@------
Forever More
Chapter 2 - Myth or Man?
By: Bethany
Editor: Meara
Rated: PG
@------
There was a loud squeal, followed by a short lived scream that
jolted me out of bed the next morning. Well, I say morning, but in
reality it was five minutes till twelve. Shocked at how late I had
stayed in the bed, I shoved the covers aside and ran to the door just
as Keri came running down the hall as fast as she could. I barely
caught her in mid runand pulled her into the door of my bedroom as a
short blonde slid down the hall and slammed into the wall. Poking our
heads out, Keri and I watched Minako get herself off the floor to a
standing position and push blonde hair out of her face.
"Minako-chan?" I whispered in surprise.
She laughed airily, rubbing her left elbow. "I forgot you have
hardwood floors," she muttered as I glanced down at her socked feet. I
had learned my first week living in my house that socks and hardwood
floors didn't mix in any form or fashion. The Senshi of Love carefully
made her way to where I stood, grabbed her cell phone out of Keri's
hand and wiped the screen off with her shirt edge. "She called a really
long number, from the accent of the guy who answered, I'd say France,"
she sighed, shaking her head.
"Gomen, Minako-chan, I'll pay for the call when you get the
bill." We walked into the living room where Chibi-Usa was laying on the
floor, watching cartoons and kicking her feet back and forth. I sat
Keri down beside her and beckoned Minako into the kitchen. "Not that I
don't appreciate it," I began. "But what are you doing here?"
Minako pushed herself up on the counter, picking up an apple and
biting into it. "Mamoru-san called me this morning and told me what
happened last night, and then asked if I'd come watch the kids so you
could get some sleep. So here I am!" she finished, taking another bite
of the apple.
I knew that Mamo-chan left for work at 7:30 a.m. and from the
look of Minako, she had jumped out of bed and into the car. I shook my
head, smiling. It would never stop amazing me what good friends I had.
Suddenly Minako stopped in mid bite, staring at the floor as
something black went streaking across it and into the hall. Following
shortly was Artemis, skidding to a halt just inches before he slammed
into the wall. His face was full of determination as he completely
ignored us and continued down the hall at a face paced run. I no more
had looked away when I seen Luna coming around the edge of the counter,
a black and gray kitten in tow. She looked worn out.
"Daijobu ka* Luna?" I asked, Minako and I both looking at her
worriedly.
She stopped, sitting down and shaking her head. "You just
wouldn't believe how much energy these three have, it's wearing me
out," Luna mumbled, not usually one to complain about anything. Somehow
I had a feeling she was regretting wanting the kittens born. Now that
they were, at any time of the day or night I would see her or Artemis -
or in some cases, both - chasing the kittens around the house.
"Luna, there's really nothing they can get into around here that
Keri hasn't already gotten to first," I told her sympathetically.
At that precise moment Artemis returned to the kitchen, carrying
the only male kitten of the litter. He was nearly solid black, except
for his white paws. Shining brightly on his, and his sisters foreheads,
were a bright crescent moon. Artemis dropped him at his mother's feet
and sat down hard, still trying to catch his breath. "Ryuu**, apologize
to your mother," Artemis instructed sternly.
"But I was--" the small kitten began, head bowed.
"Now!" Artemis bellowed. Ryuu mumbled something that might have
resembled "gomen" if his head hadn't been bowed and was talking to the
tile rather than anyone in the room.
Luna sighed, shaking her head. "Okay Ryuu, go back to the bed."
Obediently the kitten set off, past his sisters who were snickering,
and around the corner. The kittens were barely four weeks old, and had
already began talking expertly and walking - though awkwardly. Ryuu's
disappearing form looked like his back legs were higher than the front,
but he still made good time; especially when running from Artemis.
Behind Luna sat the other two kittens, both girls. One solid
black and the other smoke gray with the tiniest bit of white on her
neck. The black one peered cautiously up at her mother. "Yes
Otome***?" Luna said without even looking down.
"Mama, can Diana and I go play with Chibi-Usa-chan?"
Luna seemed to consider this for a moment as Artemis jumped into
Minako's lap to be petted. "Yes, go on. But don't get into anything,
ne?" she nearly begged her girls. They both nodded, taking off for the
living room.
Luna headed back into the utility room where I had set up their
bed. Minako and I both glanced at Artemis, who from the looks of it,
was seriously thinking of going to sleep as Minako rubbed his back.
Suddenly, however, he looked towards the room Luna had disappeared
into, looking rather worried. "I hope we live through this," Artemis
mumbled.
From inside the living room I heard Keri giggling and Chibi-Usa
yelling for her to leave the television remote alone. Just then the
volume on the T.V. was turned up as loud as it would go and the sound
of the cartoons on were blaring. I laughed hollowly as I put down my
sandwich and started for the living room. "Don't worry, Artemis, we can
all check into the loony bin together."
After I had reclaimed the remote from my youngest, and saved our
ear drums, Minako and I made lunch and put the kids down for a nap. The
house was so quiet and peaceful that I finally couldn't stand it
anymore. Minako followed me into the kitchen as I turned on the radio
and began cleaning out the refrigerator. Minako, even though I insisted
she sat, began washing dishes.
"So you have no idea what happened with Chibi-Usa?"
"No," I replied, pulling out a bowl of very dried rice. Shaking
my head I emptied the contents into the garbage and handed the bowl to
Minako. "Did she say nothing to you this morning?"
"I kept a close eye on her, but she didn't mention anything.
Strange, ne?"
I started to reply when my ear caught something else, something
not from the radio and definitely not from the cats. Minako must have
heard it, too, because she crossed the kitchen to turn the radio off
and picked up the baby monitor.
After listening for a moment, I looked up at the Senshi of Love,
but she looked as puzzled as I did. "Who is Chibi-Usa talking to?" I
wondered allowed, listening to the sound of my daughter's voice over
the speaker. "Do you think she's having another nightmare?"
Without another word said between us, Minako and I went to Chibi-
Usa's bedroom and carefully opened the door. Chibi-Usa was sitting on
the middle of her bed, talking animatedly to.. herself? I blinked,
making sure I was seeing right. But there was no one in the room but
her.
"No," she whispered. "You have to lay down, if you make another
mess like the last one, I'll be in big trouble again," she whispered,
looking around cautiously. That's when she seen Minako and I in the
doorway. She gasped, laying down quickly. Some books suddenly were
thrown from her bedside table and a couple of stuffed animals seemingly
flew across the room by themselves.
I ran into the room, looking everywhere. But just as quickly as
everything had started flying by itself, it stopped. "Chibi-Usa!" I
gasped, horrified. "What was that?"
Chibi-Usa's blue eyes were as large as saucers, but she only
shook her head, pulling her blanket up to her mouth. Suddenly her toy
box was thrown over, the contents spilling over the floor. "No!" she
screamed, shaking her head.
"What is going on?!" I shrieked, picking her up and running for
the door, Minako on my tail.
"He won't hurt you, Mama! He won't!" Just then her dresser was
tipped sideways and slammed down, blocking our path out of the room. I
jumped over it, hearing something else crash in her room but not taking
the time to see what it was.
"Minako-chan, get Keri!" I nearly yelled, running down the hall
as fast as I could go. The entire time Chibi-Usa was still in my arms,
crying. My heart pounded painfully in my ears as I ran to the garage,
putting Chibi-Usa in the backseat. "Stay here!"
"But Mama--!"
"Stay put Small Lady!" I repeated, running back in the house for
Luna, Artemis and the kittens. Minako passed me as I went back in,
carrying a disoriented Keri and a baby bag. I scooped up my purse and
keys on my way to the utility room. "Luna, Artemis - get the kittens we
have to get out of here!"
They asked no questions. I grabbed Diana just as Luna and Artemis
picked the other two up in their mouths and we left. As I closed my
back door I heard another crash from down the hall, which only made me
move faster.
I had no idea where I was driving; I backed out of the driveway,
put the car in drive and slammed my foot on the gas. Chibi-Usa was in
the backseat, still crying, and Keri was staring around like she was
too stunned to say or do anything.
I don't remember getting there, but suddenly the many steps
leading to the Hikawa Shrine loomed above us. I stopped, still shaking,
and got out of the car. Minako quietly grabbed Keri while I ushered
Chibi-Usa up the many steps. Still sniffling, Chibi-Usa said nothing as
I hurried to the side door and knocked.
"Usagi?" Rei's voice went from surprise to puzzlement in the
matter of a second. She opened the door wider, letting us in. Her eyes
darted from me, to Chibi-Usa whose blood shot eyes looked down quickly,
to Minako, Keri and finally the cats before coming back to rest on me.
"What--?"
"Could we go sit somewhere?" I asked quietly in response.
Rei's violet eyes blinked as if registering what I was saying and
then she nodded dully. "Of course." We followed her into the part of
the house where she lived and into a living room. I sat on the sofa,
Minako sitting silently on my left and Chibi-Usa to my right. Rei sat
across from us, anxiously waiting for someone to tell her what was
going on.
I cleared my throat, trying to sort out where would be a good
place to begin. I explained quickly about what had been happening at my
house, beginning with Chibi-Usa's room being destroyed three weeks ago
and ending with why we fled just half an hour ago. I noticed out of the
corner of my eye that Chibi-Usa had went pale as I finished.
Rei looked dumbfounded. She folded her arms over her chest and
sat back, staring at Minako and I. Suddenly her line of vision strayed
to Chibi-Usa. "You said it wouldn't hurt Usagi, Chibi-Usa-chan? But
what was it?"
Stubbornly my eldest daughter shook her head, her blue eyes wide
as she stared at us, but didn't speak. I buried my face in my hands for
a moment, staring at the black under my lids. "I'm going to have to
call Mamo-chan at work and tell him. And he'll come racing home like a
bat out of hell," I mumbled, fumbling through my purse for my cell
phone.
Rei also picked up her phone. "I think we should call everyone,
let them know what's happening.."
"No, no," I replied, trying to think coherently enough to
remember Mamo-chan's work number. "I don't want to alarm everyone and
having them drop what they're doing to come running. Mako-chan's
restaurant just opened two days ago, she needs to be there. Haruka,
Michiru.... well, let's just call Ami and see what we can make of this
before alerting everyone."
Rei opened her mouth as if to say something, thought better of
it, and nodded. She quickly dialed Ami's number as I called Mamo-chan.
Chibi-Usa watched me closely as I told Mamo-chan what happened, a
mixture of worry and fear on her face.
Not twenty minutes later both Ami and Mamo-chan knocked on the
door together, having came from the same hospital. Ami, with almost a
hint of excitement on her face at finally having something more
interesting than a pregnancy come her way, whipped out her palm top and
began typing away like a mad woman on a mission. She scanned Chibi-Usa
from every available angle she could manage, and when that produced
nothing out of the ordinary, actually began scanning Keri, Mamo-chan
and I. She finished looking disappointed, but not undetermined.
"Nothing wrong there, but I suggest we go over to the house so that we
can see if whatever it was is still there."
"If it is?" Minako asked.
"Well, we fight it, I assume," the Genius Senshi said
uncertainly. "Unless, of course, it isn't dangerous, as Chibi-Usa-chan
says. But if it isn't dangerous--"
"Why was it knocking everything over?" Mamo-chan finished, his
eyes not on Ami as he spoke, but Chibi-Usa. As she was seated between
him and I, she couldn't escape his penetrating gaze. "Chibi-Usa, what
is that thing?"
Again, she shook her head, looking away quickly. "Small Lady," he
said in a commanding tone that left no room for argument. "If you don't
tell us, we'll have to destroy it. If you don't want that, you'd better
tell us what it is."
Chibi-Usa's eyes once more filled with tears that zigzagged down
her face in a steady stream. She opened her mouth, bit her lip and
shook her head. "I can't tell you," she mumbled softly and began crying
into her hands. I felt sorry for her, but at the same time angry that
she felt like she couldn't tell us. Suddenly her head lifted again, and
she began stuttering like she was trying to think of something that she
could tell us. "He... he won't hurt nobody. But, if I tell, then..."
"Yes?" Mamo-chan said, trying to urge her on. But her eyes were
wide as if she feared she had said too much. She clamped her mouth
shut and once more shook her head. My husband looked at me, but I felt
even more helpless than he looked.
My body felt heavy with fear as I stood, glancing back down at
Chibi-Usa with pleading eyes. But she looked away. "There's only one
thing we can do," I said. "And that is to go to the house and see what
Ami can pick up with her computer."
Mamo-chan nodded, standing also. "I'm going, too," Rei said,
standing up out of her chair so quickly it was like it had a built in
spring. I nodded, looking to Minako.
"I'll stay with Luna and the kids," she mumbled, casting a
wayward glance back to Keri who was asleep on her lap. Obviously the
excitement hadn't been enough to keep her from going back to sleep. As
I watched she snored softly and stuck her thumb in her mouth. I gave
another longing look to my oldest, but she had buried her face in the
blanket I had picked up in my rush out the door and was still crying.
Mamo-chan put his arm around my shoulder, leading me down the
hall and out of the Temple. We crowded into his car silently, none of
us voicing our concerns about what was happening - or why.
@------
The front door to my house was unlocked, as in my haste to get
out, I hadn't checked it. We entered one by one, Mamo-chan leading and
Rei bringing up the end. The only noise was the constant clicking and
occasional beeping from Ami's computer--otherwise the house seemed
eerily silent. The kitchen was as I had left it, the radio on but
turned down completely. Past the kitchen and down the hall a picture of
Chibi-Usa, Keri and Shingo had fallen and shattered on the hardwood
floor, otherwise nothing was amiss.
It wasn't until we reached Chibi-Usa's room did we find anything
out of the ordinary. If I had thought it was trashed the first time I
had came in it, this was ten times worse. All of her furniture had been
knocked over, the contents of drawers thrown about. The mattress on the
bed was on the ground, the frame broken as if something heavy had been
sitting on it. The dresser that had fallen across the doorway had been
moved so that it was laying in the middle of the floor. My astonished
eyes barely caught a glimpse of all of this, however, as I reverted my
attention on the busted window.
"Damn," Mamo-chan mumbled next to me, his eyes sweeping over the
scene again.
Ami pushed past us, surveying the damage. "There's nothing here
now, spiritual or otherwise," she informed us, her eyes only barely
registering shock at the mess. She peered out the window to the ground
below. "It must have burst out through this window, the glass is on the
outside. There's also a bit of something..." she noted, picking up a
piece of broken glass and examining it. Indeed there was a thick silver
liquid on the glass's edge, as well as on the window seal. "How
peculiar."
"Do you know what it is?" Rei asked, finally breaking her
attention away from destroyed room and to us.
Ami shook her head, picking up another piece that also contained
the liquid. "I have an idea, of course. But I can't be sure until I've
ran some further test. But surely...." She shook her head as if
dismissing a thought. "Well, that just can't be."
After a full examination of the house, we still turned up
nothing. "Well, we aren't staying here tonight," Mamo-chan said in a
commanding voice.
I hadn't even thought past cleaning up the mess in Chibi-Usa's
room and was a bit taken back by what he said. I blinked, frowning.
"Mamo-chan, Ami said it's gone now. I think it would be okay for us to
stay, even if we ask Minako to watch the kids..." But my words trailed
off as Mamo-chan shook his head sternly.
"No, we are not. If whatever that is decides to come back.. Well,
we're just not taking the chance. We'll get a hotel room until--"
"Until when? Until Chibi-Usa decides to talk to us? Because I
don't think that's going to happen," I insisted. It seemed stupid to
leave our home, when I had an irking feeling that if whatever that was
wanted to find us, it wouldn't have a hard time.
My husband, however, was not close to seeing reasoning beyond his
own. "Usako, we are not staying here. Until I feel like it's safe for
you and the kids--"
"Incase you've forgotten I've tackled bigger--" I retorted.
"I'm not saying you haven't, but we have to think about the
children," Mamo-chan replied, his voice rising slightly, just as mine
had.
Realizing that arguing would get us nowhere, I sullenly sat back,
my arms crossed. My nerves were on edge, and his were too. We
pointlessly argued about once or twice a month, but now didn't seem to
be a good time to start one. Rei and Ami both looked relived when I
stopped and mumbled a low: "Okay, fine," and got up to start packing.
As I placed mine and Mamo-chan's clothes into a suitcase, he came
in the room, a small grin forming on his lips that he tried
unsuccessfully to hide. I turned to him expectantly as he crossed the
room in four strides and kissed my nose. "Do you have any idea how
incredibly cute you are when you're mad?"
"Hmph," I mumbled, trying not to smile as he was. I'm supposing
it wasn't too hard to figure out that making up was about the only
reason we ever argued to begin with. Perhaps it wasn't so pointless,
after all...
"Well, you are." Mamo-chan grinned broadly, wrapping his arms
around me. There was no use in trying to fight him off, I knew. When he
got that look in his eye (which I secretly loved) it was give in, or
fight and then give in. Since we were running short on time today, I
decided to beat him to the punch line. Quickly I stood up on my toes,
pressing my lips to his.
When finally we pulled apart, I rolled my eyes at him playfully.
"Now, if you don't mind, I have to pack. Since you," I said forcefully,
"have decided we aren't staying here."
"I'll just go see to Chibi-Usa's things," he replied, still
grinning at me. I shook my head as he left the room and wondered if ten
years down the road we still acted this way towards each other.
I hoped so.
@------
We never got as far as the motel that evening. Ami insisted we
stay at her place, in the spare room, and save the money. I had argued
that Keri would wake her up, since she tended to wake up during the
night when we were away from home, but still the Genius Senshi
insisted. In the end I gave in and we crowded the four of us into her
spare bedroom.
After fighting tooth and nail with Keri, I finally managed to get
her to sleep. I laid her in the same travel crib I had used with Chibi-
Usa and covered her up gently. On a pallet in the floor beside her,
Chibi-Usa was already asleep - exhausted by crying the better part of
the day. Her steady silence un-nerved me, but no matter what any of us
said - she refused to speak.
I had changed into pajamas and got in bed beside my husband. But
sleep stayed beyond me; disturbed by the sounds of the street below and
the lights from the city. I hadn't slept in an apartment for two years,
and now I wondered how I had slept with all the racket that seemed to
be coming from the world beyond. I tossed and turned, but only managed
to wake up Mamo-chan.
It was no use, I wasn't going to sleep any time soon. My eyes
were wide open, staring at the ceiling and the lights that toyed with
the shadows on the wall. Getting up, I quietly left the room, intending
to get some warm milk from the kitchen. When I got into the hallway,
however, I found that there was already a light on in the kitchen.
I peeked my head around the corner. Ami was sitting at the table,
scanning a book with her index finger while idly turning her straw in
her drink with the other. "Ami-chan?"
"Usagi-chan!" said Ami, startled. She shook her head and rubbed
one hand over her face. "What time is it? Did I wake you with the
lights?"
"No, no," I assured her, getting a cup from the cupboard and
pouring a glass of milk. "I was awake already." I sat down at the
table, peering over at the book. "What are you looking for?"
To my surprise, she held up a small jar containing a piece of
glass with silver liquid on it. "Remember when I told you I thought I
knew what this was, but wasn't sure?"
"Hmm," I mumbled through a mouth of milk. It hadn't dawned on me
that she would be sitting up at two a.m. looking for something about
what broke into my house. I felt guilty about it for some reason. "Did
you find out what it is?"
Ami nodded, but instead of saying more, she flipped through the
pages and began scanning again. She reached for her glass, took a sip,
and set it down triumphantly. "I couldn't put my finger on it, but I
knew I had seen it somewhere before. And then tonight, I was examining
it, and it all fit--"
"All of what?" I asked, so completely lost that if she had said
the sky was falling it would have taken a moment for me to understand
her.
Again she didn't answer, only scanned through pages, looking for
something. If ever I thought that science could excite no one, Ami was
once again proving me wrong. Her face lit up when she found whatever it
was she was looking for and began to read aloud:
"Mostly known to be myth, the legend of the unicorn may have some
truth hidden deep in Earth's past. Thousands of years ago the Romans
wrote of a creature whose body poised as a steeds, though differed only
in the form of a long golden horn that rose from it's forehead.
Believed to be connected to the Gods..." She skimmed further down,
looking again for something particular. Unicorns? I thought. What in
the world did this have to do with unicorns?
"Ancient ruins... Greek Gods... Golden Kingdom. Ah ha!" she
cried, sitting closer to the edge of her seat as she beckoned me to
listen again. "Said to be the protector of all life on Earth, the
Priest Helios could transform himself at will into the creature
Pegasus; a unicorn who could fly. Of course, this is all myth - as well
as the kingdom of the Moon, which we both know was very real," Ami said
pointedly, glancing up at me. "Now, unicorns supposedly have silver
blood. That blood is quite thick, and has mystic healing properties.
And this, as far as I can tell, is what unicorn blood would be,
supposing--"
"That they did exist," I whispered, intrigued, although still
suspicious. "But a unicorn in this day and age? I'm not one to say it
isn't possible, but why would a unicorn be in Chibi-Usa's bedroom --
and why couldn't we see it?"
Ami shrugged, snapping her Mercury computer shut with a small
click and laying it aside. "Mamoru-san is the Prince of Earth, ne?
Could he perhaps know something about this Helios?"
"I don't know," I whispered, deflating Ami's balloon. Her face
fell into a frown and she tapped her fingers on the table. "Mamo-chan
hasn't said anything about it, and as far as I know he had no powers as
the Prince of Earth - just, birth right, I suppose. Not like me, I got
a package deal. Be Princess of the Moon - fight enemies for the rest of
your life." I raised an eye brow. "Somehow I think I got the bad end of
this deal."
"Be assured," Ami said seriously, though her eyes were dancing
with laughter. "You aren't in that boat alone."
@------
After three days and no trace of anything in our house, and Mamo-
chan finally decided we could return home. And I could have been happy
about this, except for one thing: when we returned home Mamo-chan
promptly moved Keri's crib in our room and made a pallet in the floor
for Chibi-Usa.
I watched him with a look of shock on my face as he padded her
pillow and looked up at me with a gleam in his eye that was on the
border of insanity. "At night," he said, looking around at the small
nursery he had concocted in the side of the bedroom. "We lock this
door, and the kids are in here, safe with us."
I only nodded and went down the hall to Chibi-Usa's room. The man
had been out the day before to fix the window, and after several hours
of cleaning, Minako and I finally got Chibi-Usa's room looking normal
again. I peeked inside to where Chibi-Usa was sitting on her bed,
staring at the floor listlessly. "Chibi-Usa?" I mumbled, knocking
lightly. "Can I come in?"
"Sure," she replied in such a low voice that I barely heard her.
I walked in, sitting beside her on the bed and staring out the
window. We said nothing for a few minutes, just stared. Suddenly Chibi-
Usa turned to me, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "Mama, what's
going to happen now?"
"What do you mean?" I replied, trying my best to keep my voice
casual.
"I dunno," she whispered, looking back again at the window.
I watched her for a few minutes, trying to think of the last time
I had taken her out anywhere by ourselves. It seemed ages ago Keri had
been born and began taking up all my time. I frowned, glancing over at
her sitting beside me. Could it be my fault that Chibi-Usa doesn't feel
like she can talk to me? The thought didn't sit well with me at all.
"Chibi-Usa, how about we go get some ice cream? Perhaps even get in a
little shopping while we're out. Does that sound okay?"
Her blue eyes swung up to me, mild surprise on her face. Her lips
turned upwards slightly but just as quickly vanished as my fears came
to light. "Keri don't like to shop," she mumbled, looking so
disappointed I could have cried. It's true the last time I had taken
Chibi-Usa shopping for new clothes Keri kicked and screamed the entire
time we were in the store until finally I left. But I had never paid
attention to how little Chibi-Usa asked to go anywhere since then.
"Who says we have to take Keri?" I said suddenly, smiling at my
eldest daughter mischievously. "Papa can take care of her and we'll go
shopping and out to a eat, okay?"
Chibi-Usa nodded, her face lighting up in a smile that I hadn't
seen in days. Suddenly she wrapped her arms around my waist tightly and
then headed off to put her shoes on. Feeling like a great weight had
been taken off my shoulders, I left her room to change clothes.
A few minutes later Chibi-Usa and I, coats on, were searching for
my keys when Mamo-chan spotted us. With a raised eyebrow he looked from
Chibi-Usa, who was giggling madly over the half eaten toast Keri had
just hit me in the head with, then to me. "Just where do you think
you're going?" he asked as I chucked the toast in the garbage with a
stern look towards Keri who was sitting in her highchair.
"Chibi-Usa and I are going shopping," I said pointedly, trying to
get a signal across to Mamo-chan that he was to watch Keri. Thankfully
he took the hint.
"And you're just going to leave Keri and I to fend for ourselves,
huh?" he asked Chibi-Usa, rather than me. Chibi-Usa nodded her head
vigorously and Mamo-chan tickled her sides. "That's okay, we'll order
pizza."
"Okay," Chibi-Usa replied, undaunted. "Mama and I are going out
to eat, too," she told him proudly.
Chibi-Usa, after finding my keys in the floor, ran out to the
garage to get in the car. Mamo-chan kissed my lips sweetly, hugging me
to him. "Be careful, okay?"
"I know, I know. I've got the cell phone incase anything happens.
We'll be fine," I told him, kissing him again quickly to keep him from
going into the normal rant of 'it's not my driving he's worried about,
it's everyone else on the road'and 'I can't help it if I worry about
you all the time' etc. I had heard the speech so often I could recite
it word for word, even if he was incredibly sweet for saying it. Chibi-
Usa hit the horn outside and I dashed out the door.
"I love you!" Mamo-chan yelled after me as I got in the car.
"I love you, too!" I replied and pulled out of the garage. Beside
me Chibi-Usa was practically jumping up and down in her seat. "You
ready to hit the road, munchkin?"
"Ready!" she giggled and began flipping through the radio
stations.
The sun was still high in the clear blue sky as we made our way
downtown. Chibi-Usa had turned the radio onto some rock station and
then turned it up. "Ooooh!" she mumbled angrily at the radio. "Play the
Three Light's song!"
I raised any eyebrow at her, glancing over. "The Three Lights? A
new group?"
"Un!" she replied. "Brand new, only have two songs out. I think
Yaten is so dreamy!" she said, pretending to swoon as she laid on my
arm. "Momo-chan likes Seiya, he looks a lot like Papa, so I don't like
him."
"Don't you think your father is handsome?" I asked, surprised. I
figured she had the same taste as me, and I knew my husband was
handsome.
"Mama! You are suppose to think Papa is handsome, not me!" she
laughed. "You think he's so cute, don't you? Momo-chan thinks so. Her
Papa doesn't live with her no more, her Mama and Papa got a... a..."
"A divorce?" I asked, trying to sound casual about it. I had
heard that Chibi-Usa's friend parents were divorced, but I hadn't heard
Chibi-Usa say anything about it until now.
She nodded, looking serious all of the sudden and I wondered what
Momoko had thought about it. "She was very sad when her Papa left
because he didn't love them no more. And now her Mama has a new
boyfriend and he tries to tell Momo-chan what to do and she don't like
it." Her eyes strayed up to me, anxiously. "You and Papa are not going
to get a divorce, are you? I don't want Papa to leave."
"No, Chibi-Usa," I answered quickly. "I love your Papa very much
and we aren't going to get a divorce."
Chibi-Usa nodded, a smile on her lips once more. "Yeah, I know.
He says he loves you and me and Keri and Shingo all the time, so he
won't leave. I know he won't." And off she went about the Three Lights
again, chattering all the way to the mall and inside.
We spent the better part of the afternoon and well into the
evening shopping at the mall. And only until we both confessed to be
hungry did we go over to the Fruit Parlor for dinner. Even though
Chibi-Usa talked nearly non-stop, not once did she mention the incident
in her bedroom or what secret it was she held. Though I wanted to talk
to her about it, I didn't mention it - only let her chatter on in a
sing song voice about her friends at school and the latest singing
group to hit the air.
It was nearly closing time at the Fruit Parlor as I sat chatting
with Naru while Chibi-Usa and Naruru, Naru's little sister, played
arcade games. Motoki was closing up, but didn't say a word to us while
we sat in a booth. It had been so long since I had been out somewhere
that I didn't have to chase Keri about, and worry about what she was
into, that the time seemed to have escaped me. Suddenly my cell phone
rang, making me nearly jump out of my seat.
"That's probably your husband," Naru said knowingly, looking at
her watch. "Good grief we've been sitting here two hours! I've got to
get Naruru home before Mom freaks," Naru said, picking up her purse and
glancing at the ticket.
I had no more got the phone to my ear than I heard Mamo-chan.
"Where are you at?" he asked before I could even say hi.
"Sorry," I squeaked, making a face at Naru who laughed. "I'm at
the Arcade. We'll be home in a few minutes."
"Okay," Mamo-chan breathed, sounding slightly calmer than he had
when I had picked the phone up. "Be careful. I love you."
"I will. Love you, too." As I hung the phone up, Chibi-Usa and
Naruru came over, each holding a UFO catcher doll each. Even thought
Chibi-Usa smiled at Naru as we left, I could instantly tell something
was wrong. Silently she got in the passenger seat and buckled in,
looking out the window. "Anything bothering you, Chibi-Usa?" I asked
casually.
She turned her head, but what she was going to say, I don't know.
Her eyes widened in fear as she screamed: "Mom, look out!"
I looked out the windshield just as a brilliant light lit up the
street, blinding me. I slammed my foot on the brakes, but the petal was
gone! I tried to reach for the emergency brake, but every time I opened
my eyes I was blinded again. "Chibi-Usa!" I screamed, throwing myself
over the passenger seat...
"Usako.... promise me you'll be careful. I know you're a good
driver but other people on the road don't pay that close attention..."
"Oh Mamo-chan! You know I prefer to walk anyways. How often will
I be driving?"
"I know, but it only takes being in the wrong place at the wrong
time..."
Echoing through my mind, I heard Mamo-chan begging me to be
careful. He was always so worried... too worried, I thought... I was
only two blocks from home...
There was a jolt, breaking glass... and just as quickly as I had
been blinded by the bright light, everything went black.
--End Chapter 2.
* Daijobu ka translates to "Are you okay?"
** Ryuu is the only male kitten of Luna and Artemis' - his name
translates to "dragon" and he is named after one of the Japanese
constellations.
*** Otome translates to "maiden" and she is also named after a Japanese
constellation. For more information on where I got these names and what
they mean, you can visit here: http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/constell.htm
Yay! This is the edited version, btw! Thanks for all the offers to edit
for me, I appreciate it! Thankfully Meara is back and I'm back in
business! :) *huggles her wonderful editor*
And now, I want to say a piece of my mind real quick before I stop
boring you. ***I HATE PLAGUERISM*** And, I doubt I spelled that right,
but it means the same. Someone from Fanfiction.net copy and pasted the
"Don't Let Me Go" series I co-wrote with Patch, deleted our author's
notes and posted it as her own. **DON'T DO THIS** Newsflash; for those
of you misinformed, I do find these things out. A very nice lady
emailed me the same day it was posted, asking if I gave permission for
it to be re-released under a different name. I did not, I do not, nor
will I ever give someone permission to take a story I worked very hard
on and take credit for it. And if you are under the impression I won't
find out about it, this should be proof I will. And further more, you
don't want to know how angry I got and how quickly I got there. I hate
being mad, I hate fighting --but I hate thieves more.
*breathes*
Okay, I feel better having got that off my chest. Most of you know that
I'm an easy going person who hates fighting and will do nearly anything
I can to help someone out. I don't like being mad and angry, so it's
just best to not copy my story, so that I can keep my blood pressure
down ^_^;
And if you are still here, thank you for reading my chapter. However,
I'm not a good mind reader, so let me know what you thought by posting
a review (**hint hint**) or emailing me :)
Huge thanks!!
3 Bethany
Forever More
Chapter 2 - Myth or Man?
By: Bethany
Editor: Meara
Rated: PG
@------
There was a loud squeal, followed by a short lived scream that
jolted me out of bed the next morning. Well, I say morning, but in
reality it was five minutes till twelve. Shocked at how late I had
stayed in the bed, I shoved the covers aside and ran to the door just
as Keri came running down the hall as fast as she could. I barely
caught her in mid runand pulled her into the door of my bedroom as a
short blonde slid down the hall and slammed into the wall. Poking our
heads out, Keri and I watched Minako get herself off the floor to a
standing position and push blonde hair out of her face.
"Minako-chan?" I whispered in surprise.
She laughed airily, rubbing her left elbow. "I forgot you have
hardwood floors," she muttered as I glanced down at her socked feet. I
had learned my first week living in my house that socks and hardwood
floors didn't mix in any form or fashion. The Senshi of Love carefully
made her way to where I stood, grabbed her cell phone out of Keri's
hand and wiped the screen off with her shirt edge. "She called a really
long number, from the accent of the guy who answered, I'd say France,"
she sighed, shaking her head.
"Gomen, Minako-chan, I'll pay for the call when you get the
bill." We walked into the living room where Chibi-Usa was laying on the
floor, watching cartoons and kicking her feet back and forth. I sat
Keri down beside her and beckoned Minako into the kitchen. "Not that I
don't appreciate it," I began. "But what are you doing here?"
Minako pushed herself up on the counter, picking up an apple and
biting into it. "Mamoru-san called me this morning and told me what
happened last night, and then asked if I'd come watch the kids so you
could get some sleep. So here I am!" she finished, taking another bite
of the apple.
I knew that Mamo-chan left for work at 7:30 a.m. and from the
look of Minako, she had jumped out of bed and into the car. I shook my
head, smiling. It would never stop amazing me what good friends I had.
Suddenly Minako stopped in mid bite, staring at the floor as
something black went streaking across it and into the hall. Following
shortly was Artemis, skidding to a halt just inches before he slammed
into the wall. His face was full of determination as he completely
ignored us and continued down the hall at a face paced run. I no more
had looked away when I seen Luna coming around the edge of the counter,
a black and gray kitten in tow. She looked worn out.
"Daijobu ka* Luna?" I asked, Minako and I both looking at her
worriedly.
She stopped, sitting down and shaking her head. "You just
wouldn't believe how much energy these three have, it's wearing me
out," Luna mumbled, not usually one to complain about anything. Somehow
I had a feeling she was regretting wanting the kittens born. Now that
they were, at any time of the day or night I would see her or Artemis -
or in some cases, both - chasing the kittens around the house.
"Luna, there's really nothing they can get into around here that
Keri hasn't already gotten to first," I told her sympathetically.
At that precise moment Artemis returned to the kitchen, carrying
the only male kitten of the litter. He was nearly solid black, except
for his white paws. Shining brightly on his, and his sisters foreheads,
were a bright crescent moon. Artemis dropped him at his mother's feet
and sat down hard, still trying to catch his breath. "Ryuu**, apologize
to your mother," Artemis instructed sternly.
"But I was--" the small kitten began, head bowed.
"Now!" Artemis bellowed. Ryuu mumbled something that might have
resembled "gomen" if his head hadn't been bowed and was talking to the
tile rather than anyone in the room.
Luna sighed, shaking her head. "Okay Ryuu, go back to the bed."
Obediently the kitten set off, past his sisters who were snickering,
and around the corner. The kittens were barely four weeks old, and had
already began talking expertly and walking - though awkwardly. Ryuu's
disappearing form looked like his back legs were higher than the front,
but he still made good time; especially when running from Artemis.
Behind Luna sat the other two kittens, both girls. One solid
black and the other smoke gray with the tiniest bit of white on her
neck. The black one peered cautiously up at her mother. "Yes
Otome***?" Luna said without even looking down.
"Mama, can Diana and I go play with Chibi-Usa-chan?"
Luna seemed to consider this for a moment as Artemis jumped into
Minako's lap to be petted. "Yes, go on. But don't get into anything,
ne?" she nearly begged her girls. They both nodded, taking off for the
living room.
Luna headed back into the utility room where I had set up their
bed. Minako and I both glanced at Artemis, who from the looks of it,
was seriously thinking of going to sleep as Minako rubbed his back.
Suddenly, however, he looked towards the room Luna had disappeared
into, looking rather worried. "I hope we live through this," Artemis
mumbled.
From inside the living room I heard Keri giggling and Chibi-Usa
yelling for her to leave the television remote alone. Just then the
volume on the T.V. was turned up as loud as it would go and the sound
of the cartoons on were blaring. I laughed hollowly as I put down my
sandwich and started for the living room. "Don't worry, Artemis, we can
all check into the loony bin together."
After I had reclaimed the remote from my youngest, and saved our
ear drums, Minako and I made lunch and put the kids down for a nap. The
house was so quiet and peaceful that I finally couldn't stand it
anymore. Minako followed me into the kitchen as I turned on the radio
and began cleaning out the refrigerator. Minako, even though I insisted
she sat, began washing dishes.
"So you have no idea what happened with Chibi-Usa?"
"No," I replied, pulling out a bowl of very dried rice. Shaking
my head I emptied the contents into the garbage and handed the bowl to
Minako. "Did she say nothing to you this morning?"
"I kept a close eye on her, but she didn't mention anything.
Strange, ne?"
I started to reply when my ear caught something else, something
not from the radio and definitely not from the cats. Minako must have
heard it, too, because she crossed the kitchen to turn the radio off
and picked up the baby monitor.
After listening for a moment, I looked up at the Senshi of Love,
but she looked as puzzled as I did. "Who is Chibi-Usa talking to?" I
wondered allowed, listening to the sound of my daughter's voice over
the speaker. "Do you think she's having another nightmare?"
Without another word said between us, Minako and I went to Chibi-
Usa's bedroom and carefully opened the door. Chibi-Usa was sitting on
the middle of her bed, talking animatedly to.. herself? I blinked,
making sure I was seeing right. But there was no one in the room but
her.
"No," she whispered. "You have to lay down, if you make another
mess like the last one, I'll be in big trouble again," she whispered,
looking around cautiously. That's when she seen Minako and I in the
doorway. She gasped, laying down quickly. Some books suddenly were
thrown from her bedside table and a couple of stuffed animals seemingly
flew across the room by themselves.
I ran into the room, looking everywhere. But just as quickly as
everything had started flying by itself, it stopped. "Chibi-Usa!" I
gasped, horrified. "What was that?"
Chibi-Usa's blue eyes were as large as saucers, but she only
shook her head, pulling her blanket up to her mouth. Suddenly her toy
box was thrown over, the contents spilling over the floor. "No!" she
screamed, shaking her head.
"What is going on?!" I shrieked, picking her up and running for
the door, Minako on my tail.
"He won't hurt you, Mama! He won't!" Just then her dresser was
tipped sideways and slammed down, blocking our path out of the room. I
jumped over it, hearing something else crash in her room but not taking
the time to see what it was.
"Minako-chan, get Keri!" I nearly yelled, running down the hall
as fast as I could go. The entire time Chibi-Usa was still in my arms,
crying. My heart pounded painfully in my ears as I ran to the garage,
putting Chibi-Usa in the backseat. "Stay here!"
"But Mama--!"
"Stay put Small Lady!" I repeated, running back in the house for
Luna, Artemis and the kittens. Minako passed me as I went back in,
carrying a disoriented Keri and a baby bag. I scooped up my purse and
keys on my way to the utility room. "Luna, Artemis - get the kittens we
have to get out of here!"
They asked no questions. I grabbed Diana just as Luna and Artemis
picked the other two up in their mouths and we left. As I closed my
back door I heard another crash from down the hall, which only made me
move faster.
I had no idea where I was driving; I backed out of the driveway,
put the car in drive and slammed my foot on the gas. Chibi-Usa was in
the backseat, still crying, and Keri was staring around like she was
too stunned to say or do anything.
I don't remember getting there, but suddenly the many steps
leading to the Hikawa Shrine loomed above us. I stopped, still shaking,
and got out of the car. Minako quietly grabbed Keri while I ushered
Chibi-Usa up the many steps. Still sniffling, Chibi-Usa said nothing as
I hurried to the side door and knocked.
"Usagi?" Rei's voice went from surprise to puzzlement in the
matter of a second. She opened the door wider, letting us in. Her eyes
darted from me, to Chibi-Usa whose blood shot eyes looked down quickly,
to Minako, Keri and finally the cats before coming back to rest on me.
"What--?"
"Could we go sit somewhere?" I asked quietly in response.
Rei's violet eyes blinked as if registering what I was saying and
then she nodded dully. "Of course." We followed her into the part of
the house where she lived and into a living room. I sat on the sofa,
Minako sitting silently on my left and Chibi-Usa to my right. Rei sat
across from us, anxiously waiting for someone to tell her what was
going on.
I cleared my throat, trying to sort out where would be a good
place to begin. I explained quickly about what had been happening at my
house, beginning with Chibi-Usa's room being destroyed three weeks ago
and ending with why we fled just half an hour ago. I noticed out of the
corner of my eye that Chibi-Usa had went pale as I finished.
Rei looked dumbfounded. She folded her arms over her chest and
sat back, staring at Minako and I. Suddenly her line of vision strayed
to Chibi-Usa. "You said it wouldn't hurt Usagi, Chibi-Usa-chan? But
what was it?"
Stubbornly my eldest daughter shook her head, her blue eyes wide
as she stared at us, but didn't speak. I buried my face in my hands for
a moment, staring at the black under my lids. "I'm going to have to
call Mamo-chan at work and tell him. And he'll come racing home like a
bat out of hell," I mumbled, fumbling through my purse for my cell
phone.
Rei also picked up her phone. "I think we should call everyone,
let them know what's happening.."
"No, no," I replied, trying to think coherently enough to
remember Mamo-chan's work number. "I don't want to alarm everyone and
having them drop what they're doing to come running. Mako-chan's
restaurant just opened two days ago, she needs to be there. Haruka,
Michiru.... well, let's just call Ami and see what we can make of this
before alerting everyone."
Rei opened her mouth as if to say something, thought better of
it, and nodded. She quickly dialed Ami's number as I called Mamo-chan.
Chibi-Usa watched me closely as I told Mamo-chan what happened, a
mixture of worry and fear on her face.
Not twenty minutes later both Ami and Mamo-chan knocked on the
door together, having came from the same hospital. Ami, with almost a
hint of excitement on her face at finally having something more
interesting than a pregnancy come her way, whipped out her palm top and
began typing away like a mad woman on a mission. She scanned Chibi-Usa
from every available angle she could manage, and when that produced
nothing out of the ordinary, actually began scanning Keri, Mamo-chan
and I. She finished looking disappointed, but not undetermined.
"Nothing wrong there, but I suggest we go over to the house so that we
can see if whatever it was is still there."
"If it is?" Minako asked.
"Well, we fight it, I assume," the Genius Senshi said
uncertainly. "Unless, of course, it isn't dangerous, as Chibi-Usa-chan
says. But if it isn't dangerous--"
"Why was it knocking everything over?" Mamo-chan finished, his
eyes not on Ami as he spoke, but Chibi-Usa. As she was seated between
him and I, she couldn't escape his penetrating gaze. "Chibi-Usa, what
is that thing?"
Again, she shook her head, looking away quickly. "Small Lady," he
said in a commanding tone that left no room for argument. "If you don't
tell us, we'll have to destroy it. If you don't want that, you'd better
tell us what it is."
Chibi-Usa's eyes once more filled with tears that zigzagged down
her face in a steady stream. She opened her mouth, bit her lip and
shook her head. "I can't tell you," she mumbled softly and began crying
into her hands. I felt sorry for her, but at the same time angry that
she felt like she couldn't tell us. Suddenly her head lifted again, and
she began stuttering like she was trying to think of something that she
could tell us. "He... he won't hurt nobody. But, if I tell, then..."
"Yes?" Mamo-chan said, trying to urge her on. But her eyes were
wide as if she feared she had said too much. She clamped her mouth
shut and once more shook her head. My husband looked at me, but I felt
even more helpless than he looked.
My body felt heavy with fear as I stood, glancing back down at
Chibi-Usa with pleading eyes. But she looked away. "There's only one
thing we can do," I said. "And that is to go to the house and see what
Ami can pick up with her computer."
Mamo-chan nodded, standing also. "I'm going, too," Rei said,
standing up out of her chair so quickly it was like it had a built in
spring. I nodded, looking to Minako.
"I'll stay with Luna and the kids," she mumbled, casting a
wayward glance back to Keri who was asleep on her lap. Obviously the
excitement hadn't been enough to keep her from going back to sleep. As
I watched she snored softly and stuck her thumb in her mouth. I gave
another longing look to my oldest, but she had buried her face in the
blanket I had picked up in my rush out the door and was still crying.
Mamo-chan put his arm around my shoulder, leading me down the
hall and out of the Temple. We crowded into his car silently, none of
us voicing our concerns about what was happening - or why.
@------
The front door to my house was unlocked, as in my haste to get
out, I hadn't checked it. We entered one by one, Mamo-chan leading and
Rei bringing up the end. The only noise was the constant clicking and
occasional beeping from Ami's computer--otherwise the house seemed
eerily silent. The kitchen was as I had left it, the radio on but
turned down completely. Past the kitchen and down the hall a picture of
Chibi-Usa, Keri and Shingo had fallen and shattered on the hardwood
floor, otherwise nothing was amiss.
It wasn't until we reached Chibi-Usa's room did we find anything
out of the ordinary. If I had thought it was trashed the first time I
had came in it, this was ten times worse. All of her furniture had been
knocked over, the contents of drawers thrown about. The mattress on the
bed was on the ground, the frame broken as if something heavy had been
sitting on it. The dresser that had fallen across the doorway had been
moved so that it was laying in the middle of the floor. My astonished
eyes barely caught a glimpse of all of this, however, as I reverted my
attention on the busted window.
"Damn," Mamo-chan mumbled next to me, his eyes sweeping over the
scene again.
Ami pushed past us, surveying the damage. "There's nothing here
now, spiritual or otherwise," she informed us, her eyes only barely
registering shock at the mess. She peered out the window to the ground
below. "It must have burst out through this window, the glass is on the
outside. There's also a bit of something..." she noted, picking up a
piece of broken glass and examining it. Indeed there was a thick silver
liquid on the glass's edge, as well as on the window seal. "How
peculiar."
"Do you know what it is?" Rei asked, finally breaking her
attention away from destroyed room and to us.
Ami shook her head, picking up another piece that also contained
the liquid. "I have an idea, of course. But I can't be sure until I've
ran some further test. But surely...." She shook her head as if
dismissing a thought. "Well, that just can't be."
After a full examination of the house, we still turned up
nothing. "Well, we aren't staying here tonight," Mamo-chan said in a
commanding voice.
I hadn't even thought past cleaning up the mess in Chibi-Usa's
room and was a bit taken back by what he said. I blinked, frowning.
"Mamo-chan, Ami said it's gone now. I think it would be okay for us to
stay, even if we ask Minako to watch the kids..." But my words trailed
off as Mamo-chan shook his head sternly.
"No, we are not. If whatever that is decides to come back.. Well,
we're just not taking the chance. We'll get a hotel room until--"
"Until when? Until Chibi-Usa decides to talk to us? Because I
don't think that's going to happen," I insisted. It seemed stupid to
leave our home, when I had an irking feeling that if whatever that was
wanted to find us, it wouldn't have a hard time.
My husband, however, was not close to seeing reasoning beyond his
own. "Usako, we are not staying here. Until I feel like it's safe for
you and the kids--"
"Incase you've forgotten I've tackled bigger--" I retorted.
"I'm not saying you haven't, but we have to think about the
children," Mamo-chan replied, his voice rising slightly, just as mine
had.
Realizing that arguing would get us nowhere, I sullenly sat back,
my arms crossed. My nerves were on edge, and his were too. We
pointlessly argued about once or twice a month, but now didn't seem to
be a good time to start one. Rei and Ami both looked relived when I
stopped and mumbled a low: "Okay, fine," and got up to start packing.
As I placed mine and Mamo-chan's clothes into a suitcase, he came
in the room, a small grin forming on his lips that he tried
unsuccessfully to hide. I turned to him expectantly as he crossed the
room in four strides and kissed my nose. "Do you have any idea how
incredibly cute you are when you're mad?"
"Hmph," I mumbled, trying not to smile as he was. I'm supposing
it wasn't too hard to figure out that making up was about the only
reason we ever argued to begin with. Perhaps it wasn't so pointless,
after all...
"Well, you are." Mamo-chan grinned broadly, wrapping his arms
around me. There was no use in trying to fight him off, I knew. When he
got that look in his eye (which I secretly loved) it was give in, or
fight and then give in. Since we were running short on time today, I
decided to beat him to the punch line. Quickly I stood up on my toes,
pressing my lips to his.
When finally we pulled apart, I rolled my eyes at him playfully.
"Now, if you don't mind, I have to pack. Since you," I said forcefully,
"have decided we aren't staying here."
"I'll just go see to Chibi-Usa's things," he replied, still
grinning at me. I shook my head as he left the room and wondered if ten
years down the road we still acted this way towards each other.
I hoped so.
@------
We never got as far as the motel that evening. Ami insisted we
stay at her place, in the spare room, and save the money. I had argued
that Keri would wake her up, since she tended to wake up during the
night when we were away from home, but still the Genius Senshi
insisted. In the end I gave in and we crowded the four of us into her
spare bedroom.
After fighting tooth and nail with Keri, I finally managed to get
her to sleep. I laid her in the same travel crib I had used with Chibi-
Usa and covered her up gently. On a pallet in the floor beside her,
Chibi-Usa was already asleep - exhausted by crying the better part of
the day. Her steady silence un-nerved me, but no matter what any of us
said - she refused to speak.
I had changed into pajamas and got in bed beside my husband. But
sleep stayed beyond me; disturbed by the sounds of the street below and
the lights from the city. I hadn't slept in an apartment for two years,
and now I wondered how I had slept with all the racket that seemed to
be coming from the world beyond. I tossed and turned, but only managed
to wake up Mamo-chan.
It was no use, I wasn't going to sleep any time soon. My eyes
were wide open, staring at the ceiling and the lights that toyed with
the shadows on the wall. Getting up, I quietly left the room, intending
to get some warm milk from the kitchen. When I got into the hallway,
however, I found that there was already a light on in the kitchen.
I peeked my head around the corner. Ami was sitting at the table,
scanning a book with her index finger while idly turning her straw in
her drink with the other. "Ami-chan?"
"Usagi-chan!" said Ami, startled. She shook her head and rubbed
one hand over her face. "What time is it? Did I wake you with the
lights?"
"No, no," I assured her, getting a cup from the cupboard and
pouring a glass of milk. "I was awake already." I sat down at the
table, peering over at the book. "What are you looking for?"
To my surprise, she held up a small jar containing a piece of
glass with silver liquid on it. "Remember when I told you I thought I
knew what this was, but wasn't sure?"
"Hmm," I mumbled through a mouth of milk. It hadn't dawned on me
that she would be sitting up at two a.m. looking for something about
what broke into my house. I felt guilty about it for some reason. "Did
you find out what it is?"
Ami nodded, but instead of saying more, she flipped through the
pages and began scanning again. She reached for her glass, took a sip,
and set it down triumphantly. "I couldn't put my finger on it, but I
knew I had seen it somewhere before. And then tonight, I was examining
it, and it all fit--"
"All of what?" I asked, so completely lost that if she had said
the sky was falling it would have taken a moment for me to understand
her.
Again she didn't answer, only scanned through pages, looking for
something. If ever I thought that science could excite no one, Ami was
once again proving me wrong. Her face lit up when she found whatever it
was she was looking for and began to read aloud:
"Mostly known to be myth, the legend of the unicorn may have some
truth hidden deep in Earth's past. Thousands of years ago the Romans
wrote of a creature whose body poised as a steeds, though differed only
in the form of a long golden horn that rose from it's forehead.
Believed to be connected to the Gods..." She skimmed further down,
looking again for something particular. Unicorns? I thought. What in
the world did this have to do with unicorns?
"Ancient ruins... Greek Gods... Golden Kingdom. Ah ha!" she
cried, sitting closer to the edge of her seat as she beckoned me to
listen again. "Said to be the protector of all life on Earth, the
Priest Helios could transform himself at will into the creature
Pegasus; a unicorn who could fly. Of course, this is all myth - as well
as the kingdom of the Moon, which we both know was very real," Ami said
pointedly, glancing up at me. "Now, unicorns supposedly have silver
blood. That blood is quite thick, and has mystic healing properties.
And this, as far as I can tell, is what unicorn blood would be,
supposing--"
"That they did exist," I whispered, intrigued, although still
suspicious. "But a unicorn in this day and age? I'm not one to say it
isn't possible, but why would a unicorn be in Chibi-Usa's bedroom --
and why couldn't we see it?"
Ami shrugged, snapping her Mercury computer shut with a small
click and laying it aside. "Mamoru-san is the Prince of Earth, ne?
Could he perhaps know something about this Helios?"
"I don't know," I whispered, deflating Ami's balloon. Her face
fell into a frown and she tapped her fingers on the table. "Mamo-chan
hasn't said anything about it, and as far as I know he had no powers as
the Prince of Earth - just, birth right, I suppose. Not like me, I got
a package deal. Be Princess of the Moon - fight enemies for the rest of
your life." I raised an eye brow. "Somehow I think I got the bad end of
this deal."
"Be assured," Ami said seriously, though her eyes were dancing
with laughter. "You aren't in that boat alone."
@------
After three days and no trace of anything in our house, and Mamo-
chan finally decided we could return home. And I could have been happy
about this, except for one thing: when we returned home Mamo-chan
promptly moved Keri's crib in our room and made a pallet in the floor
for Chibi-Usa.
I watched him with a look of shock on my face as he padded her
pillow and looked up at me with a gleam in his eye that was on the
border of insanity. "At night," he said, looking around at the small
nursery he had concocted in the side of the bedroom. "We lock this
door, and the kids are in here, safe with us."
I only nodded and went down the hall to Chibi-Usa's room. The man
had been out the day before to fix the window, and after several hours
of cleaning, Minako and I finally got Chibi-Usa's room looking normal
again. I peeked inside to where Chibi-Usa was sitting on her bed,
staring at the floor listlessly. "Chibi-Usa?" I mumbled, knocking
lightly. "Can I come in?"
"Sure," she replied in such a low voice that I barely heard her.
I walked in, sitting beside her on the bed and staring out the
window. We said nothing for a few minutes, just stared. Suddenly Chibi-
Usa turned to me, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "Mama, what's
going to happen now?"
"What do you mean?" I replied, trying my best to keep my voice
casual.
"I dunno," she whispered, looking back again at the window.
I watched her for a few minutes, trying to think of the last time
I had taken her out anywhere by ourselves. It seemed ages ago Keri had
been born and began taking up all my time. I frowned, glancing over at
her sitting beside me. Could it be my fault that Chibi-Usa doesn't feel
like she can talk to me? The thought didn't sit well with me at all.
"Chibi-Usa, how about we go get some ice cream? Perhaps even get in a
little shopping while we're out. Does that sound okay?"
Her blue eyes swung up to me, mild surprise on her face. Her lips
turned upwards slightly but just as quickly vanished as my fears came
to light. "Keri don't like to shop," she mumbled, looking so
disappointed I could have cried. It's true the last time I had taken
Chibi-Usa shopping for new clothes Keri kicked and screamed the entire
time we were in the store until finally I left. But I had never paid
attention to how little Chibi-Usa asked to go anywhere since then.
"Who says we have to take Keri?" I said suddenly, smiling at my
eldest daughter mischievously. "Papa can take care of her and we'll go
shopping and out to a eat, okay?"
Chibi-Usa nodded, her face lighting up in a smile that I hadn't
seen in days. Suddenly she wrapped her arms around my waist tightly and
then headed off to put her shoes on. Feeling like a great weight had
been taken off my shoulders, I left her room to change clothes.
A few minutes later Chibi-Usa and I, coats on, were searching for
my keys when Mamo-chan spotted us. With a raised eyebrow he looked from
Chibi-Usa, who was giggling madly over the half eaten toast Keri had
just hit me in the head with, then to me. "Just where do you think
you're going?" he asked as I chucked the toast in the garbage with a
stern look towards Keri who was sitting in her highchair.
"Chibi-Usa and I are going shopping," I said pointedly, trying to
get a signal across to Mamo-chan that he was to watch Keri. Thankfully
he took the hint.
"And you're just going to leave Keri and I to fend for ourselves,
huh?" he asked Chibi-Usa, rather than me. Chibi-Usa nodded her head
vigorously and Mamo-chan tickled her sides. "That's okay, we'll order
pizza."
"Okay," Chibi-Usa replied, undaunted. "Mama and I are going out
to eat, too," she told him proudly.
Chibi-Usa, after finding my keys in the floor, ran out to the
garage to get in the car. Mamo-chan kissed my lips sweetly, hugging me
to him. "Be careful, okay?"
"I know, I know. I've got the cell phone incase anything happens.
We'll be fine," I told him, kissing him again quickly to keep him from
going into the normal rant of 'it's not my driving he's worried about,
it's everyone else on the road'and 'I can't help it if I worry about
you all the time' etc. I had heard the speech so often I could recite
it word for word, even if he was incredibly sweet for saying it. Chibi-
Usa hit the horn outside and I dashed out the door.
"I love you!" Mamo-chan yelled after me as I got in the car.
"I love you, too!" I replied and pulled out of the garage. Beside
me Chibi-Usa was practically jumping up and down in her seat. "You
ready to hit the road, munchkin?"
"Ready!" she giggled and began flipping through the radio
stations.
The sun was still high in the clear blue sky as we made our way
downtown. Chibi-Usa had turned the radio onto some rock station and
then turned it up. "Ooooh!" she mumbled angrily at the radio. "Play the
Three Light's song!"
I raised any eyebrow at her, glancing over. "The Three Lights? A
new group?"
"Un!" she replied. "Brand new, only have two songs out. I think
Yaten is so dreamy!" she said, pretending to swoon as she laid on my
arm. "Momo-chan likes Seiya, he looks a lot like Papa, so I don't like
him."
"Don't you think your father is handsome?" I asked, surprised. I
figured she had the same taste as me, and I knew my husband was
handsome.
"Mama! You are suppose to think Papa is handsome, not me!" she
laughed. "You think he's so cute, don't you? Momo-chan thinks so. Her
Papa doesn't live with her no more, her Mama and Papa got a... a..."
"A divorce?" I asked, trying to sound casual about it. I had
heard that Chibi-Usa's friend parents were divorced, but I hadn't heard
Chibi-Usa say anything about it until now.
She nodded, looking serious all of the sudden and I wondered what
Momoko had thought about it. "She was very sad when her Papa left
because he didn't love them no more. And now her Mama has a new
boyfriend and he tries to tell Momo-chan what to do and she don't like
it." Her eyes strayed up to me, anxiously. "You and Papa are not going
to get a divorce, are you? I don't want Papa to leave."
"No, Chibi-Usa," I answered quickly. "I love your Papa very much
and we aren't going to get a divorce."
Chibi-Usa nodded, a smile on her lips once more. "Yeah, I know.
He says he loves you and me and Keri and Shingo all the time, so he
won't leave. I know he won't." And off she went about the Three Lights
again, chattering all the way to the mall and inside.
We spent the better part of the afternoon and well into the
evening shopping at the mall. And only until we both confessed to be
hungry did we go over to the Fruit Parlor for dinner. Even though
Chibi-Usa talked nearly non-stop, not once did she mention the incident
in her bedroom or what secret it was she held. Though I wanted to talk
to her about it, I didn't mention it - only let her chatter on in a
sing song voice about her friends at school and the latest singing
group to hit the air.
It was nearly closing time at the Fruit Parlor as I sat chatting
with Naru while Chibi-Usa and Naruru, Naru's little sister, played
arcade games. Motoki was closing up, but didn't say a word to us while
we sat in a booth. It had been so long since I had been out somewhere
that I didn't have to chase Keri about, and worry about what she was
into, that the time seemed to have escaped me. Suddenly my cell phone
rang, making me nearly jump out of my seat.
"That's probably your husband," Naru said knowingly, looking at
her watch. "Good grief we've been sitting here two hours! I've got to
get Naruru home before Mom freaks," Naru said, picking up her purse and
glancing at the ticket.
I had no more got the phone to my ear than I heard Mamo-chan.
"Where are you at?" he asked before I could even say hi.
"Sorry," I squeaked, making a face at Naru who laughed. "I'm at
the Arcade. We'll be home in a few minutes."
"Okay," Mamo-chan breathed, sounding slightly calmer than he had
when I had picked the phone up. "Be careful. I love you."
"I will. Love you, too." As I hung the phone up, Chibi-Usa and
Naruru came over, each holding a UFO catcher doll each. Even thought
Chibi-Usa smiled at Naru as we left, I could instantly tell something
was wrong. Silently she got in the passenger seat and buckled in,
looking out the window. "Anything bothering you, Chibi-Usa?" I asked
casually.
She turned her head, but what she was going to say, I don't know.
Her eyes widened in fear as she screamed: "Mom, look out!"
I looked out the windshield just as a brilliant light lit up the
street, blinding me. I slammed my foot on the brakes, but the petal was
gone! I tried to reach for the emergency brake, but every time I opened
my eyes I was blinded again. "Chibi-Usa!" I screamed, throwing myself
over the passenger seat...
"Usako.... promise me you'll be careful. I know you're a good
driver but other people on the road don't pay that close attention..."
"Oh Mamo-chan! You know I prefer to walk anyways. How often will
I be driving?"
"I know, but it only takes being in the wrong place at the wrong
time..."
Echoing through my mind, I heard Mamo-chan begging me to be
careful. He was always so worried... too worried, I thought... I was
only two blocks from home...
There was a jolt, breaking glass... and just as quickly as I had
been blinded by the bright light, everything went black.
--End Chapter 2.
* Daijobu ka translates to "Are you okay?"
** Ryuu is the only male kitten of Luna and Artemis' - his name
translates to "dragon" and he is named after one of the Japanese
constellations.
*** Otome translates to "maiden" and she is also named after a Japanese
constellation. For more information on where I got these names and what
they mean, you can visit here: http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/constell.htm
Yay! This is the edited version, btw! Thanks for all the offers to edit
for me, I appreciate it! Thankfully Meara is back and I'm back in
business! :) *huggles her wonderful editor*
And now, I want to say a piece of my mind real quick before I stop
boring you. ***I HATE PLAGUERISM*** And, I doubt I spelled that right,
but it means the same. Someone from Fanfiction.net copy and pasted the
"Don't Let Me Go" series I co-wrote with Patch, deleted our author's
notes and posted it as her own. **DON'T DO THIS** Newsflash; for those
of you misinformed, I do find these things out. A very nice lady
emailed me the same day it was posted, asking if I gave permission for
it to be re-released under a different name. I did not, I do not, nor
will I ever give someone permission to take a story I worked very hard
on and take credit for it. And if you are under the impression I won't
find out about it, this should be proof I will. And further more, you
don't want to know how angry I got and how quickly I got there. I hate
being mad, I hate fighting --but I hate thieves more.
*breathes*
Okay, I feel better having got that off my chest. Most of you know that
I'm an easy going person who hates fighting and will do nearly anything
I can to help someone out. I don't like being mad and angry, so it's
just best to not copy my story, so that I can keep my blood pressure
down ^_^;
And if you are still here, thank you for reading my chapter. However,
I'm not a good mind reader, so let me know what you thought by posting
a review (**hint hint**) or emailing me :)
Huge thanks!!
3 Bethany