Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all its components is the property of Naoko Takeuchi. Apollo is my own creation, and if you wish to use her, please ask me first.
DAYBREAK
Episode 19
Haruka had sped through the city, anxious to get to the hospital. As she drove up to it, she saw Kurai sitting in a wheelchair. There was a nurse waiting with her, and they were deep into a conversation. But when Haruka got close, Kurai stopped talking and turned to face her. A smile formed on her face and she attempted to move. But, to her dismay, the wheelchair had been blocked from moving and Kurai nearly fell out trying to push the wheels. Both Haruka and the nurse started laughing.
"I can definitely see a resemblance between you and Usagi now," Haruka said, between laughs. Kurai grinned and the nurse shook her head. She turned to leave when Kurai called her.
"Joy!" The nurse turned around. "Thank you for all your help." Joy smiled faintly and turned back into the hospital. Kurai watched her walk in and finally spoke to Haruka. "So, what took you so long?" she questioned, with a hint of sarcasm. Haruka knew that she had sped through the city; it was a miracle she hadn't gotten a ticket.
"There was one red light that wouldn't let me go by," Haruka answered. Kurai giggled and she undid the block on the wheelchair. She wheeled down to the other blonde.
"Ready to go?"
"Go where?"
"To see everyone else, of course."
"How did you…?" But Kurai had started pushing herself towards the car. Haruka came up from behind and pushed her the rest of the way.
"Where is she? And, for that matter, why the hell did she leave?" Rei's impatience was showing.
"Calm down, Rei. It takes a while to get there," Ami said, trying to keep Rei from once again yelling.
"Get where?!" As if to answer Rei's question, the sound of a car driving up was heard through the open window. Michiru got up and walked over to the window. She saw Haruka lifting out a wheelchair and then Kurai stepping out into the sunshine.
"Oh my God…"
"What?!" Usagi had instantly become worried at Michiru's response to whatever she was seeing and the blonde got up and ran over to the window. "Kurai!" Usagi saw her sister look up at her and smile. She had just sat down in the wheelchair and Haruka pushed her up to the door. Michiru had gone to open it and Kurai suddenly ran in and rushed to Usagi. She jumped into her sister's arms and hugged her tightly.
"Kurai!" Haruka had come in and was becoming worried at Kurai's less than cautious behavior.
"Huh?!" Makoto, Minako, and Rei all answered with the same response. They stared at the girl still holding Usagi tightly. Kurai finally let go and gazed at the others.
"Aunt Apollo!" Chibiusa had jumped off the couch and sped right into Kurai's arms. Now it was Usagi's turn to be confused.
"Huh?!" Usagi watched Kurai swing Chibiusa around, and the little girl was beaming with happiness. "Wait…" Kurai set Chibiusa down and turned to her puzzled sister.
"Think, Usagi…if Chibiusa is your daughter and I'm your sister, then wouldn't I be Chibiusa's aunt?"
"The best aunt in the whole universe!" Chibiusa could hardly contain her glee and Usagi finally understood.
"Oh, I get it…"
"Well, we sure as hell don't!" Makoto had decided she had had enough and spoke for the rest of the group.
"Still the temperamental one, huh, Makoto?" Kurai smirked at the now astonished girl. "And Rei…still getting mad at Usagi?" Rei's face took on a look similar to Makoto's. "And is Minako still looking for love?" Kurai quickly glanced around the room and found all the Inners to be there. Luna and Artemis were staring at Kurai. She looked oddly…familiar.
"Um…who are you and why do you look like Usagi?" Minako finally controlled her shock to the point where she could speak.
"Honestly, Minako, you're even more forgetful than Usagi!" Ami started giggling at this remark and Kurai noticed the two cats sitting next to her. "Luna! Artemis!" Kurai grabbed both of them and squeezed them tight. Memories suddenly flooded Luna as she recalled who this new arrival was.
"Apollo…?"
"Yes, Luna! I'm glad you finally remembered!" Artemis listened to the remark and suddenly felt foolish for not remembering.
"I repeat: what the…" Makoto began again.
"'Hell is going on?' Yes, Makoto, you've already established that." Kurai grabbed Usagi and Chibiusa's hands and pulled them both over to the couch. She sat them down and moved so that she was standing in front of everyone. "So…I guess it's time we answer that question." Kurai looked around for a place to sit and noticed Michiru pointing to something behind her. Kurai glanced back to see a cozy-looking armchair. She sank down into it and made herself comfortable. Haruka, who had been watching the whole thing with Michiru by the door, found herself being dragged back to her original seat. While Kurai was watching this, she didn't realize Chibiusa crawling into her lap. When she looked down to see familiar pink hair, she couldn't help but smile. Kurai looked back up and waited until she knew she had everyone's full attention. Finally, she began to speak.
"Although this will seem boring and repetitive for Usagi, Haruka, Ami, and Michiru, the rest of you may be find it very…enlightening." Kurai smirked at her choice of words, as did Haruka.
"Tell them who you are, Aunt Apollo," Chibiusa chirped. She turned her head so that she was looking straight into her beloved aunt's eyes.
"I'm just getting to that, Small Lady." Chibiusa turned somewhat serious at Kurai's name for her, remembering that Sailor Pluto had called her that. Kurai noticed and knew the reason for Chibiusa's sudden mood change. She turned back to her audience and began speaking again. "Formally, I am the Princess of the Sun, also known as Princess Apollo."
"Apollo…wasn't he the god of something?" Minako interrupted.
"The Sun," Ami helped.
"As always, Ami is right. I was named after the sun god Apollo, explaining my connection to the Sun. Just like the rest of you, I was born back in the Silver Millennium…to Queen Serenity."
"Wait! I thought Usagi had been an only child!" Rei exclaimed.
"So did I…" Usagi commented.
"Well, obviously, she wasn't. I was born fifteen minutes before Usagi, much to everyone's surprise. Our mother decided that she would name her youngest twin as the future Queen, while the older, seemingly more mature and responsible one, would have the task of protecting her for all eternity. And so I did, with you all helping me. But it wasn't enough and Usagi was killed…" Kurai stopped, recalling the moment she had heard of the news and fighting back emotions which were rushing through her like her own blood. She finally composed herself and kept on talking. "After that, we were all reincarnated. You were all reborn on Earth while I was stuck in the Time Tunnel with Sailor Pluto. I stayed there until I could fully control my powers and then began travelling trough time, helping people and righting wrongs along the way. The time finally came when I was supposed to come here and so I did."
"So you're here to protect Usagi, just like the rest of us, right?" Makoto questioned. She couldn't understand why Usagi need so many protectors in the first place, let alone one more.
"Partially, yes. I'm also here to protect Small Lady and help the rest of you with your missions. And anyway…you didn't expect me to stay in the solitude of the Time Tunnel all my life, did you?" Chibiusa giggled at her aunt's sly remark.
"I hope not," the pink-haired girl proclaimed. Usagi could plainly see the love her future daughter felt for her sister and became curious.
"Will you be in Crystal Tokyo?" she finally mustered up. Kurai paused at her question, thinking.
"Yes, I will. From now on, I'll stay with all of you, meaning you will all know me during the time of Crystal Tokyo."
"If you'll be with us in the future, how come we didn't see you when we traveled there?" Ami was remembering all the people they had encountered during their trip.
"Because if I had shown myself, you would have known too much. You all already know way too much about your futures and that can be very dangerous. My interference would have made everything even more dangerous. If I, as my future self, had helped you, the balance of the universe would have been altered and everything would have been changed."
"Oh," Ami responded bluntly.
"Hold on a minute…" Rei began.
"I know Haruka and Michiru because they gave me shelter, I know Ami because she treated me, and I know Usagi because, well, she's my sister." Rei jumped back at the answer she had gotten to her unfinished question. Haruka shook her head, expecting something like this from Kurai.
"Now I remember!" All the girls looked over at Artemis, who hunched back embarrassingly at his sudden outburst. But, just the same, he was proud of himself for finally recalling who Kurai had been during the Silver Millennium.
"I'm glad you do, Artemis. Now do you trust me?" Kurai asked.
"What made you think I didn't trust you?" Artemis gazed into Kurai's eyes and found the answer he was looking for. Kurai turned her attention back to the 8 girls around her.
"So, have I answered everyone's questions?" A domino effect of nods began, starting with Usagi and winding itself back around to Chibiusa, who looked a little worried. "What's wrong, Small Lady?" Chibiusa leaned close and whispered that she would tell her later. Kurai ended the domino effect by shaking her head yes. "Now that we've eliminakoted the most nagging subject, maybe we should discuss…"
"The new enemy?" Haruka finished for her.
"Precisely," Kurai answered, smiling appreciatively.
"Well, have we all seen one of the monsters?" Ami asked.
"Unfortunately, yes…" Michiru put in. She still couldn't shake the strange feeling about that night.
"Can we conclude anything from seeing these two?" Kurai seemed to be helping Ami along with her questioning.
"Juts before they show up, the smell of perfume is in the air," Makoto remembered.
"Perfume? I don't know why I didn't notice it before…"Kurai was deep in thought.
"Notice what?" Usagi felt her sister knew something.
"These monsters seems familiar. I believe I've fought them before…yes! Now I remember! They all have to do with perfumes, and that's what their attacks are based on."
"Do you know who controls them?" Ami was surprised at all the knowledge Kurai had about this brand-new enemy.
"I never had the pleasure of meeting him…or her," Kurai replied with a slight smirk. "But I do know that these monsters are powerful, even for the likes of the Sailor Senshi. We'll just have to always be on our guard…"
"I'm sure we can defeat them!" Makoto exclaimed, recalling all their past victories.
"I wouldn't be so positive. When I last encountered them, there were only 5 and I still had a tough time," Kurai counteracted seriously.
"Five?!" Rei looked at Kurai suspiciously.
"Yes…five. Is there some sort of problem with that, Rei?"
"Well, it's just that it's a bit impossible to believe that you could fight off five of those things at once."
"Not if you saw her fight off those guys…" Usagi said.
"Or withstand that attack…" Haruka added. Both girls had witnessed Kurai's incredible powers and knew what they were talking about.
"Oh, um, sorry," Rei mumbled. She looked away stupidly, figuring that in an argument, she would be outnumbered. Ami looked at her watch and gave a little sound of shock.
"What?! What is it now?!" Rei exploded. She was still sore at being defeated so easily. Ami hesitated for a moment.
"Um…it's kind of late."
"Really? Let me see!" Usagi grabbed Ami's wrist and noticed the time on the watch. "Oh, no! Mom's gonna have my head!" Usagi was about to grab Chibiusa and run when she realized that Kurai had nowhere to go. "Um…"
"She had to go home with you, sometime, Usagi," Michiru said matter-of-factly. Usagi glared at her.
"I know that! It's just that my parents will be a bit suspicious…"
"Oh, don't worry about that, Usagi. I can brainwash them into thinking they always had another daughter and that she was just at some private school in Europe," Kurai offered. Usagi's jaw dropped. "You know, you look very unattractive when you do that." The other girls laughed at Kurai's observation.
"Well, then if you have a plan, I guess you can come with me…" Haruka looked up uneasily at this remark, but Kurai caught her gaze and gave her a look that calmed her down.
"Excellent," she commented.
"Yay! Aunt Apollo's going to live with us!" Chibiusa jumped off her aunt's lap and ran to Usagi. "Can she sleep in my room?" Usagi couldn't help but smile, as did everyone else.
"Now, don't worry, Cold-Nose, I'll be alright," Kurai reassured her friend.
"Just make sure you don't pick up any of Usagi's bad habits," Haruka answered with a mischievous smile.
"Hey! I heard that!" Usagi gave Haruka a stern look, but then smiled.
"If you need any help, feel free to call us, Kurai," Michiru added.
"Don't worry…I'll be back in due time," the blonde answered slyly. With that, she waved to the two girls in the doorway and jumped down the stairs to her waiting sister and niece. "Bye!"
"Bye!" was the answer from Haruka and Michiru. They watched until the little family disappeared around the corner and then went back inside.