Author's Note: Posted 1/30/20. Alright, there are some changes you should be aware of. I've made Usagi sixteen and Mamoru eighteen. I also had Mamoru decide to go to the public high school so he could be with her a few chapters ago. There are some additional scenes in chapter 11 because of this. A few other changes were made for flow and backstory, but nothing major, and nothing that changes the story line. Just thought you'd want a chance to read the added scenes, which are listed in the author's note at the beginning of that chapter.

Really starting to delve into the why of things now. Why are Ail and An so angry and hostile? Why is Seijoru acting the way he is? What can be done to save the Tree?

Don't Push Me: A New Take on Sailor Moon R
Chapter Fifteen
Conflict and Advice

Makoto sat at the table in the Tsukino's kitchen, feeling a bit guilty under the watchful eyes of Ikuko-mama. The woman had her long lavender-blue hair pulled up into a messy bun, and was sitting across from her with a steady look in her eyes and a tea cup in her hands. Makoto gulped. It was just past five in the morning, and the woman looked ready to tear a hole into Makoto if she didn't get what she wanted.

"I want to know why all of you are suddenly going crazy about protecting my daughter," Ikuko said at last. She had caught Makoto watching Usagi's bedroom from her perch in the tree. "Don't bother lying. I already know she's Sailor Moon."

"What?" came a screech from the doorway. Usagi stormed into the room, looking half-crazed. "You can't know. That puts you in danger. Luna says-"

"I don't give a damn about what Luna says," Ikuko interrupted. "Mamoru knows we know. He didn't tell you?" Then Ikuko clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. "Forget I said that."

Usagi had turned a dark shade of red merging into purple a this point. Makoto frowned, wondering if she was even breathing. Her fists were clenched and her eyes looked as hard as diamonds. 'Uh oh," Makoto thought, wondering what would happen next. The girl seemed to be in a rage, and Makoto instinctively shrunk away from her.

"MAMO-CHAN!" she screamed at the top of her voice. It almost felt as though the entire house shook.

"Wait! Usagi!" Ikuko tried to calm her daughter, but a moment later the blonde had simply disappeared in a flash of silver light.

Moments later, Makoto felt eyes on her. "Well," said Ikuko, taking a sip of her tea as though nothing had just happened, "I'm waiting."

Makoto sighed and settled in to tell the story.

Kunzite woke with a start when something crashed in the bedroom. He leapt off the futon on the floor and made his way to Mamoru's room as quickly as he could, transforming in half a heartbeat even as he raced down the hallway.

"How dare you!" he heard someone shout, and then a grunt of pain.

Opening the door, Kunzite gasped and immediately stepped back in shock. Usagi was standing over Mamoru, feet planted to either side of his hips, a pillow in her hands, beating him over the head with it. Mamoru, for his part, held his hands over his face and looked desperate for some way to fix whatever the problem was, though Kunzite could see, even in the half-light of the open door, that the corner of his mouth was twitching as though he was trying not to smile.

Never having seen Usagi in a temper before, Kunzite was unsure what to do, until the little blonde raised one hand and pointed a finger at him, while still using the other to hit Mamoru. "You out!" she ordered Kunzite. "This doesn't concern you."

At this point there were only two options for the leader of the Prince's guards. He could rush in and pull Usagi away from Mamoru, protecting him from the blows that were still raining down on his head. Instead he took the other option and backed out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him. He turned to see the others standing in the hallway, mouths agape.

"Apparently he pissed her off," Kunzite said, shrugging his shoulders. "At least it isn't a vase." He distinctly remembered Minako throwing one at his head in their last life after he'd carried her out of a meeting over his shoulder.

Mamoru nearly jumped out of his skin when something hit his lamp, knocking off the bedside table with a crash. A moment later he was hit in the face with something rather soft while Usagi screamed at him. "How dare you!" He stared at her in complete and utter shock. What could he possibly have done? She wasn't actually hurting him, much, and she looked a bit adorable beating him with a pillow.

Though he saw the light of the door opening and heard Usagi order someone out of the room, he couldn't take his eyes off her. Enraged she was a goddess. He had a moment to wonder if that was the reason he'd started so many of their arguments before her full attention returned to him. Her eyes were almost glowing silver. He could see them in the dark of the room, and had to wonder again, what had he done to upset her?

"Usako?" he asked, not bothering to avoid the rapid blows. His face was starting to hurt now, even though her weapon was soft.

"Don't you Usako me mister!" she shrieked, causing him to wince in earnest. Her voice hurt much more than the pillow.

"What did I do?" he asked, confused.

"What did you do? What did you do!" Usagi tossed the pillow off the bed and plopped down hard onto his belly, making the air woosh out of his lungs. "It isn't what you did! It's what you didn't do. You didn't tell me! Baka ne Mamoru! My family!"

"What about them?"

"Don't play dumb with me. We both know you're a genius. How do you think it made me feel when I walked into the kitchen this morning and overheard my mother saying she knew I was Sailor Moon? How do you think it made me feel when she told me you already knew? She thought you would have told me! Why didn't you tell me?"

And suddenly Usagi wasn't a vengeful goddess anymore. She looked like a child as she crumpled in on herself, weeping.

"Shit," Mamoru muttered. "Well there that goes." He sat up, pulling her closer around him and wrapped both arms around her waist. "Usako." She only continued crying. "Usako, look at me."

Sniffling, she peeped up at him, then buried her face back in his chest. Mamoru sighed and ran frustrated fingers through his hair. Then he pulled her back and tilted her chin up so she had no choice but to look at him.

"Mamo-chan, why? Why didn't you tell me?"

He sighed, worried about how he was going to tell her without spilling the big secret. "I was going to Usako," he said, keeping his voice low. "I had every intention of doing it. There was just something that had to happen first. I did tell Haruki though, and he might have told Shingo. And I borrowed some of Ami's sensors and put them around the house and the car and used some for your mother and father. I just..." he broke off. How could he avoid telling her why he'd kept it from her?

"Mamo-chan?" Usagi stared at him, her eyes huge, glittering with unshed tears.

"Do you trust me Usako?"

"Hai," she whispered.

"Then please, please believe me when I say I had a very good reason. I love you, and I love your family. I wouldn't let anything happen to them, okay?"

"Okay," she whispered. She snuggled back against his chest, rubbing her cheek on his skin like a cat.

Mamoru barely held back a chuckle. The last thing he wanted was to make her angry with him again. In fact, he thought perhaps it would be a perfect time to change her mood entirely. His hands slid down from the curve of her spine to her perfect little bottom and he squeezed gently. Her moan made him rise to attention immediately, so he rolled over until Usagi was on her back and kissed her until neither of them could breathe.

"What happened?" Nephrite asked as Makoto escaped Ikuko's clutches. She shuddered and glanced back at the house.

"First, she caught me up in the tree only minutes after you left." Reaching out she took the travel cup full of coffee he had gone for and took a gulp. "She ordered me inside, told me she knows Usagi is Sailor Moon, and asked why we're suddenly so keen to watch her every move. Usagi overheard, of course," Makoto rolled her eyes. "Why is it that when you actually want to keep someone from something, they're the first ones to overhear?"

Since it was a rhetorical question, Nephrite only shrugged.

"Usagi freaked out, naturally. Her mother seemed surprised by that and told her Mamoru knew."

Nephrite winced. That wasn't a good thing.

"So she disappeared in a flash of light and Ikuko-mama decided to finish interrogating me." She shivered and moved closer to him.

"Usagi disappeared?" Nephrite asked. "She teleported?"

Makoto nodded. "Yeah. I think so." She frowned. "Ikuko didn't even seem that surprised. She just started asking me questions."

"What did you tell her?" Nephrite asked.

"Everything." Makoto sighed and looked up at him. "I would rather face a hundred Youma," she whispered.

Nephrite chuckled even as he reached for his communicator and called Kunzite. His leader looked wide-awake when he answered. "She's here Neph," Kunzite said. "She was pissed at first, but based on the sounds coming out of there he managed to calm her down."

Nephrite blushed. Far too much information as far as he was concerned. What the prince and princess did behind closed doors was their business. "Alright. Should I stay here with Mako or are we off duty?"

Kunzite frowned. "I think you should be fine. Haruki's awake now and I think Shingo might be as well though Haruki said he hasn't come out of his room yet. Still, the two of them can protect the rest of the family."

Nephrite nodded. "Alright, we're heading out then." He closed the communicator. "Come on Mako," he said. "I'll walk you home."

"Oh he's awake alright," Makoto grumbled. "That scream could have woken the dead."

"If Usagi is Sailor Moon, and she knows who you are, then it isn't safe to go back to school," An said, her arms folded over her chest.

"We have to go. If we suddenly disappear it will raise questions. We have to act as normal as possible."

"Whatever that means," An tossed her head.

Ail sighed. Sometimes she could be a real pain. He loved her, but there were moments he didn't understand her at all. "It means we need to blend in with the people of this world. Unless we want to end up like some of the others." He shuddered. So many times their kind had been hunted, or experimented on, or killed outright. So many worlds had shunned them, turned on them. That was why they'd decided it was time to blend in and hide that they were aliens when they came to a new planet.

"What if..." An trailed off, looking at the Makai tree. "What if Sailor Moon really can help us?" she asked.

"They're just saying that to keep us off balance," Ail scoffed.

An nodded but didn't meet his eyes.

One day she would learn. Or they would both die. He hugged her close. "We just pretend nothing ever happened," he whispered.

"That means you have to pretend Usagi doesn't even exist," An said, looking more serious than he had ever seen her. "Just forget about her entirely. Please? The tree has been doing better on this planet, and we don't have anywhere else to go."

"Fine," Ail muttered. "I'll pretend I don't know her at all."

"Thank you," An murmured.

He wondered what she was thinking. She could have a devious little mind at times, but he was worried those Senshi had gotten to her. She needed to remember what had happened to all the others. They couldn't trust anyone.

Ikuko had just finished fixing Chibi-Usa's hair and sent her out of the room when she heard a voice.

"Mom?" Usagi called, peering into the kitchen.

"Hey Baby Bunny," Ikuko said, rushing over to gather her daughter into her arms. "I'm sorry I upset you. I wasn't trying to. And don't be too mad at Mamoru-kun. He has a good reason."

"That's what he said," Usagi whispered.

Ikuko only smiled and held her daughter close. She wished she hadn't said anything, but since Mamoru was now standing in the doorway with a smile on his face, she figured he had managed to calm her down fairly quickly. She pulled back and looked Usagi in the eyes.

"Everything is going to be okay," she promised.

Usagi nodded, then sat heavily in one of the kitchen chairs. "I sort of freaked when Naru found out too, I guess. It's just hard because Luna has always said that people who know are in more danger."

"Where is Luna now?" Ikuko asked, curious. "I'd like to talk to her myself."

"She's at the command center with Artemis," Mamoru said, speaking for the first time. "While he and a few others try to come up with an alternative energy source, she's been tracking the pattern of Cardians to pinpoint where they originate from. I'll have her come by later though."

"Command center?" Ikuko asked, even more curious. The young heroes were certainly organized. "Where is that?"

"Under the Crown arcade," Usagi admitted. She was wringing her hands. "Are you and dad very mad at me?"

"No." Running her fingers through one of the long streamers of blonde hair, Ikuko bent and kissed the top of her daughter's head. "We aren't upset. We just wish we could have known all along. Maybe we can help. I mean, your father is an editor at a newspaper. He has access to all sorts of information. And I," she smiled, "well I can listen."

"Mommy," Usagi whimpered, throwing her arms around Ikuko's waist. "I love you."

"I love you too Baby Bunny."

"We have to get to school Usako," Mamoru said softly.

"Is it safe for her to go with that boy there?" Ikuko asked, worried. After hearing what he had tried to do she wasn't sure he should be allowed anywhere near Usagi, let alone anyone else. "What if he tries to hurt her again?"

"It's too public," Usagi said. "Since all the girls are in class with me, I won't be alone even for a minute. I promise."

Fear still filled her heart though. Her daughter was precious to her. It didn't matter if she was a superhero. Usagi was still her baby girl. She held on for a long moment, not wanting her to go anymore than she had the morning she had walked her to first grade and left her for the first time. Her little girl was all grown up, but Ikuko didn't care. She was still her baby. Always would be.

Mamoru and Usagi left, Chibi-Usa holding their hands, and Ikuko smiled and waved, trying to be cheerful until they were out of sight.

Settling back in her seat she pondered everything she had learned that morning. Chibi-Usa was her granddaughter, who had somehow come back from the future. Some man from the future wanted Usagi for himself and the others were all having nightmares about what he planned to do to her. And there were some sort of aliens roaming around stealing energy to try and save some tree that Usagi could feel and wanted to help, and one of them might be the very boy who had tried to kill her. It was as though someone had taken a book of mad-libs and written the craziest answers they could come up with.

"Well," she muttered, "if anyone wants to try and hurt my baby, they'll have to go through me!"

"What should we do now?" Minako asked, looking up at Kunzite as they walked toward the high school after dropping off Chibi-Usa and then Shingo. She nodded her head toward where Usagi and Mamoru were walking a little way ahead, hands clasped. It seemed she had forgiven him. Minako still didn't understand why he hadn't told Usagi about her parents discovering her secret.

"Nothing," Kunzite murmured. "For the moment we watch and wait. And we keep Mamoru from acting rashly."

"What do you mean?" Minako asked, worried.

"Right now he's balanced on a knife's edge. One step too far and I fear he will go after Seijoru. Usagi-sama couldn't take that. It would break her heart, and her trust in him."

"You're right, it would. So we watch and protect him from himself," Minako whispered. "Are her parents safe?"

"Mamoru stole several of Ami's sensors." Kunzite chuckled. "He told Ikuko to wear one of the necklaces she designed for Naru. And Kenji has another, this one in a pin. It's very impressive work actually. Ami was quite angry when she found they were missing, but now she's excited to see how well they work."

"It's sort of cute that he would protect her family," Minako whispered. "But I don't understand why he didn't tell her."

Kunzite's face was a study of perfect composure, but having known him now in two lifetimes, Minako got an immediate sense that he knew something she didn't. "Spill," she ordered.

"I can't," Kunzite said. "What I can tell you is that he had a very good reason for keeping the secret."

"How did he find out?"

"Kenji asked him," Kunzite said.

Minako giggled. He had just given everything away and had no clue. She stopped in her tracks, pulling him to a halt beside her. "He's going to propose," she hissed.

Kunzite looked around wildly. "Shh! Don't let anyone hear you. You can't say anything. Not to any of the girls, or anyone!"

Minako mimed zipping her lips. "Not a peep." She was the goddess of love after all, and she also adored a good surprise. "Let me know if he needs help keeping her occupied."

"I will," Kunzite said, pulling her into a walk again before anyone could notice they'd stopped.

"When is it happening?"

"The next full moon." Kunzite frowned, looking down at her. "Not a word."

Minako only giggled. The next full moon was in three days. Three days until Usagi would be engaged. She was so excited she wanted to scream. Instead she decided that she would throw a surprise engagement party for the couple. It would keep her occupied and out of trouble. She would need Ikuko-mama's help. Pulling out her cell phone she sent the woman a quick message, hoping the two of them could manage something spectacular by the weekend.

"You're plotting something," Kunzite accused.

"Of course I am. They'll need a good party after they get engaged."

"Minako, what part of don't tell anyone did you not understand?" Kunzite asked.

"I didn't," she defended. "I only sent a message to her mom."

Kunzite sighed, then grabbed her hand. "I love you," he said softly.

Minako stopped then, staring up at him with wide eyes. It was the first time he'd said it since being returned to life. Tears welled up in her eyes and a lump formed in her throat. She opened her mouth and had to close it twice before she could respond.

"I love you too Kun," she whispered, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck. "I love you so much."

"How long should I wait before I go and find your father?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

Minako blinked. Then sadness overwhelmed her. "I don't know Kunzite," she said softly. "My parents are... well they haven't been the same since we went to England. If I didn't know better I'd say they were cursed. They don't seem to care about anything but money anymore, and they just aren't like that."

"When did you leave for England?" Kunzite asked.

Minako shrugged. "About two months before Usagi became Sailor Moon."

"Youma," Kunzite said. "That could be our answer. Don't worry, we'll find a way to bring them back."

Minako loved the way he had taken on her problem as his own. "Do you really think it could be so simple?" she asked.

"I don't know, but there might be a solution."

"What?"

"Usagi can heal with the Moon Wand. She could make the attempt while they're sleeping. It's the only solution I can see where they wouldn't immediately figure us all out."

Minako gasped. Why hadn't she thought of that? She held tight to Kunzite's hand as they continued walking, her mind no longer on the problem of her parents, or even on Usagi's upcoming engagement. She peeped up at Kun from time to time, gnawing at her bottom lip as she thought through the ramifications of what she wanted.

Was she ready for it? Was he? Did they truly know one another well enough? She couldn't be sure of those answers, but Minako knew one thing. She didn't want to let too much time pass before they rekindled the Soul-Bond.

Usagi sat in class, looking at the board, but her mind wasn't on what her science teacher was saying. She didn't really care about atoms. Instead, her entire focus was on Seijoru and Natsume, who were only a few isles over. Seijoru hadn't said a word, or even looked at Usagi. It was like it had never happened. But it had happened, and in spite of her reassurances to Mamoru, and to her mother, Usagi was terrified he might try something again.

And then there was the issue of the Tree. She could feel it, like a presence at the back of her mind, pleading for help. The feeling she got from that presence reminded Usagi very much of her mother, and she wondered if that was how she felt about those aliens. Like a mother. She'd heard the things they had said and got the distinct impression that the reason they were so hostile was because they had been treated horribly time and again. What they needed was some sort of hope.

What would Usagi do if her own mother needed something? Would she stop at nothing to save her, or would she try to be kind to those she needed help from? And how many times could she be kind only to be treated terribly before she became cold and cruel like Ail and An? It sounded as though there had once been many of their kind, and they were the last two. That was horribly sad. She resolved to do something no matter what they had done to her.

Was Seijoru really Ail? Did that mean Natsume was An? Or could it all have been a coincidence? No matter. She had to help them. Mentally she sent feelings of hope and love back to the Tree. 'I'll find a way to help you, and I'll teach them to trust again,' she silently promised.

Ami flipped the Mercury computer open under her desk. She'd been taking readings every time she came close to Ail and An. She'd also scanned the Cardians, and the cards that were left over when they were destroyed. Now she ran a scan on Seijoru and Natsume. Within seconds the program she'd designed was running and a tiny beep told her the information was available.

While the sensei was turned away toward the board, Ami chanced a glance at the screen. A ninety-seven percent certainty that the new students were in fact the aliens. And if that was true, then her readings just might lead her to the solution for the Tree.

She wondered though, if it wouldn't be easier just to have Makoto talk loudly about one of her many plants. She had a few young trees among her collection. So wouldn't it make sense to just attempt something simple, like talking about what a tree on Earth needed?

Closing the mini-computer, she hid it inside her subspace pocket and reached into her little bag for one of her sensors. It was almost time for lunch. If they had any hope of finding the tree, they first had to find out where Ail and An had hidden it. So she was going to put a sensor on Natsume's bag and hope the girl led them right to it. It was their only real hope of saving people from more attacks without harming the pair themselves.

Ami resolved to talk to Makoto at lunch, in the hearing of Natsume. That was the only secondary plan she could come up with. One way or another, they had to protect the people of Tokyo.

Natsume frowned, biting her lip as she sat in the space between two large roots of a tree. She always felt better when she was close to nature, and that hadn't changed no matter how many planets they had visited. She snuggled in close, worried about what they should do next. She was always weak and tired, but she didn't want to release any more Cardians. Especially after what Seijoru had done.

Seijoru was still inside the school, talking with the principal. He still hadn't been entirely forgiven for his outburst a few weeks before. Natsume had tried to calm him through their mental connection, but he'd been unwilling, or unable, to listen. She didn't particularly care for Usagi, mostly because she loved Seijoru and didn't want to share, but she had to admit, if only to herself, that the girl hadn't actually sought out the attention.

She was about to stand up and go find Seijoru when two of the blonde girl's friends stopped at a tree less than three feet away. The blue-haired one, Ami, was asking the tall one a question. "Is it this type of tree Mako-chan?"

"Yes. It's called an Oyama Magnolia. Mine is still very young. I've only had it for a few months. Once it gets a little bigger I'll plant it outside, but it will need room to grow."

"What else does it need?" Ami asked.

"Well, for this type of magnolia there has to be sunlight of course, but also a touch of shade in the hottest parts of the summer. It needs good soil, slightly acidic is alright. With a magnolia like this you can't have too much water in the soil either, not like some of the bigger trees. And you do want to shelter it a bit from wind. And you need some sort of fertilizer. I tend to use the old water from my beta tank."

"Why?" Ami asked. "Isn't that harmful?"

Makoto shook her head. "Not for plants. It might make the fish sick to swim in that old water, but if it's a fresh water fish, like a beta, then the water soaks up all the waste and bacteria. That sort of thing can actually help plants grow. The Native Americans used to use fish when they planted corn, but I find just the water helps. There are tons of other things you can use, including a bag of fertilizer from a nursery, but this works best for me. It's a cheap alternative, and there are no added chemicals."

"So how do you plant it when the time comes?"

"First, you have to find the right spot. Different trees have different needs. For a tree like this one, I would put it somewhere on a low hill. That way the roots don't get flooded if it rains. You have to dig a hole about three times the size of the root ball. Then you cut away the burlap, which is what I usually use to hold the root ball, and let it breathe a bit. Then I put a mix of fertilizer and soil around it and tap it down, but you don't want to push too hard. You overwater for a few days, gradually using less and less for at least two weeks. It helps the soil sink in around it naturally without breaking the roots. And it helps it to grow faster."

"I didn't know so much went into it," Ami said. She was rubbing one of the leaves between her fingers. "Do you have any tricks that make a tree healthier?"

"Several," Makoto said, laughing a little. "Don't tell everyone, but I think trees and other plants can hear us. They seem to do better if you talk to them, or even play music for them. You have to love them enough to not be embarrassed if you get caught."

"You talk to them?" Ami asked. "About what?"

"Anything. It doesn't really matter what you say. Or what music you play. They seem to grow better though when you do it. Normally I just talk to my plants about what I did that day, or about what new fertilizer I'm going to try, or anything, really."

The two girls moved a bit further away and Natsume heard their voices fading. She stared at the tree they'd been next to. It looked healthy enough. She'd seen the gardener working every morning before school, but hadn't really thought to ask him anything about the trees. It made her wonder though. The Makai tree had seemed to do better almost the moment they'd touched the earth. But she was still locked in the pocket dimension to keep her safe from anyone who might try and harm her.

What would happen to Mother if she was exposed to sunlight and water and these fertilizers the girls had spoken of? And what would happen if they talked to her, or played music? She seemed to remember doing that a long time ago, before they had lost hope. Before they had lost Fiore. She was sure he was dead now. He'd led an angry mob away from her and the other children long enough for the Makai tree to escape with them. But he'd been so young himself. There was no way he could have survived.

Natsume turned away from those thoughts and focused on the tree in front of her again. New determination welled up inside her. Even if Sailor Moon and the others didn't find a way to help, she could at least try things for herself. She didn't want to lose anyone else.