Author's Notes at bottom (I hope it is for FF.net readers, for some
reason my author's notes don't like to upload -_-;; ) - Enjoy!
@------
No Greater Love
Chapter Six - Changing truths
By: Bethany
Editor: Meara
Rated: PG-13
@------
I tried to hide my shock, for all the good it was doing. A
million questions ran through my mind at once. The most dominant was -
how did he find out who I am? Followed by - does he know who everyone
is? And of course, there was - what do I do now?
And honestly, if I had had time to think about it, this shouldn't
have came as such a big shock. I mean, after all, the enemy seemed to
always have a way to find things out with more ease than use. Why
should now be any different?
So denial hadn't worked, what was my next step? Mamo-chan had
told me that they had fought Daiki and how strong he was. But at the
moment I didn't see where I had another choice. I glanced around at my
surroundings, trying to determine my best course of action. I could
stay here, near the water and trees and use them to my advantage for
hiding. Or I could run for the field where I could get him out in the
open, and hope that someone saw us and got the word out about the
fight. Either way I would have to deal with the possibility of police.
While I was trying to figure out a plan, however, Daiki was
approaching fast. The more I dodged him, the more determined he
became. Where was Ami when I needed her? She would come up with a plan
and I wouldn't be at a loss. And then it hit me, I shouldn't be so
dependant on my guardians! I was Sailor Moon, it was high time I
started to act like it.
With my mind made up, I turned towards Daiki suddenly. In his
surprise, he stopped and I took the moment to jump up, putting all my
strength into my kick. I managed to kick him in his left eye, but to my
surprise, he didn't fall. In fact, if anything, I only made him madder.
"You bitch!" he screamed, holding one claw up to his eye. Blood
was seeping out from under his claw, dripping down his face and
staining the white fur on his stomach crimson. "Argg!" he howled,
jumping at me. I managed to dodge him and he tripped over a tree root
and fell face down. With a small prayer, I jumped up in the air and
brought the heels of my boots down on the back of his neck.
At the same moment I came down, he turned over and I was thrown
off his back. I braced myself for the impact, but one never came. I
shook my head, peeking out from under my closed lids to see what or who
had caught me.
"Leave it to you to get in trouble the second you're out of our
sight," Uranus said, shaking her head like she was scolding a child.
I rolled my eyes, standing up. "How'd you know where to find me?"
Daiki, really not looking concerned that he was out numbered,
stood up again. Before my astonished eyes, he slapped his palm in the
air and a ball of green energy came hurling through the air at Uranus
and I. We dodged it, the tree we were standing in front of blasting
into a million pieces. I felt a shard of wood stick in my side and I
fell to one knee, biting my lip to keep from screaming. I pulled it out
quickly, yelping as I did. The cut didn't look very bad, but I really
didn't have time to examine it before another tree blew up.
"World Shaking!" Uranus screamed, hitting the ground with her
fist. The blast of yellow power surged at Daiki, hitting him in the
side. He was dazed for a moment, but didn't fall. "Mamoru-san told me
to follow you," Uranus said, running over to me. When she saw the
opening into the fabric on my side she stopped. "What happened?"
"Piece of the tree," I spat, grinding my teeth together. "I'm
okay, it's nothing." I held pressure on it with my arm, but the pain
was nearly cutting me in two.
"Let me see," the Senshi of the Sky demanded, but I couldn't pull
my arm away. I shook my head, glancing behind her. She turned just in
time to push me to the ground and roll both of us away from another
strike of green power.
By this time I was thinking the wound must be worse than I
originally thought. When Uranus and I rolled to a stop, I nearly
couldn't see, the pain burned through my entire body and my vision
blurred. I bit my lip so hard I could taste the blood to keep from
screaming. I felt Uranus pick me up just before I passed out.
@------
I awoke again just as we were descending the stairs into our hide
away. "Mamoru-san! Hurry!" Uranus yelled. I opened my eyes further, my
side actually felt numb. My feet and hands were freezing though, so
much that when Uranus laid me down on the bed if I had had the strength
I would have pulled the cover over me. As it was, I was having trouble
focusing my eyes.
"What happened?" Mamo-chan demanded, trying to see the wound. He
attempted to pull my arm away and the pain brought my senses to an
abrupt height. I screamed out, arching up off the bed and shaking my
head. I saw Mamo-chan flinch and put his hands on my forehead. "Shhh,
I'm sorry. It's going to be okay."
"When I found her she was fighting Daiki, he blew up some trees
and she said that one of the shards went in her side," Uranus explained
while watching my reaction worriedly.
I saw Ami at the foot of the bed, her computer in hand and her
visor over her eyes. "There's a deep puncture, it looks like it's near
her lung, but thankfully didn't do any damage there. She is loosing a
lot of blood." On the other side of the bed, Setsuna pushed past
Haruka, a first aide kit in her hands.
Mamo-chan bent over me, looking into my eyes. I could see that my
pain was hurting him just as much as it was me. "Usako, listen to me,"
he pleaded, a frightened look clouding his eyes. "I'm going to have to
pull your arm away and it's going to hurt bad, okay?"
I felt my tears dripping down my neck before I even realized I
was crying. I bit down on my bottom lip and nodded. Mamo-chan took hold
of my arm and quickly ripped it away from my side. I felt fresh blood
begin to pour from the wound so quickly I wanted to faint. Somehow I
managed to hold on to consciousness and I felt Mamo-chan press a towel
against my side.
"This is going to be impossible while she's transformed. Her
suit is designed to protect her body and it sees us treating the wound
as causing injury to her," Setsuna explained as she prepared a needle
to sew up the opening.
I reached up and squeezed my broach to let the transformation go.
As soon as I did, the pain increased - something I hadn't thought
possible. Again I felt myself try to pass out but I struggled to stay
awake, fearful that if I closed my eyes it might be forever.
"Stay with me, Usako," I heard Mamo-chan whisper as he came back
from washing his hands. "I'm going to have to clean this and then sew
it up, but I don't have anything to numb the pain." His voice was thick
with emotion and when I glanced up at him, I saw the tears in his eyes.
Determinedly I pushed my own back.
Fifteen stitches and a lot of pain later, Ami suggested I redo my
transformation to help the healing go along faster. I did so, the suit
applying enough pressure to the area that it didn't hurt as much.
Gently Mamo-chan picked me up while Minako and Rei changed the bed
sheets. When my husband laid me back down, I closed my eyes in relief
that it was finally over.
@------
An odd feeling washed over my body. The hairs on the back of my
neck stood up and a chill ran down my spine, causing my entire body to
shake. I turned slowly, searching the street around me. People rushed
around me, oblivious it seemed, to the fact that I was standing still.
Small snow flakes fell down from the white sky, never ending in all
directions, they blew in circles before landing on the Earth.
I didn't remember it happening, but I just knew that I was alone.
Among all the people who passed me, none took notice of the tears on my
face or the pain in my heart. I stumbled through the streets, staring
at every passing face to see if one could be Mamo-chan or one of my
guardians. But it never was... just a blurring storm of snow and
strangers and I was utterly alone.
I felt a raw pain in my side, burning like bee stings through my
body until I doubled over in pain. I opened my mouth to scream, but
nothing left my throat. I tried to scream over and over until my throat
became raw from the effort, and as I fell to the cold sidewalk someone
finally stopped, bending down. "Please," I begged silently, lifting my
tear filled eyes towards the helping hand. But it wasn't a friendly
worried face that greeted me, it was Daiki. His lust obvious on his
face, and his tongue slithering over his lips.
"Chiba Usagi," he hissed, grabbing my arms and forcing them to my
sides. "You are mine. You belong to me and all that love you will die
by my hand." I shook my head, trying to pull away but my body refused
to obey my commands. I felt his claws yanking up my dress, groping all
over my body as I tried, but failed, to escape.
"My Usa," he whispered. "Mine. You are mine. Usa... Usa..."
"...Usako..."
I blinked back my tears, shaking my head in denial of what he was
going to do. I have to save myself. Please, someone help me... A gush
of warmth traveled through me, and down my legs as a warm light bathed
me in its glow.
"Usako!!"
I threw my arms out in front of me, my fists aimed for anything
in their path. They were caught easily and no matter how hard I tried I
couldn't get them free. "NO!" I screamed. "Don't! Please, don't!"
"Usako, baby, it's me," I heard a familiar voice say. I managed
to open my eyes, a harsh light making everything blur. But even has
hazy as it all seemed, the feeling of being safe in Mamo-chan's arms
washed over me and I collapsed against my husband's chest, tears
pouring from my eyes. "Shhh," I heard him whisper. "It was only a
dream, I'm here."
The reality of the dream still kept a firm hand on my body,
causing me to shake uncontrollably. I could feel my skin crawling from
the memory of Daiki, his hands feeling over my body in places only my
husband had ever touched me. I felt violated, dirty - no matter how
many times I told myself it was a dream. Nothing but my fears being
played out in my head. Nothing more...
I reached my hands up, tracing the familiar shape of Mamo-chan's
face over and over, down his neck and chest. Seeing him wasn't enough,
my mind needed more. It wasn't until he pulled me tight against him,
crushing my lips with his own that I found the strength I needed to
forget my mind's tricks. My tears subsided and my heart finally stopped
pounding. A dull ache on my side reminded me of my earlier encounter.
"Mamo-chan," I mumbled, inhaling his scent deeply.
"Shhh, it's okay. It's okay," he whispered in my ear. "I'm
here." He laid down, my body still cuddled up against his own. I fought
sleep for hours it seemed until exhaustion set in, sending me into a
dreamless sleep.
@------
It wasn't the sun that woke me the next morning, gently telling
me that I had one long nightmare that was finally over. Instead it was
the light of the small computer desk across the room, and the clicking
of the keyboard. This wasn't a nightmare, it was real. I dreaded
sitting up to face another day of this hell. I tried to move, but Mamo-
chan's strong arms were wrapped tightly around me, his face pressed in
my hair.
Ami, sensing my awareness, turned in her chair and smiled as
brightly as her worn and tired face would allow. "Good morning Usagi-
chan. Are you feeling better?" she asked, her eyebrow rising up
worriedly. "I heard you moaning in your sleep and then Mamoru-san
comforting you. Don't worry, we won't let anything happen to you," she
said, winking and turning back to her computer.
I could tell by her nervous actions something was bothering her.
I unraveled myself from Mamo-chan's arms and stepped quietly past the
sleeping Senshi on the floor to sit beside the Soldier of Wisdom. I
glanced at the computer screen, but the figures made no sense to me.
"Anything new?" I asked as casually as I could manage.
Ami pulled out the disk that Mamo-chan suspected to be the time
devise that started the chain of events of yesterday. She sat it on
the table in front of us. With the press of a button on it and a
brilliant silver light began pulsating from the center of it. "This is
the time devise that Heioko made." She placed a pencil in the light and
then looked at me.
"Nothing's happening," I remarked. I expected it to disappear
into thin air, but nothing happened.
"Exactly," Ami replied, turning the machine off. "I tested it
over and over again, but there was no damage sustained, that I can see.
From what I have gathered about this devise, it never worked. Heioko
never discovered time travel, or even space disbursement."
I looked at the disk, but it looked like nothing more than a
laser light. "But how can that be? Didn't this machine explode, sending
us into this alternate reality? If this didn't cause it, what did?"
"Well, I've been studying that. But I think we need to have
everyone awake to hear what I found..." She again took on the mask of
worry that I seen when I woke up. I bit my thumb nail, staring at the
small disk that I believed to be the source of our problems and perhaps
the key to their undoing. Would anything be as it seemed?
It took a few minutes to wake everyone up. Minako and Makoto both
looked like they were dead to the world even after we got them to sit
up. Hotaru stretched her thin arms up, yawning at the same time while
watching everyone with little interest. I sat down next to Mamo-chan on
the couch, waiting for what news Ami had to deliver. Setsuna appeared
as if summoned by a silent command and stood next to the couch solemnly.
Ami, looking more like a school teacher than the doctor she
longed to be, pushed her glasses up into her hair and began pacing back
and forth as she spoke. "I spent most of last night studying the devise
Heioko made and I've come to the conclusion that he did not succeed in
creating a time travel devise." She stopped, gathering her thoughts for
a moment. "I took the information I had from what Mamoru-san said about
the explosion at the lab, compared it to the energy that seems to be
moving across the Earth and the times seem to coincide. I preformed a
scan on the energy and received the data from it about an hour ago."
While Ami pulled up a computer screen, Mamo-chan cast me a nervous
glance and sat forward, his hands clasped in front of him.
Ami looked like she was about to deliver grim news when she
turned back to us, so much so that I found myself holding my breath.
"The energy moving across the Earth is negative energy, and from what I
can tell - it's alive."
"Nani?" Haruka bellowed, looking to Michiru questionably. "But
anything like that would have been picked up on Michiru's mirror, and
there was..." Her arms dropped to her side suddenly when she realized
what she was saying. "The night before last... the energy next to the
moon..."
"Didn't disappear, but only hid its life force long enough to
sneak into Earth's atmosphere undetected," Ami confirmed, sitting down
and reaching her hand out to scratch Luna's head.
Setsuna sat on the edge of the couch, idly twirling her Time
Staff while she spoke. "Evil entities have a way of seeking out persons
with malevolent intentions to fulfill their need. Theologically
speaking, if Daiki were in the lab, trying to experiment with the disk
at the same moment the energy came across Tokyo; and if it sensed
something useful to its own plans in him, it may have joined his
body."
"Which would explain why he looks the way he does," Michiru
concluded, involuntarily shivering at the memory.
"But what about the explosion?" Minako questioned.
My husband sat back, exhaling deeply as he did. "We do
experiments on anything from cleaning solutions to rocket fuel - if
there was a spill and the right chemicals mixed, we could have been
blown to the Moon...."
"Or into another Time Stream," I mumbled. Realization of just how
bad our situation was finally dawning on me. Ami wouldn't come up with
a wonderful solution and we'd all wake up to normality. There was no
promise of a future when our reality was based on chemicals that just
happened to have been mixed.
Haruka looked deeply disturbed by whatever she was thinking. I
watched as she placed her arm around Michiru, almost like she was
looking for a life raft in the sea of uncertainty we were all thrown
in. "Ami, you said that the energy was reversing, coming back over the
Earth? What could that mean?"
"My scientific guess or my guess as a Sailor Senshi?" Ami replied
promptly.
"Both," Haruka and Michiru said at the same time.
"Scientifically, I would say it was reversing itself and
everything would be back to normal within the day," she replied, too
quickly for my taste. "As a Sailor Senshi, I would say it's coming back
to do battle with us."
"Why?" Minako mumbled.
"Because that's the line of work we are in," Hotaru answered
before Ami could. The Genius Senshi nodded her agreement.
@------
My daughter giggled happily; unaware that her entire world was
coming down around her while she splashed in the tub. I poured baby
shampoo in my hand and began washing her hair, laughing when she
crossed her eyes while trying to catch suds that came down her nose.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. When you're not happy, my
skies are grey," I sang lightly, running my fingers down her soft face.
Her huge blue eyes, so much like Mamo-chan's, stared at me intently as
I sang to her. "You'll never know dear, how much I love you, so please
don't take my sunshine away."
"Shunshine," she sang softly as I said the word. It was the only
word in the entire song she ever choose to sing with me, not that I
minded. "Yay!" she cheered, clapping her hands and sending suds flying
everywhere. I laughed, wiping a bubble from my face.
"Encore," a deep voice said from behind me. I turned around to
see my husband leaning against the door frame, his eyes twinkling as he
clapped lightly. "Please continue, Mrs. Chiba."
I felt my face turn red as a blush crept up my neck and settled
on my cheeks. I smiled, shaking my head at him and began rinsing Chibi-
Usa's hair.
"I'm going to run up to the university and see if I can find
anything else," he told me, walking further in the room and reaching
out to tickle Chibi-Usa's stomach. "I want you to stay here with the
children," I started to argue when he put his hands up, effectively
cutting me off. "You are hurt, and you are not going," he said in a
tone that left no room for discussion.
I sighed, wrapping a towel around Chibi-Usa and standing up with
her. "Demo, Mamo-chan.."
"No buts," he stated, placing his hands on my face and kissing my
lips gently. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you.
And I don't want to find out."
"I'm a Sailor Senshi, you can't protect me from everything," I
told him softly.
"Watch me," he replied and kissed my lips again. "I love you," he
mouthed before going out the bathroom door. As he passed through the
door frame, he changed into Tuxedo Kamen and in a few seconds I heard
the door above close.
I sighed and came out of the bathroom to dress Chibi-Usa and find
both the children something to eat. The room was empty of everyone
except Shingo, Luna and Artemis. I felt useless, sitting here watching
the children when I should be with the Senshi, helping find out what we
can do to stop this new enemy. But there was nothing I could do. In
making sure that no one else was around to watch the kids, Mamo-chan
had insured that I stay put.
I picked out a pair of pink overalls and white shirt for Chibi-
Usa and dressed her. As I was tying a pink ribbon in her hair, the only
door to the room opened, revealing Sailor Mercury. She looked behind
her to make sure no one followed and then descended the steps quickly.
Puzzled, I watched her take out her small computer and turn it on.
"Mercury, what are you doing?" I asked curiously as the light
beam from her computer bathed my body.
She sighed, looking exasperated for a moment. "Usagi-chan, I have
something that came up on my computer yesterday when I scanned your
wound. Something that I didn't tell anyone else about."
I began to worry as she typed away on her computer, telling me
nothing else of what she found. Finally my patience wore out. "Mercury,
would you mind telling me what it is you're doing?"
The Genius Senshi bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling. She
seemed confused about if she should be happy or not, which only proved
to make me more nervous. "Usagi-chan," she finally said. "When was your
last period?"
My face fell instantly. I had been irregular all my life, and
that hadn't changed since Chibi-Usa was born, so I had paid it no
attention. But when someone as smart as Ami is standing before you,
scanning your body that could only mean one thing. "I'm pregnant?"
A fleeting smile crossed the Senshi of Mercury's face. "It would
appear one month or so along," she said, shutting her computer with one
hand and meeting my gaze. "Have you been getting sick? Overly tired,
maybe?"
I thought about all the sleeping I had been doing over the last
couple of days, and then when I threw up yesterday... but I had blamed
it all on nerves. I told Ami about it and she nodded her head. "I could
see where you would think it was nerves and the situation we are now
in. But since Chibi-Usa, well, I know how to read what I'm getting on
my screen and you are most definitely pregnant."
"The battle with Daiki yesterday didn't..." I began, afraid to
think of the harm I had put my unborn child in without knowing it.
"No, everything's fine, so far. Just be careful, okay?"
I shook my head. "Ami-chan, you sound like your mother when you
talk like that," I accused playfully.
"Thank you," she replied and headed back towards the door. "See
you later."
"Ja," I mumbled, although I'm not sure she heard me. My mind was
doing a mile a minute. Another baby? Chibi-Usa was not even two years
old yet. But somehow, that didn't matter. The idea of another child
thrilled me, only leave it to me to have such timing.
I looked down at the pancakes and syrup I had made for the kids
and put my stack back on the plate. So much for junk foods, it was time
to eat like a pregnant woman again.
--End Chapter 6.
Not much action, huh? Next chapter will put all the knowledge in
this chapter to work ;)
Huge thanks to my wonderful editor, Meara *hugs* You're the best :D
Also, thousands of thanks to everyone who reads and reviews on Fanfiction.net
and ASMR - you guys are great! *hugs*
Disclaimer: I own nothing, please don't sue me ^-^v
Stayed tuned next week (and during the week for MMLfanfiction mailing list
members) for Chapter 7 which doesn't have a name yet, but it's full of action
type stuff!! :D
Emails, reviews and Scooby Doos!!
reason my author's notes don't like to upload -_-;; ) - Enjoy!
@------
No Greater Love
Chapter Six - Changing truths
By: Bethany
Editor: Meara
Rated: PG-13
@------
I tried to hide my shock, for all the good it was doing. A
million questions ran through my mind at once. The most dominant was -
how did he find out who I am? Followed by - does he know who everyone
is? And of course, there was - what do I do now?
And honestly, if I had had time to think about it, this shouldn't
have came as such a big shock. I mean, after all, the enemy seemed to
always have a way to find things out with more ease than use. Why
should now be any different?
So denial hadn't worked, what was my next step? Mamo-chan had
told me that they had fought Daiki and how strong he was. But at the
moment I didn't see where I had another choice. I glanced around at my
surroundings, trying to determine my best course of action. I could
stay here, near the water and trees and use them to my advantage for
hiding. Or I could run for the field where I could get him out in the
open, and hope that someone saw us and got the word out about the
fight. Either way I would have to deal with the possibility of police.
While I was trying to figure out a plan, however, Daiki was
approaching fast. The more I dodged him, the more determined he
became. Where was Ami when I needed her? She would come up with a plan
and I wouldn't be at a loss. And then it hit me, I shouldn't be so
dependant on my guardians! I was Sailor Moon, it was high time I
started to act like it.
With my mind made up, I turned towards Daiki suddenly. In his
surprise, he stopped and I took the moment to jump up, putting all my
strength into my kick. I managed to kick him in his left eye, but to my
surprise, he didn't fall. In fact, if anything, I only made him madder.
"You bitch!" he screamed, holding one claw up to his eye. Blood
was seeping out from under his claw, dripping down his face and
staining the white fur on his stomach crimson. "Argg!" he howled,
jumping at me. I managed to dodge him and he tripped over a tree root
and fell face down. With a small prayer, I jumped up in the air and
brought the heels of my boots down on the back of his neck.
At the same moment I came down, he turned over and I was thrown
off his back. I braced myself for the impact, but one never came. I
shook my head, peeking out from under my closed lids to see what or who
had caught me.
"Leave it to you to get in trouble the second you're out of our
sight," Uranus said, shaking her head like she was scolding a child.
I rolled my eyes, standing up. "How'd you know where to find me?"
Daiki, really not looking concerned that he was out numbered,
stood up again. Before my astonished eyes, he slapped his palm in the
air and a ball of green energy came hurling through the air at Uranus
and I. We dodged it, the tree we were standing in front of blasting
into a million pieces. I felt a shard of wood stick in my side and I
fell to one knee, biting my lip to keep from screaming. I pulled it out
quickly, yelping as I did. The cut didn't look very bad, but I really
didn't have time to examine it before another tree blew up.
"World Shaking!" Uranus screamed, hitting the ground with her
fist. The blast of yellow power surged at Daiki, hitting him in the
side. He was dazed for a moment, but didn't fall. "Mamoru-san told me
to follow you," Uranus said, running over to me. When she saw the
opening into the fabric on my side she stopped. "What happened?"
"Piece of the tree," I spat, grinding my teeth together. "I'm
okay, it's nothing." I held pressure on it with my arm, but the pain
was nearly cutting me in two.
"Let me see," the Senshi of the Sky demanded, but I couldn't pull
my arm away. I shook my head, glancing behind her. She turned just in
time to push me to the ground and roll both of us away from another
strike of green power.
By this time I was thinking the wound must be worse than I
originally thought. When Uranus and I rolled to a stop, I nearly
couldn't see, the pain burned through my entire body and my vision
blurred. I bit my lip so hard I could taste the blood to keep from
screaming. I felt Uranus pick me up just before I passed out.
@------
I awoke again just as we were descending the stairs into our hide
away. "Mamoru-san! Hurry!" Uranus yelled. I opened my eyes further, my
side actually felt numb. My feet and hands were freezing though, so
much that when Uranus laid me down on the bed if I had had the strength
I would have pulled the cover over me. As it was, I was having trouble
focusing my eyes.
"What happened?" Mamo-chan demanded, trying to see the wound. He
attempted to pull my arm away and the pain brought my senses to an
abrupt height. I screamed out, arching up off the bed and shaking my
head. I saw Mamo-chan flinch and put his hands on my forehead. "Shhh,
I'm sorry. It's going to be okay."
"When I found her she was fighting Daiki, he blew up some trees
and she said that one of the shards went in her side," Uranus explained
while watching my reaction worriedly.
I saw Ami at the foot of the bed, her computer in hand and her
visor over her eyes. "There's a deep puncture, it looks like it's near
her lung, but thankfully didn't do any damage there. She is loosing a
lot of blood." On the other side of the bed, Setsuna pushed past
Haruka, a first aide kit in her hands.
Mamo-chan bent over me, looking into my eyes. I could see that my
pain was hurting him just as much as it was me. "Usako, listen to me,"
he pleaded, a frightened look clouding his eyes. "I'm going to have to
pull your arm away and it's going to hurt bad, okay?"
I felt my tears dripping down my neck before I even realized I
was crying. I bit down on my bottom lip and nodded. Mamo-chan took hold
of my arm and quickly ripped it away from my side. I felt fresh blood
begin to pour from the wound so quickly I wanted to faint. Somehow I
managed to hold on to consciousness and I felt Mamo-chan press a towel
against my side.
"This is going to be impossible while she's transformed. Her
suit is designed to protect her body and it sees us treating the wound
as causing injury to her," Setsuna explained as she prepared a needle
to sew up the opening.
I reached up and squeezed my broach to let the transformation go.
As soon as I did, the pain increased - something I hadn't thought
possible. Again I felt myself try to pass out but I struggled to stay
awake, fearful that if I closed my eyes it might be forever.
"Stay with me, Usako," I heard Mamo-chan whisper as he came back
from washing his hands. "I'm going to have to clean this and then sew
it up, but I don't have anything to numb the pain." His voice was thick
with emotion and when I glanced up at him, I saw the tears in his eyes.
Determinedly I pushed my own back.
Fifteen stitches and a lot of pain later, Ami suggested I redo my
transformation to help the healing go along faster. I did so, the suit
applying enough pressure to the area that it didn't hurt as much.
Gently Mamo-chan picked me up while Minako and Rei changed the bed
sheets. When my husband laid me back down, I closed my eyes in relief
that it was finally over.
@------
An odd feeling washed over my body. The hairs on the back of my
neck stood up and a chill ran down my spine, causing my entire body to
shake. I turned slowly, searching the street around me. People rushed
around me, oblivious it seemed, to the fact that I was standing still.
Small snow flakes fell down from the white sky, never ending in all
directions, they blew in circles before landing on the Earth.
I didn't remember it happening, but I just knew that I was alone.
Among all the people who passed me, none took notice of the tears on my
face or the pain in my heart. I stumbled through the streets, staring
at every passing face to see if one could be Mamo-chan or one of my
guardians. But it never was... just a blurring storm of snow and
strangers and I was utterly alone.
I felt a raw pain in my side, burning like bee stings through my
body until I doubled over in pain. I opened my mouth to scream, but
nothing left my throat. I tried to scream over and over until my throat
became raw from the effort, and as I fell to the cold sidewalk someone
finally stopped, bending down. "Please," I begged silently, lifting my
tear filled eyes towards the helping hand. But it wasn't a friendly
worried face that greeted me, it was Daiki. His lust obvious on his
face, and his tongue slithering over his lips.
"Chiba Usagi," he hissed, grabbing my arms and forcing them to my
sides. "You are mine. You belong to me and all that love you will die
by my hand." I shook my head, trying to pull away but my body refused
to obey my commands. I felt his claws yanking up my dress, groping all
over my body as I tried, but failed, to escape.
"My Usa," he whispered. "Mine. You are mine. Usa... Usa..."
"...Usako..."
I blinked back my tears, shaking my head in denial of what he was
going to do. I have to save myself. Please, someone help me... A gush
of warmth traveled through me, and down my legs as a warm light bathed
me in its glow.
"Usako!!"
I threw my arms out in front of me, my fists aimed for anything
in their path. They were caught easily and no matter how hard I tried I
couldn't get them free. "NO!" I screamed. "Don't! Please, don't!"
"Usako, baby, it's me," I heard a familiar voice say. I managed
to open my eyes, a harsh light making everything blur. But even has
hazy as it all seemed, the feeling of being safe in Mamo-chan's arms
washed over me and I collapsed against my husband's chest, tears
pouring from my eyes. "Shhh," I heard him whisper. "It was only a
dream, I'm here."
The reality of the dream still kept a firm hand on my body,
causing me to shake uncontrollably. I could feel my skin crawling from
the memory of Daiki, his hands feeling over my body in places only my
husband had ever touched me. I felt violated, dirty - no matter how
many times I told myself it was a dream. Nothing but my fears being
played out in my head. Nothing more...
I reached my hands up, tracing the familiar shape of Mamo-chan's
face over and over, down his neck and chest. Seeing him wasn't enough,
my mind needed more. It wasn't until he pulled me tight against him,
crushing my lips with his own that I found the strength I needed to
forget my mind's tricks. My tears subsided and my heart finally stopped
pounding. A dull ache on my side reminded me of my earlier encounter.
"Mamo-chan," I mumbled, inhaling his scent deeply.
"Shhh, it's okay. It's okay," he whispered in my ear. "I'm
here." He laid down, my body still cuddled up against his own. I fought
sleep for hours it seemed until exhaustion set in, sending me into a
dreamless sleep.
@------
It wasn't the sun that woke me the next morning, gently telling
me that I had one long nightmare that was finally over. Instead it was
the light of the small computer desk across the room, and the clicking
of the keyboard. This wasn't a nightmare, it was real. I dreaded
sitting up to face another day of this hell. I tried to move, but Mamo-
chan's strong arms were wrapped tightly around me, his face pressed in
my hair.
Ami, sensing my awareness, turned in her chair and smiled as
brightly as her worn and tired face would allow. "Good morning Usagi-
chan. Are you feeling better?" she asked, her eyebrow rising up
worriedly. "I heard you moaning in your sleep and then Mamoru-san
comforting you. Don't worry, we won't let anything happen to you," she
said, winking and turning back to her computer.
I could tell by her nervous actions something was bothering her.
I unraveled myself from Mamo-chan's arms and stepped quietly past the
sleeping Senshi on the floor to sit beside the Soldier of Wisdom. I
glanced at the computer screen, but the figures made no sense to me.
"Anything new?" I asked as casually as I could manage.
Ami pulled out the disk that Mamo-chan suspected to be the time
devise that started the chain of events of yesterday. She sat it on
the table in front of us. With the press of a button on it and a
brilliant silver light began pulsating from the center of it. "This is
the time devise that Heioko made." She placed a pencil in the light and
then looked at me.
"Nothing's happening," I remarked. I expected it to disappear
into thin air, but nothing happened.
"Exactly," Ami replied, turning the machine off. "I tested it
over and over again, but there was no damage sustained, that I can see.
From what I have gathered about this devise, it never worked. Heioko
never discovered time travel, or even space disbursement."
I looked at the disk, but it looked like nothing more than a
laser light. "But how can that be? Didn't this machine explode, sending
us into this alternate reality? If this didn't cause it, what did?"
"Well, I've been studying that. But I think we need to have
everyone awake to hear what I found..." She again took on the mask of
worry that I seen when I woke up. I bit my thumb nail, staring at the
small disk that I believed to be the source of our problems and perhaps
the key to their undoing. Would anything be as it seemed?
It took a few minutes to wake everyone up. Minako and Makoto both
looked like they were dead to the world even after we got them to sit
up. Hotaru stretched her thin arms up, yawning at the same time while
watching everyone with little interest. I sat down next to Mamo-chan on
the couch, waiting for what news Ami had to deliver. Setsuna appeared
as if summoned by a silent command and stood next to the couch solemnly.
Ami, looking more like a school teacher than the doctor she
longed to be, pushed her glasses up into her hair and began pacing back
and forth as she spoke. "I spent most of last night studying the devise
Heioko made and I've come to the conclusion that he did not succeed in
creating a time travel devise." She stopped, gathering her thoughts for
a moment. "I took the information I had from what Mamoru-san said about
the explosion at the lab, compared it to the energy that seems to be
moving across the Earth and the times seem to coincide. I preformed a
scan on the energy and received the data from it about an hour ago."
While Ami pulled up a computer screen, Mamo-chan cast me a nervous
glance and sat forward, his hands clasped in front of him.
Ami looked like she was about to deliver grim news when she
turned back to us, so much so that I found myself holding my breath.
"The energy moving across the Earth is negative energy, and from what I
can tell - it's alive."
"Nani?" Haruka bellowed, looking to Michiru questionably. "But
anything like that would have been picked up on Michiru's mirror, and
there was..." Her arms dropped to her side suddenly when she realized
what she was saying. "The night before last... the energy next to the
moon..."
"Didn't disappear, but only hid its life force long enough to
sneak into Earth's atmosphere undetected," Ami confirmed, sitting down
and reaching her hand out to scratch Luna's head.
Setsuna sat on the edge of the couch, idly twirling her Time
Staff while she spoke. "Evil entities have a way of seeking out persons
with malevolent intentions to fulfill their need. Theologically
speaking, if Daiki were in the lab, trying to experiment with the disk
at the same moment the energy came across Tokyo; and if it sensed
something useful to its own plans in him, it may have joined his
body."
"Which would explain why he looks the way he does," Michiru
concluded, involuntarily shivering at the memory.
"But what about the explosion?" Minako questioned.
My husband sat back, exhaling deeply as he did. "We do
experiments on anything from cleaning solutions to rocket fuel - if
there was a spill and the right chemicals mixed, we could have been
blown to the Moon...."
"Or into another Time Stream," I mumbled. Realization of just how
bad our situation was finally dawning on me. Ami wouldn't come up with
a wonderful solution and we'd all wake up to normality. There was no
promise of a future when our reality was based on chemicals that just
happened to have been mixed.
Haruka looked deeply disturbed by whatever she was thinking. I
watched as she placed her arm around Michiru, almost like she was
looking for a life raft in the sea of uncertainty we were all thrown
in. "Ami, you said that the energy was reversing, coming back over the
Earth? What could that mean?"
"My scientific guess or my guess as a Sailor Senshi?" Ami replied
promptly.
"Both," Haruka and Michiru said at the same time.
"Scientifically, I would say it was reversing itself and
everything would be back to normal within the day," she replied, too
quickly for my taste. "As a Sailor Senshi, I would say it's coming back
to do battle with us."
"Why?" Minako mumbled.
"Because that's the line of work we are in," Hotaru answered
before Ami could. The Genius Senshi nodded her agreement.
@------
My daughter giggled happily; unaware that her entire world was
coming down around her while she splashed in the tub. I poured baby
shampoo in my hand and began washing her hair, laughing when she
crossed her eyes while trying to catch suds that came down her nose.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. When you're not happy, my
skies are grey," I sang lightly, running my fingers down her soft face.
Her huge blue eyes, so much like Mamo-chan's, stared at me intently as
I sang to her. "You'll never know dear, how much I love you, so please
don't take my sunshine away."
"Shunshine," she sang softly as I said the word. It was the only
word in the entire song she ever choose to sing with me, not that I
minded. "Yay!" she cheered, clapping her hands and sending suds flying
everywhere. I laughed, wiping a bubble from my face.
"Encore," a deep voice said from behind me. I turned around to
see my husband leaning against the door frame, his eyes twinkling as he
clapped lightly. "Please continue, Mrs. Chiba."
I felt my face turn red as a blush crept up my neck and settled
on my cheeks. I smiled, shaking my head at him and began rinsing Chibi-
Usa's hair.
"I'm going to run up to the university and see if I can find
anything else," he told me, walking further in the room and reaching
out to tickle Chibi-Usa's stomach. "I want you to stay here with the
children," I started to argue when he put his hands up, effectively
cutting me off. "You are hurt, and you are not going," he said in a
tone that left no room for discussion.
I sighed, wrapping a towel around Chibi-Usa and standing up with
her. "Demo, Mamo-chan.."
"No buts," he stated, placing his hands on my face and kissing my
lips gently. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you.
And I don't want to find out."
"I'm a Sailor Senshi, you can't protect me from everything," I
told him softly.
"Watch me," he replied and kissed my lips again. "I love you," he
mouthed before going out the bathroom door. As he passed through the
door frame, he changed into Tuxedo Kamen and in a few seconds I heard
the door above close.
I sighed and came out of the bathroom to dress Chibi-Usa and find
both the children something to eat. The room was empty of everyone
except Shingo, Luna and Artemis. I felt useless, sitting here watching
the children when I should be with the Senshi, helping find out what we
can do to stop this new enemy. But there was nothing I could do. In
making sure that no one else was around to watch the kids, Mamo-chan
had insured that I stay put.
I picked out a pair of pink overalls and white shirt for Chibi-
Usa and dressed her. As I was tying a pink ribbon in her hair, the only
door to the room opened, revealing Sailor Mercury. She looked behind
her to make sure no one followed and then descended the steps quickly.
Puzzled, I watched her take out her small computer and turn it on.
"Mercury, what are you doing?" I asked curiously as the light
beam from her computer bathed my body.
She sighed, looking exasperated for a moment. "Usagi-chan, I have
something that came up on my computer yesterday when I scanned your
wound. Something that I didn't tell anyone else about."
I began to worry as she typed away on her computer, telling me
nothing else of what she found. Finally my patience wore out. "Mercury,
would you mind telling me what it is you're doing?"
The Genius Senshi bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling. She
seemed confused about if she should be happy or not, which only proved
to make me more nervous. "Usagi-chan," she finally said. "When was your
last period?"
My face fell instantly. I had been irregular all my life, and
that hadn't changed since Chibi-Usa was born, so I had paid it no
attention. But when someone as smart as Ami is standing before you,
scanning your body that could only mean one thing. "I'm pregnant?"
A fleeting smile crossed the Senshi of Mercury's face. "It would
appear one month or so along," she said, shutting her computer with one
hand and meeting my gaze. "Have you been getting sick? Overly tired,
maybe?"
I thought about all the sleeping I had been doing over the last
couple of days, and then when I threw up yesterday... but I had blamed
it all on nerves. I told Ami about it and she nodded her head. "I could
see where you would think it was nerves and the situation we are now
in. But since Chibi-Usa, well, I know how to read what I'm getting on
my screen and you are most definitely pregnant."
"The battle with Daiki yesterday didn't..." I began, afraid to
think of the harm I had put my unborn child in without knowing it.
"No, everything's fine, so far. Just be careful, okay?"
I shook my head. "Ami-chan, you sound like your mother when you
talk like that," I accused playfully.
"Thank you," she replied and headed back towards the door. "See
you later."
"Ja," I mumbled, although I'm not sure she heard me. My mind was
doing a mile a minute. Another baby? Chibi-Usa was not even two years
old yet. But somehow, that didn't matter. The idea of another child
thrilled me, only leave it to me to have such timing.
I looked down at the pancakes and syrup I had made for the kids
and put my stack back on the plate. So much for junk foods, it was time
to eat like a pregnant woman again.
--End Chapter 6.
Not much action, huh? Next chapter will put all the knowledge in
this chapter to work ;)
Huge thanks to my wonderful editor, Meara *hugs* You're the best :D
Also, thousands of thanks to everyone who reads and reviews on Fanfiction.net
and ASMR - you guys are great! *hugs*
Disclaimer: I own nothing, please don't sue me ^-^v
Stayed tuned next week (and during the week for MMLfanfiction mailing list
members) for Chapter 7 which doesn't have a name yet, but it's full of action
type stuff!! :D
Emails, reviews and Scooby Doos!!