Author's Note: This chapter's for you Astraearose-silvermoon, because you asked!
A HOPE
A WISH: Book Two
Chapter Two
Heartbreak
Ami and Zoicite were walking hand in hand. Ever since he'd been born Zo had been a bit more emotionally reliant on her, Usagi and Mamoru than the other boys had been. He was an easy baby, a kind child, and now a good man. Still, it was hard to get past everything that had happened in two lifetimes. Ami's memories were still slightly fragmented, but she could remember her death in the Silver Millennium, and his in the final battle with Metalia and Beryl. Was there ever a way to move past something like that? The others seemed to be doing well with that, but Ami wasn't.
Zoicite and Jadeite had been placed in eleventh grade. Zo had been born a few minutes after Jadeite, even though in the lifetime before they were taken by the Negaverse, Jadeite was actually ten months younger. They had been brothers then too, though the others hadn't been. It had taken a while, but Ami had been able to discover their original identities during their rapid development. The name Chiba was important to all of them however, so they didn't go back to their original last names.
"I really don't want to go to class today," Zoicite said, his voice low.
"Why not?" Ami was confused. It had seemed as though he loved school.
Zoicite blushed. He looked at her, then away and blushed some more. Curious, Ami stopped him and made him turn to look at her. It wasn't easy to forget that less than a month before he had been a tiny child and she had been forced to discipline him on more than one occasion. He hadn't really shown he was ready to let go of that guidance yet, which slightly worried Ami because she remembered him having definite alpha tendencies.
"Zo? What's wrong? Is someone messing with you at school?"
"No," he muttered, still not looking at her.
"Then what is it?" she asked, more worried now.
"Idon'twanttoleaveyou," he rushed.
"You don't want to leave me?" Ami asked, feeling a blush heating her own cheeks. "What do you mean? I will see you at lunch and then we can walk home together."
Zoicite frowned then reached out for her other hand. "I don't want to leave you," he said, much more slowly, "because I miss you when I can't see you."
"That's sweet Zo, but if you want to do something with your life you have to go to school."
"I know that," he muttered. "For some reason today feels different."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know. It's hard to explain. It's just every time I think about going to my classes I start getting a bad feeling. I don't think I should leave you today."
"Well, unfortunately we don't have much choice. How about this, if something happens to either of us, use the communicator and send a message. I'll check it every fifteen minutes and you can do the same, okay?"
"Okay," Zoicite muttered. He didn't look happy however and Ami wished she knew what was bothering him.
Kaiou Tagashi stood beside Mizuno Saeko's car, looking anything but calm. "What the hell do you mean why was I looking for you?" he asked. "Because I love you. Because you are my wife. Because I missed you."
Shock, then rage, filtered through Saeko. "What?" she asked, staring at him wildly. "How can you say that?"
Something crossed Tagashi's face and for a moment Saeko thought he might burst into tears. "What is wrong with you?" he asked. "Why aren't you hugging me? You've never acted like this before Saeko."
"Tagashi?" she asked, frustrated and worried. Nothing he was saying made the slightest bit of sense. It felt like her word had tilted off it's axis and she was just falling and falling.
He stepped closer to her and the next thing Saeko knew she was in his arms. He was clinging to her, holding her tightly to his chest as though he would never let her go. Overwhelmed by the familiar feel of his arms, and his familiar musky scent, Saeko couldn't help the tears that poured down her cheeks. She'd thought she would never be held in his arms again. Shaking her head, she pushed against his chest. She couldn't let him hold her. It hurt too damn much. He had left her.
"Let me go," she ordered, trying to squirm out of his hands. He didn't release her at first. The moment a sob escaped he pushed her back until he could look into her eyes.
"Saeko?" he questioned. "You look different."
"Yes well, ten years will do that to a person," she hissed angrily. "Let me go."
He didn't release her. Hardly a second had passed before Saeko found herself sitting in Tagashi's lap. He was on the ground, his back leaning against her car, staring at her with wide, wild eyes. She watched his Adam's apple bob once, and then a few seconds later it moved again.
"Ten?" he asked, his voice small. "Did you say ten years?"
"Hai!" she yelled, struggling again. She couldn't let him break her heart again. He was pulling her in and she could feel herself falling for him all over again. She couldn't let that happen. She couldn't let him make her love him.
"How the hell has it been ten years?" he asked, sounding angry himself.
Saeko stopped fighting him and turned her head in surprise and anger. "Well, you walked away from us and never looked back."
"What are you talking about? Why would I walk away? I just went to get some damned art supplies. There was a bright light and then nothing. A lot of nothing. Just a sea of white light. And then I was home, but the apartment was empty. You were gone. Ami was gone. So I came here. Where is she? Where is Ami? Why did you move? And how has it been ten years?"
It felt as though someone had poured a bucket of ice-cold water down Saeko's back. She stared at him in horror. Part of her wanted to believe him, and part of her was screaming that it was all a lie and that he was going to walk away again.
She did the only thing she could think to do in that moment. She lifted the pendant she wore and flipped it open. No one would have ever guessed there was a communicator hidden within. Pressing the symbol that looked like a black cat head, she waited for Luna to answer her.
"Saeko?" the cat asked. "Are you alright. Are you in danger?"
"No, I'm not in danger, but I am also not alright. Can you please tell me if it's possible to lose someone for ten years."
"I guess it depends on the circumstances," Luna said. "Nephrite mentioned there were dark generals in a sort of suspended animation called the Endless Slumber when he was first taken. It's possibly they've been in there for many years. And we know the Crystal can form a cocoon like it did with Usagi. She doesn't remember a single moment of being inside it, but time passed. So I suppose it's possible. What's going on? Do you want me to send Ami to you?"
"No. Could you send Ikuko though? And Kenji?"
"Hai. Where are you?"
"The hospital parking lot, in my normal spot. Tell them to hurry."
"On it. They'll be there in a few minutes. Are you sure you're alright?"
"I will be," Saeko said softly.
The entire time she had been speaking to Luna, Saeko had been watching her husband. She didn't really understand what was happening, and she wasn't sure she believed his story, but if there was even a chance he was telling the truth she owed him a huge apology. She'd changed her name and Ami's back to her maiden name and had moved away from the apartment they'd shared many years before. It had been a tiny thing in a bad neighborhood and she'd left shortly after finishing her residency.
"Who was that?" Tagashi asked. "What is that thing? It's like a phone, but with pictures."
"Um, it's my communicator. And that was Luna. Tagashi, I don't really understand what's happening right now. Tell me the last thing you remember."
He frowned. "We had a fight. I remember that. Ami was sick with the chicken pox and had to stay home from school. You wanted to go to work but I had a showing that night and something had dripped onto one of my paintings. I was an ass, said some awful things and walked out instead of trying to talk to you. I was just going to get the paint I needed to fix the painting. There was all that white light, and then I was standing right inside the apartment as though I had never left. It was empty and there was red stuff on the walls and I thought..." he trailed off, his voice breaking. "I thought something had happened to you and Ami. I thought you were dead." He sobbed then and pulled her against him again. "I can't lose you," he said into her hair, holding so tight she couldn't catch a deep breath.
Saeko wasn't sure what to think or how to act. Was this some sort of game? She remembered that morning well. He had said "I can't deal with this anymore," then slammed out of the apartment and never came back. She'd reported it to the police but they'd told her to face the facts, that he had left her. If what he was saying was true, he hadn't left her at all. It made no sense. Was this some sort of trick?
Kenji sped slightly, turning into the hospital parking lot. The doctors and nurses had their own parking area so he wasn't endangering anyone. But Luna had said she'd sounded panicked. Ikuko was clenching her hands together in her lap and scanning the entire lot for Saeko. They had become best friends and relied heavily on one another to get through the hardships involved with sending their children out to fight monsters.
"Do you think she's really okay?" Ikuko asked, her worry evident in her tone.
"I think she is. She's tough. If there was a real danger she would have called the kids. I think whatever's happening she's safe, just upset."
"Sometimes that's worse," Ikuko murmured.
"There," Kenji said, pointing. "I see her car. Where is she?"
"She's sitting beside it," Ikuko said, her voice sounding strange. "And she's sitting in a man's lap."
"What?" Kenji was shocked and a little worried. He moved forward and saw for himself that Saeko was in the arms of a man. It looked like he was holding her far too tightly. Her face was buried in his neck and she looked like she was crying.
Throwing the car into park he opened his door at the same time he unbuckled and was out of the car striding towards them in seconds. "Saeko?" he asked. "Are you okay?"
Saeko lifted her head. Her face was streaked with tears, but when he looked the man's face was covered in them too. He looked absolutely devastated and completely confused.
Ikuko knelt beside them. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"This is my husband," Saeko said softly.
Kenji blinked and stared at the man. He was tall, almost as tall as he was. He had thick aqua-colored hair and bright blue eyes that looked very similar to Ami's. He wasn't heavily muscled and he had a smear of paint on his neck. He thought back to a conversation with Saeko when she'd explained her husband had walked out on her and her daughter after a stupid argument that never should have escalated. She'd searched for him for six months before the police finally convinced her to stop trying, telling her he had left her and that she needed to move on. Ami had only been six at the time.
"Wait," Ikuko said. "Where did he come from? Where has he been? And why are you both crying?"
"I don't know where I was," the man said, his voice breaking on a sob. "Last thing I knew I was going to the craft store. And then I was back in my old apartment, but Saeko and Ami were gone."
"I think Usagi might be able to restore his memories," Saeko said, looking hopeful. Kenji wasn't sure she could get her hopes up just yet. Whatever had happened, Saeko and Ami were changed from what he remembered. Ami was sixteen for crying out loud. It had been just over ten years if he remembered correctly. How had he been missing for ten years with no one the wiser.
"Let me see your wallet," Kenji suggested.
Frowning, the other man leaned to the side and dug his wallet out of his back pocket, not letting go of Saeko. He handed the folded leather over without a qualm. Kenji opened it and started removing the contents, putting them on the trunk of Saeko's car. He looked at the photo ID, the credit and debit cards, even the receipt. Everything was expired. There wasn't a single thing inside newer than ten years ago. Looking at Ikuko, he nodded.
"Luna might be able to help, but if she can't then when the kids get home from school we can have Usagi take a look at him. For now he should really be checked out. Do you want to do that here or at the house?"
"Lets go home," Saeko said softly. "I can check him out in the clinic there. Too many people have probably already seen us and are wondering what is going on. We don't need a lot of people questioning us."
"Good point," Kenji said, moving to help the couple up off the ground. "Come on. We'll drive you both back to the house and send Haruki or Mamoru after the car later."
As he spoke he watched confusion cross the other man's face. Kaiou Tagashi. That was the name listed on the license and the cards in his wallet. He wondered when Saeko had changed her and Ami's last name. She had probably been very upset when she stopped looking. If she had believed those officers then she would have thought he had left her.
"What is going on?" Tagashi asked.
"It's okay," Saeko murmured. "I'll explain everything when we get home."
"Where is home?" he asked as soon as they were all in the car.
"We share a rather large building in the shopping district," Saeko explained. "There have been a lot of... changes... since you've been gone."
"Changes?" He frowned. "Ten years. What about Ami?" he asked. "I missed ten years of her life? Your life?"
"Hai. We looked for you but the police told me you had moved on, that you'd started a new life."
"I didn't," he defended and Kenji could hear the truth in his words.
The question remained. Where had he been? And why had he been returned now?
Tagashi was feeling extremely confused and overwhelmed. Nothing made sense. He had come to himself staring around what had once been a bright apartment. Instead of what he'd remembered, the walls had been dingy and grey with brownish-red smears on them and more drops on the floor in what looked like puddles even though they were long dried. His first thought had been that he was dreaming, but that made no sense. So he'd gone to the hospital to search for Saeko.
She was different. Her hair was short now, the blue a bit darker, and her eyes had a sad look. There were crinkles around them now, laugh lines. She was much more serious and sad than he remembered. Had it really been ten years? Maybe he was dreaming. Or maybe he was in some alternate universe where his other self really had left her. Because he never would. He loved Saeko more than anything or anyone on the planet.
Why had the police told her he had moved on? What was happening to him? If he left her sight would he disappear again? Go back into that bright white light? Fear made him want to scream and hold her tight, never let her go. He didn't know what to do, what to think.
The sun was barely over the horizon. It was still early morning and occasionally as the car drove through the streets of Tokyo bright sunlight would suddenly appear in the cracks between two buildings, blinding him slightly. He clutched at Saeko's hand, afraid to lose contact. Maybe she was the only thing that would keep him from vanishing again. And no one had been looking for him for a long time. Was he the only person who had gone missing?
They pulled into an alley and then into a large garage. It looked like it could hold twelve cars. What was this place?
"So there are a few things you should know before we go in the house," the brown-haired man said after parking the car. "The first thing is that the cats can talk. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. The second thing is that there is more to the kids who live here than meets the eye. They're all at school right now, so we can tell you a little more about it. Finally, we all live together, although Grandfather still lives at the Jinja and Rei and Jed stay with him on the weekends for their training."
"Kenji I think you're overwhelming him," the woman with lavender-blue hair said softly. "Lets just get him inside and find out what happened to him."
"Hai," Kenji said. "Sorry. I just know we were really blindsided when we found out. It's a bit much. Come on in. We'll introduce you to Luna and Artemis and see what they can do to figure out what happened."
"We should probably call Ami out of school a little early today," the woman added.
"Not unless you get Zo too," Saeko said. "This is really overwhelming and I think she'll need him."
"Him?" Tagashi asked, worried. Was his little girl dating? She should be eating ice-cream cones and coming to him with her scraped knees. What had happened to his little girl? What the hell had happened to him?