Chapter Ten: You're the Pretear!

"Wait, wait, run that by me again," Himeno exclaimed, her mouth open in an 'o' of surprise. Or was it shock. Maybe disbelief. Hayate and everyone had been telling her about her past as the Pretear. They've been at it, for a while now, trying to help her remember anything. And they just told her what had happened to that girl in the Awayuki's shed.

Hayate sighed, he knew this wasn't going to be easy. "You're the Pretear." He started to explain what that meant again. For the third time.

Himeno put her hand out, "wait, stop." She grinned, "is this some joke, you all play on the memory challenged?" Hello, your name's Himeno. And you fight evil, by becoming a super hero.

Mannen laughed, "that would be mean." Funny, but mean.

Sasame sighed, "this is no joke."

"So you're saying some demon thing . . . ah wait you said there was a dead girl in our shed." She just processed that bit of info, her eyes going wide.

Everyone nodded, making Himeno's eyes go even wider.

"Okay, so some demon killed this girl," She took a deep breath. This is so not what I expected.

Go nodded, "right, me, you and Hayate found her," he pointed to Hayate. "Then we brought her here."

"Okay here's the part I'm having a hard time believing," Himeno looked around at everyone, "you're saying, I'm a magical fighter girl. Like Sailor Moon! This sounds like an anime."

Everyone started to laugh, "this is defiantly not an anime," Kei laughed, shaking his head.

Himeno walked up to Hayate, "okay, so how do I turn into this magical girl, um Pretear?"

Hayate was just about to answer, but before he could the Awayuki maid ran into the room, her face twisted in fear. Her hair was a mess and her clothes were ripped, stained in dirt and . . . blood. Her chest was heaving, and she didn't seem to know where she was.

"Miss Mai, whatever happened to you," Natsue asked, rushing to her maid's side, taking the women in her arms, when she collapsed?

Mai looked up at Natsue her dark green eyes blank. Her teeth started to shatter. "Mai . . . " Natsue whispered.

Everyone seemed to come out of their shock, running to Mai and Natsue's side. "What happened," Himeno whispered, looking at the maids tattered clothes?

Takako gulped, "oh no, she must have been attacked by the thing that killed that girl." Tears started to spill down Takako's face. She sniffled, turning away from the horrible sight.

Himeno frowned, "you really think so?" She knelt down, looking at the girl's blank eyes. She waved her hand in front of Mai's face, but the girl's eyes didn't even dilate. "It's like she's not even in there."

"Coming," Mai screeched. Her voice was monotone, and held no emotions. "They're coming." Mai's eyes turned black, and she started to shake violently. Blood started to poor out of her mouth as her spasms got even more violent.

Himeno was freaking, "what do we do?"

Natsue looked at Himeno, "nothing. She's dead."

"What? But she's still moving." Himeno shook her head, standing up and backing away from the girl who was dead but still moving. Her eyes were even still open.

"She was dead, when she came in here. You said it yourself. 'It's like she's not even in there.' You were right," Hayate said, feeling bad for Himeno. She was so confused.

"B...but, how if she was dead, could she talk . . . and move," Himeno mumbled?

"Something like this does seem strange, now that," he glanced at Takako, "the princess of disaster is no more, but whatever is draining the leafe is somehow controlling dead bodies."

Sasame nodded, "at least that's our best guess," he looked at Natsue and the now still Mai, "is she completely dead now?"

"Uh huh," Natsue said, "I think her only duty was to deliver that message."

"And what kind of message was that, 'they're coming,' who's coming, and when," Go scratched his head, looking down at the body of the maid?

"I suspect, it's whoever's draining the leafe," Kei looked down at his injured stomach. "Maybe the same person or thing that attacked me."

"Okay. But if she was attacked . . . then the thing could still be nearby." Himeno looked around panicked as if she expected the thing to jump out at her. "She does work here, so she must have been attacked close to the house."

"Oh," Hayate jumped up, and at once was transformed into the leafe knight of wind. Himeno's eyes went wide.

"That's one way to make me believe all this." Himeno ran a shaky hand through her hair.

"Sorry, I should have warned you first," Hayate grinned, floating a foot or so off the ground. "Come on," he said to the other knights, "we need to go and patrol the grounds."

Himeno watched, and her eyes got wider and wider as one by one everyone transformed. Go into the leafe knight of fire, Mannen into the leafe knight of ice, Hajime into the leafe knight of water, Sasame into the leafe knight of sound, and Kei into the leafe knight of light.

"Are you sure you're well enough to be out," Go looked at Kei, who was still slightly injured?

"Sure, we heal pretty fast. I'm almost 100 percent now."

Himeno looked at the transformed knights, and bit her lip, "um should I go out too?"

"Himeno, why don't you sit this one out," Kaoru said, looking at his daughter, who was still shaken up over the Mai incident.

Himeno nodded, and watched as the knights left. She had barely blinked her eye and they were gone. That fast.

Kaoru and Natsue went to tend to Mai's body, leaving Himeno alone with Mawata, Mayune and Takako.

She set down and looked at her sisters, and Takako, "I'm really a Pretear?"

"Yeah," Mawata smiled. Mayune and Takako nodded.

"Oh, and I really saved the world?"

"Yep," Takako nodded.

"F...from you?"

Takako nodded, her eyes clouding over with the memory, "yes, I wasn't myself you see. And you set me free. Now I'm a normal teenage girl once again."

"Oh," Himeno smiled, this Takako seemed really nice. She was glad that she had been able to help her. "And I saved you," she nodded to Mawata, "and your boyfriend," she looked at Takako?

"Yes, I'm so thankful," Mawata's eyes shined with gratitude.

"And Sasame had died, saving me, but you were able to restore his leafe and he lived again. I too am thankful."

Himeno smiled again, "I'm glad I was able to help you guys. I just wish I could remember." She shrugged, "it would be nice to remember people who seem to care about me so much."

"Oh, you will Himeno," Mawata's voice sounded so sure, "I know you will."

"Thank you, I hope you're right."

"Oh, I'm sure she is. You just have to wait for that certain something to trigger your memory." Mayune smiled, at Himeno, getting up and checking on Shin.

"How is he," Himeno walked over to Shin's bed, and looked down at the small boy?"

"Better, I think. He no longer has a fever," Mayune set down, next to Shin and started to force feed him some broth.

Himeno smiled, good, maybe when he wakes up, he can tell us what happened when we touched that girls body. I really hope he still has his memory! Himeno set down on an empty bed, laying back. I hope the boys are okay.

A/N Thanks for reading. Please review! Since I mentioned it, I guess I have to say, I don't own Sailor Moon! I wish I did, but the box set for season one is like one hundred dollars at Best Buy. Grrrrrrr.