Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon, though I'm currently considering lobbying for the rights to Star Healer....(yeah, right, like that'll ever happen. :p)
Okay! Guess what minna? I can tell you (pretty much) for sure that there's going to be five more chapters! This one and four more, and that's it for "Umbroso Estrella"! ;_; It's sad, ne? Ah, but everything has to come to an end....
Oi, notes for Leia: I tried to e-mail you about this, but both times my mail got returned to
me saying it couldn't be delivered. (I dunno'....) Anyway, if you still want to use my story on
your website, e-mail me and let me know. I'd like the address so I can check out where my fic is
going to be housed, ne? ^_~ Thanks!
"We have to stop soon."
"Not yet."
"Fighter, if we don't stop-"
"Not yet!"
"Shimatta!" Sailor Moon grabbed Fighter's good arm and stopped her. "You're HURT, baka! If we don't stop it'll get all infected or something, and you can't fight with gangrene. So find somewhere for us to hide!"
Fighter blinked at her. "What do you know about gangrene?"
"Shut up and look, already."
A half-hearted chuckle from the dark-haired Star Senshi; there was nothing to laugh about, but she couldn't think of anything to say. They shouldn't have been stopping....they hadn't made it far enough away from the subway tunnel to be particularly safe. The Tsumetai could have still been following them....
But Sailor Moon was right.
Fighter winced at the thought of her shoulder. The wound from Tuxedo Mask's cane was burning terribly, probably from the grime in the tunnel, and would become infected if it wasn't taken case of relatively soon. Besides that, it continued to bleed sluggishly; it SHOULD have been bound up tightly, but as it was- with her continuing to use her arm- it kept breaking open, over and over again....
Alright, where are we?
Looking around, Fighter attempted to get her bearings.
While no longer in the subway, they were in a part of Tokyo she just wasn't familiar with. Of course, it wasn't as if she wasn't grateful to be out of the oppressive shadows in the tunnel; on the contrary, being out in relatively fresh air was wonderful.
Or would be if I wasn't completely lost.
They- she and Sailor Moon- had run nearly a mile under the city, following the subway tracks, before they had emerged into the dead city above. From one subway stop to another and then up the steps and into the night.
Or was it night, really?
I could have just been that the sun wouldn't shine through the Oscuridad's shadows....
"Well?"
Fighter turned to Sailor Moon, who was looking at her worriedly. "I don't know, Odango. To tell you the truth, I really don't know this part of town very well....but it seems to me that the Crown Parlor is nearby, isn't it?"
The Moon Child nodded thoughtfully. "A few blocks from here, in that direction-"
Following the blonde's pointing finger, Fighter sighed. "I guess the Crown is as good a place as any."
"Hai...."
"Well, then."
They headed toward the parlor, both walking in silence; they were both very worried about the other senshi. Not the Dark Senshi but the ones who were still fighting alongside them....Mercury....Saturn....Healer and Maker....the four of them had raced out of the subway prior to Fighter and Sailor Moon's flight down the tunnel and to the next station.
They hadn't heard from them since....
Fighter considered the possibility of contacting them. Sailor Moon, after all, had a wrist communicator; they could get Mercury or Saturn on the device, couldn't they? She made a mental note to ask her comrade once they were somewhere relatively safe. Or at least not out-in-the-open as they currently were.
It was making her nervous....
The Tsumetai were out there, somewhere....
....and they were walking down the middle of the street.
We're asking for a 'Dead Scream' up the ass. Or something else just as painful.
Just as painful.
Like having their Seno taken? Fighter's eyes flicked to Sailor Moon at the thought; she had seen first hand the wounds inflicted when a person's heart was stolen. Usagi carried scars that would be with her for her whole life....long or short as it may be....
The black-haired senshi's thoughts hardened and she went over her promise to Haruka....she would protect Usagi....she WOULD. There was no question about it. She had given Haruka her word and she intended to keep it.
Long or short as Usagi's life may be....
It would be long, if she could help it.
Long and happy.
But I don't think she'll ever be the same again.
The blonde's eyes carried more sadness than Fighter cared to see from her Odango. She had lost so many friends in such a short time....had JUST lost Minako and Haruka....had lost her love, and in doing so had lost her future daughter.
Seiya had never met the little girl named Chibiusa, but it was obvious how much Usagi cared for her.
"Here-"
"Hm." Fighter nodded, eyeing the door to the Crown. The glass had been broken inward and was scattered across the floor; the remaining windows had been shattered, presumably at the same time as the door was smashed.
With the initial attack?
Probably.
The Star Senshi stepped through the broken door, motioning for Sailor Moon to stay behind her. The Tsumetai knew Usagi very well, and the Crown was somewhere- with it's many booths and tables- that they could have hidden themselves easily. She didn't want to take any chances....not that having Sailor Moon behind herself was any better, as there were only two of them....
But I don't want her going into a confined area without me going in first.
Softly. "Fighter?"
"I'm just making sure...."
"Hai."
She looked around, carefully inspecting the inside of the building. Silverware, dishes and glasses were scattered about the floor with the remains of half-eaten meals. Any tables or chairs that weren't bolted to the floor had been overturned and in some cases broken in half. Having mostly booths, though, there were only a handful of tipped furniture pieces; most of them consisted of the stools at the counter-section of the room.
A gasp from Sailor Moon. "Seiya!"
"What?" Fighter whirled, her heart in her throat-
-but the blonde simply pointed to a booth near them; when Fighter turned, she saw the reason behind Sailor Moon's gasp. In one of the seats sprawled a body....it was in much the same state as Usagi's mother had been when they'd discovered her body. Upon a closer look around the area, the Star Senshi discovered three more bodies; one behind the counter- an employee? A waitress?- and two at another booth, near the far end of the building.
For the second time in so many hours, Fighter had to wonder why there were bodies INSIDE, but none littered the streets of the city. There had been people outside when the Oscuridad attacked, had there not?
I wonder if the Oscuridad did something with them....or the Tsumetai?
"Fighter, is it alright?"
"Hai, I think." She nodded to the other senshi. "There's no one in here....no one ALIVE, anyway. Still-" she headed toward the opposite side of the room; "we'll sit in the far booth. It's past the front windows to there's less chance of being spotted from the street."
"But, Fighter, there's-"
"I know." A grim frown.
The booth she was speaking was the one that held two bodies.
Sailor Moon reluctantly followed her across the room; she gagged involuntarily when Fighter grit her teeth together and dragged onto of the corpses from it's seat and onto the floor, then across the tile and toward the counter.
"W-what are you doing?"
Fighter took a deep breath before answering. "Getting them out of sight."
"Oh...."
It only took a few moments for her to dispose of both bodies; they were dragged across the floor and pushed behind the counter where they could no longer be seen. And once she had finished with them, she returned to the booth and Sailor Moon, having to consciously quell the urge to remove her leather gloves and throw them far away.
I've done worse than move bodies. She reminded herself.
It was still difficult to sit there, knowing that there had been corpses seated in the booth only a few short minutes ago. Sailor Moon shuddered at the thought and shoved it to the back on her mind, focusing her attention on Fighter. She was hurt....
"Ne, Fighter, we need to do something about your arm."
"Hai." Fighter agreed; "I'm going to de-transform and bind it up. It's the best I can do right now."
"Alright."
A second later and Star Fighter was gone.
Seiya sat down on the edge of the bench with a hiss. "Shimatta." Reaching up, he touched the spot on his shoulder where blood had started to ooze again. "Damn him. This hurts like bloody hell."
"I'll go look for something to wrap it up." A dull flash of light and Usagi turned, leaving to scavenge in the kitchen for towels or dishcloths.
Seiya watched her go with growing concern. The light of her de-transformation was too dull.
What did it mean? She had used up too much energy recently...? Either that or her heart was giving up. If a sailor senshi's heart and soul began to give up on life, their shine became dull and pale in comparison to what it had been. Soon the shine of their Star Seed became dark....and a senshi couldn't survive long with a darkened Star Seed....
Come on Odango, you can't be giving up on me.
"Ne, Seiya? Here." Usagi held out a handful of cloth as she emerged from the kitchen, casting a glance behind the counter when she passed it. She carried a bowl in her other hand. Water? "All they are is dish towels, but I don't think we're going to find anything else around here. I looked for a first aid kit, but I couldn't find one. Gomen ne."
"Don't be." He smiled slightly. "It's not your fault."
"Hai...." the blonde nodded, setting the bowl- it DID contain water- on the table in front of him, then; "take your shirt off and I'll wrap your shoulder up for you."
"Uh-"
Her hands went to her hips. "You a guy, right? Just do it." Worry flashed through her eyes. "Your shoulder's pretty bad, ne? I just don't want it to get worse than it is. Besides, you can't wrap your own shoulder with just one hand."
A valid point.
He sighed. "Okay, okay." Moving slowly so as not to aggravate the wound any more, he managed to get his jacket off and his shirt unbuttoned- both of which were already ruined. "Trying to get me stripped down again, ne Odango?"
"Again?"
"Ah," he chuckled weakly, "but Chibi Chibi isn't here to throw cake at me this time."
She managed a giggle. "Oh."
"You just have to ask, you know."
"Wierdo." Usagi held the jacket up to look at the rip that ran through the shoulder. "Ouch."
"Hai." He agreed; "think how MY shoulder feels."
"....gomen."
"For what?"
She lowered her arms, setting the jacket on the seat beside him. "For getting you into this."
"What? No, Odango! You didn't get me into this. You didn't get ANY of us into this." He shook his head. "We came here on our own and we stayed on our own. None of us- Taiki, Yaten or myself, would leave you and your friends here to fight if we could do anything to help." Reaching up with his good arm, he took her hand. "We chose to stay and fight with you, Odango, and I don't regret that for a second."
"But you-"
"I would do anything for you, Usagi." A half-smile; "it's the one thing Haruka and I ever agreed on."
"Haruka...."
"She was very brave. I can see why you love her so much."
"You can?"
"Sure." Seiya nodded. "Believe it or not, I have a lot of respect for her."
"....Seiya...." she sighed, then; "let me do your arm so we can rest."
"Hai."
They were silent while Usagi worked, cleaning the blood from his shoulder in the hopes to clean it of infection. She had him take his shirt off completely; Tuxedo Mask's blow had pierced straight through, so she needed to work on his back as well. In any other situation, having her touching him....but things were too complex for thoughts like that....and he needed to keep his mind on more important matters.
Unfortunately, it was more complicated than that....
One of the things I'll never get used to....male hormones....they never take a break, do they? He winced and yelped when she touched a particularly sore spot. "Itai!" And when she jerked her hands back, looking worried; "it's okay, really. Ne, Odango, do you know what you're doing?"
"Of course I do!" Usagi smacked his good shoulder lightly. "I took first aid in school!"
"Really...." Seiya regarded her suspiciously; "what'd you GET?"
"Uh...." she flushed and looked down, focusing on her work, and mumbled something under her breath. He wasn't sure what, exactly, she said, but it sounded very much like 'c plus'. He preferred not to ask.
But that reminds me! Tilting his head to the side; "Odango, can I ask you something?"
"Hai. What?"
"....do you know what happened to the bodies outside? I'm sure there were some...."
"....hai...." she frowned. "After the Oscuridad attacked....anything that was left outside was burned up in the firestorms...."
"I see. And those that were in the subway tunnel?"
It was something else he had been wondering about; there had been no one in the tunnel, either, and there was sure to have been people there when the attack came. If those outside had been burned up in the firestorms that followed the Oscuridad's arrival, then what of those that had been inside?
"....Haruka...." Usagi trailed off, continuing to work on wrapping his shoulder; "Haruka and the others removed them. They didn't want me to have to deal with it....so she and Michiru and Makoto got rid of them....before Michiru-san and Mako-chan were turned...."
"Oh."
Tears began to creep into her eyes and guilt welled up inside Seiya.
I shouldn't have made her relive that.
"Gomen ne, Usagi."
She sniffled and wiped her eyes, then smiled. "It's alright. I was just...."
"I know. Gomen."
"Anyway...." she finished tying the bandage and stepped back to look at it with satisfaction. "There you go. Good as new, ne? You can put your shirt back on now."
Feeling the need to lighten the mood a bit, despite the situation, he winked and suggested; "or you could take yours off."
The look on her face was priceless and he would have burst into hysterical laughter....if silence hadn't been so important. Instead, he slipped back into his shirt and- before she could do anything to resist- grabbed her arm and pulled her down onto the seat with him. Wrapping his arms around her, he hugged her tightly and rested his chin on her shoulder.
"Um, Seiya...."
"Hm?" Leaning back ward, he rested against the back of the seat. "Yeah?"
"What are you doing?"
"Going to sleep."
"Oh. Seiya-?"
"Hm?"
"What am I doing, then?"
"Sitting on my lap?"
"Oh. Okay."
He chuckled when she squirmed in his arms and twisted around so that she was more comfortable, but didn't move herself away. Finally, she rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes with a sigh.
If only we could be like this when the world isn't dying....
"Seiya?"
"Hai?"
"I do love you, you know."
"I love you, too, Odango." He kissed the top of her head lightly; "let's get some sleep now, while we can."
"Hai...."
She was already drifting off.
If only....
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Me: Another kind of sappy chapter. I love Seiya & Usagi together! ^_^ Only 4 more chapters to go! I don't think this is the kind of story I can do a sequel to, either. Anyway, thanks to everyone who's reviewed! My goal is 100 reviews, since I've never gotten that high in reviews for a story before.