Disclaimer applies. I miss asterisks, underscores, brackets, and less than and greater than signs. Regarding the last author's notes, I feel compelled to clarify that I am a compulsive liar.
And You Don't Seem to Understand
Chapter 12
Rei had been in literature class reading and analyzing classical Japanese poetry when the air-raid sirens pierced the air with their stricken song. Her teacher had been very cool and calm, had told the class to stay seated while she went to make some sense of what was happening outside their school. As her classmates turned to each other and whispered in their jittery voices, Rei had ignored them because she had wanted to finish reading the last poem in the book.
Ancient literature had always been her favorite subject, and poetry her forte. Although she loved the choka for its intricate stories and morals, she found the much shorter waka to be far more fascinating. To create meaning in exactly thirty one syllables in one waka was a feat in itself, and for this reason, Rei admired poets for their skill in manipulating words to their will. Deciphering them, on the other hand, was just as consuming, but when lexemes were spread out and picked clean of nuances, she could unearth nothing short of epiphanies.
Sometimes they were troublesome to interpret, other times as clear as day.
She lifted her eyes from the last word and closed her book neatly on the desk. Her teacher, now frazzled and frantic, returned with a portable radio. Somewhere between the static, the shaken silence, and the blaring sirens, Rei took her leave and never looked back.
areba tote
tanomarenu kana
asu wa mata
kinou to kyou o
iwaru bekereba
One cannot rely
on things to stay as they are—
for on the morrow
this day we call today
will be called yesterday. (1)
- - - - -
"The vidcom link is dead."
"What?" Cooan inquired, voice low and taut. She stilled her hand on the doorknob to Relena's suite and looked anxiously to her eldest sister.
"It's gone," Petz replied, an odd look on her face. "We have no communication with the outside world." She snatched up the remote control for the television and switched it on as Beruche and Calaveras joined them.
Two days ago, Relena Darlian and her entourage had gone into highly restricted and secured hiding on a small and inconspicuous estate on L4. Wufei and Trowa had left on stringent commands from their superior and had reluctantly left Relena in their hands. Since then, they had been required to make reports every half hour to the guards, to the supervisors, and back to them until everyone was absolutely sure of what was occurring at any specific moment in time. At this crucial stage, they knew how beneficial it was to be isolated from humanity, but by the same token, isolation also meant a dramatic cut in awareness of current events.
They had television, and a sprinkling of news carried through from the people above, so for a time, their thirst for knowledge had been quenched. Now, it was a different matter altogether.
Relena found her way to the gathering room and paused in the doorway. The four sisters didn't seem to notice—they were so engrossed in the news. She smiled faintly, exhausted, and less interested than they were.
"—The mobile suits—dominated. . .world capitals. . ."
The glass of water Relena had poured for herself shattered fragilely on the linoleum. The sisters turned, startled out of their wits.
"Miss Relena—" Calaveras caught her shoulder the moment Relena shakily stepped forward and slipped on the spilled water. In the background, the news program alternated from snow and speech. Cooan looked to Beruche helplessly.
"This can't be happening." Her voice was nothing but a quiver of breath. "There are no more mobile suits. This can't be happening!"
Near delirious with disbelief, she tore herself out of Calaveras' grip and flew to the door. Hands grabbed at her, gentle hands that were also firm, pulled her down to keep her from doing anything foolish.
Rash, they said, Don't be rash.
Relena gave a small, whimpering laugh. Rash was a word she had put out of her mind for a very long time. Rash was what she had been when she was younger and overwhelmed with tragedies that no person should have ever had to experience. When she had recklessly and haphazardly assembled a plan to execute the woman who had taken her father's life—that was when she had been rash.
Perhaps rash was even when she had chased Hiiro across the world, knowing full well his intentions on her behalf. And, perhaps, she realized dismally, that rash was exactly how she was behaving—when danger was now as close to her as the poignant churning of her stomach—only Hiiro pervaded her thoughts.
She missed him deeply, for his poise and his silent companionship. The empty feeling had always been inside of her, and worse than that, the sensitivity of longing and what could have been.
It scraped her raw inside. Relena closed her eyes and let Calaveras seat her on the couch. "Is this," she began hesitantly, locking her hands on her knees, "supposed to happen?"
Beruche stared forward, mystified and distant. "Supposed to happen. . .?" How strange of her to phrase the question this way. "Maybe not this exact way. Maybe something has changed."
"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean," the blonde murmured.
"Miss Relena," the second youngest sister spoke again, caught between temptation and diffidence, "when we said we were from Tokyo. . ."
Relena's eyes shot open. Her fingers were beginning to hurt from gripping her knees so hard. "You lied."
"Not quite." Petz gave her a smile that left many questions unanswered. "We are from a Tokyo."
"A Tokyo?"
"In our time, it's called Crystal Tokyo," she said, crossing her arms over her stomach.
"Crystal Tokyo?" Relena repeated, frustration already lancing through her body, her brain, and her words. Then, fleetingly, she made sense of something that didn't make sense. Spooked and skeptical, she asked a question for which she prayed a rational answer. "What do you mean by 'your' time?"
The sisters shared a glance—panicked, defeated, reluctant, hopeful—
"We're from the future."
- - - - -
The incredible tissue and gravel melting heat wafted against Usagi's flushed face. The smoke from the beam cannon smelled like burnt metal and firecrackers. The weapon was enormous, and at this close a range—where she could see directly and deeply into the black, round crevice—she was sure there would be not a single piece left of her if it fired.
The problem was being able to reach her brooch in time, and then to say the magical phrase that would elevate her survival level enough to save the people who could still be saved. Sailor Jupiter was behind her, breathing shallowly and struggling to stand, but she had been doing so for quite some time. Usagi knew it would take a veritable miracle to do so, because she had seen how much blood her friend had lost.
She gazed into the opaque abyss, eyes watering from the vengeful dust, and admired Jupiter. Her fingers inched upward to the center of her bow and froze. The beam cannon leaned forward.
Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach. Usagi didn't understand the machine, didn't understand gundams or the politics behind them. When she had stood up to face it, she had thought it was wholly inanimate the way a button was, or a pair of sunglasses, that it needed some kind of force to move it. Simply, she had thought there couldn't possibly have been a human being in that mobile suit; even now, she doubted the existence of a definite person controlling the gundam. Other suspicions stemmed from her intuition, and slowly Usagi recognized that it didn't need to have a human manipulating it to have human qualities.
It was biding its time, waiting for her to reach her most vulnerable stage—where she was neither Usagi and neither Sailor Moon—to extinguish her life. It wanted to kill her when she was close enough to rapture to touch it with her hands before obliterating her. It was profoundly evil.
What were her choices? Realizing only seemed to make it worse. She would die if she transformed, and Sailor Jupiter would die if she didn't. Usagi surrendered all thoughts and clasped the center of her uniform fiercely.
Her hand embraced inches of cloth and nothing else. She looked down, terrified, as the beam cannon began to heat up.
Her brooch was gone.
There were three soft clicks, and a slow, steadily increasing whir of gears. Usagi raised her face, rooted to the spot as an exquisite yellow light blossomed from deep inside the black void. The illumination became so intense, Usagi forgot she was standing before heaven or hell or nothing after all, and thought instead she was staring at the sun.
The glorious light before life ended.
She closed her eyes. Her world became drenched in white. There was a gust of hot wind and one deafening explosion.
Then, stillness.
- - - - -
"Luna?"
"Hm?"
"I love you. Did you know that?"
Hearts beat together in isolation.
"I love you, too, Artemis.
- - - - -
Before her eyes, the sky turned from light to dark. The sun set in a matter of seconds and the brilliant white moon rose to its obsidian and starlit throne.
Hotaru gazed at the unnatural night, not quite sure what to make of it. Her school building behind her was all but deserted; looming against the darkness, it looked dilapidated and sinister.
A fine wind caressed her cheek and rippled her midnight hair. Lightning streaked in the sky, thunder boomed. Gently, tiny crystals of ice began to descend.
It was all wrong, she considered, the sudden plunge into night, the lightning, the wind, and the hail. This was extraordinary and frightening. The forces of life had always abided by deeply rooted, implicit rules judged by a determinant mechanism—going against them was mutinous. Who knew what could possibly happen if the natural balance was disrupted? Who knew what the consequences were if the infallible design of the universe miscarried from its billions-of-years-old process and returned to a simple concept of welding together space and time?
Somehow, these bizarre glitches were also appropriate. Aberration had always been a part of her life. If all creation were to fall apart, it would be by her own hand.
It didn't matter. Death was necessary to make life worth living. And if she was Death, then certainly Usagi was Life. Because Usagi was like everyone's mother, the metaphorical Eve. She had brought the world back from the dead once, and she would do it again in the future.
But most importantly, Usagi was like her own mother, because Hotaru had to wonder, despite already knowing too much of the model of natural order, if Super Sailor Moon had not breached Pharaoh 90 in time, would she have been reborn again with blessed life?
It was a ridiculous question, plagued her only because it was the one thing she did not understand. She was the Soldier of Death and Rebirth, and thus she should have been reborn regardless of Usagi's influence.
And yet—Hotaru spun gracefully on her heel, headed to where she was needed most—she truly doubted it.
- - - - -
"What do you mean the end of the world?"
Setsuna smiled placidly.
Haruka's nostrils flared.
Michiru leaned forward, ignoring her partner. "I want to know is what this thing is. Is it another manifestation of Chaos?"
"Manifestation," she began quietly, sadly. Michiru started—she hadn't seen Setsuna melancholy in a very long time. "No, not a manifestation. A shadow."
"A shadow of who?" the boyish blonde muttered, interest piqued and preceding query forgotten.
"Not of who. A shadow of love."
They fell into an uncomfortable, puzzled silence. A shadow of love? Haruka had difficulty comprehending it; how could love have a shadow? How could love—pure, sweet—have any sort of dark side?
"We weren't there yet, when it happened. But one of my selves was already awake." Setsuna traced the edge of her mug with her index finger. "Beryl had a very deep affection for Endymion, and it was that love that turned her into what she had become. Human emotion can be a terrible thing, and love, especially, can drive a person to do things they could never dream of doing otherwise."
"So all of this, we've been fighting Beryl. All this time?" Haruka sneered, eyes as cold as sea glass.
"No." But it was Michiru who said it this time, and Haruka blinked hard, found herself lost again. "It's Usagi-chan's shadow also, isn't it?"
"Why? Why her?" The blonde stood up, offended, hurt. She paced back and forth in the small tent.
"Haruka. Sit down."
"No! Why is it always her? What did she do?" She spun around swiftly, breath pounding in her throat.
"Because she is compassion, Haruka, and I think in those final moments between Serenity and Beryl, she realized how Beryl felt—from the very bottom of what was left of her human heart—and she grieved for her. This shadow was born, of Beryl's jealous, one-sided love, and Usagi's sorrow. It wanted to be loved, but the more it got caught in the growing chaos, the more perverse it had become. . ." Setsuna trailed off, her mouth a thin line. "Until, finally, it thought the only way it could be loved was to kill Usagi."
"Love in death is eternal." The edges of Michiru's lips lifted up, although the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. She gazed at Haruka and remembered the many promises they had made each other. "We wanted that. Didn't we?"
She nodded, but looked away, miserably cognizant. "So then this is the beginning. Where it all started."
The woman with the effulgent sea-green hair hummed a few bars of her song. "And the beginning always leads to the end." She sighed as the blonde shot her a slant-eyed look—Haruka had never been one for riddles—although Setsuna took the honor of explaining it.
"Crystal Tokyo is coming and it's not waiting for anyone."
"We have to get back and tell her!" She was ready to run back to Earth if she needed to. Michiru, however, snatched Haruka back into her seat. The woman dropped back into the chair. "Michiru! What are you doing?"
The woman calmly regarded her lover's incited company. "It's her fight, Haruka."
Setsuna nodded gravely. "Her final stage of growth. We can't be on Earth when it happens. But don't worry, the gundam pilots will aid her if need be."
"The Gundam pilots?" There was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Did she even want to know?
"Yui Hiiro and Duo Maxwell will be on Earth when it comes."
"Yui. . .?" The name had heaved out of her mouth. Even denial wouldn't save her now. "But the Gundams were destroyed!"
"Quatre Winner had rebuilt them, courtesy of my message."
Haruka groaned. "Winner? And how did you get him to build the Gundams?"
"He was a pilot."
She glared at Setsuna, who shook her head coolly.
"You won't make it back in time."
Back in time. "You planned this!"
The accusation rolled off the dark-haired woman like water off a duck. She sipped her coffee.
"This is all just some big scheme, and somewhere in this scheme, we're being toyed around with. We're puppets, aren't we?" Haruka's body was trembling with the tremendous amount of pent up anger. Her fists clenched and unclenched by her sides, and not even the touch of her lover could soothe her.
They were the pieces of an elaborate chess set—pawns, and at best, rooks. The inner planetary court were bishops and knights—the closest to Their Majesties in proximity and emotional binding.
But hadn't they lost? Checkmate befell two years ago. The King was dead.
Slowly, Haruka started to laugh.
Long live the Queen.
- - - - -
"Usagi! Usagi-chan!"
Her mind was muggy and soft, but she could hear her name being called. The voice was muffled and feminine, but laced with intensity.
She was dead now, wasn't she? If she could hear her name, didn't that mean one of her friends had died as well?
Her eyes flew open, round and abject. The air was one heavy, stifling cloud of dust and debris. She raised her arm to cover her face.
Metal shrieked only yards away. She shuddered, thoroughly occupied by the sound—it was like nails scratching on a chalkboard.
"Usagi-chan!"
A hand clasped her shoulder. Usagi screamed and turned around. "Sailor Venus?"
"Are you okay? That was close, Usagi—what were you thinking?" she bellowed, giving her a swift shake. "Don't you ever put your life in danger like that again, do you hear me?"
The shorter blonde blinked, smiling softly. Sailor Venus looked beautiful in the haze, absolutely perfect and lovely. Tears had beaded in her light blue eyes, and they shone like tiny gems.
"I-I'm alive." It sounded so stupid coming out of her mouth like that. "Sailor Jupiter!"
"I'm fine," came her deeper voice, raspy and alive. Her emerald eyes were like twin beacons in the darkness. "We have to find a way to get out of here." Sailor Jupiter scanned the classroom for possible exits, but the only way out was to jump out. With the numerous wounds she had sustained, she decided it wasn't the best of ideas.
"But what happened?" Usagi chewed her lip apprehensively, batting away stray particles from her vision.
They shook their heads.
"Another mobile suit came down and knocked the other one right out of the way. That's all I was able to see," Venus answered quietly, then looked agape behind Usagi.
With a deep feeling of dread, she turned around. A single gundam stood outside the school, white and ethereal against the black cloak of night. Wings extended from the back into a protective fan. At the top of its head, gold accents formed the shape of a crown. Blue and yellow armor marked the shoulders and chest, and a single jade green orb sat in the middle of its torso.
It gave a hiss of air as a compartment began to move. The center of its chest extended outward, and the complicated mechanical arrangement opened up into the cockpit.
The smell of a man permeated the air. Sailor Venus pushed Usagi behind her, Love-Me Chain already forming deadly gold ringlets in her hand. If he showed any sort of threat, any sort of threat at all—
The floorboards groaned as someone dropped down. Electric blue eyes scorched a path to Jupiter, to Venus, and then through her.
The ambience pulsed, all heat and tension.
"You," he said, and it meant everything.
"Hiiro-san." Usagi walked forward, paused, breath sharp between her teeth. Her wide eyes darted to the machine behind him and she fell into a deep silence.
He stared at her as if it was the first time he had seen her, but that was absurd because every time he saw her, he was overwhelmed with a consuming sense of déjà vu. How odd it was to meet again under conditions such as these. How odd it was to finally see two of the nine superhuman female warriors he had been searching for. How odd it was for them to be protecting her.
And she—she was too quiet. Too quiet as she scrutinized the weapon of mass destruction. His weapon of mass destruction.
He could hear his teeth meeting together tightly in his mouth. Would her entire opinion of him change now?
"More are on the way." His voice was carefully empty, priorities in order, order, order. But she looked so disarming, hair mussed and face smudged with soot, as if she couldn't quite conceive of the implications. "I'll take you down to ground-level." He turned away, but his foot suddenly caught something heavy and solid.
Hiiro dropped his gaze to a heart-shaped ornament. It sat on top of black remains and grey ashes, burnished gold looking out of place in the dreary surroundings.
He reached for it slowly the way he would regard a dangerous animal. His calloused fingers closed around it—warm still from the heat of damage. The wings felt like silk in his hands, silken feathers. Hiiro held it up to his face, fixed his eyes on it; upon closer inspection, he realized that they were real—real ivory feathers in a pair of miniature wings on either side of the lustrous brooch.
Haruka's voice thundered in his head. Feverishly, he gripped the trinket so tightly it left pink marks in his palms.
This time, when he looked at Usagi, still stunned and mute, he saw Usagi as Eternal Sailor Moon.
- - - - -
(1) Traditional Japanese Poetry: An Anthology, compiled by Steven D. Carter. Poem #315 by Monk Saigyou
AN: ::snickers:: I didn't lie. Where's the UsaxHiiro action? Don't you see it? There's SO MUCH OF IT! ::is splattered with rotten tomatoes:: Well, I needed some place to end the scene. And this was perfect, don't you think? Michiru always freaks me out. While I was watching SM, I was constantly thinking she KNEW something the rest of us didn't. Has anyone ever see the Super S specials? That one episode when Haruka was sick and there was that guy with some weird puppet thingies. . . EWW. But, yeah, Michiru was a little insane there. O.o; Anyways, the whole shadow thing was sorta spun off of Magic Knights Rayearth. I love Hikaru. And Nova. insert greater than signD And I wish I had done a better job incorporating that concept into the story. I hate the dialogue. HATE IT. Now review me. And yes, I'm also speaking to you select few who put me on author alert but never say a word. ::squinty-eyed look:: I swear I'm not that scary.
datajana: going back to the review that i hadn't answered ;-; thank you for reading. . . and reviewing after so many months. i thought most people had forgotten about this fic. ;-; and you're so right xD everything comes together when hiiro returns to tokyo. and buffy. YES! i just got it today in the mail. BUFFY!!!
the Desert Fox: thanks for fixing my planet mix-up! i was trying to remember that acronym/mnemonic for the planets. but i couldn't. so i gave up. lol. i'll change it one day. :x i happen to like the wing zero custom because of the wings O.o and probably because i am a girl. haha. well, the wings probably give it special meaning, like angels and protection and blah blah blah. actually, i like altron, too. i think i'd like it better if wufei didn't annoy me (sometimes) so much. you bring up good points about "durwin" and his cheesyness factor, although, he was a bit cooler in the manga, 'cause he wasn't so useless. omg, the 50 kids thing - it actually depends on the version of the myth you're reading, but as for the 50 kids, serenity actually had zeus put endymion into an eternal sleep so she could keep him young and pretty boyish. so it was more like she was raping him while he was comatose. lol, sorry you found the beginning to be so boring; i was trying to set up the history for one of the subplots. i do think beryl loved him, but her love got all sick and twisted and became something else altogether as i tried to explain in this chapter. as for hotaru, the weird thing with that is she actually ages like 10 years very suddenly at the end of super s or beginning of stars (i forget) when one of nephrenia's screeching minions try to attack her. so, i wondered, too, what happened with her father then? obviously she can't exactly go back to him looking like that. i figured she stayed with haruka and michiru afterwards. ack, i forgot about hilde! haha! let's pretend she's still here but elsewhere for now. oh nooo, you caught me. see, i never actually finished watching the gw series, and i don't remember all that much about it, so i had to do a little research on mercurius and vayeate... i'll add reasons in the next chapter ;-; i also have no idea about the romefeller foundation info - i'm awful at googling. sorry about that. :( thanks for not forgetting about this fic xD and for continuing to review it!
CrystalBlueSeraph: aww, what a pretty name. ::gasps:: i ::heart:: psychology! that's why i'm majoring in it! wait, did i mention that? sorry xX ah, well, publishing will always be a dream. . . and nothing more than that. xD just not good enough. thank you for reviewing :x i hope you enjoy the rest of the story!
Sailor Grape: oh god, i nearly burst out laughing at the amnesic idea. NO! dear lord, no. haha. oh wait, pretend i didn't say that either. lololol, yes, hell on earth. i guess it's just this thing i have with polarity - if something good happens, something bad must also happen. :x like no pain, no gain. but doesn't the hellish pain accompanying the return of their powers seem to make it so much more profound? lol. gives the illusion that i'm actually smart, huh? XD argh, quatre. where have the pilots gone?! they'll appear again, soon, very soon. don't you worry, dearie, and quatre will have a nice juicy part. as for minako telling usagi. . . it's all been a little ambiguous now. because i haven't decided yet. . so once i decide i'll let you know. teehee!
Archangela: :o sorry! and it took me buttloads of time to get it out. um, enjoy?
Angelight: aww, angel-chan. . . i missed you, too! ;-; why do you lavish me with compliments so? wistful sigh lolol. seriously, though, sometimes i feel like you're just being too nice and maybe you're only humoring me xD because there is absolutely no reason for you to say such kind things, especially when you, oh angel of discourse, are writing! auughh dies my paper heart. PLEASE. WRITE. MORE. i need to read that story in one breath because waiting for chapters to come out is like torture! it's so freaking good that i just want to cry and laugh and strangle you until you sit down and write more. because. . .it's one of the most clever fics i've ever read. i should put that into a review. ;-; and i talk about myself a lot, too, as you can see. i could've just ended this reply, but no, i had to talk about myself some more. lol. ;-; they say people who talk about themselves have low self-esteem. . . . ;-; i used to read a lot, actually. i love books, but haven't the time for them anymore. if anyone has told you college is easier than high school, they LIED. lied, i tell you. you must read anne bishop's "the dark jewels trilogy." it's beautiful and amazing and. . . a very good book. ;-; have you read jacqueline carey? she's a popular author in the fantasy genre, but her books don't really appeal to me as much as the dark jewels trilogy. jaenelle is gorgeous. but honestly, i don't think you need to improve at all. Oo because i'm very picky when it comes to reading, and i've been hooked on your stories!
LunarPrincess: creepy wasn't exactly what i was going for. . .well, not the meaning i usually attach creepy to, like molesters and stuff. but at least the idea got through. x) thanks for reading and reviewing!
K'tothe;NA: is that a semi-colon? or a colon? i couldn't tell and i'm too lazy to copy and paste D BA-sama, you changed your frickin name! but i knew it was you. I KNEW. because you're BA-sama and there's only one BA-sama. :D
Krista Hopes: you know, "soon" is really a relative word. . . in some cultures, doing something "soon" could take years! well, anyways, thanks for reviewing and reading!
Erinamation-limited2-nothing: hm, indeed! :o
angel313: now i must apologize for not updating sooner. XX
Vixen1: ack, wow, eek! thank you! i never do quite know how to respond to these kinds of reviews. . . except by denying them. ;-; lolol
Arcade Angel: is it an original idea? it could have been original. . . if i hadn't practically burglarized mkr this chapter. hehe, but thank you.
Heero's Bunny: ah, you are very sweet ;-; i know what you mean about fanfiction losing zest. . .but there are wonderful authors out there i.e. angelight, liquid ice, kiwi-chan, vixen, etc, etc, who i like to idolize. lol. dial-up SUCKS! i hate dial-up. if i had live somewhere where there was only dial-up, i would DIE. and sailor cosmos is friggin pretty. and is this long enough for you?! OO;;
Amber: thank you i hope you enjoyed this chapter, too!
siren: :o the word "interesting" has so many interpretations. . . ;-;
themoonmaiden: ah, so many questions! lolol i look forward to them every time. they make me think and agonize. XD don't worry about reviewing late. . . i'm just glad you review at all! and you're right about the ascending part . your intuition scares me xD i hope you're working on your fics, as well!
Dark Universe: cliffhangers are evil, aren't they? ::insert ebil face that i can no longer make on ::
Choas Babe: thanks!
sylverwind: i still wonder what's going to happen next . . .
Darkest Melody: yes, yes, i must get into the habit of updating fast. . . but it's so hard. ;;
MehLatera: ah, thank you ;-; you also have an interesting name o.o very exotic. . .
snoggitz: don't be blown away! ::brings snoggitz-san back::
Sailor-Celestialis: pairing of the senshi. . .hmm, i'll have to think about that. :x i'm not sure yet, so we'll see. . .
AmarisD: aww, sorry. if it makes you feel better, when i read it after a long hiatus, it gave me a headache, too. lol, this is what happens when you try to confuse people. xD karma.
Suki: lolol, Suki-san. special request . ;; i tried to fill it, i swear! but it was hard. and you ended up with the last chapter. and this. and um, yeah. teehee!
Sara: ack, sorry, thank you. . .! phew, you did support me if i decided to take it down there. i'm relieved! i always try to go for unique. well, maybe not try. stuff comes to me and if i like it, i'll jot it down. wow, you feel like you're learning something?! YOU HAVE MADE MY DAY!
Patricia16: aw, my first reviewer in a very long time. xD thank you. i will update!
koldy: you know, i look at the word "kol" and i try to pronounce it the way i think it would be pronounced. sometimes i get "cool," other times i get "cold." which is it? or are they just dead wrong? ;-;
Kail Ceannai: you have a most intriguing name. how do you pronounce it? ;-; it sounds... i want to say celtic, but i'm probably wrong. lol. yes, i'm so glad i can share the goodness of the buffy! makes me feel like i have something to live for ;D
Damia - Queen of the Gypsi's: heck yeah! something about anya that puts me in a good mood. and spike! he. is. incredible. sometimes, i think he should be the star of the show. spike is hilarious, sweet, strange. . . yum.
sailorveggie: lol! that's such a cute name :x reminds me of veggie tales. lolol, your subtle hint will be taken to heart
Sugar-sweet: erm, hiiroxusagi moment! um, yeah! xD ok, ok, next chapter, there will be tons. x)