She had been struggling with her own waves of pain and weakness and hadn't seen his eyes, but she could feel his power pushing at her own. She found his hand and twisted his ring so his Armor dropped away, then released her own Fuku. "I'll be alright," she finally managed weakly. "And you're wrong," she informed Megan. "Hajime worries about people all the time. It's why he avoided people recently. Metallia had been targeting him, but the people around him just kept getting hurt." She wanted to talk to the girl more about the darkness she saw in him, but she wouldn't do it with Hajime present. "I'm sorry. I wasn't able to do anything to help once again," she apologized, looking up at Hajime for a second before she looked quickly down the hallway where voices could be heard approaching. "Let's hurry and get out of here," she said, getting to her feet, only to have her head give her sickening and painful spinning sensation that caused her knees to get out. Trying to force her power had been a very very bad idea.
Catching her, Hajime looked at Megan.
"I'm taking her home." Megan nodded and watched as Hajime carried her out of the school and quickly moved towards his own apartment. Shaking her head, she quickly vacated the area as well, knowing that the damage from the fire was her fault, and not wanting to be there when the damage was found.
Once at his apartment, Hajime opened the door without dropping Eliana. Going to his room, he laid her on the bed and then went out to the kitchen to get a cool compress.
"What happened to her?!" Apollo hissed acidly.
"I don't know. There were some of those creatures at the school, and we had found another Senshi..." Hajime trailed off and gave Apollo a helpless look. "One of them charged her, but I thought that I had killed it before it got her. All I did was use my sword. It happened so fast that I didn't think to use my power." Apollo jumped off the couch and ran into the room to where Eliana laid, Hajime following closely behind. "Please be okay Eliana..." he murmured, putting the cold compress on her forehead. His own head was starting to ache, but he forced that sensation to the side, more worried for his friend, this woman he was beginning to like, and wanting to make sure that she wasn't a victim to his curse as well.
She'd spent the time he carried her back to the apartment trying to lessen the damage of the recoil, so she didn't complain or even speak for that matter, just lay practically limp in his arms with her eyes closed.
She remained that way even after he laid her down on the bed.
"What have you done?" Apollo demanded hopping up onto the bed. He could tell that the boy's power was fighting against the layer of her own power she'd placed on him but if he hadn't used his power- and if he was still in control that she shouldn't be like this because of him.
'I had a recoil,' she told him in thought. 'Lend me some energy would you? I have trouble using my power on myself.'
Apollo gave a soft meow and then began to kneed her shoulder, his power flowing into hers to help quell the disorder of her own. She felt something cool on her forehead which helped even more. She opened her eyes- her contacts had been burned out the day before from her transformation. She'd planned to say her natural eyes were contacts from now on after that. It was too difficult to constantly be struggling with those things.- and saw Hajime's worried face. "I'm sorry," she said, sitting up slowly. She felt a bit better. "It seems I'm still not permitted as much interference as I would like. I attempted to force my power to help with the fighting and- well- the universe denied me," she told him with a slight, unhappy smile. She reached out with both her hands, cupping his face. Warmth spilled from her hands, easing the pain of his headache. "I'm sorry. I ended up being a burden there. I'll try to stay out of the fights from now on so I don't get in the way," she promised. From how his power was pushing on the constraint she'd placed on him, she could only imagine the headache he must have had from it.
Holding onto her hands, Hajime let his eyes close, but they opened when there was a knock at the door. He reluctantly let go and pushed Eliana's hands away as he went to go answer the door. Apollo watched him and shook his head. It wouldn't do any good. Eliana was off limits as far as matters of the heart were concerned. Opening the door, Hajime blinked in surprise to see Megan there.
"Megan?" he asked, and then blinked again as she shoved past him.
"They closed the school because of the damage from the fire." She pointed at herself and then shook her head. "I came over to see how Eliana is doing. You go make something for her to eat. She must be out of energy by now." Dumbfounded, Hajime just nodded and went to the kitchen, pulling out various ingredients. Megan found her way to Hajime's room, which wasn't very hard, and knocked on the door.
Inside the room, Eliana was looking at the wall next to the door. All the pictures of Serenity had been taken down, save two. One was the picture she'd first seen Hajime draw, where Serenity looked downtrodden and heartbroken, crying and reaching out for something. The second was Serenity as they had seen her on the moon, happy, but in a bittersweet sort of way. It was almost as if the smile was warning of something, something that could be both good and bad. The images were drawn so lifelike that Eliana felt tears sting her eyes for the first time since she'd first witnessed the moon's destruction, seen Serenity and Dymion trapped as their infant daughter perished.
"Oh Serenity, how I miss you, my first and dearest friend..." she whispered. Apollo chose not to comment, but his ears tilted towards the door when he heard the knock. Eliana quickly dried her eyes, and called out that whoever it was should come in. "Oh! I thought it was Hajime!" she gasped, seeing Megan. Megan smiled and sat on the bed beside Eliana.
"I came to see how you were doing, and to talk to you." Megan took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "I know that Hajime is good." Seeing Eliana's look of surprise, she went on. "I can feel two auras within him: one of utter darkness and ultimate vengeance, and one of pure good and honest forgiveness. The second is he himself. The first..." Megan trailed off, trying to find the words. "The first is something that is of him, but before him. It is as if it is something that seeks to be him, seeks to consume him to make its own ends become real." Megan shook her head. "I have no other way to describe it." Sighing, she turned and saw the two pictures of Serenity. Eliana had been busy trying to decipher her words when she started to speak again. "So that is the Queen... My father always described her as one of supreme beauty, but also amazing humbleness. A woman above all women, who could make all others jealous." She smiled. "My mother always was jealous of the admiration that Serenity had."
"Your father and mother speak as if they knew Serenity in their lifetimes," Eliana said doubtfully.
"My father hails from the moon, while my mother hails from Kinmoku. They moved to Earth some time ago, and had me about fifteen years ago. I turn sixteen in a few days. Kinmokuans and Lunarians are both long lived races, so I can understand how they would possibly know her," she said. Looking up at the pictures again, she shook her head. "I wish I could have met her..." At that moment, Hajime came into the room with a bowl of soup for each of them, and he sat in a chair near the bed. "Thank you," Megan said, causing Hajime to shake his head in confusion.
"You're welcome," he said, seeing no need to wave it off. It might only serve to upset her. Eliana accepted the soup as well with a thank you, but it just sat in her lap untouched. The pain was subsiding, her power stabilizing again. However she felt she had no appetite. She was preoccupied with how Megan had described his power. The ultimate vengeance. 'I assumed it was a force somewhat outside that of the crystal trying to influence its power... however, what if the crystal's power is what has become corrupt? How would we combat that? The Silver Crystal is supposed to be the light of the universe... Are we supposed to destroy it? Wouldn't that destroy the universe? But... I don't think we could just leave his power to break free either... what am I supposed to do?' she wondered giving a heavy sigh.
Hajime looked up at Eliana's sigh.
"Eliana?" he asked. Megan was looking at her too. "What's wrong?" Megan had a concerned look on her face as she realized that Eliana hadn't touched the food except to take the bowl. Hajime hadn't realized this, which was fortunate. He would have been even more worried, and with the way his auras were pulsing and fighting against each other, it seemed that that was the seat of Eliana's worry. His head must have been killing him. Megan finished her soup quickly, and stood, much to Hajime's bewilderment.
"Well Eliana, I can see that you are doing fine," she said and started out of the room. Hajime followed her, to let her out.
"Um. Thanks for coming over to check on her," he said uncertainly, and Megan smiled.
"No problem. I enjoyed meeting a new friend, and I wanted to make sure she was okay. You take care of her Hajime," she added before leaving and closing the door behind her. Hajime nodded and took his empty bowl, along with Megan's, to the kitchen before returning to his room to see if Eliana had finished.
She had set the bowl aside by now and was rubbing her temples, both trying to think and to fight the awareness of his powers struggle. She needed to get his energy to calm down again. Perhaps if she could just calm him it would at least help. When he came back in she looked up and smiled. "We got interrupted before. Come here," she instructed gently, holding her hands out for him. Yes she would settle his power first and then worry about what to do. For now that was something she could actually do something about right now.
Hajime nodded, sitting in front of her, and closing his eyes as he felt her hands on his temples. Sighing slightly, he felt his headache abate, and after a few moments, opened his eyes, looking at her. His hands reached up to take her hands, and, unable to control himself, he leaned forward a bit, wanting so badly to kiss her.
"Eliana.." he said softly, not entirely sure why. He couldn't think of any reason why he said her name, knowing that he didn't have anything to say to her, or to ask her. All he knew is that he wanted to kiss her, and seemed unable to stop himself this time.
When he took her hands, Eliana figured it was just because having her hands there felt good. He'd taken them before when she'd been settling the pain he felt. But he started leaning in to which she found a bit odd but not alarming. He whispered her name, and for some reason it sent a shiver down her spine. She met his silver eyes with her golden ones, open and pure. "Hajime-?" she answered in response to him calling her name. He just kept leaning in, getting closer and closer until their breath mingled, lips almost touching.
"AHEM!" Apollo jumped onto the bed, staring at the two.
Hajime drew back, cursing silently in his head.
"Hello Apollo," he said and stood, turning to leave the room. "I'll leave so that you can rest up, okay Eliana?" he asked. Closing the door behind him, he sighed, running a hand over his face. His headache was better. At least he should be grateful for that. Sighing again, he shook his head and went to sit on the couch. He should have known that the cat would have interrupted. Sitting there, he soon fell asleep, and started to have nightmares...
"Hajime!" The voice that called his name echoed across the landscape. The landscape resembled the ruins of the moon. Hajime turned and found himself looking at himself. Only the him that he was seeing was wrong. His eyes were black, and his red hair was darker as well.
"Who... Who are you?" he asked.
"I am you Hajime, but you as you could be if you would just let your power free!" the darker him said. "Vengeance will be ours! We will avenge the wrongs done to the moon in so many eons past!" Hajime took a step back, but the darker him mirrored him and took a step forward. "Hajime, we can avenge the wrong done to them!" The darker him pointed at the crystalline prison that held Serenity and Dymion. Hajime looked, feeling rather intimidated.
"Why would I want to seek vengeance? The moon is supposed to symbolize love and forgiveness," Hajime answered his dark clone's glare.
"Weak! That is weak!" the dark him hissed. "Only through vengeance will we truly be left alone! We must seek vengeance!"
"No. I won't," Hajime said, his head starting to throb. "I can't! I will not use vengeance as a means to survive. Never!" The dark him seemed to vanish, going inside of him, and Hajime was left alone in the barren landscape. The pain in his head intensified, and he fell to his knees, a yell of pain escaping him as his hands went to his temples. The landscape faded, and all that remained was him and his pain.
On the couch, Hajime let out a yelp as the pain in his head reached a crescendo, as it did in his dream.
Eliana watched him go, stilling filling a bit confused. Why had he leaned in like that? But nothing had happened and wondering over that was the least of her problems. She lay down, deciding arguing with him about the bed was going to be pointless. She closed her eyes, deciding to try and get some sleep herself.
And then she jerked awake. His power was surging, she could feel it pressing against the constraint she'd placed on him. But she didn't feel anything else. Just him and Apollo. She quickly got out of the bed and hurried into the living room where Hajime lay on the couch, sleeping troubled. "Hajime," she called softly, watching as his power continued to push and contort inside him. And then he cried out. Eliana felt panic grip her as the surging of his power began to break through her constraints. "HAJIME!" she cried, rushing around the couch. She transformed into Sailor Sun and placed on hand over his heart, the other on his head. She then began to pour her power into him, relieving the pain he felt and thickening the constraints, forcing his power to settle again. 'I shouldn't have let him leave without fully settling him again,' she berated silently. "Hajime wake up!" she called, hoping consciousness would help.
Hajime awoke with a gasp, his hands immediately going to her wrists. His eyes were wide, one completely black, the other shining silver. Blinking and shaking his head, trying to get rid of the weight on it, both of his eyes turned back to their original silver color. Realizing that it was Eliana, he let out a choked sob and pulled her close. She fit comfortably against him, but he wasn't interested in anything but the physical contact right then.
"I'm sorry..." he whispered, the tears starting to flow.
The mismatched eyes startled her- as did him suddenly pulling her to him. She went stiff for a moment and then hugged him, continuing to power her power into it. "Shhhh, it's alright. I'm here," she told him softly. "It'll be alright Hajime." She really wasn't sure it would be however.
Eliana continued to hug him, her power flowing into him constantly until she felt his power settle back down at last. By then she was feeling exhausted. She'd have to return to sanctuary for a time and try to recuperate her power. But she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to keep up holding back his own. It was getting stronger so very quickly.
Hajime had slowly fallen asleep, holding Eliana, his face buried in her soft hair. Apollo jumped up onto the couch and glared at the boy, then looked at Eliana.
"How in the world did you manage to end up like this?" he asked, the iciness in his voice ill-disguised. Hajime's dreams were still troubled, but not as before. He held Eliana close, as if to lose her were to be his demise. Instinctively, he knew that he was a monster, something to be feared. In his sleep, he ran from himself down dark hallways. Always, he dreamed of Eliana's light keeping him from becoming the darkness that he feared so deeply.
Eliana glared at him. "He's troubled, and what was I supposed to do? Just let his power run rampant. I think-" she paused a moment, her voice growing sad. "I think his power scared him..." Looking back at her ill-tempered friend she added. "Take that icy glare of yours elsewhere. I don't want you upsetting him. You're supposed to remain here as extra insurance against his power and anything that attacks, but I need you to trust him as I am."
"But you're not trusting him. You won't tell him the truth of the situation because you feel what will happen."
"That doesn't mean I don't trust him."
"You don't trust him to be able to handle it."
She felt silent, thinking his words over. Perhaps he was right... perhaps she needed to tell him a bit more... 'I can at least tell him about the darkness of his power. It might even help him keep it in control if he knows- which will make my controlling it easier...' She attempted to move away after lying him back down with care, but his arms just tightened around her, refusing to release her. "Eh?" she tried again, and he stirred, his expression becoming troubled, almost pained.
After that she just laid down beside him on the couch. It was a snug fit with them both on it, so she was forced to press close to him. She allowed her fuku to fall away and, exhausted from her efforts to control his power, fell into deep sleep herself.
At some point in the night he'd rolled, taking her with him so she was no longer beside him but halfway atop him.