RESSURRECTION,
Chapter 6: "The Learning Curve"
By Bill K.
Serenity appeared at the window of the small building acting as a base for the senshi. Outside, a hundred people had gathered, waiting for something. When they saw her at the window, the crowd looked and pointed and surged in to get closer.
It was too much for her to stand and she turned away. To her surprise, she found Princess Kakyuu behind her. Serenity jumped back in urprise.
"My apologies, Usagi, for startling you," Princess Kakyuu said with serene grace.
"I guess it's not your fault," Serenity whispered, embarrassed.
"Do the people gathered outside distress you?"
"Yes," Serenity replied, having long since given up wondering how Kakyuu always seemed to know her mind even when she didn't. "What do they want, Kakyuu?"
"For some, a future," Princess Kakyuu replied. "For others, a restoration of what was. They look for hope. They see it here, so they come."
"I'm only one person," Serenity sighed.
"Only one person is needed to guide," Kakyuu smiled.
"Yeah, but the person has to know where she's going first or she's a lousy guide," Serenity said miserably.
"Your wisdom shows through once more," Kakyuu told her cheerfully. "You possess the proper direction already. You just do not trust your judgment. When you do, you will lead and they will follow."
"I suppose they do still need my help." She started for the door, but Kakyuu's gentle hand on her arm stopped her.
"Forgive me, Usagi, but it is the wise person who knows when to aid and when to step back and allow another to achieve alone - - and I sense there is something you feel you must do first." Serenity looked down. "Do not consider it selfish. You should do this, if only to ease your mind and allow you to better aid others."
Serenity nodded. Then she looked up, almost desperately.
"Will you come with me?" she asked.
The hospital was an empty shell. Caved in on two sides, it was empty. The patients who survived were gone, evacuated along with all the drugs that could be salvaged. A grove of fruit trees grew in the lobby and the emergency room, giving some life to the hollow husk of cement and steel.
Serenity stood at the foot of the rubble. Princess Kakyuu stood beside her. Both were solemn. Serenity lifted her arm up, then began to waver.
"What do you fear?" Kakyuu asked.
"That one day using the power is going to be too easy," Serenity admitted. "That I'll lose my humility and become a bully or arrogant."
"They are wise cautions, ones you should keep close to your heart. But you must be cautious, not frozen into inaction. You have a good heart and a pristine soul. Listen to the concerns and advice of others at all times, but allow these traits already within you to guide you."
Serenity nodded. She lifted her hand again and the rubble began to reform, the molecules of the debris manipulated by the energies of the Silver Crystal. The debris began to reform into a four-cornered six-foot pillar, colored black as night and tapering from a four-foot base to a one-foot tip. At the base was a plaque. Wiggling her finger in the air, Serenity caused characters to form on the plaque. Soon it read:
"To the memory of Kenji and Ikuko Tsukino
Undeserved as parents, but not forgotten by
A grateful daughter"
"I should have done something," Serenity whispered as she and Kakyuu stared at the monument.
"Then let this be your next lesson, dear Usagi," Kakyuu told her. "We possess vast power. We can perform things that seem as miracles. But there are some things even we cannot alter. You must always try your best, but you must realize and accept that sometimes your best will not be good enough."
"Then what's the use of having powers?" Serenity asked.
"Dwell upon the positive rather than the negative, Usagi," Kakyuu said. "Do not berate yourself for the lives you cannot save. Instead cherish the lives you do save."
"She makes sense," Serenity heard a voice she feared she would never hear again speak from behind her. Whirling, she saw Shingo, a little more gaunt than she recalled, but alive. Instantly she broke and ran to him.
"Shingo!" she sobbed, hugging her brother. "Oh, I was worried you were dead, too!"
"Guess I got lucky," Shingo said, returning her embrace. Since he dwarfed her by several inches now, the top of her head came to his throat. He rested his chin on her blonde hair and she didn't mind a bit.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save Mom and Dad," Serenity whimpered.
"Hey, until I saw all these trees sprout and heard your voice in my head, I was afraid you were in there with them. Glad to know I was wrong. Don't blame yourself - - although I know you're going to anyway."
Shingo held his sister at arm's length and looked her over.
"You've changed," he said and she cringed. "For the better. Just how powerful are you now?"
"I'm still finding out myself," Serenity said sheepishly. Then she noticed Shingo was staring enraptured by Princess Kakyuu. "This is my friend and mentor, Princess Kakyuu."
"I am pleased to meet you," Kakyuu said with a voice like a melody, smiling with the radiance of a small sun.
"Uh huh," Shingo replied vacantly.
"Stop drooling. You're embarrassing us both," Serenity whispered to her brother, nudging him. This shook Shingo out of his trance. He gave Kakyuu a sheepish glance, though the woman took no outward offense.
"So, um, do you think you've got the power to fix all of this?" Shingo asked Serenity. "It's going to take months to dig out and months after that to rebuild. And the people I saw while I was wandering around need shelter."
Serenity looked inquiringly to Kakyuu.
"You must choose your own path, dear Usagi," Kakyuu advised her. "I can only offer guidance. Do you recall what I said to you earlier?"
Serenity grimaced. "Not really. I warned you I was a terrible student."
Kakyuu smiled. "Do you recall I told you that a wise person knows when to aid and when to step back and allow others to achieve? It is easy for those stronger or more fortunate to aid those weaker or less fortunate. Some might say it is a duty. But it is just as easy for the weak and less fortunate to become dependent upon that aid rather than achieve on their own. Assistance is not a bad word. Neither is charity. But neither is self-determination."
Serenity looked down, hopelessly confused.
"I think I can see what she's talking about," Shingo told his sister. "The more you do for people, the more they seem to expect you to do for them. I guess that's right." He turned his gaze to Kakyuu. "But on the other hand, if you turn your back on suffering, are you worthy of your strength or good fortune? Doesn't great power or fortune obligate a person to do more?"
"Your brother speaks true and with great eloquence," Kakyuu told Serenity. "Usagi, you will run across situations where there is no wrong. You will also run into situations where there is no right."
"So what do I do?" whined Serenity.
"You must decide for yourself. You must choose what course you think is right."
Serenity huffed in frustration. She looked to Shingo, then to Kakyuu and back to Shingo again.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to rebuild everyone's home," offered Serenity. She turned to Kakyuu. "Do you think I can do it?"
"I think the important question is - - do you?" Kakyuu replied.
* * * *
It was a curious sight. Sailor Pluto standing before the broken rubble of the university library. Her hands clasped the Time Staff and her forehead leaned in against it. She was deep inside of herself, oblivious to the survivors who searched the remains of the campus for other victims, personal possessions or valuables to steal. Her long green-black hair blew slightly in the breeze that traveled across the campus. It was a warm summer breeze, one that hadn't been felt in nearly two years.
As she concentrated, the ruby orb atop the staff began to glow and pulse with light. The light slowly grew brighter, the pulse stronger and more vibrant. The glow tinted Pluto's features in deep ruby. Suddenly her head righted itself and her eyes opened. The staff was brought to a sixty-degree angle, the orb pointing at the rubble.
"Chronos Maelstrom!" Sailor Pluto called out.
Impossibly ice began to reform upon the broken cement and stone. People stopped and stared, thinking Pluto was somehow resurrecting the menace that lingered just at the bottom of everyone's conscious thoughts. Then the broken bits of the building began to reconstruct. Corners knitted themselves back together. Crossbeams leaped back up onto their supports and stone and mortar jumped to cover them. Within seconds the building that was the university library lived again, once more covered in thick sheets of ice. But before the building could collapse again under the weight, the ice began to melt. When it evaporated into nothing, the library was restored, a place as it was before the Second Great Ice Age had occurred.
And Sailor Pluto sank to her knees, gripping desperately onto the Time Staff for support.
"Are you all right?" someone asked her. Pluto looked up and found a young man of college age standing over her. Though he had black hair and Japanese features, something about his frame and his mouth reminded her of Janus.
"I," sighed Pluto with fatigue, "will recover shortly."
"What happened here?"
"I have reversed time in this small section of the world," Pluto explained. "There was a great reservoir of knowledge in this place. I - - did not wish humanity to lose it. We will need it in the coming months." Pluto seemed to sadden. "And it must be here for children to explore and grow wise."
"And the people that were inside?" he asked hopefully.
Pluto concentrated for a moment. "All who were trapped inside are without mutilation," she wheezed. "It is beyond even my power to restore life to them."
"That's still amazing! Can you do it anywhere else?"
"Yes," sighed Pluto as she climbed to her feet, "but I shall not."
"Why?"
"This process takes a great amount of effort from me. The strain would ultimately doom me - - and I have a destiny that I must fulfill." She rose to unsteady feet and looked at the stranger with solemn resolve. "Though I may desire such a thing, I cannot give in. To do so would divert the world from a path it must not be diverted from."
Seeing the answer didn't satisfy the youth, Pluto put her hand on his shoulder.
"Do not despair. 'She' is at this moment working for the greater good. Trust in 'her' and 'she' will protect you."
And Sailor Pluto walked off, her mission accomplished.
* * * *
There was a knock at the door. All heads turned to the sound. Minako and Ami exchanged exasperated glances while Makoto shifted toward her children to better protect them. Who could be knocking now? The senshi, worn out from helping with the sick, the injured and the larcinous, were trying to grab some rest with exasperating lack of success. Throughout the day occasional strangers had come up to the door, begging to see "the great princess", seeking relief from their various misfortunes. Some requests were genuine and occasionally heart-rending; others were trivial and did little more than annoy them. The intrusions were becoming more and more frequent. Often Endymion had answered and did what he could to accommodate them, but he was off - - somewhere.
"This place needs a doorman," grumbled Minako as she moved toward the door. Her hand closed around the knob. Just then, Rei's head snapped up.
"Don't open it!" she yelled.
Minako turned to her, puzzled, as she opened the door. In walked the last thing in the world Rei wished to face. She sprang to her feet and charged the intruder, though she could still feel her power over fire was weak due to her deprivations and her eruption on Knorr.
"You have some nerve coming here!" Rei roared.
"Hello, Rei," Dietman Hino said calmly and evenly, though his eyes smoldered with resentment at his daughter's disrespect. "I'm glad you survived."
"What do you want?" Rei snarled.
"I want to talk to your friend. I believe her name is Sailor Moon?"
"It's Serenity now. And what do you want with her?"
"I wish to discuss working with her to restore Tokyo - - perhaps all of Japan, if that's possible," Hino told his daughter. "She's certainly demonstrated the ability in the past to rescue us when we were all threatened. Although I have to admit, I didn't think she was strong enough to make all these fruit trees and vegetable plants grow. But that just means the possibilities are even greater."
"And what do you get out of it?" Rei glared. Hino sighed.
"Is she here?" he asked.
"Answer my question!"
"What I get out of it is the restoration of the greatest country in the world and an end to the suffering and misery of the people I was elected to represent and safeguard," snapped Hino with irritation. "I am Secretary General of the Diet and chair of the ruling party and it is my responsibility to explore any and all avenues to ensure or restore the health and safety of my constituency! And if you weren't so busy acting like a petulant little child, you'd see that!"
Rei glared, stung. Ami moved it to try to mediate.
"Hino-sama, your reasons are noble ones," Ami offered. "Unfortunately, Serenity's not here. No doubt she's out doing exactly what you're hoping she'll do."
"It'd be better if she coordinated her efforts with the disaster relief command center that's been set up at Tokyo Stadium," Hino replied. "It's preferable to her acting on her own."
"Why?" Minako asked suspiciously. "As long as she's helping people, why does she have to run it by you guys first?"
"To avoid duplication of efforts, misallocation of resources and to maximize our effectiveness," Hino told her. Then he noticed Rei staring at him in that uncomfortable manner she'd had since she was thirteen, like she was looking into his soul. There was an awkward moment in which Dietman Hino couldn't think of what to do or say.
Then Rei filled the silence.
"You're afraid of her," she whispered. Heads turned toward him.
"Nonsense," he replied.
"You see what she can do. You see how the people respond to her. You see how the crowds out there have been growing almost by the hour. How they wait for her, clamor for her, hang on her every move - - how they see her as our only salvation - - and you're scared! Scared you'll lose the one thing you've worked and sacrificed and devoted your entire life to getting: Your political power base."
"Rei, that's a hateful thing to say, even for you," Hino scowled.
"It's all you've cared about your entire life: Your career! You gave up everything for it - - your scruples, your morals, - - your family! And now it's all melting away like the ice that held everybody prisoner! And while everybody's out there suffering and sweating to put all of this back together, you're scrambling to keep your power from running down the drain!"
"I am trying to do what's best for the community," Hino began.
"Like when you told everybody to stay inside until they could be evacuated!" Rei snarled. "How many people were trapped inside those buildings when they froze over? How many people died when those buildings collapsed onto their heads? How much blood is on your hands?"
"Rei!" Ami said, forcing herself between them and holding her friend back. "I think that's enough." Rei glared at her friend. There was a moment where it looked like she would violently shove Ami away, but the moment passed.
"No, let her go," Hino told Ami bitterly. "She's spent her entire life pointing out other people's mistakes. And yes," Hino continued, forcing his way past the emotion that clutched his vocal cords, "it was a mistake. And yes, I do have their blood on my hands. I did what I thought was best and I was wrong and thousands suffered for it. A good leader learns from his mistakes, though, and presses on to aid his people."
The room was filled with an awkward silence.
"I know you condemn me for it, Rei, just like you condemn me for everything short of Hiroshima. But if your precious Serenity does decide to seize power, or even if the people decide to give it to her, some day she'll be faced with a choice just like the one I was faced with. And on that day we'll see just how much better she is than I am." Turning to Ami, Hino forced himself to calm. "Please convey my respect to Serenity and ask her to meet with me at her earliest convenience."
Dietman Hino turned and left.
"Poor man," sympathized Hayami. "It must not be very easy to be in his position right about now."
"Don't let him con you," Rei said bitterly. "He mixes in just enough truth to sound sympathetic and believable. That's why he's such a great politician."
* * * *
Serenity and Kakyuu ventured through the ruins of the city until they found a secluded spot away from the destruction. It was the former botanical gardens of Tokyo and, aside from a collapsed arboretum and some felled trees that couldn't take the weight of the ice, seemed untouched by all of the destruction visited upon the city. The scenery was reborn, thanks to Serenity, though she'd take no credit for it. Kakyuu looked over to Serenity and noticed how relaxed she'd become.
"Such vistas of flora please you," she commented.
"Yes," smiled Serenity. "I've always thought gardens and forests were just so pretty. There's something about natural scenes that just seem so - - well, natural." Serenity blushed. "Boy, that sounded SO articulate."
"Usagi," Kakyuu began patiently.
"And it's so ironic, because I've always been all thumbs when it came to gardening. Everything I tried to grow just, well, died."
"Usagi, there is no need to constantly devalue your efforts," Princess Kakyuu told her. "I do not think you arrogant." Serenity looked down, embarrassed. "As to your efforts, you need only look around you and see all the fruit trees and vegetable plants that grow at your behest, all the flowers and greenery that once more live. Perhaps before you tried too hard, anticipating that you would fail. Perhaps you need only act anticipating you will succeed."
"But the stakes are so much higher now," Serenity replied. "We're not just talking about a garden."
"I know this. You hear the cries. You feel the pain of your people, not just here but across the globe. I hear them as well. And you wonder, with your mind still grounded in that clumsy young girl who could do nothing right save love life, if you can help them." She clasped Serenity's hands and held them tight. "You can."
"I believe you," Serenity said, eyes averted. "You know so much more than I do, I'd be silly not to." She raised her head, her eyes filled with teetering confidence. "What do I have to do?"
"What do you wish to do?" Kakyuu asked gently.
"Well, Shingo said people need shelter. I guess we should start with that."
"A good choice. It will not be an easy task, Usagi. Do you feel up to it?"
"I don't know. Last time I tried something like this, I almost - - well, you know."
"Do not fear. I shall join my energies to yours should you falter." Princess Kakyuu smiled at Serenity. It was a playful smile, full of joy and fun, and yet behind it was deep, earnest emotions. "You have become a great friend to me in the short time I have known you. I should not wish anything dire to happen to such a great friend." Then her smile took on a mischievous glint. "And I doubt Seiya would forgive me should I allow anything to happen to you - - nor would your friends, particularly your Uranus and Neptune." Serenity only looked at her perplexed, for the comment had sailed over her head. "Do not fear. I will aid you. And if you feel yourself becoming overtaxed, you are permitted to stop. Ten bites will finish a pie just as permanently as one."
"Obviously you've never seen me eat," grinned Serenity. Kakyuu smiled back, amused by the joke, though there was no way she should know why it was funny. Then she took Serenity's hands and brought them up so their arms were level with their chests.
"It is as before," Kakyuu instructed. "Concentrate on what you wish to happen and then allow the energy to flow from deep inside of you. Above all, believe you can do it. And remember I am here and will aid you if you need it."
Serenity nodded. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then began to concentrate.
"Not too hard," Kakyuu prodded softly. "Be as the feather floating in the wind. Do not force the power. Let it flow from you."
Nodding, Serenity took another breath and concentrated on the feather analogy. A calmness washed over her. She could feel the power of the Silver Crystal glowing in her chest. It seemed even easier now than before when she grew all the fruit and vegetables. She opened her eyes, wanting to tell Princess Kakyuu. To her amazement, they were fifty meters in the air. Startled, Serenity immediately began to struggle to maintain altitude.
"Calm, Usagi," Kakyuu said gently. "Be as the feather."
Chagrined, Serenity nodded and thought of the feather. Immediately she stabilized in the air. Recalling Kakyuu's instructions and the sensations she recalled from the time before, Serenity focused on her vision. She saw a city restored to what it had been. The power flared brilliant within her and immediately began to hurt. Serenity tensed.
Continued in Chapter 7
Chapter 6: "The Learning Curve"
By Bill K.
Serenity appeared at the window of the small building acting as a base for the senshi. Outside, a hundred people had gathered, waiting for something. When they saw her at the window, the crowd looked and pointed and surged in to get closer.
It was too much for her to stand and she turned away. To her surprise, she found Princess Kakyuu behind her. Serenity jumped back in urprise.
"My apologies, Usagi, for startling you," Princess Kakyuu said with serene grace.
"I guess it's not your fault," Serenity whispered, embarrassed.
"Do the people gathered outside distress you?"
"Yes," Serenity replied, having long since given up wondering how Kakyuu always seemed to know her mind even when she didn't. "What do they want, Kakyuu?"
"For some, a future," Princess Kakyuu replied. "For others, a restoration of what was. They look for hope. They see it here, so they come."
"I'm only one person," Serenity sighed.
"Only one person is needed to guide," Kakyuu smiled.
"Yeah, but the person has to know where she's going first or she's a lousy guide," Serenity said miserably.
"Your wisdom shows through once more," Kakyuu told her cheerfully. "You possess the proper direction already. You just do not trust your judgment. When you do, you will lead and they will follow."
"I suppose they do still need my help." She started for the door, but Kakyuu's gentle hand on her arm stopped her.
"Forgive me, Usagi, but it is the wise person who knows when to aid and when to step back and allow another to achieve alone - - and I sense there is something you feel you must do first." Serenity looked down. "Do not consider it selfish. You should do this, if only to ease your mind and allow you to better aid others."
Serenity nodded. Then she looked up, almost desperately.
"Will you come with me?" she asked.
The hospital was an empty shell. Caved in on two sides, it was empty. The patients who survived were gone, evacuated along with all the drugs that could be salvaged. A grove of fruit trees grew in the lobby and the emergency room, giving some life to the hollow husk of cement and steel.
Serenity stood at the foot of the rubble. Princess Kakyuu stood beside her. Both were solemn. Serenity lifted her arm up, then began to waver.
"What do you fear?" Kakyuu asked.
"That one day using the power is going to be too easy," Serenity admitted. "That I'll lose my humility and become a bully or arrogant."
"They are wise cautions, ones you should keep close to your heart. But you must be cautious, not frozen into inaction. You have a good heart and a pristine soul. Listen to the concerns and advice of others at all times, but allow these traits already within you to guide you."
Serenity nodded. She lifted her hand again and the rubble began to reform, the molecules of the debris manipulated by the energies of the Silver Crystal. The debris began to reform into a four-cornered six-foot pillar, colored black as night and tapering from a four-foot base to a one-foot tip. At the base was a plaque. Wiggling her finger in the air, Serenity caused characters to form on the plaque. Soon it read:
"To the memory of Kenji and Ikuko Tsukino
Undeserved as parents, but not forgotten by
A grateful daughter"
"I should have done something," Serenity whispered as she and Kakyuu stared at the monument.
"Then let this be your next lesson, dear Usagi," Kakyuu told her. "We possess vast power. We can perform things that seem as miracles. But there are some things even we cannot alter. You must always try your best, but you must realize and accept that sometimes your best will not be good enough."
"Then what's the use of having powers?" Serenity asked.
"Dwell upon the positive rather than the negative, Usagi," Kakyuu said. "Do not berate yourself for the lives you cannot save. Instead cherish the lives you do save."
"She makes sense," Serenity heard a voice she feared she would never hear again speak from behind her. Whirling, she saw Shingo, a little more gaunt than she recalled, but alive. Instantly she broke and ran to him.
"Shingo!" she sobbed, hugging her brother. "Oh, I was worried you were dead, too!"
"Guess I got lucky," Shingo said, returning her embrace. Since he dwarfed her by several inches now, the top of her head came to his throat. He rested his chin on her blonde hair and she didn't mind a bit.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save Mom and Dad," Serenity whimpered.
"Hey, until I saw all these trees sprout and heard your voice in my head, I was afraid you were in there with them. Glad to know I was wrong. Don't blame yourself - - although I know you're going to anyway."
Shingo held his sister at arm's length and looked her over.
"You've changed," he said and she cringed. "For the better. Just how powerful are you now?"
"I'm still finding out myself," Serenity said sheepishly. Then she noticed Shingo was staring enraptured by Princess Kakyuu. "This is my friend and mentor, Princess Kakyuu."
"I am pleased to meet you," Kakyuu said with a voice like a melody, smiling with the radiance of a small sun.
"Uh huh," Shingo replied vacantly.
"Stop drooling. You're embarrassing us both," Serenity whispered to her brother, nudging him. This shook Shingo out of his trance. He gave Kakyuu a sheepish glance, though the woman took no outward offense.
"So, um, do you think you've got the power to fix all of this?" Shingo asked Serenity. "It's going to take months to dig out and months after that to rebuild. And the people I saw while I was wandering around need shelter."
Serenity looked inquiringly to Kakyuu.
"You must choose your own path, dear Usagi," Kakyuu advised her. "I can only offer guidance. Do you recall what I said to you earlier?"
Serenity grimaced. "Not really. I warned you I was a terrible student."
Kakyuu smiled. "Do you recall I told you that a wise person knows when to aid and when to step back and allow others to achieve? It is easy for those stronger or more fortunate to aid those weaker or less fortunate. Some might say it is a duty. But it is just as easy for the weak and less fortunate to become dependent upon that aid rather than achieve on their own. Assistance is not a bad word. Neither is charity. But neither is self-determination."
Serenity looked down, hopelessly confused.
"I think I can see what she's talking about," Shingo told his sister. "The more you do for people, the more they seem to expect you to do for them. I guess that's right." He turned his gaze to Kakyuu. "But on the other hand, if you turn your back on suffering, are you worthy of your strength or good fortune? Doesn't great power or fortune obligate a person to do more?"
"Your brother speaks true and with great eloquence," Kakyuu told Serenity. "Usagi, you will run across situations where there is no wrong. You will also run into situations where there is no right."
"So what do I do?" whined Serenity.
"You must decide for yourself. You must choose what course you think is right."
Serenity huffed in frustration. She looked to Shingo, then to Kakyuu and back to Shingo again.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to rebuild everyone's home," offered Serenity. She turned to Kakyuu. "Do you think I can do it?"
"I think the important question is - - do you?" Kakyuu replied.
* * * *
It was a curious sight. Sailor Pluto standing before the broken rubble of the university library. Her hands clasped the Time Staff and her forehead leaned in against it. She was deep inside of herself, oblivious to the survivors who searched the remains of the campus for other victims, personal possessions or valuables to steal. Her long green-black hair blew slightly in the breeze that traveled across the campus. It was a warm summer breeze, one that hadn't been felt in nearly two years.
As she concentrated, the ruby orb atop the staff began to glow and pulse with light. The light slowly grew brighter, the pulse stronger and more vibrant. The glow tinted Pluto's features in deep ruby. Suddenly her head righted itself and her eyes opened. The staff was brought to a sixty-degree angle, the orb pointing at the rubble.
"Chronos Maelstrom!" Sailor Pluto called out.
Impossibly ice began to reform upon the broken cement and stone. People stopped and stared, thinking Pluto was somehow resurrecting the menace that lingered just at the bottom of everyone's conscious thoughts. Then the broken bits of the building began to reconstruct. Corners knitted themselves back together. Crossbeams leaped back up onto their supports and stone and mortar jumped to cover them. Within seconds the building that was the university library lived again, once more covered in thick sheets of ice. But before the building could collapse again under the weight, the ice began to melt. When it evaporated into nothing, the library was restored, a place as it was before the Second Great Ice Age had occurred.
And Sailor Pluto sank to her knees, gripping desperately onto the Time Staff for support.
"Are you all right?" someone asked her. Pluto looked up and found a young man of college age standing over her. Though he had black hair and Japanese features, something about his frame and his mouth reminded her of Janus.
"I," sighed Pluto with fatigue, "will recover shortly."
"What happened here?"
"I have reversed time in this small section of the world," Pluto explained. "There was a great reservoir of knowledge in this place. I - - did not wish humanity to lose it. We will need it in the coming months." Pluto seemed to sadden. "And it must be here for children to explore and grow wise."
"And the people that were inside?" he asked hopefully.
Pluto concentrated for a moment. "All who were trapped inside are without mutilation," she wheezed. "It is beyond even my power to restore life to them."
"That's still amazing! Can you do it anywhere else?"
"Yes," sighed Pluto as she climbed to her feet, "but I shall not."
"Why?"
"This process takes a great amount of effort from me. The strain would ultimately doom me - - and I have a destiny that I must fulfill." She rose to unsteady feet and looked at the stranger with solemn resolve. "Though I may desire such a thing, I cannot give in. To do so would divert the world from a path it must not be diverted from."
Seeing the answer didn't satisfy the youth, Pluto put her hand on his shoulder.
"Do not despair. 'She' is at this moment working for the greater good. Trust in 'her' and 'she' will protect you."
And Sailor Pluto walked off, her mission accomplished.
* * * *
There was a knock at the door. All heads turned to the sound. Minako and Ami exchanged exasperated glances while Makoto shifted toward her children to better protect them. Who could be knocking now? The senshi, worn out from helping with the sick, the injured and the larcinous, were trying to grab some rest with exasperating lack of success. Throughout the day occasional strangers had come up to the door, begging to see "the great princess", seeking relief from their various misfortunes. Some requests were genuine and occasionally heart-rending; others were trivial and did little more than annoy them. The intrusions were becoming more and more frequent. Often Endymion had answered and did what he could to accommodate them, but he was off - - somewhere.
"This place needs a doorman," grumbled Minako as she moved toward the door. Her hand closed around the knob. Just then, Rei's head snapped up.
"Don't open it!" she yelled.
Minako turned to her, puzzled, as she opened the door. In walked the last thing in the world Rei wished to face. She sprang to her feet and charged the intruder, though she could still feel her power over fire was weak due to her deprivations and her eruption on Knorr.
"You have some nerve coming here!" Rei roared.
"Hello, Rei," Dietman Hino said calmly and evenly, though his eyes smoldered with resentment at his daughter's disrespect. "I'm glad you survived."
"What do you want?" Rei snarled.
"I want to talk to your friend. I believe her name is Sailor Moon?"
"It's Serenity now. And what do you want with her?"
"I wish to discuss working with her to restore Tokyo - - perhaps all of Japan, if that's possible," Hino told his daughter. "She's certainly demonstrated the ability in the past to rescue us when we were all threatened. Although I have to admit, I didn't think she was strong enough to make all these fruit trees and vegetable plants grow. But that just means the possibilities are even greater."
"And what do you get out of it?" Rei glared. Hino sighed.
"Is she here?" he asked.
"Answer my question!"
"What I get out of it is the restoration of the greatest country in the world and an end to the suffering and misery of the people I was elected to represent and safeguard," snapped Hino with irritation. "I am Secretary General of the Diet and chair of the ruling party and it is my responsibility to explore any and all avenues to ensure or restore the health and safety of my constituency! And if you weren't so busy acting like a petulant little child, you'd see that!"
Rei glared, stung. Ami moved it to try to mediate.
"Hino-sama, your reasons are noble ones," Ami offered. "Unfortunately, Serenity's not here. No doubt she's out doing exactly what you're hoping she'll do."
"It'd be better if she coordinated her efforts with the disaster relief command center that's been set up at Tokyo Stadium," Hino replied. "It's preferable to her acting on her own."
"Why?" Minako asked suspiciously. "As long as she's helping people, why does she have to run it by you guys first?"
"To avoid duplication of efforts, misallocation of resources and to maximize our effectiveness," Hino told her. Then he noticed Rei staring at him in that uncomfortable manner she'd had since she was thirteen, like she was looking into his soul. There was an awkward moment in which Dietman Hino couldn't think of what to do or say.
Then Rei filled the silence.
"You're afraid of her," she whispered. Heads turned toward him.
"Nonsense," he replied.
"You see what she can do. You see how the people respond to her. You see how the crowds out there have been growing almost by the hour. How they wait for her, clamor for her, hang on her every move - - how they see her as our only salvation - - and you're scared! Scared you'll lose the one thing you've worked and sacrificed and devoted your entire life to getting: Your political power base."
"Rei, that's a hateful thing to say, even for you," Hino scowled.
"It's all you've cared about your entire life: Your career! You gave up everything for it - - your scruples, your morals, - - your family! And now it's all melting away like the ice that held everybody prisoner! And while everybody's out there suffering and sweating to put all of this back together, you're scrambling to keep your power from running down the drain!"
"I am trying to do what's best for the community," Hino began.
"Like when you told everybody to stay inside until they could be evacuated!" Rei snarled. "How many people were trapped inside those buildings when they froze over? How many people died when those buildings collapsed onto their heads? How much blood is on your hands?"
"Rei!" Ami said, forcing herself between them and holding her friend back. "I think that's enough." Rei glared at her friend. There was a moment where it looked like she would violently shove Ami away, but the moment passed.
"No, let her go," Hino told Ami bitterly. "She's spent her entire life pointing out other people's mistakes. And yes," Hino continued, forcing his way past the emotion that clutched his vocal cords, "it was a mistake. And yes, I do have their blood on my hands. I did what I thought was best and I was wrong and thousands suffered for it. A good leader learns from his mistakes, though, and presses on to aid his people."
The room was filled with an awkward silence.
"I know you condemn me for it, Rei, just like you condemn me for everything short of Hiroshima. But if your precious Serenity does decide to seize power, or even if the people decide to give it to her, some day she'll be faced with a choice just like the one I was faced with. And on that day we'll see just how much better she is than I am." Turning to Ami, Hino forced himself to calm. "Please convey my respect to Serenity and ask her to meet with me at her earliest convenience."
Dietman Hino turned and left.
"Poor man," sympathized Hayami. "It must not be very easy to be in his position right about now."
"Don't let him con you," Rei said bitterly. "He mixes in just enough truth to sound sympathetic and believable. That's why he's such a great politician."
* * * *
Serenity and Kakyuu ventured through the ruins of the city until they found a secluded spot away from the destruction. It was the former botanical gardens of Tokyo and, aside from a collapsed arboretum and some felled trees that couldn't take the weight of the ice, seemed untouched by all of the destruction visited upon the city. The scenery was reborn, thanks to Serenity, though she'd take no credit for it. Kakyuu looked over to Serenity and noticed how relaxed she'd become.
"Such vistas of flora please you," she commented.
"Yes," smiled Serenity. "I've always thought gardens and forests were just so pretty. There's something about natural scenes that just seem so - - well, natural." Serenity blushed. "Boy, that sounded SO articulate."
"Usagi," Kakyuu began patiently.
"And it's so ironic, because I've always been all thumbs when it came to gardening. Everything I tried to grow just, well, died."
"Usagi, there is no need to constantly devalue your efforts," Princess Kakyuu told her. "I do not think you arrogant." Serenity looked down, embarrassed. "As to your efforts, you need only look around you and see all the fruit trees and vegetable plants that grow at your behest, all the flowers and greenery that once more live. Perhaps before you tried too hard, anticipating that you would fail. Perhaps you need only act anticipating you will succeed."
"But the stakes are so much higher now," Serenity replied. "We're not just talking about a garden."
"I know this. You hear the cries. You feel the pain of your people, not just here but across the globe. I hear them as well. And you wonder, with your mind still grounded in that clumsy young girl who could do nothing right save love life, if you can help them." She clasped Serenity's hands and held them tight. "You can."
"I believe you," Serenity said, eyes averted. "You know so much more than I do, I'd be silly not to." She raised her head, her eyes filled with teetering confidence. "What do I have to do?"
"What do you wish to do?" Kakyuu asked gently.
"Well, Shingo said people need shelter. I guess we should start with that."
"A good choice. It will not be an easy task, Usagi. Do you feel up to it?"
"I don't know. Last time I tried something like this, I almost - - well, you know."
"Do not fear. I shall join my energies to yours should you falter." Princess Kakyuu smiled at Serenity. It was a playful smile, full of joy and fun, and yet behind it was deep, earnest emotions. "You have become a great friend to me in the short time I have known you. I should not wish anything dire to happen to such a great friend." Then her smile took on a mischievous glint. "And I doubt Seiya would forgive me should I allow anything to happen to you - - nor would your friends, particularly your Uranus and Neptune." Serenity only looked at her perplexed, for the comment had sailed over her head. "Do not fear. I will aid you. And if you feel yourself becoming overtaxed, you are permitted to stop. Ten bites will finish a pie just as permanently as one."
"Obviously you've never seen me eat," grinned Serenity. Kakyuu smiled back, amused by the joke, though there was no way she should know why it was funny. Then she took Serenity's hands and brought them up so their arms were level with their chests.
"It is as before," Kakyuu instructed. "Concentrate on what you wish to happen and then allow the energy to flow from deep inside of you. Above all, believe you can do it. And remember I am here and will aid you if you need it."
Serenity nodded. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then began to concentrate.
"Not too hard," Kakyuu prodded softly. "Be as the feather floating in the wind. Do not force the power. Let it flow from you."
Nodding, Serenity took another breath and concentrated on the feather analogy. A calmness washed over her. She could feel the power of the Silver Crystal glowing in her chest. It seemed even easier now than before when she grew all the fruit and vegetables. She opened her eyes, wanting to tell Princess Kakyuu. To her amazement, they were fifty meters in the air. Startled, Serenity immediately began to struggle to maintain altitude.
"Calm, Usagi," Kakyuu said gently. "Be as the feather."
Chagrined, Serenity nodded and thought of the feather. Immediately she stabilized in the air. Recalling Kakyuu's instructions and the sensations she recalled from the time before, Serenity focused on her vision. She saw a city restored to what it had been. The power flared brilliant within her and immediately began to hurt. Serenity tensed.
Continued in Chapter 7