Disclaimer: You know the drill.

It's supposed to be funny. So laugh. Yeah, you'd better. xD Kidding. :D Enjoy … to the best of your ability.

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Chapter 3: Fraternizing

Angelight

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"I am Sailor Moon." Such brave words she'd uttered last night without a second thought, just to see Ami's face break out into that sunny smile in the middle of their tower of ice. (1)

Ami probably had no idea how much she had been quailing inside. On a normal day, Usagi's thoughts would have then diverged to something to the effect of and quail eggs are so cute like ping pong balls and-

But, of course, it was not a normal day. Today, Ami and she had been granted all the freedoms they'd hoped for, but, as the Preventer who'd insisted that they call him Duo put it, what the hell was the use?

Go frolic in the gardens, if you will, Duo had laughed. Either way, there was nobody outside, nobody else in this province called HeiLongJiang – what few people had been left after the purging (as the five Preventers now termed it) had fled to the south before there was time to think let alone set up barbed wire. So China's northeastern province's population at that moment was, abysmally, nine, give or take two.

And if she or Ami attempted to approach one of the populated cities, what're the chances that they'd be let in? What were the chances of their making it a hundred yards to the barriers before the citizens aimed and fired? At this moment, it didn't matter if they were adult or child, man or woman – it didn't even matter if they were Christ incarnate – there was no way they could get into Chicago, to Tripoli, to Bombay—

"It's too cold to be outside," Ami sighed. "If it weren't, it'd be good to get some fresh air. Clear our heads a bit." She paced a bit around the room to the measured beat of Usagi's silence and then sat in the only chair available, blurting out, "Setsuna isn't available. I can't contact her." (2)

Relief dawned on Ami's face as if just telling the horrible news made it a little less brutal but guilt overcame it and she blushed. "I'm sorry for telling you. I'd promised myself I wouldn't until I had to."

"It's something I need to know," Usagi replied simply. The news didn't change anything – they were still stuck at the bottom of the ravine with glass cliffs on either side with voices too frail to call for help. "I just hope they're all all right. Everybody. I hope they're not suffering or … or-" her voice cracked a little "that they hadn't suffered."

Ami bit her lip and looked out the window. "Surely we'd have felt something if they'd felt great pain."

"I can't be too sure," Usagi murmured but forced a smile upon her face. "But I believe you! We are that closely connected."

A curt knock resounded in the room and both turned, startled, to eye the door with sudden malice. "Lunchtime, ladies!" Duo's cheery voice seeped in through the cracks as he opened the door, peeked in and smiled at their wan faces. "We're having lasagna."

Ami glanced at Usagi and giggled at the love-struck look on her face, waiting for the inevitable three words followed by a mad dash to the dining room.

"I love lasagna!"

"Woah!" Duo stumbled back quickly to let the blonde sprint out of the room. He shot a reproachful look after her before dusting himself off and turned to grimace at Ami. "I don't see how she could hurt a fly. Unless she was so hungry she ate it."

…………………

Usagi was on her second plate by the time Ami and Duo made it to the kitchen. Quatre had tentatively sat down opposite the blonde and was trying his hardest not to stare while gazing miserably at his own lasagna, having lost all appetite. Trowa and Hiiro had already moved into the living room and Wufei was beside Quatre as if offering emotional support, gazing at Usagi with a mixture of disgust, awe, and fear.

"Mmph this imph reaimmph guttph!" Usagi mumbled to Quatre between bites. He smiled waveringly at her compliments and, after five minutes of indecision, sighed and moved his plate toward her.

"Here. Have mine, too."

Usagi stopped midbite and stared at him. Her eyes started to water, and she sniffled a little before nodding gratefully and shooting a hopeful glance at Wufei's untouched plate. The Chinese heaved a sigh and grudgingly moved it toward her also.

Ami sighed and took another bite; Quatre and Wufei had just founded the shortest route to Usagi's heart. She giggled a little to herself. Usagi could be such a puppy sometime – all one had to do was feed her, bathe her, and occasionally pet her before one had in her a friend for life.

Quatre looked up, met her eyes, and managed a smile at the sound of Ami's suppressed chuckle. In the minute it'd taken him to surrender his food and smile at Ami, Usagi had finished eating and was patting her mouth gently with ironic civility. Duo peered into the kitchen as if expecting to see carnage and seemed to have had his hopes fulfilled at the sight of Wufei's vastly annoyed expression.

"So we got off to a bad start," Duo started, carefully choosing the seat next to Ami and edging it closer to her, twisting his body so that as his head rested on his left hand, he stared up at Ami's startled expression. "Do they call you Angel or Seraph where you come fr-ow!" The braided man sat up and rounded on his aggressor. "Damn it, Wufei, just because you can't get a girl if your mother's life depended on it, you can't steal mine! Besides," he grinned, swinging an arm around Ami who reflexively cringed, "she's an endangered species. One of the only two to survive. You can't have her."

Usagi and Ami gaped simultaneously. As Ami tried to shoulder away Duo's arm, which seemed to have gotten particularly attached to her, Usagi leaned toward Duo on the table and with plump hearts in her eyes murmured, "Will you marry me?" Her subconscious stirred faintly in the background and kicked her. Earth to Usagi! Does the name Mamo-chan ring a ding-a-ling? The blonde jerked up and blushed, yelping, "Just kidding! I'm a married woman already." At her audience's raised eyebrows, she shrugged. "Well, sort of."

"See? Ultra-rare. The only single girl to survive." Duo shot Ami a sly look as if daring her to deny it. "Which means, until we force our way into a city or leave earth, she's our only available female companion." Quatre colored himself burgundy.

Then, turning to whisper audibly in Ami's ear, Duo sighed, "Can you handle it? Do you think you can satisfy five men for a couple of months?" Ami reflexively slapped him.

Usagi thought a moment and then frowned. "Hey, wait a minute … what am I then? I'm also a girl!"

"Well, see, you're taken." Duo made a face. "That makes you more of an … it."

Usagi thought a little more before pouting. "But I'm a she."

"Are you willing to renounce your boyfriend – er – husband for this stay with us? Because there's always room for more…"

Usagi's eyes widened to the size of hot air balloons. "Renounce Mamo-chan? Never!"

Duo sighed and turned back to Ami who had moved her chair until it was about three feet from him during his distraction. He pulled his after her, hobbling a little, and jabbed a finger at Usagi. "So, what is its name?"

The blonde's lower lip started trembling. Ami sighed and shot Duo an exasperated look; she knew what was coming next. Three. Two. One—

"DUO! You're so mean to meee!" Her words dissolved to ambiguous blubbering.

Quatre shot Duo a mortified look and moved to grab tissues. Wufei gave all three one last disgusted look and, rubbing his temples, left for the living room to join saner people.

The blond Preventer handed a wad of Kleenex to Duo and eyed him expectantly. He sighed and leaned over the table to a still whimpering Usagi. "Man, dumpling, do you have an off button?" Usagi whimpered louder, and Duo admitted defeat. "Hey there, cutie, don't cry."

She sniffled and turned teary, big, blue eyes to him. "You think I'm cute?"

"Only when you're not crying, muffin."

She accepted his offer and sniffled some more.

"All right. No more teasing, Duo."

The braided man heaved a sigh and sat down. "I was just trying to make 'em feel at home. Didn't the air feel lighter for a moment back there?"

"I suppose." Quatre narrowed his eyes. "Though I don't think you had such good intentions."

…………………

They spent about four more days in Harbin before Quatre announced that Lady Une had insisted that they move a couple of cities down to Shanghai. Shanghai was still safe.

To avoid suspicion, Hiiro decided it was better to drive than fly so the seven piled into two sedans and headed south.

"Are we there yet?" Usagi pulled herself up until her head stuck out between the two front seats.

Hiiro stifled a growl and, without turning his head, pushed her back into place by the face. Usagi stifled the urge to bite his hand off.

Duo chuckled a little and, rolling his window down a little, winked at Ami's reflection in the side view mirror. "Don't worry, cream puff. We'll be there before you know it."

"Shut the Goddamn window, Duo." Hiiro scowled in the rearview mirror and turned the heat up a notch.

Duo cackled and shot Hiiro a smug look. "Aww, is wittle Hiiwo afwaid of a wittle cold?"

The braided man yelped as Hiiro floored the gas pedal and they accelerated to 120 miles per hour, heading straight for a sharp dip in the road. "Okay, okay! I'm closing the window! I'm closing it!"

"Who's afraid of the cold?" Hiiro shouted over the sound of icy wind rushing in through Duo's window.

"I am! I am!"

Hiiro stomped on the brake and drove over the dip at twenty miles per hour. Duo sighed and rolled the window up before pressing both hands to his face as if checking if it were still there. "If I get frostbite, Hiiro, it's your fault."

"If you get frostbite I'll never hear the end of it."

Duo smiled complacently and twisted around to glance at the two passengers in the back.

"You two all right?"

Usagi looked close to tears and Ami was visibly shaken. "I wish we'd gone with Quatre," the blonde chattered, hands rubbing her arms furiously to generate more heat.

Duo turned back and nudged his companion. "Y'hear that, Hiiro? They wish they'd gone with Quatre."

The other man grunted and reached his left hand over to push Duo's away. "I wish I'd gone with Quatre, too."

…………………

Buildings soon began to dot the horizon as they neared Shanghai. The air seemed to get grayer and the sun dimmer due to pollution and whatnot in the atmosphere but aside from that, Ami thought it was rather nice to be getting back to civilization even if she didn't know enough Chinese to order a cup of water.

"I wonder if Shanghai has seen photos of the two girls who survived," Duo mused, a small smile melting his features. "You think they'll be happy to see you two?"

Hiiro swerved to miss a pile of debris in the middle of the road and turned to shoot Duo a warning look. "Don't taunt them. It pollutes the atmosphere."

Duo rolled his eyes. "What do you know about atmosphere?"

Usagi cleared her throat and poked her head back up front between the two seats. "Um, Mister, I don't know much but aren't you supposed to be driving on one side or the other of that white line instead of riding on top of it?"

Hiiro scowled and shoved her back. "Who's driving the car, you or me?"

"You are, sir," she squeaked.

"Keep that in mind."

Duo bit back a snicker and turned to wink at Ami. "Your friend is cute."

Hiiro pulled up to the hastily erected booth right at the city limits and rolled the window down. The man inside peered at him and lazily waved him by. The booth, somewhat extemporaneous and reminiscent of a portable bathroom, swayed a little as a gust of wind swept through the air. The man inside didn't pay it any attention.

"That was easy," Ami mused as they accelerated again on the nearly deserted highway.

"Shanghai is still an open city. Besides, we look like foreigners. They think we aren't smart enough to do anything dangerous." Duo shrugged, a droll look painting his expression a shade of cynicism and slyness. "And we're rich. The car speaks loudly."

Ami glanced around the interior of the Jaguar and had to agree.

"What Duo means to say is that Quatre has come through here already," Hiiro corrected with a steely kind of terseness; five hours ago they'd been tailing the blonde but between then and now, they had stopped twice because Duo and Usagi were hungry and once because Hiiro couldn't stand being in the same car as the aforementioned two anymore. "Quatre is an eminent man in Shanghai. He owns as much as fifteen percent of the city's economy."

Ami looked impressed; Duo looked dour.

"We're headed for one of Quatre's hotels but we're only taking up three rooms so everybody has to room with another person with one room of three," Hiiro droned. Duo brightened.

"I'll gladly share a room with you two ladies."

"Be quiet. You're with Trowa and Wufei."

Duo looked aghast. "I'm with Trowa and Wufei! Shouldn't I be with Quatre and Wufei? I can't tolerate both Trowa and Wufei at the same time!"

Hiiro shrugged and skidded to an abrupt stop behind a taxi. "Try hard."

"Why is Quatre with you?" Duo's voice adopted a strange whining melody.

"He needs peace and quiet. He's our resident diplomat."

"So? I can be quiet!"

Hiiro sighed. "Only if you're dead."

Duo made a face. "I'm quiet when I'm sleeping."

From Usagi's vantage point in the back, Hiiro seemed to pale a little. "No, trust me, you're not," he ground out. "We're here."

"Why can't I room with you? Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei can be together. That works, right?" They stepped out of the car and Duo followed Hiiro closely, chattering with indignation like a wet parakeet. "Right, Hiiro? That works, right?"

Hiiro whirled around and stopped short. Duo walked into him and backed away to shoot him a miffed look. "I'm not rooming with you. You're an utter slob."

"How so?" Duo demanded.

Hiiro narrowed his eyes. "Last time I found your underwear in the shower."

Comprehension dawned on Duo's face. "Oh, so that's why you didn't shower that night."

Usagi bit her lip; it felt as if storm clouds were gathering around the two men. "Duo can room with us if he really wants to," she offered a bit timidly. Ami looked horrified. If that were to happen, she'd sleep in the bathroom with the door locked.

Hiiro looked up, their eyes snagging on each other. "No, trust me. You don't want him to room with you."

The American sighed, his shoulders sagging slightly. "Fine. I guess I'll be sharing a bed with Trowa. Wufei can sleep on the floor."

"We'll see what Wufei has to say about that," Hiiro retorted quietly, following Duo's slow steps up into the hotel. Usagi glanced questioningly at Ami who shrugged and followed them.

…………………

A much lighter chapter but one that I felt was necessary in order to break the ice. Up until this chapter, I'd felt constrained by not only the gravity of this fic and the wall of formality between five strangers and our two senshi. But now … all is much better. xD And this chapter was actually quite long. I tried to insert something useful in it but I didn't really succeed. Why're they going to Shanghai? I don't know. I just wanted them to be around people again. --; So now the inevitable question is … do you still remember this fic? xD Thanks bunches for reading! Yours, Ange-.

Notes:

1. Such brave words she'd uttered last night without a second thought, just to see Ami's face break out into that sunny smile in the middle of their tower of ice – Reference to the name of Quatre's Harbin mansion – Bing Ta or ice tower.

2. "Setsuna isn't available. I can't contact her." – This point was brought up by angelwings6117. Credit is due. :D

Replying…

BookReader2007: Thanks bunches. xD Sorry you had to wait so long. --;

MoonlightPrincess I can please update … I just can't please update soon. --; Sorry for the wait. ;;

Bichan Lol, was it not worth it to continue? ;; I'll go upstairs and kill myself now.

Suisei no Mitsukai: For once, I actually do have an answer to that question. I just can't tell you it. xD Thanks much for compliments:O I'm not worthy. --;

Zanrui If anybody should apologize, it'd be me. ;; For being ultra-lazy. And I like Duo's personality too. xD He's himself and yet he is not so innocent … he's rather cruel, actually. It's strange that it's Hiiro keeping him in check though in light of the GW episodes, it almost seems more plausible. --; I'm so proud that this served as inspiration. xD My baby. Lol. Anyhow … you made me feel a lot better about this fic. :D You are my sunshine…my only sunshine…etc, etc, etc. xD

BLACKAURAsama Lol, I think I was more enamored with Ami when I was planning this (which was like … 2 years ago) but well she won't be dying. Unless this story changes a lot a lot a lot. I can see how Thailand might have the most active sex industry. --; I don't know, lol, I just heard the Tokyo thing once on the radio. xD Very reliable source, y'know. :)

Tenshi-Kaikou Man, am I familiar with that feeling. xD Thanks for taking the time anyhow. :D

Sylverkaze It might not seem like it, but I will always continue. Unless I delete this fic entirely, lol. That means I'm not continuing. xD

Tsumaki-chan Thanks! Updated:D

Aznchibidragon88: Lol, a lot of people just lurk. --; It's become painfully obvious ever since started the hit counter thing for us common folk. --; And … quote girl? O.o;

Queen luvBunny: I think I love you. xD

JoWashington Lol, they will more or less put it all together. I don't know if they'll make it in time though … still figuring that part out. --; Catsy, huh? That's interesting … one snag though – they'd seen a man in the blue fire. Or was it a man? I don't think you can mistake Catsy's hair for a man … and they did hear him speak … so he sounded like a man at least. Lol.

Tangled Junky: Trigun. ;; It's been so long. xD Since updated and since I'd last seen Trigun, lol.

Renangel Hmm, that is an idea. xD The Great Freeze business. But I already have a cause and it's rather integral to the storyline. --; The rest of the senshi have disappeared, to our knowledge. :D

Ladee in Red: No, this isn't going to be a religious fic though yes I do allude to it a lot. xD The cause is not religious or else I'd've mentioned it in the summary. xD Because that'd be a rather key factor in the story, lol. Anyhow … keep guessing:D

Datajana I think that was also semi-inspired by Trigun. xD I can't remember why this one town closed itself off but it did. --; To children, no less. --; And thanks for the reassurance. :D

Usagi Asia Maxwell: Maybe never. ;; If I ever get there, I'll tell you. xD

Angelwings6117: I used your suggestion. xD But I invalidated it. After all, we can't make this too easy for them, hmm? And it adds another mystery – where the heck is Setsuna? ..

HikariUsa Yui: Thank you much. ;;

Sailor Grape: Hm … no answer to the Hiiro question yet … I wonder … well that gives me fuel for the next chapter at least. xD He's certainly good at hiding his knowledge, huh? xD Has he told anybody? Well, that's up for debate. We'll see. :D And yes it's frustrating. ;; I wish you much luck. But for the moment I've just been taking small steps. Very small steps. xD

Critiquing is the name of the game. Let's play. :D