I still do not own Sailor Moon. =(
(Ok, I had a whole big thing typed up but then the power blinked on me. _ I want to thank everyone for reading, reviewing, and subscribing. I really get inspired from it. The same disclaimers regarding my understanding of earthquakes apply as I mentioned in the last chapter. The earthquake expert is Chikyu Yakei which means planet watchman. Yakei is where I hope I knew enough to not make it sound cheesey or ill-contrived. I did make a couple of calls on some thoughts and actions. I felt they were necessary but I hope nobody is too OOC. Haruka will continue to refer to Hotaru as her daughter. Even the inner senshi are begining to use the term. Haruka has fully become the overprotective father figure and really does love Hotaru as her own. I hope to post the next chapter soon. Again thank you all so much!)
Sometimes You Just Need to Believe Chapter 19
Usagi, Minako, and Makoto had the privilege of sitting in on a recording session. Yes, earthquake or not, the studio had stood and was conveniently located on the same power grid as the nearby hospital. No rest for the idols. It was just their luck too. The Three Lights were recording Seiya's love song for Usagi today. Some of the studio personnel were very aware of the fact that Seiya was singing to the blond with a rather unusual taste in hairstyles. His eyes never left her as she watched him from the other side of the soundproof glass window. The girls each had headsets on allowing them to hear what was going on in the recording room.
For a few precious hours Usagi felt happy. No, she never forgot about Ami, but she allowed Seiya's love to surround her. His gift for expression through song filled her soul. Seiya knew that this is what he needed to do for her right now and her smiles brought him joy.
Everyone had been relieved and concerned about Usagi's energy burst earlier. Taiki even commented that the crystal may have more power than even Princess Kakyuu had imagined. Usagi had recovered from her collapse in only a couple of minutes. She did not seem willing to discuss it. This caused a minor uproar as Yaten, Taiki, Minako, and Makoto did not want to drop it. Mamoru tried to make them leave her alone but was turned on by Makoto who was just too frustrated to care that she was lashing out at a friend. Remembering his discussion with Mamoru, Seiya had silenced them all. He assured them that when Odango was ready to talk about it she would. He was met with a smile from Mamoru. It seemed they would not have an awkward time at becoming friends after all.
When the recording session was over, the group of friends decided to take the limo to the hotel. It was not too far, but it was a longer walking distance and with the business at hand it would be best to avoid fans and paparazzi if at all possible. They easily found the hotel suite and were greeted warmly by Hotaru. Rei was already there and seated on the smaller of the two sofas. She was looking exceptionally pretty tonight. The girls exchanged looks. Rei was wearing make-up and a beautiful pendant around her neck. Her face lit up when she saw Mamoru, arrive just behind them, though she tried to hide it.
Everyone settled down in the sitting room. Yaten managed to arrange to sit next to Minako. He loved the way she blushed. However it was not Minako who everyone was watching. When Mamoru sat opposite Usagi and Seiya took his place at her side all eyes were on Haruka. She had only just found out about the two of them while arranging this meeting. Her distrust for the Starlights had lessened after the battle with Galaxia, but that did not mean that Seiya had any right to be with HER princess. Her eye twitched in annoyance. It was her silent anger brewing inside. Throughout the night her glare would rarely leave Seiya. Even if Mamoru seemed fine with the turn of events, that alone did not make Seiya completely trustworthy with Usagi's heart.
"Well, before we get down to the business of Ami, there is something we should take a look at." Michiru turned on the television and found the first local news station available.
"Leading seismologists from Japan, China, and the United States have all concluded that today's earthquake was not originated on any known fault-lines. As of now there have been no aftershocks reported," the anchorman said. "Leading earthquake experts as well as emergency service personnel are recommending citizens to avoid vulnerable areas such as damaged buildings and seek sturdy shelter. Delayed aftershocks are not being ruled out as a possibility. Damage reports appear minimal. Tokyo's Jouban district was hit the hardest and one vehicle had to be pulled from a sinkhole in the street. We can expect traffic delays as construction workers make the necessary repairs over the next several days. The high school is blocked off from the street during construction. It will be closed tomorrow while officials make arrangements to hold classes in a nearby building. We will have more details as they come. On screen now you will see video shot by everyday citizens that have been sent in. While the footage does show the quake as it happened, we here at channel six ask that in the event of an earthquake or other emergency you seek shelter and not take unnecessary risks to capture photographs or videos. We are pleased to announce that power has been restored to nearly eighty percent of the city and surrounding suburbs. There is a region wide boil water notice in effect pending test results of local water supplies. One water main is confirmed broken again in the Jouban district close to the epicenter of the quake. Only two fires have been reported and they have both been put out by the fire department. We are fortunate enough to have earthquake expert Chikyu Yakei with us via satellite to give us the latest information. Yakei-san, what can you tell us about today's earthquake?"
"Well, we are unable to gauge the severity of the quake at this time. It would seem that our equipment failed somehow. What we do know is that the quake was generated on an undiscovered fault-line right about here." A map filled the screen with a circle about a mile in diameter. "This would be in the Jouban district of Tokyo."
"I'm sorry, you said you cannot define the severity of the earthquake?"
"That is correct. Our instruments did not detect any seismic activity. While we await word from the United States China has already confirmed that they're instruments did not detect any either. We have a team of repairmen inspecting everything now."
"So a malfunction is believed to be…"
Haruka turned off the television. Everyone sat in silence for a few moments. They all knew, with the exception of the Starlights, the street corner in the center of the circle. The very center was where Ami's apartment building was located.
"So the cause is probably outside the realm of nature," Taiki stated more than questioned.
No one wanted to tell him that was where Ami lived.
"Anew enemy," Makoto questioned out loud.
"Whatever it was we know it was not natural and while we have our suspicions of Setsuna as of late, this is not a power she wields," Michiru said.
"But we are not ruling her out as an active participant either," Haruka pointed out firmly.
"Should we go confront her about her recent behavior?" Makoto looked around. "I mean, if she is a part of it, this would mean she helped attack Ami-chan."
The words hit Taiki hard. The looks he had seen the others exchange no longer were a mystery to him. Ami lived where the quake had hit.
The room erupted into a cloud of heated voices combining theories and no one noticed that Usagi had knelt down clutching her ears with her hands trying to keep the words out of her head. Well, one person noticed. Seiya placed his arm around her. The discussion soon took that dreaded turn too far when Haruka suggested that if Setsuna had in fact become the enemy she may need to be killed. This caused Usagi to shake in Seiya's arms as her mind was flooded with memories of Haruka and Michiru trying to kill Hotaru. Seiya noticed that the small dark-haired child seemed to cringe at this point as well. He'd have to ask about it later on. Hotaru clung to Mamoru's arm as she grew more nervous with every breath.
"Will you just stop it!" Usagi jumped up to a standing position. "Setsuna-san is our friend! I don't think she would do anything to hurt any one of us!"
Seiya beamed at Usagi. This was the attitude that had allowed his Odango to defeat Chaos and save Galaxia saving the entire galaxy. He knew that if Setsuna had indeed done something wrong that Odango could right it. It seemed that Mamoru shared Seiya's optimism as he comforted Hotaru.
"Would you have killed Mamo-chan when he was under Queen Metallia's control as well? We all remember your original plans for Hotaru-chan with Pharoh Ninety. Now with all of your talk about killing Setsuna-san not only have you managed to terrify your daughter, but you have managed to completely get off the subject of Ami-chan!" Usagi's eyes sparkled with tears of anger. Seiya remembered those tears when Sailor Moon had demanded that Galaxia return her friends to her. Nothing could stop Odango.
It seemed that Usagi's words had a powerful effect on Haruka. "I'm sorry, koneko-chan." She cast her eyes down in shame. Michiru offered a hand but was not surprised when it was not accepted.
A knock at the door came unexpectedly.
"Damn, I put up the 'Do Not Disturb' sign. I guess they don't pay attention to them even in nice hotels," Haruka complained as she got up to inspect the door. She peered through the peephole Haruka became stunned. Slowly she turned to everyone and managed to stammer, "Hey guys…Ami-chan is here."
Taiki's face lit up with relief.
Haruka opened the door and everyone flocked to their friend. Everybody began asking her questions all at once. They were so loud that Ami could not keep up. Her eyes however, remained fixed on Hotaru. Nothing it seemed could make her avert her gaze. Not even a sweeping hug from Taiki. The hug made Usagi and the rest of the inner senshi smile and even Haruka smiled.
The fact that Ami stared through everyone at Hotaru did not go un-noticed by Hotaru or Michiru. Michiru could not read Ami easily, but her gaze seemed to be begging Hotaru to leave as soon as possible. Hotaru managed to give a slight nod in agreement . The gesture was subtle, but was not missed by Michiru.
Ami made a simple excuse that she had been quite sick when she woke up but her fever had gone down and her aches and nausea had stopped altogether. She told them she must have been making her lunch or getting her medicine when they tried to reach her. This seemed reasonable to them for the most part so nobody questioned her. Rei, Michiru, Haruka, and Hotaru decided to set aside their fears for the moment.
Haruka began to fill everyone in on the specifics that had led to Michiru and herself removing Hotaru from their home. Everyone had heard about Setsuna's strange behavior before the meeting, but not in this detail. When she was finished Haruka was met with confused and horrified faces.
"Is Hotaru-chan really safe with you guys then," Makoto asked.
Seeing Haruka's temper start to rise, Minako quickly added, "I think what Mako-chan means is won't Setsuna-san be looking for you guys expecting her to be with you?"
"It would make sense for her to move between households for a while," Ami said. No, her voice and body said it. Inside her mind was screaming in protest. Hotaru needed to be surrounded by strong senshi…Stronger senshi than she was.
"It may not be a bad idea, Ruka," Michiru said. "Setsuna thinks the three of us are together. She also knows how stubborn you and I can be. She would never expect us to hand her off to someone else for protection."
"I can ask my mom about this weekend, but I'm not sure she'd say yes if I just showed up with her tonight," Usagi said smiling. "We'll have all kinds of fun!" She winked at Hotaru.
"What about tonight and school nights when classes start again," Haruka added looking directly at Mamoru.
"Me? Oh, well I suppose I could. She's home-schooled so I can take her to work with me at night. You guys have all my contact numbers so I won't be hard to reach," Mamoru said hoping he had put up a convincing argument.
"Would that be ok with you, hun?" Michiru smiled lovingly at Hotaru.
Hotaru tried to maintain her composure and managed to say yes with a decent smile rather than a jump into the air. She did give Mamoru a look of total relief for a short moment.
Ami was relieved inwardly. Serenity had said not to overpower anyone in an attempt to obtain Hotaru. For now the little girl was safe. She knew though that tonight she would lay a trap for another dear friend against her will. Venus could pull rank on any senshi just as Serenity could. This would give Serenity another set of eyes and a helper in her reclamation of the senshi. Thankfully, the Starlights were not bound to Serenity. Inside Ami wanted to cry at the realization that she may end up fighting Taiki. She made her prayer to Usagi yet again in silence.
"For now its agreed that none of you know where we are," Haruka said scanning the room. "You have not seen or heard from any of us. If you think Setsuna is on to you and you are housing our daughter, find a way to move her fast!" Coming from Haruka this was more of a threatening order than a request.
Everyone nodded. Hotaru went to pack her bag up again. Haruka ordered room service and the meeting turned into a social gathering as was the norm. Between Usagi and Seiya not even the tiniest crumb of food was left in the end. It seemed that with Ami back everyone was doing much better. Michiru and Rei were paying extra special attention to Ami. Something was not right and they both knew it. The problem was that she was shielded quite well.
By the end of the night the Starlights had offered rides home for everyone. Seiya decided he'd rather walk his Odango home and they shrugged it off smiling. Ami pulled Minako aside before they left with Makoto, Yaten and Taiki.
"What'sup, Ami-chan," Minako asked her friend smiling.
"I just wanted to ask if you were doing anything tomorrow. What with school being canceled and all, I thought it might be fun to rent some movies or something. Your choice." Ami hated herself right now. She couldn't stop it no matter how hard she tried. Surely one of them would be able to overcome it. Maybe as the leader Venus would be strong enough to fight it.
"Sure that sounds great. Who knew you'd want to rent a movie instead of read ahead!" Minako laughed out loud.
Overhearing the conversation Rei shot Michiru a look. 'I'm not going home yet, Michiru.' Michiru heard Rei's voice in her mind and was impressed. Rei had proved to be a highly skilled student. She could not wait to see what her prodigy had picked up from Ami.
Seiya and Usagi left shortly after the others. Haruka tried to ignore their hands clasped together. She tried to ignore Mamoru's contentment with the situation. Soon those two would work things out and accept their destiny. Until then she could only do her best by her princess.
"You behave yourself for Mamoru-san, ok, hun," Michiru said as she hugged Hotaru goodbye. 'Something is strange about her tonight as well. She's concealing it too well for what I know of her skill level. Maybe Rei and I can piece it together. If she's already moving with Setsuna it will break Ruka's heart.' Michiru planted a kiss on Hotaru's forehead.
Haruka knelt down to say goodbye and was practically knocked down by the force of Hotaru's hug. 'She's hugging me like we'll never see each other again. Is this what she feels is happening? My poor sweet child, its killing me too, don't you see that?' "You know as soon as its safe we'll all be together again, right?"
"Yes, Haruka-papa," Hotaru lied. She wished it were the truth, but she knew better. "Haruka-papa," Hotaru looked her 'papa' square in her eyes. "I love you."
Haruka seemed stunned and unsure of what to say or do. She certainly had her feelings and emotions like anyone else, but expressing them had never been her strongest skill. She pulled Hotaru closer. Hugging Hotaru tightly she whispered, "I love you too." The next thing Haruka knew, her little girl had taken Mamoru's hand and was leaving. Haruka's arms felt empty and her chest cold with Hotaru no longer there. Once Mamoru and hotaru had left the suite, Haruka stood up and stormed into the bedroom she and Michiru were sharing. She slammed the door behind her not caring that Rei was still their guest.