RESSURRECTION,
Chapter 7: "A Feather In The Wind"
By Bill K.
"Daddy?" young Ichiro asked, leaning on his father. "When are we going home?"
The boy liked leaning on his father. His father was strong and massive and could defeat any menace that might harm him. And his mother was the famous Sailor Jupiter and whatever menace his father couldn't handle, she could. Life intimidated him sometimes, but never when he could feel his father or his mother next to him.
But recent events had shaken even that vestige of security for Ichiro Ikegami. There seemed to be no safe place, no secure sameness anymore. Not even the strength and warmth of his father's arm could make him forget about the ice monsters and sinking into the cold blackness, and being afraid that he'd never come up again. And if, somehow, they could all just go home, be in familiar surroundings and be a family again and not refugees, maybe he could forget about how scary it was to go through that.
"You want to go back to the restaurant?" Sanjuro asked him curiously.
"No, not the restaurant," Ichiro said, struggling to make his father understand. "I want to go HOME. I want us all to be home. Can't we go home?"
Sanjuro looked at his son helplessly. "I don't think it's there anymore, son."
The boy buried his face into his father's side.
"Hey, it'll be all right. We'll build a new home. You and me, and your mom and your sister, we all made it through. And we'll start over again."
"Will it be like it was before?" sniffed the boy.
"Maybe not. A lot of things won't be the same. But some things will be better. You'll see."
"How do you know?" the child whimpered. Helplessly Sanjuro searched his mind for an answer, but at the moment he was coming up short. Then Ami's husband, Hayami, eased over and sat down next to them.
"Ichiro?" the squat, plain man said, squinting because he lacked his glasses. "You remember me, don't you?"
"You're Uncle Hayami, aren't you?" Ichiro replied.
"That's right. And you should listen to your father. He's right. Life may not be the same as it was, but some things will be better - - and some things won't change at all."
"How do you know?" Ichiro repeated.
"Because life's always changing. Does your Mom have a garden?"
"No. But Auntie Rei does, at the shrine."
"And it's a pretty garden, isn't it?" Ichiro nodded. "But it changes in the fall, doesn't it? And it changes again in the winter. And it's not as nice, is it?" Ichiro shook his head. "But it blooms again in the spring. And it's never exactly the same two years in a row, is it? But it's always pretty." He put his hand on the young boy's shoulder. "Our life is in winter right now. It's not very pretty now, but something will grow from this. It might be different from what you're used to, but it can be just as pretty if we work hard and give it a chance to grow."
"How do you know?" Ichiro asked.
"Because that's the way life is, Ichiro," Hayami grinned, his ordinary face taking on a satisfied glow. "That's the way it's always been. I know, because I've seen it. You see a lot in thirty-five years."
Ichiro still seemed skeptical.
"Ichiro," Hayami persisted. "My grandfather used to tell me stories about another time when he went through something like this. My grandfather was a boy during World War II and during that time he went through his own terrible winter. For a time it looked like he was never going to see the springtime. But he saw Japan's springtime. He told me it was so different from the old times, but that in its own way it was beautiful. He lived to be eighty-one, my grandfather." Hayami paused, as if listening to someone. "He says you shouldn't be afraid. You'll see your springtime, too."
"He's here?" gaped Ichiro.
"All our ancestors walk with us," Hayami smiled. "Didn't Sensei tell you that at the shrine?" Ichiro nodded vigorously. "So don't be afraid."
Ichiro leaned back onto his father. He looked around the room, as if he was trying to see the grandparents he'd never met, the ones that his mother always talked about. Sanjuro patted Hayami on the arm and mouthed a thank you.
In another part of the room, Ami leaned over to Rei and said, "Is my guy something special or what?"
"He's got a way about him, that's for sure," grinned Rei. Then she glanced wickedly over at her friend. "Now if you could get him to stop undressing me with his eyes."
"He undresses me with more than just his eyes," Ami replied proudly.
Rei gaped in shock at Ami. "Ami, listen to you!" Then she shook her head. "I can remember when you were too embarrassed to even say the word 'sex'! Just where did that shy young girl go?"
"She grew up," grinned Ami. "And she found out just what she was missing." Rei nudged her with a sympathetic gleam in her eye.
Suddenly Rei stiffened. Knowing her friend, Ami looked on with mounting concern.
"Rei, what is it?" she whispered, trying not to let the others hear. "Is it more trouble? Is it Serenity?"
Rei only stared off into space, her face painted with anxiety.
* * * *
Sailor Star Fighter looked on as her Princess and her true love elevated into the sky. They slowly revolved as one as they rose, as if orbiting around each other. The senshi from the stars looked on, unable to shake the premonition of - - not disaster, but of something she wouldn't like. Not that there was much about this trip she liked. Seeing her wonderful "Odango" again after all these years hurt enough, for she knew the woman loved another. To see her so far beyond her now in her "Serenity" form, as her princess was beyond her in power and scope and evolution, was the crushing blow. Before there was some slim hope, but now . . .
The senshi turned around and found Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune behind her. That they had approached unnoticed was bad enough, but it was attributable as much to their skill as her preoccupation. The fact that they were here probably meant nothing good for her. But Sailor Star Fighter never backed away from anything, so she turned and met them face to face.
"What are they doing?" Neptune asked as Uranus glared sullenly.
"Precisely?" retorted Star Fighter. "I have no idea. Knowing them as I do, I imagine they're trying to help your people."
With a rush that caught even Star Fighter unprepared, Uranus pushed forward and shoved Star Fighter to the ground. She stood over the prone senshi, towering menacingly.
"I don't like your tone," Uranus announced, daring Star Fighter to object. Star Fighter started to push to her feet, with Uranus waiting for anything the woman might wish to throw at her. However, Neptune interceded, holding Uranus back with an arm and allowing Star Fighter to regain her feet.
"Uranus," Neptune whispered sternly. She turned to Star Fighter. "We just want to understand why you're here."
"We're trying to help your people," fumed Star Fighter irritably. "Don't you two understand debts of honor?"
Uranus started to lunge, but Neptune restrained her.
"Debt of honor?" Neptune questioned. "For her help against Galaxia?"
"You make it sound like she helped an old woman out of her chair," frowned Star Fighter. "Your Sailor Moon saved the universe that day! You saw with your own eyes the death and destruction Galaxia visited upon your world! And what she did here wasn't a tenth of what she did to Kinmoku or a hundred other worlds! And my princess knew Sailor Moon was our only hope, even when I doubted. I'm not the fastest learner in the universe, but even I can see what we owe her! And my princess certainly can, because she knew from the start! Yet you two can only be suspicious of conspiracies."
"All right," Neptune said placidly, though Star Fighter could tell she was anything but placid in this instance, "I'll accept that explanation - - for her."
"What are you doing here?" Uranus asked, finishing Neptune's thought.
"I'm here at the behest of my Princess," Star Fighter replied coldly. "That's all the explanation either of you need."
"You're not here trying to get lucky?" Uranus persisted. "Thinking maybe you can pick up where you left off? If so, it'll be a lot tougher this time around. You can't sneak around behind Mamoru's back this time. He's here this time." Uranus never looked away as she spoke, keeping her eyes trained on Star Fighter the entire time. "And I'm still here."
The look Sailor Star Fighter gave Sailor Uranus told Sailor Neptune that the woman would gladly spontaneously combust in an orgy of fire that would consume her if she only had the chance to take Uranus with her. Once again it made her feel bad to be the one who had to ask the questions nobody wanted to ask. But she had to know if Princess Kakyuu was as sincere as she came across. Besides she knew the look in Star Fighter's eye, the look that was still there and still as strong as it was twenty years ago. And she had no guarantee Crystal Tokyo would come to be if it was destined to be ruled by Queen Serenity and Queen Seiya.
"I think we've each made our positions clear," Neptune interjected, pulling everyone back from the precipice. "Come on, Uranus. We still have people to help."
The pair was about to leave. Suddenly Uranus stopped, listening to a light gust of wind. Neptune sensed something as well, as did Star Fighter, but Uranus seemed more tuned into whatever was coming, so Neptune looked to her partner for clarification.
Uranus suddenly looked up into the sky. Neptune followed, as did Star Fighter. There was a wave of energy and Neptune felt it pass through her, making her uneasy. She didn't know what was causing it.
"It's Dumpling," Uranus whispered, as if in reply.
* * * *
Artemis found Luna perched out on the window sill of their shelter's second floor. The black cat looked down on the milling crowd around the husk of a building, enraptured with curiosity. The white cat eased up as close to her as he dared, though nothing short of actual contact was close enough for him. Luna tilted her head slightly toward him to acknowledge his presence.
"What do you suppose they want?" Luna mused.
"Maybe they heard Minako was here and they want an autograph," quipped Artemis. Luna responded with one of her acid glares and Artemis smothered a grin. Once more he'd managed to get a rise out of her. "They're probably waiting for Serenity. They probably figure she's their best chance at getting back what they've lost and they want to be first in line."
"Human sloth," scowled Luna. "They should be out rebuilding or pulling out the dead and giving the poor souls a proper burial."
"There's enough people doing that," Artemis told her. "Everyone has their job in life, Luna. For some, it's standing around looking lost so other people know someone needs help."
"You've always had the oddest way of looking at things," Luna commented. Her words sounded reproachful, but only half-hearted. Her expression even seemed mildly amused. Encouraged, Artemis swallowed and took a deep breath to steady himself.
"Luna," he began. "In the park - - when that Frost Giant got us. Just before I froze, I-I said something."
Luna smiled. "Artemis, I don't take stock in proposals made under duress."
It wasn't what Artemis wanted to hear. "Well," he stammered. "All right then. No duress now. Luna, will you . . .?"
"Artemis," Luna said uncomfortably. "Please don't."
"But," he sputtered. "Why? You said you loved me."
"I-I do."
"Well, I love you. What's the problem?"
Luna looked away. She seemed to want to be anywhere but there.
"Is there someone else?" Artemis asked.
"Don't be ridiculous," scowled Luna.
"Then what is it? Don't you think I'm good enough?"
"Of course not! I'm," Luna began. "Artemis, you're asking for a commitment that I'm not ready to make just yet."
"When?"
"When? Do you want me to set up a timetable for you? I don't know, Artemis! This is hardly the time to think about such things, either! Usagi is at a critical crossroads in her life! She needs my guidance now more than ever!"
"I've seen you multi-task with the best of them, Luna. Stop hiding behind Usagi. What's the real reason?"
"Well - - we're hardly compatible, you know!"
"We're not?"
"Certainly not. As admirable as I find you, there are things you do that just drive me 'round the bend! And I don't doubt that there are things about me that you find equally irritating. And to enter into a commitment with such things hanging over our hopes of happiness - - well there's just too much chance of poisoning what we have. And I don't want to risk that." She peeked back at him. "You see, I've hurt you. Can you imagine something like this happening if we were more permanently attached?"
Artemis stared at her, wounded. "There's risk to any relationship, Luna, but it's a risk I'm ready to take. The things I like about you outweigh the things I don't, by a huge margin. Obviously I don't measure up the same in your eyes."
"Artemis, please," pleaded Luna. "Don't take it that way. It isn't you it's me! I'm - - so very frightened that I'll do something to turn you against me. I don't want to risk it because I don't want to endure such a thing. I don't trust myself with your feelings. That should be quite obvious by the mess I'm making of all this! Perhaps someday I can. We all have the capacity for growth. I beg you, please bear with me. The thought of losing you is quite abhorrent to me. It isn't that I don't want to, it's that I can't trust myself yet to make you happy. And it's better that we have a-a means of escape if something should happen." She turned away with trepidation. "However, if you feel you can't abide such a stance, I fully understand."
The silence between them seemed to linger. For Luna, it was sheer torture, but she held her tongue.
"Well," Artemis said in a soft voice and Luna cringed, "they say nothing worth having ever comes easily."
Luna turned back to him, daring to hope.
"You're probably the only thing in the universe that's actually worth all of this grief," she heard the white cat say.
Luna sprang up and rubbed foreheads with Artemis.
"I promise I'll make this up to you," she sniffed. "Please be patient with me. I will say 'yes' one day, I swear it!"
"You better," grinned Artemis. "You don't want to leave little Diana without a mother, do you?"
"I shant," Luna smiled sheepishly. "If anything, I'm ready to be her mother this very moment. When I'm ready to be your wife, the wife you deserve, then I'll say 'yes'."
"All right," nodded Artemis. Then he glanced around. "You know, if you really are ready to be her mother . . ."
"Don't press your luck, Artemis," Luna said sourly, though inside she was laughing.
And reality rippled around them. Instantly both cats were on their feet. They looked around and saw that the gathered crowd also felt the energy wave pass through.
"Artemis, what was that?" Luna asked.
"I don't know, but I think we better find out and quick," Artemis replied.
* * * *
Usagi felt fear once more. She could feel the strain like she did previously when she grew fruit and vegetables all over the world, then collapsed. Panic began to swell in her breast and she thought for a moment about fleeing, flinging the power away and never returning to it.
"I am here, Usagi," she heard in her mind and knew it was Kakyuu. "Do not be afraid."
"It hurts, Kakyuu!" Serenity thought back.
"Then you are attempting too much too soon again." Kakyuu was silent for a moment. "You cannot rebuild every structure the way it was all over the globe in a single attempt. You are straining beyond your ability to recover."
"What do I do?" Serenity pleaded silently.
"Simplify. You must choose to restore smaller sections of the world or to rebuild everything into more simple, more uniform structures."
"Which one do I choose?"
"That choice must be yours."
Serenity bit her lip, turning over the prospects in her mind. Her mentor waited patiently, using her power to support Serenity's life force while the woman considered. At once Serenity made a decision and Kakyuu pulled back to let her function unimpeded.
It was just a thought, but an energy wave fanned out from Serenity with that thought and at the speed of thought. It spread over Tokyo, over the surrounding rural lands, over other cities and towns in Japan. The wave continued to extend, into Asia, across the ocean to North America, down to Australia and South America, on to Europe and Africa. To Serenity it seemed no more of an exertion than squeezing a lemon. But the evidence was clear to her wondrous eyes.
The broken structures of businesses and offices remained. But every house had been replaced, rebuilt into a new abode. They all looked the same, a bland white and oval-shaped, like so many eggs sitting in a cardboard tray. Here and there, where high-rise apartments had stood, were giant white pillars, box-like abodes stacked atop one another like a child would stack blocks. But they were solid and functional shelters for people to live in. They were nests where people could be safe and secure while they worked to rebuild the rest of their lives.
"Hey," Serenity grinned. "I did it!"
"You certainly did," smiled Kakyuu.
"They're not much to look at," the woman scowled.
"All things in time, Usagi. Your people now have a haven from the elements and a hearth to call their own. What they do with it from here on is up to them. You see, not only have you given your people a shelter to call their own when before they had none, but you have also given them a blank canvas upon which to mold the new home of their dreams. You have not returned everything to them, but you have given them something and given them something to strive for beyond simple existence. Be proud of your work, Usagi."
"OK," Serenity smiled sheepishly. Then she noticed Uranus, Neptune and Star Fighter below them. Instantly she swooped down to them, Kakyuu following behind.
"Serenity!" gasped Neptune in wondrous surprise. "You rebuilt everyone's home for them?"
"Yeah!" Serenity squealed. "And not just here, all over the world! I know they're not much . . ."
"It's more than any of us had," Uranus grinned, that old familiar "older brother" look she used to give Sailor Moon. "More than some of them deserve. You did good, Dumpling. Um, am I still allowed to call you 'Dumpling'?"
Serenity burst out laughing and threw her arms around Sailor Uranus, hugging her with wild abandon. No sooner had she let Uranus loose than she turned on Neptune and hugged her, too. Star Fighter looked on, slightly melancholy, but happy for her. Without warning, Serenity disengaged from Neptune and lunged at Sailor Star Fighter. Before the woman could move, she was caught in Serenity's grasp and tightly embraced.
"Oh, I just love it when I can help people like this!" Serenity squealed, hugging Star Fighter to her. "Maybe being Serenity won't be so bad after all!"
Star Fighter, though, seemed to want to be anywhere but here. She fidgeted in Serenity's grasp, trying to find a graceful means of escape. She didn't want to damage Serenity's euphoria, but at the same time hugging her was too painful. Then she noticed Kakyuu. In an instant she knew that Kakyuu could see her discomfort and understood, even sympathized. It gave her the strength to bury her feelings. She lightly wrapped her arms around Serenity and patted her on the back, amid wary looks from Uranus and Neptune.
"I'm glad for you," Star Fighter whispered to Serenity.
Continued in Chapter 8
Chapter 7: "A Feather In The Wind"
By Bill K.
"Daddy?" young Ichiro asked, leaning on his father. "When are we going home?"
The boy liked leaning on his father. His father was strong and massive and could defeat any menace that might harm him. And his mother was the famous Sailor Jupiter and whatever menace his father couldn't handle, she could. Life intimidated him sometimes, but never when he could feel his father or his mother next to him.
But recent events had shaken even that vestige of security for Ichiro Ikegami. There seemed to be no safe place, no secure sameness anymore. Not even the strength and warmth of his father's arm could make him forget about the ice monsters and sinking into the cold blackness, and being afraid that he'd never come up again. And if, somehow, they could all just go home, be in familiar surroundings and be a family again and not refugees, maybe he could forget about how scary it was to go through that.
"You want to go back to the restaurant?" Sanjuro asked him curiously.
"No, not the restaurant," Ichiro said, struggling to make his father understand. "I want to go HOME. I want us all to be home. Can't we go home?"
Sanjuro looked at his son helplessly. "I don't think it's there anymore, son."
The boy buried his face into his father's side.
"Hey, it'll be all right. We'll build a new home. You and me, and your mom and your sister, we all made it through. And we'll start over again."
"Will it be like it was before?" sniffed the boy.
"Maybe not. A lot of things won't be the same. But some things will be better. You'll see."
"How do you know?" the child whimpered. Helplessly Sanjuro searched his mind for an answer, but at the moment he was coming up short. Then Ami's husband, Hayami, eased over and sat down next to them.
"Ichiro?" the squat, plain man said, squinting because he lacked his glasses. "You remember me, don't you?"
"You're Uncle Hayami, aren't you?" Ichiro replied.
"That's right. And you should listen to your father. He's right. Life may not be the same as it was, but some things will be better - - and some things won't change at all."
"How do you know?" Ichiro repeated.
"Because life's always changing. Does your Mom have a garden?"
"No. But Auntie Rei does, at the shrine."
"And it's a pretty garden, isn't it?" Ichiro nodded. "But it changes in the fall, doesn't it? And it changes again in the winter. And it's not as nice, is it?" Ichiro shook his head. "But it blooms again in the spring. And it's never exactly the same two years in a row, is it? But it's always pretty." He put his hand on the young boy's shoulder. "Our life is in winter right now. It's not very pretty now, but something will grow from this. It might be different from what you're used to, but it can be just as pretty if we work hard and give it a chance to grow."
"How do you know?" Ichiro asked.
"Because that's the way life is, Ichiro," Hayami grinned, his ordinary face taking on a satisfied glow. "That's the way it's always been. I know, because I've seen it. You see a lot in thirty-five years."
Ichiro still seemed skeptical.
"Ichiro," Hayami persisted. "My grandfather used to tell me stories about another time when he went through something like this. My grandfather was a boy during World War II and during that time he went through his own terrible winter. For a time it looked like he was never going to see the springtime. But he saw Japan's springtime. He told me it was so different from the old times, but that in its own way it was beautiful. He lived to be eighty-one, my grandfather." Hayami paused, as if listening to someone. "He says you shouldn't be afraid. You'll see your springtime, too."
"He's here?" gaped Ichiro.
"All our ancestors walk with us," Hayami smiled. "Didn't Sensei tell you that at the shrine?" Ichiro nodded vigorously. "So don't be afraid."
Ichiro leaned back onto his father. He looked around the room, as if he was trying to see the grandparents he'd never met, the ones that his mother always talked about. Sanjuro patted Hayami on the arm and mouthed a thank you.
In another part of the room, Ami leaned over to Rei and said, "Is my guy something special or what?"
"He's got a way about him, that's for sure," grinned Rei. Then she glanced wickedly over at her friend. "Now if you could get him to stop undressing me with his eyes."
"He undresses me with more than just his eyes," Ami replied proudly.
Rei gaped in shock at Ami. "Ami, listen to you!" Then she shook her head. "I can remember when you were too embarrassed to even say the word 'sex'! Just where did that shy young girl go?"
"She grew up," grinned Ami. "And she found out just what she was missing." Rei nudged her with a sympathetic gleam in her eye.
Suddenly Rei stiffened. Knowing her friend, Ami looked on with mounting concern.
"Rei, what is it?" she whispered, trying not to let the others hear. "Is it more trouble? Is it Serenity?"
Rei only stared off into space, her face painted with anxiety.
* * * *
Sailor Star Fighter looked on as her Princess and her true love elevated into the sky. They slowly revolved as one as they rose, as if orbiting around each other. The senshi from the stars looked on, unable to shake the premonition of - - not disaster, but of something she wouldn't like. Not that there was much about this trip she liked. Seeing her wonderful "Odango" again after all these years hurt enough, for she knew the woman loved another. To see her so far beyond her now in her "Serenity" form, as her princess was beyond her in power and scope and evolution, was the crushing blow. Before there was some slim hope, but now . . .
The senshi turned around and found Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune behind her. That they had approached unnoticed was bad enough, but it was attributable as much to their skill as her preoccupation. The fact that they were here probably meant nothing good for her. But Sailor Star Fighter never backed away from anything, so she turned and met them face to face.
"What are they doing?" Neptune asked as Uranus glared sullenly.
"Precisely?" retorted Star Fighter. "I have no idea. Knowing them as I do, I imagine they're trying to help your people."
With a rush that caught even Star Fighter unprepared, Uranus pushed forward and shoved Star Fighter to the ground. She stood over the prone senshi, towering menacingly.
"I don't like your tone," Uranus announced, daring Star Fighter to object. Star Fighter started to push to her feet, with Uranus waiting for anything the woman might wish to throw at her. However, Neptune interceded, holding Uranus back with an arm and allowing Star Fighter to regain her feet.
"Uranus," Neptune whispered sternly. She turned to Star Fighter. "We just want to understand why you're here."
"We're trying to help your people," fumed Star Fighter irritably. "Don't you two understand debts of honor?"
Uranus started to lunge, but Neptune restrained her.
"Debt of honor?" Neptune questioned. "For her help against Galaxia?"
"You make it sound like she helped an old woman out of her chair," frowned Star Fighter. "Your Sailor Moon saved the universe that day! You saw with your own eyes the death and destruction Galaxia visited upon your world! And what she did here wasn't a tenth of what she did to Kinmoku or a hundred other worlds! And my princess knew Sailor Moon was our only hope, even when I doubted. I'm not the fastest learner in the universe, but even I can see what we owe her! And my princess certainly can, because she knew from the start! Yet you two can only be suspicious of conspiracies."
"All right," Neptune said placidly, though Star Fighter could tell she was anything but placid in this instance, "I'll accept that explanation - - for her."
"What are you doing here?" Uranus asked, finishing Neptune's thought.
"I'm here at the behest of my Princess," Star Fighter replied coldly. "That's all the explanation either of you need."
"You're not here trying to get lucky?" Uranus persisted. "Thinking maybe you can pick up where you left off? If so, it'll be a lot tougher this time around. You can't sneak around behind Mamoru's back this time. He's here this time." Uranus never looked away as she spoke, keeping her eyes trained on Star Fighter the entire time. "And I'm still here."
The look Sailor Star Fighter gave Sailor Uranus told Sailor Neptune that the woman would gladly spontaneously combust in an orgy of fire that would consume her if she only had the chance to take Uranus with her. Once again it made her feel bad to be the one who had to ask the questions nobody wanted to ask. But she had to know if Princess Kakyuu was as sincere as she came across. Besides she knew the look in Star Fighter's eye, the look that was still there and still as strong as it was twenty years ago. And she had no guarantee Crystal Tokyo would come to be if it was destined to be ruled by Queen Serenity and Queen Seiya.
"I think we've each made our positions clear," Neptune interjected, pulling everyone back from the precipice. "Come on, Uranus. We still have people to help."
The pair was about to leave. Suddenly Uranus stopped, listening to a light gust of wind. Neptune sensed something as well, as did Star Fighter, but Uranus seemed more tuned into whatever was coming, so Neptune looked to her partner for clarification.
Uranus suddenly looked up into the sky. Neptune followed, as did Star Fighter. There was a wave of energy and Neptune felt it pass through her, making her uneasy. She didn't know what was causing it.
"It's Dumpling," Uranus whispered, as if in reply.
* * * *
Artemis found Luna perched out on the window sill of their shelter's second floor. The black cat looked down on the milling crowd around the husk of a building, enraptured with curiosity. The white cat eased up as close to her as he dared, though nothing short of actual contact was close enough for him. Luna tilted her head slightly toward him to acknowledge his presence.
"What do you suppose they want?" Luna mused.
"Maybe they heard Minako was here and they want an autograph," quipped Artemis. Luna responded with one of her acid glares and Artemis smothered a grin. Once more he'd managed to get a rise out of her. "They're probably waiting for Serenity. They probably figure she's their best chance at getting back what they've lost and they want to be first in line."
"Human sloth," scowled Luna. "They should be out rebuilding or pulling out the dead and giving the poor souls a proper burial."
"There's enough people doing that," Artemis told her. "Everyone has their job in life, Luna. For some, it's standing around looking lost so other people know someone needs help."
"You've always had the oddest way of looking at things," Luna commented. Her words sounded reproachful, but only half-hearted. Her expression even seemed mildly amused. Encouraged, Artemis swallowed and took a deep breath to steady himself.
"Luna," he began. "In the park - - when that Frost Giant got us. Just before I froze, I-I said something."
Luna smiled. "Artemis, I don't take stock in proposals made under duress."
It wasn't what Artemis wanted to hear. "Well," he stammered. "All right then. No duress now. Luna, will you . . .?"
"Artemis," Luna said uncomfortably. "Please don't."
"But," he sputtered. "Why? You said you loved me."
"I-I do."
"Well, I love you. What's the problem?"
Luna looked away. She seemed to want to be anywhere but there.
"Is there someone else?" Artemis asked.
"Don't be ridiculous," scowled Luna.
"Then what is it? Don't you think I'm good enough?"
"Of course not! I'm," Luna began. "Artemis, you're asking for a commitment that I'm not ready to make just yet."
"When?"
"When? Do you want me to set up a timetable for you? I don't know, Artemis! This is hardly the time to think about such things, either! Usagi is at a critical crossroads in her life! She needs my guidance now more than ever!"
"I've seen you multi-task with the best of them, Luna. Stop hiding behind Usagi. What's the real reason?"
"Well - - we're hardly compatible, you know!"
"We're not?"
"Certainly not. As admirable as I find you, there are things you do that just drive me 'round the bend! And I don't doubt that there are things about me that you find equally irritating. And to enter into a commitment with such things hanging over our hopes of happiness - - well there's just too much chance of poisoning what we have. And I don't want to risk that." She peeked back at him. "You see, I've hurt you. Can you imagine something like this happening if we were more permanently attached?"
Artemis stared at her, wounded. "There's risk to any relationship, Luna, but it's a risk I'm ready to take. The things I like about you outweigh the things I don't, by a huge margin. Obviously I don't measure up the same in your eyes."
"Artemis, please," pleaded Luna. "Don't take it that way. It isn't you it's me! I'm - - so very frightened that I'll do something to turn you against me. I don't want to risk it because I don't want to endure such a thing. I don't trust myself with your feelings. That should be quite obvious by the mess I'm making of all this! Perhaps someday I can. We all have the capacity for growth. I beg you, please bear with me. The thought of losing you is quite abhorrent to me. It isn't that I don't want to, it's that I can't trust myself yet to make you happy. And it's better that we have a-a means of escape if something should happen." She turned away with trepidation. "However, if you feel you can't abide such a stance, I fully understand."
The silence between them seemed to linger. For Luna, it was sheer torture, but she held her tongue.
"Well," Artemis said in a soft voice and Luna cringed, "they say nothing worth having ever comes easily."
Luna turned back to him, daring to hope.
"You're probably the only thing in the universe that's actually worth all of this grief," she heard the white cat say.
Luna sprang up and rubbed foreheads with Artemis.
"I promise I'll make this up to you," she sniffed. "Please be patient with me. I will say 'yes' one day, I swear it!"
"You better," grinned Artemis. "You don't want to leave little Diana without a mother, do you?"
"I shant," Luna smiled sheepishly. "If anything, I'm ready to be her mother this very moment. When I'm ready to be your wife, the wife you deserve, then I'll say 'yes'."
"All right," nodded Artemis. Then he glanced around. "You know, if you really are ready to be her mother . . ."
"Don't press your luck, Artemis," Luna said sourly, though inside she was laughing.
And reality rippled around them. Instantly both cats were on their feet. They looked around and saw that the gathered crowd also felt the energy wave pass through.
"Artemis, what was that?" Luna asked.
"I don't know, but I think we better find out and quick," Artemis replied.
* * * *
Usagi felt fear once more. She could feel the strain like she did previously when she grew fruit and vegetables all over the world, then collapsed. Panic began to swell in her breast and she thought for a moment about fleeing, flinging the power away and never returning to it.
"I am here, Usagi," she heard in her mind and knew it was Kakyuu. "Do not be afraid."
"It hurts, Kakyuu!" Serenity thought back.
"Then you are attempting too much too soon again." Kakyuu was silent for a moment. "You cannot rebuild every structure the way it was all over the globe in a single attempt. You are straining beyond your ability to recover."
"What do I do?" Serenity pleaded silently.
"Simplify. You must choose to restore smaller sections of the world or to rebuild everything into more simple, more uniform structures."
"Which one do I choose?"
"That choice must be yours."
Serenity bit her lip, turning over the prospects in her mind. Her mentor waited patiently, using her power to support Serenity's life force while the woman considered. At once Serenity made a decision and Kakyuu pulled back to let her function unimpeded.
It was just a thought, but an energy wave fanned out from Serenity with that thought and at the speed of thought. It spread over Tokyo, over the surrounding rural lands, over other cities and towns in Japan. The wave continued to extend, into Asia, across the ocean to North America, down to Australia and South America, on to Europe and Africa. To Serenity it seemed no more of an exertion than squeezing a lemon. But the evidence was clear to her wondrous eyes.
The broken structures of businesses and offices remained. But every house had been replaced, rebuilt into a new abode. They all looked the same, a bland white and oval-shaped, like so many eggs sitting in a cardboard tray. Here and there, where high-rise apartments had stood, were giant white pillars, box-like abodes stacked atop one another like a child would stack blocks. But they were solid and functional shelters for people to live in. They were nests where people could be safe and secure while they worked to rebuild the rest of their lives.
"Hey," Serenity grinned. "I did it!"
"You certainly did," smiled Kakyuu.
"They're not much to look at," the woman scowled.
"All things in time, Usagi. Your people now have a haven from the elements and a hearth to call their own. What they do with it from here on is up to them. You see, not only have you given your people a shelter to call their own when before they had none, but you have also given them a blank canvas upon which to mold the new home of their dreams. You have not returned everything to them, but you have given them something and given them something to strive for beyond simple existence. Be proud of your work, Usagi."
"OK," Serenity smiled sheepishly. Then she noticed Uranus, Neptune and Star Fighter below them. Instantly she swooped down to them, Kakyuu following behind.
"Serenity!" gasped Neptune in wondrous surprise. "You rebuilt everyone's home for them?"
"Yeah!" Serenity squealed. "And not just here, all over the world! I know they're not much . . ."
"It's more than any of us had," Uranus grinned, that old familiar "older brother" look she used to give Sailor Moon. "More than some of them deserve. You did good, Dumpling. Um, am I still allowed to call you 'Dumpling'?"
Serenity burst out laughing and threw her arms around Sailor Uranus, hugging her with wild abandon. No sooner had she let Uranus loose than she turned on Neptune and hugged her, too. Star Fighter looked on, slightly melancholy, but happy for her. Without warning, Serenity disengaged from Neptune and lunged at Sailor Star Fighter. Before the woman could move, she was caught in Serenity's grasp and tightly embraced.
"Oh, I just love it when I can help people like this!" Serenity squealed, hugging Star Fighter to her. "Maybe being Serenity won't be so bad after all!"
Star Fighter, though, seemed to want to be anywhere but here. She fidgeted in Serenity's grasp, trying to find a graceful means of escape. She didn't want to damage Serenity's euphoria, but at the same time hugging her was too painful. Then she noticed Kakyuu. In an instant she knew that Kakyuu could see her discomfort and understood, even sympathized. It gave her the strength to bury her feelings. She lightly wrapped her arms around Serenity and patted her on the back, amid wary looks from Uranus and Neptune.
"I'm glad for you," Star Fighter whispered to Serenity.
Continued in Chapter 8