Author's notes at bottom - Enjoy!
@------
Flee to Destiny
Chapter 12 - Give and Take
By: Bethany
Editor: Meara
Rated: PG 13
@------
The cold became unbearable as I lay on my back.
Mamo-chan had run to call an ambulance a few minutes
ago. Since then I found myself staring at the ceiling,
unnaturally fascinated by the ice that became thicker
by the moment. I could hear a nursery rhyme in my head
- over and over again until I began singing along with
it. I felt detached; not suffering from premature labor
- or worse, a miscarriage. "Hush little baby, don't say
a word... Mama's gonna buy you a mocking bird..."
"Usako."
Usako? My little bunny, how cute. Who was calling
me that? I turned my head to the side in time to see
Mamo-chan breathlessly slide into the room and fall to
his knees beside me. He grabbed my hand and pushed my
bangs away from my eyes. "It's okay, baby. The ambulance
is on its way. You'll both be okay." The longer he spoke,
and with the urgency I felt from his words, I knew he was
trying to tell himself that as much as me.
His voice harshly shoved away the illusions that
had threatened me minutes before. "Shingo," I whispered,
the cold of the room freezing my vocal cords. "She has him..."
I wanted to say more, but another pain gripped my stomach,
over loading my senses with stinging pain and fear. I began
crying again, gasping air although the pain in my chest was
nearly as bad as the pain in my abdomen. "Mamo-chan." I felt
the darkness closing in around me, slowly and comforting as
a warm blanket. "Mamo-chan. I'm scared..."
Everything pitch black now, I barely heard Mamo-chan:
"I know, love. I am, too." The last was whispered so softly
I didn't know if it was Mamo-chan who said it; or me.
@------
The comforting darkness that had taken me away from
my world of pain was broken by the sound of voices. Like
the volume on a radio being turned up, they became louder
until I noted the shortness of the commands coming from
whom I assumed to be a doctor. With what small strength
I could muster, I forced my eyelids open.
White; the tile on the ceiling above me, the light
in my eyes and the masks over the face of every person
in my view. It seemed to be all around me, blinding me
as I blinked back some of my shock.
"She's coming to!" someone announced, though with
everything so hazy and everyone wearing a white mask I
couldn't tell who was speaking. The more my senses returned,
the more pain that seemed to accompany it.
The next person above me would have been just as
indistinguishable from everyone else except for the deep
blue of his eyes and the tears that stayed unreleased in
their realms. "Mamo-chan," I squeaked, not recognizing my
voice as my own. It sounded like it would belong to a
frightened child, not a mother to be.
He bent over, pressing his lips to mine briefly.
"It's okay Usako. The doctor is going to give you something
to make you sleep. Don't be afraid." I heard his voice
trying to reassure me, undoubtedly my fear written plainly
on my face. "I'm right here." Darkness, deeper and more
frightening than anything I've yet to experience, began
to pull me from Mamo-chan. I whimpered. "I love you, Usako,"
Mamo-chan said in my ear, his voice slowly fading from me.
"I love you..."
I remembered nothing until I woke up again. Any
memories were permanently erased from my mind just like
one would delete a character on the computer screen. There
was an overwhelming smell of antiseptic in my nostrils as
I painfully sat up. The room around me was small, consisting
only of a chair and a table beside my bed.
In the chair was the Senshi of Love, her blond hair
falling around her as she sat with her knees curled up to
her chest. Sensing someone watching her, she blinked her
blue eyes open and stared at me a moment. "Usagi-chan," she
gasped, sitting up quickly and scrubbing the sleep from her
eyes. "How long have you been awake?"
I didn't answer her; couldn't. My body ached all over,
a dull ache. Without consciously knowing what it was I was
doing, I reached for my stomach. In one terrifying moment
all my memories returned. I gasped, a sob stuck in my throat
and tears filling and falling quickly from my eyes.
"Minako-chan," I mumbled, scared; so very scared. "What
happened?" I whispered. She made no movement to indicate that
she was going to say anything. The longer she just stared at
me, tears filling her blue eyes, the more upset I began.
Finally I shrieked: "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BABY?!"
Minako - usually so graceful, walked over to my bed
slowly and seemingly with cramps in her legs. Without speaking,
she sat beside me on the bed, her hand reaching for my own.
"You fell on your stomach; hard. And Mamoru-san found you in
a pool of blood..." Her eyes went glassy, remembering, and so,
reliving things I couldn't even recall. "He called us from the
ambulance and said you had gone into premature labor. When we
got here and Mamoru told us... he said the baby had the cord
wrapped around its neck." My eyes stared at her unbelieving.
No! I wanted to scream. No! God wouldn't take my daughter a
second time. I just knew...
Minako twisted her hands in front of her like she was
wringing a wet cloth. "When they finally got her out, she was
blue. So blue... But the doctors worked on her. And when
Mamoru-san told us she started crying, he also burst into
tears..."
I couldn't believe my ears. I wanted to laugh, to smile,
but all I could do was cry. My throat threatened to close, my
chest sending waves of pain through my chest as I sobbed into
the palms of my hands.
I couldn't stop crying my relief, even when I heard
Minako leave the room and Mamo-chan came in. I felt him wrap
his arms around me, giving me the security of his love that
I craved. I continued to cry until I finally wore myself
into a grateful sleep.
@------
May 19, 5:43 a.m. - Chiba Usagi Tomoko* was brought
into this world four weeks and one day early. Even though,
she didn't need the help breathing Mamo-chan and I feared
she might. Weighing five pounds and seven ounces, she was
perfect in everyway. From her ten tiny perfect toes to the
small patch of pinkish blonde hair on top her head - I couldn't
get over the joy of my first-born daughter. Even the sounds
of her cries were music to my ears.
But this time of what should have been complete happiness
for Mamo-chan and I was not to be. For the same night that
had found my child born, also robbed me of another. The Senshi
had gone to the apartment, but to my eternal horror found no
trace of my younger brother.
Rei walked in my hospital room, Luna hid in her large
bag. The rest of the inner Senshi followed and shut the door
so that my guardian cat could safely emerge. I looked up from
feeding my daughter hopefully, but they needn't say a word -
it was written on their faces.
"We found no trace of the ice you and Mamoru-san spoke
of," Rei fumbled with the words, obviously being the only one
who was willing to speak up. Luna jumped onto the bed and came
over to examine my child. "There is no evidence of a forced
entry, either. Almost looks like Shingo disappeared into thin
air."
I bit my bottom lip to keep from crying out. Would my
life always be like this? I wondered. One good thing followed
by bad? Forever would I always hold back from any good thing
to come along for fear of the bad that was sure to follow? And
what I feared most had finally come to pass. My past had caught
up with me a second time - this time to claim my baby brother.
The silence in the room was finally broken by Luna, her
voice strained as she spoke. "Chibi-Usa is a beautiful baby.
So well behaved, like you were as an infant." It had never
occurred to me that Luna had been around so long that she
could remember my birth on the Moon. "The birth of a royal
heir to the Moon Kingdom," she continued. "Is a wonderful
thing, a cause to celebrate."
"Royal heir?" I mumbled. Everyone in the room seemed
to hold their breath. I looked at the sleeping babe in my
arms, pressed close to my chest so she would be comforted
by my beating heart. "No." Tears I had successfully held
back all day tore free from their imprisonment and down my
face. "I want more for her than the life I had. Forgive me,
Mother, but I want more."
Mamo-chan slipped slowly in the room, closing the door
behind him. "More than being a Princess?" Ami asked incredibly.
I looked into my love's deep blue eyes - eyes that
sparkled with the same hope and love for our child that I felt
- and I knew he wanted the same things. "Yes, more," I replied,
my voice taking on a determined edge. "I want her to live a normal
life, free from the constrictions and responsibilities of a
Princess."
Luna shook her head at me in obvious pity. But I wasn't
a fool; I knew how hard it would be. It was a price I was
willing to pay.
@------
Everyone had looked, searched and looked some more.
There was no clue, nothing that helped us pin point where
Shingo was or who had taken him. Mamo-chan told me the night
Chibi-Usa was born I had told him "She" took Shingo. I looked
at him in shock, for I had no idea who this "She" was, nor had
I remembered telling him this. "Mamo-chan, are you sure I said
that?" I asked him again as he pulled the car away from the
curb of the hospital.
Home. I was going home with my love and our new baby.
But with Shingo gone, so were all the smiles and laughter
that should be ours on this day. Today marked the fifth
day he had been missing. The police were combing Tokyo,
and surrounding cities and the Senshi searched as well.
Still no clues.
"Usako, when I found you, you were in a lot of pain.
It could have been that pain and fear talking, but you did
say it."
I tried to remember that night, but everything was
hazy; unclear. So much like the memories that had eluded
me so long. But was an eternity ago, more like it happened
in another lifetime. Holes, gaps in my Swiss-cheese memory
that only allowed me to remember certain things. The cold,
the blood, and the fear - all that was vivid. Words or actions
that lead me up to waking up in the hospital were gone. As
gone as Shingo seemed to be.
"We're home!" Mamo-chan announced with forced cheerfulness.
He looked over at my tear-filled eyes and sighed. I felt him
take my hand and press his lips to my knuckles to kiss them
softly. "We'll find him," he promised. Somehow I found it
hard to believe him.
I forced a smile to my face as I picked up Chibi-Usa
from her car seat. She seemed subdued though, and I imagined
she could feel my sadness through my cheerful facade. I
covered her small face with kisses and held her close as
we went into the elevator and to our home.
The entry way was dark when we entered the apartment;
giving it a forbidden feeling. I swallowed hard, holding my
baby closer to me. I couldn't release the air caught in my
lungs until Mamo-chan flipped the light. Turning the video
camera on, he zoomed in on the baby who was staring straight
ahead with little interest. "Chibi-Usa," he cooed, reaching
out with his free hand to push the blanket away from her face.
"Smile for Papa. Come on, smile." When she didn't respond the
way he wanted, he pulled the camera up to my face. "There's
the world's most beautiful new mother."
"Oh Mamo-chan, I look horrible," I insisted, even as I
felt a blush redden my cheeks. "I'm going to put Chibi-Usa in
her crib so I can unpack." Mamo-chan followed me into the
nursery and videoed the room and the baby while I began
removing gifts of clothes, blankets, diapers and toys we
received in the hospital.
As long as I could keep busy, I could keep my thoughts
from wondering. But as I refolded a blanket the fourth time,
I knew it was inevitable. With my arms wrapped tightly around
my mid-section, I decided to face my fears head on. There was
only one way to get any peace: I had to go to Shingo's room.
With already watering eyes, I found myself at Shingo's bedroom
door and reaching for the handle.
"Don't."
Gasping, I spun around. My drumming heart beat even faster
when I found myself alone in the hallway. "Mamo-chan?" I nearly
whispered. It has to be my imagination, I told myself when no one
responded. Resolutely I turned around and opened the door quickly.
Shadowing the beige carpet a dark brown was a large area of
dried blood near the door. Other than that there was no sign of
anything amiss. I half expected Shingo to walk in the door,
demanding to know why I was in his room. I held my breath as if
waiting, but the only sound was my own quicken heartbeat and the
sound of my breathing.
Under the small crack of the closet door the floor was
bathed in a soft light. Had the light in there been on before?
I couldn't recall, nor imagine why it was on. Maybe one of the
Senshi left it on, I reasoned with myself and stepped towards
the door and opened it.
My eyes flitted from the small light bulb and the string
that dangled from it and to the floor. My hand gripped the
doorway so hard that the wood cracked underneath. Laying on the
cold floor of the closet, curled up in a fetal position, was Shingo.
A felt a small smile of insanity flicker across my lips.
I'm seeing things. I want him to be here so bad that I'm imagining
it. I closed my eyes, knowing when I reopened them that he would
be gone. I reopened them - he was still there! "Shingo...?" I
whispered, falling to my knees and pulling him into my arms. His
head rolled to the side, his labored breathing seeming to take
all the energy he had every time he inhaled. His entire body felt
hot and his face looked gaunt and hollow from the contrast of
paleness and the red flush of fever that stained his cheeks.
I tried to stand up, but couldn't with his dead weight in
my arms. Going for Mamo-chan, leaving Shingo alone, wasn't an
option in my numb mind. "M... Mamo-chan!!" I screamed. Shingo
didn't move as I screamed again for Mamo-chan. I heard him
running down the hall, but it seemed to take forever. And Shingo's
face was so pale, and his breathing.... I swallowed, determined
not to panic.
Forever (or a few seconds) passed until I seen Mamo-chan
looking in Chibi-Usa's nursery. "Usako, where are you?" he
called. Before I could find my voice to call him again, he
came through the bedroom doorway. "Nani..?" His eyes fell on
Shingo in my lap and he rushed forward with lightening speed.
I watched him take my young brother and lay him on the bed.
The entire time he checked him over, I rocked back and forth,
sobbing - my eyes locked on Shingo's pale face. Mamo-chan
turned to me. "Go call Ami." His voice was calm, but his eyes
revealed the urgency. I stood on legs that wanted to fold under
me like melted butter, my feet remained nailed to the floor by
fear. Unable to move, I stared at him like he had asked for the
Moon and stars. "Go!"
I sobbed more as I ran down the hallway and picked up my
purse. I fumbled, digging for several long minutes before I
dumped the contents on the floor. My communicator spun on the
floor and I crawled to it, pressing all the buttons at once.
"Ami-chan!" I practically screamed into the tiny speaker.
"Ami-chan, please!" Almost instantly all the colors on the
compact lit up and Ami's face appeared on the screen. I knew
I had never been happier to see her in my life. "We found
Shingo--" I gasped for breath, but I didn't have to continue.
Ami promised to be here in a minute and signed off. The rest
of the Senshi lights went off as well. Blankly I stared at the
screen.
My trance was broken by Mamo-chan carrying Shingo into
the bathroom. When I followed, I found Mamo-chan running a
cool bath and trying to take Shingo's clothes off. I wanted
to move forward, to help. But the sight of him provoked more
fear in me. I ran out of the room and towards the nursery
where my first-born was crying.
Her wailing stopped as I turned into the room. With the
shade drawn, the evening sun hardly cast anything in the room
except long shadows - coloring black the face of the person
holding my child. "Who are you?" I demanded, stepping forward
in the room. "Give me my baby." My voice carried more authority
than even I knew I possessed. I didn't allow my surprise to show,
however. The anger in my veins filled me with renewed strength
that also lead way for a calmness that made my voice seem to
boom throughout the room. I wanted to rush forward and grab Chibi-
Usa, but I feared what the person holding her would do if I moved.
In the hall behind me, I heard Rei talking. Her voice
became louder, and I expected her to come in the nursery.
Instead she stopped in front of the bathroom door. I walked
further in the room, taking pains to keep alert to any movements
the woman in front of me made. The light from the hall cast a
pale glow on her waist length green hair.
Green hair? I thought. Why did it seem so familiar? I
shook my head. The important thing here was that she was in
my daughter's bedroom and was holding her. "Give me my baby,"
I demanded again. The woman turned, her profile lit up
momentarily by the sun peeking around the edges of the shade.
I gasped.
"Certainly, Princess." I stared at Setsuna as she gently
handed Chibi-Usa to me. "Your child is quite the small lady,
Princess. Beautiful, like her mother and her mother's mother."
I continued to gape. Before I could find my voice, Rei
and Makoto came in the room. Rei walked straight to the small
lamp beside the crib and flicked the light on, her violet eyes
turning suspicious almost instantly. "Who are you?"
I backed out of the room, still holding Chibi-Usa tightly
in my arms. Tears streaked down my flushed face as fear replaced
the anger that had fueled me so well earlier. "Something is
going on here. Something no one is telling me." My thoughts
that were so jumbled up in my mind but, surprisingly, they
came out the way I intended. "First Shingo disappears, and
just as unexplainably reappears with a dangerously high fever
and now I find Setsuna holding my child when I didn't even
know you were in my house?!" My voice, which had started out
as a whisper, was shrill by the time my last words came out.
"WHAT IS GOING ON THAT I DON'T KNOW ABOUT?" In my arms Chibi-Usa
began crying.
"Usagi-chan," Mako-chan put her hand on my shoulder
reassuringly. "Let me take the baby and get her a bottle.
You can sit and talk to Setsuna, and get this all figured
out." The voice of reason she spoke with almost had me
convinced, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something
was about to happen. Something big. And I didn't want
Chibi-Usa to leave my sight for even a tenth of a second.
"No," I whispered dangerously low. My heart continued to
beat faster than normal and I felt like I had stepped in a tub
of ice water. Makoto continued to stare at me like I had grown
two heads. But at the moment I didn't honestly care what anyone
else thought.
"Taste the bitterness of death..." The words were said
aloud, just as clearly and as threatening as the voice that
had warned me not to enter Shingo's room. I tried to ignore
it, but persistency was high - I felt myself back into a wall.
"Noooo, please don't..."
"Usagi?" Rei came towards me, behind her a black mist
swirled - lacing around her body. My eyes became wide with
terror that no one else seemed to understand. Why was Makoto
just standing there, staring at me? Didn't she see Rei was
in danger?
"See the blood...." I shut my eyes, hoping when I
reopened them that this would all be some nightmare. When
I blinked my eyes open, Rei's eyes flashed solid black.
"...bitterness of death..." Every time that voice came,
something happened. I wanted to help her, but I knew I
had to get Chibi-Usa to a safe place. Rei reached out for
me, but I ducked under her arms and sprinted out the door
and across the hall.
Mamo-chan was holding Shingo up in the tub, Ami
sitting beside him with her computer out. I looked around
frantically, making sure all was clear before slamming the
door behind me. "Ami-chan... Mamo-chan..." Chibi-Usa screamed
in my arms, her shrill voice becoming louder.
Before I could catch my breath to tell them what I seen,
Ami's computer began beeping madly. She looked at it, her eyes
flashing towards the little boy in the tub and back to the
computer screen. "Nani?!" she shrieked, standing up.
I watched what unfolded as though I were watching
something on television, and any second I could change the
channel. This surely wasn't happening, surely! Mamo-chan
stood up as well, pushing Ami behind him even though she
continued to type madly on her computer. The small body of
my younger brother sat up, his head turning oddly towards
us. For a moment the room went quiet and then his pale arm
lifted out of the water and pointed towards me. His eyes
snapped open, and I screamed.
"Do you see the blood?" the throaty voice asked, hissing
the word 'see' like a snake might. Small tears of red liquid
dripped from his eyes, making zig zagging trails down his face.
"All of you and yours will taste the bitterness of death..."
His void black eyes rested on me, his finger still out stretched.
The water he sat in began boiling, large bubbled coming to surface
and then exploding into the air. The steam rose, the heat
lingering visibly in the air.
I opened my mouth to scream, but the sound refused to form.
I began shaking my head until finally I felt my voice box release.
A howl of terror echoed through the room. Shingo's body turned
a bright red, the steam now coming off his body as well as the
water. Before my very eyes, my brother was being scalded to
death and I couldn't move! All I could do was scream, over
and over and over again. Scream, and then scream more.
When the heat reached his head, causing the skin to
shrink and burn before my eyes Mamo-chan snapped out of his
shocked trance and turned around, pressing me to his chest.
I tried to struggle free, but he held me firmly. "Don't look,
Usako," he begged, holding me close. "Don't."
Shingo didn't scream or even make any noise to indicate
human pain. The only sound to reach my ears was the sizzling
sounds of burnt skin hitting the water. I felt my knees fail
me and I slid down the wall, still holding Chibi-Usa - into
the darkness.
@------
I woke up over a period that seemed to take hours. Every
small step towards awareness that I made, I recoiled into the
peaceful silence of my mind. Voices would come and go, and
then light would seep into my eyes - only to be shut out again.
Only when I heard the soft cries of my daughter, followed by
Mamo-chan trying to rock her to sleep, did I find the strength
to leave the quiet, dark prison in my mind.
My head felt like a train had just rolled through, it
pounded so hard. The light was as harsh as looking into the
sun, and just as blinding. I squinted, sitting up slowly so
that I wouldn't become dizzy. Mamo-chan was sitting across
from me in a rocking chair, talking softly to Chibi-Usa. The
sight touched my heart deeply.
It wasn't until I tore my eyes from them that I noticed
that I wasn't at home. From the stuffed animals that lined
every shelf, and part of the bed I was laying on, I guessed
I was in Minako's room. Mamo-chan looked up, smiled at me,
and laid Chibi-Usa in the portable cradle I had found at a
second hand store.
I started to stand up, but Mamo-chan rushed over and
sat me back down. I looked up at him, my memories coming
back the longer I was up. Suddenly I wished I hadn't gotten
up at all. "Shingo...?" I whispered.
Mamo-chan sat down on the bed beside me, taking both
my hands in his and squeezing them tightly. His blue eyes
meet mine and I couldn't stop gazing back. "That wasn't him."
The words that came so easy from his lips were more
than a little difficult for me to understand. That wasn't
him? But it was! I had held him, and then watched as he...
Oh, God! I felt a sob choke my throat, preventing me from
gasping the air I so desperately needed. "But..."
"No, Usako," my love reassured me. "It wasn't him.
Ami examined what was left in the tub, but it wasn't even
human. I don't know what it was, she is still testing
samples." At my blank stare, he pulled me close. "Shingo
is alive, baby. Don't worry, we'll find him."
I could remember the smell of burnt flesh, the boiling
water and the evil. Evil. Blackness, black eyes... "Rei-chan?
Where is Rei-chan and Mako-chan?" I asked, leaning out of his
embrace and looking quickly towards the door. It was closed
tight. I shivered, a cold settling in my body that I'm sure
no amount of heat would take away.
Mamo-chan brushed my hair away from my forehead so
that he could gently place a kiss there. I felt tense,
frightened and I couldn't stop trembling. Wrapping my
arms around him, I pressed my body as close to his warm
one as I could. "Hey now," he whispered in my ear. "It's
okay, Usako." His arms encircled my body, but his embrace
didn't bring me the complete calmness that I yearned for.
I bit my bottom lip so hard I could taste blood, but still
I gripped Mamo-chan like my only life raft in a sea of evil.
"Look, when you are ready the Outer Senshi are here
and they want to talk to you. It seems they know more about
this enemy that we do, and have finally decided that we
should know everything." Mamo-chan's lips grazed my ear.
"But no one is rushing you, okay?"
"Enemy?" I mumbled, confused. "But Beryl is dead..."
"It seems that she was only a battle won, we still
have a war ahead of us. But that is all they have said so
far, everyone is waiting for you to feel up to talking." I
nodded my head and allowed Mamo-chan to help me to my feet.
I gazed over at the portable crib and at the face of
my sleeping baby. "Is it safe to leave her here?"
"We can take her into the living room with us, if that
would make you feel better," Mamo-chan suggested lightly. I
nodded and watched as he picked the small cradle up and
together we went into the living room.
Minako's parents were very well off, and now that they
were retired, they traveled more often than not. From what I
had gotten Minako to tell me, they were out of town so much
that Artemis had practically raised her for the last two years.
At the moment they were in the Hawaii islands.
Mamo-chan and I descended the carpeted stairs slowly,
taking in the paintings and murals that hung on the walls.
The staircase came to a small landing before turning, and
just above a table holding a potted plant was a stain glass
window depicting a wonderful sea scene. The hand carved
banisters was made of cherry, adding to the richness of the
appearance.
The house seemed more like a museum than a home, however.
Everything looked like it had come off the show room floor,
gleaming with an untouched look. I could never imagine
feeling at home in the immense space, it seemed to lack
any warmth whatsoever.
Mamo-chan directed me to the sitting room and we found
the inner and outer Senshi waiting for my arrival. Mamo-chan
put the crib down next to the sofa and I sat down, nodding
at the Outer Senshi as I did so. "Konnichi' wa, minna," I
said evenly. There was a look of seriousness on the Outer
Senshi's faces, even sterner than they normally wore when
we meet. At the moment there was only Sailor Neptune, Uranus
and Saturn. "Where is Pluto?"
"Here." I heard the voice, but couldn't pin point where
it was coming from. It took a minute for me to realize that
Setsuna was the one speaking. Mamo-chan duplicated my stunned
expression as the taller woman walked into the room, Pluto's
Time Key in hand. She walked over to the fireplace, next to
the Outer Senshi and met my eyes. "I'm sure you have a lot of
questions. We will try to answer what we can, and then all of
us decide on the proper action to be taken."
Like a play that had been rehearsed time and time again,
the Outer Senshi each let go of their henshin one at a time. My
grip on the sofa's arm was so tight I couldn't feel my fingers
anymore. I couldn't even get past my own shocked expression to
see how everyone else was fairing.
Never in a million years had this occurred to me. Setsuna's
face didn't change as she noted our reactions. Mamo-chan reached
over, squeezing my hand in his almost painfully. I swallowed,
praying my voice didn't crack. "Haruka-san? Michiru-san?
Hotaru-chan...?" My lips were parched, and my throat dry. I
suddenly needed a glass of water very badly.
Setsuna, still the only one of the Outer Senshi to speak
as of yet, sat down on a settee across from me and began to
tell us a story of evil, decades of power struggle - and how
it all centered on me.
I suppose this was just one in a million things I would
learn many things in my life that I didn't want to.
--End Chapter 12.
Chiba Usagi Tomoko* - This will be explained more in detail later.
But to clear a couple of things up now, since Usagi don't want her
having the Princess tag line, she and Mamoru named her Tomoko after
his mother.
I want to thank everyone who has emailed me, as well as read and review
on Fanfiction.net *hugs* You guys are the best ^_^
Huge thanks to my wonderful editor, Meara.
I won't be updating next weekend - but probably during the week
sometime because I'm going to stay in a fancy (expensive! thank God
I'm not paying for it ^^) cabin in the Smoky Moutains with my two
bestfriends and the quads I watch. But I promise to get it up a.s.a.p.
which means it might be before this coming weekend.
So come back next week if you are still interested in this story for
Chapter 12 - The Past Comes a Haunting ^_^
@------
Flee to Destiny
Chapter 12 - Give and Take
By: Bethany
Editor: Meara
Rated: PG 13
@------
The cold became unbearable as I lay on my back.
Mamo-chan had run to call an ambulance a few minutes
ago. Since then I found myself staring at the ceiling,
unnaturally fascinated by the ice that became thicker
by the moment. I could hear a nursery rhyme in my head
- over and over again until I began singing along with
it. I felt detached; not suffering from premature labor
- or worse, a miscarriage. "Hush little baby, don't say
a word... Mama's gonna buy you a mocking bird..."
"Usako."
Usako? My little bunny, how cute. Who was calling
me that? I turned my head to the side in time to see
Mamo-chan breathlessly slide into the room and fall to
his knees beside me. He grabbed my hand and pushed my
bangs away from my eyes. "It's okay, baby. The ambulance
is on its way. You'll both be okay." The longer he spoke,
and with the urgency I felt from his words, I knew he was
trying to tell himself that as much as me.
His voice harshly shoved away the illusions that
had threatened me minutes before. "Shingo," I whispered,
the cold of the room freezing my vocal cords. "She has him..."
I wanted to say more, but another pain gripped my stomach,
over loading my senses with stinging pain and fear. I began
crying again, gasping air although the pain in my chest was
nearly as bad as the pain in my abdomen. "Mamo-chan." I felt
the darkness closing in around me, slowly and comforting as
a warm blanket. "Mamo-chan. I'm scared..."
Everything pitch black now, I barely heard Mamo-chan:
"I know, love. I am, too." The last was whispered so softly
I didn't know if it was Mamo-chan who said it; or me.
@------
The comforting darkness that had taken me away from
my world of pain was broken by the sound of voices. Like
the volume on a radio being turned up, they became louder
until I noted the shortness of the commands coming from
whom I assumed to be a doctor. With what small strength
I could muster, I forced my eyelids open.
White; the tile on the ceiling above me, the light
in my eyes and the masks over the face of every person
in my view. It seemed to be all around me, blinding me
as I blinked back some of my shock.
"She's coming to!" someone announced, though with
everything so hazy and everyone wearing a white mask I
couldn't tell who was speaking. The more my senses returned,
the more pain that seemed to accompany it.
The next person above me would have been just as
indistinguishable from everyone else except for the deep
blue of his eyes and the tears that stayed unreleased in
their realms. "Mamo-chan," I squeaked, not recognizing my
voice as my own. It sounded like it would belong to a
frightened child, not a mother to be.
He bent over, pressing his lips to mine briefly.
"It's okay Usako. The doctor is going to give you something
to make you sleep. Don't be afraid." I heard his voice
trying to reassure me, undoubtedly my fear written plainly
on my face. "I'm right here." Darkness, deeper and more
frightening than anything I've yet to experience, began
to pull me from Mamo-chan. I whimpered. "I love you, Usako,"
Mamo-chan said in my ear, his voice slowly fading from me.
"I love you..."
I remembered nothing until I woke up again. Any
memories were permanently erased from my mind just like
one would delete a character on the computer screen. There
was an overwhelming smell of antiseptic in my nostrils as
I painfully sat up. The room around me was small, consisting
only of a chair and a table beside my bed.
In the chair was the Senshi of Love, her blond hair
falling around her as she sat with her knees curled up to
her chest. Sensing someone watching her, she blinked her
blue eyes open and stared at me a moment. "Usagi-chan," she
gasped, sitting up quickly and scrubbing the sleep from her
eyes. "How long have you been awake?"
I didn't answer her; couldn't. My body ached all over,
a dull ache. Without consciously knowing what it was I was
doing, I reached for my stomach. In one terrifying moment
all my memories returned. I gasped, a sob stuck in my throat
and tears filling and falling quickly from my eyes.
"Minako-chan," I mumbled, scared; so very scared. "What
happened?" I whispered. She made no movement to indicate that
she was going to say anything. The longer she just stared at
me, tears filling her blue eyes, the more upset I began.
Finally I shrieked: "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BABY?!"
Minako - usually so graceful, walked over to my bed
slowly and seemingly with cramps in her legs. Without speaking,
she sat beside me on the bed, her hand reaching for my own.
"You fell on your stomach; hard. And Mamoru-san found you in
a pool of blood..." Her eyes went glassy, remembering, and so,
reliving things I couldn't even recall. "He called us from the
ambulance and said you had gone into premature labor. When we
got here and Mamoru told us... he said the baby had the cord
wrapped around its neck." My eyes stared at her unbelieving.
No! I wanted to scream. No! God wouldn't take my daughter a
second time. I just knew...
Minako twisted her hands in front of her like she was
wringing a wet cloth. "When they finally got her out, she was
blue. So blue... But the doctors worked on her. And when
Mamoru-san told us she started crying, he also burst into
tears..."
I couldn't believe my ears. I wanted to laugh, to smile,
but all I could do was cry. My throat threatened to close, my
chest sending waves of pain through my chest as I sobbed into
the palms of my hands.
I couldn't stop crying my relief, even when I heard
Minako leave the room and Mamo-chan came in. I felt him wrap
his arms around me, giving me the security of his love that
I craved. I continued to cry until I finally wore myself
into a grateful sleep.
@------
May 19, 5:43 a.m. - Chiba Usagi Tomoko* was brought
into this world four weeks and one day early. Even though,
she didn't need the help breathing Mamo-chan and I feared
she might. Weighing five pounds and seven ounces, she was
perfect in everyway. From her ten tiny perfect toes to the
small patch of pinkish blonde hair on top her head - I couldn't
get over the joy of my first-born daughter. Even the sounds
of her cries were music to my ears.
But this time of what should have been complete happiness
for Mamo-chan and I was not to be. For the same night that
had found my child born, also robbed me of another. The Senshi
had gone to the apartment, but to my eternal horror found no
trace of my younger brother.
Rei walked in my hospital room, Luna hid in her large
bag. The rest of the inner Senshi followed and shut the door
so that my guardian cat could safely emerge. I looked up from
feeding my daughter hopefully, but they needn't say a word -
it was written on their faces.
"We found no trace of the ice you and Mamoru-san spoke
of," Rei fumbled with the words, obviously being the only one
who was willing to speak up. Luna jumped onto the bed and came
over to examine my child. "There is no evidence of a forced
entry, either. Almost looks like Shingo disappeared into thin
air."
I bit my bottom lip to keep from crying out. Would my
life always be like this? I wondered. One good thing followed
by bad? Forever would I always hold back from any good thing
to come along for fear of the bad that was sure to follow? And
what I feared most had finally come to pass. My past had caught
up with me a second time - this time to claim my baby brother.
The silence in the room was finally broken by Luna, her
voice strained as she spoke. "Chibi-Usa is a beautiful baby.
So well behaved, like you were as an infant." It had never
occurred to me that Luna had been around so long that she
could remember my birth on the Moon. "The birth of a royal
heir to the Moon Kingdom," she continued. "Is a wonderful
thing, a cause to celebrate."
"Royal heir?" I mumbled. Everyone in the room seemed
to hold their breath. I looked at the sleeping babe in my
arms, pressed close to my chest so she would be comforted
by my beating heart. "No." Tears I had successfully held
back all day tore free from their imprisonment and down my
face. "I want more for her than the life I had. Forgive me,
Mother, but I want more."
Mamo-chan slipped slowly in the room, closing the door
behind him. "More than being a Princess?" Ami asked incredibly.
I looked into my love's deep blue eyes - eyes that
sparkled with the same hope and love for our child that I felt
- and I knew he wanted the same things. "Yes, more," I replied,
my voice taking on a determined edge. "I want her to live a normal
life, free from the constrictions and responsibilities of a
Princess."
Luna shook her head at me in obvious pity. But I wasn't
a fool; I knew how hard it would be. It was a price I was
willing to pay.
@------
Everyone had looked, searched and looked some more.
There was no clue, nothing that helped us pin point where
Shingo was or who had taken him. Mamo-chan told me the night
Chibi-Usa was born I had told him "She" took Shingo. I looked
at him in shock, for I had no idea who this "She" was, nor had
I remembered telling him this. "Mamo-chan, are you sure I said
that?" I asked him again as he pulled the car away from the
curb of the hospital.
Home. I was going home with my love and our new baby.
But with Shingo gone, so were all the smiles and laughter
that should be ours on this day. Today marked the fifth
day he had been missing. The police were combing Tokyo,
and surrounding cities and the Senshi searched as well.
Still no clues.
"Usako, when I found you, you were in a lot of pain.
It could have been that pain and fear talking, but you did
say it."
I tried to remember that night, but everything was
hazy; unclear. So much like the memories that had eluded
me so long. But was an eternity ago, more like it happened
in another lifetime. Holes, gaps in my Swiss-cheese memory
that only allowed me to remember certain things. The cold,
the blood, and the fear - all that was vivid. Words or actions
that lead me up to waking up in the hospital were gone. As
gone as Shingo seemed to be.
"We're home!" Mamo-chan announced with forced cheerfulness.
He looked over at my tear-filled eyes and sighed. I felt him
take my hand and press his lips to my knuckles to kiss them
softly. "We'll find him," he promised. Somehow I found it
hard to believe him.
I forced a smile to my face as I picked up Chibi-Usa
from her car seat. She seemed subdued though, and I imagined
she could feel my sadness through my cheerful facade. I
covered her small face with kisses and held her close as
we went into the elevator and to our home.
The entry way was dark when we entered the apartment;
giving it a forbidden feeling. I swallowed hard, holding my
baby closer to me. I couldn't release the air caught in my
lungs until Mamo-chan flipped the light. Turning the video
camera on, he zoomed in on the baby who was staring straight
ahead with little interest. "Chibi-Usa," he cooed, reaching
out with his free hand to push the blanket away from her face.
"Smile for Papa. Come on, smile." When she didn't respond the
way he wanted, he pulled the camera up to my face. "There's
the world's most beautiful new mother."
"Oh Mamo-chan, I look horrible," I insisted, even as I
felt a blush redden my cheeks. "I'm going to put Chibi-Usa in
her crib so I can unpack." Mamo-chan followed me into the
nursery and videoed the room and the baby while I began
removing gifts of clothes, blankets, diapers and toys we
received in the hospital.
As long as I could keep busy, I could keep my thoughts
from wondering. But as I refolded a blanket the fourth time,
I knew it was inevitable. With my arms wrapped tightly around
my mid-section, I decided to face my fears head on. There was
only one way to get any peace: I had to go to Shingo's room.
With already watering eyes, I found myself at Shingo's bedroom
door and reaching for the handle.
"Don't."
Gasping, I spun around. My drumming heart beat even faster
when I found myself alone in the hallway. "Mamo-chan?" I nearly
whispered. It has to be my imagination, I told myself when no one
responded. Resolutely I turned around and opened the door quickly.
Shadowing the beige carpet a dark brown was a large area of
dried blood near the door. Other than that there was no sign of
anything amiss. I half expected Shingo to walk in the door,
demanding to know why I was in his room. I held my breath as if
waiting, but the only sound was my own quicken heartbeat and the
sound of my breathing.
Under the small crack of the closet door the floor was
bathed in a soft light. Had the light in there been on before?
I couldn't recall, nor imagine why it was on. Maybe one of the
Senshi left it on, I reasoned with myself and stepped towards
the door and opened it.
My eyes flitted from the small light bulb and the string
that dangled from it and to the floor. My hand gripped the
doorway so hard that the wood cracked underneath. Laying on the
cold floor of the closet, curled up in a fetal position, was Shingo.
A felt a small smile of insanity flicker across my lips.
I'm seeing things. I want him to be here so bad that I'm imagining
it. I closed my eyes, knowing when I reopened them that he would
be gone. I reopened them - he was still there! "Shingo...?" I
whispered, falling to my knees and pulling him into my arms. His
head rolled to the side, his labored breathing seeming to take
all the energy he had every time he inhaled. His entire body felt
hot and his face looked gaunt and hollow from the contrast of
paleness and the red flush of fever that stained his cheeks.
I tried to stand up, but couldn't with his dead weight in
my arms. Going for Mamo-chan, leaving Shingo alone, wasn't an
option in my numb mind. "M... Mamo-chan!!" I screamed. Shingo
didn't move as I screamed again for Mamo-chan. I heard him
running down the hall, but it seemed to take forever. And Shingo's
face was so pale, and his breathing.... I swallowed, determined
not to panic.
Forever (or a few seconds) passed until I seen Mamo-chan
looking in Chibi-Usa's nursery. "Usako, where are you?" he
called. Before I could find my voice to call him again, he
came through the bedroom doorway. "Nani..?" His eyes fell on
Shingo in my lap and he rushed forward with lightening speed.
I watched him take my young brother and lay him on the bed.
The entire time he checked him over, I rocked back and forth,
sobbing - my eyes locked on Shingo's pale face. Mamo-chan
turned to me. "Go call Ami." His voice was calm, but his eyes
revealed the urgency. I stood on legs that wanted to fold under
me like melted butter, my feet remained nailed to the floor by
fear. Unable to move, I stared at him like he had asked for the
Moon and stars. "Go!"
I sobbed more as I ran down the hallway and picked up my
purse. I fumbled, digging for several long minutes before I
dumped the contents on the floor. My communicator spun on the
floor and I crawled to it, pressing all the buttons at once.
"Ami-chan!" I practically screamed into the tiny speaker.
"Ami-chan, please!" Almost instantly all the colors on the
compact lit up and Ami's face appeared on the screen. I knew
I had never been happier to see her in my life. "We found
Shingo--" I gasped for breath, but I didn't have to continue.
Ami promised to be here in a minute and signed off. The rest
of the Senshi lights went off as well. Blankly I stared at the
screen.
My trance was broken by Mamo-chan carrying Shingo into
the bathroom. When I followed, I found Mamo-chan running a
cool bath and trying to take Shingo's clothes off. I wanted
to move forward, to help. But the sight of him provoked more
fear in me. I ran out of the room and towards the nursery
where my first-born was crying.
Her wailing stopped as I turned into the room. With the
shade drawn, the evening sun hardly cast anything in the room
except long shadows - coloring black the face of the person
holding my child. "Who are you?" I demanded, stepping forward
in the room. "Give me my baby." My voice carried more authority
than even I knew I possessed. I didn't allow my surprise to show,
however. The anger in my veins filled me with renewed strength
that also lead way for a calmness that made my voice seem to
boom throughout the room. I wanted to rush forward and grab Chibi-
Usa, but I feared what the person holding her would do if I moved.
In the hall behind me, I heard Rei talking. Her voice
became louder, and I expected her to come in the nursery.
Instead she stopped in front of the bathroom door. I walked
further in the room, taking pains to keep alert to any movements
the woman in front of me made. The light from the hall cast a
pale glow on her waist length green hair.
Green hair? I thought. Why did it seem so familiar? I
shook my head. The important thing here was that she was in
my daughter's bedroom and was holding her. "Give me my baby,"
I demanded again. The woman turned, her profile lit up
momentarily by the sun peeking around the edges of the shade.
I gasped.
"Certainly, Princess." I stared at Setsuna as she gently
handed Chibi-Usa to me. "Your child is quite the small lady,
Princess. Beautiful, like her mother and her mother's mother."
I continued to gape. Before I could find my voice, Rei
and Makoto came in the room. Rei walked straight to the small
lamp beside the crib and flicked the light on, her violet eyes
turning suspicious almost instantly. "Who are you?"
I backed out of the room, still holding Chibi-Usa tightly
in my arms. Tears streaked down my flushed face as fear replaced
the anger that had fueled me so well earlier. "Something is
going on here. Something no one is telling me." My thoughts
that were so jumbled up in my mind but, surprisingly, they
came out the way I intended. "First Shingo disappears, and
just as unexplainably reappears with a dangerously high fever
and now I find Setsuna holding my child when I didn't even
know you were in my house?!" My voice, which had started out
as a whisper, was shrill by the time my last words came out.
"WHAT IS GOING ON THAT I DON'T KNOW ABOUT?" In my arms Chibi-Usa
began crying.
"Usagi-chan," Mako-chan put her hand on my shoulder
reassuringly. "Let me take the baby and get her a bottle.
You can sit and talk to Setsuna, and get this all figured
out." The voice of reason she spoke with almost had me
convinced, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something
was about to happen. Something big. And I didn't want
Chibi-Usa to leave my sight for even a tenth of a second.
"No," I whispered dangerously low. My heart continued to
beat faster than normal and I felt like I had stepped in a tub
of ice water. Makoto continued to stare at me like I had grown
two heads. But at the moment I didn't honestly care what anyone
else thought.
"Taste the bitterness of death..." The words were said
aloud, just as clearly and as threatening as the voice that
had warned me not to enter Shingo's room. I tried to ignore
it, but persistency was high - I felt myself back into a wall.
"Noooo, please don't..."
"Usagi?" Rei came towards me, behind her a black mist
swirled - lacing around her body. My eyes became wide with
terror that no one else seemed to understand. Why was Makoto
just standing there, staring at me? Didn't she see Rei was
in danger?
"See the blood...." I shut my eyes, hoping when I
reopened them that this would all be some nightmare. When
I blinked my eyes open, Rei's eyes flashed solid black.
"...bitterness of death..." Every time that voice came,
something happened. I wanted to help her, but I knew I
had to get Chibi-Usa to a safe place. Rei reached out for
me, but I ducked under her arms and sprinted out the door
and across the hall.
Mamo-chan was holding Shingo up in the tub, Ami
sitting beside him with her computer out. I looked around
frantically, making sure all was clear before slamming the
door behind me. "Ami-chan... Mamo-chan..." Chibi-Usa screamed
in my arms, her shrill voice becoming louder.
Before I could catch my breath to tell them what I seen,
Ami's computer began beeping madly. She looked at it, her eyes
flashing towards the little boy in the tub and back to the
computer screen. "Nani?!" she shrieked, standing up.
I watched what unfolded as though I were watching
something on television, and any second I could change the
channel. This surely wasn't happening, surely! Mamo-chan
stood up as well, pushing Ami behind him even though she
continued to type madly on her computer. The small body of
my younger brother sat up, his head turning oddly towards
us. For a moment the room went quiet and then his pale arm
lifted out of the water and pointed towards me. His eyes
snapped open, and I screamed.
"Do you see the blood?" the throaty voice asked, hissing
the word 'see' like a snake might. Small tears of red liquid
dripped from his eyes, making zig zagging trails down his face.
"All of you and yours will taste the bitterness of death..."
His void black eyes rested on me, his finger still out stretched.
The water he sat in began boiling, large bubbled coming to surface
and then exploding into the air. The steam rose, the heat
lingering visibly in the air.
I opened my mouth to scream, but the sound refused to form.
I began shaking my head until finally I felt my voice box release.
A howl of terror echoed through the room. Shingo's body turned
a bright red, the steam now coming off his body as well as the
water. Before my very eyes, my brother was being scalded to
death and I couldn't move! All I could do was scream, over
and over and over again. Scream, and then scream more.
When the heat reached his head, causing the skin to
shrink and burn before my eyes Mamo-chan snapped out of his
shocked trance and turned around, pressing me to his chest.
I tried to struggle free, but he held me firmly. "Don't look,
Usako," he begged, holding me close. "Don't."
Shingo didn't scream or even make any noise to indicate
human pain. The only sound to reach my ears was the sizzling
sounds of burnt skin hitting the water. I felt my knees fail
me and I slid down the wall, still holding Chibi-Usa - into
the darkness.
@------
I woke up over a period that seemed to take hours. Every
small step towards awareness that I made, I recoiled into the
peaceful silence of my mind. Voices would come and go, and
then light would seep into my eyes - only to be shut out again.
Only when I heard the soft cries of my daughter, followed by
Mamo-chan trying to rock her to sleep, did I find the strength
to leave the quiet, dark prison in my mind.
My head felt like a train had just rolled through, it
pounded so hard. The light was as harsh as looking into the
sun, and just as blinding. I squinted, sitting up slowly so
that I wouldn't become dizzy. Mamo-chan was sitting across
from me in a rocking chair, talking softly to Chibi-Usa. The
sight touched my heart deeply.
It wasn't until I tore my eyes from them that I noticed
that I wasn't at home. From the stuffed animals that lined
every shelf, and part of the bed I was laying on, I guessed
I was in Minako's room. Mamo-chan looked up, smiled at me,
and laid Chibi-Usa in the portable cradle I had found at a
second hand store.
I started to stand up, but Mamo-chan rushed over and
sat me back down. I looked up at him, my memories coming
back the longer I was up. Suddenly I wished I hadn't gotten
up at all. "Shingo...?" I whispered.
Mamo-chan sat down on the bed beside me, taking both
my hands in his and squeezing them tightly. His blue eyes
meet mine and I couldn't stop gazing back. "That wasn't him."
The words that came so easy from his lips were more
than a little difficult for me to understand. That wasn't
him? But it was! I had held him, and then watched as he...
Oh, God! I felt a sob choke my throat, preventing me from
gasping the air I so desperately needed. "But..."
"No, Usako," my love reassured me. "It wasn't him.
Ami examined what was left in the tub, but it wasn't even
human. I don't know what it was, she is still testing
samples." At my blank stare, he pulled me close. "Shingo
is alive, baby. Don't worry, we'll find him."
I could remember the smell of burnt flesh, the boiling
water and the evil. Evil. Blackness, black eyes... "Rei-chan?
Where is Rei-chan and Mako-chan?" I asked, leaning out of his
embrace and looking quickly towards the door. It was closed
tight. I shivered, a cold settling in my body that I'm sure
no amount of heat would take away.
Mamo-chan brushed my hair away from my forehead so
that he could gently place a kiss there. I felt tense,
frightened and I couldn't stop trembling. Wrapping my
arms around him, I pressed my body as close to his warm
one as I could. "Hey now," he whispered in my ear. "It's
okay, Usako." His arms encircled my body, but his embrace
didn't bring me the complete calmness that I yearned for.
I bit my bottom lip so hard I could taste blood, but still
I gripped Mamo-chan like my only life raft in a sea of evil.
"Look, when you are ready the Outer Senshi are here
and they want to talk to you. It seems they know more about
this enemy that we do, and have finally decided that we
should know everything." Mamo-chan's lips grazed my ear.
"But no one is rushing you, okay?"
"Enemy?" I mumbled, confused. "But Beryl is dead..."
"It seems that she was only a battle won, we still
have a war ahead of us. But that is all they have said so
far, everyone is waiting for you to feel up to talking." I
nodded my head and allowed Mamo-chan to help me to my feet.
I gazed over at the portable crib and at the face of
my sleeping baby. "Is it safe to leave her here?"
"We can take her into the living room with us, if that
would make you feel better," Mamo-chan suggested lightly. I
nodded and watched as he picked the small cradle up and
together we went into the living room.
Minako's parents were very well off, and now that they
were retired, they traveled more often than not. From what I
had gotten Minako to tell me, they were out of town so much
that Artemis had practically raised her for the last two years.
At the moment they were in the Hawaii islands.
Mamo-chan and I descended the carpeted stairs slowly,
taking in the paintings and murals that hung on the walls.
The staircase came to a small landing before turning, and
just above a table holding a potted plant was a stain glass
window depicting a wonderful sea scene. The hand carved
banisters was made of cherry, adding to the richness of the
appearance.
The house seemed more like a museum than a home, however.
Everything looked like it had come off the show room floor,
gleaming with an untouched look. I could never imagine
feeling at home in the immense space, it seemed to lack
any warmth whatsoever.
Mamo-chan directed me to the sitting room and we found
the inner and outer Senshi waiting for my arrival. Mamo-chan
put the crib down next to the sofa and I sat down, nodding
at the Outer Senshi as I did so. "Konnichi' wa, minna," I
said evenly. There was a look of seriousness on the Outer
Senshi's faces, even sterner than they normally wore when
we meet. At the moment there was only Sailor Neptune, Uranus
and Saturn. "Where is Pluto?"
"Here." I heard the voice, but couldn't pin point where
it was coming from. It took a minute for me to realize that
Setsuna was the one speaking. Mamo-chan duplicated my stunned
expression as the taller woman walked into the room, Pluto's
Time Key in hand. She walked over to the fireplace, next to
the Outer Senshi and met my eyes. "I'm sure you have a lot of
questions. We will try to answer what we can, and then all of
us decide on the proper action to be taken."
Like a play that had been rehearsed time and time again,
the Outer Senshi each let go of their henshin one at a time. My
grip on the sofa's arm was so tight I couldn't feel my fingers
anymore. I couldn't even get past my own shocked expression to
see how everyone else was fairing.
Never in a million years had this occurred to me. Setsuna's
face didn't change as she noted our reactions. Mamo-chan reached
over, squeezing my hand in his almost painfully. I swallowed,
praying my voice didn't crack. "Haruka-san? Michiru-san?
Hotaru-chan...?" My lips were parched, and my throat dry. I
suddenly needed a glass of water very badly.
Setsuna, still the only one of the Outer Senshi to speak
as of yet, sat down on a settee across from me and began to
tell us a story of evil, decades of power struggle - and how
it all centered on me.
I suppose this was just one in a million things I would
learn many things in my life that I didn't want to.
--End Chapter 12.
Chiba Usagi Tomoko* - This will be explained more in detail later.
But to clear a couple of things up now, since Usagi don't want her
having the Princess tag line, she and Mamoru named her Tomoko after
his mother.
I want to thank everyone who has emailed me, as well as read and review
on Fanfiction.net *hugs* You guys are the best ^_^
Huge thanks to my wonderful editor, Meara.
I won't be updating next weekend - but probably during the week
sometime because I'm going to stay in a fancy (expensive! thank God
I'm not paying for it ^^) cabin in the Smoky Moutains with my two
bestfriends and the quads I watch. But I promise to get it up a.s.a.p.
which means it might be before this coming weekend.
So come back next week if you are still interested in this story for
Chapter 12 - The Past Comes a Haunting ^_^