Author's Note: If you did not know, I am thinking about turning this story into a romance of Usagi and Ran. I still haven't decided on what to do, and actually this is more of a "filler chapter," if you know what I mean. This chapter is to get the plot moving forward and get Ran to grow up faster. Now, we can't exactly be having a romance between a sixteen-year-old and a look-alike-eleven-year old (that is if I do one). Oh! And tell me if you think I should do a romance. If you say, "do one!," you'll have to give me suggestions because I never wrote a romance before. Thanks to those who reviewed!!

Rainbow

By: Sailor Moonac

Chapter Four: Nothing is as it Seems

"How...how long has it been now? I can't tell, time seems to be at a stop constantly." A hand was raised to a mirror. "You're changing. I know it, I can see it...how dare you?!" The mirror shattered and fell to the floor.

"I'll get you back, no one will take you." A hand reached down and picked up a broken shard of the mirror. An image reflected of it once, then vanished. It gleamed again. Another image formed and stayed.

"You will pay...no, you won't." The mirror shard was flung across the room and smashed into the wall, shattering it even further. "You will die, by my hands and my hands alone."

"I'll have you back...C."

Blue-gray eyes opened and looked around to locate the lamp beside the bed. Ran switched on the lamp and looked out the window. Daybreak was just falling on the quiet suburbs of Juuban and most of it's residents were still asleep. Ran got out of bed and stretched towards the ceiling. He went to the closet and pulled out a black T-shirt and a pair of jeans. Changing, he went to the window and looked out of them, noticing his surroundings that had been his home for nearly five months now. It seemed almost surreal to Ran, to be away from the Research Institute with no one after him and with no one testing his powers. Of course, the fact that Ran hadn't been using major magic might also prevent the scientists from finding him. Ran didn't want to get the Tsukino family in trouble after all. Ran sometimes had trouble dealing with his powers though.

Ever since Ran had left the Research Institute and come in contact with Usagi, A had always appeared in mirrors where ever he went. Not just mirrors, but his reflections as well. It wasn't so obvious at first, but as he started aging due to the side effects of being a three-leaf Clover, it became very obvious. However, it appeared to Ran that only he could see A's reflection. Everybody else only saw a now fourteen-year-old looking Ran. Ikuko had commented once that Ran must had hit a serious growth spurt to grow so much in five months. A hadn't done much of anything every time Ran saw him in his reflection. The usual, threatening to kill Usagi and claiming that Ran could only love him best. It made Ran wonder if A could leave the Research Institute or if the seals were stronger since Ran had escaped.

Usagi had started attending high school now and Chibi-Usa had left the Tsukino residence a month before with her kitten, Diana. Usagi said that she had to return to the future and that Chibi-Usa is actually Usagi's future daughter. That explained to Ran why she hesitated before in introducing Chibi-Usa. Usagi also introduced the Sailor Soldiers, Mamoru, and the three cats to Ran, and them to Ran. Usagi had left out the subject of the Clover project to them but had told Ran who they were as Sailor Soldiers and Princesses/Prince.

They were all curious of to why Ran would grow so fast every time they saw him, and even Ami said it was most likely impossible. She at one time even deduced that Ran might have been XXY, but concluded it impossible otherwise Ran would probably have been a walking giant. Of course, unable to come up with excuses, Usagi had told them the truth about Ran. However, they were all just pleased and eager to see his powers, as well as Usagi. Of course, Ran had refused and explained his situation in more detail.

The Tsukino now seemed to have accepted Ran as almost an adoptive son. Ikuko and Kenji were at first skeptical in keeping Ran around, but after Ran had told them that he would leave if they wanted him to, they insisted for their conscience wouldn't be able to deal with it. Shingo and Ran got along well, they were about the same age and they could have some more private conversations to themselves (Shingo making fun of Usagi and Ran just sweat dropping). Although, Usagi had speculated that the real reason that Ikuko and Kenji had kept Ran around was that he was good with chores and liked to cook; also he didn't fight like Usagi and Shingo did. Ran was given his own room next to Usagi's room, which was normally the guest room, and Chibi-Usa's room was cleared out.

Ran walked back to his bed and kneeled under to pull out his slippers which he had discarded last night. Ran tended to get up at dawn and go downstairs to start on breakfast even before Ikuko did. Ran left his room and crept quietly down the hall to the guest bathroom which he had to himself (it was the one he broke the mirror in) because it had no mirror thanks to him. He didn't mind though, he wouldn't want to see A in the mirror when he was taking a bath anyway. Ran quickly brushed his teeth and went downstairs. Before entering the kitchen, he paused at a mirror and looked in it. Good, no A.

Sometimes when Ran looked in mirrors, he would actually see himself. He had assumed that it was because A wasn't looking in a mirror. Ran this time saw himself. He ran his hand through his now ponytail-less short dark blue hair. He sighed a bit and went to the kitchen to start breakfast. While working, he thought of why he had woken up this morning. It's true that he could and would wake himself up, but today Ran had swore a voice had woken him up. It must have been A, as usual. Ran tended to be able to hear A's thoughts, that is, when he wasn't blocking him out.

"Ran, good morning."

Ran turned around and faced Ikuko who was pulling on her apron. "Good morning Ikuko-mama." He then turned back to flipping the pancake before it was burnt. Ikuko had insisted that Ran call her 'Ikuko-mama' instead of always 'Ms. Tsukino.'

About an hour later, Kenji had come downstairs and greeted Ran as well. Like Ikuko, he had insisted that that Ran call him 'Kenji-papa.' "Good morning Ran. The pancakes smell really good."

"Thank you." As Kenji sat down, Ran passed the pancakes to Kenji. "Just butter?"

"Yes please." Kenji opened the morning newspaper and submerged himself within it's contents.

"Ran, will you be a dear and wake up Shingo; he has school before Usagi does. I'll start the pancakes for Shingo."

"Yes Ikuko-mama." Ran went back upstairs to Shingo's room only to find it empty. 'He must be all ready up. Completely opposite of Usagi.' Ran smiled at that thought and went to the bathroom door and knocked on it. "Shingo, breakfast will be ready for you in a few minutes." Ran could hear a muffled reply of acknowledgment, so he then went to Usagi's room.

Ran knocked a few times on Usagi's door. After a few moments of silence, Ran opened the door quietly and stepped inside. As usual, Usagi was snoring away not so gracefully and half way onto the floor. Smiling slightly, Ran walked over and pulled Usagi back completely onto the bed. He had a slight bit of trouble, first the fact that Usagi was still taller than him by a good few inches, second the fact that Ran wasn't that strong yet, and third the fact that Usagi weighed a lot. Although, Usagi doesn't put on weight visibly at all; it must be all that Sailor Soldier fighting.

Usagi's Sailor Moon form had changed from the first time Ran saw it. First off, Usagi isn't known as Super Sailor Moon anymore. She had completely changed her skirt, her boats, and nearly her entire outfit. The only thing that remained the same was her hair style and hair accessories. The most striking thing to Ran was the wings that she possessed on her back. At first, Ran had thought the wings were there to just be an ornament. However a month before, just before Chibi-Usa had returned to the future, Mamoru had been kidnapped. A devastated Usagi went out on her own to fight for Mamoru's life and while running away from the other Sailor Soldiers, she had transformed into Eternal Sailor Moon to fly away to the Dead Moon. The Sailor Soldiers, the three cats, and Ran had all been there and had watched in awe as she flew away on angel wings. Mamoru had been returned safely and set off to America to study.

'Mamoru...how could he do that to Usagi?' Ran reached down and pushed some of Usagi's hair out of her face. 'He hasn't written to her in nearly two months. Hmn...'

"Ran?"

Ran turned around and faced a yawning black cat with a crescent moon bold spot. "Hello little crescent moon bald spot kitty."

The cat, Luna huffed up angrily and jumped on Ran's shoulder and started licking his face. "Don't call me that, otherwise you'll have to face a tickle torture."

Laughing, Ran fell beside Usagi's bed pulling Luna from his face. "I was just kidding Luna. I know your name."

"Well, you had better after five months. Otherwise--urgh--"

"Luna," Usagi had gotten up and grabbed Luna from Ran. "Do me a favor and don't wake me up so early. I have almost an hour before school." Usagi dropped Luna onto her bed and looked down at the still chuckling Ran. "Hey you! Don't wake me up so early! I-(yawn) am still tired." Pushing Luna further down her bed, Usagi pulled the covers back on and went back to sleep. "Wake me up in a half an hour."

Getting up, Ran tucked Usagi back in bed and picked up Luna. "All right, another half an hour. Just don't be late." Smiling, Ran left the room with Luna on his shoulder. He headed back downstairs to find Shingo downstairs eating breakfast. Shingo looked up from his breakfast and swallowed his mouth full.

"What? Usagi still not up?"

"No." Ran went to the refrigerator to get some milk for Luna and poured it into a bowl on the floor next to an empty bowl for cat food. Reaching into a cabinet, Ran pulled out some cat food and placed some in the bowl.

Kenji finished his breakfast and deposited his utensils into the sink. He beckoned good byes to Ikuko and Shingo and placed his newspaper on his chair. Before leaving, Kenji turned around to face Ran. "You should be careful about the milk you give Luna. I read in the newspaper that cow milk can be really bad for cats. Anyway, I'll see you tonight." With that Kenji headed out the kitchen and out the front door.

Turning to kneel by Luna, he started to pet Luna. "Now you wouldn't get sick from that milk would you?" asked Ran winking at Luna. Luna looked up and mewed in response. Getting up, Ran went upstairs to go get Usagi before she was late. 'Lately if I hadn't been waking Usagi up, she probably would be late every single day for high school!'

Ran sat by the laptop computer he had gotten from Kenji and was looking at a video clip of the last battle the Sailor Soldiers had with a Sailor Phage. The Sailor Star Lights flashed on the screen and showed them attacking. "I'm glad everybody is out of the house. It leaves me with a bit of privacy..." Ran replayed the battle scene again. "Hmn?" Summoning his powers, Ran conjured a head set with a dark blue visor and a microphone to talk on. The wires of the headset all surrounded him and formed a twin pair of gloves for Ran to wear. The wires all connected to the gloves and connected to the laptop outlet as well.

Ran replayed the scene in slow motion, details of the scene flashing on his visors, and noticed something that he missed before. "That can't be..." He used his gloved hand and started to type on the laptop. Ran mumbled for the screen to come closer into his microphone while doing so. "I still can't see.../shift forty-five degrees!/" At Ran's command, the screen shifted around the Sailor Anima-mate. " /Closer./ " Ran leaned back on the chair and sighed heavily, pulling of his head set and his gloves. Setting it on the table, he went to the kitchen from the living room and started to make himself a strong cup of tea.

Sitting down and waiting for the water to boil, Ran closed his eyes. 'That was A. I'm sure of it. But...how? Was it my reflection that I saw?' Ran returned to the living room and sat down back at his chair, ignoring his own equipment. Ran made the screen zoom out and saw that the Sailor Phage was blocking over half his view. 'I was behind the tree watching Usagi fight when we saw an attack at the park on Sunday. The Sailor Star Lights came to help [if you call that helping] and nearly destroyed the Sailor Phage. I couldn't have seen my own reflection, because there wasn't anything to reflect on and even if it were, it would be impossible to see through the fight.'

/Well what did you think. Did you think I would stay around all day waiting for you to come back?! I came to get you myself./

"Huh?!" Ran turned around and saw nothing behind him "That voice was A's!" Pushing the chair back, Ran got up and started to look around for the source of the voice. "A, where are you?!"

"Right here."

Ran turned around once again and looked at the table where his laptop was at. Above the now static screen of the laptop, colored ribbons of dark blue, gold, black, and an exact skin color of Ran's was appearing. It circled against each other and started to form a human body. It stopped spinning and A's body was completely formed. A himself was floating above the laptop with bare feet and the exact same outfit Ran was wearing when he had escaped. "I told you I would kill her. And to do that, I would need to do that in person."

"A--"

"Look at you, you've grown old." A floated onto the floor and started to walk towards Ran. "You are coming back with me. And together we'll stop the council; in fact, we'll rule the entire world! With our power, no one can stop us."

"NO!! I'll do no such thing! I'll die before I let you do that!"

"You'll die protecting that girl? C--"

"I'm not C. I'm Ran." Ran could hear the kettle whistling in the kitchen but ignored it. "I won't let you hurt anyone." Ran himself started to turn into ribbons, but instead of disappearing, his outfit started to change. After the ribbons completely formed his outfit, he was dressed in a black outfit with golden buckles and trimmings similar to A's. The only difference was the fact that Ran's was larger (due to his age), the top half wasn't long (it reached his hip), and that Ran was wearing black shoes. 'Ikuko-mama won't like me getting the floor dirty-never mind that!'

"So you will fight your own brother."

"If it is to protect Usagi and the people I care about, then I will."

"C, how dare you side with her?!" A flashed his eyes at Ran, then suddenly the floor, furniture, and walls surrounding Ran exploded. Ran raised his arms to shield to his face. "Care for me to try that again, C?"

Ran removed his arms from his face and looked defiantly at A. "A, I will never let you harm Usagi and I will never join nor go back to you nor the cage."

A raised his arm and pointed his hand at Ran. "We'll see--"

"Dead Scream!" A purple planet energy ball came from the entrance of the living room and it collided with A. Before A struck the wall, he started to turn into ribbons once again, but instead of disappearing as Ran hoped, he transported himself behind Sailor Pluto and attacked her with the same force that destroyed half the living room. Thankfully, Pluto had used her Garnet Rod and blocked the attack.

"A!!" Ran had run next to Sailor Pluto and held out his hand as A had done, eyes starting to glow.

"YOU'LL FIGHT AGAINST YOUR OWN BROTHER?!"

"Yes." A was then sent flying into the wall from an invisible immense force coming from Ran's hand. From colliding with the wall, A had created a small crater in which he pulled himself from and glared at Ran.

Raising his own hand, he released his own attack at Ran and Sailor Pluto Sailor Pluto stepped in front of Ran and whispered in a deadly silence an attack more powerful than the one she had first used. "Dead Scream!" Pluto's attack absorbed A's attack and half struck A as he was disappearing in a swirl of bodily ribbons. "He's gone. Escaped..."

Ran fell to his knees and started to cry. Pluto de-transformed and kneeled by Ran. "Ran, Ran look at me."

Ran looked up at Setsuna with crying eyes. "Ran, what happened here today was not your--" Setsuna looked towards the kitchen, hearing the kettle whistle. "Hold on, I'll be back." Setsuna left Ran alone in the living room to make them some tea.

Setsuna returned after a few minutes and set two cups of tea onto the table along with the laptop. Setsuna pulled Ran to sit at a chair and sat down herself. "Here," said Setsuna as she handed a cup of tea to Ran. "Your brother--"

"It's all my fought! Now A will be after Usagi! I must have done something to allow him to escape the Research Institute! I could've-"

"Ran." Setsuna handed Ran a tissue which he took but didn't use. Setsuna looked to Ran's laptop which had returned back to the battle scene. "Your brother was there, was he not?"

Ran sniffed a reply that Setsuna didn't hear but presumed it was a yes. "Hmn...Ran listen to me." Setsuna faced Ran and drank a bit of her tea before beginning. "Like you, didn't you consider that your brother also have the power to escape the cage without outside help? After all, your powers are supposed to be the same."

Ran looked up at Setsuna realizing where this was going. "What...what are you saying?"

"Your brother had obviously the power to escape the cage as shown on your laptop. He must have took advantage of the opportunity of you being alone and came to confront you. He must be aiming at you mentally in hopes that you would succumb to his onslaught. Ran, you must be strong and resist your brother. Usagi is a capable girl. She can take care of herself but does need help and friends. She will know when to call for help if her powers are not enough or when she feels she can't do it on her own. We are always with Usagi in spirit and will always be there for her. I doubt her powers aren't strong enough to take on your brother's power; after all, she is the Moon Princess and the future queen of Crystal Tokyo for a reason. Have faith in her, and more importantly, in yourself. Your brother will attack you where it hurts the most." Setsuna pointed to Ran's heart and then to his temple. "In your head and heart." In Setsuna's whole speech, she had not once called A by his name, believing that wasn't an acceptable name to call someone.

Ran looked down at his tea and drank some, replaying Setsuna's words in his head. Finally using the tissue, Ran wiped his tears away and smiled at Setsuna. "Thanks. Thanks a lot. That...that really helped, not only to relieve guilt, but to bring confidence." Drinking his tea some more, Ran took noticed of his surroundings. "Uhh-oh, look at the mess."

"Oh yes. Ms. Tsukino will not like this. Think you can do something about this, Ran?"

"Uhh...I had never tried." Ran got up and stood in the center of the living room. "Hey Setsuna, how did you know to come here?"

"I was in the area, I noticed quite a power so I went to investigate." Setsuna went to stand next to Ran. "Everything all right with you?"

"Yeah, I think I can fix it." Ran looked around and frowned. 'I already used some major power against A. Doing this...fixing this...would mean...' Ran held out his arms and his eyes started to glow. '/Return the living room back to the way it was before A came./' In a flash, the entire living room was back to normal, which meant no tea cups on the table and the kettle whistling once again. "Oi, I got to get that!" With that, Ran rushed to the kitchen to make the tea again.

'Hmn...Ran has some power. His brother said enough to rule the world. I might just be paranoid, but if the enemy, the Sailor Anima-mates, get a hold of one of those two boys...' Setsuna started walking to the kitchen but stopped at Ran's laptop. 'What powers do these boys have? How can a human be born with these kinds of powers? Why would the government be so interested in kids that have these powers...?' Setsuna walked to the kitchen and saw Ran poring the cups of hot water. "Ran I'm going to leave now, is that okay?"

"All right, be careful Setsuna." Ran set the extra cup of water in the refrigerator to cool.

Setsuna left the Tsukino house and started walking to her car parked in the driveway. Starting the car, she drove out of the driveway towards the Hikawa Shrine. '...Unless the government has something to do with these kids having these powers.'

That night, Ran pulled Usagi aside after school to his room to talk of what happened earlier that day.

"I know, Setsuna came over to Rei's shrine and told us. Your brother just sounds like a bully and a spoiled brat to me!" Usagi huffed at her own response but smiled gently at Ran. "Well he is!"

Ran just smiled at Usagi's usual behavior. "I--"

"Ran! Usagi! Shingo! Dinner time!" Ikuko's voice rung through out the house and Ran could distantly hear the jingle of Kenji's keys.

"Yay! I'm starved!" Usagi rushed towards Ran's door and turned around to face him. "What were you saying before?"

"It is dinner time."

"Ah, super hearing?" With that Usagi left Ran's room with him following her shortly.

Dinner was ho-hum as usual with no one noticing anything wrong, especially with the living room. Something which Ran was glad and proud of [his power of recreation]. Dinner was finished and some sweet ice cream mochi was brought out for dessert. Perfect for the summer season. After a few moments of silence, the door bell rung, annoying Ikuko as to who would be here at this late hour. Ikuko left the kitchen and could be heard opening the door. Very muffled talking was heard and then a door closing, Ikuko's foot steps could be heard coming back down the hall.

'Hmn?' Ran's insides started to tingle and fear started to come from the bottom of his stomach. What he had been dreading for months was here. 'No, please no...'

Ikuko emerged in the kitchen with a frown which was directed to Ran alone. "Ran someone is here to see you outside." Curious gazes were soon fixed on Ran as he got up and started walking to his seeming doom.

Usagi watched Ran get up and she could sense the dread and fear around Ran. "Mom, who was that?" Ikuko bit her lip and sat down, not saying anything. Usagi could tell her mom was worried. Usagi decided to go see what was wrong and got up to follow Ran.

Ran himself had reached the front door. Taking a deep breath, Ran pulled open the door and stepped out of it quickly, shutting the door behind him quietly. The light on the door frame wasn't on, so the only light came from the half moon, stars, and the distant street lamps.

Usagi crept to the front door and peered through the peep hole to see who it was. However, it was too dark so she just pressed her ear to the door.

Ran looked up at the person, who looked like a ghost with the small amount of light. "I'm not going back."

Oh, I just had to end it there. It was so full of suspense, and I just wanted to get kind of a dramatic effect. (Laughs) Can anyone guess who it is? Well anyway, I said this was going to be a 'filler chapter,' but I think it actually turned out pretty good of a 'non-filler chapter.' Please vote for whether you think I should turn this to a romance (although I think I will, the plot just keeps rolling out of my mind). I got this chapter out pretty fast.

Hmn, Ran's powers. It never really said what kind of powers a three-leaf Clover had, but I can infer that Ran has the ability to manipulate technology, teleport/transport, some kind of telekinesis, and a short life. I figure these from the four volumes of Clover. However, that is all we know so I'll have to make some of the powers up. Also, in the Clover series, it never really stated as to how and why these kids (I know, they all aren't kids) had those powers. I'm going to write some things of my own interpretation of to why the Clovers had the powers and how they came to be. (Winks)

SPOILER!!!!! Seriously, this is for Clover AND Sailor Moon. So either you haven't read the Manga for both of them or don't want to bother hearing/reading this, don't read this last part.

Okay, it has been five months since Ran met Usagi. In Clover volume four, we learn Ran has about five years to live. Significance? Well, the fact that most likely Ran will have to die from old age since Wizard Shuu said that he will continue to age until he dies. Because of that, I presume Ran will have to age about ninety years(give or take) in five years. When we first see Ran in Clover volume one, two years has passed since he had met Gingetsu. We know this because Ran met Oruha when he first started living with Gingetsu and it has been two years since her death[because Kazuhiko is still searching for her killer]. Now, after two years, Ran still looks about late teens to young adult. I thought about this for this chapter and speculated it might be something similar to Sailor Moon. In the Manga, King Endymion said that Usagi will grow to twenty-two years old, stop aging [in appearance], have Chibi-Usa, and become the queen of Crystal Tokyo. I think Ran, as a three-leaf Clover, has the same attributes. Age to a certain age, and then stop aging appearance wise, but still age till his death. That's apparently my explanation of how and why Ran would be about fourteen after five months. Heh heh, confusing?

Please review!

-Sailor Moonac