Notes: Wow... I haven't updated this in a long time. I am SOOOO sorry! I hope that some of the original readers of this story haven't forgotten about it. They probably have. sob It's all my fault! sob
Anyhoo... on with the story. Sorry this chapter isn't as long as the others. I'll try to do better later.
I'm afraid that I have lost all contact with my beta-reader, CSMSProtector. True, we haven't really talked to each other since my last post and she probably changed her e-mail address, but I tried the one in her profile and it doesn't work. So, I apologize if there are any mistakes in spelling or grammar.
Dedication: To my bestest friend, Diana, who has reunited me with Star Wars.... It's been awhile since I've seen it and she reintroduced it to me. Now I am here, writing this dedication to her.
Sailor Mercury came upstairs with a bowl of water and a cloth, and some wooden spoons. The older man had gone downstairs and Haruka was sitting beside Hotaru.
"I was wondering if you could help me?" Mercury asked as she set the bowl and cloth down.
"Sure. Anything." Haruka said, looking up at her friend. Haruka wasn't the type to show emotion very much, but at that moment, her eyes glistened with tears.
"Can you help me break these spoons in half?" The Soldier of Water asked, handing a couple spoons to Haruka.
"Of course." The woman said, taking the spoons.
After the spoons had been broken, Sailor Mercury used them to stabilize the young girl's neck. They could now take her downstairs to her bed without worrying about paralyzing her. Haruka gently picked her up while Mercury held her head and the carefully walked downstairs.
After Hotaru was in bed Mercury changed back into her normal for and went back and forth from Usagi to Hotaru. Usagi didn't need as much attention because she didn't have very much injury, just a severe lack of energy. Most of Ami's time was spent with Hotaru. She hoped that Setsuna would contact them soon and take Hotaru back home where she could get real medical attention.
About an hour after they got Hotaru to bed, Anakin came back and spoke with Obi Wan. Moments later they approached Ami who was, at the moment, with Usagi. It was late at night and she told they others that they could go to bed. However, Minako was the only one who went to sleep. Haruka and Michiru were sitting in Hotaru's room with her.
Obi Wan stepped up to Ami and put his hand on her shoulder. "How are they doing?"
Ami looked up. "Oh, hello. Usagi is doing alright. She just needs some more sleep." she said. "Hotaru," she hesitated, "If we don't get her home and to a doctor soon, she could die." Ami's eyes began to fill with tears, but she held them back. She had to be strong, for Haruka and Michiru's sakes, she couldn't let them see how bad the situation really was. She was going to hold out for Setsuna.
"I think we may be able to help." Obi Wan said, as he knelt down next to the bed.
"How?"
"We have a ship that can take her to a hospital." he said.
"Really? How long will it take to get there?" Her eyes lit up.
"It would take a couple days to get there, but we can have our best doctors waiting for her."
The excitement was gone. Ami just realized that they couldn't leave this area. Setsuna said that they had to stay there, where it was safe. If this place was the safe place, where the Youma could come, then outside this place must be more dangerous. "I'll have to talk to the others about it." she said and stood up. "Thank you."
"YOU FAILED ME AGAIN!" A man screamed as he stood up from his throne. A was crumpled up on the floor, shaking.
"I-I apologize, Y-Your G-Greatness. P-P-Please f-forgive me."
"Forgive you? Why should I? I have no place for such fools as yourself!" he yelled. He snapped his fingers and two more Youma came into the room. They both took the arms of the one on the floor and lifted him up. "Feed him to the Toush'ka."
"NOOO, YOUR GREATNESS! PLEASE!" The Youma screamed as he was dragged off.
The man sighed as he sat down. "I guess I just have to do this myself." he said.
"If she goes, I'm going with her." Haruka said after Ami explained the offer the following morning. She hadn't left Hotaru's side all night. Michiru had slept on a blanket on the floor, but Haruka didn't sleep at all.
"We need to talk to Setsuna first, before we make a decision. I'm sure, if she lets her go you'll be able to go with her. It's not like we'd send her to go by herself. But remember, we need as much strength here to protect Usagi as we can get." Ami said.
"How do we know that these men can be trusted?" Michiru asked. "What if they're trying to gain our trust so that they can take Usagi?"
"I don't know. That's why we need to talk to Setsuna before we make any decisions. I just hope she calls before it's too late."
Setsuna Mei'ou sat on her couch in her living room at 2:00, with dark circles under her eyes. She was unable to sleep, worried about the girls, particularly Usagi. She was unable to communicate with them and the dreams continued to become more vivid. She was now able to make out a little bit of the figure that was going to kill Usagi. It was small, petite, female, with dark hair. That's all she could see. She had gone to the Temple many times in the last two weeks and sought guidance from the fire, but it was no help.
Mamoru walked in with a tray that contained two beige mugs with steam pouring out of them. He set the tray down on the table and Setsuna could see that it was hot chocolate. He handed one mug to her and took the other for himself and sat down.
"I don't know if I can do this anymore, Mamoru. This dream seems to be haunting me and it seems that no matter what I do it wont go away."
"Don't worry, Setsuna. Everything will work out in it's own time." he said and put his arm around her. He could tell that she was really upset.
"Do you remember that dream that I was having awhile back, when Chibi-Usa first came?" Setsuna nodded. "I did everything that I could to avoid Usagi, for fear of putting her life in danger, and yet the dream continued to come, every single night." Setsuna rested her hear on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "I did everything that I could to protect her and the dream still came... maybe that's what is happening here?"
"Maybe you're right, Mamoru. Maybe I should stop stressing over this and just let things play out as they will. I just wish I could contact them, see how things are going. Tell Usagi about what happened to her father..." Setsuna trailed. She didn't want to tell Usagi that her father died, but she needed to know.
"Don't worry, we'll find a way to contact them soon."
Ami Mizuno check Usagi's pulse, a little worried that she hadn't woken up yet. It was normal.
"Maybe she just needs more sleep?" Minako asked, holding the princess' hand.
"That must be it. You know Usagi, always sleeping too late." Ami smiled.
Haruka suddenly ran in. "Ami! Come quick! Something's wrong with Hotaru!"
Ami jumped up and ran to the other room. Minako joined her.
Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker sat outside in the sand. After all the girls met together, Haruka had told them that they weren't allowed to come into the house unless Ami asked them to. She was well aware of when Obi Wan had done for Hotaru, but still didn't trust them.
They didn't talk. Their eyes were closed and they contemplated their own thoughts.
All of a sudden, Obi Wan opened his eyes. "The negative life force is diminishing. Something has happened to Hotaru."
The both stood up and ran downstairs where they saw Ami and Minako hurrying into Hotaru's bedroom. They followed.
Ami quickly checked for a pulse in Hotaru's neck and couldn't feel anything. She check the groin pulse and it was week. She got on her knees and began chest compressions.
"Come on, Hotaru. You can get through this." she said just before she breathed into the child's mouth. She went back to the compressions.
Obi Wan turned to Anakin. "Go and bring the ship down here." The young man nodded and left. Obi Wan came up behind Ami and put his hand on her shoulder. "Let me help." he said and looked up at Haruka who was holding a sobbing Michiru. The blonde woman nodded as did Ami, who stood up.
He knelt down next to the bed, and, much like the previous time, he placed his fingers on her chest, just below her neck. He closed his eyes and concentrated, focusing all his energy on this one task. It was all or nothing.
Ami had hoped that he would at least bring her back to the same state she was in when they brought her down, but it was taking longer than she thought. Was her condition worse than she thought?
Suddenly, a high-pitched sound came from outside and a strange booming sound. Haruka, Michiru, and Minako immediately became aware of it and took out their pens. They went to the hallway and transformed. Ami stayed with Obi Wan who didn't notice anything around him because he was so focused.
Anakin was just hopping out of the small ship when he saw the three girls come running out of the house. They were all transformed and Sailor Uranus was charging at him with her sword.
"Hey! Stop! It's me, Anakin!" he screamed as he evaded the swings of the pissed off woman. Clearly she was angry and wouldn't stop until someone died, so he took out his light saber and defended himself but blocking each blow. The other two women were calling to Uranus to stop but she didn't seem to hear them and kept going.
He put his light saber in his left hand and with his right hand he waved it near her face. "You will stop attacking me!"
Uranus froze and dropped her sword and fell to her knees. Anakin got on his knees as well and put a hand on her shoulder. "I know you're upset, but we're here to help."
Uranus didn't say anything. Neptune and Venus came over and helped Uranus up and down to her room. She hadn't slept in over 48 hours and finally gave into the unconsciousness that had been beckoning her.
As the two girls were taking Uranus to her room, Anakin went to Obi Wan. He touched his teacher's shoulder and telepathically spoke to him, telling him that the ship was there.
Obi Wan broke his concentration and looked up at Ami. "Her only chance of survival is to get her onto my ship and to a hospital." He told her.
"But you said that that could take a couple of days." she said.
"No, there's a ship that will meet us in 6 hours if we leave now." Anakin said. He had taken the liberty of contacting Yoda, who had a ship sent out to meet them.
"That's still too long." Ami said. "We don't have that much time."
"It's her only chance." Obi Wan said. He still had his hand on the small girl's chest, but wasn't focusing as much. "If we wait here it will take them 12 hours to get to us."
"I need to talk to the others first." Ami said as she stood up.
"Hurry. She doesn't have much time."
Notes: Soo.... How was it? Horrible? Wonderful? Tell me! Tell me! I really want to know!
