Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or Gundam Wing.

And You Don't Seem to Understand

Chapter 11

When Ami looked out the window and saw the distant blinking light, she realized with a foreboding sense of finality that she really hadn't expected the rest of their lives to come so soon. She would never actualize her dream to become a physician, and would never have the chance to say goodbye to her mother. She would never be able to ace her upcoming Statistics examination next week, because school would not end officially today. If she was lucky, she would be given the opportunity to finish this question, this very last question, before the world came to an end.

Then, she thought, how silly, how stupid—the world wasn't going to end. She had the strength of Sailor Mercury again; she would help save the world, save all her oblivious classmates and her favorite teacher.

She would save them all.

The pencil broke in her trembling hand. The light tap-tapping of the chalk on board screeched to a pause. Her classmates turned to look at her, whispering and concerned.

Ami was riveted. The gloomy grey clouds parted and a little bit of sunlight rolled out of heaven like an inviting red carpet. The blinking light became brighter, took shape and color as it strolled the wide path.

Legs appeared, arms, and a head on top of a widely built torso. It looked very much like a human falling from the sky save its bright red guise and the numerous black disks surrounding it. But it was only when the gundam came so close that she was able to finally recognize it—a Mercurius mobile doll—that Ami saw the Vayeate behind it and the hundred or so more behind that one.

She saw the sunlight, the parting clouds, the Mercurius, and thought madly, how ironic. And by that time, they were so close and coming so fast that she could almost hear them cutting the wind.

The legs of her chair shrieked as she stood to her feet, hands in sweaty fists on her desk. "Listen to me, everyone—you're in danger! You have to leave the building!"

"Mizuno-san, what is the meaning of this?"

"You have to evacuate the school building!" She threw a desperate glance at the window again and saw thirty seconds until the rest of her life. "Mobile dolls are coming—"

The classroom swelled into overwhelming excitement. Where, where, they cried, skittering to the windows to catch a single, precious glimpse. Ami yelled above their cheers and chatter, warning them to get out, get out, get out—

The foremost Mercurius swung in front of its spectators and swerved too near and too precisely. All the windows exploded simultaneously into awed faces and curious, wide eyes. The noise alone was immense enough to burst eardrums.

Ami had ducked because she had known. She had covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. But at this point, when all she could hear was the agonized screaming of her classmates, she wished she hadn't.

- - - - -

Haruka wasn't sure why she had expected anything less of Setsuna—it was Setsuna after all. In the few years they had known in each other, Haruka had come to understand that Setsuna would always have the upper hand because she would always know something that they didn't. Even when she was no longer bestowed with time and power, Setsuna had a role in this great cosmic design that transcended all human wisdom.

It frustrated Haruka, because life would be less excruciating and dramatic if necessary mysteries weren't so unnecessarily well-concealed.

She swished the coffee in her mug wearily. She and Michiru had been directed to Setsuna's personal tent by one of the ushers at her order and asked to wait. It was small, but comfortable. Haruka wondered absently if Setsuna had been happier here with her circus family than with them back in Tokyo.

The flap to the opening of the tent flipped to one side. Setsuna strolled in and sat down.

"It's been a long time. You two look well," she began good-naturedly.

Haruka didn't know why it was so hard to swallow, but she looked exactly the same. All the questions she had prepared for her flew out of her head.

"Would you like some more coffee?" Setsuna reached for the pot.

"Dammit, Setsuna!" Haruka exploded, sloshing the contents of her mug onto the violet tablecloth. "What is the meaning of this?"

"You're needed here." She avoided her for a moment, looked at Michiru who had been as still and quiet as the dead since she had first come in. "You realized that, didn't you? Now that you have your powers back."

It had barely been half a day since they had felt the constraints break. Michiru and Haruka had just been admitted into the main tent when it had happened. The entire process took less than ten seconds, and it was nothing incredible to look upon, no glowing or radiating energy. Delighted children and their enthusiastic parents had passed them by without a word. The acrobats had sang and danced, the jugglers juggled, and the lively brass music played on.

For Michiru and Haruka, it had been an entirely different experience altogether. Sky and Ocean became free entities once more, and it had been nothing short of a miracle to tolerate, because as it was with many miracles, it was also a little painful, too.

"Why?" the blonde suddenly asked, flexing her right hand. If she wanted to, she could call her sword this very instant. It pleased her.

"How would you feel, Haruka, if Michiru died—right now—without any sort of sign?"

The inkling of pleasure dissipated. Her green eyes flashed dangerously. "As if my heart was ripped out of my chest."

Setsuna smiled sadly. "Do you think maybe that was exactly what had happened to Usagi-chan?"

She felt herself deflate, grabbed Michiru's hand for solace. "I don't understand."

"Mamoru had died—Mamoru who had always been half her heart. What was she supposed to do when half her heart was missing? How could she function like a whole person that way?" Setsuna murmured, not expecting any real answers. "We've always been in tune with her, you know that, don't you? When she cries out from the inside, we respond to her whether we want to or not. You two saw her when Sailor Saturn entered Pharaoh 90. When Sailor Moon screamed for that tiny bit of power, you felt her scream inside of you, and when she became Super Sailor Moon, you felt it, too.

"The ginzuishou is her heart, but without Mamoru, it is only half full. Until she was able to cope by herself again, she needed strength—your strength, the strength of all her friends. Whether you felt it or not, she had cried for it, and you gave it to her. We are all connected."

Haruka turned away and took a deep swig of her lukewarm coffee. For a stinging moment, she was angry, so intensely angry she felt the earth tremble beneath her. Then as soon as it was there, it dissolved, because it was for Usagi. Usagi, who seemed so strong, who could use her inherited power for so much destruction but chose to use it to deliver the world; Usagi, who could see the world in colors they couldn't; Usagi, who was nothing but a human girl with human problems. If Usagi asked for her life, she would very well give it to her.

"We've devoted our lives to her, and nothing will ever change that," Michiru said softly for the first time. "What can we do now?"

"We wait."

"Wait for what?" Haruka mumbled, raking her free hand through her hair.

"For the end of the world."

- - - - -

Minako had known the feeling of danger all her life. When the roar of the explosion down the hall reached her available hearing, she tore out of her classroom and into the stairwell.

By the time Minako had reached Usagi's floor, the entire school had fallen to hysterics. Panic-stricken students and teachers flooded every and each hallway, obstructing her from any further progress. Bodies struck her from the side, propelling her backwards. Someone screamed, and the screaming became contagious. Minako slapped both hands over her ears as she plowed through.

There was a huge crash at the far end of the hall, now fully deserted. The room was wide open; the sliding door had been torn apart by either the mobile suit or the rampaging students. Minako froze at the entrance and clutched the left doorjamb with both hands to keep from pitching forward to her unwarranted death.

The floor that should have laid before her was gone. Jagged edges of what was left of it trimmed the walls of the classroom, but everything else had dropped to the level below her.

She sucked in a trembling breath. There were still students down there, writhing under broken desks and clouds of smoke. There was a sudden boom and pop; the landing moaned under her feet.

It wasn't going to hold much longer. Minako threw her arm in the air, transformation pen in hand, and savored the sensation of becoming Sailor Venus one more time.

- - - - -

After Usagi came to after a brief blackout, she thought she had died. It was the most reasonable conclusion—she was in enormous pain and all she could see for a while was black, lots and lots of black clouds that, logically, only could have meant she was in Hell.

The smell of fire was thick in the air. Her legs burned when she tried to move them. She inhaled dust and coughed.

Her brain jostled painfully at her violent movements, so she stopped. Her vision had cleared and now she saw and remembered where she was.

Her school was demolished. Soot-covered floorboards creaked. Distantly, she heard the sound of people screaming. Around her, she heard people groan. Some were alive—they had to be—but the ones who didn't move, the classmates who were trapped and still. . .

Usagi brought her hands underneath her to push herself to a stand. She fumbled and fell back down, her legs screaming in protest. As hard as she tried to move her legs, they remained as frozen as lead pipes. Lacerations traced the length of them, caused by the enormous fall and the amount of broken debris she had landed on.

Think, think, she told herself. It was so easy to blank out right now, too easy to shut down and retreat into her own perfect world where people she had shared many precious years of her life with didn't suddenly die.

If the world was only that simple. If the world was only that happy. If she could make such a world—

"Usagi-chan!"

Footsteps scraped along behind her. Usagi turned as best as she could. "Mako—Sailor Jupiter? Is everyone okay?"

"Sailor Venus is on her way and Mercury is helping the others. We have to get out of here," Sailor Jupiter rushed, slipping her arms under Usagi's to lift her up. "Can you stand?"

"My leg—"

Something crashed outside, sending billows of smoke into their eyes. Jupiter rolled them both out of the way and covered Usagi just as heat and the sound of white noise came bearing down on them. Wood crackled as it disintegrated.

Usagi rubbed her eyes clear. "Mako-chan!" she cried, picking off metal shrapnel and wood bits from her prone form. "Mako-chan, wake up!"

"Usagi. . .run. . ."

"No!" She screamed as she pulled herself upright and put her weight on her feet. Pull Sailor Jupiter out of the way, get her to safety, save her classmates. She could do this, she could!

There was movement at the wall next to her. Usagi whirled, heart in her throat.

The huge mobile suit loomed in through the side of the building. Metal creaked as it moved, lifted its mechanical arm and pointed the attached beam cannon. The lights resembling two eyes at its head flickered eerily as if coming to life.

Usagi clenched her fists and took a step back, making sure Sailor Jupiter was fully covered by her body. Last night, when she had promised Hotaru a visit to the cemetery, she had seen Mamoru's grave shrouded in an overgrowth of living roses. She had given her final good-bye to Mamoru, because she had finally understood that the world in her reality ended only because she had wanted it to. She had told Hotaru that she was glad to have friends who wanted to shoulder her pain.

Now, as time spiraled into this one critical climax, it was time to repay her friends for all that they had done for her. Her only regret was that she wouldn't be able to say good-bye to Hiiro.

AN: This freaking sucks. What a big, fat disappointment, huh? All these months of not updating. . . and you get this piece of crap. xD;; I guess all I can say is sorry :( . I've been sucked dry of inspiration. Yeah, so there will be 2-3 (?) more chapters and then it will all be over. (Pretend I'm saying that with a lot of enthusiasm. . .kind of like Anya from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. . .of which the entire first season is only 14.99 at Amazon right now! Go buy it! I did!!!)

The review corner will have to be cut out just this one time. A million apologies; I'm about to die. XX I just want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all the people who have reviewed this story and have supported me (despite my shabby writing and my poopy vocabulary). It's really for you guys that I'm going to finish the story and try to make it as interesting as possible to the end. And I PROMISE there will be HiiroxUsagi action in the next chapter. Lord knows it's way overdue. Thank you guys again (and again, and again. . .)!