Mystlady: I'm glad you liked the prologue. The first draft was terrible as for who Usagi-chan shall be paired with, you'll have to wait and see . but it wont be a main focus in this story. The story won't revolve around bringing her together with a bishie. If you did a Batman/SM fic I'd worship you. I don't see that many good ones out there…
Disclaimer: I don't own Batman: The Animated Series nor Sailor Moon.
Metamorphosis
By Chibi Michi
DiscoveryThe plane ride had been a stiff one to Usagi. Even though she had landed on the ground, the airport took forever to clear them. She always hated that about airports. They tell you they arrive but your stuck on the damn thing for 15 more minutes. Then she had to go stand in the line for her luggage. One thing she had learned already was that Americans were not the most polite. They would shove past her; rudely reach for things over her. It was definitely a complete change from Japan customs.
Once she grabbed her one suitcase, she decided to exchange her Japanese currency for American currency [1]. Once that minor discretion was taken care of, she decided to go grab a taxi to take her to her hotel.
That was another American custom she didn't like. People would fight over a taxicab. Downright push you out of the way. Some taxicabs wouldn't stop either, even if they didn't have a customer in their vehicle. She had to practically jump out in front of one to grab. The driver didn't look too happy when she did that either.
The driver stopped, and came out of the car to toss her bag carelessly in his trunk. Usagi opened the door and crawled in the back. She noticed that the cab wasn't that well taken care of.
"Where to?" asked the driver gruffly. He obviously had an accent through the gruffness of his voice.
Usagi tore her eyes from examining the inside of the vehicle to answer. "Motel 6 on 5th street." She also had an accent on her tongue.
The driver raised an eyebrow. "Are ya sure? Dat's a tough neighborhood."
Usagi nodded. "Hai—er…yes."
"A'ight."
It was a short 20-minute drive to where her hotel was. She looked outside her window. The neighborhood was indeed rough. Kids in tattered cloths were outside playing near the fire hydrants. Water was released from the hydrants, no doubt by the children because of the humidity.
The cab stopped in front of a run down hotel that looked like it hadn't been kept up to health regulations in 30 years.
"Here we are," said the driver.
He got out and took out Usagi's suitcase. Usagi paid him the fare plus tip. He mumbled something incoherently about the tip and then he went into his cab and went off looking for another customer.
Usagi took her suitcase into the hotel and stopped at the reception desk. The reception desk had dust covering it—3 centimeters thick!
She checked in and was given a key to her room. She climbed the stairs (which looked that they would collapse under her weight) to the third floor, and found her room in the farthest corner. As she opened the door, she could see three rats scatter away. She frowned and closed the door behind her. She left her suitcase at the door, and then plopped on the bed. The bed's leg in the lower right corner decided to break, giving the bed a weird lean now.
Usagi sighed exasperatedly. "This is all I could afford."
Even though her parents had gotten her the airplane tickets, she was not going to let them pay for a hotel. The tickets had been expensive enough, especially after September 11th.
"I'd better start tracking down my parents…"
It was a hard effort in finding her parents. She relied on the bus this time to take her to the library, which she had located on a map in the lobby of the motel she was staying. Bus fare was cheaper then taxi fare. An all day pass was 3.50. She'd have to consider getting a monthly bus pass for the future.
The bus stopped in front of the library, and she got off. She looked up at the public library and began to climb the several steps. She entered and headed straight to where she found computers and sat down. She went online and accesses the search engine Google. She decided to type in her father's name first.
James Davis
4582 Bonita Ave
James Davis
5486 Druid Lane
James Davis
4963 Greenspring Way
Usagi decided to pull out the adoption papers from her pocket that she brought with her. She typed in her dad's middle name and got only one answer with a James Timothy Davis, which was the first one on Bonita Ave. Usagi grabbed a pencil from the little pile in the center of the desk that the libraries keep out for people to use. She scrawled the address down on her map. [3]
Hopefully they'll be home.
She got off the bus a few blocks away from the house. She looked at each house number. 4578…4580…4582.
She stopped in front of house number 4582. She glanced up at it in awe. The house was a fully restored Victorian house. The garden was well kept with an assortment of flowers. She walked up the sidewalk and approached the door with apprehension. She had waited for this moment with excitement for the past couple of days. She rang the doorbell and anxiously waited for someone to open the door.
The door opened, and a regal man in a suit opened the door. "May I help you miss?" he asked.
With a Japanese to English Dictionary in hand, she began to figure out how to form her words. "Yes. I'm looking for…James Davis," answered Usagi, stumbling over her English.
"This way," he replied. Usagi followed him in and closed the door behind her. He led her to what she interpreted as the living room. An elderly woman was sitting on the couch enjoying a cup of tea.
Usagi glanced at the man confused. "Wakarimasen…"
"Madame, this young lady is looking for James Davis."
The elderly woman turned slowly. Her old gray eyes boring into hers. "Well then. Prepare the car Henry."
"As you wish Madame," said Henry before disappearing.
"I am looking for James Davis," repeated Usagi to the elderly woman.
The elderly woman used a wooden cane to help stand to her feet. "I am James Davis' mother, Dorris Davis. How do you know my son James?" she asked.
Once again she fumbled through the dictionary. "I am his daughter."
Dorris nodded. "I see. I suspected as much…"
"I have the papers—"
Henry reappeared. "The car is ready Madame."
"Thank you Henry. Come child, I will take you to him," said Dorris as she slowly walked past Usagi and Usagi followed shortly.
Dorris was helped by another man in a black suit into the back of an old white Cadillac. Usagi climbed into the car after her. The man outside closed the door behind her.
"Where are we going?" asked Usagi.
"To see my son."
It was a short ten-minute ride when they stopped. Henry turned off the car and got out to open the door for Dorris and Usagi.
When Usagi got out she gasped. This…this was a cemetery.
"Iie…" she muttered.
"Yes…" mumbled Dorris back to her.
"You can understand Japanese?" asked Usagi.
Dorris nodded. "I can understand Japanese, just unable to speak it. I used to be able to."
"Is my father…is he dead?" spoke Usagi. "Please…tell me it isn't true…"
Dorris began to walk into the cemetery. Usagi followed until they stopped in front of his grave.
"My son died 15 years ago," said Dorris.
Usagi kneeled in front of the grave and made a small prayer for him. She then looked up at Dorris. "Where is my mother?"
Dorris had a hard glint in her eyes. "She is in Arkham."
"Ark-ham?" questioned Usagi with a raised eyebrow.
"Let's go back and I can explain everything to you child," said Dorris.
Henry promptly began to serve hot tea as soon as they came back. Usagi accept it graciously, thanking him. Henry served Dorris tea while another servant brought an album.
"Child, your father was the heir to his father's company. The company specialized in electronics, more for kids toys," spoke Dorris, she flipped to the first page of the album. "Here is a picture of your father and grandfather."
Usagi looked over the page and saw a picture of her father—dressed in a business suit—standing next to someone who was dressed similarly. Her father had light brown hair and had light sapphire eyes that lit up with the smile.
"His eyes…" Usagi took her finger and lightly traced the figure of the man in the picture.
Dorris nodded. "Yes, you have his eyes. But, you have your mother's hair." Dorris flipped a couple more pages and Usagi saw the happy couple in one picture. Her father was standing in formal attire and had his arms wrapped an intelligent blonde. Her hair was wrapped in a bun and she wore a small smile; glasses framed her crystal blue eyes.
"Mother went to Ark-ham. What is that? Why she there?" questioned Usagi as she placed her eyes on the elderly woman.
"Your mother and father met while in college. My son was completing a Masters in business and your mother was completing a Masters in Criminal Psychology. She was promptly hired as a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum, that's where the criminally insane are kept here at Gotham. Well your mother prolonged her work so she could give birth to you. At the time your parents were engaged. Once she gave birth to you, she started work. After a couple of weeks of working there, she changed. She fell in love with the Joker. He is a terrible man. Don't let his name fool you. He has killed many. He is a menace to Gotham," said Dorris before pausing to sip her tea.
"Why did my mother fall in love with him?" asked Usagi shocked.
"No one knows. She's always apprehended by Batman and sent back to Arkham."
"Who 'Batman'?"
"He is a vigilante. I dare say that if wasn't for him, this city would've been doomed," replied Dorris. "Now, the reason why you weren't kept here with me is that James was out of state preparing for their wedding that would be held in California. I wasn't here either, and your grandfather, god bless his soul, had already left us. So the police had nowhere to put you. Since you were in your mother's care and she was on the verge to being insane, they placed you in the orphanage. In the mean time they were tracking us down, but it was too late. Someone had adopted you. James was upset. He was tracking you down to get you back, but he met an untimely death."
"'Untimely death'?" interrupted Usagi.
Dorris nodded. "Yes. He was murdered by one of the criminally insane. I believe his name was Penguin…he had some sort of vendetta with your father. The Penguin used to be part of a noble family line, snobs though…but that's another story for later. Anyway, with no one to take care of you, they placed you in the orphanage. Where did you live after you was adopted child?"
"Tokyo, Japan."
"Japan?"
Usagi nodded. "Tsuk—Kenji Tsukino. He adopted me on a whim." She almost forgot that surnames were not said first in America.
"I have to say, that is something. To be adopted and taken to Japan. You have some luck Serena, but you always have had luck..."
"Sumimasen," Usagi once again fumbled through the dictionary. "Er, excuse me. What name did you call me?"
"Serena. That was the name given to you. You took your mother's surname though. You are Serena Quinzelle. What name did they give you in Japan?"
"Usagi Tsukino."
"Rabbit of the Moon?"
Usagi nodded. "I was teased because of this hairstyle look like rabbit."
Dorris then looked at Usagi's hair and chuckled amusingly. "Yes it does. Maybe it'd be appropriate to call you Bunny now."
Usagi pouted slightly.
"Now child, where are you staying?" asked Dorris.
"Motel 6 on 5th street," answered Usagi.
"No, no, no. My granddaughter is not staying in that waste. You are my son's daughter; he'd turn in his grave if he knew you were staying there. Henry will take you to get your things, and you will live here."
Usagi was about to object. But knew it'd be no use. The elder woman had made up her mind, and she herself didn't want to stay there. She promptly embraced her; something that Japanese usually doesn't do. [2]
"Arigatou obaasan."
Usagi didn't care that she spoke in Japanese again, it was a way to show her immense gratitude, and any language can express that just as well as English.
"Your welcome, child."
Once Usagi had retrieved her suitcase, and paid for a one-night stay at the hotel, she laid in her queen size bed at Dorris' house. She decided it was time to write a letter to her parents to let them know she was all right.
She began writing the letter when Dorris came into her room. "Are these accommodations to your liking?"
Usagi bore a big grin on her face and nodded. Dorris then sat down on the edge of her bed. "What are you doing, child?"
"Writing letter to my parents."
Dorris nodded, and looked at the kanji, hiragana and katakana characters on the paper. It has definitely been a long time since she read or wrote Japanese.
"Where is Ark-ham?" asked Usagi as she continued writing.
"I suppose you would want to meet your mother. I would tell you not to, but your old enough to make your own decisions. Just like James. I'll have Henry take you there tomorrow if you wish," said Dorris.
"Thank you," said Usagi sincerely.
"Your welcome, child. Call me grandma more often, child."
"Thank you Grandma."
Dorris began to walk out of the room but Usagi spoke before she left.
"Ne Grandma? How you know I James' daughter?"
"You have his eyes. Those same eyes that haunt me every night."
In the early afternoon was when Usagi was being driven by Henry to go visit her mother. She looked out the window of the old Cadillac. They stopped at the gate, as Henry talked to the officer there about being let in. Once let in, Usagi got a clear view of Arkham. It looked run down, almost as bad as her hotel. Henry got out and went around to open the door for Usagi. He set out his hand for her to take.
She took his hand and came out of the car.
"It look…terrible," she muttered.
"It is. The criminals don't deserve more," stated Henry.
"I suppose," said Usagi.
Usagi walked past the entrance to the front desk where she was given a visitor's badge. A police officer then leads her to a room where there was a seat, a counter, and then glass. She sat down in the seat and saw on the other side was an exact replica of the room. She notices the glass had some holes, for talking to the inmates most likely.
She waited patiently for her mother to be brought in. She looked down and fidgeted with her hands a little. She would see her mother, the mother who left her. She was the reason why she was adopted and taken abroad; the reason that she never got to know the family she always had.
No. She couldn't think like that. If she thought about her mother in a hateful matter, she'd never be able to reconcile with her. There must've been a reason she did what she did. Love doesn't change you that much. Love doesn't work like that.
She was pulled out of her thoughts by a commotion outside. She got up from her seat and walked out of the room, into the hallway where policemen were running everywhere.
"What is it?" she questioned.
The officer from earlier ran up to her. "It seems Harley Quinn and Pamela Isley have escaped."
OKaasan no baka.
End of Discovery.
[1] I'm not sure if they actually do this in airports, but for now let's just say they do.
[2] I'm not completely sure if this is right. I know the Japanese are very polite and they bow more then hug I believe. But if it isn't right, I'm sorry.
[3] Well I hope this is believable now. Thank Usa-chan for the suggestion
These are the revisions. It doesn't seem right to me still…but I tried.