Catch A Shooting Star

by Lady M Harris

This story was written by my sister who doesn't have an email address at the moment. An action-romance adventure story surrounding Sailor Star Healer and an intriguing, American new high school student! Completed story!

4. Chapter 16-20

CATCH A SHOOTING STAR

RATING: R

BY: Jeanne Stumbaugh

CHAPTER 4

DISCLAIMER: Sailor Moon and related characters are the property of their creator. It is not the intent of this author to profit from their use.

Sorry, guys, but my email is down!!! You won't be able to reach me if you want to comment on my story for a little while anyway. My motherboard had gone south on me (Something about the way it communicates with my modem is messed up. "AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!" to quote Lucy from Peanuts.) and it'll be a little while before I can either bypass the problem or, heaven forbid, replace the motherboard (Which will take even longer.). Anyway, if you really want to send something to me, I'm pretty sure that if you ask her really nicely, my sister, Michelle Harris here, will find some way of getting it to me.

PLEASE ALSO NOTE: The format on the story has changed!! If you're reading this revised chapter, you will notice that there are only six chapters posted. This is because my sister is a little impatient and had wanted to merge all twenty-five chapters into one file (Good grief, can you imagine!). Anyway, I've persuaded her to combine them into smaller files. To wit, here's the breakdown:

Chapters 1 thru 5 are now Chapter One
Chapters 6 thru 10 are now Chapter Two
Chapters 11 thru 15 are now Chapter Three
Chapters 16 thru 20 are now Chapter Four
Chapters 21 thru 25 are now Chapter Five
Chapter 26 is the Chapter Six

I hope that's not too confusing. Anyway, the chapters will be segmented into they're original parts (1-25), so if you know where you were the last time (Hopefully at the last chapter), then you should be able to find them more readily.

Acknowledgments for the song "A Special King of Thing", from the With Love Original Soundtrack. Composed and Arranged by Taro Iwashiro. Lyrics by Mariza.


PART SIXTEEN

"Tia, come with us," Usagi snagged Tia's arm, pulling her along the school corridor.
Her stomach protested weakly, but she swallowed past it as she asked, "Whoa, whoa. Come with you where?"
"There's a new romantic adventure movie out this afternoon," Usagi grinned, a dazzling smile on her face. "Everyone's going."
Tia laughed, and nodded her head, "Well, I haven't been to a movie in a while. Sounds like fun. Let me grab my things and I'll meet you out front."
"All right!" Usagi jumped, her arm still looped with Tia's. The movement jarring Tia, and her stomach began sending more urgent signals to her brain.
Check that, she thought, queasily. Meet you outside after I've gone to the restroom and thrown up.
When she met Usagi and company outside, she stopped short. Usagi and Seiya were bantering between each other, Ami was arguing politely and quietly with Taiki over some theory or other and Makoto and Mina were talking to Yaten.
Oh hell, she thought, sarcastically to her herself. This'll be fun.
"So, you guys," she put an arm through Usagi's, "Usagi managed to rope you in, too?"
"Ah, yeah. . . ," Seiya looked embarrassed about it. "Well, they said they needed escorts."
"Kind of lopsided odds, don't you think? Two extra girls and all."
"Talk to her," Seiya wagged a finger at Usagi. "It was her idea."
"Well," Usagi laughed, "With six such beautiful girls, who knows what'll happen to us?"
"Six?"
"Rei's going to meet us on the way."
"If you've had enough chit-chat," Yaten's voice was tense, "I suggest we get moving, if we want to make the movie on time."
"Indeed," Taiki seconded the motion.
"All right, let's go!" Usagi all but shouted.

"Perfect," a tall, skinny man hissed. He had been staring at the group of young people across the street. When they left the school yard, walking in a leisurely fashion, he matched their speed and direction. He pulled a digital phone from his coat pocket and dialed a number. When it was answered, he spoke quietly into it for a few minutes, then hung up and continued shadowing the group. When they went into the theater, he smiled nastily, then pulled out his phone again. "Where are you? She's gone into the 10th Street District's Triplex. We got time to plan our move. Get over here fast as you can, I'll look around over here."
The man had finished his once over of the area and was leaning against a phone booth when a silver van pulled up in front of him. The side door slid open and he climbed inside, saying, "All right, here's what we're going to do."
The door slid shut and the van drove slowly down the street.

Tia blinked against the glare of the sun as she and the others stepped out of the triplex. She took a moment for her eyes to adjust, then she trotted to catch up with the others.
The movie hadn't been as bad as she thought it was going to be. She had deliberately chosen a seat as far away from Yaten as she could without removing herself from the group. She'd caught the worried glances that Usagi had cast her way, and the odd looks which passed
between Seiya and Taiki. She'd shrugged, mentally, and settled herself more comfortably. The movie had been an American film with subtitles, which wasn't so bad, really, if she ignored the subtitles. But there had been some that had caught her eye, and when she'd read them, there were some very broad, to use the term loosely, interpretations and some total misses that had her giggling in the most inappropriate places. She grinned at the disapproving stares she received from the other people in the theater and from her friends. It'd been a great distraction from her morose thoughts of late.
They were crossing the street when a movement to the right caught her attention. A young man, with an air of wildness about him, was making a beeline right for them. She didn't like the look in his eye and she felt an uneasy feeling settled into her belly. She broke into a lope, keeping one eye on the young man, and the other on her friends ahead of her.
Suddenly, the young man pulled what looked like a .357 Magnum from his coat, and Tia's adrenaline level went through the roof. Her attention now was only for the gun in the man's hand. Then it shifted when he pointed the damned thing right at Yaten.
"GUN!! HIT THE DECK!!" She bellowed, exploding into a sprint. Then leapt straight at Yaten, hands landing squarely on his shoulders, her momentum-driven weight forcing him to the ground. At that exact moment, there was a loud report even as everyone in the vicinity dove to the ground. Pain exploded into her awareness, more intense than anything she'd ever felt before.
She wrapped her arms around Yaten's shoulders, then she knew no more.


PART SEVENTEEN

USA

Nancy was sitting at her computer terminal, her fingers flying over the keys. The only light in her study was from the screen she was looking at. She frowned at the line of programming for a moment, muttered to herself then typed in a line. She ran the program, frowned again and went back into the program.
Suddenly, pain exploded into her back, then her chest. She shot away from her desk, her head back and gasping as for breath.
The pain was almost overwhelming, but she knew that it wasn't her own. And as suddenly as it came, the pain left her and she was herself once more. She sat for a moment, gasping, before lunging for the phone. No, the pain wasn't hers, but she knew whose it was, and she was determined to be there if needed.

TOKYO

After the gunshot, Makoto raised her head slightly, tracking the gunman's movements. He was grinning, maliciously, even as he was running away. She was up and after him, without thinking about the consequences. She sensed movement around her, but ignored it as she concentrated on catching up with the gunman. As soon as she was close enough she tackled him, sending both of them flying to the ground. She grunted as other bodies piled up on top of her and the gunman. She untangled herself from the pile of bodies, recognizing Seiya in the pile. There were two other men there as well, holding the gunman's arms to the ground while Seiya drove his knee squarely between the gunman's shoulder blades.
Yaten eased out from under Tia's weight. He turned over and his gaze was immediately riveted, horrified, by the large red stain blossoming across the back of Tia's uniform, "Tia! NO!"
Alerted by Yaten's cry, Ami fell to her knees next to them. She groped for the other girl's pulse and found it, and sighed in relief, "She's still alive, thank goodness. But, she won't be if she bleeds to death." She shouted over her shoulder, "Someone call for an ambulance."
"We have to stop the bleeding," she muttered, putting her hands in the hole the bullet had created and ripped it wider. She started to put her hands over the wound but stopped when she saw that the blood was frothing out. As that hit her she gasped, "Oh my god." She grasped Tia's
chin and tilted it towards her, and her breath hissed out as she saw that blood was bubbling from her mouth as well.
Her head swivelled and she shouted at the crowd, "Does anyone here smoke? I need an unopened pack of cigarettes, now!"
Four people came out of the crowd, extending unopened packs of cigarettes. Ami snatched a pack from one of them. Yaten stared at her as she feverishly pulled the plastic from the pack of cigarettes, demanding, "What the hell are you doing?"
"From the way the blood is coming out her wound back here, I think her lung might be punctured. I've got to stop the leak."
"What about . . . an exit wound?" Yaten asked hesitantly, his heart in his throat.
Ami's eyes widened, "I didn't even think about that. We need to turn her over," she carefully covered the wound in the girl's back, pressing down hard on it. "Now, lift her up, you need to check for bleeding."
Yaten lifted her up carefully, his hand running down her front, praying he wouldn't find anything at all. His prayer was answered, as he didn't find anything with his questing hand, no wound, no telltale wetness. He breathed a sigh of relief, "Nothing. I couldn't find anything."
"Thank goodness for small favors," Ami's head swivelled at the sound of sirens. "Police. And an ambulance," she turned to Mina and Usagi. "Herd everyone out of the way. Make sure that the EMT's and the ambulance can get through to here."
The two nodded and began clearing the way for the ambulance personnel. Rei and the others, having caught on to what the others were doing, and wanting to do something rather than nothing, began helping. Soon they had a pathway wide enough for both the police cars and ambulance to glide in. The EMT's swarmed around the fallen girl, and Ami relinquished her place gratefully. She stood away, totally unconscious of the blood staining her hands and clothes, only very grateful her part was over and that the real professionals were now doing
their job. She wanted to be a doctor, true, but treating a friend was a lot harder than treating someone she didn't know.
The police officers dispatched to the scene, placed a hand on Ami's shoulder, "Miss, can you tell me what happened?"
"My friend was shot," Ami closed her eyes. "That man over there," she pointed at the now handcuffed gunman, "tried to shoot Yaten Kou, of the Three Lights. Tia noticed it first and jumped in front of the bullet to save him."
"Tia?" The officer stiffened, as if he recognized the name, "Not Tia MacKenzie? She's related to Takumi Miyake?"
"Yes."
"Dear god!" The officer steered Ami to his police car. "Come on, I'll take you and your friends to the hospital."
He got a towel from one of the EMT's and gave it to Ami to get herself cleaned up somewhat. Then he gathered the rest of the group together and arranged for the other police car to take the others to the hospital.

The phone rang on Takumi's desk and he picked it up without glancing up from the report he was reading, "Miyake."
The voice on the other end made his head snap up and he shot to his feet, shouting, "What? When? Where did they take her? I'll be there as soon as I can."
He grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair and trotted down the hall towards his chief's office. He had a low hurried conversation with the chief's secretary, who in turn picked up the phone, had a short conversation with the chief and then let him into the chief's office. Five minutes later, he was striding from the chief's office and from the precinct, a grim look on his face.

The arrival of Tia's family created quite a stir at the hospital when they strode through the doors. Several of Tia's sisters and brothers had remained in Japan after the opening for an extended visit and they and their families, of course, made quite a group.
Usagi and company were sitting in the waiting area, anxiously pacing or sitting nervously. The ones who were sitting, rose instantly when Tia's family entered. Ami advanced towards the family and Takumi went forward for the family, "What happened?"
"As near as I can tell, it was a crazed fan," she replied, her brow crinkling. "The police didn't tell us much about the man who shot her. We were crossing the street after seeing a movie and this guy pulls a gun and points it at him," she pointed at Yaten. "Tia was the first one to see it; she shouted a warning and pushed him out of the way. But she jumped in front of the bullet and it hit her in the back."
"Oh my god," Lia MacKenzie sank down onto a seat, a hand over her mouth. "And they caught him?"
"She did," Taiki pointed at a grim Makoto. "If she hadn't tackled him, he would've gotten away."
Makoto shook her head, "It wasn't just me, others helped. I couldn't just let him escape," her eyes went dark in anger. "He shot my friend."
Takumi nodded his head, satisfied with that answer, "How long have they been working on her?"
"Twenty minutes now," Ami answered him, and he noticed for the first time that she was covered in blood. She glanced down, when she noticed him staring, startled to realized that Tia's blood stained her clothing. "I was closest to her when she was shot. I know a lot about first aid, since I want to be a doctor. I must've gotten this on me when I was trying to stop the leak."
"Leak . . . ?" Nikki's voice was weak.
"The bullet punctured her lung," Ami told her gently. "I'd stopped the leak as best I could and was trying to stop the bleeding when the ambulance arrived."
Takumi put a reassuring hand on her arm, "You probably made the difference. I thank you for your efforts," he accented this with a deep bow.
"He's right, you know," Nikki said, placing a hand on her arm, while her brothers and sisters surrounded her. "And whatever happens, however this turns out, you're one of our own now."
Other hands were placed over Nikki's, as her brothers and sisters showed their solidarity. And they did the only things they could do. Waited and prayed.
News of the incident was all over the country five minutes after it happened. Ronnie was walking through Tokyo International Airport when news of the incident was broadcast over the televisions placed in various spots throughout the terminal. He stopped dead as a photo of Tia was splashed over the screen. He cursed when he realized he couldn't understand one word the reporter was saying. Casting about, he tapped the shoulder of a uniformed woman nearby.
"Excuse me, Miss, do you understand English?" Ronnie asked, politely, because it was the way he was, despite the front he put on with his close friends.
"Yes," the Japanese woman replied, a slight accent to her voice. "Was there something you needed, Sir?"
"Well, can you tell me what they're saying on the television?" He pointed to the screen.
"There was an assassination attempt on one of the Three Lights," she frowned at the screen for a moment. "A young woman, an exchange student from America, who is a classmate of his, saved him, by jumping in front him and taking the bullet for him. Apparently, she was taken to the 10th District Memorial Hospital where she is undergoing surgery," she put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, my. How terrible."
Ronnie stifled his curses and thanked the woman, before tearing out of the terminal to find a taxi. There was some initial confusion as he told his taxi driver where he wanted to go. He had to get to the hospital to find out how Tia was. As he settled back for the ride, he prayed for the first time in years. Prayed that his friend was going to be all right, that she'd be hale
and hearty again soon.

"She's still alive," Ryu Sakamoto snapped, furious.
"Not for long," the smoking man smiled nastily. "I've planted people in the hospital. She'll be dead before she has a chance to recover."
"She'd better be, or you'll take her place."
"As you will," the man bowed respectfully, careful to mask his sudden fear. When Ryu Sakamoto threatened you with death, it was fearful indeed. Because it was so much more than death, and because sometimes it something worse than death. And that was to be avoided at all costs.

"You failed me," the smoking man was standing over a prostrate form. "That is unacceptable."
The man sprawled at his feet, shuddered weakly in pain. The bruises and swollen parts of his face was evidence enough of his ill-use at the hands of the man standing over him. He protested weakly, "But I did what you said. I made the shot."
"I paid you for a kill. But she's still alive," the other man snapped. "You have once chance to redeem yourself. She's at the 10th District Memorial Hospital. You will go there and finish the job you started."
The beaten man nodded, pulling himself slowly and painfully to his feet, "I will not fail you again." He bowed as best he could and limped away.
"See that you don't," the other man's voice was cold. "Or it will go the worse for you."
And the beaten man left with the chill of fear under his skin.

"Are you the family of Miss MacKenzie?" The doctor had to struggle with Tia's last name, but he got it out reasonably well. He surveyed the crowded waiting room, noticing there were an equal number of Japanese in with a large number of foreigners.
A tall, very well-dressed Japanese man stood from his seat next to a beautiful black-haired woman, "I'm her brother-in-law, Takumi Miyake, and my wife, Nikki, her sister. What's her condition?"
"I'm Doctor Yutaka Namura," the doctor opened his mouth again to speak, then looked at the group of youngsters standing to the side staring anxiously, "Maybe this would be best spoken just amongst family?"
Takumi smiled, shaking his head, "As far as I'm concerned, they have every right to know how she is."
The doctor nodded, "It went well. We've repaired the puncture without a hitch. Her vital signs remained strong during surgery and that's a good sign. She should recover well."
It seemed as if almost all of the tension in the room dissipated with that news. Several of the couples embraced in relief, and not a few of the men had to sink down onto the nearest seat. Takumi felt a little giddy with relief himself and pulled Nikki into his arms, whispering to her, "Thank god, thank you god."
Usagi and the rest shared smiles of intense relief. Yaten clenched his hands together to hide their trembling. He didn't attempt to stand since he knew that he hadn't the strength to do so, his relief was so great. At the same time, his heart was singing with such joy that it almost blotted everything else out. He closed his eyes, lowering his head and fought against tears.

The first thing Tia became aware of was a cottony feel to her mouth. She swallowed a few times to try and rid herself of the feeling, but it persisted. Nothing for it but to wake up and do something about it. The next thing she became aware of was a pinching in her left arm, it didn't hurt exactly, but it wasn't really comfortable. Then there came a sound, and mechanical sort of beep which sounded at regular intervals; it really was quite annoying. Then she noticed the pain, a dull sort of pain which felt just a little worse every time she took a breath.
She decided it would be all right to open her eyes. She blinked several times against the diffused lighting in the room. Her eyes focused on the ceiling. It wasn't an unusual sort of ceiling, she decided, just the kind they used in institutions or hospitals or office buildings. And it definitely wasn't the ceiling in her own home. She turned her head a fraction of an inch and noticed that she was wearing some sort of plastic thing on her face. She went cross-eyed staring down at it. She breathed in and felt the oxygen fill her lungs and realized that the plastic thing was an oxygen mask. She turned her head again looking around the room.
Her gaze ran smack into wires and electrical equipment. She recognized a heart monitor and several other devices she didn't. Her eyes were drawn to tube which bisected the machines and ran her eyes up it, recognizing the IV drip. That explained the pinch in her left arm.
Apparently, she was in a hospital. The reason for this escaped her for a moment. She struggled against the fog still clouding her mind. Then suddenly it dissipated and a rush of memories flooded in.
"Ms. MacKenzie," a voice spoke from the other side of the room, "you're awake. Good."
She turned and stared blankly at the man standing near the foot of her bed. She assumed he was a doctor of some kind, since he was wearing a long white lab coat, buttoned up with just his collar and tie showing, a stethoscope draped around his neck. He was looking over her chart,
scribbling notes here and there.
"You are a very lucky young woman," he commented, moving to her side, taking her wrist in his hand. He watched his watch for a moment, then he removed her oxygen mask, "The bullet punctured your lung. If your friend hadn't stopped the leak before you got to the hospital, you wouldn't be here right now."
"Yaten? Is he all right?" She was more anxious to know about his well being than her own, but was startled at how very weak her voice sounded. It took great effort to talk.
"Yaten?" he flashed a light into her eyes, one at a time. "Who's that?"
"A boy," she blinked, trying to clear the spots from her vision. "Long silver hair, green eyes. He was the target."
"Ah, I remember him," he was making more notes on her chart. "He's fine. Very worried about you, naturally. Didn't anyone ever tell you it could be detrimental to your health to jump in front of a bullet like that?"
"Yeah," then she sighed, "but it would've been detrimental to my well-being if Yaten were dead. That was more important to me than anything in the world."
The doctor looked at her sharply for a moment, "I see." He pulled a chair up to the side of the bed and sat down on it, "I take it you think you're in love with him."
"Doctor, I don't think I'm in love with him. I know I'm in love with him," she shook her head. "I think I know what you're thinking. You think that because I'm young that maybe I'm blowing things out of proportion. But, the thought of this world without him hurts so much I
want to cry."
"I see," the doctor said, leaning back in the chair, leaning his head against his hand. "I take it he's the father of the child you're carrying?" He saw her face spasm at the question, "You didn't know?"
"I think I did, on some instinctive level," she sighed. "I knew there was a possibility, of course. The only times we were together, we were a lot foolish," she closed her eyes then opened them to stare for a moment at the ceiling before she spoke again. "Doctor, please promise me you will not tell anyone about this pregnancy."
"I can't promise that, Miss MacKenzie," his voice was quiet but firm.
But she was made of stronger stuff than the doctor, and her eyes snapped to his face, revealing the determination on her face, "You will, Doctor, or I will get up out of this hospital bed and leave here. I have my reasons for this, Doctor, and if you can't honor my will, then I'll leave. Somehow, I don't think that withholding this part of my condition is going to affect my recovery any."
"You've just gotten out of surgery, young lady," the doctor exclaimed, in shock. "Do you really think you can just get up and waltz out of here?"
"Watch me. Even if it means that I haul myself out of here by my fingernails, I will if you don't promise me to keep this pregnancy privileged information," the implacable look on her face told him she was telling the truth.
"Very well, then," he sighed, shaking his head. "Against my better judgement I'll honor your wish."
"The Hippocratic oath can be a real wench, can't it?" She smiled slightly, "You're sworn to do no harm. But its difficult to do when the patient's not cooperating, isn't it?"
"Tell me about it," he said wryly.
"I promise, doctor, to get better quickly so I can get out of your hair as soon as possible."
"Not that quickly. I know I'm going to regret this, but you're going to need prenatal care, and since this is privileged information, I might as well provide you treatment for this."
"Hoist on my own petard, eh, Doctor? I suppose I deserve this for being so stubborn."
"Maybe."

"Kurusuma-san!" Siren's normally vapid voice was breathless with excitement.
"What is it now?" Kurusuma sighed in vexation. Really, dealing with Siren could get awfully wearing at times.
"Look, isn't that the girl who interfered with us when we tried to gather the police detective's Star Seed?" Siren placed a newspaper on Kurusuma's desk and pointed to a picture of Tia near the center of the page.
Kurusuma snatched up the paper, and glared at the girl smiling up from the page, "Yes, that's her. I never thought to see her again."
"She was shot a few days ago, saving the life of one of those Three Lights. She's quite the life saver, that little girl. She shows some potential. Quite extraordinary really," Siren's voice became predatory. "I think she should be our next target."
Kurusuma stared in shock at Siren, "You know, you actually have a very good idea there.
"Yes, don't I?" There was a rather self-satisfied gleam in Siren's eye.



PART EIGHTEEN

Yaten pushed open the door to the private room that Tia's was assigned to. He bit his lip at the sight of her. She didn't look all that bad, truth to tell, but his guilt at being the cause of her injury tainted his view of her.
It was a week since the incident and he'd avoided going to the hospital until today, when Taiki, Seiya and Usagi had all remonstrated him at various points in the day. The other girls didn't have to say anything, Usagi certainly spoke well enough for them. He winced, remembering some of the stern things the normally easy-going girl had hit him with.
As if sensing him standing in the doorway, she opened her eyes and looked over at the door. She stared at him as if not believing he were there, then smiled, gently. She extended her hand to him and left it there. All the forgiveness in the world shown from her eyes, and it washed over him like a wave breaking over the bow of a ship. He reached out and took her hand, not even realizing that he'd crossed the room to her.
"How are you feeling?" He sat on the edge of her bed, gingerly, careful not to jar her in any way.
"Oh, much better," she smiled at him. "I don't think the hospital staff likes me too much right now, though. I'm not a very good patient," she giggled, then broke off with a wince.
"Are you all right?" he clutched her hand tighter. "Should I call someone?"
"No, don't call anyone," she replied, laughing a little. She winced again, "And don't make me laugh, it hurts."
"I'm surprised they haven't banned Usagi from the room, then," he smiled gently at her.
"Well, they have, actually, banned her from the room when Rei-chan is here. They get into such fights and I laugh so hard. . ."
"I can imagine," he smiled, remembering. "I'm sorry I haven't come sooner."
"Didn't have the guts, huh?" She grinned at him, "Betcha wouldn't have come, except Usagi probably laid down the law. You don't have to feel guilty, you know, I put myself into the line of that bullet. I could've let that guy shoot you, just stood there and yelled instead of doing something about it. But you probably know better than anyone else that I'm not built that way anymore."
"Yes, I know. And it wasn't just Usagi that laid down the law."
"Well, imagine that," her lips quirked. "You really need to get more sleep. Sleeplessness is going to ruin your image. We can't have that now can we?"
He smiled, happy that her sense of humor was still alive and well and that she really didn't blame him for what happened, "I will, now that I know you're really all right."
She shook her head sighing, "What, did you think they were killing me in here? Okay, I'll admit sometimes they go overboard with their poking and prodding. And one would think that they're a bunch of vampires with all the blood they seem to be taking from me . . . . But other than that," she shrugged, then winced slightly and muttered slightly, "Make a note of that, don't shrug for a while. Ow."
Yaten laughed, leaned forward, putting his forehead to hers and whispered, "I'll tell you a secret."
She stared into his eyes, so close to hers, "What?"
"I love you."
He felt her hand spasm in his and saw the shock in her violet eyes, "Remember it's a secret."
She smiled, and said in a breathless little voice, "I understand." Then she laughed, "God, if I'd known that it'd take getting shot to wring that from you . . . ." She shook her head. "But isn't it best that we continue on with how we were?"
He nodded sadly, "Yes, I'm afraid so."
She sighed, putting her hand to his cheek, "Such a mess we've gotten ourselves in to."

"We can't go in there now," Kurusama eased away from the door. "She's got company. We wait until she's alone."
"Are you sure?" Siren was nibbling on a cookie, much to her partner's annoyance. "Maybe we should just go in and get her Star Seed."
"Are you out of your mind?" Kurusama snatched the cookie from Siren's hand. "What if that bozo knows how to fight like she does? Then we'd have to deal with him too!"
"Oh," comprehension filtered onto Siren's face. "I see."
"We'll wait until visiting hours are over, then we'll get her," Kurusama crushed the cookie in her hand, enthusiastically, happy with her plan.
"Oh dear," Siren was immediately distracted by the gesture. "I just baked those this morning."
"Oh, god save me," Kurusama slapped her hand to her forehead. "Would you get over it?!"

Later, a head stuck itself around the door, peering this way and that in Tia's room, making sure there was no one else in the room, "You know girlie, I didn't know you knew so many people."
Tia scowled, for a moment she didn't recognized the man grinning at her from the doorway, then her brow cleared and she called out happily, "Ronald Raymond Collins! What in the world are you doing here? I thought nothing but a threat to your personal safety would get you out of your computer room." Her eyes widened as Ronnie loomed over her, "Gracious, I forgot you took up so much room."
He did, too. He stood six foot seven in stockinged feet and weighed a good 240 pounds. He didn't look like a computer programmer and hacker extraordinaire. He looked like the quintessential bad boy instead, with a black t-shirt stretched across a muscular chest, and ratty jeans tucked into worn cowboy boots. His arms were huge and muscular and his neck was just as brawny. His mahogany hair was long, caught up in back by a piece of worn leather shoestring. An emerald earring hung from his right ear. The only thing of the computer programmer that was in evidence, were the gold wire-rimmed glasses he wore, his emerald green eyes gleaming intelligently from behind the lenses.
"I got a hot tip on that Sakamoto fellow and didn't like it one bit. I couldn't reach you and time was of the essence," he sat down gingerly on a rather spindly hospital chair placed next her bed. "Unfortunately, he got to you before I could."
Her eyes snapped to his face, "You mean that the shot was intended for me and not Yaten?"
"Got it in one. This is just the kind of thing that he'd be a part of."
"But, it must've taken a great deal of trouble just to arrange that. Do you really think that he'd be a part of that?"
"From the talk all over the Internet, hell yes."
"God, do you think anyone else knows about this?"
"It's a good bet that your brother-in-law suspects something. He's just the sort."

"Detective, here's the bullet from the incident with your sister-in-law," a policewoman handed Takumi a plastic bag with a large metal lump in the bottom of it.
"Thank you," he looked at the bullet in it for a moment, then gestured to his partner. "Joji-kun, come here. Does this look like the slug to a .357 Magnum to you?"
Joji Yoshida scowled at the bullet and grabbed the bag, "No. This didn't come from a handgun at all. The bullet's too big. If might come from a rifle."
"A rifle," Takumi looked at his partner. "This is the bullet they took from my sister-in-law."
"It's a miracle that she's still alive, then. Usually this kind of this would've blown an exit wound the size of a softball out of a person," Joji observed impassively then winced as he realized what he was talking about. "Oh, god, I'm sorry, Takumi. Your sister-in-law . . . ," he stopped, a frown suddenly creasing his face. "Wait, if this didn't come from the gun that weasel we've got in holding, it came from a different source . . . . Do you think that your sister-in-law was the actual target, rather than that young super idol?" At Takumi's nod, he frowned again, "But why?"
"Sit down, my friend," Takumi sat down on the edge of his desk, "this's going to blow your socks off. I've suspected this since I heard the news that she was shot. I've reason to believe that Ryu Sakamoto was the one who ordered her death."
"What? Wait, why?" Joji sank down on his partner's seat.
"That tape, the one that had all that footage of Sakamoto's smuggling activity. I'm pretty sure that Tia sent the tape. If you listen carefully, you can hear someone muttering softly. I recognized that voice as belonging to Tia."
They were quiet for a moment, then Joji glanced up at his partner, "If what you say is true, your sister-in-law's still in danger."
"Not if we take Ryu Sakamoto down before he gets a chance to get at her again. Still," Takumi picked up this phone and began jabbing at the keys, "it might be a good idea to make sure she has some sort of protection."

"You're not serious?" Tia stared at Ronnie, disbelievingly. "Do you believe it?"
"I don't know," Ronnie leaned back, then sat back up rather hurriedly when the chair wobbled shakily under is weight. "Damn chair. Anyway, everyone I talked to on the net, at least who lived in Japan, agreed that this Sakamoto character was heavy into the occult scene. One or two had some rather alarming stories about his alliance with some sort of dark force. Sounds like a bunch of horse-huey to me, but if this Sakamoto fellow follows this kind of thing. . . . It could be worrisome. A rich psychopath is not something one takes lightly."
"Rich I can handle, my dear," she shook her head. "It's the psychopath part that's scary. And he knows who I am," she paused a moment, then scowled at the doorway. "What the hell is that all about?"
"What?" Ronnie followed her gaze to the door, where he saw a uniformed police officer now standing at attention. "Uh-oh, looks like your brother-in-law called in the reinforcements," he got up, went the doorway and poked his head out. "Hi, there. Miss MacKenzie is wondering what you guys are doing here."
"Orders from the precinct," one of them eyed him warily, the sheer size of the other man making him edgy. "We're here a precautionary measure. And you are?"
"Ronald Collins," he answered gravely, and Tia knew that the policeman didn't know that he was being mocked. "I'm a friend of Miss MacKenzie's from the America. I'm here on business and dropped in to see her when I found out she was in the hospital. I can show you my papers, if you like," he seemed so mild and helpful that the policeman relaxed slightly.
"That won't be necessary, if Miss MacKenzie will vouch for you?" He peered past Ronnie's bulky form. She nodded an affirmative and he transferred his gaze back to the other man, "If there's nothing further?"
Not quite a snub, but Ronnie wasn't any man's fool and he returned to his chair, "Guy's got a lot of guts for such a little squirt."
"Ronald!" Tia laughed, then winced. "Ow. Don't make me laugh so hard, it hurts. Besides, boy-o, diamonds and dynamite come in small packages, you know. He might just be able to kick your can."
"You think?" he rumbled, peering thoughtfully at the policeman through the door. "He might at that."
"Yeah, he might. Now would you get back to the matter at hand?" she became serious once more. "Do you think he'll be after me again, now that I've survived his first attack?"
"It's a good possibility. I think you should let your brother-in-law know about what I found out," he leaned back, gingerly.
"Maybe," she winced at the thought. "But it's a toss-up as to whether he'll believe me or not."

"My he's a big one isn't he?" Kurusuma murmured to herself as Ronnie said his goodbyes and left. "A good thing we decided to wait. And now all we have to do is take care of the guards."
"Are you sure?" Siren murmured. "I mean, we don't want a lot of people involved with this, do we?"
"What are you talking about?" Kurusuma rounded on Siren. "This was your idea, remember?"
"Oh," Siren frowned, puzzled, then her face cleared. "So it was. Well, in that case . . . . Visiting hours are over in twenty minutes, why don't we wait till then? We could have dinner!"
Kurusuma smacked her forehead for the seventh time in the last hour, then sighed, "We might as well, no telling who could walk in on us."

A hard-faced young man stared down at the man who lay in a crumpled heap at his feet. Then the tied the man up and gagged him then shoved him into a cupboard in the corner of the room. He slid into the seat the man was using and began punching keys. He typed a name into a patient field, waited for a moment then scribbled something down on a scrap of paper. A sharp smile spread over his face as he rose to his feet and slipped out of the room.

Visiting hours were over, and the patient wings were now relatively quiet. Two forms slipped down the corridor, quietly and efficiently. They didn't seem any different than any of the other nurses from the hospital, but they weren't quite right either. There were several anomalies that would escape you if one wasn't observant enough. Small enough details but one would overlook of you weren't a medical professional employed at the hospital.
The hospital had a dress code for the nurses on duties. Long hair had to be confined tightly, so that the hair was no longer than the shoulders. The uniforms had to be pristine. White loafers with rubber soles were required.
So if a doctor or another employee of the hospital had seen these two women, they would've known that these two women weren't nurses. Their long hair was loose and hanging down their backs, the nurses' hats slightly askew on their heads. The uniforms weren't even standard issue at the hospital and both were wearing stiletto-heeled shoes.
Of course, there was no way the police officers standing guard in the corridor could know that. At the sound of footsteps, both turned to look at the women coming down the corridor. Both admired the handsome women striding down the hall and didn't realize the danger which was coming down the hall towards them. Both women turned and smiled dazzlingly at them, and they both thought that they were very beautiful. There was nothing there to warn them and, in the end, they didn't even know what hit them. They were slumped, unconscious on the floor in a matter of seconds.
Kurusuma stepped over the sprawled form of one of the police officers, casually, and quietly pushed open the door to the room. Siren followed quietly behind her partner and they slid into the darkened room. They advanced further in the room, focused on the dark form on the bed. Kurusuma motioned for Siren to do the deed. The flash of energy that was almost blinding in the gloom. They were both taken aback when the bed erupted into a spray of burnt and burning bedding. The energy had discharge harmlessly in an empty bed.
The next thing they knew, they were being attacked from behind. Kurusuma felt something hard slam into the back of her knees and she went sprawling to the floor in a heap. Siren's breath expelled forcefully when a metal bar was rammed into her solar plexis and she flew backwards into the nearest wall. Then the lights flared.
Tia stood above them in her pajamas, the intravenous stand held under her arm like a quarterstaff. She glared at the two women she'd thought she seen the last of, and snapped, "Not you again. I've gotta hand it to you, you're persistant. What do you want of me?"
Kurusuma was slowly getting to her feet, "You made a mockery of us before and have just done so again. We cannot forgive you for that."
"You didn't answer my question, skank. I asked you what you wanted from me."
Siren answered this one, "We want your Star Seed. You're in no position to fight us like you were the last time."
"What?" Tia glared at the girl, uncomfortably aware that the back of her pajamas were now stained with fresh blood. She'd torn her wounds open anew when she'd attacked the two women. She realized that there was blood showing on the front of her top, shocked that she'd lost that much blood in so short a time. Then her resolve hardened and the smile she gave the other women sent a chill down their spines, "It doesn't matter. If it's necessary for me to die, then, by God, I'm going to take you with me. So come on," she twirled her makeshift quarterstaff in front of her, "take me, if you can."
"So be it," Siren's arms whipped up and energy flashed in the room.

Yaten had a bad feeling. It wasn't anything that he could pin down, really, just a feeling that something was going to happen.
"Yaten-kun?" He looked up at the sound of Usagi's voice and found her staring at him, questioningly. "Something the matter?"
"I don't know," he frowned. "A feeling. Like something bad is going to happen to Tia."
"Why don't we go see if she's all right?" Usagi smiled comfortingly at him. "At the very least, the hospital staff can tell us if she's all right."
The closer they got to the hospital the worse he felt. And by then, the others were beginning to feel the bad vibes. Usagi hid the feeling well, but noticed the concerned looks that Taiki and Seiya exchanged. There was something going on and the sooner they got to the hospital the better. Usagi had the feeling that Sailor Moon was going to be needed soon. By the time they got to the hospital, all of their nerves were screaming and they barreled through the lobby at full speed, ignoring the nurses on duty at the nurses's station.
They skidded round a corridor then slid to a halt at the sight of the crumpled police officers. Yaten knew they couldn't involve an innocent and turned to Usagi, "Go to the nurses station, get them to call the police. Go, we'll do what we can to help Tia. Hurry!"
Usagi nodded then flew around the corner. Yaten and the others looked at each other and nodded, grimly. Then they transformed into the Sailor Star Lights. Through the window into the room, they could see flashes of light and, to their surprise, Tia, who was still herself and was apparently, throwing everything that wasn't bolted down at the two women in the room with her. Star Healer's eyes were riveted on the red-stained pajama top clinging to Tia's torso.
Without wasting time on preliminaries, she slammed her shoulder into the door distracting the women who were intent on Tia, "STAR SENSITIVE INFERNO."
The women went in opposite directions, the blast of energy passing within a hair of them. The one in blue spun in mid-flight and fired the extractor bursts at a surprised Tia. And she was surprised enough to be thrown off her timing and the energy bursts found their target.
She didn't scream or shout. A surprised sound escaped her lips and she jerked twice before becoming still.
The only other sound in the room was Star Healer shouting, "NO!!"




PART NINETEEN

Usagi pivoted halfway to the nurses station into a darkened corridor. She'd decided that the police were less needed right now than Sailor Moon was. So she transformed quickly and ran back to Tia's room. There was no sign of the boys and she was relieved that they got to safety. She peered through the door window just in time to see Tia hit with the extractor bursts and she gasped in shock. She slammed into the room, shouting, "NO!"
The Star Flower opened and Tia's Star Seed came free. It shone bright, casting light in all directions. They all waited, breath held, for the Seed to darken and dim. After a couple of minutes they realized that this was it. It was a true Star Seed. But no one realized the real reason for this.
"We did it!" Kurusuma leapt up and down, exulting in their victory.
Siren actually had tears in her eyes, "Oh, Galaxia-Sama is going to be so pleased! A Star Seed, at last."
The Sailor Soldiers were stunned, none of the others had been true. Why this one? And why someone so precious to them? When Siren started walking towards Tia, their shock evaporated and they moved to protect the Star Seed. Kurusuma gestured, almost casually, and beams of energy lanced out, slamming into Sailor Moon and catching Star Healer full in the abdomen and sending her crashing into the two others. Kurusuma's upper lip curled and she turned back to Siren, "Go on. Get it."
Tia, meanwhile, was not insensate. She was quite aware of what was going on around her, but was suffused with a profound sense of lethargy. It was as if all her energy had been sucked from her. She felt something rising in her, like the swell of a huge wave gathering power. It wasn't a pleasant sensation and she fought against it. Fought as hard as she could. She didn't want that thing to overwhelm her, some kind of instinct told her and she usually trusted her instincts.
"The Star Seed is ours," she heard the woman in blue say and suddenly the woman's vapid voice irritated her to no end.
Then she realized that if she were overwhelmed, not only her life would be over, but so would her child's life. The fear she felt for the life of her child suddenly was overwhelmed by such a profound sense of rage that it rocked her. No one was going to kill her child. No one. Anyone who tried would die. And it was that rage, that determination, that broke through her lethargy.
Her lips skinned back from her teeth and her eyes opened. They focused straight on Siren, who stopped in shock when the girl moved, "That thing is mine. And no one is going to take it from me. Least of all the likes of you."
The muscles in her neck stood out with strain, but she moved. Her arm came up, straining with every inch she moved, but it moved more quickly than seemed possible under the circumstances.
As her hand closed over the Seed, it flared. A warm flare as if greeting the touch, happily. At the touch, her lethargy broke and she moved normally once more. There were other things concerning her now. The feeling that, with what she had in her hand, nothing was impossible. She knew this was so. All she had to do was visualize it. The Seed gave a warm flare again, as if joyfully fulfilling her wish. When it was over, Tia gripped in her hand, not a Star Seed, but a Star-born sword; a weapon she knew how to use with deadly efficiency.
She raised her head, a slow smile spreading across her face, "Surprised? Don't be, you were the ones who made this all possible."
She swung the blade as if she'd been born with it in her hand. The sword wasn't just any sword, and it didn't react like any normal sword would. Energy flared from the blade, directly towards the two women. The energy was as a physical thing and it pushed the air in front of it. There was a loud boom, rather like the sonic boom created by a jet breaking the sound barrier. The others clapped their hands over their ears, trying in vain to muffle the ringing in them. Galaxia's minions didn't fare quite so well. They were hit, full force, flinging them backwards and through the plate glass windows, the pieces exploding outwards driven as much by the women's bodies as by the concussion force which the Star-sword had produced. All throughout the floor, and indeed throughout the two floors above and beneath, windows shattered outward with explosive force.
Tia fell to one knee, panting as if in exertion, she looked over at the Sailor Soldiers, "This thing belongs inside me, doesn't it? Something bad is going to happen if it's not returned, right?"
"I'm afraid so," Sailor Moon extended a hand, as if to touch the other girl.
"No," Tia twitched away. "Don't touch me. If," she winced as if in pain, ". . . if you can do anything to return me to normal, you better do it fast. I don't know how long I can hold it back," she cried out, then curled up on her self. "Oh, God, here it comes!"
From the floor, a multitude of green tendrils rose up and engulfed the girl, forming a sick-looking cocoon.
"If you're going to do something, girls," a new voice shouted from the doorway, "do it now, or things might hit the fan."
Sailor Moon nodded and before the cocoon even burst open she had summoned her scepter, "STARLIGHT HONEYMOON THERAPY KISS."
The Farce didn't even have time to announce its name before it was hit with the healing wave, and it ended up shouting, in disbelieving surprise, "Beautiful!"
In a flash, Tia was back. She stood, dazed, for a moment, then fell to her knees. Then collapsed in a heap on the floor. In an instant, Nancy, who had been the new voice in the doorway, was on her knees, turning her sister onto her back. She evaluated the situation in a glance then whipped around and said urgently to the women now clustered about her, "Summon a doctor, quickly. Her exertions have re-opened her wounds."
Star Maker nodded and disappeared through the door, the sounds of her heels fading as she went. Nancy motioned the other women to her, "Help me get her back onto the bed."
"Do you think we should move her?" there was an edge to Star Healer's voice which made Nancy glance at her sharply.
"I think it'll be okay," she replied after a long moment. "She hasn't sustained any spinal injuries, after all."
Gently, they lifted her onto the bed. Star Healer laid her head gently onto the pillow and smoothed her rich locks from her forehead. Her fingers froze as she noticed that the bedclothes were already stained a horribly brilliant red and was spreading. She paled and cursed quietly under her breath, "Where the hell is that damned doctor?"
Nancy surveyed the stained bedclothes, sucked in a shocked breath, "God damn it. I think this might be worse that I thought," she glanced wildly around the room for a moment, then pounced on something on the floor. She came up with the panic button. She depressed the button held it until she heard the sound of rushing footsteps.
The door burst open as a doctor and several nurses rushed in. The Sailor Soldiers and Nancy broke away from the bed as the medical personnel converged on it. Star Maker, who had trailed in after the doctor and nurses, rejoined the other Star Lights. Sailor Moon stood with Nancy, who stared intently at the commotion.
"Do you think she'll be all right?" Sailor Moon asked softly.
In response, Nancy closed her eyes, hands clasped in front of her as if praying. She stood like that for a long time before relaxing, exhaling with a defeated sigh, "I don't know the answer to that. My visions of the future are always vague or uncertain when it concerns the ones I love. I can't even foresee my own future, much less the outcome of this night. . . . I'm sorry."
Star Healer was a little unnerved to discover that Nancy was a psychic. Somehow, she felt Nancy might see her true nature. The nervous glances the other two gave each other said they both were thinking along the same lines she was. Sailor Moon was the only other Sailor Soldier who didn't appear to be nervous about Nancy's gift.
"You're psychic?" Sailor Moon asked, completely embracing the concept, much to Nancy's surprise and to the astonishment of the StarLights.
"Ah, yes," Nancy's cheeks reddened. "It's not spoken of outside the family."
"You're speaking to us," Star Maker pointed out.
"I know," she smiled, "but you don't live in America and don't generally meet FBI agents in Japan."
They all gave her odd looks and she shook her head, "I'm speaking like this, because, here it's less likely that my competence and my sanity will be called into questions. Asians are generally more accepting of that , I believe. If anyone at the Bureau knew about this, they'd put me in the basement of FBI Headquarters so fast, your head would fly off your shoulders."
She broke off when an orderly wheeled in a medical cart. They transferred Tia to the cart, and wheeled her out of the room. Nancy grabbed the doctor's arm, "What's going on?"
"Let go," the doctor ordered, trying to free himself from her grip.
"Not to be evil, Sensei," her grim tone brought his eyes to hers, "but if you don't tell me what's going on, you're going to need as much medical attention as my sister does."
"I . . . see," faced with the prospect of bodily harm, he decided to stay and tell her what was happening. "I believe whatever went on in here has reopened the original wounds, including those in her lung. We have to perform emergency surgery."
"Oh, my god," Sailor Moon breathed, hands clasping in front of her in agitation.
"Well, you better get to it, Sensei," Nancy put a hand to her mouth. "I . . . apologize for threatening you a moment ago . . . ."
"You're her sister, and it's understandable under the circumstances," he stopped and gave her a stern look. "Just . . . don't do it again."

A dark shadow stood cursing, silently, after the cart with Tia on it, rushed past him. If he was lucky, whatever happened would kill her; if he wasn't, he'd have to wait until after she returned to the ward to take care of her. Either way, he'd have to wait.
He hated waiting.

Nancy and the Sailor Soldiers had moved from the room to the waiting area outside the operating room they'd been told Tia had been rushed to. They were speaking quietly to each other, mostly about the unlikely events which had happened before Tia had collapsed.
"What I don't understand," Star Fighter was saying, "is how she could've moved, much less fought, when her Star Seed had been taken from her."
"Well, that's easy enough, I think," Nancy mused to herself, drawing the others attention. "It's her condition. The power came from the . . . Star Seed, is it? That's how she could move. She fed on the Star Seed's power."
"It amazing that she's got a true Star Seed," Star Maker shook her head at the wonder of it.
"She doesn't have one," Nancy frowned at them.
There was a moment of flabbergasted silence. The Star Lights stared at Nancy as if she'd lost her mind. Sailor Moon was startled and not a little puzzled.
"Oops, sorry, maybe I should explain?" She continued, not waiting for their reaction. "Well, normally, she'd have the same kind of Star Seed I'd have, which is to say, not a true one. The only reason it's true now, is because it's not one Star Seed but two."
"Two?" Star Healer was justifiably skeptical. "It's impossible for someone to have two Star Seeds."
"Right now, she's two people in one body," Nancy said. Then she dropped the bomb, "The Star Seeds are hers and the her unborn child's."
For a moment, the other four were stunned into silence. Sailor Moon gasped as the news suddenly sunk in. Star Healer paled until her face was almost bloodless, then went red as the other two Star Lights glared at her, accusingly.
Star Healer collected herself enough to demand, "But why now, when she's pregnant. And not at any other time?"
"Well, pregnancy, particularly in our culture, the Western one, pregnancy is an almost mystical time for us. It's a powerful time for a woman," Nancy stared down at her intertwined fingers. "It's when were are closest to our connection with the earth and the universe. It's something that goes back to a time before Christianity came to Europe. When the earth and nature were worshiped as goddess. It's that power which created her ability to utilize the power of the Star Seed."
Her head came up, tilted as if listening, "Listen, my family's just arrived, and I need to ask a favor of you." She continued after they nodded, "What I've just told you, about Tia being pregnant? Keep it to yourself. No one else knows about it and until she tells them it's better to keep quiet."
"Why?" This from Sailor Moon.
"My brothers and brothers-in-law wouldn't take the news too well. They'd probably lynch the father of her child," she noted how pale Star Healer had gone. She made a mental note to take Star Healer, or better yet, Yaten aside and give him what for.

Several hours later, a giant stepped into the waiting room. Nancy stood up and walked over to him, "You must be Ronald Collins."
The man eyed her with mingled surprise and puzzlement, "How did you know?"
"I recognized you from your photos," she titled her head. "I was curious, you see, who it was who'd managed to crack my system. You'd best be glad that Tia likes you so much, because it's the only reason I turned a blind eye."
Ronnie stared down at the small woman looking up at him with equal amounts of shock, admiration and fear bouncing around his system. No one had ever been able to track him before and that person deserved his respect, "I haven't gone back in since and I don't plan on it."
"Good, she answered, gravely. "Next time, I'll bust your ass."
"How's she doing?" He steered the conversation to a more comfortable subject.
"She's still in surgery," she sighed, sagging a little.
"There was an . . . incident earlier. The fight reopened all her wounds again, including the puncture in her lung. They have to close it . . .them again."
"Not to be the bearer of more bad news," he sighed, gaining the undivided attention of everyone in the room, "but, I've stumbled onto some disturbing news you'd better know about."
Takumi had joined them at this point, "Tell us."

Half an hour later, Takumi sat staring at the wall across the room. The others sat in silence, waiting for his reaction. At last, he sighed, looking back at the large man sitting near him, "I don't know . . . if I can believe you. I've been trained to deal with facts and concrete evidence," he held up his hand, forestalling those around him who'd begun to protest. "Facts and concrete evidence. And now you come to us, with this . . . . Magic is something I've always considered as fairy tales," he smiled derisively, "despite my own family's rather colorful history."
Ronnie shook his head, a smile paying about his mouth. "Yes, I'm aware of it," he caught the other man's look. "Don't look so surprised, she's proud of you; why wouldn't she brag about you? And, you know, this sounded like a load of horse sh--," he broke off abruptly, flushing slightly, "horse crap when I first found out myself. But the stories were too consistent to be fairy tales. Besides, sitting in a room with her," he gestured gracefully at Sailor Moon, "one could start believing in almost anything."
"You have a point," Takumi mused, staring at Sailor Moon. "But do you really think he's that . . . unrelenting?"
"Yes," Ronnie didn't hesitate, "I do. But hang to your hats, it gets worse."
"Worse?"
"Word is, that this Sakamoto fellow is an--what's that word?-- an Adept in Necromancy."
"A what in what?" this from Sailor Moon.
"An Adept is someone who is an expert at magic. One who is at the peak of his game and only who will only get better as time goes by," Nancy answered, feeling a chill slice through her. "Necromancy is blood magic. The mage uses power released upon something's or someone's death, or by the power released by shedding of blood."
"Even if this guy's only a crackpot," Ronnie added, sitting forward, "he's still a sicko and he's smart. That can be a deadly combination."
"Yes, but---," Takumi broke off when Ronnie surged to his feet. He'd been facing the door and so had seen the doctor first.
"Sensei," Takumi greeted him. "How is she?"
"Well, she's a fighter, I'll say that much for her," the doctor replied, eyeing Ronnie, who was now looming over him. "She's going to be fine, if she isn't subjected to any more assaults. We transferred her to the Intensive Care Unit," he gave the Sailor Soldiers a stern look, "at least to give her some peace to recover. I might just keep her in there until she can go home, if there are going to be any more attacks."
"Hey, Sensei," Star Fighter raised her hands in surrender, "don't blame us. We're just as concerned about her as you are."
No one noticed when Star Healer slipped out of the waiting room. Star Healer slid around the corner of the ICU, glancing around at the patients in the beds. She spotted Tia near the corner and crept towards her.
A furtive movement behind one of the hospital screens caught her attention. A feeling of dread coiled in the bottom of her stomach when she saw the black, metal muzzle from behind the screen. She didn't think, she just acted, "STAR SENSITIVE INFERNO."
The energy streams disintegrated the screen and slammed into the assassin with the force of a wrecking ball leveling a building. The assassin rammed into the wall so hard he left a crater behind.
Star Healer was so furious that she'd actually stalked over to the assassin with the intention of beating him to within an inch of his life. She grasped his shirt front, pulling him into a better position and drew back a fist. But the blow she'd intended on delivering was never dealt, because the commotion had summoned a doctor.
"What the devil is going on here?" He demanded, stalking into the room. He spotted Star Healer and the assassin, "You there, don't you think you've destroyed enough of this hospital in one night?" The he saw the crater in the wall and his eyes zeroed in on the unconscious man Star Healer was still holding, "Young lady, you will unhand that man at once."
He didn't wait for her compliance, but shoved her out of the way. He did a cursory examination then went to grab the phone mounted on the wall, "We need a cart in ICU, stat. I have an injured man in here."
"You're going to save this man?" To say Star Healer was outraged was putting it mildly. "Do you have any idea what this man was doing when I found him? He was going to assassinate one of the patients here."
"I took an oath, young lady, to help my fellow man. And that is what I'm going to do, irregardless of what he was trying to do," the doctor was taking the assassin's pulse. "It's not my place to judge, that's what the law does." He must have caught the disbelieving look on Star Healer's face, "If he was trying to hurt someone, that's for the courts to decide. My job is to make him well enough to bring him to justice," the doctor stood aside as an orderly and nurse rushed the cart into the room. The assassin was transferred to the cart then rushed him to the emergency room.
Star Healer stood staring at the empty door for a moment. She heaved a great sigh, looking over her shoulder at Tia. She moved next to the girl's bed, the sight of Tia bristling with tubes and wires from all directions made her bite her lip. She reached out and brushed Tia's cheek with her fingers and whispered, "I'll get him, Tia, I swear I'll get him."
She leaned forward, careful of the wires and tubes, and brushed her lips across Tia's. Then she left, her footsteps sounding resolutely in the hall.

A day later, Takumi was sitting in his livingroom discussing the incident at the hospital. They'd been informed, of course, that an assassin had tried to take Tia's life. Tia had been placed under police protection immediately, as had the would-be assassin. Although they hadn't had a chance of interrogating him, since he'd been in a coma since surgery. Apparently, Star Healer's energy weapon and the impact against the wall had caused serious internal injuries.
"Do you think that guy was sent by this Ryu Sakamoto?" Nancy was thumbing through a stack of police reports sitting on her lap.
"I think he was," Takumi answered as Ronnie, who was also there, nodded his head in agreement. "She got away from him once, well, twice now. He has to redeem his honor by having the job finished."
"Huh," Nancy couldn't keep the sarcasm from her voice. "I'm surprised he know the meaning of the word honor."
"He does," Ronnie's lips twisted, wryly, "but I doubt his definition isn't the same as ours."
"So what are you doing to do about it?"Nancy demanded of Takumi, who was scribbling notes into the margins of the police file in front of him.
"We're going to raid his major operation site in town," he said absently, scribbling some more. "And no, you can't come."
Nancy stared at him, astonished, for a moment, "Now who said I was going to ask--?"
"No one," Takumi didn't look up from the report, but there was laughter in his voice, "but I can read your mind. You're not going."
"But--," she started to protest, but Takumi held up his hand, silencing her.
"No buts," he looked up now, a stern look in his eye. "I've got no doubt that you could handle yourself quite well in the field, but you are not a member of any law enforcement body in this country and have no legal right be come with us. You know that I respect you and I know you're a fine agent, but I can't take any chances," then he turned the stern look on a startled Ronnie. "And that goes for you, too."
The other man threw up his hands in surrender, "Hey, man, who do you think I am? I'm no Rambo, thank you. I like keeping my hide all in one piece."
"How com I get the feeling you're more along the lines of Robert Redford?" Takumi asked, suspiciously.
"Robert Redford?" Ronnie was puzzled.
"He's seen the movie 'Sneakers'," Nancy elaborated.
"Oh," Ronnie folded his arms, looking haughty. "I've no idea what you're talking about."
"Yeah right," the other man retorted. "Tell me another one." He was silent then, thinking about something and he became unusually sober, "I can't help but feel this is all my fault."
"Your fault? What do you mean?" Nancy was curious.
"She was the one who kick-started the investigation into Sakamoto in the first place, you know," he explained what he thought Tia's role was in the investigation. "Somehow, I feel if I had actually been able to talk with her about it, like I had intended. . . . I don't know, maybe I could've warned her somehow."
They were quiet for a long moment before Ronnie spoke, "No, whether you had warned her or not, the outcome would've been the same. Tia isn't one to hide behind her family when something threatens her, not anymore at any rate. And from what I could gather, Sakamoto would've found a way to get to her."
Takumi rested his forehead on his interlaced knuckles and sighed, "Maybe you're right, but still. . . ."
"Yeah, but still. . . ,"the other man nodded.
Takumi rose to his feet after another moment of silence, "I need some coffee. Do you want some?"
"I could go for some," Ronnie replied casually, and watched with heavy lids as the other man left the room.
He reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a button. His elegant fingers manipulated the object, until a tiny red light flashed twice. His lips twitched in satisfaction.
"What are you doing?" Nancy demanded as Ronnie peeled something from the button-like object.
"If he thinks I'm gonna sit this one out, he's nuts," he picked up Takumi's police identification and fitted the button underneath the lining directly under Takumi's detective badge. "This is a transmitter, with a supersensitive microphone. I'm gonna find out where and
when. . . ," he looked up at her sharply. "You're not going to say anything about it."
"No, 'cause you're gonna take me with you," she smiled grimly as Ronnie positioned Takumi's ID in the exact spot it was before. "'Cause if you think you're gonna leave me behind, you're nuts."



PART 20

There was a large circle of light illuminated on a floor surrounded by complete darkness. In the circle of light, was a smaller circle, drawn in blood. Within this circle was a man. The man writhed in pain. He convulsed a few times and rolled to the side in a fetal position. His skin was beaded with sweat and his breathing was ragged, painful.
There came a voice from the darkness, "I am truly disappointed in you, Kuriyama. I take you in, teach you and this is how you repay me."
Ryu Sakamoto stepped from the darkness, swathed in the robes of a Western mage. The robes were black and its lesser darkness blended and was swallowed by the greater darkness around them.
"I had great plans for you, my boy. Plans that you ruined when you shamed me with your failure," the Sakamoto smiled, a smile which would've chilled even the most the hardened criminals. "But you may well prove useful to me yet. In your new form."
The man in the circle wasn't listening; he wasn't really aware of anything but the pain. There were shapes moving under his skin, showing with in painful relief. His body bowed outward, and he screamed his anguish.
Ryu Sakamoto smiled again, enjoying the spectacle of pain, "Oh, yes. You will prove quite useful now."

Tia's head snapped up. She sat, tense, as if expecting something to happen. After a moment, she relaxed slightly. She sensed something in the air, something like danger, and she didn't like it.
She shook her head, trying the dispel the feeling of impending doom. Maybe she was being delusional. She'd never had these kinds of warnings before. Maybe it was exposure to Sailor Moon and company. Or had something to do with that incident with---what had they called it?---the Star Seed.
She shook her head again, thinking about the Sailor Soldiers. She had never thought, in her whole life, she would ever encounter people like them. Until she'd come to Japan, she'd never even heard of people like her. The closest she had ever come to people like them, was Nancy, who was precognitive. And certain family myths about a sorcerer and a female warrior.
But those were just stories. There were other stories, too. About inherent powers, but no one in living memory had them. No one in the last five generations, and even then, there wasn't any guarantee that they weren't just stories.
Weren't they?

Ronnie was sprawled out in a chair that seemed incongruously fragile in comparison to his massive frame. There was the look of utter boredom on his face, his half-lidded eyes masking the sharp gleam in them. Fitted in his ears were earphones attached to a hi-tech receiving device. There was a spool of magnetic tape recording whatever he was listening to.
Suddenly, his whole body tightened, even though he didn't move more than a millimeter. He was listening intently to the conversation coming through the receiver. His arm reached out, picked up a pen and jotted down some pertinent information. The pen stilled and his listened for twenty minutes more before taking the earphones from his ears and picking up the phone.
"Okay, listen," he told the person who answered his call. "I want you to meet me here as soon as you can; I've got some information for you that you might want to hear."

"Are you out of your mind?" Taiki grabbed Yaten roughly by the arm.
"No, I'm not," Yaten ripped his arm from Taiki's grip. "I have to tell her. I owe it to her. Dammit, she's carrying my child!"
Even though they already knew of her pregnancy, Yaten's admission shocked Taiki into silence. It hung there in the air between them. Yaten backed away from him then turned and walked out the door.
Taiki whirled and snapped to the up until now silent Seiya, "Why didn't you say anything?!"
"Taiki, you are talking to the wrong person and you know it," Seiya leaned back against the bar. "She has a right to know. She's going to have his child and he won't be around to support her. You think about that, O great one." He got up from the bar and walked from the room, leaving Taiki to his thoughts.

A slim leather-clad form slipped into Tia's room after visiting hours. Sailor Star Healer stared at Tia's face, silently, for some time.
"I've been waiting for you," Tia spoke without opening her eyes. "Star Healer."
Star Healer was silent in shock for a moment then moved to sit on Tia's bed. "Why?"
Tia's left eye opened, amusement dancing in her eye, "You have something you have to tell me, don't you, Yaten?"
Star Healer's breath expelled from her as if someone had kicked her in the stomach. For several minutes she was totally incapable of speech. "How-how...?"
Tia sat up, her hand coming up into cup Star Healer's cheek, she smiled, a slightly puzzled look on her face, "Some things you just know. I knew it the first time I looked into your eyes after those two witches attacked my brother-in-law," she leaned back into the bed with a weary sigh. "I wanted to deny it. I mean, Star Healer, in case you hadn't noticed, you're a woman!" she grinned so infectiously that Star Healer grinned back. "But, your eyes, the soul staring out of them, is the same. It still took me a long time to really come to grips with it. It's why I accepted that we can't be together so easily . . . ."
"I really wished that I could've spared you this," Star Healer's fingers drifted over her face. "I wracked my brain trying to figure something out, figure anything out. But every time, I only . . . .," her voice faded into stillness.
"You only came up with this one thing," Tia smiled gently, her fingers tracing the familiar, yet unfamiliar face.
"I'm sorry, I'm so. . .," the rest of her apology was silenced when Tia covered Star Healer's lips with her own. Star Healer was shocked, eyes wide open. Then they drifted shut. Tia withdrew first, opening her eyes and looking at Yaten, who now sat in front of her. He opened his eyes and stared at her silently, before asking, "Why did you do that?"
"Because, I love you," she pointed to his chest, laying her finger against his tie. "Who you are inside, Yaten, not your shell. Star Healer, Yaten, you're the same. You are you, and that's who I fell in love with. Besides, I couldn't stand to hear you apologize for something you didn't do, something that's not your fault." She smiled again, "Besides, I have something to tell you, and I need to do it now, before I lose my nerve."
"What is it?"
"You remember when we had that fight? After our first time? Well," she bit her lip, looking down at her hands, this was a lot harder than she'd figured it was going to be. She had no idea what his reaction to this would be, and she was almost afraid to find out. It almost seemed as if she couldn't force the words past her lips. Her throat worked convulsively and she seemed almost surprised when she blurted out, "I'm-I'm. . . pregnant."
Yaten was silent for so long, she risked a peek up at his face. He was staring at her with the biggest, most foolish smile she'd ever seen, smeared across his face. "I take it that's not the worst news you've ever heard."
"I love you," and a searing kiss were his reply. He raised his head, gave her a bone-melting smile, than laid his head against her abdomen, right above the new life they'd created. He was silent for a time, then laughter shook his frame, "I was wondering how long it was going to be before you told me."
"Before I told . . ." she thumped him on the back with her fist. "You jerk, you knew all along!"
"Nancy told us," Yaten raised his head, his shining eyes alight with laughter.
"Told us?"
"The other Starlights and Sailor Moon."
"Does everyone else know about my 'secret'?" she couldn't keep the acid out of our voice.
"No, just us four," Yaten explained what happened after she'd been taken into surgery. "So she made us promise not to tell."
Yaten had laid his head back onto her abdomen. She laced her fingers through his hair, "Sing something for me?"
His voice, when it came was soft, but firm, and she closed her eyes and let it drift over her. Funny, hadn't she heard this somewhere, before? It sounded familiar . . . .

Fate has spoken
My heart's one chose
For I heard an angel sing our names last night

It's love that found you
My heart surrounds you
For I can see all my life within your eyes

If they ask me what I'd wish for on a shooting star
I'd say, all my life's dreams came true
The day that I found you
For you complete me
Your heart helps to guide me
For I've never known this love I have for you
A special kind of thing
Eternally will be our special kind of thing.

She was asleep long before the end of the song and he followed soon after, lulled into dreamland by the sound of her breathing.

Nancy and Ronnie were bent over a map spread out on a table in his hotel room. Ronnie pointed to an area near the Shinjuku area, "There. That's where they're going to conduct the raid," he rifled through some large paper sheets strewn haphazardly over his bed. He pulled a couple of sheets from the pile and placed them over the map.
"These are the plans for the building!" Nancy exclaimed. "How'd you get them?"
"Don't ask," Ronnie said, absently. "From the tape, they're planning to enter here," he pointed to a door near the northeast corner of the building. "Good cover here, they can get their people into place without anyone in the building being the wiser, for some reason, no windows on this face. They're going to have people positioned across the street here," he pointed to places somewhere off the blueprints, "and here. And people placed on neighboring buildings, here and here and here," he added, pointing to various parts of the sheet, "to keep any eye out for any potential problems."
"Hmmm . . . . That would mean," Nancy mused, absently, marking a note on the sheet, "in order to keep the cops from seeing us, we need to get in before the cops get set up," she looked up. "When did you say they were going to begin?"
Ronnie flipped through his notebook, "Um, lessee . . . They were going to deploy at 7:30 p.m."
"So we get there, at 7:00. Did they say if they were continuing with the surveillance on the building until the time of the raid? Shoot, we're going to have to find a way to get past it before the others get there," she made another note.
"That shouldn't be too hard," Ronnie pointed to buildings on either side of the warehouse. "They've only got rudimentary surveillance positioned here and here. We can get past them here and here, no problem."
"Now all we gotta do is get in," Nancy frowned over the blueprint again. "Say, you wouldn't know how to pick a lock, would you?"
"As a matter of fact . . . ," he grinned at her expression. "Hey, look, I wasn't always a computer geek, you know."
"Oh, man," Nancy dragged a hand through her hair, "I gotta talk to Tia about the people she hangs out with."

Ami was startled by a discreet chiming coming from her pocket computer. She was in Tia's hospital room, visiting with Usagi and Makoto. Tia's brother-in-law was also there, leaning indolently against the wall, watching his daughter crawl all over the foot of Tia's bed. He'd glanced over at her when the chime had sounded and raised an eyebrow.
She blushed, delicately, then excused herself. She caught Makoto's eye. She grabbed up her mini computer, and she and Makoto slipped into the corridor. She smiled at the police officers on either side of the door then walked a short way down to some benches in the hall. Makoto slid into the seat next to her.
Ami logged on to her computer. There was an alert waiting for her. She frowned as the data was relayed to the computer. She plugged in some data, "That's odd . . . ."
"What is it?" Makoto waited patiently for the information that Ami was getting from the main system.
"The computer detected some sort of high tech listening device in Tia's room just now," she punched more keys.
"Really, where?" Makoto leaned in so she could get a closer look at the screen. "What's it doing?"
"I'm running a sweep on the room, to locate where the device is," she punched a few more keys. "There, the computers scanning the room now." There appeared a basic line 3-D drawing of the room with line drawings of the people in the room. It focused on the line drawing of Takumi. Then it focused even further on his breast area. The focus shifted again, delineating a bill fold in this coat pocket, a bright red, flashing dot as the device. "Why would anyone bug his badge?"
"And when would they get the chance, anyway?" Makoto frowned. "Is there any way for the computer to find out where this thing is sending that signal?"
"I can try," Ami began punching keys in quickly. "There, the computer's searching the city. It's got something . . . .It's a hotel . . . . The Royal Arms; that's one of the most exclusive hotels in Tokyo. The penthouse suite."
"Nice," Makoto murmured. "Can you find out who's registered in that room?"
"I don't know, maybe, give me a minute," she punched the keys on her computer for a moment. "There, Ronald Collins."
"Ronald Collins, who's that?" Makoto frowned. "And why would he want to listen in on Tia's brother?"
"I don't know, but I think that Mr. Collins is going to get a visit from the Sailor Soldiers very soon," Ami stood up, snapping her computer shut. "Come on, let's get Usagi."

The elevator motors provided gentle background noise as the girls rode down the lobby.
"We don't know what to expect when we get there," Makoto was frowning slightly, arms folded. "It could get real serious, real quick. I don't like it."
"I want to find out what's going on," Usagi's face was unusually somber. "But all the more reason to go have a little back-up on this. Call Hikaru and have her meet us at the hotel. You must admit she does have a lot more experience in this sort of thing than we do."
The other two nodded and they fell to planning their foray.

When they met up with Hikaru at the hotel, she wasn't alone. Predicably, Michiru was with her, knuckle to her chin, a slight smirk playing on her lips. She laughed and said, "Well, you didn't think you'd get my partner and not get me, did you?"
Their job getting to the penthouse was made easier, since the penthouse was accessible only by an express elevator. That meant they could transform without worrying about the stops made by a normal elevators. Sailor Uranus was all for busting down the door, and was about to ram the door when Sailor Mercury stopped her.
"There's an easier, less destructive way to do this," Sailor Mercury gave an impatient chuff. She reached out and knocked on the door, calling out, "Room service!"

When Ronnie answered the door, he expected to see one of the unfailingly polite hotel employees, so he plastered a plastic smile on his face and was saying, "Sorry, I didn't order any room service," when he suddenly found himself on the business end of a sharp, ornate sword. Every muscle in his body tensed, and he fought his natural impulse to take down this interloper. But some instinct was telling him to allow the scene to play out a little longer. He contented himself with asking, "And who are you, beautiful?"
"That's none of your concern," the woman snapped, applying a little pressure on the sword, enough to make Ronnie to back into the suite.
"No?" he allowed himself a slight smile, knowing the very thing could cost him his life. "I think it is. As delightful as I find you and your companions," he looked at the other women who began slipping into the room after them, "it concerns me when you break into my room and accost me with a sword."
"You've put a surveillance device on the badge of a well-known, prominent police detective," the woman dressed in blue, with a blue visor over her eyes, said nailing him with a hard look, "we want to know why."
The room had been dimly lit, so the other women hadn't seen the slim figure slipping through the shadows. Well, didn't see it, until it was way to late. There was a gun pressed to Uranus's temple before she realized what had happened, and a voice was saying in her ear, "How rude, they didn't even bring the caviar we ordered. I'm going to have to write a stern letter to the hotel management about this," the voice hardened. "I wouldn't move, sister, I can pull this trigger faster than it would take for you to try and kick my ass."
"Oh, wait!" Sailor Moon suddenly shouted. "Miss Nancy! Stop, that's Tia's sister!"
Immediately, the gun was lifted from Uranus's temple, and Nancy backed away from the woman, gun pointed at the floor, but no less wary. Uranus gave her a scorching glare, and she grinned impertinently.
"What are you doing here?" Nancy asked Sailor Moon.
"Ah, the transmitter on Detective Miyake's badge?" it was a question.
"Oh, well, as to that," Nancy gestured for the rest of the Sailor Soldiers to enter. She flipped the safety on then stuffed the Baretta down the back of her pants and shut the door. "Come into the parlor, we'll explain."
Ronnie shook his head, exasperated, "While you're at it, could you please explain to me who these people are? Boy, and I thought I was weird," but then he grinned, admiring long, shapely legs as they proceeded before him. On the other hand, he thought, I can't fault the scenery.

Nancy filled in the Sailor Soldiers on what they had been doing. They sat for a time, in silent contemplation of the situation. Sailor Moon was staring at Ronnie for a while when he lifted his head and cocked an eyebrow, "Something on your mind?"
"Why are you involved in this?" Sailor Moon asked. "Why are you and she so bound and determined to go on that raid with the police."
"For me it's simple," Nancy answered, "she's my little sister. Oh, we may not be blood, but they welcomed me into the family with no reservations, no restrictions. Like I was actually born into the family. And when you mess with my family, there's to hell to pay. Takumi won't take me on. I'm, oh, thousands of miles outside my jurisdiction. But I want to be there when they take this . . . person down."
"My answer's a little more complicated," Ronnie leaned back, staring at the ceiling in reflection. "I met Tia, oh, two years ago. I was a guest lecturer at a local community college on a seminar about cyber-crime," he grinned at Nancy, whose eyebrows had disappeared under fiery bangs. "She wasn't an official seminar participant. Her grandfather had gotten her in on the pretext that he couldn't find appropriate child care for her. I remember being shocked to see a young girl there, and even more when she started making sensible conversation..
"I've been a hacker for most of my life, ever since I discovered computers. I was never caught, but I outgrew the impulse to screw with people's lives. That's when I came up with the idea of selling my experience to clients to help them guard against people who were like how I used to be.
"It wasn't long after that first meeting with her that my computer security company came under suspicion of industrial espionage. And even worse, than that, before too long one of the detectives involved in the investigation was murdered. Suspicion and blame, of course, landed straight on my shoulders. It didn't really matter to the detectives that I was innocent. They wanted payback for the death of their colleague, not that I blame them, on reflection of course," he gave them a self-depreciating smile.
"Into the middle of this came this astonishing little girl I'd met at that seminar. I don't think they really knew what hit them. I mean, there she was, this little bit of nothing standing between the law and the person they believed killed one of their own.
"They didn't take her really seriously at first, until she started, as they say, stealing a march on them. She began uncovering some major evidence; evidence they would've uncovered themselves if they hadn't been so focused on proving I was the culprit. They sat up and took notice then," he shook his head, a slightly puzzled smile on his face. "Turns out that one of the vice-presidents was the culprit. Cold-blooded little freak that had almost as much hacking experience as I did. She engineered it so I'd take the fall. Tia was the one who uncovered who it was, why and found all the hard proof to implicate the . . . woman.
"She saved me from the electric chair, you know. That's what the District Attorney was going to ask for, the death penalty. Because it was a police detective who was murdered," he shook his head again. "I think she saved more than my life. You can't imagine how much anger and bitterness I held over that business. I was just angry enough to hack into law enforcement databases and cause some unmitigated chaos. But she pulled me back from that edge, got involved in my company, saved that too, since the company was floundering. She took the place of my family, too; they'd turned their backs on me a long time ago.
"Guess it's not so different than Nancy," he huffed in surprise. "Family. I don't think I've ever thought of it that way. My family, and the rage I feel over this-this ," he broke off, he looked at his clenched hands in surprise. "Nancy's right. Mess with my family there's hell to pay."


Continued in Chapter 5