Author's note: Omigosh! Gomen nasai! I haven't been able to write in
forever because of track! Practice every night 'til 5, meets 2-3 times a
week...NO TIME! *sob sob*
~venusgirl
Last time in Sword of the Senshi: Mina met that really sexy guy and got in the fight with the youma, hurting her shoulder. Malachite came up to the Senshi, telling them that they were to meet him the next day at the Tokyo Tower for a showdown that would determine the fate of the world.
~*~Chapter 13~*~
Mina lay on her bed hours later, lying on her side so as not to hurt her shoulder. *Well, at least it wasn't dislocated... Although a hairline fracture's not too awesome...* She grimaced and closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep. After all, she would need all her energy for tomorrow. Her eyes snapped back open again. She sighed mournfully. "I'll never fall asleep with that on my mind," she told herself, getting into a sitting position in her bed. She threw her legs over the side of the bed, slipping her feet into her slippers. She got up carefully so as no to disturb Artemis from his slumber.
She opened her door and padded down the hallway towards the kitchen. "Maybe some food will help..." *Oh God, I sound like Serena* She opened the refrigerator and decided on a bagel. She grabbed the butter and slid her bagel into the toaster. While she waited she got herself a glass of milk and drank slowly. When her bagel popped up she buttered it slowly and ate. With that she put her dishes in the sink and returned to her bedroom, turning the light off and sighed, drifting off into an uneasy sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Serena woke up the next morning bright and early to birds chirping cheerfully out the window. Serena sighed wistfully. *I wish it sounded cheerful and happy to my ears* She pulled the covers off of her body and got out of her bed. She looked back down at her bed and around at the rest of her room. *Is this the last time I see all this stuff? The last day I spend with my family?* She shook her head in defiance. *What am I thinking?! I've got to save this world for my friends and for out happy future! We know there is one; Darien and I still have to get married and have our child!* With that, she walked strongly to her closet and picked out an outfit, just as if it was a normal day with nothing to worry about.
In the other room down the hall, Rini wasn't quite as confident as Serena. She lay facing the wall on her bed, tears streaming down her face. *Please, God, if you're there, please hear me. We, all of the Senshi and me, need your help really badly. Please help up get through this. Help us save our beautiful world and regain peace...Onegai!*
Serena walked up to the door about to storm in, but stopped short as she heard a small sniffle, nearly inaudible. She held onto the edge of the door. She couldn't decide if she should go in or leave her be. She knew Rini would be embarrassed if caught crying; she always tried to be so strong. But she couldn't just leave her to her sorrow and fear. She stepped into the room quietly and sat down on the bed.
Rini straightened and rubbed her eyes, faking a yawn as if just rubbing a bit of sleep away. "Ohayo, Serena." She turned quickly, her eyes shining brightly with left over tears. She smiled big, trying vainly to cover up the sadness in that brilliant shine.
Serena smiled back warmly, a hint of sadness in her own smile. She rubbed Rini's back soothingly. "Don't worry so much," she said, leaning down close to ear, whispering. "It's okay to be afraid; that's why you have friends. We all love you... I love you." Serena blushed a bit. It was always hard to think of Rini as her own daughter and not Neo-Queen Serenity, even if that was her future self.
Rini gasped and then smiled. She let a small cry of helplessness and latched onto Serena, letting all her tears pour out. Serena gasped a bit in surprise; she certainly hadn't expected that. Nonetheless, she took hold of Rini, feeling a need to protect her from harm, a real motherly bond. Her heart bled for the pink-haired little girl. It wasn't fair. She and the others had had their childhood, a chance to mature happily; but not Rini. She was still young, she had everything in front of her, but all she knew were fights and danger lurking around every corner. Every time peace came it was snatched away by an invisible force no sooner that it had come.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amy sat quietly at the breakfast table with her mother. She looked down at her food and picked at it.
"Honey, what's wrong?" Amy jumped at her mother's voice. "Gomen nasai, Okaasan. It's delicious." She forced a forkful of the scrambled eggs into her mouth for confirmation.
Her mother shook her head. "That's not what I mean. You seem so...distant. Like... I don't know." She dared not say what she felt like saying; she felt like saying as if she would never see her again. "I assume that there is something very important that you need tell me; that's why you had me take off, right?"
Amy sat there, unresponsive. No, nothing to tell her; what could she tell her? Sorry, mom, but I may never see you again because I'm really a Sailor Senshi and I could very well die in this battle? Hardly. She sighed. "I just..." Her throat tightened and it became very painful to speak. She gasped, her voice raspy. "I just... I just..." Her words were becoming incoherent. "I love you, 'Kaasan!" Her head flew to her hands and she cried pitifully, full of anger and misery. This wasn't how she'd wanted to spend the morning with her mother. She'd asked to her take off of work, saying it was an emergency so that she might spend some time with her mother, gaining happy memories... Possibly the last. That was all, just make some happy memories, but instead she sat there crying like some child.
Her mother took her around the shoulders and held her close. "I don't know what you're going through and you don't have to say. I don't think you could, even if you wanted to. But, hear this please. Know that a lot of people love you. You have all your friends; your father, even if he doesn't show it; and me... Especially me. Please keep that in memory. Don't do anything... foolish."
Amy sat there and just let her mother hold her. *No, nothing foolish... Of course! This isn't foolish! This is to save our Earth, to protect out princess and friends! This is not foolish!* She pulled away from her mother slowly and wiped away the tears. "Don't worry, Okaasan. I won't. I'll be back soon and maybe then you and I could spend the time together that I wanted to spend with you. Like when I was little and we would bake cookies. Do you think we could do that again?"
Her mother looked shocked. Her features softened and she smiled down at her daughter. "Of course we can. I'd like that also. You're always studying and I'm always working... We haven't any time for each other anymore." She looked wistful for a moment. "I don't know what it is that you have to do, but I'm sure it's very important. Please be safe. When you came back I'll have the ingredients out for cookie baking. Sugar?"
Amy smiled. "Of course."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lita sat down and wiped her brow and breathed heavily. *Whew! That took a while! But it was worth it!* She looked around at her now spotless home and smiled. She sat and thought of the upcoming battle. How would it turn out? "We'll win, of course!" she shouted standing up, fist clenched in midair. "We won't lose, no matter what! To protect everything! We didn't come this far to lose to scum!"
She sighed and a frown settled on her face. She walked to a table by the doorway and picked up a picture frame. In the frame were a man and a woman standing together smiling. "But on the other hand..." Her green eyes misted over. "Will I be seeing you soon; Mom, Dad?" She gripped the golden frame tightly and a single tear slid down her cheek. *They were so happy... I don't know how it could have happened*
The picture was one of her parents right before boarding the airplane that would lead to their demise (A/N: I don't know that; I just made it up^_^0). *They – WE were so happy, and that happiness was just stolen away. Is that going to happen again? Is our happy future going to be stolen from us – just like that?* She set the frame down gently. *No. I won't let it happen! We will be happy! My princess and my friends will be happy if I have to give my very life! I would do anything to see them happy!*
She went into the kitchen and got out pasta noodles, several assortments of cheese, hamburger, and tomato sauce. "I'll make some lasagna for when we get home. It'll keep 'til then and we'll need something good after we win that horrible battle." She set to work quickly, boiling water for the noodles; another pot was for the tomato sauce and a skillet for the hamburger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Raye sat garbed in her shrine maiden clothing in the front of the Fire. "Oh, Great Fire, I beseech thee." The Fire leapt to life, stretching to the ceiling almost. "Oh, Great Fire, how is it that we use these newfound weapons of ours? Are they but ordinary swords? Or are they more; are they special?" Two coals leaped out of the Fire and Raye had to scoot quickly out of the way to prevent herself from being branded. She turned quickly to see the coal burning red on the floor beside her. She watched as the coals dulled and eventually went out all together.
Lifting her sleeve out of the way, she reached down and carefully moved to coal out of the way. Amazingly enough it wasn't hot even if it had just been in a fire. She gasped as she saw an inscription charred into the floorboards. Engraved in the wood was the Japanese character that, roughly translated, meant "power enhancement" (A/N: hey, I'm on a making things up roll; I have no clue if their really is a Japanese character by itself that could translate to that, but for all intensive purposes, let's just pretend there is, 'k? good^_^). Her amethyst eyes (A/N: gomen for all of these interrupting the story. I have quite a few manga pics of Rei where her eyes are purple and I really think she looks pretty w/ purple eyes so that's what color her eyes for this story^_^) widened and she gasped in understanding. "Power... enhancement." Her eyes sparkled and shined in a manner that could look like fire or ice, depending on the angle and perception. "With this new power... All our power enhanced and together... We can win this! I'm sure now!" She stood so quickly that had she been a normal human and not a Senshi she would have passed out from the blood rush that would have resulted from such a maneuver.
"Tea, Raye?" Raye stopped and turned toward the voice.
"Please," she replied. "Have some with me, Grandpa."
"I think I will," the old man replied. He looked at her suspiciously. "I don't know what you are up to, but I hope it's nothing you'll regret. Just... come back safe and sound from whatever escapade you're going off on, alright?"
Raye nodded solemnly. She wouldn't ever leave her grandpa behind; would never do to him what her father had done to her. She didn't want to be like him, leaving behind ones that loved you. She would come back. "Don't worry; I will be back sooner than you think."
Her grandpa nodded back. *I hope so* The two sat there in silence together, the only sound the occasional sipping of tea.
"You'll tell Chad goodbye, right?"
Raye sputtered and choked on her tea. "Well, uh..." Would she tell him goodbye? COULD she tell him goodbye? "Yes, I will," she said quietly.
Grandpa merely nodded and took another long sip of tea. "Good," he said finally. He took his cup away from his face and with eyes still closed he said, "Speak of the devil."
Raye looked up nervously and made eye contact with Chad. She got up and went to stand in front of him in the doorway. "Um, Chad, I just wanted... I just wanted to say that I'll be gone for a while and not to worry."
Although she couldn't see through all the bangs his eyes widened and he gasped in surprise. "Will... Will you be home soon Miss Raye?"
Raye smiled warmly. "Yes; and when I do, maybe we can go somewhere. Just the two of us."
Chad blushed and underneath all the hair his eyes sparkled in happiness. "Alright."
*The Senshi of War will not fail; not now, not ever*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The six Senshi stood in the Crown Arcade. Andy stood in front of them listening to the story of their new (or old, really) enemy.
"Onegai, be careful and come home safe and sound," was all Andy could say. Suddenly someone entered the arcade and all turned to see who it was. Mina let out a happy sigh and then looked sad.
She walked over to the one who entered. "Ohayo (Good morning), Jin." She smiled sadly at him.
The smile that was on his face disappeared seeing Mina's saddened facial features. "What is it?" he asked.
"Well...I can't explain, but I have to go for a while. I'll be back though. I promise."
Jin nodded. "I understand." Mina started to turn. "Matte (Wait)!" Mina turned to him again. "When you get back... Well, I'd like to get to know you better."
Mina smiled. "I'd like that too." She stood up on her tiptoes and gave a feather-soft kiss on his lips, just barely brushing them. She walked back to the others and turned. Everyone was facing Jin and he got the sudden impression that they were important people with an important mission.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Venus Star Power, Make-up!"
"Mercury Star Power, Make-up!"
"Jupiter Star Power, Make-up!"
"Mars Star Power, Make-up!"
"Moon Prism Power, Make-up!"
"Moon Cosmic Power, Make-up!"
Together they stood outside of Tokyo Tower and a strong gust of wind blew up and caused their hair to fly this way and that.
2nd A/N: yay! Chappie 13's done! Um, 'k, there's actually been a lot of confusion in this story, or at least I think so. If someone out there doesn't think so, congrats! You're not even writing it and you understand more than I do! -_-0 well, one thing is that in chapter 3, Sailor Moon says Moon Crystal Power, Make-up and in this and chapter 11 she says Moon Cosmic Power, Make-up...pretend chapter 3 said the same thing as this and 11^_^ Another is the timeline thing still...*sigh* I imagined it right after the R season, but before the S season, so that's why there's no outer Senshi. So, did this sound depressing? It was supposed to, but I think I'm always too happy to write anything truly depressing...*sigh again -_-0* k, ja ne! Dunno when I can write again. Gomen nasai!
~venusgirl
Last time in Sword of the Senshi: Mina met that really sexy guy and got in the fight with the youma, hurting her shoulder. Malachite came up to the Senshi, telling them that they were to meet him the next day at the Tokyo Tower for a showdown that would determine the fate of the world.
~*~Chapter 13~*~
Mina lay on her bed hours later, lying on her side so as not to hurt her shoulder. *Well, at least it wasn't dislocated... Although a hairline fracture's not too awesome...* She grimaced and closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep. After all, she would need all her energy for tomorrow. Her eyes snapped back open again. She sighed mournfully. "I'll never fall asleep with that on my mind," she told herself, getting into a sitting position in her bed. She threw her legs over the side of the bed, slipping her feet into her slippers. She got up carefully so as no to disturb Artemis from his slumber.
She opened her door and padded down the hallway towards the kitchen. "Maybe some food will help..." *Oh God, I sound like Serena* She opened the refrigerator and decided on a bagel. She grabbed the butter and slid her bagel into the toaster. While she waited she got herself a glass of milk and drank slowly. When her bagel popped up she buttered it slowly and ate. With that she put her dishes in the sink and returned to her bedroom, turning the light off and sighed, drifting off into an uneasy sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Serena woke up the next morning bright and early to birds chirping cheerfully out the window. Serena sighed wistfully. *I wish it sounded cheerful and happy to my ears* She pulled the covers off of her body and got out of her bed. She looked back down at her bed and around at the rest of her room. *Is this the last time I see all this stuff? The last day I spend with my family?* She shook her head in defiance. *What am I thinking?! I've got to save this world for my friends and for out happy future! We know there is one; Darien and I still have to get married and have our child!* With that, she walked strongly to her closet and picked out an outfit, just as if it was a normal day with nothing to worry about.
In the other room down the hall, Rini wasn't quite as confident as Serena. She lay facing the wall on her bed, tears streaming down her face. *Please, God, if you're there, please hear me. We, all of the Senshi and me, need your help really badly. Please help up get through this. Help us save our beautiful world and regain peace...Onegai!*
Serena walked up to the door about to storm in, but stopped short as she heard a small sniffle, nearly inaudible. She held onto the edge of the door. She couldn't decide if she should go in or leave her be. She knew Rini would be embarrassed if caught crying; she always tried to be so strong. But she couldn't just leave her to her sorrow and fear. She stepped into the room quietly and sat down on the bed.
Rini straightened and rubbed her eyes, faking a yawn as if just rubbing a bit of sleep away. "Ohayo, Serena." She turned quickly, her eyes shining brightly with left over tears. She smiled big, trying vainly to cover up the sadness in that brilliant shine.
Serena smiled back warmly, a hint of sadness in her own smile. She rubbed Rini's back soothingly. "Don't worry so much," she said, leaning down close to ear, whispering. "It's okay to be afraid; that's why you have friends. We all love you... I love you." Serena blushed a bit. It was always hard to think of Rini as her own daughter and not Neo-Queen Serenity, even if that was her future self.
Rini gasped and then smiled. She let a small cry of helplessness and latched onto Serena, letting all her tears pour out. Serena gasped a bit in surprise; she certainly hadn't expected that. Nonetheless, she took hold of Rini, feeling a need to protect her from harm, a real motherly bond. Her heart bled for the pink-haired little girl. It wasn't fair. She and the others had had their childhood, a chance to mature happily; but not Rini. She was still young, she had everything in front of her, but all she knew were fights and danger lurking around every corner. Every time peace came it was snatched away by an invisible force no sooner that it had come.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amy sat quietly at the breakfast table with her mother. She looked down at her food and picked at it.
"Honey, what's wrong?" Amy jumped at her mother's voice. "Gomen nasai, Okaasan. It's delicious." She forced a forkful of the scrambled eggs into her mouth for confirmation.
Her mother shook her head. "That's not what I mean. You seem so...distant. Like... I don't know." She dared not say what she felt like saying; she felt like saying as if she would never see her again. "I assume that there is something very important that you need tell me; that's why you had me take off, right?"
Amy sat there, unresponsive. No, nothing to tell her; what could she tell her? Sorry, mom, but I may never see you again because I'm really a Sailor Senshi and I could very well die in this battle? Hardly. She sighed. "I just..." Her throat tightened and it became very painful to speak. She gasped, her voice raspy. "I just... I just..." Her words were becoming incoherent. "I love you, 'Kaasan!" Her head flew to her hands and she cried pitifully, full of anger and misery. This wasn't how she'd wanted to spend the morning with her mother. She'd asked to her take off of work, saying it was an emergency so that she might spend some time with her mother, gaining happy memories... Possibly the last. That was all, just make some happy memories, but instead she sat there crying like some child.
Her mother took her around the shoulders and held her close. "I don't know what you're going through and you don't have to say. I don't think you could, even if you wanted to. But, hear this please. Know that a lot of people love you. You have all your friends; your father, even if he doesn't show it; and me... Especially me. Please keep that in memory. Don't do anything... foolish."
Amy sat there and just let her mother hold her. *No, nothing foolish... Of course! This isn't foolish! This is to save our Earth, to protect out princess and friends! This is not foolish!* She pulled away from her mother slowly and wiped away the tears. "Don't worry, Okaasan. I won't. I'll be back soon and maybe then you and I could spend the time together that I wanted to spend with you. Like when I was little and we would bake cookies. Do you think we could do that again?"
Her mother looked shocked. Her features softened and she smiled down at her daughter. "Of course we can. I'd like that also. You're always studying and I'm always working... We haven't any time for each other anymore." She looked wistful for a moment. "I don't know what it is that you have to do, but I'm sure it's very important. Please be safe. When you came back I'll have the ingredients out for cookie baking. Sugar?"
Amy smiled. "Of course."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lita sat down and wiped her brow and breathed heavily. *Whew! That took a while! But it was worth it!* She looked around at her now spotless home and smiled. She sat and thought of the upcoming battle. How would it turn out? "We'll win, of course!" she shouted standing up, fist clenched in midair. "We won't lose, no matter what! To protect everything! We didn't come this far to lose to scum!"
She sighed and a frown settled on her face. She walked to a table by the doorway and picked up a picture frame. In the frame were a man and a woman standing together smiling. "But on the other hand..." Her green eyes misted over. "Will I be seeing you soon; Mom, Dad?" She gripped the golden frame tightly and a single tear slid down her cheek. *They were so happy... I don't know how it could have happened*
The picture was one of her parents right before boarding the airplane that would lead to their demise (A/N: I don't know that; I just made it up^_^0). *They – WE were so happy, and that happiness was just stolen away. Is that going to happen again? Is our happy future going to be stolen from us – just like that?* She set the frame down gently. *No. I won't let it happen! We will be happy! My princess and my friends will be happy if I have to give my very life! I would do anything to see them happy!*
She went into the kitchen and got out pasta noodles, several assortments of cheese, hamburger, and tomato sauce. "I'll make some lasagna for when we get home. It'll keep 'til then and we'll need something good after we win that horrible battle." She set to work quickly, boiling water for the noodles; another pot was for the tomato sauce and a skillet for the hamburger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Raye sat garbed in her shrine maiden clothing in the front of the Fire. "Oh, Great Fire, I beseech thee." The Fire leapt to life, stretching to the ceiling almost. "Oh, Great Fire, how is it that we use these newfound weapons of ours? Are they but ordinary swords? Or are they more; are they special?" Two coals leaped out of the Fire and Raye had to scoot quickly out of the way to prevent herself from being branded. She turned quickly to see the coal burning red on the floor beside her. She watched as the coals dulled and eventually went out all together.
Lifting her sleeve out of the way, she reached down and carefully moved to coal out of the way. Amazingly enough it wasn't hot even if it had just been in a fire. She gasped as she saw an inscription charred into the floorboards. Engraved in the wood was the Japanese character that, roughly translated, meant "power enhancement" (A/N: hey, I'm on a making things up roll; I have no clue if their really is a Japanese character by itself that could translate to that, but for all intensive purposes, let's just pretend there is, 'k? good^_^). Her amethyst eyes (A/N: gomen for all of these interrupting the story. I have quite a few manga pics of Rei where her eyes are purple and I really think she looks pretty w/ purple eyes so that's what color her eyes for this story^_^) widened and she gasped in understanding. "Power... enhancement." Her eyes sparkled and shined in a manner that could look like fire or ice, depending on the angle and perception. "With this new power... All our power enhanced and together... We can win this! I'm sure now!" She stood so quickly that had she been a normal human and not a Senshi she would have passed out from the blood rush that would have resulted from such a maneuver.
"Tea, Raye?" Raye stopped and turned toward the voice.
"Please," she replied. "Have some with me, Grandpa."
"I think I will," the old man replied. He looked at her suspiciously. "I don't know what you are up to, but I hope it's nothing you'll regret. Just... come back safe and sound from whatever escapade you're going off on, alright?"
Raye nodded solemnly. She wouldn't ever leave her grandpa behind; would never do to him what her father had done to her. She didn't want to be like him, leaving behind ones that loved you. She would come back. "Don't worry; I will be back sooner than you think."
Her grandpa nodded back. *I hope so* The two sat there in silence together, the only sound the occasional sipping of tea.
"You'll tell Chad goodbye, right?"
Raye sputtered and choked on her tea. "Well, uh..." Would she tell him goodbye? COULD she tell him goodbye? "Yes, I will," she said quietly.
Grandpa merely nodded and took another long sip of tea. "Good," he said finally. He took his cup away from his face and with eyes still closed he said, "Speak of the devil."
Raye looked up nervously and made eye contact with Chad. She got up and went to stand in front of him in the doorway. "Um, Chad, I just wanted... I just wanted to say that I'll be gone for a while and not to worry."
Although she couldn't see through all the bangs his eyes widened and he gasped in surprise. "Will... Will you be home soon Miss Raye?"
Raye smiled warmly. "Yes; and when I do, maybe we can go somewhere. Just the two of us."
Chad blushed and underneath all the hair his eyes sparkled in happiness. "Alright."
*The Senshi of War will not fail; not now, not ever*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The six Senshi stood in the Crown Arcade. Andy stood in front of them listening to the story of their new (or old, really) enemy.
"Onegai, be careful and come home safe and sound," was all Andy could say. Suddenly someone entered the arcade and all turned to see who it was. Mina let out a happy sigh and then looked sad.
She walked over to the one who entered. "Ohayo (Good morning), Jin." She smiled sadly at him.
The smile that was on his face disappeared seeing Mina's saddened facial features. "What is it?" he asked.
"Well...I can't explain, but I have to go for a while. I'll be back though. I promise."
Jin nodded. "I understand." Mina started to turn. "Matte (Wait)!" Mina turned to him again. "When you get back... Well, I'd like to get to know you better."
Mina smiled. "I'd like that too." She stood up on her tiptoes and gave a feather-soft kiss on his lips, just barely brushing them. She walked back to the others and turned. Everyone was facing Jin and he got the sudden impression that they were important people with an important mission.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Venus Star Power, Make-up!"
"Mercury Star Power, Make-up!"
"Jupiter Star Power, Make-up!"
"Mars Star Power, Make-up!"
"Moon Prism Power, Make-up!"
"Moon Cosmic Power, Make-up!"
Together they stood outside of Tokyo Tower and a strong gust of wind blew up and caused their hair to fly this way and that.
2nd A/N: yay! Chappie 13's done! Um, 'k, there's actually been a lot of confusion in this story, or at least I think so. If someone out there doesn't think so, congrats! You're not even writing it and you understand more than I do! -_-0 well, one thing is that in chapter 3, Sailor Moon says Moon Crystal Power, Make-up and in this and chapter 11 she says Moon Cosmic Power, Make-up...pretend chapter 3 said the same thing as this and 11^_^ Another is the timeline thing still...*sigh* I imagined it right after the R season, but before the S season, so that's why there's no outer Senshi. So, did this sound depressing? It was supposed to, but I think I'm always too happy to write anything truly depressing...*sigh again -_-0* k, ja ne! Dunno when I can write again. Gomen nasai!
~venusgirl
