1 Chapter Twenty-One – Let The King And Queen Decide
***
"Dr. Amesuino-sensei."
Ami looked up from the glass window that peeked into the nursery. Little Aiyana, as she had nicknamed the baby, was resting two rows back from it, kicking her tiny legs within the incubator and was already trying to grab her toes. The child was screaming and had not stopped since Masaya had cut the umbilical cord from it's tiny stomach.
At three pounds, eleven ounces, the tiny thing was only seven inches long. Masaya had held the child on one hand, marveling at the tiny proportions of it. She had caught him later on, counting the fingers and toes of the child and making sure it was all there. Little Aiyana was completely formed, just very tiny. She did, however, have a healthy, loud voice. Ami was so afraid that she would come out completely silent, but the child hadn't stopped shrieking since her mouth had freed her mother's perineum.
Her mother. Ami sighed when she thought of the poor young woman. She was barely holding on throughout the birth, and as soon as the little one was out she had collapsed into a deep sleep, unconscious. Three days later, she hadn't regained consciousness yet and Masaya was frantic with worry, the fact that she was perfectly all right notwithstanding. Ami had found no afterbirth complications or anything – it was just a post-partum fatigue that would probably go away in a few days.
"Dr. Amesuino-sensei, there's a call on line two for you."
"I'll get it." Who could possibly be calling her right now? She hoped Izumi had found the note she left about the chicken being in the refrigerator to thaw. She walked to the receptionists' counter and lifted the phone off the hook, then undepressed the hold button.
"Ami-chan, is that you?"
Minako's voice. Ami shifted her weight and leaned against the desk. "Mina- chan. What are you calling me at work for? Is there something wrong?"
Minako was silent for a moment. Then: "Oh, yes. Something is definitely wrong."
Ami recoiled. Minako's voice was icy. "What happened? Is everyone all right."
"*You* won't be all right for much longer, doctor. Get to my house right *now*. Everyone else is already here, including your husband. I believe your last birthing is already completed, so you are free to come right *now*."
Click.
Ami dropped the phone, her face going pale. But no! How had Minako…
She turned to the receptionist. "I've got to go. Get someone to fill for me. It's extremely important and I can't explain, but I've got to get out of here."
***
"Your highness, we should be landing on Earth four days from now."
The emperor made a face as the ship made a bumpy exit from the asteroid belt of this solar system. So far, they'd been caught in a windstorm in the rings of Uranus and had nearly crashed into a series of moons clustered close together on the Jovian scope – and discovered that there were a lot more than the 32 moons that the Earthians had discovered. "Are you sure that we're not going to hit anything else this time?"
"Postive, your highness. Since we have to avoid the wake of the planet Mars, we have to steer clear of the gravitational force and that's going to cause an extra day to be added on. But once we escape Mars, we have straight space travel to Earth and then, we're going down for the landing. We should get there on the evening of the third day from now, a few hours after their sun sets."
"Perfect. I don't think I can wait much longer," the emperor said, grinning. He turned to his son, who was staring out of the window of the ship. "What do you think, Tamashiiro-kun?"
"Hmm?" Tamashiiro looked up absently, searching for the voice that had addressed him. "Oh, yes. I…can't wait."
***
"Ami, how could you? Keep this from your family, your friends, the people you have been with for years and years?" Rei shook her head, unable to speak.
"You betrayed us," Minako came in, standing up. "You betrayed us. Mitsuru betrayed us, Masaya betrayed us, and worst of all, you and Mako betrayed us. How do you think it felt for Rei to get information from her thirteen- year-old daughter that should have come from you?"
Ami dropped her head. She willed away the tears that were rushing to her eyes, stinging them behind the outer layers. "I…I wasn't trying to betray you all. I was only—"
"Only trying to protect a trained assassin that tried to kill your best friend, the one true love that we ever were destined to have in the universe?" Minako shook her head in disbelief. "Usagi is the one who opened the way for us, who gave us a new life in lieu of protecting her forever. She cared for us, she loved us, and this is how you repay her!"
"This isn't about Usagi," Ami said.
"It isn't? Who the hell—"
"She's right," Mitsuru said. His temper was comparable to Minako's, and he was beginning to get worked up. "This is not about Usagi. Usagi was in no danger here. This child just wanted to give birth to her baby and be on her way. She had no further desire to harm anyone on this planet."
"But to hide it from us all this time!" Minako said. "And to let her near my son!"
Minako stepped to the window of her family room, staring through it. Emi and Masaya were both gone, Masaya at the hospital, Emi somewhere with her friends. That was precisely why she had called the meeting at her house – it was easier to get rid of the children there than anywhere else, since hers were older.
As predicted by the perceptive doctor, Rei had always run closer to Minako. Evidently, her own daughter had told her friends. While Emi had been able to keep her mouth shut, Megami had accidently bluterted it out to her brother, her mother overhearing – a fact that Ami was already aware of. Izumi didn't need to tell her mother.
The only other girl remaining was Hitomi. Understanding the severity of the situation, she had thought it best to make a very wise decision, knowing that the lives of people depended on it. However, the details and special circumstances were left out of it, and her understanding of the severity was based heavily on Izumi's retelling of the story. So she had gone to Izumi, requesting more information by pretending to be merely curious. Then she had taken the story straight to her mother, explaining that she thought Neo-Queen Selenity and Usa might be in danger.
Rei had been completely shocked. But instead of confronting Ami about it as Mako had done, she'd called Minako and discussed it with her. Minako confirmed the tale by calling the hospital and asking for the day's activity, simple as that. Her status as protectress of Queen Selenity had aided her in getting the information that she needed, and that's when she started calling people.
"You let her near my son."
Ami heard the pain in her voice and suddenly felt angry. Minako must have also known that Masaya had developed feelings for the young woman at the hospital – the way she said it and the way she stared betrayed that.
"She didn't hurt Masaya-kun anymore than she hurt me or any of the others in the hospital. She was completely congenial to everyone."
"You kept her alive using deceit," Minako said. "Her crime was punishable by execution!"
"But should the child inside her have also been punished?"
Everyone was surprised to hear Sadayoshi speak. He had been quiet the entire time, as had the rest of the husbands, save Mitsuru and his one line of speech. But he spoke now with his voice resonating as a low bell pitch.
Minako studied her husband curiously. "What are you getting at?"
"Executing her would have killed the baby inside her. Would that have been fair to the child?"
"Was it fair that her mother brought it into the world unwed anyway?" Minako shook her head. "Does she even know…"
Ami looked up. "Of course she knows."
Minako paled. And Ami got the picture.
"NO, baka Minako!" she exclaimed. "Aiyana was already one month pregnant when she arrived on Earth."
"You knew?"
"Of course not! We ran a test, about her second or third week here."
"Wait, just one? She's only been here for six months," said Mako.
"Pre-term labor," said Ami. "The child is premature. You should have seen her. She's only three pounds and eleven ounces, and she's seven inches long. Masaya can nearly hold her all in one hand."
Minako closed her eyes as if in pain.
"But it's not like you think. It wasn't a voluntary act, she was raped. The attacker had no kind of contraceptive, so Aiyana was vulnerable, and she became pregnant. What was more, she was a virgin when it happened."
"And you believe her?" Minako asked.
"Of course," Ami said indignantly. "Why would she be lying?"
"For pity, for the use of our planet, to get sympathy, to stay here without any repercussions! Why wouldn't she lie?"
"Because trained assassins don't lie to get sympathy," said Sadayoshi. "They lie to deceive, to kill, but if she wanted to lie to still get to Neo- Queen Selenity, she would have killed her as soon as she had won Ami's trust. But no – she hasn't made a move yet."
"And," said Mitsuru, "what crossed my mind is that she didn't do some kind of makeshift abortion, or killed herself. Whatever happened to this girl, she still has a deep respect for human life. She was afraid that night, I know she was. I can feel it. And she didn't want to kill that baby inside of her."
"And why should we execute her if she hasn't done anything?" Sadayoshi finished. "We don't execute potential murderers – just murderers."
Minako looked helplessly at the three men standing against her. "What, are you all for her now?"
"I think we need to see where everyone stands on this," said Mako, "so we can decide what to do with the young girl when she does wake up."
"Wake up?"
"She's in a deep sleep," Ami said. "Almost catatonic. She withdrew after the birth, and she hasn't woken since."
"I think we all know Ami and Minako's feelings on the matter," said Rei. "Personally, I don't know. I'm still deeply hurt that she would keep such a thing from us…" Her eyes drifted to Ami. "And although she hasn't made a move yet, she still might. I think we need to be as cautious as possible, and incarcerate her."
"I move for non-incarceration," Mako said forcefully. "She has done nothing else to warrant this move, and she's already been deeply hurt – raped, abused, and then she's on an alien planet? She's been completely trusting of Ami and has never done anything to hurt her – and the same has been true with Masaya." Her eyes shifted to Minako. "I think we should just let her be."
Sadayoshi and Mitsuru exchanged glances.
"She watched my kids," Mitsuru said, as if in awe. "She was in my house. She baked cookies for them, played with them, made them dinner, let them feel the baby quickening inside her stomach. The twins loved her. They keep asking where she is and asking for her to come back."
"Izumi didn't enjoy her company too much," said Ami, "but only because she felt like she was moving in on her turf."
"I liked her. She seemed like a responsible, mature young woman."
Sadayoshi was silent for a moment.
"My son doesn't seem to have any qualms with her."
Minako winced.
"How do you know?" Ami asked.
"I'm more observant than you think, Dr. Amesuino-sensei," Sadayoshi said, winking at the doctor. "Sometimes when Minako was grilling Masaya, I'd catch his tone as he talked aboutt her. He seemed to think that she was pretty trustworthy, and Masaya is a pretty good judge of character."
"You're going to go on the thoughts of a twenty-two-year-old?" Minako asked.
"Koibito, do you know how dumb that sounded?"
"Wait," said Mako, turning to her husband. "Ieyasu hasn't said anything the whole time we were here. What do you think?"
Ieyasu looked at the seven pairs of eyes staring at him and shrugged a little. "I don't know enough about the situation to say. I knew about it when Mako found out – I happened to be in the kitchen when Megami leaked it – but I don't know what Ami has told Mako. We all don't know anything more about this girl than Ami does. Ami and Mitsuru are the only ones who have made intimate contact with her, and Sadayoshi bases his opinions heavily on his son's view of her, which I think is all right because Masaya's very smart and pretty sensible. They are biased towards her. But then again, so are Rei, Minako, and Sanetoki – no, don't say anything, I saw your face. You didn't have to talk. Mako and I are only basing what we know against what we've heard, and Mako has voted towards her because of the influence of Ami, who is also biased."
"So what are you getting at?" Minako asked.
Ieyasu smiled. "I think we should let a totally unbiased party of two discuss the fate of our young assassin – the only ones that should count in the first place anyway."
Fourteen eyebrows raised questioningly.
"I think we should let the king and queen decide."
***
The dark-haired woman sat down on the lacy bed once again, the energy slowly returning. That last battle with life had drained a lot from her, but she had to be strong. If not for herself, for her only daughter.
She was drifting away, her daughter – drifting away. She thought she'd be safer inside, if she never came out. There would be no one to judge her and no one to hurt her anymore, and she wouldn't have to find out the truth about herself.
She was, in fact, turning out to be a lot like her mother.
But this woman had been down that road before, and she was not going to let her daughter travel down it. That was what had caused her to be lost in the first place – the misery and the sadness. She should have gone looking, should have increased her efforts. But she'd immersed herself in her own problems and nearly lost her daughter through it all.
She wouldn't let herself do that again. She only had a little bit of strength left, but by God, if she had to use it up she wanted to do so saving her daughter.
For that, she would give every ounce of vitality she had.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: Confusing enough? I think I confused myself…
This was in anticipation of another reader, who asked if Selenity was going to make an entrance any time soon. She was going to come in, but later. I decided here to speed it up a little – a few people have been asking for her.
Any questions, send to julymoonbunny@hotmail.com.
***
"Dr. Amesuino-sensei."
Ami looked up from the glass window that peeked into the nursery. Little Aiyana, as she had nicknamed the baby, was resting two rows back from it, kicking her tiny legs within the incubator and was already trying to grab her toes. The child was screaming and had not stopped since Masaya had cut the umbilical cord from it's tiny stomach.
At three pounds, eleven ounces, the tiny thing was only seven inches long. Masaya had held the child on one hand, marveling at the tiny proportions of it. She had caught him later on, counting the fingers and toes of the child and making sure it was all there. Little Aiyana was completely formed, just very tiny. She did, however, have a healthy, loud voice. Ami was so afraid that she would come out completely silent, but the child hadn't stopped shrieking since her mouth had freed her mother's perineum.
Her mother. Ami sighed when she thought of the poor young woman. She was barely holding on throughout the birth, and as soon as the little one was out she had collapsed into a deep sleep, unconscious. Three days later, she hadn't regained consciousness yet and Masaya was frantic with worry, the fact that she was perfectly all right notwithstanding. Ami had found no afterbirth complications or anything – it was just a post-partum fatigue that would probably go away in a few days.
"Dr. Amesuino-sensei, there's a call on line two for you."
"I'll get it." Who could possibly be calling her right now? She hoped Izumi had found the note she left about the chicken being in the refrigerator to thaw. She walked to the receptionists' counter and lifted the phone off the hook, then undepressed the hold button.
"Ami-chan, is that you?"
Minako's voice. Ami shifted her weight and leaned against the desk. "Mina- chan. What are you calling me at work for? Is there something wrong?"
Minako was silent for a moment. Then: "Oh, yes. Something is definitely wrong."
Ami recoiled. Minako's voice was icy. "What happened? Is everyone all right."
"*You* won't be all right for much longer, doctor. Get to my house right *now*. Everyone else is already here, including your husband. I believe your last birthing is already completed, so you are free to come right *now*."
Click.
Ami dropped the phone, her face going pale. But no! How had Minako…
She turned to the receptionist. "I've got to go. Get someone to fill for me. It's extremely important and I can't explain, but I've got to get out of here."
***
"Your highness, we should be landing on Earth four days from now."
The emperor made a face as the ship made a bumpy exit from the asteroid belt of this solar system. So far, they'd been caught in a windstorm in the rings of Uranus and had nearly crashed into a series of moons clustered close together on the Jovian scope – and discovered that there were a lot more than the 32 moons that the Earthians had discovered. "Are you sure that we're not going to hit anything else this time?"
"Postive, your highness. Since we have to avoid the wake of the planet Mars, we have to steer clear of the gravitational force and that's going to cause an extra day to be added on. But once we escape Mars, we have straight space travel to Earth and then, we're going down for the landing. We should get there on the evening of the third day from now, a few hours after their sun sets."
"Perfect. I don't think I can wait much longer," the emperor said, grinning. He turned to his son, who was staring out of the window of the ship. "What do you think, Tamashiiro-kun?"
"Hmm?" Tamashiiro looked up absently, searching for the voice that had addressed him. "Oh, yes. I…can't wait."
***
"Ami, how could you? Keep this from your family, your friends, the people you have been with for years and years?" Rei shook her head, unable to speak.
"You betrayed us," Minako came in, standing up. "You betrayed us. Mitsuru betrayed us, Masaya betrayed us, and worst of all, you and Mako betrayed us. How do you think it felt for Rei to get information from her thirteen- year-old daughter that should have come from you?"
Ami dropped her head. She willed away the tears that were rushing to her eyes, stinging them behind the outer layers. "I…I wasn't trying to betray you all. I was only—"
"Only trying to protect a trained assassin that tried to kill your best friend, the one true love that we ever were destined to have in the universe?" Minako shook her head in disbelief. "Usagi is the one who opened the way for us, who gave us a new life in lieu of protecting her forever. She cared for us, she loved us, and this is how you repay her!"
"This isn't about Usagi," Ami said.
"It isn't? Who the hell—"
"She's right," Mitsuru said. His temper was comparable to Minako's, and he was beginning to get worked up. "This is not about Usagi. Usagi was in no danger here. This child just wanted to give birth to her baby and be on her way. She had no further desire to harm anyone on this planet."
"But to hide it from us all this time!" Minako said. "And to let her near my son!"
Minako stepped to the window of her family room, staring through it. Emi and Masaya were both gone, Masaya at the hospital, Emi somewhere with her friends. That was precisely why she had called the meeting at her house – it was easier to get rid of the children there than anywhere else, since hers were older.
As predicted by the perceptive doctor, Rei had always run closer to Minako. Evidently, her own daughter had told her friends. While Emi had been able to keep her mouth shut, Megami had accidently bluterted it out to her brother, her mother overhearing – a fact that Ami was already aware of. Izumi didn't need to tell her mother.
The only other girl remaining was Hitomi. Understanding the severity of the situation, she had thought it best to make a very wise decision, knowing that the lives of people depended on it. However, the details and special circumstances were left out of it, and her understanding of the severity was based heavily on Izumi's retelling of the story. So she had gone to Izumi, requesting more information by pretending to be merely curious. Then she had taken the story straight to her mother, explaining that she thought Neo-Queen Selenity and Usa might be in danger.
Rei had been completely shocked. But instead of confronting Ami about it as Mako had done, she'd called Minako and discussed it with her. Minako confirmed the tale by calling the hospital and asking for the day's activity, simple as that. Her status as protectress of Queen Selenity had aided her in getting the information that she needed, and that's when she started calling people.
"You let her near my son."
Ami heard the pain in her voice and suddenly felt angry. Minako must have also known that Masaya had developed feelings for the young woman at the hospital – the way she said it and the way she stared betrayed that.
"She didn't hurt Masaya-kun anymore than she hurt me or any of the others in the hospital. She was completely congenial to everyone."
"You kept her alive using deceit," Minako said. "Her crime was punishable by execution!"
"But should the child inside her have also been punished?"
Everyone was surprised to hear Sadayoshi speak. He had been quiet the entire time, as had the rest of the husbands, save Mitsuru and his one line of speech. But he spoke now with his voice resonating as a low bell pitch.
Minako studied her husband curiously. "What are you getting at?"
"Executing her would have killed the baby inside her. Would that have been fair to the child?"
"Was it fair that her mother brought it into the world unwed anyway?" Minako shook her head. "Does she even know…"
Ami looked up. "Of course she knows."
Minako paled. And Ami got the picture.
"NO, baka Minako!" she exclaimed. "Aiyana was already one month pregnant when she arrived on Earth."
"You knew?"
"Of course not! We ran a test, about her second or third week here."
"Wait, just one? She's only been here for six months," said Mako.
"Pre-term labor," said Ami. "The child is premature. You should have seen her. She's only three pounds and eleven ounces, and she's seven inches long. Masaya can nearly hold her all in one hand."
Minako closed her eyes as if in pain.
"But it's not like you think. It wasn't a voluntary act, she was raped. The attacker had no kind of contraceptive, so Aiyana was vulnerable, and she became pregnant. What was more, she was a virgin when it happened."
"And you believe her?" Minako asked.
"Of course," Ami said indignantly. "Why would she be lying?"
"For pity, for the use of our planet, to get sympathy, to stay here without any repercussions! Why wouldn't she lie?"
"Because trained assassins don't lie to get sympathy," said Sadayoshi. "They lie to deceive, to kill, but if she wanted to lie to still get to Neo- Queen Selenity, she would have killed her as soon as she had won Ami's trust. But no – she hasn't made a move yet."
"And," said Mitsuru, "what crossed my mind is that she didn't do some kind of makeshift abortion, or killed herself. Whatever happened to this girl, she still has a deep respect for human life. She was afraid that night, I know she was. I can feel it. And she didn't want to kill that baby inside of her."
"And why should we execute her if she hasn't done anything?" Sadayoshi finished. "We don't execute potential murderers – just murderers."
Minako looked helplessly at the three men standing against her. "What, are you all for her now?"
"I think we need to see where everyone stands on this," said Mako, "so we can decide what to do with the young girl when she does wake up."
"Wake up?"
"She's in a deep sleep," Ami said. "Almost catatonic. She withdrew after the birth, and she hasn't woken since."
"I think we all know Ami and Minako's feelings on the matter," said Rei. "Personally, I don't know. I'm still deeply hurt that she would keep such a thing from us…" Her eyes drifted to Ami. "And although she hasn't made a move yet, she still might. I think we need to be as cautious as possible, and incarcerate her."
"I move for non-incarceration," Mako said forcefully. "She has done nothing else to warrant this move, and she's already been deeply hurt – raped, abused, and then she's on an alien planet? She's been completely trusting of Ami and has never done anything to hurt her – and the same has been true with Masaya." Her eyes shifted to Minako. "I think we should just let her be."
Sadayoshi and Mitsuru exchanged glances.
"She watched my kids," Mitsuru said, as if in awe. "She was in my house. She baked cookies for them, played with them, made them dinner, let them feel the baby quickening inside her stomach. The twins loved her. They keep asking where she is and asking for her to come back."
"Izumi didn't enjoy her company too much," said Ami, "but only because she felt like she was moving in on her turf."
"I liked her. She seemed like a responsible, mature young woman."
Sadayoshi was silent for a moment.
"My son doesn't seem to have any qualms with her."
Minako winced.
"How do you know?" Ami asked.
"I'm more observant than you think, Dr. Amesuino-sensei," Sadayoshi said, winking at the doctor. "Sometimes when Minako was grilling Masaya, I'd catch his tone as he talked aboutt her. He seemed to think that she was pretty trustworthy, and Masaya is a pretty good judge of character."
"You're going to go on the thoughts of a twenty-two-year-old?" Minako asked.
"Koibito, do you know how dumb that sounded?"
"Wait," said Mako, turning to her husband. "Ieyasu hasn't said anything the whole time we were here. What do you think?"
Ieyasu looked at the seven pairs of eyes staring at him and shrugged a little. "I don't know enough about the situation to say. I knew about it when Mako found out – I happened to be in the kitchen when Megami leaked it – but I don't know what Ami has told Mako. We all don't know anything more about this girl than Ami does. Ami and Mitsuru are the only ones who have made intimate contact with her, and Sadayoshi bases his opinions heavily on his son's view of her, which I think is all right because Masaya's very smart and pretty sensible. They are biased towards her. But then again, so are Rei, Minako, and Sanetoki – no, don't say anything, I saw your face. You didn't have to talk. Mako and I are only basing what we know against what we've heard, and Mako has voted towards her because of the influence of Ami, who is also biased."
"So what are you getting at?" Minako asked.
Ieyasu smiled. "I think we should let a totally unbiased party of two discuss the fate of our young assassin – the only ones that should count in the first place anyway."
Fourteen eyebrows raised questioningly.
"I think we should let the king and queen decide."
***
The dark-haired woman sat down on the lacy bed once again, the energy slowly returning. That last battle with life had drained a lot from her, but she had to be strong. If not for herself, for her only daughter.
She was drifting away, her daughter – drifting away. She thought she'd be safer inside, if she never came out. There would be no one to judge her and no one to hurt her anymore, and she wouldn't have to find out the truth about herself.
She was, in fact, turning out to be a lot like her mother.
But this woman had been down that road before, and she was not going to let her daughter travel down it. That was what had caused her to be lost in the first place – the misery and the sadness. She should have gone looking, should have increased her efforts. But she'd immersed herself in her own problems and nearly lost her daughter through it all.
She wouldn't let herself do that again. She only had a little bit of strength left, but by God, if she had to use it up she wanted to do so saving her daughter.
For that, she would give every ounce of vitality she had.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: Confusing enough? I think I confused myself…
This was in anticipation of another reader, who asked if Selenity was going to make an entrance any time soon. She was going to come in, but later. I decided here to speed it up a little – a few people have been asking for her.
Any questions, send to julymoonbunny@hotmail.com.