How Crystal Tokyo Came About

Chapter 14

*~*

"Darien," Ami called, getting his attention as he was walking out the door.

He turned his powerful frame easily and looked at her. "Yes, Ami?"

She fingered a strand of her hair nervously, wondering if she was completely off with this one. "Do you remember what levels the King got into your subconscious?"

He tried to hide the hurt in his eyes—that time wasn't a time that he or Serena wanted to relive. But realizing Ami probably had a good reason for asking such a painful question, he put some effort into it.

"I'm actually going to have to go back over that," he paused, wondering what the correct phrasing for something like this would be, "but I do believe it was as deep as it could go."

He gave her an offbeat wave, rejoined Serena and they left in his car.

No one heard Ami's fearful answer. "That's what I was afraid of."

***

(Next Day)

"So it could tamper with dreams?—memories?"

The response on the other line was short and Ami disconnected, feeling haunted. There was something about this…

Ami's hands were shaking as she used both to place the phone back in its cradle. She gestured half-heartedly and her minicomputer fell out of her subspace pocket. Then she typed in some data and waited for results; gaping when they came.

Jaedite was alive.

Not only alive, but well.

Well enough to tamper with Rei's mind, apparently.

Then another thought struck her, as she remembered something that Darien had said to her while he was trying to explain the process.

"There has to be some kind of bond in order for the pursuer to get that deep into a person's subconscious."

There had to be; enemies could only get so far into a person's subconscious, as Darien had said. The king was Darien—so that was how he got in.

So. Jaedite had a bond with Rei.

How?

***

Rei rolled over onto her stomach, wishing she could get some sleep. (She wondered idly if it was that big nap she took that was preventing her from being able to fall back asleep.) Tonight seemed like the kind of night that she'd get a dream of the past; the Moon Kingdom in particular. The air pressure was sharp and alive—she was ready.

But her mind wasn't.

It was as if she needed a map to get to a place she knew by heart. Like the mental directions—the way to get there—had been erased.

It would be silly to ask someone for help when she wasn't exactly sure what was wrong herself.

Another sigh and she rolled onto her back.

If she wasn't going to get any sleep tonight, she might as well be comfortable.

***

Jaedite watched her through a mirror-like portal.

She wasn't sleeping.

Again.

The irony of it made him want to give into insane fits of laughter—that would no doubt worry the Queen. He couldn't win. He sent her the memories; she couldn't sleep. He took them away; she couldn't sleep.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and didn't look away from the portal.

"She still can't sleep."

"I know."

"Is this what you wanted?"

Now he looked up at her, green eyes flashing dangerously. "Of course not! I didn't want this to hurt her!" Then, as if remembering who he was; and that he was yelling at his superior, his anger subsided. "I'm sorry," Jaedite said quietly, and the Queen knew how much it had taken the stubborn general to admit that.

A smile graced her lips. "It's quite all right, Jaedite—I probably deserved that."

He was silent, still watching Rei—wanting more than anything to take her in his arms and comfort her as he used to. Then—"So what do we do now?"

Queen Serenity waved her hand the view changed to Ami's apartment, where the senshi of Mercury sat stunned in silence.

          "We wait."

***

After was seemed like hours of sitting and waiting for a hint, inspiration struck. She hated having to ask Serena for more of her time—when it should be spent planning for the wedding—but she was the only one who could help. She was the only one who could wield the Ginshouziou.

Suddenly giddy with anticipation, she grabbed the phone and was about to call Serena; when a knock sounded at the door.

Slightly annoyed, she opened the door, revealing the person of her inspiration, complete with an amused look on her face; one that looked far too old on her young face.

          "Took you long enough to figure it out, Ames."

Ami was a bit flustered as Serena breezed by her, "What—how?"

The blonde stopped dead in her tracks and faced her. "I just… knew." She made her way to the chair and gestured for Ami to lie down on the couch. "Go ahead. Get comfortable. All I have to do is put you under and you should be wherever you want."

Ami fingered a henshin pen with a crystal—the blue symbol of Mercury floating inside. "Do I need to be transformed?"

Serena shrugged. "How should I know? I guess it couldn't hurt."

          "Mercury… Crystal… POWER!"

The familiar silk of water glided over her and froze to form her skirt. Though she fought the pose at the end, the outcome was clear:

Sailor Mercury stood before Serena, "Okay. I'm ready."

***

She was everywhere and she was nowhere. Here, time was irrelevant and a nuisance. A bluish fog permeated the area; as far as she could see with her visor on.

A vision of an elegant woman holding a baby swaddled in a blue blanket that matched her hair—she knew, without staring any longer; that was her mother, the Queen of Mercury, holding her as a baby.

Remembering her purpose, she took a few steps towards a white alabaster door, complete with an ornate silver handle, frowning when it didn't open easily.  Some part of her knew not to subject it to any of her attacks and she stopped. She took a deep breath and tried again. To her surprise, the door opened as easily as a regular door, making it hard to believe that it had been anything but.

She walked through the door and was assaulted by memories of the Moon Kingdom, streaming by her faster than the data did on her minicomputer, until it finally stopped, settling on one of Rei, sitting on a bench in one of the gardens.

There was a melancholy look on her face as she stared glumly into the fountain before her. A face Ami couldn't see appeared in the fountain behind Rei, and she sat up and looked behind her, beaming at whoever it was. She rose to meet… him, and the blonde man swung her up easily into his arms. Laughing, she pulled back for a kiss that was so passion-filled, it made Ami blush, even though this was the past and they couldn't see her.

When they stopped to breathe, Ami got a clear look at the blonde man's face.

It was Jaedite.

Ami peered closer and saw Rei tracing Jaedite's features lovingly with a smile that she had never before seen on her; no matter how happy she was.

They were in love.

***

Ami jerked off the couch and looked hard into Serena's eyes, breathing heavily. "Jaedite's the one who's been doing this to her." There was silence as she gulped in more air. "He loves her."

***

Author's Notes:

YES! YES! I loved that chapter! YES! *calms down*

Sorry. I just had to do that. I was getting some serious writer's block, and this morning I overcame it while I was in English class and I just started writing.

The next chapter will either be the wedding *gulp* or some brief scene-age with the outers/inners/maybe Reenie and Hotaru/and then the wedding. I am seriously dreading writing the wedding. Oh god that rhymes. I have been at this computer for far too long.

And now I must send out the announcement I am placing in all my fanfics:

I will be taking the month of February off. I have massive vacation breaks in Feb. and since I have no internet access outside of school—which I won't be in for a good 2-3 weeks, it's not going to happen.

So I just decided to take the rest of the month off—it's a short month, too, so don't worry about it, and catch up on some serious writing. I have many stories I want to catch up on and just sit and write. So that's the deal for now.

And I'm holding this to be posted until I get chapter 10 of "Coffee" out and chapter 5 of "Ashes," as well. Both killer chapters, let me just tell you.

And hey! I thought that this was a very decent-size-wise chapter, anyway.

I want REVIEWS!!! Lots of them so when I come back online in March, I've got them!

Link to the update list if you're not already on it…