A/N: More from me at the bottom, just get to reading, and drop a review, even if it's just a line or two, thanks!
Chapter 7: Confrontations
Later that night, Usagi was sprawled out on hers and Michiru's bed reading one of her favorite books. However, her mind was anywhere but on the book in her hand. Her mind replayed the events that occurred earlier that day, and the request she made of her friends.
Flashback
"Guys, I don't want any of you to interfere in the final battle," Usagi said, shocking the others in the room.
"Why not?" Nehellenia asked, "What's going to happen?"
"I have to face Mamoru, and whatever senshi he cons into believing him and I don't want any of you to get hurt. You all have lives now. Emerald is expecting a baby, Prisma and Sapphire, and Catzy and Rubeus are trying to get pregnant," Usagi replied before turning to look at the two women who were probably two of her best friends in the whole world. "You and Bee are going to get married," she finished, tears welling in her eyes, "I want to protect you, don't you understand that?"
Beryl got up, and hugged the crying princess to her, shedding a few tears of her own. Pulling away gently, she wiped the tears off the girl's face. "Don't you understand?" She said finally, "WE want to protect YOU, for everything that you've done for us no matter how badly we hurt you. Please understand where we are coming from."
The silver haired girl nodded, "I do understand, but this is something that I- that Michiru and I have to do on our own. We have to prove that our love is strong enough to overcome anything. That's the only way for us to win in this fight."
"Don't worry about Usagi," Michiru said, speaking to Beryl and Nehellenia, "I won't let anything happen to her, not again." The teal haired soldier of Neptune walked up and placed her hand on the red haired woman's soldier, "Trust in me to keep her safe."
"We do trust in you and have faith that you'll keep her safe," Emerald intervened into the conversation, "But we don't like sitting around feeling helpless while the person that means everything to us is fighting for her life again."
"You guys aren't helpless," Usagi cried, turning to look at the rest of them, "the love in your hearts and the faith you have in me gives me strength. You won't be there physically fighting, but you'll be there with me, in here." Usagi placed her hand on her chest over where her heart beat the strongest. "That's all I'll need to keep going."
Michiru grabbed both of her silver haired maiden's hands and kissed them, before lightly kissing the young woman's lips. Usagi hugged her wife, drawing strength from her. The rest of the occupants of the room, minus Minako and Kunzite, who had run off because Minako claimed she wanted to "get to know him better," looked at the two lovers and smiled. "All right Princess," Nehellenia conceded, "We will do as you ask. However, if the situation turns grim, we will be there."
Usagi nodded her head in understanding, "Thank you Bee, Nellie, everyone, thank you…"
End flashback
"What are you thinking about?" A voice broke her out of her thoughts. Usagi turned to see Michiru walking into the bedroom. She was wearing her typical bedroom attire, silk turquoise blue pajama pants, and a light blue tank top.
"I was just thinking about everything that happened today," the moon princess replied as she watched her lover putter about the bedroom as if she was searching for something. "What are you looking for?" Usagi asked, seeing her wife's befuddled face.
Michiru looked at Usagi, with a thoughtful look on her face. "I was looking for, ah I remember where it is," she said as she rushed out of the room. Usagi had to chuckle a little at this, Michiru never showed this side of herself to anyone, anyone but Usagi that is. A minute later, the sea senshi returned with a relieved but pensive look on her face.
"What's wrong?" Usagi asked as she sat up, putting her book away in the process.
Michiru sighed, and sat down next to her silver haired lover, taking her hand in her own. "I know that we are already married according to… well, to us, your mother, and the heavenly council who ever they are," Michiru started, her eyes on whatever she was clutching in her hands. Usagi squeezed her hand, urging her to continue, wondering where her wife was taking this conversation. Taking comfort in the younger girl's presence, Michiru continued, "but despite knowing that, in the eyes of everyone else, we aren't married, and I want to fix that." Looking the silver haired princess dead in the eye, Michiru revealed what she was holding in her hands, an intricate golden band embedded with three turquoise diamonds. Usagi gasped, her right hand coming up to cover her mouth. "I want to marry you for real, so that everyone knows that I belong to you, and you belong to me. It's not a huge ring, and the diamonds aren't large, but it's what it represents that matters. The three diamonds represent our past, our present, and the future we will have together, whatever that may be."
Usagi reached out a shaky hand and picked up the ring, reading the inscription side, "Love Conquers Time." Tears came to the moon princess' eyes.
Michiru reached for the book her love had been reading, The Legend of Holly Claus (A/N: My favorite book, I suggest everyone read it at least once. When I bought it, I couldn't put it down), "This book of yours you had me read gave me the idea."
"I can't believe that you actually read it when I told you about it a couple months ago. Mamoru-san, he- he never read it, but you…. We weren't anything more than friends but you still read something that I recommended to you," Usagi murmured with tears in her eyes.
"Yes, I did read it, and I learned from it," Michiru replied, brushing her hand against the other girl's cheek. "I learned that love has the power to overcome anything, including the most horrible of evils. It is why I continue to have faith in you, faith in us, because I know that what we have is that kind of love." She took the ring out of her beloved princess' hand and slid it onto her left hand.
Usagi cupped Michiru's face in her hands, and kissed her deeply, letting their tongues linger together for a few moments before pulling back. "I've told you this before, and I'll tell you as many times as I have to, I would be honored to be your wife, again," they both laughed at this before resuming kissing. They stripped down until their skin was bared for the other to see. They didn't make love, even though they wanted to. Instead, they choose intimacy. They cuddled and embraced with nothing separating the two, not even space. Where one ended the other began, but the transition was not clear. The moonlight drifted in through the window, caressing their forms as they lay together. After Usagi had fallen asleep in her arms, Michiru combed her lover's hair as she watched the moonlight steal across its princess' face, making her appear almost fairy like. Her fingers effortlessly streamed through silver hair. A smile stole across her angel's face. Kissing the younger woman on the forehead, she brought her even closer to her heart, before joining her in slumber.
"So," Haruka started when the little troop of wayward senshi and Mamoru met up the next morning, "Did anyone think of any ideas about how to find Usagi or how to get Michiru to see the light and leave her little slut?"
Ami and Makoto shook their heads no, and Haruka sighed. Setsuna patted the blonde woman's arm, careful to make it look like a friendly gesture, before turning back to the group, "Where is Minako-chan? Did any of you call her and ask her to come?"
"I called her," Rei spoke up, "She said she was spending time with a couple of friends of hers and she couldn't come. Afterwards, I called Usagi's house to see if she was there. Her parents told me that they hadn't seen her in a while. Her mother sounded different though, like she really didn't want to talk to me. She even hung the phone up on me!"
"Maybe she was just busy with something?" Ami offered.
"Maybe," Haruka replied, "I've already swung by Michiru's place today, and no one was there."
"So, the goal for today is to find Usagi, get her back, and find Michiru and take her away from her slut," Setsuna announced. "It does not have to be in that order, whoever you run into first."
Hotaru, who was also present, took a moment when the others were making plans on searching different parts of the city, to really look at the people she was around. Even though she was young, she was very bright and very observant. Haruka and Setsuna have been spending way too much time together recently. The casual brushes and touches when they think no one is looking were very suspicious. Ami, Makoto and Rei are just trying to do what they think is right and just, and so appear extremely innocent in this case, nothing suspicious there. The solider of silence then turned her gaze to the earth prince. There was a very dark aura about his person, and he seemed to be hiding something. His irises were tainted with black, and danger seemed to roll off of him in waves. She had felt this evil before, where she couldn't quite recall, but she had the sudden urge to get as far away from it as she could. Quietly, the small senshi of Saturn slipped off into the shadows, seeking out her princess to warn her. The darkness that consumed her in her dream was Mamoru, Hotaru was sure of it. She had to find Usagi; she had to warn her. So she reached out, and searched for the light that her princess emits at all times.
"Where's Hotaru?" Makoto noticed that smaller girl had slipped off with out telling anyone.
Setsuna waved her hand, "I'm sure she's fine, went to try and find Usagi probably, which is what we should get to. The three inners will try Usagi's haunts and hot spots, while Haruka, Mamoru-san and I will check Michiru's. Look for a sign of either of them at those places and along the way."
Everyone nodded and headed off in different directions, searching high and low for any sign of their friends. The Crown, the Aquarium, the game arcade, the pool, and other various stops their friends typically make but to no avail, they could not be found. A little over an hour later, the senshi and Mamoru met back up at the Crown, tired and without anything to show for their efforts.
"God, where could Usagi be?" Rei asked, exhausted. "When I find her, I'm going to kill her?"
"And Michiru too, we couldn't find either of them," Haruka murmured, annoyed.
"Hey guys," Mokoti said, walking over to them, "I'd thought you guys would be at the fair."
"Fair?" They all asked at the same time.
"Yeah, there's a fair in town, I thought for sure you all knew. Mina-chan and Usagi-chan came in this morning saying they were going to be there all day," Mokoti replied, looking confused as to why they weren't with the two girls. "Anyway, Usagi-chan looks-" before he could finish, the occupants of the booth jumped up and dashed off –"amazing, what was that all about?"
"So she was with Minako-chan this whole time?" Makoto asked as they dashed in the direction of the fair. They had missed the obvious signs of the fair since they had been so concerned about finding their friends. Upon hearing Makoto's question, Mamoru, who has yet to say anything, pursed his lips and his eyes narrowed.
"Well if she has been with Minako-chan this whole time, and neither of them told us, they are going to get a serious talking too. Of course, then our only problem would be finding Michiru," Setsuna muttered.
The little group made their way to the fair grounds. The search had begun!
Earlier that morning…
Usagi awoke to Michiru kissing and licking her lightly on the neck. The moon princess moaned slightly when the kissing turned into sucking. Michiru pulled away with a smirk, Usagi opening her eyes just in time to see it. "You left a mark didn't you?" she asked her still smirking wife.
Michiru's smug smile grew wider, "Maybe, anyway, I've brought you breakfast, as an apology for waking you up this early."
Usagi glanced over at the clock: 7:30 am. "Not that I'm not thrilled to have breakfast in bed with you in the morning, but why did you wake me up this early."
"Well," Michiru began, placing a tray of food that she had temporarily placed on the floor, on her wife's lap, "There is a fair in town today, and I wanted to take you. Of course, Mina-chan can come as well. I've already called her and asked her to meet us at the crown."
"Really?" Usagi exclaimed sitting up, careful not to spill any of the food, or let the bed sheet she was clutching to her figure fall down.
"Yes, really," Michiru laughed a little at the younger girl's excitement. She picked up a fork load of eggs and lifted to her wife's mouth. "Now say ahhh…" Despite Usagi's half-hearted protests, Michiru continued to feed the moon princess the rest of her breakfast.
"You didn't have to feed me Michiru," Usagi pouted a little at her wife.
Michiru pouted right back at her, "Can't I dote on you some, and treat you like the princess you are?" She moved the tray over to the unoccupied side of the bed
Usagi sighed, "I guess it's okay every now and then." A thought entered her mind, and a devilish smile crossed her face. Michiru looked at her warily, with a slight bit of suspicion in her eyes. Usagi gave her a crooked grin before dropping the sheet and crawling out of bed. She shot her wife a smirk noticing her glazed eyes looking at her nude figure. The moon princess stood in front of her wife, with her hands on her hips, naked as the day she was born. Michiru sat, staring at her wife, her eyes running the entire length of the younger woman's body, over and over again. Usagi smirked at making the other woman speechless.
"Now, you can either sit there, staring at me, or we could take a shower and go meet Mina at the Crown," Usagi said, smirking the entire time.
Michiru stood up and the clothes practically melted off her body as she dragged her still smirking wife into the bathroom, and a very steamy shower.
After a quickie in the shower, the two of them dressed and made it to the Crown by 8:30. Minako was already there. Usagi wanted to go inside and talk to Mokoti for a second, so she and Minako went in and talked to the arcade manger. Afterwards, the three made their way pleasantly to the fair, not knowing that in a few short hours, they would be fighting for their lives.
"Alright, the game plan is that we split up and look for Usagi and Minako-chan," Setsuna said when the group reached the fair. "Haruka, Mamoru-san and I will head left, while you three go right." The three inners nodded, and so the search began.
"Do either of you think that something is strange about all of this?" Ami asked Makoto and Rei after they split from the other three.
Makoto and Rei looked at each other, before Rei responded, "This does seem a bit weird. I mean, Haruka and Setsuna are acting suspicious, and Mamoru-san is different somehow. I sense something dark within him; it's kind of frightening. It is almost like the time when he was being controlled by the dark kingdom. Which is weird because Minako-chan felt Usagi's soul bond with him, what, just two days ago."
"Yeah, Setsuna-san and Haruka-san are acting weird too," Makoto muttered an agreement, "I mean I know that Chibi-Usa-chan said that Haruka-san and Michiru-san were together in the future, but doesn't the future change? Besides, if Michiru-san has found someone else to love, and she doesn't love Haruka-san anymore, taking her from her new lover isn't going to get them back together."
"Well, in any case," Ami started, "We've got to find Usagi-chan. This dark energy you feel inside of Mamoru-san worries me Rei-chan."
Rei nodded, "It worries me too. We have got to find Usagi and Minako-chan and warn them about Mamoru-san and the others. If there is anyone who can talk sense into Haruka-san and Setsuna-san it's the princess, and maybe she can also figure out what is wrong with Mamoru-san."
"Ah, Michi! Thank you!" Usagi squealed as she hugged the cutest rabbit plushy to her chest. It had big blue eyes, floppy ears and was fluffy all over. Michiru had seen it at one of the game booths and had won it for her beloved wife. She had gotten a kitten plushy for Minako earlier and had been looking for the perfect one for her wife. Now that she had, all of them were satisfied and content to walk around the fair.
"Michiru-mama!" They all turned when they heard a familiar voice and saw Hotaru running towards them.
"Hotaru-chan," Michiru cried, hugging the preteen. "What are you doing here?" Michiru asked after releasing the girl.
"Well, really I've been looking for Usagi-san, but I saw you and thought you might help me… oh," Hotaru noticed the young woman standing next to the senshi of Neptune. "Are you Michiru-mama's new girlfriend that sent Haruka-san and Setsuna-san into such a dither."
Usagi giggled a little, "Yes, sort of, but you know me Hotaru-chan."
Hotaru looked confused, "How do you… Usagi-san! Is that really you?"
Seeing the little firefly's eyes grow huge made Usagi, Michiru and Minako, who had been hiding behind the two erupted in giggles.
"Yes, Hotaru-chan," Usagi said when she finally got a hold of herself, "It's me."
"So you've been with Michiru-mama this whole time? What has happened?" Hotaru asked, looking at Usagi's new appearance.
The three of them told Hotaru what happened the last couple days (Michiru and Usagi left out the unnecessary parts). Hotaru was outraged, but combined with her vision and what she saw with the others concerning Mamoru and Haruka and Setsuna's behavior, she expected this much.
"I knew they were a bit too close these past few months when I've seen them," Hotaru sighed, "but I never thought they could be this stupid. It's your life, your future, you decide. They decided, but they try to take it back, bull shit."
"Hotaru," Michiru chastised, "Language."
"Michiru, she's growing up, let her curse when it's necessary, because I would have to say that if she would curse at any time, now would be the time," Usagi replied, grabbing the sea senshi's hand.
"Yeah, but really we should be getting out of here," Minako said, looking behind her, "Because if they find us, they're gonna be pissed, and this is not the place to have a battle."
"Too late," Usagi murmured looking behind the group. The other three turned to where she was looking and spotted Haruka, Setsuna and Mamoru. They turned to make a break for it, but not before being seen by the three hostiles.
"Shit," Haruka yelled, "It's Michiru and her little whore."
"Are you blind or just stupid," Mamoru hissed. The two women looked at him blankly. "That's not some whore, that girl is Usagi!"
"What?" They shouted as they sprinted after the runaway princess and her loyal guardians.
"Rei, Ami, Makoto," Haruka called on the communicator, "We've found them, and the person that Michiru has been seeing, it's Usagi."
"What?" Came three voices over the small device, "Where are they?"
"They are running in the direction of the park, probably want to get away from all the people. Ami can track us using her computer," Haruka replied.
Ami's voice came over the communicator, "I'm on it Haruka-san, but please, don't do anything until we all get there."
The wind senshi didn't reply as she turned off the communicator. Ami heard the click signaling the end of the transmission. The three inner senshi just looked at each other and began to run in the direction of the park.
"What is going on?" Makoto asked.
"I don't know," Rei replied, "but I would sure like to find out."
"And the only one who knows, who can really tell us, is Usagi," Ami finished.
"What are we gonna do, what are we gonna do?" A frantic Minako paced back and forth once the foursome reached the park. They had managed to lose the three that were following them, but they knew that it would only be a matter of time before they were discovered.
"Minako-chan calm down," Michiru said, despite the fear in her own voice. The warrior of water was worried, not only did they have to deal with Haruka and Setsuna, but Mamoru as well, and the other senshi if they chose to fight against them.
Usagi, hearing the fear in her wife's voice, gently took her face in her hands and kissed her lightly on the lips. "We can do this," she murmured softly, "We have too. In order for our love to shine through we have to face these trials, this darkness."
"I know my love," Michiru replied, taking both of Usagi's hands in her own, kissing them slightly before lifting her eyes to meet her princess' sparkling silver blue eyes. "That doesn't make this any easier to deal with though."
"Awww," Minako squealed, watching their display of affection, "Aren't they so cute? I'm glad you two got together, your previous significant others were not so keen on public displays of affection, or at least, when anyone else was around."
"Yes, yes, very cute, but they've found us," Hotaru hissed. The group turned, and breathed a tentative sigh of relief when they saw it was the senshi's of fire, ice and thunder.
"Mako-chan, Rei-chan, Ami-chan," Usagi called, hesitantly stepping toward the other inner senshi.
"Usagi what is going on? And what happened to you?" Rei asked, looking at the silver haired princess.
"Huh well, Rei, the thing is-"
"Uranus World Shaking!"
The giant rage fueled attack was heading right for the princess and her guards, but the girls all jumped out of the way in time. Michiru pulled Usagi closer to her when they got up, and turned to face the transformed Soldiers of Pluto and Uranus, and the crime-fighting flower crusader. Minako and Hotaru transformed at seeing the aggressive stance of their former allies. Rei, Makoto, and Ami, although a bit confused, transformed as well, and stood in front of Usagi.
"What do you think you're doing?" Rei yelled, outraged.
"What are we doing?" Setsuna screeched, "What are you doing? You are protecting those traitors!"
"Look, we may not know what exactly is going on, but Usagi, Michiru, Minako and Hotaru are our friends, and we aren't going to let you hurt them," Makoto yelled, "just calm down, and let's think this through."
Setsuna merely snorted, "Calm down? I'm trying to get us back on the path to Crystal Tokyo, do you really want to stand in the way of that?"
The senshi's of Mars, Mercury and Jupiter hesitated for a moment before standing firm once more. "If that is what we have to do, and if that is what Usagi wants, well then, looks like we don't have any other way but to fight you!" Rei cried out, assuming an aggressive stance as well.
"Stop!" Usagi cried out, startling all of them. She and Michiru emerged out from behind the senshi and faced the three hostiles, "Your battle is with us, not them."
"We will not fight you princess, despite our desire to," Haruka said, a slight sneer in her voice.
"Then fight me," Michiru said, seething in rage, "one outer sailor soldier against two."
Haruka smirked, "Deal."
Michiru didn't look at her wife, she couldn't. She feared seeing the fear that would surely be present in those sky blue eyes, and she didn't want her beloved to see that same fear reflected in her own. She knew that if she faced these two, that Usagi would have to face Mamoru on her own. A small reassuring squeeze of her hand broke her out of her thoughts. That act of confidence gave her enough courage to continue on. "Neptune Imperial Power," she called out, using her new transformation. The rest of the scouts didn't get a good look at her new outfit, as the three outers were teleported to another location in the park. A gift for you Michiru, Usagi thought, her hand glowing with a small bit of silver magic, the gift of concentration.
Michiru is facing her demons, now it's time for me to face mine, Usagi took a deep breath, and faced the man in the mask.
A/N: Alright, I'm really sorry about this you guys, I know that I said that this would be the last chapter, but well, these guys had their own ideas. The last chapter will have some spectacular battles scenes though, and everyone will get what's coming to them, and more if Michiru and I have anything to do about it. However, I have a feeling Usagi's going to ruin our fun, which is a shame. Anyway, review, please, they are quite fun to read.
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