SINS OF YOUTH
Chapter 4: "The Penalty"
A neo-Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
Endymion raced down the corridor of the palace like the wind itself, his light gray cape fluttering behind him. His teenage daughter was cradled in his arms, her head limply rolled back. The pair glowed with golden energy as they sped down the hall. Diana trailed behind, trying to keep up with the desperate monarch. She had notified the medical unit through the communications device in her collar. Apparently word was getting around. Luna joined her at a corridor junction.
"Diana dear, what in heaven's name happened?" the black cat gasped as she ran along side her gray daughter.
"The Princess has taken ill!" Diana offered. "I'm not entirely certain of the details!"
"Was there some evidence of her coming down with something?"
"No, nothing like that. She was, well, experimenting with her crystal. I'm not certain, but she may have over-extended herself."
"Didn't you try to warn her, Diana! Mentoring the Princess is one of your primary functions!"
"Yes, Mother, I did warn her!" snapped Diana. "Several times! You know how the Princess is when she sets her mind to something!"
Luna's features took on a sad cast. "Yes, the whole family can be a stubborn lot. I suppose you did your best. I'm - - well, there's no sense in discussing the matter further. What's done is done."
"Yes, Mother," Diana thought cynically, "apology accepted."
The infirmary door barely had time to open in order to admit Endymion. Ami flew to his side even as he gently lay his daughter on the medical scanner bed. Life sign readouts sprang up around them as virtual projections. Ami perfunctorily glanced at them, then examined Usa personally.
"How long has she been unconscious?" Ami asked.
"Several minutes at least," Diana responded. "She was already down when I found her."
"Did she hit her head?"
"Her head struck the floor when she rolled off her bed," Diana answered. "Do you know what's wrong with her, Doctor? Why hasn't she awakened?" Ami nodded as she continued to examine Usa.
"Concussion?" Endymion asked.
"Yes, I'm scanning a slight cerebral contusion," Ami murmured, concentrating on her work. "It wouldn't explain the fainting, though."
"But her vital signs are up," Endymion argued.
"Influenced, I imagine, by your golden energy," Ami countered. "The fact that her blood pressure is returning to normal isn't a sign that what initially caused the problem won't return. I'll initiate a full battery of bio-scans while she's unconscious. Hopefully the concussion doesn't worsen."
Reluctantly Endymion backed away and let Ami and her nurse work. He knew Ami was better equipped to help Usa in this instance than he was. Ami was a better doctor - - she always had been. She would get his daughter through this.
Breathing heavily, Serenity appeared in the doorway. She had just now managed to catch up to them. Her chest heaving, the queen lurched forward toward their child. Endymion caught her and held her back so Ami could work. Serenity stared at Usa, the Queen seeming like she would collapse at any moment. Then she turned and buried her face in Endymion's chest. Endymion wrapped his arms around her and nervously watched Ami work.
In the quarters shared by the Asteroid Senshi, Ves-Ves held Palla-Palla as the teen cried inconsolably. Ves struggled to calm Palla-Palla, and struggled as well to quell her own bubbling anger. In her eyes, the King had no right allowing Cere-Cere to be detained. It didn't matter how much "proof" the CDP had against Cere. It wouldn't have mattered if Cere had gone on national vid-stream and proclaimed her guilt for all to hear. Cere was family and doing that to family was an act of war in the eyes of Ves-Ves. The only reason she wasn't actively trying to break Cere out of confinement was that Palla-Palla needed her more.
"Why hasn't Jun-Jun come back yet?" Palla-Palla sobbed, her childish demeanor a stark counterpoint to her physical maturity to anyone who didn't know her.
"Jun's probably still trying to get in to see Cere," Ves told her. "She'll be back."
"But what if they lock Jun-Jun up, too?" Palla-Palla wailed fearfully.
"They won't. Jun doesn't do stupid things."
"She did before," Palla-Palla sniffed and Ves recalled the night Jun spent in the CDP detention cell because she was love-struck enough to follow Quadrel Nakamura where she shouldn't.
"They're not going to lock her up, Stupid," Ves hissed. "And if they do - - then I'll just have to bust both of them out."
"Palla-Palla doesn't think the King and Queen would like that," Palla-Palla whimpered.
"Right now I don't care what anybody likes," rumbled Ves.
At that moment, the door hissed open. Jun-Jun entered. Upon seeing her, Palla-Palla broke away and ran to her sister. Jun caught her and accepted the embrace.
"Did you talk with Cere-Cere?" Palla-Palla asked anxiously. "When is she coming home?"
"They wouldn't let me talk to her," Jun replied morosely. Palla-Palla seemed to contract into herself. "I couldn't find the King or Queen Serenity, either. I was able to track down Kino-Sensei. She couldn't get me in, but she got the CDP to let us talk to Cere over web video."
"Great! What are we waiting for?" Ves exclaimed.
"For them to put the call through," Jun answered. "CDP is going to set up a conference call video, so they can monitor everything that's said."
"Why, are they hoping they'll hear Cere confess or something?" sneered Ves.
"Either that or they're thinking they might hear you blab about some half-baked plan to break her out," Jun said, looking straight at her sister. "And don't tell me you haven't been thinking about it."
"Sure I've been thinking about it!" Ves postured. "If I hadn't been baby-sitting Palla-Palla, I'd have done more than think about it!"
"Well don't!" Jun exclaimed, jabbing her finger belligerently into Ves's shoulder. "It's bad enough one of us is in detention. We DON'T need two!"
"So what, are we just supposed to let Cere rot for something she didn't do?" Ves countered angrily. Jun sighed and put her hand to her forehead.
"Ves," she began with strained patience, "I know you don't trust the police, and I know your history, so I know you've got reasons. But this isn't Sao Paulo and we're not the gang you used to run with. There are rules here that we HAVE to follow. The good thing is that the King and Queen will make sure everybody follows them. It looks bad now, but Cere will get a fair shake. I'm sure of it. So you need to keep your head. What you're planning is just what everybody expects you to do. And if you do it, you're going to make everybody else think they were right, not just about you, but about me and Palla-Palla and Cere as well."
Ves was steaming, that Jun could see. But after a few tense moments, Ves kicked a chair and everyone knew the crisis had passed.
"This sucks so much!" Ves snarled.
Then she felt hands close around her hand. Turning, she found Palla-Palla holding her hand. Though her round face was still tear-stained, she was trying to comfort Ves now as Ves had comforted her earlier. Feeling her throat swell with emotion, Ves pulled the hand from her sister's grasp, then wrapped the arm around Palla-Palla's shoulder. Palla-Palla allowed herself to be drawn in against Ves's side.
Hotaru sat alone in the waiting room, feeling like her life was suddenly swirling down the drain. One friend was struck down by some mysterious malady and it was unknown how soon she would recover. Another friend was in CDP detention and she had pointed one of the accusing fingers at the girl. Had she doomed Cere-Cere to a lifetime of detention? Had she helped to shatter the life the teen was trying to rehabilitate? And if she was cleared, how would she react? How would the other Asteroids react? Had the girl destroyed her friendship with the four other senshi?
The three elder senshi had bustled in earlier. They went straight to Mizuno-Sensei's office to get the latest. Haruka and Michiru were in there, too. Hotaru was content to wait outside. It seemed more appropriate.
Life in the thirtieth century had been a struggle at first. Hotaru had initially felt so alone and isolated. Everything was different in this crystalline technology age. Even Serenity and the elder senshi were different, if only because they'd seen a thousand years of life and were more experienced and knowledgeable. Through it all, Usa had been her life preserver, the thing that kept her from going under. But the Asteroids had been quick to warm up to Hotaru, seeing her as a fellow orphan and refugee given a second chance as they were. And she had been adapting, growing into this new universe and this new life. Her grades were up. She'd been accepted socially. Even her mental abilities were nothing thirtieth century minds feared. Life had become something to enjoy instead of endure.
Could that all end in one day?
"Hotaru," she heard a voice say. Hotaru looked up and found Rei towering over her. Wearing her priest robes, the woman looked down kindly at the waif sitting on the sofa. Without seeking an invitation, Rei sat down beside her. "If there's something you'd like to talk about, I've got a willing ear. Either here or down in the shrine."
Hotaru looked down. Other people would have thought Hotaru was upset about Usa's accident. Knowing Rei, the teen figured she'd "seen" that more bothered her. Rei was trying to help and it was very dear of her. But Hotaru couldn't help feeling mortified that she was such an open book to the priest.
"Thank you, Sensei," Hotaru whispered. "I'll - - think about it."
Naturally Rei could see Hotaru was giving her a polite brush-off. She was used to it. Patting the girl's hand, Rei moved away to give the girl some space. Even though Hotaru hadn't spoken about her concerns, Rei could guess them. She'd heard about the trouble with the Asteroids. Talking to Cere-Cere was on her list of things to do before the emergency with Usa hit. And she'd heard, peripherally, about Hotaru's connection to it. Unless she was missing an integer, Rei could guess what that all added up to. She gave Hotaru a last sympathetic glance before going back into Ami's office. She'd check on Hotaru again later. Right now she had to check on the girl who was like a daughter to her.
Hotaru sat and stared at nothing. Why didn't anything good last, she wondered. Why did life always seem to unravel so suddenly?
"Hell of a night," Makoto said to Rei upon seeing the priest enter the room. Minako was pacing, while Haruka and Michiru were off in a corner consoling each other.
"Anything on Usa?" Rei asked anxiously.
"Ami's still working on her," Makoto reported.
"I wonder what she did now," Minako wondered aloud, wandering over to her two friends. "Suppose she was 'chasing butterflies' again?" Rei grimaced at the familiar reference. When Usa had been a pre-schooler, she had fallen out of a second story window and broken her leg trying to touch a butterfly. Since then, Minako always referred to one of the Princess's ill-conceived adventures as "chasing butterflies".
"Oh, I hope not," Makoto said and they both could see the guilt that still lingered in Makoto over the incident so many years ago.
"You two hear about the Asteroids?" Minako asked, a gossip to the end.
"Jun-Jun stopped me on my way here," Makoto told them. "I got the CDP to allow video communications with her." Makoto let out an almost maternal sigh. "I still can't believe Cere-Cere could do something like that. But it's on video - - and supposedly she did it right in front of Hotaru and Yutaka."
"Which is why we have more problems than just Usa and the Asteroids," Rei told them. "I was just out with Hotaru. That girl is tremendously conflicted between duty and loyalty to her friends and it's eating her up inside."
"Oh, boy," Makoto scowled. "This just keeps getting worse. Think I should say something to her?"
"Give her a little time and space to work it out for herself," Rei suggested. "She's a smart girl. If it persists, give it a shot." Rei shifted uneasily. "I hate to say it, but right now Hotaru is number three on our list of problems."
"Four if you include waiting to see what dumb stunt Ves-Ves pulls," Minako added. The other two women nodded ruefully.
The last thing the Princess Usagi remembered was sitting in her bed, communicating with Helios through a telepathic link she'd established with the help of her pink crystal. Now she was on her back and the ceiling looked a little like the palace infirmary. Shapes were hovering over her. Usa took a moment and tried to recall how to focus her sight. Ami Mizuno was on the right, in her white medical anti-contamination suit with the red cross on the breast. On the left was Usa's mother, looking like she was about to shatter into a million tiny pieces.
One more dollop of guilt from the master.
"Did I faint?" Usa asked breathlessly. She could feel her body. She just couldn't command it yet.
"Apparently," Ami replied kindly.
"How do you feel, Honey?" whimpered Serenity.
"Like someone kicked me in the head," Usa told her. "Sorry if I scared you, Mom."
"She is going to be all right, isn't she Ami?" the Queen queried her friend and the Chief Medical Officer of the Kingdom.
"All of her vitals seem to be approaching normal," Ami answered. "What were you doing before you blacked out, Usa?"
As she tried to collect enough of her senses to form an answer, Usa noticed her father looming behind her mother. She wondered if she should edit the truth, but realized she wasn't coherent enough to try.
"I was using my crystal to make a telepathic link to Helios," the teen mumbled, "so I could talk to him." Everybody in the room seemed to sag a little. "I'm sorry if I overdid it. I just miss him so much."
"Performing a bigger task than your crystal is capable of would account for the drop in blood pressure and fainting," Endymion nodded, touching her shoulder. "It was probably a case of your body realizing that you'd reached your limit before you did. It shut down out of self-defense before you could do permanent damage."
"I'm sorry, Pop," she moaned impatiently.
"I know," he sighed, stroking her forehead with his thumb. "Honey, I don't blame you for wanting to talk to Helios. But you've got to realize that every action has consequences and be careful. You didn't hurt yourself, but you came close. When you're using your crystal, you have to be aware of when you're reaching your limits."
"Yes, Pop," Usa frowned dejectedly.
Endymion stared down at her. How many times in their life together had she said that same acquiescent "Yes, Pop" and meant it at the moment - - and forgotten it just a moment later?
"Maybe when you're older, you can do it, Honey," Serenity offered. "It's not out of the question."
"I know!" Usa exclaimed, growing with excitement. "Mom, I did it this time! I actually talked to him! I could feel his thoughts! It was so beautiful!" She sagged a bit. "If only it could have lasted."
"Just give yourself a little more time to grow," Serenity told her. Usa sighed. Once again her mother asked the impossible of her.
"I'll go tell the others she's out of danger," Ami offered. The doctor moved out of Usa's field of vision.
"Maybe I'd better contact Helios and let him know what happened," Endymion told Serenity. "He may be worried about the abrupt ending of their conversation."
"Could you leave out the part about me fainting, Pop?" Usa asked.
"I wouldn't dream of lying to someone I respect as much as Helios," Endymion replied. There was a glint in his eye that told Usa this was her punishment. The girl huffed at her bangs.
"Are Hotaru and the gang outside?" Usa asked Serenity. "I hope I didn't scare them."
"Hotaru is outside," Serenity said, then paused anxiously. "The others - - well, they're a little busy."
Usa instantly read her mother, which wasn't often a difficult task. "What happened?" the teen demanded.
Continued in Chapter 5