Mamoru and Usagi held hands as they walked through a small park on the outskirts of Juuban. It was a warm, sunny Sunday afternoon. Over a week had passed ever since Tetsuya warned that Usagi wasn't to be left alone outside of her house. She looked over at the man she was destined to spend a millennium with. As there was no plausible way of knowing when the enemy would strike again, Usagi and Mamoru went to the park near the Hikawa Shrine. They had their watches at the ready, and they were both keeping an eye out for anything unusual. However, Mamoru had seemed quiet and distant. Scanning for bad guys was one thing, but he could at least talk to her!
"Mamo-chan," Usagi said softly, "is something wrong?"
"Uh, nothing's wrong," he replied, very unconvincingly.
She frowned. "You're hiding something."
Mamoru stopped walking. "Usako, you know how we're destined to be together and rule a paradise, right?"
Usagi beamed. "Of course!"
"Nearly two years ago, I proposed to you, and you said yes, making me the happiest man alive."
She laughed. "You gave me a ring. It wasn't clearly communicated. Well, at least not to me."
"I guess not."
"We were engaged for months before I was aware of it!"
"Then maybe I should be more specific this time."
Usagi's heart skipped a beat. "Oh?"
"On Monday, May 9th, 1994, we met."
"Are you sure? Are you positive that that's the date? For awhile, you thought you met me on my birthday."
He winked, remembering the whole silly mess. "I tracked down the day you got that 30 on your test with Miss Haruna's help. I didn't understand the significance of that meeting for a long time, but now, it's one of the most important days of my life."
"Awww. And you were such a jerk, too…"
"I'll be apologizing for that for the next one thousand years."
She returned the wink. "You sure will! So, what are you being super clear about?"
"The fifth anniversary is on a Sunday." He looked at her. "How serious are you about going to college?"
She shrugged. "I'm a home economics girl, not a math whiz."
"Your last test would say otherwise."
"I can do the math, I just don't feel it. I'm not going to be some businesswoman or what not. I'm going to be a bride, a queen, and then a mother."
"Then it's settled."
"What's settled?"
Mamoru took her hands into his. "On Sunday, May 9th, we get married."
"M-m-married?" Usagi squealed and jumped. "Oh, my God! It's finally happening!"
And then, people began to scream.
*.*.*
"Priestess," the young med tech said, getting Dortheena's attention. "There is a strange anomaly in her blood levels. You are more familiar with Cardheyan physiology than I am."
Dortheena strode over to the stream of data. "What am I looking at?"
"These three hormones are noticeably out of balance."
Dortheena looked at the levels. "Oh… Goddess… no…"
"Priestess?"
Dortheena shed her long green Acolyte's robe that would only get in the way and ran like there was no tomorrow. For if she failed, for another, there would never even be a first today.
*.*.*
There was once a time when she had the luxury of having someone to love. A time of joy in adversity, happiness amidst difficult times. It was true bliss. But no more, and never again. Her beloved fiancé Heggith Cloik was dead, and now, Jihanna battled with the emotions boiling inside of her. Unaware of her presence, the whore and her mate had just confirmed the date of their wedding.
Jihanna remembered the day that Heggith had asked her to share a drink with her. Then the day he asked her to go out with him. Finally, she remembered the day he declared that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. The smile on his face, the look of compassion in his eyes, she remembered it all. She wished that she truly remembered it like it was yesterday, but most memories faded over time. Only the terrible ones that left scars stayed crystal clear forever.
Deprived of her other half, the shock had nearly pushed her over the edge. All she would've had to do was step over the edge of the bridge spanning the jump drive. Or step out of an airlock. Or take a weapon from the armory and shoot herself in the temple. But she would not dishonor his memory like that. She was a Klijargan warrior, and she had a mission to accomplish. If she was lucky, she would be mortally wounded after delivering the killing blow…
She swallowed the rising bile in her stomach and cursed her illness that was ill timed. She wouldn't have time to take another dose of the nausea meds and wait for them to kick in. Time was up. It was either attack, or concede. And she'd be damned if both of them were still drawing breath in a few short moments.
"You won't get away this time…" She remembered when she and Heggith had the one and only Sailor Moon alone and un-transformed, completely vulnerable. But they didn't know at the time. They had no idea that the girl who was falsely mourning the senseless murder of Omi Midori was the one who would single-handedly engineer Heggith's murder. Jorvist had indeed gotten the last laugh! She knew he had conspired openly with the Val'Kurei's as he was dying, had purposely hidden the secret identity of Usagi Tsukino. And he wasn't the only one, either.
"Pethospoe… How could you?" How could her dearest friend have been a part of it? The whole set up was a trap. A 'weakened' Sailor Mars, all alone with the traitor, had successfully baited Jihanna and Heggith, and they walked right into a trap. A trap that her beloved Heggith hadn't survived, and Jihanna was likely walking right into another trap that she would probably also fall to. But she would fall after striking a killing blow on the little witch who had slithered from her grasp. Rabbit of the moon? Her name should have been serpent in the excrement! Everything made sense in her addled and over-burdened mind. But enough self-pity. They were both about to die.
Jihanna smiled an emotionless smile as she pulled out a metallic tube and pointed it to the sky. "Daylos terre dasht," she whispered to herself. It's now or never.
*.*.*
Usagi and Mamoru dove for cover as several explosions rocked the park. They were all airbursts. Thankfully, the intention wasn't to harm anyone, but rather to simply let the general public know that this was not the best place to be at the moment. Knowing the legends of the strange happenings in Azuba-Juuban, the residents fled away from the terrifying noises and fires in the sky without complaint.
The two were hiding in the bushes when a familiar face crept up to them. She smiled wickedly. "It's safe to transform," Jihanna said. "No one will see you. Not that it'll matter in a few moments…"
"How do you know our identities," Mamoru demanded.
"It wasn't easy," she said. "You have powerful wards protecting you. Even now, your names slip away from my memory. Your faces become unfamiliar. We are literally carving your identities into stone tablets as we learn them! Even the traitor's new name has been lost to us. But you…" Her gaze bored into Usagi. "You couldn't hide forever, you witch. You act all chivalrous, claiming yourself to be some demi-goddess heroine. But you are a Val'kurei!" Jihanna drew two silvery swords, similar to the ones she had abandoned the day Heggith had died.
"Moon Prism…" Usagi hesitated and looked over at Mamoru, giving him a wink as she felt a familiar warmth in her chest. "Moon Crystal Power, Make-UP!" In a swirl of lights, she changed into a more powerful Sailor Moon, and Mamoru followed suit, becoming Tuxedo Mask. The destined couple leapt out of the bushes and faced their opponent. "Before we fight," Usagi said softly. "I just wanted to know. Did he make it?"
Jihanna glowered. "What do you think?" She eyed Mamoru. "I will try to spare you so that you can feel what I feel."
Mamoru stepped in front of Usagi, breaking his long cane in half. The two halves grew slightly to the length of Jihanna's blades. "You will not take me alive. I will not live to see her fall."
Usagi moved back and to the side. She knew that Mamoru was probably no match for Jihanna in a one on one battle. Neither of them were. "My love," she whispered. "You have to trust me. If we don't work together, we will die together." She walked back up to his side, a few paces away. "It seems fate changed its mind about me. I'm a toe to toe kinda gal, now." She looked at the man she had crawled through a twisting road spanning a bottomless chasm of certain death, covered in briar thorns, just to try and save him.
You're not taking him away from me… The fire she first felt at Tokyo Tower rose in her once again. I will make you yield, Jihanna Melvi!
You can't save everybody! Tetsuya's angry, but undeniably true words rang through her mind. It didn't mean she couldn't try…
"Moon Tiara Dagger Action!" Usagi grabbed her tiara and it glowed a bright golden hue in response. "Forward," she whispered. Usagi had no real understanding of tactics or battlefield psychology. Then again, she had no training in hand-to-hand combat outside of a few karate lessons with Ami. She knew it was something from Silver Millennium, just like the day she suddenly could skate perfectly while battling a pair of Youma, a skill that had never returned in spite of several painful efforts afterwards. And on that Sunday in the park, without truly knowin, she felt that it'd be better to initiate the fight rather than wait for the enemy to make her move.
Usagi and Mamoru slowly advanced. There was no circling motion, no zigzag or weaving. It was straightforward and to the point. Usagi didn't have time for this. She had a wedding in ten months and she needed to start planning! But first, she had to send back the first Klijargan to fail the trial and survive.
Melvi quickly closed the distance, going in straight for Mamoru with a blinding crisscross attack, one sword high cutting downwards, the other low and cutting up. Mamoru parried both blades in a circular motion, leaping inside the reach of her swords and slapping his sticks across the sides of her head. He leapt and kicked off of Jihanna's chest, sending the dazed warrior to the ground while he somersaulted backwards.
Usagi threw her tiara, and once again it changed from a glowing dagger to a glowing discus upon leaving her hand. It impacted with Jihanna's left wrist, shattering it. She screamed as she rolled back and leapt to her feet. Naturally, she had dropped that sword. A rose embedded itself in Jihana's working arm as Usagi reached up to catch her returning tiara.
Jihanna aimed her broken hand at Usagi, and a bolt of energy shot out, striking her in the face. She fell to the ground, her tiara flying away from her as she fell back, and everything became blurred as her ears rang from the concussion of the impact. Please don't kill her if you don't have to, Mamo-chan…
*.*.*
Several gasps echoed across the bridge of the Goddess Spear, but no one spoke, too shocked to see a woman in such a state of undress. Her knees, shoulders and midriff were all visible, and the clothing she had on did not leave too much to the imagination as to her outline!
"Stop the trial," Dortheena yelled. "Recall Lieutenant Melvi at once!"
"What is the meaning…" Emperor Klavish nel Cagerino started.
"The robe would've slowed me down," she said as she ran towards the man she would be forced to marry against either's will. "Segraius, the levels in her blood! She can't participate!"
Segraius's eyes widened in terror, and without another word, he ran past Dortheena towards the nearest transport room.
*.*.*
"AARRRGGHH!" Mamoru slammed into Jihanna, fury flowing through him after seeing his own personal guiding light of hope so cruelly incapacitated. Throwing aside all aspects of the gentleman and dropping his cane pieces, he grabbed Jihanna by the face and slammed her head into the pavement as the two fell. He raised his free hand to strike the heartless wench who had tried to destroy the shine of the moon, but felt what seemed like a fiery hammer crash into his chest.
His vision went dark from the bright flash of the point blank energy attack, and he slammed hard onto the concrete path. His vision quickly returned, and he saw his opponent. She was stumbling towards him. Before he could react, she fell on top, thrusting the blade of her sword towards his throat. He could see that her eyes were out of focus, noticeably going in slightly different directions from the trauma to her head. She was also drooling, either stomach bile or from a partial seizure. And in spite of everything that had happened to her, in spite of her sickly look, in spite of the fact that she was pushing with only one arm against his two, the razor sharp edge of her sword was inching closer and closer to his throat.
Jihanna made a gurgling, guttural whimper as she willed herself past the pain and held Mamoru's head to the ground with her maimed hand, exposing his neck. Mamoru grunted and yelled, but he wasn't strong enough to push back. The blade got closer and closer, and then he felt the cold metal touch his skin. Then, he felt the spray of warm liquid on his face. And yet, there was no pain. Was he so lost to the heat of battle that he didn't feel pain anymore? Would his only pain be a hellish emotional anguish, knowing that his beloved Usako was about to suffer the same fate?
Then, more gurgling noises came…
*.*.*
Usagi shook away the haze and saw Jihanna on top of Mamoru, inching her blade towards his exposed neck. She only had seconds, and she saw the discarded silver sword. She rushed over, grabbed the blade… and then she knew agony in her heart not felt since the loss of Omi. Once again, it was too little, too late…
*.*.*
Then, the blade lifted away from Mamoru's throat, and he opened his eyes. He wasn't the one making the gurgling sound. A silver blade with a coating of crimson protruded through Jihanna's chest. She remained kneeling upright over Mamoru, although she was twitching and convulsing, staring at the killing blade in furious disbelief.
"I'm so sorry," Usagi whimpered as she pulled the blade out of the doomed woman. Jihanna fell to the ground and made a crawling motion, but she was too weak to pull herself any further.
"Heg…gith…" And then, she looked back towards Mamoru. "Ve…ve?" She smiled as she reached towards him. Mamoru kneeled by her side and took her uninjured hand in his. "Veve…" Jihanna closed her eyes, and her weak grasp went limp in Mamoru's hands.
Jihanna was with her Heggith once again.
*.*.*
You can't save everyone!
Usagi dropped to her knees, trembling. "What have I done?" Couldn't she do anything right after four years of this gig?! Just like Jorvist. Just like Tin Nyanko, Diamond, Sapphire and Nephrite. She had an opportunity to save all of them, and once again, she failed!
Mamoru rushed to her side and embraced his future wife. "You've saved my life, and the life of our daughter."
"But… what about her?"
"She made her choice."
"No… It's no excuse…"
Usagi's right glove was covered in the blood of the young woman she had no choice but to kill. Her cries nearly drowned out an unfamiliar ringing tone from her watch. Usagi ignored it, and Mamoru gently slipped the watch off of her hand while still holding her. He knew who the tone belonged to, obviously. Just one more thing Usagi couldn't get right…
*.*.*
"Journeyman," Mamoru whispered. There was no image. The watch had been damaged during the scuffle.
"Is Sailor Moon alright," Tetsuya replied after a moment.
"Yes. We're both fine."
"Then… Jihanna…"
"We tried, but we had no choice."
"I… understand. You did what you had to do."
Tetsuya cut off the call on his end.
Within minutes, four other Senshi were on the scene, and they teleported their shaken leader away from the growing crowd. The crowd quickly fled in terror as a silver flash revealed a young man with ebony skin and a similar uniform to the dead woman's, only it was purple. He stared in horror and wept through clenched teeth as he gently carried the fallen warrior away. Usagi wasn't the only person who was responsible for the tragic loss that day. They all had done too little, too late. In another flash of silver, the two aliens were gone…
*.*.*
*.*.*
*.*.*
Author's Notes:
I am setting up a Live Journal account with links and what-nots to my rants and raves. Otakon's fan fiction writing panel really opened my eyes to a few things. Unless there's something I REALLY need to say, like my notes at the beginning of The Onion Was Right All Along, I'm going to put my thoughts on LJ. Hopefully the next two chapters, Thieveses and Turn the Grass More Green, will be up by the end of the weekend. I'll be estatic if I get just one of 'em up by then, though...
