Chapter 5:

Uncertainties

The next day, she decided to walk to school in order to contemplate the battle from the previous day. Those two new senshi looked so familiar...where could they be from? A sigh passed through her soft lips as her feet slowly paced across the cement sidewalk. Why do I have this daunting feeling that something very bad is going to happen soon? As she arrived to school, she smiled at the sight before her. Usagi was chatting with unknown vigor (as always) to the other girls while Toshira checked his watch, undoubtedly waiting for her.

"Hey guys!" she exclaimed with a wave. For now I need to worry about school…no need to worry anyone, Emochan thought, forcing a smile as she approached Toshira. He stood up, towering over her. He lightly pecked her on the cheek, making her face burn up in blushing.

"Hey brown-eyes," he greeted. Emochan giggled and looked at Reiko and Sakura, whom looked like they could be the living dead.

"…you two alright?" She asked. Reiko yawned as she stretched out her limber arms. Sakura nodded slowly.

"Yeah, we just didn't sleep very well last night," Sakura said.

"I don't anything happening that could've made us so sleepy," Reiko groggily stammered.

"But it was so weird. We were working on some homework and then I blacked out. When I woke up, it was already morning!" Sakura pointed out.

"Mee too! How weird…" Reiko shrugged. It took a moment before realization washed over Emochan.

No wonder those senshi looked so familiar! They were Reiko and Sakura, only they don't remember it!

"Hey guys, the bell is about to ring. Let's go," Toshira said and walked into Juuban. "Hey Emo, want to go out with me on a date tonight to the café?" Everyone followed behind them.

"Sure, Toshira," Emochan said

After school, Emochan got herself all dressed up and looking nice for her date. Toshira picked her up in his motorcycle and drove her to a small café in town. They found a table and Emochan ordered a mocha latte, while Toshira ordered a chilled cappuccino. "This place is so nice," Emochan said.

"Not as great as you, Emo," Toshira replied. He took out a small pouch and handed it to her.

"What's this?" Her eyes lowered to the soft, grey pouch as it rested in her hands.

"It's something I saw in a jewelry store. It made me think of you, so I couldn't resist," he said. "Open it."

Emochan opened the pouch and took out a small heart-shaped locket. A sweet melody began to play as her fingers clicked open the locket. Insider sat as small photograph of her and Toshira. Emochan listened to the gentle song for a moment. Her eyes widened as she noticed time slowing down around her. Strange warmth emitted from her pendant and he head felt as heavy as an anvil.

"Please remember my love for you..."

"No, Zecon! Don't leave me!"

Emochan gasped. This is the same locket…from the past? Could it be that Toshira is…Time sped back up to normal and the heaviness in her head faded away. Her fingers twitched slightly around the locket, closing it. "This is so pretty Toshira, thank you!" She exclaimed and gave Toshira a hug and a kiss. "You're very welcome, my love." He replied and drove off. Toshira put the locket around Emo's neck with a wide grin. After finishing their drinks, Toshira drove Emochan back to her home, saying his goodnights to her before leaving. Emochan walked inside and showed her mother what Toshira had gotten her.

"Oh that is so pretty, dear. How sweet of Toshira," she said. "Dinner will be ready soon. I'll call you when it's ready!" Emochan nodded and walked up to her room to examine the locket further.

"He couldn't have just seen it in a store…this is the exact same locket…isn't it?" she sighed as she sat on her bed. Suddenly, she heard footsteps on her balcony. Her eyes peered over at the window to see a shadowy figure jump off the side. Her body shifted as she ran to the sliding door. When she opened it, her eyes spotted a small envelope at her feet. A cold wind blew by her as she picked it up and pulled out what looked to be a letter:

"Seems I have finally found you, Princess.

I know your true identity and I know that you will come to my queen soon enough. Don't think about trying to find me. You cannot win; I am much more powerful than you. You will perish along with the other sailor brats and Queen Morgana will rightfully rule the planet! You better watch your back because you just never know when I might strike…

Toshiro"

Toshiro? Who's that? How did he find out who I am?! Her mind raced as she ran back to her bed, pulling out her communicator. "Guys, we have a problem. I think we have someone following us!" she said it. "Meet me at the park tomorrow around 1 o'clock." she said and turned her communicator off.

"Emochan! Supper's all set!" Her mother's voice bellowed from downstairs. She took a deep breath and tried to stay calm; her eyes almost burning through the letter. She slid it underneath her pillow and went downstairs. That night, Emochan had great difficulty falling asleep. Her body was too alarmed by the idea of someone watching her or the others. My premonitions need to stop being so dead-on…

The next morning was pretty uneventful. She spent her morning on her bed thinking about Daichi and the twins. What should I do? Should I tell Daichi who he is, or will he remember on his own…and what about Sakura and Reiko? She thought to herself. I need to do something…before this Toshiro guy comes after me and my friends… Eventually she sat up and looked at her clock. "Almost time for the meeting. I better get ready."

By the time Emo arrived, everyone else had gathered. Their faces were full of contempt, worry, and fear as she passed around the letter from the mysterious Toshiro.

"Great, this is all we need!" Makoto snarled as her fingers curled into fists.

"Hold on a minute now, guys," Ami said. "We need to make out a plan so we will be prepared for whoever this Toshiro is."

"Great idea, Ami-chan," Usagi replied. Rei and Minako nodded.

"Ami-chan is right. We need to form a plan against this new enemy; otherwise we will be caught off guard. We have to keep our eyes on Emochan for a while, since it seems like she is his main target," Luna suggested. Usagi jumped up, throwing her hand into the air with a yelp.

"No problem! I'll protect you, Emochan!" She grinned. Emochan sighed with the others at Usagi's sudden enthusiasm. She shrugged and sat back down. Rei turned to Emochan.

"So do you have any clue about who those two strange new senshi are?" She asked. Emochan only shrugged.

Maybe…

"I really don't know…I wish I did though. It would be helpful. Maybe they know how I can get Daichi's memory back."

"Oh you found him??" Minako asked with some perk in her voice.

"Yeah…well sort of. I met him at the festival and I tried to talk to him before, but it was right before the attack at the mall. I haven't gone to see him since then," Emochan said with a soft sigh. "I hope he can remember me."

"Well you need to do something that will jog his memory, Emochan," Ami said.

"I'm not too sure how though. I mean, we both have similar pendants, but I don't think that will be enough. I can't just go up to him and say that."

"Don't worry, Emochan. He will come around. You should go find him and talk to him some more. That might help. Maybe even mentioning the pendants may jog something," Makoto said.

Emochan nodded. "You know…that might work if I do it right. Let's chill later at my house for dinner. I know mom would love to see you, Usagi. You guys up for it?"

"HAI!" Everyone exclaimed happily. Emochan waved as she left the park, her mind clouded with thoughts about Daichi, Reiko, and Sakura. I can do this…I have to, she thought as she slowly made her way back to Daichi's home. She hesitatingly knocked on his door. A couple moments passed by and Emochan began to wonder if he was out somewhere. "Daichi?" She called out and knocked on his door again. With a sigh, she left the house started walking back home. "Darn!" She cursed. Oh well, I guess I'll have to try again tomorrow. I better let Mom know that we will be having company for dinner tonight. Once she arrived home, she saw a small note at her front door.

Meet me in your backyard in five minutes.

Put on a dress.

Love,Toshira.

"What is he up to now?" Emochan giggled to herself and went inside. "Mom? You home? Hmm…maybe she went shopping…" Her voice was only a whisper as she crept up to her room and put on the dress she wore to the Autumn festival. She peered outside to see Toshira smiling while in a simple, black tux. He held a bouquet of flowers and stood before a crystalline table with burning candles on it. In the center of the table lay a small blossoming plant. Emochan blushed and walked down from her balcony to him. "What is all this?" She asked. "It's still daylight, silly!"

"Well, I wanted to have a special lunch with my love. Is that a problem?" He replied, handing her the flowers. "Your mother was running out when I got here and gave me permission to set this up."

"Aw, Toshira-chan," Emochan said and He helped her into her chair. As he seated himself, she peeked at her lunch: a heart-shaped sandwich with small chocolate candies on the side, and a slender glass of sparkling strawberry soda.

"I know it's not all that great and elegant and that we've only been dating for a week, but I wanted to make this first anniversary special," he said. Emochan blushed deeply and began to eat her sandwich.

"Arigato, Toshira." Toshira smiled. They finished their lunch then Toshira took Emochan's hand and led her out from the table. A boom box played in the background and they began to dance. Emochan smiled and noticed her locket glow a little beneath her dress.

"You know, Emochan. I have this strange feeling that we have met before. You just seem familiar to me, it's weird. Don't think I'm crazy, okay? It's just been a feeling I've been having for a while now…"

"Really? How strange…" Emochan replied, feeling warmth from the glowing locket. She felt a little lightheaded as she looked into Toshira's eyes. "Oh Zecon….." she said lovingly, as if in a trance.

"Zecon? Who is that?" Toshira said. He stopped their dancing. Emochan broke into reality and shook her head.

"Huh? Oh Sorry. I don't know what got into me just now," she said with embarrassment.

"That name sounds familiar…" Emochan noticed his voice trail off as if he was contemplating something.

Does he recognize the name? She wondered as he shook his head in hopelessness.

"Oh well. Let's just dance the day away, Emochan," Toshira whispered into her ear.

"Yeah…." Emochan replied. The two were starting to get back into the swing of dancing when the music from the boom box abruptly stopped! "Uh oh!" Emochan gasped as an evil presence overwhelmed her senses. Sinister laughter filled the air as a shadow creature appeared from above the crystal table by the couple. The shadow grinned and flew over at Toshira. Toshira grabbed Emochan's hand and ran towards the balcony. She yanked her hand out of his and ran into another direction.

"Emochan?! What are you doing?!" Toshira cried as she ran at the shadow.

"Come here shadow! Don't I look tasty? Follow me!" She teased as she spun around and headed out of the backyard. The shadow smirked and flew in the air after her.

"Girls, we got trouble! Get to the intersection by the arcade now!" Emochan huffed into her communicator and stopped at a building to transform. "EARTH CRYSTAL POWER MAKE UP!" she said and transformed into Sailor Earth.

"Where is that pretty little girl I was going to feast on? She found a good hiding spot." The shadow sneered as it passed by the area Sailor Earth was hiding in.

"Forget about the girl. You have to face me now! I am Sailor Earth, and I will not let you harm any innocents!" She said and flew into the air. Her glaive formed in her hand. "EARTH PEACE GLAIVE SLICE ATTACK!" She screamed and energy shot out of the silver blade. The shadow only laughed and made 5 copies of itself. The copies dodged the energy attack, all laughing. "Oh this is bad…"

"Eat this, stupid human!" They all lined up beside each other and sent bolts of black energy at her. She swung her glaive and dodged most of the blasts but a few hit her. She winced as cuts formed along her upper arms. Her wings lowered as they lost balance. She hit the ground ungracefully and she struggled to get back up."Damn you…" she said. The copies merged together to reform into one. It cackled as it loomed over Sailor Earth.

"CHAINED FATE!" A chain of energy flew from the sky and impaled the shadow.

"SAKURA TWISTER!" A shower of flower petals surrounded the shadow. "Sailor Earth! Do your healing attack!" Sailor Earth stood up and nodded.

"Right!" she said. She held her hands at her chest and closed her eyes. "EARTH…HEALING…HEARTBEAT!" She cried and red energy formed in between her hands. It sprouted out of her chest and sliced through into the shadow. It engulfed the shadow's remnants, causing it to scream in agony as it dissipated. Sailor Earth looked up at the senshi whom helped her. They were on top of a nearby building and were smiling at her. "Thank you," she said, as the duo ran off.

"What happened to the shadow?" Sailor Mars asked. Sailor Earth turned to see Sailor Moon and the others running up to her.

"Oh, the two new senshi and I took care of it," Sailor Earth replied. Sailor Moon frowned in defeat.

"What were you doing when it attacked?" Sailor Mercury questioned.

"It was strange. The shadow appeared in front of me and Toshira, as if it knew I was sailor Earth…oh my god! Toshira! I forgot about Toshira!" She exclaimed and detransformed. "I hope he's alright!" she said and ran back to her house. The other girls detransformed and followed her.

Emochan saw Toshira sitting at the table waiting for her. He looked like a nervous wreck, almost like he pitied himself. He stood up and ran to her and hugged her. "I'm so glad you're alright! Why did you run off like that? You could've been killed!" He shouted. Emochan frowned.

"I didn't want you getting hurt, so I ran off to split us up. Besides, Sailor Earth saved me in the end, anyway," Emochan explained, hoping he would believe her lie. He only sighed.

"I'll have to thank her sometime." He said. "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to save you myself."

"Don't worry about it, Toshira. Not everyone can be a hero," Makoto said. Emochan smiled a little.

"You guys are here? But why…?" He inquired.

"Oh! I invited them over for dinner. I wanted to tell Mom that but…" Emochan trailed off.

"Tell Mom what? Oh, hello Usagi! My, have you grown up!" Emochan's mother's voice grew louder as she approached the group. "I see your lunch surprise went well, Toshira. I hope you ate every bite of his meal!" Her mother was holding a couple bags of groceries.

"Oh, Aunt, let me get some of that!" Usagi grinned and took one of the bags, but it was too heavy for her. It slipped out of her fingers. Some fruits rolled out of the bag and Usagi frowned.

"Let us help with those…" Rei suggested, picking up the fruit.

"Thank you, girls," Emochan's mother said with relief. "Are you all staying for supper?"

"I thought we could order out tonight," Emochan said.

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Her mother smiled warmly to the guests before going inside. Usagi, Rei, and Ami followed with the rest of the groceries. Minako and Makoto shrugged as they walked in the back. Toshira was glancing at Emochan when she finally returned her attention to him.

"You're welcome to stay for dinner too, Toshira…" she said. He wrapped an arm around her waist.

"I would love that. Your mother seems so nice. I hope she likes me!"

"I'm sure she does, Toshira. I know I do," Emochan blushed as she spoke. "Come on, I need to make sure Usagi doesn't break anything. Besides, I think I should change out of my elaborate dress," she chuckled. Toshira joined in and the two walked into the house.