Sailor Moon
"Reflections of a Red Rose"
By: NeoMoon
Edited By: R. Savage
Rated: PG-13
Chapter Thirty:
Minako sat in the chair, looking out the large space that used to be her wall, and stared at the
small white cat lying in a pool of blood, dead. She couldn't remember how long she'd been there.
Couldn't remember even how she had made it too the kitchen, let alone to the chair.
It was all her fault. All hers. If she hadn't been selfish. If she hadn't wanted to end her
obligation to the senshi, if she hadn't wanted . . . It was all her fault.
She looked away from the cat, and choked on a sob, as she looked at all the destruction. Why?
Why, did it happen? Why did Usagi-chan do this?
She looked back at the cat. He had been her friend. Her guardian. He had taught her
everything. He didn't belong there. He didn't deserve to be left impaled on the wire. He
deserved a proper burial.
She tried to stand, but her legs felt too weak, and she fell back onto the hard wood chair. It
only took her a second before every barrier, every defense that had survived until now collapsed,
and she rolled into herself and began to cry.
She didn't know how much time had passed, when she heard the footfalls walking through the
rubble. All she knew was it wasn't long enough. She was still weak. Her emotions and soul
scrapped bare, there would be no way to fight if she had to. Give them what they want. A small
voice said inside of her. Just give them what they want. She bit back another sob. She would,
she was broken, she knew that much.
They stopped. She couldn't hear them. A few seconds passed, someone gasped. Time passed, there
was no sound. No more feet moving toward her, no more gasp, no nothing. She welcomed the
silence, but it was short lived, they started again. Slower, but still walking toward her.
"Minako?"
She knew that voice. She quickly looked up, her relieve coming out as nervous giggle. "Ho -
Hotoru?"
The girl nodded, and flicked the brim of the overly large cowboy hat out of her face. "Yeah, are
you okay?"
Minako looked at her a second. Yes, no, maybe. Hell she didn't know! All she knew was she had
felt so alone, so guilty, so lost.
The thought of it came quicker then most of her thoughts had come in the past few hours. She had
gone mad.
She looked away from Hotoru, her watery blue eyes scanning the devastated kitchen. Everything
looked okay. Did the mad even see clearly? She looked back Hotoru and again gave a nervous
giggle.
Hotoru seemed to look at her, her purple eyes full of a sad suspicion. Could a figment of a mad
person know that the person was mad? "I'm not insane." Minako finally whispered after a long
moment. She hadn't said it for the girl, ghost or whatever it was that stood before her, but had
said it for herself. To tell her mind she wasn't going all the way, that she had enough of
herself left to pull back, and fix everything she had broken within. "I'm not."
"Of course not." Hotoru said in a voice that mad her want to scream. How dare she speak like
that! How dare she act as if she, a soldier, was nothing more then a child!
"Don't patronize me." Minako hissed.
"Well that's kind of hard hon."
Another voice, a sarcastic one. It was familiar, yet new. She looked up to see a tall woman in
a flowing black gown push off what was left of the wall, the kind smile on her face not repeating
in her hard eyes.
"You see it's kind of hard to do when you're holding that." The woman in the black dress said,
pointing down at Minako's hands.
Minako looked down at her hands, her eyes going wide as she saw the small handgun resting in
them. It was her father's gun. He'd gotten it on a business trip, and had smuggled it back.
That was before . . . She let that go, there was enough pain to deal with now, and she didn't
know if she could handle old ones as well.
She looked back up at the two women, her eyes focusing on the one in the black dress. She
narrowed those eyes as she saw the woman trying to light a cigarette.
"There's no smoking in the house." She said, her voice sounding a little too meek.
The woman in the black dress's eyes went wide, and a sarcastic smile soon followed. She finished
lighting the cigarette, then turned to look out the giant hole that had once been a wall. "My
apologizes." The woman said, the sarcastic smile still playing on her face, as smoke circled
around her head, seeming to almost purposely swirl around the long pink hair just a little too
long. Why did she seem so familiar?
"I really didn't know this was a house." The woman's smile grew. "Anymore."
Anger flared in Minako's gut. And for a brief second she was glad for the gun in her hand, but
only a second. Then the horror of that thought crashed into an already bruised mind. With a
little too much force Minako pushed the vile weapon from her hands, sending it to the floor with
a loud clang.
At the same moment the woman in the black dress, flung herself in front o f Hotoru as if
protecting her.
Seconds passed, and nothing happened. There was no movement, no sound except for their
breathing. When that silence broke, it broke with the sound of thunder, but not from any man
made weapon.
The woman in the black dress rushed at her, grabbing Minako by the collar of her blouse and
lifting her so high that her feet dangled high above the floor.
The woman looked up at her, her red eyes burning with fire. A moment passed, Minako could hear
her heart beating fast in her chest. Another moment, the fire in the red eyes seemed to
increase, as did the sound of her heartbeat. She took in a shallow breath too afraid what the
woman in the black dress would do if she attempted anymore then that.
Another moment, and everything around them disappeared. Minako could feel a heavy cold wind on
her back. Faraway she could hear Hotoru yelling out a name of someone she hadn't seeing in a
long time.
Another moment, and the woman in the black dress let out a feral growl before dropping Minako to
the cold tile floor, and walked away. As the woman walked away everything returned, and she
found that Hotoru was kneeling next to her.
"Can you stand?" The girl asked.
Minako could only nod.
As Hotoru began to lift her, the room chilled, and the woman in the black dress returned. "Leave
her, we can save the Queen without her."
The Queen? Usagi!
Minako pushed away from Hotoru and stood on her own, ignoring the dizziness that threatened to
over take her. "What about the Queen?" She said in a voice that was only an echo of her former
glory. "What about Usagi?!"
The woman smiled and pushed some of the eerily familiar pink hair out of her face. "She's going
to die." Without another word the woman turned away and started to walk away from the ruined
house.
She looked over at Hotoru, who gave her a sad smile, and a strong squeeze on her arm before
flicking the brim of the overly large cowboy hat down, and followed after the woman in the black
dress.
She waited for a moment. Something in her, another voice, a stronger one then the one that
talked to her earlier, urged her to go, to follow them. But the other voice spoke to her too.
Telling her to be wary of the woman in the black dress.
With a sigh, and a silent prayer, Minako started after the two, only stopping to look down at the
white cat that lay a few feet away from a pool of blood and a strip of rebar. A white cat that
was very much alive.
With a large smile she promised to return and ran after the two women.
Hotoru ran up beside Usa, and took in a large breath.
"You shouldn't run."
Hotoru's cheeks puffed out. "I'm not as weak as I used to be, brat."
A hint of a smile briefly showed on her friend's face before it disappeared. Ever since earlier
when Usa had stormed out of the bedroom, and nearly downed an entire bottle of wine, she'd had
been so serious, she had barely even spoke. For a moment when they had found Minako she thought
that her friend was gone and that whatever stood before her, choking the life out of one of the
most valued Senshi, one of the only ones left with power, was nothing more then a wild beast.
But then as they left she saw that Minako's guardian, Artemis had been lifted off the rebar, and
was alive. She knew that only two things could bring life back life. And she hadn't done it,
which meant Usa had used her crystal.
"What happened?" She had to ask. "Back at the apartment. What changed?"
Usa still walked, her eyes still looking head, but she at least spoke. "Nothing you need to
worry about Harbinger."
So she was being formal. That scared her, because the only time she could remember, from any
lifetime, that someone had used her formal title, was when she was ordered to destroy the entire
realms of the Moon Kingdom, if it should ever fall. Even then though, she could see at least a
little fear in that Queen's eyes as she made her request and spoke that name. There was no fear
in Usa's eyes.
Haruka walked around the large "walnut" for what had to have been the millionth time. She
sighed, her shoulders sagging forward a bit. If the little slut was right then she was killing
the only thing, the only person she had ever truly loved.
She stared at the damned thing for a long second, before walking toward it. The whole time she
had kept her distance from it, afraid of what the dark energy would do to her if she got any
closer then she already had. Afraid that it would seduce her and change her.
Accept it.
She raised her hand, her palm facing the "walnut", and gave a sigh of resignation just as her
hand touched a cool, smooth surface.
Usagi screamed as she landed softly on the ground, and started to walk down the barren streets.
She had been all over the city! Why hadn't she found one person? The damage wasn't that bad,
and even so there should have been rescue crews somewhere.
She growled readying herself to take flight once more, and do another fly over the city, when she
heard the small cry coming from her left.
Turning, she smiled, as she saw the little girl, no more than five, laying half buried under
rubble.
She reached her hand out, leaving it palm up, like a person did when it wanted to pet a dog, and
walked toward the little girl. "Don't cry little one." She said in a voice that was like a
winter wind. "I'm here to help."
She approached the girl and kneeled down. She was small, but she had enough blood to at least
wash the walls. She laughed, and was about to swing her hand down onto the child's head, when
pain rushed through her skull.
She kicked backwards, falling on her back as the pain built in her head. She screamed out as her
body thrashed, not understanding what was happening to it.
Finally the screaming stopped, and Usagi stumbled to her feet, her blue eyes focusing on the
little girl.
Quickly she ran over to the child and started to dig the rubble away from around. "It's all
right. I promise." She said in a soft warm voice, as she pushed away the final bit of rubble,
and lifted the girl into her arms. "I don't have much time." She whispered to the child, who
still looked at her with fearful eyes that hurt Usagi's heart.
Ignoring her pain, Usagi spread her wings and lifted slowly into the air so as not to scare the
child, and head toward the only Hospital she knew, Ami's mother's.
"Reflections of a Red Rose"
By: NeoMoon
Edited By: R. Savage
Rated: PG-13
Chapter Thirty:
Minako sat in the chair, looking out the large space that used to be her wall, and stared at the
small white cat lying in a pool of blood, dead. She couldn't remember how long she'd been there.
Couldn't remember even how she had made it too the kitchen, let alone to the chair.
It was all her fault. All hers. If she hadn't been selfish. If she hadn't wanted to end her
obligation to the senshi, if she hadn't wanted . . . It was all her fault.
She looked away from the cat, and choked on a sob, as she looked at all the destruction. Why?
Why, did it happen? Why did Usagi-chan do this?
She looked back at the cat. He had been her friend. Her guardian. He had taught her
everything. He didn't belong there. He didn't deserve to be left impaled on the wire. He
deserved a proper burial.
She tried to stand, but her legs felt too weak, and she fell back onto the hard wood chair. It
only took her a second before every barrier, every defense that had survived until now collapsed,
and she rolled into herself and began to cry.
She didn't know how much time had passed, when she heard the footfalls walking through the
rubble. All she knew was it wasn't long enough. She was still weak. Her emotions and soul
scrapped bare, there would be no way to fight if she had to. Give them what they want. A small
voice said inside of her. Just give them what they want. She bit back another sob. She would,
she was broken, she knew that much.
They stopped. She couldn't hear them. A few seconds passed, someone gasped. Time passed, there
was no sound. No more feet moving toward her, no more gasp, no nothing. She welcomed the
silence, but it was short lived, they started again. Slower, but still walking toward her.
"Minako?"
She knew that voice. She quickly looked up, her relieve coming out as nervous giggle. "Ho -
Hotoru?"
The girl nodded, and flicked the brim of the overly large cowboy hat out of her face. "Yeah, are
you okay?"
Minako looked at her a second. Yes, no, maybe. Hell she didn't know! All she knew was she had
felt so alone, so guilty, so lost.
The thought of it came quicker then most of her thoughts had come in the past few hours. She had
gone mad.
She looked away from Hotoru, her watery blue eyes scanning the devastated kitchen. Everything
looked okay. Did the mad even see clearly? She looked back Hotoru and again gave a nervous
giggle.
Hotoru seemed to look at her, her purple eyes full of a sad suspicion. Could a figment of a mad
person know that the person was mad? "I'm not insane." Minako finally whispered after a long
moment. She hadn't said it for the girl, ghost or whatever it was that stood before her, but had
said it for herself. To tell her mind she wasn't going all the way, that she had enough of
herself left to pull back, and fix everything she had broken within. "I'm not."
"Of course not." Hotoru said in a voice that mad her want to scream. How dare she speak like
that! How dare she act as if she, a soldier, was nothing more then a child!
"Don't patronize me." Minako hissed.
"Well that's kind of hard hon."
Another voice, a sarcastic one. It was familiar, yet new. She looked up to see a tall woman in
a flowing black gown push off what was left of the wall, the kind smile on her face not repeating
in her hard eyes.
"You see it's kind of hard to do when you're holding that." The woman in the black dress said,
pointing down at Minako's hands.
Minako looked down at her hands, her eyes going wide as she saw the small handgun resting in
them. It was her father's gun. He'd gotten it on a business trip, and had smuggled it back.
That was before . . . She let that go, there was enough pain to deal with now, and she didn't
know if she could handle old ones as well.
She looked back up at the two women, her eyes focusing on the one in the black dress. She
narrowed those eyes as she saw the woman trying to light a cigarette.
"There's no smoking in the house." She said, her voice sounding a little too meek.
The woman in the black dress's eyes went wide, and a sarcastic smile soon followed. She finished
lighting the cigarette, then turned to look out the giant hole that had once been a wall. "My
apologizes." The woman said, the sarcastic smile still playing on her face, as smoke circled
around her head, seeming to almost purposely swirl around the long pink hair just a little too
long. Why did she seem so familiar?
"I really didn't know this was a house." The woman's smile grew. "Anymore."
Anger flared in Minako's gut. And for a brief second she was glad for the gun in her hand, but
only a second. Then the horror of that thought crashed into an already bruised mind. With a
little too much force Minako pushed the vile weapon from her hands, sending it to the floor with
a loud clang.
At the same moment the woman in the black dress, flung herself in front o f Hotoru as if
protecting her.
Seconds passed, and nothing happened. There was no movement, no sound except for their
breathing. When that silence broke, it broke with the sound of thunder, but not from any man
made weapon.
The woman in the black dress rushed at her, grabbing Minako by the collar of her blouse and
lifting her so high that her feet dangled high above the floor.
The woman looked up at her, her red eyes burning with fire. A moment passed, Minako could hear
her heart beating fast in her chest. Another moment, the fire in the red eyes seemed to
increase, as did the sound of her heartbeat. She took in a shallow breath too afraid what the
woman in the black dress would do if she attempted anymore then that.
Another moment, and everything around them disappeared. Minako could feel a heavy cold wind on
her back. Faraway she could hear Hotoru yelling out a name of someone she hadn't seeing in a
long time.
Another moment, and the woman in the black dress let out a feral growl before dropping Minako to
the cold tile floor, and walked away. As the woman walked away everything returned, and she
found that Hotoru was kneeling next to her.
"Can you stand?" The girl asked.
Minako could only nod.
As Hotoru began to lift her, the room chilled, and the woman in the black dress returned. "Leave
her, we can save the Queen without her."
The Queen? Usagi!
Minako pushed away from Hotoru and stood on her own, ignoring the dizziness that threatened to
over take her. "What about the Queen?" She said in a voice that was only an echo of her former
glory. "What about Usagi?!"
The woman smiled and pushed some of the eerily familiar pink hair out of her face. "She's going
to die." Without another word the woman turned away and started to walk away from the ruined
house.
She looked over at Hotoru, who gave her a sad smile, and a strong squeeze on her arm before
flicking the brim of the overly large cowboy hat down, and followed after the woman in the black
dress.
She waited for a moment. Something in her, another voice, a stronger one then the one that
talked to her earlier, urged her to go, to follow them. But the other voice spoke to her too.
Telling her to be wary of the woman in the black dress.
With a sigh, and a silent prayer, Minako started after the two, only stopping to look down at the
white cat that lay a few feet away from a pool of blood and a strip of rebar. A white cat that
was very much alive.
With a large smile she promised to return and ran after the two women.
Hotoru ran up beside Usa, and took in a large breath.
"You shouldn't run."
Hotoru's cheeks puffed out. "I'm not as weak as I used to be, brat."
A hint of a smile briefly showed on her friend's face before it disappeared. Ever since earlier
when Usa had stormed out of the bedroom, and nearly downed an entire bottle of wine, she'd had
been so serious, she had barely even spoke. For a moment when they had found Minako she thought
that her friend was gone and that whatever stood before her, choking the life out of one of the
most valued Senshi, one of the only ones left with power, was nothing more then a wild beast.
But then as they left she saw that Minako's guardian, Artemis had been lifted off the rebar, and
was alive. She knew that only two things could bring life back life. And she hadn't done it,
which meant Usa had used her crystal.
"What happened?" She had to ask. "Back at the apartment. What changed?"
Usa still walked, her eyes still looking head, but she at least spoke. "Nothing you need to
worry about Harbinger."
So she was being formal. That scared her, because the only time she could remember, from any
lifetime, that someone had used her formal title, was when she was ordered to destroy the entire
realms of the Moon Kingdom, if it should ever fall. Even then though, she could see at least a
little fear in that Queen's eyes as she made her request and spoke that name. There was no fear
in Usa's eyes.
Haruka walked around the large "walnut" for what had to have been the millionth time. She
sighed, her shoulders sagging forward a bit. If the little slut was right then she was killing
the only thing, the only person she had ever truly loved.
She stared at the damned thing for a long second, before walking toward it. The whole time she
had kept her distance from it, afraid of what the dark energy would do to her if she got any
closer then she already had. Afraid that it would seduce her and change her.
Accept it.
She raised her hand, her palm facing the "walnut", and gave a sigh of resignation just as her
hand touched a cool, smooth surface.
Usagi screamed as she landed softly on the ground, and started to walk down the barren streets.
She had been all over the city! Why hadn't she found one person? The damage wasn't that bad,
and even so there should have been rescue crews somewhere.
She growled readying herself to take flight once more, and do another fly over the city, when she
heard the small cry coming from her left.
Turning, she smiled, as she saw the little girl, no more than five, laying half buried under
rubble.
She reached her hand out, leaving it palm up, like a person did when it wanted to pet a dog, and
walked toward the little girl. "Don't cry little one." She said in a voice that was like a
winter wind. "I'm here to help."
She approached the girl and kneeled down. She was small, but she had enough blood to at least
wash the walls. She laughed, and was about to swing her hand down onto the child's head, when
pain rushed through her skull.
She kicked backwards, falling on her back as the pain built in her head. She screamed out as her
body thrashed, not understanding what was happening to it.
Finally the screaming stopped, and Usagi stumbled to her feet, her blue eyes focusing on the
little girl.
Quickly she ran over to the child and started to dig the rubble away from around. "It's all
right. I promise." She said in a soft warm voice, as she pushed away the final bit of rubble,
and lifted the girl into her arms. "I don't have much time." She whispered to the child, who
still looked at her with fearful eyes that hurt Usagi's heart.
Ignoring her pain, Usagi spread her wings and lifted slowly into the air so as not to scare the
child, and head toward the only Hospital she knew, Ami's mother's.