Damia - "ARGHAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH,"
Solatina - "See, now she's all upset because you took away her concentration,"
Wren - "I did not,"
Solatina - "Yes you did,"
Wren - "DID NOT,"
Damia - "SHUT UP, I am reposting this chater, and this time it had bet goddamn well work!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Solatina - "I like this attitude,"
Wren - "She's scary,"
Damia - "Shut up and let them read chapter two already!"
~*~*~*~*~* 6 years later
Over two hundred people stood in the cemetery for the Funeral of Fred Tomoe. He had died a week ago when a stray missile had hit a passenger transport. He and three others along with the two pilots, had been killed. War had been declared two days later.
His grave was next to his wife's. Lillian Tomoe had a large angel looking up at the sky, and Fred's was a small sculpture of a Lion watching over a flock of sheep. The inscription read, "Loving and Loved, He was the lion watching over the lambs," The ten young people standing in the row closest all had tears streaming down their faces. The Hotaru's shoulders were shaking uncontrollably. She was leaning heavily on the two next to her.
After the funeral, the group went back to the orphanage. Hotaru went into her father's old room. It had a wizened old monkey on it. He had thought it was amusing. Hotaru cracked a small smile. The orphanage had a small trust that would keep it fine for the next two hundred years, not to mention the interest it would make. Everything else went to Hotaru except for a few select things that went to others.
Her father had three cars. One was a red convertible that was being given to Haruka, one was a simple mini-van that would stay with the orphanage, and one was actually a motorcycle that was being given to Mamoru. Minako had been left a pretty painting that he had kept over his fireplace that had a mermaids playing in an underwater cavern. Ami had been left the sculpture of an owl and his lap harp. Makoto had gotten his collection of ancient daggers and a book of poems. Michiru had gotten his violin and his easel. Setsuna had gotten his camera and his pocket watch. Usagi had gotten a collection of vases. Rei got a paperweight that looked like a phoenix and a letter opener with a flame handle. Hotaru sat on his chair and let the tears fall.
"Hotaru, since I am now your legal Guardian, you are welcome to stay with me," Setsuna said with a smile.
"I know Setsu, I'm glad dad put you down as my Guardian," She said with a watery smile.
"We'll all miss him," Ami said, looking around.
"I know Ami," Hotaru said. She reached over and grabbed the blue haired girls hand.
"So what about moving in with me?" Setsuna asked again.
"It wouldn't be fair to the girls to leave," Hotaru told her, glancing at the others. Michiru and haruka were now 18 and when they finished school in two months, they would find their own places and the rest of the girls were only 14 and still under the orphanages care.
"Hotaru, we'll be fine. You should get away from here, it only reminds you of your dad. We all have each other," Usagi said with a smile.
"Are you sure?" Hotaru asked. The girls nodded. A few days later she had moved all her things into Setsuna's flat. Two months or so after that, Michiru and Haruka graduated. They moved in with Setsuna as well. The new orphanage coordinator was a younger man by the name of Dan Metcalf. He was in his late twenties, had dark blonde hair, cruel blue eyes, and a thin mouth on top of a stocky, well muscled body. He watched every girl in the place carefully, and let the boys run roughshod over the entire compound. He tended to encourage rough and brutal behavior from the boys, and complete submission from the girls. The teachers were thoroughly cowed by the mans attitude and did nothing to stop him.
Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako protected the girls as best they could, earning them little favor in Metcalf's eyes. A year after the other two girls had graduated, Minako was beaten to a pulp by some of Metcalf's boys. Usagi, Rei, Ami, and Makoto found out who the three boys were and returned the favor, then they called Haruka. Makoto and Usagi snuck Minako out in the middle of the night so that they could get her away from the place. With Haruka were Michiru, Hotaru, Setsuna, and Mamoru. They took one look at the battered form of Minako and decided to get the rest of the girls away as soon as possible.
"Who's been looking at these wounds?" Michiru asked in a shocked voice. Minako's entire face was bruised, as well as her legs and arms. They couldn't see her ribs, but the multiple cuts were unclean.
"Ami for the most part, but Ami's the one trying to look after all of the girls," Usagi said with a fierce glare.
"I don't want any of you there anymore," Setsuna said.
"It doesn't matter if you did or not. We were planning on leaving soon anyway. The only problem is the rest of the girls," Makoto said with a shrug.
"How many other girls are left?" Haruka asked.
"Not many, maybe ten besides Ami, Rei, Makoto, and I," Usagi answered.
"How many are hurt?" Michiru asked.
"All," Makoto said.
"They all need to get out of there," Mamoru said quietly.
"We aren't leaving until they do anyway," Usagi told him. He looked over at her, standing in the moonlight, her hair dancing on the wind, he expression fiercely protective and bashed down the thoughts that came into his mind.
"Alright then, how are we going to do this?" Hotaru asked.
"Every night from now 'til we are all gone, I want you to be here. We'll bring the girls in ones and twos. Ami, Makoto, Rei and I will be the last. The most seriously hurt will come first. Be here tomorrow at the same time, we have to go or we'll be missed," With that Usagi nodded and turned. She and Makoto twisted in and out of the shadows and disappeared into a low window.
The next night Makoto and Rei brought out two girls. They were the twins that were only a year younger than Michiru and Haruka and had caused a few problems when they had first come. Now they had a few broken bones between them. Only Haruka and Setsuna were there this time. The night after that Usagi and Ami brought out a girl that seemed to be in a trance.
"What's the matter with her?" Michiru asked, horrified at the vacant look in the girls eyes.
"Gang rape, she's in shock and Metcalf wont do anything about it. He said she only wants attention," Ami said angrily. Mamoru and Michiru took the girl and gently led her to the car as the other two slipped back inside the gates. The next two nights were vacant. None of the girls came out of the compound and there was a definite guard out.
The third night brought definite reactions. Usagi, Makoto, Ami, and Rei brought out five girls and took them to the car. All but Hotaru were waiting for them.
"You'll have to squeeze them all together. we can't risk another drop off. Metcalf got pissed," Rei said. All of the girls had new bruises and marks across their skin.
"The guard will be around in five minutes. Take these girls and go, take off, don't come back for three days or he'll know. Then we'll be waiting for you," Makoto said.
"He'll kill them, don't let them go back," One of the other girls pleaded.
"He can't hurt us that bad," Makoto said with a shrug.
"We'll only put up with it for three days," Rei said with a nod.
"Not to mention that he can't prove anything," Ami said with a grin.
"As long as no one sees us, we're fine," Usagi said.
"No, they'll get killed, he wont care," Another girl cried.
"Get in the fucking car," Usagi barked. The girl shut her mouth and meekly entered the car. Just as the girls started to sprint back into the compound, the guards started shouting. Usagi was in the front. She looked at her friends and then looked at the car. She turned and saw large lights searching the grounds.
"Three days," She shouted, before sprinting into the middle of one of the lights. The other girls stared in shock as Usagi fought off a few of the guards that had ben hired to 'guard' the compound over the last few months. They slowly backed up to the cars and looked at the others.
"What the hell was she thinking?" Mamoru growled.
"That she was going to save us all and be the fucking Joan of arc for the orphans," Rei said with an equally threatening growl.
"I hope they don't kill her," One of the other girls said.
"It's Usagi, they wont want to kill her, they'll want to torture her," another said.
"Will you kindly shut the hell up?" Ami shouted. They looked at the usually quiet girl and became mute.
"What did they mean?" Haruka asked.
"Well, they kind of get mad at us when we manage to ruin all of their plans," Ami said, hedging around a true explanation.
"You see, we just make life rather annoying for them, and gain pleasure from it, which tends to make them more annoyed," Makoto added.
"And for some reason, they are positive that it is we five heading the entire thing," Rei said.
"But in reality it is only we five that are doing anything," Ami said with a smile.
"Since we're not their, they already got Usagi, and Minako is already taken care of, Usagi might not actually be able to walk out of their in three days," Makoto said.
"So when are we going in?" Mamoru asked.
"Not right now," Ami said.
"Why?" Rei asked.
"They are looking for the rest of us, so we wont be able to sneak in," She said.
"Fine, back to my place, we'll take care of everything from their," Setsuna said. The next day they showed up and parked where they usually were.
"Alright, we split into groups, Setsuna, you stay with the car. Haruka, you're with me, Mamoru, you're with Ami, and Michiru, you're with Rei," Makoto told them.
"We're all going in different ways," Ami said with a nod. The three groups moved out. They all managed to get into the building and into one of the girls' old rooms.
"So where do you think she'll be?" Haruka asked.
"Punishment rooms," Makoto said with a nod.
"What are those?" Mamoru asked.
"You'll be seeing soon enough," Rei said with a nod.
"Where are they?" Michiru asked.
"Do you remember the old washing rooms, the ones behind the boilers to the west of the kitchens?" Ami asked. The three nodded, "Those are the ones," She told them.
"You could die of a heat stroke in those rooms, that's why we moved the wash room," Haruka said with a frown.
"And they're freezing cold in the middle of summer when all of the heat gets sucked into the other rooms," Rei said with a nod.
"Let's go," Mamoru said, standing up.
"Just remember that their might be a lot of people," Makoto warned. they all moved off, again taking different routes. Ami and Mamoru were first. They were happy to discover that no one was around except the guard who watched over it all. Ami gave him a swift blow to the temple with an ornamental iron work door jam. He slipped to the floor unconscious.
Ami walked up to the only door that was locked, unlocked it, and opened it. (An- the locks are on the outside so that the people inside can't lock it) Usagi was hanging limply from a pair of chains that were holding her arms up. She had whip marks and bruises everywhere. Some of the lashes had blood oozing out. Mamoru grabbed her and held her so that the chains weren't straining her, while Ami looked at the locks and quickly ran out to get the keys from the peg on the wall. They unlocked the chains and Mamoru picked up usagi as the other two pairs came by. They took the girl and made their way out to the car.
Three days later, Setsuna and the others had already gotten rid of the other girls and sent them to different orphanages on different colonies. They were all sitting in her kitchen, drinking tea and coffee and talking quietly. There was a thump and a loud groan from the room they had put Usagi in and they all took off down the hall, Mamoru in the lead. They came in to find the girl in a bundle of blankets on the floor and a hand on her forehead. Mamoru leaned over and picked the girl up, putting her back on the bed.
"I feel like I was hit by a runaway freighter," she said.
"You've been passed out since we went and got you three days ago," Mamoru told her. He sat on the edge of the bed.
"That would explain the gaping hole in my stomach," She said, looking at them all hopefully. Minako smiled at her, the bruises having faded considerably.
'I'll go make you something," The girl dashed out.
"Makoto, unless you have been giving the girl lessons, I really don't want to be poisoned," Usagi said. There was a crash from the kitchen and Michiru groaned.
"We'd better go save the girl," Setsuna said with a sigh. That left Hotaru, Rei, and Mamoru with Usagi.
"You know, that was a really stupid stunt you pulled," Mamoru said.
"What?" Usagi asked.
"Running into the light. You should have just run back to the car," He told her.
"But what if they had seen us all," She said.
"We could have run," He told her.
"Were you worried?" She teased.
"Yes," He answered seriously. Rei and Ami along with the other two, had known that Usagi had a crush on Mamoru for two years. They teased her quite a bit, but they could sense when friends were about to have dreams made true.
"Hey Usa, we'll go grab you some clothes from Hotaru's room, there has to be something that fits you," Rei said with a smile. She took the hands of Ami and a bewildered Hotaru and they left, closing the door behind them. Usagi craned her neck around and sent a confused look over to the door. She looked back at Mamoru.
"Did I miss something?" she asked hesitantly.
"If you did, so did I," He said with a shrug.
"why were you worried?" She asked after a moment.
"You could have been hurt," He said.
"You would have felt the same if the other girls had gone," She said with a shrug.
"Not to the same extent," He said quietly.
"Mamoru?" She asked as he leaned over her.
"yes?" He asked, his face inches from hers.
"Kiss me?" She asked in a hushed voice. He bent foreword and did as she asked. A few moments later they heard the door open and pulled back. Usagi blushed bright red as Haruka stared at them in shock. Michiru just shoved Haruka back and shut the door again.
"That was interesting," He said. Usagi frowned.
"Did I do badly? I never kissed anyone before," she said with a groan. He laughed at the annoyed look on her face.
"So I was the first person to kiss you huh?" He asked. She looked up at him through lowered lashes.
"Yes,"
"If I have it my way, no one else will ever kiss you again," He told her. He bent over her and kissed her again. This time when the door opened, they didn't break apart, instead Usagi put her arms around his neck.
"Go Usa," Minako shouted.
"We'll leave you two alone," Makoto said, then the door closed again.
That night, everyone was sitting on the floor, or in chairs in the living room.
"So what do we do now?" Minako asked.
"We help the gundum pilots," Usagi said with a nod.
"What? Where did that come from?" Rei asked.
"Metcalf is a high official for Oz. He's using the orphanage as a front, but he's also training the boys to be Oz soldiers," She told them.
"So why don't we just leave, why help the gundums?" Makoto asked.
"Because, I don't want Metcalf and his cronies to win," She said.
"And how do you propose we do this?" Haruka asked.
"We do what we've always done, we fight, we hide, e sneak, we steal, and we give aid," Minako said with a smile.
"We've never stolen," Ami said with a frown.
"Ok, taking food from the fridge may not be stealing, but taking secret papers from Metcalf's office is," Rei said with a smile.
"How do we go about this?" Hotaru asked.
"We fly by the seat of our pants and hope to god we don't die," usagi said with a smile.
"We need a plan, but this could work," Mamoru said with a smile.