Under Black Wings, Part Four

Under Black Wings, Part Four

A Sailor Moon Fan Fiction by Thomas Sewell
sewell_thomas@hotmail.com

...... = thought quotation

Chapter 10: Ginger Han

GINGER HAN had thought once that Carmen Gonsoles was almost like a sister, even after she'd gone to New York for her internship, while Carmen had stayed at Stanford. But after Alison had disappeared, she had heard less and less from Carmen. And after Alison had returned, she had heard nothing. That is, nothing important.

And now, here was Carmen, at the orientation meeting for the first-year residents who would start on Monday. Ginger wondered why she stayed outside the meeting room, waiting for Carmen to come out.

At last, the meeting was over, and Ginger saw Carmen coming out. But just as Carmen noticed her, Ginger saw her eyes fasten on someone else.

It was Mamoru Chiba. Of course, he would have to show up now.

But she had waited for a long time. Ginger pushed her way past Mamoru and stuck out her hand. "Hi. Remember me?"

"Of course." Instead of taking her hand, Ginger hugged her. "It's been too damned long."

Ginger was crying, and she knew Carmen was, by the way her body pulsed in her arms. When they were both done with that, they disengaged. Ginger saw people staring, for a moment, but they all moved on once they were caught. Except Mamoru.

"Chiba. What do you want?" Ginger asked, brazenly.

Mamoru was taken aback. "Actually, I wanted to see if you would go out with me tonight. I didn't know Carmen was here."

"Just got back a few days ago," said Carmen. "I'm staying with Usagi's family for now."

"You are?" asked Mamoru. "Are you back in the program?"

Carmen said, "Yes, do you believe it? I don't think I'll ever hear of another hospital offering a residency to anyone who didn't show up for their first offer."

"Yes . . ." Mamoru turned to Ginger. "You haven't given me your answer, Ms. Han."

Here it was. Ginger Han had been allowing herself to wonder if there was a future for her with Mamoru Chiba. They'd had dozen dates, spread out over nearly a year, but each one had been more involving than the one before. A kiss with Mamoru had felt more intimate than all the sex she'd ever had.

But here was Carmen, and here was magic between her and Mamoru, no matter how decent he was being about it.

Ginger said, "Chiba, I have this rule. I don't date interns. See me next year."

Mamoru actually recoiled an inch or so, though he didn't lose much of his smile.

Then Ginger heard Carmen say, "I've got the same rule, Chiba. So run along now. I have a lot of catching up to do with Ginny."

Mamoru held up his palms, made a pushing pantomime, and then walked away.

Ginger wasn't able to ask any more questions until they were out of the hospital. Then she said, "I can't believe you said that! Do you mean it?"

Carmen said, "For now. And I saw you. You didn't tell me you fell for him."

"You haven't told me sh--" Ginger stopped herself. "You haven't told me anything real for a long time."

"You mean, about the 'Christmas Miracle?'" said Carmen sarcastically.

Ginger said, "I'm not some idiot reporter. And I don't really mean that . . . I mean, what is really going on with you?"

Carmen looked at Ginger for a long time before saying anything. Finally, she asked, "Are you really sure you want to know all of it? Because once you know, it's going to change your life."

Ginger said, "I want to know . . . I need to know. Change my life?"

Carmen said, "Yes. I mean that . . . Are you free until Monday?"

"Ginger said, Yes, I am . . . I thought we might do something. Go to Santa Cruz, or maybe fly up to Lake Tahoe. So I traded off."

"Thanks . . . I need to make a phone call. Watch my stuff." Carmen set down her shoulder bag, and then walked off. Ginger watched her walk to a spot far enough away so she couldn't hear, get out her cellphone, and use it. She talked for quite a long time, occasionally giving her a little wave. Then she finally came back. "Back to your place for some things, and then we're off."

"For where?" asked Ginger.

"For my place," said Carmen. "I'm staying with Usagi's family."

Ginger Han exclaimed, "With Mamoru's ex? I thought you were joking!"

Carmen said crisply, "No. Come on, we need to get going. Where's the Benz?"

Ginger said, "I don't have it. My mom and dad won't pay my insurance any more, so I gave it back. I never used it much here, anyway."

Carmen asked, "What have you been doing?"

Ginger said, "Bumming rides. Mostly from Mam--from Chiba."

Carmen said, "Gotcha. Here, call him up." She handed Ginger her cellphone.

Ginger said, "I just told him I wouldn't date him. So did you."

Carmen said, "This isn't a date. Call him."


Ginger Han had called Mamoru, and he had arrived promptly--actually, within minutes. Whatever it was that Carmen had promised to tell her, she obviously wasn't going to spill in front of Mamoru . . . unless he already knew. But Mamoru had always been a person of secrets; Carmen hadn't been.

There was something else that Ginger thought about a lot on the long crawl through Friday traffic. She had seen Usagi, or Usako, as Mamoru nearly always called her, only once, years ago now, and had never spoken with her. Now she was going to spend a weekend under the same roof with Mamoru's mysterious ex.


Ginger Han's parents were both architects and she had thought she would become one herself before meeting Carmen and deciding to switch to medicine. That, and the need to focus on something she was confident with, led her to start evaluating the mansion as soon as she saw it. Her first comment was really to Carmen, though of course Mamoru could hear as well. "My mother and father would throw up if they saw this place!"

"Why? What's so bad?" asked Carmen.

Ginger said, "Well, just look at the front! Pillars from all three orders! And they look like they just hold up the upper floor! No transition. I bet they started building this in the late Thirties, and then added the pillars in 1940 or 1941."

"Why?" asked Carmen, sounding bemused.

Ginger said, "Because it's a pathetic attempt to make this place look like Tara. You know, Gone With the Wind? The movie came out in 1939. Inspired a lot of bad architecture."

At that time, they had negotiated the front driveway and Mamoru had stopped in front of the front door. Ginger looked up to see two blondes, both holding children. One was Minako Aino, who waved and smiled at her as Ginger looked up. The other, slightly shorter, was Mamoru's ex.

They were not the only people there. As Ginger got out and fetched the few things she had brought from her tiny apartment, two women and a man, younger than either of her parents but clearly of the generation before her own, talked to Mamoru in Japanese. Ginger had some Japanese, but they were speaking very fast and actually arguing, if politely; she didn't follow much of it and didn't try, because it was private. But she did not fail to catch that the older people wanted Mamoru to stay. And as she passed by the two blondes at the entrance, she saw a little strawberry-blonde girl looking at the scene with sad eyes. Then the little girl looked up into Ginger's eyes, and Ginger knew she had an enemy.

Looking away and down for a moment before she went inside, Ginger saw someone she hadn't noticed. Standing beside the steps up to the too-narrow portico was a little man--a midget. He looked up at her smiling, and put a hand to the bill of his cap, which bore the legend: "Because I'm the Boss and You're Not." Ginger realized that he was in a perfect position to look up her skirt.

Ginger hurried inside.

Ginger like the interior better. There was a vast, high-ceilinged front room that ran the width of the house. She could see rooms high overhead, with two broad stairways leading up to a complete walkway. "Looks like an old hotel."

"Not surprising," said an unfamiliar voice. "The woman who put it up was an heiress. Her family made their money in hotels." It was the little man. He held up his hand, and Ginger took it for the moment. "D.A. Alverson. I'm the current owner. And yourself?"

"Ginger Han. What does the D.A. stand for?"

The little man said, "Don't ask. 'Dick' will do, if you want to be familiar."

Ginger said, "I've heard a little bit about you before, Mr. Alvarson."

The little man said, "Actually, 'Doctor,' if we are being more formal, Ms. Han. I've acquired a few degrees over the years."

Mamoru's ex swept up to them and spoke to Alverson in Japanese. "Let her go, please." Then she switched to English, and said to Ginger, "Come, I'll show you your room."


Five hours after she arrived, a little past midnight, Ginger was at last alone with Carmen in the room they were sharing. Carmen was saying as she got into her bed, "I'm glad you're here tonight. I think I'll sleep better."

"Why?" asked Ginger.

Carmen said, "Well . . . Aly slept in my room ever since she came back. I got used to having someone around, I guess . . . She says she's doing all right, but I think she's having the same feelings . . . I miss the little frog, you know?"

Ginger said, "It's only been a few days."

Carmen said, "Yeah . . . Yeah, I guess . . ."

Ginger waited a moment before saying, "All right, we're finally alone. You want to tell me what is really going on with you, Carmy?"

Carmen sat up in her bed, put her pillows behind her back, and curled up, hugging her legs with her arms. Ginger had seen this a few times before; it was the sign she was going to talk for a long time.

"What do you think of Mamoru's ex now?" asked Carmen.

"Which one?" asked Ginger.

Carmen said, "The one that counts. Usagi, or Usako, like he always calls her."

Ginger said, "Yeah. Her dad calls her that, too, I noticed."

Carmen said, "Well, what do you think of her?"

Ginger said, "I don't know . . . just a girl with a couple of little kids. She's a good mom. She's really good looking, but Minako looks even better. She's not dumb, but compared to Ami? And I can still see there's a thing between him and Rei. I just don't see what he sees in her . . . except . . ."

"Except what?" Carmen prompted.

"Well, the way she gets people to jump. It's like isn't paying attention to what's going on, and suddenly, she tells you to do something, and you do it . . . Actually, that's kinda like my mom." Ginny shrugged, with hands in the air. "Maybe Mamoru likes a woman who can boss him? I didn't see that. That's not me . . . But what does any of that have to do with what's going on with you? Have you really fallen for Mamoru? I thought you were after him because he was the hardest to get. That's you, Carmy."

Carmen said, "It was me, when I started . . . "

Ginger said, "Is that it? You've really fallen for Mamoru?"

Carmen said, "No, that isn't it. He's gotten to me, but you're the one who has really fallen. Don't try to B.S. me about it. I know it. And Usagi knows it. That's why I'm telling you this stuff."

Ginger asked, "Are you trying to talk me out of--"

Carmen riposted, "Out of what? You don't date interns, remember?"

Ginger realized Carmen had, once again, caught her out. "All right . . . I want to try with Mamoru. And I'm going to give him my best shot. And you aren't going to talk me out of it, Carmy. Not you, not Usagi, not anybody."

Carmen said, "Then do it. You have my blessing. You have Usagi's blessing."

"What?"

Carmen said, "You do . . . really. And that means a lot more than you think it does."

Ginger Han said, "Carmy, you're talking crazy here."

Carmen said, "Give me a minute! . . . Just listen, okay? Okay?"

"Okay . . ." replied Ginger uncertainly.

Carmen looked away from Ginger, bending her head down. "You've heard a lot of crap on TV by now about the 'Christmas Miracle,' haven't you?"

Ginger said, "Yeah. Some really bad stuff."

Carmen said, "Well, since we didn't tell them everything, they made stuff up. I'm gonna tell you what really happened. My parents don't even know this, Ginny. Usagi wanted to tell them, but we talked her out of it, Aly and I. And Ami."

"Usagi? Ami? What do they have to do with Aly?" Ginger asked.

Carmen did not turn back to Ginger. She went on. "The night Aly came back, I was alone in the house. I got a call from Ami. She told me to go open the back door. I know, it was crazy, but I did it. I waited for maybe a minute, maybe two, freezing my ass off. And then they were just there. Usagi, and Ami, and Rei, and Minako, and Mako--she's that tall one with the ponytail. And they'd brought Aly with them."

"They stayed for maybe an hour. Mako made some herb tea for everyone, and Usagi pretty much cleaned out my refrigerator. Finally Aly told Usagi and Minako they needed to get home to their children. And they went out the back with the others, and they were gone."

Ginger said, "You mean, they found Aly and brought her back? After all that time? Why--"

Carmen said, "They found her . . . and they brought her back."

"How?" asked Ginger.

Carmen said, "I don't know. I don't think I want to know all of it. Aly won't even tell me . . . But they brought Aly back. Brought her back . . ."

"Carmy, I don't understand."

Carmen continued to stare down. "Do you remember hearing about that cabin? In February?"

Ginger said,"Yeah, I remember." That had looked like the end, when they had found the bodies of all the girls under the cabin. "But Aly said she didn't remember . . . you mean she does remember?"

Carmen said, "No, not the cabin . . . but she remembers the guy."

Ginger exclaimed, "Why didn't she tell the cops? He's still out there!" Xavier Goudan, the Cabin Killer, had never been arrested; that would have been news much too big to miss.

"No, he isn't," said Carmen quietly.

"How do you know that?" asked Ginger.

Carmen said, "Because Usagi told me. They found him, too. He's dead."

"You believe her?" asked Ginger.

Carmen said, "Yes, I do. When the Angel of Death tells you someone is dead, you believe her."

Ginger Han repeated the phrase, "The Angel of Death."

Carmen said, "Yes . . . sitting there in my kitchen with her black wings, scarfing down all my mom's herring, she told me what he looked like, what he said, and what they did to him . . . They call themselves senshi--that means "soldiers" in Japanese--"

"I know that, Carmy," Ginger interrupted, "I can still speak pretty good Japanese."

"Just listen, Ginny," said Carmen. "Whatever they call themselves, they're like angels. And Chiba is one of them. That's what you have to know."

Ginger said slowly, "Right . . . you want to tell me why this Usagi wants me to take her old boyfriend?"

Carmen said, "I can't. I don't know. Aly does, but she won't tell me that, either."

"Right," said Ginger.

Carmen Gonsoles said, "You don't believe any of this, do you?"

"No," said Ginger Han, "I mean . . . the Angel of Death?

Carmen Gonsoles sighed. "It's the truth, Ginny. It really is."


Saturday morning. As usual for Ginger, it began with a brief pang from the time when she was serious about following her mother's faith, but that soon passed. Then she looked at Carmen, and found her still asleep.

Ginger looked at Carmen for a long time, thinking of the tale she had told. Did she really believe it? Carmen had set up some quite elaborate hoaxes before, but not with Alison . . . no, she believed it. Should she tell anyone? Who? Mamoru? No, not Mamoru, not yet . . .

With those happy thoughts, Ginger slipped on her robe and quietly left the room. The main room below was empty. She heard faint sounds of a television somewhere. She decided to follow it. Presently she smelled starch, and heard the soft hiss and muffled thumps of an iron. All these clues led her to the laundry room, where she found Usagi ironing while her older daughter held her younger one in her arms in front of a small portable television. The older child gave Ginger another look.

Usagi said, "Be nice, little moon. She is a nice lady."

The older child said, "She wants to take Mamo-chan away."

Usagi said, "No one is going to take Mamo-chan away from us, little moon. Be polite, speak English now." Usagi put the iron into a wall rack, and went to her girls, kneeling down behind them and taking them in her arms. "Be nice, please . . . You are worried about something, Han-san?"

Ginger said, "Yes . . . Carmen told me a crazy story last night. I think what happened to her sister affected her. Do you know anything about it? It was about you."

Usagi said, "She said she wanted to tell you because you were her friend, and she didn't think she could be your friend if she didn't."

Ginger said, "Wait a minute . . . do you know what she told me? I mean, she told me you were an angel. She said . . . well, she said some other stuff, but she told me you had wings."

"Wings? . . . like these?"

Ginger Han stumbled back. Usagi now had great black wings, folded around her children. Jewels studded her hair, including four rubies set in the eyes of two silver skulls which now adorned the little buns she wore. Ginger saw the older girl pull down a wing far enough to peek out at her. "Are you going to turn her into dust now, okasan?" asked the girl.

The Death Angel said, "No, little moon. Han-san is a nice lady. Her heart is good. It is full of love. She loves Mamo-chan, more than she thinks. If he chooses her, she will love him forever. She will make Mamo-chan happy. That's what we want for Mamo-chan, isn't it, little moon?"

"Yes, okasan," said the girl, dropping back into English, but still using the Japanese word for "mother."

"Usako! You frightened her."

Ginger Han jumped. It was Usagi's father, right behind her.

"I am sorry for that, otousan. But I had to show her, or she would think Carmen-chan has lost her mind."


Chapter 11: A Saturday at the Mansion

GINGER HAN let Mr. Tsukino lead her away from the laundry room into the kitchen before she was really aware. Mrs. Tsukino poured her some tea, and asked, "Some breakfast? We are just having tofu and warmed-up rice. Makoto will cook a big American breakfast later. But that will be after the exercises."

Ginger answered, "Tea is fine, for now . . . thank you."

The Tsukinos spoke with each other, in English for the most part--they were obviously being polite. But Ginger could follow enough of their Japanese to know they weren't trying to hide anything from her. They spoke as any long-married couple would speak. The gardening service was going to spray, so children would have to be kept from playing in the yard for a few days. Maybe a week, to be safer. The tires on the blue van were getting worn; they should be replaced, especially the front ones.

Ginger drank most of her tea before she spoke. "Excuse me, but I just saw your daughter grow wings. This happens all the time?"

Mrs. Tsukino said, "We would rather not discuss Usagi's special affairs without her. More tea?"


The 'exercises' were led by Rei Hino's grandfather, a hairless old gentlemen of uncertain age and a lecherous eye. There were no stylized shouts. Most of the participants turned out in martial-arts uniforms, including Mamoru and including some children. Usagi and Minako turned out in leotards and tights, and they were both late starters. Naru and a girl Ginger did not remember also wore leotards--as did Carmen--but they started on time.

Ginger watched most of it sitting on one of the couches or chairs that had been moved to the back wall of the enormous front room. It looked pretty harmless to her, especially when the old man and the mothers and Rei's husband took the children aside for more instruction. Meanwhile, the others brought out a heavy, padded mat and unrolled it. Ginger helped with that, and then went to watch the children. She stood by Mamoru, who acknowledged her, but reserved most of his attention for the children, especially Usagi's and Minako's. That did not surprise Ginger, since Kimberly and Ishtar were his children as well. It did not surprise her that Usagi's older child, Sarah, did everything to please Mamoru, or continue to give Ginger hostile looks, especially when Mamoru spoke with Ginger. But she was surprised at how good the children were--not just them, but Rei's child, Deja, and Naru's two oldest, Pleione and Maia.

Then that part of the exercises ended. Ginger had thought that this would be the last of it, but, instead, the old man began designating pairs to spar on the mat. This provided more revelations. The sparring looked little short of actual combat. Naru was excused--"pregnant again," was her short answer to Ginger's question. Shingo's match with Hotaru ended with his loss--but not with his bloody nose; he went on after that. Yuuichirou, Rei's easygoing, immensely likable husband, was relentless in sparring; he won all but two of his matches, including one against Rei; he lost only to Haruka and to Minako. Usagi lost most of hers, even to gentle Ami, but she did not give up in any of them; each time the old man had to end it. The final bout was between Haruka and Minako, and it was frightening in its intensity. The old man ended the bout without a winner.

Then they put the mat away, and moved the furniture and rugs back into place. And Rei's grandfather transformed back from the stern dojo-master to the avuncular lech of the evening before. He was joined by Dr. Alvarson, and together they seemed intent on not missing a moment when Ginger's bosoms might spill out from her robe and pajamas. Ginger decided it was time to dress for the day, before the big breakfast.

After her shower--and the long wait for it--Ginger returned to her room and found Carmen waiting, half-dressed, sitting up in her bed. "Do you believe me now, Ginny?"

Ginger did not waste time answering.


Finding that Mamoru was spending the rest of the day with his children, and the other children, for that matter, Ginger did not pursue him. She explored the house and the grounds. The basement held a maze of computer equipment where Naru's and Ami's husbands toiled away with some others. Dr. Alvarson remarked that they were all very rich now, though they had made him and his company richer. A lot of their work looked like play, but Ginger could not understand much of it.

The mansion had an attic with dormer-rooms, now used by the children. There was also another floor on the back side of the mansion, between the ground floor and the level of the bedrooms and guest rooms. Dr. Alvarson explained, "This is where servants who were not white had to live, when this place was first built."

"No one would want to live here if they could help it." The ceilings were low, with protruding girders--the house looked like it was made of brick, but that was just a facing over steel and concrete. This partial floor seemed almost like a prison.

"We use most of it for storage," explained Mr. Tsukino, "I thought of moving one of the big televisions up from the basement so the children could have somewhere to watch together without getting in the way, but that would mean taking out most of the partitions here."

"It wouldn't harm the integrity of the building," said Ginger. "But, of course, that is Dr. Alvarson's decision to make. If you turn this into an entertainment center, it would considerably improve the resale value--my mother put a theater into a yacht once, in a space about as awkward as this."

"That is always a consideration, Ms. Han," said the little man, not leering for a change.

"Really? Would I have to move my darkroom here?" Mr. Tsukino took out a key and was about to put it in a padlock--then he noticed the hasp was open. He turned back to Ginger and little Dr. Alvarson and put his finger to his lips. Then he closed the hasp and locked the padlock, saying loudly "Oh, look what I did! I left it open the last time! Good thing I caught it before any children got inside!"

In a moment, there was pounding from the other side of the door. Mr. Tsukino unlocked the door and opened it. Shingo emerged, his nose no longer bloody but his face quite red all the same. After him came Hotaru.

Mr. Tsukino said, "We will talk about this later. May I have the key?"

Ginger noticed that Mr. Tsukino was surprised when Hotaru handed the other key to him. He shook his head as the young couple left. "Ne-e-eh, like Usako with Mamoru, I am afraid." he muttered.

Dr. Alvarson spoke up. "He is sensible, and so is she. And they are young."

Mr. Tsukino said, "Yes, they are young. That is what worries me so much."

Alvarson said, "They care for each other."

"That does not mean they will not get into trouble. Maybe they already have." Mr. Tsukino disappeared into his darkroom, and then emerged holding something in his hand.

Ginger took it from him. "I'll give this back to her."

It was a bra.


Carmen asked Ginger, "So, what did you tell her when you gave it back? I noticed you were talking for a long time."

It was late, and they were in their beds, talking in the dark.

Ginger said, "I sort of turned into my mom. I told her that she shouldn't rush into this. And I told her I wished I hadn't started having sex so early."

Carmen said, "What did Hotaru tell you? I mean, if you think it's all right to tell."

Ginger said, "Well . . . She said she was really sort of glad Shingo's father caught them when he did. She didn't think she was going to go as far as she did. And she said that Shingo is really scared he's going to lose her now . . . his father said he was afraid they were just like 'Usako and Mamoru.' I told her that, and she started to cry. She said that she was sure Shingo was the one she would love forever, but that she was afraid they would not be able to be together, like Usagi and Mamoru."

Carmen asked, "Did she tell you why Usagi won't get together with Mamoru?"

Ginger said, "No. I didn't ask, though . . . "

Carmen said, "So they didn't actually--"

Ginger said, No. "Close . . . They've been in that darkroom before, but Hotaru felt bad about hurting Shingo this morning. I guess she . . . overcompensated?" She sighed. "Raging hormones."

"How are yours?" asked Carmen.

"Old and dried up," replied Ginger Han.

Carmen said, "Not that old . . . you haven't done the deed with Mamoru yet, have you?"

"No."

"Well, he's still here."

"You're not serious!" exclaimed Ginger.

Carmen said, "When are you going to have another opportunity? Monday he's an intern and you're a second-year resident. He may not stay tomorrow night."


After awhile, Ginger Han crept from her room. She knew where Mamoru should be sleeping; Carmen's suggestion had not fallen on her from a clear sky.

But as she approached, moonlight revealed someone else by the door she was approaching. Though her hair hung loose, Ginger did not mistake the person looking through the half-opened door. It was Usagi.

Ginger continued approaching after a pause, seeing that Usagi was not responding to her presence. When she was only a few feet away, Ginger could see silvery tracks glittering on Usagi's cheek.

"What's wrong?" Ginger whispered.

Usagi glanced at her, then pushed the door open a little more. Ginger peered in, and saw Mamoru lying in bed asleep. He had plenty of company: three little heads peeked out from under the same covers, two of his daughters and Sarah, Usagi's older girl, the one that had asked if her mother was going to turn Ginger into dust just that morning . . .

Ginger watched for quite awhile before she felt a presence behind her. She was not surprised at all that it was Minako.


Chapter 12: The Founder

GINGER HAN went along with Usagi and Minako. On the way where they were going, she saw Naru reciting something from a floating book in front of the little man. It gave her no pause. Magic had come into her world this morning, and it was not going to leave.

They arrived where they were going: the kitchen, where they all ate ice cream. In between bites, Usagi told Ginger every horrible thing Mamoru had done to her, and everything he should have done but didn't, or didn't until far too late. Along the way she mentioned some of his powers, their adventures, and even their past lives. She finished up by saying, "I do not remember much of my past life, but I am sure he was as mean to me then." Minako had said little, but she hadn't contradicted anything Usagi had said.

By the time Usagi finished, she had a larger audience. Naru and the little man, Dr. Alvarson, had completed whatever arcane business they had. Makoto had also drifted down, bringing a child, in fact the oldest Ginger had noticed in the house, or at least the biggest. Makoto had managed to get a small portion of ice cream for the girl before Usagi finished the last of it. By the way the child acted now, Ginger saw she was probably Makoto's.

Naru remarked, "Now we will have to get more."

"I'll pick some up later," said Usagi, rising. "I'm going out for awhile."

Makoto rose. "You should not go out. You are upset. And you should not go out alone, especially now." She put firm hands on Usagi's shoulders.

"You cannot come. You cannot fly yet. I will be fine. I would rather be alone for a little while, anyway. No one thinks it odd when Haruka goes off by herself." Usagi removed Makoto's hands.

Makoto said stubbornly, "That is Haruka's way, not yours."

Minako interjected, "I will go with you."

"No, stay here," said Usagi.

Minako insisted. "I will go with you. It is my place, and I can fly just as well as you."

"The Princess of Jupiter is right, Sailor Moon," said the little man. "You are upset. You would do better to stay home and rest. Or perhaps you could speak with the young lady you frightened so much this morning? You have set her upon the Prince as you set Venus on him. Don't you think you should explain why?"

Usagi said, "I will explain later . . . tell her what you think is best, if you are really that concerned. I have to go. Come, Minako, if you are coming."

Usagi went out the door; Minako followed. Ginger watched them transform and fly away.

The little man sighed, shaking his head. There wasn't anything comical about him now. He turned to Ginger and said nothing for a moment. Then he turned away and spoke very gently: "Zoë, you should not hear what we must speak of now. Princess, would you take her back to bed?"

"I will take you, Zoë," said Naru. "Would that be all right?"

"Yes, Auntie," said the child.

After Naru took the child away, Ginger asked, "Zoë is yours?"

Makoto said, "Now she is. Her real mother was Kimberly."

"Kimberly?" Kimberly was the name of Usagi's younger child, the one Mamoru had fathered.

Makoto said, "Kimberly was Chibi-Usa's friend. Usagi named her second daughter for her. We found Zoë when we went to save Alison. Zoë was with people who were bad to her. I took her away. Please don't talk of this. If someone were to look closely, I might lose her. In fact, don't speak of the children here to anyone you don't completely trust."

"Why?" asked Ginger.

Some of the mischief reappeared in the little man. "Well, perhaps they would be curious why Naru had three children last year and five this year. Haven't you noticed that Ishtar and Kimberly are a little big for one-year-olds?"

"They are really more than five, now," said Makoto. "We were in Zoë's world for four years. Actually, a little more."

"And there hangs many a tale, Ms. Han. And . . ." He turned around suddenly. "Ms. Gonsoles. If you want to hear the bloody, bloody truth, join us. We will speak of Sailor Moon."

Makoto had readied coffee for everyone by then. Taking a sip, Ginger said, "Sailor Moon? That was a cartoon from a few years ago."

Makoto said, "Yes, but here, it is real. Not in Zoë's world or others, but here, it is. Or it was."

"Was?" asked Ginger.

The little man poured a large amount of creamer into his cup, took a big gulp, and then settled back for some extended speaking. "The Moon Kingdom was in the past, but not the past of this world. And Crystal Tokyo wasn't the only future for this world. You are both familiar with the cartoon? Or perhaps the manga?"

"I am," said Ginger. "I was really into it when I was living in Japan. You mean it's all true?"

Alvarson said, "Not all of it, but the basic outline is. Most particularly, it is true that Sailor Moon's future daughter came back in time. And that she was pursued by enemies. Crystal Tokyo was never a very stable timeline; that weakened it a lot. I don't think I am being immodest when I say that I know more about the dynamics of timelines than anyone I know of. I am not certain what caused that timeline to finally destabilize. But it is gone now."

"What do you mean?" asked Ginger.

"'The future is not what we thought it was,'" said Mamoru. "That is what Usako said in the note. The one that told me she was not going to marry me." He came in and poured himself a cup. "I thought she would change her mind when she found out Chibi-Usa was not mine, but . . ."

"Let me tell this part," said Makoto. "Usagi came here to America six years ago, with her family. She didn't do well in school--in fact, she was failing. She went to visit Mamoru at Stanford. But when she got there--she wasn't at Mamoru's Stanford. She had gone to Zoë's world. They thought she was insane. In Zoë's world, there aren't any Japanese at all with hair and eyes like hers--or mine--and there was no record of her existing."

"When they let her out of the asylum, they put her in foster homes. They made her change her name. She started to believe she was crazy, that she really was an American girl who thought she was a cartoon character."

"But then she found Chibi-Usa. She'd come there too, and they'd done about the same thing to her."

"Chibi-Usa?" asked Ginger. "You mean, Sarah? I've heard you all call her that. And 'little moon.'"

"Yes. And no," said the little man.

Makoto continued. "Usagi got closer to Chibi-Usa than ever. And then . . . Chibi-Usa died. She died fighting a horrible monster. It also killed Zoë's real mother. Chibi-Usa gave her life trying to save her."

"That thing killed my granddaughter as well," said the little man. "Fortunately, it is very hard to keep Argent dead. With Sailor Moon's help and some others, it was destroyed. Or at least, dispersed so much it will take a long time for it to find a new host."

"Host?" asked Carmen.

Alvarson said, "My granddaughter and her colleagues in her coven have been looking into the nature of that particular beast. It needs to find a suitable host to manifest. Unfortunately, its favorite type is rather common among the worlds. It likes serial killers. Loners with a desire for unnatural acts, and unnatural powers. It seems to take years to complete its possession, and many things could spoil its prospective host."

"It might be a species, not just a monster. That is why Sailor Moon spends so much time hunting now. And why she kills so much now. She doesn't want to miss one of these things." The little man sighed. "But in truth, what she does isn't likely to catch one early, no matter how much it does for the victims of ordinary monsters. Like the one who took your sister, Ms. Gonsoles."

Carmen said, "Ginny, when I said they brought her back, I really meant they brought her back. Aly was dead."

"It does not always work," said Makoto. "I saw many times when it did not."

"No, it does not always work. That's the reason my Grey Company does not offer it as part of our normal services," explained the little man. "But let us return to the reason you, Ms. Han, and you, Mr. Chiba, are facing such disagreeable choices. Sailor Moon will not marry you, Mr. Chiba, because she is not sure that doing that won't bring back Crystal Tokyo. If that happens, she thinks Chibi Moon will stop maturing as she did in her last incarnation, and will eventually come back to Argent's world to be killed. Sailor Moon is particularly worried about that now because Chibi Moon has not grown much in the past few years."

"But she is not the same," said Mamoru. "Sarah is not my biological child. And Kimberly has no resemblance--"

The little man shook his head. "Sarah and Chibi-Usa have the same soul. Argent is never wrong about these things. And I have used my special talent with Time to divine her nature. Chibi-Usa was never your child, at least of your loins. Sailor Moon sensed that the moment she first held the child in her arms."

Makoto said, "Mamoru, I know that Ami told you what Usagi told us, but it was worse than Usagi is willing to say. Nancy, who is Chibi-Usa's aunt, saw her die, and felt her pain. Usagi must have felt more of it. You have always loved Chibi-Usa as if she were your own. If you had felt Chibi-Usa's pain, I think you would feel as Usagi feels. You would do anything to keep it from happening again."

"Yes . . . but what to do?" asked Mamoru. "What not to do? Dr. Alvarson, you are the Founder of the Grey Company. You have lived for thousands of years, visited countless worlds, traveled in time, seen things we can't imagine. You said you would give us an answer, if you could. Do you have an answer?"

The ageless little man said, "No. Not a simple one. Not a complete one."

"What can you tell us?" asked Mamoru.

The little man got up and refilled his cup before speaking again. "Divination is not my special strength. My daughter was a natural master at it . . . " He seemed to lose focus for a moment. "But I am not. Sailor Mars has more natural talent for it than me, though she will need much more experience to be reliable. But I have a gift for the magics of Time, and it does give me some insights."

"The first is not going to be comforting. There is a strong bias in Chibi-Usa's lifeline to repeat the cycle, even if her lifepath is quite different up to the loop. I think she has repeated it before."

"The second is that it is possible to create Crystal Tokyo again, or something resembling it. But my advice is to avoid it. Crystal Tokyo depended on the separation that created the Negamoon, and perhaps even the Tau system. If you create a different version, you will almost certainly create a different evil to oppose it--perhaps a worse one. Great magics like the one which created Crystal Tokyo or the Moon Kingdom nearly always lead to disaster--take it from one who is responsible for some of the worst!"

Ginger managed to get some words in. "Would Mamoru's marrying Usagi make that more likely? I mean, what do your powers tell you?"

Alvarson said, "Nothing about that. But logic tells me that if Mamoru marries Usagi or any of the other senshi, it would seem to make it more likely." The little wizard added, "My powers and arts don't give me any special insight into the union between yourself and Mamoru, Ms. Han."


Makoto, and Naru, who had quietly returned, stayed up with Dr. Alvarson. Carmen and Ginger followed Mamoru back to his room, where he returned to his bed after briefly rousing the children--Sarah, who was Chibi-Usa; her half-sister Kimberly, and Mamoru's child by Minako, Ishtar. Chibi-Usa did not fail to give Ginger another one of her hostile looks, but it softened into sadness before she turned over and wriggled close to Mamoru.

It was a warm night; they left a window open. Still awake as the sky began glowing, Ginger and Carmen heard a flurry of shots--and then some large explosions. Five minutes later, they caught Sailor Venus flying in--carrying Sailor Moon.

Ginger was aghast when she got her first close look at Sailor Moon. She was oozing blood, barely aware.

"What happened?" shouted Mamoru.

Venus answered, "She saw a gang start to shoot up a place, and she dived in--but there was another bunch of them in two more cars."

Ginger was more in her element here. "She took four bullets here . . . what did this?"

"One of them had a very big gun," answered Venus. "Is she going to be all right?"

Carmen said, "She needs to get to a hospital! Hotaru, no, get--"

"I can help," said the girl.

Hotaru laid hands on Usagi--she had transformed back, and Ginger thought in a part of her mind that it must be from losing consciousness. Ginger watched as bullets wormed out and wounds closed. But not all of them. "That helped, but . . . this one. I think the bullet is still in. I think . . ." Ginger had been feeling around the wound, but now she closed her eyes and said no more. The bullet had to be in Usagi's spine.

The little man came up, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Feel just the bullet in your hand. Now, draw it out."

Ginger Han could feel something in her hand. She opened her eyes and saw her wrist buried in Usagi's back. She withdrew it gently, slowly, and saw as the hand emerged that it was not inside the wound, really--it was as if Usagi's back was a pool of calm water. Once her hand was out, she opened her grip, and saw she was holding a massive bullet, as large as her thumb. She let it drop from her hand.

Ginger looked at the wound. Blood and fluid began to well from it. Hotaru laid her hands on and the flow slowed to a trickle. But then Hotaru said "That is all I can do."

Ginger re-examined the wound as best she could. "So far so good. If no one has called 911 yet, do it now. She's lost a lot of blood and moving her without immobilizing her back is a bad idea."

Suddenly Ginger found herself staring into a pair of familiar light-brown eyes: Chibi-Usa's. A crescent glowed on her brow as she asked, "Is okasan going to die?"

"She should be all right when we get her to a hospital--"

Ginger Han realized she was now in a hospital. Stanford Hospital. Specifically, she was kneeling between Chibi-Usa and Usagi on the floor in front of the Admissions desk.


THE ADMISSIONS CLERK slumped into her chair with rolled-back eyes. Ginger grabbed the phone and sent out a page, then got the Emergency Room. From then on, what occupied her mind was keeping Usagi and Chibi-Usa safe until Usagi was carried off to surgery.

Then Ginger Han got to talk to a couple of cops. But she was surprised--the cops seemed to suggest what had happened, and she simply agreed. They went away with a plausible story: Usagi had been visiting her; she went outside to check for the paper; she was shot. Of course, it was complete b.s. Then Ginger remembered something Carmen had told her the night before . . . she asked Chibi-Usa, "Sarah, did you do something to the policemen?"

Chibi-Usa answered, "I think so. I just wanted them to go away quickly. I could hear a little of what they were thinking. I'm not as good as I was before."

"Before?" asked Ginger.

The girl said, "Before, when I was with okasan at the foster home and then Aunt Nancy, when she was young."

"You remember that?" This was something that had happened in her former life.

Chibi-Usa said, "Some of it. Some of it I heard from Auntie Nancy. I don't tell okasan about it any more. She worries all the time about me. When I told her before about remembering things, she worried more. Is she going to get better?"

"Yes, I think so. She might not be able to walk . . . I don't know." Ginger knelt down and hugged the child.

"Okasan was right," said Sarah, drifting into English again. "You have a good heart. Thank you for helping her."


Ginger Han's troubles were far from over. More policemen came to see here in the next weeks, and she was very afraid for awhile that she would be dropped from the residency program for exercising such poor judgment by bringing her friend to the hospital herself rather than getting emergency help. Perhaps the unqualified support Ms. Han received from the Tsukino family persuaded the hospital to let her off with a reprimand. It might have been something else. Ginger now began to notice a that a large portion of the unobtrusive brass plates scattered around the hospital credited donations from "Dr. D. A. Alvarson" or "The Grey Company."

In the meantime, Ginger Han, and of course Carmen Gonsoles and Mamoru Chiba, had to cope with the relentless cycle of training and work that would transform them either into certified physicians or burnt-out failures. Somehow in the midst of all this Ginger found time and opportunity to share Mamoru's bed for one transcendent night. But after that one night, she was torn in even more ways. She put her head down, metaphorically speaking, and concentrated on getting through another year of her residency.

But there was yet another difficult choice for Ginger Han to make as Christmas approached . . .


Next: The conclusion of the story.

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