The Fight for Crystal Tokyo

Your reviews are very humbling.Just answeringsome questions for you guys: I go on vacation next week friday, so I'll be posting Chapter 3 onThursday.Every other question and comment can be answered by reading this chapter. If not, then ask again haha. ENJOY:-)

Chapter 2

Reading the Fire

Rei walked into the altar place for her daily fire reading. As the crickets chirped in the background and she heard the distant shower of her beloved, she was content with life.

For as long as she could remember the fire had never been wrong; it had always led her in the right direction. The fire had saved her friends before and had led her to her husband Yuuichirou. This same fire called to her at a young age of fourteen and told her she had a gift and a hidden past that could only be made crystal clear through destiny. She smiled as she knelt in front of that fire. It had become her friend and her consultant. As head priestess of all Crystal Tokyo, she wanted to be sure nothing was on the way that would take the city by surprise.

As she knelt down, folded her hands, and closed her eyes she silently prayed. She prayed for a revelation of brighter days filled with the everlasting love and beauty that the citizens of Crystal Tokyo had grown accustomed to. As Rei sat in her discipline, she knew she would receive the same message as she had every night at the fire. That fact made her lazy this night. She would usually kneel straight up, but slowly her thighs touched her calves and she began to think upon other things. It was irregular for her to not devote her full attention to the fire but tonight, she felt that she did not need to receive the same message.

What happened to the action, she thought to herself. Not that peace was a bad thing but as she knelt in front of the fire with the crickets chirping their same song, the same smell of soap and steam, and the unrelenting warmth and comfort only the flames could bring, she grew tired. How could there be anything wrong with Crystal Tokyo since evil had been banished to the far depths of the galaxy? Coming to this conclusion she began to move until a strange vibe entered her brain.

What if peace could be disturbed? What if the evil that was banished to the far depths of the galaxy would come back? The Black Moon Family, she thought. They could be coming! Yet, how could they if they were defeated and healed in the past? She had just talked to Cooan some time ago so there'd be no way her and her sisters could be apart of the Black Moon Family again. Dimando and Saffir were killed by Wiseman whom was put away by the combined power of Present and Future Silver Crystal Power, so what other possibility could be left? Ah, Esmerodo! Maybe Edmerodo had come back from the dead and wanted revenge. So in order to get that revenge she would turn into a dragon and try to kill the Queen since Dimando loved her more! Consequently, everyone would need to prepare for battle because Esmerodo the dragon was coming back!

...Yeah right. Rei opened her eyes and almost laughed out loud. She stood and bowed to the fire and was to leave the altar room. Suddenly a knock came at the door and she struck a fighting pose. "Rei-chan, are you coming to sleep?" Yuuichirou said from the outside.

"I'll be right there," Rei said slowly letting down her guard. This had been quite silly of her to think such things. As she touched the doorknob another vibe entered her mind and she turned to face the fire. The fire was roaring and growing as if shouting for attention. However, against her better judgment, she left the altar room and went to sleep.

---

"Ah, the smell of mulch," Minako said appreciatively. "Artemis, did you ever think the day would come when we could just enjoy a playground?"

"Minako, you've asked that question for over a millennium now." Artemis replied trying to take a nap on her lap.

Roiyaru, Minako, and Artemis sat on a bench as Ryoku, Chibi-Usa, and her cat Diana played in a playground near Minako and Roiyaru's condo. They watched the two children and the cat go down the slide over and over again. It was quite relaxing to enjoy the beautiful autumn day. Endymion and Serenity had given them some extra time off after the honeymoon under the stipulation that they'd watch the beautiful princess today. They had no problem doing so.

Minako, for one, enjoyed it. This was the part of motherhood she looked forward to. Seeing her son playing on a playground safe and free from the dangers of youmas or suspicious strangers was to be the highlights of her life. This was also the part of wifehood she dreamed about. Sitting by her husband as both of them watched their son play on a playground safe and free from the dangers of youmas or suspicious strangers would become a routine she felt happy to be apart of. As she thought of this, she focused her eyes on Roiyaru who was mesmerized by Ryoku.

If he could remember his own childhood, Roiyaru thought, he would think that he looked just like the boy. He was so sorry for the time he had missed out with his son and Minako. Duty came first, he thought, and that attitude made him miss out on the fruits of fatherhood and behind a husband. Before he got too engaged in his thoughts, he turned to Minako and said, "Aren't they cute?"

Minako smiled at him and replied, "Yeah, you'd think at this age they'd be fighting or something." Laughing at the statement, Minako's attention was then drawn to the yells of her son.

"Mom!"

""What is it?" Minako asked looking his way.

The two kids were still on the seesaw yet there was a fire in the Ryoku's blue eyes as he tried to bounce higher than Chibi-Usa. One thing that had continued even in thirtieth century Crystal Tokyo was a child's fascination with cooties. "Chibi-Usa keeps telling me Cootie Shots don't work!" he yelled. Every know-it-all boy knew girls had cooties, and an above-it-all girl like Chibi-Usa found boys such as these immature and shallow.

Chibi-Usa felt that she earned her right to be above-it-all. She was of course princess therefore in line to become queen and a future queen should have no to take part in such childish games. "Girl's don't have cooties." She said in an exasperated tone.

"Yes, they do and you're a girl... that's why I need my Cootie Shots to work!" As the two argued over the existence of cooties, Artemis, Minako, and Roiyaru watched as Diana slid up and down the seesaw.

Minako closed her eyes and sighed. "Chibi-Usa let him think what he wants about Cootie Shots and Ryoku don't talk about girls like that!"

"But don't girls have cooties, mom?" he asked inquisitively bouncing into the air.

"How can they; I'm a girl." Minako stated.

Ryoku squinted to look at his mother. "You're a girl?" Artemis and Roiyaru began to laugh at Ryoku's words. "You're no girl, mom." Ryoku said shooing the idea way from his mind. Minako shot angry looks at her husband and cat and politely turned back at her son.

"Of course I'm a girl!" Minako said as she went to stand beside Ryoku at the seesaw. "Now respect Chibi-Usa, she's older than you."

"Only by twenty years," Ryoku said. Noticing the seriousness in his mother's words, Ryoku nodded and continued to play.

"Nicely handled, mom." Roiyaru said kissing Minako on the cheek as she came back and sat down. She wiped the kiss away and huffed.

"You two laughed at me!" she whined turning away from him.

Artemis, climbing onto Roiyaru's shoulder whispered in his ear, "And I thought kids were immature." As soon as Artemis finished his statement, Minako pulled his tail and caused him to yelp in pain.

"Now we're even." Minako said as the kids laughed at Artemis.

"Hey," the little pink-haired girl called out. "Do you guys want to get on the swings?"

They were on vacation, what else would they want to do? Minako picked up Artemis and they headed to the swing set. Chibi-Usa and Diana occupied one together as Ryoku and Artemis occupied the other.

"I want Roiyaru to push me!" Ryoku said. Roiyaru's heart was softened when he heard this. Finally, he thought, Ryoku wanted to get closer to him. "He can push the highest!"

"No, I want him to push me!" Chibi-Usa hissed.

"Why would he push you?" Ryoku asked.

"Because I'm the princess!" she said arrogantly putting one hand to her chest.

"I can push swings too." Minako announced trying to subdue the argument.

"Alright then, you can push me!" Chibi-Usa held onto the chains tightly and was ready to be pushed. "Besides, girls are better than boys. On your mark, get set, let's go!"

Higher and higher the children went into the air, kicking and pulling back their legs to get as high as possible. "Slow down, Chibi-Usa," Diana begged even though she knew the request fell on unopened ears.

"Yeah you too, buddy!" Artemis said to Ryoku.

"Roiyaru, higher!" Ryoku whined.

"You can call him dad," Artemis suggested to Ryoku as they were in the air. Ryoku gave the cat the same inquisitive look he had given his mother earlier. Shrugging, when he came back to his father for another push, he had formulated a question.

"Hey dad..." Ryoku began. "Can I ask you a question?" Roiyaru was caught off guard by the way Ryoku had addressed him. Stuttering, he told his son to continue. "Do you have your Cootie Shot?" His father shook his head. "Well, without a Cootie Shot, how else could you live with mom and me... you didn't live with us before, what changed?" he asked.

Roiyaru opened his mouth to speak but no words would come out. Never had Ryoku asked that question in his whole life. Before Roiyaru could formulate an answer, Chibi-Usa announced, "I'm going to jump. Diana, hang on!" On the first push Minako gave Chibi-Usa, she prepped herself, "I'm ready." On the second push, she pushed herself on the edge of the swing, "I'm set." On the third push, in the highest point in the air, Chibi-Usa jumped, "Here I go!"

Chibi-Usa felt that if she would reach for the sky she would pull down a cloud. The world had gone mute and it was just her, Diana, and the air. In those few seconds, the girl wondered how much she would be praised for such a daring move. How much more she will be adored if she landed on her two feet. Yet, she wouldn't land on her two feet. As the ground came closer, the world became louder, and she heard everyone yell, "Chibi-Usa watch out!" She did not know what she was supposed to be watching for, but it was too late anyhow. She landed right on top of an unsuspecting woman.

"I am very so... oh it's you." Chibi-Usa said nonchalantly getting up from the ground. Ignoring the person she fell on, she got up with Diana and was to go back to the slide.

"That was so cool!" Ryoku shouted getting off his swing, following the sassy, pink-haired princess.

"Chibi-Usa," Minako called. "Is that how a lady should address a guest?"

Chibi-Usa sighed and returned to the woman's presence. For some reason, the little girl loathed the woman. She loathed how her hair was extremely pulled back in a seaweed-green colored bun. Looking into the woman's dark green eyes, the little girl saw deceit and treachery. Looking upon the oily, tan skin made her think of a snake and she wondered what trickery she was capable of planning and how soon another 'Fall of Man' would be upon the world. Laying her red eyes on the woman's attire it only strengthened her vice. The black, silky blouse, the olive slacks and the black open-toed heels and the olive nail polish the woman wore not only gnawed at and turned Chibi-Usa's stomach but made the girl cringe. Chibi-Usa knew for some reason she shouldn't trust the woman but what the women was planning was beyond her Age Eight brain.

"Are you alright?" Roiyaru asked.

"Yeah, Small Lady didn't mean it." The woman answered forcing a giggle. All so totally fake, Chibi-Usa thought. There was no way Small Lady of Crystal Tokyo would apologize to such a dishonest woman. To Chibi-Usa, this woman was guilty before proven guiltier.

"We know and that is why she is going to apologize, right Chibi-Usa?" Minako rhetorically asked.

Slowly, the little girl's frown was made into a fake little smile and she closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at the face she was lying to. "I'm sorry Miss. Nice."

"It's Nise; pronounce it, Nee-Seh," the woman now known as Nise corrected. "It's okay Small Lady." Thus, Chibi-Usa skipped back to the seesaw murmuring to Diana and Ryoku how she disliked the woman.

Behind Nise appeared Taiyou Tomoshibi, Roiyaru's friend and one of his fellow general's to the king. Roiyaru stared as the young man walked up and placed his arm around Nise. Instantaneously, Roiyaru knew that it was Nise's fault that Tomoshibi had missed his wedding a month ago. Sensing this, Tomoshibi quickly extended his apology.

"I came to apologize for missing your wedding a month ago." Tomoshibi said. Why it took a month to apologize, Roiyaru did not know and it angered him just as a younger sibling would anger the older by frankness and insensible honesty of words. Roiyaru felt himself beginning to be swallowed by pride, anger, and pain but what would escape his mouth could not be stopped.

"No problem at all. It's just a good thing you weren't Best Man."

Tomoshibi hesitated knowing that Roiyaru was trying to casually shrug the issue off. In actuality, Tomoshibi was Roiyaru's Best Man until hours before the wedding when he did not show.

Minako knew what her husband was doing as well and tried to change the subject. Minako replied. "So who are you again?" she asked addressing Nise.

"I'm Giman Nise. I am from Point 3 of Crystal Tokyo. That's where Tomi-chan and I met."

"Tomi-chan!" Roiyaru blurted out in disbelief. Roiyaru nearly scoffed if it wasn't for Minako who shot a quick and stern look at the man as if to say "play nice." "So Nise, Tomi-chan, it was nice seeing you and thanks for your apology. I guess we'll catch you later."

"Well we came to hang out with you two and the kids," Tomoshibi answered.

"We were just leaving to take the kids for ice cream." Roiyaru responded. Behind him the kids squealed in triumph.

"Parents should fight all the time!"Ryoku shouted out.

Chibi-Usa agreed. "One time, my dad let me stay up with him because I couldn't sleep and when mommy found out, daddy got yelled at and I didn't get in trouble at all!"

"That's nothing!"Ryoku said. "Every time Roiyaru leaves, mom takes me out to eat! I wonder what I'll get this time!"

Minako and Roiyaru developed sweat drops asthe kids continued to awe at each other's experiences. "Then we won't keep you," Nise finally replied.

As Tomoshibi and Nise were on their way, Minako heard Nise ask what point of Crystal Tokyo she protected and Tomoshibi responded, fifth. For some reason, that one moment made Minako regret the fact that all of Crystal Tokyo knew every Senshi's identity. She became glad for it as a problem arose.

"Shuensha-kun!" a man said running into the playground pushing through Tomoshibi and Nise. "Come quickly!"

"What's wrong?" Minako and Roiyaru asked simultaneously.

The man ran bowed in front of Roiyaru as he looked at the blushing Minako (blushing because she had answered to her new name.) "Shuensha-kun, there has been a bombing in Point 3!"

"Get the Fire Department and notify its Governess!" Roiyaru told him.

"The governess is unavailable; she might be in the government building and General Taiyou cannot be contacted, he left without his V.C. Video Communicator!"

"I am right here!" Tomoshibi shouted from behind the man.

"Then general, many people are stuck inside that building, they need help!" The bald young man was halfway hysterical. As he continued to explain the situation, Roiyaru thought as to why someone who wore the emblem of a king's soldier on his right arm would be so frenzied about it. Wearing that emblem meant that he was elite – one of the top soldiers that was produced by the training program that was run by one of the King's generals if not the King himself. However, this fact would prove meaningless until the not so distant future. "You all must come and help, Shuensha-kun!"

"Alright, let's go!" Minako announced cutting Roiyaru off before he could speak. "Venus Crystal Power... Make up!"

Author's Notes: I think I foreshadowed a heck of a lot haha, what do you think? Help me out by reviewing for me.

Next Chapter: Into the Fire