SOUL MATES
Chapter 12: "Resolved"
A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

With Pallas astride his neck, the dragon gained altitude until he was over the trees of the dense forests of the northern part of Chikubu Island, then shot forward toward the south side. He slithered through the air, much the way a snake would slither across a patch of ground, but at such a great speed that the island seemed to blur. Pallas noticed none of this, for awareness was a straightforward thing for her and she was focused on the billowing cloud of black smoke coming from the south of the island.

She had sensed Vesta's surprise and alarm through the telepathic link she had with her sisters, Vesta most of all. Now she sensed nothing. Was it because she was too far away, or had tragedy claimed her family and friends?

As the dragon flew, CDP drones sped by them, headed for the source of the explosion and fire. The dragon noticed them, and was certain they had noticed him, but sped on because his over-riding concern was for Pallas.

"She's OK!" Pallas exclaimed suddenly. "Vesta is OK!"

The dragon continued on. Reaching the cove where he had met the female dragon and the other Senshi, he and Pallas could see the burning wreckage of what had once been a human water craft. It was beached on the grassy bank of the lake, consumed by a fire that was even now being extinguished by Sailor Juno with her water powers and the CDP drones using chemical flame retardant. The other Senshi were huddled back from the wreckage. The dragon flew to them, getting close enough so Pallas could dismount.

"Pallas!" Vesta gasped with relief.

"What happened?" Pallas cried. "Pallas heard you all the way on the other side of the island! Is everyone OK?"

"Somebody in a water craft charged us from the lake," Ceres explained. "It must have been loaded with some explosive, because it blew up the minute it hit the bank." She expelled a breath and Pallas sensed her anxiety. "Fortunately Saturn was able to erect her Silence Wall to protect us from the blast. Then Juno contained it. He must have been crazy!"

"He was probably hunting dragons," scowled Vesta, staring back at the smoldering wreckage littering the bank.

Everybody turned when they noticed the dragon ease over to the edge of the forest from the clearing. They remembered that was where the female was.

"You are injured," he said, though they saw nothing. Then the female came out from behind its cloak of invisibility.

"I was burned by debris from the crash," she replied bitterly. "More evidence of how dangerous it is to associate with humans."

"I grieve for your wounds," he told her. "But please don't let it harden your heart against the humans. They are not all alike."

"Now I will have to find new shelter," she fumed. "AND tend to my wounds. A plague upon these . . .!"

"Um," Saturn began shyly, inching forward. "If you're hurt, I can help you." She swallowed. "If you'll let me."

The female eyed Saturn suspiciously.

"You can trust them," the male assured her.

Silently he gestured Saturn forward. Approaching, she noticed the burn on the dragon's soft underside. Saturn put down her glaive and held her hands up, splayed, so the female could see she had no weapons. As she approached, her hands began to glow with a violet hue. When the energy touched the burn, the female sucked in air. She looked down and saw the burn recede, even as she felt the pain dissipate. Moments later, Saturn took her hands away and the female found that the burn was gone.

"You see?" the male said. "Sometimes it pays to trust."

"I," she began, staring at him in amazement. Then she turned to Saturn. "Thank you."

"I was happy to do it," Saturn smiled.

With the fire out, the drones turned and approached the two dragons.

"Unidentified life organisms detected," the drones said in unison. "Please identify yourselves. Once identity is confirmed, a statement on this incident is required."

"Oh for . . .!" huffed Sailor Moon. She pulled out her PDA and began typing on it. After a few moments, the drones rose into the air and returned to the crash site as if the dragons didn't exist. Ceres turned to Sailor Moon and silently questioned her. "I hacked their systems and erased the dragon portions of this incident from their registries. The last thing we need is CDP finding out there's ANOTHER dragon in the area."

"And your dad's OK with that?" Ceres asked.

"I doubt it," grumbled Sailor Moon, "so he doesn't have to know." She caught the disapproving stare from Ceres. "Don't give me that look."

"Fine," huffed Ceres, turning away. "I'll see what I can do about restoring the damage on this bank." She walked over to the crash site and threw out some seeds. "Floral Stimulation!" Instantly grass begin to grow in the burned areas, as well as native flowers along the edge of the bank.

"Um, Sailor Moon," Juno spoke up. "Sounds like the locals are coming to investigate the crash." Sailor Moon turned and found a group of locals and tourists headed for the clearing, along with several CDP officers. The two dragons slipped behind their cloaks of invisibility.

"Sailor Moon!" one of the officers remarked with surprise as several of the locals gasped and buzzed among themselves. "What happened here?"

"As far as we can piece together, a man loaded a water craft full of some explosive and rammed this cove with it," Sailor Moon replied.

"Do you know why?" the officer asked as the other two officers went to tend to what remained of the body in what remained of the craft.

"No," she answered, "but if I had to guess, I think he saw the recent vid-stream from this area and was determined to eliminate the 'dragon threat'."

The crowd continued to murmur, until Sailor Moon turned to them.

"This is what happens when you allow fear and paranoia to rule your life," she told them. "The dragon meant no harm to anyone, and had left besides. He was no danger to anyone. The danger is succumbing to fear and hysteria. That fear claimed a man's life. Please don't follow his example. Live your life dedicated to helping, not destroying. Please."

Saturn and the Amazons watched as Sailor Moon's words, combined with the gruesome image sitting on the bank of the lake, impacted the crowd. The people looked at each other and slowly began to break up, returning to the resort nearby. In minutes, with the aid of the drones, the body and wreckage were taken by CDP for forensic examination. Her Senshi gathered around Sailor Moon.

"Pretty speech," Vesta said. "Hope it works."

"I think it will," Ceres added. "Sounded a little familiar, too."

"Yeah," chuckled Saturn. "Sounded just like her mom."

"Oh, knock it off," grumbled Sailor Moon.

By this time, they all noticed Pallas had wandered back to where the dragons were cloaked. The male uncloaked and bent down to Pallas.

"Pallas doesn't want you to go," Pallas said, tears sprouting again, "but she knows you have to. Pallas wishes Mr. Dragon-Sir didn't have to live in a place he doesn't like."

"It will be temporary, Pallas," the dragon told her. "I may grow to like that spot. And if I don't, my old habitat will grow back in a season or two and I will just return there." He seemed to smile, his sharp teeth making Vesta nervous. "And your promised visits will brighten up the most dour of spots. You will remember, won't you?"

"OH YES!" Pallas exclaimed. "Pallas will visit Mr. Dragon-Sir whenever she can! She promises and she'll never break that promise, hope to die!"

"Your word will be enough," the dragon said, nuzzling against Sailor Pallas. "Blood vows are not necessary."

As the dragon began to rise up into the air, the female suddenly came out from behind her cloak.

"Wait, please," she said. The male and Pallas turned to her curiously. "If I may ask you, where have you relocated?"

"A spot on the north point of the island," he replied.

"Do you not fear the blow of the north winds?" she asked.

"It cannot be helped," he told her. "And as I said, it may only be for one season. I shall endure. But your concern is appreciated."

"Um," the female began haltingly, "well, since - - as you say - - it may only be for one season," and as she struggled, no one noticed Pallas's eyes grow wide, "perhaps you, well, could stay here after all. As a favor to your friends, out of gratitude for their kindness in healing me," and they all noticed her beginning to breath harder and avoid eye contact, "and for their noble thoughts and deeds. And, perhaps, I could - - learn - - from your experience - - and wisdom. If you are willing to teach me - - a-and if you are still inclined toward this spot . . ."

"I accept your generosity in the spirit it was given," the male said gently. A thrill passed through the female.

"Thank you, Miss Dragon-Ma'am!" Pallas exclaimed. "That was so nice!" She grinned devilishly. "And Pallas hopes you and Mr. Dragon-Sir have lots and lots of babies."

"B-Babies?" sputtered the female. "It's not - - I didn't - - f-foolish human! It was a gesture of charity and NOTHING MORE!"

But Pallas only walked back to the other Senshi with a smug look on her face. And if a dragon could blush, the female would be doing so at that moment. The male struggled not to laugh.

Back at the cabins, the teens were preparing to bed down for the evening. They would fly back to Crystal Tokyo in the morning. And yet, they were too keyed up to sleep just yet. Jun was determined to get in one more swim before they had to leave. Cere was sitting on the step of one cabin, idly talking to a patch of lilacs that had grown next to the step. Palla-Palla headed straight for bed, because this was way past her bedtime, while Usa and Hotaru sat on the step of the other cabin and watched the lake at night while sipping fruit juice.

Palla-Palla had just finished brushing her teeth. Outfitted in her footed bunny pajamas, the teen headed for bed. But she stopped when she noticed Ves in the doorway.

"Ves-Ves is worried about Palla-Palla," the teen observed.

"Wish you'd stop doing that," grunted Ves. She softened immediately. "So, um, are you OK with how things went down?"

Palla-Palla thought a moment. "Palla-Palla is glad nobody got hurt badly," then she thought, "except for the man in the water boat. She wishes he hadn't gotten hurt. But Mr. Dragon-Sir is fine now and he's with Miss Dragon-Ma'am. And Palla-Palla thinks they'll be very happy together, because Miss Dragon-Ma'am thinks he's cool and likes him a lot."

"So you're OK with that?"

"Yes. Why wouldn't Palla-Palla be OK with that?"

"Well," stammered Ves, "I thought - - well, at first, I kind of thought - - that . . ."

"You thought Palla-Palla was in love with Mr. Dragon-Sir?"

Ves looked away. "Yeah."

"Palla-Palla likes Mr. Dragon-Sir a lot," Palla-Palla tried to explain, "but she didn't want to get married and have babies with him."

"I'm not sure you could," Ves snorted.

"Mr. Dragon-Sir is a special friend," the teen smiled. "Palla-Palla can tell him anything and she knows he'll understand. Other people don't always understand, even if they're your friend." She thought a moment. "It's sort of like how the Princess and Miss Hotaru-Ma'am are. We're friends with them. But they're 'friends-friends'." Palla-Palla grimaced. "Does Ves-Ves understand? Palla-Palla's not too good at explaining things."

"Yeah, I think I got it," Ves murmured. "Well, good for you. It's good that you can find someone like that in your life," and she snorted again, "even if he's a twenty foot tall lizard. I got to admit, you had me worried."

"Palla-Palla is sorry for worrying you, Ves-Ves," Palla-Palla said, walking slowly up to her sister.

"It's OK," Ves grinned, Palla-Palla just inches away now. "I worry so you don't have to."

"Thank you," she chirped. Then she sprang up and kissed Ves on the cheek. "Night Night!" and she scampered, giggling, into bed.

"Good night," Ves sighed, but the smile wouldn't come off her face.

Outside, Hotaru and Usa continued to watch the lake shimmer by moonlight.

"Oh, I hope that solves everything," Usa sighed. "I kind of liked that dragon. He's a lot more intelligent than some people I've met."

"I think so," Hotaru replied. "From what you told me, he's had a lot of experience not making people nervous."

"Yeah," Usa said. "Sort of ruined the vacation, though."

"That's the life of a warrior for love and justice," Hotaru smirked. Usa flashed her a return smirk.

"Too bad, too. I was really hoping to use this trip to get closer to the others, too. Guess I'm still 'Princess' and not 'Usa'."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Hotaru observed. "Usa, they like you. And just as important, they respect you. They follow you out of respect, not because it's their job. Just because you're not as close to the asteroids as your mom is to the Inner Senshi doesn't mean you're a failure."

"That's not why I did it!" protested Usa.

"Uh huh," Hotaru smirked.

"It's not!"

Hotaru gave her a cynical look.

"Oh, you're so smart!" huffed the Princess. She glanced over at Helios, who was sitting in a lotus position by the porch rail, in a light trance as he monitored the dreaming. "Helios, help me out here!"

"I can offer no defense against the truth, Maiden," Helios murmured distantly. Usa stuck her tongue out at him while Hotaru giggled. Just then, Usa's Senshi Communicator signaled. As Usa moved to answer, she noticed Cere and Hotaru tense.

"Pop?" Usa exclaimed. "Is something wrong?"

"No, dear," the King said and the others sagged with relief. "I just saw the recordings from the CDP drones on the incident on Chibuku Island. You and your group handled that as well as could be expected. It's really disheartening about the man in the water craft. Just when you think you've gotten through to everybody, something like this happens."

"Mom upset?" Usa asked.

"Of course," Endymion replied. "But she was very pleased to hear what you said to the citizens there. She's asked Luna to release it to the media and post it on the palace website."

"If she has to," Usa sighed, though deep down she was thrilled. "We'll be heading home tomorrow, Pop."

"Be prepared for an unusually hearty bear hug from your mother," Endymion cautioned her. "She's very proud of you."

"Maybe I can sneak in the back," chuckled the Princess. Her father gave her a knowing smile. "Well, I have to get some sleep. See you tomorrow, Pop."

"Oh, Usa. One more thing," the King said. Usa looked at him curiously. "Don't ever hack a CDP drone and alter its recording logs. See you tomorrow." And he signed off. Usa sat on the step, stunned for a moment and blushing ever so slightly. Then she noticed Hotaru chuckling beside her.

"What are you laughing at?" the girl huffed.

END