The Return Of Tenshi

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or Sailor Moon.

AN: Sorry for the long wait, hope this chapter makes up for it!

Ch22

Usagi looked out the window as her blue eyes stared at the small stars, decorating the night sky. She sighed deeply and looked around her empty room. Akito had already retreated for the night due to an upcoming cold and since she had nothing else to do, she went to her own room as well. She tried going to sleep, but every time her eyes were closed, she kept seeing things that often appeared in nightmares.

Death and destruction was everywhere. The sky was a pitch dark black and there was no source of light, natural or artificial, that could be found anywhere. Statues of anything that was once living were scattered about like lawn decorations began to crumble away into dust. The feeling it left behind for her was a huge wave of emptiness and hopelessness.

Usagi sighed once more. "Maybe I should tell Akito-san about these dreams," she wondered, staring up at the moon. She thought about it and quickly shook her head. "No, if I do, he'll be worried and never leave me alone," she answered herself.

"Meow."

Usagi quickly looked up. "Neko?" Usagi had never seen a cat within the main house before since she's been told that they were filthy disgusting creatures that should've never existed. She figured it was due to the zodiac curse in her family.

"Meow."

She looked down when she felt something tugging on her dress. She saw two cats, one black and one white, with an odd mark on their faces, a gold crescent moon facing up. She knelt down and stared at the cats. "How did you get in here? Akito-san would never let cats into the main house," she whispered.

"Oh, my dear queen, what had they done to your daughter?" Luna thought quietly as her red eyes saw the empty expression in those once lively eyes. "Please forgive us for failing to protect her."

Usagi picked up the black cat and held it up. "Why do you look so upset, neko-chan?" she asked, like a small child talking to an inanimate object, pretending it can talk back.

Luna lifted up her head. Why the light of the moon shone down on her mark, she reflected the light to Usagi's forehead. "Luna Mindmeld," she whispered, so softly that Usagi didn't hear.

Artemis watched in anticipation, hoping that his precious princess could remember her life. He watched as the light vanished and a smile blossomed widely on his face. Artemis was about to call out to Usagi when he saw Luna's eyes widened and quickly dashed out of the window. Not understanding what was wrong, he followed after.

As the cats scaled across the roof and out of the compound, Artemis screamed, "Luna, matte!" He chased after her. He got annoyed with the whole cat and mouse chase as they got deeper into the forest so he pounced on her, knocking her to the ground. Both cats tried to catch their breaths as Artemis stared at the black cat. "Luna, why did you leave Usagi-chan there? We could've taken her with us now tht she remembers everything."

"…didn't…"

Artemis narrowed his eyes as he tried to hear what she said. "What?" he asked.

Luna looked up abruptly at him with tears in her red eyes. "It didn't work!" she shouted, 'The mindmeld didn't work!"

Artemis' eyes widened as he got off of her and backed away. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know," Luna muttered. She collapsed onto the forest ground with tears trailing down. "I just don't know."

Artemis walked over to Luna and gently nuzzled his cheek against hers. "It's okay, Luna. We'll figure it out somehow," he whispered, "Let's head on back. Maybe we can think about our next movement with more people."

"What are we going to tell, Shingo?" Luna asked, "How are we going to tell him that our last hope of retrieving his sister's memory didn't work?" She dropped her head down for one quick second before lifting it back up, crying with bridges of tears coming out. "Your majesty, please forgive us for our failure!"

Artemis freaked out as he looked around frantically, either hoping nobody was around or hoping to find some help. He leaned up against the black cat and said, "It's not a complete failure yet, Luna. But if we give up right now, the queen will never forgive us." He gently ushered her in a direction. "Let's go tell the others so we can think of a solution together."

As the two cats headed back towards the house where Shingo was anxiously waiting for good news of his sister, they didn't notice a pair of wide red eyes starting at them. No, it's not Setsuna who had come back to life. No, it's not Chibi-Usa who had miraculously survived Mamoru's death. So, who in the world can this onlooker be?

/-/

Usagi stared out the window where the two cats ran out into the nearby forests. "Those neko…where have I seen them before?" she whispered. She rested her head on the window sill on top of her arms. "Why?" she asked herself.

Usagi closed her eyes as she signed, "The cat of the zodiac…huh…" she moved her body to sit on the sill and leaned forward. "The neko is not part of the zodiac, but neither am I…why is the neko more hated while I am more loved by the god?" she felt her body lean dangerously out the window, but did nothing. Silently, she listed all thirteen animal of the zodiac and with each animal name, she tried to picture their faces, but it was all in vain. "Why can't I remember anything?" she desperately wanted to know.

If it was plain daylight, there would be screaming from the audience below, but since it was already night with almost every Sohma asleep, so no one was able to witness as Usagi fell out of the window. The minute her entire body had began to plummet down, her body became enveloped in a bright golden light. When Usagi had opened her eyes, she saw that she had landed safely on the ground. The same thing would always happen if something harmful would've happened to her. The only difference now is that instead of the pure white color, her wings had a hint of gray, which was unknown to the girl. However, what Usagi did notice was that when her wings come out, there was a sense of revitalization circulating her body.

"Usagi-san, what are you doing?" a frightened voice shouted. Usagi didn't answer, nor did she pay attention as several pairs of hands belonging to the servants gently herded her back to her room. The wings then disappeared, but they had noticed the changed of color of her wings. "Usagi-san, why don't you rest in your room?" a servant asked.

Instead of answering, all she could think about was how fast the feeling of being reborn had come and then with the same speed, vanished. "Why?" she whispered. Like a large doll, she allowed the servants to change her outfit for something suitable to sleep in and lied her down on the futon. Sighing deeply, she closed her eyes, not noticing a tear escaping.

/-/

Shingo stared at the two cats, hoping for some piece of good news. Please tell me it worked. Please tell me that I got my one-san back. But all those hopeful wishes were soon dashed away as he watched the two advisors look down with their eyes closed. "How come?" he asked, falling to the bed he was standing next to.

"We don't know," Artemis said, "It might be that doctor of yours have a great skill and managed to cancel out everything, but…"

"It doesn't make any sense," Luna interrupted. She turned around and slunk away to Usagi's old bed where ChibiChibi was sleeping. Sighing deeply, Luna jumped onto the bed as she stared at the little girl who everyone stated looked so similar to the blonde princess. "It worked after Usagi-chan defeated Queen Beryl so why isn't it working now."

"It could be the fact that Usagi just doesn't want to remember." Shingo and the two cats jumped and turned to the stair entrance. Standing there with his arms crossed and a serious look on his face was Kyo.

"Kyo-nii," Shingo said. He quickly glanced at the two cats who hurried under the bed. "I didn't know you're still awake." He laughed weakly, scratching the back of his head.

"No need to play dumb, Shingo," Kyo said. He leaned down and pulled up the stairs, hoping to give them some privacy. He stood up and stared down at the cats with piercing red eyes. "I know that they can talk. Those nekos ."

Shingo's eyes widened; he stared down at the two cats, where the black one was glaring at the white one as if it's his fault. "What are you talking about? Kyo-nii, you know that you're the only cat that can talk so…"

"I saw them with my own two eyes, Shingo," Kyo said. Shingo felt a lump in his throat as his heart quickened in pace. "Don't worry, I won't say a thing," he said, "But I will tell you one thing, you're not the only one who wants to rescue your sister from that man. If you ever want more inside help, you know where to find me, Shingo. As for now, go to sleep."

Shingo watched as Kyo reopened the stairs and left, leaving them alone. He looked worriedly at the two. "What should we do?" he whispered.

Luna smacked Artemis on the head with her tail. "OW! What did I do?" he said, rubbing the sore.

"I don't know how he found out, but I'm pretty sure that it's your fault," Luna said.

Shingo lied down on his bed as his brown eyes stared at the sleeping redhead. "It must be nice, to live with no worries," he said softly. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, blocking out the two arguing cats.