Um, so I kinda lied, accidentally. This chapter isn't any shorter at all, after all. xD That wasn't planned, but… they just kept talking xD xD…
L
It was curious, how they met almost exactly in the same way back then. Mamoru almost had to chuckle about it.
They'd both been little kids, him only a little older than her. Her mother, Her Majesty Queen Serenity, had been on a formal visit to the Golden Kingdom. Princess Serenity had managed to sneak away and get lost in the gardens, where she'd found him –Endymion. He'd been crying, because his nurse who he loved was to be sent away from court to be replaced by a royal guard of boys barely older than him, from the farthest reaches of the Kingdom and who he didn't know. To comfort him the tiny princess had plucked a rose from the garden bushes and held it under his nose. Looking up he'd seen the single most adorable and prettiest sight in the world, this incredibly warm and gentle smile, set in this delicate face with her pale skin and silver white hair, and those blue-ish lavender eyes.
She was so tiny, this lovely angel, four years at most, so full of warmth and kindness and she'd soothed his tears away with pudgy fists, asked him why he cried and told him of her own guard and how what was happening to him was the best thing in the world and he should save his tears for things that were sad.
And how they'd met again, years later, when the promise of war had hung over both their kingdoms for years and high strung hopes hung around peace negotiations. It had been in her palace gardens this time around, when it was his royal family making the formal visit and he and his guard (who by then had become his brothers to him) had been excused to explore the castle under guidance from her own royal guard. And how he had been introduced to this face again, the features older, but just as warm and gentle.
They'd both felt the jolt when he'd touched her knuckles to his lips, had both felt the other feel it – those whirring emotions that weren't their own. It had confused them, scared them, moved them to tease each other and lash out instead of falling into each other's arms, which was what they'd really wanted to do in that moment – they'd done that a little later.
They'd been married, only a few months later, secretly, in another garden – Elysion – by a boy priest under the cover of darkness. He'd known the risk, of course he had, but he just hadn't been able to keep away.
He'd understood she was the other half of his soul, and sacrificing what they had for peace had just not been possible for either of them. Maybe they had been too naïve, too hopeful, too optimistic that everything would fall into place. That their love had to be accepted once they were not only linked by fate, but also before the gods and law.
It wasn't.
It had been a mistake. The risk had been too great. And yet… knowing what he knew, he would still always, always do it again. He would always choose her. He remembered what had happened, and yet not a single bone in his body could regret choosing her over everything.
And it was so different – remembering. They'd heard Baby-Usagi tell them. And yet remembering was so very much different. He had no words for this.
They both looked at each other, in shock. Usagi's eyes were wide, so very wide, and so tired. He let his hands trail through one golden streamer of hair – amazed how it could be so different and yet the same. And he knew she – Usako. His wife. – was recalling the same thing, it played across her eyes and her raging emotions. Her heart was hammering in her chest, she felt like recognition, longing, heartbreak, love. He took her hand, and she laced her fingers with his, gently, slowly. He was acutely aware of her soft skin against his, breath hitching and all, as if it were the first time he'd touched her, as if he hadn't moved in her only this morning, as if he'd been denied her hand all this time.
He was pulled back to the present by Rei, shaking him, yelling at them that they needed to go now, he needed to get back to normal, Makoto couldn't keep anyone away much longer for them to flee.
They both shook out of it, and the clarity of the memories was dulled, like distant memories of dreams although he knew he would forever recall these now, making way for Mamoru to take hold of himself again.
Ail and Ann – as they had called each other, were gone.
Right. – Something that happened after Usagi had been injured. Someone had stepped in, did something –
He looked up into a different set of blue eyes that bore into him. Sailor Mercury's eyes. She de-transformed, without breaking his gaze, and instead of a Senshi in a blue and white fuku and knee-high boots that should have looked unfamiliar to him but now wasn't, a timid girl in a bordeaux and green colored school uniform stood in front of them.
Then her eyes flew to Usagi, who coughed, heaving, eyes squarely fixed on Mamoru and nothing else, touching her hands to her ripped and bloody fuku – no wounds were there anymore. She de-transformed and her – also ripped and bloody –school uniform re-appeared. Mamoru did the same, willing the armor to go and his regular battered clothes to re-appear.
Usagi looked at him wide-eyed. She was drained, weak, having expelled all her energy and nearly died beneath his hands – he trembled when he thought of it – and could barely stand up on her own… He almost fell to his knees in front of her and pulled her arms over his shoulders. She understood his intent immediately, slid onto his back, and he laced his arms behind his back and underneath her bottom, lifting her piggy-back. This way most of her blood-stained front would remain hidden.
Rei unzipped her hoodie and threw it over Usagi on Mamoru's back, to hide the few still visible blood stains on the back of her school shirt, and then they ran. He was dimly aware of the blue haired girl – Sailor Mercury – stopping at the destroyed vines where a little sapling had sprouted just where Usagi's energy blast had cut them, ripping it from its dead host and then proceeded to run after them.
Makoto let the storm die down, leaving a small wake after them and through its eye they ran to the closest place that could shelter them, a small gap between houses, and waited a bit, looking at each other wide-eyed and then stepped out again, trying to act as if everything was normal.
The media was rushing in, crowds of on-lookers were forming, and attention was on the front of the Family Mart store, not on them. No one spared them a glance when they walked down the street together, just some concerned looks when they saw Usagi's tired state, being carried by a boy in battered clothes – at least, his clothes being black, there was no blood visible on him. But the way Mamoru carried her; the stance he adopted conveyed nothing out of the ordinary, just a boyfriend carrying his tired girlfriend, and they looked away.
"Tsukino's." He said, answering everyone's unvoiced question of where to go, where to talk, and led the way with Usagi falling victim to her fatigue on his back, eyes fluttering in exhaustion.
Sailor Mercury blinked, she seemed surprised at the name but then caught herself, though paused for a second.
Rei turned back towards her and smiled reassuringly with a wink that Ami knew was completely and soley only for her benefit. "…You coming, Sailor Mercury?"
The blue haired girl gasped a little. "That is my name, isn't it?" She whispered, and Rei's eyes turned soft, grabbing her hand in hers and turning to walk.
Ami followed them.
L
She teleported, huffing and puffing, into their home with Ail across her shoulders and carried him, groaning, the few steps to their bed.
She'd arrived at the scene to safe Mamoru from Ail. She'd left to safe Ail from Mamoru.
The decision had been instantaneous, instinctive, irrevocable.
Ail collapsed, a trembling, weak heap of limbs, on the soft fluffy covers – they hadn't adopted a lot of human habits since they arrived on this planet, but their sleeping arrangements they had copied. There had been something so comforting about soft bedding and falling asleep in a warm embrace that had drawn them in.
She lowered herself onto the bed as well and lay down behind Ail, wrapping his shaking form in her embrace, mimicking their sleeping position for his comfort, then allowed part of her energy to flow into his body when she touched her lips to the nape of his neck.
He sighed, calming somewhat.
There had never been a being in the whole universe she had felt more attracted to than Chiba Mamoru. No one she had ever wanted as much, desired as deeply, wanted to possess with all she was. And there probably never would again.
It wasn't even that he was Tuxedo Mask – Apart from the fact that creating a Cardian took a lot out of Ail, and having to create new ones because they kept being destroyed was even harder on him, she could absolutely forgive and completely understand that Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon would protect themselves and their own, would protect their planet from what they viewed as a threat.
It had been a shock, yes, but not a flaw. It made him, if possible, even more intriguing to her.
But they'd attacked them – the power Sailor Moon had expelled was greater than anything she'd ever witnessed. And then Mamoru had transformed again a second time to safe the wretched girl – and shown a power that was maybe just as great.
They'd almost killed Sailor Moon – no, Usagi. She was aware of that. He would not forgive that, just as she would not forgive them attacking Ail.
And then they'd attacked – she'd barely gotten Ail out alive.
This new warrior had come out of nowhere. The power she had expelled had been condensed, intense, on the point. The globe of water that engulfed Ail would have killed him in moments had she not dived in and hollowed it out.
It had been them, out to kill hers. Them against us.
But Ail was all she had. Ail was her companion, the single most important person in her life, the only person in her life. He had been with her through all their hardship, in every moment. He was hers, she was his, they belonged in this world together. They had come into this life together and she would not allow him to leave it without her. She would always keep him safe, always avenge him, would always be at his side.
Even if it meant to wipe out these warriors. Even if it meant to wipe out Mamoru.
She knew what this meant now – Ail was weak, on his brink. Their tree was dead, a hollow vessel unable to heal and sustain them any longer, only able to be carved out for Cardians anymore to get the energy they needed for them instead.
They were a threat to Sailor Moon and her entourage, and if she did not kill them now, they would come for both of them instead. It was just like it was at home. Kill or be killed. She knew the language of revenge and retaliation; had grown up with it even when they had run from it.
But she must do this, so they could live, so they could continue to get their energy this way, so they would not be hunted down by Tuxedo Mask for having injured his mate.
She'd arrived to safe Mamoru from Ail. She'd left to safe Ail from Mamoru. And now she would need to go back to kill him, and his girlfriend and their team as well.
L
He carried Usagi's groggy form into her room, Ikuko whirring around him, wrought up and frantic, ever since she opened the door for them and had seen Usagi slumped on Mamoru's back.
She was awake, though drowsy and out of it, not fully aware of the things happening around her. When he slid her off his back and onto the edge of her bed, Ikuko yelped, hand flying to her mouth, seeing the blood stains on her daughter's shirt.
Both Mamoru and Usagi jerked up, hands flying up to reassure her, albeit slowly and uncoordinated in Usagi's case. Usagi lifted up her shirt clumsily, showing baby smooth and unblemished skin, and Ikuko shoulders slumped back, letting out a huge sigh of relief.
Usagi got tangled up in her shirt, trying to get the bloody rag off her unsuccessfully and Mamoru directly jumped over to help her out of it and she sighed and slumped backwards onto the bed, curling up, eyes fluttering shut, while Mamoru went to rummage in her drawer for something new for her to wear.
"What can I do?" Ikuko said, anxious, hovering close to Usagi and wringing her fingers. Usagi moaned tiredly, and Mamoru turned to Ikuko with a sympathetic smile.
"Don't worry… she's alright, just tired, I swear…" He mumbled, apologetically, a bit defeated. He was very much aware of the fact that he was trying to convince himself of this almost as much as he was Ikuko. It had been such a close call… He looked over to Usagi, who had drifted off to sleep, curled up as she was and only clad in her bra and tattered skirt.
Ikuko looked dissatisfied, clearly feeling helpless in the situation. He cleared his throat. "She could use something to eat, I guess? Something with crazy amounts of calories? She's lost a lot of energy…"
With this Ikuko's shoulders snapped back, she adopted a determined expression, held a hand to Usagi's forehead and then to her cheek and with very motherly instructions to holler for anything, anything t all, she left the room and hurried down the stairs.
Mamoru quickly changed out of his own torn shirt and donned the button-down and vest from yesterday that was still lying around, not bothering to change his jeans that were only ripped around the knees and shins, and then grabbed the pale jersey skirt and the soft creamy-colored lacy woolen sweatshirt he had gotten out for her and approached the bed and her sleeping form.
He wasn't all too careful with her school skirt – it was absolutely destroyed and unsalvageable anyway, so he didn't bother being gentle to it when he got it off her, and tossed it blindly towards her trash bin. He was extremely careful when dressing her though, touching her almost religiously, gently, holding her steady and brushing against her skin as though she were something sacred. And to him, right now, she was. And it wasn't really due to those new (old) additional memories at all, no. It was because she was her, and he had almost lost her today.
She was coming back to when he lifted her gently by the shoulders to get the sweater over her head, and she tried meekly to hold herself up to assist.
Her eyes blinked awake towards him again when her head emerged back out from the fabric, this time truly looking at him. He smiled at her, and without breaking their gaze he continued to pull her arms through her sweater.
"Good morning, princess." He smiled a sad little lopsided smile at her.
Her eyebrows scrunched together. "Usagi." She corrected, with a frown.
He blinked at her, startled. "Yes. Of course, I know… I'm sorry, I was trying to be funny…"
She exhaled, relieved, and then frowned again, tiredly. "They're not… as bright as they were before…" She said, worrying her lip, and he brought his hand up to tug on the side of her mouth to free it from her teeth. She released it almost immediately.
She was talking about her new set of memories, of course.
"For me neither." He whispered and she exhaled deeply once more.
He knelt in front of her then, and their eyes were aligned with her sitting on the edge of her bed, mimicking the exact position they'd been in just a few weeks prior, in this very same spot.
"I'm still me…" She whispered, head cocked slightly sideways.
"Me, too." He whispered back and she almost shuddered in relief.
Her whisper was small, but intense. "I love you."
He grabbed her hands, almost yanked at her and leaned forward to bring their foreheads together. The look in his eyes was meaningful; fierce and powerful.
"I love you." He replied, almost desperate, lips trembling.
Her lips curled up in a small smile and she wrapped her tired arms around his shoulders, drawing him closer against her and tilted her chin upwards to kiss his forehead, then nestled her chin into the crook of his shoulder, holding as fast as he did.
They remained like that for a while, until he sighed into her neck and the fabric of her sweatshirt. "We need to get down. They're waiting for us downstairs."
She nodded, but didn't let go, her fingers clawed into his shirt. "What about the girl?" She mumbled, muffled by his shoulder, and he blinked.
He was sure she hadn't been conscious enough in her near-death experience during Sailor Mercury's appearance, but obviously awake enough on their way back, talking in hushed voices, for her to notice her in her civilian form.
"She's Sailor Mercury." He said, his voice vibrating against the skin of her neck and he felt her reaction. He was sure if he'd let go to look at her face now he'd find her eyes wide and surprised, and true enough, her heard her gasp. "Her name is Mizuno Ami…"
"The genius girl that Papa –"
" – interviewed just last week." He finished for her, chuckling dryly and it rocked her small form, then shrugged his shoulder slightly, the movement shaking her head that still lay against it. "What are the odds, eh?"
And if the anticipation that he felt bubbling around him, coming from downstairs, was any indication then they were probably grilling the girl about her transformation right now. She'd said she made her medium herself when Makoto had asked her about it on the way…
He released Usagi from his death grip and she reluctantly let him go with a little whine. She was still very weak, even if fully awake now, so he had her hook her arm through his and steadied her when they made it slowly down the stairs. (She'd refused to be carried down the stairs, rolling her eyes at him and telling him not to fuss so much.)
They could hear loud and pronounced voices wafting up the staircase from the living room. Makoto was obviously excited.
" – think you could make crystals like that for us, too?!"
"I could try…"
The first thing he saw upon entering the room was Mako-chan jumping up and down in a way he would normally only have expected Usagi to do, with her hand on Ami's shoulder who was blushing wildly.
Ami practically jumped up upon seeing them entering the room and bowed deeply when introducing herself very formally to Usagi.
Usagi stilled next to him for a moment. He could feel his girlfriend's – wife's – emotions roaring. Recognition, this deep, deep affection she felt whenever she saw any of the Senshi… and he knew, because he did so as well, that she remembered her now of course. That she remembered all of them, even if dimly. Her guardians, her friends… her family.
With energy that she didn't currently have, Usagi flew into Ami's arms with a cry, hugging her more tightly and longer than Ami had most probably ever been hugged before – at least those were the feelings her got off of her. She seemed a bit overwhelmed, the poor timid girl, especially when Usagi sniffled into her shoulder, crying a soft little "Welcome home. You've been missed so much, Ami-chan."
It was a while until Usagi extracted herself from the flustered blue-haired girl – only when Rei started teasing her about it; and Usagi's head whipped around, still crying, and she flew towards Makoto and Rei, who were standing next to each other, and engulfed them in a group hug as well.
Even he was near tears, to be honest. Usagi's emotions were raging so much he was having a damn hard time not getting affected by her.
And so was everyone else… even if they didn't share a bond straight to her emotions and sensations. As it was, Makoto had started crying as well, Ami long before. The former let them flow freely with a smile, the latter wiped at them somewhat embarrassedly, both really not knowing what was going on in Usagi, but feeling the significance nonetheless.
Rei ended up shoving Usagi playfully, swallowing around a lump in her throat as well or so Mamoru thought, telling her to cut it already, they had things to discuss.
And so they did.
They talked well into the afternoon; Ikuko kept around and fed them – and seemed to insist on continuously shoving food down her daughter's throat (at least the bowl she'd been supplied with didn't ever remain empty), and Kenji had come home at one point – dashing into the apartment frantically after having heard of another attack to see if they were alright and why didn't they bloody ever listen to their phones – only to stop and blink at Ami confusedly who sheepishly waved hello at him. (And he was quite smug, way later, when Ami admitted that it been her conversation with him that had convinced her she could try and join them even if she had had no idea that she was 'Sailor Mercury' – she said it with a bit of wonder in her tone of voice.)
But after a while, they left them to it, not wanting to intrude on what seemed a very private experience, and Mamoru vowed to fill Kenji in later. Also, Mamoru was again very grateful, not for the first time, that Shingo was allowed to stay over at his friends' houses so often, otherwise they really wouldn't have been able to explain the reuinion currently happening in the boy's living room.
They'd showed Ami one Baby-Usagi video that mentioned her the most, talking about her work, her crystals, her powers; then about Serenity and Endymion (which Ami was very intrigued about, firing away questions how it could be that his remembrance would trigger hers, and even more intrigued when Mamoru starting talking about unexplainable psychic soul bonds and psychometrics), about reincarnation, elementary powers, explained themselves and what was happening.
Though, unsurprisingly, Ami could explain the latter to them way better.
"It's called Makaiju. It's a cosmic tree." She repeated, cradling the little sapling between her hands and then put it back on the coffee table. She stroked its little leaf as if it were a pet.
Mamoru shook his head, still a bit dumbfounded how she could know all these things. 'I know about worlds…' She had said ominously. 'A lot of worlds…' But one thing he was certain about; had they met Ami earlier a lot of this would have been way easier.
"So… what you're saying is… what we're up against all this time is this tiny little baby tree?!" Rei couldn't wrap her head around all this information.
"Well, not the tree directly, and of course not this sapling anyway, but the tree's offspring, yes." Ami nodded.
"But… we're fighting plants?" Makoto shook her head.
"Technically… yes." Ami said.
"But the boy Mamoru says he knew…" Makoto repeated. Ami sighed a bit. And Mamoru could understand, they had been going over this three times by now, yet still, it was a bit much to take, even for him.
"Would be another of the tree's offspring, yes. A sibling of the ones you saw today, you could say. But then again, they're all siblings, they're all made by this tree. The genetics behind it are fascinating. Think of it as self-pollination. Onesided, asexual reproduction. No amphigony. They don't procreate, they are only ever created by this one tree. Without the tree the species dies out."
"And it feeds off emotion?–" Mamoru murmured, looking at the tiny sprout skeptically, and Usagi, who sat on the floor with her back against Mamoru's legs, touched the leaf carefully with one extended digit –
It twitched at her touch and grew a tiny fraction. Usagi yelped and drew her hand back, Ami looked at it wide-eyed and amazed.
"Usagi-san…Can you do that again, please?" She asked with an awed voice.
Usagi eyed the sprout warily, and then back up at Ami, who looked at her with almost giddy anticipation. Usagi gulped, and touched it again. Then she shrieked; it had grown another few centimeters, two or three, this time a soft little new leaf had started forming.
Ami jumped up, giggling. "Amazing!"
Mamoru eyed the tree probably as warily as Usagi and the others did, but Ami was beyond excited. "Can you think of Mamoru-san when you do it?"
"Er,… okay?" Usagi said, and extended her finger again, this time a safer distance away, Mamoru's hand resting on her shoulder, squeezing as she leaned her whole arm over and scrunched one eye shut, then looked up at Mamoru in the last second while she touched it.
The pad of her index finger brushed the tiniest leaf only briefly, but this time it pretty much exploded in leafs, tripling its size. Mamoru yanked at her shoulder to draw her back and she fell back on her bum, clutching at his legs, fingers clawing into his black skinny jeans. What had at first barely been the size of a small dandelion was now the size of a big cat or small dog, sprouting shiny glimmering green leafs.
"Well that's creepy." Rei deadpanned, eyeing the plant warily while Ami couldn't contain her amazed laughter; She was even clapping her hands in excitement.
Makoto looked at it as doubtful as Rei did. "But you're sure they're really a peaceful species, yes?" She said, one eyebrow raised, eyes fixated on the alien botany.
Both Mamoru and Ami answered with a resolute and resounding "Yes."
"Well…so why are they killing people, then?" Rei glared with pursed lips and an annoyed tone.
Ami cringed a little, her soft voice becoming even quieter. "Well – to be precise, as far as I am informed, and please correct me if I'm wrong, they've killed only once. And it was the first time it had been a couple who was attacked, yes?"
They nodded. Mamoru and Usagi's gazes both turned a bit darker, mournful, and Makoto glanced at Mamoru sympathetically.
Ami paused a bit before she continued to talk. "Well, I'd reckon it was an accident, actually…. You just saw what the tree did when Usagi-san thought of Mamoru-san. Love is the purest emotion for this entity. It would not be able to deal with this amount of energy exposed to it if it hadn't been prepared for it. It wouldn't have even known when it was too much…" She trailed off, watching Mamoru's frown carefully.
Makoto shook her head rapidly, scrunching her eyebrows together in thought. "But… why do they extract energy to feed this thing then, or to feed themselves or whatever, when they basically just need to touch it with happy feels?"
"Well… for one, I don't think it's this easy… the emotion needs to be very strong… and completely positive." To emphasize her point, Ami went to touch the plant again herself – nothing happened. Mamoru frowned. Right… He'd seen her hold the thing the whole way back, nothing had happened to it. But it made sense… Usagi was filled to the brim with love for anyone….
"Well…and also," Ami continued "so they might not be aware of that. There aren't that many people who feel deeply. Especially because the samples I have seen are all riddled with Chaos energy, and practically if not completely dead…"
They all looked at her confused. Ami frowned. "Eh… that's another story maybe. Still…" She inhaled deeply, and started to gesticulate at the tree in modest movements. "The point is, I think they don't know. In fact, I think this sapling is the only thing about this tree currently still alive."
Usagi's eyes widened. "So… if we could teach them, then they might not do this…" She said, her voice hopeful.
"Maybe." Ami shrugged. "It's just a hypothesis."
Then Ami frowned again, looking at the plant on the coffee table. She picked it up – it was much lighter than it appeared and looked a little peculiar with its roots not burying into anything but otherwise completely normal. She put it back and this time she noticed that the roots weren't even fully touching the surface it was placed on – it floated a little bit.
She looked up. "Um, Usagi-san, Mamoru-san… would you be willing to test what effect it has when both of you touch the sapling simultaneously, thinking of each other?"
Usagi gulped, but looked up at Mamoru who shrugged at her. She nodded, and they both moved towards the plant.
"Wait!" Ami yelled and they both froze, wide-eyed, hands extended.
Ami picked up the plant again, and moved it off the coffee table to the middle of the living room, on the ground. Mamoru nodded. More space, made sense.
Mamoru took her hand, and turned to look at her. Not breaking their gaze, they both extended their hands again and then touched the leafs of the tiny tree at the same time.
This time it billowed out so forcefully it knocked both of them off their feet. It grew, in an instant, to Usagi's height.
They landed on the floor in a dull thud that made Kenji jump into the room, thinking something had happened. He stood, dumbfounded, staring at a floating tree in the middle of his living room.
Ami grinned. "Or,… I'd say we have a gift for them."
L
So… this is almost it. Only two more chapters.
It's been a crazy ride, and I wouldn't have been this fast and determined without your reviews.
So some much needed and deserved thanks are in order, to everyone who took the time to push that review button and let me know that you were reading and enjoying it,
And especially to Ruk, Celestrial Cat, Mercedes 1312, Sailor Saiyan007, momo221, Kasienda, tryntee13, Bunchan529, alecksandurah, Lady Aya, Tinatin, wishwars and Malevolent Dark Reflection,as well as Kumuchii on AO3 for reviewing so often and thoroughly and with so much excitement that made my heart beat faster and kept me going like nothing else; and for smokingbomber and irritablevowel to do the same while also helping me out when I got stuck on a plot-hole or a detail, and for Antigone2 for doing so and for a review that made me cry and for inspiring this thing in the first place.
Next up: Venus!