Disclaimer: I don't own Sailormoon
Sitting alone in his throne room, Demando held an expressionless gaze at the hologram of the Crystal Palace that continued to remain out of his reach. Even with all the damages the palace had taken from their failed attacks, it still stood and continued to give off a sense of pure dignified beauty as if impervious to the corrupted energy of the Dark Crystal.
'And within that palace lies the even more unreachable Goddess of Crystal Tokyo,' Demando mused silently as an unreadable emotion flashed across his eyes, 'Serenity...those defiant eyes of yours, I swear I will make you yield to me. Both you and your Ginzuishou will soon be mine.'
The sound of footsteps entering the room brought the prince out of his thoughts. Taking his gaze off the hologram, Demando raised his eyes to see it was his brother who was approaching him.
"Saphir, did we receive news from the past," Demando asked with anticipation etched in his tone.
Ever since Rubeus had reported about the existence of Serenity's past self, Demando had reassigned the communication task to Saphir. Being fully aware of Esmeraude's hatred for Serenity, he had given her the task of keeping watch over any activities of the King and the future senshis. He refused to have his opportunity to capture Serenity ruined by Esmeraude's unwanted jealousy.
"Rubeus reported that their attempt at placing Sailor Moon in a dark energy educed sleep has been successful, but that they have failed to capture either her or the rabbit," Saphir said uneasily expecting his brother to become enraged at Rubeus's repeated failures.
To his surprise, Demando showed no sign of anger. Rather, a satisfied smile adorned his face as he rose from the throne.
"Excellent," Demando said softly further confusing Saphir.
"But brother, neither the young girl nor Sailor Moon was captured. On top of that we lost yet another droid," Saphir exclaimed, "How-"
"I am well aware of that Saphir," Demando interrupted with a wave of his hand, "But now that Serenity has been infused with the energy of a droid created from the power of our Dark Crystal, she is now closer within my grasp."
Understanding dawned on Saphir at his brother's words. A slight frown appeared at the knowledge of what his brother was planning.
"You intend to enter her dream while she is in her current state brother," Saphir stated disapprovingly, "But there are dangers to such an action. While she may not be as powerful, she is still Neo-Queen Serenity's past self and the wielder of the Ginzuishou. We should not underestimate her abilities brother!"
"Calm yourself Saphir," Demando said dismissively, "I am more than capable for such a task. Now return to your duties."
"Yes brother," Saphir answered grudgingly as he watched Demando teleport away.
'No doubt to the chamber where the Dark Crystal resides to carry out that plan of his,' Saphir thought with a deep frown, 'He has become too blinded by his obsession with the Queen. Constantly throwing cautions to the wind when Serenity's involved. That means I will have to be wary for him...I just hope that will be enough.'
Rushing up the flights of stairs to the Hikawa Shrine, Mamoru could feel the rapid pounding of his heart ready to burst at a moment's notice. Since the moment Rei had informed him of Usagi's condition over the phone, his mind was filled with only fear and worry for his Usako's safety.
'She was suppose to be safe as long as I stayed away,' Mamoru thought cursing at his nightmares once more.
Sprinting straight to Rei's room, he slid the screen door open with a loud 'bang' not bothering to knock. He was met with seven equally tired and upset expressions. Each pair of eyes warred between fear and hope at Mamoru's arrival. His gaze soon fell on the figure lying on Rei's bed completely undisturbed by his loud arrival. Swiftly closing the short distance between them, Mamoru kneeled beside the unconscious Sailor Moon not knowing what to do.
"She's been like that since that droid put her under some sort of spell," Rei said in a soft shaky voice, "No matter what we do she won't wake up."
"Haven't you figured out what's wrong with her," Mamoru asked with an almost pleading gaze at Ami.
"My scanner indicated negative energy with the same signature as those of the Black Moon Clan's flowing inside Usagi-chan's body, but I don't know how we can dispel it," Ami replied with tear-filled eyes that remained locked on Sailor Moon, "In theory the Ginzuishou should be able to purify that small amount of negative energy, but it has remained unresponsive which is allowing the negative energy to grow with each passing second."
"Why would the Ginzuishou not respond," Mamoru growled out feeling an intense hatred for the powerful crystal.
He quickly noticed the four girls exchange of uneasy glances at his question and an unsettling sensation grew in the pit of his stomach. Obviously whatever the four had in mind would not bold well with him.
"We have a slight theory," Minako began uncertainly.
"And," Mamoru asked impatiently when none of them continued at Minako's pause.
"The Ginzuishou is connected to Usagi-chan's emotions," Ami decided to take the initiative and began to explain, "In other words, its power is dependent on Usagi-chan's thoughts and will power. While it may be that Usagi-chan's life energy sustains the Ginzuishou, it is her will and desire that activates the crystal's power."
At this point of the explanation, Mamoru could feel his heart stop as he guessed the implication behind Ami's words.
"So you're saying the Ginzuishou won't respond because...because," Mamoru said as he found himself unable to finish.
"Yes," Ami choked out as her tears now flowed freely down her cheeks, "Usagi-chan seems to have lost the will to live."
"No," Mamoru whispered in denial as his grip on Usagi's gloved hand tightened, "She would never. She still has so much to live for."
Sitting by his side, the previously silent Chibi-usa began to cry out for Sailor Moon to wake up.
"Wake up Sailor Moon! You have to wake up," Chibi-usa pleaded between sobs, "You promised! You promised you would help me save mama and papa! You can't...please don't leave me alone like everyone else have. I don't like it. I don't want to be alone."
Minako quickly pulled the heart-broken child into her embrace trying her best to give the young girl some sort of comfort while she herself also have tears running down her face. Luna and Artemis sat side by side on the table throughout the whole conversation. The white feline placed a comforting paw on the black cat's now shaking form. Suddenly the sound of a loud 'thump' echoed throughout the room as the girls and felines looked up to find Makoto towering above Mamoru with an outstretched fist and eyes filled with angry tears.
"This is all your fault," Makoto said venomously and moved with the intent to punch the silent Mamoru once more only to be held back by Rei and Ami, "Let go! We all know it's because of this heartless bastard that Usagi's..."
Mamoru gave no attempt to defend himself as the others pleaded for Makoto to calm down. In his heart, he completely agreed with the accusations and felt he deserved the lightning senshi's wrath and more.
"Calm down Mako-chan," Rei exclaimed as she and Ami held their angry friend in place, "Beating Mamoru-san up is NOT going to do us any good!"
"And Usagi-chan wouldn't want you to hurt him," Ami tried reasoning.
"Usagi-chan didn't want to have her heart broken either," Makoto countered as she continued to struggle against her friends' holds, "But what did this ungrateful jerk do. He broke up with her without so much as a decent reason. After everything Usagi's done and sacrificed for you! You even have the nerve to go out with another girl only a few weeks after the break up!"
"What," Mamoru finally exclaimed dumb-folded at the last accusation, "When did I date another girl?"
"Now you're even going to deny it Chiba," Makoto yelled back feeling her anger doubling.
"I deny it because I did not go out with another girl," Mamoru shot back with a renewed fire in his eyes.
"We saw you riding on your motorcycle with a girl clinging to you today," Minako explained softly with a disapproving stare.
"That was just Motoki's younger sister. He asked me to give her a ride home since he was still busy," Mamoru said as his eyes widened in horror at a realization, "Are you saying that Usako saw us and assumed I broke-up with her for another girl?"
"She didn't exactly pour out her feelings to us, but knowing her, that's probably what she thought," Rei answered.
"How could she think I'd date another girl," Mamoru whispered turning to look at his princess with a longing gaze.
"Then why did you break up with her," Rei asked with an accusing tone and a piercing glare.
"I...I can't say," Mamoru said his mind still fearful of the nightmare's warnings.
"Usagi-chan has been suffering all this time because of you and now she's even lost her will to live, yet you still can't give an attempt at letting us know why you broke her heart," Makoto exclaimed feeling the urge to punch the man in front of her returning.
"I DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE," Mamoru yelled back finally losing his resolve to follow the nightmare's instructions, "USAKO WOULD HAVE DIED IF I DIDN'T STAY AWAY FROM HER!"
The room fell silent at his outburst as everyone stared disbelievingly at Mamoru's unexpected explanation.
"What are you talking about," Minako asked slowly breaking the silence, "How could you possibly be endangering her life just by being with her?"
The pent up guilt combined with his current worry finally broke Mamoru's previous resolve as he slowly explained the reoccurring nightmares to the others. The whole time his sorrowful gaze remained on the unconscious Usagi as if willing for her to listen and understand his own pains over the past few weeks.
"I never wanted to hurt you Usako," Mamoru said having became so immersed in his explanation to the unconscious girl that he lost sense of the others around him, "If I could, I'd take back all the pain I must have caused you. So please, don't give up Usako. I can't even bear the thought of...please wake up."
The tears Mamoru had been holding back now flowed freely down his face and dripped onto Usagi's cheek as he continued to plead for her to awaken.
"Ma-mo-chan."
"Usako," Mamoru whispered disbelievingly at the sound of her barely audible call.
When a response came in the form of her hand returning his grip, Mamoru felt hope resurface from the depth of his previous despair.
"I'm right here Usako. Please don't give up," Mamoru exclaimed as the others watched on with baited breaths, "We're all waiting for you. Your friends need you. Chibi-usa needs you. And I need you Usako...I love you. Please open your eyes."
At his last tender declaration, Sailor Moon's broach flared to life as the shine of the Ginzuishou engulfed the entire room. When the light finally died down, all eyes turned to the now detransformed Usagi. Time seemed to halt as each second their princess remained unmoving felt like eons until finally, Usagi's eyes began to flutter open. No one dared to speak a word as all watched their friend with a mixture of relief, happiness and disbelief. Slowly positioning herself upright, several moments passed before Usagi became aware of their presence.
Smiling weakly at all their stunned expressions, Usagi finally broke the silence by saying, "You guys really should close your mouth or you'll catch flies."
At their princess's poor attempt at lighting up the atmosphere, Chibi-usa and the other girls leapt to engulf their friend in a tight hug as they all happily exclaimed her name.
A/N: Sorry for the late update, but I was feeling a little stuck with this scene. And the large amount of school work didn't exactly help. Anyway, Usagi's awake now, but the question remains of what she experienced while she was unconscious =) 'Til next time.
