Chapter 22
Hotaru sat in her room, staring at her hands. She knew what she had to do. Even though Audiana had told her that she had a choice, deep down she knew that she didn't. She had been born a Sailor Scout and a princess of the planet Saturn. With those titles came along great responsibility, responsibility that could not be shrugged aside when she fell in love. She knew that Reenie would let her leave with Josiah if she asked her but she also knew that if she did that she would be neglecting her job and responsibilities as a Sailor Scout.
Hotaru sighed sadly and didn't bother to stop the tears from falling.
I'm sorry, Josiah, Hotaru said to herself. I'm so sorry, but I just can't leave.
Amia, Statel, and Miceff were still sitting in Amia's
room and Audiana was standing behind Miceff with her hand on his
shoulder, when Audiana's back suddenly stiffened and her hand
tightened on Miceff's shoulder. Immediately, the three other Healers
turned to look at Audiana.
"Hotaru and Josiah have
decided?" Amia asked.
Miceff nodded,
knowing that they had; he could sense it in Audiana.
"So,
what's their decision?" Statel asked anxiously.
Audiana sighed.
"Both of them are going to stay," the leader of the Healers
replied, the sadness she felt at their decision showing in her voice
and in her eyes.
"Are you sure?" Amia asked, hoping
that Audiana would say no.
Audiana nodded.
"Yes. Josiah's apologizing to us already for leaving. He's
saying that he can live without the Healers, but he can't live
without Hotaru."
"And Hotaru?" Amia asked, "Are
you sure that her decision is final?"
Audiana sighed and nodded in reply. "Yes. She doesn't feel right leaving because of her being a Sailor Scout. I can understand that. /unlike us, she didn't have the right to choose to become a Sailor Scout. She was born with that title, just as she was born with the title of Princess of Saturn. She can't just shrug off those responsibilities, and while Josiah can't just shrug off his gift either, he can use it in other ways. Besides, there are about five other people on Iounda who have been born with the power to Heal."
Miceff nodded and stood up. "So," Miceff said, "I guess we have their decisions and that means that we can leave, right?"
Audiana nodded. "We just have to tell Queen Serena; and of course, Hotaru and Josiah before we leave."
Statel and Amia
nodded in agreement.
"Then let's go tell them," Miceff
said.
Audiana smiled and together, the four Healers left Amia's room.
Josiah sat in his room, saddened by his decision but also knowing that it was the right one to make. He would miss his friends and fellow Healers dearly, but not nearly as much as he would miss Hotaru if he left without her.
Josiah was just about to get out of his bed, when the door to his room suddenly opened. Josiah sighed sadly when he saw who was in the doorway of his room. "So, I take it you guys already know my decision?" he asked the others, knowing by the look on their faces that the answer to his question would be yes.
Not surprisingly,
everyone nodded.
"I sensed it, Josiah," Audiana
informed him. "I told the others. We are saddened by your
decision to stay here on Earth, but contrary to what you may believe,
we understand why you choose to stay."
Josiah nodded and looked at his friends. "You guys are going to be leaving now, aren't you?"
Audiana nodded in
response to his question. "We have to. There are others in need
of our help, and we must find another person who was born with the
power to Heal."
"We just came to say good-bye, Josiah,"
Amia said in a voice that was just barely above a whisper.
"Good-bye, Josiah," Miceff and Statel said in
unison.
"Good-bye, Jo," Audiana said going over and
giving Josiah a good-bye hug. "We'll see you again."
Josiah nodded.
"Bye," he said to Miceff, Statel, and Audiana; then he
turned to look at Amia. Over the years that they had been Healers
together, he had come to know her as a little sister and she had come
to know him as an older brother.
"We'll wait for the two of
you outside," Audiana said, understanding that they wanted to be
alone for their good-bye.
Josiah smiled his
thanks and watched as the three Healers left the room. Once the door
had shut behind them, he turned to Amia.
"So," Amia
began, "I guess this is good-bye."
"Not good-bye,
exactly," Josiah said, feeling a little guilty. Amia was the
youngest of all the Healers and she wasn't really too good of friends
with any of the others.
"You know that it's going to be a
long while before we see each other again, Josiah," Amia told
him. "Stop pretending like it won't be. After all, once you're
no longer part of the Healers, your entrance to the planet Iounda
will be very limited. You know that, right?"
Josiah sighed.
"Yeah, I know. But"
"But you can't live without
Hotaru," Amia finished for him. "I know, and contrary to
what you may believe, I am happy for the both of you."
Josiah smiled and nodded. "I know you are, Amia," he said, wrapping his arms around the only "little sister" he had ever had.
Struggling to hold back tears, Amia embraced her "older brother". "Come on, Josiah," Amia said, wiping a tear away from her eyes, "The others are waiting for us. I'm sure Hotaru is waiting to know your decision."
Josiah let go of Amia and nodded. "You're right," he said, "Let's go."
Together, the two of them left to go join the others, who were waiting outside for them so that they could all go and tell Hotaru of Josiah's decision.
"I
wonder if everything worked out," Kristy said nervously, sitting
on the couch in the middle of her and Melissa Austin's living
room.
"I'm sure it did," Melissa replied, trying to
hide how nervous she was about the others.
"You really
think so?" Kristy asked, hoping that Melissa would repeat her
previous response.
Melissa nodded.
"Well, the cop cars are all gone," she informed Kristy,
"And the dark clouds that came with the death of Queen Serenity
are gone, also. So, I assume that Reenie and the others won."
"I'm
just wondering if they're all okay," Kristy said nervously.
"You can stop wondering," an unfamiliar voice
interrupted their conversation.
Surprised, the two
women turned to look in the direction where the voice had come from.
Standing in the balcony doorway was Sailor Uranus.
"Wha. . .
what are you doing here?" Kristy asked.
"Her Majesty
asked us to come and bring the two of you to the palace," a
different voice said from the doorway as Sailor Uranus stepped inside
the apartment.
"So, Neptune and I are here to pick the two
of you up."
"Are the two of you ready to come to the
palace?" Neptune asked.
"Are you sure that we're
properly dressed for such an occasion?" Kristy asked.
Uranus rolled her
eyes. Give me a break, she thought, while Neptune just nodded.
"I
am sure that it won't matter," she replied. "Queen Serena
just needs her friends' support right now."
Hearing this, Melissa immediately stood up and looked at the two Sailor Scouts, her reporter's instinct on red alert. "Why?" Melissa asked, with one eyebrow raised. "What happened?"
Neptune looked to Uranus, a questioning look in her eyes; should we tell them the truth? her eyes seemed to ask.
Uranus nodded in
reply.
"Well," Neptune began, not quite sure how she
should explain what had happened.
"We're not going to lie
to you," Uranus interrupted her cousin. "During the battle
against the Negamoon, Queen Serena was hurt. She had gotten hit by a
strong blast of dark energy. This dark energy entered her. Because
she controls the Silver Emperium Crystal, it was also killing her."
Kristy gasped,
horrified.
"But Her Majesty's okay now," Neptune
added, trying to comfort the two obviously surprised friends.
Uranus nodded.
"Yes. Queen Serena's okay. The Healers came and helped her. But
the energy that they had was not enough to heal Her Majesty
completely. Because of that, the CT Scouts transformed and lent the
Healers their energy to help save her."
"This left the
CT Sailor Scouts feeling weak and drained," Neptune explained.
"Because they lent the Healers so much of their energy,"
Uranus began, "It's taken them a while to wake up. CT Mars gave
the Healers the majority of her energy and because of this, she is
struggling to wake up."
"Queen Serena asked for us to
bring the two of you to the palace because she needs your support,"
Neptune repeated what the two Scouts had already said. "Now,
after knowing all of this, do the two of you agree to come with us?"
Melissa and Kristy
both nodded in unison. "Definitely," Kristy replied.
"Can
I just ask you one question?" Melissa asked.
Uranus and Neptune
both looked to Melissa, then to each other, and back to Melissa;
Uranus nodded in reply. "Go ahead," Neptune said.
"Who
was behind all of this?"
"The Negamoon," Uranus
replied, surprised by this question.
Melissa shook her
head in exasperation. "That's not what I meant. Who was the
leader of the Negamoon? We all know that Prince Diamond couldn't have
been the leader because Queen Serenity destroyed him. So, who was in
charge of this attack on Crystal Tokyo?"
"That's a
question that should wait for Queen Serena," Neptune replied,
nervously.
Melissa looked at
the Sailor Scout, curious because of her reply. "Why?" she
asked with a raised eyebrow, curious of Neptune's reply.
"We
have to get going to the palace," Uranus said wanting Neptune to
slip up. "We're already late."
"Uh, just one
more question," Kristy said.
"What?" Uranus
sighed, trying hard not to roll her eyes; she was obviously annoyed
by their delays.
"How are we going to get there? I mean,
Melissa and I can't possibly keep up with the two of you."
Neptune smiled. "Queen Serena's limo is already awaiting your arrival downstairs. It'll take you to the palace. Sailor Pluto will meet the two of you on your arrival. She'll be the one to take you to go see Her Majesty."
Kristy
nodded, and together, she and Melissa left their apartment and headed
downstairs, where Reenie's limo was awaiting their arrival.
Sailor
Uranus and Sailor Neptune waited until the door had shut behind
Melissa and Kristy, then the two of them left the apartment the same
way that they had came, running towards the palace at top speed.
Hotaru
was still sitting in her room, saddened by her decision and yet
knowing that it was the right one, when a knock sounded on her
bedroom door. Surprised by this unexpected knock, Hotaru looked in
the direction of the door. "Hello?" Hotaru said, wondering
if she had imaged the sound.
"Hotaru," the familiar
voice of Josiah Coglua began, "Is it okay if we enter?"
"Yes," Hotaru said, trying to hold back tears. She
knew why they were coming to see her; they needed to know her
decision. She sighed and prepared herself to tell Josiah her
decision.
The door opened and
Josiah entered, followed by Audiana Trinta and the other three
Healers. Seeing Josiah, Hotaru couldn't help but smile. Then she was
hit by a sudden pang of sadness as she realized that this might be
the last time she ever saw him.
"Hotaru, what's the matter?"
Josiah asked, going straight to her bedside.
Hotaru smiled at him sadly, knowing that she had to tell him her decision. "I can't go with you, Josiah," she whispered, unable to look him in the eye as she spoke. "I'm sorry but I just can't. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to Reenie and I wasn't here to help her. Do you understand?"
Josiah nodded, hiding his smile. "I understand, Hotaru," he said, cupping her cheeks in his hands and making sure that she was looking him in the eye. Smiling, Josiah continued, "You have nothing to be sorry for. That's your decision. Actually, I've always wondered what living on the Earth would be like."
Hotaru's eyes widened in surprise and joy. "You're joking?" she asked, as if she was unable to believe what he was saying. "You're going to stay here on Earth?"
Josiah smiled and nodded. "I can't live without you, Hotaru. I know that you feel the same, even though you were going to stay here. It's not mandatory for me to stay with the Healers. Another person on Iounda can take my place, no one can take yours."
Hotaru smiled,
unable to believe everything Josiah was saying. It was almost too
much for her to take in at once.
"That's why we have all
come, Hotaru," Audiana Trinta said, stepping from the doorway
and into Hotaru's room. "We must head back to Iounda and find
another person to take Josiah's place as a member of the Healers."
"It's because of that that we have come to say good-bye,"
Miceff Loand said from the doorway of Hotaru's room. "We must be
heading back to Iounda."
Hotaru nodded. "Are
you guys at least going to go say good-bye to Queen Serena?"
Audiana smiled and nodded. "Of course. We just decided that
you might like hearing Josiah's decision first, before we tell Queen
Serena about Josiah choosing to stay here on Earth."
"Actually,"
Statel said from the hallway, "We should probably go in search
of Queen Serena now."
Audiana nodded in
agreement. "You're right, Statel," she agreed with her
friend and fellow Healer. Turning to Hotaru, she said, "We'll
see you around, Hotaru." Audiana Trinta was just turning to
leave when she heard Hotaru call out her name and ask her to wait.
Surprised, she turned her head so that she could see Hotaru. "Yes?"
"I'll go with you," Hotaru said getting out of bed. "I
mean, today is going to be your last day here. I want to spend as
much time as I can with you guys. And anyways, I have to talk to
Queen Serena about something."
Audiana nodded.
"Let's go, then," the leader of the Healers said, smiling.
"Are you going to come along, too, Josiah?"
"Actually,
I think I'll hang back a while. I'll meet up with you guys in a
while, okay?"
Miceff nodded. "We'll see you later," he said.
Together, the Healers and Hotaru left Hotaru's room, leaving Josiah behind.
Reenie came out of her cousin's room, after fifteen minutes of talking with Kenneth and Terence. She had already visited everyone. Everyone that is, except for Kirstein. Reenie now stood outside of Kirstein's room, trying to get together the courage to go and see her friend.
Out of all of the CT Scouts, Reenie was the most afraid to see how Kirstein was doing. With one final deep breath, Reenie put her hand on the doorknob that led to Kirstein's bedroom and gently, pushed the door open. "Hey," Reenie said softly as she entered the room.
A tired Raye Hino
smiled a sad smile back at her. Kirstein's mother still hadn't moved
from the last time that Reenie had visited her friend. She still sat
by Kirstein's bedside, holding her daughter's hand, hoping for some
kind of response. "Hello, Your Majesty," she said. "How
are you doing?"
"That's not important, Raye,"
Reenie said, smiling softly, "How's Kirstein?"
"A
bit better, actually," Raye replied, turning her gaze to her
daughter who lay in the bed.
To Reenie, it looked like nothing had changed since she last saw her friend.
"She's moaned and groaned a little. Considering that before that all I could hear was her breathing, I'd say she's doing better."
Reenie smiled, understandingly. Groans and moans are better then nothing, I guess, Reenie thought. "But she still hasn't woken up?" the new Queen of Crystal Tokyo asked.
Raye shook her
head, sadly. "Not ye" Raye began, but stopped herself as
she felt her daughter's grip suddenly take hold of her hand. Both
Reenie and Raye looked to Kirstein. Neither of them had been
expecting this sudden movement and it had taken the two of them by
surprise.
"Kirstein?" Reenie asked excitedly, moving
closer to her friend. "Kirstein?"
"Ughhhhh,"
came from the girl lying on the bed.
Raye sighed
dejectedly, and turned to face Reenie.
"That's how she's
been like for the past half hour. Moaning and groaning here and
there, but not waking up."
"I'm sure she'll wake up
soon," Reenie said, not sure at all but not wanting Raye to lose
hope.
Pluto, Reenie
thought to herself, you said she'd be fine, so when is she going to
wake up?
"Re . . . Reenie?" a disoriented Kirstein
mumbled from where she lay on the bed. Surprised, both Reenie and
Raye turned to look at Kirstein.
"Kirstein?" Reenie
asked, walking over so that she was on the other side of Kirstein's
bedside.
"Hey," Kirstein said weakly as her eyes
fluttered open.
"Kirstein, you're okay," Raye said,
barely able to hold back her tears.
"Hey, mom,"
Kirstein said, turning her head to see her mother.
"How do
you feel?" Reenie asked.
"Truthfully?" Kirstein
asked, pushing herself up to a sitting position. "Ow. I feel
like a truck ran me over."
"I'm sorry," Reenie
said, knowing that it was her fault that Kirstein was injured.
"It's not your fault," Kirstein said, trying hard not
to groan in pain as she tried to get comfortable. "It's our job
as Sailor Scouts to protect you."
"Kirstein's right,
Reenie," Raye said softly, not making eye contact with her
daughter's friend. "As a Sailor Scout, it's our job to protect
our leader and queen, no matter what the cost is to us. That does
mean risking our lives, if that's what it comes down to."
Reenie nodded, not
really liking what they were saying but knowing that they were
telling the truth. But no matter what the two of them said, there was
still one question that was bugging Reenie.
"Uh, mom,"
Kirstein said, looking at her mother.
"Yes?"
"Do
you mind if Reenie and I have a few minutes to talk?"
"Sure,"
Raye said, standing up from the chair that she had occupied for the
past several hours. "I'll be back later, honey," Raye said
as she walked towards the door and left.
"Bye, mom,"
Kirstein said as Raye shut the door behind her. Almost immediately
after she heard the little click of the door shutting, Kirstein
turned to look at Reenie. "So, what do you want to know?"
"What?" Reenie said, standing up a bit straighter. She
hadn't been expecting that.
"I can see it in your eyes,
Reenie," Kirstein informed her new queen. "You have a
question that you want to ask me, but for some reason, it's not one
that you want my mom to hear. So, ask away."
Reenie smiled and shook her head, amazed at Kirstein's ability to see what Reenie wanted in her own eyes. "Kirstein, we've never really been the closest of friends," Reenie began, not quite sure how to ask the question that she wanted to ask.
Kirstein nodded, not bothering to argue with Reenie; especially since what Reenie was saying was the truth.
"Actually,
there were times when I even wondered if you considered me to be your
friend," Reenie continued, "So, I can't help but wonder. .
. "
"Why I helped to save your life?" Kirstein
finished for Reenie.
Reenie nodded, surprised that Kirstein had known was she was going to ask her.
Kirstein looked away from Reenie, and down at her hands. "It's very simple, actually," Kirstein said, quietly, so quietly, that Reenie almost had to lean in to hear her. Taking in a deep breath, Kirstein continued, "Reenie, I know that you're already the Queen of Crystal Tokyo, and I know that that's what you had already expected to become during your life. Maybe that's why you never tried your hardest: because you already knew what destiny had planned out for you. When I saw what you were doing, I became angry. I'm not going to bother to hide it. I was angry because you could be doing better then what you were doing. I knew it and I knew that you knew it, yet you didn't really seem to care. I never understood that. I wanted you to be everything that you could be, Reenie, and I was angry when you didn't try your hardest to do that. So I tried to push you to try harder. I guess I didn't have that much effect.
While we may never
have been as close of friends as you and Lillian, don't ever think
that I wasn't your friend. I was. When I helped the Healers by giving
them so much of my own energy, I knew what I was doing. I know that
you probably don't think that, but I did. Do you understand now why I
helped to save your life, Reenie? While you may not think that I'm
your friend, I am. I also consider you to be the best person to rule
over Crystal Tokyo. You're one of the nicest and kindest people I've
ever met, Reenie. Those are the reasons why I chose to help save your
life."
"Oh," Reenie said, feeling like she should
say something but not really sure what.
Kirstein smiled and
nodded. "Yeah," the CT Sailor Scout said, trying not to
laugh at Reenie's response.
"Um, I have to get going,"
Reenie said, knowing that Kristy and Melissa were going to arrive at
the palace any second now.
Kirstein nodded. "I'll see you later, Reenie," she said.
Reenie nodded and was about to walk away, when she suddenly bent down and hugged her friend.
Surprised, it took
Kirstein a few minutes to react and to hug Reenie back.
"Thank
you," Reenie said, trying to hold back her tears but not
succeeding. "Thank you for telling me the truth."
Kirstein nodded, trying to hold back tears of her own. "No problem."
The two friends let go and quietly, Reenie left Kirstein's room, closing the door behind her.
Once Reenie had left, Kirstein laid her head against the pillows and closed her eyes. No matter how much she tried to hide it from Reenie and her mother, she was incredibly sore and felt like she was almost dead.
