Title: Hey, Cinderella
By: AJ Martinez
Email: goodnight_spoon@hotmail.com
Rated: G
Length: 12 pages
Started: 8/14/03 12:38:06 PM
Finished: 8/17/0310:21:04 PM
Disclaimer: I in no way, shape or form own BSSM.
Hey! To all my regular readers, don't worry: I haven't taken a break
from Chronicles. I just figured that every author should add a short
story to their credits, and, although I have two, they're both
comedies, so I started this one. This is set after the rise of Crystal
Tokyo, with the main character being Naru (Molly, for all you dubbies).
Anyway, enjoy!
~
Hey, Cinderella--what's the story all about?
Got a funny feeling we missed a page or two somehow
Cinderella, maybe you could help us out:
Does the shoe fit you now?
~~
Naru didn't know why she was going. After all, the place would
be swarming with press, and she'd never had anything to say to them.
Something about the twentieth seemed special, though. As a girl, she'd
always imagined walking in and stopping them all in their tracks with--
with what? Her glamour? Perhaps. She had always thought so, at least.
Either way, the fifth had whizzed by, followed by the tenth, and she
had watched them all on TV, the former at home, in her PJs, and the
latter bleary-eyed and smashed in a bar.
*It's not even, technically, the twentieth,* she thought cynically,
and reapplied her lipstick.
That brought thoughts of Crystal Tokyo and--no, she wouldn't
go there. Either way, it wasn't the twentieth. There had been all those
years of hibernation...what would that make it? The 1,020th? No, that
wasn't right either...but then, who cared anyway? Certainly not Naru.
And certainly not the press. It could be the 189,872th, for all they
cared; they'd still line the streets for miles, hoping that *she* would
put in an appearance.
*Fat chance,* Naru thought. She glanced at herself in the mirror
and sighed. She was getting too old for this. Just six days ago she had
been sitting in the kitchen, sipping espresso and reading a mystery
novel, when the phone had rang.
Before we go any further, the reader should note the significance
in this. Exactly one year, seven months of three days after the rise of
Crystal Tokyo, Naru had ripped her phone off the wall and never
reattached it. One month later, at her mother's prodding she had bought
a cheap cell phone under a fake name, from a foreigner whose name she
couldn't pronounce. Only her mother had the number, although they rarely
spoke over it, as Naru preferred snail mail.
Naru had been surprised when the phone had rang. For a moment
she hadn't realized what exactly that ringing sound had been, but then
she remembered and went to answer it. She had located it on the seventh
ring, next to her TV guide and almost underneath the couch.
"Hello?"
*Moshi, moshi,* her mind had chided, but her mother's cheerful
voice had drown out her thoughts.
"Hello, baby! How have you been? Haven't spoken to you in nearly
three months."
"I've been fine."
"What have you been up to?"
"Oh, nothing," Naru leaned against the couch.
"How's business?"
"Reliable."
"Is that so."
Naru sighed. "Yup."
There was a pause, then, "You know, I was thinking that it's
been the longest time since you've come to visit--"
"Mom..."
"--Me in Tokyo. We could go shopping, and--"
"I'm not going back there, mother." Naru ran a hand through her
straight, chestnut hair, pausing when her fingers came into contact
with her roots. *I'll need to have them done again, and soon.*
"Oh, but honey," her mother rushed on mercilessly. "You haven't
been back for *years*. It's changed so much, you'd hardly recognize it."
She was silent for a moment, but when she continued, there was a catch
in her voice. "You wouldn't run into her, you know. You could wait
until you're ready...I'm sure she'd love to get a phone call from you..."
"Stop," Naru whispered. "Mom, please; not now, and not that.
It's over."
There was a long silence, and Naru was afraid that her mother
had hung up. But then her smooth voice came over the line again.
"I could really use your help, now that I'm older. It's gotten
harder and harder to maintain the shop, what with all the new boutiques."
"I wouldn't be of any help."
"Yes, you would."
"I'll wire you some money."
"I don't want your money."
"Then what do you want?" Naru snapped. "I can't come home. They'll
recognize me, and it'll start all over again."
"No it won't. I won't let it. She won't let it..."
"Don't bring her into this."
"Why not?"
"Because it's over between us. Stop bringing it up."
"Then come home."
"No."
"For a month. Just a month."
"I said, no."
Silence. Then, "I'm your mother. You're supposed to obey me."
"I'm your daughter. You 're supposed to protect me."
"You never let me."
Naru felt hot all over, and she shivered. The clock was ticking
in the room upstairs, and somehow she could hear it. It was too loud
and grating on her nerves. The house was too empty. She needed more
plants, maybe. More sunlight. More room.
But no, she thought. That's not what she needed. She needed her
mother.
"I'll be there."
"Oh, Naru...!"
"Will you meet me at the airport?" as inane as it sounded, Naru
clutched at the phone, white-knuckled, her next breath held as she waited
for her mother's answer. She would need constant support through this,
and she knew that if she had to get off that plane and navigate her way
through a maze of unfamiliar faces, something would snap.
"Of course I'll be there. When do you think you'll be in?"
"I'm not sure. I'll call you from the plane."
There had been several more minutes of talk, 90% of which had
been monopolized by her mother. When she had hung up the phone, Naru
had mechanically packed a gym bag with clothes--she couldn't seem to
find her suitcases--and then made the necessary phone calls. She didn't
own a car, so one of those phone calls had been to a taxi service. When
she arrived at the airport and walked up to the ticket counter, she had
asked for a one-way ticket to Tokyo, and then blushed crimson when she
realized that she had spoken in Japanese. The next flight hadn't been
for five hours, but, with nothing better to do, Naru had wandered around
the airport, through the gift shops and bakeries. She ended up buying
a suitcase, a bouquet of daisies for her mother, a box of chocolates
for her mother (she ate them on the plane), a portable CD player, two
light-rock CDs, a camera, and some pizzelle.
She couldn't remember much of the plane ride; the gender of the
steward ( ess?), what she ate for dinner, if she ate dinner at all,
whether or not she seats next to her had been taken. ...All she
remembered was arriving early in the morning and running into her
mother's arms.
When she arrived home, Naru went straight to bed, although
sleep evaded her. She lay on the same coverlet that she had used as a
child, staring at walls covered with posters of the Three Lights and
other pop stars. There was an empty wall, with shreds of tape still
stuck to it, where posters and wall scrolls of the Sailor Senshi had
once hung. She had taken them down before she left, but hadn't had the
heart to destroy them. They were rolled up neatly in the trash, which,
after all these years, still sat underneath her window, sandwiched
between the wall and a dresser.
The one thing that she had not recognized were the brown boxes,
stacked one on top of another, neatly placed in one corner. They were
not hers. Her mother must have put them in after she left, Naru thought.
After almost two sleepless hours, Naru had climbed from the
bed and walked over to the boxes. There were about seven of them, each
one measuring three feet wide and four feet long. She was about to
select one at random, when she saw that they had writing on the sides.
Her mother's crisp, bold kanji stared up at her ftom the first box.
Mail, it said, and was dated the year that she had left. The
next four boxes were dedicated to the following four years, although
the last two covered all the years since.
Her curiosity piqued, Naru opened the first--oldest--box. Inside
were hundreds upon hundreds of letters, folders and boxes; all addressed
to her.
Naru felt the same old nauseating anxiety sweep over her as she
recognized them. Most were from news stations and reporters, although
some were from people that she didn't know and had never heard of.
Although she knew that she would not find one, Naru began
sifting through the mail, looking for something, anything, from *her*.
Four hours later, Naru was on the last box. She had only opened
one letter so far--it had been written by her best friend from
kindergarten, a Chiyoko something-or-other. The first few paragraphs
had been asking how she was doing, whether or not she was married yet,
and then asking if she could please please please do Chiyoko just one
favor and introduce her to the Queen of Crystal Tokyo. Naru had laughed
for a moment there, them realized that there were tears in her eyes
and shut up.
The last box was the lightest, and the mail in there was the
most recent. Naru wondered briefly whether or not she should ever turn
in a change of address form, but then decided against it; sometimes
the best news was no news at all.
When she had reached the very last letter, Naru set to putting
them back into the box. As she was doing so, a card-type envelope fell
from her hands and to the floor. Naru glanced at it, and the fine,
engraved characters caught her eye. Written with gold ink, it was
addressed to her.
She could tell it was an invitation before she even opened it.
And she could guess what it was to.
At that moment, there had been a knocking on the door, and
without waiting for a response, her mother had come in. Noticing the
envelope in her daughter's hands, she had forgotten whatever it was
that she had come in to say, and suggested that Naru attend. What
ensued was a long and tearful fight, but Naru must have lost, because
here she was, less than a week later, sitting in her mother's car in
front of her childhood home, reapplying her lipstick for the hundredth
time.
*They could have at least rented a fancy hotel,* Naru thought,
and blotted her lips. *But no: they wanna get all sappy and nostalgic...*
Her mother had been watching it on TV while Naru dressed, and
had called down the hall that cars were parked for miles around the
building, many of them CNN news vans. Through her open window, she
had been able to hear the whirring of a helicopter.
"Naru!" her mother stuck her head out of the front door. "You'd
better get going. Why don't you walk tonight? It's not that far."
Naru sighed belligerently and got out of the car. She didn't
know why she had gotten in it in the first place. Wrapping her shawl
tighter around her shoulders, she waved to her mother and started off
down the street.
By the time she was within a mile of her destination the streets
had become clogged with not only vehicles, but people as well. A police
officer stopped her and when she showed him her invitation, he escorted
her the rest of the way, and behind the velvet ropes.
It was then that Naru stared up at her old high school, and
didn't recognize it. It had been built onto, that much was certain, and
a large fountain had been added to the landscaping. Dramatic carvings
and majestic architecture were everywhere, and Naru chided herself
silently; she had known about the renovations, had read about them in
the world news and gossip tabloids.
A camera flashed, and Naru was jolted back to earth. Reporters
clamored to get around the guards and police escorts. They didn't
recognize her, she knew; if they had, she wouldn't have been able to
make it this far without being accosted by some over-zealous member of
the paparazzi.
Suddenly very hot and very cold all at once, Naru hurried into
the school, pausing only briefly to check in with administration. She
was already running to the restrooms when they announced her over the
PA.
Slamming through the door, Naru almost collided with a former
classmate. Without apologizing, she rushed over to the sinks and set
to splashing water on her face and neck. This was all just too much,
too soon. She wasn't ready for this, wasn't ready to go back to the
way things had been--*Ha,* Naru thought. * As if that could happen.*
She stood there, panting, staring at the floor. Although the
school had had a major overhaul, they still hadn't fixed that leak
under the sink, she thought triumphantly. It was very much still there,
as was the ugly tile ceiling and the pale, yellowed stalls.
Naru looked up at herself in the mirror over the sink, and was
almost surprised by her own appearance. Here she was, in a place of her
long-ago childhood, and yet she was a completely different person. Her
hair was straight, cut to frame her face, and dyed a dark, warm brown.
Her glasses--which were fakes, bought at a gas station--slid down on
her nose, and her freckles had been covered with concealer and powder.
She remembered the first time she had slipped into this guise, shortly
after she had left Japan. Fearful of being recognized as the queen's
former-best-friend, she had slunk into a local drug store and purchased
a box of hair dye. It had taken her a few goes to find a color that
suited her, but she had finally arrived at the dark brown and never
changed it, although she missed her red tresses every day.
*I can't just hide in here forever,* Naru thought. *What am I
hiding from, anyway? She won't be here.*
Taking a deep breath, Naru strode with feigned confidence from
the lavatories. Her eyes scanned the crowd critically, but she saw no
one that she would want to speak with--all of her friends were mutual
friends of the queen's, and had, after the rise of Crystal Tokyo, all
made a killing selling memoirs, most having titles like An Unlikely
Monarch; My Friend, the Queen, Rabbit on the Moon, The Once and Future
Queen. ... The list went on.
"Naru-chan! Is that you?"
Naru spun around, but saw no one that she knew.
"Naru! It's me."
Her gaze focused on a tall man, and her eyes lit up. "Umino!"
Her former-boyfriend crossed the room in long, smooth strides
and hugged her quickly. "I can't believe it," he cried, holding her
back at arm's length. "Look at you!"
"Look at you," Naru gave back, and Umino blushed. It gave her
a sense of accomplishment, knowing that she could still make him do that.
The twenty years since graduating had done wonders for Umino.
He had grown into his head, for one. The glasses were gone, and his
hair was cut fashionably short. Time had given him height and more
berth, although he could never be called large. Through it all he had
kept a boyish look to him.
"No more glasses," Naru commented.
"Nope, I chucked those over fifteen years back," Umino confirmed,
and began leading her to an empty table. "Finally got laser eye surgery,
and it was one of the best moves I ever made. My vision is better than
ever, now." He smiled, genuinely happy to see her. "So what've you
been doing? I haven't seen you since..." he trailed off, and then Naru
remembered.
"Oh, Umino! I'm so sorry. I wish there were something I could
say..."
"No need," Umino held up a hand to silence her. "I'm not upset
about it anymore."
"But I owe you an explanation."
"Yes," Umino said seriously. "You do."
Naru swallowed, and then launched into her tale. "After we all
woke up, the press mobbed me. I couldn't go anywhere. I planned on
just keeping to my house for that one semester, just until the heat
died down, until...help arrived; but then day after day passed, and
nothing...no call, no letter, no nothing. I had thought that she might
find some way to contact me. Even knowing that she had all these new
responsibilities, I still expected her to keep the same friends."
Umino took her hand.
"After the semester had passed, and it became obvious that she
wasn't going to contact me, I slipped into this deep depression. I felt
that I couldn't trust anyone anymore." Naru could now hear the strain
in her voice, and she blinked rapidly, trying to make her tone casual.
"I mean, we had been best friends since the first grade. We always used
to say how when we grew up anf got married, we'd be each other's maids
of honor, and when we had children, we would be godmothers to the other's
child. We planned to get famous, and whoever got a break first would
make one for the other. And then she became Queen and became a wife
and was soon to become a mother...and all without me."
"So you left."
Naru nodded. "I couldn't take it anymore. All the phone calls
and letters, and the reporters camping out in front of my house and
going through my trash. I couldn't run to the grocery store without
being mobbed. Every time the phone rang, it was one of them. Every
time the mail came, it was first-class, manila envelopes, all addressed
to me by some machine and labeled IMPORTANT with a big, pink sticker.
Most of them weren't even in Japanese."
"You weren't the only one to get letters, Naru," Umino said
earnestly. "We all got them. And phone calls." he squeezed her hand,
but she sensed that it was more to comfort himself than her. "For God's
sake, Naru--I had to finish college abroad!"
Naru's head snapped up, but he went on before she could question.
"I called you every day, you know. I tried writing and email.
I would have just walked over to your apartment, if it weren't for the
press." He tossed her hand on the table and ran his through his hair.
"The two times I left the house after the rise, I ended up having to
call the police just to get back home. But I didn't stop trying.
"Then, one day, I called your house and actually got through.
Your mother answered, and when I asked to speak to you, there was a
silence. Then she told me that you had left and gone to an 'unknown
destination'."
Naru stared at her hands, ashamed.
"Where did you go ?"
Naru looked up at him, her eyes strangely dry although her
throat ached. "Sicily."
Umino nodded. If he was surprised, he didn't show it. "Why?"
"Because I couldn't take it anymore--"
"No," Umino interrupted. "I meant, why Sicily?" *Why not me?*
Naru smiled a bit. "Because of all those old gangster movies.
You ever notice, how, no matter what happens to them, no matter how
tough things get, they always have each other? I thought that if I
could just go to Sicily and make some Sicilian friends, then I could
start over and everything would be alright because I'd always have
them."
"You'll always have your mother."
Naru was silent. Although it seemed blaringly obvious now, all
she had thought of then had been getting away from the cameras and
microphones. She had never thought that the spotlight would do this to
her, would turn her into such an anxious, irritable person, but it had,
and when she had been faced with the choice of fight or flight, she had
flown and abandoned her mother, plans, and a boyfriend who had never
been anything but loyal.
"Let's get outta here."
Umino's voice broke Naru from her reverie, and she looked up
at him, confused. "Excuse me?"
Umino was already getting up. "Let's get out of here. Make a
run while the night is still young. Although it wouldn't matter, anyway,"
he added. "Since the rise, Tokyo's become entirely 24/7."
"Where would we go?"
"Anywhere. Everywhere. Let's just wait and see."
At that moment, anything seemed better than sitting in her old
high school's new addition and pretending to be a new, improved and
totally contented version of her old self.
Naru got up from her seat and Umino grinned.
"This way," he said, and began walking toward the bar. Naru
followed, curious; the doors were in the opposite direction. When they
reached the bar, Umino smiled broadly at the bartender and ordered a
scotch for hirnself and champagne "for the lady". The bartender nodded
and turned to get their drinks.
In the split second that his eyes were not on them, Umino
grabbed Naru's hand and whisked her through two swinging double-doors
that she had not even noticed a moment ago. They were suddenly in a
very well lit, very white room. Liveried staff rushed around, paying
them no heed, preparing a grand meal. Umino kept walking, and Naru
followed. As they passed the dessert table, Naru noticed that they had
made all of *her* favorites. At the center of it all was a massive
pounding cake, shaped and decorated with frosting to appear like the
Silver Crystal.
Naru turned her head away began walking faster. They approached
a small bacf door, and Umino opened it just a crack, peeking his head
out. Satisfied, he stepped through and pulled Naru out after him.
The sky was midnight blue, and if there were stars, they were
not visible. The moon was a small sphere in the velvet sky, and for
the first time in years, Naru thought of the legend of the old man and
the rabbit pounding cakes on the moon. It had been a favorite of hers
as a child, a comforting memory as a teen, and then an annoyingly
constant story as a young adult. But now, she thought, maybe she could
begin to love it again.
"So what've you been doing with yourself?" she asked, breaking
the silence.
Umino waited a moment before replying. "Well, after I realized
that you were gone, I didn't really have any reason to stay in Tokyo,
so I took a year off college and backpacked through Europe. Met some
very interesting people, some of which I've kept in contact with to
this day.
"When I decided to go back to college, I started looking into
universities in America. There were several really good ones, but I
ended up choosing the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Majored
in engineering and got a job right outta college designing computers.
It paid well and all, but what I really wanted to be doing was creating
new venues...I didn't want to make a PC look pretty; I wanted to
reinvent the internet. I wanted to make a difference." Throughout all
this Umino had been holding Naru's hand, but as he began to talk about
his plans, he dropped it to gesture into the night sky. "So I quit.
Let me tell you, those next few months were tough. But then I met up
with the right people, incorporated myself, and worked my ass off every
day since."
"Wow," Naru said. "That's great. Do you live here or in the
States?"
"In the States, primarily," Umino answered, burying his hands
in his deep pockets. "Although I have a penthouse here."
"Wow," Naru mouthed, but Umino must have seen it, because he chuckled
good-naturedly.
"What about you?" he looked her up and down. "What have you
been doing in Sicily?"
Naru took a breath. "A little bit of everything. I owned a
curio shop for a while there, but the language was new to me then, and
I ended up selling it. I also paint and write music, so that's brought
in some money. And I translate documents sporadically...I pretty much
just do anything that calls to me."
Umino was nodding. "Yeah, that's the way to do it. Would that
I had more time."
Naru was silent. She couldn't think of anything to say, and so
they walked on comfortably until they reached the downtown area. It had
been hard to recognize in the dark, but there was no mistaking it now
that it was upon them.
Tall buildings loomed overhead, and more than a third of the
shops were alien to Naru, built after her flight. They all lacked
appeal, at least to her, and Naru began steering them toward the one
that still stood out in her mind.
A gasp rattled from her, and Umino winced. She had seen it.
"W-what?"
Umino continued walking for a few steps, although she had
stopped, and swung on his heel to face Naru. "Sickening, isn't it?"
Naru swallowed. Her throat felt dry.
Before her stood a neon. poster-ed building, sculpted to be a
replica of the palace. The doors slid open as she took another step
forward, and Naru stood, rooted in place, drawn by her own disbelief
but unwilling to enter. Across the room was a large wall mural, a
blown-up image of the queen as a teenager, smiling and making a peace
sign, still in her Juuban uniform and with her briefcase slung over
her shoulder. It was obviously from the cheap, three-minute-photo box
that had once stood in the leftmost comer. Emblazoned across the top
of the photo were the words CROWN ARCADE.
"There's a whole chain of them now," Umino said from behind her.
"I'm surprised you hadn't heard."
"Furahuta-san?"
Umino came to stand beside her. "Who knows? Last I heard, he
took off with his wife. Something about animals or bugs or something.
Point is, they're gone, and the owner's had a field day. Having the
arcade named 'Crown' before the rise hasn't hurt, either."
"Does...she know that they've got her picture up here?"
"Probably." Umino answered. "I mean, she's gotta. Guess it doesn't
seem like that big a deal, now."
Naru nodded numbly, and, sensing her need to get as far away
from this place as possible, Umino put his hand on her shoulder and
began steering her in another direction.
Naru chewed her lower lip and tried to make sense of what had
happened. It really wasn't that big a deal, no reason to get worked up
about it, wasn't like it was the end of the world. But is *was* the
end of something; of what, she wasn't sure. Maybe of that part of her
life. It was truly over, now. No going back. Not that she'd want to.
"Where are we going?" Naru asked, suddenly cold. She wrapped
her shawl tighter around her shoulders and nuzzled into it.
Umino smiled. "You'll see when we get there. Just close your
eyes." Naru opened her mouth to object, but Umino had anticipated that.
"Trust me," he said.
*I can't,* Naru thought, but then realized that she could. When
had Umino ever mislead her? That's right: never. She closed her eyes,
and, for the first time in a long time, didn't feel childish or immature
for having fun. She was with Umino. Everything would be all right.
They seemed to have been walking for a long time, and Naru was
getting antsy. "Where are we going?" she asked again, and Umino laughed.
"Trust me. It's only a little farther."
Naru did trust him. She kept her eyes shut tight, and gripped
the side ofUmino's long, charcoal overcoat. The wind danced around
them, blowing her short silk skirt against her legs. Her mother always
had said that she looked nice in black; even more so now that she had
darker hair. Naru took after her mother in the sense that stress and/
or age made her lose weight, not gain it, and she felt a twinge of
self-consciousness as she bumped in Umino's side. She knew that she
had a few pounds to gain before she'd be at an attractive, if not
healthy, weight.
Umino stopped walking, and Naru took a step forward before she
could stop herself. "Are we here?" she asked, unable to squelch the
excitement that she could feel raising within her. It had been a while
since she had been this excited about something that involved another
person.
"We're here. Open your eyes."
It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting.
The glowing neon of the city was behind her, right at her heels, it
seemed, but actually several city blocks away. The building in front
of her was set on a low hill, and a paper lantern adorned either end
of its porch.
Naru felt tears well in her eyes. "The," she swallowed painfully.
"The shrine. It's still here. And it's still...the same."
Umino came up behind her, and she could feel his warmth. "Despite
high offers from just about every corporation in the world, that old
priest never sold. Never commercialized it, either. Far as I can tell,
the only revamping the shrine's had since the rise has been a new roof
and coat of paint."
"Is...is it still open?"
"Not this late," Umino replied. "But it's open to business
during the day. Still specializing in the same good-luck charms that
we used to buy as kids. Of course, it's become more of a tourist
attraction than a shrine in the last eighteen years since the rise;
but it's never sold out."
"Who owns it now?" Naru asked. "I mean, that old priest couldn't
possibly be alive still..."
"Died sixteen years ago, or so." Umino shook his head. "He was
a good man."
Naru looked at him suspiciously. "How do you know all this?
You've been in the States "
Now Umino smiled. "I can read, you know."
"Huh?"
"When a death makes the cover of Newsweek, I pay attention."
He looked at her strangely. "Didn't you see the funeral on TV?"
Naru shook her head slowly, lost in thought. "I don't watch
that much TV."
"That explains it," Umino said. He paused, then, "To answer
your question, it's owned by Hino-sama."
"Rei-chan?"
Umino nodded. "That's how we knew her, yeah. But now they're
all something-sama."
"She doesn't live here and tend it, does she?"
Umino shook his head. "A Yuuichirou something-or-other runs it,
although rumor is that she stops by in disguise to look over it with
him. Never been proven, of course, but the minute that the rest of the
senshi are seen without her, the masses rush over here for the chance
to see a real, live Martian."
Naru giggled at the label. She always had thought that Rei-chan
was slightly out there, but she had never imagined her to be *that* out
there.
"What's that smile for?" Umino asked.
"I was just thinking about the senshi," Naru said. "And how we
all should have figured it out sooner." They began walking back the way
that they had come, and Umino nodded. "You know, I thought that it was
weird that all of a sudden these four girls come up and meet Usagi and
all of a sudden they're all best friends. And then, at the same time,
these great heroines show up and start protecting Tokyo...I guess I
just couldn't think of Usagi in that light."
"People believe what they want to believe."
"Yeah, I suppose so."
"You know," Umillo said, "The only one that I was actually
suspicious of was that Chiba fellow."
Naru nodded. "I was leery of rum, too; although, the first time
that I met him, I thought that he was so sexy. I actually used him as
a basis for a love letter that I wrote and sent into this weird radio
station." Naru smiled at the memory. "I won a prize for it."
"I remember. It landed you in the hospital."
"Yeah," Naru sighed. "I really liked that program, too."
No one spoke for several beats, and then Umino said, "So, you
were saying about Chiba..."
"Oh yeah. I never really disliked him, or anything. I was just
concerned for Usagi. There was the age difference..."
"Four years."
"...And he never seemed all that affectionate when they were
together. Except," Naru said, "For this one time when I was meeting
Usagi at the shrine. I was early, and was walking the grounds when
Chiba-kun dropped her off. She got out of the car, and had walked a
few yards away when he called her back to him, leaned across the passenger
seat, and kissed her. I just thought that it was the sweetest thing."
"Either way," Umino said, "I guess they were meant to be together."
"Yeah. Couldn't think of a more unlikely match. Except maybe
Rei-chan and that one guy; Yuuichirou."
Umino's head jerked toward her. "What?"
Naru laughed. "He was so hot for her back then, back in high
school, and even before that, in junior high. I used to think that she
might feel the same way for him, but then she never made a move, and
if he ever did, nothing came of it."
"Wow." Umino shook his head. "I never would have thought. The
way she was always snapping at him...I only saw them together once or
twice, and only briefly, but she was pretty cold to him. And he just
swept and hurried around and took it. Guess it all makes sense now."
"Yeah," Naru said. "I guess it does." But it didn't, at least
not to her.
They had been walking through the city in silence for a while,
when Naru noticed where they were going, and she stopped in her tracks.
"Umino..."
Umino turned around and faced her, but said nothing.
"Not there, Umino. I don't want to go there." Naru could feel
her face flushing, and she shivered in spite of herself. Betrayal rushed
over her, and she ran her hands through her hair. "Why are you doing
this? Wasn't I clear when I was telling you what the rise did to me?
What she did to me?"
Umino was a dark form cloaked in shadows, and his face was not
visible. "Naru," he said. "I haven't been back there, either. The rise
did things to me, too," he took a step forward, into the light. "This
is something that we both have to do. Trust me."
Naru made a keening sound, low in her throat. She had thought
that her anxiety had come from the paparazzi, but maybe it hadn't after
all. Maybe it had been an abandonment issue all along.
"Naru."
*Fight or flight, fight or flight...*
"Naru, if you don't do this now, when will you?"
*...Fight or flight fight or fight...*
"Or won't you? Will you just escape to Sicily again?*
* ...Fightorflightfightorfight...*
"What about your mother?"
*FIGHT.*
"Alright," Naru whispered, but Umino must have heard her,
because he took her by the elbow and began leading her out of the city
and into the more suburban, blue-collar area. Many of the old homeowners
in the area had been bought out, and bigger, better homes were built
where theirs had once stood.
All but one.
As they approached it, Naru could see that it was roped off.
"They used to have guards stationed around it," Umino said
quietly. "It's a museum, now. For a price, anyone can walk through
that house and stare through glass and ropes at where Sailor Moon used
to live."
"Sailor Moon," Naru breathed, and leaned against the ropes. "I
still can't quite believe it. Usagi. Our Usagi-chan, who sat next to
me in Haruna-sensei's class and slept through it 60% of the time." She
let out a laugh. "Who's idea of a joke was that?"
Umino shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "God. Buddha.
Odin. The Powers That Be."
"Luna," Naru laughed again. "I never heard her talk."
Umino laughed. "Neither did I...or maybe we did, but just didn't
know it?"
"Us lowly earthlings!" Naru hooted. "I remember, once, Usagi
and I decided to start this singing group for a contest, and we ended
up fighting about it and not talking for days. That was when I had you
dress up like a woman, remember?"
"I do."
"Well, she later told me that when we hadn't been talking, she
had tried to get Luna to dance with her for the competition!"
Umino howled.
"And once, it was the first day of junior high, we were running,
late, to school, and it started to rain. I fell butt-first into a puddle
and had walk the rest of the way with a wet skirt." Naru smiled, her
laugher over. "I remember, when we got to school I started to cry. I
was so embarrassed and afraid of walking in there looking like I had
just had an accident all over myself, and Usagi plopped herself right
down into a nearby puddle and said that we'd be twins."
Umino wasn't laughing anymore, either. "You guys were such good
friends. Inseparable. "
"Yeah," Naru said. "Until the senshi."
"Do you hate them?"
Naru sighed. "No. Not anymore. I did for a few years, though--
after the rise. I just kept on wondering, 'why not me?' I mean, it seemed
so random, those group of girls. They were so different, no two alike.
I just kept on wondering why they got to go away with Usagi and not me."
Umino didn't say anything, and when the silence hung, he produced
a small silver box from his suit jacket and pulled a cigarette from
that. He offered it to Naru, and she took it half-heartedly. After
fumbling with a lighter, he lit it for her and she took a long drag.
"You know," Naru said, "I'm not that angry anymore. I used to
be, but now I'm just sad."
Umino nodded. "I was never really angry all that much. More so,
I was hurt."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Urnino leaned against a tree and dropped the cigarette
to the ground. He took a deep breath and then let it out with a whoosh.
"You shouldn't have left, Naru. You shouldn't have left without saying
goodbye."
Tears burned Naru's eyes. "I'm sorry, Umino," she said, stepping
closer to him and hugging him fiercely. "I'm so sorry."
Urnino wrapped his arms around her and hugged her so tightly
that she was short of breath, then released her and turned around on
his heel, so that his back was to her. She could see him fumbling for
a cigarette, and thought that this was her last chance.
Grabbing his shoulder, Naru spun him to face her and kissed him
firmly. The cigarette fell from his mouth and left a dark, sooty stain
on his white collar. It took Naru a moment to realize that he was not
kissing her back, and then she released him quickly, her cheeks burning.
Umino backed away, rubbing his mouth as if it were bruised, although
she had not kissed him that roughly.
"I'm sorry," he said after a moment. "Naru, I'm..."
"No," Naru said, wanting to be anywhere but there. She turned
her back to him and pinched the bridge of her nose. She could feel a
migraine corning on. "It's perfectly alright. I mean, just because we
had feelings for each other in high school doesn't mean that we will
now..."
"No, Naru, it's not that." Umino came around her so that she
was facing him, and Naru looked up at him with trepidation. "I'm married."
It took a moment for the words to register with Naru. *Married?
Hmmmmm. Married. That's something old, something new...* "Married?" she
said aloud, while her mind finished the rhyme.
Umino nodded. "For about twelve years, now."
"Why isn't she..." Naru couldn't seem to make sense of the words.
"Why isn't she here? With you?"
"Her flight was delayed," Umino said, still walking on glass.
"She called me and said that since I hadn't been able to make my last
two reunions, I shouldn't miss this one on account of her."
"Oh." Naru still couldn't make sense of her feelings, but one
thing was clear: she was no longer anxious. There was something
therapeutic about this place, something calming. The urge to run had
left her. All she wanted to do now was go home, get to bed, and make
breakfast for her mother the next morning. They had a lot to catch up
on.
"Are you very upset?"
"What? Oh. No..." Naru trailed off. "No, I'm not very upset. I'm
not upset at all, although I wish that you would have told me."
"Oh, okay. That's good," Urnino replied, still suspicious.
"You know," Naru said, smiling slightly, "I'm glad we left the
reunion tonight. I really needed this. "
Now Umino smiled, too. "I thought so."
"C'mon," Naru said, and began walking toward the city. "Let's
go to the Crown arcade and get a milkshake. I'm buying."
Now Umino really looked excited. "Great. I hope they still have
prune."
~~
WELL, whatcha think? This fic's plotline has changed so much
within the few days that it took to write it...for instance, the lyrics
in the beginning actually made sense when I started it. -_-;
Anyway, I'm not completely satisfied with it, and I plan to
work more on it over the holidays. Maybe I'll try an alternative ending,
or something. Either way, I'd love to hear from you, so please critique/
review. You can also email/MSN me at goodnight_spoon@hotmail.com or
AIM me at AJluvs2Bannoying. I love getting feedback!
Anyway, that's all...please take a look at my other fics,
particularly Chronicles of the Moon: Life of the Late Queen Serenity.
This fic is dedicated to my mom, who woke me up this morning
by stroking my arm and smiling at me (it's sweet now, but it was scary
then), and to my cousin Daniella, who, after trying for almost two
years, will finally be becoming a mommy.
Ciao for now!
AJ
By: AJ Martinez
Email: goodnight_spoon@hotmail.com
Rated: G
Length: 12 pages
Started: 8/14/03 12:38:06 PM
Finished: 8/17/0310:21:04 PM
Disclaimer: I in no way, shape or form own BSSM.
Hey! To all my regular readers, don't worry: I haven't taken a break
from Chronicles. I just figured that every author should add a short
story to their credits, and, although I have two, they're both
comedies, so I started this one. This is set after the rise of Crystal
Tokyo, with the main character being Naru (Molly, for all you dubbies).
Anyway, enjoy!
~
Hey, Cinderella--what's the story all about?
Got a funny feeling we missed a page or two somehow
Cinderella, maybe you could help us out:
Does the shoe fit you now?
~~
Naru didn't know why she was going. After all, the place would
be swarming with press, and she'd never had anything to say to them.
Something about the twentieth seemed special, though. As a girl, she'd
always imagined walking in and stopping them all in their tracks with--
with what? Her glamour? Perhaps. She had always thought so, at least.
Either way, the fifth had whizzed by, followed by the tenth, and she
had watched them all on TV, the former at home, in her PJs, and the
latter bleary-eyed and smashed in a bar.
*It's not even, technically, the twentieth,* she thought cynically,
and reapplied her lipstick.
That brought thoughts of Crystal Tokyo and--no, she wouldn't
go there. Either way, it wasn't the twentieth. There had been all those
years of hibernation...what would that make it? The 1,020th? No, that
wasn't right either...but then, who cared anyway? Certainly not Naru.
And certainly not the press. It could be the 189,872th, for all they
cared; they'd still line the streets for miles, hoping that *she* would
put in an appearance.
*Fat chance,* Naru thought. She glanced at herself in the mirror
and sighed. She was getting too old for this. Just six days ago she had
been sitting in the kitchen, sipping espresso and reading a mystery
novel, when the phone had rang.
Before we go any further, the reader should note the significance
in this. Exactly one year, seven months of three days after the rise of
Crystal Tokyo, Naru had ripped her phone off the wall and never
reattached it. One month later, at her mother's prodding she had bought
a cheap cell phone under a fake name, from a foreigner whose name she
couldn't pronounce. Only her mother had the number, although they rarely
spoke over it, as Naru preferred snail mail.
Naru had been surprised when the phone had rang. For a moment
she hadn't realized what exactly that ringing sound had been, but then
she remembered and went to answer it. She had located it on the seventh
ring, next to her TV guide and almost underneath the couch.
"Hello?"
*Moshi, moshi,* her mind had chided, but her mother's cheerful
voice had drown out her thoughts.
"Hello, baby! How have you been? Haven't spoken to you in nearly
three months."
"I've been fine."
"What have you been up to?"
"Oh, nothing," Naru leaned against the couch.
"How's business?"
"Reliable."
"Is that so."
Naru sighed. "Yup."
There was a pause, then, "You know, I was thinking that it's
been the longest time since you've come to visit--"
"Mom..."
"--Me in Tokyo. We could go shopping, and--"
"I'm not going back there, mother." Naru ran a hand through her
straight, chestnut hair, pausing when her fingers came into contact
with her roots. *I'll need to have them done again, and soon.*
"Oh, but honey," her mother rushed on mercilessly. "You haven't
been back for *years*. It's changed so much, you'd hardly recognize it."
She was silent for a moment, but when she continued, there was a catch
in her voice. "You wouldn't run into her, you know. You could wait
until you're ready...I'm sure she'd love to get a phone call from you..."
"Stop," Naru whispered. "Mom, please; not now, and not that.
It's over."
There was a long silence, and Naru was afraid that her mother
had hung up. But then her smooth voice came over the line again.
"I could really use your help, now that I'm older. It's gotten
harder and harder to maintain the shop, what with all the new boutiques."
"I wouldn't be of any help."
"Yes, you would."
"I'll wire you some money."
"I don't want your money."
"Then what do you want?" Naru snapped. "I can't come home. They'll
recognize me, and it'll start all over again."
"No it won't. I won't let it. She won't let it..."
"Don't bring her into this."
"Why not?"
"Because it's over between us. Stop bringing it up."
"Then come home."
"No."
"For a month. Just a month."
"I said, no."
Silence. Then, "I'm your mother. You're supposed to obey me."
"I'm your daughter. You 're supposed to protect me."
"You never let me."
Naru felt hot all over, and she shivered. The clock was ticking
in the room upstairs, and somehow she could hear it. It was too loud
and grating on her nerves. The house was too empty. She needed more
plants, maybe. More sunlight. More room.
But no, she thought. That's not what she needed. She needed her
mother.
"I'll be there."
"Oh, Naru...!"
"Will you meet me at the airport?" as inane as it sounded, Naru
clutched at the phone, white-knuckled, her next breath held as she waited
for her mother's answer. She would need constant support through this,
and she knew that if she had to get off that plane and navigate her way
through a maze of unfamiliar faces, something would snap.
"Of course I'll be there. When do you think you'll be in?"
"I'm not sure. I'll call you from the plane."
There had been several more minutes of talk, 90% of which had
been monopolized by her mother. When she had hung up the phone, Naru
had mechanically packed a gym bag with clothes--she couldn't seem to
find her suitcases--and then made the necessary phone calls. She didn't
own a car, so one of those phone calls had been to a taxi service. When
she arrived at the airport and walked up to the ticket counter, she had
asked for a one-way ticket to Tokyo, and then blushed crimson when she
realized that she had spoken in Japanese. The next flight hadn't been
for five hours, but, with nothing better to do, Naru had wandered around
the airport, through the gift shops and bakeries. She ended up buying
a suitcase, a bouquet of daisies for her mother, a box of chocolates
for her mother (she ate them on the plane), a portable CD player, two
light-rock CDs, a camera, and some pizzelle.
She couldn't remember much of the plane ride; the gender of the
steward ( ess?), what she ate for dinner, if she ate dinner at all,
whether or not she seats next to her had been taken. ...All she
remembered was arriving early in the morning and running into her
mother's arms.
When she arrived home, Naru went straight to bed, although
sleep evaded her. She lay on the same coverlet that she had used as a
child, staring at walls covered with posters of the Three Lights and
other pop stars. There was an empty wall, with shreds of tape still
stuck to it, where posters and wall scrolls of the Sailor Senshi had
once hung. She had taken them down before she left, but hadn't had the
heart to destroy them. They were rolled up neatly in the trash, which,
after all these years, still sat underneath her window, sandwiched
between the wall and a dresser.
The one thing that she had not recognized were the brown boxes,
stacked one on top of another, neatly placed in one corner. They were
not hers. Her mother must have put them in after she left, Naru thought.
After almost two sleepless hours, Naru had climbed from the
bed and walked over to the boxes. There were about seven of them, each
one measuring three feet wide and four feet long. She was about to
select one at random, when she saw that they had writing on the sides.
Her mother's crisp, bold kanji stared up at her ftom the first box.
Mail, it said, and was dated the year that she had left. The
next four boxes were dedicated to the following four years, although
the last two covered all the years since.
Her curiosity piqued, Naru opened the first--oldest--box. Inside
were hundreds upon hundreds of letters, folders and boxes; all addressed
to her.
Naru felt the same old nauseating anxiety sweep over her as she
recognized them. Most were from news stations and reporters, although
some were from people that she didn't know and had never heard of.
Although she knew that she would not find one, Naru began
sifting through the mail, looking for something, anything, from *her*.
Four hours later, Naru was on the last box. She had only opened
one letter so far--it had been written by her best friend from
kindergarten, a Chiyoko something-or-other. The first few paragraphs
had been asking how she was doing, whether or not she was married yet,
and then asking if she could please please please do Chiyoko just one
favor and introduce her to the Queen of Crystal Tokyo. Naru had laughed
for a moment there, them realized that there were tears in her eyes
and shut up.
The last box was the lightest, and the mail in there was the
most recent. Naru wondered briefly whether or not she should ever turn
in a change of address form, but then decided against it; sometimes
the best news was no news at all.
When she had reached the very last letter, Naru set to putting
them back into the box. As she was doing so, a card-type envelope fell
from her hands and to the floor. Naru glanced at it, and the fine,
engraved characters caught her eye. Written with gold ink, it was
addressed to her.
She could tell it was an invitation before she even opened it.
And she could guess what it was to.
At that moment, there had been a knocking on the door, and
without waiting for a response, her mother had come in. Noticing the
envelope in her daughter's hands, she had forgotten whatever it was
that she had come in to say, and suggested that Naru attend. What
ensued was a long and tearful fight, but Naru must have lost, because
here she was, less than a week later, sitting in her mother's car in
front of her childhood home, reapplying her lipstick for the hundredth
time.
*They could have at least rented a fancy hotel,* Naru thought,
and blotted her lips. *But no: they wanna get all sappy and nostalgic...*
Her mother had been watching it on TV while Naru dressed, and
had called down the hall that cars were parked for miles around the
building, many of them CNN news vans. Through her open window, she
had been able to hear the whirring of a helicopter.
"Naru!" her mother stuck her head out of the front door. "You'd
better get going. Why don't you walk tonight? It's not that far."
Naru sighed belligerently and got out of the car. She didn't
know why she had gotten in it in the first place. Wrapping her shawl
tighter around her shoulders, she waved to her mother and started off
down the street.
By the time she was within a mile of her destination the streets
had become clogged with not only vehicles, but people as well. A police
officer stopped her and when she showed him her invitation, he escorted
her the rest of the way, and behind the velvet ropes.
It was then that Naru stared up at her old high school, and
didn't recognize it. It had been built onto, that much was certain, and
a large fountain had been added to the landscaping. Dramatic carvings
and majestic architecture were everywhere, and Naru chided herself
silently; she had known about the renovations, had read about them in
the world news and gossip tabloids.
A camera flashed, and Naru was jolted back to earth. Reporters
clamored to get around the guards and police escorts. They didn't
recognize her, she knew; if they had, she wouldn't have been able to
make it this far without being accosted by some over-zealous member of
the paparazzi.
Suddenly very hot and very cold all at once, Naru hurried into
the school, pausing only briefly to check in with administration. She
was already running to the restrooms when they announced her over the
PA.
Slamming through the door, Naru almost collided with a former
classmate. Without apologizing, she rushed over to the sinks and set
to splashing water on her face and neck. This was all just too much,
too soon. She wasn't ready for this, wasn't ready to go back to the
way things had been--*Ha,* Naru thought. * As if that could happen.*
She stood there, panting, staring at the floor. Although the
school had had a major overhaul, they still hadn't fixed that leak
under the sink, she thought triumphantly. It was very much still there,
as was the ugly tile ceiling and the pale, yellowed stalls.
Naru looked up at herself in the mirror over the sink, and was
almost surprised by her own appearance. Here she was, in a place of her
long-ago childhood, and yet she was a completely different person. Her
hair was straight, cut to frame her face, and dyed a dark, warm brown.
Her glasses--which were fakes, bought at a gas station--slid down on
her nose, and her freckles had been covered with concealer and powder.
She remembered the first time she had slipped into this guise, shortly
after she had left Japan. Fearful of being recognized as the queen's
former-best-friend, she had slunk into a local drug store and purchased
a box of hair dye. It had taken her a few goes to find a color that
suited her, but she had finally arrived at the dark brown and never
changed it, although she missed her red tresses every day.
*I can't just hide in here forever,* Naru thought. *What am I
hiding from, anyway? She won't be here.*
Taking a deep breath, Naru strode with feigned confidence from
the lavatories. Her eyes scanned the crowd critically, but she saw no
one that she would want to speak with--all of her friends were mutual
friends of the queen's, and had, after the rise of Crystal Tokyo, all
made a killing selling memoirs, most having titles like An Unlikely
Monarch; My Friend, the Queen, Rabbit on the Moon, The Once and Future
Queen. ... The list went on.
"Naru-chan! Is that you?"
Naru spun around, but saw no one that she knew.
"Naru! It's me."
Her gaze focused on a tall man, and her eyes lit up. "Umino!"
Her former-boyfriend crossed the room in long, smooth strides
and hugged her quickly. "I can't believe it," he cried, holding her
back at arm's length. "Look at you!"
"Look at you," Naru gave back, and Umino blushed. It gave her
a sense of accomplishment, knowing that she could still make him do that.
The twenty years since graduating had done wonders for Umino.
He had grown into his head, for one. The glasses were gone, and his
hair was cut fashionably short. Time had given him height and more
berth, although he could never be called large. Through it all he had
kept a boyish look to him.
"No more glasses," Naru commented.
"Nope, I chucked those over fifteen years back," Umino confirmed,
and began leading her to an empty table. "Finally got laser eye surgery,
and it was one of the best moves I ever made. My vision is better than
ever, now." He smiled, genuinely happy to see her. "So what've you
been doing? I haven't seen you since..." he trailed off, and then Naru
remembered.
"Oh, Umino! I'm so sorry. I wish there were something I could
say..."
"No need," Umino held up a hand to silence her. "I'm not upset
about it anymore."
"But I owe you an explanation."
"Yes," Umino said seriously. "You do."
Naru swallowed, and then launched into her tale. "After we all
woke up, the press mobbed me. I couldn't go anywhere. I planned on
just keeping to my house for that one semester, just until the heat
died down, until...help arrived; but then day after day passed, and
nothing...no call, no letter, no nothing. I had thought that she might
find some way to contact me. Even knowing that she had all these new
responsibilities, I still expected her to keep the same friends."
Umino took her hand.
"After the semester had passed, and it became obvious that she
wasn't going to contact me, I slipped into this deep depression. I felt
that I couldn't trust anyone anymore." Naru could now hear the strain
in her voice, and she blinked rapidly, trying to make her tone casual.
"I mean, we had been best friends since the first grade. We always used
to say how when we grew up anf got married, we'd be each other's maids
of honor, and when we had children, we would be godmothers to the other's
child. We planned to get famous, and whoever got a break first would
make one for the other. And then she became Queen and became a wife
and was soon to become a mother...and all without me."
"So you left."
Naru nodded. "I couldn't take it anymore. All the phone calls
and letters, and the reporters camping out in front of my house and
going through my trash. I couldn't run to the grocery store without
being mobbed. Every time the phone rang, it was one of them. Every
time the mail came, it was first-class, manila envelopes, all addressed
to me by some machine and labeled IMPORTANT with a big, pink sticker.
Most of them weren't even in Japanese."
"You weren't the only one to get letters, Naru," Umino said
earnestly. "We all got them. And phone calls." he squeezed her hand,
but she sensed that it was more to comfort himself than her. "For God's
sake, Naru--I had to finish college abroad!"
Naru's head snapped up, but he went on before she could question.
"I called you every day, you know. I tried writing and email.
I would have just walked over to your apartment, if it weren't for the
press." He tossed her hand on the table and ran his through his hair.
"The two times I left the house after the rise, I ended up having to
call the police just to get back home. But I didn't stop trying.
"Then, one day, I called your house and actually got through.
Your mother answered, and when I asked to speak to you, there was a
silence. Then she told me that you had left and gone to an 'unknown
destination'."
Naru stared at her hands, ashamed.
"Where did you go ?"
Naru looked up at him, her eyes strangely dry although her
throat ached. "Sicily."
Umino nodded. If he was surprised, he didn't show it. "Why?"
"Because I couldn't take it anymore--"
"No," Umino interrupted. "I meant, why Sicily?" *Why not me?*
Naru smiled a bit. "Because of all those old gangster movies.
You ever notice, how, no matter what happens to them, no matter how
tough things get, they always have each other? I thought that if I
could just go to Sicily and make some Sicilian friends, then I could
start over and everything would be alright because I'd always have
them."
"You'll always have your mother."
Naru was silent. Although it seemed blaringly obvious now, all
she had thought of then had been getting away from the cameras and
microphones. She had never thought that the spotlight would do this to
her, would turn her into such an anxious, irritable person, but it had,
and when she had been faced with the choice of fight or flight, she had
flown and abandoned her mother, plans, and a boyfriend who had never
been anything but loyal.
"Let's get outta here."
Umino's voice broke Naru from her reverie, and she looked up
at him, confused. "Excuse me?"
Umino was already getting up. "Let's get out of here. Make a
run while the night is still young. Although it wouldn't matter, anyway,"
he added. "Since the rise, Tokyo's become entirely 24/7."
"Where would we go?"
"Anywhere. Everywhere. Let's just wait and see."
At that moment, anything seemed better than sitting in her old
high school's new addition and pretending to be a new, improved and
totally contented version of her old self.
Naru got up from her seat and Umino grinned.
"This way," he said, and began walking toward the bar. Naru
followed, curious; the doors were in the opposite direction. When they
reached the bar, Umino smiled broadly at the bartender and ordered a
scotch for hirnself and champagne "for the lady". The bartender nodded
and turned to get their drinks.
In the split second that his eyes were not on them, Umino
grabbed Naru's hand and whisked her through two swinging double-doors
that she had not even noticed a moment ago. They were suddenly in a
very well lit, very white room. Liveried staff rushed around, paying
them no heed, preparing a grand meal. Umino kept walking, and Naru
followed. As they passed the dessert table, Naru noticed that they had
made all of *her* favorites. At the center of it all was a massive
pounding cake, shaped and decorated with frosting to appear like the
Silver Crystal.
Naru turned her head away began walking faster. They approached
a small bacf door, and Umino opened it just a crack, peeking his head
out. Satisfied, he stepped through and pulled Naru out after him.
The sky was midnight blue, and if there were stars, they were
not visible. The moon was a small sphere in the velvet sky, and for
the first time in years, Naru thought of the legend of the old man and
the rabbit pounding cakes on the moon. It had been a favorite of hers
as a child, a comforting memory as a teen, and then an annoyingly
constant story as a young adult. But now, she thought, maybe she could
begin to love it again.
"So what've you been doing with yourself?" she asked, breaking
the silence.
Umino waited a moment before replying. "Well, after I realized
that you were gone, I didn't really have any reason to stay in Tokyo,
so I took a year off college and backpacked through Europe. Met some
very interesting people, some of which I've kept in contact with to
this day.
"When I decided to go back to college, I started looking into
universities in America. There were several really good ones, but I
ended up choosing the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Majored
in engineering and got a job right outta college designing computers.
It paid well and all, but what I really wanted to be doing was creating
new venues...I didn't want to make a PC look pretty; I wanted to
reinvent the internet. I wanted to make a difference." Throughout all
this Umino had been holding Naru's hand, but as he began to talk about
his plans, he dropped it to gesture into the night sky. "So I quit.
Let me tell you, those next few months were tough. But then I met up
with the right people, incorporated myself, and worked my ass off every
day since."
"Wow," Naru said. "That's great. Do you live here or in the
States?"
"In the States, primarily," Umino answered, burying his hands
in his deep pockets. "Although I have a penthouse here."
"Wow," Naru mouthed, but Umino must have seen it, because he chuckled
good-naturedly.
"What about you?" he looked her up and down. "What have you
been doing in Sicily?"
Naru took a breath. "A little bit of everything. I owned a
curio shop for a while there, but the language was new to me then, and
I ended up selling it. I also paint and write music, so that's brought
in some money. And I translate documents sporadically...I pretty much
just do anything that calls to me."
Umino was nodding. "Yeah, that's the way to do it. Would that
I had more time."
Naru was silent. She couldn't think of anything to say, and so
they walked on comfortably until they reached the downtown area. It had
been hard to recognize in the dark, but there was no mistaking it now
that it was upon them.
Tall buildings loomed overhead, and more than a third of the
shops were alien to Naru, built after her flight. They all lacked
appeal, at least to her, and Naru began steering them toward the one
that still stood out in her mind.
A gasp rattled from her, and Umino winced. She had seen it.
"W-what?"
Umino continued walking for a few steps, although she had
stopped, and swung on his heel to face Naru. "Sickening, isn't it?"
Naru swallowed. Her throat felt dry.
Before her stood a neon. poster-ed building, sculpted to be a
replica of the palace. The doors slid open as she took another step
forward, and Naru stood, rooted in place, drawn by her own disbelief
but unwilling to enter. Across the room was a large wall mural, a
blown-up image of the queen as a teenager, smiling and making a peace
sign, still in her Juuban uniform and with her briefcase slung over
her shoulder. It was obviously from the cheap, three-minute-photo box
that had once stood in the leftmost comer. Emblazoned across the top
of the photo were the words CROWN ARCADE.
"There's a whole chain of them now," Umino said from behind her.
"I'm surprised you hadn't heard."
"Furahuta-san?"
Umino came to stand beside her. "Who knows? Last I heard, he
took off with his wife. Something about animals or bugs or something.
Point is, they're gone, and the owner's had a field day. Having the
arcade named 'Crown' before the rise hasn't hurt, either."
"Does...she know that they've got her picture up here?"
"Probably." Umino answered. "I mean, she's gotta. Guess it doesn't
seem like that big a deal, now."
Naru nodded numbly, and, sensing her need to get as far away
from this place as possible, Umino put his hand on her shoulder and
began steering her in another direction.
Naru chewed her lower lip and tried to make sense of what had
happened. It really wasn't that big a deal, no reason to get worked up
about it, wasn't like it was the end of the world. But is *was* the
end of something; of what, she wasn't sure. Maybe of that part of her
life. It was truly over, now. No going back. Not that she'd want to.
"Where are we going?" Naru asked, suddenly cold. She wrapped
her shawl tighter around her shoulders and nuzzled into it.
Umino smiled. "You'll see when we get there. Just close your
eyes." Naru opened her mouth to object, but Umino had anticipated that.
"Trust me," he said.
*I can't,* Naru thought, but then realized that she could. When
had Umino ever mislead her? That's right: never. She closed her eyes,
and, for the first time in a long time, didn't feel childish or immature
for having fun. She was with Umino. Everything would be all right.
They seemed to have been walking for a long time, and Naru was
getting antsy. "Where are we going?" she asked again, and Umino laughed.
"Trust me. It's only a little farther."
Naru did trust him. She kept her eyes shut tight, and gripped
the side ofUmino's long, charcoal overcoat. The wind danced around
them, blowing her short silk skirt against her legs. Her mother always
had said that she looked nice in black; even more so now that she had
darker hair. Naru took after her mother in the sense that stress and/
or age made her lose weight, not gain it, and she felt a twinge of
self-consciousness as she bumped in Umino's side. She knew that she
had a few pounds to gain before she'd be at an attractive, if not
healthy, weight.
Umino stopped walking, and Naru took a step forward before she
could stop herself. "Are we here?" she asked, unable to squelch the
excitement that she could feel raising within her. It had been a while
since she had been this excited about something that involved another
person.
"We're here. Open your eyes."
It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting.
The glowing neon of the city was behind her, right at her heels, it
seemed, but actually several city blocks away. The building in front
of her was set on a low hill, and a paper lantern adorned either end
of its porch.
Naru felt tears well in her eyes. "The," she swallowed painfully.
"The shrine. It's still here. And it's still...the same."
Umino came up behind her, and she could feel his warmth. "Despite
high offers from just about every corporation in the world, that old
priest never sold. Never commercialized it, either. Far as I can tell,
the only revamping the shrine's had since the rise has been a new roof
and coat of paint."
"Is...is it still open?"
"Not this late," Umino replied. "But it's open to business
during the day. Still specializing in the same good-luck charms that
we used to buy as kids. Of course, it's become more of a tourist
attraction than a shrine in the last eighteen years since the rise;
but it's never sold out."
"Who owns it now?" Naru asked. "I mean, that old priest couldn't
possibly be alive still..."
"Died sixteen years ago, or so." Umino shook his head. "He was
a good man."
Naru looked at him suspiciously. "How do you know all this?
You've been in the States "
Now Umino smiled. "I can read, you know."
"Huh?"
"When a death makes the cover of Newsweek, I pay attention."
He looked at her strangely. "Didn't you see the funeral on TV?"
Naru shook her head slowly, lost in thought. "I don't watch
that much TV."
"That explains it," Umino said. He paused, then, "To answer
your question, it's owned by Hino-sama."
"Rei-chan?"
Umino nodded. "That's how we knew her, yeah. But now they're
all something-sama."
"She doesn't live here and tend it, does she?"
Umino shook his head. "A Yuuichirou something-or-other runs it,
although rumor is that she stops by in disguise to look over it with
him. Never been proven, of course, but the minute that the rest of the
senshi are seen without her, the masses rush over here for the chance
to see a real, live Martian."
Naru giggled at the label. She always had thought that Rei-chan
was slightly out there, but she had never imagined her to be *that* out
there.
"What's that smile for?" Umino asked.
"I was just thinking about the senshi," Naru said. "And how we
all should have figured it out sooner." They began walking back the way
that they had come, and Umino nodded. "You know, I thought that it was
weird that all of a sudden these four girls come up and meet Usagi and
all of a sudden they're all best friends. And then, at the same time,
these great heroines show up and start protecting Tokyo...I guess I
just couldn't think of Usagi in that light."
"People believe what they want to believe."
"Yeah, I suppose so."
"You know," Umillo said, "The only one that I was actually
suspicious of was that Chiba fellow."
Naru nodded. "I was leery of rum, too; although, the first time
that I met him, I thought that he was so sexy. I actually used him as
a basis for a love letter that I wrote and sent into this weird radio
station." Naru smiled at the memory. "I won a prize for it."
"I remember. It landed you in the hospital."
"Yeah," Naru sighed. "I really liked that program, too."
No one spoke for several beats, and then Umino said, "So, you
were saying about Chiba..."
"Oh yeah. I never really disliked him, or anything. I was just
concerned for Usagi. There was the age difference..."
"Four years."
"...And he never seemed all that affectionate when they were
together. Except," Naru said, "For this one time when I was meeting
Usagi at the shrine. I was early, and was walking the grounds when
Chiba-kun dropped her off. She got out of the car, and had walked a
few yards away when he called her back to him, leaned across the passenger
seat, and kissed her. I just thought that it was the sweetest thing."
"Either way," Umino said, "I guess they were meant to be together."
"Yeah. Couldn't think of a more unlikely match. Except maybe
Rei-chan and that one guy; Yuuichirou."
Umino's head jerked toward her. "What?"
Naru laughed. "He was so hot for her back then, back in high
school, and even before that, in junior high. I used to think that she
might feel the same way for him, but then she never made a move, and
if he ever did, nothing came of it."
"Wow." Umino shook his head. "I never would have thought. The
way she was always snapping at him...I only saw them together once or
twice, and only briefly, but she was pretty cold to him. And he just
swept and hurried around and took it. Guess it all makes sense now."
"Yeah," Naru said. "I guess it does." But it didn't, at least
not to her.
They had been walking through the city in silence for a while,
when Naru noticed where they were going, and she stopped in her tracks.
"Umino..."
Umino turned around and faced her, but said nothing.
"Not there, Umino. I don't want to go there." Naru could feel
her face flushing, and she shivered in spite of herself. Betrayal rushed
over her, and she ran her hands through her hair. "Why are you doing
this? Wasn't I clear when I was telling you what the rise did to me?
What she did to me?"
Umino was a dark form cloaked in shadows, and his face was not
visible. "Naru," he said. "I haven't been back there, either. The rise
did things to me, too," he took a step forward, into the light. "This
is something that we both have to do. Trust me."
Naru made a keening sound, low in her throat. She had thought
that her anxiety had come from the paparazzi, but maybe it hadn't after
all. Maybe it had been an abandonment issue all along.
"Naru."
*Fight or flight, fight or flight...*
"Naru, if you don't do this now, when will you?"
*...Fight or flight fight or fight...*
"Or won't you? Will you just escape to Sicily again?*
* ...Fightorflightfightorfight...*
"What about your mother?"
*FIGHT.*
"Alright," Naru whispered, but Umino must have heard her,
because he took her by the elbow and began leading her out of the city
and into the more suburban, blue-collar area. Many of the old homeowners
in the area had been bought out, and bigger, better homes were built
where theirs had once stood.
All but one.
As they approached it, Naru could see that it was roped off.
"They used to have guards stationed around it," Umino said
quietly. "It's a museum, now. For a price, anyone can walk through
that house and stare through glass and ropes at where Sailor Moon used
to live."
"Sailor Moon," Naru breathed, and leaned against the ropes. "I
still can't quite believe it. Usagi. Our Usagi-chan, who sat next to
me in Haruna-sensei's class and slept through it 60% of the time." She
let out a laugh. "Who's idea of a joke was that?"
Umino shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "God. Buddha.
Odin. The Powers That Be."
"Luna," Naru laughed again. "I never heard her talk."
Umino laughed. "Neither did I...or maybe we did, but just didn't
know it?"
"Us lowly earthlings!" Naru hooted. "I remember, once, Usagi
and I decided to start this singing group for a contest, and we ended
up fighting about it and not talking for days. That was when I had you
dress up like a woman, remember?"
"I do."
"Well, she later told me that when we hadn't been talking, she
had tried to get Luna to dance with her for the competition!"
Umino howled.
"And once, it was the first day of junior high, we were running,
late, to school, and it started to rain. I fell butt-first into a puddle
and had walk the rest of the way with a wet skirt." Naru smiled, her
laugher over. "I remember, when we got to school I started to cry. I
was so embarrassed and afraid of walking in there looking like I had
just had an accident all over myself, and Usagi plopped herself right
down into a nearby puddle and said that we'd be twins."
Umino wasn't laughing anymore, either. "You guys were such good
friends. Inseparable. "
"Yeah," Naru said. "Until the senshi."
"Do you hate them?"
Naru sighed. "No. Not anymore. I did for a few years, though--
after the rise. I just kept on wondering, 'why not me?' I mean, it seemed
so random, those group of girls. They were so different, no two alike.
I just kept on wondering why they got to go away with Usagi and not me."
Umino didn't say anything, and when the silence hung, he produced
a small silver box from his suit jacket and pulled a cigarette from
that. He offered it to Naru, and she took it half-heartedly. After
fumbling with a lighter, he lit it for her and she took a long drag.
"You know," Naru said, "I'm not that angry anymore. I used to
be, but now I'm just sad."
Umino nodded. "I was never really angry all that much. More so,
I was hurt."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Urnino leaned against a tree and dropped the cigarette
to the ground. He took a deep breath and then let it out with a whoosh.
"You shouldn't have left, Naru. You shouldn't have left without saying
goodbye."
Tears burned Naru's eyes. "I'm sorry, Umino," she said, stepping
closer to him and hugging him fiercely. "I'm so sorry."
Urnino wrapped his arms around her and hugged her so tightly
that she was short of breath, then released her and turned around on
his heel, so that his back was to her. She could see him fumbling for
a cigarette, and thought that this was her last chance.
Grabbing his shoulder, Naru spun him to face her and kissed him
firmly. The cigarette fell from his mouth and left a dark, sooty stain
on his white collar. It took Naru a moment to realize that he was not
kissing her back, and then she released him quickly, her cheeks burning.
Umino backed away, rubbing his mouth as if it were bruised, although
she had not kissed him that roughly.
"I'm sorry," he said after a moment. "Naru, I'm..."
"No," Naru said, wanting to be anywhere but there. She turned
her back to him and pinched the bridge of her nose. She could feel a
migraine corning on. "It's perfectly alright. I mean, just because we
had feelings for each other in high school doesn't mean that we will
now..."
"No, Naru, it's not that." Umino came around her so that she
was facing him, and Naru looked up at him with trepidation. "I'm married."
It took a moment for the words to register with Naru. *Married?
Hmmmmm. Married. That's something old, something new...* "Married?" she
said aloud, while her mind finished the rhyme.
Umino nodded. "For about twelve years, now."
"Why isn't she..." Naru couldn't seem to make sense of the words.
"Why isn't she here? With you?"
"Her flight was delayed," Umino said, still walking on glass.
"She called me and said that since I hadn't been able to make my last
two reunions, I shouldn't miss this one on account of her."
"Oh." Naru still couldn't make sense of her feelings, but one
thing was clear: she was no longer anxious. There was something
therapeutic about this place, something calming. The urge to run had
left her. All she wanted to do now was go home, get to bed, and make
breakfast for her mother the next morning. They had a lot to catch up
on.
"Are you very upset?"
"What? Oh. No..." Naru trailed off. "No, I'm not very upset. I'm
not upset at all, although I wish that you would have told me."
"Oh, okay. That's good," Urnino replied, still suspicious.
"You know," Naru said, smiling slightly, "I'm glad we left the
reunion tonight. I really needed this. "
Now Umino smiled, too. "I thought so."
"C'mon," Naru said, and began walking toward the city. "Let's
go to the Crown arcade and get a milkshake. I'm buying."
Now Umino really looked excited. "Great. I hope they still have
prune."
~~
WELL, whatcha think? This fic's plotline has changed so much
within the few days that it took to write it...for instance, the lyrics
in the beginning actually made sense when I started it. -_-;
Anyway, I'm not completely satisfied with it, and I plan to
work more on it over the holidays. Maybe I'll try an alternative ending,
or something. Either way, I'd love to hear from you, so please critique/
review. You can also email/MSN me at goodnight_spoon@hotmail.com or
AIM me at AJluvs2Bannoying. I love getting feedback!
Anyway, that's all...please take a look at my other fics,
particularly Chronicles of the Moon: Life of the Late Queen Serenity.
This fic is dedicated to my mom, who woke me up this morning
by stroking my arm and smiling at me (it's sweet now, but it was scary
then), and to my cousin Daniella, who, after trying for almost two
years, will finally be becoming a mommy.
Ciao for now!
AJ