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Crossroads in Life
Written by Princess Kayla
Inspired by Naoko Takeuchi's "Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon"
Chapter Fourteen
View from a Rabbit
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The light shimmering off the ring caught my eye, as I stared down at my hand. It had been a few weeks since the charity concert - since I agreed to marry Seiya Kou, star of the Three Lights. I had not anticipated the amount of attention our engagement would get.
It was surreal for not only me, but my family as well. My parents and brother were just as surprised about the proposal as I was, but they seemed supportive. The situation seemed so crazy. It was odd to see my name plastered over magazines and on entertainment television. It was surreal. Truthfully, all of the attention was too much sometimes.
"Usa?" Seiya touched my shoulder.
I looked up at him, and he gestured to a woman sitting across the table from us. Glancing around at the displays of flowers and cakes, I remembered where we were. I apologized to the woman in front of us, "I'm so sorry. I guess I'm distracted."
"Of course you are!" the woman grinned, "There is much to do." She was quite lovely with green eyes and auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail. I noted the lovely rose earrings that she wore. "But, no worries," she placed a hand on her chest, "That's why I am here."
"Thank you, Miss Kino," Seiya replied.
"No, formalities. Please call me Makoto," she said joyfully, "So let's start with a wedding date."
I tried to recall what details Seiya and I had gone over, but I couldn't think of anything. Seiya must have sensed my uncertainty, so he spoke for me. "We are thinking a winter wedding, sometime in early December."
"Oh, my!" Makoto exclaimed, "That is quite soon." She scribbled on a piece of paper. "No worries, though! We can make this work!" She smiled at me, "One minute. I will be right back."
As she walked away, Seiya wrapped his arm around me, "You okay?"
I nodded, "I guess I'm still in awe of it all."
"But you are happy, right?" he asked with concern.
I forced a smile, "Yes. I just had no idea about everything that goes into a wedding." I touched the many sample books on the table - dresses, invitations, table settings, etcetera.
"Don't worry. I will help you; and Makoto seems like an awesome wedding planner," he stated.
I nodded, "Yes, she does."
Makoto returned with a handful of more books. Cheerfully, she spread them out before us. "These are our winter designs. How about we look through them and get some ideas?" As she opened one of them, immediately my brain began to hurt.
. . .
After making some decisions with the wedding planner, Seiya had to meet Taiki and Yaten, so I went to my parents' house to pick up Chibiusa. "Hey, it's me," I said as I entered the house. I headed into the living room to find Chibiusa napping on the couch. Quietly, I sat down next to her. Careful to not wake her, I lifted her head and rested it in my lap. Gently, I brushed my hand through her black strands. She sighed peacefully.
My father sat in the nearby chair, flipping through the newspaper. "Here's another picture of you all," he turned the paper so that I could see a photo of Seiya and me walking around downtown. My father noticed me shake my head, so he sat the paper down. "I guess it's a lot to be a celebrity," he commented quietly.
"I'm not the celebrity," I whispered so I didn't wake Chibiusa.
He leaned forward with a concerned expression, "Usagi, how are you handling all of this?"
I shrugged, "I'm fine."
"You don't have to rush anything," he told me supportively, "You haven't been dating that long." He frowned as I sighed, "Usagi, are you sure you love him enough to marry him?"
I glanced down at my ring and replied softly, "Yes."
He rested back into the chair, "Okay. Promise me that you don't marry him just because you think you should. You deserve more than that."
"Thank you, dad," I said, still staring at the ring on my finger.
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The next morning, Chibiusa and I went to meet Seiya at the studio. With her hand in mine, we walked down the hall towards one of the consultation rooms. I could hear voices; one sounded very angry. When we reached the closed door, I could see Mr. Juanbi yelling at Seiya, Taiki and Yaten. Taiki looked as if he was trying to calm him down, but Mr. Juanbi kept shouting and pointing aggressively at them.
Abruptly, he spun around and hurried straight to the door. He swung it open and paused when he noticed me. A look of complete and utter disgust covered his face. He growled, "This is all of your fault." He glared down at Chibiusa so I pulled her closer to me. His eyes returned to me and I stepped back at the fury within them. He lowered his voice, and his words sent a shiver down my spine, "You made a mistake when you let Seiya fall in love with you, and you will regret it." He pushed past us and stomped out of the building.
"Usa," Seiya came to us, "Are you okay? I'm sorry you had to see that." He reached down and picked Chibiusa up. "I'm sorry, Chibiusa."
"What was that about?" I asked in shock.
"We fired him," Yaten stated, surprising me, "There was just too much drama."
"What do you mean?" I questioned.
Taiki sighed, "He has been bringing us down for a long time. He hates the direction we want to take the group."
"And he hates that I plan on taking more time off," he took my hand, "for us."
"Seiya," I frowned, "Are you sure?"
"Of course," he grinned and kissed the top of Chibiusa's head, "You all come first. The guys understand." I looked at Taiki and Yaten and they simply nodded and smiled. "See," Seiya said, "Don't worry."
"But what about Mr. Juanbi?" I questioned with concern.
Yaten shook his head, "We will just find a new agent. No biggie."
Seiya must have seen the unease in me because he gave me a light kiss, "Usa, everything will be fine."
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"Momma, it's dark," Chibiusa whimpered. She was right. There was no moon or stars in the sky. We had light from the streetlamps, but the shadows they casted made me anxious. It was quiet too. The street was disturbingly empty. I picked her up to comfort her and myself.
"It's okay, Chibiusa," Seiya pointed ahead to my apartment building, "You're almost home."
"Did you like your dessert?" I tried to distract Chibiusa. She nodded, and I continued, "It was really yummy, wasn't it?" She nodded again, this time with a small smile. I kissed her cheek.
"Next time we should have two desserts!" Seiya helped us to laugh. "You know what, let's skip everything else and just have de..." Seiya grunted in pain as a man ran out of nowhere and hit him on the back of the head with a bat. My instinct told me to scream as I watched Seiya dropped to the ground, but before I could, a hand crushed over my mouth. The second man restrained me as the other stepped over Seiya and ripped Chibiusa from my arms. I tried to fight to get her back, but that's when I noticed that there was a cloth in the hand cupped over my mouth. A strange smell filled my senses, and the world went black.
. . .
Struggling against the sensation of spinning, I gulped down the horrible taste of bile in my mouth. Eventually, my sight cleared, but I awoke to utter confusion. My joints hurt, as I comprehended that I was on a dirty floor. I looked around the unfamiliar room. There was a decrepit bed and splintered table with a metal chipped chair. Next to the bed was a portable lantern, giving off the only source of light. Grungy, ripped curtains covered the only window so I couldn't see where we were, but from my surroundings, I assumed I was in an abandoned motel.
As I tried to sit up, I realized a pressure against my legs. It was my daughter. "Chibiusa?" My heart began to race. I reached down and touched her, "Chibiusa?" Slowly, her eyes opened and I found myself let out a long sigh of relief. "Come here, Chibiusa," I said as I pulled her towards me. Immediately, tears rolled down her sweet cheeks. "Sweetie, are you hurt?" I asked her fearfully.
I held her close to my body as she shook her head 'no.' "Momma," she sobbed, "I'm scared." I rocked her back and forth, trying to control my own fears. As I remembered the moments before everything went dark, I knew that we had been kidnapped, but I didn't know why or by whom. I touched my pockets, glanced around and discovered that my phone was nowhere to be found.
Both Chibiusa and I jumped as the front door opened. An unrecognizable man entered and saw that we were awake. "So you're up," he said indifferently. He moved his arm to show us a gun at his side, "You two just be quiet and do as you're told, and you won't get hurt." I pulled Chibiusa even closer.
The door opened again, and another unknown man entered, except anger covered his entire features. He slammed the door behind him and threw his own gun down on the table. "He was supposed to be here five hours ago," he growled. Surprised, I wondered if I had really been asleep that long.
"Look, he'll be here, we'll get our money and head out," the other man said with an even tone.
The angry man huffed and then noticed us. As he walked towards us, I tried to push Chibiusa and myself against the wall as much as possible. With a cold smirk, he looked down at us, "What a shame? All of this just because you fell in love with some two-bit singer." Seiya - I didn't understand why we were taken because of him.
Some light moved through the rips of fabric at the window. "He's here," the first man said.
"About time." The man before us spit a few feet away from me and walked back as the door opened. My mouth dropped open as Mr. Juanbi stepped inside the room. "What took you so long?" the man asked.
"You want your money, right?" Mr. Juanbi asked as he pulled an envelope out of the inner pocket of his coat. He handed it to the man.
He proceeded to counting it, "Wait a minute, this is only half of what we agreed to."
"That's right?" Mr. Juanbi replied, "You'll get the rest of it once the job is done." He then looked past them to us. I stiffened as he came over and squatted down before us. He stared at me for a long time, causing the hairs on my body to rise.
With all the strength I could muster, I whispered a simple, "Why?"
He tilted his head and let out a harsh laugh, "You ruined my life, you siren. All of Seiya's choices revolve around you, including how to deal me. I always knew you hated me. Well, guess what, 'Usa'..." He leaned in close, his face even with mine, "I always hated you too." He glanced down at Chibiusa, "Now, the two of you are going to help give me everything I deserve. Let's see if you're important enough to give up some of that fortune of his."
He went to touch her but I slapped his hand away. "Don't touch her," I yelled.
Then, he struck me right across the face.
"Momma!" Chibiusa screamed.
"Hush, you!" he scolded Chibiusa. He grabbed my chin roughly and in a low voice, he growled, "You took everything from me. Don't make me take everything from you." He glared down at Chibiusa, and I knew exactly what he meant.
. . .
My heartbeat served as a clock, telling me that the hours were passing so slowly. The light that snuck in from behind the curtains came and went, darkness returning. As I looked down at Chibiusa's sleeping form, I was incredibly thankful. I prayed that she could sleep through all of this, finding safety in a dream world far away. I could hear her poor little stomach growl from time to time; our captors provided no food or drink for us. I wondered how long this would go on and if anyone would find us. I remembered that Seiya had gotten knocked out and I wondered if he was okay and if he was looking for us.
Mr. Juanbi rested in the chair, checking his phone from time to time while the calmer of the men rested his back up against the wall. It appeared that the passing time was exhausting them as well.
Suddenly, a joyful sound filled my ears – police sirens. Mr. Juanbi jumped to his feet as the man peeked out the window, his hand on his gun. However, the alarms faded into the distance, causing my heart to sink.
"They kept going," the man informed. I watched Mr. Juanbi sigh and return to his seat.
We all stiffened as the angry man from earlier hurried inside the room. He held up his phone, "Have you been checking the news?"
"What is it?" Mr. Juanbi asked as he swiftly typed something.
"They have started a city wide manhunt for you. Your face is plastered all over the media," he explained with aggravation, "I thought you made the ransom anonymously."
"I did!" Mr. Juanbi yelled, "They figured out it was me!"
"Be quiet!" the more controlled of the three men said, but his emotions were finally showing. He turned to Mr. Juanbi, "Look. We didn't sign up for that. This was supposed to be an easy job. I am not going back to prison." He motioned to the other, "Forget this. Let's go."
"Wait a minute!" Mr. Juanbi shouted, "Don't you want the rest of your money?"
He shook his head, "It doesn't look like there will be any more money." With that, the two men exited the room. Mr. Juanbi followed after them, cursing at their disloyalty.
"Momma?" Chibiusa mumbled, half asleep. I put my finger over my lips, signaling her to remain quiet. I had to think and quickly. Mr. Juanbi's plan was falling apart, so I had to make my own.
My heart cheered as I noticed Mr. Juanbi's phone on the table. I rushed to stand up, but my legs felt like jelly. Struggling, I hurried over to the table. Just as I grabbed the phone, Mr. Juanbi burst back inside. His eyes widened as he noticed what I was doing. He then, reached in his pocket and pulled out his own gun. "Put the phone down," he ordered, but I gripped it tighter. He pointed the gun at Chibiusa, "Do as I say." I let the phone fall from my grasp and it shattered on the ground. "Now look what you have done!" he yelled and grabbed me roughly by the arm. "Get the girl now." I hesitated, and he jabbed the gun in my side, "Now!"
"Chibiusa," I held my arms out to her, "Come to momma. It's okay. Come on." Slowly, she walked to me as she sobbed.
Mr. Juanbi swung the door open and pulled me outside into the darkness. I could barely see the car before us with its trunk open until he hurried us towards it. "Now, you are going to get in and keep your mouths shut," he commanded.
Suddenly, a pair of headlights lit up in the distance. A shout escaped my lips, "Help!"
Mr. Juanbi jabbed the gun so far into my side, I cried out in pain. "Shut up right now or I will kill you!" he bellowed. That's when we noticed the vehicle turned in our direction.
Seeing that Mr. Juanbi was distracted, I knew it was my only chance. Heart pounding, I let go of Chibiusa so I could quickly twist around and grab the gun. The gun went off, firing into the air as we struggled against one another. I was able to turn and face him, so with all my might, I jabbed my knee right into his lower abdomen. He let out a gasp of air and his arm weakened. I managed to knock the gun away and punched him as hard as I could in the face.
"Run, Chibiusa!" I screamed, but my sweet daughter was frozen in fear and confusion.
Still struggling against him, I found myself being pushed back until we both fell onto the rough concrete. In desperation, I kicked him as hard as I could manage until he was off me. As he screamed in pain, I rolled away and grabbed Chibiusa. I ran towards the car as two people rushed out, silhouetted by the headlights. "Go, Chibiusa! Go!" I pushed her forward. She finally let her little legs run as swiftly as possible. Weak, I struggled to run behind her.
Abruptly, the horrible roar of a cannon sounded. I felt myself lurch forward as an unforeseen pressure hit me from behind. I fell to the ground, my head scrapping against the gravel. Darkness immediately clouded my vision and it hurt to breathe. A ringing filled my ears. Yet, as the pressure overwhelmed me, I could have sworn I heard the familiar shout of 'Usako!'
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Please Pardon Grammatical Errors and Review.