Usagi's Letter
Dear Diary,
I have such a story to tell you! I talk a lot about how crazy Usagi-chan is in this journal most of the time, but that is going to change starting after I tell you what happened just a few short days ago...
Okay, so Usagi-chan can be a whimp, a crybaby, an irresponsible whiner, and pretty much all the qualities you WOULDN'T want in a leader. You probably already find her annoying, don't you? That's how I felt a long time ago...until when I finally was open to give her a chance, she was gone...and only a letter from her to me remained...
"USAGI-CHAN! DON'T YOU DARE STEAL THOSE COOKIES!" I could hear my voice echo in the front yard of the temple as I rushed to follow my friend, if you could have even called her that at that moment, as she ran with a bunch of cookies that i had mistakenly left on the table.
"I should have known better", I thought, "Leaving cookies on the table when Usagi comes to the house is like leaving a steak next to a hungry wolf!" There was a meeting between the inner senshi going on, and while we were all talking, Usagi happened to have managed to sneak some cookies and run out of the temple...Of course, there was one advantage...Usagi isn't a very fast runner. I knew I'd be catching up to her any minute...Sure enough, I saw her figure in the distance stop short, panting heavily.
I ran up to her. "Baka ne, Usagi-chan!" I scolded her. "You are so immature!" I snatched the cookies from her hands. She jumped in surprise, her long blonde curls bouncing along with her.
"But, Rei-chan, you didn't give me any last time at the meeting, and everyone else got one!" she complained.
"That was because you were hitting me with a broom!"
"Well I hit you because you were yelling at me!"
"Well I was yelling because you were a half-hour late for the meeting AGAIN!" I retorted slyly.
Usagi was quiet. "Ha", I thought, "That got her..."
"So, since you tried to steal the cookies today, I'll make sure that no one catches you having any", I said.
"Oh, come on! That's not fair, Rei! Give me at least a half of one! PLEASE?"
"Maybe this will teach you to act like you're 15 for once!" I shouted. And with that, we both walked back to Hino Shrine, Usagi trudging behind me.
"Finally! Here they come!" I heard Makoto shout to the other girls. I felt bad the others had to wait for us for so long...we had a lot to discuss about the enemy's database. Luna was furious—well, for a cat, she looked furious.
"Usagi! You've wasted so much time already! We need to get to work!" protested Luna. "Yeah!" Minako agreed. "You need to grow up!" I snapped. Usagi stared down at the floor, apparently guilty. Served her right, didn't it? I shook my head, making sure she saw it, too.
"But...It was just a bunch of cookies! I won't do it again, I promise!"
"That's what you said LAST time! Geez, sometimes it's hard to picture you as ruler of the moon kingdom! You wouldn't be able to handle it all!" I growled. "Do us all a favor and live up to our expectations!"
Usagi's eyes began to get glossy. "Here she goes again", I thought.
"Well, let's not waste time fighting about it and let's continue our meeting," suggested Ami, seeing Usagi's eyes fill up and wanting to change the subject. We all quickly agreed, and continued about business.
"Where do you think the enemy's database would be now?"
"Will we be able to capture them before it's too late?"
"Maybe we should call the outer senshi here?"
Thousands of questions were thrown out every which way at the meeting. But, surprisingly, Usagi was quiet. She usually always had to put her two cents in. Yet, no one except me really seemed to notice. I gave her a glance, but she looked away. "Maybe I should have given her that cookie..." I mumbled under my breath. But I didn't. Not through the entire 2 hours the whole group spent at my temple did I giver her a cookie. And after a while, I forgot. But Usagi didn't. When we all said goodbye, she refused to say a word. She handed something to Ami. I looked towards the others as we watched her slowly walk away. Ami-chan put what Usagi handed to her in her pocket.
"Usagi always gets like this. She'll get over it like she always does," said Minako. "Yes, tomorrow she'll be as spirited and hyper as ever!" agreed Makoto. I forced myself to believe what they said, but in the back of my head, my intuition was telling me that something was wrong. But I decided to let it go...Usagi was a whimp, and she cried easily over silly things. I didn't regret anything I said one little bit. I waved as my friends walked away, and turned around and headed back to the temple.
"Shoot..." I mumbled. "I should've brought a raincoat!" The end of the school day brought heavy rain, and I was forced to run as fast as my legs would carry me to the temple, with only my suitcase to cover my head from the water. I wondered how Usagi was doing. "Maybe I should've given her a chance", I thought. I finally reached the temple. There was a note on the door:
Rei-
Went to the store to buy some supplies...a big storm coming up!
Love, Grandpa
I sighed. I was alone for another afternoon. It usually took Grandpa a while to get things from the store; rain or no rain...
About 15 minutes later I sat doing my homework with a cup of tea when the phone rang. I jumped. "Geez, who could be calling..." I mumbled, and picked up the phone.
"Hello? Hino residence", I said in my most fake polite voice.
"Rei-chan? Is that you? It's Makoto. Something really, really wrong is going on here..."
"What is it?" I said, cutting her off.
"It's Usagi-chan...The last time the Tsukinos saw her was last night...today she was gone! She didn't show up to school or anything! Mrs. Tsukino said the last she saw of her was when she went to bed..."
I gasped. "I knew it...I just knew it..." I said under my breath. I was starting to get a little nervous.
"What?" asked Makoto. "Nothing..." I quickly replied.
"Well, anyway", she continued, "We even asked Haruka-san and Michiru-san...everyone! She is nowhere in site! The police are out looking for her..."
There was silence over the line for a few minutes.
"Rei-chan, maybe we should all gather at the temple for a meeting. Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah...that's fine..." I said. As we hung up, a chill ran down my spine. I'd really done it this time.
"So we have NO clue where she is?" cried an exasperated Minako a day later. "She's our leader! What are we supposed to do! We tried searching for her for hours yesterday!"
Everyone, even the cats, sat quietly, not wanting to say a word. Luna sat on my lap and I stroked her fur. The silence was almost painful. Finally, it was broken, by the soft voice of Michiru.
"If she ran away, did she have a reason to?" she asked.
Minako, Makoto, and Ami looked at me. "What? It was just a stupid cookie!" was all I said. Right after I said that I knew what a foolish thing it was to say.
"What?" asked Haruka questioningly. "Usagi tried to steal a bunch of cookies in the middle of a meeting! AGAIN!" I snapped. "And I didn't let her get away with it, that's all..."
"Didn't let her get away with it!" Minakoscreeched. "That's an understatement, Rei-chan! You said awful things to her...and you knew it too!"
"She didn't say a word to us afterwards..." Ami added.
"And now you are regretting it, right?" asked Michiru.
Kami-sama, did I hate Michiru at that moment or what? "Since when did you become a mind-reader?" I mumbled. Michiru looked slightly taken-aback. I didn't care, at least not at that moment.
"Is there any place at all that we haven't looked?" asked Makoto. "We can't just give up..."
"She couldn't have gone anywhere far..." Setsuna said thoughtfully. "Maybe we're not looking hard enough..."
"Maybe she moves around a lot and we can't keep track of her..." suggested Hotaru. "What sort of things did you say, Rei-chan?"
I was silent. Now, I was starting to feel really guilty...And didn't want anyone knowing the bad things I said to Usagi. "I'd rather not talk about it..." I simply said.
"Oh, Rei", said Ami. "Before Usagi left, she handed me this piece of paper and said to give it to you when I knew it was time...I don't know what it is, but I have a feeling this is the time..."
"What?" I said.
Ami handed me the folded piece of pink bunny-decorated paper. There, in familiar sloppy handwriting, were the words, TO: REI PRIVATE! I slowly unfolded it and began to read:
Dear Rei-chan,
Just please make sure no one else reads this...
You and me are like sweet and sour , hot and cold, and everything that's OPPOSITE of each other. I know what you think of me, and I don't blame you for thinking that way. Hopefully this letter explains what I truly think of you.
No matter how many times I've yelled at you, hit you with a broom, and tortured you in every way possible, I've always sort of looked up to you. You have so much poise and elegance, and besides your short-fuse temper, it's as if you have no flaws at all. You might not know this, but when you yell at me and give me lectures, I use them to try and improve myself...but usually that doesn't seem to work. I don't think any of the senshi, or even myself, have seen any improvement as far as my studying and leadership skills go. But I would just like you to know that I try my very hardest.
I don't know how you, the rest of the senshi, Luna, and Mamo-chan have been able to put up with me for all this time. Sometimes I wonder what anyone sees in me. You must think I have such a perfect life...A great boyfriend, a future child, and a personality that somehow attracts people and that lets everything slide...but it's not all sugar, spice, and everything nice. I have a lot on my hands, and my problem is that I don't know how to face it all. To be honest, I think you, or anyone else for that matter, would end up as a better leader of the Sailor Senshi. Even your average Joe Schmoe could do a better job than I have been doing for the past years. I don't WANT to be a crybaby, and I don't WANT to be irresponsible, it's just the way I am, and I'm so totally sorry for being such a burden to you, and to everyone else.
Hopefully, if everything went as planned, by the time you get this letter I will have already left. Don't go looking for me, I am only doing this because I want this heavy burden lifted off of everyone's chests. I also hope that there are no spelling or grammar mistakes in this letter, because it took me forever to write and perfect it! Well, I'm praying that this letter answered a few questions. Enjoy life while it lasts, and whatever you do, don't change! Give a good-bye to the others and a kiss to Mamo-chan for me.
Love,
USAGI
No one made a sound throughout the whole time I was reading the letter. My eyes would fill up with more and more tears reading each paragraph. I was crying in front of everyone, but I was so absorbed in what Usagi-chan had written that I didn't care. I finished and looked up at everyone. Minako strode over to me on the couch and put a hand on my shoulder. I uncontrollably kept mumbling to myself, "I am such a baka...baka..."
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"No..." I mumbled, my voice cracking, "Not until we find her..."
I got no sleep that night. None. I felt as if I'd be neglecting her by closing my eyes and falling asleep. I know it seems silly, but that is exactly how I felt. I thought about where she was and how she was doing and if she was all right. I was ready to punch myself after the things I had said...
Geez, sometimes it's hard to picture you as ruler of the moon kingdom! You wouldn't be able to handle it all!
Do us all a favor and live up to our expectations!
I decided on one thing out of the whole time I was thinking...I was going to start over. Forget everything that Usagi had done to me, and most of all, stop doing the things that I had done to her. I only could hope that I was not too late to start again.
So, the next morning, we all set out in different directions around the city, communicators in hand. I had the letter in my coat pocket. The rain was coming down harder than ever, and after 2 hours, I was just about ready to give up. As I was walking past the telephone booth to the park, I noticed a small figure lying in the corner of the booth. I opened it up, and sure enough, there was Usagi.
"Usagi chan!" I cried. Her eyes were closed, and she was soaking wet. I knelt down and checked her pulse. It was fine. "Is she asleep?" I wondered out loud. I used my communicator to tell the senshi to meet me there. 5 minutes later, they showed up.
"Kitten..." uttered Haruka. Michiru leaned her head on Haruka's shoulder.
"She has a pulse...But I don't know if she's going to stay that way..." I said. Desperately, I grabbed her shoulders and shook her.
"Usagi-chan! Please wake up!" I pleaded. And then, what I thought would never happen did happen. Usagi's eyes fluttered open. "Rei-chan...minna...This wasn't supposed to happen..." She mumbled. She shakily stood up, and I helped her out of the booth.
"Usagi-chan!" I said. "What in Kami-sama's name did you think you were doing? You could have gotten hurt! You...you..."
I couldn't find the words to say any longer. All I did was embrace her in a tight hug.
"I decided to sleep in the booth," Usagi said, "I didn't plan on having you all find me...I didn't want it that way..."
We were sitting at the shrine only moments later, listening to Usagi's explanation. "I didn't want to have you all stuck with a whiner like me for a leader forever!" She choked up, and that was when we knew she was done talking.
"Usagi-chan, you are a great leader! Don't think like that about yourself!" Hotaru said comfortingly.
"I think Rei-chan has a little explaining to do as well", remarked Makoto, looking at me.
I stood up, tears in my eyes, and I didn't try to fight them either. "Usagi-chan..." I began. "I...I'm so sorry...for everything I've done to you...I don't' know what the Sailor Senshi team...or this world...would do without you...G-g-gomen...I just..."
"Did you get my letter?" asked Usagi, cutting me off at just the right time.
I pulled it out of my pocket and nodded.
"Oh, good!" she said."And I hope Ami-chan didn't read it...or I'd strangle her!" she said playfully, nudging Ami. Everyone chuckled. "This is the Usagi we know!" exclaimed Setsuna.
There are some days when I just want to go up to Usagi and strangle! But I know that behind the crybaby and the whiner that I see most of the time, there is a heart of pure gold. There are not a lot of people in this world today that are as kind and generous as Usagi-chan. There is more to her than meets the eye, that's for sure...oh no...speak of the devil, there goes Usagi with those cookies again...Better go catch her! Ja-ne!
REI-CHAN
