
"You idiot, look out!" Sailor Mars cried. A fireball was hurdling towards Sailor Moon, and she was focused on her attack, making her defenseless. I could tell that neither of us would be able to reach her in time. Thank goodness for Tuxedo Kamen. He appeared out of nowhere, pushing her roughly to the ground only a moment before the fire shot over their heads.
"Oh, my!" Sailor Moon cried, "Thank you, Tuxedo Kamen!"
I could tell that Sailor Moon was dazed from the interruption of her attack, and I think Tuxedo Kamen picked up on this, too. "Be careful," he warned, his voice soothing and tender. He helped her to her feet. "Do you want to try again?"
Sailor Moon looked at him blankly for a moment, then she shook her head to clear it. "Oh, the tiara! Yeah, let me try that again."
Tuxedo Kamen's job is similar to mine -- distraction -- so he left Sailor Moon's side in a flurry of red-lined black cape, rushing past the dragon and throwing roses at the creature so quickly that they might as well have been shot from a gun. One of the roses embedded itself into the dragon's eye, the first successful maneuver against the creature.
"Moon Tiara Action!" Sailor Moon cried, finally succeeding in throwing an attack. Her tiara rushed towards the dragon, which was thrashing wildly in pain caused it from the rose in its eye. The tiara seemed to miss the dragon, but her control over the discus was improving, and she called it back towards herself, and on the return the tiara clipped off one of the fleshy spikes that lined the dragon's spine. It was a gruesome sight. I was used to seeing youma disintegrate with a scream or a shout when struck by her tiara; I was unprepared to see the bits of dragon flesh that fell to the ground, the thick black blood that bubbled up from the wound, or the frantic clawing at its eye, in an attempt to dislodge the rose, that seemed only to cause more damage to its eye.
So distracted was I by the horror of this battle that I failed to foresee what would happen next. The dragon's long tail lashed out blindly, striking Sailor Moon and sending her flying into the fountain. She struck her head hard upon the edge of the fountain before slipping under the pool of water.
Sailor Mars and I cried out, "Sailor Moon," but before our brains could tell our legs to rush to her aid, Tuxedo Kamen was there. He pulled her limp body out of the water and rushed away with her. I wanted her by my side; I wanted to scan her with my visor and find out if she was going to be alright, but I saw the wisdom in Tuxedo Kamen's decision -- or was it reflex? -- to get her as far from the battle as possible. She would do us little good unconscious, and our attentions would be diverted towards her and not to the monster we were supposed to be defeating.
Only one problem, though -- we had just lost the only two weapons that had been successful against the dragon.
Sailor Mars let out a scream of wounded rage and made as if to rush blindly towards the dragon. I clung to her arm, taking all of my strength to hold her in place. "No, we need a plan if we are going to fight this ourselves," I told her, hoping to get through her instinct to rush into battle.
I held her tight and spoke softly into her ear, and she ceased struggling to hear my voice. "Its scales are impervious to fire, so aim for the spike wounded by Sailor Moon's tiara. Maybe if we can drive it into the lake we can defeat it."
I waited until Mars nodded her agreement before casting Mercury Bubbles again and putting myself between the lake and the dragon. Mars threw another fireball at the dragon, and this time it bellowed in pain. "Come and get me, you stupid lizard!" I taunted. The dragon rushed in my general direction, but it was trying to see me through the fog with only one good eye, so I was able to dart away safely. I kept the fog heavy, and Mars continued driving it away from her, and we were quickly rewarded with a large splash.
The Mercury Bubble fog slowly lifted, revealing the struggling dragon. It was clear that it could not swim, and its talons could find no purchase on the bottom of the lake. My scientific curiosity of this mythological creature from another dimension had been trampled down by anger when it hurt Sailor Moon, so I felt little pity for the creature as it started to drown. Then the dragon was gone. Just... gone. Disappeared.
"Where did it go?" Mars was asking, and I scanned the area, finding traces of Dark Energy and residual signs that a portal had been opened and something sent through it.
"I think its returned to its own dimension," I answered her.
"So we beat it?" she asked.
I managed a small smile. "Yeah," I agreed, "But what did Tuxedo Kamen do with Sailor Moon?" A thousand thoughts entered my mind. We did not even know who he was, or if he was really on our side. I felt I should trust him, but with my Usagi-chan? I could not stop the tears from spilling down my cheeks as I spotted her discarded Earth Science textbook. I opened the cover, and saw her name and all the little bunnies and moons she had drawn on the back of a failed exam paper she had stuck inside. I closed the book and held it to my chest as I said a little prayer for her.
***** Mamoru's POV *****
When I came to, I was sitting on my bedroom floor with my head resting on the edge of my bed. I looked up, feeling groggy and really tired. 'How did I get here?' I wondered. Then I looked up and jumped to my feet. Stretched out on my bed was the legendary Sailor Moon herself! "What are *you* doing here?" I asked aloud. Her hair was dripping wet and tangled about the pillows. Her short blue skirt wetly clung to her thighs. Her tiara, which was rumored to double as a weapon, was askew on her forehead. Was she asleep or... I pulled off a sopping wet elbow-length glove and felt a faint but steady pulse in her wrist. Well, at least she was alive! I then noticed then that her chest rose and fell slightly with her shallow breaths. I noticed her flushed appearance, and felt her forehead above the tiara. She was burning up! I looked at her, wondering what I should do. 'I need to get her dry and warm!' I thought. I pulled off the red knee-length boots and the other white glove, casting them aside. I hesitated... how would the legendary warrior Sailor Moon react if she awoke while I was undressing her? Just to be safe, I slipped her weapon, the golden tiara, from her forehead. I was startled to see the golden crescent moon that glowed faintly on her forehead. Well, she was Sailor Moon, maybe she was supposed to have that. I hurriedly set the tiara on my dresser across the room. At closer examination, her costume appeared to be more of a fitted body suit with an attached skirt. I searched for buttons or a zipper, but found none. In fact, I could find no closures at all. 'How the heck am I supposed to get her out of these wet clothes if they don't come off?' I wondered.
She started to shiver. Feeling a sense of panic, I rushed to my kitchen to grab a knife, meaning to cut the costume off of her. I lifted the wet collar of her body suit away from her skin, and paused with the knife, wondering if the knife would even cut the material. It wouldn't. What to do, what to do .
Suddenly I heard a beeping sound. It appeared to be coming from her . watch? I pushed a blinking button, and a panel lifted up, revealing the worried face of the legendary warrior Sailor Mercury. "Mamoru?" she asked, surprised. I guess these things have two-way visualization, but how did she know who I was? "Where is Sailor Moon?"
I blushed. "Uh, she's here, uh, at my place." At her questioning look, I hurriedly replied, "Look, I don't know why she's here or how she got here, but she's burning with fever. One of you should really..."
She cut me off. "I'll be right there!" she cried, and the transmission ended. 'She'll be right there? How does she even know where I live?' I wondered. I looked down at the still form of Sailor Moon and tried to pull the tangled wet hair off of her neck. Almost immediately I heard an impatient but faint tapping coming from my living room. I wandered in there, wondering how she could have gotten here so fast -- only to discover that Sailor Mercury was actually on my balcony! I quickly unlocked and opened the sliding glass door.
"Where is she, Mamoru," she asked, looking very worried.
"Uh, follow me," I answered, heading towards my room. I was a little embarrassed that Sailor Moon was on my bed, but I hoped that Sailor Mercury would be able to explain that to me.
She rushed past me into my room. She lowered a visor over her eyes, and looked Sailor Moon over from head to toe. "No broken bones or internal bleeding, thank goodness, but she does have a slight concussion and a rising fever," she stated, sounding very medical. "We need to get her out of these wet clothes."
At that point she seemed to notice that Sailor Moon was missing her boots, gloves, and tiara. First she looked amazed at the crescent moon on her forehead, as if she were looking at a ghost. Then she looked at me. Afraid she would wonder why parts of her clothes were missing, I hurriedly said, "Uh, I tried that, getting her into dry clothes. These won't come off..." I started, blushing furiously.
She nodded, looked curiously at the glowing crescent moon on Sailor Moon's forehead, and then looked back at me suspiciously. "I don't suppose I can expect you to forget all about this, can I, Mamoru?" she asked.
I shook my head. How could anyone possible forget about waking up with Sailor Moon on his bed? Then a realization hit me. "How do you know my name, anyway? And where I live?" I looked at her suspiciously.
She sighed deeply. "Well, if you can't forget, can you at least promise never to speak a word of this to anyone? I can answer your questions, but if the other Senshi found out they would kill me."
I nodded in agreement, unsure if she was being literal or figurative about the other senshi killing her -- they were warriors, after all. She hesitated only a second more, and then touched her hand to the golden broach that I had always assumed kept the bow in place. There was a flash of brilliant white light, and her costume was suddenly shreds of ribbons. Only later would I recall the soft curves of her body that were revealed under the waving ribbons -- a sight that would keep me awake unwillingly for many nights. At the time, the thought was stunned out of me when the ribbons reformed into a dry long blue skirt and a dry white blouse, adorned with a golden broach. The boots, gloves, and tiara all vanished, and the golden moon slowly faded from her forehead. Sailor Moon was gone, the identity masking magic faded away, and in her place was -- "Usagi!" I breathed in surprise.
*****
Author's Notes
What, you thought I wouldn't take advantage of such a delicious cliff- hanger? I hate it when author's do that, so I had to return the favor! I do have the next chapter written, so just write me a review and savor the suspense like a fine wine -- unless you are underaged, and then you should savor the suspense like a bowl of Breyer's strawberry ice cream. I'm 25, but I'd much rather have the bowl of ice cream!
If you can't stand not knowing what happens next, read "Crystal Tears" and you'll get the Dark Kingdom perspective of things to come -- but no scenes in Mamoru's bedroom, sorry. Maybe you had better make that chocolate ice cream, now that I think of it!
***** Ami's POV *****
I opened my eyes with a sense of dread. Morning already. I knew I could not face them, not together, not after that sleepless night full of romantic dreams involving Tetsuya ... It figured that I would not realize my feelings for him until it was too late. Now I was sure he was almost Usagi's, and I knew I could not face them.
Groggily and with a rolling stomach, I reached for the phone and dialed Usagi's number. Her mother answered: "Hello?"
"Good morning, Tsukino-san," I replied. "This is Mizuno Ami. Is Usagi-chan awake yet?"
"No, I'm afraid not, Mizuno-san," she replied with a laugh. "Would you like her to call you when she wakes up?"
"No, could you just tell her that I will not be able to make it to the library today? I'm really not feeling well." I decided this was not *really* a lie as my heart was breaking. "Please urge her to go to the study group without me," I continued, swallowing my sadness. "I don't have our study partner's number, and I do not want him to show up and not know where we are."
"Okay, I'll give her the message, Mizuno-san." Usagi's mother chuckled. "The library, eh? Well, its about time Usagi became interested in studying!"
***** Mamoru's POV *****
I was fully engrossed in my Physics text when Usagi's sweet laughter broke my concentration. She was walking towards a large, empty table in a corner of the library, carrying a text book I recognized as 9th grade Earth Science. "That makes more sense," I thought. She was wearing a white shirt and a long blue skirt, and she had blue ribbons on her odangos. I could tell that she had put on just a touch of lip gloss. "She is always so beautiful," I breathed. I noticed that she was wearing her gold broach again. It must be a favorite.
Then I noticed her companion. He looked at her shyly, whispering something that made him blush and made her giggle. She leaned in towards him, really close, and whispered something that made him blush even brighter. Then she asked him a question I couldn't quite hear, and he nodded. She looked thrilled, and pushed her Earth Science text book aside and scooted her chair closer to his to share his book -- the Microbial Pathogenicity text!
"This must be the guy!" I muttered. I couldn't help the anger and despair that flooded into me as I watched them. He was explaining the text to her and answering her questions. I was puzzled because she looked truly interested. Then I remembered Ami's comment that she was working really hard to impress someone. I was angry again, and eager to disrupt their little study session. I strode to them confidently.
"Well, well, well, what have we here? Is the Odango Atama trying to cram more science into that dumpling head of hers?" I heard myself say. 'Great start, Mamoru,' I scolded myself immediately.
Usagi turned red, only she wasn't angry. She seemed more embarrassed. "Oh, Mamoru-kun! What are you doing here?" She looked incredibly uncomfortable. Strange...
"This is the library. I'm often here. I suppose *I* should be asking *you* that question," I commented smoothly.
She looked from me to the boy several times, as if trying to decide something. "Uh, Tetsuya-kun, do you know Chiba-san?" she asked, probably trying to change the subject. 'Chiba-san?' I thought. Since when had I been Chiba-san to her?
"Not officially," the boy replied. He stood and gave me a short bow. "Uh, pleased to meet you, Chiba-sempai."
Then I recognized the boy. He was one of the tenth graders at my school. I frowned at him, deciding to pull rank. "Come here for a minute, Tetsuya- san," I said, walking to one of the aisles of books and away from Usagi's table. He looked startled and maybe a little frightened by my tone. 'Good,' I thought. When I had him out of Usagi's earshot, I asked him quite bluntly, "What are your intentions with Usagi-chan?"
"In... intentions?" he fumbled, looking at his hands and turning red.
"Yes, you heard me, intentions." I was becoming annoyed.
"Um, we are just studying, sempai," he replied. He glanced back at Usagi. Usagi was looking at him with concern.
"Yes, well, I seriously doubt that!" I exclaimed. "Does Usagi-chan go to your cram school?"
"Um, no."
"I didn't think so. And is there any reason why Usagi-chan should be studying Microbial Pathogenicity, of all things, when she has never had the slightest interest in the sciences?" I asked.
"Um..." he glanced back at Usagi, who now looked really antsy, and then back at me. "I, uh, I can't say."
"You can't say?" I asked.
"Um, no... " he looked back at Usagi with desperation in her eyes.
Suddenly Usagi looked angry at me for questioning Tetsuya. She stormed towards us, her eyes flashing at me. "Now look here, you big zero, not that its any of your business, but I am trying to set Tetsuya up with Ami-chan, but she couldn't make it today," she whispered with harsh fire in her voice. I thought Tetsuya would die right then and there, he was blushing so hard.
"Well, if Ami-chan couldn't make it, why are *you* still here?" I asked coolly. She faltered.
"Um... well..." Tetsuya rather hesitantly began: "Well, sempai, Ami-chan asked me to..."
I noticed Usagi frantically waving for Tetsuya to stop talking. Then Usagi's watch started beeping. She turned away from us, and I thought I heard a voice talking to her from her watch... That is when the headache hit me. 'Oh, no, not again!' I thought.
I could faintly hear Usagi's voice, as if from far away: "Yes, I'm here... Where?... The park?... Okay, I'll be right there!" I was aware of her turning to Tetsuya and apologizing, and saying that an emergency had come up. She grabbed her Earth Science book and ran out of the library. Tetsuya stood there, watching her run, and blinked. That was the last thing I remembered before I blacked out.
***** Ami's POV *****
I was so relieved when I saw Sailor Moon arrive at the park. This was a youma unlike any youma we had ever dealt with before. It was not some ugly- faced over-voluptuous under-dressed woman youma throwing weapons that were predictable based on the youma's costume. This was a dragon -- a real life dragon! It was beautiful in a reptilian way, with crimson scales edged in black, causing a sort of rippling blend of color when it moved, powerful wings I hoped it wouldn't use, and sharp talons that tore up the earth as it turned to face us. Its eyes glowed an unusual purple, and seemed out of place.
Sailor Mars and I attacked without waiting for Sailor Moon's arrival. The dragon had already caused extensive damage, and I figured that even distracting the dragon from more destruction was better than sitting by and watching it torch the park. I covered the area with my Mercury bubbles, and Mars attacked with her fireball, which did no more than burn away the fog I had just created.
"For disrupting the peace on a beautiful Sunday..." I started our speech.
"For using your fire for evil and destruction..." Sailor Mars added.
"You will not be forgiven!" -- this was said in unison.
"In the name of Mercury..."
"In the name of Mars..."
"We will punish you!"
On this final unison portion of our speech, I cast my Mercury bubbles again. The dragon responded by shooting his fire blindly, missing us but causing more of the damage we had been trying to prevent. Mars attacked with more fireballs, but the dragon was immune -- I guess a fire-breathing dragon would have to be immune to fire. We were useless except as a distraction, so I attempted to take readings on it between castings of fog.
The battle shifted off of the soccer field and towards the benches and fountain in the center of the park. "Where is Sailor Moon?" Sailor Mars cried. "She should be here by now!"
I silently agreed, but then I heard her voice and saw she shimmer of her golden tiara through the smoke and my own magical fog. "I'm here, I'm here," she called, rushing towards us.
"It took you long enough!" Mars said, picking a fight.
"Not now, Mars!" I scolded, sending another blast of Mercury Bubbles to give Sailor Moon extra cover as she approached us. "This is no normal youma," I told her. "My calculations tell me that this is a real dragon, not a Dark Kingdom creation. It doesn't belong in this dimension."
"Forget that!" Sailor Mars cried out as yet another of her fireballs proved useless. "How do we beat this thing?"
I turned back to Sailor Moon, who had just tossed her Earth Science textbook on the ground beneath a tree. "Sailor Moon, fire isn't working against this, uh, creature. Try your tiara."
"Um, okay," she answered, stepping a safe distance away from me as she started focusing her energy into the tiara, pulling it from her forehead and turning it into a glowing discus. "Moon tiara..." she began.
"You idiot, look out!" Sailor Mars cried. A fireball was hurdling towards Sailor Moon, and she was focused on her attack, making her defenseless. I could tell that neither of us would be able to reach her in time. Thank goodness for Tuxedo Kamen. He appeared out of nowhere, pushing her roughly to the ground only a moment before the fire shot over their heads.
"Oh, my!" Sailor Moon cried, "Thank you, Tuxedo Kamen!"
I could tell that Sailor Moon was dazed from the interruption of her attack, and I think Tuxedo Kamen picked up on this, too. "Be careful," he warned, his voice soothing and tender. He helped her to her feet. "Do you want to try again?"
Sailor Moon looked at him blankly for a moment, then she shook her head to clear it. "Oh, the tiara! Yeah, let me try that again."
Tuxedo Kamen's job is similar to mine -- distraction -- so he left Sailor Moon's side in a flurry of red-lined black cape, rushing past the dragon and throwing roses at the creature so quickly that they might as well have been shot from a gun. One of the roses embedded itself into the dragon's eye, the first successful maneuver against the creature.
"Moon Tiara Action!" Sailor Moon cried, finally succeeding in throwing an attack. Her tiara rushed towards the dragon, which was thrashing wildly in pain caused it from the rose in its eye. The tiara seemed to miss the dragon, but her control over the discus was improving, and she called it back towards herself, and on the return the tiara clipped off one of the fleshy spikes that lined the dragon's spine. It was a gruesome sight. I was used to seeing youma disintegrate with a scream or a shout when struck by her tiara; I was unprepared to see the bits of dragon flesh that fell to the ground, the thick black blood that bubbled up from the wound, or the frantic clawing at its eye, in an attempt to dislodge the rose, that seemed only to cause more damage to its eye.
So distracted was I by the horror of this battle that I failed to foresee what would happen next. The dragon's long tail lashed out blindly, striking Sailor Moon and sending her flying into the fountain. She struck her head hard upon the edge of the fountain before slipping under the pool of water.
Sailor Mars and I cried out, "Sailor Moon," but before our brains could tell our legs to rush to her aid, Tuxedo Kamen was there. He pulled her limp body out of the water and rushed away with her. I wanted her by my side; I wanted to scan her with my visor and find out if she was going to be alright, but I saw the wisdom in Tuxedo Kamen's decision -- or was it reflex? -- to get her as far from the battle as possible. She would do us little good unconscious, and our attentions would be diverted towards her and not to the monster we were supposed to be defeating.
Only one problem, though -- we had just lost the only two weapons that had been successful against the dragon.
Sailor Mars let out a scream of wounded rage and made as if to rush blindly towards the dragon. I clung to her arm, taking all of my strength to hold her in place. "No, we need a plan if we are going to fight this ourselves," I told her, hoping to get through her instinct to rush into battle.
I held her tight and spoke softly into her ear, and she ceased struggling to hear my voice. "Its scales are impervious to fire, so aim for the spike wounded by Sailor Moon's tiara. Maybe if we can drive it into the lake we can defeat it."
I waited until Mars nodded her agreement before casting Mercury Bubbles again and putting myself between the lake and the dragon. Mars threw another fireball at the dragon, and this time it bellowed in pain. "Come and get me, you stupid lizard!" I taunted. The dragon rushed in my general direction, but it was trying to see me through the fog with only one good eye, so I was able to dart away safely. I kept the fog heavy, and Mars continued driving it away from her, and we were quickly rewarded with a large splash.
The Mercury Bubble fog slowly lifted, revealing the struggling dragon. It was clear that it could not swim, and its talons could find no purchase on the bottom of the lake. My scientific curiosity of this mythological creature from another dimension had been trampled down by anger when it hurt Sailor Moon, so I felt little pity for the creature as it started to drown. Then the dragon was gone. Just... gone. Disappeared.
"Where did it go?" Mars was asking, and I scanned the area, finding traces of Dark Energy and residual signs that a portal had been opened and something sent through it.
"I think its returned to its own dimension," I answered her.
"So we beat it?" she asked.
I managed a small smile. "Yeah," I agreed, "But what did Tuxedo Kamen do with Sailor Moon?" A thousand thoughts entered my mind. We did not even know who he was, or if he was really on our side. I felt I should trust him, but with my Usagi-chan? I could not stop the tears from spilling down my cheeks as I spotted her discarded Earth Science textbook. I opened the cover, and saw her name and all the little bunnies and moons she had drawn on the back of a failed exam paper she had stuck inside. I closed the book and held it to my chest as I said a little prayer for her.
***** Mamoru's POV *****
When I came to, I was sitting on my bedroom floor with my head resting on the edge of my bed. I looked up, feeling groggy and really tired. 'How did I get here?' I wondered. Then I looked up and jumped to my feet. Stretched out on my bed was the legendary Sailor Moon herself! "What are *you* doing here?" I asked aloud. Her hair was dripping wet and tangled about the pillows. Her short blue skirt wetly clung to her thighs. Her tiara, which was rumored to double as a weapon, was askew on her forehead. Was she asleep or... I pulled off a sopping wet elbow-length glove and felt a faint but steady pulse in her wrist. Well, at least she was alive! I then noticed then that her chest rose and fell slightly with her shallow breaths. I noticed her flushed appearance, and felt her forehead above the tiara. She was burning up! I looked at her, wondering what I should do. 'I need to get her dry and warm!' I thought. I pulled off the red knee-length boots and the other white glove, casting them aside. I hesitated... how would the legendary warrior Sailor Moon react if she awoke while I was undressing her? Just to be safe, I slipped her weapon, the golden tiara, from her forehead. I was startled to see the golden crescent moon that glowed faintly on her forehead. Well, she was Sailor Moon, maybe she was supposed to have that. I hurriedly set the tiara on my dresser across the room. At closer examination, her costume appeared to be more of a fitted body suit with an attached skirt. I searched for buttons or a zipper, but found none. In fact, I could find no closures at all. 'How the heck am I supposed to get her out of these wet clothes if they don't come off?' I wondered.
She started to shiver. Feeling a sense of panic, I rushed to my kitchen to grab a knife, meaning to cut the costume off of her. I lifted the wet collar of her body suit away from her skin, and paused with the knife, wondering if the knife would even cut the material. It wouldn't. What to do, what to do .
Suddenly I heard a beeping sound. It appeared to be coming from her . watch? I pushed a blinking button, and a panel lifted up, revealing the worried face of the legendary warrior Sailor Mercury. "Mamoru?" she asked, surprised. I guess these things have two-way visualization, but how did she know who I was? "Where is Sailor Moon?"
I blushed. "Uh, she's here, uh, at my place." At her questioning look, I hurriedly replied, "Look, I don't know why she's here or how she got here, but she's burning with fever. One of you should really..."
She cut me off. "I'll be right there!" she cried, and the transmission ended. 'She'll be right there? How does she even know where I live?' I wondered. I looked down at the still form of Sailor Moon and tried to pull the tangled wet hair off of her neck. Almost immediately I heard an impatient but faint tapping coming from my living room. I wandered in there, wondering how she could have gotten here so fast -- only to discover that Sailor Mercury was actually on my balcony! I quickly unlocked and opened the sliding glass door.
"Where is she, Mamoru," she asked, looking very worried.
"Uh, follow me," I answered, heading towards my room. I was a little embarrassed that Sailor Moon was on my bed, but I hoped that Sailor Mercury would be able to explain that to me.
She rushed past me into my room. She lowered a visor over her eyes, and looked Sailor Moon over from head to toe. "No broken bones or internal bleeding, thank goodness, but she does have a slight concussion and a rising fever," she stated, sounding very medical. "We need to get her out of these wet clothes."
At that point she seemed to notice that Sailor Moon was missing her boots, gloves, and tiara. First she looked amazed at the crescent moon on her forehead, as if she were looking at a ghost. Then she looked at me. Afraid she would wonder why parts of her clothes were missing, I hurriedly said, "Uh, I tried that, getting her into dry clothes. These won't come off..." I started, blushing furiously.
She nodded, looked curiously at the glowing crescent moon on Sailor Moon's forehead, and then looked back at me suspiciously. "I don't suppose I can expect you to forget all about this, can I, Mamoru?" she asked.
I shook my head. How could anyone possible forget about waking up with Sailor Moon on his bed? Then a realization hit me. "How do you know my name, anyway? And where I live?" I looked at her suspiciously.
She sighed deeply. "Well, if you can't forget, can you at least promise never to speak a word of this to anyone? I can answer your questions, but if the other Senshi found out they would kill me."
I nodded in agreement, unsure if she was being literal or figurative about the other senshi killing her -- they were warriors, after all. She hesitated only a second more, and then touched her hand to the golden broach that I had always assumed kept the bow in place. There was a flash of brilliant white light, and her costume was suddenly shreds of ribbons. Only later would I recall the soft curves of her body that were revealed under the waving ribbons -- a sight that would keep me awake unwillingly for many nights. At the time, the thought was stunned out of me when the ribbons reformed into a dry long blue skirt and a dry white blouse, adorned with a golden broach. The boots, gloves, and tiara all vanished, and the golden moon slowly faded from her forehead. Sailor Moon was gone, the identity masking magic faded away, and in her place was -- "Usagi!" I breathed in surprise.
*****
Author's Notes
What, you thought I wouldn't take advantage of such a delicious cliff- hanger? I hate it when author's do that, so I had to return the favor! I do have the next chapter written, so just write me a review and savor the suspense like a fine wine -- unless you are underaged, and then you should savor the suspense like a bowl of Breyer's strawberry ice cream. I'm 25, but I'd much rather have the bowl of ice cream!
If you can't stand not knowing what happens next, read "Crystal Tears" and you'll get the Dark Kingdom perspective of things to come -- but no scenes in Mamoru's bedroom, sorry. Maybe you had better make that chocolate ice cream, now that I think of it!
