Part IX

Even though it was a simple position, having her hands tied behind her back sent excruciating pain surging through her body. Her arm was broken and she wasn't even sure whether or not it was even in its socket anymore. Fighter knew that she shouldn't show any fears or signs of her agony to her captor. Her face was like stone as her cool front covered the whirlwind of thoughts that were going through her head.

The dark soldier looked over at her as he led her by the arm down the hallway towards the voices and laughter. He had just been patrolling the grounds as he noticed a stirring from the recently collapsed cavern. He felt no remorse for turning Fighter over and actually had to stop himself from killing her personally. The dark warriors were made up solely of Isai's hate and desire for revenge, there was not a single emotion of compassion or love in them.

Fighter was struggling to remain conscious, she knew that she wouldn't have been captured so easily if she had been just a little stronger. It was a seemingly effortless task to take her prisoner. All the guard had to do was pull her half limp body from the wreckage and tie her up, she couldn't resist or even fight back being in the state that she was. Her eyes were heavy and sleep, if it was not death, was trying to take her over. Not much remained of her uniform, as she was a torn and battered Starlight.

Her mind continued to spin as she tried to walk down the hall. Fighter would stumble every now and again to stall the inevitable and hopefully gain a little more strength. All of her thoughts were a big jumble and had no sense or reasoning to them until one central idea brought them to a halt. Odango. was her Odango really with her right now? Everything began to make sense again as she remembered her dream and encounter with Usagi. 'She can't be with me now. I remember feeling so much warmth and power when she entered my body. but now that warmth is gone and I'm weak again. What happened?' Fighter thought and must have slowed down her pace because she received a turbulent tug from the guard as he began to drag her more roughly.

The dimly lit halls gave way to a large banquet hall lit brilliantly with the flames of a million candles. The dark army sat around feasting and celebrating while Isai just looked on at the head of the room. He hadn't noticed Fighter enter with the guard and Fighter took this opportunity to study him more closely.

Isai was sitting in a high-backed chair with his head propped up on his fist, which was in turn leaning on the arm of the chair. He didn't have the fierce face that he had earlier, now instead he had a simple complexion of sadness. What would this man who just butchered thousands of people without a second thought have to be sad about? He was staring at everything and nothing at the same time as you could tell that he was concentrating in deep thought. Isai's head snapped up when the guard cleared his throat as he and the captive approached the head of the room.

Silence. The entire room stopped their commotion as they watched with eager eyes to see what was going to happen next. Isai stood to rise above the two in front of him. "What is this that you're bringing before me?" He questioned as the soldier bowed but Fighter stood in defiance. "You come before me again, and in such a state, what do you think you can do?"

Fighter had no power in her being to struggle against the ropes that bound her, but still insisted on giving Isai a full-of-herself smile. This must have pleased Isai because he smiled back at her and ordered the guard to free her hands. "She's pathetic!" He waved his hand in the air. Fighter could feel energy coming to her body, but this wasn't foreign energy, this was a power that she had felt many times before. This was her rage and anger rising quickly and pumping through her veins.

Isai looked around at the army that encased the room. An idea must have played on his mind because a faint smile came to his lips. "Shall we have a little fun?" He asked as he spread his arms to do a full 360 and take in the entire room. The soldiers went crazy as a loud burst of cheering filled the room. Isai side jumped over the table and took Fighter by the arm, her bad arm, and drug her into the middle of the room. He brought her by her shoulders up to whisper in her ear. "So you want to fight some more, huh little Starlight? Have fun!" He threw Fighter to the ground as he began to walk back to his seat.

Fighter looked around and saw that she was in the middle of almost an arena. Once Isai reached his seat and made himself comfortable he raised his arm in the air. Fighter's breathing was heaving and in almost pants, her lack of oxygen was almost cutting of her vision. Isai's hand came down to the table as he called the command. "Attack!!!" All at once it seemed as though there were millions of soldiers rushing towards the center of the arena to cripple the Starlight and permanently dim her shine.





Usagi walked around in the dark room with not a trace of light to be seen. Her hands felt along the walls and in front of her so that she didn't run into anything. It was deathly quiet in here and very lonely. "I have to find something I can use."

With that thought the room became very warm and before long she broke out into an uncomfortable sweat. "What is she doing?" She asked as she wiped some moisture from her brow. The heat continued to rise, with the rising temperature the room began to glow and Usagi could make out certain objects in it. Usagi closed her eyes and concentrated on the energy that she felt.

It was anger and hatred. Hatred, an emotion that Usagi had never felt before, that is why it took her so long to determine what it was. "So this is what it feels like to hate some one?" Usagi voiced her thoughts as the immense heat continued to surround her. She turned her head and her eyes roamed over the various trinkets and ornaments. "How can some one with such a beautiful imagination feel this emotion?"

Usagi fingered a couple of the ornaments turning them over to marvel at their splendor. She couldn't comprehend how Fighter, some one she's grown to know and trust could have such emotions trapped inside of her. Usagi couldn't use these emotions to magnify her power and had to continue her search for a positive one. A door appears on one of the walls and she approaches it.

Once at the door Usagi looks back to where she has just come from and then turns to cross the threshold. As soon as she steps in she feels an overwhelming sense of fear and doubt. She can sense Fighter's insecurity and pain. "I never knew, she hid all of this so well before." Usagi continued to walk around. The room was blue and had no ceiling. This must have been the room of Fighter's past emotions, while the room she had just come from was the room of the emotions that Fighter was feeling at that current moment. Usagi crosses the room and walks towards a book on a small table.

The book was very thick and very elegant. This was book of Fighter's thoughts and memories. Everything she had ever thought or felt was written in the pages of this book. It would have been wrong for Usagi to read this book but this was a circumstance that she knew she would understand. Usagi began thumbing through the book. Each passage that she read she could feel the room fill with the emotion that Fighter had felt when she had this thought or this memory.

Usagi had started at the back and worked her way forward. The first passage that she stopped on was one from when Fighter had found out that everyone was dead. "There are no more smiles, no more hellos and no more good times. There are no more chances to say I love you." Her voice echoed in the room as she read the passage out loud. It was beautiful and she felt the weight and pressure of the sadness and regret that filled the room.





Fighter stood up in a defensive stance as she was not going to go down without a fight. Where was Usagi? "Odango." She whispered to herself. "I need you."





Usagi knew that there wasn't much time left and that she had to try even harder. "Why is it so hard to find a good feeling in some one as beautiful and kind as Fighter?" She questioned as she continued to flip through the pages. Usagi saw how Fighter's loneliness had taken over her thoughts and how they fed on her damnation.

Finally she found an emotion that was written in brilliant bright gold ink different from the rest of the passages. She flipped a little ways back too and saw that there were pages and pages of this golden ink. "What brought her all of this wonderful happiness that she could go on for pages and pages about and think about this much?" Usagi asked before she began reading but then gasped as she did.

She had found it, the emotion that she had been looking for. Love. The feeling that Usagi had been hunting for this entire time was a result of her. "Laughing so hard that I cried, when we joined hands and I gazed into your eyes. Always your fragrance, so faintly tears at the strings of my heart. Am I not good enough?"

Usagi immediately felt her eyes tearing up. She had tried to pick the shortest one that she could so as not to read too much into her feelings and invade her privacy. This however was the second shortest passage the first one said, 'Aishiteru.' One word, one word said it all. Now she knew that she was the cause of Fighter's pain and sorrow. Usagi began to cry as she crumpled to the floor. She never knew how deeply Fighter's feelings were for her and now knew why she had said and done all of the things that she did when they were together on Earth before.

"Odango." A voice echoed through the room. "I need you." It was Fighter's voice and Usagi immediately snapped up and too attention. She couldn't wallow in this right now she had to save Earth, Kinkomu and. Fighter.

Usagi concentrated her powers on this emotion that Fighter had had and felt the warm and powerful energy fill the room. Usagi was amazed at how strong Fighter's emotion of love truly was. Once again she had never felt anything like this and felt a wonderful sensation flow throughout her body. Serenity's garments appeared on her as a smile came to her lips.





Fighter, not having her yell, was going to have to go at this battle with only her limbs. A feeling began to build inside her and she could feel the warmth and energy that she had felt before when Usagi's soul had entered inside of her. The feeling became stronger and stronger as it seemed to fill every part of her being and she knew that this was her Odango inside of her. Fighter tilted her head back and closed her eyes with her arms out- stretched just moments before the attack was about to strike her.

A column of white light poured out from Fighter's figure as it sent ripples of energy out in every direction. The forms of the dark soldiers were shaken and becoming instable as the light reverberated through them. One by one they would all drop to their knees and then to the ground in defeat.

The light eventually stopped and Fighter's head came down to look at what had happened. There were soldiers laying only inches from her body dead on the ground. The bodies of the dark army lay like carpet over the arena floor with a slight haze lingering over them. 'The souls of the people from the city that they fed off of.' Fighter thought to herself as she watched more and more souls being released. Realizing that she had left her back to Isai, Fighter quickly turned around to see him standing an arm's length behind her.

His face was awe-struck as he just stared at her. "Who are you?" He asked as his fists shook beside him. "Who are you to destroy my army this way?!" His voice grew louder as did his anger.

Fighter could feel her heart pound harder as his shouts reached her, they seemed to shake her soul. Just as before her arrogance was seen in her features as she simply smiled at him with her head slightly tilted down and her hands on her hips.

"No. Not again, you can not defeat me again." Isai drew his sword from its holder and prepared to attack Fighter. "The only person with this kind of power was the white moon princess, and that is why I took care of her first!" The sword shook in his hands as did the rest of his body.

"And that was your mistake!" Fighter said as she blasted Isai with a powerful laser of white energy. The energy came straight out of her hand and she didn't even have to call it or summon it, it was just there.

Isai was a huddled mass on the floor as Fighter walked over to tower over him and blast him again. Fighter's hands came in front of her to blast him when she suddenly stopped. Isai was puzzled by this and had no idea why she didn't just finish him off right there.

Usagi's voice rang in Fighter's subconscious. Fighter felt her strong sense of justice and urge to do what was right. Fighter felt her power draining from her as Usagi's form floated lightly in front of her. "Serenity." Isai hissed from his position on the ground. Usagi looked down at the wounded man. "I knew that this Starlight couldn't have defeated me alone."

Fighter was ready to pounce on him when she saw Usagi's form wave her not to. To her surprise the ghost-like apparatus began to speak. "Isai." The words were almost a whisper. "Do you remember why you began this war all of those years ago?" She asked as she knelt down beside him. She and he both knew that he couldn't hurt her now. "Do you remember your daughters and their deaths?"

Tears began coming to Isai's eyes as he remembered the true reason that he was fighting. "You took them away from me, and that's why I had to kill you." He was clearly agitated and emotional.

"No, that's wrong. The rebels killed your daughters." Usagi corrected him with a stern look on her face. "Instead of coming to us and asking us for our help, you decided to fight us and wage war on an entire planet." Usagi put her transparent hand on top of his. "We could have helped."

Isai broke down into an open expression of grief as his head dropped to his hands. Sobs came every now and again. This wasn't putting Fighter at ease who was still ready to fight him if need be. Usagi smiled up at her and reassured her that everything was over now. Usagi came closer to Fighter as she entered in to her again. Fighter understood that Usagi couldn't do anything or use her powers in the form that she was in and needed her body as an amplifier.

Isai looked up to see the two joining once again and gaze with wonderment at the very sight of such a thing. He could see a white aura surrounding the senshi and growing brighter by the moment. Soon he became encircled by it too and felt the warm joy that washed over him. All of those years of hatred and being alone he had missed this feeling. His body was being cleansed of all the darkness and his true feelings were being restored.

When Fighter opened her eyes she saw Isai's form in front of her but it appeared to be much like Usagi's in the fact that it was only his soul. "Thank you." He said, as he took turned around to see four girls standing behind him in a horseshoe shape. He nodded at them and took off puncturing a hole through the soil above them and letting in the shine of the stars now present in the night sky. Isai's soul was finally going to be at peace with his daughters.