Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, nor do I own the song "Storms in Africa." I am borrowing them for entertainment purposes only; no money is being made from the writing or reading of this story.
Pray for a Storm
©2000-2001 by Kei
Chapter 6
Turas mór
Trom trí na stoirmeacha
"Mako!" Nephrite cried out in anguish when the black lightning bolt pierced her through her left shoulder. She had jumped in front of the attack, sacrificing herself for Nephrite, the one she loved.
Nephrite dashed forward and knelt beside her crumpled form, blood spilling out of the neatly punctured hole in her shoulder. He gathered her into his arms, embracing her tightly even though he wasn't she sure she could feel anything at all.
"Get your hands off her! She is MINE!" the cloaked figure bellowed.
"She doesn't belong to anyone!" Nephrite yelled back angrily, carefully placing Makoto down on the grass and gazing lovingly at her discolored but still recognizable face. He brushed back her bangs and stroked her cold cheek. He almost jumped in surprise when her eyes fluttered and finally opened. She smiled warmly at Nephrite and he helped her sit upright. She clutched onto him and looked at the one she had named Darkness as her true coloring returned to her.
"You broke our contract by trying to bring harm to Nephrite. I kept up my end, so it's null and void," she told him. "And I promise that you will pay for that."
With that, she very slowly got to her feet and stared at him defiantly, putting her hands up around her heart. "Green Jupiter Crystal Power!" she called, and the sky filled with thunderclouds as lightning flashed in the sky and around her body.
During the short time she had been unconscious, a visitor had come into her mind. From all the darkness and fog emerged Ayla, smiling at Makoto. Makoto didn't know what to say, so she asked what Ayla was doing there. All of a sudden, a bright explosion of light had occurred, and a woman no longer stood there. Instead it was a tall, strong man with the same coloring as Ayla had. He had a beard and mustache, and from between them he was still smiling at her.
"Father…" The word fell from Makoto's lips before she could stop it.
He gave a deep, throaty laugh that she remembered from a faraway place, like a dream.
"So, I see you remember me, daughter," he spoke at last. His rich, majestic voice was one that brought all these memories rushing back. This invincible man was Zeus, her immortal father.
Seeing him again caused tears to push at the corners of her eyes. She rushed forward and hugged him without hesitation. She hadn't seen him in a millennium, and a father-daughter moment was long overdue. He gave that hearty laugh again and patted her on the back. Then he stepped away and held out a sparkling green jewel to her.
"But I already have my Jupiter Heart Crystal," she said, shaking her head.
"Ah, yes, but this is the Soul Crystal of Jupiter, your celestial body. You earned it by finding your soul mate, Nephrite," he explained, and she tentatively took it from his outstretched hand. She gasped when it zapped in a green glow from her hands to her heart. Then she looked up at him with questioning eyes.
"Why did you disguise yourself as Ayla?" she asked.
"Because mere mortals cannot look upon a god without being killed instantly. In your home dimension I never needed to personally come down because I trusted Selene to watch over you. But here she couldn't keep an eye on you, which she told me of, so I came down," he told her, and she nodded. "Now, call out 'Green Jupiter Crystal Power' when you want to transform, and you will become Eternal Sailor Jupiter, the Senshi of Protection and Storms."
"Thank you, Father, for everything," she murmured as he disappeared and she woke up.
Now she stood in the field as Eternal Sailor Jupiter, complete with a different uniform and wings. Instead of a single skirt, she had three. The top one continued from her bodice and was white, the one under that was a light green, and the third was an emerald green. Instead of a bow on her chest there was only a green heart, and the bow at her waist was no longer big and pink, but thin green ribbon the same shade as the second skirt. In place of her tiara was simply the symbol of Jupiter. And on her back were a pair of glorious white angel wings like those Eternal Sailor Moon had.
"Mako?" Nephrite whispered and she turned and gave him her best smile. She winked and took to the air, her eyes trained on Darkness, who also rose into the sky. His red eyes sparked but she didn't let it affect her. Instead she raised her hands to the darkened sky and screamed, "Eye of the Storm!"
Her cry seemed to echo in the heavens as thunder and lightning showered down and wrapped Darkness in billions of volts of electricity. Rain started pouring only on him, and the drops turned into tiny needles that pricked every inch of him. It took not five seconds for him to be totally destroyed.
The sky started clearing up, but not before a single band of blue-white lightning crashed down and struck Makoto. Nephrite's eyes widened, thinking that this would kill her, but when he blinked and saw that she was no longer there, the shattering of his heart was much worse.
"NOOOOOOO!" Makoto screamed, shooting up in her bed. She saw the startled faces of her friends gathered around her in a hospital room. She found herself attached to numerous tubes and other medical equipment she didn't know the name of. She ripped it all off her and jumped out of the bed.
"Mako, what are you doing? You need your rest!" Ami exclaimed, trying to calm down the distraught brunette. "You've been in a coma for two weeks!"
"What?" Makoto hissed in disbelief. "A coma?"
"Yes, you were struck by lightning that night you ran away," Ami clarified. "We were all so worried about you."
"We're so sorry we made you upset, Mako!" wailed Usagi. "It's all our fault for fighting!" She hugged Makoto and wept into her hospital gown without restraint. Obviously she had been hating herself for the past two weeks. Makoto patted her on the back.
"It wasn't your fault, Usagi," Makoto soothed. "I was just having a bad day and I took it out on you guys. I'm the one who should be sorry."
With that, Minako, Rei, and Ami all came forward and hugged Makoto, happy that she was all right. They had a group hug, and then Makoto requested of Minako to close the door, which she did. Makoto hopefully put her hands around her heart and whispered, "Green Jupiter Crystal Power."
Her four friends gasped when the transformation was complete and Eternal Sailor Jupiter stood before them.
"What is this? You have wings, too, like Sailor Moon?" Minako asked incredulously.
Makoto didn't really hear that question or any of the ones that followed as her friends chattered nonstop about this new form of Sailor Jupiter. She was only thinking about how Nephrite and that world had not been a dream, like she had feared.
'But how am I supposed to get back to you, Nephrite?' she silently asked him, though she knew he could not hear her and reply.
Great journey
Heavy, through the storms