Author's Note: I have hereby decided to add in the Generals! If that doesn't suit you, you know how to leave. So far, I'm not sure how big their part will be, but I would like to thank Wreath of Roses who gave me the idea on how to fit them in. Cheerios to you! Zoicite is male, as he is supposed to be, so deal with it. He and Kunzite are together, once again as is supposed to be, but I seriously doubt that there will be much, if any, mention of such in this story. Happy reading!
~:|:~:|:~:|:~:|:~:|:~:|:~:|:~:|:~:|:~:|:~:|:~:|:~
Venus, wait, Rei thought to the blonde. Minako was barely a foot from the doorway, but she stopped.
Why? She asked curiously. She wanted to find Usagi, and find her now.
Rei sighed. Even after so many years, and many enemies, the senshi of Venus still continually acted before thinking. Even if you did find Usagi, she doesn't look the same. When she dropped the Crystal into my hand, I managed to get a brief look at her. For one thing, her hair is shorter, not in the Odango style, and is silver, not blonde.
Okaay, I look for her with silver hair, anything else? Minako asked brightly, not even reacting to the insult Rei had just given her.
Well, if she's following her earlier pattern, she's probably long gone by now, too.
Minako gave a sort of mental equivalent of an embarrassed shrug. Right, she muttered, and re-entered Endymion's room.
"If we want to find her, we won't do it by charging off after where ever she last was. She has gotten good at evasion. Very good. Why don't we try something else?" Ami asked. She, along with Makoto and Endymion, had been listening to Rei and Minako's conversation.
"Such as?" Minako asked sullenly. She wanted to find her friend, not dally while she was most likely getting farther and farther away. She had been devastated after Usagi had left, as she had become very close to the princess, closer then any of the others, excepting Mamoru, perhaps.
"We worked with her for years, with her magic, on the moon as well as here on Earth. We know what she feels like, don't we?" Makoto said, catching on to Ami's drift.
"Well, yeah, but if we could feel her like that, why haven't we felt her before?" Minako asked, getting confused.
Rei sighed. "Because she's obviously been shielding from us. I don't know how she did it, because she was never able to before, nor did she show any hint of creating something like that, but she did. I tried feeling for her, through the Great Fire, back when the Crystal showed up, but I only got a blank wall. I could only tell that she was still alive, because there was no emptiness that would be there if she was dead."
Minako, as well as Endymion, winced at that. Death was not a possibility any of them wanted to consider.
"Will distance matter? And what about these shields you were talking about? What if she just shields from this?" Minako asked.
Ami shook her head. "No. She can't hide completely, there will always be a feel to her presence, however subtle, that we will be able to find, if you can be specific enough. And distance means nothing, really. Besides, she can't be far. This spell will find her."
"But if that's the best way of doin' it, she'd just going to get away. None of us are up to doing any major magical workings tonight," Minako whined.
Ami smirked, and sat up as much as her tired body could handle. "Not now, but I'm sure Rei has a few helpful tricks?" she said slyly.
Rei remained blank for a moment, before her tired brain decided to work, and she smiled. "Right!" she exclaimed, and pulled out the Crystal once more. "But then I'll be even more tired then before. It doesn't work both ways, remember?" she said.
"Then one of us will just give you some of our energy, and eventually it'll balance out," Makoto supplied.
Rei sighed. Every time she used the Crystal, it reminded her of all they had lost when Usagi-chan had run away. But she forced the thought away, and drew on the power of the moon rock, and sent it flowing into the others, feeling them liven up as their spent magical resources were replenished. When they were as fresh as they had been this morning, she broke off contact with the Crystal.
"Here, Rei," Minako beckoned. She grasped Rei hands, and re-sent some of her energy back into the dark-haired warrior, who smiled in relief.
"Okay, let's do this," Endymion said, after Rei had sat back, also feeling much better.
"I think, because there is five of us, the best way to do this is for each of us to choose one aspect of Usagi that characterizes her. One part of her magical signature that is her essence, that we can use to tie a link to." Ami placed the mental image of what she wanted into each of their minds. She pulled the others into a link with her, and began the base for their location-spell. She drew on her memory of Usagi's constant belief that every thing would be alright, her constant optimism. Makoto added the pure strength behind Usa's power, the silver colour of the moon. Rei added the fiery passion that Usagi held for her friends whenever they were in danger, that lent strength to her attacks. And finally, Minako and Endymion added their memories of Usagi's love, the foundation of the Odangoed girl's magic.
Ami wove all this into one whole. She sent the completed magical feel out, and around, deftly managing the spell only she knew. She waited as it searched first the near by, the stretch further when it found nothing.
Finally, she broke it off, dissipating the magic. "I don't get it!" she exclaimed, nearly grinding her teeth in frustration. "It's like she's disappeared. There was no sign of her. The closest it came was a sort of resonance, but that was it."
The shock and disappointment on each of their faces mirrored Ami's own. Finally, after five minutes of staring at one another, Minako finally voiced what they were all thinking.
"Now what?" she asked bleakly.
"Please, Kunz-chan (heh
heh, I've always wanted to call him that!)" Usagi begged. "I can't go back now!" She stood outside aforementioned's apartment,
holding her few possessions she hadn't wanted to place in her subspace
pocket. It was raining hard, and even
though she'd been outside for less then five minutes, she was sopping wet.
He gazed at her with sad gray eyes. He was surprised at Usagi's sudden appearance, and didn't know what to do about it. Then, a voice came from behind him.
"Kunzite, who's at the door?" a slightly feminine voice called, as a blonde head poked around a corner in the apartment. "Usa!" Zoicite exclaimed, hurrying forward. He hugged the slight girl – now woman, she'd grown up since he'd last seen her. "You're soaked!" he cried, and drew her inside, leading her to the bathroom to get her dried off.
Kunzite sighed, and closed the door. He wasn't sure how Usagi had managed to get all the way back to the United States from Japan, when the last time he, or any of them, had heard, she had been perfectly well settled in Crystal Tokyo. Now that Zoicite had taken her back in, he would have to accept that his adopted-sister back into their lives. She had shown up seven years past, much like this, and had proceeded to explain the entire life history, before finally getting to her point that she intended to live with them. He, Zoicite, Nephrite and Jedite had been equally surprised, but had allowed her to stay. He had been, and still was, wary of this woman, but since any memories beyond the past ten or so years were hazy and indistinct, he had conceded to the popular wish of his roommates.
Besides, he'd get the full story from the bunny later, after she'd gone through Zoicite's mothering. This time, she would have to answer their questions about her past.
~:|:~:|:~:|:~:|:~:|:~:|:~:|:~:|:~
Chapter Five! Please don't be angry at how little is actually happening this chapter! I promise the next one (or few ) will make up for it! And it's out earlier then normal, too! (Because I'm going away on vacation for the next few weeks, and will have very few chances to update, or even write for that matter. *weeps* I'm gonna miss my computer.) Please enjoy, and review!