Yay! And this chapter is out right on time! I feel so proud!
Okay, to begin with, I have some notes that I think you all should read in my bio related to the story. I have been getting questions that I think I should just clear up before I upset anybody!
Also, very importantly, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES OVER, to all who reviewed my fic! THANK YOU!! You guys are what make it worth writing times a million!
And even if you just read my fic and didn't review, THANK YOU ALSO! Well, so long as you at least sort of liked my fic! ;)
Seriously, though, some of your reviews were just SO SWEET!! And also, some of your suggestions were JUST what I needed! If you find your ideas in my fic....just know I thank you TONS!! Lol. Actually, I'll list your name in this little beginning part in the chapter in which I utilize your idea because I just have to give you credit for it.
And also thank you for your criticisms, because a lot are really helpful to me so I know what in my writing needs improvement, and what is good! Also, what you tell me help me find ways of making my stories more. And while I'm on the readability of my fic, I actually went through chappie 4 and although I didn't look through it for typos I got rid of all those problems with the three dots. Those were just bugging me.
Without further ado, here's chapter six:
Getting With the Times
By Silver Indigo Sky
Rating: PG/PG-13
Chapter 6- The Plan in Action
BACK IN THE PRESENT TIME:
Rei, Minako, and Mamoru all stood together in a huddled group close to Setsuna. Setsuna was explaining to them the plan she had just solidified with Ami--the plan to fetch Usagi back to her rightful place in time!
Makoto and Ami hovered behind the group with Luna and Artemis standing beside their legs. Makoto looked extremely disappointed at not being allowed to travel with the group, and be where all the excitement was. Ami for her part didn't look like she was too happy about being left out either, but at least she looked supportive. Makoto just looked distressed over the whole thing. Luna and Artemis looked undeniably relieved that at the current time no bickering was transpiring.
After Minako had enraged Rei by pretending the pictures she had taken of the two cats were X-rated pictures of Yuuichirou and the priestess, Luna and Artemis had stealthily made their way into the peace and quiet resting outside of the disordered temple. Yet somehow, hardly three minutes after they had rested they had made it into the stress-free environment--with all of their limbs attached and everything--they were disenchanted to see the whole of the mob had found their way out of the doors of the temple as well.
With Mamoru at the head of the stream of loud and riotous teenagers, the assembly of girls apparently running after him, they managed to transport their squabbling to where the kitty-lovers had just found calm. Luna had grunted and Artemis had cursed. They then decided that as small as they might be, they had to keep this group from strangling one another (and from giving them any larger of a headache).
Somehow, with a huge miracle, the cats had managed to get the attention of the group who had to that point been yelling and screaming different things simultaneously in an all-out rant. The minute Luna realized she had their attention for real, she switched to lecture mode, the one she usually went into every time Usagi did something inappropriate.
"All of this fighting is completely uncalled for!" the back cat began, Artemis standing slightly behind her and at her side. "You guys should be ashamed of yourselves! You are all Sailor Senshi, and of course there's Tuxedo Kamen. Your job as a team is to protect your princess--Sailor Moon, Usagi. Yet here you all are, fighting over the most trivial things—pictures of us!—and carrying on as if tomorrow the world will end!" Artemis nodded vigorously to emphasize the ridiculousness of it all. "Not to mention, you have no idea where the princess is all the while, or when she even is! For all we know, she might be surrounded by dinosaurs. And worse than that even, there is no other way for her to get back rather than for us to find her and take her back! And what are you guys doing? Instead of going out to search for your leader--your best friend, and in Mamoru's case, girlfriend-- like true senshi would, you call each other names on no other premise than you feel like it! While Usagi might be knee-deep in danger that we don't even know about, you guys were rioting and pretending to have pictures of each other having sex! How utterly classless and despicable can you get? While you probably need all the time you can get to make sure you reach Usagi soon enough that nothing might happen to her, you are wasting all of this precious time being genuine jerks to one another! And that's the truth! Meanwhile, your best friend is perhaps in the worst possible situation out there--forget about heaving embarrassing pictures, her life might be in danger! This is disgraceful; this is loathsome; this is appalling and dishonorable, and I hope you feel shame for your actions today for a long, long time." Luna ended with a forbidding tone in her voice which seemed to resonate throughout the air for at least a minute, constantly weighing down each and every senshi with its heavy words. For that minute everybody save for Luna and Artemis seemed to shrink down to half of the cats' size due to sorrow and regret.
Without even realizing they came together, hugging and comforting each other, all the while apologizing for their obnoxious and discreditable behavior. All of the girls cried as they practically broke each other's chests in their forgiving hugs, and even Mamoru let a tear or two fall as he thought of his Usako in such peril. She needed him right now, and he would give it his all to get her back as soon as he could. They all would. And Mamoru would do all he could to make sure they did.
Their faces were solemn with worry etched in every inch as they followed Luna and Artemis back into the temple. For the most part they watched the ground as the walked, too ashamed to look up after what they had done. They knew they had been wrong and juvenile to act like that, and they regretted even more having been so mean to each other, but to risk the life of the sweetest person in the world--their Usagi-chan--over such behavior--they just couldn't believe what they did! They just couldn't find themselves at arms with their actions from hardly fifteen minutes ago after Luna's speech.
Now they were all sobered up, and ready and willing to leave to find their friend as soon as they could, regardless of what they'd have to do to get her. As Luna's words continued to sink in, they realized how much they missed her, as well as needed her to keep all their sanity and temper in check.
And it was then that, with tears still brimming most of their eyes, Setsuna patiently began explaining what had happened. She gave them the good news about how Chibiusa's power was growing to its full strength, although a bit uncontrollably. She also gave them the bad news that because the strength of the power Chibiusa had been using changed so fast and unexpectedly while she had been manipulating the time key, and the power rushed out in such an untraceable explosion, there was no way possible to find where Usagi was now located in the history of time.
Everyone present in the room turned to face the guardian of the time gate with fearful eyes. There had to be some way! They just had to find Usagi, and Setsuna just had to know of some way to find her...she just had to!
Setsuna smiled slightly in response to their unasked question. "The best we can do is to troubleshoot, and to do that I have picked three of you that I think will be best to troubleshoot with. Rei, Minako, and Mamoru, you will be the ones coming with me on the mission to find Usagi."
The three glanced at each other not knowing what to say or do. Unconsciously, they slowly stepped closer to Setsuna, more befuddled than ever. Behind them, Makoto was left to brood over what was meant by her not being one of the "troubleshooters." Ami, feeling out of place next to the circle of three that had formed around Setsuna, stepped back and settled beside Makoto.
"I chose you three to come with me through the time portal because out of all of the people close to Usagi in this room, you guys have the most obvious connections that would lead to her, and the most obvious ways of detecting where Usagi is while we are swirling around in the time portal," Setsuna explained. "Mamoru, you are Usagi's destined lover, and ever since you were reborn in this world, and past then, you have always had an emotional and physical connection to her. You can sense when she is in danger and when she needs you, and you always find her dead-on using your instinct."
Mamoru smiled. "Yea, and in Usagi's case, it's always been a miracle that I have that ability." He smiled a little as he remembered memories resurfaced from when they first met, and when he had first felt that tinge of pain which had ever since that date became his signal that he must turn into Tuxedo Kamen, and rescue his damsel in distress from wherever she may be.
"And Rei, being the telepathic and highly gifted priestess you are, would have the ability to sense out your Usagi's thoughts from all of the Usagi's in the other time periods, and to use your "sixth sense" connection to track her down," Setsuna told her. "And the Senshi of Love, Sailor Venus, is always an excellent addition to the group. You have the rare gift of being able to feel bonds of love between two people. Seeing as how Mamoru and Usagi have the strongest love around, you can manipulate your power to see how far apart the lovers are from each other. You can use Mamoru's strong attraction with your knowledge and instinct of how love works to locate Usagi."
"Yes!" Minako exclaimed. "I, the Goddess of Love, will stop at nothing to reunite to soul mates, lost and far apart from one another!"
Setsuna smiled. "I'm glad. And I am fully confident that with you three, we will be able to find Usagi in no time. By troubleshooting, I mean that you guys, under my guidance, can use your powers to come to a conclusion on where Usagi might have gone. And if it turns out to be the wrong conclusion, we'll just go right back to the portal and look through another door. Although your connections to Usagi and how you work might be excellent, there is no saying how many times you'll have to try another door. In all honesty, you might get the right time period on your first try, and you might get it on your one-hundredth. There's just no telling how it will work out."
All was quiet as the room's inhabitants chewed over what Setsuna meant. They all got what she meant, but they were more-or-less prepping themselves for what was to come.
"But why don't I get to go?" a very upset Makoto asked.
"I--I'm sorry, Mako-chan," Setsuna answered her with a genuinely regretful look on her face. "It would have taken too much energy, and been to hectic, to take all five of you with me through the time portal. Remember when we all went to Crystal Tokyo together? It was a scary experience I don't want to ever be held accountable for again! One of you could have gotten lost, or possibly even died, and I just don't want to have such a project as that again. I am sorry, though...."
"Yea, I guess that makes sense," Makoto admitted grudgingly, bowing her head down in disappointment. Ami touched her gently on her shoulder and reminded her she wasn't the only one being left out of the action.
Silence overtook the room once more. Everyone was lost in their own personal thoughts. Finally Setsuna once again spoke up.
"It's probably urgent we leave as soon as we can, so if everyone is ready, and neither of you three need more time to do anything...then it would probably be best if we leave."
Minako looked up surprised. "What? Now?!" Setsuna nodded her head. Minako looked to Rei and Mamoru. "Are you guys ready?"
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Rei stated.
"Without a doubt I'm ready!" Mamoru said fiercely. "The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll find Usagi again, and the better off we'll all be!"
"Mamoru's right; I'm ready too," Minako answered her own question.
"Then, we can leave," Setsuna said. She led them outside into a field where no one would be able to see them float into the time portal. Makoto, Ami, Luna, and Artemis all came to watch.
"On the count of three, I'll release the power and the time gate will slowly open up and pull us in," Setsuna informed the others. They nodded and shuffled around, anxious to get things going already.
"Okay! One...two...,--"
"WAIT!" Ami suddenly cried out. Looking furiously around her, she exclaimed to the others, "Where did Chibiusa go? I can't find her anywhere!! Please don't tell me we lost her too!"
"Oh! Ooops!" Setsuna giggled to herself and blushed. "I forgot about her...how could I have forgotten about her...?" She got quizzical stares from around the grassy area. "You see, before when you guys were all over the whole hentai pictures thing, out of responsibility I decided it was my duty to drag Chibiusa to a room where she could neither witness nor hear what was happening. I put her into the upstairs bathroom. So when we're gone, it would be great if you either one of you, Ami or Makoto, could just take her out of there and explain to her what we're doing."
"Of course," Makoto said.
"Okay, thanks," Setsuna responded. "And now, it's time for us to time travel!" She once again rearranged herself, Minako, Rei, and Mamoru so that their hands were interlocking and their bodies were all touching one another. She lifted up her beautiful and dazzling garnet scepter, with the long silver stem and the glistening purple-red jewel on top. With one hand, she held it up high above all of their heads and began the count down.
"ONE!" Everyone seemed to move an inch or two closer to one another. "TWO!" Everyone seemed to squeeze each others' hands a little tighter. "THREE!" Everyone seemed to close their eyes really tightly as the wand began glowing and a bright light circumscribed the group.
Ami, Makoto, and the two cats were able to watch as the four bodies floated upwards through the shoot of light to they sky, and vanish as the light collapsed around them into a pin-point of nothingness.
They stood there for awhile after they left, just gazing on at the spot where their friends had just been, and had so magnificently just disappeared from.
"Wow," Makoto said.
"They're gone," was Ami's input.
"Now what should we do?"
"There's nothing we can do."
"Yea. It kinda feels funny not being able to do anything while your friend is in danger, because your other four friends put themselves into danger to do the only thing possible to save the one friend, And you're stuck with nothing you can do but to sit around and wait till they get back."
"Yes," Ami nodded in agreement. "It's a different predicament we're stuck in this time."
"Yea," Makoto looked over to Ami. "I think you should explain to Chibiusa what's going on."
"I think I should too."
"Or, maybe Luna can!" Makoto looked down to her feet where Luna had been last, only to find an area of grass that had been padded down in the outline of a cat. "Or not...."
"No, I will," Ami said heading back into the temple. Makoto bounded up the building's stairs after her.
Setsuna, Mamoru, Rei, and Minako found themselves floating in an airless and dimensionless space of swirling colors spreading out for infinity. Without any sense of direction, all they could do was attempt to gain some kind of balance by standing very still as they adjusted to the empty yet unbearably dense atmosphere of the portal.
"Everybody, grab hands!" Setsuna called out to the group, quickly taking Minako and Rei's hands in her own. Mamoru latched on to Minako. Together, all facing the same direction, they were able to look as one past the floating gateways to various times, spiraling down and around wherever they looked. The rows of ornate, gorgeous doorways never ended, and could be seen stretching out from anywhere their eyes went to. All but Setsuna breathlessly mumbled some kind of exclamation of disbelief. The whole sight before them was unbelievable.
Setsuna laughed upon looking at the amazement on their faces. "It's not THAT great, you know!"
"What are you talking about?!" Minako exclaimed. "This beats even the best science fiction film out there! And this is reality!" Setsuna chuckled.
"So, are we going to use our powers now to find Usako?" Mamoru asked the group. They could all tell how anxious he was to get his girlfriend back safely, and how concerned for her well-being he was. "If she's stuck in a horrible time..." Mamoru's despondent voice trailed off.
"Don't worry, Mamoru-san," Rei comforted. "We'll look for her now! Right now! And I can guarantee you we'll find her in no time! Just leave it to me, I can sense anyone's thoughts out there, and I'm sure I can grasp Usagi's no matter what door she's behind!" With that, she closed her eyes and began concentrating.
She found herself squatting down onto the empty space and curling her legs against the seemingly solid emptiness that filled the time portal. Her eyelids creased greatly as she closed her eyes even tighter, and she let her chin rest against her fisted hands out in front of her as her concentration increased. She stayed in that position for at least five minutes before suddenly jumping up and out of her trance.
When she opened her eyes she couldn't help but beam at the other three. "I found her!" she announced. "I know I found her! I could feel her! For sure I know it was our Usagi-chan! I know it! I found her! Ohmigosh, you guys! We got her!" Rei did a little leap off of the pseudo-ground and then ran over to Minako, who was cheering, and grabbed each of her hands with each of her own and started shaking them with joyous excitement.
"We found her! We found her!" They started cheering.
Rei bounded over to Mamoru and gave him a tug hug. "See?" she said. "Hardly an hour and we already have her back!"
Mamoru smiled one of the biggest smiles Rei had ever seen. "Yea, but it has been more than one hour."
"Maybe, but when we find her in less than ten minutes you will never remember this hour anyway." Rei's smile could give Mamoru's a run for his money as she sprinted over to Setsuna and nearly choked her with the force of her hug.
"See, Setsuna, aren't I good? Looks like it will only take us one time to find her! It's a good thing you took me!" She removed her hands from around Setsuna and started hopping around a little more while Minako was giggling and Mamoru began breathing normally again.
Setsuna opened her mouth and was about to say something along the lines of 'I wouldn't be sure of that just yet' when she watched Rei go over and hug Minako so tightly one would think she was trying to strangle her. The words died in her throat as she remembered how they had acted earlier. Perhaps they would find where Usagi was located on their first try, there was always that possibility. And if it turned out they hadn't, she might as well just let them stay hopeful for a little longer....
So they all walked off in the direction that Rei's intuition led them in.
I know, you were all counting on that Usa/Usa/Mamo action and I didn't have it...I'm sorry if anyone is disappointed. I actually meant to split it up, and make one-half of the chappie take place with Usagi and the other half with Setsuna, but it just got so LONG. I really have to learn how to cut down on my detail...REALLY. But still, this chappie was necessary and where all the information is, and since I might have lost some of you on the chapter "The Plan" (or so my friend was scolding me for being confusing...), I figured I'd go in depth with what is going on in this chapter.
Is it me, though, or do I just write way too much detail on things that just don't need detail. I totally wish I could be one of those authors who are nice and concise and finish their story in as many chapters as I currently have. At the rate at which this is going, it'll be a twenty- chapter fic, but it's all good because right now it's the summer and if I can pump out a chapter a week, I'll have it done soon! But don't be surprised if I miss weeks and etc.
REMEMBER, GO CHECK OUT MY BIO for the notes on the story, they might contain one of your worries. ;)
Oh and with a lot of the question you guys have sent me, I wish I could tell you what I'm planning, but I can't. That would just take all the fun out of it! But I do write with a purpose. You guys can just watch my plot unfold. ;)
Until next week,
SilverIndigoSky