Sailor Moon Reflections 07 : Mars

She whispers the word, barely audible over the faint hum of medical equipment. She relishes the two soft, bittersweet syllables, lets them glide smoothly to the edge of her tongue.

"Mother."

Memories stumble past : the feel of long, smooth, raven dark hair, and moist, gentle kisses pressed to her forehead and cheeks. Eyes, a little darker than her own, crimson-violet pair, the shade of red wine, perfectly aged.

But it is her mother's voice that she remembers best. With her, it was always so kind, so loving, a measured, melodic singsong trickle of sound, delivered with the playful cadence that only mother's have. How many times had that voice been her candle in the dark, soothing her, calming her sobs when the thunder came down so loud that the whole house and her small, little body shook.

It had been different with her father. Huskier, each syllable drawn out just enough, the lips curved upwards just so. Passion, she knew now, that was what had been in her mother's voice back then. Passion in the hurried, frantic moments in the kitchen, passion in the too short, but frequent calls that came when her father was away on business.

Passion, like gentleness, had come so easily to her mother. Like light and warmth to a fire.

That was why it had hurt so much to see her in the end. To see her tied down by all the wires, the tubes, the bandages. To hear that sweet, beautiful voice reduced to a ghoulish rasp by the tube the doctor's had stuck down her throat, the fire growing just a little fainter each day, weaker, softer, colder…

Gone.

And that was why it hurt so much to see someone else she loved lying in another hospital bed, with another tube down her throat to help her breathe.

They had been careless. No, she thought fiercely, she had been careless. They'd been fighting for a team for so long that they'd fallen into a steady, predictable pattern. And her friend, her Princess had paid the price.

The monster had been an ugly thing, a demented fusion of rusted steel and old, dead flesh. They had arrived all at once, the night lit by the multicoloured radiance of their power, their lithe graceful forms crackling with energy. Only it hadn't gone for them. Instead it had attacked the one person who had always been just a little bit slower, just a little less agile.

Her Princess, her friend, her very reason for fighting, had screamed once. Short, sharp and so very, very frightened. It had come at her with its long, impossibly sharp arms, and she scrambled backwards just far enough to dodge the first slash. But she couldn't dodge the next one, or the next.

The next few seconds are still a blur. She remembers that thing standing over her friend, its eyes glowing like twin stars, its entire, enormous bulk driving forward, its arms stained crimson.

She'd moved then, without thought, without effort, faster than she imagined possible, putting herself between it and her friend. Its arm went right through her shoulder, past the enchanted cloth, past the flesh and bone and deep into the concrete behind her.

For a moment, just a moment the pain swept her up and near to darkness before she felt something else. It was fury, a hot molten rage that came from deep inside, that burned away all her doubt, all her suffering and left behind a tempestuous, volcanic anger.

She burned.

One hand whipped up and caught the monster's metal arm. Scarlet streaked down the length of the slender blade-like arm, pouring from her palm as the blade parted skin and cut deep into the flesh. The monster laughed.

She screamed.

Only it wasn't pain she felt, but power. The blood began to bubble, then boil as the arm glowed first red, then orange, then white. Fire, hot enough to sear the very heart of the sun, rollicked up her arm and everything it touched simply boiled away.

The monster screamed.

First its arm went, disintegrating in a matter of moments before its entire body came apart. Its flesh went up in flames as the metal sublimated, silver fumes mingling with ash as a fiery wind rippled past.

"What happened…"

The words yanked her back to the present, and she practically leapt out of her chair.

"I let you down again, didn't I?"

She blinked back tears and shook her head.

Her friend's eyes widened with concern, spotting the crimson stain that marred the left shoulder of her blouse. "You're hurt."

Her shoulders quivered. Her voice, she'd been so afraid she'd never hear it again. It was soft, it was gentle and it was so very, very filled with love. How many times had that voice been her guiding light? How many times had it teased her, comforted her, tempered her anger, nourished her compassion, loved her?

"You got that because of me didn't you?"

She shook her head again. It hurt so much to see her like this, to see those unfathomable blue eyes crinkled with pain, to see the wires hooked up to all those machines, because she hadn't been there for her, because she hadn't been fast enough, or tough enough to protect her.

"I guess I owe you one," her friend grinned as best she could. "How can I make it up to you?

There were many things she wanted to say. Be my friend, my closest, dearest friend. Call me names, tease me, borrow my manga, and never give it back. Because you don't need to make it up to me, because you make everything all right every time you smile, every time you stick your tongue out at me and laugh.

"Come on," her friend persists. "I'll do anything."

Anything? Then promise that you'll never get hurt again, promise that you'll always be there for me. Promise, that you'll always be like you are now, like a flame, whimsical and wild, but so very warm all at the same time. Promise that you'll never let the fire inside you die. Promise that you'll love me.

But she doesn't say any of these things. Instead she simply smiles, letting her eyes say what her lips cannot, and whispers in her ear.

"Just live, my Princess, just live."

Author's Note

Yay! I've managed to get another one out. Now, let me start off by saying that Mars is a very interesting character, but so much of who she is, so much of what she does is bound up with Moon. That said, a lot of how she acts, I think, is influenced by what happened to her mother ( which is never fully explained ), and this is just my take on how the two mesh. Certainly, I hope I captured some of what makes her tick. Finally, on the subjects of Rei / Usagi. I shall remain silent, as that really is up to the reader.

As always, remember, I live for feedback. So drop me a line and tell me what you think, good, bad, whatever ;;.

To All Reviewers : Thanks a ton for your support, it means the world to me. And Cerii-Chan, I actually broke the board with the strike that broke my hand… then used that hand to break another board… errr…