Chapter I- Morning foreshadows
Dawn broke swiftly on the city of Tokyo that chilly autumn day. The cutting breeze it brought caused the tree-branches to rustle softly. On the corner of a lateral street, a bunch of sear leaves were lifted into the air by a feeble whirlwind. They danced for a few seconds, floating silently down the road, until the wind landed them against the pole of a gate. Behind the white fence, a small house—with a peaceful air of serenity and comfort about it—basked in the cool light of the dawning sun.
A first sunray glided along the white walls, falling on one of the house windows. As it tentatively worked its way around the pink curtains, it cast a dim light inside the room. Right under the window resided a low, one-person bed—and on top of that bed resided a somewhat shapeless mound, completely covered by the sheets.
The increasingly strong sunlight fell upon the small wooden desk near the bed, and illuminated the last scribbled words of an almost-finished essay. Right next to it was an empty glass with a thin milk crust caught at the edges. The crumpled sheets of paper and the glass partially covered the pages of a thick book, yet the first part of a geometry formula was still recognizable from under the melee.
While the sunray continued its journey around the room, the mound on the bed squirmed. The covers shifted to reveal an arm, and they drew even further back to allow a blonde curl to emerge from under the pillow.
An indefinite amount of time later, the figure stirred again, and another bright yellow strand of hair appeared from beneath the blanket. It was followed by a round head, and the head—vaguely reminiscent of a dumpling, as some opined—was followed by a pair of narrow shoulders, clad in light-pink pajamas. The figure felt the warming sunlight caress its skin and hummed contentedly, squeezing its eyes shut, and lazily stretching…
"Usagi! You're still in bed? That's the fifth time I'm telling you--get up! It's past eight o'clock already!"
For a second, as long as it took for the loud echo of the words to die down in her ears, Usagi remained still. She cracked one blue eye, and the other, and slowly moved her glance around the room…until it landed on the colored clock on the wall…
"Aaaaaah!"
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In the downstairs living room, a young, pink-haired girl was just inspecting the contents of her lunch bag when the desperate cry reached her. She sniffed disdainfully and rolled her eyes, as a blonde avalanche tumbled down the stairs in a crazy haste.
"Who'd think the mighty Sailor Moon can't get up on time once in her life…" she muttered under her breath.
"Don't think I didn't hear that!" Usagi's voice came from the bathroom, muffled by the sound of the running water.
"You're worse than a baby, having to be told ten times to wake up, get dressed, get all your school stuff …"
"Chibiusa, cut it out, I'm warning you!" Usagi's head appeared in the doorway, toothpaste smearing her upper lip, while she clumsily handled a brush. The girl spotted her mother thought the kitched door, and let out a yell: "Good morning, mama!"
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Somewhere else in the city, another household had come fully awake, and was as rapidly—though perhaps not as noisily—starting to follow the daily routine.
"Good morning, Haruka-papa", a voice called out loudly in the sunny kitchen.
Lifting her eyes from the steaming cup of coffee, Haruka Tenoh let out a small chuckle at the sight of her partner, Michiru.
"You really are serious about teaching her to call us that, aren't you?"
The young woman smiled. She looked down at the bright face of the baby girl she held in her arms, and her smile became wider. Little Hotaru truly was a wonderful child, peaceful and playful, and her presence had brought an air of familiarity and comfort to the house where the four warriors known as the Sailor Soldiers of the Outer Solar System dwelled.
"But of course…" She raised her eyes again to meet Haruka's, with a slightly questioning air. "Unless you have a better suggestion…?"
In reply, her partner gave a slight bow of her head, and brought the coffee cup to her lips again. She watched Michiru warm up the bottle for Hotaru, and wondered if it was truly possible even for soldiers such as themselves to lead a normal—even, dare she say it, happy—life. Lately, nothing seemed to disturb the safety of the Earth, or even that of the residents of the city of Tokyo. And as week after eventless week passed by, their awareness had somehow dimmed, as the three outer senshi had settled into a comfortable life devoted to baby Hotaru, to keeping a watchful eye on the Princess—and to themselves.
Haruka enjoyed the strong-flavored liquid in her mouth, and wondered what else she could wish for. As she did every morning, she fought away the thoughts that their current lives were nothing but a short respite between two battles. That kind of thoughts cast shadows on her otherwise light mood, and she always strived to keep them at bay. Although, deep inside, she wondered if there was some intuition that kept them resurfacing so often. Thoughts of…
"Ouch!"
The light cry that came from Michiru tore Haruka from her ruminations. She directed a quizzical look towards the young woman, who was forcefully blowing air towards the tip of her finger, while the baby watched with interest. The short-haired warrior couldn't stifle a small laugh, which was rewarded with a somewhat menacing glare from her partner.
"Oh, you think this is funny, do you?" Michiru said in that sweet tone of hers, that could hide a promise, as well as a threat, and whose meaning one could not hope of deciphering unless one knew her extremely well.
Fortunately, Haruka did know her well enough to be fairly certain there was no need for evasive action at the present moment. However, she felt it was safer to put on a serious mien. She loudly cleared her throat, and displayed a most solicitous expression:
"Would you like me to take on this dangerous task, so you sustain…" she fought to kept a straight face, but the beginning of a smile already tugged at the corners of her lips, "…no further…" her chest shook with barely suppressed chuckles, "…injuries…?"
"Well…if you really do want to help…" Michiru said softly.
Less than a second later, she had deposited the little bundle in Haruka's arms, and greatly enjoyed the expression—of surprise, mixed with uneasiness and amusement—on the blonde's face. It was already a known fact that, while Haruka obviously cared for Hotaru as much as all of them, she was vastly uncomfortable when it came to coming close to the baby. The young woman's troubled expression whenever she found herself holding the little one had been the subject of many jokes among the two other inhabitants of the household.
As the last thought crossed her mind, a look of confusion crossed Michiru's face.
"What…?" Haruka's inquiry, though unfinished, was enough to show she was sensitive to perceive the other's shift in emotion.
"I was just wondering…have you seen Setsuna-chan today?"
"It's a little strange she hasn't come downstairs yet…" Haruka admitted, "but it's not the first time a person sleeps in…" she finished, with a shrug.
"I suppose so", her partner replied with a slight shake of her head. "I guess I'm used to the four of has having breakfast together."
"We're not in hurry, we can just wait for her to wake up and join us."
A small wail of protest came from Hotaru, and the little girl gripped Haruka's sleeve and tugged vehemently. The gesture prompted another round of laughter.
"Maybe you can wait…" Michiru said amusedly, reaching for the milk bottle.
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She couldn't wait for the bell to ring. The morning sunlight hurt her eyes, and the girl was forced to turn her head away from the window. She silently scolded herself for having chosen such a poor seat in today's class of World History, as she should have realized the sun fell directly on her chair. But she absolutely loved sitting by the window in every class, as she could sometimes sneak glances outside. The bright colors of nature, the relaxed gestures of people who strolled about the schoolyard, the slight flutter of leaves in the wind, they always cheered her up and gave her a sense of inner balance that followed her throughout the day. Her connection to nature was important to the girl.
However, she wished she had had the inspiration of moving two seats back. Maybe she would have spent less time shielding her eyes from the sunlight, and more listening to the teacher's lesson on the Age of Renaissance.
Makoto shifted in her seat, and felt the eyes of some of her classmates on her. She hated the feeling, but could not blame them for giving her strange looks. She had squirmed for the past twenty minutes, and the damn chair creaked with every move. That had even won her some reproving glances from the teacher—although he had, thankfully, not made any observation out loud. The last thing she needed was everyone's attention on her.
She really disliked being the center of attention—probably because her figure and her skills usually made her so. She used to hate being so tall—until she had discovered the many advantages her strength and height brought her. Still, some of her old fixations still manifested every now and then: she was always extra-careful around others, as if afraid her own power would end up hurting them some way or another. Of course, the fact that she could, single-handedly beat up three boys did not do much to allay those concerns. Luckily, they surfaced less and less often, since she had recovered her memories as Sailor Jupiter. She could not afford to be concerned about having too much strength when outer-world enemies ganged up on the Sailor Team.
Makoto suddenly realized the thought of their enemies had brought a menacing frown to her face, and she quickly stole a few glances around, just to make sure no one had noticed. Thankfully, her classmates' attention was, for the most part, directed at the teacher.
She shook her head to drive away all thoughts of former battles. There was no use to dwell on them in such peaceful times. With a small sigh, the girl turned her head away from the offending sunlight again, and started taking notes, longing for an inch of shadow.
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As the shadow crept nearer, the warrior felt her hands begin to shake. She tried to draw back from the approaching darkness, but it enveloped her from all sides, trapping her inside a black, silent sphere. The air grew cold as she broke into a desperate run. But the shadow closed in on her, ominous and confining. Her eyes widened, trying to pierce the blackness, but her vision was slowly darkening. She clasped her fists, almost hoping to capture the last remaining shimmer of light between her two hands forcefully pressed together. Yet the shadow was unrelenting. It wrapped itself around her, until she could see nothing more than an endless void, hear nothing more than her own screaming voice…
Setsuna woke up abruptly, involuntarily cringing as she expected to hear the scream pierce the silence of her bedroom.
For a moment, silence surrounded her, and the young woman felt herself surrendering to terror. She fought for a grip on reality.
The loud knock on the door was her rescue.
"Setsuna-chan…?" came a muffled voice from outside her room. A second knock followed.
She took a deep breath, and stood up, glad to notice the momentary shaking was gone.
"Just a moment", she replied in as normal a voice as she could muster. Quickly, she pulled on a crimson robe, and took a moment to open the windows. The sunlight that invaded the room acted as a balm that quenched some of her uneasiness. Maybe it had been a simple dream after all.
"Come in", Setsuna spoke again, turning as the door opened.
Michiru stood in the doorway, wearing a small, almost apologetic smile.
"Good morning", she greeted with a bow of her head. A quick glance at her friend told her something was amiss, but she could not put her finger on it. "I don't mean to disturb you…I mean…we didn't want to start breakfast without you..."
She studied Setsuna's face for a second, but the other sailor had placed herself right in front of the open window, so that her face was hard to make out against the strong light. For a second, Michiru considered asking outright if something was wrong…and decided against it. Keeping a small distance from people and events was more her stile, and prying definitely did not fit her. For the moment, she preferred to assume the role of an observer—if the situation called, she would do more later.
"Well, in fact, Hotaru broke the habit…she really can be most persuasive when it comes to getting her milk bottle!" she said with a smirk.
A fleeting smile appeared on Setsuna's lips.
"Who can blame her?" she wondered aloud, "I've been rather lazy this morning…thank you for waiting for me!" She took a few steps towards Michiru. "I'll be down in just a second."
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A.N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I'd love to hear your thoughts on it:) Hugs!