Ding-dong!
Kenji opened
the door to find a panicked Mamoru. "I need to speak to
Usagi, sir."
"I'm sorry, but it is late." Kenji
began to close the door.
Mamoru gasped for more air before
continuing. "Please, sir! It's important!"
Usagi came
down the stairs in her pink pajamas. "Papa, who's at the
door? Mamo-chan?" She squeezed passed her father. "You're
pale. What happened?"
ChibiUsa heard the commotion
outside. She crawled out from under the covers of her bed and
peaked out the window. She saw Mamoru and Usagi walking away from
the house. She could tell the mood between the two was serious, so
she opened her window to hear what would be said.
"Mamo-chan!
You're hurt!"
"I was leaving Motoki-kun's and took a
shortcut and was attacked by Sir Grety. I couldn't defend myself
very well, but Sailor StarMoon came and defended me. But then,
when we thought he was gone, he came back and. . ."
"And
what?" Usagi's face paled; she knew, but hoped she was
wrong.
Mamoru looked at the ground, then looked Usagi straight
in the eyes as he handed her Luna-P. Usagi took Luna-P from his
hands and hugged it. Tears streamed down her face.
ChibiUsa
couldn't believe it. "Auntie Cynthia!"
"Happy
Birthday!" Sailor Venus started leaping around the room
throwing confetti in the air.
Sailor Jupiter laughed. "Look
at the maids. You can tell they want to slap her!"
"That's
because they have to clean it up later," Sailor Mars giggled.
"I can't believe the mess she is making."
Neo-Queen
Serenity smiled wearily. The night before had brought a
thunderstorm and she had been up all night trying to calm down her
two-year daughter who now showed no signs of spending the night
up.
"Mama! Mama! Can I open Rona-chan's present?"
"Go
ahead," the exhausted Queen replied.
"Yeah!"
Rip! Pull! Tear! "Mama! It's a Feed-Me-Now Suzie!"
"That's
great honey!" To Sailor Mercury, who had just walked into the
room, she mumbled under her breath, "That is the most
unoriginal name for a doll that I have ever heard. Why in the
world. . .?"
Mercury giggled, then announced, "I have
just been informed that Queen Cynthia has arrived." She
pointed towards the door.
"Auntie Cynthia! Yeah!"
Feed-Me-Now Suzie went flying as Small Lady ran over to her new
guest. The doll hit Sailor Uranus square in the face. "Nice
catch," joked Sailor Neptune as Uranus kept the doll at an
arms distance.
"Auntie! Auntie! Auntie!" Queen
Cynthia bent over and hugged her niece. "Hey there, little
girl! I hear it's your birthday today!"
"Yep! Where's
my gift?"
"Usagi Small Lady Serenity!" Neo-Queen
Serenity scolded her daughter. "That is not polite!"
"Gomen."
Small Lady looked down.
Queen Cynthia handed a present to her
sister. "Here ya go, sis."
"FOR ME?!?!?!"
Serenity ripped it open greedily.
"So I guess you hold
your daughter to higher standards, huh?" asked Venus.
Queen
Cynthia pointed at her Luna-P. "Your mama has told me that
you really like my Luna-P."
Small Lady nodded.
"Yep!"
Queen Cynthia playfully tapped Small Lady's
nose. "Then you can have it. Happy Birthday!"
Small
Lady's face lit up like the birthday cake that was being rolled
into the room. "Arigato!" She happily hugged her aunt.
Usagi
dropped Luna-P and began to cry uncontrollably. Mamoru wrapped
Usagi in a big bear hug as the tears ran down his face as well.
"I'm sorry. It's my fault. I should have protected
her."
Usagi stopped crying when she realized Mamoru was
crying harder than her. "She wouldn't have wanted that. She
wanted to protect both of us. This would have happened anyway."
"I
am a terrible fighter. If I had just had stayed in shape, I could
have fought him off and then Candra would still be with us."
Usagi
smiled. "Don't you remember? ChibiUsa knows who she is,"
Usagi tried to reassure him. "ChibiUsa knows who Candra-chan
is! That means she's seen her, which means we'll get her
back!"
Mamoru shook his head. "But the future can
change."
"Well, I'm trying to be positive about this.
. .. You aren't in any shape to be going home by yourself this
late. Maybe you should spend the night here. We just cleaned the
spare room," Usagi offered.
"Thanks, Usako. But I
don't think your father would approve."
Usagi gave it some
thought. "You're right. Well, first thing tomorrow, I'll call
an emergency meeting at Rei-chan's. I'll see you there?"
Mamoru
smiled. "Yeah."
"Maybe Papa can give you a ride
home," Usagi tried again.
Mamoru shook his head. "No.
I'll be fine."
"You sure?"
Mamoru kissed her
on the forehead. "I'm sure. Ja ne!"
Usagi watched him
walk off. Please be careful. She looked at the moon. I'll
get you back. I
promise!
Sir
Grety threw Candra to the floor. Hard. "You could at least
treat me with some courtesy!"
Sir Grety simply laughed at
her. "Until you admit I am your man, you will get no
respect."
"The only thing I'll admit is that you are
one big jerk." As she started to continue, he slammed the
door. "Well, fine, then. See if I care."
Candra got
up and brushed the dirt off her gray dress. She looked around and
noticed that though the room she was in was elaborately decorated,
it was a complete mess. There was dust on the floor, some kind of
dead bug in the corner, and cobwebs everywhere. Candra sighed at
the dust and grime that had piled up on the bed. Well, if this
is what I have to sleep on, I guess I better do something about
it.
"Okay,
minna. What are going to do about this?" Usagi looked at her
fellow Senshi for the answer.
"We could always use the
Sailor Teleport," said Minako.
Yes, but we don't even know
where she is yet," Haruka pointed out.
With that remark,
the room fell silent. ChibiUsa quickly wiped a tear from her eye,
but Diana noticed anyway. "What's wrong, Small Lady?"
"Well,
I'm worried about Candra-chan. Mama told me that there were a few
times before she met her that Candra-chan tried to kill herself.
And Auntie Cynthia told me once that she would rather die than be
held a prisoner." ChibiUsa looked up. "That's why I'm
worried; she might try again."
Usagi's ears perked up.
"She what? Why?"
ChibiUsa shrugged. "Mama said
something about not liking herself."
"Wow. She never
mentioned this before," commented Ami.
"She has so
much going for her. Why would she do that?" asked Mako.
"Mama
said that was private stuff between her and Auntie Cynthia,"
said ChibiUsa.
"This means we have to step up our search!"
said Usagi.
"Ami-chan, see if you can find her on your
computer!" ordered Minako. "Rei-chan! See if you can
sense her."
"Uh, Minako-chan?" asked Mako. "Why
don't we just ask Setsuna-san? She would obviously know."
Minako
and Usagi looked at each other. "Guess we never thought about
that," Minako replied sheepishly.
"Nobody cares. . ."
sighed Setsuna. Then she turned serious. "Sir Grety has taken
her to the Silver Millenuim. However, he has a shield around the
Moon. It's very difficult to break. We all would have to attack,
but we cannot land and we cannot hold the teleport and attack at
the same time."
"The five of us have done it before,"
said Minako, meaning her and the Inners.
"The enemy you
destroyed was not very powerful," replied Setsuna. "To
be teleporting and attacking at the same time uses a lot of
energy. We would not even have enough to make a dent."
"I
wish we could at least talk to her," said Michiru.
"Yeah.
I wonder what she's doing?" Usagi wondered out
loud.
"Time
for dinner, Serenity!" Sir Grety knocked on her door.
"That's
PRINCESS!!!!!!!" Candra yelled back.
"That's the last
time you talk back to me! I'm comin' in!" Grety opened the
door and gasped. "How did you get the room to look like
this?!?!?!"
Candra turned around, holding a broom. Having
been unable to find clothing more suitable for cleaning, her dress
was now ruined. Dirt had been smugged all over her face, most of
it on her forehead. "Um, I'm pretty sure I cleaned it,"
she told him.
"Why did you go and do that?!?!" Grety
was still in a state of shock.
Candra placed her hand on her
hip. "And what's wrong with having a clean room? I want to be
able to sleep in here without sneezing."
Grety walked up
to her. Moving his eyebrows up and down suggestively, he slyly
responded, "What makes you so sure you will be spending your
nights here?"
Candra slapped him. "Asshole."
Though she didn't like cussing, it was the first word to sprang
from her mouth.
Grety grabbed her arm. "Listen. You will
do what I say. . ."
Candra was starting to get a little
scared. "Why?" she asked in a different tone.
Candra's
question caused him to stop for a moment and soften, but then the
fire returned to his eyes. "Because I said so! Now! It's time
for dinner!" he said as he threw her out the door. Candra hit
the wall and fell to the ground. She knew she had to hold him off
as long as she could and quickly became obnoxious again. "Okay,
okay. I'm going. Gosh, what a jerk."
"What did you
say?"
Candra stared him straight in his eyes, and then
smiled. "A bunch of words."
"You little bitch!"
Sir Grety dragged her downstairs. "You royals and your
sarcasm."
"Oneesan! That was the best! We need to do a duet sometime!"
Michiru
finished her song, then put her violin down. She was playing to
keep her mind off the situation, but she just wasn't in the
mood.
She took out her photo album from a few years ago. There
was the craft fair, there was Halloween, there was Haruka throwing
Michiru into the pool, followed by Candra. We had some good
times together, she thought as tears ran down her
checks.
"Hey, Jupiter! I wanna be the first customer at your restaurant!"
Mako stared at her opened math book and tapped her pen on the pad of paper. "None of this stuff makes any sense. It's all Greek to me. . ..What's that smell?" She turned around and jumped a mile upward as her meal began to burn. "Great!" she mumbled as she tossed the bowl in the sink. "Now I can't even cook canned soup." She watched the steam come out of the bowl and sighed. Turning to the picture on the wall of her and Candra, Mako said, "Come back soon."
"I love you, Serenity. I will do anything for you."
Usagi stopped tossing the ball in the air. She sighed and looked over at her dresser. There was a picture of Candra alone and one with Candra, Usagi, and ChibiUsa, all with their tongues out. Usagi started to silently cry as she started tossing the ball once again. Come back safely.
Chapter 10: Usagi Worries! Candra Fights!
