|Chapter Five|

Where am I? She found herself questioning, feeling as if she was floating while her body didn't respond to her actions. Hearing the soft fluttering of people walking brought her to know she was somewhere in the city and no longer in the forest. She could hear it, the beating of her heart so loudly in her ears but the pain moved through her. Makoto knew what it felt like to die, but she never remembered holding on was the hardest part. It felt like it all over again, her body wanting to give up but her mind was screaming at her not to. Then I wouldn't have to choose...Usa could have my powers and I would forever be in a sleep no one could awaken me from. I could finally be at peace.

Wanting to slap herself, Makoto frowned inwardly.

What am I thinking? Dying isn't going to solve anything; it's just going to be me running away from my problems. I need to wake up, I need to live, I need to... she found herself wondering what exactly she needed to do. If she thought more about it, there wasn't anything she needed to do. There were so many things she wanted to do, but didn't need them. She wanted a family, to have what she was never able to experience, to fall in love, to be loved, and to marry that one person. But it doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon...

"Makoto..." The voice jolted her insides, bringing something inside her to life she never felt before just by saying her name. Searching her mind for perhaps an image, she found many of the person whom had spoken. His smile, his stand off approach, his protectiveness, the wind moving through his hair, having fun cooking, laughing at the mistakes made cooking, him sitting in front of the fire staring at her, and lastly, him holding her in that comforting embrace. He was calling to her, but she wasn't able to respond. Now was the time to try and give it her all to wake up. Even if it was for just a moment, to meet with those blue eyes and see that complimenting lavender hair.

Maybe...maybe... she thought, hearing the voice call her name again and feeling the warmth on her hand. Using all her might, she felt herself swimming through the haze of darkness shadowing her vision, the stiffness in her body, the aches and pains. Pushing her heavy eye lids up, she saw the blurred semi-dark room as small streams of light came through the pulled curtains. Trying her hardest, she pushed her eyes the rest of the way open as her emeralds tried to focus, causing her to wrinkle her brow in frustration.

"She's waking," said a new voice, then a shuffling of feet. The pain continued to move through her as she felt the warm hand start to pull away but managed to squeeze tightly, making him stop. It hurt, the pain starting to surround her, as she came into focus. How much had she been hurt? How many bones were sprained or broken? She could take a lot of damage, but what happened after she blacked out?

Not caring about her surroundings, Makoto leaned her heavy head to the side where the voice had come from. He was worried, his forehead held creases and she could see he hadn't shaved in who knew how many days. Was he by her side the whole time? Noticing Goten wasn't in sight, Makoto wrinkled her brow questionably.

"Goten?" she croaked out, watching what looked like a flash of hurt in Trunks' eyes. Quickly, she knew she had to clarify. "Is he okay too?"

"Yeah, he is okay too," replied Trunks, turning his head to look over to a small couch in the room where Goten lay sleeping. Leaning to sit up, Makoto felt the pain move through her back as she slid back down in pain. What happened? Where was she hurt? Her feet and legs could move so at least she was moveable. Looking around she found the IV drip line, and the heart monitor pulsing softly up and down. "Stay lying down for a while, it isn't safe to move yet."

"What happened?" asked Makoto softly, for some reason still feeling a bit tired. Trunks wrinkled his brow, unsure if he should answer at this time.

"Tell me what you remember," spoke Trunks softly, gazing to see where he should start the conversation. If she didn't remember the fight, he would be able to make up a story and cover everything. But there were so many questions he still wanted to ask her as well. Who was she, to start with? Where did that power come from? He had been so surprised. Makoto took her time to close her eyes for a moment and think, a bit distracted by his warm hand making her relax. She knew if he was here then she was safe.

"At the waterfall, I asked Goten to drop me into the forest to get away from the fighting in case you needed back up. I've never seen someone so powerful or those tactics used before. You both were so fast I couldn't even see what was going on unless there was impact. I knew I had to get out of the area, or at least make it look like I left the area. Running back toward our camp site, I stayed hidden in the trees watching and waiting. Then, I was attacked," said Makoto, frowning and starting to feel uncomfortable. Her stomach was churning at the idea of what that man said. The idea of him touching her sent a chill up her arm. Her fingers unclenched his as her shaky hand moved up to touch her throat and swallow slowly. It did still hurt slightly but she was sure it could be worse. Warm fingers touched her neck, giving her a small amount of comfort. Still, she was fuming and wanting to finish him off.

"You're sparking," said Trunks suddenly, quickly removing his hand as her hair starting to lift like before. The heart monitor went wild, circuiting out like it was a life line to a huge amount of energy. Makoto put herself in check, her hair pulling back down as she sucked in some air quickly before letting it out slowly. "Maybe you should rest; this is all too much for you."

"No," said Makoto in a demanding voice as she narrowed in on him. "I want to know what happened; I was so angry that I tapped into an unknown source before I blacked out. I need to know if they're going to come back and warn the others."

"The others?" asked Trunks, a bit fearful there could be more like her. Makoto just nodded and let out another sigh. "Makoto, you have nothing to worry about. We will protect you since it's our fault you got into this mess. If our power readings weren't so high, then all these things wouldn't come to destroy the planet."

"I deal with it in Tokyo all the time, I never expect a vacation from destiny," replied Makoto, clutching her fist and moving into a silent mode. He didn't need to know her troubles and if he did, someone would find out and his life would be in danger. Their identity was to be a secret that way they would always live double lives undercover. Something she hated to hide, and wished someone would be able to love her fully for who she was. This power was a part of her, so why couldn't she just be herself? "I have to get out here; I need to prepare for the next battle."

Makoto tried to use her other hand but found it wrapped in a sling; her shoulder must had been damaged which put her out of commission for a bit.

"Stop, you need to rest," growled Trunks roughly, finding their conversation getting loud enough to wake Goten. Groggily the man sat up on the couch and peered over at the struggling two.

"Makoto, you're awake!" Goten appeared next to her side like a faithful dog to its master. His large brown eyes held excitement as he grinned at her. "Man, you were awesome out there. I never knew you could control electricity like that, it was so cool!"

Makoto smiled at his excitement while she pondered; she remembered blasting that guy into the woods with an electric ball but…then what?

"What happened after that?" asked Makoto. Trunks sent a glare to Goten who seemed to ignore his friends look.

"You brought a lightning storm to the area that was hard for the enemy to miss. After hitting him with an electric dragon, he fell and so did you. You were out cold and when we went to search for the bodies, they weren't found. It looks like they may still be out there," said Goten with a frown to follow. A shiver moved down Makoto's spine as she swallowed the lump in her throat; if they were both out there that meant they would be coming for her soon. To get their revenge, or for those plans that one spoke of. "I'm glad you're not hurt too bad; your shoulder was pulled out of its socket and bruising was all they could find."

Makoto nodded in agreement and kept silent. She needed to know how to tap into that power again before it was too late. With that tool on that one's face, was he able to use it to track the others? She hoped for the best, but would now have to focus all her strengths into finding that power. Never before had she felt one with electricity and it felt so good to have that much power. A touch brought her out of her trace as she looked at the two semi-worried men, both silently thinking. Goten seemed questionable as he gazed at her and she knew what question he wanted to ask.

"You want to know who, or what, I am correct?" asked Makoto raising a slender brow only to get a shy grin in response. Trunks seemed to perk up at her willingness to answer. "Before all the planets in our solar system became desolate, there was an era in time called the Silver Millennium. It was a peaceful time and each planet held its own royal family. These families passed powers down throw their bloodlines with only one purpose in mind: to serve the Moon Kingdom. All good things must come to an end, as most philosophers suggest. Her royal highness, the princess of the Moon Kingdom, fell in love with the prince of Earth. At those times, the Moon Kingdom was still in the process of adding Earth into the Alliance. Thankfully, it bought us the leverage we needed to make the union possible…until a powerful enemy rose. During the engagement celebration, it attacked and wiped everything and everyone out. With the last of her powers, the Queen of the Moon Kingdom was able to seal the evil forces and make it possible for us all to be reborn on Earth in our time of need."

Makoto paused for a moment, letting the history sink in as the two men looked at her interested at the tale as if they believed it.

"We are still learning about our powers after only being discovered at the beginning of high school and awoken. I am part of the elite team of women called Sailor Senshi that protects Tokyo from dangers. My team name is Sailor Jupiter, daughter of Zeus, bestowed with the powers of electricity, the last Jovian, and last living heir to Jupiter's Crown Kingdom," finished Makoto. She didn't expect the excitement as Goten's eyes lit up.

"I told you they were real and not just a TV show!" cried out Goten, watching Trunks lean back and darken a bit from being wrong. Goten smiled amusingly as he thought of all the questions he always wanted to ask. "Do you really were those outfits? Does that mean you're modern-day royalty? Is there a way to rebuild your race? We're also from a planet far in the solar system but ours was destroyed. Trunks is the new beginning of that royal family, his father being the crown prince before it was destroyed. My family is the Son family, known as powerful fighters of the universe that were supposed to be cold hearted and destroy all life forms. The exception was my dad was a baby and raised here where he fell in love with the planet and now we all protect it."

Goten received a smack on the back of the head for speaking too much as Makoto tried to process all the information.

"If you're from another planet, then what does that make you?" she asked curiously, a sudden darkness running through her.

"We're of the saijin race!" stated Goten proudly.