A/N: We don't have much to say at this point. We'll let the story do the talking.


Crystalline Nightmare

Chapter 6 - Comfort In Your Arms


"Dammit!" Sui snarled, slamming her fist onto the ebony table. "Aiyoku failed?! How could that have happened!?"

"Oh shit," Kitanai mumbled. "The Master's not going to be too happy about this..."

"Nooooo!" Yakedo wailed. "I'm gonna miss you Aiyoku-chaaaaan!"

Moroi frowned, her face paler than normal. A loud voice echoed through the room.

"Once again, you have failed me," the Master said in a deep, growling voice. "The one who sent out that vile thing must be punished. I expect to see you in a minute."

The voice faded. Each of the warriors paused, all of them apprehensive. None of them wanted to see the Master when the overlord was in this state of fury. The results wouldn't be pretty, but they would be even worse if they kept the Master waiting.

Yakedo stood to her feet, trembling slightly. "G-Guess I should--"

Moroi shot to her feet, placed a hand on her comrade's shoulder, and shoved the redhead into the chair. "I will go."

"Ah hell no," Kitanai spat. "It was my damned idea in the first place, I should go."

"I agree with Hibana, as disgusting as that sounds," Sui mumbled.

"I will go," Moroi repeated. "After all, I have nothing to lose." She drew her sunglasses off with a flourish, setting them delicately in the table. "Even if I should return horribly disfigured, I won't be able to see it that well." She opened her eyes, revealing deep, navy blue orbs, seemingly devoid of pupils. But there, in the sea of blue, was a pinprick of black. She bowed her head, then turned to meet the Master's wrath. Everyone was silent, in shock at the frigid girl's departure.

"Moroi..." Yakedo whispered in a slightly broken voice. She reached out and took the sunglasses from the table, cradling the object to her heart.

--

The Senshi returned to their normal forms after the battle. A trail of blood was dried on Usagi's skin. Rei took hold of her wrist.

"Where are we going, Rei-chan?" Usagi asked innocently. "My arm's fine."

"I don't care," she spat harshly. "I could have prevented this, had I been more careful. I have to get you cleaned up." Once again, Rei was blaming herself for one of her friends being harmed. She couldn't help it. Something inside of her made her feel responsible for just about everyone close to her. And especially since Usagi was the princess and the duty of the Senshi was to make sure she was protected. The feeling of failure ran through Rei's veins, and it absolutely disgusted her.

Usagi wanted to object but let Rei take control. Two two walked back into the hotel.

"Are you sure you're okay, Setsuna?" Minako inquired, her voice barely above a whisper. Arms linked around one of Setsuna's. Her head rested itself on Setsuna's shoulder. The Senshi of Time smiled and ruffled Minako's golden hair.

Setsuna replied, "Yes, of course. Now let's go back inside."

--

"Moroi..." the Master spat in a vitriolic tone. Had another person come in Moroi's place, the overlord would have torn her to pieces. However, Moroi was the Master's favorite, since she was intelligent and faithful. The Master tried to have patience. "You have failed me. Care to explain yourself?"

"My apologies, my Master." Moroi bowed while apologizing. "This one was not up to par. I assure you, each youma will be stronger than the previous."

"And if these Senshi defeat all of your youma, what is your plan?"

"We will enter the battlefield, and we shall show them no mercy, of course." Moroi remained calm, as usual. The Master never intimidated her like it did her three allies.

"Fine then. I expect you to live up to your word."

"Certainly, my Master."

"Excellent." Theconversation ended.

--

"Well," Haruka huffed as she looped an arm around Michiru's shoulders. "What a night, eh?"

"We're going to collapse at this point," the aqua-haired woman murmured. "Fighting every night...and what about that strange Aiyoku? She said something about six more of her brethren. And then, I'm sure, there's the youma like this morning, along with the four demons. And then there's the Master. If we had this much trouble with Aiyoku..."

"Shhh," Haruka whispered, gently tugging on a strand of her partner's hair. "You think too much. That's morning talk."

--

"Sorry I, uh..." Makoto looked down at her feet. "Well..."

"Oh...the slap?" Ami rubbed the tender area in question. "It saved my head didn't it?"

"Well, yeah, but--Ami, I don't want to hurt you." The brunette stuffed her hands into her pockets, frowning. "And I did. I realize it was the only way to snap you out of it but, I didn't like it."

"It snaps Usagi out of whatever hysteria she's drowned herself in," the doctor-to-be reminded with a giggle. "Although, Rei-chan slapped her a lot more often than any of us..."

"Maybe they're in to stuff like that." Makoto shuddered. "Geez...And here I thought Haruka and Michiru were freaky."

Ami laughed, which filled Makoto with a fuzzy warmth. Her laugh was adorable as she was. Pink tinted her skin as she realized she'd just referred to her friend as 'cute'. She noisily coughed and attempted to hide her face with her hand.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Makoto asked as she twisted the knob to their room. "Want me to get you something?"

"Well, an ice pack would be nice," Ami said sheepishly. "And maybe some more pretzels or something, if you have any food." She grinned and plopped herself onto their bed.

"Of course." And with that, Makoto sprinted to the elevator to retrieve an ice pack. Why was she so jumpy? Probably just stress and exhaustion, she figured. Normally she was very comfortable around her blue-haired friend.

--

"Moroi-chan!" Yakedo squealed when Moroi returned to their table. "You're not hurt!"

"No," Moroi replied. "But the Master is not pleased. I'm not sure how the Shichi Zaiaku are handling this, with one of their sisters dead."

"Probably gonna be pissed," Kitanai remarked in a lazy tone.

Sui's grin was maniacal, to say the least. "Which makes them, and us, even stronger."

"We'll let them rest their puny, slimy bodies for a while before we release the next youma," Yakedo announced. "Ain't that nice of me?"

"What would be nice," Moroi said dully. "Is you getting your foot away from mine, and you giving my glasses back." She glimpsed at Yakedo with stormy eyes.

"Of course!" Yakedo laughed nervously and practically threw Moroi's glasses back to her. Sui muttered something insulting, causing Kitanai to jab her in the ribs.

"And what are we supposed to do until then?" Sui asked, crossing her arms.

"Wait," Moroi said, putting her glasses back on. She laced her fingers together. "Like a predator, we must wait for the opportune time to strike our prey. Once they are caught in our trap, it will be feasting time." A sinister chortle followed her comment.

"Can do," responded Kitanai with half-lidded eyes. Within minutes she was asleep and snoring loudly. Sui twitched with pure revolt at the girl's slothfulness.

--

Rei forced down the bile in her throat as she passed a cloth delicately over Usagi's wounded arm. To her credit, the smaller girl didn't even flinch, merely hissing in pain only when the miko dabbed antiseptic into the long gashes.

"There," Rei whispered as she smoothed over the white bandages. "All done."

"Hee," Usagi giggled, rubbing the back of her head. "Thanks Rei-chan." The blonde blushed faintly when she realized that Rei hadn't released her arm, merely passing her fingers over the back of her hand. She gulped, and looked up, suddenly very aware of the distance between them. She swallowed again, and took a deep breath.

Why the hell not?'

She reached up and pressed a quick kiss to Rei's mouth.

--

"Alright!" Yakedo cheered. "TV time!" She quickly grabbed the remote that lay on the table a twirled in her chair, clicking the electric appliance on with a push of a button. "Oh sweet, Naruto's on! That Hinata's such a cutie, ain't she Moroi-chan?" The red head turned to her white haired companion. "We should totally go cosplaying one day; I could be Tenten and you could be Hinata!"

Moroi stared, or seemed to stare at the other girl. Her head hit the table with a dull thump. "Why me?" she asked aloud. "Why?"

Sui cackled.

At that moment a sleeping Kitanai rolled over. Her head landed in Sui's lap, which Kitanai used as a pillow. Drool leaked out of her mouth, soaking through Sui's clothing. The blonde winced, not sure if she was more disturbed by her noises or bodily fluids.

Moroi laughed.

All while watching Naruto, Yakedo yelled at the television. She cheered whenever that girl Hinata appeared on the screen, and loudened her cheers whenever Hinata hit someone. Most of the time her yells consisted of, "Oh yeah, that guy got OWNED!" or "You go girlfriend!"

Sui and Moroi exchanged a glance. They thought about betting on who would lose their sanity first.

--

Upon their return to the hotel room, Haruka and Michiru cuddled together on the bed. Despite the fact both of them were tired, neither could fall asleep. Questions clouded their head. What if someone was seriously injured? What if someone died? Worse yet, what if the world was taken over and all the Senshi were held captive as prisoners for eternity? Neither of them brought it up. Instead Haruka rose from the bed and announced, "I'm going to take a shower."

"Good, because you certainly need one," Michiru quipped, grinning.

"I love you too," Haruka responded as she headed into the bathroom. "And no peaking." The door closed and the sound of running water came after. Michiru rubbed her hands together as if she was plotting something.

--

Moroi leaned back, arms crossed. She wondered what sort of feeling was bubbling up in her heart; wondered if she'd ever have a heart to begin with.

She swore it beat a little bit faster whenever Yakedo did something stupid though.

"Oh dear Lord," Sui growled. "I think Hibana's having a...dream. About the Master." Moroi grimaced. Had she been any other girl, she might have given the other girl a pat on the shoulder.

Yakedo chose that moment to turn around. "Hey, you know Kiti-chan's last name is like Hanabi, but switched around! That's so cool!" She turned around, then jumped up on the table. "OH YEAH!! Beat up that guy Hinata-chan!"

Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump...

Sui growled, "Yakedo, shut up or the television gets the plug pulled."

Moroi's heart rate rose yet again. Anger boiled up in her and she thought she would release steam like a teapot. Telling Yakedo to shut up was her thing, no one else's. In fact Moroi was the only one Yakedo would gladly take orders from. She had the urge to claw Sui's eyes out with her bare hands.

Yakedo was too busy watching her show to talk back. The episode ended, much to Yakedo's disappointment. "Aww, I wanted to see more," she whined childishly. "More!"

Sighing, Moroi stole the remote and flipped through the channels. She stopped once she saw a sappy romantic movie. Some tawdry music screeched in the background while two lovers cried. They went in opposite directions while dramatically giving a monologue. Her lip curled up in disgust. This was not what love was like at all. Romance was idealized garbage.

"I love this movie!" howled Yakedo, bouncing on the couch. "Thanks Moroi!" Predictably the redhead squeezed Moroi. The smell of chocolate wafted from Yakedo, presumably fro mall the sweets the girl ate.

Somehow, beyond Moroi's logic, she developed a paltry amount of tolerance for dumb romantic movies.

--

Rei's eyes widened as soft lips pressed against her own. Usagi pulled away, her face aglow.

"Um...Rei-chan...I-I'm sorry if..."

Rei fainted. Usagi stared; she even poked the Senshi of Fire's belly. "Er...Rei-chan? Oh boy..." Usagi sighed, wrapping her arms around the unconscious girl. "See you in the morning, I guess."

--

Floating. Rei was floating. A cloud served as her chariot, guiding her through the sunny sky. She felt so free, so happy. Her ebony hair whipped in the wind like a flag. Music filled the air with laughter harmonizing. Rei couldn't remember the time she felt so full of joy. The cloud descended towards the earth, where all of the other Senshi were dancing with each other.

There stood Usagi, looking gorgeous. Her skin was aglow with bliss. Her golden hair shined under the sunlight. Baby blue eyes lit up at the sight of Rei. Beaming, she ran to greet Rei. With open arms and a truly beautiful smile, Rei welcomed the blonde into her arms. All of the other Senshi gathered around and clapped.

And then the dream twisted, warped. The Senshi around her disappeared, Usagi vanished, and something hot was boiling in her chest. She grasped at it, watching with a muted horror as a bright, red gem, the color of fire, exploded from her rib-cage. A sea of darkness wrapped it up and swallowed it whole. Six shadows towered over her, hissing and writhing, promising retribution. Another bright, red light exploded from the sea of darkness, and a vaguely human shape extended its hand towards her.

"I am lost," it whispered. "I will always be lost, I will never return. Not to you, not to her, never never. It has taken me from you, Princess of Mars, and I will never be with you again."

Then it all faded into red.


And so since last chapter had battling, this chapter is mainly fluff except for the end. If you haven't noticed that's somewhat of a pattern in this story. We try to balance the romance with the action in that way.

Reviews are greatly appreciated.