On My Own?
------------Chapter 1------------
"Thank God for air conditioning!" The girl smiled tiredly.
The cat watched her charge reclining in a bath filled with cool water. "Once we're settled in, we can begin searching for the others."
"Aw, Luna," wined the girl, "can't I at least relax some, recuperate maybe, before we go searching for more youma?"
Luna considered the exhaustion evident in Usagi's small frame. She could barely keep her eyes open. Luna was deliberately keeping her talking, so she would not fall asleep in the bath and drown. She may be much more than a simple cat, but she was not able to lift an unconscious human. "I suppose," she conceded.
"After I'm clean, I'm going to bed," said Usagi. "I don't care if all my stuff is still downstairs. I'll get to that in the morning." Lifting herself up into a sitting position, she began washing.
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A tall man with black hair and deep blue eyes stands on a balcony of an exclusive high rise apartment building in Azabu. At first glance, he appears to be staring off into space, lost in thought. In truth, he is gazing longingly at the moon, remembering his days with his love.
He sighs and turns to enter his bedroom, leaving the door slightly open to allow the cool breeze to pass through. It is much too hot this evening, so he places a glass of ice water next to his bed, and stretches out above the sheets.
------------------------DREAM SCENE------------------------
He was walking through a garden, lush with foreign looking vegetation. Exotic flowers bloomed everywhere. Beside him ran a long hedgerow, one side of a living maze, covered in tiny blue flowers. A cluster of yellow/orange flowers, appearing to be a cross between daffodils and chrysanthemums, grew beneath a large tree bearing purple fruit. He reached up to pick one, somehow knowing that it was called a marple and that it tasted like a peach. He savoured its delicious juicy flesh as he walked the well known path to the centre of the maze. Here grew a very special flower, very near to his heart. A flower of Earth, which he had given to his love, and planted in this garden for her to enjoy.
"Serenity" he called, knowing she was here, somewhere. "Serenity" he smiled, he could feel her presence just beyond the next rose bush. Somehow, he could always sense when she was near, as she could he. They shared a special bond, the two of them. One grown not from close family relation, nor from long years of training, but one of pure gentle love that had grown between them since they had first met in his own garden on Earth, three years past.
"Serenity" he sighed as he rounded the rose bush, to find her kneeling in the soft grass, holding a freshly picked rose up to inhale its scent.
She smiled and looked up to him. "Endymion" she returned, and held out her arms in entreaty to join her. Her eyes sparkled with joy as he kneeled before her, wrapping his arms around her lithe young body in tender embrace. "Endy," she crooned, "you have returned early!"
"Yes," he pulled back somewhat to gaze into her eyes. "My people in Asia Minor came to a peace agreement much earlier than anticipated." He ran his finger down her cheek softly. "And to celebrate, I have brought something for you." Her eyes widened.
"What is it?" He smiled and cupped her cheek tenderly.
"Close your eyes and I'll show you."
She did as requested, and felt his other arm slide down to brace at the small of her back. His lips, soft and warm, pressed gently against her own. She sighed in delight, such exquisite happiness she felt in his embrace. She pressed her palm above his heart and returned the kiss.
When he withdrew, she smiled peacefully. "Mmm, you taste of marple." He chuckled.
"While that was lovely, that was not what I was speaking about."
"Oh? Then what was?" He smiled again.
"See for yourself."
Serenity opened her eyes and gasped to see a large bouquet of roses, perhaps two dozen, held before her. "Oh, they are so beautiful, thank you!" At least a hundred soft pink petals formed each bloom.
"They are Provence roses; they mean 'Ambassador of love'." As he spoke, he fastened two roses in her hair, one before each bun. "I have also brought a potted bush of this variety to plant in the garden, which I left at the palace."
"I love them Endy, thank you." She held them to her nose, "sometimes I wish I could conjure flowers as you do."
"It is one of my special gifts, part of being so closely linked to the Earth," he smiled.
She tugged one of the roses free from the bouquet, laying the rest down on the grass. Snapping off the excess stem, she reached up to slide it into his lapel. Smiling as she smoothed his collar, "now we match."
Their eyes caught and held, and energy seemed to pass between them.
"I love you Endy."
"I love you Sere."
------------------------END DREAM------------------------
"I love you Endy," whispered the sleeping girl.
"Usagi." Luna tugged at the sleeve of her pyjamas. "Usagi, wake up. There was another youma attack last night."
"What?" struggling for alertness, she sat up and shook her head.
"It's in the newspaper. Another youma attacked last night. This time at a nightclub in the downtown district." The cat leapt off the bed, landing gracefully on the floor. Meanwhile, her charge pushed her hair over her shoulder and rolled out of bed, landing on the floor with a bang. Luna tried to control her smile. "Usagi, you're not on a mattress on the floor anymore, you're on a bed again. You must remember to be more careful." Usagi only groaned.
"Wait a minute. Newspaper? Since when do we get a newspaper delivered?"
They walked down the stairs, past her numerous cases by the front door, and into the kitchen. There Taisetsu, Usagi's older brother, sat reading the sports section, while Kiseki, her other brother, was pouring cereal. "Taisetsu, could you please pass me the A section?" Usagi asked to no response. "Taisetsu?… The front section please?" Taisetsu continued to ignore her while Kiseki put down his spoon and retrieved the A section from beneath the pile. "Thank you," she expressed her appreciation for his help.
Luna settled herself down beside Usagi as she spread the paper open on the living room floor. "Approximately one hundred people were in the club dancing when a youma attacked. Witnesses say it looked like a giant houseplant. It used its vines to steal their energy."
"It says here," continued Usagi, "that the people who were in the bathroom when the attack happened came out to see everyone dropping to the floor." tshuh tshuh tshuh tshuh tshuh She ran her finger down the column. "Three senshi showed up… they couldn't beat it… then two more came… No wait!" she exclaimed, "One was a guy!" She looked over to Luna. "You never told me there was a male senshi!"
"There isn't. I mean, there wasn't. Or at least, I don't think there was." She looked confused. "My memories are rather hazy, but I don't remember there ever being a male senshi…"
"Well it says here he wore a tuxedo and kamen. I wonder who he is?" Usagi gazed off in thought. "Luna, why would it take five of them to beat one youma? When we've been doing it on our own for a year now?"
"Perhaps these youma are becoming stronger. Or perhaps the other senshi are just not as powerful as you are."
"Hmm… maybe…"
"Who are you talking to?" accused a voice from the doorway.
"Nothing!" shouted Usagi in panic, adrenaline suddenly surging through her system at being caught by her brother. "I mean, I was just reading aloud about the monster attack last night."
"Man! I wish I could see one of those things! This is what, the third time it's happened this month? It's more cool than WWF!" said Taisetsu as he moved off toward the TV room.
"Fourth…" whispered Usagi. "This is the fourth time this month."
'This increase in attacks in Tokyo corresponds with the decrease in Nagoya.' Thought Luna. 'Now that the Dark Kingdom has abandoned Nagoya, the people of Tokyo will surely suffer its full unwanted attentions.'
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In a dark and depressing cavern somewhere in the vicinity of the North Pole, a woman with fiery red hair and pointed ears sits on a throne, glowering into the darkness.
"You were right, your majesty," speaks a creature kneeling on the ground, hiding in the darkness. "As you predicted, the Light has left the city of Nagoya and moved to the capital."
"You were supposed to destroy her before she had the chance to join with her protectors!" shrieks the queen. "Your incompetence is unacceptable."
"But my queen-"
"Silence! I don't wish to hear your excuses. You have failed me too many times." The queen signals to another underling. "I no longer require your services." Her eyes widen in pleasure as she watches him being dragged away. She knows he will shortly breathe his last.
"My queen," murmurs a tall man to her side. "The Light has proven to be much stronger than anticipated. So far she has had no need of her protectors. She has destroyed all our forces sent against her. Perhaps it is time to send a greater opponent."
"Do you speak of yourself?"
"My, queen, though we are but possessing the bodies of the dead Shitennou, we are as great warriors as those we impersonate. Let us test our skills on the senshi. Allow one of us to face them in conflict. I am sure they will be unable to battle for fear of injuring one of their dear 'long lost loves'. He smirks as he straightens the cuffs of his ancient grey uniform.
"Your idea is plausible. Seeing your faces did paralyse them in the final battle of the Silver Millennium." The queen grins to herself. "It tore them apart to think their loves had betrayed them. It could work again."
