~*~*~*~
Kaori made her way back to the abandoned lab where Professor Tomoe awaited her arrival. This would be the first time she actually returned without anything to show for her efforts, which wasn't good. Tomoe was already becoming angry with her for bringing back regular Heart Crystals. She wondered how he, or even the Mistress, would react if she were to return with nothing.
Upon returning to the lab, she walked right in without hesitation. Professor Tomoe was just sitting there, waiting for her. "We have a problem." She said as she walked into the middle of the room and stopped.
It didn't take long for the Professor to notice that Kaori hadn't brought anything back with her. "Where the hell is the Heart Crystal?" He frowned as he pushed himself of the chair he was sitting in.
Kaori held her ground without budging the slightest bit. "That's the problem."
Tomoe frowned even harder as he crossed his arms. He eyes traveled down to the woman's hands, which were empty when they should have been filled with her Heart Snatcher in its case. "Where's the new Heart Snatcher I made you?"
Kaori looked down at her empty hands, and then back up at the Professor. "I encountered someone who can take them out with ease."
Th Professor widened his eyes in surprise as his frown slowly disappeared. "What? I made those Heart Snatchers to resist Ki. At most they will be stunned if they're attacked." He turned away from the woman as he dropped his arms back down to his side.
Kaori crossed her arms. "It was some girl in a Sailor outfit. She chanted something and then, bam; my Heart Snatcher was obliterated."
Raising a hand to his lip, Tomoe wondered how he could counter the power. He had had the benefit of being able to manipulate his creatures' resistance to Ki power by using Hotaru. But, without a sample to go off of he wouldn't be able to make any more of the Heart Snatchers with a resistance. "I'm going to have to research a defense system, but I'll need more information about the fighter you encountered today." He turned back to Kaori, who hadn't yet moved. "For the time being, I'll program them to have basic physical defenses."
~*~*~
Makoto grabbed two bags off of her bed while Rei grabbed another two, which had just been packed. "Come on." Makoto turned to look around her room with a sigh. She had no idea when she would be able to access it again, as her parents hadn't yet decided on when they would be returning. "Let's go." Looking down at her two friends, she motioned for them to begin making their way out of the room.
Ami, who was closest to the door, stepped out first. She hadn't overlooked the fact that there had been virtually no sound since they had arrived. "Where're your parents?"
Makoto turned off her light and hurried Rei out of the room so she could close the door. "At the airport. You know my dad, he never wants to be late, even if it means getting to his destination at least three hours in advance."
Rei chuckled. "My grandfather's the other way around. We're always late to things."
Makoto smiled. "Anyway, I'm supposed to meat them there so I can say goodbye to my mother, and good riddance to my father."
~*~*~
Noticing her father in the hall, Usagi walked into her house with a huge grin. She slammed the door shut and threw her bag down the ground, hardly able to contain her laughter. "Guess what!?" She chirped as she flipped her shoes off before walking in any further.
Goku stopped in his tracks upon hearing his daughter's voice. He turned around to see Usagi approaching him. She grin on her face told him that she was in a good mood. "What?" He asked, rather enthused.
Usagi stopped at the opening of the hallway and leaned against the wall. "I SO got Mr. Koch back for everything today."
Chi-Chi, who had been in the kitchen grabbing a soda, slammed the refrigerator door shut with a frown. "Excuse me!?" Not even giving Goku or Usagi a chance to respond, she raced into the living room. "What did we talk about the other day, young lady?"
Usagi grinned wider as she put her hands behind her back. "Oh don't worry, mom. I won't get in trouble for this." She snickered as she pulled away from the wall. "I got sent into the hall today for an 'outburst'," She paused as she looked up to her mother, who was already giving her a look of disapproval, "which I know was really wrong but it just kinda slid out. Anyway, when I came in from my 'punishment'," She made the quote symbol with her fingers, "I 'accidentally' flipped the buckets over onto Mr. Koch. You should have seen him! He was completely drenched from head to toe. The funny thing is he can't get me in trouble for acting outta spite. I blamed it on my strength." She burst out with laughter just thinking about it again.
Chi-Chi glared hard down at her daughter, trying to look as serious as possible. But it wasn't happening. She put her hands together and applauded her daughter as her frown turned into a smile. Laughing, she walked to her daughter and wrapped her hands around her face. "That's great! That man finally got what's coming to him."
Both Goku and Usagi looked at the woman in shock. Both of them had expected her to flip out. Usagi wrapped her hands around her mother's wrist and continued her own laughter. "I know! He SO deserved it."
Chi-Chi seemed to overlook the fact that Usagi had gotten in trouble in the first place. She was too ecstatic over the fact Mr. Koch had finally gotten what he had coming to him. The man had been asking for it ever since the first day of Usagi's first-grade year. "I'm so proud of you, Usagi. You found a way to get your revenge without getting into trouble." Laughing even harder as a picture of a drenched Mr. Koch popped into her mind, she pulled her hands away from her daughter's face and turned up to her dumbfounded husband. "I've always wanted to see the man suffer." Her words, said very 'evilly', caused chills to run down her family's spines.
Goku scratched his head in confusion as he watched the two girls. Never in a million years had he expected Chi-Chi to react the way she had. He expected her to go off on Usagi like she always had in the past. This was a complete and unexpected change. "Chi-Chi, are you sure we should be encouraging this?"
Usagi cocked her head, half in confusion, as she turned up to look at her father. "What's wrong, dad? You don't think it's funny?"
Chi-Chi momentarily quieted down. "What's wrong with her having a little fun? That man deserves everything he gets." She looked down at her daughter with that 'motherly' look. "Granted what you did was wrong, I'm not going to get angry. I know how he treats you, and as long as long as this won't affect your chances of getting into a good High School, I'll let it slide this once."
Usagi smiled up at her mother. She was actually being 'cool' lately. "Thanks mom."
Goku sighed deeply as he crossed his arms. It was true that the man finally got what he had coming, but he wasn't sure if he approved of the way it was done. "Usagi, I realize you don't like him. And while I realize you won't get in trouble with the school, I'd rather you not use your strength as a scapegoat."
Usagi rolled her eyes with a grin. "Yes dad." She should have known he would say something like that. He was always exceptionally serious when it came to abusing fighting abilities.
Goku smirked with a chuckle. "But you still got him pretty good."
~*~*~
~~Mugen School~~
After her encounter with the Heart Snatchers, Michiru decided to play things safe and patrol the area for any activities that seemed out of the ordinary. This had been the fourth attack in the past four days, and she could only assume that the numbers would grow before things died down. She was relieved that she had at least stopped the most recent attack from actually working, but there was no telling when and where the Heart Snatchers would strike next. Obviously she wouldn't be able to stop every single attack due to there being only one of her and millions of targets, but she would try her best not to let what happened to Taro, happen to anyone else.
After scouting out the locker-room-building, Michiru made her way back out into the track area, where she noticed Haruka running laps with the other students that were going out for the team. Just as she had decided to make her way to the main building, she caught a glance of Mamoru approaching from the stands. "Oh God." She slightly threw her head back with a half- smile. "I completely forgot about the soda's." She tried act casual in order to fool Mamoru into believing that she was just absent minded.
Mamoru crossed his arms with a playful glare. "Well you took long enough, it's no wonder that you forgot."
Michiru turned completely toward Mamoru, while trying to keep most of her attention on the School. "I got sidetracked." Turning her attention fully onto Mamoru, she reached into her pocket. "Here." She said as she handed her friend the money. "You wouldn't mind getting the soda's, would you?" Before receiving a response, she spun around and began walking away.
Mamoru stared blankly at the cash in his hand for a second or two, and then glanced back up at Michiru's back. He had never seen her act quite so abrupt before, which only caused him to become curious. "What's she up to?" Shrugging, he mashed the cash into his pants pocket and started out for the girl, only to stop suddenly to turn back toward the track. Haruka was at the far end, which meant she wasn't able to see him. Grabbing his opportunity while he had the chance, he ducked into the School to follow Michiru.
~*~*~
Makoto and the girls arrived at the airport just on time to see the Kino's off on their trip. After dropping Makoto's bags off at Rei's, the three high-tailed it airport, where they were met with a the faces of a large crowd of people, all of whom were waiting for planes of their own. The three pushed their way through the masses, hoping to spot a pair of familiar faces. The crowds responded in kind, and pushed the youngsters to the side.
Rei glared at every passing traveler that walked by. "What's wrong with these people!?" Suddenly, what looked to be a senior tour group filled the vicinity, with one younger lady in the lead. "Watch out, guys. Crowd alert."
Makoto pushed herself up against the nearest wall with her friends. She looked down at her watch, realizing that it was only a matter of minutes before her parents' plane would leave. 'Crap!' She looked up at the large, yet slow group of roaming people. "We're never gonna get to my parents in time this way."
Ami sympathetically sighed. "They won't leave without saying goodbye to you, will they?"
Makoto rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. "Do you have to ask? Of course they will. My dad always says, 'You have to learn the hard way'. He'll leave just to teach me about time management." Looking on into the rest of the masses, she became angry. She didn't want her mother to leave without being able to say goodbye first.
Even though she had known Makoto for nearly seven years, she still couldn't believe how unreasonable her father was. "I can't believe your dad sometimes."
~*~*~
Mr. Kino brought his wrist up in order to check his watch. Seeing the time, he frowned with a little growl. "She's late. She should have been here by now."
Looking over her shoulder to see if her daughter had come in yet, Mrs. Kino picked up her carry-on's. "I hope she gets here in time."
"That's it." Mr. Kino reached for his own bags. "We're boarding. We've already waited as long as we can." Without a second thought, he turned toward the gate.
Mrs. Kino flinched at her husband's words. She couldn't understand how he could possibly be so uncompassionate at a time like this. Neither of them knew when they would be returning so you would think the man would want to say goodbye to his only child. "Let's wait a little longer. I don't want to leave without saying goodbye to Makoto."
Mr. Kino frowned as he reached over his shoulder for his wife. "There's no time. They just called for any last minute boarders. We'll miss our plane if we don't leave now. She has to learn. I'm not letting her screw my vacation up." With his free hand, he grasped his hand upon his wife's shoulder and guided her back. "You can call her tonight or something."
With tears forming in her eyes, Mrs. Kino took a deep breath. She hated this. If it were up to her, she would stay behind and catch the next plane. But she knew how her husband was. He wouldn't have it, and it would probably end up the entire repair process. "I guess."
~*~*~
Makoto watched the senior tour group hoping that they would move out of the way soon. She didn't want to be rude and just push them aside; but then again, they were being rude by clogging up the entire corridor. Some of them were moving, but a good portion of them were just standing around and gawking. She unfolded her arms with a snarl. "That's it!" She reached down and grabbed Ami by the hand. Darting out, she yanked Ami by the arm and began pulling her into the group. Ami, in return, reached out and barely grabbed the unsuspecting Rei by the arm. "I'm not letting them leave without me!"
Makoto acted like a football player. She held out her free hand in order to make room for herself, as well as her following chain. "Comin' through!" She dove in any and every crack between people, many times pushing against all obstacles with her body like a rampaging bull.
"What're you doing!?" Rei called out from the back of the line as she was being jostled around. She was thrown into a feeble-looking man, which in turn fell into three other people. "Sorry!" She called out, but it was too late. Makoto had pulled her through to many people down the line for the man to hear her words.
Ami had the worst of the situation as she was in the middle. She had Makoto tugging from one end, and Rei on from the other. "You guys are going to rip me apart!"
Makoto ignored her two friends. Her only goal at that point was to meet her parents in time. "Don't whine!" Narrowing her eyesight, she noticed an opening not too far from her position. "Yes!" She took her opportunity and dove under the legs of an awfully cheery woman, who at the moment was laughing hysterically.
Ami widened her eyes as it was her turn. Although Makoto had gotten through rather smoothly, things didn't work as well for her. "Watch out!" She called out. By then, it was already too late. Bother arms didn't make it through the legs of the woman. Hers and Rei's arm worked together to clothesline the poor woman from below, causing her to fall to her butt.
Rei covered her face as she dragged down. As a last ditch effort to stay balanced, she grabbed a hold of the nearest thing, which happened to be the bag of yet another woman. Needless to say the two came crashing down as a result. "Whoa!"
It was at that point that the domino effect took place. Once Rei slammed against the marble floor, so did everyone else. The corridor was filled with the cries of frantic travelers.
Makoto released Ami's hand, and quickly scurried to her feet. "Come on guys! We gotta split!"
Ami's face was planted in the cheery woman's hip, which wasn't a pleasant experience for the girl. She quickly pulled her head away with a look of disgust. "Makoto!" She cried out as she glared up at the brunette.
Rei was a little more headstrong about the whole situation. She knew it was best to just get out of there before security came, which was what she figured Makoto was thinking too. She quickly reached down for Ami and pulled her up.
Looking at the floor, Makoto burst out into a fit of laughter. No one seemed to even care that they were the ones who had caused the chaos. They were more concerned with getting back to their feet, which didn't look to be an easy task. Many of them were looking for things to push themselves up with, but there wasn't really anything around for them to use. Others were fumbling over one another as they tried to use each other as a brace. "This is classic!"
Ami frowned as she quickly and easily jumped to her feet. She brushed some dirt of her school uniform as she hoped over a heap of luggage. "Don't be stupid! These people can't get up!" She turned around and noticed that Rei was directly behind her, but more importantly, she saw the struggling elders. "This is horrible." She tried to hold back a smile, but it somehow cracked through the seriousness, well, until the leader of the group noticed them.
"You three!" The three friends jumped in fear of getting in trouble as they backed away, causing the tour coordinator to become enraged. "Get back here! You did a bad thing!" Starting out for the girls, she tripped over her own tour group and fell flat on her face.
Makoto, Ami, and Rei high-tailed it out of the area after that, though not without their fair share of laughter. Even Ami giggled, but only slightly. She knew it was wrong, but something about a group of people on the floor tripping over one another did seem rather amusing at the moment.
"Shh, be quiet, you guys." Rei put her finger over her lips as she noticed an airport personnel approaching. Makoto quieted down her laughter, but couldn't completely halt it. "Don't let on that we were the ones who did it."
Ami knew for sure that she would give it away if he were to question them. She hated high-pressure situations with authority, and usually found herself cracking under them. So she turned her head to the side to make it appear as if she were just looking outside toward the runway. No sooner had she looked outside did she notice a plane taking off from the ground. Suddenly, all traces of laughter and happiness disappeared, only to be replaced by seriousness. "Makoto, look." She wandered away from her own little group and walked to the window.
Still smiling, Makoto turned to look at what Ami was looking at. At first, nothing clicked. She didn't realize exactly what she was looking at. But it didn't take long for the rumbling of the plane to reach her senses. Realizing exactly what she was looking at, her skin turned white as her heart fell to the pit of her stomach. "Oh no." She whispered.
Rei walked up to stand next to the girl. "That wasn't your parents' flight, was it?"
Makoto swallowed heavily as she gave a slight nod. "Theirs was the only plane that left from this runway at this time of day." She lowered her eyes to the ground as she slowly began to turn away from the window. "I didn't get to say goodbye. I was too late." She let her shoulders slump as a feeling of disappointment took over her body.
Ami turned sympathetically down to her downhearted friend. "Your mom is sure to call, Makoto." She said, trying to cheer the girl up. She lifted her arm and wrapped it around Makoto's shoulders to comfort her.
Makoto hung her head low. "I know, but I still wanted to say goodbye." Just as she was looking back up, a huge explosion rumbled throughout the airport. "Huh?!"
Rei watched with wide eyes out the window. "Oh my God!" Taking a step back in fear, she gasped. "Makoto!"
Makoto shot her head up from its down position, fearing what she would see. Ami ripped herself from Makoto and pressed her body against the window. "No!"
Makoto mimicked Ami's movements. Standing there, looking outside, she saw a huge cloud of black smoke with bits of orange peeking through, which was following her parents' plane. "Mom! Dad!" Makoto didn't know what to do other than just stand there. She was frozen stiff in horror.
All eyes in the terminal were turned outside as the plane began failing. Fire shot out from beneath the plane down to the ground. "It's going down!" Cried a man from the forming crowd as he pointed to the plane, which was losing control and heading for the ground.
Makoto slapped herself in the face to snap herself out of her trance. "We've gotta help them!"
Movement on the ground below the plane caught Rei's attention. Emergency vehicles were already making their way out to the runway to help survivors. "How?!"
Makoto looked down at the ground with a frown. "I don't know!" She growled back. She had no idea how they were supposed to help a crashing plane, but she had to try to think of something. Her parents were on that plane. She didn't know what she would do with herself if they were to die in the crash; that wasn't even something she wanted to think about. "We've gotta try though!"
Rei nodded. "I'm with you all the way!" She looked back up at the plane, which was closer to the ground by now. "We've got to act fast!"
Ami nodded. "I'm with you too!"
Makoto smiled. She knew she could always count on her friends. "Let's go!" Turning around, she noticed that she and her friends were enclosed by a group of people who were gawking at the spectacle. "We're never gonna get anywhere this way!" She stiffened her legs and arms and began powering up. Ami and Rei responded in kind. She slightly bent her legs and lowered her body in order to get into position. "Don't question, just follow!" She said, looking side to side at her friends, who nodded back. She quickly looked back out at the runway. Saying not another word, she lowered her head and covered it with her arms. Creating a small Ki shield around her body, she gave herself a quick serge of energy and bolted out through the glass, which shattered upon impact. Ami and Rei were close to follow.
The crowd that was left behind was no longer concerned with the falling plane, but with the girls' actions. They filled in the space where the three had been standing and stared into the sky, but they were flying too fast to be seen without using senses.
Makoto dropped her shield after departing from the terminal as she dropped a portion of her energy. "First we have to stop if from crashing!" She yelled out to her friends who were trailing behind.
Ami sped up and flew beneath Makoto. "One of us take the nose of the plane, while the other two go for the middle!"
Makoto and Rei nodded. "Right!" With that, the three separated, with Makoto going for the nose and Ami and Rei going back to balance the middle.
For once, Makoto felt a feeling for her father, which surprised her. She was scared that the flames would consume him before she got a chance to get him out. She dove beneath the plane and lifted her hands up so she could grab a hold of it.
Rei and Ami found it a bit harder to get a good grip. The entire bottom was engulfed in flames. "We're having a bit of trouble here!" Rei looked at Ami. "Let's go for the tail!" Ami had barely been able to make out Rei's words due to all of the nose, but she noticed that the girl was making her way further back, so she followed.
Makoto raised her energy back up to its full strength once again as the plane was too heavy without it. "I hope this works." Looking further down the bottom of the plane, she noticed the flames were travelling upward toward her position.
Rei and Ami found an opening at the tail where they could grab. It wouldn't be perfectly balanced this way, but at least they would be able to save the plane, hopefully.
The emergency crews watched from below in astonishment. They all crossed their fingers, hoping that the girls could save the plane and its passengers.
Seeing that Rei and Ami were in position, Makoto bent her elbows and began pushing against the weight of the plane with her shoulders. When Rei and Ami did the same, she immediately felt a change in the plane's falling speed. All they would have to do now is guide it down to the ground before the flames spread too much further. But that wasn't the hard part. Then they would have to put out the flames before they reached inside the plane, if they weren't already there. 'Come on, come on. We can do this.' Makoto looked down to see how far off the ground they were, and noticed that they only had a few feet left. If they had gotten there any later the plane would have crashed for sure. 'Oh god.. ."
Rei and Ami made sure to keep the tail level with the nose so as to not harm anyone inside. Looking down, the safely guided the plane back down to the ground, making sure the wheels were stable enough for the plane to stand on their own.
Seeing that the plan was safely on the ground, Makoto let go and dropped to the ground. She could hear the people on the runway clapping and cheering as the emergency vehicles drove to their position. She also noticed Rei and Ami making a mad dash from the flames with their heads covered, but she wasn't quite ready to leave yet.
Rei ran wide around the plane to find Makoto, only to see her still standing under the nose of the plane. "Makoto!" She waved for the girl to come toward her. "Come out here!"
Makoto turned to stare at Rei. She shook her head, which place a look of fear into the other girl's eyes. "I have to get my parents outta there!" Looking back up to the nose, she concentrated all of her energy into her next move. She quickly located the faint Ki of her father and teleported to it.
Rei's eyes widened as she took a step away from the plane. "She's insane!"
~*~*~
Makoto found herself in the midst of chaos. She could barely see anything as the entire plane was filled with an orange tinted smoke. She could somewhat make out the shadows of frantic passengers running back and fourth from the plane, and could easily hear the screams of all those around her. "Mom? Dad?" She called out, hoping they weren't too far. For some reason, she could only feel her father's Ki.
"Makoto?" A familiar voice called back as a darkened figure stood up.
Makoto gasped as she turned around in the aisle. "Dad!?" She squinted, hoping she could see his face, but the smoke was too thick. "Where's mom?"
Mr. Kino put his hands out and grabbed onto his daughter's shoulders. "How the hell did you get here?!" He glanced over his shoulders to look out the window, only to see that they were stationary. "How the hell did we even get on the ground without crashing?!"
Makoto reached up to grabbed her father by the arms. For the first time, she would try to reason with the man. "Dad! Where's mom!?"
Mr. Kino turned back down to the shadow of his daughter. For once, he wasn't angry with her. He was more concerned with other things. "You're mother's hurt." He looked down on the floor, where he had been tending to his wife when his daughter had arrived. "She hit her head, and was in the way of one of the explosions."
Makoto gulped as pulled herself away from her father and knelt down. "Where is she?!" She felt around the ground with her hands and eventually came across her mother's body, which was sticky with sweat, as well as blood. "Mom!"
Mr. Kino turned down to his daughter as he coughed. "We've got to get out of here!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small cloth to cover his nose and mouth with.
Makoto struggled to sit her unconscious mother up. She wrapped an arm around her mother to brace her up as she reached her other hand out and grasped her father's leg with it. "I've got it covered." Concentrating her energy once again, she teleported off the plane to safety.
~*~*~
Outside the plane, fire crews were doing everything they could to extinguish the fire. Even Rei and Ami were trying to help by using their power to blow the fire into the water, and keep it from spreading. The fire would have to be put out before they could start going in and getting the passengers out.
Makoto appeared with her parents just outside the plane next to Rei. "Rei, Ami!" She cried out as she let go of her father, who was officially confused at that point. She ignored him and concentrated more on her mother.
Mr. Kino scratched his head and looked up at the plane, and then at the fire crews. "How'd we get out here?!" He looked down at his daughter, who was preoccupied with his wife. "Makoto!"
Makoto gently lay her mother down on the asphalt as Rei and Ami stopped what they were doing. "Somebody get help!" She looked up, noticing Rei turning away for the paramedics.
Mr. Kino took one look at his wife and wanted to scream. He couldn't help but feel like this was somehow his fault. He was the one who had wanted to go away on a trip and get away from Makoto and her friends for a while, he was the one who had insisted that they get on this plane instead of waiting for Makoto. Kneeling down, he examined his wife carefully.
Makoto looked up at her father and wondered what exactly he was thinking. Was he being an ass like usual and just blowing it off inside his head, or was he truly worried? "What happened on the plane?"
Mr. Kino frowned as he looked up at his daughter. "What the hell do you think?! The engines failed and blew up as soon as we got off the runway!"
Makoto frowned as she glared at the idiot man. She was in no mood for his crap at the moment. "No! Really?!"
Under any other circumstances, Mr. Kino would have hauled off and slapped the girl for being so brazen, but he didn't think that this was any time to be starting that business. "Watch how you talk to me!"
Makoto stood up and continued to glare down at her father. She couldn't believe him. Her mother was lying nearly dead on the ground, and he was worried about the way she spoke to him. It was outrageous. He should have known that he would receive a response like that after being such an ass. "You asked for it! In fact, you've BEEN asking for it!" She was too angry to put up with any of his crap anymore. This wasn't any time or place to being pulling this. "You'd think that you'd be more worried about mom than the way I talk to you! You really ARE a heartless old man! You don't care about your responsibilities, primarily me! You live your entire life to make me feel like an inferior! And then you completely blow off your wife when she needs you most!"
Mr. Kino tightened his fists as he glared up at his daughter. "Where do you get off talking to me like that!? What's wrong with you!?"
Makoto narrowed her glare. "I might ask you the same question!" Fuming, Makoto turned away and stomped off. She knew if she stayed there any longer that she would end up losing control of herself.
(Woooo, it's been a week. Sorry about that. I had my wisdom teeth taken out last Thursday. I'm tellin you, the operation was a breeze. But, just when you think everything's getting better, they tell ya you gotta take some medication to: 1) Keep infection from occurring & 2) Keep the pain down. Well, that just screwed my entire system up as BOTH medications had the side effect of nausea. In short, for the past week I've felt as if I just got finished spinning around in circles over and over. Anyway, I'm off the meds now so I can write again. And what's even cooler is that, although I've started school again, I have easy classes, only one of which I'll get homework from. So we wont have to worry about what happened last year happening again. But I must warn you, even though it shouldn't take me more than two days to write a chapter, it may take three in the beginning. I'm still trying to adjust back to getting up early, so I'm pretty tired when I get home, and very prone to falling asleep, which eats up a lot of my night. Anyway, I'll try not to let that happen.)
Kaori made her way back to the abandoned lab where Professor Tomoe awaited her arrival. This would be the first time she actually returned without anything to show for her efforts, which wasn't good. Tomoe was already becoming angry with her for bringing back regular Heart Crystals. She wondered how he, or even the Mistress, would react if she were to return with nothing.
Upon returning to the lab, she walked right in without hesitation. Professor Tomoe was just sitting there, waiting for her. "We have a problem." She said as she walked into the middle of the room and stopped.
It didn't take long for the Professor to notice that Kaori hadn't brought anything back with her. "Where the hell is the Heart Crystal?" He frowned as he pushed himself of the chair he was sitting in.
Kaori held her ground without budging the slightest bit. "That's the problem."
Tomoe frowned even harder as he crossed his arms. He eyes traveled down to the woman's hands, which were empty when they should have been filled with her Heart Snatcher in its case. "Where's the new Heart Snatcher I made you?"
Kaori looked down at her empty hands, and then back up at the Professor. "I encountered someone who can take them out with ease."
Th Professor widened his eyes in surprise as his frown slowly disappeared. "What? I made those Heart Snatchers to resist Ki. At most they will be stunned if they're attacked." He turned away from the woman as he dropped his arms back down to his side.
Kaori crossed her arms. "It was some girl in a Sailor outfit. She chanted something and then, bam; my Heart Snatcher was obliterated."
Raising a hand to his lip, Tomoe wondered how he could counter the power. He had had the benefit of being able to manipulate his creatures' resistance to Ki power by using Hotaru. But, without a sample to go off of he wouldn't be able to make any more of the Heart Snatchers with a resistance. "I'm going to have to research a defense system, but I'll need more information about the fighter you encountered today." He turned back to Kaori, who hadn't yet moved. "For the time being, I'll program them to have basic physical defenses."
~*~*~
Makoto grabbed two bags off of her bed while Rei grabbed another two, which had just been packed. "Come on." Makoto turned to look around her room with a sigh. She had no idea when she would be able to access it again, as her parents hadn't yet decided on when they would be returning. "Let's go." Looking down at her two friends, she motioned for them to begin making their way out of the room.
Ami, who was closest to the door, stepped out first. She hadn't overlooked the fact that there had been virtually no sound since they had arrived. "Where're your parents?"
Makoto turned off her light and hurried Rei out of the room so she could close the door. "At the airport. You know my dad, he never wants to be late, even if it means getting to his destination at least three hours in advance."
Rei chuckled. "My grandfather's the other way around. We're always late to things."
Makoto smiled. "Anyway, I'm supposed to meat them there so I can say goodbye to my mother, and good riddance to my father."
~*~*~
Noticing her father in the hall, Usagi walked into her house with a huge grin. She slammed the door shut and threw her bag down the ground, hardly able to contain her laughter. "Guess what!?" She chirped as she flipped her shoes off before walking in any further.
Goku stopped in his tracks upon hearing his daughter's voice. He turned around to see Usagi approaching him. She grin on her face told him that she was in a good mood. "What?" He asked, rather enthused.
Usagi stopped at the opening of the hallway and leaned against the wall. "I SO got Mr. Koch back for everything today."
Chi-Chi, who had been in the kitchen grabbing a soda, slammed the refrigerator door shut with a frown. "Excuse me!?" Not even giving Goku or Usagi a chance to respond, she raced into the living room. "What did we talk about the other day, young lady?"
Usagi grinned wider as she put her hands behind her back. "Oh don't worry, mom. I won't get in trouble for this." She snickered as she pulled away from the wall. "I got sent into the hall today for an 'outburst'," She paused as she looked up to her mother, who was already giving her a look of disapproval, "which I know was really wrong but it just kinda slid out. Anyway, when I came in from my 'punishment'," She made the quote symbol with her fingers, "I 'accidentally' flipped the buckets over onto Mr. Koch. You should have seen him! He was completely drenched from head to toe. The funny thing is he can't get me in trouble for acting outta spite. I blamed it on my strength." She burst out with laughter just thinking about it again.
Chi-Chi glared hard down at her daughter, trying to look as serious as possible. But it wasn't happening. She put her hands together and applauded her daughter as her frown turned into a smile. Laughing, she walked to her daughter and wrapped her hands around her face. "That's great! That man finally got what's coming to him."
Both Goku and Usagi looked at the woman in shock. Both of them had expected her to flip out. Usagi wrapped her hands around her mother's wrist and continued her own laughter. "I know! He SO deserved it."
Chi-Chi seemed to overlook the fact that Usagi had gotten in trouble in the first place. She was too ecstatic over the fact Mr. Koch had finally gotten what he had coming to him. The man had been asking for it ever since the first day of Usagi's first-grade year. "I'm so proud of you, Usagi. You found a way to get your revenge without getting into trouble." Laughing even harder as a picture of a drenched Mr. Koch popped into her mind, she pulled her hands away from her daughter's face and turned up to her dumbfounded husband. "I've always wanted to see the man suffer." Her words, said very 'evilly', caused chills to run down her family's spines.
Goku scratched his head in confusion as he watched the two girls. Never in a million years had he expected Chi-Chi to react the way she had. He expected her to go off on Usagi like she always had in the past. This was a complete and unexpected change. "Chi-Chi, are you sure we should be encouraging this?"
Usagi cocked her head, half in confusion, as she turned up to look at her father. "What's wrong, dad? You don't think it's funny?"
Chi-Chi momentarily quieted down. "What's wrong with her having a little fun? That man deserves everything he gets." She looked down at her daughter with that 'motherly' look. "Granted what you did was wrong, I'm not going to get angry. I know how he treats you, and as long as long as this won't affect your chances of getting into a good High School, I'll let it slide this once."
Usagi smiled up at her mother. She was actually being 'cool' lately. "Thanks mom."
Goku sighed deeply as he crossed his arms. It was true that the man finally got what he had coming, but he wasn't sure if he approved of the way it was done. "Usagi, I realize you don't like him. And while I realize you won't get in trouble with the school, I'd rather you not use your strength as a scapegoat."
Usagi rolled her eyes with a grin. "Yes dad." She should have known he would say something like that. He was always exceptionally serious when it came to abusing fighting abilities.
Goku smirked with a chuckle. "But you still got him pretty good."
~*~*~
~~Mugen School~~
After her encounter with the Heart Snatchers, Michiru decided to play things safe and patrol the area for any activities that seemed out of the ordinary. This had been the fourth attack in the past four days, and she could only assume that the numbers would grow before things died down. She was relieved that she had at least stopped the most recent attack from actually working, but there was no telling when and where the Heart Snatchers would strike next. Obviously she wouldn't be able to stop every single attack due to there being only one of her and millions of targets, but she would try her best not to let what happened to Taro, happen to anyone else.
After scouting out the locker-room-building, Michiru made her way back out into the track area, where she noticed Haruka running laps with the other students that were going out for the team. Just as she had decided to make her way to the main building, she caught a glance of Mamoru approaching from the stands. "Oh God." She slightly threw her head back with a half- smile. "I completely forgot about the soda's." She tried act casual in order to fool Mamoru into believing that she was just absent minded.
Mamoru crossed his arms with a playful glare. "Well you took long enough, it's no wonder that you forgot."
Michiru turned completely toward Mamoru, while trying to keep most of her attention on the School. "I got sidetracked." Turning her attention fully onto Mamoru, she reached into her pocket. "Here." She said as she handed her friend the money. "You wouldn't mind getting the soda's, would you?" Before receiving a response, she spun around and began walking away.
Mamoru stared blankly at the cash in his hand for a second or two, and then glanced back up at Michiru's back. He had never seen her act quite so abrupt before, which only caused him to become curious. "What's she up to?" Shrugging, he mashed the cash into his pants pocket and started out for the girl, only to stop suddenly to turn back toward the track. Haruka was at the far end, which meant she wasn't able to see him. Grabbing his opportunity while he had the chance, he ducked into the School to follow Michiru.
~*~*~
Makoto and the girls arrived at the airport just on time to see the Kino's off on their trip. After dropping Makoto's bags off at Rei's, the three high-tailed it airport, where they were met with a the faces of a large crowd of people, all of whom were waiting for planes of their own. The three pushed their way through the masses, hoping to spot a pair of familiar faces. The crowds responded in kind, and pushed the youngsters to the side.
Rei glared at every passing traveler that walked by. "What's wrong with these people!?" Suddenly, what looked to be a senior tour group filled the vicinity, with one younger lady in the lead. "Watch out, guys. Crowd alert."
Makoto pushed herself up against the nearest wall with her friends. She looked down at her watch, realizing that it was only a matter of minutes before her parents' plane would leave. 'Crap!' She looked up at the large, yet slow group of roaming people. "We're never gonna get to my parents in time this way."
Ami sympathetically sighed. "They won't leave without saying goodbye to you, will they?"
Makoto rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. "Do you have to ask? Of course they will. My dad always says, 'You have to learn the hard way'. He'll leave just to teach me about time management." Looking on into the rest of the masses, she became angry. She didn't want her mother to leave without being able to say goodbye first.
Even though she had known Makoto for nearly seven years, she still couldn't believe how unreasonable her father was. "I can't believe your dad sometimes."
~*~*~
Mr. Kino brought his wrist up in order to check his watch. Seeing the time, he frowned with a little growl. "She's late. She should have been here by now."
Looking over her shoulder to see if her daughter had come in yet, Mrs. Kino picked up her carry-on's. "I hope she gets here in time."
"That's it." Mr. Kino reached for his own bags. "We're boarding. We've already waited as long as we can." Without a second thought, he turned toward the gate.
Mrs. Kino flinched at her husband's words. She couldn't understand how he could possibly be so uncompassionate at a time like this. Neither of them knew when they would be returning so you would think the man would want to say goodbye to his only child. "Let's wait a little longer. I don't want to leave without saying goodbye to Makoto."
Mr. Kino frowned as he reached over his shoulder for his wife. "There's no time. They just called for any last minute boarders. We'll miss our plane if we don't leave now. She has to learn. I'm not letting her screw my vacation up." With his free hand, he grasped his hand upon his wife's shoulder and guided her back. "You can call her tonight or something."
With tears forming in her eyes, Mrs. Kino took a deep breath. She hated this. If it were up to her, she would stay behind and catch the next plane. But she knew how her husband was. He wouldn't have it, and it would probably end up the entire repair process. "I guess."
~*~*~
Makoto watched the senior tour group hoping that they would move out of the way soon. She didn't want to be rude and just push them aside; but then again, they were being rude by clogging up the entire corridor. Some of them were moving, but a good portion of them were just standing around and gawking. She unfolded her arms with a snarl. "That's it!" She reached down and grabbed Ami by the hand. Darting out, she yanked Ami by the arm and began pulling her into the group. Ami, in return, reached out and barely grabbed the unsuspecting Rei by the arm. "I'm not letting them leave without me!"
Makoto acted like a football player. She held out her free hand in order to make room for herself, as well as her following chain. "Comin' through!" She dove in any and every crack between people, many times pushing against all obstacles with her body like a rampaging bull.
"What're you doing!?" Rei called out from the back of the line as she was being jostled around. She was thrown into a feeble-looking man, which in turn fell into three other people. "Sorry!" She called out, but it was too late. Makoto had pulled her through to many people down the line for the man to hear her words.
Ami had the worst of the situation as she was in the middle. She had Makoto tugging from one end, and Rei on from the other. "You guys are going to rip me apart!"
Makoto ignored her two friends. Her only goal at that point was to meet her parents in time. "Don't whine!" Narrowing her eyesight, she noticed an opening not too far from her position. "Yes!" She took her opportunity and dove under the legs of an awfully cheery woman, who at the moment was laughing hysterically.
Ami widened her eyes as it was her turn. Although Makoto had gotten through rather smoothly, things didn't work as well for her. "Watch out!" She called out. By then, it was already too late. Bother arms didn't make it through the legs of the woman. Hers and Rei's arm worked together to clothesline the poor woman from below, causing her to fall to her butt.
Rei covered her face as she dragged down. As a last ditch effort to stay balanced, she grabbed a hold of the nearest thing, which happened to be the bag of yet another woman. Needless to say the two came crashing down as a result. "Whoa!"
It was at that point that the domino effect took place. Once Rei slammed against the marble floor, so did everyone else. The corridor was filled with the cries of frantic travelers.
Makoto released Ami's hand, and quickly scurried to her feet. "Come on guys! We gotta split!"
Ami's face was planted in the cheery woman's hip, which wasn't a pleasant experience for the girl. She quickly pulled her head away with a look of disgust. "Makoto!" She cried out as she glared up at the brunette.
Rei was a little more headstrong about the whole situation. She knew it was best to just get out of there before security came, which was what she figured Makoto was thinking too. She quickly reached down for Ami and pulled her up.
Looking at the floor, Makoto burst out into a fit of laughter. No one seemed to even care that they were the ones who had caused the chaos. They were more concerned with getting back to their feet, which didn't look to be an easy task. Many of them were looking for things to push themselves up with, but there wasn't really anything around for them to use. Others were fumbling over one another as they tried to use each other as a brace. "This is classic!"
Ami frowned as she quickly and easily jumped to her feet. She brushed some dirt of her school uniform as she hoped over a heap of luggage. "Don't be stupid! These people can't get up!" She turned around and noticed that Rei was directly behind her, but more importantly, she saw the struggling elders. "This is horrible." She tried to hold back a smile, but it somehow cracked through the seriousness, well, until the leader of the group noticed them.
"You three!" The three friends jumped in fear of getting in trouble as they backed away, causing the tour coordinator to become enraged. "Get back here! You did a bad thing!" Starting out for the girls, she tripped over her own tour group and fell flat on her face.
Makoto, Ami, and Rei high-tailed it out of the area after that, though not without their fair share of laughter. Even Ami giggled, but only slightly. She knew it was wrong, but something about a group of people on the floor tripping over one another did seem rather amusing at the moment.
"Shh, be quiet, you guys." Rei put her finger over her lips as she noticed an airport personnel approaching. Makoto quieted down her laughter, but couldn't completely halt it. "Don't let on that we were the ones who did it."
Ami knew for sure that she would give it away if he were to question them. She hated high-pressure situations with authority, and usually found herself cracking under them. So she turned her head to the side to make it appear as if she were just looking outside toward the runway. No sooner had she looked outside did she notice a plane taking off from the ground. Suddenly, all traces of laughter and happiness disappeared, only to be replaced by seriousness. "Makoto, look." She wandered away from her own little group and walked to the window.
Still smiling, Makoto turned to look at what Ami was looking at. At first, nothing clicked. She didn't realize exactly what she was looking at. But it didn't take long for the rumbling of the plane to reach her senses. Realizing exactly what she was looking at, her skin turned white as her heart fell to the pit of her stomach. "Oh no." She whispered.
Rei walked up to stand next to the girl. "That wasn't your parents' flight, was it?"
Makoto swallowed heavily as she gave a slight nod. "Theirs was the only plane that left from this runway at this time of day." She lowered her eyes to the ground as she slowly began to turn away from the window. "I didn't get to say goodbye. I was too late." She let her shoulders slump as a feeling of disappointment took over her body.
Ami turned sympathetically down to her downhearted friend. "Your mom is sure to call, Makoto." She said, trying to cheer the girl up. She lifted her arm and wrapped it around Makoto's shoulders to comfort her.
Makoto hung her head low. "I know, but I still wanted to say goodbye." Just as she was looking back up, a huge explosion rumbled throughout the airport. "Huh?!"
Rei watched with wide eyes out the window. "Oh my God!" Taking a step back in fear, she gasped. "Makoto!"
Makoto shot her head up from its down position, fearing what she would see. Ami ripped herself from Makoto and pressed her body against the window. "No!"
Makoto mimicked Ami's movements. Standing there, looking outside, she saw a huge cloud of black smoke with bits of orange peeking through, which was following her parents' plane. "Mom! Dad!" Makoto didn't know what to do other than just stand there. She was frozen stiff in horror.
All eyes in the terminal were turned outside as the plane began failing. Fire shot out from beneath the plane down to the ground. "It's going down!" Cried a man from the forming crowd as he pointed to the plane, which was losing control and heading for the ground.
Makoto slapped herself in the face to snap herself out of her trance. "We've gotta help them!"
Movement on the ground below the plane caught Rei's attention. Emergency vehicles were already making their way out to the runway to help survivors. "How?!"
Makoto looked down at the ground with a frown. "I don't know!" She growled back. She had no idea how they were supposed to help a crashing plane, but she had to try to think of something. Her parents were on that plane. She didn't know what she would do with herself if they were to die in the crash; that wasn't even something she wanted to think about. "We've gotta try though!"
Rei nodded. "I'm with you all the way!" She looked back up at the plane, which was closer to the ground by now. "We've got to act fast!"
Ami nodded. "I'm with you too!"
Makoto smiled. She knew she could always count on her friends. "Let's go!" Turning around, she noticed that she and her friends were enclosed by a group of people who were gawking at the spectacle. "We're never gonna get anywhere this way!" She stiffened her legs and arms and began powering up. Ami and Rei responded in kind. She slightly bent her legs and lowered her body in order to get into position. "Don't question, just follow!" She said, looking side to side at her friends, who nodded back. She quickly looked back out at the runway. Saying not another word, she lowered her head and covered it with her arms. Creating a small Ki shield around her body, she gave herself a quick serge of energy and bolted out through the glass, which shattered upon impact. Ami and Rei were close to follow.
The crowd that was left behind was no longer concerned with the falling plane, but with the girls' actions. They filled in the space where the three had been standing and stared into the sky, but they were flying too fast to be seen without using senses.
Makoto dropped her shield after departing from the terminal as she dropped a portion of her energy. "First we have to stop if from crashing!" She yelled out to her friends who were trailing behind.
Ami sped up and flew beneath Makoto. "One of us take the nose of the plane, while the other two go for the middle!"
Makoto and Rei nodded. "Right!" With that, the three separated, with Makoto going for the nose and Ami and Rei going back to balance the middle.
For once, Makoto felt a feeling for her father, which surprised her. She was scared that the flames would consume him before she got a chance to get him out. She dove beneath the plane and lifted her hands up so she could grab a hold of it.
Rei and Ami found it a bit harder to get a good grip. The entire bottom was engulfed in flames. "We're having a bit of trouble here!" Rei looked at Ami. "Let's go for the tail!" Ami had barely been able to make out Rei's words due to all of the nose, but she noticed that the girl was making her way further back, so she followed.
Makoto raised her energy back up to its full strength once again as the plane was too heavy without it. "I hope this works." Looking further down the bottom of the plane, she noticed the flames were travelling upward toward her position.
Rei and Ami found an opening at the tail where they could grab. It wouldn't be perfectly balanced this way, but at least they would be able to save the plane, hopefully.
The emergency crews watched from below in astonishment. They all crossed their fingers, hoping that the girls could save the plane and its passengers.
Seeing that Rei and Ami were in position, Makoto bent her elbows and began pushing against the weight of the plane with her shoulders. When Rei and Ami did the same, she immediately felt a change in the plane's falling speed. All they would have to do now is guide it down to the ground before the flames spread too much further. But that wasn't the hard part. Then they would have to put out the flames before they reached inside the plane, if they weren't already there. 'Come on, come on. We can do this.' Makoto looked down to see how far off the ground they were, and noticed that they only had a few feet left. If they had gotten there any later the plane would have crashed for sure. 'Oh god.. ."
Rei and Ami made sure to keep the tail level with the nose so as to not harm anyone inside. Looking down, the safely guided the plane back down to the ground, making sure the wheels were stable enough for the plane to stand on their own.
Seeing that the plan was safely on the ground, Makoto let go and dropped to the ground. She could hear the people on the runway clapping and cheering as the emergency vehicles drove to their position. She also noticed Rei and Ami making a mad dash from the flames with their heads covered, but she wasn't quite ready to leave yet.
Rei ran wide around the plane to find Makoto, only to see her still standing under the nose of the plane. "Makoto!" She waved for the girl to come toward her. "Come out here!"
Makoto turned to stare at Rei. She shook her head, which place a look of fear into the other girl's eyes. "I have to get my parents outta there!" Looking back up to the nose, she concentrated all of her energy into her next move. She quickly located the faint Ki of her father and teleported to it.
Rei's eyes widened as she took a step away from the plane. "She's insane!"
~*~*~
Makoto found herself in the midst of chaos. She could barely see anything as the entire plane was filled with an orange tinted smoke. She could somewhat make out the shadows of frantic passengers running back and fourth from the plane, and could easily hear the screams of all those around her. "Mom? Dad?" She called out, hoping they weren't too far. For some reason, she could only feel her father's Ki.
"Makoto?" A familiar voice called back as a darkened figure stood up.
Makoto gasped as she turned around in the aisle. "Dad!?" She squinted, hoping she could see his face, but the smoke was too thick. "Where's mom?"
Mr. Kino put his hands out and grabbed onto his daughter's shoulders. "How the hell did you get here?!" He glanced over his shoulders to look out the window, only to see that they were stationary. "How the hell did we even get on the ground without crashing?!"
Makoto reached up to grabbed her father by the arms. For the first time, she would try to reason with the man. "Dad! Where's mom!?"
Mr. Kino turned back down to the shadow of his daughter. For once, he wasn't angry with her. He was more concerned with other things. "You're mother's hurt." He looked down on the floor, where he had been tending to his wife when his daughter had arrived. "She hit her head, and was in the way of one of the explosions."
Makoto gulped as pulled herself away from her father and knelt down. "Where is she?!" She felt around the ground with her hands and eventually came across her mother's body, which was sticky with sweat, as well as blood. "Mom!"
Mr. Kino turned down to his daughter as he coughed. "We've got to get out of here!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small cloth to cover his nose and mouth with.
Makoto struggled to sit her unconscious mother up. She wrapped an arm around her mother to brace her up as she reached her other hand out and grasped her father's leg with it. "I've got it covered." Concentrating her energy once again, she teleported off the plane to safety.
~*~*~
Outside the plane, fire crews were doing everything they could to extinguish the fire. Even Rei and Ami were trying to help by using their power to blow the fire into the water, and keep it from spreading. The fire would have to be put out before they could start going in and getting the passengers out.
Makoto appeared with her parents just outside the plane next to Rei. "Rei, Ami!" She cried out as she let go of her father, who was officially confused at that point. She ignored him and concentrated more on her mother.
Mr. Kino scratched his head and looked up at the plane, and then at the fire crews. "How'd we get out here?!" He looked down at his daughter, who was preoccupied with his wife. "Makoto!"
Makoto gently lay her mother down on the asphalt as Rei and Ami stopped what they were doing. "Somebody get help!" She looked up, noticing Rei turning away for the paramedics.
Mr. Kino took one look at his wife and wanted to scream. He couldn't help but feel like this was somehow his fault. He was the one who had wanted to go away on a trip and get away from Makoto and her friends for a while, he was the one who had insisted that they get on this plane instead of waiting for Makoto. Kneeling down, he examined his wife carefully.
Makoto looked up at her father and wondered what exactly he was thinking. Was he being an ass like usual and just blowing it off inside his head, or was he truly worried? "What happened on the plane?"
Mr. Kino frowned as he looked up at his daughter. "What the hell do you think?! The engines failed and blew up as soon as we got off the runway!"
Makoto frowned as she glared at the idiot man. She was in no mood for his crap at the moment. "No! Really?!"
Under any other circumstances, Mr. Kino would have hauled off and slapped the girl for being so brazen, but he didn't think that this was any time to be starting that business. "Watch how you talk to me!"
Makoto stood up and continued to glare down at her father. She couldn't believe him. Her mother was lying nearly dead on the ground, and he was worried about the way she spoke to him. It was outrageous. He should have known that he would receive a response like that after being such an ass. "You asked for it! In fact, you've BEEN asking for it!" She was too angry to put up with any of his crap anymore. This wasn't any time or place to being pulling this. "You'd think that you'd be more worried about mom than the way I talk to you! You really ARE a heartless old man! You don't care about your responsibilities, primarily me! You live your entire life to make me feel like an inferior! And then you completely blow off your wife when she needs you most!"
Mr. Kino tightened his fists as he glared up at his daughter. "Where do you get off talking to me like that!? What's wrong with you!?"
Makoto narrowed her glare. "I might ask you the same question!" Fuming, Makoto turned away and stomped off. She knew if she stayed there any longer that she would end up losing control of herself.
(Woooo, it's been a week. Sorry about that. I had my wisdom teeth taken out last Thursday. I'm tellin you, the operation was a breeze. But, just when you think everything's getting better, they tell ya you gotta take some medication to: 1) Keep infection from occurring & 2) Keep the pain down. Well, that just screwed my entire system up as BOTH medications had the side effect of nausea. In short, for the past week I've felt as if I just got finished spinning around in circles over and over. Anyway, I'm off the meds now so I can write again. And what's even cooler is that, although I've started school again, I have easy classes, only one of which I'll get homework from. So we wont have to worry about what happened last year happening again. But I must warn you, even though it shouldn't take me more than two days to write a chapter, it may take three in the beginning. I'm still trying to adjust back to getting up early, so I'm pretty tired when I get home, and very prone to falling asleep, which eats up a lot of my night. Anyway, I'll try not to let that happen.)