Anyway.. here's my contribution. I'm TAFF all the way, baby! BIG HUGE thanks to Jo, for putting up with my late-night rambling, insane ideas and general EMSness. Also, a chocolate Mamo-chan to Ely, for beta-ing this on such shorty-short notice.
WARNING! WARNING! ATTENTION! THIS IS NOT AN ALTERNATE REALITY. THIS FIC IS COMPLETELY CANON. THERE IS NO ESCAPE. ^^; (Ignore that last bit, minna! ^_~)
Legal Disclaimer: "And lo, I say unto thee: just as Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, so is Demando much more handsome than Mamoru. And LOOOOOO!"
Personal Disclaimer: Straight-jacket, anyone?
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Surrender the Rain
Wave One: Prologue/?
by Meredith Bronwen Mallory
mallorys-girl@cinci.rr.com
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"Usagi."
She staggered, blindly almost, along that small part of the sidewalk that
was not yet too deeply caked with snow. The twin demons of pain and longing
were her only companions now... at least, the only ones she acknowledged.
He could feel her heart shuddering within her chest, almost like a bird so
crazed for release from it's cage that it had fallen to dashing itself
hopelessly against the bars. Her heart, yes, her heart was giving out on
her- along with her lungs, her body and her spirit. Still, desperately she
forced herself onward, putting an unbelievable amount of effort into each
step. She focused neither on her destination, nor on happy memories that
might serve to drive her on. Instead, she focused solely on the mechanics
of moving her limbs, with a single-minded determination that shocked her
senshi. At least, it would have shocked them, had they not been swallowed
by the veins of ice already seeping their way into Tokyo.
"Usagi."
She didn't turn her head, or make any other movement that might have show
him she registered his presence. Her blue eyes, nearly shut against the
harsh wind, rested on something in the distance only she could see. Though
it broke his heart, her companion wasn't surprised. After all, she couldn't *see* him.
Demando was dreaming. Or, quite possibly, his mind was going through the
motions of something that- while like a dream- surpassed it in many ways.
In this altered state, he was once more fifteen, and he walked beside his
Usagi unaffected by the wind or cold. He couldn't *feel* anything, not for
himself. From the golden woman beside him he gleaned a pale reflection of
her pain and sorrow. Her endurance shocked him, for he knew that if what he
felt was nearly unbearable, she was experiencing something worse by
ten-fold.
"MAMORU!!!" it was a sob that tore itself from Usagi's lips, and for a
moment she stood still in the blinding snow, shocked by the sound of her
own voice. The towering, ice-encrusted buildings mercilessly stole the
sound and tossed it back at her with such force that Usagi covered her ears
and doubled over in pain. Concern flew over Demando's face as he bent
towards her and, even though Usagi did not feel his arms as they attempted
to support her, it soothed his own mind just to offer that much. He had
dreamed this before and his surprise at her age (an approximate twenty-five
to his fifteen) and new height had long since faded. He walked beside her
devotedly, willing his strength to her as he stared up at her face. Agony
was something that she have been spared someone such as she, but it lent
her a wild, strange beauty.
Presently, Usagi stumbled towards an apartment building. The snow had built up to an almost 20 foot drift since she had left in search of her missing husband, but her previous efforts to leave the building had left a manageable dent. Demando watched the expressions on her face as they clawed at the snow, wondering at the look in her eyes. Some deep rooted fear, some knowledge of what was to come lay in those hypnotic blue gems.
By the time they reached her apartment, it was all Chiba Usagi could do
not to collapse on the frost bitten carpet. In awe, Demando watched (and
vainly tried to help) as she drug herself into the bedroom and fell onto
the mattress. The world outside, fresh with it's coat of all-encompassing
snow, lent the apartment an eerie blue glow. Ice, like some bizarre,
twisted type of ivy, clung to and climbed the walls. The rest of the world
was frozen- only Usagi remained. Choking back sobs (for dozens of tears had
already frozen on her face) she whispered:
"I'm all alone here, Mamo-chan... why did you leave. I told you I didn't
want to be alone when this happened!" Miserable, Usagi curled up into a
fetal position, hands clasped as though in prayer. Reverently, Demando took
those hands in his own (she didn't notice, didn't even raise her eyes). "I'm here!" he whispered, his eyes burning. (He didn't cry though- he
didn't cry) "I'm here!" Then, much more softly: "I love you, I love you..."
"Usako."
Only then did she raise her eyes, and she didn't raise them for him.
Demando felt as though he was an icicle, his soul melting in bewildered
pain, as Usagi looked past him (indeed, through him) at the figure standing
in the doorway. Too weak to move, her eyes implored her husband to come
near, and Demando blindly moved out of the way. Funny how his heart, once
his attention had been torn from his Beloved, went so quickly from love
beyond expression to hate beyond comprehension. He watched, seething in
pain, as Chiba Mamoru approached his wife, bent over her on the bed and
whispered with (what was in Demando's mind) well faked sincerity:
"I'm so sorry... Gomen, Usako. I thought I could make it back in time."
"YOU LEFT HER, YOU BASTARD!!" Demando shouted. Neither turned their head, and when Usagi tilted her face up to her husband for a kiss, Demando turned away. The ice, of course, claimed the couple in due time. Standing over the bed, White Prince gazed on Usagi with a strange kind of peace in his eyes. For it was always peace to look at her, as well as pain. He imagined it felt a lot like dying. Dimly, he could hear their minds whispering to each other, and felt a new type of agony. Even encased in ice, Usagi could hear her husband. They were frozen together, touching like that.
But she never heard Demando.
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Minerva; Capital City of Nemesis
27:45 NLST (Nemesisian Low Sun Time)
23028 A.D.
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It was sadness that woke twenty-eight year old Demando from his slumber, not fear. It was strange, he hadn't had that dream in quite sometime. Staring blindly up at the constellations of dust adorning his ceiling, the violet-eyed prince fought down the torrent of negative emotions. That dream bought it all back- the despair. It had started right after he'd been forced to leave Usagi, so the emotions tied to it were always fresh, no matter how many years lay between him and his Beloved. Then, as he slowly began to fall under the Wiseman's guidance, those dreams had stopped. Replacing them were the ones Demando treasured: the ones in which he and Usagi belonged to one another in turn.
Those dreams had helped him survive. Survive while he waited, longing for her as he plotted his father's demise; imagining her by his side when he took the Nemesisian throne. And though for him thirteen years had passed (for her, he was sure it was many, many more), at last he would be able to keep his promise. Tomorrow, he and a select group of noblemen would go to Crystal Tokyo.
Feeling choked by the darkness hovering above him, Demando, frowned. The transmission they'd received the day prior had shaken him horribly. He intended to fulfill his promise to Usagi... but he feared she no longer existed. She went by the name of Serenity now; a name that seemed to mock the sensations Demando felt while looking at her, and she stood dutifully by her husband's side. She did not bounce, or move her hands, and her eyes- though they held their old sparkle- looked a little worn. The White Prince wanted to believe that it was from years of careful acting, but he feared that might not be true. Remembering her eyes, wild with fear, Demando felt a shiver pass through him.
"*She's* not really there... she's a shadow. Left over dust from something
a long time ago. I think sometimes that if it weren't for the wave I feel
coming, I wouldn't know she was there at all," Usagi had said.
Then she had been beside him, pressed so closely he thought for a moment they were one being. He remembered holding her, trying to console her, and thinking that they had to be soul mates because she was the only one who understood. He too felt the pressure baring down on him, leading him towards someone he wasn't sure he wanted to be.
He needed to believe, though, that Usagi hadn't given in completely. That
her strength of purpose and love of live had not been crushed beneath the
Machine.
Hatred flowed freely through the pale man's veins, directed at the one who
was now King of the Earth. The shards of the jakozusho hanging from
Demando's earlobes glittered in the darkness. Though he did not know it,
they served to amplify his hatred. A wretched feeling swept through the
Prince; the work of alien magic that twisted Love into Obsession and Hatred
into something that had no name. If anyone one was responsible for Usagi's
destruction, it would have to be the man who called himself her husband.
The look in Demando's violet eyes softened. Still, even if Usagi only
existed deep beneath the layers of Serenity, it would be worth it. He would
look into the Neo-Queen's eyes and search for the girl he had known- pray
that she remembered his vow.
He had, at the age of fifteen, promised to return to her.
Tomorrow he would see Usagi... or what was left of her.
But yesterday...
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And it's canon! It's all completely canon!
Ne, minna... give a desperate writer some feedback, ne?