~Wavering Destiny~
by Strawberry Moon Rose
The outer guardians never transformed during Stars, but I'm under the assumption that when Saturn gave Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto their upgrades to Super form in the first episode that they too changed their phrases to "Crystal Power...Make Up!". So that's what I've used.
Keep in mind that the only people who are aware that it's too late for Chibi-Usa to happen now are Setsuna, Mamoru, Usagi, and Seiya. The inner and outer guardians still are under the assumption that if Usagi and Mamoru work things out she'll be born.
Thank you for your supportive reviews =D
Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the characters. They belong to Naoko Takeuchi.
Chapter 38: Ready or Not
"So she just left? Without saying anything?" Rei asked in disbelief.
Minako nodded and tilted her head back against the pillar under the Hikawa Shrine. She was sitting with her knees to her chest. Her head ached from a sleepless night, dark bags etched under her usually bright eyes. As if mourning over Yaten and worrying about Chibi-Usa wasn't enough, Usagi had to disappear on top of it. She had to lie to her mother and tell her Usagi had gone home when she had no clue where she was at. Minako was stressed out and it showed.
"But why?" Makoto folded her arms across her large chest. "It's not like Usagi to leave without telling us. I wonder if something happened to her."
"That's what I'm worried about," said Rei, squeezing her eyes shut.
"You said that she went to talk with her father, correct?" Ami inquired.
Minako nodded. "But I knew something was up by the look on her face. I checked the caller ID after she left and she'd been talking to Mamoru. When she didn't return, I started to get worried. Usagi had been avoiding him since we'd gotten back. I don't know what he said to make her agree to meet him, but she did."
"So where's he at now?" Rei demanded. She stopped sweeping the cement and shifted the old fashioned straw broom over to one hand.
Minako sighed, her shoulders drooping. "That's just it, he won't pick up the phone. I even went to his apartment last night and his university this morning, but he wasn't at either of the places. I don't know where he is and that worries me even more."
"This is really strange," Artemis commented, speaking for the first time. He sat alert next to Luna on the stone shrine steps, tail swishing back and forth anxiously.
"I'll say," Luna agreed. She gazed up at the overcast afternoon sky. "Usagi...where are you?"
She'd been giving her owner much needed space while she stayed at Minako's, entrusting Artemis to watch over the both of them. She was starting to regret the decision and wondered if she should have gone and talked with her instead.
"I'm trying her communicator right now," Ami said, flipping open her blue wristwatch and keying in some information.
Rei set the broom down and peered over her shoulder. "Got anything yet, Ami?" she asked after a moment.
Ami frowned. "This is odd, it won't even connect to her. She must be out of range or something. I'll try again..."
"Impossible!" Luna got to her feet and walked over to the Mercurian guardian. "Unless she's out of the country, there should always be signal."
"Or out of the solar system," Minako mumbled.
Everyone turned their attention to the blonde. Minako ignored their questioning eyes and rested her chin on her knees hugged to her chest.
"What do you mean by that?" Rei asked slowly.
"Nothing. Forget it."
Rei had a hunch Kinmoku is where Usagi had gone too, but she couldn't be sure. Minako was clearly upset Usagi hadn't taken her with, if that's where she'd really gone.
"So what should we do?" Makoto asked, ignoring Minako's comment. "We have no way of getting a hold of her."
Ami closed her wristwatch. "Since we can't get in touch with Mamoru, maybe we could contact Setsuna."
"Good idea," Artemis agreed. "Those two have been close lately. Maybe she knows where they are."
"Don't bother," a husky voice called out.
Everyone glanced up in surprise and saw two older girls making their way towards them from the temple's lower voice that had spoken belonged to the taller of the two. Her short hair ruffled from the afternoon's breeze, tousling her bangs into her green eyes. The beautiful girl beside her walked with grace and poise, curls bouncing around her shoulders with each step.
Trailing by their side was a young girl in a purple sundress.
"Haruka! Michiru!" Minako sat up straighter. "Hotaru..."
The trio approached the four girls, but kept their distance just as they always had. Haruka's arms were folded across her chest, expression stoic. In Michiru's hand, she held her mirror close. Hotaru clasped her hands politely in front of her body and stood beside Michiru.
Rei tightened her priestess robe and stepped forward, her wooden sandals slapping against the ground. "What's going on?" she asked dubiously when they hadn't spoken. The last time they'd been gathered here was before the final battle with Galaxia. It brought back doleful memories she'd rather not relive.
Haruka said flatly, "You won't find her."
"Who?" Makoto asked.
"Setsuna-mama," Hotaru replied. Her giant purple eyes were emotionless as she spoke. Although she was only twelve, with every day that passed, she became closer to resembling her old self before she was reborn.
"Setsuna is missing too?" Minako's voice rose with every word.
Haruka nodded. "Mamoru came to our house after dinner last night. They talked for a long time out on the porch and she left with him. She didn't say anything to us about where they were going. She still has yet to return."
"Wait, after dinner?" Minako brought her hand to her chin. "Was Usagi with him by chance? She disappeared last night too..."
Haruka narrowed her eyes. "No, she wasn't," she said coldly. Everyone could feel the tension brought on with the mention of Usagi's name. It hung thickly in the air like the ominous clouds in the sky above them.
Michiru looked down at the golden mirror in her hands. Her delicate, fair-skinned fingers wrapped tighter around the handle as she spoke. "She's back on their planet. I saw her leave."
"I knew it." Minako got to her feet and brushed the dirt off the seat of her skirt.
Makoto frowned. "If Usagi's there, then where are Mamoru and Setsuna? Do you think they went after her?"
"They didn't," Michiru said, blue eyes dropping to her reflection in her mirror. The pretty face looking back at her was rueful. "I would have seen them like I did last time..."
"So what's the problem?" Makoto asked defensively, stepping forward. Her forest-green eyes held a gleam of suspicion. "If Usagi is on Kinmoku, she's safe there with the Starlights."
Haruka narrowed her eyes on the tall brunette. "What's the problem?" she repeated incredulously. "That had better be a joke. Our Princess just left our planet despite the fact that she knew her daughter may die because of a foolish decision like that. Being with her only worsens the situation, in case you forgot."
"We don't know that," Minako said quickly, defending her friend. She knew what it was like to miss the person she loved. She couldn't bring herself to blame Usagi for leaving when that's all she had dreamed about for the past week. Was she the only one who understood how their leader felt?
Michiru narrowed her eyes. "She chose Seiya over Chibi-Usa. Think about it."
Minako recoiled like she'd been slapped in the face. Looking away, she swallowed a lump in her throat, her mouth suddenly dry. Michiru was right. No matter how they looked at it, Usagi leaving looked bad from every angle. Minako knew she loved Seiya, but Usagi wouldn't make that sacrifice...right? She would never lose Chibi-Usa without a fight, Minako was sure of it. They had to be missing something.
Luna hung her head, whiskers drooping. "Usagi would never give up that easily. This just can't be right..." she murmured.
"It is what it is," Michiru murmured, her voice disappearing into the wind.
Haruka pinched her fingers between her eyebrows. "This is nonsense. Not just once, but twice we have to drag her ass back here. It's really starting to piss me off."
Nobody said anything. Ami, Makoto, Rei, and Minako all exchanged somber glances. They didn't want to be the ones to bring her back again, not after they had to endure the painful separation the first time. But they couldn't help but wonder what possessed her to go when she knew it may harm Chibi-Usa. What was she thinking? And where were Mamoru and Setsuna?
Rei squeezed her eyes shut and balled her fist at her side. She finally looked up with fiery eyes. "Alright. You guys go bring her back again," she said bitterly to Haruka. "Make her miserable and force her down her destiny for the sake of Crystal Tokyo. What are you waiting for? Go!"
"Rei!" Ami's eyes widened at her brashness.
"I don't know about you guys," Rei whispered, "but I think Usagi's smarter than we give her credit for. She can make decisions on her own. If she wants a future with Seiya, then so what? Let her be and stop intervening."
Haruka made a move forward when Hotaru suddenly started towards the priestess, making her stop in her tracks.
The tiny girl stood before Rei with large, teary eyes. "You don't mean that!" Hotaru cried. "You just can't... What about Chibi-Usa? If Usagi isn't with Mamoru, she'll cease to exist! You don't care about her?"
Rei's heart sank. Hotaru was so young and innocent. In a way, she reminded her of Chibi-Usa.
She rested her hand on top of the little girl's head. Hotaru's charcoal hair was fine and glossy under her palm.
"Of course I do," Rei said softly, "Usagi loves Chibi-Usa. We all do. I just think Usagi should be with the one she loves too, don't you, Hotaru?"
Hotaru nodded without skipping a beat. "Of course! But if she is..."
Rei sighed and dropped her hand to her side. She'd forgotten the answer would never be that simple.
Haruka let out a sigh. "We don't have time for this. We need her back on Earth for the correct future to unfold. Enough of this small talk, we must go soon."
"Then what're you waiting for?" Makoto demanded in a low voice, glaring her. "You've never asked for our permission before, why start now? You don't need our okay to bring her back. You didn't last time."
"The three of us can't teleport alone," Michiru explained calmly, not phased at all by Makoto's impudent tone. "Only Pluto can manipulate time and space and she's nowhere to be found. If she was, we wouldn't involve you four."
"But Sailor Moon isn't here either," Ami pointed out nervously. "We couldn't leave if we wanted to without her."
"Unless..." Artemis realized what Michiru was getting at and started tossing the idea around in his head.
"Unless what, Artemis?" Minako knelt to his level. If there was any way she could get to Kinmoku, she would. Just the thought of seeing Yaten again got her heart pumping. She waited impatiently for her cat to answer.
"I don't know if it'd work," he said, exchanging glances with Luna beside him.
"Are you suggesting...?" Luna tilted her head to the side. Blue eyes met crimson eyes in a silent conversation.
"Of course! That we all try together," Ami premised, eyes lighting up as she started mentally calculating the probability rate of success.
"All seven of us?" Rei asked in surprise. She looked around at the guardians. The four of them had once tried using Sailor Planet Power without Sailor Moon to try to escape Rubeus's UFO, and it had nearly worked. That was years ago and they had powered up since then. If Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus joined in too, with their powers being exponentially stronger than their own, the idea did seem plausible.
"It is possible," Luna admitted, "but it'll demand more power from each of you without Sailor Moon present. Kinmoku is a very long way, you might get exhausted before you reach the planet."
"We'll handle it," Haruka replied quickly, relieved their proposition was doable. She exchanged glances with Michiru and Hotaru. The three girls nodded in unison before looking back at the others.
"But...that will leave Earth unprotected," Makoto pointed out.
"We won't be gone for that long." Hotaru looked up at her guardians. "Right, Michiru-mama?"
"Yes."
"We haven't had any new enemies in a whole year," Minako added.
Ami nodded in agreement. "It's fairly unlikely..."
Luna said, "Artemis and I are here too in case anything were to happen. I know we can't do much, but if it came down to it..."
"Honestly, I'm surprised Sailor Moon was able to teleport by herself," Makoto said.
Saturn turned to her. "Yes, but she teleported to Nehelania's castle to save Chibi-Usa by herself."
"That is true... Her powers are much stronger than ours."
Rei looked to Ami. "This is so sudden... What do we do?" Without their leader, she didn't know who else to turn to. Technically Venus was in charge, but she already knew Minako wanted to go back to Kinmoku, but for all the wrong reasons. Rei wasn't sure if she was ready or not. One minute they had been discussing where Usagi had disappeared to, and the next they knew and were planning takeoff. It was happening much too quickly for them to consider if it was even a rational idea.
Ami's gaze nervously flitted to Haruka and Michiru behind them. "Seeing that Setsuna is missing, they really don't have any other way to get there. We have no choice but to go with."
"I don't want to do this to Usagi again. It isn't fair," Rei said under her breath.
Ami said, "I know, but maybe we can change their mind. I still think it'd be best if we went just to be sure..."
Rei narrowed her eyes. "Ami, if I didn't know better, I'd say you want to go back to Kinmoku."
The blue-haired girl avoided her gaze and fiddled with her watch. "What? There's nobody -er, nothing I'm looking forward to seeing again. I'm just worried about Usagi. We should go and make sure she's alright. You know, in case something happened between her and Mamoru before she left. Staying here won't solve the questions, it's the most logical solution, Rei..."
Rei could read her face like an open book. It didn't help that Ami was blinking faster than normal, gaze darting all over. "You're just as bad as Minako," she accused, a regretful smile forming on her lips.
"What do you mean?" Ami asked.
"You want to see Taiki."
"Rei!" Ami hissed, her face instantly going hot pink. She flitted her eyes around to make sure nobody had heard, as if Rei had just said a taboo curse word.
"Pretend all you want, Ami, but I bet you 10,000 yen that's why you want to go back so badly. Now that I think of it, you spent an awful lot of time in the palace's library. I bet you weren't alone like you said you were..."
"Rei, that's enough! Taiki and I aren't like that!" Ami whispered, completely flustered.
"Right, right, you keep telling yourself that," Rei said, walking away with an amused smirk.
"Rei!"
Haruka waited as the priestess approached her. "So are we good to go?"
Rei looked over her shoulder at the others one last time before turning back to Haruka. She looked her directly in the eyes and lowered her voice. "We're only going because we're worried about Usagi, not because we're bringing her back."
One of her eyebrows rose slightly, but she kept her cool. It was something she'd picked up from her girlfriend, who always seemed to have it together. "We'll fulfill our duty of protecting the Princess and our future no matter what," Haruka replied shortly.
Rei narrowed her eyes. They stared at each other for a long time, almost challengingly. At last, Rei turned and walked away, knowing it was useless trying to argue with the stubborn guardian of wind. It would do for now, but when they got to Kinmoku, she wouldn't let them have their way.
"I don't like this," Makoto murmured when Rei returned. "I don't think we should go."
"I don't either, but we're outnumbered, Mako," Rei muttered under her breath, "Haruka, Michiru, Hotaru, and even Minako and Ami...they all want to go. It's two against five. Even if we refused, they'd try to leave without us, it's too dangerous for them. Also, where would that leave us? If the only thing that comes out of this is that we learn Usagi is safe, I'm fine with that. But I have no intention of letting them hurt her again, mark my words."
"Me neither," Makoto whispered. Suddenly, an eerie wind cut through, fluttering her brown bangs and whipping her curls around her face. "If it comes down to it, I'll fight them if we have to."
"Uranus Crystal Power..."
"Neptune Crystal Power..."
"Saturn Crystal Power..."
"Mercury Crystal Power..."
"Venus Crystal Power..."
Everyone was shouting out their transformation phrases. Makoto looked at her and nodded. It was time.
Rei dove her hand into the pocket of her robe bottoms and fished for her own transformation stick.
I really hope it doesn't come down to fighting, Mako. I really hope it doesn't...