Hi everyone! I've just got time to post this chapter before I go away on holidays. I hope you like it!
Disclaimer:
Sparrowflyaway (holds up magic wand): Accio Sailor Moon Rights! … (shakes wand furiously, filling the air with sparks) ...Darn it! Why isn't it working?!?
Minako gently tugged the blanket up to Melina's chin and looked out at the darkening sky.
"How is she?" she asked Rei, who was busily dabbing Melina's forehead with a cloth.
"She should be OK. Her transformation was probably a little shocking for her," Rei said, dipping the cloth into a bowl of water.
"What about her mother? She'll probably be worrying about her, won't she?" Usagi asked.
"Sunshine, do you know her home number?" Minako asked. Sunshine shook her head sadly.
"I'll bet David would know, if only he'd wake up," Makoto said, glancing across at the blonde boy on the other bed. Sunshine looked from Makoto to David, then jumped up onto the blanket beside David. She closed her eyes, and her sun began to glow, the light flowing down onto David's forehead. The glowing soon stopped, and as Sunshine slumped onto the blanket, David slowly opened his eyes to see Melina lying on the other bed, unconscious.
"Melina!" David cried, jumping out of his bed and rushing to Melina's side. "Melina, wake up!"
"She's in shock, David. She needs rest," Rei said.
"Shouldn't we take her to the hospital?" David asked, frantic.
"I don't know that a hospital could help her right now, David. She just needs to rest," Rei replied.
"And we need to call her Mum and tell her that Melina's spending the night here. Do you know their home number, David?" Minako asked. David nodded and passed Minako his mobile phone. She flipped it open and walked out of the room to make the call.
"Looks like a storm," Usagi noted, looking at the sky. Rei glanced outside and frowned.
"This doesn't feel like a normal storm," she said. "I get the feeling that the winds of change are blowing, and they're sending someone or something special our way..."
"Sora..." a voice whispered. Sora Arian opened her silver-gray eyes sleepily and looked out at the dark road flashing past.
"Did you say something, Daddy?" she asked, brushing her white-blonde fringe out of her face and looking over at her dark-haired father. Mr Arian glanced at Sora and shook his head, before turning his attention back to the road. Sora sighed and curled up against her pillow.
"Daddy, I don't like how we have to move all the time. Why can't we just find somewhere nice to stay? You know, for good?" Sora asked, closing her eyes and listening to the raindrops that began to patter on the car window.
"Honey, I've already explained why we have to sell our homes and move so often. It's because people are afraid of what you can do," Mr Arian said, glancing at his seven-year-old daughter. Sora sighed. Yes, I know I'm different, she thought, opening her eyes and watching the rain get stronger. But I wish that people weren't afraid of me because of my gifts. Sora started to think about all her animal friends that she had left behind in her old town: Sammy the fox, Trigger and Digger the identical puppy twins, and Mimi the stray but unusually fat cat. As she thought of each of these, the raindrops falling onto the window quivered and formed an image of that animal. Sora smiled sadly and closed her eyes again, and as the car trundled into their new home town, Sora drifted off to sleep...
"How long do you think she'll be out, Rei?" Luna asked, looking at the priestess. Rei frowned.
"It's hard to say," she said, looking around at the others.
"I'm just glad we managed to convince David to go home," Minako said.
"I'm just glad that Mrs Pattini actually bought the story you told her, Minako," Makoto said. Minako smiled.
"What exactly did you tell her mum, Minako-chan?" Usagi asked.
"I told her that Melina spent the day with me, and that I was having a sleepover, and Melina said she'd like to come," Minako said, staring into her tea. Just then, they heard a crash from the next room, and rushed in to find Melina tossing and turning in bed, a shattered lamp lying on the floor beside the bed.
"What's going on?" Makoto asked.
"She's having her nightmare again," Sunshine said, jumping onto the bed beside Melina.
"Again?!? How many has she had?" Rei asked, not taking her eyes from the distressed girl.
"I'm not sure, but she's been having them for months," Sunshine said. "But it was only recently that she saw anything in them besides black mist."
"What's she seeing now?" Minako asked.
"You guys, strangely enough," Sunshine said, turning to look at the girls.
"Us?!?" they chorused, their eyes widening.
"Yes. Two days ago, after she went to bed, she saw both Usagi and Makoto appear in her dream," Sunshine said, looking away.
"Two days ago... That was when we met her!" Usagi said, looking at Makoto.
"Yes, and last night you were in her dream too, Minako, on the night directly after she met you," Sunshine said. She looked at Melina and added, "I suspect that Rei and Ami are in her dream now too, seeing as she met you two today."
"But how do you know that Ami-chan and Rei-chan would be in her dreams now too?" asked Usagi.
"Isn't it obvious, Usagi-chan? We're all Senshi!" Rei said impatiently.
"Ami! Rei!" Melina gasped out, before she began to kick and thrash. The girls and the cats backed up in alarm.
"What do we do?!?" Minako asked, watching Melina.
"We wait until she wakes up," Sunshine sighed, sitting down on the floor. The girls looked at each other worriedly, then sat down too.
***
"Amaterasu, you, beautiful, brave girl. You've done so much, my darling. I'm so proud of you," the ginger-haired woman said, clasping Melina's hand. As the woman's grip tightened, Melina's body began to glow gold, and then she jolted awake.
***
The girls and the cats watched wide-eyed as Melina's thrashing subsided.
"Is it over?" Minako asked, listening to Melina's harsh breathing.
"Oh, no, not yet," Sunshine said. Melina twitched and then sat bolt upright in bed, awake and breathing heavily.
"Melina, are you OK?" Sunshine asked, standing up. The others did the same, and went to sit by Melina's bedside. Melina glanced around dazedly, feeling rather disoriented.
"There, now, it's over. It was just a dream, Melina," Rei said, putting her hand on Melina's shoulder. As soon as the two girls touched, a flood of images of Melina's nightmare flowed into Rei's mind. Both Melina and Rei gasped, and Rei watched as the black mist faded in her mind's eye to reveal the six globes of light and the ginger-haired woman.
"What is it, Rei-chan?" Usagi asked, looking from Rei to Melina in concern. Rei shook her head to clear her mind.
"Is it OK if I tell them, Melina?" Rei asked. Melina stared blankly at her for a moment, then nodded. Rei smiled gently at Melina and began to describe the dream to the others.
------Some Time Later...------
"Six bubbles?! But there's only five of us..." Usagi said, her brow furrowing.
"I know. I suspect this means that there's another Senshi out there somewhere," Rei said, standing and walking towards the door. "I'm going to consult the Great Fire about this..." she said, turning in the doorway to look at everyone. Her eyes came to rest on Melina. "In the meantime, Melina, you should be careful. And the rest of us," she said, looking around at the others again," we should keep an eye out for that new Senshi." Rei smiled comfortingly, then slid the door closed behind her..
"Another Senshi. That'd be helpful in the battles to come. Maybe she'll know where the Moon princess is," Luna said, looking at Artemis, who nodded in agreement.
"I hope so, because until we find her, we'll need to use everything we've got to keep the Negaverse at bay," Makoto said darkly.
"Hey, Usagi-chan, did you study for that big test on Monday?" Ami asked, pulling some books from her bag.
"Actually, Ami-chan, I did," Usagi said, smiling.
"Yeah? And what made you decide to study?" Luna asked.
"Well, I actually got sick of Mum yelling at me and locking me out of the house..." Usagi said sheepishly.
"Well we'd better go home and get some sleep, or you won't be able to remember any of what you studied when you take that test," Luna said. Usagi nodded and gathered up her things.
"G'night, everyone!" she said, hugging Melina.
"We'll be back early tomorrow to see how you are, Melina," Luna said, causing Usagi to utter a note of protest. Luna glared at her before they darted out into the rain, the door closing behind then. Minako turned and looked at Melina.
"You'd better get back to sleep, Melina," she said. Melina nodded and laid down on the bed as Ami, Makoto and Artemis stood and left the room. Minako gently pulled the blankets up to Melina's chin before switching off the light.
"We're here if you need us. Good night, Melina," Minako whispered, closing the door behind her.
"Zoisite, while I'm pleased that you've managed to retrieve the Rainbow Crystal from Sailor Moon, I'm still extremely disappointed that you have not yet retrieved the two crystals in the possession of Tuxedo Mask," Queen Beryl said, glaring at the brown-haired General kneeling before her.
"I'm sorry for failing you thus far in that respect, My Queen, but I have a plan to obtain both of those crystals from Tuxedo Mask," Zoisite said. Beryl frowned at her before nodding.
"Go. Set your plan into motion," Beryl said.
"I shall, My Queen," Zoisite said, getting to her feet.
"And Zoisite," Beryl said, looking daggers at the female General, "If you fail me this time, you know exactly what will happen."
"Hi, Mum! I'm home!" Usagi shouted, closing the door on the freezing rain that was pouring down.
"Usagi! You're home late tonight. We were about to start dinner without you," Ikuko Tsukino said, peering out of the kitchen. Usagi kicked her shoes off and smelled the scent of roast chicken that was hanging in the air. She and Luna ran into the kitchen, smiling happily.
"Sora..." a voice whispered. Sora's eyes jerked open at the sound of the voice, widening as they took in the white clouds beneath her feet and the blue sky above. She looked around and saw a girl who looked exactly like Sora kneeling before her. The girl stood and held out her hand, her silver and white Senshi fuku sparkling in the sunlight.
"Sora... The time has almost come, Sora... They need us... It is our Destiny..." the girl whispered, smiling. Sora wasn't sure why, but she lifted her hand to take the other girl's. As soon as they touched, there was a bright flash of light, and Sora jerked awake. She looked sleepily out the rain-soaked car window. A dream, she thought. It was just a very real dream. She watched as her father pulling up in the driveway of a dark house.
"This is it, honey! Our new home. Did you have a good sleep?" Mr Arian asked, switching off the car and turning to Sora. Sora nodded and smiled, the dream lingering in her mind. Mr Arian opened the car door, hurried through the rain onto the porch of their new house, unlocked the front door and waved for Sora to come. Sora focused her mind and then opened the door, climbing calmly out into the rain, which parted and fell on either side of her as she walked up to the house. Mr Arian smiled and shook his head.
"Why couldn't you have done than for me?" he said, holding the door open for his daughter. Sora giggled.
"Well Daddy, I could have if only you'd asked me," she giggled, before stepping gracefully inside and looking around. Mr Arian closed the door and took his daughter's hand, guiding her around the house. They looked into the two bedrooms, the bathroom, the kitchen and the laundry, before Mr Arian turned to his daughter.
"Well, Sora, now that we've looked at all the rooms, which one would you like to have as your bedroom?" Mr Arian asked, ruffling his daughter's hair. Sora smiled and pointed upwards at the hatch above their heads. "You want to sleep in the attic? But it would get very cold up there, and..." Mr Arian trailed off as Sora's eyes took on an irresistible puppy dog look. "...Alright, sweetie, but you'll have to help me take your bed apart, because it's not going to fit through that hatch otherwise." Sora beamed and looked up at the hatch, which sprang open, the stairs unfolding to stop at Sora's feet. She ran up into the attic and began peering into the many boxes up there.
"Sora? We need to get all our things in before you start doing things like that," Mr Arian said, looking up into the attic. Sora pouted and ran back down the attic stairs, taking the hand that her father held out to her. They walked back onto the rain-spattered porch, where Sora let go of her father's hand and closed her eyes, clasping her hands in front of her. Slowly but surely, the rain parted, and soon there was no water falling on their yard. Mr Arian hurried back and forth from the car to the house, bringing all of their things in.
"That's the lot, I think. Thanks, sweetie," he said, stepping onto the porch with their pillows and sleeping bags in hand. Sora dropped her concentration in relief, and slumped onto the porch as the rain began to fall normally. Mr Arian picked his daughter up and carried her inside, shutting the door behind him.
Rei glanced out at the sunrise, then went and sat down in front of the Great Fire. She stared at the flickering Fire and thought about everything that had happened the previous day. It's good that we've got Sailor Sun with us, she thought. But there could be another Senshi out there somewhere... And if there is, we need to find her. She focused her mind and stared intently into the flames, and, slowly but surely, Rei saw an image of a young girl curled up asleep. Rei's eyes widened as she looked at the image of the small white-blonde girl, who looked like she was about seven years old. Is that her? Rei wondered, watching as the image faded again. Is that the other Senshi? Could she be... The Moon Princess?
"Sora... it is our destiny, Sora... the time is almost upon us... the others need us..." the white-blonde Senshi whispered, holding out her hand, the clouds swirling around their feet. Sora smiled and reached out and took the Senshi's hand. There was a flash of white light, and then Sora jolted awake to find herself tangled in her sleeping bag beside her father's bedroom window. She wriggled in vain for a moment, before focusing her mind on the zipper, which unzipped almost immediately. She stood and walked into the kitchen, where Mr Arian was busily cooking bacon and eggs for breakfast.
"Hey there, honey, did you have good sleep?" Mr Arian asked, turning from the stove and passing Sora a fork and plate of bacon and eggs. Sora took them, smiled at her father and sat down on the windowsill to eat. Mr Arian turned off the stove and sat down beside his daughter.
"You'd better finish up your breakfast, sweetie, the movers are coming in about ten minutes, and I think we should probably get your bedroom started once they've unloaded everything," Mr Arian said, ruffling Sora's hair.
"But Daddy, I wanted to have a look around town," Sora said, a slight whine in her voice. Mr Arian smiled.
"Ok, I'll make you a deal. You help me get your bedroom started, and then you can go for a walk and explore town for a while," Mr Arian said. Sora beamed.
"Deal!" she said, before wolfing down the rest of her breakfast. She threw her plate towards the sink and then quickly focused on it, and it floated gently down into the sink. Sora grinned at her father and then hurried out the front door in time to see a large moving van pulling up.
"Usagi-chan... Usagi-chan!" Luna tapped Usagi on the head with her paw.
"Mmmnnnn... go away, Luna. I wanna sleep in..." Usagi groaned, rolling over and accidentally knocking Luna off the bed in the process. Luna sat up and sighed.
"We promised Melina we'd go check on her early today, Usagi," she said. Usagi sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"No, you promised her. You're just dragging me along with you," she said, stifling a yawn. While Usagi went into the bathroom to get ready, Luna went and sat on the windowsill, peering out at the cloudless morning. She noticed a moving van and a silver car outside the vacant house on the opposite side of the road. I guess it's not vacant anymore, Luna thought, watching two men pull boxes, a table, chairs and two beds out of the van and haul them inside.
"Hey, what's going on over there?" Usagi asked, throwing a pink dress over her mussed, untied hair before coming and standing next to Luna. They watched as the now-empty van drove away, leaving a tall dark-haired man and a small, silver-blonde haired girl standing on the lawn waving goodbye. Luna looked at the girl, and a tingle of warm energy ran down her spine.
"Usagi, I think we'd better keep an eye on that girl. There's something strangely familiar about her..." Luna said.
"Who, that little girl? She looks harmless to me," Usagi said, looking at the girl.
"Well, looks can be deceiving, Usagi-chan. You're living proof of that," Luna said, still watching the girl across the road.
"And just what do you mean by that?!?" Usagi demanded, glaring at Luna.
"Usagi, I would never have dreamed that a klutzy crybaby like you could be Sailor Moon. I thought I'd said that already," Luna said, turning to look at Usagi. Usagi decided to ignore that comment, instead turning to her mirror and tying her hair up into the usual meatballs.
"Are you done?" Luna asked. Usagi turned to stare at Luna like she was crazy.
"Of course not, Luna! I haven't had any breakfast yet! I'm gonna make some pancakes," Usagi said, before darting out of her bedroom and running downstairs.
Sora ran inside as soon as the movers were gone and pulled all of the movers' tape off of her bed. Satisfied, she then focused her mind on the screws that held her bed together, and they all turned and shot out of the bed, bouncing off the walls as the bed fell apart with a loud crash. Mr Arian peeked in the doorway and shook his head defeatedly as Sora turned and grinned at him.
"Well done, Sora, but you need to get those up into the attic now," Mr Arian said, smiling. Sora just smiled while the pieces of her bed lifted off the ground and flew up the stairs. Sora followed them and stared up at the hatch, which sprang open once again. The bed pieces flew up into the attic and reassembled themselves into their original shape, the screws flying back into place. Sora dropped her concentration and sat down on the attic steps.
"That's good, honey, but your mattress won't fit through the hatch," Mr Arian said. Sora frowned and looked from the attic to her mattress and back again. She suddenly smiled again, and Mr Arian just shook his head defeatedly as he watched the tiles begin to levitate off the roof, creating a mattress-sized hole.
Author's notes: I watched an episode of Heroes before writing this, so when I introduced Sora, I thought it would be cool to give her the power of Telekinesis(the ability to move objects using only thought). Oh, and by the way, Sora is Japanese for sky, and Arian is Welsh for silver. Please review! I would like to see lots of new reviews when I get back next week! Stay tuned for the next chapter!