Moon's Eclipse by Foenixfyre
Chapter 1: Arrival
Three halting steps brought Heero close enough to touch the floating woman. How could she be suspended like that? A soft glow surrounded her. As his hand brushed her pale shoulder, -Relena's skin was white like that- the glow disappeared, and the woman fell into his trembling arms. She had long blond hair, much longer than Duo's, arranged up in two odangos, and a gleaming crescent moon on her forehead provided the only light in the room. She wore a long, white dress, like a nightgown. Why this? And why now?
Heero placed her on his bed. Her skin was icy, and it took a few moments to find a pulse. He glanced at the gun lying on the floor. It called to him, promising such a sweet oblivion. This would possibly be his only chance . . . but . . .
He returned his gaze to the mysterious woman. But she needed medical attention, and now. He wouldn't be responsible for the death of another innocent.
His mind made up, Heero swung the woman into his arms and headed down toward the medical center.
* * *
The five Gundam pilots looked through the glass, watching the young woman who lay unmoving in the hospital bed. She had been in a coma for two days and extensive medical tests showed some sort of weird energy dormant within her. She was human, that much was certain. Other then that, she was a total enigma. Fingerprints and DNA samples turned up no records, not even a birth certificate.
"She just appeared?" Quatre transferred his concerned gaze to Heero.
"Hn." There was something about her . . . He hadn't left the hospital since he'd brought her in. Heero knew that his teammates thought he'd flipped, but she needed him. What? How did I . . . why would she need me? I'll just fail her, like I failed Relena . . .
"But why Heero? Why'd she come to him?" Duo pressed his nose against the cold glass.
Heero straightened. "I want to talk to her."
They looked at him "Buddy," Duo said, "she's out of it. She won't hear you. Besides, no one's allowed in there."
He ignored them and opened the door of the white containment room. She was supposed to be isolated until they got some answers, so an alarm went off. He ignored it. She was strapped down to the bed; the constraints seemed ridiculously unnecessary. A thin hospital robe had replaced her white gown. Something caught his eye, and he leaned closer to her face. A single tear was frozen on her cheek. He lifted one finger to wipe it away, but as soon as he touched her, the rest of the world halted. What? There were white-coated men motionless in the doorway, and the other pilots stood before the window.
The woman's eyes flew open. "Where?" She glanced around the room, and then focused on him. "Who? I'm not dead? No." Tears began to course down her cheeks. "I should have died. I was supposed to die. Mamochan . . ."
It was startling to hear her lips uttering his own thoughts. "Who are you?" He whispered. "Where did you come from?"
Her eyes glazed over. "You are Heero Yuy. I am Serenity, and I come . . ." She momentarily clenched her lips shut. "I came from the Moon Kingdom. But it's gone now." Serenity's eyes cleared, and they widened. "Where are we? The universe was destroyed!" She tried to sit up. "Why am I tied down? Let me up!" She was starting to panic, and her vital signs fluctuated wildly.
"What are you talking about?"
"No." With that single anguished word, her eyes closed and she slipped back into unconsciousness. The crescent moon on her forehead glowed, and then disappeared.
The rest of the world resumed its normal pace. The doctors rushed forward and pushed him away from the bed. Heero could see his friends staring in shock through the window.
"She's come out of the coma." One doctor declared. "She's just sleeping. Did she say anything to you?"
"I'm not sure."
* * *
"Are you serious, man?" Duo stared at Heero. "You're not bugging out on us, are 'ya? I know Rel-"
"I'm serious." Heero had reluctantly told the rest of the team what had just transpired.
"Serenity . . ." Quatre's eyes were troubled. "She said she came from the Moon Kingdom? And that the universe was destroyed? How did she know your name?"
"She's probably crazy." Wufei judged with an air of finality.
"No."
Anything else Heero might have said was interrupted as an intern burst into the room. "The Jane Doe's awake! She's asking for you, Mister Yuy."
The five young men raced to the containment room. Serenity was staring wildly at the doctors hovering over her. Heero was enraged to see that she was still strapped down. He pushed his way into the room. "Let her go."
"Heero? Heero!" Serenity started struggling against her bonds. "Why won't they let me go? Tell me where I am!"
"Miss-"
"Do as he says." Lady Une, leader of the Preventors, stepped into the room. "If Heero can calm the young woman down, maybe we can find out some more about her."
A push of the button, and Serenity sat up on the bed. When she shivered, someone provided a blanket. "Will you please tell me where I am?"
"Let's get you out of here, first." Heero didn't want these med-types to hear her story and write her off as insane, so he turned to face Une. "She's too scared to make any sense right now. We'll" he indicated the other pilots, "take care of her."
Une hesitated for a moment, and then nodded.
* * *
Usagi looked around the new room. Heero and his friends had taken her to a large country mansion, which belonged, she had been informed, to the kind blue-eyed blond, Quatre Raberba Winner.
Just now, he, Heero, and the other three were sitting around her, watching her expectedly. They had questions of their own.
"I don't understand. I watched, felt, as an evil force destroyed my system's planets, one after another, and started on the rest of the universe. And. Luna, or my mother, would surely have told me if there was a mirroring solar system to ours. We would have known." She was babbling, she knew, but who could blame her?
"Luna?" The brunette with way-long bangs prompted. Trowa, she reminded herself.
"My cat. She was a family protector and adviser." Tears pricked at the back of her eyes. Luna had been her oldest friend among the senshi, and now she, too, was dead. "You probably think I'm crazy, but I'm not!"
Quatre placed his hand over hers in a soothing fashion. "Could this energy explosion have somehow blown you into the future? Or the past?"
"Maybe. It's happened before. It was the year 2004 AD where I came from."
"AD?" Trowa's eyes widened. "As in Anno Domine?"
"Yeah."
"We abandoned the AD system over a century ago. Here it's year 199 After Colony." A pad and pen were produced, and a great deal of scribbling ensued.
Duo sat back. "According to this, it's pretty much the same date."
Usagi looked around. "Could this be a separate dimension? The senshi and I encountered several other dimensions in our battles, but never one so similar to our Earth."
"Who are these senshi you keep referring to, Serenity?"
"Please, call me Usagi. Serenity is the name of my princess persona." When they looked baffled, she sighed and explained about the Silver Millennium, Queen Serenity, Beryl, Endymion and Tuxedo Kamen, Sailor Moon and the other Senshi, all the way up to the Crystal Millennium and Chibi-Usa. When she was done, she looked down to her hands, which were clenched tightly in her lap. "We've been reincarnated or revived several, but this time, the entire universe was destroyed."
Quatre looked up from his laptop. "According to this report I just received from the Preventors, a black hole formed out in space sector WW238 at the same time Usagi appeared in Heero's room. It appeared, flared, and disappeared again, just like that. And they think something came out of it before it closed. Could it be?"
Usagi licked her dry lips and nodded. "Whenever I use my Crystal to teleport, the power spill-off looks like a black hole."
Wufei still seemed skeptical. "How do we know you're not just some nutcase?" Duo elbowed the Chinese pilot.
"No! You . . . you have to believe me. Here." Closing her eyes, Usagi held her hands up and call upon the power that always slept inside her, waiting upon her summons. What if it doesn't work? This is a different dimension or something . . . and the Crystal . . . no. I have to believe. I do believe . . . And, as always, her power responded. Usagi heard the boys' astonished cries and smiled with pride. Then . . . she stopped. Something had taken hold of the vast amounts of energy she usually controlled. Images flew through her mind, of the Crystal exploding into a million pieces, then being sucked into her body and transporting her to this alternate universe. And of the Great Evil, still hungry and furious at being denied its final victory, sending a tendril of its own, dark energy to follow and find her. The Evil was coming.
"DYING MOON MAKE-UP!"
The Gundam pilots stared at the luminous warrior who now stood before them.
Heero pulled himself together. "I'm going to assume you're Sailor Moon, now?" Usagi's crescent sign had returned to her forehead, and it was glowing. Silver body-armor encased her torso, shoulders, and legs, and she wore wrist-length gloves trimmed in red. A flimsy blue skirt flirted around her hips.
Sailor Moon colored. "Well, actually, this is kind of new. My suit has never looked like this before. If anything, it reminds me of the armor our last enemy wore. . . New place, new enemy, new armor, I guess!" It was painfully obvious to everyone that her pasted smile was fake. Tears winked in the corners of her eyes. "But . . ." Sailor Moon's face crumpled, "this time, I'm alone."
"New enemy?" Wufei ignored her distress, focusing on her words. "What enemy are you talking about?"
"I remember what happened to me. My Crystal," she indicated the silvery stone on her breast, "interpreted my death wish . . . incorrectly. It sent me here, and the Evil somehow managed to follow. I'm . . . I'm really sorry. It's all my fault." She started to cry again. "It's my fault Mamochan died, it's my fault the Evil devoured my world, and I couldn't even kill myself right, so it's my fault your world is in danger!"
To everyone's surprise, it was Heero who stepped forward to comfort her. "I'm gonna put her to bed. We'll discuss this more tomorrow." So saying, he carried her off. * * *
Sailor Moon removed her face from Heero's chest as he carried her down the hallway. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
When he glanced down at her, she gasped. His eyes are the same as my Mamochan's. "Nice?"
"I brought the Evil to your universe, and you're not yelling or anything." It was nice to cradled against a warm chest, even if it was the wrong chest. She realized her new armor was digging into his arms, so she grasped the Crystal and sent the armor away.
He faltered. "Jeez, that's weird."
"You guys don't have magic or anything like that here? Do you fight with regular guns and stuff?"
"Something like that. We five pilot Gundam mobile suits.
"Will you show me?"
"Hn." Heero reached out and opened a door. "Here's your room. There are some clothes that should fit you. Quatre's got a whole pack of sisters." The room was lovely, painted a pale blue with a delicate star motif repeating on the furniture and draperies. The bed itself had sheets and blankets with constellations printed against a deeper blue. He deposited her there and turned to leave.
Suddenly, Usagi didn't want to be left alone. "Heero? Don't go, please." He stopped but didn't turn. "I . . . I . . . tell me more about this place. You guys really live in space?" Anything, just so there'd be someone to keep her company.
Heero finally turned to face her. After staring deep into her eyes, he took a seat across from the bed. "There are several different space colonies. Only in the past few years have they been able to coexist peacefully with the people of Earth." Usagi began to peek through the closets and chests until she found a light blue nightgown and robe. She slipped behind a screen to change as Heero told her about the creation of the colonies, their troubles with Earth and the ensuing conflicts, the Earth-Sphere Alliance, OZ, the Gundams, everything. And he mentioned a girl named Relena a lot. Usagi was incredibly impressed that a young woman not much older then herself had managed to hold such a tremulous peace together. Whenever Heero said her name, an odd tone entered his voice.
"Could I meet Miss Peacecraft? She sounds really nice." She sounded like the sort of strong, wonderful person Usagi should have been. When only silence answered, she walked out around the screen. "Heero?"
"You can't meet her." Heero's eyes were closed, and his voice was hoarse, as if full of unshed tears.
"Why not?"
"She's dead. Some terrorist assassin killed her a week ago." With that, Heero stood and headed toward the door.
"Heero, wait!" Usagi now recognized the tone in his voice. He spoke about Relena in the same manner that Mamoru had spoken to her when trying to deny his feelings while they were fighting the Negamoon Family. She ran to Heero and grabbed his arm. "I'm sorry. You must have loved her very much."
"How would you know?" His voice was soft, but the chill in it sent Usagi backing away. "How the hell would you know? She's dead, and it's my fault. I didn't protect her; I never even told her how I felt."
"But I do know." The pain in his voice drew her back to hi side even as it terrified her. Here was someone who knew exactly what she was living with now. "I do. My own beloved died protecting me. I couldn't save him, just as I couldn't save my friends or even my world." Taking a chance, she clasped his arm and drew him back to the chair. Surprisingly, he let her. "I was their leader, their Princess. I was supposed to be strong, and I had never failed them before. But when it mattered the most, my strength was useless. So you see, I know exactly how you're feeling."
His eyes finally met her, and she gasped at the sheer self-loathing she saw there. "You do know." He whispered. Haltingly, Heero told her of the fateful afternoon. It had happened so quickly; a man jumped out from behind a tree as Relena was riding. One single shot rang out, and Heero raced toward her, only to reach her as the last of her life force drained from her eyes. He never even knew why, for the gunman promptly turned the gun on himself. "I've saved her from everything else. Most of the time, I'd never let myself reason why. I told myself it was simply a new mission; Relena was important to the peace. But I loved her." Tears began to fall. "I loved her, and I never realized how much until she was dead." Usagi tentatively placed her arms around him, and he clutched at her, sobbing. Her own tears joined his as the two shared their pain and loss in a way others could not possibly understand.
Gradually, though, the storm wore out, and he raised his head. "Thank you, Usagi." Usagi was surprised, for his voice was ashamed. Why should he be ashamed for feeling grief? Mamochan was like that. I'll never understand.
The emotionless mask returned to Heero's face. "I'll let you sleep now." He crossed to the door, and then turned to face her yet again. "If you need anything, I'm on your left and Duo's two doors down to your right." Duo Maxwell, she remembered, was the one with the long braid.
"Good night, Heero." * * *
Heero lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. What was it about that girl? He had never cried like that before. She reminded him of Relena. Not in looks, but they both possessed the same inner strength and beauty.
Strangely enough, he felt better. Crying had released some of the pressure building up inside him.
This Evil force, though . . . Usagi's story was like something out of a fairy tale. Even with the evidence of his own two eyes, it was hard to believe. Heero couldn't quite comprehend an energy . . . as an enemy. The Gundam pilots had fought everything from powerful, worldwide organizations to single, armed madmen, but against something so intangible . . .? He also hated the idea of being forced to rely on Sailor Moon, Usagi, Serenity, or whoever she was. Sailor Moon seemed powerful, but she was still just one girl. They'd try her tomorrow, and see just how strong she really was. * *
Chapter 1: Arrival
Three halting steps brought Heero close enough to touch the floating woman. How could she be suspended like that? A soft glow surrounded her. As his hand brushed her pale shoulder, -Relena's skin was white like that- the glow disappeared, and the woman fell into his trembling arms. She had long blond hair, much longer than Duo's, arranged up in two odangos, and a gleaming crescent moon on her forehead provided the only light in the room. She wore a long, white dress, like a nightgown. Why this? And why now?
Heero placed her on his bed. Her skin was icy, and it took a few moments to find a pulse. He glanced at the gun lying on the floor. It called to him, promising such a sweet oblivion. This would possibly be his only chance . . . but . . .
He returned his gaze to the mysterious woman. But she needed medical attention, and now. He wouldn't be responsible for the death of another innocent.
His mind made up, Heero swung the woman into his arms and headed down toward the medical center.
* * *
The five Gundam pilots looked through the glass, watching the young woman who lay unmoving in the hospital bed. She had been in a coma for two days and extensive medical tests showed some sort of weird energy dormant within her. She was human, that much was certain. Other then that, she was a total enigma. Fingerprints and DNA samples turned up no records, not even a birth certificate.
"She just appeared?" Quatre transferred his concerned gaze to Heero.
"Hn." There was something about her . . . He hadn't left the hospital since he'd brought her in. Heero knew that his teammates thought he'd flipped, but she needed him. What? How did I . . . why would she need me? I'll just fail her, like I failed Relena . . .
"But why Heero? Why'd she come to him?" Duo pressed his nose against the cold glass.
Heero straightened. "I want to talk to her."
They looked at him "Buddy," Duo said, "she's out of it. She won't hear you. Besides, no one's allowed in there."
He ignored them and opened the door of the white containment room. She was supposed to be isolated until they got some answers, so an alarm went off. He ignored it. She was strapped down to the bed; the constraints seemed ridiculously unnecessary. A thin hospital robe had replaced her white gown. Something caught his eye, and he leaned closer to her face. A single tear was frozen on her cheek. He lifted one finger to wipe it away, but as soon as he touched her, the rest of the world halted. What? There were white-coated men motionless in the doorway, and the other pilots stood before the window.
The woman's eyes flew open. "Where?" She glanced around the room, and then focused on him. "Who? I'm not dead? No." Tears began to course down her cheeks. "I should have died. I was supposed to die. Mamochan . . ."
It was startling to hear her lips uttering his own thoughts. "Who are you?" He whispered. "Where did you come from?"
Her eyes glazed over. "You are Heero Yuy. I am Serenity, and I come . . ." She momentarily clenched her lips shut. "I came from the Moon Kingdom. But it's gone now." Serenity's eyes cleared, and they widened. "Where are we? The universe was destroyed!" She tried to sit up. "Why am I tied down? Let me up!" She was starting to panic, and her vital signs fluctuated wildly.
"What are you talking about?"
"No." With that single anguished word, her eyes closed and she slipped back into unconsciousness. The crescent moon on her forehead glowed, and then disappeared.
The rest of the world resumed its normal pace. The doctors rushed forward and pushed him away from the bed. Heero could see his friends staring in shock through the window.
"She's come out of the coma." One doctor declared. "She's just sleeping. Did she say anything to you?"
"I'm not sure."
* * *
"Are you serious, man?" Duo stared at Heero. "You're not bugging out on us, are 'ya? I know Rel-"
"I'm serious." Heero had reluctantly told the rest of the team what had just transpired.
"Serenity . . ." Quatre's eyes were troubled. "She said she came from the Moon Kingdom? And that the universe was destroyed? How did she know your name?"
"She's probably crazy." Wufei judged with an air of finality.
"No."
Anything else Heero might have said was interrupted as an intern burst into the room. "The Jane Doe's awake! She's asking for you, Mister Yuy."
The five young men raced to the containment room. Serenity was staring wildly at the doctors hovering over her. Heero was enraged to see that she was still strapped down. He pushed his way into the room. "Let her go."
"Heero? Heero!" Serenity started struggling against her bonds. "Why won't they let me go? Tell me where I am!"
"Miss-"
"Do as he says." Lady Une, leader of the Preventors, stepped into the room. "If Heero can calm the young woman down, maybe we can find out some more about her."
A push of the button, and Serenity sat up on the bed. When she shivered, someone provided a blanket. "Will you please tell me where I am?"
"Let's get you out of here, first." Heero didn't want these med-types to hear her story and write her off as insane, so he turned to face Une. "She's too scared to make any sense right now. We'll" he indicated the other pilots, "take care of her."
Une hesitated for a moment, and then nodded.
* * *
Usagi looked around the new room. Heero and his friends had taken her to a large country mansion, which belonged, she had been informed, to the kind blue-eyed blond, Quatre Raberba Winner.
Just now, he, Heero, and the other three were sitting around her, watching her expectedly. They had questions of their own.
"I don't understand. I watched, felt, as an evil force destroyed my system's planets, one after another, and started on the rest of the universe. And. Luna, or my mother, would surely have told me if there was a mirroring solar system to ours. We would have known." She was babbling, she knew, but who could blame her?
"Luna?" The brunette with way-long bangs prompted. Trowa, she reminded herself.
"My cat. She was a family protector and adviser." Tears pricked at the back of her eyes. Luna had been her oldest friend among the senshi, and now she, too, was dead. "You probably think I'm crazy, but I'm not!"
Quatre placed his hand over hers in a soothing fashion. "Could this energy explosion have somehow blown you into the future? Or the past?"
"Maybe. It's happened before. It was the year 2004 AD where I came from."
"AD?" Trowa's eyes widened. "As in Anno Domine?"
"Yeah."
"We abandoned the AD system over a century ago. Here it's year 199 After Colony." A pad and pen were produced, and a great deal of scribbling ensued.
Duo sat back. "According to this, it's pretty much the same date."
Usagi looked around. "Could this be a separate dimension? The senshi and I encountered several other dimensions in our battles, but never one so similar to our Earth."
"Who are these senshi you keep referring to, Serenity?"
"Please, call me Usagi. Serenity is the name of my princess persona." When they looked baffled, she sighed and explained about the Silver Millennium, Queen Serenity, Beryl, Endymion and Tuxedo Kamen, Sailor Moon and the other Senshi, all the way up to the Crystal Millennium and Chibi-Usa. When she was done, she looked down to her hands, which were clenched tightly in her lap. "We've been reincarnated or revived several, but this time, the entire universe was destroyed."
Quatre looked up from his laptop. "According to this report I just received from the Preventors, a black hole formed out in space sector WW238 at the same time Usagi appeared in Heero's room. It appeared, flared, and disappeared again, just like that. And they think something came out of it before it closed. Could it be?"
Usagi licked her dry lips and nodded. "Whenever I use my Crystal to teleport, the power spill-off looks like a black hole."
Wufei still seemed skeptical. "How do we know you're not just some nutcase?" Duo elbowed the Chinese pilot.
"No! You . . . you have to believe me. Here." Closing her eyes, Usagi held her hands up and call upon the power that always slept inside her, waiting upon her summons. What if it doesn't work? This is a different dimension or something . . . and the Crystal . . . no. I have to believe. I do believe . . . And, as always, her power responded. Usagi heard the boys' astonished cries and smiled with pride. Then . . . she stopped. Something had taken hold of the vast amounts of energy she usually controlled. Images flew through her mind, of the Crystal exploding into a million pieces, then being sucked into her body and transporting her to this alternate universe. And of the Great Evil, still hungry and furious at being denied its final victory, sending a tendril of its own, dark energy to follow and find her. The Evil was coming.
"DYING MOON MAKE-UP!"
The Gundam pilots stared at the luminous warrior who now stood before them.
Heero pulled himself together. "I'm going to assume you're Sailor Moon, now?" Usagi's crescent sign had returned to her forehead, and it was glowing. Silver body-armor encased her torso, shoulders, and legs, and she wore wrist-length gloves trimmed in red. A flimsy blue skirt flirted around her hips.
Sailor Moon colored. "Well, actually, this is kind of new. My suit has never looked like this before. If anything, it reminds me of the armor our last enemy wore. . . New place, new enemy, new armor, I guess!" It was painfully obvious to everyone that her pasted smile was fake. Tears winked in the corners of her eyes. "But . . ." Sailor Moon's face crumpled, "this time, I'm alone."
"New enemy?" Wufei ignored her distress, focusing on her words. "What enemy are you talking about?"
"I remember what happened to me. My Crystal," she indicated the silvery stone on her breast, "interpreted my death wish . . . incorrectly. It sent me here, and the Evil somehow managed to follow. I'm . . . I'm really sorry. It's all my fault." She started to cry again. "It's my fault Mamochan died, it's my fault the Evil devoured my world, and I couldn't even kill myself right, so it's my fault your world is in danger!"
To everyone's surprise, it was Heero who stepped forward to comfort her. "I'm gonna put her to bed. We'll discuss this more tomorrow." So saying, he carried her off. * * *
Sailor Moon removed her face from Heero's chest as he carried her down the hallway. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
When he glanced down at her, she gasped. His eyes are the same as my Mamochan's. "Nice?"
"I brought the Evil to your universe, and you're not yelling or anything." It was nice to cradled against a warm chest, even if it was the wrong chest. She realized her new armor was digging into his arms, so she grasped the Crystal and sent the armor away.
He faltered. "Jeez, that's weird."
"You guys don't have magic or anything like that here? Do you fight with regular guns and stuff?"
"Something like that. We five pilot Gundam mobile suits.
"Will you show me?"
"Hn." Heero reached out and opened a door. "Here's your room. There are some clothes that should fit you. Quatre's got a whole pack of sisters." The room was lovely, painted a pale blue with a delicate star motif repeating on the furniture and draperies. The bed itself had sheets and blankets with constellations printed against a deeper blue. He deposited her there and turned to leave.
Suddenly, Usagi didn't want to be left alone. "Heero? Don't go, please." He stopped but didn't turn. "I . . . I . . . tell me more about this place. You guys really live in space?" Anything, just so there'd be someone to keep her company.
Heero finally turned to face her. After staring deep into her eyes, he took a seat across from the bed. "There are several different space colonies. Only in the past few years have they been able to coexist peacefully with the people of Earth." Usagi began to peek through the closets and chests until she found a light blue nightgown and robe. She slipped behind a screen to change as Heero told her about the creation of the colonies, their troubles with Earth and the ensuing conflicts, the Earth-Sphere Alliance, OZ, the Gundams, everything. And he mentioned a girl named Relena a lot. Usagi was incredibly impressed that a young woman not much older then herself had managed to hold such a tremulous peace together. Whenever Heero said her name, an odd tone entered his voice.
"Could I meet Miss Peacecraft? She sounds really nice." She sounded like the sort of strong, wonderful person Usagi should have been. When only silence answered, she walked out around the screen. "Heero?"
"You can't meet her." Heero's eyes were closed, and his voice was hoarse, as if full of unshed tears.
"Why not?"
"She's dead. Some terrorist assassin killed her a week ago." With that, Heero stood and headed toward the door.
"Heero, wait!" Usagi now recognized the tone in his voice. He spoke about Relena in the same manner that Mamoru had spoken to her when trying to deny his feelings while they were fighting the Negamoon Family. She ran to Heero and grabbed his arm. "I'm sorry. You must have loved her very much."
"How would you know?" His voice was soft, but the chill in it sent Usagi backing away. "How the hell would you know? She's dead, and it's my fault. I didn't protect her; I never even told her how I felt."
"But I do know." The pain in his voice drew her back to hi side even as it terrified her. Here was someone who knew exactly what she was living with now. "I do. My own beloved died protecting me. I couldn't save him, just as I couldn't save my friends or even my world." Taking a chance, she clasped his arm and drew him back to the chair. Surprisingly, he let her. "I was their leader, their Princess. I was supposed to be strong, and I had never failed them before. But when it mattered the most, my strength was useless. So you see, I know exactly how you're feeling."
His eyes finally met her, and she gasped at the sheer self-loathing she saw there. "You do know." He whispered. Haltingly, Heero told her of the fateful afternoon. It had happened so quickly; a man jumped out from behind a tree as Relena was riding. One single shot rang out, and Heero raced toward her, only to reach her as the last of her life force drained from her eyes. He never even knew why, for the gunman promptly turned the gun on himself. "I've saved her from everything else. Most of the time, I'd never let myself reason why. I told myself it was simply a new mission; Relena was important to the peace. But I loved her." Tears began to fall. "I loved her, and I never realized how much until she was dead." Usagi tentatively placed her arms around him, and he clutched at her, sobbing. Her own tears joined his as the two shared their pain and loss in a way others could not possibly understand.
Gradually, though, the storm wore out, and he raised his head. "Thank you, Usagi." Usagi was surprised, for his voice was ashamed. Why should he be ashamed for feeling grief? Mamochan was like that. I'll never understand.
The emotionless mask returned to Heero's face. "I'll let you sleep now." He crossed to the door, and then turned to face her yet again. "If you need anything, I'm on your left and Duo's two doors down to your right." Duo Maxwell, she remembered, was the one with the long braid.
"Good night, Heero." * * *
Heero lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. What was it about that girl? He had never cried like that before. She reminded him of Relena. Not in looks, but they both possessed the same inner strength and beauty.
Strangely enough, he felt better. Crying had released some of the pressure building up inside him.
This Evil force, though . . . Usagi's story was like something out of a fairy tale. Even with the evidence of his own two eyes, it was hard to believe. Heero couldn't quite comprehend an energy . . . as an enemy. The Gundam pilots had fought everything from powerful, worldwide organizations to single, armed madmen, but against something so intangible . . .? He also hated the idea of being forced to rely on Sailor Moon, Usagi, Serenity, or whoever she was. Sailor Moon seemed powerful, but she was still just one girl. They'd try her tomorrow, and see just how strong she really was. * *