Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon.
To Sapphire Midnight-HAPPY BIRTHDAY! This chapter is for you!
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Rei grumbled and burrowed deeper into her cocoon of blankets, which was she stolen the covers from her oblivious husband. She sighed and fell back to sleep. She remained quiet and still until a tingling feeling made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She patiently ignored it.
The feeling increased.
She went back to ignoring it.
She entirely missed the quiet "Momma?"
"Momma?"
Hotaru bit her lip and spoke in a normal tone of voice. "Momma?"
"WHAT!" she yelped, scared out of her wits. Jadeite jumped up and looked around. Rei put a hand to her racing heart and both of them noticed Hotaru, standing there with a trembling bottom lip and wide eyes.
"Hotaru, what are you doing up so late?"
"...I dunno." Typical frightened kid answer.
"Are you alright?"
"...I dunno."
"Are you hurt?" asked Jadeite as he walked over to his wife side of the bed and sat down next to her.
"Nuhuh."
"Did you have a bad dream?" asked Rei. Hotaru stood still for a minute.
"...I...dunno." she finished sorrowfully. Jadeite reached down and picked up his daughter and sat her on his knee.
"Then what happened?"
"...I did have a dream...but I dunno if it's bad or not."
"...was it scary?"
"Yes."
"Well, what happened in it?"
"I dreamed..." she began. "I dreamed that I saw...fire...burning the city...but I wasn't afraid of that."
"Well, what were you afraid of?" asked Jadeite.
"The stars...were hidden by smoke...and a crystal fell and shattered and then...a cross..."
"A cross?" echoed Rei, prompting her daughter to continue.
"It was...not burning...but it was falling..."
Jadeite watched as his wife bit her lip in thought. He pattened his daughter's back and stood up. "C'mon, firefly, let's go back to bed."
Hotaru sighed contently and burrowed her face into her father's chest as Rei still sat in bed thinking.
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Michiru had sent a servant to go Lady Minako's apartments fifteen minutes ago to ask her to join them for tea again, ten minutes ago the same servant came back and said that the Lady neither answered the door nor made any sign over hearing her. Several maids had already said that the Lady was definitely in that room-she had been barred from leaving it.
Five minutes ago, Michiru followed by Haruka and Setsuna had left to go Minako's rooms to talk with her.
The rumors of an encounter of her, some nobles, and the Skeit himself were running like wildfire already even if supposedly happened just the day before. Rumors were preyed on and intensified by the harem's women and the three women wished to her the story from their own friend's mouth.
Michiru stopped at the doors leading to Minako's apartments and turned to look at her two friend's faces; they were both stony and determined. They nodded to her and she returned with her own nod. She then turned back to the door and knocked loud enough to be heard easily.
She waited a few minutes and knocked again. She waited a few more minutes and knocked again and called out while doing so. "Minako! It's Michiru, Haruka, and Setsuna! Can we come in?"
For one long, quiet moment, the three of them stood there peering at the door, willing it to open. Then a quiet, subdued voice filtered out in a near whisper. "Come in."
Before the two could say a word, Michiru dashed in. She recognized that tone of voice-it was a heart broken, tear laden sob voice that people got after trying not to cry making their voice crack. Setsuna and Haruka swept in after her-whatever got Michiru run like a fire got lite under her ass made they worry too.
They looked around the main room of the apartment-it was well furnished and the jalis opened to a courtyard but it didn't hold Minako in it. They poked around for a bit looking for her.
"Minako!" called Haruka, "Where the bloody hell are you, girl?"
Setsuna turned to a door they hadn't noticed before-it was half hidden by a tapestry. "Here." she answered and tugged the door open.
They three of them found themselves standing in a bathing room-there was a large tub filled with scented water decorated with ornate designs in the basin. Candles glowed from every nook and cranny of the room when lit.
Minako sat beside the pool with her back toward them.
To their horror, several long, viciously red looking cuts burned against her back.
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Despite his best efforts, Kunzite fell asleep at his desk again. Once again, a maid entered his room-well, acutally burst through was the better term for it-and found him sleeping quite contentedly, sprawled across his desk.
But there were differences from last time-the maid hadn't burst into frantic tears. In fact, the maid was none other than Ami. He had perked up in curiosity as to why the ever calm-well, when she wasn't with Zoisite-Ami would be in such a hurry.
"Milord!" she gasped. "I've been-pant-to tell you!-pant-"
"Breathe, girl!" he grumbled and handed her a shot glass full of water-it was the only thing he had on him at the time. He was gruff because if anyone would peek their head through the wide open doors it would look suspicious to see such a powerful lord worrying his head over some little maid. Ami knew and that's why, he thought, they got along so well-they both knew their limitations and both knew what would happen to step out of those limitations.
Ami nodded a guzzled the shot glass down. "I've been sent to tell you-" she still gasped so he got some more water and handed her back the glass. "The Ladies Michiru, Haruka, and Setsuna-" He frowned. They knew better then to send such an obvious messenger if they were given him information. "They sent me to tell you-"
"Damnit, Ami, out with it." he murmured already on his feet. She shook her head and began again.
"They sent me to tell you that you're needed in Lady's Aphrodite Minako's apartments."
His blood ran cold.
"No bird in it's right mind wishes to remain in a cage no matter how ornate."
Oh bloody hell, please tell me the girl didn't do anything daft! he thought. It didn't even strike him as odd that he was so worried about a Lady that he had met three days before. "And...why am I summoned there? Hasn't someone sent to the Skeit-"
"Sir." she stopped him forgetting her boundaries for the moment. She looked worried as hell he thought. "I believe the reason she's asked for you has to do with the Skeit."
He stiffened. He did not like to be out of the loop. "How so?"
"Sir...I-" she stopped and slammed the doors shut. Uh oh, he thought, that's not a good sign... "I...didn't have time to report to you...I thought they would at least wait til tomorrow for proper punishment..."
"Out with it, Ami!" he hissed. His patience ran short and he felt the bizarre feeling of utter dread.
"Lady Minako walked straight out of her apartments with no veils on."
Dead silence. "...and then what happened?"
"Sir...she walked straight out into a public courtyard...right when the Skeit himself and several nobles walked through it." she finished. He felt his knees go weak and he quickly clutched his desk for support-Ami nearly missed as his hands were still on the desk but she saw it tremor. "...the punishment, Sir, was...seven lashes...one for each nobles that saw her veiless."
"But...that's...damnit, even Diamond must know better than to insult an entire hostile country by whipping their princess-his own damn candidate for a bride!" he exploded. Ami jumped at his tone-she had never seen the calm and collected Kunzite of the Kou House become so upset.
"...I believe, Sir, that..." she trailed off. He turned his narrow gaze on her. "...Sir, it's only a hunch-"
"And your hunches are nearly always right."
"That this might have been a show of dominance."
Kunzite stared at her a moment. "...dominance?"
"Sir...everyone knows what he thinks of the Aino Line-"
"He thinks they're whores."
"-And what he thinks of her country-"
"He hates them too."
"-And this could be a show of dominance to try and cow her people into submission."
"...Ami." he started. "Why do you always sound so right?" he muttered and heading towards the door. Ami squeaked and followed. "Were going to the Lady Minako's chambers right?"
"Y-yes, sir!"
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Haruka and Setsuna jumped up when Lord Kunzite entered with the dark haired maid following after him while another maid with her hair tied up in buns with golden streamers waving behind her as they entered. He nodded briskly as he walked through to them.
"Where-" he started. They turned to look to the other room; Michiru bent on next to the huddled form of Minako. He walked over to her and bent down-but stopped and peered at her back. Indeed seven red, angry marks were striped across her back. He raised his hackles and leaned down to look at her face.
After a long minute she turned to look at him. It was striking to look at her now-her flamboyant, carefree, careless attitude was gone-striped away. She gazed up him with a confused, transfixed stare.
"Damnit, girl..." he grumbled, taking her face in his hands. "I said the break the lock not beat the bars with your body..."
Minako stared up at him a minute before bursting into tears.
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It didn't take as much coaxing to get Minako out of her bathing room and onto a fainting couch as Kunzite thought it would. She had been entirely absorbed in her tears to care as he lifted her up and placed her on the couch. He had quickly barked out orders-Setsuna had run to fetch a needle and thread while Usagi had raced to get hot water and towels from the room.
As soon as Setsuna had returned she found Usagi and Ami patting Minako's back with wet towels and washing her back clean of blood. She handed over her needle to Ami who began to stitch up the Lady's back. Minako had stopped crying and clutched her arms to her chest the whole, trying her damnedest not to cry. Michiru rubbed on arm while Usagi rubbed her upper left shoulder where the whip hadn't fallen.
"I-" began Minako. "I'm sorry tha-that I-I got you al-all wor-worked up!" she sobbed. Kunzite cupped her cheek with one hand and wipped away her tears with the other.
"Hush-don't get all upset." he murmured.
"Don't worry, milady, Ami will have you all fixed up in no time." pipped Usagi. Minako sobbed. Ami leaned back and bit the last string.
"I-I doubt tha-that an-anything can be fixed now!" sobbed Minako. Usagi starred at her a moment then wrapped her arms around her. Minako stopped and froze.
"Nothing-" she started. "can be that bad. As long as you're alive, you can do anything."
The five others watched as Minako burst into tears again and clutched to the young blonde maid. "Th-thank y-you..."
The tense stifling air seemed to melt as the maid quietly patted her shoulder-she couldn't really pat her back as that it was torn up. Kunzite looked at the weeping blonde-it appeared as if years of emotional repression and sorrow was finally getting released.
All seven of them jumped and whirled as a knock boomed out. Ami sat for a minute, reached out and grabbed Kunzite's hand and dragged to the jalis door to the courtyard and raced out of the room. Haruka and Setsuna grabbed the jalis doors and pulled them shut as Michiru tossed a rug around Minako's shoulders and Usagi raced to the door.
Usagi grabbed the door, yanked it open, and slipped out in front of it. She gazed upward at the shocked visitor's face and put on her most sweetest smile. "Hello, how can I help you, sir?"
The man gaped at her. He was tall, with white hair to his shoulders and violet eyes. Her smile twitched as she waited for him to answer her. "...you have no...idea of who...I am?"
Her smile gave a very visible twitch. She hated it when people talked her like she was stupid-well, Mamo-chan could get away with it but...this guy wasn't' him! "Excuse me, sir," she ground out, "but the lady Aphrodite Minako is not see anyone at the moment-"
"That's fine-I'll just talk to you until she IS able to talk again."
THAT'S it! she mentally hissed. Her brows knitted. "I'M. VERY. SORRY. SIR." she hissed. "BUT. THE. LADY. MINAKO. ISN'T. SEEING. ANYONE. ...SIR."
His grin twitched upwards. He bent down to her and caught hold of one of the twin tresses that framed her face. "And I said I'll talk with you til then."
She dropped all pretenses entirely and set her fists on her hips. "NOW LOOK-I'm my own woman. I'm a busy girl too-but right now I'm telling you that the Lady is too busy-"
Behind her, the doors swung open and she heard three separate gasps of shock. She turned to look back at the closest-Haruka gaped up at the man. "Your-Your Highness!"
Usagi froze as her blood ran cold. The S-Skeit...
Before she could utter a word, the lady Michiru grabbed her arms and swept her away with a demure "Good day, your highness." as took Usagi with her. Usagi allowed her to lead her along the corridor. She had just insulted the Skeit himself...and he had flirted with her!
"You know, Usagi, that was rather brave...foolish but brave." she chuckled. "I like people like you-you make everything so interesting."
Usagi didn't see what was so great about her life-she wasn't so brave at the moment either.
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Jadeite looked over at his wife as she read her book. "So...any guesses to Hotaru's dream then?"
"The fire...perhaps purification of city."
"Could it mean the rebellion will succeed?" he asked with narrowed eyes.
She shrugged. "It was OUR daughter's dream...and this has happened before..."
"So don't doubt it, huh?"
"It's the crystal and cross that has me worried."
"How so?"
"The smoke covered sky...smoke is another symbol for purification but the fact that it's covering the stars...destiny obscured? And about the cross...a lost cause about a sacrifice, or a meaningless sacrifice."
"And the crystal?"
"I...don't know." she finished.
XD Got this out in like ...a day! Phew. Very phew.
whitey9h-...violent today, huh? My school opened too. Pain in the ass, huh?
Sapphire Midnight-HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Yay! XD I just had to bring Nephy back...I was missing him too much! And now you know what happened to poor Minako.
Allison-Major turning point in the story here! Usagi and Diamond's sub plot is finally showing up! More Usa here in the chapter.
Friends1004-Yay, roses! XD MuSt HAve mOrE!
LittleDragon5-More is now. ...if that made any sense.
Ahh...my brain is mush right now...