The Joining of Sailor Earth 2.

What lies beneath the super-heroine?

Marise detached herself from the man she had been holding, feeling exhausted. Her bloodshed eyes locked with Kenji's.

"Kenji-san…" her voice broke. She closed her eyes, and gathered her strength. Color returned to her face as he could literally see her emotions hiid themselves. "I shouldn't have done that."

"It was self-defense, Marise. But you shouldn't have come after him."

Marise's eyes locked with his. "I came after him in rage. I shouldn't have hurt the people trying to protect him."

Kenji's mind flashed back to the horrid scene of the two men being thrown with broken necks. He closed his eyes against the sick feelings well up inside of him.

"I need to change," Marise told Kenji. She was still dressed as Sailo… as Black Death, she corrected herself. This outfit was Black Death. She had closed that chapter. Marise stood up, and started walking. At the door, she stopped, and said, not turning around,

"I'll understand if you don't want me around anymore." Marise walked dejectedly out of the building, not giving Kenji the chance to answer. By the time he got over most of the chock, she was nowhere to be seen, and he raced outside. She wasn't there either.

Marise had slipped back into the library, the look on her face telling the children the wrong story.

"He got away," Juro said as he saw her enter. Sadly, Marise shook her head as she powered down to her normal attire. His brown eyes went open in shock and his young face, framed by black hair, displayed shock.

"No. He won't be hurting anyone anymore." She sunk to her stone.

"Then why the sad face?" A small girl named Mai asked.

"Because someone saw me," Marise answered. "By getting rid of Peter, I destroyed my last chances."

"Fuck," Juro grunted. "We're sorry, Mar. But, you can always stay here. You know that."

Marise smiled faintly, and nodded. She looked at the children, and smiled gratefully. "Thanks, guys."

"By the way, how much have you gathered in society?" Mai asked. Marise opened her backpack, and took out the money, as well as the two silver statuettes she had taken from the house of her adoptive parents.

"I have about 15,000 yen in money. I hope these things are worth something. They're silver, but I have no idea if they're massive or just silver-plated.  I didn't have time. I had to bolt quickly."

When someone tapped the window, everything went quiet in the circle. The next moment, Marise bolted for the pack, and the figures. She managed to hide by the time Juro opened the window.

"You again?" Marise heard Juro ask. "Haven't you caused enough trouble already?" Marise couldn't helkp but envision Kenji's face… and she felt quiet tears trickle down her cheeks as she remembered that her time there had passed. Solemnly, she went over the faces of Ikuko, Kenji, Shiro, Usagi, and the others. She sobbed quietly as she thought of the fact that she would probably never see them again. And even if she would, it probably would be as Sailor Earth, before they'd leave her… alone.

No! Adversity brings strength! Marise's head righted itself, her gray eyes cold as ice. She was fighting her emotions all the way. She needed to get things cleared up first. She knew that she needed to think clearly, and get matters resolved before allowing her emotions to release themselves. She heard a distant Kenji ask where she was. Marise got up from the bookcase she had been leaning against, and stepped out from between them.

Kenji had stepped into what he perceived as a lion's den. The children looked at him in emotions ranging from contempt to hate. When he saw Marise step out from her hiding place, he first thought she appeared normal. When he looked into her eyes, his heart clenched. All the pain, guilt, sorrow, regret, it all showed in those two gray eyes.

If her body was composed in shields, then surely her eyes were the cracks in them, and the range of painfully intense emotions Kenji read in them caused him to start hating the now dead gang-leader.

"Marise…" he began as she cut him off with a hand-motion.

"I mean no disrespect. I enjoyed my time with you, and I am sorry that it needs to end this way. Now, please, leave…" her voice was still strong, but Kenji failed to notice the underlying tremors, just like he didn't manage to see the weak state of her body.

"Marise, I came here to say that we'll talk later about this, and to ask you to come home with me.  I meant what I said, when I asked you to come home with me."

Marise closed her eyes, biting back the pain. She refused to cry. "I know you mean well," she whispered. "But you will resent me. I know… I've seen it happen before. Unless you understand, you can't forget."

"Then explain it, Marise! Make me understand!" Kenji shouted. "You're so full of big words, but you don't share anything! How am I supposed to understand you if you don't let me know what happened?"

"Peter shot Manzo-sensei. In the back, three times. He shot the man who protected me, who raised me, who was my only friend and relative for years, without giving him a chance to defend himself. So, I killed the man who killed Manzo-sensei. It took me almost 2 weeks to track him down, and I had to hurt people to find him."

Kenji stared at the twelve-year-old. "What's not to understand?" he asked. "Revenge is only natural."

Marise gave a short laugh. "Yes. It is. Tell me, you have known me for two months now. You knew I was capable of doing this. Yet, you were still surprised when you found out I went after Peter."

I need to end this. Soon. I can't keep this up much longer! Marise's mind was screaming as she was fighting a loosing battle to keep herself composed.

Kenji closed his eyes, not really knowing what to answer. "At least give us a chance. Come home with me. We'll talk to Child Welfare, have you brought under our custody, and give us all a chance to resolve this."

Marise closed her eyes. A silent sob escaped her lips. When she felt a tear slip down from under her closed eyelids, she clenched her fists behind her back. The sensation of her nails digging into her skin gave her something to focus on, and she opened her eyes once more.

"I will," she conceded. "I hope it works out."

The kids stared at her open-mouthed. Juro was the first to regain his voice. "Marise, you can always come back. And you…you hurt her, we hurt you, got it?" he grunted in Kenji's direction.

"No," Marise said, raising her hand. "He's willing to try, and so am I. If this doesn't work out, it won't be any different than if I stayed here."

"Sure, Mar. Good luck," Juro told the older girl, hugging her. the other kidss got up, and hugged her as well. they all wished her good luck, and told her to come back and read.

As soon as she was in the car, Marise closed her eyes. She felt exhausted. Still, she refused to open up. Not in public…I'll release in privacy.