And another one, because I can and feel bad about the wait. That one person's review irritated me, then life got in the way. Here's to hoping things are changing in my favor!
~~Chapter 6
"What do you want from me?" Usagi screamed, tears streaming down her face. She spun around, trying to find her opponent, but couldn't find anyone.
"Same thing as every other 'bad guy' you've encountered before me. I want you out of the picture, I want you dead," the woman's voice whispered. The way she spoke, the eerie whisper carried by an icy breeze, made Usagi's skin crawl. After a moment of silence, Rei appeared in front of her, looked more than a little irritated.
"Why did you bring me here, you baka?" Rei demanded, crossing her arms.
"I didn't, the youma did," Usagi whispered brokenly as she fell to her knees.
"Yeah, sure," Rei said, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "I'm going home."
"No! Don't!" Usagi screamed once more, trying to stand up once more. "Can't you see her? She's right there!" Usagi yelled, pointing into the distance, having seen a shadowy woman appear as Rei had rolled her eyes.
"When do you think she'll come to?" Minako asked Ami after an hour. Ami pushed a few buttons on her computer before answering.
"I'm not sure," Ami said quietly, closing her computer and setting it aside. "My computer isn't telling me anything either. I'm thinking of calling my mom again."
"You know, this whole thing just doesn't make sense," Makoto stated. "Who is this youma that's after Usagi? Why is it just after Usagi and not any or all of us? Why did they bring her back?"
"I'm not sure," Minako said quietly, wondering the same thing.
"I think all we can do it wait for Usagi to wake up and see what she knows," Ami replied with a sigh. No one knew just how much more Usagi was willing to tell them. Would she keep her secrets close to her chest still, or would she finally tell them everything?
"Well, I'm going to go get a drink," Makoto said, standing up.
"No! Don't!"
Six sets of eyes immediately went to the bed. At first none of them were sure that Usagi had said anything. She wasn't moving, hadn't since she'd fallen asleep.
"Don't go!" Usagi suddenly screamed again. "She'll kill you!"
"She's having another one!" Minako exclaimed as she rushed to the bed, eyes wide and face pale. "Usagi, wake up!" Minako said, trying desperately to wake her friend.
"No, please don't go," Usagi said quietly. "Don't make me watch you die again. Please…" she begged in the saddest voice any of them had ever heard from her as a tear escaped from closed eyes.
"It's one of us, isn't it?" Makoto asked, then clarified. "I mean that she's in love with."
"You didn't know that?" Ami asked, sounding amazed.
"You knew?" Minako demanded, spinning around to look at Ami.
"I had my suspicions. I know it's one of us and I'm pretty sure I know which one, but she wouldn't tell me. She told me it didn't matter because her heart was already taken and that she didn't have a chance," Ami said quietly.
"Poor Usagi," Minako whispered, turning her attention back to the blonde in bed. She was tossing around slightly, trying to fight off her nightmare. They watched in silence for a few minutes until Usagi quit moving. Then, without warning, Usagi sat up so suddenly, she knocked Luna off the bed.
"NO!" she screamed.
"Usagi!" Minako exclaimed, engulfing Usagi in a hug. "Shhh. It's okay, it was just a bad dream," she whispered into Usagi's ear. "Rei's okay, she's not hurt."
"What did you say?" Usagi demanded, pulling away from the hug, all the color gone from her already pale face. She stared at Minako in disbelief as she waited for her to repeat herself.
"It's okay. Mamoru didn't say anything. Your father called a while ago and filled in a few blanks," she explained softly, her arms still loosely wrapped around Usagi. "I didn't say anything either."
"Make them stop, please. Make them stop," Usagi pleaded, burring her face in Minako's shoulder. "I don't want to see them anymore, Minako. They want her dead. She said they'd get rid of her, to get to me," she cried, unaware of everyone else in the room.
"Who said that?" Minako asked worriedly. She glanced around at her friends discretely since Usagi seemed to think they were alone, she didn't want to draw attention to their audience just in case Usagi would quit talking.
"The demon lady, she's too strong to be a youma. Same lady that was talking to me in the dark place," Usagi shuddered at the mention of the place she'd been taken to before. "She told me then, the more I knew, the sooner I'd die," Usagi said between sniffles. "I couldn't help it, I had to ask questions. She'll kill her… I can't watch that again. I can't."
"Usagi, what have your nightmares been about?" Minako asked, afraid of the answer she knew would come.
"I don't want to sleep anymore…" Usagi said instead.
"Usagi," Minako spoke softly, quietly urging the blonde in her arms to keep talking.
Usagi took a deep breath before answering this time. "Every time I close my eyes for too long, I see all the senshi getting hurt, because of me. That woman saves her for last, then kills her right in front of me. It's a little different every time, the method. At your house they… They… Oh Kami, she's going to die because of me!" Usagi cried once again, but this cry was new to them. She sounded so hopeless, defeated. All Minako could do was hug her tighter. Within seconds, the remaining three senshi were on the bed, hugging Usagi as well. Usagi was too far gone at the moment to notice.
Rei sat there hugging Usagi as though her life depended on it, her emotions chasing themselves around her mind. She wanted so much to ask Usagi who was being killed in the nightmares, but at the same time, she didn't want to know. She didn't want to find that she was the reason the blonde was in so much pain.
Minako wanted to tell Usagi that everything would be okay. That she could talk to Rei about her fears and that Rei would understand. But, that would mean breaking her promise to Rei. Would Rei's anger be worth it if it meant that Usagi could talk to them openly again? She wanted to say it was, but would Rei agree? The look on Rei's face at the moment told her now wasn't the time.
What was it Usagi was going to say? Something about the nightmare she'd had almost a week ago. Whatever happened to Rei must have been bad. Really bad. Minako prayed silently that whatever it was would never happen. For everyone's sake. She was starting to see that if these nightmares of hers every came true, they would completely destroy Usagi.
"We'll figure something out, okay?" Makoto assured, causing Usagi to look up. She looked around her, then gave her friends a watery smile. The first real smile they'd seen from her in a very ling time.
"I should have known you wouldn't get angry, that you'd want to help," Usagi said softly as she brushed away a stray tear.
"Yeah, you should have," Rei stated. Usagi immediately looked away while the other three glared at Rei. Makoto was the first to notice the tears in Rei's eyes.
"Rei…" she started, but before Makoto could say more, Rei got up and left.
"I knew she'd be mad. I always tell her when something's wrong," Usagi whispered, trying not to cry again.
"I don't think she's mad, Usagi," Minako said. "Confused, yes, but not angry. I think she's more scared than anything right now though."
"Nice try Minako, but Rei doesn't get scared," Usagi said sadly.
"She does when it involves you," Ami said, finally speaking up, immediately grabbing Usagi's attention. "Those few days you were missing, she hardly spoke, not even to us."
"She's right. Rei was at the sacred fire almost all day, everyday, just trying to get something that would help us find you," Minako said. "She almost lost it when we were talking with Mamoru. He was the one that told us you were diabetic. She asked him for a worst case scenario…"
"Don't say that, I hate that word. I'm hypoglycemic, I know it's a form of diabetes, but it just sounds better," Usagi mumbled quietly.
"Let's just say she's taking this pretty hard," Makoto finished when she saw the guilt forming in Usagi's eyes.
"That's part of why I never said anything to her about the things that have happened over the past few years," Usagi confided. "She's so protective of me, more so that any of you, and I'm including Haruka in that. I didn't want Rei to blame herself for my problems."
"Usagi, she-" Minako started.
"Minako, you and I both know that if she could find a way to blame any of my unhappiness or pain on herself, she would. It was just easier to deal with it alone then to watch her beat herself up for thinking she failed me in some way. If anyone failed, it would be me," Usagi said, the last part was just above a whisper.
"You? What makes you say that?" Ami demanded before Luna could.
"How many times have you died for me? Because of me? How many times were you all injured because I didn't want to fight? Or because I fell into a trap? Or, hell, because I was late?" Usagi asked, her voice raising slightly. "How many times have you fallen into a trap because you followed stupid me, who didn't believe it was a trap? I've let you guys down over and over and over. I put you guys in danger constantly for jumping the gun, or being late. I'm supposed to be the leader, yet half the time I act like a rookie side-kick, but you guys still stand by me. I wasn't about to throw my personal demons at you too," she said, now studying her comforter.
"Oh, Usagi," Minako whispered. "If we ever gave you the impression that we honestly thought you were a failure, then we're the one's who failed."
"Usagi, you're a good fighter, you just don't like to fight. The others were fighters in their past life, you weren't. We know that you don't have the same instincts," Artemis spoke softly. "But you've always pulled through when you were needed. You know when you can't back down, when you have to fight. Then you still put everyone else ahead of your own safety."
"He's right, Usa," a new voice said. Usagi glanced up for a moment, then continued to stare a hole in her bedding. "You haven't failed any of us. Scared the living shit out of us from time to time, yes. Don't ever let yourself believe that you've let any of us down," Haruka said, standing in the doorway. Michiru and Setsuna right behind her.
"Easier said than done," Usagi spoke quietly, leaning against Minako.
"I'll be back in a few minutes," Setsuna said, excusing herself.
"Wasn't she the one that didn't want to wait till later?" Haruka asked Michiru.
"Rei."
"Go away," Rei said, trying to hide the fact that she'd started crying.
"I'm not leaving until we talk, Rei," Setsuna said, sitting down next to the raven haired teen.
"What do you want?" Rei demanded, looking anywhere but at the older woman.
"I know it's hard for you right now, but you need to push your personal feeling aside. She needs you right now, more than you know. Probably even more than she herself knows. She didn't want you to worry about her," Setsuna said, answering Rei's question before she could voice it. "She wants all of you to think she's strong enough to take care of herself. That she's not as fragile as we make her out to be. She knew if she told you about certain things that you'd find a way to take the blame for them and that's not what she wanted. She needs someone to really listen to her right now, not someone to judge her actions."
Rei sighed loudly. "I guess you're right. She's probably mad at me for walking out, isn't she?"
"Actually, she thinks you're mad at her." Rei's eyes widened at that, but she heard more voices from down the hall before she could say anything else.
"Get back here, would you? We'll go get Rei," Minako was heard.
"Come on, Usagi. You should be in bed still," Haruka spoke this time. "I mean it. Don't make me drag you back to bed!"
"Don't," Usagi said, the command very clear, even if her voice was still on the weak end.
"What's going on?" Setsuna asked, standing up as Ami appeared around the corner.
"I hoped you hadn't gone too far," she said once she spotted Rei. "Usagi said Rei needed her right now and got out of bed. She should be in bed, resting still but she's determined to find Rei and talk to her first," Ami explained.
"She what?" Rei demanded, jumping to her feet. "Usagi! Get you ass back up those stairs and back into that bed before I drag you back up there!" Rei said loudly, walking toward the stairs.
"Rei," Usagi said, seeing Rei.
Rei got ready to say something rude, then noticed the look in Usagi's eyes. Usagi knew. She always knew, no matter how much Rei tried to hide it from her. "Fine, we'll talk, but you're still going back to bed," she said, giving in, then she looked at everyone else.
"Go ahead Rei, we'll stay down here," Minako said softly. Rei only nodded then lead Usagi back up the stairs.
"So what' was so important that you had to come find me?" Rei asked once Usagi was back in bed and under the covers.
"I hurt you, I'm sorry," Usagi started.
"Usagi, you don't-"
"No, let me finish," Usagi said. "I knew you'd get upset once you learned that I was keeping things from you, but you have to understand why. I knew telling you would only hurt you more, and I couldn't do that," she said, tears making themselves known in her eyes as her voice broke. "I didn't want to hurt you, that's the last thing I wanted to do. I ended up hurting you anyway."
"Usagi, I know you have your reasons. It doesn't make it any easier though," Rei said, sitting on the edge of the bed now.
"I want to tell you everything, I really do, but now's not the time," Usagi whispered, looking anywhere but at Rei. "There's a festival next week. I'll explain a few things to you after the festival, can you wait till then?"
"Yeah, I'll wait till then," Rei said softly.
