Author's Note:
This is a sequel to Angelic Embrace. I thought about doing it, but I didn't until someone told me they thought a sequel was possible. You will really want to read the first one to find out what's going on.
As we all know the names of the Senshi, there's no need to go there, except to say that I use the Japanese names.
For a review, I'll list the names of the Shitennou:
Keagan Kris MacNeal (Kunzite)
Nick Michael Canter (Nephrite)
Jace Daniel Taencer (Jadeite)
Zale James Indiano (Zoisite)
You can contact me at Guardian4@atlantic.net.
I guess I should mention this, in case it gets confusing about how long its been since the epilogue of Angelic Embrace. It's been six to seven months, not another year and a half.
The Last Journey
Chapter 1: Blessing or Curse?
There was a short silence after Minako's statement. "Are you certain, Minako-chan?" Ami asked hesitantly.
"Near positive. Keagan and I have been…trying for a baby and…" She trailed off, her face closed off. She stalked down the hallway without another word. Ami, with a glance at them, ran to catch up with her.
Makoto watched them go. After a moment she opened the window that she had somehow managed to stop by. She leaned her elbows on the inside windowsill, staring out at the sky.
Rei approached her slowly. "Wandering feet?" she asked lowly.
Her green eyes settled on the shorter woman. She sighed in contemplation and shrugged after a moment. "I don't know, really. I mean, I remember who I was and who I am, but still…there's that part of me that I grew up as, that spent six years street fighting, that's resentful of staying here. That part of me is angry that I don't have a choice but staying here and being a Senshi."
"Mako-chan," Rei said at last, "let me show you a few things. Follow me."
The brown-haired woman trailed behind her as she led them to an open, double door. From the shadows, they observed the Queen and King of Crystal Tokyo talking and negotiating, surrounded by four men. The sheer number of people in the room nearly packed it all and Makoto thought that she would be hard pressed to find a place to breathe easily.
"See them, Mako-chan? Those two people are greatest I've ever met. They are the ones that protect the people so they can have the wandering feet, the choice to do or go wherever they want. And we protect them so they can protect the Earth."
She turned and led her to a lift hidden discreetly in a corner of the hall. There were so many floors and levels in the palace that having stairs instead of some kind of elevator would have been inconceivable.
They waited in silence as they went up, the two of them, in the main spire. She finally stopped it and they stepped out, into a room that had one wall made entirely of glass. The sunlight streamed in unimpaired and lit the room so bright it almost hurt her eyes.
The room itself was filled with exercise machines and other workout instruments. The entire floor made as a gym, so that they could stay in shape. Of the forty levels in the main spire of the palace, it was only two levels lower, on the thirty-eighth. Makoto couldn't remember going as high as this, since she always worked out on her own for an hour or two every day.
"Come here, Mako-chan."
She approached the windowed wall and looked down at the city that sprawled below them. From the height they were at, the people looked like little black specs and buildings barely anything above that. It almost looked like an ant swarm, with the people moving constantly back and forth from somewhere.
"You don't have wandering feet, Kino Makoto, you have a feeling of unhappiness toward the fact that you didn't seem to have a choice in becoming a Senshi. I know, because I've felt it to, and all for two people right? But you see those people? We're not just protecting two people, we're protecting them. We're protecting millions, the entire populous of Earth.
"The reason you feel this desire to move around the world and do your own thing is because during the Silver Millennium, you never had this chance. You never once felt this way, because Serenity was there. She was the one that gave us a contentedness, a feeling of painfulness if we moved away from her. But she wasn't here, was she? I know how you feel, Mako-chan. We were the hardest ones to get to remember. But that feeling, that part of you that feels resentful…we have no right to feel that way because we are blessed over any other."
Makoto sat down heavily on the one of the benches. "What do you mean blessed?"
Rei squatted on her toes, holding on slightly to Makoto's arm to keep balanced. Her quiet voice was louder than a yell. "Whenever I feel as if I want to be somewhere else, of I'm resentful of Sailor Mars, I just remind myself of Serenity and realize how blessed I am to be a Senshi."
"I don't get it."
"If I hadn't been a Senshi, I would have no reason to talk to Serenity. I would have no reason to become friends with her, know her. She's my best friend, Mako-chan, but she wouldn't be if I hadn't been a Senshi. It may be a burden at first, something I felt resentful of, but then all I have to do is think about her and I know that if I hadn't been a Senshi, I wouldn't have given her a chance to be my friend. Don't you see it, Mako-chan? We're blessed over other people because we have the chance to know, to feel, with Serenity. Others can only be content with seeing who she is at a distance because they can never get close."
Makoto smiled a little. "Thanks, Rei-chan."
Rei stood up. "Don't thank me; you don't need to."
In the silence, the lift docking at their floor was easily heard. Makoto started; she hadn't realized it had gone down. Serenity's child entered, carrying a crying Pyralis. Rei immediately picked him up and within minutes, the baby was calm again and smiling. Makoto marveled at her talent.
"Come on, let's go see what Serenity and Endymion are doing," the black-haired woman suggested.
They rode the lift down and after Chibiusa ran off, entered the throne room, which was empty of all except the Shitennou and royalty. Serenity rubbed her forehead in a tired gesture and there were worry lines on Endymion's forehead.
"What's the matter?" Makoto asked as they approached the thrones.
"They're worried about tomorrow."
"Ah," Rei muttered knowingly.
Tomorrow was the first day Serenity and Endymion would leave Crystal Tokyo; the first day she would meet with all the other heads of states, including the leading world power, the United States. How would they react to Crystal Tokyo's creation?
"Don't worry so much," advised Jadeite. "I mean, what are they going to do about it even if they don't agree, which I'm positive they will?"
"Why are you so sure?" asked Endymion wearily.
He winked at them and straightened his Shitennou armor. "Just trust me. There won't be any problems."
"We'll want tight security," outlined Kunzite after a minute to his comrades. "I don't want to chance any kind of attempt at the King and Queen or otherwise. Besides, those reporters are a damn nuisance. How many have we had to turn away at the gates?"
"Nothing is going to happen to us, Kunzite." Serenity took a turn at reassurance to the head Shitennou. "And you don't turn all the people away. What about that one man that came in?"
"He was a novelist," contradicted the silver man, "he wasn't a reporter. He wanted to write a book about the palace and describe the various hallways and where they led. There's a difference between a reporter and a novelist."
"Only you would make that distinction," the Queen muttered under her breath.
Nephrite wrapped his arms around Makoto's neck as she moved away from the bickering group a little. "Hey, dove."
"Hi," she responded quietly.
"Is something bothering you? You've been acting weird all day."
"I'm fine!" she snapped, then cringed. "I'm sorry. I don't know, I just feel weird."
Nephrite was silent for a moment as he thought. "Could it be that this is the anniversary day that Serenity was taken when she was fourteen that bothers you?"
She looked at the walls. "I don't know, but probably. I feel restless today; I can't stay in one place for long."
"Care to let me take my hand at analyzing?"
"Sure."
"You feel restless because subconsciously, you're worried about what will happen on this day. Your logic states that nothing will happen, but your heart is not so sure, hence the unable to stay in one place for long."
"Quite adept at this sort of thing, aren't you?"
He shrugged and she could almost feel him smile. "I try."
"Minako said she doesn't think she can have children," she whispered at last, once the silence between them had gone too long.
His head moved, as if he was glancing behind at Kunzite. "I know. Kunzite's said he thought so too, but never around her. He…really wants children and from what I've heard, so does Minako."
"Ami will most likely test her, but what do we do if she can't? It will devastate her."
Nephrite sighed into her hair. "I don't know. But perhaps there is something to be done, if it comes out that this is the case."
"If you're suggesting medicinal herbs or something that will just automatically do the job," she told him dryly, "then let me tell you something: that only happens in bad stories and fairytales. There is no such thing as miracles or guardian angels or plants that make things all better."
He shifted slightly behind her. "That's a rather cynical observation."
"It's not cynical, it's the truth."
She pulled away from him and stalked toward the door. Makoto glanced behind her once to see Nephrite with a sad and understanding look on his face, rather than anger. She had a pang of guilt as she left, just now realizing that she had taken Minako's loss and hurt of possibly no children as her own and just as close to her heart.
It lifted her spirits somewhat as she realized the depths of her feelings for her friends. Suddenly, the thought occurred to her. It was just as improbable as the healing plants, but only this time, it had a higher rate of success.
She jogged down the hall to Hotaru's room, hoping to get a chance to talk to the woman before she had to pack up her things for their two week conference with the heads of states starting tomorrow.
End Chapter 1
This was somewhat hard to write, as I didn't know how to go about this chapter. However, I have Chapter 2 all mapped out so it won't be as long as coming as this one was. Thank you for sticking with this story so far. I know I've been busy with Army of Immortals and Return of the Valkyries, but since I'd just added in two more chapters each, I got to working on this one.