A/N: Hello everyone! Yes, I'm back! Gomen nasai minna for taking so long to update this. Between being away, then the holidays, and lastly work stress I just couldn't get this chapter finished to my liking. I promise, I will finish this story no matter what, even if things do get really busy! :)
I've been meaning to mention it, but I'm sure you can already tell I borrowed a few things from PGSM for the Shittenou. Hope no one minds very much. It's how I like to think of them, somewhere between the anime, manga, and PGSM. Anyway please leave feedback and review. It encourages me and lets me know what readers are thinking. Thanks very much! ^-^
Synopsis:
Since it's been a while from the last update, here's where chapter 13 left off.
Patsy (Petz) and her sister narrowly escape a run in with Rubeus only to finally see Sapphire with her own eyes alive and well. And now her sister finally believes her. Sapphire is left with more questions than answers. Rubeus now has a big problem on his hands. Could the reincarnated Moon princess truly be a danger even though he holds the crystal?
Tasked with guarding Sarah and locating both the silver crystal and henshin wands, Jadeite, Zoisite, Nephrite, and Kunzite have their hands full also trying to recover their abilities and memories. Meanwhile Sarah makes new friends while adjusting to the knowledge that she is Sailor Moon and that she now has five men watching over her every move, including handsome Tuxedo Mask!
Chapter 14: Finding the crystal!
Nate leaned back against the wall of the apartment building, pretending to read a newspaper. His eyes looked over the top of the page, scanning the morning crowd. A young girl passed in front of his vision, wheeling a cart full of roses. Just like her cart, her ears too were adorned in rose earrings. She was a head taller than most and her hair fell into a loose ponytail with wispy ends blowing gently in the breeze. She called out her wares, forcing her voice to carry over other street cart vendors but still keeping its feminine edge.
He watched her eager face fall as one by one people walked by without so much as a glance. These days were not very suitable for roses. The earnestness and determination in her eyes made her somehow more beautiful. Nate pushed off of the wall and began to walk towards her, reaching into his pocket for money. "How much for a dozen roses?" He watched the surprise dawn in her hazel eyes, making them sparkle.
Liese sighed. She had hoped getting an early start would help but one after another people passed without a care for her roses. She knew times were tough. Her water rations never let her forget hat, but roses could cheer a person up. That was the beauty of flowers, to give hope and beauty, asking for so little in return. If things didn't pick up soon she would have to give up on her passion and try another line of work. She was already a week late on her rent and as one of the youngest tenants, her landlord was always suspicious of her ability to pay. For a minute she let the smile fall from her face as she became lost in thought.
A voice distracted her and she looked up to see an absolutely gorgeous man standing before her rose cart. His dark brown hair fell in waves down his shoulders and his collared shirt did little to hide his physique. Heck, even his voice was smooth. She felt her cheeks get hot and immediately tried to distract herself. He was her very first customer in four days and Liese was not about to mess that up. She quickly gave him the price and then added, "Let me wrap that up for you. You must have someone pretty to give these to!" She pulled out a piece of pretty paper from underneath the flowers and proceeded to wrap up the bouquet as nicely as she could, taking time to get it settled just perfectly.
Nathaniel watched as the strong hands that could push the unwieldy cart so easily now worked delicately with tissue paper, wrapping it artfully so that it too looked like a pretty rose. As she handed it out to him his hands brushed hers for just a moment. Her hands were smooth and warm, strong yet delicate. He wanted to take them in his, but instead he simply thanked her and handed her the money, giving her one last smile before walking away. Sarah, the princess, should be nearly out the door by now. He had to be vigilant.
Rhiannon was fighting exhaustion, her eyes dry as desert heat. Taking a deep breath she faced the fire again, willing it to give her the answers she sought. Her vision slowly narrowed until the licking flames were all she could see. Suddenly the sound of piano music broke her from her fragile concentration. Uttering a moan of frustration she tossed the fireplace poker to the ground and stormed into the next room.
"Zoisite! What part of play softer did you not understand? I can't concentrate with that racket going on!
Finding himself rather rudely snapped out of his vision he turned to lock eyes with Rhiannon, her eyes burning with fury. How on Earth was he supposed to concentrate with that woman screaming at him every few seconds he wondered. "You know, it was your choice to build your fire in the next room. If you don't like it, then move.
"Rhiannon arched her eyes, slamming her hands onto her hips. "That just happened to be the only room down here filled with enough kindling to build a fire!"
"Oh, by kindling, you mean those beautiful music books you so savagely burned? I've been meaning to give you hell for that." His eyes blazed emerald anger as he closed the lid to the piano.
"Oh, so your music is more precious than finding the crystal and fighting Rubeus? Well now that you ruined my concentration I'm going to need more kindling to rebuild the fire. How about I start with your piano then?" She marched forward, murderous intent on her face.
Zach's anger instantly turned to alarm as he leapt from the bench and stood in front of the piano, arms spread to protect it. "W-Wait just a second!" Spotting Jadeite leaning against the far wall he called out, "Hey give me a hand here! She's your girlfriend!"
Both Rhiannon and Ji Jian started, uttering a surprised gasp before screaming in unison at him:
"He is not my boyfriend!"
"She is not my girlfriend!"
A crimson flush had crept into her cheeks, but Zach couldn't be sure if it were anger or something else. She whirled around and strode back towards her room muttering "insufferable!" loud enough for them both to hear. The next thing they heard was the slamming of the old wooden door hard enough to rain dust down from the cracks of the fragile underground ceiling.
He turned to Jadeite. "Good luck with that one. You're going to need it." Jadeite was too busy staring at the back of the closed door to notice. Suddenly his thoughts turned to the kind blue haired girl he'd met at the infirmary that one night. "I bet she wouldn't threaten to burn the piano." He thought to himself, but quickly shook off the thought and got back to work.
Just when Rhiannon thought she could not hold it any longer and would lose that tenuous connection with the fire through sheer exhaustion, the fire suddenly leapt up, flames threatening to lick the ceiling. She felt herself falling into the fire, her very soul merging with hungry flames, and then she saw them, each encased separately and guarded like a prized museum piece. They were placed like the five points of a star surrounding Rubeus' main headquarters, and in the center, deep beneath his stronghold was the crystal, still pulsing with enough energy for her to sense it as deeply sealed and buried as it was.
Suddenly she felt hands pulling at her, pulling her from the flames. Her eyes shot open. She hadn't even realized she had closed them. Jadeite was holding her shoulders, a worried expression on his face.
He had come in to see if she was still mad, and try to make some peace by offering her some of his water, only to watch her fall forward into the fire. He leapt in, pulling her out as her sleeve and the ends of her hair began to singe. "Hey! Hey be careful! Rhi? Are you OK?"
"I found it. I know where they are!" she answered, feeling dazed but also excited.
"You did? That's great! I knew you could do it Rhi. But you really should be more careful. You almost got burned!"
Just then Zach burst into the room. His ponytail was askew and his eyes were wide. "I found them! But you're not gonna like it." Then he stopped abruptly as his eyes took in the scene before him with Rhiannon cradled in Jadeite's arms. His face went white. "I'm uh sorry to interrupt…"
Rhiannon realized the position she was in suddenly and pushed away from Jadeite abruptly, her face going crimson again. "No no, it's not like that!"
Kiral's mother knelt alone for afternoon prayer. Her husband was away on business again. Kiral usually prayed with her when he wasn't in class but both he and Matai were scarcely at home. Lately it felt as if the family were all growing apart which made her sad. But it was the way of things. Children must grow and leave the nest no matter how much parents might wish it were otherwise.
Matai's nightmares seemed to have stopped in the last week, something she thanked Allah wholeheartedly for. It was heartbreaking to watch him suffer those terrible dreams night after night. But now that they ceased, Matai seemed somehow different. There was a deeper look to his eyes, and a more serious expression that made him seem older. Kiral was the same. She knew, just as any mother would, that there was something going on but neither would tell her anything. They just smiled and said everything was fine.
She let her mind fall back into prayer but was suddenly distracted by footsteps in the doorway. Looking up she saw KIral, his silhouette outlined by the sun slanting in through the window. She smiled and moved over to make room, patting the spot next to her as an invitation to come. He came silently, setting down to pray beside her. She shot a furtive glance at him. He had a wondering expression in his eyes, as if questions plagued his mind. They spent moments together losing themselves in final prayers.
She could hold her peace no longer. Before Kiral could get up she reached for his hand. "Kiral?"Though unspoken, her eyes asked the question that lay silently between them.
He felt the soft pressure of her careworn hands. There was no hiding from her searching gaze which could always see into his heart. "You can't help me with this one mother. I'm not a little boy anymore whose scraped knee you can mend with a kiss. There's something important we have to do. I'm sorry; I can't tell you more than that." He gave her hand a squeeze, wanting to share all with her yet knowing it would put her in danger. "I can't follow in father's footsteps. Not yet at least. Please understand."
"I know Kiral," she said, smiling slightly. "I always knew you and Matai would do something special. I will help your father understand. And I won't ask you. Imshallah someday we will all be a carefree family again. Watch out for him Kiral, your brother is too gentle a soul to be cast into this terrible world."
"I will."
Back at Sarah's school, Nate waited for classes to finish. The bouquet of roses was wrapped inside of his leather jacket and tucked into the crook of his arm. He wondered what had possessed him to do that, and what exactly he was doing to do with a dozen roses. A raven haired figure wound its way through the crowd. Matai approached, hands in his pockets and stood quietly next to Nate as Sarah left school. His eyes held a sad longing as he watched the blonde chatting with her friend as she walked. Nate wondered what it must feel like to be the only half to remember a long and deep love. It must be hell. He wondered how Matai bore it so silently.
"No sign of anything. It's been a quiet morning." He finally said to break the silence.
"That's good. Though I'm sure they haven't forgotten about her."
Suddenly the crowd parted as Ji Jian hurried towards them at a run. It wasn't exactly what Matai meant when he said they should keep a low profile, but he was clearly excited about something.
"We've found them!" he said excitedly. "Rhi and Zoisite have located the transformation pens and the crystal.
A few hours later, with Sarah safely at home, all of them met together as Rhiannon and Zachary showed them all where the targets were. "They are in parts of the underground surrounding Rubeus' stronghold. Jupiter's is here, outside the new city limits in the heart of the wild lands buried below the rubble of an old post office. Mercury's is here, deep in the underground on the East side. Mars' is on the west side.
They went on to describe the rest of them and the security they had seen through the visions. "Rubeus has tunnels reaching into all of these areas, so it would not be hard for him to send reinforcements. Each is encased in some sort of glass case and guarded by two droids. They crystal itself is in the heart of the stronghold and very heavily guarded.
Zoisite laid out the pros and cons of the strategies they had come up with. "If we attack one place together, it would be easy for Rubeus to just reroute all of the droids to our location and we could easily be outnumbered and overpowered. It would seem a divided approach might be best. It would scatter their resources, and if all goes well we will keep the element of surprise."
"That would mean each of us would need to take on two droids at the least singlehandedly." Jadeite stated, his eyes widening in surprise.
"I told you you weren't gonna like it." Zoisite answered. "But I think it's the only chance we have right now."
"Hey! I didn't say I didn't like it. I can take on two droids no problem. And I call dibs on Mars. I'll get it back for Rhi no matter what!" He flashed a daring smile, fists balled tight in determination.
Everyone looked to Kiral who had not spoken as of yet. In a way they had begun to look to him for leadership. He didn't know exactly what he had done to deserve that role, but he felt the weight of this responsibility suddenly resting upon his inexperienced shoulders. Gathering his thoughts, he spoke, "Despite Jadeite's bravado, we all must realize we do not yet have the same skills and abilities we used to. With this act we will reveal ourselves and bring Rubeus' full attention upon us. Things will undoubtedly become harder and more dangerous from here on. Are we all ready for this?" He paced the length of the room, his face unreadable. "However, if this mission is a success we will have gained the transformed sailor senshi as allies and increased our forces. It is a dangerous gamble at this stage, but this could be the first real thorn in Rubeus' side. And with their added strength, we stand a good chance at getting the crystal back before he can use it for his own ends. That is why I say….tomorrow we attack!"