Author's Notes at bottom - Enjoy!
@------
No Greater Love
Chapter Five - Nonexistence
By: Bethany
Editor: Meara
Rated: PG
@------
When we pulled back out of the parking lot Mamo-chan didn't
speed. I watched every car, hoping none was a policeman. At every red
light I tried to keep my eyes down for fear of being recognized. We
left downtown Tokyo and entered the Juyban district and into a nice
neighborhood. Mamo-chan stopped in front of a two story house that
looked similar to every other one on the street. He studied the house
and then looked at me. "We are going to hit the doorbell and when
someone opens, let me do the talking. If we have to, you run past them
and upstairs to look for Chibi-Usa, I look downstairs - okay?"
I nodded, pushing my palms against my jeans and took a deep
breath. This is my child, I kept telling myself. It's just that I have
no physical proof. We stepped out of the car and walked up the
sidewalk. I stood to the left side of the door while Mamo-chan pressed
the ringer. It seemed to take forever for someone to answer the door,
but finally we could hear footsteps within.
"Can I help you?" a man asked. He was tall, nearly as tall as
Mamo-chan, and had dark hair and eyes. He wore a robe over a pair of
pajama pants and wore reading glasses. I noticed he had a wedding band
on, and wondered if this was Arika's husband.
Mamo-chan cleared his throat and glanced at me. "Yes, we are
looking for Youe Arika."
The man's eyes brightened when they turned to me, curiosity
flashing across his face. "Yes, my wife. She's upstairs putting the
baby down for a nap--"
"Thank you," Mamo-chan told him and before my very eyes my
otherwise calm and collected husband pulled his fist back, punched the
man in the face and knocked him out. I just stared at his slumped body
on the floor of the foyer and then looked at Mamo-chan. It was then
that I finally noticed how angry he really was, where I had been too
upset until now to notice. The tips of his ears were red and his fists
stayed clinched as he entered the house, motioning for me to follow. I
swallowed and walked in.
We quickly and quietly went up the carpeted staircase. There were
pictures all along the walls of a young girl who looked exactly like
Chibi-Usa from birth to current. It actually took me a moment to
notice, however, that it wasn't only the child in the picture who
looked the same. It was the same pictures that once hung in our
apartment! There was no mistaken, every picture that once hung on my
walls were now here. The pictures that were once of her and Shingo
together were different though. Another little boy slightly younger now
sat beside her. I clasped Mamo-chan's hand as we stepped onto the
second floor landing.
The first door we looked in seemed to be a guest bedroom. There
was nothing but a bed, nightstand and dresser and no evidence that
anyone lived in it. We started in the second one when a noise caught my
attention and I looked over in time to see Youe Arika walk out of a
bedroom, closing the door softly behind her. When she seen us, her eyes
turned hard as stone. "How the hell did you get in here?" she demanded.
I said nothing but returned her hard stare. Mamo-chan moved in
front of me, folding his arms across his chest. "You know why we are
here, we want out child. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard
way; your choice."
"She's not yours!" Arika screamed, backing up against the door.
"Listen," I said in a reasonable tone, hoping to catch her off
guard and make her listen. "I know that you think we are taking your
baby, but believe me - she is ours. Something happened this morning,
and time ripple and it's messed a lot of things up. You may have a
baby, I don't know. But Chibi-Usa is ours."
Arika looked from me to Mamo-chan unbelievably. "Are you two on
drugs or something?! You expect me to believe that story and hand over
my child?"
I blinked. She was right, of course. I wouldn't have done it
either. I walked past Mamo-chan to the woman, staring at her the entire
time. "You're right, you know. I wouldn't believe a story like that, no
matter how true it is. So I guess we'll do this the hard way." And with
out so much as a warning, I picked up a vase off the table in the hall
and smashed it over her head. As she fell to the floor, I felt guilt
grip my heart. "I'm sorry," I mumbled as she moaned and turned to her
side. "But I want my daughter."
I walked into the nursery, but I wasn't ready for the shock that
greeted me. On the other side of that door was Chibi-Usa's nursery,
exactly as it was the last time I walked in it. The bunny wallpaper on
the wall, the white crib - all the way down to the Precious Moments
blanket on the rocker by the window. I grabbed a diaper bag and began
opening drawers and throwing in clothes, sleepers, toys, binkies and
diapers. Mamo-chan came in, picking Chibi-Usa up out of her crib as
well as some blankets.
We ran out of the house and down the steps. I stopped just
outside the front door, looking back at the house Chibi-Usa may have
grown up in and felt a shiver run down my spine.
@------
"You did what?!" Haruka shrieked, rather high pitched if you ask
me, when we came back in and explained what had happened.
I sat calmly in a chair, both my children piled up on my lap.
Mamo-chan stood beside me, looking amused at the Senshi of Uranus'
reaction. "The time ripple has changed something so that we were not
Chibi-Usa's parents, so we took her back," he repeated.
"That's not possible," Ami informed us, looking worriedly to me.
"There are certain genes that make up a child's genetic character. For
Chibi-Usa to still be as she is, she would have to have yours and
Mamoru-san's genes. Otherwise, she wouldn't look exactly as she does."
I blinked, understanding but confused on what it meant. "But she
is ours."
"Right," Ami said, which did confuse me although I had prided
myself on understanding thus far. "But even in another reality, she
wouldn't look identical to what she does now and be someone else's
child. You said that there were pictures of her that were the same as
the ones you had, right?" I nodded my head, looking to Mamo-chan. "That
is not possible."
I shook my head, but Mamo-chan obviously understood what it was
she was saying. He sat down, pressing his fingers together in thought.
"So you are saying that Chibi-Usa was not born to the Youes. But the
only other way for them to have had her is for...."
Ami nodded. "Adoption." I snapped my head around, looking at the
Genius Senshi unbelievably. Her eyes were watching my every reaction as
she spoke. "In the alternate reality that exists, you must have given
her up for adoption."
"I wouldn't do that!" I argued, horrified anyone would even
suggest it.
Ami shook her head calmly, raising her hands in a peace offering.
"I'm just saying that is a decision you had in your life, and in the
alternate reality that is a result of the time ripple, you may have
chosen adoption. I know that sounds bad, but be grateful you didn't
choose something harsher - like abortion. She could have disappeared
altogether the moment this happened."
I flinched, hugging Chibi-Usa tighter to me than before. Shingo,
looking like he understood enough of the conversation to be scared of
what might have been, buried his face against my sleeve. I cleared my
throat, trying to push the sour taste out of my mouth and thoughts from
my mind. "Well, I have her back. And it don't matt--"
"Minna, look at this," Minako said as she ran down the stairs and
into the room where the rest of us sat. She flicked the television on,
turning on the news.
A picture of Mamo-chan and I flashed on the screen and I gasped.
"Police officials tell us that this husband and wife kidnapped this
little girl yesterday from her home in Juyban." A picture of Chibi-Usa
came on the screen as I watched, horrified. "Earlier today the Youes
had their child back for about an hour before Chiba Mamoru and Usagi
fled police and came to their home, knocking both out and taking the
baby again. Police are combing the area, but no trace of the child or
the kidnappers have been found. If you have seen Chiba Mamoru or his
wife, Usagi - please notify police immediately."
The news man turned his page, and the narrator informed the
audience that this was a news flash and as more information came to
them, they would deliver it. I jumped up, turning the TV off and
bruising myself with digging through the diaper bag. I tried to sound
calm as I spoke: "They must have woken up, called the police and then
the news stations. We left there only forty minutes ago..." Mamo-chan
came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me
against him. I stopped, wiping at the tears that had escaped my eyes.
"It's okay, Usako. We'll work through this. The main thing is we
have Chibi-Usa back," he told me reassuringly, but I couldn't shake the
cold chills that made the hair on my arms stand up and my nerves stay
on edge.
I swallowed my tears and began digging through the diaper bag
again. "We're wanted for kidnapping, Mamo-chan," I told him as if he
didn't already know. "We are Sailor Senshi, we are supposed to protect
people and now we are wanted by the police!"
"Usako, this is not our fault. It wasn't supposed to be this way.
But since it is, we'll get through it," he tried to tell me, but I
wasn't listening.
I felt sick, my stomach threatened to empty itself while my
vision seemed to blur. I sat down quickly, holding my head in my hands.
"Mamo-chan," I moaned, but couldn't continue. I ran to the bathroom,
vomiting everything in my stomach. While I clutched the toilet, I felt
Mamo-chan come up behind me and pull my hair away from my face. When
finally I finished, I fell back against the wall and began crying.
"What are we going to do?"
"Shhh," he soothed, pulling me over into his lap. He held me
close to him as he would Chibi-Usa, rocking me back and forth and
kissing my face. "Believe me, Usako. I'm not going to let anything bad
happen to you or the children. You trust me, don't you?"
I nodded my head, clutching his shirt in my hands tightly and
trying to calm down. I hadn't been this scared when I battled Metallia
for Shingo - I hadn't been this scared of what lay ahead since the day
I found my parent's bodies. A shiver ran threw me and Mamo-chan hugged
me even tighter. Almost as if he knew what I was thinking, he ran his
fingers down my face. "You're not alone this time, Usako," he whispered
in my ear lovingly, his voice full of emotion. "Together we will get
through this, ne?"
The nerves that were afire with anxiousness earlier, finally
calmed under his gentle touch. My jaw began aching from being clenched
so hard for so long, and my body was tired from crying and worrying.
Mamo-chan helped me up, walking beside me into the main room of our
hide away. He put me to bed like one would a child, giving me strict
instructions to stay put and get some rest - and not to worry. Shingo
crawled next to my back and got under the covers. Just before I fell
into an exhausted sleep, I felt Mamo-chan lay Chibi-Usa down next to me
and I hugged her close.
@------
"Usagi-san. Usagi-san, wake up."
From the furthest corner of my mind I heard someone calling me,
urging me to wake up. I felt drugged, like I was pulling my body
through thick, muddy water. After long moments of battle, I finally
forced my eyes open against the harsh light. Along with my wakefulness,
however, came the memories of everything that had transpired in the
last twenty four hours. "Where's Chibi-Usa?!" I asked immediately upon
realizing she wasn't beside me.
The petite Senshi sitting on the side of my bed jumped at my
outburst, her black silky hair flying out from her face. "She's fine,
Usagi-chan," Hotaru finally replied calmly. "She woke up and I made her
and Shingo some food. But she keeps wanting her Mama, so I thought I
needed to wake you up."
I nodded, sitting up slowly and stretching. One quick sweep
around the room told me that everyone else besides me, Hotaru and the
children were gone. Confused, I got up off the bed - but the room
seemed to spin unmercifully until I sat back down. "You okay?" Hotaru
asked worriedly, holding her hand on my arm.
I nodded, closing my eyes. "I think I just got up too quickly,
that's all," I mumbled, standing again. This time I had no problems
with my vision and I went to where Chibi-Usa and Shingo were sitting.
Chibi-Usa was in a highchair that looked very similar to the one Motoki
kept for babies at the Fruit Pallor, happily playing in a bowl of dry
cereal. Shingo looked up from his crackers and smiled at me, a flash of
relief crossing his face.
Hotaru took a wet wipe and started washing Chibi-Usa's hands and
face. "Mamoru-san, Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama went back to your
apartment for some clothes and other things he said he needed. Don't
worry about police or anything, Haruka-papa said she knew how to handle
them," she giggled, shaking her head much in the same manner that
Michiru did when Haruka did or said something outrageous. "Everyone
else is out getting food. Motoki-san saw Minako-chan come in earlier,
so we told him about this room and promised to explain everything
later. That's where the cereal, crackers and highchair came from."
I nodded my head, going over and scooping Luna up in my arms. She
looked so pitiful, opening her mouth but no sound coming out. I wanted
to cry for her. "Has Setsuna-san or Ami-chan found out anything else
about the time ripple?" I asked, rubbing Luna's head and back lovingly.
She purred, but still looked sad as I sat her back down.
"Not yet, but Setsuna-mama is working on it," she explained,
looking up at me.
Chibi-Usa looked at me too, her face brightening and her arms
automatically going up for me to pick her up. I scooped her up out of
the highchair, covering her sticky face with kisses. "Give Mama a
kiss."
She smacked her lips together like a fish and then giggled. "Luv
yuu!" she squealed, kissing me again and patting my face. I sighed,
thinking about how right Mamo-chan was. At least we had gotten Chibi-
Usa back, the rest we could deal with. She began kicking her feet,
telling me she wanted down. When I placed her on the ground she walked
over to where Shingo was sitting and plopped down beside him, her
diaper making crunching noises as she scooted closer to him and eyed
his crackers. He handed her one and she blew him a kiss.
"Chibi-Usa is such a good baby," Hotaru remarked, sitting down on
the sofa and folding her legs beneath her. "You can tell she is well
loved."
"And spoiled," I added when she held her hand out to Shingo
again, and again he produced a cracker for her. "We're all guilty of
that." Hotaru laughed her agreement and turned the television on.
The kids seemed content enough watching cartoons, so I began
searching through the closet for a towel. "I'm going to take a shower,
Hotaru-chan. If you need anything, just yell." She nodded and I went in
the bathroom and shut the door. I wondered how Motoki would like
knowing that we had been using his water and electricity as I turned
the shower on. I made a note to myself to give him some money for it.
I was preparing to get out when I felt a cold rush of air come in
the bathroom and heard the door shutting. "Hotaru-chan? Is that you?
Are the kids alright?" I yelled over the sound of the running water.
When I received no answer, I poked my head out of the curtain and came
face to face with Mamo-chan. I gasped, nearly falling back except I
caught onto the shower curtain, which while it broke my fall - also
came down. Mamo-chan and I both looked down at the curtain that lay at
my feet and began laughing.
"Gomen, Usako. I was going to surprise you - I didn't mean for
all of that to happen as a result," he said, blushing. I shook my head
at him and turned the water off. He handed me a towel and sat on the
sink while watching me dress. "Michiru brought you some of her clothes
to wear until you get some," he told me, pointing to a satchel on the
floor.
I rummaged through it, finding a cute sleeveless summer dress and
sandals. I put it on, surprised that it fit perfectly when I had
thought since I gave birth that I would weigh more. Mamo-chan's eyes
brightened with approval while I was just happy to be in women's
clothing again. Almost anything was better than the way too big clothes
of Mamo-chan's. "Since no one has a little boy running around, the
girl's stopped at the department store and picked up a couple pair of
shorts and shirts for Shingo."
"But Mamo-chan," I asked, putting the brush down and turning to
him. "Aren't we going to reverse this time ripple soon and get our own
belongings back? Doesn't Ami or Setsuna know anything about it yet?"
"Well, I do have some good news - but I also have bad news. What
do you want first?" he asked, looking so serious I felt a shiver run up
my spine.
"Good news, I need some," I mumbled the last part under my breath
and began brushing my hair out again.
"Okay, the good news is that Ami says that the machine wasn't
activated long enough for the time ripple to be permanent. It's only a
matter of time before it reverses everything itself."
I blinked, wondering how he could say that so calmly. I, for one,
was ecstatic. Everything would be back to normal and we wouldn't even
have to do anything to make it happen! Then I remembered, he also had
bad news. I flinched, preparing myself. "And the bad?" I whispered.
"The bad news is that while we were out today, I ran across Daiki
again." The way he said that made me feel like he was leaving something
out. Unfortunately, I was right. "Well, we didn't just run across him.
We had to fight him."
"What?!" I yelped. I had prepared myself for a lot of things, but
that most definitely wasn't one of them. "Attack a human? But Mamo-
chan, we don't do that. Even if Daiki is the scum of the Earth, he's
still human." As I thought about his warped body; half lab mouse and
half human, I shivered. "Well, almost."
Mamo-chan opened and closed his eyes in a way that made me stop
talking. His piercing blue eyes caught my gaze and held it as he spoke.
"No, he's not, Usako. The explosion not only made him cross space with
one of the lab mice, he... The only way I can explain it is that maybe
when the explosion occurred the chemicals mixing did it. But he is most
definitely not human anymore."
"But if the time ripple will reverse itself, wouldn't it reverse
what has been done to him?" I felt my knees growing weak. This man had
been scary to me before this, and now he was a monster in more ways
than one. I felt goose bumps popping up all over my body, making the
hairs on my arms stand tall. I could still remember his lust filled
eyes watching me, always taunting me that he would have me. I hoped
that in his current form he didn't still have those yearnings.
"I don't know, and neither does Ami. He's strong, very strong.
Uranus, Neptune and I fought him until we couldn't fight anymore. Then
suddenly he seemed to have lost interest in us and left. He has to be
stopped. But," he stood up, shaking his head as if to rid it of the
image. "Right now Motoki is outside, waiting on us. He saw Minako
coming in earlier and I promised we would explain everything." I nodded
and followed him out, my thoughts now focusing on something else that
threatened our lives. Would it ever end?
@------
I couldn't begin to describe the look on Motoki's face as we gave
him the grand tour of the one room command center housed under his
family's business. He stayed relativity quiet the entire time, only
every time I caught his gaze he seemed confused, to me. It wasn't until
Mamo-chan picked Chibi-Usa up out of her crib that I was sure he was
completely dumbfounded about more than just the room under the arcade.
Minako threaded her arm through his and grinned. "Well, say
something honey," she urged, looking up at him anxiously.
I watched bewilderment and disbelief cloud his eyes as he sat
down, gripping the sides of the seat so hard his knuckles turned white.
"Umm," he mumbled, his eyes staying on me the longest, then switching
from me to Mamo-chan and then Chibi-Usa and Shingo.
"Go ahead," Mamo-chan told him, casting a nervous look to me.
"Ask anything you want."
Motoki swallowed hard and focused on Mamo-chan. "Whose baby is
that?"
I was speechless. Every drop of blood I had in my body seemed to
flow to my feet, leaving me shivering. The blank look in his eyes was
one thing, but he had known Chibi-Usa since she was born. This was
going way past being shocked to know we were Sailor Senshi. Mamo-chan
handed Chibi-Usa to me and leaned towards Motoki, locking gazes with
his best friend. "Motoki, what are you talking about? You know Chibi-
Usa. She's mine and Usako's daughter."
Motoki looked like he was trying to put a puzzle together that
was missing half it's pieces. He glanced again at me and shook his
head. "Daughter? Sailor Senshi? Usako? What kind of trick are you all
playing on me?"
I felt my heart began pounding in my chest - the blood pounded
through my veins so hard I felt it in my temples. I couldn't find my
voice to speak and luckily I didn't have to. Despite the shocked look
on everyone's faces, Mamo-chan managed to appear calm. "You have never
heard of the Sailor Senshi?" he asked incredibly.
Motoki shook his head, sitting back and studying us. He looked to
be taking in our reactions, deciding if we were telling the truth or
not. Convinced we were, his face changed from confused to intrigued.
"What do these Sailor Senshi do?"
I felt my stomach tighten as I wondered how much had changed, how
many more surprises were waiting for us. I barely listened as Mamo-chan
recalled everything from how Chibi-Usa was born to our wedding at which
Motoki was best man. He seemed quite surprised at most of our
information. When he began to explain the Sailor Senshi and how long
they had been around, again Motoki seemed to be as fascinated as a
small child being told a fairy tale.
"So you're telling me," Motoki said slowly, looking around at all
of us. "That you are all these Sailor Senshi, and that you've been
saving Earth from youmas and evil forces for over two years? But that's
not possible, the news would have said something. Someone would have
seen something..." His eyes focused on Chibi-Usa again, his intense
gaze frightening me. Why did he keep staring at her?
Mamo-chan sighed, looking frustrated. "But it's true. Look,
something happened this morning that has messed up time--"
Surprises had been in abundance today, so perhaps I shouldn't
have been as shocked as I was by what happened next. Never the less,
before me Sailor Pluto stepped out of her black swirl of mist I had
grown accustomed to. I wasn't accustomed, however, to her taking her
Time Staff and knocking Motoki out. He moaned lightly as he folded to
the floor.
I could have predicted Minako's reaction, though. "Why did you do
that?!" she shrieked, getting on her knees beside her boyfriend and
rolling him onto his back.
Pluto looked down at the blonde haired man and then innocently
twirled her Time Staff back and forth in her palm. "Prince, you can't
be speaking of time travel with anyone outside of us in this room. It
is forbidden knowledge, we've already seen what it can do in the wrong
hands."
Chibi-Usa and I peered into the floor at Motoki, who was still
out cold. My daughter looked at me, at him, and then at Pluto. "Bad
Puu!" she accused, her tiny finger pointed at the Solider of Time.
I shook my head, trying to hide my grin at Pluto's expression.
"Chibi-Usa, look at me," I said. She obeyed immediately. "Say this:
Plu-to," I said slowly, sounding it out. Beside me I heard Mamo-chan
muffle a laugh. "Plu-to."
"Puuto," Chibi-Usa mimicked, clapping her hands together. "Puu!"
Chibi-Usa, thinking she had finally said it right, began clapping
and yelling: "Yay ChiUsa(this being the way she said her own name),
yay!" I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing, nearly everyone in the
room following suit. The only one who didn't find this very funny was
Sailor Pluto. Instead, I saw a look of exasperation cross her features.
Perhaps she already knew that even after Chibi-Usa could say it right,
she probably wouldn't; this would be a life long nick name.
After the laughter died down, again our attention was brought to
what had started this to begin with; Pluto knocking Motoki out cold.
"Why did you do that, Pluto?" I asked, hoping to myself that he was
alright. Pluto didn't look too worried about it, though. So I imagined
she wouldn't have done it if he wouldn't be alright.
She studied her Orb just long enough to make me want to scream. I
absolutely hated when she took her time about saying something. At
first I thought she was just gathering her thoughts when she did that,
now I was beginning to think she did it just to test my patience.
Finally, she put her Staff aside. "I have spent the last couple of
hours at the Time Gate, trying to follow the stream of time that led us
to this point. From what I have seen, an alternate reality has not been
blasted into our world, but rather we have been blasted into it. This
world you see is not our world, altered. It only seems so because we
are in the wrong Stream of Time."
"That explains why there is no record of Chibi-Usa being born,
why Motoki and no one else has heard of the Sailor Senshi," Ami said
quietly. "We don't exist in this world."
"I wouldn't say you don't exist, because you do. Just not as
Senshi. In this world, Metallia and Beryl haven't attacked, so there
was no need for your powers to awaken. I imagine that is also why the
Usagi of this time gave the baby up for adoption. If you hadn't been
brought together as Sailor Senshi, Usagi and Mamoru may never have
meet. And therefore when Usagi became pregnant, without Mamoru by her
side, adoption was what she chose." As I stared at Pluto incredibly, I
thought about how tired she looked. Her eyes weren't as wide open as
normal, and she yawned quite a bit.
"So how do we get back to our own world?" Hotaru asked, her voice
betraying her normal business like manner. She sounded afraid that we
wouldn't get home, a fear I had been harboring as well.
"Sure we will," Mamo-chan said, looking at Ami. "You said the
time ripple was reversing itself, right?"
Ami looked surprised for a moment and then opened her small
computer. "I was making that calculation based on the fact that this
ripple had just cut across our space. If we are indeed in another
world, then the energy I was picking up couldn't have been from the
ripple crossing over time again." Her small hands worked faster, a
small line of sweat appearing on her upper lip. "Something is sweeping
over the Earth, something I thought to be the ripple. If it's not...
what is it?" she whispered this last part to herself, but the room was
so quiet that we all heard her.
Pluto let go of her transformation and sat down at one of the
computers. Ami joined her, and together the two began trying to trace
the energy Ami had picked up on her computer. Makoto picked Motoki up
and Minako followed them upstairs to take him to his sister's
apartment.
I looked around, everyone seemed to have something to do, but I
felt lost. I wanted to see outside, but the room felt more like a
prison than an escape - no windows, the only door was up a long flight
of stairs. I felt closed up, trapped by circumstances of my past that
had once more thrown me in. I doubted it would end any time soon.
"Usako?"
I blinked, glancing over at the concerned look on my soul-mate's
face. He seemed to be asking me what was wrong, even without saying a
word. "I just need some fresh air," I gave as an excuse and put Chibi-
Usa down.
"Want me to go with you?" he asked immediately. I shook my head
and walked up the stairs. "Are you sure?"
"Hai," I responded and pulled my locket out. "Moon Crystal Power,
Make-UP!" The familiar energy began pulsing through my veins, filling
me with power I wouldn't normally have. I blew a kiss at Mamo-chan and
ascended the remaining steps quickly. As soon as I stepped out of the
arcade and felt the evening sun on my face, I exhaled, some of the
built up tension in my body leaving.
The city looked the same, only someone who paid close attention
would notice the difference between this world and the one I knew.
Tokyo Towers stood tall across the skyline, the damage from the
explosion didn't litter the area anymore. The breeze was slightly cool,
but it felt wonderful to me.
I walked along the park paths to the bench Mamo-chan and I always
sat at. The water's crystal blue sparkle was the same as always, but it
didn't hold the same fascination for me that it normally did. Suddenly
I wished Mamo-chan had come with me.
I didn't have much time to dwell on this small regret, however. A
bush behind me rustled and I turned quickly, searching the area. Even
disguised as Sailor Moon, my nerves were on edge from being wanted by
the police. The bush moved again and I stood up. "Who's there?" I
called.
Out of the bush came a voice that haunted my nightmares and even
now made my blood run cold and my hands shake. To the left a tail, long
and white, swished in the air. "I told you I'd have you, Usa," a cold
voice hissed through the air.
"Wha-What are you talking about?" I demanded, though I didn't
sound nearly as confident as I would have liked.
Two human hands with long claws on the tips parted the bushes
back and I nearly screamed. Daiki was now even more rat than human and
under the gaze of his two beady red eyes I felt my stomach turn and my
heart thump even harder than before. "It was only a matter of time
before you and I were," he licked his lips, stepping towards me.
"... alone."
I stepped back, fear clutching my chest. "I don't know what
you're talking about. But you better stay away from me before I turn
you to moon dust!"
"Hey, very funny Sailor Moon. But we don't have to pretend with
each other, do we, Chiba Usagi?"
--End Chapter 5.
Wondering where I've been, ne? ^^; Gomen! Last week I was a bride's maid
in my bestfriend's wedding (that was the biggest gathering of stupid people
in one place I've ever seen in my life -_-;; I don't approve of who she
married, can you tell?) Anyways, so after that weird weekend I didn't get
anything done. And then yesterday I took the kid's to Dollywood yesterday
and to the old car show today. So now that I'm sitting down, I'm editing
this chapter and getting it out. But! I have good news :) The people I live
with finally got a computer so I'll be able to actually work on my story
during the week! That means no more time between chapter updating ^_^
Huge thanks to everyone who reads and reviews, and also to my wonderful
editor Meara ^_^ *hugs* Stay tuned next week for Chapter Six... that I
haven't gotten named yet ^_^;; But it'll be a weird name, knowing me. hehe
@------
No Greater Love
Chapter Five - Nonexistence
By: Bethany
Editor: Meara
Rated: PG
@------
When we pulled back out of the parking lot Mamo-chan didn't
speed. I watched every car, hoping none was a policeman. At every red
light I tried to keep my eyes down for fear of being recognized. We
left downtown Tokyo and entered the Juyban district and into a nice
neighborhood. Mamo-chan stopped in front of a two story house that
looked similar to every other one on the street. He studied the house
and then looked at me. "We are going to hit the doorbell and when
someone opens, let me do the talking. If we have to, you run past them
and upstairs to look for Chibi-Usa, I look downstairs - okay?"
I nodded, pushing my palms against my jeans and took a deep
breath. This is my child, I kept telling myself. It's just that I have
no physical proof. We stepped out of the car and walked up the
sidewalk. I stood to the left side of the door while Mamo-chan pressed
the ringer. It seemed to take forever for someone to answer the door,
but finally we could hear footsteps within.
"Can I help you?" a man asked. He was tall, nearly as tall as
Mamo-chan, and had dark hair and eyes. He wore a robe over a pair of
pajama pants and wore reading glasses. I noticed he had a wedding band
on, and wondered if this was Arika's husband.
Mamo-chan cleared his throat and glanced at me. "Yes, we are
looking for Youe Arika."
The man's eyes brightened when they turned to me, curiosity
flashing across his face. "Yes, my wife. She's upstairs putting the
baby down for a nap--"
"Thank you," Mamo-chan told him and before my very eyes my
otherwise calm and collected husband pulled his fist back, punched the
man in the face and knocked him out. I just stared at his slumped body
on the floor of the foyer and then looked at Mamo-chan. It was then
that I finally noticed how angry he really was, where I had been too
upset until now to notice. The tips of his ears were red and his fists
stayed clinched as he entered the house, motioning for me to follow. I
swallowed and walked in.
We quickly and quietly went up the carpeted staircase. There were
pictures all along the walls of a young girl who looked exactly like
Chibi-Usa from birth to current. It actually took me a moment to
notice, however, that it wasn't only the child in the picture who
looked the same. It was the same pictures that once hung in our
apartment! There was no mistaken, every picture that once hung on my
walls were now here. The pictures that were once of her and Shingo
together were different though. Another little boy slightly younger now
sat beside her. I clasped Mamo-chan's hand as we stepped onto the
second floor landing.
The first door we looked in seemed to be a guest bedroom. There
was nothing but a bed, nightstand and dresser and no evidence that
anyone lived in it. We started in the second one when a noise caught my
attention and I looked over in time to see Youe Arika walk out of a
bedroom, closing the door softly behind her. When she seen us, her eyes
turned hard as stone. "How the hell did you get in here?" she demanded.
I said nothing but returned her hard stare. Mamo-chan moved in
front of me, folding his arms across his chest. "You know why we are
here, we want out child. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard
way; your choice."
"She's not yours!" Arika screamed, backing up against the door.
"Listen," I said in a reasonable tone, hoping to catch her off
guard and make her listen. "I know that you think we are taking your
baby, but believe me - she is ours. Something happened this morning,
and time ripple and it's messed a lot of things up. You may have a
baby, I don't know. But Chibi-Usa is ours."
Arika looked from me to Mamo-chan unbelievably. "Are you two on
drugs or something?! You expect me to believe that story and hand over
my child?"
I blinked. She was right, of course. I wouldn't have done it
either. I walked past Mamo-chan to the woman, staring at her the entire
time. "You're right, you know. I wouldn't believe a story like that, no
matter how true it is. So I guess we'll do this the hard way." And with
out so much as a warning, I picked up a vase off the table in the hall
and smashed it over her head. As she fell to the floor, I felt guilt
grip my heart. "I'm sorry," I mumbled as she moaned and turned to her
side. "But I want my daughter."
I walked into the nursery, but I wasn't ready for the shock that
greeted me. On the other side of that door was Chibi-Usa's nursery,
exactly as it was the last time I walked in it. The bunny wallpaper on
the wall, the white crib - all the way down to the Precious Moments
blanket on the rocker by the window. I grabbed a diaper bag and began
opening drawers and throwing in clothes, sleepers, toys, binkies and
diapers. Mamo-chan came in, picking Chibi-Usa up out of her crib as
well as some blankets.
We ran out of the house and down the steps. I stopped just
outside the front door, looking back at the house Chibi-Usa may have
grown up in and felt a shiver run down my spine.
@------
"You did what?!" Haruka shrieked, rather high pitched if you ask
me, when we came back in and explained what had happened.
I sat calmly in a chair, both my children piled up on my lap.
Mamo-chan stood beside me, looking amused at the Senshi of Uranus'
reaction. "The time ripple has changed something so that we were not
Chibi-Usa's parents, so we took her back," he repeated.
"That's not possible," Ami informed us, looking worriedly to me.
"There are certain genes that make up a child's genetic character. For
Chibi-Usa to still be as she is, she would have to have yours and
Mamoru-san's genes. Otherwise, she wouldn't look exactly as she does."
I blinked, understanding but confused on what it meant. "But she
is ours."
"Right," Ami said, which did confuse me although I had prided
myself on understanding thus far. "But even in another reality, she
wouldn't look identical to what she does now and be someone else's
child. You said that there were pictures of her that were the same as
the ones you had, right?" I nodded my head, looking to Mamo-chan. "That
is not possible."
I shook my head, but Mamo-chan obviously understood what it was
she was saying. He sat down, pressing his fingers together in thought.
"So you are saying that Chibi-Usa was not born to the Youes. But the
only other way for them to have had her is for...."
Ami nodded. "Adoption." I snapped my head around, looking at the
Genius Senshi unbelievably. Her eyes were watching my every reaction as
she spoke. "In the alternate reality that exists, you must have given
her up for adoption."
"I wouldn't do that!" I argued, horrified anyone would even
suggest it.
Ami shook her head calmly, raising her hands in a peace offering.
"I'm just saying that is a decision you had in your life, and in the
alternate reality that is a result of the time ripple, you may have
chosen adoption. I know that sounds bad, but be grateful you didn't
choose something harsher - like abortion. She could have disappeared
altogether the moment this happened."
I flinched, hugging Chibi-Usa tighter to me than before. Shingo,
looking like he understood enough of the conversation to be scared of
what might have been, buried his face against my sleeve. I cleared my
throat, trying to push the sour taste out of my mouth and thoughts from
my mind. "Well, I have her back. And it don't matt--"
"Minna, look at this," Minako said as she ran down the stairs and
into the room where the rest of us sat. She flicked the television on,
turning on the news.
A picture of Mamo-chan and I flashed on the screen and I gasped.
"Police officials tell us that this husband and wife kidnapped this
little girl yesterday from her home in Juyban." A picture of Chibi-Usa
came on the screen as I watched, horrified. "Earlier today the Youes
had their child back for about an hour before Chiba Mamoru and Usagi
fled police and came to their home, knocking both out and taking the
baby again. Police are combing the area, but no trace of the child or
the kidnappers have been found. If you have seen Chiba Mamoru or his
wife, Usagi - please notify police immediately."
The news man turned his page, and the narrator informed the
audience that this was a news flash and as more information came to
them, they would deliver it. I jumped up, turning the TV off and
bruising myself with digging through the diaper bag. I tried to sound
calm as I spoke: "They must have woken up, called the police and then
the news stations. We left there only forty minutes ago..." Mamo-chan
came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me
against him. I stopped, wiping at the tears that had escaped my eyes.
"It's okay, Usako. We'll work through this. The main thing is we
have Chibi-Usa back," he told me reassuringly, but I couldn't shake the
cold chills that made the hair on my arms stand up and my nerves stay
on edge.
I swallowed my tears and began digging through the diaper bag
again. "We're wanted for kidnapping, Mamo-chan," I told him as if he
didn't already know. "We are Sailor Senshi, we are supposed to protect
people and now we are wanted by the police!"
"Usako, this is not our fault. It wasn't supposed to be this way.
But since it is, we'll get through it," he tried to tell me, but I
wasn't listening.
I felt sick, my stomach threatened to empty itself while my
vision seemed to blur. I sat down quickly, holding my head in my hands.
"Mamo-chan," I moaned, but couldn't continue. I ran to the bathroom,
vomiting everything in my stomach. While I clutched the toilet, I felt
Mamo-chan come up behind me and pull my hair away from my face. When
finally I finished, I fell back against the wall and began crying.
"What are we going to do?"
"Shhh," he soothed, pulling me over into his lap. He held me
close to him as he would Chibi-Usa, rocking me back and forth and
kissing my face. "Believe me, Usako. I'm not going to let anything bad
happen to you or the children. You trust me, don't you?"
I nodded my head, clutching his shirt in my hands tightly and
trying to calm down. I hadn't been this scared when I battled Metallia
for Shingo - I hadn't been this scared of what lay ahead since the day
I found my parent's bodies. A shiver ran threw me and Mamo-chan hugged
me even tighter. Almost as if he knew what I was thinking, he ran his
fingers down my face. "You're not alone this time, Usako," he whispered
in my ear lovingly, his voice full of emotion. "Together we will get
through this, ne?"
The nerves that were afire with anxiousness earlier, finally
calmed under his gentle touch. My jaw began aching from being clenched
so hard for so long, and my body was tired from crying and worrying.
Mamo-chan helped me up, walking beside me into the main room of our
hide away. He put me to bed like one would a child, giving me strict
instructions to stay put and get some rest - and not to worry. Shingo
crawled next to my back and got under the covers. Just before I fell
into an exhausted sleep, I felt Mamo-chan lay Chibi-Usa down next to me
and I hugged her close.
@------
"Usagi-san. Usagi-san, wake up."
From the furthest corner of my mind I heard someone calling me,
urging me to wake up. I felt drugged, like I was pulling my body
through thick, muddy water. After long moments of battle, I finally
forced my eyes open against the harsh light. Along with my wakefulness,
however, came the memories of everything that had transpired in the
last twenty four hours. "Where's Chibi-Usa?!" I asked immediately upon
realizing she wasn't beside me.
The petite Senshi sitting on the side of my bed jumped at my
outburst, her black silky hair flying out from her face. "She's fine,
Usagi-chan," Hotaru finally replied calmly. "She woke up and I made her
and Shingo some food. But she keeps wanting her Mama, so I thought I
needed to wake you up."
I nodded, sitting up slowly and stretching. One quick sweep
around the room told me that everyone else besides me, Hotaru and the
children were gone. Confused, I got up off the bed - but the room
seemed to spin unmercifully until I sat back down. "You okay?" Hotaru
asked worriedly, holding her hand on my arm.
I nodded, closing my eyes. "I think I just got up too quickly,
that's all," I mumbled, standing again. This time I had no problems
with my vision and I went to where Chibi-Usa and Shingo were sitting.
Chibi-Usa was in a highchair that looked very similar to the one Motoki
kept for babies at the Fruit Pallor, happily playing in a bowl of dry
cereal. Shingo looked up from his crackers and smiled at me, a flash of
relief crossing his face.
Hotaru took a wet wipe and started washing Chibi-Usa's hands and
face. "Mamoru-san, Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama went back to your
apartment for some clothes and other things he said he needed. Don't
worry about police or anything, Haruka-papa said she knew how to handle
them," she giggled, shaking her head much in the same manner that
Michiru did when Haruka did or said something outrageous. "Everyone
else is out getting food. Motoki-san saw Minako-chan come in earlier,
so we told him about this room and promised to explain everything
later. That's where the cereal, crackers and highchair came from."
I nodded my head, going over and scooping Luna up in my arms. She
looked so pitiful, opening her mouth but no sound coming out. I wanted
to cry for her. "Has Setsuna-san or Ami-chan found out anything else
about the time ripple?" I asked, rubbing Luna's head and back lovingly.
She purred, but still looked sad as I sat her back down.
"Not yet, but Setsuna-mama is working on it," she explained,
looking up at me.
Chibi-Usa looked at me too, her face brightening and her arms
automatically going up for me to pick her up. I scooped her up out of
the highchair, covering her sticky face with kisses. "Give Mama a
kiss."
She smacked her lips together like a fish and then giggled. "Luv
yuu!" she squealed, kissing me again and patting my face. I sighed,
thinking about how right Mamo-chan was. At least we had gotten Chibi-
Usa back, the rest we could deal with. She began kicking her feet,
telling me she wanted down. When I placed her on the ground she walked
over to where Shingo was sitting and plopped down beside him, her
diaper making crunching noises as she scooted closer to him and eyed
his crackers. He handed her one and she blew him a kiss.
"Chibi-Usa is such a good baby," Hotaru remarked, sitting down on
the sofa and folding her legs beneath her. "You can tell she is well
loved."
"And spoiled," I added when she held her hand out to Shingo
again, and again he produced a cracker for her. "We're all guilty of
that." Hotaru laughed her agreement and turned the television on.
The kids seemed content enough watching cartoons, so I began
searching through the closet for a towel. "I'm going to take a shower,
Hotaru-chan. If you need anything, just yell." She nodded and I went in
the bathroom and shut the door. I wondered how Motoki would like
knowing that we had been using his water and electricity as I turned
the shower on. I made a note to myself to give him some money for it.
I was preparing to get out when I felt a cold rush of air come in
the bathroom and heard the door shutting. "Hotaru-chan? Is that you?
Are the kids alright?" I yelled over the sound of the running water.
When I received no answer, I poked my head out of the curtain and came
face to face with Mamo-chan. I gasped, nearly falling back except I
caught onto the shower curtain, which while it broke my fall - also
came down. Mamo-chan and I both looked down at the curtain that lay at
my feet and began laughing.
"Gomen, Usako. I was going to surprise you - I didn't mean for
all of that to happen as a result," he said, blushing. I shook my head
at him and turned the water off. He handed me a towel and sat on the
sink while watching me dress. "Michiru brought you some of her clothes
to wear until you get some," he told me, pointing to a satchel on the
floor.
I rummaged through it, finding a cute sleeveless summer dress and
sandals. I put it on, surprised that it fit perfectly when I had
thought since I gave birth that I would weigh more. Mamo-chan's eyes
brightened with approval while I was just happy to be in women's
clothing again. Almost anything was better than the way too big clothes
of Mamo-chan's. "Since no one has a little boy running around, the
girl's stopped at the department store and picked up a couple pair of
shorts and shirts for Shingo."
"But Mamo-chan," I asked, putting the brush down and turning to
him. "Aren't we going to reverse this time ripple soon and get our own
belongings back? Doesn't Ami or Setsuna know anything about it yet?"
"Well, I do have some good news - but I also have bad news. What
do you want first?" he asked, looking so serious I felt a shiver run up
my spine.
"Good news, I need some," I mumbled the last part under my breath
and began brushing my hair out again.
"Okay, the good news is that Ami says that the machine wasn't
activated long enough for the time ripple to be permanent. It's only a
matter of time before it reverses everything itself."
I blinked, wondering how he could say that so calmly. I, for one,
was ecstatic. Everything would be back to normal and we wouldn't even
have to do anything to make it happen! Then I remembered, he also had
bad news. I flinched, preparing myself. "And the bad?" I whispered.
"The bad news is that while we were out today, I ran across Daiki
again." The way he said that made me feel like he was leaving something
out. Unfortunately, I was right. "Well, we didn't just run across him.
We had to fight him."
"What?!" I yelped. I had prepared myself for a lot of things, but
that most definitely wasn't one of them. "Attack a human? But Mamo-
chan, we don't do that. Even if Daiki is the scum of the Earth, he's
still human." As I thought about his warped body; half lab mouse and
half human, I shivered. "Well, almost."
Mamo-chan opened and closed his eyes in a way that made me stop
talking. His piercing blue eyes caught my gaze and held it as he spoke.
"No, he's not, Usako. The explosion not only made him cross space with
one of the lab mice, he... The only way I can explain it is that maybe
when the explosion occurred the chemicals mixing did it. But he is most
definitely not human anymore."
"But if the time ripple will reverse itself, wouldn't it reverse
what has been done to him?" I felt my knees growing weak. This man had
been scary to me before this, and now he was a monster in more ways
than one. I felt goose bumps popping up all over my body, making the
hairs on my arms stand tall. I could still remember his lust filled
eyes watching me, always taunting me that he would have me. I hoped
that in his current form he didn't still have those yearnings.
"I don't know, and neither does Ami. He's strong, very strong.
Uranus, Neptune and I fought him until we couldn't fight anymore. Then
suddenly he seemed to have lost interest in us and left. He has to be
stopped. But," he stood up, shaking his head as if to rid it of the
image. "Right now Motoki is outside, waiting on us. He saw Minako
coming in earlier and I promised we would explain everything." I nodded
and followed him out, my thoughts now focusing on something else that
threatened our lives. Would it ever end?
@------
I couldn't begin to describe the look on Motoki's face as we gave
him the grand tour of the one room command center housed under his
family's business. He stayed relativity quiet the entire time, only
every time I caught his gaze he seemed confused, to me. It wasn't until
Mamo-chan picked Chibi-Usa up out of her crib that I was sure he was
completely dumbfounded about more than just the room under the arcade.
Minako threaded her arm through his and grinned. "Well, say
something honey," she urged, looking up at him anxiously.
I watched bewilderment and disbelief cloud his eyes as he sat
down, gripping the sides of the seat so hard his knuckles turned white.
"Umm," he mumbled, his eyes staying on me the longest, then switching
from me to Mamo-chan and then Chibi-Usa and Shingo.
"Go ahead," Mamo-chan told him, casting a nervous look to me.
"Ask anything you want."
Motoki swallowed hard and focused on Mamo-chan. "Whose baby is
that?"
I was speechless. Every drop of blood I had in my body seemed to
flow to my feet, leaving me shivering. The blank look in his eyes was
one thing, but he had known Chibi-Usa since she was born. This was
going way past being shocked to know we were Sailor Senshi. Mamo-chan
handed Chibi-Usa to me and leaned towards Motoki, locking gazes with
his best friend. "Motoki, what are you talking about? You know Chibi-
Usa. She's mine and Usako's daughter."
Motoki looked like he was trying to put a puzzle together that
was missing half it's pieces. He glanced again at me and shook his
head. "Daughter? Sailor Senshi? Usako? What kind of trick are you all
playing on me?"
I felt my heart began pounding in my chest - the blood pounded
through my veins so hard I felt it in my temples. I couldn't find my
voice to speak and luckily I didn't have to. Despite the shocked look
on everyone's faces, Mamo-chan managed to appear calm. "You have never
heard of the Sailor Senshi?" he asked incredibly.
Motoki shook his head, sitting back and studying us. He looked to
be taking in our reactions, deciding if we were telling the truth or
not. Convinced we were, his face changed from confused to intrigued.
"What do these Sailor Senshi do?"
I felt my stomach tighten as I wondered how much had changed, how
many more surprises were waiting for us. I barely listened as Mamo-chan
recalled everything from how Chibi-Usa was born to our wedding at which
Motoki was best man. He seemed quite surprised at most of our
information. When he began to explain the Sailor Senshi and how long
they had been around, again Motoki seemed to be as fascinated as a
small child being told a fairy tale.
"So you're telling me," Motoki said slowly, looking around at all
of us. "That you are all these Sailor Senshi, and that you've been
saving Earth from youmas and evil forces for over two years? But that's
not possible, the news would have said something. Someone would have
seen something..." His eyes focused on Chibi-Usa again, his intense
gaze frightening me. Why did he keep staring at her?
Mamo-chan sighed, looking frustrated. "But it's true. Look,
something happened this morning that has messed up time--"
Surprises had been in abundance today, so perhaps I shouldn't
have been as shocked as I was by what happened next. Never the less,
before me Sailor Pluto stepped out of her black swirl of mist I had
grown accustomed to. I wasn't accustomed, however, to her taking her
Time Staff and knocking Motoki out. He moaned lightly as he folded to
the floor.
I could have predicted Minako's reaction, though. "Why did you do
that?!" she shrieked, getting on her knees beside her boyfriend and
rolling him onto his back.
Pluto looked down at the blonde haired man and then innocently
twirled her Time Staff back and forth in her palm. "Prince, you can't
be speaking of time travel with anyone outside of us in this room. It
is forbidden knowledge, we've already seen what it can do in the wrong
hands."
Chibi-Usa and I peered into the floor at Motoki, who was still
out cold. My daughter looked at me, at him, and then at Pluto. "Bad
Puu!" she accused, her tiny finger pointed at the Solider of Time.
I shook my head, trying to hide my grin at Pluto's expression.
"Chibi-Usa, look at me," I said. She obeyed immediately. "Say this:
Plu-to," I said slowly, sounding it out. Beside me I heard Mamo-chan
muffle a laugh. "Plu-to."
"Puuto," Chibi-Usa mimicked, clapping her hands together. "Puu!"
Chibi-Usa, thinking she had finally said it right, began clapping
and yelling: "Yay ChiUsa(this being the way she said her own name),
yay!" I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing, nearly everyone in the
room following suit. The only one who didn't find this very funny was
Sailor Pluto. Instead, I saw a look of exasperation cross her features.
Perhaps she already knew that even after Chibi-Usa could say it right,
she probably wouldn't; this would be a life long nick name.
After the laughter died down, again our attention was brought to
what had started this to begin with; Pluto knocking Motoki out cold.
"Why did you do that, Pluto?" I asked, hoping to myself that he was
alright. Pluto didn't look too worried about it, though. So I imagined
she wouldn't have done it if he wouldn't be alright.
She studied her Orb just long enough to make me want to scream. I
absolutely hated when she took her time about saying something. At
first I thought she was just gathering her thoughts when she did that,
now I was beginning to think she did it just to test my patience.
Finally, she put her Staff aside. "I have spent the last couple of
hours at the Time Gate, trying to follow the stream of time that led us
to this point. From what I have seen, an alternate reality has not been
blasted into our world, but rather we have been blasted into it. This
world you see is not our world, altered. It only seems so because we
are in the wrong Stream of Time."
"That explains why there is no record of Chibi-Usa being born,
why Motoki and no one else has heard of the Sailor Senshi," Ami said
quietly. "We don't exist in this world."
"I wouldn't say you don't exist, because you do. Just not as
Senshi. In this world, Metallia and Beryl haven't attacked, so there
was no need for your powers to awaken. I imagine that is also why the
Usagi of this time gave the baby up for adoption. If you hadn't been
brought together as Sailor Senshi, Usagi and Mamoru may never have
meet. And therefore when Usagi became pregnant, without Mamoru by her
side, adoption was what she chose." As I stared at Pluto incredibly, I
thought about how tired she looked. Her eyes weren't as wide open as
normal, and she yawned quite a bit.
"So how do we get back to our own world?" Hotaru asked, her voice
betraying her normal business like manner. She sounded afraid that we
wouldn't get home, a fear I had been harboring as well.
"Sure we will," Mamo-chan said, looking at Ami. "You said the
time ripple was reversing itself, right?"
Ami looked surprised for a moment and then opened her small
computer. "I was making that calculation based on the fact that this
ripple had just cut across our space. If we are indeed in another
world, then the energy I was picking up couldn't have been from the
ripple crossing over time again." Her small hands worked faster, a
small line of sweat appearing on her upper lip. "Something is sweeping
over the Earth, something I thought to be the ripple. If it's not...
what is it?" she whispered this last part to herself, but the room was
so quiet that we all heard her.
Pluto let go of her transformation and sat down at one of the
computers. Ami joined her, and together the two began trying to trace
the energy Ami had picked up on her computer. Makoto picked Motoki up
and Minako followed them upstairs to take him to his sister's
apartment.
I looked around, everyone seemed to have something to do, but I
felt lost. I wanted to see outside, but the room felt more like a
prison than an escape - no windows, the only door was up a long flight
of stairs. I felt closed up, trapped by circumstances of my past that
had once more thrown me in. I doubted it would end any time soon.
"Usako?"
I blinked, glancing over at the concerned look on my soul-mate's
face. He seemed to be asking me what was wrong, even without saying a
word. "I just need some fresh air," I gave as an excuse and put Chibi-
Usa down.
"Want me to go with you?" he asked immediately. I shook my head
and walked up the stairs. "Are you sure?"
"Hai," I responded and pulled my locket out. "Moon Crystal Power,
Make-UP!" The familiar energy began pulsing through my veins, filling
me with power I wouldn't normally have. I blew a kiss at Mamo-chan and
ascended the remaining steps quickly. As soon as I stepped out of the
arcade and felt the evening sun on my face, I exhaled, some of the
built up tension in my body leaving.
The city looked the same, only someone who paid close attention
would notice the difference between this world and the one I knew.
Tokyo Towers stood tall across the skyline, the damage from the
explosion didn't litter the area anymore. The breeze was slightly cool,
but it felt wonderful to me.
I walked along the park paths to the bench Mamo-chan and I always
sat at. The water's crystal blue sparkle was the same as always, but it
didn't hold the same fascination for me that it normally did. Suddenly
I wished Mamo-chan had come with me.
I didn't have much time to dwell on this small regret, however. A
bush behind me rustled and I turned quickly, searching the area. Even
disguised as Sailor Moon, my nerves were on edge from being wanted by
the police. The bush moved again and I stood up. "Who's there?" I
called.
Out of the bush came a voice that haunted my nightmares and even
now made my blood run cold and my hands shake. To the left a tail, long
and white, swished in the air. "I told you I'd have you, Usa," a cold
voice hissed through the air.
"Wha-What are you talking about?" I demanded, though I didn't
sound nearly as confident as I would have liked.
Two human hands with long claws on the tips parted the bushes
back and I nearly screamed. Daiki was now even more rat than human and
under the gaze of his two beady red eyes I felt my stomach turn and my
heart thump even harder than before. "It was only a matter of time
before you and I were," he licked his lips, stepping towards me.
"... alone."
I stepped back, fear clutching my chest. "I don't know what
you're talking about. But you better stay away from me before I turn
you to moon dust!"
"Hey, very funny Sailor Moon. But we don't have to pretend with
each other, do we, Chiba Usagi?"
--End Chapter 5.
Wondering where I've been, ne? ^^; Gomen! Last week I was a bride's maid
in my bestfriend's wedding (that was the biggest gathering of stupid people
in one place I've ever seen in my life -_-;; I don't approve of who she
married, can you tell?) Anyways, so after that weird weekend I didn't get
anything done. And then yesterday I took the kid's to Dollywood yesterday
and to the old car show today. So now that I'm sitting down, I'm editing
this chapter and getting it out. But! I have good news :) The people I live
with finally got a computer so I'll be able to actually work on my story
during the week! That means no more time between chapter updating ^_^
Huge thanks to everyone who reads and reviews, and also to my wonderful
editor Meara ^_^ *hugs* Stay tuned next week for Chapter Six... that I
haven't gotten named yet ^_^;; But it'll be a weird name, knowing me. hehe