The Makaiju Arc
Chapter 12 – Earth
By Lebnaniya
Disclaimer
I do not claim any rights to the Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon series in the animated format or the manga books. All copyrighted materials belong to their respectable owners. The following story is entirely fictional and pays tribute to the amazing characters developed by said owners. As a fan, I am writing this out of respect to the owners as well as to elaborate on this couple because I don't think the series gave Ail and En enough attention.
Commentary
I'm excited about this story but I will admit…I'm a little nervous because I don't know many people who are fans of this couple. Take note, that this site lists them as "Ali and An" but if you watch the subtitled anime, the actual spelling is "Ail and En" – the creators did this as a play on the world "Alien," so I'm going to follow their example. I know some of you have been waiting a long time for me to update this story and I am sincerely sorry. But, I am pleased to say that I am finally in the process of finishing up this story. To those of you who have followed, reviewed, and encouraged me to continue, I thank you very much for your support.
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.
She loved his song just as much as she had grown to love him. Over the years of fighting and struggling to survive, they had encountered many foes and had come to the brink on so many occasions. And while they had many physical scars, none were as deep as the scars inflicted on both their hearts.
But despite the pain. Despite the wounds. Despite the overwhelming odds, they had survived.
And as she approached her beloved, she couldn't help but smile as he continued to play the tune she loved so much.
Ail smiled when he sensed her nearby. Her light footsteps. Her silent observations. Her quiet devotion. Even after all these years, he was still fascinated by them. It drew him to her. And he loved her for her fierce loyalty and protective nature. They had come so far from their innocent beginnings. They were now confident young adults, capable of anything and willing to rise to any occasion to prove their worth.
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.
When they infiltrated the high school, they had managed to conceal their identities through camouflage and crypsis. Simple tricks they had learned in their many years alone in space. However, they had not expected to find themselves experiencing so many strong and overpowering emotions all at once.
Ail found himself attracted to the attention of the female students and most especially to one odango-hairstyle female in particular. His attraction was cut short though when he saw En in the back, glaring at him with unspoken fury. He did not intend to hurt her. He needed something to calm himself down in a world with so many humans. He had never encountered a planet with so many individuals of one species. It was overwhelming. The next thing he knew, he had procured his flute and was playing his familiar tune. A tune of comfort.
En found herself not only reveling in her superiority over the humans, but had to contend with her immediate anger and jealousy when she heard Ail playing "their" song. It had been a tune so comforting and familiar during their despair…the thought of him using it to show off angered her beyond words. Those feelings were quickly replaced though when she felt an overpowering attraction to a male she had seen on the streets. One minute, she was following Ail, loyally devoted to him without question, and then the next, she was entranced with a silent dark figure, reading a book as he walked the streets.
Later, they would both brush off these strange emotions to the atmosphere of Earth. There was clearly something off about this planet. They couldn't understand what had made them feel so weird and out of synch. But whatever it was, they both brushed it off. Little did they know that these emotions were here to stay.
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.
Ail was confused. Several days ago, they had encountered a rival group. The Sailor Senshi. And while it intrigued him that they had rivals to contend with, he was more preoccupied with the emotions he was going through.
Just the other night, he and En were reveling in the energy underneath the Makaiju. Their attraction to one another… no… their love for one another was strong and they shared an incredibly intimate and sensual kiss. But then, Ail found himself bringing roses for the odango-girl he had now come to know as Usagi. He felt conflicted. His love and undying devotion to En was still there, but he felt a strong attraction to Usagi.
En was going through the same turbulent emotions. Just the thought of Mamoru made her blush and the concept of fighting for his attention against Usagi was strong. But when she was alone, her thoughts and heart ached for Ail. She wasn't sure what was hurting so much until she placed her hand on her chest. Her heart ached. And she couldn't figure out why. Why she felt desire and lust for another when she had Ail.
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.
He had caught her unaware. He instinctively knew where she was and silently made his way to her. He watched as she caressed the Makaiju tree. Her concern and gentility finally showing only when she let her guard down. He didn't blame her. They'd been through so much together. Of course she had to be aggressive. But it was moments like these that Ail knew he loved En beyond any explanation and beyond any comparison. They tried so hard to bury their feelings. They tried so hard to suppress their emotions. And yet, after all this, En was still that gentle and caring girl all those years ago with Fiore, Zahi, and Hiba.
Shaking his thoughts from those painful memories, Ail made himself known, fully opening the door and allowing sunlight to radiate into the dimension where they had hidden the Makaiju. En turned around, the light cascading around her. She was beautiful. He never told her this. And he wished that somehow, someday, he would have more courage to let her know just how much she meant to him.
But that day quickly turned sour. After meeting up at the arcade for some first person shooter games, Ail found himself competing against Mamoru. He was irritated at first but after seeing En's affections and attention displayed to someone else, he found himself unable to hide his anger. At one point, En locked eyes with Ail and he couldn't hide the rage he felt. She flinched and quickly brushed off her attentions and they quickly transformed to steal much needed energy for the Makaiju. Yet once again, the Sailor Senshi interfered. And while they gained some energy for their tree… it was still not enough.
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.
One of the more poignant and challenging days occurred when Ail found himself the object of affection from a young lady named Makoto. She had prepared him "lunch" and had made it a point to be alone with him. Ail wasn't so much interested in her as he was curious about this whole "lunch" thing. Human anatomy and biology was strange, as he had learned early on that humans consumed food in order to survive. Their species never needed food aside from nectar, but even that was inaccurate. They needed life energy from the Makaiju.
As they shared a quiet moment on the rooftop, Ail was amused and surprised at En's outward jealousy. He had been meaning to convey to her that whatever he showed to others was simply an act, but he ended up choking on the lunch instead.
En hadn't made it easy for him either. She avoided him that whole afternoon and even gave him the silent treatment on their way home. When Makoto stopped them on their way to their apartment, he realized he had a great chance to learn more about the human race again. He couldn't deny his curiosity. He could tell En was upset, but he'd deal with her later.
Little did he realize, later was just a few hours away. En had showed up at the park and attacked. He was once again amused and intrigued at En's erratic behavior. She wanted his attention.
She already had it.
But then she attacked Makoto, destroyed the lunch box that the girl had made, and challenged Sailor Moon all by herself. His attraction to her was never stronger. While he adored En's gentility and vulnerability during those few and precious moments alone, he was incredibly attracted and turned on by her fierce loyalty, her defensive nature, and her resilience to survive.
He quickly changed from his humanoid form to that of his true species, his eyes glowing red with desire. He made his way to En, her standoffish nature only adding to his desire before he found himself lifting her chin to face him and he planted his lips mere centimeters from her own.
She blushed sweetly and he realized that there was one thing he had learned from the humans. Showing emotions. Displaying your affections had its rewards as well. And for a brief moment, as En stared in admiration into his eyes, Ail recognized the beauty of innocence once again. He hadn't seen that look on her face in years.
And within that same day and same fight with the Sailor Senshi, their bond was renewed. They had protected and stood up for one another just like in the past.
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.
She was angry that he had ruined the Snow White play. But he closed the door and leaned against it. His heart and soul was a mess. Ever since they made it to Earth, they had found themselves lusting for other partners. And then finding themselves wanting to be back with each other. Only to be confused all over again.
En was openly weeping for the first time. He had never seen her so emotional since their childhood. She was sad and that in turn hurt him. His last glance before closing the door to her bedroom was seeing her kneeling on the floor, her head tucked in her arms as she leaned against her bed.
Now outside her room, Ail couldn't help but wonder if it was a mistake coming to Earth. They had come here for the energy to sustain the Makaiju. Now though… everything was a mess. His feelings. Her feelings. Everything. Something had shifted and he didn't' understand what it was or what was the source. Either way, he knew that they had to deal with whatever they were going through…because at this point in time, their relationship was suffering.
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.
The next few days after that, Ail and En had become even more aggressive in obtaining energy in an attempt to overcome their turbulent emotions.
And it all came crashing down on that fateful day…
While drinking with Usagi at the café, he had seen En walking alongside Mamoru. And in that moment, Ail knew he could no longer contain himself. He made an excuse to get her to return to the apartment, only to find himself worrying with En about the state of the Makaiju tree's condition. It was withering away. And while they had tried to give it even more energy, it didn't seem to be absorbing anything.
Later that day, Usagi had arrived at their apartment with Ami and Makoto, and while En was being tolerable at best, Ail knew that they had more important matters to be thinking of than dealing with other high school teenagers.
At one point, as they stared out their balcony at the shimmering sunset, Ail felt an overwhelming feeling to tell En that they both had been wrong. Earth was not a good fit. And that they should leave right away. Something in the atmosphere, in his mind, had changed them. And he didn't like where this was going.
En was going through the same feelings of insecurity, jealousy, and restlessness. She hated the idea of any other female attracting Ail's eye. And yet, a human male called Mamoru had caught her eye. She was jealous beyond comprehension whenever she saw Ail with other girls. And yet, she knew that Ail's heart belonged to her… or so she hoped. Her restlessness only increased with each passing day and with every day the Makaiju grew weaker. She felt weak and that was what angered her. She never wanted to feel weak in her life. She had been through that in her childhood. She refused to go through that again.
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.
When Mamoru presented her with flowers the next day, En was enamored. But then Usagi was there and all hell broke loose. She found herself hating Usagi. She couldn't explain why. She was frustrated. Emotional. Angry. And the only thought that occurred to her was to sacrifice Usagi to the Makaiju tree thereby eliminating the source of all her pain and insecurity.
Unfortunately, no sooner had she pushed Usagi into the dimension with the Makaiju tree that an eruption of power and energy engulfed the apartment.
The Makaiju tree for the first time had become erratic. Just like it did all those years ago when it tore itself from the island of their planet.
Mamoru and Ail had come running in and now their secret was out.
En cursed herself. Had she maintained control of her conflicting emotions, none of this would have happened. But she had more pressing matters at hand.
The Makaiju tree was going mad.
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.
Additional Notes
Alright! So yeah, I hope when you were all reading this, you realized that each break was a different day or different event in the anime series. There were around 13 episodes (I might be mistaken) of the Makaiju Arc in the animated series and I went through them all, focusing on scenes or events that truly highlighted their plight and insecurities on Earth. I honestly feel that these two were overwhelmed with what they had seen and encountered, especially after being alone for so long in the vast and empty universe. Sure they encountered other aliens and creatures, but not sentient and conscious beings like the humans of Earth – at least, that's my take on it. Let me know what you think!
