THE SECOND MOBIUS
Book Two of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon CosmicStars
by Nashie (aka ShadowSamurai)
May 2000 – September 2000
Revised - Winter 2001
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and her friends belong to Naoko Takeuchi. The author takes no credit for any of the original storyline. However, all the new characters belong to me and I'd appreciate it if you didn't take any without requesting permission.
Episode 235: A farewell among the stars. Oceans of eternity
Usagi woke up in horror. "MOM! I'm gonna be late for school!" she screamed, scrambling out of bed. She felt flat on her face and then began crying.
Mako woke up to her shrieking. "Usagi-chan…" she said, her voice a little slurred from sleepiness. "Other people are trying to sleep. It's Saturday. As in, not a school day." Usagi blinked.
"Oh, yeah," she said. "Something important is supposed to happen today. I know it."
"Well, when you find out, wake me up," Minako grumbled, putting a pillow over her head. Usagi sat for five minutes, trying to figure out what was so important. She glanced over at her clock that read 10:05. Five after ten? FIVE AFTER TEN?
"I remember!" Usagi shrieked, waking up everybody in the room. The girls had had a sleepover the night after fighting the zodiac and were completely tired. Rei glared at her, bopping her over the head with the pillow.
"I have a major headache, meatballs for brains!" she shouted. "After giving up power as a sailor senshi, you'd think you'd let us sleep some more." Usagi groaned.
"Why do you say that?" she asked. "I can't half remember what happened that made us lose our power. I just remember a dark hallway and something about a mummy." Minako stretched and then stared at Usagi.
"I remember a little more than that," she said. "I remember Pluto opening the time gate and…something…you know, I don't really remember that well either."
"That's because this day is overlapping," Ami suddenly commented. At hearing the conversation, she had turned on her mini computer (she had been surprised that she still had it) and typed in some information. "According to my computer, now at this time, we would have been going to the that hallway…and then there's something about a mummy in here too." Chibiusa was still sleeping and Usagi woke her up. The little girl groaned and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
"What?" she murmured, looking at Usagi. "Overlapping? What does that mean?" Suddenly Ami laughed.
"I understand now!" she said. "This timeline we're in was halted when we went and fought the zodiac last night. Pluto set up another one that allowed us to destroy the zodiac and complete the sacrifice. By the time we got back to this timeline, no time had passed at all. To everybody else, we were still having a sleepover."
"Are you telling me that everything that happened to us last time took no time at all in this timeline?" Hogoshi asked cynically. "Wow, that was smart."
"I told everyone that remember now!" Usagi suddenly yelled again. "Hogoshi-chan, your plane leaves at 12:00!"
"My plane?" Hogoshi asked, confused.
"Yeah, remember you said that you were going to America early to set up you dorm and all that other stuff," Usagi said slowly. "We're gonna miss you Hogoshi-chan!"
"We'll miss you!" the other five said in unison, hugging Hogoshi. The brunette blushed.
"Um, arigatou?" Hogoshi asked. "You'll write me, won't you? And visit at least once a year?" Usagi was nodding vigorously, but wondering how often she would have to write.
"You're going to become a famous doctor!" Chibiusa cheered as she began to get up. "C'mon you guys, we have to clean up! We're supposed to meet Pu and the others at 11:30!"
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Hotaru pulled the covers up over her head. She just didn't feel like getting up after everything that happened (or didn't happen) last night, she was exhausted. She was not getting up for anything or anybody.
"Hotaru-chan! Wake up!" a voice shouted from the door. Hotaru peeked over the covers and saw Haruka standing in the doorway. She groaned and pulled the covers back over her head.
"No!" she yelled, her voice muffled under the cushions. Haruka sighed and walked over to the bed, pulling the covers from Hotaru. The dark-haired girl glared at Haruka for a second before pulling her pillow over her head.
"Oh, come on, Hotaru-chan," Haruka muttered. "You can't stay in bed all day."
"Yes I can."
"Oh, no you can't," Haruka replied and picked Hotaru up. Hotaru let out a shriek and struggled, but Haruka's grip was strong. She carried the girl to the end of the hallway, ignoring the protests. The blonde dumped a flailing Hotaru in front of the bathroom. "Now, get yourself cleaned up. We meet the others at 11:30 at the airport."
"Airport?" Hotaru asked. "What airport?" Michiru's door opened a little and she poked her head out, looking across the wide hallway. She smiled.
"Hogoshi-chan is leaving for America today," Michiru said softly. "We're going to the airport to see her off." Hotaru nodded and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Haruka sighed. Michiru looked a little confused.
"What happened?"
"I had to drag her out of bed. She's not too happy with me right now." There was a shuffle on the other side of the door. It swung open and Hotaru popped her head out and stuck out her tongue. Then she slammed the door again. Haruka just sighed again and leaned back against the wall. "See?" Michiru smiled at the blonde and gently held her hand.
"Oh, don't worry," she said. "Everyone's just a little tired from that battle that happened last night."
"Yeah, we're no longer sailor senshi," Haruka muttered. Michiru frowned.
"You don't like that thought?"
Haruka sighed deeply. "I don't know. I just can't help but think that we've been senshi for…well, not an incredibly long time, but long enough and suddenly, we're not them anymore." Michiru was quiet for a second.
"I guess you're right. I might miss being Sailor Neptune, but now I have more time to do things I couldn't do because I was Sailor Neptune. I can concentrate on my violin and my painting and swimming…"
"Are you sure? Capricorn did say that something important is going to come up. We might be senshi again after all." Michiru smiled and gently tugged Haruka's hand.
"Come on Haruka," she said, dragging the girl into her bedroom. "Help me get ready." The door shut.
There was a giggle from the other side of the hallway. Hotaru pulled back from the keyhole and laughed a little. Sometimes her life was too good.
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"Is that it?" Mamoru asked, taking the last suitcase and putting it into his trunk. Hogoshi nodded and turned back to Mako's house where she had been staying for the past year.
"So, I guess I'm supposed to say 'good-bye house,'" Hogoshi said with a smile. Mako rolled her eyes and slapped Hogoshi on the back.
"No, you can say 'thanks Mako-chan for letting me stay at your house and eat your food, even though I did eat more than Usagi-chan,'" Mako supplied, climbing into the backseat with Chibiusa and Rei. The pink-haired girl was sitting on Rei's lap constantly pulling Usagi's pigtails.
"Leave me alone, you brat!" Usagi shrieked, spinning around. Chibiusa giggled and looked out the window.
"Where's Ami-chan and Minako-chan?" Hogoshi asked as she squeezed in next to Mako. "They're not coming?"
"Ami-chan's mom is going to drop her off and Minako-chan's parents are going to drop her off," Rei said, trying not to laugh as Chibiusa rolled up the back window on one of Usagi's pigtails. Usagi didn't even notice as Mamoru started the car. Hogoshi grinned as they pulled off from the house.
"So, what's the name of the academy again?" Usagi asked, turning her head. She felt a little tug and rubbed the back of her head. Rei was turning red from suppressed laughter.
"Um…I think it's something like Roosevelt or something to that extent," Hogoshi said. "It feels so weird. I mean, my best friends just got back from the dead a week ago and I'm flying halfway across the world to go to school."
"A sailor's work is never done!" Usagi yelled, turning to Hogoshi. Another tug. She spun to her left to scold Chibiusa. But the tug was on her right pigtail. Usagi spun to her right and saw her blonde pigtail flapping wildly in the wind, caught in the window. "CHIBIUSA-CHAN!"
The entire car erupted in laughter. Even Mamoru chuckled as Usagi tried to strangle Chibiusa and get her hair out of the window at the same time. Finally, Rei let down the window and Usagi's hair came flying back in, smacking Mako in the face.
"Hey, watch it!" Mako yelled, slapping the hair from her mouth and eyes. Hogoshi laughed hard, wiping tears from her face as Usagi went back to her pursuit of trying to kill Chibiusa. The pink-haired girl got in the space right under the front seat and pulled down the lever that made front seat lean back.
Usagi jerked forward, onto Rei's lap, now completely tangled in her seatbelt. "CHIBIUSA!" she roared, trying to flip the seat back up.
"Please don't tear up my car," Mamoru pleaded as Usagi struggled to get free from her restraint. Hogoshi let down the window and laughed again as Rei kicked the seat back forward sending Usagi crashing back on the dashboard.
"OWWWW!" she screamed, rubbing the back of her head. "Rei-chan!" Rei just crossed her arms and stuck her nose up in the air. Usagi began crying, huge tears wetting the front seat. "You didn't apologize! That's not faaaair!"
"Usagi-chan!" Mako said, spinning the girl around to sit properly in her seat. "Sit down and enjoy the ride. We'll be at the airport in ten minutes. Try not to get hurt until then."
"But she didn't…"
"Usagi-chan!" Hogoshi snapped, but immediately started laughing again. "Never mind." Chibiusa stared thoughtfully at Usagi and then grinned. She began rummaging in the pocket of the front seat until she pulled out a rubber spider. Rei, Mako, and Hogoshi immediately covered their mouths and could already feel the tears swell up in their eyes.
Chibiusa carefully place the huge tarantula on top of Usagi's hair. The blonde didn't even notice. The three other girls were turning red from not laughing. "Um, Usagi-chan?"
"What is it, you little brat?"
"There's something on top of your head," Chibiusa said, trying to make her voice fearful. Usagi rolled her eyes and touched the top of her head. The rubber spider fell off her head and into her lap. Usagi stared at it for a second, frowning. She picked it up, trying to see what it was.
"CHIBIUSA!" she screamed, dropping the spider like a hot potato. "It's spider! AHHHHHH!"
The group burst into laughter as Usagi tried to climb on top of the seat. Chibiusa pulled the lever and Usagi fell backwards into Rei's face.
"Odango-atama!" she screamed, trying to push the girl back over the seat. "Get out my face!"
"Rei-chan! It's a spider!"
"I don't care if it's the atom bomb, get off of me!" Rei screeched, pushing Usagi over the seat. She landed on the spider and began crying from fear. Mamoru reached over and quickly threw the spider back to Chibiusa.
"It's okay," he said, patting Usagi on the head. "It was just a rubber spider. It wasn't real." Usagi looked up, his words suddenly taking on a whole new meaning.
"Not real?" she asked, glaring up at the others. "NOT REAL? CHIBIUSA!"
It was not a quiet ride to the airport.
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Setsuna sighed, looking at her watch. "They're late." Hotaru shrugged and looked across the terminal for Usagi and the others.
"Early isn't part of Usagi's vocab," she said. Minako and Ami had already arrived and had been watching planes take off until Minako said she was hungry. The two girls had left to find a gift shop where they could buy some junk food. Haruka and Michiru had gone with them. "I'd be surprised if she came early."
Setsuna laughed as Minako and the others came back to boarding station. "Did you buy out the whole store?"
"No!" Minako said quickly. "But there was a cute stuffed animal in there…" She pulled out a medium-sized teddy bear that had a baseball cap and ball in its hands…er, paws. "Isn't a cutie? I think I'll add him to my collection."
"He is so cute!" Hotaru squealed. "Do they have any more?"
"Yeah."
"Setsuna-mama," Hotaru said excitedly. "Can I have one? Please?" Setsuna looked up at Haruka and Michiru. Michiru smiled.
"We told her to ask you," she said. Setsuna groaned and allowed the sixteen-year-old to pull her to the gift shop.
"WE'RE HERE!" Usagi suddenly screamed. Everyone turned to her as she raced up to the waiting members of the group. A flush spread through the group. "Hey everyone! Wow, what a huge airport!"
"No kidding," Haruka said. "You've never been in an airport before?" Usagi blushed.
"Well, yeah, but I forgot what it looked like," Usagi admitted. She looked around. "Where's Setsuna-chan and Hotaru-chan?"
"Hotaru-chan dragged Setsuna-san off to buy her a stuffed animal like the one Minako has," Ami supplied. She had brought a book from the gift shop and was eagerly reading it. "They'll be back soon."
"A teddy bear?" Usagi gasped, tugging Mamoru's arm. "Oh, Mamo-chan! Can you get me a teddy bear?" Mamoru got a funny look on her face as she pulled him off towards the gift shop. Chibiusa scowled and grabbed the other arm.
"Yeah, me too!" she cheered and both girls pulled him off. The rest of the group sweatdropped and looked at each other with a sigh.
"Some things never change," Rei muttered, shaking her head. Her black hair tossed back and forth. "Anyway…"
"So, I guess my plane leaves in a couple of minutes," Hogoshi said, dropping her green duffel bag onto the floor. She stretched out in an uncomfortable airport seat. "Hmm, so it has been a year since I met you guys."
"Oh, no," Mako quickly started. "We're not going on any strolls down Memory Lane. I've had too many headaches to deal with that fact that my roommate is off to America."
"You'll like the U.S.," Michiru said with a laugh. "It's a nice place. I just hope you have some flawless English."
"Where is the academy anyway?" Minako asked. Hogoshi blushed.
"In this state called California," she said. Minako's eyes lit up as she grabbed Hogoshi's arm.
"California!" she gasped. "You mean the Hollywood California? Hollywood? Oooh, I have to come and visit you soon! I have pretty good English!"
"Of course you do," Rei said. "You lived in England for a pretty long time." Minako stuck out her tongue.
"I'm not going to be living in Hollywood, though I suppose Anaheim is somewhere close to there," Hogoshi replied. "Oh well. It doesn't matter. We can arrange something."
"Yea!" Minako cheered, pumping her fist into the air. "Hollywood, here I come."
"Um, Minako-chan," Ami whispered. "People are staring." Minako blushed a little, but then played it off by a nervous laugh.
Just then, Usagi and the others came back. Usagi, Chibiusa, and Hotaru were holding teddy bears while Mamoru and Setsuna just shook their heads. Hotaru yelped when she saw Hogoshi and wrapped the taller girl in a hug. Hotaru was still on the short side for being a sixteen-year-old.
"Wow, so this kind of good-bye, Hogoshi-chan," Hotaru said after pulling away. "You'll right and visit again sometimes, right?" Hogoshi bowed.
"Sure, as long as you promise the same thing," she said. The conversations were interrupted by a male voice over the loud speaker.
"International Airlines, Flight 207 to Los Angeles, boarding now at Gate 4. I repeat, International Airlines, Flight 207 to Los Angeles, boarding now at Gate 4. Thank you."
Hogoshi took a deep breath and turned to the others. "That's me." Minako looked a little crossed.
"I thought you were going to Anaheim," she said, crossing her arms. Hogoshi picked up her duffel bag and swung it across her shoulder.
"I am," she stated simply. "My roommate is meeting me at the airport and we're going to drive over to Anaheim. All the plans have been made don't worry."
"Okay," Usagi said. She looked a little sad as she moved away from Mamoru. "So, I guess this is sayonara." Hogoshi smiled.
"Yeah, I guess so," she said as Usagi wrapped her in a tight hug. "Don't worry, moon girl, we'll see each other again. It's not like I'm off to war or anything." Usagi laughed, but wiped some tears from her eyes. "Oh, don't start crying! Then I'll cry and then everyone else will cry and we'll be a very sorry looking group."
"Hai," Mako said, giving Hogoshi a firm handshake. "I hope you enjoy yourself."
"I do too," Hogoshi replied. "I wonder if I can find a cook as good as you in Anaheim. I might have to ask you to mail me some of those recipes." Mako laughed and pulled away. Chibiusa held up a bulging backpack.
"These are the gifts," she said. "It's from every one of us. It was a last minute shopping kind of thing. Since you just told us you were going… yesterday." Hogoshi grinned.
"I'll warn you a week in advance next time," she said. Ami nodded and quietly gave her a hug good-bye. Minako rushed up to her and grabbed her hands.
"Okay, listen," she said. "Try and get some famous people's autographs, okay? Then, mail them back to me. Oh, and get some pictures of you too. And I wanna see if your roommate has a cute brother or boyfriend or something. Wow, I wish I were going instead of you." Everything was said in one breath. Everyone laughed as Hogoshi began to blush.
"I'll…uh, try," she said and then turned to the outer girls. Her mood saddened a little. "Um…how do I say good-bye to you guys?" She walked towards them and hugged Haruka hard. "I'm gonna miss you guys more than I can say. You won't forget to write or visit?"
"International Airlines, Flight 207 to Los Angeles, now boarding at Gate 4."
"We won't," Michiru said softly, stroking the girl's silky brown hair. "Even if Setsuna messes up the timeline again." Setsuna gave Michiru a pointed look.
"I did not mess up the timeline," she said as Hogoshi gave her a hug too. Hogoshi laughed a little.
"Okay, sure," she said. Hotaru tapped her on the shoulder.
"What, I don't get a hug?" she asked. Hogoshi giggled a little and wrapped the shorter girl in a tight hug. "That's better."
"Hogoshi-chan, be careful," Haruka advised. "Call us when you get settled in. And go to sleep right on the plane." Michiru rolled her eyes.
"I guess it was a bad idea to have you read that Stephen King book," she said. Haruka glared at her.
"Sure and I guess it was a bad idea to let you cook lunch yesterday," she replied. Michiru blushed and Hogoshi laughed a bit, staring at her four best friends. "I don't know if it was food poisoning or what, but I'm not sure my stomach handled it too well."
"Your stomach handled it fine!"
"Yeah and the bus it rode in under handled it fine too."
"Haruka!" The group burst out into laughter at the two bickering young women. Michiru finally gave up and laughed too, knowing Haruka was just kidding.
"Last call for International Airlines, flight 207 to Los Angeles, boarding at Gate 4. I repeat, last call for International Airlines, Flight 207 to Los Angeles, boarding at Gate 4. Thank you and have a nice day." Hogoshi sighed.
"I better go before I miss my plane," she said, walking towards the ticket counter. "Good-bye everyone! Don't forget! Letters, calls, and visits are welcome!"
"Bye Hogoshi-chan!" Usagi yelled, waving. "We'll miss you! And remember: a sailor's work is never done!" Hogoshi grinned at the saying and walked through the door leading to the plane. "I'm gonna miss you Hogoshi-chan."
The senshi stayed for a couple more minutes before walking off. Usagi sighed heavily. Just a year ago, things weren't looking that bright for the senshi. They had just lost the outer soldiers and Chibiusa had returned to the future. Just recently, they were saying good-bye to Hogoshi and hadn't even had a chance to thank or say good-bye to the senshi of the revelation.
Even though they weren't sailor senshi anymore, Usagi felt an ease at heart for the first time in three years. There would be quarrels along the way, but nothing the senshi couldn't beat. Usagi smiled and looked up at Mamoru, hugging him tightly.
"What's all this now?" he asked, teasing her a little bit. Usagi smiled.
"I'm just happy that I can be with you and my friends," she said. "I'm really happy that we can finally have some peace."
The light ahead for the soldiers might be unknown to them now, but soon a whole new path and adventure would be there to greet them.
After all, a sailor's work is never done.>>>End The Second Mobius
THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S NOTES: YEA! I'm so happy I'm done with Part 2. It took shorter than dealing with Part 1, but maybe that's because I worked on it, like, everyday during the summer too. I loved the ending. It was more happy than the ending to Part 1 (which had been rather corner).
Anyway, I've already started on Part 3 "Escape from the Moon". This will be on of the most hectice and fun journeys the senshi have ever dealt with. We introduce a handful of new characters and a whole new world to explore. So here we go
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Five years later. Looking back on a story that I wrote five years ago is a bit difficult, considering how much I've grown since. Sometimes I look at various plot points, and I shudder. Actually, CosmicStars had a very tangled plot, yet I never was able to convey that much until Escape from the Moon and Dreams of the Forgotten (which had been on permanent hiatus for two plus years). I think that maybe one day, when I return to the Sailor Moon fandom, I might continue this story. I still have my author's guide, so it shouldn't be too hard to recall various plot points.
Thank you to anyone who actually read this jumbled mess, and I hope, if you're still interested, Escape from the Moon will be a bit more pleasant to read. bows