I don't know if you've noticed before, but the Senshi all have incredibly easy lives to work around when it comes to their families. Some easier than others, I'd say Minako has it the hardest, but the way Naoko Takeuchi wrote everyone's back story, except Usagi's, she made it so that no one else had to contend with their family in the same way Usagi has to.
Minako's the only one with both parents, and she even lists her own mother as a dislike in the Sailor V manga. And the Outers certainly have a unique living situation!
A Little Late
Chapter 3/?
The weekend came as it tends to do, and there was no word from Endymion since his encounter with Usagi. Everyone was still on high alert, and the girls took turns watching Usagi from a distance or as a group to try and keep her life as uninterrupted as possible. Usagi argued with them for over an hour one day that this was interrupting their lives, but they would hear nothing of it. After the last time with Endymion taking her from right under their noses they weren't taking any chances.
But today, today she had managed to talk them into taking the day because she would be with her mother, in a crowded shopping center and Endymion had specifically waited until Usagi was completely alone before doing anything. The Senshi, Luna, and Artemis had reluctantly agreed and so Ikuko and Usagi had left the house in glee to go and do what Usagi so loved to do: shop.
They went to the Juuban shopping district and window shopped, stopping to try on clothes and hats, giggling, just generally being girls out shopping. Around one they stopped to eat at a little café that had a full menu, and seemed to please Usagi. She ordered what seemed to be half the menu, reminding Ikuko why they didn't go out to eat very often, and waited for their food to arrive.
The day was a little chilly, but they sat outside on the crowded street, which in Usagi's mind was probably safer than waiting for Endymion to throw a youma into the café. Something she wouldn't put past him doing if he really wanted to get her alone, but she could hold him off in this environment while she waited for the others. Her stomach twinged at the thought of putting her mother in that kind of danger again, though, but it was something she was learning to live with.
"How are your injuries, Usagi?" Ikuko asked her daughter, knowing that they couldn't be over heard in the hustle and bustle of the crowd.
Ikuko had been the only one in the family to notice that Usagi was injured, even if it was just a little bit, that night that Endymion had taken her. She hadn't fussed over it, hadn't made a big scene, but that night when Usagi had gone to her room with Makoto and Luna she had quietly followed them up the stairs and slipped in behind her to ask them about it. Usagi had shown her the cut on her side and admitted to a pretty thorough bruising. It could have been much worse.
"That healed days ago, mama. We heal really quickly, actually. It comes in really handy when you have to hide a broken bone or a really bad gash…not that I've ever had to do that," Usagi added in a rush. "Never broken a bone, that was Mako-chan actually. Ami-chan had to set it. I really, really don't ever want to break a bone. It looked really painful."
Ikuko smiled weakly at that. It was little revelations like this, about being hurt, about having to wake up at all hours of the night, that worried her. She found that she had a confidant in Luna, who shared many of her same fears about Usagi and the other girls. It became normal for the two of them to talk over coffee and milk in the mornings now after everyone left for the day and discuss how the past had evolved into the present. Luna had every faith in Usagi being able to handle herself, she was just afraid of her getting hurt in the process should they not be able to bring Mamoru back.
Ikuko was certain that if her daughter had the power to free a woman of hundreds of years of jealousy, then to free a man who probably deep down wanted his freedom should be easy. And she obviously had the power to do so, Ikuko had seen it herself. And she didn't doubt the stories that she had heard when Usagi had told her everything.
"What's the worst you've been hurt?" Ikuko asked her daughter, not sure she wanted to know the answer, because it meant that at some point Usagi had lied to her about something.
It was Usagi's turn to smile weakly at her mother. "I think it was when I was working alone. A youma caught me off guard and I reacted too slow. It cut me across the back and took a full three days to heal." She remembered the battle well, it was early in her career and she had been very green. She knew little beyond 'throw the tiara, turn it to dust'. "Luna was so upset, she yelled at me for fifteen minutes before finally telling me she was happy I was okay."
"That's Luna for you," Ikuko said with a chuckle. "She was just worried about you."
"Yeah, yeah, but she didn't have to lecture me about leaving my left open. I know I'm weak on my left. It wasn't exactly news even at that point!"
A waiter came and brought the first of their food, idly wondering who else was going to be joining the two ladies who had been sitting together, but just shrugged and went to get the rest.
Usagi immediately dug in, while Ikuko started at a slower pace, used to her daughter's eating habits. The rest of the food arrived and the waiter, no longer wondering, just stared at Usagi for a moment before setting the rest of the food on the table and backing away slowly.
"Is it easier for you now that we know? I mean, now that you don't have to sneak a talking cat around the house, or duck out of your room at night to train or fight?" Ikuko asked. So far there hadn't been anything but the one problem, the Dark Kingdom was really dragging its feet lately but no one was complaining. It was unusual to get so much rest between incidents.
Usagi paused in her eating and considered this for a moment. "Yeah, it's easier. Not hiding a talking cat is a lot easier, for sure. Do you know how many times you walked in the middle of conversations with Luna?" Ikuko shook her head and Usagi made an exaggerated gesture with her hands. "Aaaaall the time! I swear, it's like she never tries to stay hidden."
Ikuko paused with her fork in her mouth. To be honest, lately, she had been wondering why Usagi had taken to talking to herself so much. She thought that it was just a phase she was going through. "All that time it was Luna, was it? I thought you might have been going crazy."
"Mama!" Ikuko laughed heartily at Usagi's indignant shout. "Mama, you're mean," Usagi pouted.
"Oh, I'm teasing you dear, I'm teasing you." Ikuko took a sip of her drink and almost choked when Usagi stuck her tongue out.
"But it's easier knowing that you know where I am. That one day, if I don't come back, you won't just sit there and wonder what happened to me." Usagi looked at her lap and mumbled. "Or find out from Luna or something." Ikuko looked stricken with the way the questions had gone and Usagi tried to lighten the conversation. "But just not having to lie to you about why I'm never studying or sleeping all the time means a lot to me."
Ikuko didn't point out that Usagi had done all these things before becoming Sailor Moon, but she did silently acknowledge that being Sailor Moon made them that much worse. Even Ami had complained about being behind in her studies. Behind for Ami, of course, meant less than ten chapters ahead.
"Have you thought about taking the fight to-"
An explosion rocked a nearby store and screams followed. Ikuko's hand flew to her mouth and Usagi, who had looked so carefree just a moment ago, turned serious and even swore under her breath. The sensation of being splashed with a bucket of ice water washed over her and Usagi knew. The past two weeks had really weighed on her. She felt that running from the monster and screaming wasn't going to make her mother have faith in her as a Senshi. Grabbing her mother's arm, Usagi yanked her down the street away from the blast.
"Usagi, are you sure?" Ikuko yelled as they made their way in the throng of people escaping.
Usagi paused long enough to see her chance, an alleyway. She pulled Ikuko in after her and stood her at the edge, as though she was guarding the entrance so no one would see when Usagi transformed.
"Moon Prism Power! Make Up!"
Sailor Moon took Ikuko by the arms and gripped her tightly. "Stay here. Don't move unless you have to, please. Promise me!"
"Usagi…"
"Mama, promise me!"
"I promise."
Sailor Moon took a second to call the others on her communicator, getting groans when she told them what was going on. They agreed and she knew they would join her shortly. In the mean time she would hold off the youma on her own.
Sailor Moon took off out of the alley, running against the stream of people who were making their way from the site. She heard one or two of them call out for the super heroine, but ignored them and went to the building that was now missing front windows and had no door. It had once been a clothing store selling items for young girls, but now it was simply a mess with clothes and cutesy items strewn all over the floor. There were also signs announcing a huge sale, leading Sailor Moon to believe that the Dark Kingdom probably had been using the store as a front to try and lure her there.
It probably would have worked if she hadn't stopped for lunch. So she was a little behind schedule, would Endymion or Kunzite really notice?
"You're late, Sailor Moon," Kunzite sneered as Sailor Moon made the scene.
Hey, I didn't even get to make my speech!
The youma, a tall, green female covered in only a short skirt and a tank top with long knife-like finger nails that were razor sharp, was terrorizing the few patrons that hadn't made it out of the store. Sailor Moon put herself between the youma and them. "Run!" she yelled to them, getting the youma's attention.
"Youma Garbon, get the ginzuishou from Sailor Moon," Kunzite ordered Garbon, who only seemed too happy to comply.
Garbon flexed its claws and the razor-like points at the end came flying off of it, towards Sailor Moon, who ducked expertly. She continued to dance away from the youma's hooks and trajectory attacks as she waited for the others to show up and help her. Kunzite chuckled as he watched her, but he noticed that there was something different in the way she was acting, how she was fighting. He couldn't put a finger on it, but he was certain he didn't like it.
Normally Sailor Moon would be falling on her face, gallivanting around like some idiot with a bag over her head who couldn't see where she was going. This Sailor Moon was more together, more poised. More like what little he could remember of Princess Serenity from the Silver Millennium. Not some child from the modern era.
Kunzite narrowed his eyes as Sailor Moon dodged the next round of attacks with ease. Yes, something had changed in the two weeks that they had been trying to track her down.
XxXxXxXx
Endymion chuckled as he watched the battle from the Dark Kingdom. He had been forbidden from participating in this battle by Queen Beryl, he and Kunzite had 'disagreed' vehemently about the tactics for this particular assignment. Their usual argument had come to blows, and as Endymion had not been able to adequately explain his absence last week, Beryl had taken Kunzite's side, leaving Endymion brooding in the Dark Kingdom.
It was, however, worth it to see Sailor Moon gracefully land blow after blow on the youma he had summoned and hold her own without any of the other Senshi. Kunzite had, after all, assured Queen Beryl that this time he would be able to successfully capture Sailor Moon and the ginzuishou because all young girls in this modern era love to shop and Sailor Moon had often proven herself to be little more than a young girl. So far assuming information based upon the Silver Millennium had brought them nowhere, so this time it seemed that Kunzite was actually thinking. To Endymion anyway.
Perhaps he only felt this way because he now knew that Sailor Moon very much was just a normal, everyday girl when she wasn't fighting the Dark Kingdom. She wasn't worshiped by her Senshi, though they did take protecting her as a very serious job, she wasn't revered, she went to school, played video games, ate a shocking amount of food, and was just…there.
Endymion watched Kunzite order Garbon to attack more fiercely, and while it did, it never touched Sailor Moon. He smirked evilly, feeling pride swell up inside of him.
You'll never touch her, Kunzite.
XxXxXxXx
"Shabon Spray!"
The shop was blanketed with a thick mist as Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars arrived. They were quickly followed by Sailors Jupiter and Venus, who surrounded the monster.
"We can't take you anywhere, Sailor Moon," Jupiter joked, readying her attack.
Garbon looked at the Senshi that were now surrounding it and with bravado it laughed. "Sailor Senshi, give me the ginzuishou and I might spare your lives!"
"It's not like I planned this, Jupiter!"
"Sure, sure."
"The ginzuishou!" Garbon demanded.
"Supreme Thunder!"
Jupiter's attack struck the youma and caused it to scream in pain, wrenching back. "You won't stop me, Sailor Sen-"
"Fire Soul!"
"Blah blah blah, is that all these things do is talk?" Venus asked as she delivered a swift kick to its midsection. "Do it now, Sailor Moon!"
Sailor Moon pulled out her Moon Stick and raised it above her head, surprised by how fast this had gone once the Senshi had arrived.
"Moon Healing Escalation!"
"Refresh!"
Where Garbon had been standing there now slumped a petite girl dressed in a shopkeepers uniform. She passed out, exhausted from the energy she had just unknowingly used, and the Senshi moved to check if she was alright. Sailor Moon stood still, she hadn't seen where Kunzite had gone off to.
"You damn Sailor Senshi," Kunzite said, appearing off to the side of the store.
He startled the other Senshi, who hadn't seen him when they entered. They took fighting stances, ready to take him on if the occasion called for it, and he took a step forward, readying himself when a disembodied voice called out for him.
The Senshi had heard this voice before, a female voice, back on the day that Sailor Venus had first appeared. They could only theorize that this was Queen Beryl, but were unable to confirm with their limited data. There could be another, even deadlier, opponent for them to fight before they reached Queen Beryl that they were as yet unaware of.
"Kunzite! You must return immediately. You have failed."
Kunzite clenched his teeth and lowered his hand. His face was conflicted, but ultimately he relented to his orders. Unlike Endymion, he would not shame himself by forsaking his queen. But he wouldn't leave without one last shot. He powered up his energy and released it in a blast at Sailor Moon, who ducked out of the way, but cried out when it hit her in the right arm. Kunzite laughed as he faded out and left a few parting words.
"Treasure your last days on Earth, Sailor Moon. The ginzuishou will be ours."
"Sailor Moon! Are you alright?" Venus ran forward and helped their princess up.
Sailor Moon was swearing a little and touching at her new wound. It was a rather large burn and would need to be treated as soon as possible. "I spent the whole battle jumping out of the way and didn't get hurt at all and then…then…this! Ooooh!"
Mercury took Sailor Moon's arm and examined it. "Let me see. It's a pretty bad burn; we'll get down to the control room and treat it. You'll have to wear long sleeves for a few days."
Mars looked up from where she was checking on the clerk and sighed. "She's alright. And it's winter so we're in our winter uniforms, you don't have to worry about school at least."
"Don't worry about it, Sailor Moon," Jupiter said. "As long as you're okay."
"Yeah," Sailor Moon mumbled. "I'm okay…mama!"
"Uh, no. Mako," Jupiter said, pointing to herself. "I'm Mako. Geeze, did you hit your head?"
Sailor Moon took off out of the shop, the other Senshi following her as she ran towards where she had hidden Ikuko earlier. "I mean mama's in an alley up ahead," she told them. "We were eating lunch when the attack happened and I put here there so she'd be safe." They came to the alley and found Ikuko pacing the length of it, worry evident on her face. "Mama!"
"Usagi!"
They ran towards each other, relief evident on each of their faces, before Ikuko was suddenly yanked back by an unseen force. There was a flash of steel and from the darkness Endymion stepped forward holding Ikuko with his sword to her neck.
Sailor Moon and the others froze when he came into the light, Sailor Moon's greatest fear having finally come to light. "Endy…mion…" she whispered. "Please. Don't. What do you want?" Suddenly her eyes went hard as the fear began to drain out of her, and she remembered that she couldn't show him her weakness. "Let her go now!"
"Give me the ginzuishou and I won't hurt her, Usagi." His voice was ever calm, but chilly, flat as he smiled tantalizingly at Sailor Moon. She shivered.
"You know I'm going to do that. Something else. Anything else," Sailor Moon pleaded.
Endymion appeared to be thinking this over, and tears were falling down Ikuko's face as the sword cut into her neck. As soon as Beryl had called Kunzite back and proceeded to yell at him for failing in his mission, Endymion had taken it upon himself to approach Sailor Moon again. He wasn't normally one for involving innocents, but he had to get Sailor Moon's attention somehow. And he had no intention of actually harming her mother.
She just needed to think he would.
"Five minutes of your time. Alone," he emphasized.
"NO!"
"You can't!"
"Sailor Moon!"
"Usagi, don't…"
Sailor Moon dropped out of her attack stance and nodded her head. "Done."
Endymion's smile widened and he let Ikuko go. She ran forward and grabbed Usagi. "Usagi, you don't have to. I don't care what happens to me. He could hurt you and-your arm!"
Sailor Moon covered her arm and took a step back, towards Endymion. "I'll be fine, mama."
"I'll watch out for her, Tsukino-san," Endymion said as he slipped an arm around Sailor Moon's waist and teleported away with her, leaving the Senshi and Ikuko there to scream for him to bring Usagi back to them.
I've got one more chapter written for this and I'm well into the one after that. I've got another short story that I'll be posting as well so keep a look out for that, too, it'll probably go up around (American) Thanksgiving unless a week goes by with me not being able to come up with a chapter. I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year so I don't foresee that as being a problem.
I hope you enjoyed this installment and if you did please review and let me know! For all of those who have reviewed, thank you very much, I appreciate it so much.
-Ginzuishou