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Destiny, by Kristii
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Chapter six: a bit short, but intense… enjoy!
Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to review or drop me
a message about this story… I REALLY appreciate it!! ^^ If
you have any more comments, write me: aznvballgurl@yahoo.com ^^
Sailor Mars and affiliated characters (c) Naoko Takeuchi
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On February 28th, the Senshi buried Jadeite at the same shrine
where Rei had wed him; the priestess laid his body to rest under the
cherry blossoms, a few feet from where her mother slept eternal.
Then, with the world still reeling from the news of their
unexpected battle, they set out to establish Crystal Tokyo...
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The Japanese Diet had been annihilated in the battle, and instead
of using its ruins, the Senshi had set up their temporary headquarters
in the top two floors of the Tokyo Marriott. The Presidential Suite
was set aside for meetings with foreign heads of state and other dignitaries;
Serenity and Endymion, as befitting their roles, had been settled in the
Royal Suite of the penthouse.
The doors to the suite were slightly ajar as Rei approached,
seeking the Queen's signature on the bill authorizing Her Majesty's
Secret Service. As she placed her hand on the doorknob, about to
enter, a sudden stream of voices flooded out of the room:
"...cannot let her know! Do you understand that, Serenity?"
Pluto? What is she doing here? Rei froze with her hand on the
door, confused; it was then that Serena's voice came floating out of
the room, tinged with exasperation:
"She has a right to know, Setsuna!" The queen sounded angry,
annoyed at Pluto's words. "Rei's one of us, Pluto--we don't need to
classify things from her!"
What? Rei was suddenly aware of the ominous sense of
foreboding shooting through her body: her sixth sense was going crazy,
screaming danger. Something's wrong, Rei--terribly wrong...
"We don't?" Pluto laughed softly. "How innocent you are,
Serenity," she said quietly, "so generous with all these rights and
privileges." Her voice changed suddenly, the almost wistful tone
abruptly replaced by cold, hard ice. "Have you thought yet, Your
Majesty, about the consequences of your generosity?"
"What--"
And suddenly, Rei knew, knew in the depths of her soul what
the two were arguing. Oh, God, no... NO!
"Just how exactly do you propose we tell Rei?" Pluto's voice
was harsh, almost angry; Rei had never heard her in such a state
before. "Do you really think we can just pull her aside and smile and
say, 'Hey, Rei-chan, remember the meeting we had that night at
Serena's? Well, our security was compromised, and the enemy heard our
plans and planted the seed of death inside your husband in a desperate
ploy to keep you at his side?'"
"Pluto--"
"And how do you want to tell her that we deliberately allowed
our meeting to be breached--that we had wanted the creature to know
that we would not let it take Jadeite? How would you tell her that it
was all part of our plan to shake the thing up, so it would panic and
make stupid mistakes for us to take advantage of?"
Pluto's voice softened again, tinged almost with sadness.
"How, Serenity, do you plan to tell Rei that we used her as bait for
the creature--but instead of attacking her as we had anticipated and
mapped out battle plans for, it attacked her husband?
"How, Serenity, do you plan to tell her this all without
turning her against Crystal Tokyo forever?"
There was a long, long silence; then, Pluto spoke again, her
voice very soft. "There's no way, Serenity. You know it, I know it.
You want to be honest with Rei, and I understand that. But, just as
Pluto comes before Setsuna, Serenity must come before Serena--if that
means deceiving Rei to keep Sailor Mars loyal to her Queen, well..."
"Pluto..."
But Rei had already heard enough. Turning away from the door,
she hurried blindly down the hall, the papers in her hand forgotten. A lie.
Crystal Tokyo was built on a lie, founded on a trap of deception. All this
time, I thought I was fighting for honor… but what did I really fight for,
Kyle –your death?
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Two hours later, the Lady Mars approached Serenity very
quietly, and asked for indefinite personal leave to America.
Serenity, after a moment's hesitation, granted her request.
Hino Rei's private plane took off from Tokyo half an hour
later, bound for Dulles International...
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