Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, the places or the song.
Break the Ice
Chapter 14: Calm before the Storm
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE JUST LEFT!?" shouted Beryl at the quivering Generals standing in front of her
"He said he was going to go out for a little while" muttered Nephlite
"A LITTLE WHILE!? IT'S BEEN A WHOLE DAY!"
"We know, we're looking for him" said Malachite quietly in response
"Well, then, find him! And find out how he's avoiding my controlling dark energy, I can't even sense him anymore!"
"Yes, your highness" muttered the four of them as they quickly walked out of the chamber.
"You don't think that those Senshi got him?" asked Zoycite worriedly
"It's possible, Sailor Moon did manage to cleanse him that time" muttered Malachite
"What should we do?" asked Jedite
"I'm not sure" murmured Malachite, "Something tells me that everything's changed"
"It has" responded Nephlite quietly, "There's a sense of foreboding in the air"
"Well, we should work on finding him, he must be somewhere in that little town where the Senshi always are, it can't be that hard to find him" muttered Zoycite
--
We packed much-needed items and got the hell out of Juuban, knowing that the Generals would be looking there for Mamoru, who was back in full force now.
Our excuse for leaving was a trip, or our vacation, which wasn't looked at weird since it was the summer, vacation time.
"I remember!" cried Luna when we arrived to the next town and rented hotel rooms.
"Shhh, Luna, we're in public, remember?" I said as I helped grab my bag and hauled it to the lobby
"Seriously, Luna" muttered Artemis as he came into the hotel, keeping his voice low so only we could hear.
"Let's wait till we get upstairs" said Mamoru as he picked up Artemis and I picked up Luna, following the bellhop to our rooms, "Two suites, as picked by the gentlemen" he said as he showed us to the conjoined humongous suites, "Whoa, guys, you went all out" I said to them as they carried in their bags into the room
"Well, we had the money to waste" muttered Kevin
"What's up?" asked Minako as she jumped onto the bed
"We know how you 10 can get to the North Pole" said Luna
"Oh, whoa, finally" muttered Jay
Artemis narrowed his eyes at Jay, "Like you remembered every single one of your powers, along with how you died in your last life"
Jay frowned, "Jeez, I'm sorry, it was only a joke"
"Anyway" said Luna exasperatedly, "If you're all done acting like idiots, we know that the Senshi have teleportation powers as well, they were obscured in the darkness of our memories"
"So, that's five of us, what about the others?" asked Ami
"Take them with you, they have the power to teleport too" said Artemis
"Hm, so now that that problem is out of the way, when are we going?" asked Nick
I glanced at Mamoru, "Well, we should get some sleep tonight, and tomorrow's the day I guess"
Mamoru nodded, "Sounds good, we should rest up before going there, you have no idea how hard it will be"
Mamoru had filled us in on everything he had seen while he had been there.
"So, what? One last day on Earth?" whispered Zach
"Not the last day," I said softly
"What about Juuban, aren't the Generals going to go there to find Mamoru, what if they start destroying the city to get us to come out?" asked Ami
"They'll have to manage without us, it's only one day," murmured Rei, frowning at the window which overlooked a large town
"We can warn them though, the police, tell them that the Senshi are a little busy and that they should keep an eye on the town" said Minako
"Hm, that would work for now" muttered Kevin
"We can use our phones, they're not traceable" said Ami
"I guess I got this," muttered Zach as he walked into the other room, already dialing away.
"Let's enjoy today then" Rei said as she walked to her bag and pulled out her swimsuit, "A mini-party"
"Alright!" cried Jay as he ran out of the room, following Rei down to the pool
Nick snorted, "Since when are bathing suits part of the 'necessities' we were supposed to bring?"
"Uh, ever since we knew we were coming to a hotel" Minako grinned
I looked at the others, "Let's do it"
They grinned at me and grabbed their own swimsuits and rushed outside.
After a few hours in the pool, we had a hearty lunch and hung out in the hotel some more.
Night came increasingly fast and before we knew it, it was already 8 at night.
"We should get some sleep" Mamoru said as he yawned at the TV
"It's only 8 though" whined Nick, "We're not 5 year olds"
"But we are the ones who are going to attack the bad guys tomorrow, in case you forgot" muttered Zach
"Oh…yea"
"Right, so I'm going to turn in" Mamoru muttered, standing up, I joined him, "Me too, see you guys in the morning"
"G'night" called the others, "No doing anything nasty now" Jay yelled
I grinned at him, "What counts as nasty?"
Mamoru frowned as we walked to one of the beds and lay down, "I never got a chance to apologize for all that before"
I laughed, "Aw Mamoru, you were only evil for like two days, and still you came to us for help, you don't have to apologize"
"I do, I left you all alone" he whispered as he faced me
I frowned at the words, remembering my dream, "You didn't though, I had everyone,"
He smiled slightly, "I don't know what I'd do without them, without you" he whispered
"Same here, Mamoru, life would just be so empty" I said, a tear slipping from my eye
He wiped it away, "Hey, no crying, happy time right now" he said as grinned at me
I smiled, the sadness going away, my heart melting when he gave me a grin, "How can I, when you're right in front of me?" I asked
He leaned down and kissed me, "I love you, Usagi"
"Not Serenity?" I asked, frowning slightly
"Yes, Serenity, but I love Tsukino Usagi through and through as well, she's the one for me" he said as he kissed me again, "Though they are the same person, so I don't get the question in the first place"
I playfully smacked him, "It's an easy question, and you answered it perfectly, and in case you couldn't tell, I love you too"
Time passed as we kissed and eventually we began talking in murmurs, about everything that would happen, and everything that had happened, drifting off into sleep eventually.
"A monster is currently running through Juuban district, destroying everything in it's path" said the newscaster as the girls and guys watched
"Crap" muttered Kevin, "We were totally right"
"The police are in the process of fighting it back, though it is not extremely effective, but they are somewhat hurting the monster. The police reported that they received an anonymous tip that the monster would appear and that the Senshi and the Shitennou who have been seen usually battling these monsters, would not be here to fight" she said as they zoomed in on a picture of a monster being shot at by the police
"Well, that's a bit better" Ami whispered
"Wherever the Senshi and the Generals are, we thank them for the many times they saved us and we wish them luck in their efforts of attacking the enemies" she said before she suddenly changed topic
"Um, 'wish us luck in our efforts of attacking the enemies'? Exactly where the hell did she get that?" asked Rei, glancing at Zach
"Hey, don't look at me, I didn't say anything about that, I guess it was a little obvious" he muttered
"I would think, we've always been there to save them and then suddenly we disappear, it has to make anyone suspicious" said Nick
The others nodded, "Well, whatever happens tomorrow, either the monster attacks completely stop or…" Minako said
"Or they don't" finished Makoto, "In simple words anyway"
Rei sighed, "One way or another, it ends for us"
"Either in the final sense, or the way in which we all end up happy" muttered Jay
"I say the happy one" piped in Makoto, grinning at the others, "We deserve props, we've worked our asses off for the last forever"
"We'll find out if that was good enough" muttered Minako
"Tomorrow" murmured Rei
"Okay, enough of the foreboding talk" said Nick
"Well, we did live happy lives at least" murmured Kevin sadly
"We met each other, we fell in love again, we protected our Prince and Princess...sort of" muttered Ami
"Full lives" Zach finished
"What is this!?" cried Jay, "Stop with the mushy talk!"
"Aww, is wittle Jay going to cry?" asked Nick in a mock baby voice
Jay sniffled, "No, I don't know what you're talking about"
They giggled, "I'm happy though, I wouldn't have it any other way" muttered Rei
"Well, except for the whole possibility of us dying tomorrow" Makoto murmured
"We have everything, stuff people don't find even searching their whole lives, what more could we ask for?" whispered Minako
"OKAY! SERIOUSLY! STOP WITH THE MUSHY STUFF!" Jay shouted loudly
"Oh, um, okay, no need to yell" said Minako, grinning at Jay
He narrowed his eyes at them, "Okay, we get it, we all feel the same way, do we have to talk about it?"
"This is our way of saying goodbye, isn't it?" asked Makoto
Everyone glanced at each other and nodded, "We never were really good with goodbyes" muttered Nick
"We never got a chance to say them actually, so we don't have any practice" muttered Kevin
"Please, your goodbyes in the palace were very goodbyish, and very tear-jerking" muttered Minako, frowning at the guys
"Well, we couldn't help ourselves, dying always calls out the mushy parts of a person" Jay murmured
"You would know, you were the most heartfelt" Rei whispered
A tear fell from Jay's eyes, "Yea, I guess, I just did what I needed to" he whispered
"What happened to the whole no more mush?" asked Makoto
"Oh yea, right, so no more talking of goodbyes, or of tomorrow, or much then" muttered Nick
"One last thing, though" whispered Ami as everyone turned to look at her, "I love you guys" she murmured
"We all love everyone, we know," muttered Rei as she grabbed the radio remote and turned it on.
"And we have the Goo Goo Dolls, with their famous 'Better Days' coming on now" said the DJ, "Enjoy"
"And you ask me what I want this year
And I try to make this good and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cause I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And designer love and empty things,
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
So take these words
And sing out loud
Cause everyone is forgiven now
Cause tonight's the night the world begins again
And it's someplace simple where we could live
And something only you can give
And let's faith and trust and peace while we're alive
And the one poor child who saved this world
And there's 10 million more who probably could
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them
So take these words
And sing out loud
Cause everyone is forgiven now
Cause tonight's the night the world begins again
I wish everyone was loved tonight
And somehow stop this endless fight
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
So take these words
And sing out loud
Cause everyone is forgiven now
Cause tonight's the night the world begins again
Cause tonight's the night the world begins again"
They remained silent as the song finished, taking in the words into their hearts and minds, a moment they would always remember, this was their first chance to say goodbyes before something happened and their first chance to remain together.
"Pretty perfect song for the moment, huh?" asked Minako quietly
"It was" answered Makoto as she sniffed quietly
"So, we going to go to bed, or just going to hang tonight?" asked Kevin, looking around
"I say both, we got space here" muttered Jay as he got off the couch and lay on the floor
"Very comfy space" murmured Rei as she lay next to him
Zach lay down on one of the couches and Ami joined him. Makoto and Nick grabbed some comforters from the beds and threw them at the couples lying on the floor.
"Ouch" muttered Kevin as he picked up the comforter from his face, "Who threw this?"
"I did" called Nick
"You throw like a girl!"
"I'm sorry, did I hurt your oh so extremely cute face with the one pound comforter?"
"…No"
"That's what I thought"
"Aw, guys, stop that" called Rei from next to Jay, his arm draped loosely over her waist, mouth open, snoring softly already
"Alright" muttered Kevin as he snuggled next to Minako, his hand meeting hers underneath the covers
"Good night" Ami said, "See you tomorrow" Zach muttered, his arms surrounding Ami, making a small cocoon for her, which she nestled into
"Night" called Makoto as she lightly kissed Nick, "See you soon handsome" she whispered as she snuggled into his chest, finding her exact place against his muscles.
"Sleep tight" muttered Nick as he closed his eyes.
I awoke at the crack of dawn, or what felt like the crack of dawn. I lightly pulled my hand from Mamoru's grasp and waddled over to the main room, smiling at the sight that greeted me.
Kevin and Minako were cuddled up in comforters, hands entwined.
Jay and Rei were on the other side, Jay holding onto Rei as if his life depended on it.
Zach and Ami were snuggled together on one of the couches, Ami's back to Zach, his arms surrounding her tightly.
Makoto and Nick were almost perfectly embraced, as if they would be hugging.
I walked over to the kitchen and grabbed up the phone, ordering room service. I grabbed the food silently and set it up in the kitchen, then went to take a long hot shower.
When I emerged, I found Mamoru, Ami, Zach, Makoto and Nick up already, hanging out in one of the bedrooms, listening to music and not speaking.
"Morning" I said as I walked in, drying my hair. I heard a few murmurs in response.
"Whoa, you guys okay?" I asked as I backtracked and stared at their faces
"Fine, Usagi, just nerves" muttered Ami
"You get nerves for exams, Ami, not battles" I said as I sat down
"Well, this battle is the exam for our lives" murmured Zach
Makoto frowned, "Ugh, count on the nerds to make everything about tests"
"Honey, you'll do good on this one" said Nick lightly as he squeezed her hand. She smiled at him in response.
I looked closely at Mamoru, "What about you?"
"Huh? Oh, I'm fine," he muttered, frowning at the floor
"Okay, you're preoccupied, what about?"
"Well, I was thinking, Beryl thinks I'm on her side, same with the Generals, what if I could get in and do some damage" he said softly
"No! Absolutely not!" I cried
"What? Why not?"
"You are not going undercover, do you know how dangerous that would be?" I asked him angrily
"Less dangerous than slamming our way into there"
"Did you forget that you've been missing from the place for a day and a half, what makes you think that they would believe that you're still on their side?"
"They wouldn't dare not to, I'm Prince Endymion, in case you didn't know" snapped Mamoru
"Uh, Mamoru, you can't act worth anything, they'd turn you evil in a second" Nick abruptly said
"Wait, guys" said Ami softly, "Before you bite each other's heads off, I say we put it to a vote when everyone wakes up"
"A vote? Why the hell should we do a vote if the damn question doesn't even make sense?" I cried
"Usagi, we'll handle it together" muttered Nick
"It'll make it fair" said Makoto
"Alright, whatever" I muttered sourly
The others awakened and we ate breakfast silently, nobody quite in the mood for jokes, not even Jay.
"Right, so as we were…discussing before" called Mamoru, catching everyone's attention, "I want to go undercover, I can get in easily, do some damage beforehand"
I sighed, "Yea, but don't forget that he's been missing for a day and that they've been looking for him, they're not going to believe whatever he comes up with"
Mamoru frowned, "They will, I am Prince Endymion to them, plus, having someone on the inside will help you guys out a lot as well
"Absolutely not" said Kevin, his arms crossed over his chest, "Do you have any idea how dangerous that would be?"
"But less dangerous than if we all went in together, he would be able to help us out a lot" said Ami
"By jumping into the fire? That's like asking them to cut his head off" muttered Nick
"But think about it, we can keep contact with our phones and he can warn us if anything weird is going on" Minako said
"I go for him going in, and I'm never the one to actually plan things" Makoto muttered
"What!? But we have to stay together, that's our biggest advantage" Jay said, frowning at the girls
"I have to say I agree with Jay, it's much too dangerous to split up, no matter the tactical presence" Zach said
"Raise your hands, who says that I should go undercover?" asked Mamoru
I watched as he raised his hand, along with Minako, Makoto, Rei and Ami.
"And who says he shouldn't, those in fear for his actual life?" I snapped
I raised my hand, along with Zach, Nick, Jay and Kevin.
"Split right down the middle" sighed Makoto
"I say that I deserve more than one vote, since it really is my choice" Mamoru said
Kevin narrowed his eyes at him, "Do you want to go in there and lose yourself again!?"
He sighed, "I won't, I'll be able to handle this"
"Dammit, you really don't listen to common sense do you?" I asked him
"Both sides have their benefits" Zach muttered
"They do, but one works more for the group than the individual" Minako said
I scowled.
"That decides it, I'm going" Mamoru said as he got up
"And what exactly is your plan?" I asked, frowning at Mamoru
"The Generals are looking for me in Juuban, so I go there, tell them that I was off gathering energy for Metallia's awakening, they'll take me back, I go in and let the energy go. Without energy, they can't awaken her" he finished
"And where are you going to get this energy?" Zach asked
"Well, that's where I hit a snag" he muttered
"Borrow it" Rei said
"Borrow from where exactly?" asked Nick
"The people, a little from a lot, it won't affect them much" said Ami
I sighed, "As we're freaking decided now, that's the official plan"
"Right, so I guess I'll go and collect the energy and you guys will be getting ready for the attack?"
"We can't end up showing up there at the same time," Zach said, "the 9 of us in the surprise attack and you randomly appearing after being missing for more than 24 hours"
"True, but if we get there before him, then they'll be busy trying to stop us and not focusing on Mamoru" Ami pointed out
"Hm, makes sense" muttered Kevin, thinking deeply, "So, which one of us goes first?"
"It'll take me a while to get back to Juuban, not to mention the collection of the energy, at least an hour" Mamoru muttered, calculating the time
"Then this is it" I said, "He has to leave now and hurry too, we're losing valuable time"
We looked at each other silently, our eyes saying what we ourselves couldn't say, that we didn't want to do this, that we were scared; scared for our lives, scared for each other's lives.
"Right, so I'll go" Mamoru said as he walked into the room to get dressed
When he was out of earshot, I sighed deeply, wondering if I would see him again.
No, I would, I was sure I would.
I got up too, "What do we do for the next hour?"
"We still have to figure out where we're going to teleport from" Minako said
"Well, Luna mentioned that we should do it from a stable place, so here is out" muttered Ami
"And we have to figure out what we're going to take" Nick supplied
"Well, it's the North Pole, I would say jackets are in the necessary, even though we can endure cold better than normal people, I'm not sure that applies to below freezing" muttered Zach
"True, we never know what could happen there, we might even get stranded" Ami said
"Anything else?" asked Makoto
"Well, we got our powers, what more could we actually bring?" I said
"Well…um, I was thinking a little firepower wouldn't hurt" Jay said softly
We cracked up, "This isn't a movie, Jay" laughed Nick
"Plus, where do you think 9 seventeen-year olds could get guns in the first place?" asked Zach, "Please, if you have any ideas, think about enlightening us"
Jay sighed, "Okay, bad idea there, it just seemed a good idea"
"It would be, if it was plausible" said Makoto, "God knows I would totally love to fire a gun" she gazed off dreamily
"Right, so just jackets it is" Minako said
Mamoru walked out of the room, showered and crisp, "I'll gather the energy from the mall or something, lots of people with excess energy hang out there and then make my way to Juuban, I have a feeling it won't be that hard to find the Generals"
"One problem strikes me" I said as he walked to the door, he turned around, "What?"
"Your eyes, they're normal again"
"Shit" he muttered, "I totally forgot about that"
"Any ideas how to turn your eyes pitch black again?" asked Kevin, a slight happy tone to his voice
Ami looked at me, "Usagi, don't you have that transforming pen that Luna gave you, though you never used it"
"Oh right, I do" I said as I grabbed it from my subspace pocket. I chucked it at Mamoru, "Just make sure you specify what you want" I said as I turned away from him
"Um, I guess this is it" he muttered as he turned to us, "See you guys, I guess"
"Good luck man, don't take the whole vote personally, we're just worried about you" Kevin said as he approached Mamoru, seeming awkward
"Come here, man" Mamoru said as he pulled Kevin into a hug
Jay, Zach, and Nick waited their turn, "Kick some butt for me," Mamoru said to us, "I'll see you guys on the inside"
"Oh, Usagi, walk me downstairs" he called as he walked out the door
"And guys, Good luck to you too" he said softly as I joined him outside, closing the door softly behind me.
We walked in silence to the elevator and then to the car.
He opened the car door, "Guess this is goodbye for a little while" he muttered to me
"Just for a little while, I do wish you weren't doing this" I whispered
"I know, Usagi, but I have to, it makes it safer-safer for all of you"
I sighed, "You're too good sometimes"
He grinned, "Maybe I am"
I leaned into him, hugging him as hard as I could and in that instant felt the safest I had felt in the last two years.
I wiped the tears from my eyes, "Good luck, stay safe" I murmured
"I will, Usagi, you too" he said as he kissed me lightly
I kissed him back passionately, "I love you" I muttered against his lips
I watched as he pulled away in the car, waving as he went, I blew him one last kiss. He grinned as he mimed accepting it
I walked slowly back up to the others, "I guess we should leave too" I said
"So just leave everything as it is here?" asked Nick
"Well, yea, we'll need a place to stay when we get back, we'll go to Juuban later" Minako said
"Alright, I'll pay for two more days, then we'll go grab the jackets" Kevin muttered as he went into the room to grab his wallet
He emerged seconds later, "I'm good, let's go" he said as he walked to the door
Everyone followed him silently.
He paid for the suite and we left looking for a store that was still selling winter clothes.
We eventually came upon a camping store where we grabbed jackets for all of us, the guys paying for them.
"So where should we teleport from?" asked Jay, "We can't exactly do it in the middle of the street"
"A place where people don't wander in all the time should work, an alley maybe?" said Minako as we wandered the town looking for a spot
"This seems fine," I said, pointing to a turned in alley, which was quite wide and not too disgusting
"Right, so how do we do this?" asked Makoto as we all walked into the alley
"Luna told me what we had to do, gather in a circle and call upon our powers and imagine the North Pole and we should get there within seconds" Ami hurried along as she transformed, "Mercury Power!"
"Mars Power!"
"Jupiter Power!"
"Venus Power!"
"Moon Prism Power!"
"MAKE-UP!" we shouted all together.
By the time we finished, the Shitennou were waiting for us, "Sheesh, you guys take forever to transform" muttered Kunzite
"Well, we're sorry, but it doesn't feel like we're in any type of hurry right now, so let us take our time" snapped Jupiter, sticking out her tongue at Kunzite, who grinned back
"Alright, so we ready?" I called
"As ready as we'll ever be I guess," muttered Venus
"Here we go then" I said as I joined hands with Jadeite and Mercury
"Feel your powers!" shouted Zoicite
We felt power course through us; like electricity it flowed through us. Wind swirled around us, cooling us.
"Sailor Senshi Shitennou Teleport!" Mercury called out and a bright golden light surrounded us, we closed our eyes.
I felt the power leave me and I could feel it surround me and suddenly I felt something hook onto me, I tightened my grasp on Jadeite and Mercury.
We collapsed onto a cold and barren ice field and jumped up.
Surrounding us were monsters and monsters as far as the eye could see, they jeered at us.
Malachite stepped forward from among the millions of monsters, "Did you really think we wouldn't know that you were coming to see us?" he asked
Suddenly a figure emerged from behind him, "Nice to see you all again" called a black-armored, pure black-eyed figure, "I've been looking forward to this"
I gasped, "Endymion!?"
--BtI--
Awesome! The end is near! I can't wait till I can get it up! Which probably means the next chapter will be up this weekend or soon, there's I think like 2 chapters left.
Anyway, I know there wasn't anything big in this chapter, but as the title appropriately says, it's the calm before the storm, which is next chapter
Hope you enjoyed!
Don't forget to REVIEW!!