Flee to Destiny
By: Bethany
Published: 3/2002
Revised: 7/2015
Chapter Three - Have some coffee to go with that?
It was about two seconds after I stopped staring at the white cat that Luna discreetly called me into the bedroom. More or less, she made a loud screeching noise that nearly had all of us jumping out of our skin. Giving a rather lame laugh, I sprinted into the bedroom, telling the others I had a clumsy cat. Once I was inside, Luna crawled under the bed and pushed out my Moon Wand - which was glowing brightly.
"One of them is a sailor Senshi," Luna whispered to me.
"Well, unless this city is full of cats with crescent moon bald spots, I already knew that," I threw back at her, nodding my head towards the living room. "That white cat that was with them last night is Minako's, and he's here."
"Artemis?" Luna said, almost wistfully. I had this bad feeling it was kinda like puppy.. erm, I mean "kitty" love from the look on her face. Slowly Luna came out of the bedroom and I followed close behind. She walked into the kitchen where she jumped up on the counter and proceeded to sit down next to the white cat. The look on his face was priceless. Do I ever wish I had a camera!
Slowly Luna looked around at the four girls throughout the living room and kitchen. Nodding her head, she cleared her throat. "You are all Sailor Senshi, ne?"
My cheeks burned like someone as if lit them on fire. Quickly I covered my face and waited for them to go screaming around the room shouting about the end of the world and talking cats. It took a few moments before I realized that I had yet to hear one single scream. They fainted, I decided, peeking out from behind my hands. I have four girls sprawled out across my floor, fainted dead away. How was I ever to explain this one? Gathering up as much courage as I could muster, I brought my hands down more and saw them all staring at Luna. Wonderful, just peachy. They didn't faint, damn my luck. It would be harder to explain if they didn't faint, perhaps hit their heads on something on the trip to the floor. I waited for the scream, but none ever came. Instead, Ami was the first to find her voice. "Luna?"
Okay, so if they weren't going to faint, I sure was! My first thought was perhaps I should play dumb, you know - act like they were the only ones hearing my cat talk. Or better yet, it's the talking cats from the United States! Everyone has one, don't you?
"It's been a long time, Luna," Artemis said, smiling. I think. Can cats smile? Anyways, there went the idea about them being the only ones hearing cat talk. Perhaps they already copyrighted the talking cats in Japan? Artemis interrupted my thoughts as he cleared his throat. "You are correct, as always Luna. These four girls are Sailor Senshi, and that would make Usagi.."
"Sailor Moon," Luna boasted proudly, her tail swishing back and forth behind her. As soon as the words left her mouth, all eyes turned towards me. I really wish that Luna would at least warn me before she pulled stunts like this. You know, 'Hey, can I ask your friends if they have been running around saving the world from an ancient force from a thousand years ago?' Or at least give me a hint to what she is up to. Instead I now stood here, in front of six pairs of eyes, waiting for my say in this whole thing.
"Eh, yeah, that would be me," I stated lamely.
"Why didn't you say something last night, Luna?" Ami asked, again seemingly the only one who could talk at the moment.
"It's hard to explain," my feline guardian began, once more sitting. "We had been looking for the sailor Senshi, but I wasn't sure what form you had taken as humans in this time. I wanted to know who you were as people before I began letting you know who Sailor Moon is. Forgive me, Senshi, for not trusting you. But after what I have seen in my life, I feel that trust is not something I can go around easily giving. Especially when I am guardian of the reincarnated Princess."
"I thought they didn't know I was the Princess...?" I asked absentmindedly, almost following all of what was going on around me until that statement.
"Of course we knew," Artemis answered immediately. "The outer Senshi have not been with our group long, and seem to be a little distance. They don't like cooperating with us, and tend to go their own way. Because of that, we never sat down to share information. That is how we knew that Sailor Moon was, in fact, the Princess but didn't say anything last night."
"They know that, too," I countered. "Sailor Saturn told me last night that she knew, which means the others would also, ne?"
"Hmmm..." Minako mumbled, sitting down in the chair. "So now that we have you, Princess, we can finally defeat this enemy?" she asked hopefully.
"Yes and no," Luna replied. "Usagi knows about her past, but until last night, she had never used the power passed on to her as a Sailor Senshi. Until she learns to control that power, fighting the enemy behind all of this isn't something I think we should tackle at the moment. She could die."
Those words hit me square in the chest. Dying was something I had thought about a lot recently, but the idea didn't sit well with me. Of course, dying in general was a part of life, but then again, I didn't feel like dying any time soon. Especially when I have to think about Shingo. I felt a shiver run down my spine. Every time I went out to fight to save the world, I ran the chance of leaving Shingo without anyone.
"Then the best thing to do is to keep fighting these puny little youmas they are sending out until Usagi is strong enough," Rei advised.
"However, the enemy is gaining power, we saw that last night. That youma was smarter than the rest. Most of them was lacking in the common sense department," Makoto said, her eyes narrowed. "The outer Senshi seem to have powers slightly stronger than ours, so we haven't had any real problems defeating them - yet."
Everyone sat or stood on opposite sides of my small kitchen, clearly thinking of what was to come. The future that held such promise when I was young was no longer promising me a long life in which to fulfill my childhood dreams. Somewhere in the past month I had to abandon that childhood and head straight into adulthood - straight into the arms of destiny. Now I could sit back for the ride, or fight it every step of the way. It wasn't a hard decision. "Well, I don't plan on letting any evil force destroy this world like it did on the Moon Kingdom. I'm sure that together, we can defeat this."
"Right!" Minako agreed, throwing her fist up in the air and grinning. "We are the Sailor Senshi, nothing can defeat us!" Those were words I hoped were true.
Pressing the ends of my thumbs together, I looked sheepishly at my guardians. "By the way, I'm sorry about how I ran out on you guys yesterday. But after what happened to my parents, I was afraid of being friends with anyone. Afraid they would be attacked by this enemy that is after me."
Makoto put her arm around my shoulder and smiled brightly. "Don't worry about it." It amazed me how sincere they were. And that they were that way long before they knew I was the Princess. It felt so good to have friends.
My wonderful moment of happiness wasn't to last long, however. It wasn't moments after that that I heard a scream from the back bedroom. I glanced around, noticing that Shingo had never came back in the room after going out nearly thirty minutes earlier. Quickly I ran towards Shingo's room, everyone else behind me. I threw the door open and looked around for some giant creature. Instead I seen Shingo laying on his bed, his face contorted by the nightmare he was having. Breathing a sigh of relief, I went over to his bed and shook him gently.
Slowly he woke up, his face dripping sweat. He looked around wide eyed for a moment before cuddling up in my arms. Without a word, he went back to sleep. My pounding heart gradually came to an even pace when he began snoring softly again. Looking up at the doorway, I saw Makoto standing there, smiling; Ami, Rei and Minako already going back down the hall towards the living room.
In the back of my mind, perhaps a sixth sense, told me this would be the first of many nightmares. But with so many other things on my mind, I ignored it and went back into the living room.
It was well up into the evening before the girls left. Having moved and decorated as much as they could, each bid me goodbye as they departed. Now I stood alone in the living room looking around. Makoto had not only brought enough food to fill my refrigerator, but she had also brought house plants that were sitting in different corners of the living room. Minako had brought Shingo some toys, as well as some rabbit figures that were placed on the coffee table in the living room. The walls that were bare when I came in were now covered in wall scrolls and beautiful curtains hung from the windows in every room. Ami brought books - which everyone groaned and laughed when she handed them to me - and a small radio that had a tape deck.
I couldn't help but smile as I looked around my small apartment. Having taken Luna's advice, I covered the chairs and couch with quilts which did give it a more at home feel. Minako had taken Shingo out after his nap and they picked fresh flowers that I had sitting in a vase I had brought from home on the kitchen table. All in all, it was beginning to look more like a home, rather than an escape. Until they had shown up, it was as if this was a hide away; somewhere to run when you had nowhere else to go, nowhere to escape to.
Taking a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate, I went out on the balcony and sat in a chair. The clouds from earlier in the day had tapered off, revealing the stars hanging beautifully in the sky. The air spelled crisp, like the rain had cleaned the city. I wished the wind and rain had swept away the evil that lurked just under the surface, but that wish was not to be granted. That would be up to us. I sipped my drink and leaned back when suddenly a movement caught my eye. On the building across from me, a man was running, jumping from roof top to roof top. A cape blew in the wind behind him, and immediately I recognized him as Tuxedo Kamen. At the same moment, my door bell rang.
When I opened the door, Makoto stood on the other side, visibly out of breath. "There is a youma attack," she gasped, coming in and holding one hand on the wall. "These damn things never attack during the day, it's like they know we all have school or something."
Throwing the blanket on the couch, I went into the bedroom and woke Luna up, telling her to stay with Shingo. Gently I reached down and kissed his face before going into the living room to join Makoto.
When I reached the living room, Sailor Jupiter stood looking out my balcony window uneasily. When she turned, I could immediately see that she didn't look much different than Makoto. I wondered why I didn't notice earlier. Instead of dwelling on unimportant matters, though, I reached for my crystal. "Moon Crystal Power - Make UP!" An explosion of light surrounded me for the second time, giving me the power I needed to stop another youma from destroying the city.
Sailor Jupiter and I reached the scene of the attack at the same time the outer Senshi did. Uranus nodded over towards us, but said nothing as she approached Mercury. The street looked like a hurricane had touched down from the damage done. Windows were shattered, telephone poles were lying across the street and live wires jumping across the concrete in places. One car had been over turned and the car alarm was currently going off repeatedly. Uranus stuck her arm inside the car and turned it off.
The area seemed to be deafeningly quiet after the car alarm was silenced. Like the night had somehow stopped everywhere, and we were the only living things left. A shiver ran down my spine, it was as if the calm before the storm. Mercury's computer seemed amplified in the quietness, the beeping wearing on my nerves as she continued to type and scan.
Finally she stopped, looking up at us blankly for a moment. "Ummm.." she muttered, biting her bottom lip. "I have scanned everything, but nothing seems amiss in the area. It's as if whatever came, has gone, leaving no clue behind them."
My head began aching, the throbbing seemed to intensify, causing my entire body to feel heavy. I stumbled backwards, feeling faint. Tuxedo Kamen, seemingly from nowhere, came up behind me and put his hands on my waist. "Are you okay?"
"I..." the strangest feeling over took me, and I felt an immediate need to go back to my apartment. Something was very wrong. I had no time to think, it was like my heart knew before my mind did. "Shingo..."
I don't honestly remember going back to my apartment. Somehow we were just there. Uranus quietly went up to the door before us and put one ear to it for a moment. Nodding her head, she tried the lock.
"It's locked," I mumbled, fumbling for the key that I didn't have with me. "We went out the balcony and I left it locked..." Panic set in and I wanted to scream. Instead my over flowing thoughts were interrupted by a faint whisper.
"Dead Scream."
The door, hinges and all, was suddenly ripped from the frame and jolted backwards into the apartment. Sailor Pluto looked slightly amused at what her small command had brought on. Uranus looked at the door and then at where she stood just to the left. "Thanks for the warning," she mumbled, rushing into the apartment.
I ran into the apartment after her, running for Shingo's room. Slamming the door open I stood in horror as I found Luna sprawled on her back near the door, moaning. Hovering above my young brother was a youma. It resembled something out of my worst nightmare. Instead of looking silly as the youma the day previous was, this one had the black empty eyes and sharp teeth. It looked angered by the interruption. Turning, it moved away from Shingo and towards us with lightening fast speed.
My reflexes weren't as sharp as everyone else's, and I found myself unable to move from the path of the thing that came towards me. Suddenly Tuxedo Kamen ran towards me, grabbed me and both of us barely stopped ourselves short of crashing into the wall. I cowered behind the dark cape Tuxedo Kamen had around me, the shock of what almost happened leaving me shaking.
"Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter opened her arms to an array of electricity that stopped the youma in its tracks. It stood, immobile, screeching in pain.
"Fire Soul!" Mars screamed, red flames shooting from her fingers to join the electricity. The youma's howl deepened as it was burned alive. A sour stench filled the room as it finally turned to simmering ashes.
Mars slapped her hands together in satisfaction and glared over towards the ashes. "Serves you right."
A child's cry tore my eyes from the ashes on the floor. Shingo sat on the bed, horrified and shaking. Quickly I pushed past Tuxedo Kamen and ran to him and wrapped my arms tightly around him. "It's okay," I whispered. "It's all gone; you're okay now. I'm here."
Saturn picked Luna up, a gentle purple light bathing her. After a moment,Luna's eyes blinked open and she looked up appreciatively at Sailor Saturn. The petite Senshi placed her on the floor and smiled as she walked around for a moment to remove the stiffness. "That's incredible," Luna commented.
Saturn shrugged it off, looking a little embarrassed. "The power of healing is a little something I found I could do, among other things..."
"Like destroy the world with a single command," Uranus pointed out, causing Saturn to blush further. "It looks like the damage down town was just a diversion. Something to get us all out so that they could attack your home, Sailor Moon." Uranus gave me a knowing look, it wasn't hard to figure out she knew about my secret identity after this.
A long silence filled the room, each of us looking at each other as if trying to figure out what to do. It was obvious I couldn't stay here, this little house call told all too well that the enemy knew where I was. So where was I to go now? It wasn't long before I had too many offers.
"I think, in order to protect you, you and Shingo should come stay with me until you found a place of your own," Tuxedo Kamen said in a rough voice, directed straight at me.
I looked around the room at each Senshi, pleading with one of them to object. For a few short - though they certainly seemed too long to me - moments, I thought for sure that no one would save me. Here it is, I thought. I bit my bottom lip, ready to tell everyone how I was okay where I was when finally Jupiter spoke up. "She can come stay with me." I felt myself let out a breath of relief. "I think she and Shingo would feel more, eh, comfortable at my place."
Wooohoo! I hoped Jupiter could see how relieved I was. I could have run over and hugged her then and there. Tuxedo Kamen looked towards Jupiter with a suspicious glint in his eye, but finally shrugged. "You are probably right," he admitted. I almost felt sorry for him, for a split second he sounded as if he was disappointed. And then I remembered, of course he would be disappointed. Surely he wouldn't keep stalking me if I was at Makoto's place.
Shortly after that the man in black left us. Without so much as a goodbye, he jumped from the balcony and disappeared into the night. Mars watched him go, her eyes following him as if she knew a deep dark secret about the caped man. I gave an involuntary shiver and went to begin packing. Again.
It was rather late when we finally packed mine and Shingo's belongings and made it to Makoto's apartment. The Outer Senshi had left us not long after Tuxedo Kamen, leaving the rest of us to pack and move. Rei, Minako and Ami had spent the night at Makoto's - in order to better protect me, they said. We talked on up into the morning before deciding that we needed sleep. At Minako's insistence, they had decided to stay out of school today and help me learn my way better around town. Of course, I had to work this afternoon and was suppose to have Shingo at the school around eleven.
The sun had completely burned away any sign of the darkness by the time I woke up. Of course, it wasn't my idea to get up then, either. It was as if the fates were against me, however. At the foot of my bed, Minako wiggled and squirmed in her sleep, talking and mumbling. I sat up, my eyes burning, and crawled to the edge of the bed to wake her up. Fitfully she tossed and turned. Finally I decided to reach down and shake her awake.
Many lessons in life are learned the hard way. And it's usually those lessons that stick in our minds the longest. This one was mine: Never shake a Sailor Senshi while she is having a bad dream.
"Crescent Beam!" I could feel the heat off the yellow beam as it barely missed me and shot towards the ceiling. In the movement, Minako had woken herself up and shrieked as she realized what she was doing. The rather loud, though short, scream that escaped Minako's mouth was enough to break glass. In a matter of seconds, everyone in the apartment was standing in front of Minako, their mouths wide open.
The blushing Senshi of Love hid her hands behind her back and giggled lamely as she looked towards the ceiling. Makoto's mouth dropped even further down (if that's possible) as she saw the damage done. "Minako-chan no baka!" Rei hissed, slapping her forehead.
"Gomen!" Minako apologized sheepishly, turning even redder.
"There goes my deposit," Makoto mumbled. "How am I suppose to explain a gapping hole burned in my ceiling?"
I bit my bottom lip and tried to think of a way to fix it. But it seemed that someone else in the room was one step ahead of me. The small beeping of a now familiar computer filled my ears. I looked over to see Ami typing away on her handy dandy little... oops, too much Blue's Clues. I mean, her computer, of course.
"A little carpenter tape, paper mashe and white paint will cover that nicely, Mako-chan," Ami said softly, closing her computer together with satisfaction for being the one to come to the rescue.
"Arigato! Arigato! Arigato!" Makoto and Minako squealed at once, both wrapping their arms around the slightly surprised Ami. They jumped up and down together for a moment or so before they realized what they were doing. Makoto jumped back from Minako and shook her finger playfully in the other girl's face. "I think you should have to buy the stuff we need to replace it. Since it was you who decided to burn it in the first place."
"Gomen, Mako-chan! But I was having a weird dream and Usagi-chan woke me up. When she did, I thought someone was attacking me..." Minako explained, her hands flying around in front of her like lost birds.
"Could you talk without moving your hands?" Rei asked curiously, coming closer as if to inspect them. Gingerly she reached out and poked at Minako's hands, jumping back when Minako swatted at her.
"When do we eat?" I looked over to see Shingo sitting beside me on the bed, holding his Tuxedo Kamen plushie. "I'm hungry."
"What would you like to eat?" Makoto asked, looking like a mad women with a mission. "I can make you anything you want!"
Shingo looked curiously at me, as if to ask if this woman was for real. He then grinned at Makoto and proceeded to give her a list a mile long of all his favorite breakfast foods. Makoto, looking like she had her hands a little too full, lead him into the kitchen. Even once they were at the other end of the hall, I could hear Shingo telling her foods he liked. I laughed lightly and leaned back on my pillows. "Oh, I have to be at work after I take Shingo to school. My first day of work, I hope I don't blow it."
Minako leaned forward and winked at me. "Don't forget, Motoki is MY boyfriend."
"Ha!" Rei said, her arms crossed indignantly. "You don't have to rub our faces in it, Minako-chan. Besides," she pointed out. "It took seven months of you drooling over him for him to know you existed!"
"He knew I existed!" Minako shot back, her finger wagging in the air between her and Rei. "He just wanted to.. eh.. take it slow..."
Laughing, I left the room to go shower before I found out things I didn't want to know about my boss.
The large bell above the cathedral rang out the hour as I passed. I looked at my watch and took off in a dead run for the arcade and fruit parlor. The automatic doors were open and I hurriedly rushed past a tall man, accidentally hitting him. "Gomen!" I squeaked, turning. In front of me was a dark haired man, he looked almost amused that I had bumped into him. I smiled apologetically and went to the back of the counter, but something about his blue eyes stuck in my mind so that I didn't hear Motoki talking to me.
"Usagi-chan?" he repeated, tapping me on the shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Huh?" I mumbled, blinking. "Gomen nasai, I'm late. I had to take my brother to school and I lost track of time."
"That's alright," Motoki answered. "As long as you don't make a habit of it." He smiled cheerfully and led me into the kitchen. "The people back here are the mastermind behind all of our cooking. If I had to do it, Kami alone knows what it would taste like. You will pick up the food here," he instructed, indicating a small window, "as well as call back orders. Mostly what I want you to be in charge of is the counter customers, for now. I'll show you more about waiting tables after you get the hang of this."
A few minutes later, Motoki left me to wait on some customers that just came in. I stood stark still behind the counter, not knowing what to do. I wanted to do a good job so that Motoki didn't feel he had made a mistake by hiring me. But what was I suppose to do now?
So there I stood, looking at everything when a deep voice yelled for a waitress. Wiping my hands on my apron to rid them of sweat, I went to take my first order.
At first I didn't realize who it was; I was so nervous. But once I looked up into those deep blue eyes - I realized it was the man I had bumped into on my way in. Smiling, I got out my order pad. "What can I get you?"
At first he didn't look at me, just continued to read the page of his book. I waited nervously for him to get around to giving his order. When he finally looked up, the blueness of his eyes made my knees feel weak. I swallowed, trying to find my voice again. Before I could ask again what he wanted a (rather adorable, if truth be known) smirk lit up his face, "Odango, are you going to dump my drink on me?"
"Uh, no.." I answered uncertainly, feeling even more nervous than I already was - if that was humanly possible.
"Well, from the way you ran into me, I thought perhaps you were just normally a klutz," he continued. He looked me up and down, as if trying to measure my character from my looks alone. Whatever he saw must have amused him because he chuckled lightly. "What is with the hair-do, Odango?"
Trying to keep my anger in check, I smiled through my gritted teeth. "What can I get you?" I repeated, almost biting my tongue to keep from letting a string of profanity run out of my mouth. This had been my mother's hair-do, I wasn't about to let some creep make me feel bad.
"Just coffee, black. Can you handle that, Odango?" he put his menu down and smiled at me. The words he was saying and the expression on his face didn't match. I heard the sarcasm, I knew he was making fun of my hair, but his eyes... the steel blue that looked like the ocean...
I picked the menu up, forcing my legs to move away from him. I nearly stomped back to the fountain. Away from his gaze it was much easier to feel insulted. I poured a cup of coffee. Setting it on a saucer, I brought it over and sat it down in front of him. "Here you go sir, can I get you anything else?" My voice wasn't nearly as strong as I had hoped it would be.
Thankfully, he shook his head and picked the cup up. I started away when I heard him spit it back out. "Hey! Odango! This coffee is old," he stated flatly, as if I had done it on purpose.
Rolling my eyes, I started back towards him. "Gomen ne," I apologized sincerely.
I took the cup from him, walked over to the counter and poured three spoons of sugar in the cup. Not even thinking about what I was doing, I took the cup back to him and sat it down.
Somewhere in the back of my mind a tiny voice was screaming I would lose my job for this. But something about this man bothered me in more ways than one. I didn't want to think about how I felt when I looked at him, it was the same queasiness that I had when I caught Tuxedo Kamen watching me after a battle. I couldn't stop myself from smiling at him. "Here you go."
He took it and looked up at me as he took a small sip - which he immediately spit out. "Ugh!" he spat, his face scrunched up in disgust. "What the hell is that?!"
"Hey Mamoru-kun!" To my horror, my boss slapped Mamoru on the back in a friendly manner and sat down on the stool next to him. "What do you think about my pretty new waitress?"
"I think she needs to be shown how to make coffee!" Mamoru answered, grabbing for a near-by glass of water and guzzling it down. "That was disgusting!"
I felt my face turn a deep red as Motoki looked up at me. I was waiting for him to ask what I done, then demand for me to leave. What had I done? There was no way I could find another job now - especially with this behind me. So I waited for my demise as Mamoru explained about the coffee.
Motoki blinked, looked at Mamoru - then me. After a few seconds of what appeared to be shock, he done something I wouldn't have predicted in a million years... he began laughing. "What's the matter, Mamoru?" he chucked, actually holding his side. "Did you finally find a girl that didn't fall head over heels for you with one look?"
My mouth parted slightly in disbelief. Mamoru looked at me, slightly embarrassed, (though I couldn't tell you why at the moment) and shook his head. "Guess not. Odango, can you try this again?"
His face was terribly red and I couldn't help giggling as I walked over to get another cup of coffee. Quickly I sighed my relief, it looked like maybe this town wasn't going to be so bad after all.
After Motoki had finally gotten over the dashing Mamoru not impressing me one iota with his so-called charms (what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him), he went over to the arcade to help a couple of kids with a game, leaving me and Mamoru alone at the counter once more. From the corner of my eye I found I kept staring at him even though I tried to keep my mind elsewhere. There was something about him, something I couldn't quite place. My heart raced in my chest every time our eyes would meet. I tried to shake the feeling, but it wouldn't go away. It was almost as if I knew him. I couldn't help wondering what he was like to all the other women, what made them like him so much. And almost as if a part of me knew, I felt a shiver go up my spine.
Out of nowhere I felt a head rush, followed by my vision blacking out as if I had stood up too quickly. Only instead of my vision coming back like I was accustomed to if this happened, it was like a movie was playing in my head, causing me to see myself as I was on the Moon. No matter how much I tried to block the image out, it kept coming again and again. Forcefully, it showed me standing outside a large structure, crying. I could see a girl pulling on my hand, urging me to go inside.
But I didn't. A man rushed up to me, kissed me quickly on the lips and tried to make me go inside. He kept saying something that I couldn't hear, all I could make out was the screaming around us. Just at that moment, the sharp blade of a knife flashed in the air behind him and his face contorted with pain. The image stopped, leaving me shaking as if a part of my soul had gone with it. The world seemed to spin unmercifully for a moment before I felt myself falling to the floor as all went black.
Voices were surrounding me, they seemed to be everywhere. Hundreds of them talking at once. I could hear them, but I couldn't speak out. I heard someone say my name, and then the voice droned into the crowd again. I couldn't see anything, only hear. I wanted to force my eyes open, but I couldn't. After struggling against the darkness for a few minutes longer, I gave in.
"Serenity..."
"What?" my voice echoed around me, vibrating off into a distance unknown.
I looked around, but saw no one. When I moved, it was in slow motion. Fleeting images of my hands stayed behind for seconds after I had moved. "Where am I?"
"Serenity..."
The voice seemed to be louder. I turned around and came face to face with a woman. The darkness covered her form so that all I could make out was a silhouette of a person with long hair. I squinted my eyes so I could see better, but couldn't make out more than I had already seen. "Who are you?"
"Princess Serenity..."
"No," I mumbled. "I'm Princess Serenity." I tried to walk closer to the person. But every time I stepped forward, she seemed to have stepped back. Though I never saw her actually move. "Who are you?" I demanded again.
"You," she answered. Her voice seemed more defined than mine. She spoke elegantly with a hint of amusement lining her soft voice. "I am you, Princess Serenity. Or have you forgotten?"
"I have not forgotten who I am," I said with disdain. I must be going crazy to think I'm standing here - wherever here is - talking to myself. "How can you be me?"
Whoever was in charge of lighting this production was doing one hell of a job. For at that moment, a large light from above shone down on the young woman in front of me. At first I was blinded, but as everything became more clear, I could see she really was me; but not as I knew me. She was more sophisticated than I. Her hair seemed to shine more, her face almost glowing. She stood taller and appeared to have authority in her movement. On her figure was a long flowing white dress that bared her milky white shoulders and well defined collar bone. Her hair was swept up in the same manner as my own, and a crescent moon shined from her forehead.
"I am the forgotten you," she said softly, looking almost hurt. "I hold all of the memories you have suppressed. The life we once knew and loved, the people we held dear, and the man we died for. They are all locked here," she explained, holding her hands over her heart. "Please set me free.."
"How do I do that?" I asked. Instead of answering, she began weeping. Her small sounds of distress stayed even after she had disappeared.
"Please, set me free..." her voice begged from a distance.
"How?" I screamed. "How do I set you free?" In an instant I felt like I was falling again. Back in the room of voices, I struggled against the light.
It invaded my being, bringing pain in my head until I finally found the strength to open my eyes.
"She's awake!" I heard Motoki say. He rushed over to me. Other people were in the room, but I couldn't make them out for the throbbing in my head. "Usagi-chan?" he asked softly. "Are you okay?"
"What... what happened?" I asked, putting a hand to my head. "Ugh, my head hurts."
Someone laughed lightly, though it sounded more like a worried laugh if nothing else. I looked behind Motoki and seen Minako smiling at me, one hand over her mouth. "After a fall like that, I could see why your head hurts," she said, coming to sit on the side of the couch I laid on.
"What happened?" I repeated, looking at Motoki this time.
"You fainted," he explained. "One minute you were fine, the next you fell to the floor. You gave us all a little scare there," he said playfully, wagging his finger at me.
"I... don't know why that happened. I feel weak... and hungry, though. I'm sorry, how horrible I am on my first day of work."
Motoki laughed lightly, shaking his head. He said something to Minako about getting me something to eat - but I didn't hear him. In my head I could still hear the girl calling out my name. I tried to block it out, but couldn't. It was a pitiful sound, like a child lost from it's mother. I shut my eyes again, but just as suddenly as it had all happened - she was gone.
"How did I get in here?" I asked, sitting up on the couch. I recognized the room as a small apartment above the arcade. It was Motoki's sister's place that she stayed at while home from college. The room threatened to spin as I sat up, but I found I finally had the strength to push it aside.
"Mamoru carried you up here. After you passed out, he jumped over the counter and called for me. I don't think I've ever seen him move that fast in the twelve years I've known him," Motoki said wondrously. "What did you put in his coffee?"
I smiled at him, rolling my eyes and placing one hand on my throbbing head. "If three spoons full of sugar in old coffee make men move faster, remind me to put a copyright on it."
"I think you'd have to improve the taste, first," another, deeper, voice said. I looked up at the door and seen Mamoru coming through it, a tray of food in his hands. He came before me and bowed. "Your lunch is served."
I took the plate with the burger and fries on it from the tray and smiled at the goofy grin on his face. It was odd. The man before me wouldn't pass for the same one who made fun of me downstairs not too long before. But his eyes... they were the same as... But the same as who's? Frustrated with my memories, or lack thereof, I picked up a fry and shoved it in my mouth. "I'm not really this hungry," I confessed. The fry in my mouth tasted like rubber, and I don't think it was because of a bad cook, either. For some reason the thought of food didn't seem appealing to me at the moment. And that in and of itself was odd, since I usually ate food like there was no tomorrow.
"You need to eat something," Mamoru said firmly, like a doctor. "That is probably what caused you to faint. Not eating something for a long period of time to a person with your body weight can cause some unwanted consequences. Especially if you have been overly tired."
I thought about the shocks, heartaches, and power drain that had happened to me over the last few weeks and decided that he could be right. I have been going non-stop without thinking; trying to care for Shingo as well as be a Princess. I had moved to the other side of the world, had my entire life thrown about like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle - and me rushing around trying to fit them together. More than likely my body was completely exhausted, and yet I had still been pushing it harder.
Motoki went to check on the arcade, leaving me and Mamoru alone. The tall, dark haired man sat across from me in a recliner and watched me force food into my mouth. I felt like a child being forced to eat their vegetables before leaving the table. Mamoru watched me take a bite, chew and swallow for more than five minutes. Finally, I could take the silence no more. "Eh, thank you for bringing me up here..." I said softly.
Mamoru nodded his head and drummed the ends of his fingers together. "How long have you been in Japan?"
"Three days," I answered numbly, looking at the food left on my plate and wondering if I had it in me to eat another bite. My stomach felt as if it would reject it any second now.
He sat back in the chair, still watching me with those ocean blue eyes. I felt a shiver run up my spine at his gaze. I knew that in my short seventeen years I had never seen such a handsome man. I felt attracted to him, but not in a way that I normally did with any of my past boyfriends. I almost could say I knew him, but how? Why did he seem so familiar? The answer taunted me. For a split second I could remember who he was and then just as quickly it was gone. I could never remember what it was I remembered. If that made any sense. It was a strange feeling - and I was beginning to wonder if I was loosing my mind.
Suddenly Mamoru stood and came over to me, taking the plate from my hand. "Did you want anymore?" I shook my head no and he placed the plate on the table beside me. "You should probably lay down and rest some," he suggested softly.
"But it's my first day of work," I protested, rising off the couch.
Mamoru put his hands firmly on my shoulders and sat me back down. "Don't worry about that. If you don't rest now, you won't be able to work the rest of the day." Hesitantly I nodded and laid back down. Mamoru winked at me as he left the room and shut the door behind him.
Slowly I blinked my eyes open and looked around. The sun was gently easing behind the mountains. For a moment I didn't know where I was and then I saw Mamoru. He was sitting in the recliner across from me, his eyes closed, sleeping. As I remembered everything that had happened, I realized what time it was. Shingo would have gotten out of school hours ago! I sat up quickly, the room went black for a split moment and then slowly my eyes readjusted. Mamoru blinked his eyes open, startled awake by my movement. He rubbed his hands over his face and smiled at me. "Feeling better?"
"Shingo!" I gasped. "I should have picked him up hours ago!"
Mamoru shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Makoto picked him up after school and he's downstairs playing games." His words didn't make me feel much better. I should have been there, what was I thinking? Sleeping for so long.. and I should have gotten up to work. Mamoru must have sensed what was going through my mind. "Don't worry about it," he said. "Motoki is a very understanding person."
"That's no excuse," I replied, mad at myself. The clock on the wall read 6:37 and I leaned back. The day was almost over, and I had slept it away. I looked over at Mamoru who was still staring at me. "What are you still doing here, anyways?" I said it a little roughly, though I didn't mean to.
Mamoru stood up, stretching as he did so. He walked over to me and sat down, leaning forward to look at me. "Usa," he began. "I told you, I won't let anything happen to you."
Those words. Those eyes - so blue and intense. Now I remembered who he was. It all came crashing into my memory like a tidal wave. I gasped and looked over at him. "You..." I breathed. "You are him.."
"Yes," he said, urging me to continue.
"You are Tuxedo Kamen."
The words hung between us for a moment before Mamoru leaned back, looking vaguely disappointed. Finally he nodded his head. "Yes. That I am." Suddenly he stood up and went to the door. As he opened it, Rei and Ami came in and looked between us. Mamoru nodded at them and went out the door. "Ja," he mumbled, barely audible. I looked at Rei and Ami.
What had just happened?
-End Chapter 3.
First things first, I have forgotten to put disclaimers in the previous chapters. So incase you were mistaken, I do not own Sailor Moon, it's characters, etc. I'm borrowing them and would appreciate no law suites as I have three kids to raise. ^^;
Second, aren't you glad I had today off and didn't do anything I was supposed to so I could work on this? There is a really big chance there will not be another chapter up tomorrow since it's my oldest child's birthday, so I thought I would finish this up tonight.
Thank you to all who follow and review. Thank you for reading! I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. Let me know your thoughts, if you get a chance.
Have a safe and happy 4th of July! God Bless.
Beth