Promenade
By: Camigwen
-Chapter 9-
"Oh get up, Kol." Michiru shook her head at her bowing husband. "I still have yet to see exactly why you're afraid of her." She looked up from her husband's still bowing form to meet the amused eyes of Usagi.
Usagi shrugged, amused by Kolanto's display. After a few more bows and an annoyed look from Michiru, Usagi waved a hand at him and he stood.
"My Queen—" he began, but Usagi held up a hand and silenced him.
"Please," she said, "while we're here on Earth, call me 'Usagi.' Beside, 'my Queen' makes me sound old." She wrinkled her nose in disgust as Michiru laughed. "Kolanto," she said in her sweetest tone, "would you mind excusing us for a moment?"
The Neptunian king bowed deeply before her, earning an annoyed sound from Michiru. "Of course, mi lady." He rose, gave his grumpy wife a quick kiss on the cheek, and exited the room.
"I-I really appreciate you going out of your way to come here, Usagi." Michiru said with uneasiness in her voice as Usagi plopped down onto the couch. "It means a lot to me and I—Usagi!" She nearly fell over, but quickly balanced herself.
The blonde child of the moon grinned sheepishly and gave a light shrug of her shoulders before popping another bar of chocolate—Kolanto had become an avid eater of this marvelous treat—into her mouth.
Michiru sighed and sat down next to the Moon senshi.
"So," Usagi said somewhat muffled, "what exactly happened?"
+§¤§+
Duo glanced around the corner to make sure no one was watching, then reached into his braid and pulled out a bobby pin. He bent it to make it straight and carefully used it to pick the lock on the door to Haruka's on-base quarters. It clicked and he twisted the knob, sliding the door open, and stepping inside. "I've still got it," he mused with a smile.
Her room was neat, organized, and extremely clean, which was something new to him, for even Relena's quarters were a wreck. There were no open drawers, no clothes throne about, utterly no sign that her sudden departure had been planned. Or, perhaps she had made it so it didn't look like she had planned it.
He spotted a tall dresser towards the back of the room and strode over to it, grabbing the back of her desk chair and dragging it along with him. Pushing the chair up to the dresser's side, he hopped on top of it, stretching an arm up to the top to feel around for anything. "Ah-ha!" he chimed as his fingertips brushed against a smooth, metal surface. He stood on his tiptoes and grabbed hold of one side of the object, pulling it off the top and into his lap as he slipped and fell into the chair.
"Well, what do we have here?" He flipped the object over to find a metal box with a lock on the front. Pulling out the bobby pin from before, he easily picked this lock and opened the lid. "What in the—" Within the box, laying on a foam cushion with a dark velvet blue lining were 4 objects: a short sword with a golden hilt covered in a jewel studded sheath, a gold tiara with a blue jewel at it's tip, a wrist-watch with a decorative pattern, and an odd looking pen…or was it a wand?
He picked up the pen/wand and examined it. "Haruka sure collects some strange antiques." He moved to put it down and select another item to examine when he froze upon hearing the doorknob being twisted.
'Oh crap!' Quickly, he shut the box and returned both it and the desk chair to their rightful places and hurriedly moved to hide behind the couch nearest the door. He got there just in time to see two pairs of feminine legs glide through the doorway, leaving the door open behind them.
Taking the open opportunity, he silently crept past them and out the doorway. As soon as he got out of the hallway, he ran for his office.
+§¤§+
"Usagi?" Michiru inquired upon Usagi's sudden turn towards the open doorway.
The blonde senshi shook her head and shrugged. "It's nothing. I just thought I heard something. It was probably my overactive imagination—you know how I am."
Michiru stifled a giggle. "Yes, yes I do." Turning from Usagi, she pushed the desk chair over to the dresser towards the back of the room.
Usagi watched with curiosity. "What're you doing?"
"Getting Haruka's box," Michiru replied as she climbed onto the chair and brought the box down from it's hiding place. "She's so predictable, hiding it up there." She jumped off the chair and sat the box down on the desk so Usagi could see. "It's got all her senshi things in it."
"Ah," the Moon senshi mused, "she doesn't carry them around in her pockets anymore. I used to, but stopped. I had to dig my brooch out underneath the bed before I got here…you know, incase I needed it."
The oceanic senshi nodded. "Yes, I know what you mean." She patted the left pocket of her coat; "I've got mine as well. Now, let's see if I remember her combination to the this thing." She moved to try the lock, only to find the box open. Slowly, Michiru opened the lid to find the objects not sitting in their rightful places in the foam cushioning and her transformation pen missing.
"Perhaps she was indeed kidnapped, Michiru…" Usagi said, absentmindedly bitting her lip.
Michiru sighed heavily, fingering the spot in the foam cushioning where the transformation pen would've been sitting. "If she'd transformed we would've been able to feel her presence. Who ever captured her must've known this and took her transformation pen before she could get to it."
Usagi placed a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder before standing up with her communicator in hand. "I'll contact the others."
+§¤§+
Duo let out a sigh of relief as he shut the door to his office behind him and leaned back on it, sliding down its length to the floor. "Man, that was a close one." He brought his hand up to his forehead to whip off the sweat gathering there, to find something held within his hand.
"Aw, SHIT!" He glared angrily at the pen/wand still held in his hand. In his haste to get out of there, he'd forgotten to put the blasted thing up. He was loosing his edge; he used to be an expert at sneaking around.
He moved to get up, when fell back down and clutched his head as emotions, images, and sounds engulfed him. After it passed, he lay motionless for a few moments, before springing to his feet and bolting out the door, bound for his Gundam.
He knew where Haruka was.
+TBC+
Disclaimer: I have no delusions what so ever of owning either Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. …Okay, perhaps I do… But, I'll never achieve them 'cause I'm too lazy to try. ^.~
AN: Sorry it took so long for me to update, but Marching Band has been keeping me tied up as of late. I've gotten somewhat of a break now that UIL Contest is done and over with, but I've got BoA (Bands of America) on Halloween and the Saturday that follows. *sigh* I'll update as often as I can and I intend to make the chapters longer as I do. ^^
10/26/03
