MoonDragon: Sorry about these last two chapters being so short compared to the other ones. They'll start getting bigger again like before. I also want to thank everyone for sticking with the story so far. I know the updates are stretched out far from each other so I feel I must thank you all from continuing to read it and not forget about the story... I'm sure most of you have forgotten the beginning though, ha ha. Thanks again, as well for the reviews. You all rock.

Unspoken Memories

Chapter 22

Chibiusa sat upon a slightly elevated patch of land in the park with a sketchbook her lap. It couldn't be considered a hill, but small children loved to roll to the bottom and sled down it during winter. During this time of day, though, the area was devoid of children; they were all diligently, or in some cases not so diligently, accomplishing schoolwork near the vicinity of a teacher As far as the pink haired girl could figure she was the only one of her age group out enjoying the day at the park.

Her hand gently clenched a marker and it glided over the white paper creating a small white bunny; a simple design but cleanly and professionally made. At the upper part of the page she very carefully picked out words that she wanted to communicate toward the person she wanted to read her work. It was one page of a picture book she was trying to create. It would get the message across that she was too nervous to tell Sailor Moon herself… Usagi.

She feared just saying outright what would happen if she faced Nokemono alone would be too much of a shock for the heroine to deal with. Overtime, Chibiusa would introduce a new page one at a time to the older girl piecing the story together. A gradual realization. It was to be created as a metaphor of her life and a possible… very possible direction it might take.

The one it took where she came from.

This would open her eyes as to why Chibiusa should take care of the threat. It would make her understand what it was she was trying to accomplish.

Taking a small break, the pink haired child placed her sketchbook on the healthy green grass to her side and lied back to enjoy the day. Page one was completed of her story, and she would continue after taking a breather. She wanted this story to be perfectly accurate without directly shoving the truth in Usagi's face. She couldn't rush it.

Closing her eyes she took in a deep breath and released it with a grin. If she imagined, just let her mind wander, Chibiusa could pretend she was back home. This moment reminded her of the palace garden. How the wind was just warm enough that when it brushed your skin it made you giddy, how the gentle sounds of free animals added to the serenity, and how the overall peacefulness of the moment made you forget about everything and relax.

This place looked a lot different than where she came from, but she was happy it was the same overall world.

A sound of pain could be heard off into the distance tearing Chibiusa away from the moment she was about to get drunk in. She sat up instantly alert trying to pinpoint the cry. Surveying from her viewpoint on the hill she spotted several boys gathered around a rather frail looking girl.

Chibiusa's cheeks puffed out at how childish they were behaving and at the overall rudeness they displayed. 'Guess I'm not the only kid out here today,' she thought standing up to confront the problem. She couldn't just sit there and do nothing. Frowning she made her way down. 'Well, the children here are certainly different! How can they be so mean to that girl?!' When she got closer she could make out what the boys were saying to the girl.

"Come on, heal yourself!" a freckled child shouted. He viciously kicked her leg and the victim cried out falling on the ground. Her skin bruised immediately and she placed a hand over the injury as a barrier from further abuse. Chibiusa also noticed a small cut on her arm which was bleeding and dripping onto the grass.

"She's a freak!" a chubby one commented kicking dirt at the figure on the ground. Her violet eyes were filled with so much sadness that they welled over with tears threatening to fall.

"Please stop," the dark haired girl whimpered not getting up. By then Chibiusa was seething at how they treated her and quickened her pace towards them.

"No, I wanna see you heal yourself, freak. We saw you! We saw you healing yourself! What are you?! A monster?!" a rather tall boy for his age questioned violently with fear in his eyes. "Hold her down; we'll hurt her so bad that she'll be forced to do it again!!"

As he said that he received a very violent whap to the head which sent him flying three feet from his position. He collapsed face down in the grass moaning. The other two boys ran to his side kneeling to make sure he was alright.

"What was that for?" he shouted getting to his feet. He cringed after he spoke cradling where a pink haired girl struck him. He met blazing red eyes with a wild temper.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Chibiusa spat standing between the children and the girl on the ground. "You should see yourselves behave! You're horrid and vile! Picking on a little girl like that! Apologize!" The chubby one took a step back and spoke with a trembling voice.

"But she's a freak! She got hurt and healed herself. Like magic! It's not normal… It's strange and it's weird!"

"That's no reason to act like that!" she scolded, hands on her hip. The taller boy who she struck, who she guessed was the leader, seethed as he ran toward her with violent intent.

"You think because you're a girl I'm not going to hit you?!" he bellowed. He threw a wide, clumsy punch at her face which Chibiusa easily sidestepped. Twirling as she dodged, she jumped while spinning and kicked him in the same spot she smacked sending the boy spiraling into a tree. He dropped unconscious making Chibiusa cringe as she landed gracefully.

'Oops. He's just a human, maybe I should've held back more…' She stopped herself and barricaded her emotions before they reached guilt. 'No, what he did was completely wrong and immature! He deserved it!'

"Did you see that?!" the fat one inquired, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Such strength… she's just as much of a freak as Tomoe!!" the freckled boy stuttered. "Let's get out of here!" They both scrambled over their feet fleeing the situation leaving their friend behind to fend for himself.

Chibiusa turned to him; he wouldn't be getting up any time soon. Seeing as the problem was over with she made her way to the injured girl and kneeled beside her, arms hugging her knees, eyes outlined in concern.

"Are you all right?" Chibiusa questioned as her chin rested on her knees. The dark haired and dark eyed girl nodded hesitantly at first as if unsure whether to trust her or not. The pink haired girl frowned in disappointment. "It's okay, I'm not like them."

"… Thank you…" she said in a soft voice expressing her gratitude. Smiling brightly her rescuer nodded. Then she gazed upon the wounds she received from the ruffians.

"Can you really heal yourself?" she questioned. The girl looked away and wouldn't hold her gaze. After a moment of consideration she nodded once. Still she wouldn't meet Chibiusa's eyes as if ashamed for being able to do something so miraculous. "You should take care of that cut and bruise then. You don't want the cut to get infected."

The girl was silent as she cupped the wound spilling small trails of blood down her arm. She managed an unsure smile.

"It's… it's okay. I'll be fine. I'll just bandage it up later…" By the way she was acting Chibiusa could tell she was self-conscious about doing something so unordinary around other people. She gently smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder startling the victim.

"I won't think you're strange or anything," she said in all honesty. "Go on. I think it's amazing you can do something like that. Those boys… they are just ignorant. They're like the mass majority of people; they fear what they cannot understand. It just frightened them and they acted like children to the situation. You have a gift… don't let them make you think it's a curse."

The dark eyes girl blushed adding color to her pale face. Chibiusa grinned seeing it. This person was very pretty and would grow up to be beautiful. After a pause, she closed her eyes and her hand glowed a soft purple light. She let it encase her cut and her skin reconnected and patched up looking like it had before. When that was taken care of the girl brushed it over her light brown bruise returning it to her pale skin color.

"Feel better?"

"Yes… thank you," she smiled at her rescuer.

"You're welcome," she replied standing up. Chibiusa outstretched her hand toward the girl. "My name's Tsukino Usagi… but you can call me Chibiusa!" She giggled at the last part. The nickname Usagi had given her was beginning to grow on the child. She liked it. It was cute.

"Tomoe Hotaru," Hotaru smiled grasping the pink haired girl's hand in hers. As she helped Hotaru stand up Chibiusa prayed this would be a beginning of a friendship. She barely knew anyone here and someone to talk to would be a great comfort.

"Do you want to hang out with me, Hotaru-chan? It would be more fun than being here by myself…"

Hotaru's eye widened as if not expecting her to say something like that. That was when Chibiusa saw that they were alike; both lonely. With a warm smile she nodded enthusiastically filling Chibiusa with joy. Her first friend her age here…

The pink haired girl gave a quick look back to the hill where she was working on her picture book and suddenly had an impulse to show it to Hotaru. An opinion on it would let her know how well, or how bad, it currently was.

"Hey, I'm sort of trying to make a picture book. Will you read a page of it for me? It's up there on that hill."

"Of course," the dark eyes girl replied. "I'd love to see it."

Chibiusa grasped her new friend's hand in hers and directed them towards their destination. She looked back at Hotaru as they walked and smiled before turning back. Hotaru blushed slightly in embarrassment and smiled.

"You're very kind," she suddenly said. Chibiusa's eyebrows rose at the declaration.

"You think so?"

"Hmm. When most people find out about my… ability… they always fear and scorn me. My dad and I have had to move before because of it. You're the third person I've ever met to just accept me like that. And you stopped those boys when they were picking on me… Most people would just pretend not to notice so they don't get involved."

"Then there must be a lot of bad people out there. I don't see how anyone could just let that happen to another." 'The third person,' she wondered. 'I wonder who the other two are. Well, I guess that's not really important right now.' "Why didn't you stand up for yourself? Those boys didn't seem very strong."

"I'm… I'm not much of a fighter. I have no real strength that could be used in combat… Well… except for one…" Her voice drifted off and Hotaru seemed to be plunged into deep thought. Her expression turned somber and her grip loosened on Chibiusa's hand. She soon regained herself when she realized the awkward silence they had entered. "I can never do much in a fight… All I can do is heal myself and others…"

"Well, I think that's wonderful. You don't have to be a fighter," Chibiusa told her. Hotaru shook her head sadly.

"But my two friends… they sort of fight a lot… I can never do anything for them during that time. I can only stand on the sidelines and hope for the best. I don't have any strength, I can't do anything."

Chibiusa suddenly laughed intriguing Hotaru who frowned thinking she was being made fun of.

"It sounds to me like you can do a lot for them!" she stated happily. "Someone always fights harder when there's someone waiting for them after the battle. Just being there and supporting them like you do… I'm sure they appreciate you in many ways."

"…"

"And when they get done fighting they're sure to be injured. Then you can heal them with that power of yours. Don't belittle yourself; you can do many things!" She grinned and they stopped walking as they were at the top of the elevated patch of land. "Strength isn't just how well you can fight. It's how well you can persevere!"

Hotaru gazed at her with wonder. "How well you can… persevere…" she mumbled. They sat down next to each other with her sketchbook separating the space between them.

"My mama and papa… they told me that all of the time. Even if you think you can't do anything in some situations there is something you can do if you try. All you have to do is persevere. That's the greatest strength you can have."

"They sound like very wonderful people," she said warmly. Chibiusa nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah… they're both really great…" 'I miss them terribly,' she somberly thought. She shook her head ridding herself of that emotion. 'I'll see them as soon as my business is done here.' She grabbed her sketchbookand held it out for Hotaru to take. "It's only one page, will you read it?"

Hotaru gently received it and looked it over. At once her eyebrows raised at the artistic ability placed into the page.

"You did this freehanded?" Chibiusa nodded. "It's amazing. It's a simple design, but it's made so well; almost as if it were a published work. Will you continue the story?"

"Yeah, of course! So you really like it? Ha ha, that's great! I'm so happy; I want this to be perfect!"

"How did you get so good at drawing?" she inquired handing her sketchbook back to her.

"I inherited it from my mama. She's so good you can't help but stop and stare at what she can create. She paints in her free time and papa always hangs them up around the cas… our house's walls! I want to be as good as her someday."

For a while they sat in silence enjoying the day until a thought struck Chibiusa.

"Shouldn't you be in school right now?"

Hotaru shook her head. "It's a half day today because the teachers are grading so many papers… Shouldn't you know that? If you didn't you'd be in the school right now."

Chibiusa laughed nervously. 'Ha ha, I don't go to school here; of course Hotaru-chan would think that question was strange.' "Well, I'm home-schooled so I don't know anything like that." 'Thank goodness I didn't inherit my mother's horrible lying ability as well.'

"I see," she replied. Suddenly her eyes opened wide as she looked at a dainty watch hanging from her wrist. "Oh, speaking of school, mine's about to start soon! I have to go. It was very nice meeting you, Chibiusa-chan." Chibiusa nodded disappointedly and truthfully wanted her company longer but knew she couldn't keep her.

Hotaru cast a glance at the passed out boy under the tree and brought a hand to her lips thinking. "What should I do about him…?"

"Nothing!" the pink haired girl declared somewhat angrily. "Let him lay there."

"But he'll miss school-"

"So?! He deserves to get in trouble! I'm sure if someone starts to worry his friends will come gather him up."

Hotaru nodded and hesitantly made her way down the slope. Once at the bottom she waved back up at her and took a step forward. She paused and turned back around.

"Will we see each other again?!" Hotaru yelled with a hand to her mouth to make her voice louder. From where she was sitting Chibiusa made a long nod accompanied by a large smile.

"Of course we will! Bye-bye!"

As Hotaru faded from her line of vision Chibiusa smiled contently. 'I made a new friend,' she couldn't help but think. It made her giddy. Where she came from she didn't have many companions her age, and to make one this easily made her pleased. 'I hope we see each other soon…'