Exploring What Might
By Rakusa
Chapter Twelve
{Part 1}
The senshi were all together. Why weren't the crystals coming together as well? Luna paced the room near her charges' room. In there, Rei and Usagi were sleeping, in another room, the great fire heated the rooms and hallways, perfect for the cooling season.
Luna sank to her haunches, trying to figure out what was plaguing her. She'd told the senshi that only when they were all together, would the crystal be able to as well. Did they really need to the princess to put the pieces together? If so, then they might be waiting forever.
She swore that central command told her when all the senshi formed in a group to face their enemy, so too would the power to destroy it. There were four inner senshi, Luna remembered that clearly, four who protected the princess with their lives. Three had been on the grounds during the silver millennium attack. She remembered vague things from the past, and some specifics. These were things that she kept hidden from her charges', they didn't need to worry themselves with her faulty memory, and what she did remember, they didn't need to know it yet either. The truth would come out in due time.
Jupiter was technically an outer senshi, but at the time of the fall of the millennium they were trying to transfer her position to an inner senshi. So now, she was considered one of them, and Luna had been unsure if Jupiter was officially part of the inners until she saw the insignia on her forehead, beckoning for a transformation stick. Luna gave it at Moon's prompting.
Luna ran through it all once again.
There was to be four senshi.
The leader, the golden child, who could step into the Princess's place until she was found, but would never be as strong as the princess, especially not when the princess became queen. Check, Usagi fit that description fully, her hair was the most golden color Luna had ever seen on anyone and it was natural. She was like the ray of a sun herself, boiling over with kindness and warmth and cheer. The golden child personified. She had also proven herself to be quite the leader, some things had been questionable at the time, but it had all proven to be quite smart. The team couldn't have been any stronger, probably weaker, had she not set up hurdles for Ami and Rei. She forced Ami to exit her shy shell that protected and caused her to back out of taking a stand against others. She also forced Rei to respect her decisions and listen to her commands. Rei would be double talking and second guessing everything Moon said otherwise.
Makoto. Luna almost laughed hysterically, Makoto hadn't needed anything. She was so eager to be part of Usagi's posse, wanted to be liked and kept by Usagi, that Usagi had welcomed her into the fold easily, and Makoto had proven to be the most loyal soldier. The others were loyal too, but easier to convince to let Usagi alone when danger was about to befall her, and had distractions in the shape of males called the Ite brothers. Makoto managed to be convinced to leave her side, but only by Usagi's own prompting and Makoto was the most boy crazy of them all, but she was shy and hesitant to get involved with Neph, giving Luna the impression that she didn't want to make any mistakes by getting too close to an outsider.
Luna had been the most against Makoto, but Makoto was the best thing to happen to Usagi's team, though Usagi would disagree. Luna wondered if Makoto's positives stemmed the fact that she wasn't able to be there to protect the Princess in the past and would listen to the leader so fully so the downfall would never happen again.
So what was missing? The brains and the fire reader were there as well. Luna would have to talk to central again, see what it had to say.
Luna left the shinto grounds and snuck into the basement of the crown arcade. That's why she liked the girls around there so much, so they could keep an eye better on the command without even knowing it was there. It was another thing the girls didn't need to know about. They could just think that Luna knew all of this because of her memories.
She pushed a few buttons and then she was on the intercom with her contact. "I've got four senshi, they are all the right ones, but the crystal has not come yet. What is wrong? Must we have all the pieces, and not just them being out of the bodies?"
"You said you have four senshi?" The voice echoed back on her speakers and Luna's eyes narrowed.
"That's a positive."
"That's impossible." The male voice came back across. "The team is not complete."
"We have the brains, we have the brawn, we have the reader and we have the golden one." Luna responded. "We have all four."
"Come back to this post in five days hence, I'll have more information for you then." The voice sounded strained, as if upset by something Luna didn't understand and they cut connection. Luna would have to see what command would have to say in five days, until then, she could worry about more important things.
Luna escaped from the Crown without being noticed and returned back to Usagi's side where she curled up on her against her neck and fell asleep but with one ear arched to listen for any possible danger.
Four days later, found Luna racing across the rooftops after Sailor Moon's fast strides, those shapely and long for her body legs sure could move. Luna was left in Moon's wake as the senshi raced to the newest attack.
This one nobody had been aware of until Rei passed the monitor one her friends was on after school, watching the news. The attack had been playing, asking where were the senshi in this hour of need? It was all the way across town, at a toy factory, it was in the industrial district and not many people, including the senshi, knew quite where it was or how to get there.
The camera crew were doing a documentary and after calling a local news station, turned on the live feed. All four girls raced as fast as they could to the attack, but Moon was in the lead, hardly panting as the rest fought to keep up with her. Luna's steps faltered as she swore she saw someone shadowing their movements. Could it have been Kamen? Could he have known they were heading there, and joined them this time, so as not to be late?
It had to be, who else would keep hidden like that and not attack them instead? Luna realized she was way behind the others and sprinted to catch up with them. She would do something this battle, if Moon got caught up again, she had to, Moon was her main charge, the one she had spent the most time with and to be honest, she would be her favorite anyways. She and Moon/Usagi were close, very much so.
Moon had her speed, but she didn't have complete control over grace. So as she pushed off of the ledge of one particularly rickety edge and she almost didn't make it as her hand shot out to catch herself on the next ledge. She held herself there for a moment, letting her body swing to a stop near the wall before she pushed away with her feet and flipped backwards to land on the roof.
Jupiter cheered her on, and Luna looked at the blond girl with amazement. She hadn't needed to do such a feat if she hadn't messed it up earlier, but despite not taking it slow enough, she managed to save herself, and did the save kind of gracefully as well, maybe not grace, but close enough.
Moon waited until the others were ahead of her before she took off into a run again, easily passing them as they made their way to the toy factory.
They slipped in practically unnoticed and dropped down to the machinery spitting out rows of possessed dolls and robots and every kind of imaginable toy that moved and shot things out of their bodies and were just plain creepy. Luna was eye level with all of these freakish toys, they all turned to her and started moving forward in a wave, sights intent on frying her black fur off of her back. She didn't have any intention of being skinned tonight.
There were larger ones, ones as large as her senshi, if not larger, they came at them in the form of an army as well. The droves just kept coming as more kept being made. Luna turned to hide behind her senshi, who could actually handle this assult, and was surprised to see an angry Moon senshi. She had grounded her feet into the floor below as she prepared for an attack, Luna watched on baited breath, hoping Moon would finally pull out an attack on her own without being told how to do it first, instead, she pulled out one she already knew. Luna sighed in defeat, the other senshi all had three or four strong attacks, and some weaker ones as well, but they had never needed Luna's advice to call on it, it had all come naturally, especially Mars' who hadn't even needed Luna to accept her true destiny.
Luna watched though in fascination as Moon's tiara slid past the youma, Mars prepared to turn to Moon to chew her out on her poor aim, but held back as she remembered herself and watched instead as the tiara glanced off of each of the machines, before returning to Moon's hand. The machines kept working, and Luna turned to Moon to ask what that was all about, but Moon's eyes were already beyond the machines, towards the youma. Mars was still watching the long chug of each machine as it put the last pieces of the youma together. Mars' large brown eyes grew in amazement as there were clinking noises behind Luna.
Luna whipped around to see what had entranced her senshi and her eyes grew just as large as she watched each machine fall apart at the most important juncture. Each lost their power source and needles and the top half fell over and collapsed with a large bang. The unfinished youma didn't move, didn't respond, and Luna knew that Moon had done right, had done what nobody had thought to do, not even Mercury thought of it fast enough, and all were staring at the leader with wonderment.
Moon shrugged, her eyes still on the army that had been made, watching their moves, trying to see what they would do. They had frozen when the machines fell apart, but now they moved faster than their slow zombie pace of earlier, and the mass had managed to slip in between the senshi, dividing them. Moon fought with several larger youma, and a few smaller ones as well. Luna kept her eyes on the small senshi, trying to stay with her as much as she could and taking out some of the youma underfoot as the girl fought.
Luna had managed to help considerably, Luna was so proud of what she had managed to do. She had always thought of herself as the nagging voice of reason without any way to help or any real reason to be listened to, because she couldn't actually do anything. Luna turned to Moon to see how the girl was faring when one youma grabbed her from behind around the waist tightly as the girl fought with several other large ones.
Before Luna's eyes, one of the youma dissolved into the form of a slight girl with a blue outfit and white hair, the youma holding Moon also changed shapes into the form of Koan. Luna hissed at the other cat-female, how dare she ruin Luna's good name?
Luna glanced frantically about the room to see where the other senshi were, and if they could help, but each were bogged down with several youma themselves. Luna prepared to launch herself at the darker enemy, the one holding Moon when Moon gasped in pain.
Luna froze to see what was wrong, and saw in Koan's hand, a sharp knife, pressed into Moon's side. The poor girl was shaking with pain, and trying to keep it from manifesting into terror or pain that would motivate the aggravating enemy.
Kamen was no where to be seen and Luna prepared again to launch herself at Koan as Birdie prepared her attack on the leader of the senshi. Moon's eyes were watering at the sharp jolts going through her body, they were smarting despite her resolve not to let them fall.
Again Luna was stopped from attacking the girl as a golden beam of light shot through the smallest of gaps between Moon and Koan and snaked around to encircle Birdie as well before anyone had any idea of what was going on. Moon fell to her knees as the other two women were wrapped up in the golden light, and Luna saw when she focused that it was actually a chain. The two women withered in pain and screamed. The barer of the savior chain dropped down to Luna's side and spat at the enemy. "How do you like it?"
They continued shaking, crying out for it to stop, and Luna looked up in surprise at the girl dressed all in gold and orange. "Who are you?" Luna asked, knowing that it was obviously a senshi, but still couldn't believe her eyes. Was it an elusive outer, knowing that the inners needed help? That their leader was being attacked, again and again as if it was the personal vendetta of their enemy to dispose of the girl that they thought no longer existed in the future, and thought maybe it would be better to do it themselves, to assure that?
The girl's face was hard as she looked at the two women she held, before her eyes flashed down to Luna, with a slight surprise, but still held the hatred that burned in them from before. They softened as they realized it wasn't another enemy, but a talking cat. "I'm Sailor Venus, the last of the inner senshi. I am the golden one, and" She spat this at the two women, hoping they'd hear over their own suffering. "The true leader of the senshi."
Koan's purple eyes turned to Moon, and Luna just now remembered the girl still had a knife in her side and was desperately trying to keep it together, and stay conscious. She held her side where the knife was to keep it from moving on her, but not taking it out, fearing serious damage otherwise, no doubt. She was breathing shallow breaths, trying to keep them smooth and ordered so as not to faint or hurt herself more, but failing as each breath, caught another slight gasp of pain. Koan's lips parted to be a malicious grin. "I told you, you did something to piss the senshi off enough to strip you from the records. Now all that's left is for you to die."
Luna's frightened eyes backed to the woman dressing as her namesake and almost smiled victoriously as Venus jerked the chain, causing a new round of screams. Luna bounded over to the fallen senshi and butted, very gently, against the hand clenched at her side. Moon's eyes shot down to Luna with a question in their pained depths.
Luna looked back at Venus and nodded. Moon struggled to her feet, the clenched hand reaching for her tiara, a scream tore her attention away from her intentions and Moon's eyes darted across to where Mercury had fallen and slid across the ground. The youma converging over her. Moon swallowed and reached again for her tiara, taking it into her hand and allowing the disk to slice through the youma attempting to harm her friend. She turned her attention to Jupiter, who was fairing better, but disposed of them as well.
"Fire Soul Bird!" Mars screamed from the distance and Luna's head turned to the newest member with surprise, this was a new attack from the girl and as a fire bird emerged, it flew through all of her youma and then went to work to deal with the rest of the youma in the room. Moon recalled her tiara and slowly slid back down to her knees and careened forward, her head never hit the ground though as a black figure caught her by the shoulders and was kneeling in front of her. His hands seemed to be everywhere, from her face, to her shoulders to her hands and knees, then to her side as he discovered exactly what was wrong with her.
The only noise now was coming from the still pained women held by the newest member of the senshi and Luna couldn't doubt the truth behind Venus' words as the enemy seemed to know her as that as well, but wasn't expecting her presence tonight. They only seemed to think Moon didn't exist in the future, which made Luna question, what had gone wrong? If Moon wasn't suppose to be their fourth, but ended up dying- was it all Luna's fault for introducing the girl to a world she didn't belong in?
"That man won't save you." Birdie bit out with a laugh following, though each of the women were getting weaker and Luna could see burns spreading across their skin, the woman's laugh was still sending shivers up Luna's spine. "He doesn't exist either."
Moon's eyes were locked on Kamen's, that's all she could see as far as Luna knew, they were starting to cloud over and Luna wondered if this was the end to her favorite senshi, the one that shouldn't have been. Luna's throat closed up with the horror of that thought, Moon couldn't die, they'd make her stop, if she would just live through this, she would be protected as Usagi as no one was ever protected before, and they would make sure that she didn't fight, stayed as far from the battles as humanly possible.
A loud and terrible scream tore from the delicate throat of the dark odangoed haired girl as Kamen tried to gently and painlessly remove the knife. It had hurt her more coming out that it had going in and as he dropped it on the ground beside him, she could see why. It had been spiked so it would go in smoothly and rip painfully when coming out. There was no way for any of them to have known that. Kamen's cape was off and trying to staunch the wound the second the knife was out of his hand. Mercury joined his side and also tried to deal with the damage.
The other two girls could only stand by hopelessly until they both seemed to realize the culprits were still around. They turned swiftly and both sent their attacks at Koan and Birdie. The screams echoed louder in the room as they were attacked by fire and lightning and light.
Luna launched herself now at the two women and with her claws out, she scratched both of their faces deeply and watched with satisfaction as blood ran down their faces. Those wouldn't heal any time soon.
Luna turned back to her charge and bounded over to her, she was now laying on the ground and Kamen was holding her close to his body as his hand still held his cape against her side. He was trying to keep her warm. Luna realized with a start as the girl's body convulsed and he was also trying to keep her still. Luna could see blood pooling where he hadn't had time to try and stop it. Mercury was working frantically at what she could get at, knowing Kamen's cape was actually helping until she could get to the rest of the wound. Luna laid down on Moon's chest, hoping her body heat would help as well.
Moon seemed to relax slightly and then she was breathing laboriously but at the same time, it was calmer, and she was asleep. Mercury nor Kamen seemed worried by that, but rather relieved and so Luna stayed where she was, nuzzling every once in awhile into Moon's neck.
When the gasp came, no one was expecting it, but a bolt of dark energy shot down, cutting through Venus' chain much as attacks had cut through Birdie's. Flaming red eyes and a dark dress were all anyone saw before the three women disappeared.
Venus cursed, echoing Jupiter's famous word choices, even Mars had cursed and when Jupiter and Venus used the same saying at the same time, they had looked at each other in awe before Venus blushed the slightest bit and turned to the four still on the ground. "How is she?" Venus managed with a voice thick with an emotion Luna couldn't identify. Where would she have any emotional ties to a girl she never met? Luna had to be imagining the sound to the tone, she was probably just overlaying her own fear in the other girl's words.
"She's getting there." Mercury managed hoarsely as she worked, Kamen was slowly lowering the cape down Moon's side to help Mercury along, and there was only a few stitches left before a bandage would be placed over it.
"I-" Venus hesitated. "This is not at all how I planned this meeting to go. I must leave- until we meet again. I will find you." Venus turned on her heel and disappeared with a leap to the rafters. All of them let her go without trying to stop her, they had more important things to be worrying about.
Luna watched as Mercury finished and then Kamen wrapped his cape, soaked with Moon's blood around her still slightly shivering form and raised her into his arms as he stood. Jupiter had pounced forward to help, but he did it before she could reach his side. He held her tightly to his chest and the firm set of his lips broke no arguments as he turned to leave with the girl. "We should go with you!" Mars exclaimed, as she saw Kamen's intention of leaving them there alone, without Moon. A sudden fear shot through all of them at the idea.
"Only Mercury." His voice was pure gravel. No one had ever heard the tone of his voice like that and Mercury stepped forward to do exactly that. She would not leave her friend, and it was fair it seemed, as she was the brains yes, but also the second oldest senshi in experience, that she should go with them. The two of them jumped up and disappeared into the night with the girl still wrapped in Kamen's arms and protected by his cloak.
Luna wished she could have stayed on Moon's chest during the ride, but she had something else she had to do, no matter how much she wished to push it off. It had only been four days, she had a bone to pick with command about accuracy and true communication. A warning would have been nice in what they were planning and what Command knew. Luna jumped up but took a different path than the previous senshi, and slid into the Crown. Static greeted her every move.
Chapter Twelve
{Part 2}
It was the hardest thing she had ever had to do. Not that it pained her, because it had, immensly, but because she would have to ask him to do it, had to make him hurt her, when that was the last thing he wanted. Her eyes conveyed her request and he'd obeyed, he was as gentle and thorough as he could be but it still hurt, still burned and made her want to black out instantly because of the pain alone. However she kept it together long enough to look him straight in the eye. The message he'd read there, was a swift and firm 'thank you' and then she was lost, falling into his arms, and into oblivion.
So now, as she stirred and the pain at her side with the slightest movement was a reminder of exactly what had happened in the battle. She had been caught by a youma, but the next thing she knew she had a knife wedged deep in her side, slipping into the unknown pink muscled flesh in her stomach, something she had never seen before, nor wanted to see, but knew a lot of blood resided there.
Going in had hurt, and she had let out a traitorous gasp at the pain, it smarted at her eyes, making tears well, but she refused to give these two women what they wanted. She had been battling with herself when she felt herself falling almost just as instantly as when she had been caught. This time however, she fell to her knees and hands, jarring the knife, cutting deeper, wider. She held one hand around the handle, knowing she'd never be able to take it out herself but at the same time, couldn't just leave it in there, it was only doing so much, to stop the blood from gushing out of her side. It still leaked, drizzled down the outside of her thigh and pooled at her knee.
Standing had been difficult, she'd slipped and slided, jarring her side more and her eyes had captured what had saved her, another senshi, dressed radiately in truly bright colors. Her chain glowed just as brightly as it wrapped around the two sisters, burning them where it touched. Moon had no doubt that it didn't need to burn, she knew it just as she knew other strange facts from the past, yet she couldn't recall her own attacks. She was a failure at everything important. The senshi had to step in and save her, claiming to be the real leader of the senshi.
That hurt more than the knife being torn out of her by someone she loved.
She was a senshi, she might not have always been the perfect leader, but she'd come to accept her role as a senshi and had always stepped up to her leadership position with the best of her ability. For someone new, who hadn't even existed before now, in any form or put to any test, to just step in as a senshi, turned like Mars had, and claim responsibility and credit for all that Moon had done, burned. Not that Moon wanted to be recognized for what she'd done, but it was her hard work that had pulled these people together, and how they were as strong and well working as they were. How could another just claim that for their own, and take it away from Moon? But her words seemed to have convinced Luna, and Moon had to accept it as well.
Let the responsibility lie on another's shoulders, be free from the expectations, become one with her friends, no more hidden lines between them. It was actually sounding better to Moon as she thought about it.
She gripped at her side and tried to sit up. She hadn't even opened her eyes, but she knew she was in a bedroom, the bed had been nice and soft and plushy and big. She sank down deep into it and it had been a struggle to get up. She gasped again as the side tore at what was obviously stitches. She was still alive, so it meant that they had at least won the battle. She didn't remember anything after Kamen pulled out the knife.
Venus had seemed angry at the two women and spat out that she was the leader, and would punish them for their presence on Earth. Moon had only vaguely noticed it, but it was directed only at those two, not Luna when she got Venus' attention. Venus had softened considerably.
Moon's eyes opened and she took in the dark room, the bed had a dark blue comforter and she was lying underneath it. The large dark wood door opened at the sound of her pain and there was Kamen, sans top hat, cape and shoes. He padded over to her and gently pushed her back in bed. "Let them heal a little first. Mercury!"
To Moon's utter amazement, Mercury filtered in through the door and worked on Moon's wounds to keep them clean and restitch the ones she tore. Mercury's tone was disapproving. "Really Moonie, can't you ever keep still? This is the third time I've had to fix you up tonight. One would think you just wanted this hunk of a man next to me to see your tight abs over and over again."
The teasing glib was in full-fledged force and Moon relaxed back into the bed. "Whose house are we in?" It didn't look familiar to her at all, but then again, it was only the bedroom, she didn't go into that space that often.
"A friend's." Kamen's voice cut across her conscious and she realized that she admitted that she loved him. No matter how much that had been to herself, it still was there to stare her in the face. Her love for him was complete, it wasn't just a silly crush anymore. He had been there by her side since the first day, and sometimes he was late, just like in a real relationship, and sometimes he was perfect, but this love she had for him could not exist. She wouldn't allow it, she'd push it away as far and as fast as she could. She quickly relocated it to a friendship love that she had with all the girls, it would have pained her to make any of them pull a knife out of her. Just as it would pain her to see him hurt, just like the girls.
She could not feel so strongly about one man, and then admit to herself she loved another at the same time. Choosing between the two, she'd have to choose the one that helped her even though he didn't have to, whereas Kamen for some reason was forced into his role.
"A friend." She agreed lightly and then darkness over-shadowed her again.
When she woke again, she was still in the bed, but she was able to sit up and slide out of it without being noticed. She felt bad for imposing on Kamen and his friend like this and she peaked her head out of the door. It was a long hallway with a few doors branching off of it and she was suddenly hit by deja vu. She wasn't sure, but she thought she's seen this exact hallway before, just from another point of view.
She could see the light from a bigger room without a door just down the way and she started towards it. Mercury was just coming around the corner from another room into that one and she froze seeing her leader standing and not looking like she was in immediate pain. That thought registered the fact that while she was still sore, it was somewhat more bearable. She chocked that up to her fast senshi healing powers. She knew though that she had to be careful of the stitches still, the healing powers healed the deepest part first, so she knew it had to have closed up at least a little by now.
Mercury hesitated, turning towards the sound in the kitchen, before she said something sounding like "I'm just going to check on her."
Moon didn't hear Kamen's reply, but beckoned Mercury to her quietly. Mercury stopped in front of Moon and started forward when Moon had gripped her side because she had leaned towards Mercury too quickly at an odd angle. Moon waved off Mercury's concern and straightened with a grimace, trying not to show the pain on her face as she faced her second, at least, at this moment she was her second. "We need to leave here." Moon told her and Mercury frowned with a very pointed glance at Moon's side. "It'll be fine, but I want to get home and take a shower, and sleep, forever."
Mercury sighed. "What about Kamen?"
"This was very nice of him, and I hope you agree to my opinion now that he's a good guy, one of us at the very least and trustworthy. But he has extended himself too far, and he needs to sleep himself and I hate to be a burden on him much longer."
Mercury began to shake her head and then sighed. "He won't like this, he'll try to stop you. He worries greatly about you. I agree, he definitely has the right intentions towards us."
"He won't have a chance, you should go back out there, I'm going to sneak out of the balcony in the bedroom." Moon pushed the shorter girl away, back towards Kamen, and when Moon saw the pixie style cut disappear into the living room and heard mumbling, Moon went back into the room she had been sleeping in and then slid the glass open so she could run through the streets.
When she was a few blocks away, she returned to her normal form and had to catch herself against a tree as she breathed heavily and put a hand against her wound. Her hand came away again with red staining it. When she glanced down the shirt was bled through as well. She bit her lips against the pain and looked down the street. She couldn't just waltz in through the front the door like this, no matter how late it was.
Her parents probably thought her sleeping already, or going to come home shortly after they went to sleep or sleeping at a friend's. All were norms for her. Usagi thought about calling Makoto or Rei but they was probably already asleep and Usagi had just left one person because she felt like she was a burden, and she wouldn't walk to another after that to just unload herself on another. She would have just stayed with the other two then.
So Usagi took her other option, and with a quick glance towards her side, she did as she had to and ignored the pain slicing through her every movement as she went to the tree outside her house and climbed it. She laid on the branch and caught her breathing until it was settled back to normal. She was so physically drained and she could see her sanctuary just inches from her, she reached out to grab the window sill, it had never been as hard as the first day when she had to first learn this technique after jumping out the window to follow Luna into a battle, and then back, drained and weary and needed to return to her room as if she never left it, but as Usagi instead of as Moon. Luna insisted Usagi learn this, not just Moon.
As Usagi reached for it today, her hand caught the white trim and then slipped, leaving a trail of blood along it in the shape of her fingers. She almost fell out of the tree and her other hand gripped tightly against the tree, trying to stop her fall. She clutched against it for dear life. She waited until some energy returned to her before she tried again. She managed to get her top half over the sill and then pulled herself, flipping her weary body into the room.
She rested there, not moving, she couldn't. She even fell asleep there or rather, dozed. When she woke, startled and in a cold sweat, she realized where she was, and forced herself to her feet. She stumbled into her bathroom and took a wash cloth and wet it and returned to the window to wipe away any evidence that she and Moon could possibly be connected.
Usagi then went back to the bathroom and tore off her clothes, throwing them all in the shower, hoping that while she cleaned herself, her clothes would get there too. She scrubbed her body, she felt like she had sweat out all of her insides during the night. Her body sticked and just felt so heavy and gross.
She rinsed out her hair from the shampoo she'd lathered in it and then tended to her clothes, hanging them to dry over the railing for a little while, they at least dripped clear water, and she could relax. She'd just explain she'd gotten them dirty when she slipped in the fresh snow fall.
She wrapped herself in a dark towel before brushing her teeth and taking the towel away to tend to the now wet bandage on her side. She took off the soaked one and looked at the stitches. They were surprisingly holding up, it was just the center one that had torn away from the flesh and she dug in her medical supplies for the thread she knew was there. She stitched one above, through and below the one she was attending. Then replaced the gauze over her fresh stitches and stuck it onto the newly dried skin.
She dressed in a loose, but warm and comfortable night gown. Then slipped back into her room, and under the comforter, where she slept soundly until almost four the next evening. Luna still hadn't shown, unless she'd come and gone during the night, but Usagi hadn't seen or felt her presence and her nose felt fine, it didn't have cat hair stuck to or around it like it normally did when Luna curled her body around Usagi's face so she couldn't breath.
Usagi wondered also, why she'd been left to sleep so late, knowing her parents though, they probably didn't realize she was home, or had left her in peace because she usually slept kind of late.
It was after all a Sunday, and she'd just had the worst Saturday she'd ever had. They didn't know it, but she exited her room to gather her hopefully now dry clothes and brought them back to her room, throwing them in the hamper as they were stiff now. The house was quiet and she changed slowly, mindful of the still stinging sensation at her side, but it was better than it had been. Her clothes reflected her nightwear in the idea of comfort and warmth and she shoved her feet into a pair of Uggs that she had been sent from a friend in Australia. Uggs to her stood for Ugg-ly, but they were warm, and comfortable.
She walked slowly, not sure where exactly she wanted to go. She knew the girls all wanted to see her, but doubted that they would be hanging around the arcade this late, her usual time was already long past, even when she was running late. But she had the desire to go to the arcade and see Motoki's familiar, unaffected face, not knowing she was injured would be a huge burden off of her shoulders. However when she walked in, his face was resigned as he looked at her, and over her. She wondered who mentioned it, knowing that it would risk their cover.
"What is it Motoki?" She asked casually, sitting down in front of him and leaning towards him, trying to dissuade him into thinking that she really wasn't hurt.
He frowned at her actions and set her back so she would be up right, but didn't make a comment on that. "It's nothing, I just was thinking."
She knew he was lying, and she suddenly had a flash of fear that he knew who she was- but the only way that was possible was if he was- he couldn't be Kamen, that would be the end of her! She laughed to herself at that thought, he was no more likely to be Kamen than Umino. Thankfully that ship had sailed quickly before he latched onto Naru. Usagi's head turned to scan the area for the other set of friends she had, ones that couldn't possibly know-
But there was no luck, they weren't there. She turned back to Motoki, but he looked as if nothing had happened at all, and he didn't comment on her wound, so nobody told him. She had just misjudged his reactions, he might have been pushing her back because of something on the counter, and the look over could have been because of her choice of clothing this morning, particularly her boots.
She relaxed in her stool and ordered a hamburger and a soda. She was in the mood for a greasy American meal and Motoki gladly obliged her. A dark figure sank down into the stool next to her and she turned her head curiously to the newcomer. It wasn't her usual shadow, this one was dressed darkly, but it was off set by the light colored hair, pulled back behind his shoulders, and her eyes found a very familiar pair of blue eyes. She knew this man, knew him only casually and in passing, he had caused her the most issues, disregarding Jade's agreement with her and attacking beyond the confines of the arcade area. Her poor arcade though, it would have suffered greatly in some of the attacks, so she guessed it was all right in the end, everything worked out, but this man should still apologize to Moon for the distress.
He was the only Ite brother not to pair up with a senshi, and she wouldn't be the one to match him. She'd already hooked up with his brother, which caused enough stress on any kind of relationship she would have with him or any of her senshi, but beyond that, and most importantly, there was another, one that had a hold on her heart so completely that it made her fear even messing up in his presence anymore so that he'd walk away from her. But he never did, he'd seen the real her from the start. She knew if he'd just open his eyes, he'd see what she did, a bond between them, though, if he did open his eyes, he might be terrified of the hideous sight in front of him and run screaming.
That was right, she'll admit it out loud (at least in her head) since she was admitting everything else, she liked Mamoru. She wasn't sure where her emotions towards him would go, since they'd had such a rocky start, and their friendship was still a little more strained than she would hope, but she wanted to get her and Mamoru's relationship at least to a point where they could be easy friends, and tell each other (almost) everything and say anything.
That might never happen, but she would tackle this new development first, why one of the Ite brothers would seeking her out, when there was no girl involved that they liked, or socialized with her at all. She smiled politely to the man next to her and he nodded his head in returned greeting.
Usagi pondered if it was because he really hadn't wanted to talk to her, but for another reason all together. Usagi returned to her meal, and ignored his presence, if he wanted to talk to her, he'd have to be the one breaking the silence. She was tired of running, she'd ran after each of her senshi to break into their boxes. Nobody thought she'd had an effort with Makoto, and thankfully she was so easy but there was still something she needed to prove to Makoto before Makoto wanted to be Usagi's friend without hesitation. It was not that she was strong enough, some people would think that. No, she had to prove she wasn't scared of Makoto, and she'd done that by just sitting with her and having a conversation and having trust in her.
Usagi might not have known that Makoto was one of her senshi at the time, and in fact she was just being friendly and thanking the girl for her help earlier, but Makoto had and it was for the beginning simple act that had made this friendship so tight and bonding.
Usagi just put the hamburger in her mouth for the tenth time and was biting down to chew it when the object of her affections walked in the door. Usagi's eyes slid to his movements as he walked towards them and the walk was smooth and purely masculine. Knowing him though, he wouldn't appreciate her ogling, since he never liked being the object of any female's gaze, mentally undressing him had made him self-conscious, even though he didn't show it, but Usagi knew. Also, Usagi wasn't doing anything so shady, she was just appreciating what she could see, not thinking beyond it. That might happen eventually on its own and she wouldn't need to fantasize then. With those thoughts, Usagi blushed and looked back down at her plate. He didn't come sit near her, just rested a hand on her back in greeting before going to another part of the counter and ordering another meal.
Usagi wondered at the distance when she could think past the warm feel of his hand against her back. He seemed distressed about something. She would have to go over and talk to him, but he looked like he was slowly working towards conversation, coming to the arcade was always a good step for Mamoru to work things through. He'd just need a little more time before Usagi launched into all sorts of questions, if he would answer her. He was still pretty elusive about somethings. But Usagi knew a subject that would distract him redilly if he shut down on the subject that he was fretting about. Something he still danced around, him and Ami, it was as if they were trying to spare her feelings about something. Usagi shook her head at that thought, so what? Rei went to a different school than she did, and always will because of the path that she had already been on, but they were still friends, it had taken some work in the beginning, but now Usagi thought they were on a better footing, and were getting really close.
She did question though whether that would all be blown to pieces once Venus took her rightful place as leader of the senshi or if her senshi would fight for Usagi to stay there.
She watched Mamoru put his head into his hands and at that moment, she had taken a bite of her sandwich but rose from her seat at his action, she would go over to comfort him, but as she stood, a pair of thin arms wrapped around her shoulders in a huge hug, but it was also restraining.
Usagi fell backwards and the person tugging her towards them, caught her. Usagi turned her eyes to the one who had caused the slight disruption. Blond hair fell around her and blue eyes peered at her. She thought for just a second she was looking into her own reflection before she started to notice the details.
Another blond? In Tokyo? She supposed it could happen, but it was highly doubtful. This arcade just pulled the strange colors to it and she was skeptical about the likelihood of that. How was it possible the only exceptions to the black hair, brown eyes all gather into an arcade that a blond haired blue eyed guy ran?
Usagi didn't have time to process her other thoughts, as to why this girl had pulled her to her with such a cheerful greeting, for she had squealed as well before launching herself at Usagi. That, and how had she caught her? Usagi was small, yeah, but she still wasn't that light, and a girl her size if not slightly taller but thinner, definitely thinner, Usagi thought as she was pulled away into another pair of arms, shouldn't have been able to catch her. But there had been strength to those arms.
The current pair, encapsulated her fully and were rather warm. She drowsily looked up, but she wasn't surprised or even unsure of who had caught her and the sight greeting her was what she had expected. The black hair fell into his blue eyes as his piercing blue gaze landed on the stranger and Usagi almost felt sorry for the girl. Almost, because the grab had agitated her stitches, luckily though, she didn't think it was bleeding.
The girl almost looked apologetic and she turned her eyes from Mamoru's intense stare to Usagi as if she was curious. "I'm Aino Minako!" She greeted Usagi and held out her hand. "But you can call me Mina-chan."
Usagi eyed the hand as if it were to bite her suddenly, but in the confines of where she wanted to be, she reached out her own hand and shook it. It was a firm shake, and it ended quickly as Minako drew her hand back. There was something funny about her accent and Usagi couldn't put her finger on it. She was too involved with that puzzle to care about much else, but Mamoru had his own questions.
"What are you doing here?" He asked and Usagi's eyes slid up to his strong jaw as his mouth moved. She was staring again and she slashed her eyes back to Minako and focused on the girl's answer.
"I'm here to see Usagi-chan!" Usagi bit her lip, she hadn't introduced herself and Minako was one of the only people to rival her for energy and outgoingness. She reminded her vaguely of someone she had once known at some time. The only difference is, that girl had been more serious in manner but less so in her eyes, Minako was the opposite. She didn't appear as if she was taking anything to heart, while her eyes told her she was calculating everything.
"I got that, but she doesn't seem to know you. You just attacked her when her back was turned to her."
"I didn't attack her." The humor disappeared from her voice. The blue eyes narrowed to chips and Usagi suddenly realized where she knew the girl was from. She'd only seen her for a brief moment but the tone struck a cord in Usagi's dazed brain. She had been there the night before, and Usagi knew exactly what role the girl had played. Usagi forced her way out of the band of steel keeping her against the hard chest, she and the girl needed to talk and talk in private, now!
Usagi managed to get Mamoru to let her go, she promised him that it would be alright with her eyes and her words, much like she had communicated with Kamen last night, they seemed to understand each other by eye contact alone. She knew who the other girl was, and that conveyed as well.
Usagi grabbed Minako's hand but as they headed for the door the last Ite brother was standing in their way. "I'm Kunz-" He started but Minako just huffed and walked pushed past him, pulling Usagi along now and Usagi for the first time was surprised. None of her senshi had reacted quite that way. Yeah Makoto had been shy and still was with Neph, and Jade and Rei fought, but they had liked each other from the start. All of them had, Ami and Zoi were the most instantaneous. If Venus wasn't to end with Kunz, then what was the deal?
Usagi's eyes slid back to Mamoru who was sitting again with his head in his hands, but there was a line of tension in his body that wasn't there before. She had the greatest suspicion she was the cause for that new problem in his mind.
She and Minako walked down the street a ways before they entered a quiet district, and headed into the local cafe. "So you know who I am?" Minako asked, and Usagi nodded in response. "Very good. I'm impressed. I only knew because I was told. Our disguises are good, but how did you figure it out?"
"Not many people come up to me so forcefully." Usagi admitted and flashed a smile. "That, and your tone just then, when Mamoru accused you of attacking me, it reminded me of your other self. Even if I was in severe pain, I know my senshi." Her voice became a whisper for that last sentence, but Minako heard it for she nodded along.
"Right, gotcha, except for one thing, they're not yours."
"They have been, excuse my possession of them, I have spent so much time with them, that they feel like mine, and I'm sure soon you will feel the same way, beyond just knowing that they're yours, you'll feel it deeply like I do too."
"See, here's the thing, this is why I wanted to come up to you and talk to you alone first, before I introduced myself to the other girls. I've been watching you, and I knew you'd be there when I arrived, because I followed you there."
"Why?" Usagi frowned.
"I knew, don't worry, it isn't that you messed up or anything, I had other sources. I had to follow you though, because I wanted to see your game. I realize now that you are just an innocent in all of it. So for that, I apologize, what I am going to tell you is going to hurt. You weren't a senshi in the past. You were never supposed to exist as one here."
The words did hurt, it dropped Usagi where she sat with the other girl. The floor opened up and swallowed her falling stomach, what did this all mean for her? She was told so much in just one line, but nothing else got answered and now there were so many more questions.
Usagi pushed away from the table and the chair scrapped as she found her feet and she was out of the cafe. Minako tried to follow her, but nobody had her speed, not even in human form. She found herself panting in the park, her air was constricted but not because of the run, but because of all the questions circling her head.
She didn't exist in the past. She wasn't supposed to be Sailor Moon now. She lost all of her senshi, she wasn't even a part of them anymore. She wasn't the leader. She had done something horrible. Taking over the senshi? Letting them go? Forcing herself to be a part of it? What had she done, what is it that caused her to be stricken from the records as if she never existed? Or... Usagi started to calm down at this thought, was she stricken from the records so nobody would attack her when she was no longer a senshi? That once Minako came to take her rightful place, that she was free from the senshi business for good? Six months ago, she would have cheered, she would have bowed down and kissed Minako's feet for the good news.
Now... now she hated the thought. She wouldn't be stricken from the records just because she was no longer a senshi. She would fight along side of them. That's probably why she didn't exist in the future, because she hadn't fought with them, taking the coward's way out, loosing the fact that she was even a senshi.
Venus could refuse her entry into their league and then Moon would be on her own, much like Mars had been, but Usagi refused to be told she couldn't be a senshi, end of story, it wouldn't happen, she was the first one, and she would remain one as long as the others did.
Her 'death' slash nonexistence in the future wasn't because of any actual death, it couldn't be, she was changing the future right now. It wouldn't be the same, no one would predict her life. Koan especially, she had no baring on her life, Usagi would create her own destiny.
Usagi firmed her stance and her resolve. A hand reached out and touched her shoulder and she turned quickly, ready to fight, but the person she saw was somebody she launched herself at in a very different way. She wrapped her arms around his torso and stayed there, his arms around her shoulders in a loose embrace, comforting and he didn't ask her to explain what had happened, and for that she was thankful. Today they were both being elusive with their thoughts and experiences.