Chapter 34: Comfort
"What did you just say?" Princess Kakyuu broke the silence.
"Stephie-chan is pregnant." Luna answered. She turned back towards Stephie-chan to see if she would continue to go and fight. She was shocked to notice that she was close to tears.
"I gotta go." Stephie-chan muttered and hurried out of the house.
"Stephie-chan wait." Seiya got to his feet as soon as the door closed.
"Let her go Seiya." Chibi-usa ordered.
"But-"he started.
"You have someone else you need to talk to." She answered.
"But she's my sister." Seiya shook his head.
"And Usagi's my mom." Chibi-usa replied softly. "I want her to be happy and she made a great sacrifice for you. Go and talk to her." She ordered. Seiya nodded and headed up the stairs.
"We'd better go." Michiru got to her feet. She and Setsuna helped Haruka into a standing position. She held her hand out for the car keys. "Hotaru do you want to come with us or would you rather stay here?
"I'll come." Hotaru nodded. "I'll call you later Chibi-usa." She added before leaving.
"I can't believe Stephie-chan is pregnant." Galaxia muttered while shaking her head slowly. "And she's only sixteen."
"I know what you're thinking." Luna quickly interjected. "She didn't agree to it."
"So you're saying she was-"Yaten trailed off.
"Raped?" she finished. "Yes, she's been having nightmares about it recently." She admitted.
"And you didn't tell us?" Princess Kakyuu demanded.
"She promised me not to and I knew that admitting to everyone would be able to stop her from leaving and doing something stupid." Luna explained.
"But she can get an abortion." Galaxia suggested.
"No she can't." Taiki shook his head.
"Why not?" she demanded.
"It's different for starlights." Princess Kakyuu answered. "When you plan to have a baby you have to be one hundred percent sure that you want to have one. Because when you're pregnant you can't get rid of it unless-"
"Unless of miscarriage." Galaxia finished.
"Not exactly." Yaten shook his head. "It's unless you get struck really hard in the stomach." He added.
"Like a miscarriage." She repeated.
"No, when we mean struck we mean like stabbed." Taiki answered. "It's like the way people here on Earth used to get abortions before the right scientific tools were made." He explained.
"May we stop talking about this?" Chibi-usa cried. "It's really depressing." She added.
"Would you rather talk about Usagi?" Yaten shot back.
Seiya slowly descended the stairs. He headed over to Usagi's bedroom door and paused outside of it. He was able to hear her cries through the door. He raised his hand to knock but hesitated for a second before going through with it anyway. "Usagi?" Seiya called out while knocking on her bedroom door.
"Leave me alone Seiya." came her reply. He hesitated again before answering.
"Can we just talk?" he pleaded.
"I don't want to see you." Usagi snapped.
"Usagi-"Seiya tried again.
"Go away." She shouted. Seiya quickly backed away from the door when he heard something hard bang against it.
"Then I'll stay on this side of the door." Seiya answered. He pressed his ear up against the door. "Usagi come on-"he tried again.
"Why does everyone in my life keep disappearing?" Usagi cried out. Seiya quickly clapped his hands to his ears and took a step back from the door. It was now apparent to him that she moved closer.
"You knew from the start of being a sailor senshi that you would have to make a lot of sacrifices." He replied softly.
"They died before." She replied. "They made sacrifices for me before."
"Then why is this so hard?" Seiya questioned.
"Because I couldn't transform and do anything to stop it." Usagi answered as if it were obvious. "And what's worse, my ex-boyfriend, my once future husband killed them in front of me." She added.
"I suppose this is partly my fault." He sighed and turned to rest his back against the door. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I can't control my feelings Seiya." Usagi answered.
Seiya couldn't help but smile softly. "Usagi I assure you everything will turn out right. We will convert Mamoru back and your friends will be revived." He promised. He let out a small gasp as the door opened and he fell flat on his back.
"How can you promise that?" she demanded. Seiya noticed that her eyes were slightly bloodshot and her cheeks had left over salt trails.
"Because I love you and I don't like to see you when you're sad." He answered and wrapped his arms around her. "When you smile your blue eyes light up and it seems like everything is right again. You've suffered a lot of pain when you shouldn't."
"When are things going to get better?" Usagi questioned while resting her head against Seiya's chest.
"When we find your crystal and the owner of the Rainbow Crystal." Seiya answered while holding her tighter. He slowly started to rub small circles on her back.
"Thank you for being here for me." She whispered and held him closer.
"I love you too much to leave." He muttered and kissed her lightly on the forehead.
"I love you too." Usagi replied. "But I'm curious about something." She added and pulled away. She walked over towards her vanity mirror and picked up one of her make-up brushes.
"What?" Seiya asked, walking up behind her.
"How is Chibi-usa still alive if I broke up with Mamoru?" Usagi questioned while swirling the make-up brush in some white powder and rubbed it across her cheeks to hide her tear trails.
"I don't know but why question it?" he answered while placing his hands on her shoulders. "She's a pretty cool kid and you should be glad that she's here right now."
"I know, but I had a nightmare last night." She admitted. "It felt so real, she died in my arms."
"It won't happen. I assure you it won't. Not while I'm here." Seiya shook his head. Usagi smiled softly and turned around in his arms and placed a kiss on his lips.