The Other Side
by Goz

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. If I did, I would've made them wear more clothes.

Warning: This is a Sailor Moon fanfic concerning various new Sailor Scouts of my own creation. It also contains liberal mixing of the Japanese version with the dub. Caveat emptor.

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Part 10

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All her life, Andrea had felt like she was staring death in the eye, and she had been certain that she had finally blinked.

The scent of smoke had roused her, and she had fallen out of bed and stumbled to the door. The knob had burnt her hand - *why* had she asked for a room with no windows, she had wondered. As she had struggled to open the door with her hand inadequately insulated inside the sleeve of her pajamas, she had heard a crack above her. She had just looked up in time to see a piece of the ceiling crashing down on her.

Andrea didn't quite realize that she was awake for a long time. *The afterlife is a hospital room,* she thought drowsily at one point. Then her eyes opened wide, and she struggled to sit up. Pain suddenly erupted in her head, and she plopped back down on the pillow.

*So, I'm not dead,* she mused, struggling to push away the throbbing in her skull.

She laid very still for several minutes longer, minutely observing everything around her in an effort to stir some reaction to being alive. Her concentration was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. With an effort, she ignored her headache long enough to turn her head to see who had come in.

The portly, grey-haired nurse standing in the door was smiling with relief. "Well, I see you're awake. I must say, you gave us quite a scare there for a while! When your sister came in-"

"My sister?" Andrea interrupted startled. "Oh, Ariane," she said at the same time as the nurse said, in a baffled tone, "Ariane, your twin."

The nurse stared at Andrea for a moment as she blushed, then continued somewhat puzzledly, "Well, anyway, your sister came in - she was only with you for a minute before she ran out and said that the monitors were changing. I checked it out, and you'd just come right out of that coma!"

"I was in a coma?" Andrea marvelled. *A very indiscreet nurse,* she thought somewhat bemusedly. "I thought - when can I leave?" she demanded. It had just dawned on her that they hadn't expected her to come out of the coma, and if they hadn't - something unexpected had happened to make the change, and surprises were always more than just surprises.

The nurse walked over to the wall computer and tapped out a command. She smiled at Andrea as she waited for the information to load. "This may take a minute; the machine has to take into account everything that happened to you, your metabolism, the number of white blood cells - uh?!" The nurse flinched as though the computer had shocked her. "Well, what do you know!" she said to herself, then turned to Andrea, smiling slightly confusedly. "Looks like you'll be able to leave within the next three days..." she stared at the screen for a few seconds, as if expecting it to change its reply.

"Well!" she said after a moment. "I'll bet you're hungry! I'll go get some soup for you right away!"

-

Andrea had recovered enough by the next morning that she could go to the bathroom by herself, a considerable relief to her. She had no trouble keeping down soup and crackers, and was chafing with boredom when Ariane and Connelly came to visit.

It was an odd visit. Connelly seemed to be dancing on eggshells, trying to avoid some apparent taboo topic. Ariane was watching both of them closely, and talked little. Andrea thought she caught a trace of a smirk on Ariane's face while Connelly was talking about the "miraculous recovery".

"Ariane," Andrea felt compelled to ask, as they were leaving, "Do you know *how* I got better?"

Ariane started as she walked out the door, but continued on and made no other indication that she'd heard.

Connelly spared Ariane an irritated look, then told Andrea hurriedly, "The docters don't know how it happened. All they know is that the brain tissue that had been damaged has regenerated."

That wasn't good enough, but Andrea thought she knew a better person to ask.

-

Andrea stood at the edge of the border, contemplating the grass at her feet. The border was not exactly visible, but she knew exactly where it was. If she crossed over it - she shuddered and turned her back on it, in a conscious refusal.

*Andrea,* said someone behind her. She turned and saw Ket standing a few paces away. She never got used to her guardian's sudden appearances and disappearances.

*Hello, Ket,* said Andrea quietly. *Where have you been?*

*Talking. I'm trying to make peace with the Other Side. I've brought some people to talk with you...* The emaciated, grey-haired woman turned and gestured at the darkness across the border. Two figures emerged into the small, mysteriously lighted area that always surrounded Andrea. They were men about twenty years old, but the tilt of their heads obscured their features.

*Hello, Andrea,* said the first one. She wished she could see their faces more clearly, but when the other echoed his greeting in the same voice, she knew that they were twins.

*Who are you?* Andrea asked, regarding them suspiciously.

*I'm Curran and he's Colwyn - we're employees of your grandmother,* said the first. They looked up enough to exchange smug glances as Ket's shoulders stiffened.

*My grandmother... Who is she?* Ket had always told Andrea that her mother's mother was more important than her parents. **Well*,* began one of the two, but Ket gestured sharply at him, her face very severe, and he fell silent. The twins wore identical smirks.

Ket informed them coldly, *Someone else will tell her that -* *Who?* Andrea interrupted, her impatience in a rare moment getting the better of her. She was *tired* of the dissembling.

Ket hesitated a moment. *When you are alone with Ariane and Connelly, say to Connelly "Hydra and Cassiopeia are bright tonight." She will explain everything. Now, remember what you saw.* "Next time, think *very* carefully before you speak," that meant. Andrea lowered her head slightly, chastened.

*We'll be back to tell you more after you've talked with Connelly.* Ket pointed towards the Other Side, and Curran and Colwyn followed her past Andrea into the dark.

Andrea decided, *Something didn't go right.*