Hey, I'm trying to get this chapter out now lest I get caught up with my exams and not update until February. So, here it is. In this chapter, I'm going to finish what happened last year, as well as expand upon other memories that were previous.
Last Time
"Now," he said, "I want to know exactly what lead up to this mess."
"Why should I tell you anything," Ami asked angrilly, turning to look away.
"Because I have a gun pointed at your head. So I'm going to ask you one question. And that answer should sum up what many questions would."
Ami sighed, but nodded. It was their only hope at the moment. Duo nodded at her approval, and spoke.
"What happened last year?"
Chapter 9
"I don't know where to begin. What to tell you," she admitted.
"Start where the story begins."
"Alright," Ami said, trying to collect her words and ignore the gun pointed at her head.
Minako looked behind her as she tore up the stairs, Heero at her heels.
"What's wrong with you," she asked, her voice shaking as she stopped at the top, looked around quickly, and dashed towards Ami and Usagi's room, the room with the window large enough for her to crawl through at the roof...
"Hey, you ran first," Heero said, following her into the room. Minako threw open the window, unsure of why she was shaking so hard but knowing she was in danger.
Before she could climb out, Heero was at her side. He grabbed her arm by her wrist, and twisted it behind her back in a flash, making her collapse to her knees.
"Let go," she said as she fought him. He stared down at her, no emotion on his face.
"You put those listening devices in the house, all over the house," she said, and he crouched down next to her. She turned her head to meet eyes with him, but he did not let go of her arm.
"Correct," he said, "Anything else you can figure out?" Minako's eyes widened. He was practically taunting her.
"You know who we are, and you were sent by our enemies to kill us," she finished slowly, her eyes never leaving his.
"And who exactly...are you," Heero said in the same flat tone.
Minako looked away.
"I should be asking you that," she said.
"Too bad I don't let my victims have last requests," Heero said, pulling a gun from his jacket pocket with his free hand. Minako turned her eyes away from the gun, feeling tears begin to burn at her eyes. She refused to let them fall, angry that a monster like him had managed to break her heart so easily.
Rei ran from the temple as fast as she could, as fast as her legs would carry her. Her communicator wasn't working, what if her friends were hurt?
She heard Wufei close behind her, and attempted to speed up. Rei didn't even have her transformation wand on her. She had left the house in a pair of jeans shorts and a t-shirt. Nothing else in her hurry.
It had all seemed fine. She and Wufei had walked to the temple. He had kept up a conversation. When they reached the temple, Wufei told her to stop before she climbed the steps.
"Why," she asked, as he approached.
"Because, I won't spill your blood on holy ground such as that," he said, and Rei felt her breath get caught in her throat as she ran as fast as she could, well aware that he was following.
Rei looked ahead, and saw what she needed. The woods. True, she was very far from the woods near their house. At least a 10-15 minute run. But- if she could keep away from him that long, esacpe him for that while, she knew that Trowa had agreed to meet Makoto in the woods. And if Wufei had just gone mad, then they would protect her. And if Trowa was trying to hurt Makoto, she and Mako could protect each other.
With that thought in mind, Rei ran deep into the woods, Wufei not far behind...
Trowa had arrived at the woods fifteen minutes after Makoto. He was walking unusualy slow, and looked weary. Immediately, Makoto had approached him for a kiss, wondering why he looked so down. But Trowa had not responded. In fact, Trowa did not speak at all.
"What's wrong," she asked. He gave a loud sigh. What should he do? Follow the plan? Kill her? Save her? Would saving her, eventually cost more lives?
He sat down at a tree trunk, sighed loudly, and put his head in his hands. Makoto sat next to him, a bit unsure of what was happening.
Trowa suddenly looked up, startling her. His eyes were a mix of grief and anger, like she had never seen before.
"What's wrong," she asked again.
His words came out, in barely a whisper.
"Run."
Usagi and Mamoru walked out of the restaurant in front of Sanyu and Quatre.
"Wow, I'm full," Usagi said, before giggling.
Mamoru laughed.
Quatre said nothing. He had been quiet all afternoon so far. Where to take them now? Somewhere not crowded, he hoped.
"Why don't we, er...head to the park. It has a lovely flower garden," Sanyu suggested.
'She knows,' Quatre thought. 'No no, your just being paranoid,' he thought again, trying to calm himself.
They went to the park, and Sanyu led the way straight to the flowers.
Quatre had to admit that the flowers were beautiful. He hated to shed blood here.
Sanyu smuggly sat down in the flower beds, smirking at Usagi and Mamoru. The two looked at each other. What was she up to?
"So Quatre," Sanyu said, "Sit down next to me." He shook his head no. Now was as good a time as any, right? He would never be ready to pull out the gun, so he might as well just do it.
Usagi gasped and jumped backwards, covering her mouth to hide a scream and nearly kncoking Mamoru over, who ahd been admiring the trees behind her.
Mamoru looked around for any sign of a youma, but found none.
"No Mamoru," Quatre said sadly. "There is no youma this time."
Quatre turned to look at Sanyu, who was smiling broadly, and pointed the gun at her.
"Who are you, and how do you know Usagi and Mamoru. The real answer please."
Sanyu laughed, before speaking, not looking at all like she minded the gun. In fact, as she sat in the bed of beautiful flowers, she seemed to be enjoying the attention.
"Well, not from school, if that's what I told you before." She stood up. "Usagi and Mamoru are Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. I fight with the D Galaxy. They are my enemies."
"Prove it," Quatre said.
Sanyu put her palm up, and fire formed in her palm, before she closed it and turned to look at him.
"Enough proof? Don't you see Quatre, the D Galaxy sent me after contacting you. I've been helping you all along, trying to find more ways for you to discover who the scouts are."
Quatre nodded, and Sanyu stepped next to him, as the two turned their attention to the shocked Usagi and Mamoru.
"Q-quatre, I don't understand," Usagi said.
"You don't understand a lot of things," Sanyu said cruely.
"I'm sorry," Quatre said to them, and Usagi and Mamoru looked at Quatre, only to see the gun pointed at them.
"Well, I guess it starts when we were born, on Earth. We were sent here from an ancient civilization, not on Earth, called the Silver Alliance, which was destroyed. When we were fourteen, we all met, and began to fight as the Sailor scouts. The battles were rough, but we got adjusted to the life style. In the end, no matter what we went through, everything always seemed to end up alright. Until last year. We fought our biggest enemy yet, and we were reborn-" Ami was interupted by Duo.
"Woah, you died? and were brought back to life. Please stick to fact alone Ames."
"That is fact," she said, before continuing. "We had a peaceful summer. We were excited to begin our Senior year at school."
"What ruined it?"
"Everything" Ami said, her eyes now looking very far away, almost like she was seeing what she was explaining.
"Ami. You should know me by now. Despite the fact that you just got me thrown out of a car and hurt, you know I don't want to kill you. I'm trying to find every bit of good in you, so that you can be spared. Please, just tell me exactly what happened," Duo said, not understanding what she had just said. Ami glanced up at him. Blood leaked down from his forehead, and he continued to swipe at it to keep it from his eyes. Ami suddenly felt a bit guilty for what she had done.
"Who hired you?"
"I can't tell you that," Duo said, "This isn't about me."
"It has everything to do with you," she said, "Now...was it a woman named Mirvette?"
Now they were getting somewhere. Duo nodded, glad that he had discovered some common connection.
"Yes! You know her?"
"Sadly, yes."
Minako's eyes widened at the gun, and she felt tears sting her eyes.
"Why," she said, trying to steady her voice.
"Sorry." Heero pointed the gun and removed the safety.
"No Heero! Please! Who made you do this? You're not like this, I know you-"
Heero cut off Minako, his voice still like a monotone to the normal ears, but there was a bit of an edge to it now as Minako heard it.
"I am like this. You don't really know me, as I never really knew you, so end the sherade, Venus."
Minako gasped.
"No! True, I may have lied to cover up some details of my life. But it is only in a constant effort to keep others from being hurt by my other life."
Heero frowned at her. "Oh really? So this lie you live is all selfless, all for others then?"
Minako nodded, and was more shocked than ever when Heero did something he had never done before, not in the whole summer. He tipped his head back, and laughed.
Minako grew more afraid by seeing him laugh then seeing him frown. He stopped laughing, and looked down at her.
"I'm going to let you know something now. Humans are bad.We are selfish beings who live for ourselves. We lie and pretend that we care about what others want and need, but in the end, it is always about looking out for what is best for ourselves. To say otherwise is to lie.Minako Aino, someone wants you dead. And from what I hear, it is for good reason, not that I care. I was given a task, and I always complete what is asked of me."
Rei ran and ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She wasn't a bad runner, being a Sailor Scout and all, but Wufei was a pretty good one, and he kept up just fine, always just a bit behind.
"Just wait! I know where you're going," he shouted angrilly.
"Yes, I'm getting away from you," she said, speeding up.
"Away from me, and right to Makoto," he answered, and Rei would have stopped running from shock that he had figured her out so easilly if he hadn't been pursuing her.
"What do you mean 'run'? I'm not going anywhere, what's wrong with you?"
Trowa looked at Makoto, the grief and anger not leaving his eyes.
"Makoto, you have to run. Run very far away. I'll tell everyone you're dead."
"Wait just a minute," Makoto said angrilly, standing up, "Tell everyone I'm dead! Why?"
Trowa stood too, approaching her. Makoto walked backwards as he walked towards her, the two only inches apart as the spoke, Trowa advancing on her.
"I'm sure you wouldn't prefer my other option," he said darkly, causing Makoto to gasp, "Now run."
"I'm not a coward," she said, "I don't run from my problems, that never solves anything."
"Makoto," he said, his tone raising and growing sharper, "I'm not playing games. Some very powerful people want you dead. I've been sent to kill you."
"By who," she demanded hotly, but he shook his head.
"Go."
"No."
Now, he had Makoto backed into a different tree. His breathing was ragged, his body shaking.
"I don't understand," she said, "why would anyone hire you to kill me?"
"Because I'm good at what I do," he said, and she shook her head, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.
"So do it then."
He frowned.
"Kill me! You were sent here to do it, so do it. You broke me enough by admitting that," she said, her voice hurt.
"Don't make me say it."
"Do it," Makoto repeated.
"You know I can't do that!" The normally silent teen began to shout, but this only infuriated Makoto more.
"AND WHY NOT?"
"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" As soon as the words left his mouth, Trowa regretted them. But it was too late. he had to continue.
" The past month I've been trying as hard as possible not to fall more deeply in love with you and failing miserably," he said, his voice now low but growing steady."Ilove you and I can't shoot you. So run asfar as possible and never come back."Makoto stood, shocked, as Trowa turned away, now shaking.
"Trowa, you-"
Makoto was interupted as she heard a scream, one she recognized. She and Trowa both looked towards the forest, and not a moment later, Rei burst into the clearing, Wufei hot on her heels.
"Watch out Mako! He's dangerous," she shouted, as she ran towards Makoto, jumping besides her. "Sorry, I don't have my transformation wand..."
"Even better," Wufei said as he approached, his pace now slow as he came to stand besides Trowa, who had yet to look at him, still turned around. What now? Complete the mission? Knock Wufei unconscious and say that he had finished the dark deed?
"Haven't finished her yet," Wufei noted as he glanced at the watery-eyed Makoto. Rei glared.
"We were so fooled by you two! I was verytricked by you Wufei Chang! How dare you lie to me! How dare you try to hurt me and my friends," Rei said angrilly. Wufei smirked.
"It seems we've all been lying in this game."
"Is that what this was," Rei said angrilly, "A game?"
"What does it matter," Wufei responded indifferently, however Rei sensed something other than confidence in his tone now. Doubt?
"You don't have to be sorry yet Quatre," Usagi said, stepping forewards, "you've done nothing wrong. We can fix this."
Quatre shook his head, closing his eyes beore opening them and looking at the two
"No. I don't know who to believe Usagi, so it would be easier for my conscience if you didn't speak to me before-hand."
"Quatre," Mamoru pleaded, "Please don't hurt her. Please, if you have to shoot someone, just shoot me." Usagi shook her head, and Quatre repeated the action.
"Stop that. Stop being so..."
"What Quatre? Stop being so what," Mamoru asked, as Usagi backed up next to him.
Quatre paused a long moment, before answering.
"So...good."
"Why Quatre," Usagi said, "Were you told differently?"
She pulled her locket from her pocket.
"Usagi," Mamoru said.
"What are you doing with that," Quatre asked, removing the safety from the gun. Sanyu stood.
"He has to know the truth. They all have to," Usagi said.
"And how will you show them," Mamoru asked.
"The crystal will do it." Mamoru stared at her a moment longer, before nodding. "Do what you must, just don't over do it."
Usagi nodded, and placed her palm over her locket. A small glow surrounded it, and a small silver crystal flew up from it and into her palm. She gave the locket to Mamoru, and placed both hands around it.
"Stop her," Sanyu screeched, "Kill her before she activates it!" Quatre fumbled for a moment, surprised by Sanyu's suddenly rough tone and angry words, before a bright light surrounded the area. Quatre dropped his gun, too intrigued to hurt anyone at the moment. Sanyu shielded her eyes.
When the light faded, Usagi stood in a beautiful white gown. A crescent moon symbol was on her forehead. The only that Quatre could think of was an angel, all she needed was her wings.
"Amazing," Quatre said.
"You must know, Quatre, the truth. You have been lied to by the D Galaxy. All of your friends. I'll show you. I'll show everyone." A light pulsated from the crystal in her hand, and everyone was blinded for a moment, before a moon symbol appeared on Quatre's forhead, and on Mamoru's.
"I'm out of here," Sanyu said, dissapearing.
In the woods, Wufei stopped in his tracks with a gasp, and Trowa suddenly looked up, as two moon symbols appeared on their foreheads. Rei and Makoto's planetary symbols appeared on their heads, and the two glanced at each other worriedly.
Heero suddenly dropped his gun and grabbed his head back at the cabin, letting go of Minako's arm. A moon symbol shown on his forehead, and Minako's planetary symbol began to show bright on hers.
Where Ami and Duo lay by the smashed car, Ami gasped as the gash on Duo's forehead began to stitch itself up, before a symbol appeared on his forhead. He gasped and touched his own forehead.
"What's happening," he asked, as he saw a blue symbol on Ami's forehead.
"She's using the crystal," Ami said, as the two began to look around.
Back at the park, Quatre looked at Usagi, not understanding what was happening.
"We are now all connected," she said, "I can show you all what happened. Perhaps the senshi will even learn things that they did not know," she said, as a white light engulfed them all.
In every pilot and every senshi's mind, they saw the same images.
"We- we're looking at memories," Makoto said, as they all grew silent and watched the bizzare scenes play through their minds.
"We have a new student class. Please welcome Rob Krenshawen, an exchange student coming all the way from Canada. Rob, take a seat in front of Ms. Mizuno. Ami, raise your hand."
"It's alright," the boy said, "Ami and I have already met."
Rob walked over, a gentle smile on his face as he sat down.
Ami blushed slightly and turned her attention back to the teacher.
Indeed they had met. She had met Rob in the park two months ago. It had been raining out. And they had been dating ever since. Ami stopped in her tracks, breathing hard. She bent down and placed her hands on her knees, taking a deep breath and trying to calm herself. Where was the youma now? Her question was answered when she was suddenly blasted into a park bench. She began to stand up with a groan, and turned to look at the youma, who was smiling back. "This game is fun," it said. Ami ran in the opposite direction as fast as her legs would carry her. If she could leave the park, and get to the temple or something... Ami crashed into what felt like a brick wall, and fell to the floor. She shook as she tried to sit up. "Are you alright," a voice asked. "I- there's a-" Ami froze. The person had an accent that was not Japanese. Before she could speak, the person had ducked down and covered her, as a chunk of a bench flew over their heads. "A monster," he finished calmly, standing. "What are you doing," she asked skeptically from where she lay, "You have to get away. It will kill you." "I think not," the boy said, and he opened his palm up. A ball of light formed in his palm, floating above it for a moment, before he closed his palm on it and threw it at the youma. There was an explosion, and Ami shielded her eyes. The next that she knew, her hand was being taken. "Are you alright now," the boy asked. He looked to be around her age, and he had light brown hair, now rain-soaked, and pair of deep green eyes. She nodded. "How did you do that," she asked him. Rather than answer her, he pulled a light blue object from his pocket. "I believe that this is yours. I found it on the ground." "Then how do you know that it's mine," she asked. "I've had strange powers since I was five years old, and while I don't see into the future, I do know things about people upon meeting them, Mercury." They had no reason not to trust him. He was genuine, they didn't sense anything bad from him, and they continued to trust him, until he died six months later. "Mine look tough," Usagi said unsurely as they walked, "AndI have to pass to even have a chance of going to Universirty. My mom will die if I shame myself and don't get in. "You will get in Usagi," Ami said, "Don't worry, You're smarter than you think you are." "And Ami should have no problems either," Makoto said, glancing at her. "All I have with you is homeroom. How are all of your advanced classes going anyways?" "Well, they look tough, but if I want to get into medical school, these are required," Ami said as they walked. "Anyways, how was your first day back Mako?" "Fine, just fine. But let's not change the subject. When is rob taking you out next?" Ami laughed. "Mako, Rob and I have been dating two months, and you still ask me that every time you see me." "Hey, there's Rei," Usagi said, pointing and picking up her pace. Rei was waiting kneeled by a tree trunk. Rei stood, picking up her back pack, and walking over. "Hey Rei, how was your day," Minako asked. "It was good," Rei said as they walked towards the temple silently, not much to think about at the time. Ami couldn't really call what Robert did as asking for a date. She realized this upon arrival. He had told her that she and her friends were all invited to meet him at a museum for an afternoon of fun, but upon arriving Ami had realized that she'd been tricked. Rob stood at the entrance alone, promicing her friends would be there soon, and suggesting that the two of them tour the museum before her friends came so that they didn't spend forever waiting. Their quick head start turned into a three-hour tour. They laughed and discussed everything from the art work to her personal lives, and Ami soon forgot about her friends. When she finally remembered as Rob suggested they go for a bite to eat, she asked, and Ron laughed. "Ami Mizuno, you're probably one of the smartest people in the world, and you totally let me trick you into joining me!" Ami didn't mind as she looked at his face, set into a grin, and laughed. "Well I'm glad." In October... As they sat in the temple, Ami could practically feel how happy her friends were. Usagi leaned in and gave Mamoru a kiss. Ami leaned against Rob with content. He smiled down at her, his arms wrapping around her waist. Minako and Makoto sat chatting about guys, their legs crossed as they leaned back against the couch. Rei stood up and headed for the door at the sound of knocking. She slid the door open and spoke quietly to whom ever was there. That was when the joyous feeling left the room. Rei turned to the group, ignoring the figure of whomever it was in the doorway. Her expression was broken, and her eyes were brimmed with tears. Her hand was clenched at her side in a way Ami had never seen. "Rei- Rei, what happened," Usagi said, standing. Everyone else stood as well. Rei turned back to the figure at the door. "Thank you for informing me then," she said stoically, as she shut the door. Rei walked to the closet and grabbed a light jacket. "Um..." she seemed like she didn't want to speak, lest her voice sound what she felt. "Grandpa is at Tokyo hospital. They...they think he suffered a major heart attack. Enduced by trauma from a youma attack." Everyone gasped, and Rei tryed to stay level-headed, ignoring their gazes as she slipped on her shoes. "Who did you just close the door on," Minako asked, approaching. "Oh, no one," Rei said, and Minako threw open the door. Chad entered. "Rei, I get that you're upset, but don't close doors in my face because of it. I'm helping." Rei ignored him and walked out, headed for Chad's car. He froze in the doorway, where her friends had now joined him, slipping on shoes and jackets. "Drive me," she ordered him, "You guys can catch up whenever, it's alright." Usagi, Mamoru, Minako, and Makoto fit in Mamoru's car. There was no room for Ami and Rob, so they said they'd follow in a cab. "Everyone's going, is this necessary," Rob asked. "Rei needs us. And she would definately do the same for us," Ami answered. Rob planted a soft kiss on her lips, staring at her as if she was the only person in the world at that moment. She blushed and looked away, and he smiled. "You're too good to me, Ames. I don't deserve you," Rob said. She looked up suddenly. "That's un-true, don't say that," she said. He shook his head. "How can you put so much trust in me? How long have you known me, a few months? How can you care for someone so horrible as I am?" "Rob?" "I'm a bad person Ami. I haven't been entirely honest with you." She looked up at him, her heart caught in her throat, as he began to speak. But he wasn't making any sense. "Stop it Rob," she said, "I don't understand you well. Do you always switch between English and Japanese when you're nervous?" Rob shrugged and smiled, deciding to drop the subject. "English is my native toungue." --- October ended, as November began. Rei was spending every day after school in the hospital, even doing her homework there, since her grandfather was enduring surgery after surgery, and was expected to be a resident for at least a couple of more weeks. School was not alright. The girls were having trouble keeping up with their hoemwork. There were now youma attacks once or twice a day at least, and the girls couldn't keep up at all. The outers were helping out big time while the girls were in school, and if something happened, the girls would sometimes have to skip classes. "Usagi, what's this," Rei asked one day as a paper fell from Usagi's school bag. "Hmmm?" Usagi turned to look and gasped, snatching the paper away. "You got 8 on your test! How does anyone get 8 on a test," Rei asked angrilly. "I didn't have time to study. There was a youma attack both of the nights before hand and I was too tired when I got home at 3:00 the night before to sit and study, thanks," Usagi said, snatching the paper back. "Why are you criticizing Rei? I saw you're test paper on your desk. A 42, if I remember correctly," Minako said. "I'm critisizing because I care, not because I think my 42 is much better than the 30 assignment you received in English yesterday," Rei fired back. Minako gasped angrilly. "Hey guys, come on. You're all just grumpy because you've barely slept the past few weeks. No need to attack each other, we'll all get our marks up for college applications," Makoto said. "Now that is a positive mind frame," Minako said, "Makoto is handling that 23 she received on her Math test well." "Hey! I was ending the conflict! Who asked you to give away my mark," Makoto said angrilly. "Guys, please. Please stop. We have free time now. Let's all just study and try to pick up our marks," Ami suggested. "And how are your marks Ami," Minako asked, suddenly taking notice of how silent Ami had been. "Does it matter," Ami asked. Everyone groaned. "You're still pulling 90's, aren't you," Rei said, putting her head in her hands. Ami shook her head. She reached into her back and pulled out her latest test. Everyone gazed at her, suddenly quiet, and Ami handed the test over. Minako and Usagi snatched it first, and the other two looked over. A 72 sat on top of the paper. "Oh," Minako said, "brutal." It took a moment for Ami to realize she was joking. "Why are you worried about that," Usagi asked, "I just got an 8. My mother would pay me to get 70's on my tests." Ami shook her head. "I've been getting this score a lot. If I don't concentrate and pick my marks back up, my chances at Medical School are gone. My mom already screamed at me last night. Said it was the biggest dissapointment of her life to see that test." "No, you little brat! Didn't I tell you that you couldn't come?" "Yes." Minako sighed loudly at his response, and he laughed. "Fine, come on." "Yay, thanks Minako," Jeff said happily, running up behind her to catch her hand. "Jeff and his family just moved in next door," Minako was telling the girls. "I usually hate kids, but for some reason this one is hard to hate." Jeff liked Minako, and he liked her friends. He was always hanging around her, wherever she went. It was hard, with the horrible youma attacks and confusion of the year, but the had been working around it. She had grown to love the brat in the three months, beginning to spoil him. Perhaps it was the fact that he was so full of life that made her love the little 8 year old. Until that day. The youma attacks were much worse now. "Minako, please, can't I just come with you?" "Jeff," Minako said with a sigh, getting down to eye-level with him, "I'm sorry. But the monster attacks are really out of hand. There's a few attacks every hour. It's not safe, I'd prefer you stayed at home safe with your parents." "I'll be safe if I'm with you!" She shook her head. "I'm sorry." If only he had listened, stayed. But life was like a fun game for Jeff, and it had probably been fun for him to follow Minako to the temple that day. Only he hadn't made it to the temple. There had been a youma attack along the way. Minako had been unable to transform in the crowds of the streets. People began to run in every direction, grabbing their children. Jeff stood in the midst of the commotion, at a loss of where to go in the crazy crowds. Spotting Minako, he sighed in relief, and began to fight his way through the crowd to reach her. Minako turned and saw him, shock covering her face. "Jeff, what are you doing, it's not safe," Minako had said hotly, taking him by the arm and trying to lead him away from the area. The youma began to fire randomly into the crowd, and Minako decided she had to find a place to transform. "Minako, let's get out of here," Jeff pleaded. She couldn't leave him alone though. Anguished screams sounded from the crowd and she spun around. The scouts should have been there already, unless they were delayed by another attack. "This way Jeff," she said, "you know how to get home, right?" "Minako, what about you?" "I'll be fine, I have to find a friend, and then I'll catch up. Here," she lead him half way down the street, away from the commotion. "Run home Jeff. I'll be there soon." He nodded and ran down the street. Minako had run off to transform, and returned to try and take on some of the youma. She suddenly heard the sound of anguished crying. She turned to look, and was hit by a youma attack in the back. Getting to her feet, she destroyed the youma that had hit her and turned back to the other sound of distress. There was another youma, it had seemingly just appeared, trying to catch people before they escaped. It seemed it had made an example out of someone. The youma had begun to enjoy doing that. They would kill someone at the beginning of a battle in order to scare the people and gain compliance so that they could drain more energy. From where she stood, Venus had attacked and destroyed the youma. She ran through the crowd, and the distressed people eventually cleared the way a bit so she could see who was hurt or dead. She had stopped in her tracks, her breathing suddenly quicker as a choked sob suddenly escape her throat. On the ground, in a puddle of his own blood, lay Jeff. His eyes were wide open in what seemed to be fear. She knew it was hopeless, but she had collapsed to her knees to check his pulse. Nothing. As tears rolled down her cheeks, she could hear someone calling the police, saying that the youma had been destroyed by Sailor Venus, but that a boy was dead. And she had known that it was all her fault. She hadn't been careful enough to see if he had followed. Then she had sent him down the street to his death. That evening, Minako sat alone on a park bench. She had her legs crozzed underneath her, and she was staring at the ground, her hair hanging arouns her face, but she didn't care.She had avoided going home. Right now, Jeff's mother would have heard the news. She would have been horrrified, crying, screaming- Minako couldn't go home and see her. She couldn't head over to give her apologies for her loss, and look his mother in the eye. It was all her fault that he died. And somehow, she knew it would haunt her for a very long time. It began to rain, but Minako didn't move from the bench. Rain soaked her clothes and hair, but she paid no attention to it, as her own hot tears rolled down her cheeks. She sat there for a very long time, before the rain suddenly stopped hitting her. She looked up. Mamoru stood next to her, holding an umbrella over her head, and the girls all stood in front of her, looking at her unsurely. Seeing them caring so much for her made Minako cryfor some reason. Usagi sat next to her, and hugged her. Minako pulled away when she felt someone touch her arm. It was Rei. "Let's get you someplace warm."
Ami ran through the park, now in a worse hurry than before to get away. The rain came down hard, and Ami had neither a jacket or an umbrella. It may have been alright if she wasn't being chased by a youma and bleeding from her forhead and her shoulder. Worst of all, her henshin wand was somehwere on the ground in the park. It had been thrown by a youma. Strangest of all, her communicator wouldn't work.
It turned out he did know a few things. He helped her to the temple and met her very suspicious friends. He had come as an exchange student from Canada. He told them that ever since he was little, he could throw different forms of what he called explosive lights, and could see things about a person's past upon meeting them, but could not see into the future.
"This year is gonna be awesome," Minako raved as the four girls exited the school building, "Seriously! I've signed up for the volleyball team, and my classes rock!"
Things went pretty normal during September. Youma attacks became part of everyday life, as it seemed a new enemy was on the rise, but it didn't seem like something they couldn't handle.
Ami and Rob walked hand in hand down the beach, this place being the only silence outside of Tokyo. The sun had set and the moon cast an eerie glow on the dark water. It was their favorite place. And now, it was quiet. Ami was in a better mood though. Rei's grandfather had finally stabilized yesterday, after one week of doctors and nurses telling Rei to give up on him entirely.
"Come on Minako! Please?"
"Come in Mackenzie," Makoto said opening the door to let a shivering blonde enter her apartment. Her dark brown eyes gazed sadly at Makoto, signaling that something was wrong.
Makoto ignored it against better judgement, and invited her to take a seat at the dinner table.
After Makoto brought some dishes from the kitchen, she began to put some food in Mackenzie's plate. Mackenzie tapped her fork nervously againt the table, drumming the fingers of her other hand on it continuously and glancing at her watch every couple of minutes. Makoto ignored the odd behaviour, but Mackenzie grew more riled up.
"I can't take it anymore Makoto!"
Makoto sighed. What was with the sudden odd outburst?
Since Mackenzie lived one floor beneath Makoto, they always ate dinner together, neither one having a family to eat with. Although Mackenzie had only known Makoto a little over a month, they had become close friends. They would watch movies together at night, and joke around. It was nice to have company around her apartment. Mackenzie's gorgeous Engligh accent was shining through now as she spoke, and the transfer student from England couldn't help but switch back and forth between English and Japanese. But there was always something a little unstable about her, and in Makoto's opinion, a little scary.
"Woah! Sorry! I'll give you corn instead of potatoes if you feel that strongly about it," Makoto said, grabbing Mackenzie's plate from her hand.
"That's not what I'm talking about," Mackenzie said, on her feet now as she spoke, moving towards the kitchen doorway, towards the table in the hall where she had her purse.
"Well what is it then? Because I've been nothing but good to you and you always seem to have a problem getting through one meal with me lately. What's wrong?" Makoto responded, following her. Mackenzie grabbed her purse and turned back to Makoto.
"I know you have! I know you've been good to me! It'sme who isn't being good to you. I'm a liar!"
"What?" Makoto tipped her head at her friend, who sighed.
"I'm a fake. I'm sorry, Jupiter."
Makoto froze in her spot. How did she find out? When?
"What? What are you...what are you talking about," she said finally, glancing at Mackenzie. Mackenzie looked away.
"I was sent by the D galaxy."
Makoto cringed. Their worst enemies this year, and Mackenzie was one of them.
Mackenzie grew quiet, tears now forming in her eyes.
"I'm such a bad person," she said, "Makoto, I revealed you. I've indirectly killed you."
"How long have you been under their control," Makoto asked in a defeated voice.
"I- a year. I don't have powers or anything. I'm just a spy. I don't even get enough power to defend myself. I'm mortal."
"Look," Makoto said, fighting her own urge to both hit Mackenzie and cry as well, "It's alright. I'll stay with a friend. Just come with me to the temple, I can help you. You can join my side. You have no powers, so they don't have enough of a hold over you. You have enough time to get your life back as it was. It's not too late. You are human, good."
Mackenzie shook her head. She began to mutter.
"I'm sorry. I tryed to act like normal but I couldn't. I couldn't. Crazy people and powers. Monsters." She was reaching into her purse.
"Mackenzie, what are you doing?"
Makoto froze when something black and shiny was pulled from her purse. Mackenzie lifted a shaking hand to her head, removing the safety.
"Wait Mackenzie! Please! We're still okay! Nothing bad will happen! You told me in time! Don't do it!"
Mackenzie shook her head.
"In a few seconds, the Negaverse D galaxy warriors will be bursting in here."
"MACKENZIE! WAIT!"
The sound of the gun was what surprised Makoto the most.
Almost instantly, the windows of her appartment shattered, as reality of her own danger set in.
--
Makoto tried to use her communicator to call her friends, but it wouldn't work. Why were the communicator's malfunctioning so much?
Half an hour later. beaten half to death, Makoto was dragging her battered body outisde her apartment door. The warriors, there were five, let her. They turned everything in her apartment over, looking for something. One of them approached her with a scowl.
"Where is your transformation wand?"
"None of your bussiness," she responded, halfway out the door. All of a sudden, Minako came running up the stairs of the apartment, obviously just coming for a visit judging by her casual clothing and smile. She froze on the flight of stairs beneath Makoto, falling against the wall and covering her mouth to hide a scream lest she alert the warriors. Makoto gave her a weak nod, and Minako nodded back, moving one flight down the stairs and muttering something into her communicator, which was working. Shetransformed and ran back up the steps, and pulling Makoto away from the door, before walking inside the apartment, and attacking the first warrior with his back turned silently. This got the attention of the others, but she didn't have to hold them off long before her friends arrived.
Makoto spent three days in the hospital before she talked them into letting her leave, saying that she would just heal at home and not be very active. Her inuries would heal faster than normal people, why let the doctor's in the hospital figure it out.
Makoto stayed locked up in her apartment for a week after she left the hospital. Her friends came to visit every day, but they would stay for a bit, try to talk her into leaving the house, and then go home themselves. after November, no one's happiness really returned to normal.
December began. Youma attacks were the same, but the girls were learning to juggle their tasks a bit better when it came to school work. 16 of their classmates were seriosuly hospitalized for extensive injuries during youma attacks, these students including Molly and Melvin. Another 45 were hospitalized and released for minor injuries due to youma attacks.
Everyone was excited as they left school for their break. A whole two weeks off. It was the 23rd.
"Hey," Ami caught Rob's wrist as he was leaving the school, "You've been moody all day, and we didn't even have to do any work today. What's wrong?"
Rob shrugged, but then gave a reassuring smile.
"You know what, don't even worry about it," he said.
"But-"
He shook his head.
"You and your friends are having that study group now, right? Go have fun, you guys haven't done it in over a week because of the attacks."
"It's alright," she said, "you can come along. You always come with me anyways."
Rob shook his head, and Ami couldn't help but get a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach when she looked at him. Something was wrong.
"Have fun. I love you," Rob said, giving her a quick kiss on the lips and waving as he exited the school. Something much more important than the study group was on his mind.
Minako caught up with Ami and tugged at her sleeve.
"What's wrong with you," she asked. Ami shrugged. "I- I don't know. Let's just go, we don't want Rei to yell at us for being late too." Minako laughed.
"That I will agree to. It's not pretty when she yells," she said, as the two exited the school building.
Rob stood facing someone in a darkened area of a large room.
"Where is my sister," he demanded angrilly. Whoever lurked in the shadows began to laugh.
"Dead."
"No she's not," he said firmly. "She's around here. What have you done to her?"
The person laughed again.
"Before you ask us questions, we'll ask you a few of them. Why haven't you contacted us in the last three months?"
"I didn't realize," Rob lied. The person sighed, and spoke.
"You were given full training. In July, we met one last time before you made contact with Ms. Mizuno. You checked in again in August, after dating her for one month. You checked in again at the end of September, leaving a non-descript message, simply saying taht you were investigating. That was all. We've had no information sent to us, no check-ins, and for the past month you haven't even taken any of our calls. Explain yourself. Are you still investigating Mizuno's identity, or have you been doing this simply for a date?"
Rob was silent a moment, before speaking.
"Look, Mizuno's not a scout. The reason I didn't check in about her was because I was investigating other girls."
"You're lieing."
"I'm not lieing," Rob said.
"Listen you idiot, we've had other agents investigating whatyou've been doing the past few weeks. You're seriously dating Mizuno, you know she's a senshi, and you seem to have no intention of reporting her, is this correct?"
Rob stared at the figure, before responding.
"That's correct."
Whoever he was speaking to scowled, but Rob did not stop there.
"Where is my sister?"
"Oh, for your insolence, you'll never know. Too bad for her and Ms. Mizuno." Rob dissapeared from the room just before he was blasted to bits by an attack. He appeared outside of Ami's apartment. She was going to hate him now.
But he loved her.
He loved her, and he was going to stop anyone from the D Galaxy from hurting her. She would not suffer for his mistakes. It was time to tell the truth, before she or anyone else she cared for was hurt.
Rob ran up the stairs of her apartment, but stopped in his tracks when he saw a shadowed figure in acloak at the top of the flight he was about to head up.
"Who are you," he called. The last thing that he heard was a feminine giggle and a voice tinted with anger saying, "You know who I am."
Ami sat up, hearing a loud crash. Before she could even properly open her eyes, she was suddenly knocked off her bed. Jumping up with a gasp, she saw who had pushed her. A woman with dark violet hair and dark eyes stood before her, and Ami instantly recognized her as Sanyu, aD Galaxy warrior. She pushed a few buttons on her communicator, but it currently wasn't working. She looked up in fear at Sanyu only to be grabbed by the arm and dragged out of the room, her struggles no match at the moment for Sanyu's strength. She freed her arm once she was in the hall, and gasped when she layed eyes on who lay in the hall as well.
Her mother lay in her own pool of blood.
She scrambled to get nearer, but Sanyu stopped her.
"Why did you attack her?"
"I felt like it," was Sanyu's reply as she grabbed Ami by the neck and threw her into the living room. Ami tried to sit up, but found Sanyu right in front of her, and she punched her in the face, knocking her over again. Ami managed to get to her feet and make a run for her room, where her transformation wand was located.
"I don't think so," came Sanyu's voice as she appeared in front of Ami. Ami jumped back and shouted.
"If you wanted me, that was fine! But why my mother?"
"Don't act so surprised. Are you seriously telling me that in the four years that you've been fighting, no one ever threatened your mother? Let me clarify things for you," Sanyu said, blasting Ami to the ground with a flame thrown from her palmand crouching down next to her, her tone now soft.
"Whoever you love and care for, whoever you know and respect, whoever you pass on the street with a friendly smile, you endanger them all. Your touch is like poison in the end, your glance like death. Always remember that."
Ami stared at her, wide eyed, before Sanyu grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the living room. There sat a black garbage bag. It looked quite heavy, and it was folded over on top but not tied. She hadn't noticed it before.
"Ah yes! Look! Look at the surprise I brought for you," Sanyu said in a sing-song voice as she dropped Ami on the ground. Ami scrambled away.
"Hey," Sanyu said, her tone changing dramtically, "Where are you going? Come look inside."
Ami shook her head. Sanyu sighed and approached her.
She grabbed Ami's shoulders, but Ami placed both of her hands on Sanyu's arm.
"Oh, so now you're putting up a fight?"
Amiused Sanyu more as leverage to stand, Sanyu gritting her teeth and shrugging.
"Oh well. I have my powers. You don't."
"Let's take this fight out of here. Play fair. Let me get my transformation wand-"
Sanyu shook her head. Ami nodded. "Forget transforming then. We'll call and ambulance to come here for my mom first, and then we leave before they come. I will bring nothing with me."
Sanyu again shook her head, a smiling forming on her lips. She spoke. "When are you going to open the bag?"
"Will you call an ambulance for my mom?"
"No."
"Then I'm not opening it."
Sanyu growled, approaching Ami.
"Oh yes you will. Or I'll have to beat you into doing it."
Ami shrugged. "Go ahead. If you're too weak to fight a fair battle with me, I wouldn't expect it any differently."
Sanyu growled and opened her palm quickly. It began to crackle with electricity, but Ami wasn't regretting her words yet, although she was pretty sure what came next would hurt. Sanyu threw the crackling ball of electricity at Ami, who jumped out of the way.
Sanyu wasn't finished though, and followed with a second one right after the first, hitting Ami right on. She screamed as the blackball of lightning surrounded her.
"Open the bag," Sanyu repeated. Ami shook her head, so Sanyu repeated what she done, Ami unable to move from the first attack as the second one hit, her screams echoeing throughout the room.
"Open the bag."
"Why should I? What could be so important that's in that bag," Ami asked weakly.
"You'll see if you open it." Ami shook her head. She didn't want to know what was in it, it looked gross.
Sanyu walked down the hall, and Ami struggle dto drag herself from her position next to the tv to the part of the living room in front of the hall. Sanyu was crouched next to her mother, the same attack she had just thrown at Ami forming in her hand.
Ami knew it would kill her mother, especially since she was already very badly hurt, or possibly even already dead...
"No!" Sanyu stopped and smiled.
"So you'll open it then."
Ami dragged herself over to the bag.
"Open it- Sit up so you can." Ami glared at Sanyu for the stupid request, and Sanyu's response was turning to head back down the hall. Ami sighed and began to sit up slowly, groaning as she did so.
Sanyu nodded in approval. Ami opened up the bag and blinked. At first, in the dark, she couldn't see well. Disguisted, she realized it was a bloody mass. Ami frowned, looking ready to throw up at the sick situation, before she noticed something that nearly killed her on the spot.
A pair ofempty green eyes staring at her from inside the bag. Ami dropped the bag with a gasp, tears blocking her vision as she turned and began to throw up in the small garbage can next to her.
She could hear Sanyu laughing behind her, and she wiped her mouth, turning her tear filled look to her.
"The fool made it all too easy. He was running here to help you. Look where that got him."
Am began to cry harder, completely ignoring Sanyu now, as the door flew open. Sanyu frowned at who stood in the doorway.
"The Sailor Scouts! How did you know to come?"
"Let's just say we know when a friend is in trouble," Sailor Moon said, entering the room, the rest of the inners in tow. Tuxedo Mask was also there.
"Oh, I didn't count on all of you showing up. I guess our little fight will have to be finished later then," Sanyu said, floating up slightly and dissapearing.
Everyone rushed over to Ami, but she shook her head and pointed down the hall.
"My mom," she said, "Check on my mom."
Jupiter and Mars stood and rushed over, and Jupiter gasped.
"Call an ambulance."
Mars rushed to a phone.
"What's this Ami," Venus asked, as Moon switched on th elightls and Mamoru helped Ami sit up more. Ami placed her hand on the table to help herself stand more, Mamoru's grip firm. Ami glanced at Venus, who was looking in the bag.
"Don't-" she began, but was interupted by a piercing scream from Venus, who dropped the bag, still in a frenzie and jumped back.
"What," Mars said, emerging from the hall where Jupiter sat with Ami's mom, checking for a pulse.
"It's, it's-" Venus couldn't even get the words out in her horror, and Ami began to cry harder.
Mamoru left Ami in Venus's trembling arms and approached the bag, wondering what or even who could be in it. He opened it, and look inside one moment. From where she stood, Sailor Moon saw his eyes widen slightly, and his gloved hands begin to tremble slightly.
"Mamoru," she said. Mamoru said nothing, closing the bag quietly. Whenhe pulled his hands away, the white gloves he had onhas spots of red on the palms. One look at Venus's showed the same.Perhaps it was the shock, or maybe not wanting to scare the girls, but he was silent.
"I have to see this now," Sailor Moon said, approaching, but he wouldn't let her open the bag. Rob was a good friend of his. He was a good friend to all of them. To continues to go back and forth and look at the bag was too disrespectful.
"Make sure we have police with the ambulance," was all he said, "Tell them that there has been a very bad youma attack. Myself and one other person will stay transformed to wait for the ambulance and clear up any police questions. Other than that, you all detransform and leave- now."
"I'll stay with you Mamoru," Moon offered. Venus, Jupiter, and Mars left, Venus still shaking, as the two questioned her.
Usagi passed by the arcade, and noticed Venus leaned over the counter of the Crown talking to Andrew. They waved, and she waved back and left. She wanted to stop at home and get a bite to eat quickly, before they all met at the hospital to visit Ami and her Mom at the hospital. She hadn't spoken to Ami since the night before, briefly after the other senshi left, but she had been too freaked out to talk.
"Mom, I'm home," Usagi called, slamming the front door as usual and taking off her shoes. Sun streamed in through the windows of the house, it was another beautiful day.
"Mom," Usagi called again, her tone still light and happy. She paused at the front door, waiting a moment to hear her mothers usual greeting.
Usagi's smile faded a bit. She saw the car in the driveway. Her dad was not working today, Sammy should have been home, and her mother was always home after school to see her, she did her grocery shopping earlier in the day.
Still hopeful, Usagi set her school bag down by her shoes, heading to the kitchen where her mother must have been cooking.
And for some reason, Usagigrew nervous as she walked down the hall towards the kitchen.
Usagi turned into the kitchen and screamed, falling back onto the railing of the stairs, shaking.
Her mother lay on the kitchen floor at the doorway face down. A pool of blood was beginning to form beneath her.
"M-mom!" Usagi kneeled by her mother, her hand shaking as she turned her over so she could check her pulse. It was faint, but there.
What about the others? She ran into the living room, but froze in the doorway. The television was on, some sort of American cartoon. Her father had his back to her, holding the newspaper as he sat on the couch. Sammy's head was barely visible next to him, looking as if he was watching intently. She approached as she spoke.
"Dad? Sammy? We have to call an ambulance. Mom, she's-" Usagi froze in her spot, her hand over her mouth to stiffle another scream. She was now standing to the side of the couch, she could now see.
Her father was unconsious, his head leaned back against the couch. Blood from what looked like a stab wound ran down from his stomach.
Sammy's eyes were wide open. He sat on the couch, trembling. His arm was covered in blood, the blood pouring from a gash on his shoulder. A hand was coming from the opposite side of the couch where Usagi stood, and it was clamped over Sammy's mouth. She looked at the corner of the room, where Luna, her cat guardian, was struggling to stand. It looked like she had been thrown at the wall.
Usagi pushed a button on her communicator, alerting her friends, before walking in front of the couch, past her father as she shook, and stopping in front of Sammy. Relief flooded his features, and the person who's hand was covering Sammy's mouth stood. Sammy jumped up and ran to Usagi's side, Usagi throwing her arm around him and standing in front of him, glaring at her fiercely. The women had fiery red hair, it was quite curly, and green eyes which gleamed dangerously at her.
"Who are you," Usagi asked.
"A weakling like you can call me Mirvette."
"A weakling like you," Usagi said, her eyes tearing up, "Who attacks innocent people, can get out of this house. Now." Sammy, now 14 and her height, stood behind her wearilly. He felt so weak at the moment, and grabbed his shoulder, trying to ease some of the pain.
"There is nothing innocent about the people in this house, when they are related to you," Mirvette responded.
"What are you talking about," Usagi asked.
"Please, did you actually expect them to be safe so long as we were searching for you. You must hate them a lot to stay living here," Mirvette said.
"What is she talking about Usagi," Sammy muttered from behind her.
"Oh, what a shame. He doesn't know," Mirvette mocked. Usagi glared dangerously at her.
"Shut up." Sammy did a double take at his sister. Her tone was low, and he had never heard her speak like that before. Like a different person.
"What if I don't? What will you do to me then Sailor Moon?"
Sammy gasped, and Usagi growled.
"I will kill you! I will kill you for hurting my friends and my family!" Sammy stepped away from Usagi, shock written all over his face.
"You think you can beat me? You saw the Mercury scout last night...what's her name? Oh yes, Mizuno. A lesser warrior took her, her mother, and her pathetic boyfriend down in under an hour. What can you do?"
"Ami was untransformed, it was more like a massacre in that house."
Sammy gasped again after hearing what Mirvete said, Usagi confirming it. "Ami is Sailor Mercury! You're Sailor Moon! What else don't I know?"
Mirvette gazed at him with no emotion, before speaking. "A lot."
Usagi pulled off her locket, glaring at Mirvette. "You'll regret this."
"I don't think I will," Mirvette said, rising up into the air slightly, "Because one thing you'll learn is, to win, you don't have to fight fair."
And with those last words, Mirvette dissapeared. Sammy collapsed to his knees, shaking in fear. Usagi ran to a phone and called an ambulance.
"Let's pray Mom and Dad are alright. Check Dad's pulse," she ordered.
"I've never done that before," Sammy said, her voice shaking. Usagi walked over and did so, nodding.
"He's alive. get me a cloth, we'll stop the blood flow for now, I don't think whatever she stabbed him with hit anything vital."
"What about Mom, " Sammy asked, approaching the door.
"I already checked her pulse, she's alive, we'll just hope the ambulance get's here soon." Sammy walked into the kitchen.
"Don't move her, she's too injured," Usagi called. He came back out, cloth in hand and his eyes full of tears, and sat down on the couch.
"Look," she told him, crouching down next to him, "I'll explain everything to you later, but for now, I need you to keep quiet. All you have to tell the police is that a woman who claimed to be from the people sending the youma attacked you guys. If they ask for details, tell them, but leave my part in the picture as thatI walked in, saw Mom, ran in here, and she departed, maybe thinking I was a Sailor Scout coming to fight her."
Sammy nodded, and Usagi gave him perhaps the saddest smile he had ever seen and hugged him. "You're the best brother. I'm sorry I wasn't here. Don't worry, she'll pay."
Usagi reached to her wristand pushed a button on her watch, and to Sammy's susprise, Makoto's voice was on the other end.
Ami ran through the park, now in a worse hurry than before to get away. The rain came down hard, and Ami had neither a jacket or an umbrella. It may have been alright if she wasn't being chased by a youma and bleeding from her forhead and her shoulder. Worst of all, her henshin wand was somehwere on the ground in the park. It had been thrown by a youma. Strangest of all, her communicator wouldn't work.It turned out he did know a few things. He helped her to the temple and met her very suspicious friends. He had come as an exchange student from Canada. He told them that ever since he was little, he could throw different forms of what he called explosive lights, and could see things about a person's past upon meeting them, but could not see into the future. "This year is gonna be awesome," Minako raved as the four girls exited the school building, "Seriously! I've signed up for the volleyball team, and my classes rock!" Usagi passed by the arcade, and noticed Venus leaned over the counter of the Crown talking to Andrew. They waved, and she waved back and left. She wanted to stop at home and get a bite to eat quickly, before they all met at the hospital to visit Ami and her Mom at the hospital. She hadn't spoken to Ami since the night before, briefly after the other senshi left, but she had been too freaked out to talk.
Usagi walked up to the receptions desk and spoke to the woman there. She directed her down the hall to the hallway used for people from youma attacks. There were so many this year, that a whole section of the hospital, the entire second floor, was used for youma attack victims due the amount of people there and also the visitors.
She headed up the elevator, and found Mamoru waiting infront of a doorway down the hall. She ran to him and hugged him.
"Sammy told me you were following by bus. I could have picked you up, silly," he said, his voice even gentler than normal She sniffed and nodded.
"I had to be alone." Mamoru nodded at her response.
"While I was talking with Sammy, a doctor approached. Your mom had some pretty serious wounds, but the doctor's think she'll make a full recovery. She'll be in here for several weeks though."
"Your dad had a pretty serioud stab wound. They had to operate. He stabilized though, and they believe that he will be fine by the time your mom will be too, to go home I mean. Sammy had thirty five stitches in his shoulder, the poor guy,but he can go home tomorrow."
Usagi nodded, relieved.
"I also saw Ami. The other girls are here, they're in Ami's room, Sammy is with them since your parents are unconscious right now. Ami's mother had very serious wounds, she'll be in here for weeks, probably around the same as your parents. Ami can leave tonight. You know her, she made a quick recovery, well, quick over the physical injuries I mean."
Usagi nodded as the two walked down the hallway.
They passed Rei's granpa's room, and saw that he was sleeping. Continueing down the hall, she passed by her Mom and Dad's room. They were both hooked up to machinery, sleeping. She blinked, looking ahead and trying not to cry. Ami's mother was a couple of rooms down, still unconscious, and Molly and Melvin, as well as a few other classmates, were across the hall.
"Usagi! Mamoru!" Usagi and Mamoru paused at the doorway. Molly ushered for them to enter, and Usagi did so carefully. A few of the people in the room were sleeping. Molly's mother was asleep in a chair by her bed, and Melvin, in a cot across from Molly's, was asleep.
"Hey, how are you Molly," Usagi asked, entering. Molly had a few broken bones, and she had several stomach wounds. She had already been in the hospital for 3 weeks though.
"Oh, I'm alright, Melvin and I should be out of here in a couple of weeks. We've been visiting Rei's grandpa every day. We also heard about your family, and Ami's. Sorry."
"Hey, you shouldn't have to think about that stuff," Usagi said, walking around to the other side of the bed. "We're all fine. Just get your strength up, so you can go home," Usagi said. Molly nodded.
"I will, don't worry about me Usagi. Infact, I should be worrying about you, always running around and getting stuck in youma attacks. Please don't do that."
A few minutes later, they left Molly, and headed to Ami's room. As Mamoru said, all of the girls were in there. Ami was fine. She had a few scratches and bruises on her face, but she was standing up, pacing around as everyone spoke.
"Ami, sit down," Minako said, "You're lucky they're letting you go home, don't aggrivate your remaining injuires."
Ami did not listen. "Makoto's were twice as bad as mine are now. I'm fine."
Usagi and Mamoru entered, and Usagi hugged Ami and sat down, ushering for Ami to do the same, who grudgingly did so. They sat in silence for a few minutes.
"So..." Sammy said, "You- you promiced you'de explain to me, Usagi." Everyone glanced over at him. Usagi sighed.
"Explain what Usagi," Rei asked. usagi nodded at Sammy, and spoke.
"He knows. Mirvette gave us away."
"You mean all of you are scouts? Cool," Sammy said. Everyone laughed.
"I'll tell you when you come home tomorrow Sammy," Usagi said, "It's not safe to talk here." She walked over to the window, and turned back to Ami.
"How are you Ami?"
"Fine," Ami said, but she didn't sound like it.
Because she wasn't, and Sanyu's words were to haunt her for more time to come.
Usagi stared out the window, an dlooked at her brother once again. Tomorrow, they would be going home alone. Her parents wouldn't be back for over a month, and although she was good at taking care of Rini and Sammy in battle alone- she wasn't sure she could be there for him all the time.
Usage blinked tears away from her eyes, mad that she had let this happen to her family. She finally stood a few minutes later, aware that everyone had been watching her the whole time. She walked out of the room and sat in a chair outside the door. Rei followed a moment later, closing the door behind her so no one could hear them.
Usagi frowned at her, tears all over her face, and stood, walking down the hall towards the elevator. Rei followed and got in, closing the door as they headed up to the last floor.
"What," Rei said, Usagi frowning.
"Let me guess, I shouldn't cry," Usagi mimicked, turning away, "Well when something bad happene dto you guys, you all did."
"That's not what I mean," Rei said. "This has nothing to do with your crying."
"Oh really Rei, then what is it?"
"You tell me why you're being a downer. Because you were looking at Sammy for over two minutes in that room like he was the spon of satan," Rei said.
"I was," Usagi asked witha sniff, "I mean- I didn't mean it like that. I love my brother. I just can't take care of him."
"What! Whym" Rei demanded hotly.
"I'm not responsible or smart like you guys. I can't cook or clean or even remember to lock the door! How will Sammy ever survive when he has a failure and a wreck of a big sister like me!" Usagi said this through her sobs loudly.
"You aren't any of those things Usagi," Rei said calmly.
"Yes I am! Now Mom and Dad are hurt and Sammy will probably hate me forever!" Before Usagi could continue crying, Rei had pulled back her hand and slapped her. Usagi suddenly stopped crying, her eyes only slightly glazed over.
"Why did you hit me?"
"To stop you! To knock soem sense into you! You are a great big sister! Sammy could never hate you! Look at us! My grandpa's been here for over two months, surgery over surgery! Minako felt responisble for killing someone, she still does! Makoto watched her neighbour shoot herself! Ami lost her boyfriend and nearly lost her mother in one night! Everyone's suffering Usagi! We're all plagued with guilt! If you let this tear you down, it will keep you down forever. I know you have it in you to rise above this, I've seen you see the good at the worst of times, and I know you can do it now!"
Usagi nodded, her tears now forgotten.
"Thanks Rei."
Suddenly, the light on everyone's foreheads faded, and they all looked around.
"Why did it end," Duo asked Ami, still caught up in what he had seen. Ami pushed a number on her communicator, wiping tears from her eyes. The visions had ended prematurely, meaning that if Usagi was the one doing it, she was too weak to continue.
"Where are you," she asked Usagi.
"In the park, near the flowers," was the weak reply. Ami stood, wiping tears again to clear her vision.
"Come on," she told Duo, who stood up. Ami walked ahead, not waiting for him to catch up. Not only was she just forced to relive a few of her worst times, but she had learned the truth. Ron had a sister. A carzy sister who was trying to kill her. She had probably been driven insane by teh D Galaxy. And Rob had lied. He had been hired to find her identity. It was no chance that they met and fell in love, it had been planned. And then, Rob had decided not to follow through with the plan, had gotten too involved, had not reported to the D Galaxy- and they had killed him for changing sides.
As she walked, someone jumped in front of her, right out of the woods, and she stepped back, realizing who it was.
"So now you know," Rob's sister said,
"Who did you call a liar? Me! I'm not the liar! You're the liar, and now you can truly see that you're the liar!"
Ami sniffed, Duo catching up, and spoke.
"Why don't you have any fingerprints? Is it because of what they did to you?"
The girl growled. "Shut up!"
"Why," Ami said, "What did they do to you?"
"I said shut up!"
"Tell me," Ami said, "And whatever you did before won't matter. Now that we know, we can help you!"
"Like how you helped my brother?"
That's it for now, I'll update again soon if I get a lot of reviews, lol.
