A Moon Never Clasped
By: Danni Lynn
Chapter 4: Always Pain
~+!Serena!+~
So she remembers if only maybe a sense or feeling, but how? Wasn't it all taken away when the contract was complete? Serena shuddered despite the warmth of her surroundings, Andrew raised in eyebrow question, but it quickly went down as Serena flashed a grin his way. Andrew blushed and turned his gaze downward, scrubbing intently at the already shining counter. If it was anymore clean, it could blind someone, that thought caused Serena to giggle.
"Andrew." Serena drew out his name in a low and happy voice as she slid her fourth milkshake (empty in like 2 seconds) his way. He caught it without looking up. She stood and stretched enjoying the feeling of the light bathing her from the store's front windows. Though she had school she decided it would be a horrible way to spend such a magnificent day in such a dreadful prison that was only made to get children out of their parents' hair and to keep them from mooching to much money of them anyway (cheap parents).
Andrew paused realizing just what Serena had been dong for the past hour. "Sere! You naughty girl, you should be in school by now. Leave! I shall give you more milkshakes when you come back with something that you learned today." He went around the counter and dragged her out the front door, she only smiled as he failed to push her out of the Crown, somehow she was glued to the floor. "Now!" Andrew yelled as he gave her a final shove, she stumbled onto the sidewalk and watched as he locked the doors with his arms crossed, glaring at her.
Serena shrugged and gave a little wave goodbye as she set off to look for something. As she went someways down the street she saw a poster that read:
40% off! Get your jewelery where its made the best!
She smiled and walked back into the Crown. Andrew mumbled a hello but didn't look up, she sat down and ordered a milkshake, as he set it down in front of her, he then realized it was the very girl he had kicked out of the store no more than fifteen minutes ago. He was about to repeat the process again when he noticed that her order was no longer in his hand.
"You haven't even learned one thing! Get out now!" Andrew pleaded with her. She shook her head as her lips parted from the straw that was now sucking empty air. "Yeah, I have." Serena laughed as she set down the barren cup, while placing money down from her previous orders onto the counter. Andrew crossed his arms and gave a disdained frown. "What might that be?" He grumbled as he waited for an answer that he could pronounce as wrong.
Serena smiled innocently as she swayed her body back and forth on her tiptoes with her index finger held to her chin as she stared up at the ceiling thinking. As it came to her, she snapped her fingers and stared right at him and smirked. "Jared is having a sale for 40% off! Great price, might get me a new necklace or two!" Serena jumped up in excitement, as Andrew's face fell from its angered victory. "J-Jared's?" He stuttered as his tense body went slack with disbelief. Serena stopped and stared at him."Yeah, you know. 'You can only get it at Jared's'." She waved a hand in front of his face as he looked out into the nothingness, then his face churned in rage.
Serena took a step backwards startled at his sudden anger, as his eyes swiveled to glare at her. Now it was her turn to stutter, "W-what?" She asked him, bewildered by the complete change in attitude. "I bought my sister her birthday gift yesterday at full price. There been no sale then! What the hell. I don't believe you!" Andrew growled as Serena shook her head in pity as she gave a sigh of relief. Pointing down the street past the window, Serena nodded her head that way. "Not a believer, huh? Go look yourself." She smirked at him. He tore off his apron and stomped his foot.
"I shall!" He yelled as he charged out the front door, bumping shoulder's with a person that was coming in. They both stared at the enraged monkey (Andrew) that was practically sprinting down the road. Serena shrugged and picked up the apron as the customer sat down on the stool previously Serena had been using. "What was his problem?" He asked as he glanced at his watch, Serena turned and gave a witty grin at the poor man that sat before her. It was time to let the game begin, Serena happily decided.
"Oh, you know, the normal young men with a child as a single-parent. He just went off to check on his beloved son. He forgot to give him his lunch so he dashed away to save his poor son from starvation!" Serena dramatically replied with an answer so far from the truth you just couldn't believe it, right? The customer sighed with a tone full of pity. "Children, these days can't keep what was given to them as a gift to themselves till the right age can they? What's in the pants stays in the pants, right? Poor guy, must be hard." The middle-aged man ran a hand through his graying hair. "Do you work here, miss?" He asked his face held with hope.
Serena stared at the apron and grinned. "Why, yes. Yes I do, in fact. What would like, Sir?" She put the apron and went behind the counter, she had been going to the Crown since she was a little girl, so she knew how to do things around there, she had helped a few times herself. "A coffee, please. Black with milk" He hung his head in his hands as he placed his elbows on the counter. His suit was faded and small. As Serena picked up a cup and pushed a button on the coffee dispenser, she glanced sideways at the depressed older gentleman that stared sullenly at the ground with a type of heaviness in his eyes.
"Life sucks sometimes doesn't it?" She stated as she began to pour some milk into the coffee, the man looked up surprised to hear her speak, his eyes softened and he gave a grieving smile. "Sure does." His tone was no more happier than his pained expression.
"Might tell a passing stranger? It helps lighten the load." She told him, as she placed the warm coffee in front of him, steam rose up into the air, its grounded scent mixing in with the smell of dust and plastic. The man nodded his head as he picked up the cup by the handle. "Well, I just got fired at my job at the same time my wife died and I just can't find any work that wants to take me." He sighed once more as he watched the swirling darkness of the brewed coffee.
Serena nodded as if in mutual understandings, she gave the man a complete look over and shook her head, sadly. The man stared at her, confused. "What?"
He asked with a bit of annoyance, she held up her hands defensively. "Well, its just..." She stopped as she waved a hand over him, indicating his appearance. "No offense, but you look like shit and your fucking depressing. I'm just being honest." She laughed, the man at first looked offended but when he looked himself over he sighed heavily and nodded in agreement, then he smiled up at Serena.
"Your right, I do look like shit and I am depressing! Yeah, time to go get that shitty job for this fucking depressing person!" He chugged down the coffee, that Serena stared at him a bit amazed as he ran out the door, but before he made it outside, Andrew came walking in with his head hung, the man placed a hand on his shoulder causing Andrew to lift his head, the man gave him a thumb's up. "You care a lot about your boy. Take good care of him." With that said, the man disappeared in the morning, getting ready to set his life straight.
Andrew stared at Serena, "Who the hell was that?" Serena shrugged as she cleaned the counter, with Andrew sitting down on the stool. She put away the money the man had given her into the cash register, "Some crazy man." She answered as she took off the apron and sat next to him.
"I don't like work. I quit." She got up and walked out of the Crown having already lost interest in the arcade. Andrew watched her leave, just simply blinking not understanding at all where the situation had went. Sad to say but he never saw that poster that she had said she saw. Serena lied.
The sky was only covered in so many clouds that they hung loosely in the atmosphere, they were thinned out that you could see through them anyway. The sun beat down on Serena's shoulders' that her body heat went up a couple of degrees. She just kept running down the park's sidewalk, enjoying peoples' laughter and the sound of chirping birds as a kind of lull like trance to keep her mind from thinking about those negative thoughts that always seemed to haunt to her.
She had gone home and changed into her normal running clothes. She had made a habit out of it, it just made her feel...unchained to all the boundaries that she had been cursed to follow. Of course, that had been her decision as well.
The cool air was warm on her skin as her heart accelerated in its haste to keep up with her body's movement. As she made her way out of the park, she caught sight of the river that led through the middle of the city, dividing it into two, deciding to go a different route, she turned and strayed off near the water. It had been a couple of months since the last heavy rainfall, so the water had barely rose on the last night's storm causing the water level to be only ankle deep.
Serena stood at the edge of the bank, staring at her own reflection, realizing she, herself, had grown as in maturity and as well as physically.
Yet, her features were daunted with a kind of wisdom that one usually only receives with years worth of mistakes. Her bright smile had dimmed to a fake grin, her seemly endless amount of happiness was now nothing more than a rare occasion. At times she was short-tempered and cruel but for the most part she no longer knew what her true light meant. In some ways she had become Galaxia's slave.
Serena frowned, her mirror image doing the same, losing interest in her appearance, she bent low and jumped high. At first it felt like time had slowed and the sky expanded, bright and bigger as she rose higher and higher into the air. With the training of being a scout her jumping abilities far exceeded that of a normal human's. She could win the Olympics highest jump with a mere kick off the ground.
The force of gravity was never forgiving to those that defied the rules, slamming Serena hard onto her feet, her stomach leaping into her throat for a brief couple of minutes. She flipped in the air and kicked off in the water for another leap that only extended in length, pushing her a couple feet away from her original landing spot.
The water splashed too slow that she was already jogging in the ankle deep river as the drops landed back within the original body mass. Her shoes were now soaked and she felt her sweat making her shiver but she just kept going, enjoying the feel of the world and its universe that tied all things together, one truly never disappearing without the other.
"Hey!" The voice was lost to Serena's mind as her thoughts dragged her further and further into her own self consciousness, leaving the physical world on a spiritual plane. At one moment it appeared as if she was lost to the vast space of the universe, but like all good things (weird strange things) they must end. So as Serena was thinking that she felt like she was flying she hit a thing called Earth. Hard.
Her pace had slowed so much that she was practically speed walking as she fought to keep her breath, she tripped over a rock in the water and stubbed her toe.
At first it appeared that to her that the world was moving but in reality she had just fell, as the cold water soaked into her dripping clothes and she face planted the ground, she realized she had just tripped.
Sighing angrily, she gingerly made her way up in a sitting position, irritated that she had just scrapped her elbow. Being careful not to move to much she wiped her bleeding elbow on her shirt and picked up her floating shoes. Without noticing the lone figure that was waving frantically at her from the bank she tossed her shoes onto the bay as she ripped her now useless head phones out of her ears.
"Damn." She growled as she made her way to the main land, while staring at her soaked Ipod not taking heed of the figure that was racing towards her. She forced her way through the shallow water and continuously cleaned her elbow of her blood.
She was having such a nice run and it was ruined by a simple trip to the river. Picking up her drenched shoes she stared blankly at her music device before her brows furrowed in rage and she looked the other way, throwing her Ipod in the other direction, no longer interested in using the now portable paper-weight.
"Ow." Was the reply instead of a nice loud clang of the Ipod hitting the ground, Serena spun around in surprise, finally taking notice of the concerned man that had been trying to achieve in winning her attention for the last few minutes.
"Oh, gosh. I'm so sorry." She embarrassingly answered as she hurried to the man's side. His sunglasses were cracked and he clutched his head in pain as he tried to blink away the bits of broken plastic from his eye, while he firmly gripped Serena's Ipod in his left fist. She stood there awkwardly not knowing what to do as she chewed the side of her cheek, nervous what the man might say.
"I think this is yours miss-?" The man paused unsure of Serena's name, as he rubbed his sore eye and took of his sunglasses. Serena nodded in understanding and opened her mouth to speak, unable to meet the man's repudiate stare, but as she tried to look at something past him, theirs eyes immediately locked.
Her voice leaped from her throat into her stomach and for a moment she knew not of on how to speak, for she was captured by the brilliance of the steely, ice, gray eyes that seemingly peered into her soul; her heart where all those buried secrets were burdened weighing heavily upon the shattered remains. "Tsukino. Serena Tsukino." She blinked and shook her head, as she tried hard to focus on something other than his eyes, afraid she could get lost in the darkness of his silver irises.
She smiled as she stuck out her hand for him to shake. He took her hand and placed the Ipod in her palm, refusing to take her hand in his as a show of mutual understanding. "My sunglasses." He interrupted as Serena looked at her tingling hand, that had the fainting marks of the man's warmth. "Huh?" She looked up dazed, he sighed angrily as he waved his broken glasses in front of her, at first she was confused but then it sunk in.
"Oh,no! I'm sorry, here's all the money I have. Go get yourself a new one." She rummaged through her dripping pockets and pulled out a soggy twenty and some change out her shorts, placing her winnings in his open palm, as she nip-picked the sunglasses out of his waiting hand. She opened them and placed them on the bridge of her nose as she looked around. "I like them. I think I'll wear them more often." She laughed as she spun around in a circle and curtsied. "My dear sir, I must say, You look absolutely splendid this evening." She giggled as she twirled in a circle.
The man's cold gaze glared at her dancing figure, burning holes any place his eyes landed. His rigid body strained against the stretched cotton of his black shirt. His frown seemed almost natural on his desolate features. He appeared to be extremely hard to approach.
"I feel like a crook in the way you gave me the money. Jeez, what were you doing in the water in the first place, Miss Tsukino?" His attempt to joke was halfhearted and icy, but Serena smiled thankfully in return. "I don't really know. I just was." She replied as she placed her Ipod in her pocket and wrung out her dripping hair.
The man smirked as he chuckled in a low voice, "You just were.", as Serena caught sight of the way his lip curved upward ever so slightly that it was taunting and imitating at the same time caused her to stumble to the ground in surprise. He caught her before she hit the ground, as they were caught in an unsuspected embrace, Serena locked their gaze once more and muttered in a small, scared voice, "Darien."
Taken aback, by the sudden guess of his name and the way that it was correct, the man let her go and stepped away, leaving the shocked girl alone on the ground, her clothes drenched and her beaten body bleeding in places that were not revealed. "Um, yes. That is my name. Do I know you?" The ebony haired man stuttered, unable to place her face in any of his known memories.
Flustered, Serena jumped to her feet, "Good guess, I suppose. Sorry, its just...that you look liked someone I use to know. A long time ago." She answered breaking the awkward atmosphere by turning on her heel and jogging away in the early afternoon sun. Leaving a very confused ex-fiance that at one time had been engaged to when she was no more than a love-sick sixteen year old. She was almost eighteen and would be able to quit school to get a job and find a way to fix everything. She would start with Galaxia.
It scared her to no ends, how someone could change in such a way that it was almost frightening to see. Darien had been such a kind and caring person to anyone that he had met, he was nice and considerate and would listen to anything you had to say, but now he was cold and distant. He was still caring and kind but he deprived himself on any admission to get close to anyone. His gentile features were now sharp and rigid. His blue eyes were so pale they were a shade of gray in a bright, clear day.
A year had changed everything Serena had known to such a degree that her own homeland appeared to be a foreign place. Nothing was the same. Not the place. Not the people. Not even herself.
What had she done? These were not the same people she had shared her laughter and smiles with. This was not the same place she had strolled leisurely upon, as she lived her life in happiness. The worst, she wasn't the same person either, she felt empty and hollow when before she had been so happy that it hurt at times.
Her smile was frozen in time.
Her heart no longer shared the same joyous tune.
Her body was far from equate of the normal species she had once lived among.
She had changed.
They had changed.
What was the same anymore?
Serena sighed as she collapsed on a near by bench, suddenly feeling weak. Her throat parched as her clothes dripped with water, in a moment Serena felt as if her clothes would suffocate her. She forgot to breathe for a moment as the space continuum paused for the briefest of moments just before the world faded.
She clenched her teeth as the feeling of falling wove around her, she felt weightless and heavy all at the same time. It was pressing down around her, all walls closing in to fast. Her chest squeezed in fear as her voice was lost to the abyss. No where to be found.
At first she was at a loss for words but when she hit the ground with an echoing thud, her body rippled with pain and she slammed her eyes shut in agony. Warm, hot blood began to seep from her deep wounds as she gingerly sat up, rubbing her aching head, shaking it slightly trying to rid of the dancing stars before her eyes.
As she took in her focus she felt her heart leap in fear as the galaxy moved about in their starry skies, unaware of those who ruled it which would be the figured that stood in the pentacle of the universe, her master. Galaxia glared at her cowering figure and crossed her arms in an arrogant stance while smirking slightly, downsizing the small, weak girl that was clutching her bleeding back in an attempt to stanch what could possibly kill her, lack of blood.
"Serena, oh poor, poor, Princess Serenity, where has all your glory gone?" Galaxia mocked, taunting her, baiting her into her awaiting hands. "Master Galaxia, what do I owe my dear mistress' time for?" Serena humbly crawled into a respectful bow, with her knees tucked up to her chest and her head bent low enough that her forehead touched the ground. Galaxia laughed with admission, pleased at the groveling past princess and future queen.
"What is wrong with seeing my little pet for a change?" She barked out with amusing joy, as her eyes sparkled maliciously in the eerie glow of the stars. Red hair flowed around her like a cloak as her golden tunic protected her from harm, shielded from any element. Her lavished sword was well made, but always thirsty for blood at an admonishing rate that it pulsed with an enticing pull, drawing any near into a killing frenzy with a hunger that is not of their own.
"No, my master." Serena grumbled in an sullen tone that spoke of loathing and pain. Blood dripped from her shirt and pooled around her legs, as Serena fought to stay conscious. The lack of blood, sleep, and food was doing a number on her, but any hell that she was going through was a deed good of a fair price as long as her friends were happy and alive. Living the lives they had dreamed of, living the lives that Serena begged them to follow, living the lives that would never be for their forgotten princess.
"Cocky, aren't we today? First, almost giving away your identity and second, nearly disobeying my orders. I would have to say you are fit to receive a formidable punishment, eh, Princess Serenity?" Galaxia circled her dangerously like a lioness would do to their trapped prey, waiting in silence and hunger as their prey smelled of fear knowing with all their hearts they are to die from a beast that stands far superior than that of their own. Serena was scared, but she was brave as well, but it would be in vain to be wasted on the woman, no...monster that stood before her with looming height, staring her down with maroon eyes that whispered of threat and violence.
Serena bit her lip not daring herself to trust her tongue, trying as hard as she might as not to further in debt herself in her torment. Her wrists were bound by a golden wrist shackles that held white diamonds in the middle as did her choker. They only appeared when she was sailor moon or in the realm of negaspace. The white diamonds pulsed with power not of her own, but of the terrible hag that stood mockingly above her.
Galaxia had punished Serena many times before but each was just horrible in its own way. So she never knew what to expect, at one point Serena nearly died when she tried go against her orders on collecting star-seeds and as for a 'good' punishment, Galaxia decided she was gonna try to crucify Serena with rusty nails and a cross. Serena had to push her body through the nails to get free otherwise she would have starved and no longer been able to move, but later Galaxia caught her and hung her for being a 'naughty girl for cheating'. Serena had scars from the crucifying and her neck still held marks from the rope as it dug deep into her skin. That was a miserable time indeed, she wouldn't speak for weeks after that.
"Stand up my child, for I wish show you the errors of you ways." Galaxia commanded with a tone that spoke of authority, Serena stood up as she was asked, begging silently that her punishment wouldn't hurt so much. God could at least grant her that one last plea, wouldn't he? Galaxia drew her sword and without one word or visible movement, Serena was on the ground, stabbed through the heart all the way. The sword went in her left breast and came out under her left shoulder blade. Just to add to her amusement, Galaxia twisted the sword in a complete three-sixty degree angle.
Serena, made no sound, just took her punishment in strides, her master had done much worse, this was like a blessing. To handle the agonizing, death defying, insanity of pain that bolted through her burning veins was the one thought that she always kept at the foremost front of her mind: As long as my friends are happy, as long as they are alive an well, I can handle any hell and any pain. That was her drive, her power, had she not the strength of will of a thousand men to live for others she would have long since been dead.
"Oh dear, you think this is your punishment? Of course not you silly girl! This is merely a restraint." Galaxia laughed at the look of complete panic and fear that besieged Serena's cerulean eyes. "No, Princess, I want you to see, feel and know, hell in every form and shape. This one was one I thought of carefully, as to make amends for what you did." She continued in a voice that caused Serena to shrink beneath her skin and her throat leap to her stomach. She felt like she was going to be sick.
"Let's start with...your dreams, lady dearest." A small mirror boarded with gold and white framing suddenly appeared in front of her master. Galaxia gave her a cruel smile before she took a bounding leap into a mirror that did but all of absorb her. She was looking into Serena's dreams, finding anything useful as too crush the wretched girl.
God, had not answered Serena's plea.
~+!Mina!+~
The white winged angel was by far the most puzzling occurrence that had ever happened in Mina Aino's uneventful life. The winged girl appeared eerily familiar but she kept that odd coincidence to herself. For the angelic child of god was determined for Mina and her fellow scouts not to die, of that she was sure. It was just the way, the girl handled herself and the look in her eyes...as if she was going to fall apart but protect something in the mean while.
Who was this girl, friend of foe?
Mina was lenient on saying that this girl was an ally but she was walking on thin ice that could give way at any moment. If she were to tread upon dangerous waters then she would do it with facts and knowledge. She had let people die on her account before because she had been naive to use opinion over logic.
Things had finally quieted down for practically a year an a half, then suddenly you have youmas in the city and a sudden savior that comes out of no where? Coincidence? No, that would not be the case. The youmas and the winged girl are related.
Though what was most confusing was not the appear and occurrence of the latest person, but what the person had said. Rolling over onto her stomach, Mina hung halfway of Lita's bed,glaring down at the beige green carpet that was stainless free. Rei sat on the edge of the window pane, that looked out onto the city below, one leg dangled uselessly on the side of the wall as the other was bent to keep balance as not to fall through the open window that stood twenty stories up.
Lita worked as a chief apprentice for some four star restaurant in Tokyo while working at a gas station on the outskirts of the city, so Lita makes some fair amount of money at the age of eighteen. So she lived quiet well for someone so young on their own in the world. She was baking cookies in the kitchen as a snack for everyone while Amy was sprawled across the couch in the living room, reading some book.
As Mina pondered onto why the girl had said such a puzzling thing, she spoke her musings out loud, breaking the silence of the rigid Rei. "She said she was happy." Mina told Rei, who shrugged as she never moved her eyes from the always moving city. "What do you think she meant?" Rei answered with her own question, as a warm breeze whispered for telltale signs of the fast approaching summer.
Mina sighed as she released a long drawn breath, "I don't know, but what she said about, not letting us die...I don't know...I just...believe her." Mina stuttered as she glanced sideways, waiting to see Rei's reaction, who snapped her head at her in surprise. "You trust her? You don't know her, plus she might be the enemy!" She began but she just shook her head before she turned back towards the window. "Don't trust those who don't deserve to be trusted." She muttered under her breath before she went silent.
Mina stared at her startled by the outburst of emotion. Sure, Rei was one to be short-tempered, but she always went about it in a calm, collected way. Never allowing to much emotion to appear into her eyes. This was a change, Mina thought never to believed to have seen in the distant girl.
Immediately, Amy raced through the doorway, obviously had heard Rei's yell looking frazzled and bewildered. Stray hair fell into her wild eyes, as she frantically scanned the room, looking for any possible signs of danger. With a released breath, her shoulders sagged and she wiped a hand across her sweating brow.
Mina raised an eyebrow at the two, Amy showing signs of concern and fear? And Rei, showing anything other than a quick burst of temper and cool, collected features? Mina wasn't the only one who had that little devil, angel on her mind.
Bouncing off the bed, Mina raced to Amy's side, who stood swaying in the dim light of the hallway with pain scrawled across her face. It only been two months since they found out Amy's little secret and had decided to ignore it the best they could, but Amy was getting thinner.
Amy was always a worrier for others but whenever it came to her, it was nothing of a concern to those who cared for her. She was nice and cool headed, never letting others see her frightened and startled side. It was an image she pushed to maintain, it worked for the most part but Mina could see through her like an open window. She knew something had been wrong for about a year and a half but couldn't tell what it was, so when Amy told them it was just as a surprise for anyone but not as big as a shock.
Amy leaned into Mina body, as she panted for air and kept a stern grip on the blonde, afraid she might fall if she were to let go. When Mina led Amy to the bed, Rei was right there pulling the sheets out as the fragile doll was placed carefully onto the bed and snugged warmly beneath the covers.
Mina gripped Amy's hand tightly as she wheezed for air that was always going but never coming. Rei sat on the bed and delicately brushed away the brittle hair that hung loose over Amy's face. Her body seized in pain, she whimpered in remorse for her curt actions as Rei averted her gaze, knowing she was to blame. If Amy moved to fast and her heart pumped to wildly, she tires herself out and her body squeezes with cramps as the heart fails to keep up with the living body.
Mina leaned forward and kissed the top of Amy's hand and gently petted it before she stood and let go, letting Rei assume her position over Amy. They had grown close as the years went by, so she took the news as the greatest shock of all. Mina had sat by Rei's side many a night holding her and whispering soothing lies as to calm that torn soul. Rei was so broken that she clung desperately to what she had left.
With no family and living with a grandfather that was never home, Rei often got lonely at the temple praying for someone to save her and love her. Even though Lita and Mina loved the girl to no ends, they weren't connect liked she and Amy was. Amy lived in a orphanage because her parents had died when she was very young.
It was a double suicide with the small child that was of Amy standing there watching. It had scarred her deeply, that had changed her forever. If she was alive knowing people were dying out there, she couldn't live with herself. So in doing the opposite with what her parents had did, instead of taking lives, she was going to save them.
And in that, Rei had found solace in Amy and her passion for wanting to be a doctor. They understood each other so well when Mina and Lita only understood so much. Rei had prayed for people to love her and she had found them. Amy had prayed for the lives of people she could not save and so she touched them with her heart, making them to understand things they had once feared. Their prayers had been answered, but fate was never to be one called fair.
As life had taken something from them, they had grown stronger and in return they got what they wished, but destiny had plans for the two in two separate ways. One would not walk the same path as the other, their bound hands would be severed and their shadows would linger behind them, joined briefly together before, once again, they stood alone.
If god could be so cruel to innocent people, then what chance did Mina stand for her own happiness?
Mina sauntered out of the room and into the kitchen, standing over Lita's shoulder as she breathed in the smell of freshly baked cookies. Lita didn't move, already used to the creepy girl that always came out of nowhere unexpectedly when food was near. "Yummy." Mina muttered beneath her breath, enjoying the aroma of peanut butter, chocolate chip cookies. "Your gonna get fat one day, if you keep eating the way you do." Lita sighed forlornly, as Mina spun into her sight of vision, shaking her head mischievously, Mina leaned forward toward Lita's ear as if she were about to share a secret. "Then who would eat all those delicious sweets you make?"
Lita barked with laughter as Mina caught her in a corner, she was right, who would eat her cookies? Amy was a light eater, and Rei barely ever ate sweets, saying it was bad for her teeth. "Alright, alright, you eat my cookies, but heat up the curry I made last night and eat it first. Don't want to spoil your appetite." She ordered and Mina obeyed.
As Mina fished through the frig, Lita dropped her voice low as she opened the oven and checked the cookies. "How is Amy? She doing alright? I saw her bolt from the living room so I got worried." Mina paused and her eyes watered slightly as she looked away. "Not well, Lita...not well, at all. Shes sick and I...can't help her. Its hard." Mina choked as she let the cool air wisp around her, entangling her in a freezing snare. At one point, she wanted to shrink so small that nobody could see how scared she was for Amy. How frightened that reality was taking away one of her best friends from her.
Lita nodded sadly, she got the pain. They were all feeling it, but they tried their best not to show in front of the strong willed girl. If she saw how frightened they were for her, she would just make it worse by acting like she was healthy and complete again. She would only tire herself out.
They were all suffering, so they put a straight face and made the most out of things with the time they had. They had time, but Amy didn't. She wasn't being given what she should have, she did no wrong to anybody, she gave people hope when they had none, shared faith with those who had lost it, and loved those of whom are dying. Though they may have died and been long since dead, but they had made Amy who she was and each one of them hadn't been forgotten in that girl's heart.
As the silence grew, a shriek erupted from the neighboring room and both heads shot up at the same time. Mina and Lita shared a startled look, before they spun on their heels and darted into the master bedroom, where a screaming Rei and a spasmodic Amy awaited. Forgetting the curry and cookies.
Rei clung desperately to the tiny frame of a small girl as limbs jerked violently in any direction, occasionally smacking the crying girl. Amy's eyes stared blankly at the ceiling as her body twitched this way and that. Lita ran over and scooped up the girl in her arms and was racing towards the door as Rei followed suite with phone in hand and prayers spewing constantly from her mouth.
They were on a mission to save Amy.
Mina was not.
She stood in the darkness of the room, letting the cold atmosphere swallow her. It was not fear that had frozen her, but the fact that she was not needed that served her as an excuse. She would always stay by Amy's side but Rei would always be of the better choice, while Lita would always remain as the resilient one, if you needed her she would be there to help you stand, but Mina?
Mina had nothing. What good was she to anyone?
Sure, she was the leader of the scouts, but that only meant that she would make decisions and be the one with the idea. In life? Mina was just a poor excuse of a slut, she flaunted herself everywhere to get anybody's attention, but even that failed. She was not the strong one. She was not the smart or independent one. Nor was she the one that could make you smile.
What one was Mina?
Sighing sadly, she headed towards the door as she grabbed her keys and locked the apartment behind her. As she entered the elevator, Darien stood before her with his black work coat hung over his left shoulder. He glared at something past her, not seeing Mina as she entered the tiny compartment. The doors closed with a quite swoosh as the elevator made its descent down.
"Tsukino Serena, huh?" Darien muttered low under his breath as Mina coughed to get his attention. He spun around startled as he stumbled backwards abit surprised at the sudden appearance of Mina. "What about Tsukino?" Mina narrowed her eyes in a mocking bad cop/ good cop fashion. She met Tsukino yesterday and she was already liking the girl more than she should have for someone that wasn't part of the sailor scouts. It wasn't an exclusive club or anything, it just...never end well when your fighting enemies none stop.
Darien nodded as he kept his mouth clamped shut as silence grew over them. It was late in the night as they headed for ground level. It felt like hours before Darien spoke again. "You know her?" He asked as he pulled his coat on and loosened his neck tie, letting it fall onto his bare chest as his buttoned shirt was only buttoned to the crevice of his chest. Mina rocked on her heels as she nibbled quietly on her tongue, she always did like Darien, he was a total hottie but he was always looking at Rei and never saw Mina as anything other than a friend. "Yeah, she's a transfer student in some of my classes, met her yesterday and I already think of her as a close friend. Strange, huh? Anyway, how do you know her?" Mina flipped the question and Darien shrugged as an unusual smile traced his thin lips. Mina stared in shock.
"She was running in the water, when she tripped and fell. Broke my sunglasses. Klutz, she is. Wasn't much, but she was nice enough to pay me back for the glasses." Darien answered as his eyes gave way to something other than driven determination. He was smart and cool, as well as a complete hunk, but he never got close to anyone. This was a another change that surprised Mina that night.
Who was this Tsukino girl? What about that winged angel?
Were they somehow related?
Shrugging of the silly notion and twinge of jealousy she felt for her new found friend, Mina walked out of the apartment complex with Darien right on her heels. "Where is Lita? I haven't seen her lately." Darien and Lita live in the same apartment complex as well as next door neighbors, but they were both so caught up in their own lives that they rarely saw each other besides the battlefield and early in the morning every so often. Mina felt her heart squeeze in pain at the remembrance of Amy and how fragile and frail she had looked as Lita carried her away. "Amy had an attack, so Lita and Rei took her to the hospital." Mina solemnly told him as they walked down the road together, heading towards where ever. Mina didn't want to go home, so she was heading towards the store, Darien was just heading in the same direction.
"Why aren't you with them?" He mused as they entered the store together. Mina shrugged and she tried to appear nonchalant but inside it felt like she was screaming. "They don't need me." She murmured the truth as Darien glanced at her with a stern passion, she had never noticed before. "Of course they need you. Your Mina." His reply was one she had already heard before, she raised an eyebrow as her irritation grew. "What makes me, Mina?" She implied, daring to ask what she was once before afraid to voice. Darien became silent, as Mina picked up some chips and a coke.
"Your important to them. What makes you Mina is your honesty and caring personality. Your beside someone not because you have to be, but because you want to be. What makes you Mina is the fact that you can fall and get right back up with a smile plastered on your face at all times. What makes you Mina, is your love." Darien's tone was serious and stern that made her heart skip a beat. He looked right in her eyes as he said it, they both knew that each word was true. Mina gave him a sweet smile as she bought her snacks and headed out the door.
Suddenly a shock rippled through Darien's body as he clutched his chest in excruciating pain, he fell to his knees panting for air, letting the pain take its course and ebb away. Once he gained control, he looked up at Mina and they nodded heads as they raced towards wherever Darien felt the explosion. She trailed behind them as she hurriedly ate her snacks, cramming it down her throat before she went off to battle.
When they got there though, what they saw was something rather explicit. Horror swept through Mina as she tried to keep tears from springing down her cheeks.
Life was never fair.
Okkk...I finally finished this...not the best of my work and not a lot of action but u gotta have some boring chapters in a story, right? Please review...
-Danni
