Disclaimer: I am afraid that I do not own Sailor Moon. I do, however, own some of the hilarious situations that they get themselves into. Read and enjoy!

I know, I know, it's been a VERY long time! My goal, however is to update at least once a week, hopefully more. Hopefully, this will make up for the long delay, because this is a chapter that will set up most of the rest of the story, and it's… interesting…

By the way, some of the "workings" in a hospital are unknown to me, so, while some of the methods that go on in this story may not actually go on in a hospital, it's not really that important to the overall story.

Oh yeah, and don't worry: there's plenty more to come!

The Sailor Senshi Rise Again:

Chapter 8: Who Are You…?

Ami's mother set to work, threading the needle through the gash in Haruka's head. Everyone watched cautiously. Michiru was still holding onto Haruka's hand, and Setsuna was patting Hotaru on the back. It went on like this for about an hour, then, Ami's mother stood back and admired her work. "Ami," she instructed, "get me some bandages. We'll have to wrap this up for the bone to set properly." Ami ran over to the cabinet, rummaged through it for only a second, and then ran back over to her mother, with gold bandages that matched Haruka's hair exactly. Ami's mother quickly thanked Ami, and then set to work wrapping the bandage around Haruka's head. In a few minutes, she was finished. She walked over to the sink, threw away her gloves, placed the needle in the sink, and then washed her hands.

Michiru walked over to Ami's mother, and shook her hand. "Thank you so much," she whispered gratefully, tears starting in her eyes.

"No problem," Ami's mom said, patting Michiru's hand. "Now," she said, briskly walking back over to Haruka's bed, where Minako was stirring, "she's going to need a blood transfusion. Does anyone know what type she has?"

"B," Michiru said instantly. Everyone looked at her. "What?" Michiru asked defensively.

"How did you know that?" Rei asked.

"Haruka told me…" Michiru muttered.

Everyone stared at Michiru, who was intently keeping her gaze on the floor. Then, Ami's mother spoke up, "Even though you seem sure, I'll have to do a blood test, just to be safe." Ami's mother pulled out a cloth from the cabinet next to the bed then wiped some of the blood off Haruka's forehead. "Wait here, girls," she instructed. "I'll have to go sample this. It should only take a few minutes." With that, Ami's mother left the room.

"Why would Haruka tell you that?" Setsuna asked gently.

Michiru said nothing, only shrugged and continued to look at the floor.

This went on for a few minutes, everyone looking back and forth between Haruka and Michiru. Ami's mother eventually returned, and, looking straight at Michiru said, "You're right."

"Creeper…" Usagi joked. Everyone laughed. Setsuna patted Michiru on the back too, who eventually began to laugh, but had started to after everyone had stopped, causing her to fade out, but for everyone else to start laughing again.

"Anyway," Ami's mother began once everyone had stopped with their foolishness, "we need someone with her blood type, because the hospital is low."

"Really?" Ami asked in disbelief. "But I thought that the hospital had a constant supply."

"Unfortunately, we don't." Ami's mother looked at each girl in turn. "Does anyone here have her blood type? Or at least O?"

Everyone looked at each other, then, Makoto slowly raised her hand. "I have O," she declared.

Ami's mother nodded. "Good. Could we use your blood? Are you willing to donate?" Makoto nodded. "Alright, we just need a parent or guardian's permission, and we can get started."

"Uh…" Makoto looked at the ground. "My parents are…. well…"

"Mom," Ami said gently, "Makoto's parents died in a plane crash."

"Oh. I'm very sorry to hear that. Excuse me." Ami's mother patted Makoto's shoulder.

"That's okay." Makoto looked up and gave a small smile. "I live on my own, so I don't really have anyone responsible for me."

"Well… As long as you give permission, I suppose that will do." Ami's mother indicated the bed next to Haruka's. "Please get comfortable. I'd like to begin immediately. With all of the blood that's she's lost, it would be best if we gave her some right away."

"Of course." Makoto jumped into the bed. Everyone spread out the stools so that they encompassed both beds.

"What'd I miss?" Minako said in a woozy voice, still recovering from her fainting spell. She slowly eased herself up onto her stool. "Why was I on the floor?"

"We'll tell you later. Try not to pass out next time," Makoto said, laughing.

"Hopefully, nothing like this WILL happen again," Michiru said quietly. She took a seat next to Haruka and took her hand again.

Ami's mother set up the blood transfer machine, then inserted the tubes into Makoto's and Haruka's arms. "Do I have to go through all of the procedures, or have you given blood before?" she asked, still intently focused on setting up the machine.

"Yes, I've given," Makoto explained. "I gave some blood to a friend once."

"Alright then. Let's get started." Ami's mother turned the machine on, which immediately began pumping blood out of Makoto, who was now slowly getting paler. Meanwhile, the machine quickly treated the blood so the unconscious Haruka could receive it directly. It worked for only a few minutes, and then suddenly stopped humming. The room became eerily quiet. Then, Ami's mother said quietly, "Okay, we're done. Do you feel lightheaded at all?"

Makoto nodded. Her skin was much paler than it had been only a few minutes ago, and there were bags under her eyes. "Is Haruka gonna be okay?" She asked weakly.

"Yes. But she'll have to stay at the hospital for a week to rest. It was very close, but that donation really was a life-saver. Thank you." Ami's mother began to remove the tubes from Makoto's and Haruka's arms.

"Makoto," Michiru said quietly. Makoto turned toward her. "If Haruka was awake, I'm sure that she'd say 'thank you' as well."

Makoto smiled. "If she were awake, I'd tell her it was no problem."

Once Ami's mother had finished packing the machine away, she turned to Makoto and said, "You'll have to stay overnight, I'm afraid. You look too tired to stand, let alone walk home. Don't worry," she said quickly, seeing the look on Makoto's face, "the hospital's not that bad. I work all-nighters all the time. You just rest up here, and then we'll let you go home in the morning."

"Alright. I guess it won't be too—"

Haruka suddenly groaned. Everyone turned to face her, and Michiru squeezed her hand tightly. Haruka opened her eyes, looked around the room, and then asked, "What's going on? Where am I?"

Michiru answered. "You're in the hospital Haruka. You slammed your head on the counter and started bleeding profusely. It took us a while, but we eventually got you to the hospital. So don't worry, you'll be okay." Michiru patted Haruka's hand.

Haruka slowly pulled her hand away. Then, she asked, "Who are you? And why are you patting my hand?"

Everyone gasped. Michiru laughed nervously, and then said, "It's me, Michiru."

Haruka looked thoroughly confused. "I have no idea who you are."

Everyone stared. Then, Hotaru spoke up, "Haruka, this isn't funny. We thought that you were going to die. You would have if we hadn't gotten you to the hospital and if Makoto hadn't donated blood. This isn't the time for jokes."

Haruka looked annoyed as well as confused now. "I'm not joking. I don't know who you are," she pointed to Michiru, "or you," she pointed to Hotaru, "or this 'Makoto' person either. What's going on?"

Michiru began to twitch again. Her eyes bulged out of her head, and she began to sweat.

"Another panic attack?" Minako asked again, unconcerned. Setsuna nodded.

"You seem to have a lot of these," Rei observed.

"Only when my best friend doesn't remember who I am," Michiru said angrily, regaining control of herself.

"Yeah. And when you're lost. And when your 'best friend' gets a paper cut. And—" Usagi began.

"SHUT UP!" Michiru shouted, losing control. She attempted to punch Usagi in the face, but was held back by Minako, Rei, and Ami.

Setsuna turned to Ami's mother. "Do you know what's going on?" she asked as Hotaru questioned Haruka, who shook her head after every question.

Ami's mother nodded. "I believe so. Let me explain." She turned to face everyone. "Everyone! Please let me have your attention! I'm going to explain what's going on!" Everyone reluctantly turned to face her, though Ami, Rei, and Minako kept a firm grip on Michiru. "You see, traumatic head injuries can sometimes result in temporary amnesia."

"How long is 'temporary'?" Michiru asked, shaking off Ami, Rei and Minako.

"It depends. It could be only a few days, or it could be weeks."

"WHAT?" Michiru screamed. Everyone flinched. "What does it depend on?"

Ami's mother looked at Haruka, who still looked thoroughly confused. "It depends on events that are taking place right now. If we can determine how much memory she's lost, then we can try to replicate events that happened after that, to try and jog her memory. Most likely, the more powerful and vivid the memory is to Haruka, the more likely it is that she'll remember things sooner."

"Okay," Setsuna said, nodding. "How do we determine how far back this amnesia goes?"

"Well she doesn't know me, so it must be very far back, at least a year," Michiru said.

"Why don't we just ask her what the last thing she remembers is?" Hotaru asked. Everyone looked at her and Setsuna said, "That's brilliant, Hotaru! Let's do that."

Michiru turned toward Haruka, and said, "Haruka, I know you're confused right now, and have no idea what's going on, but could you please tell us what the last thing you remember is?"

Haruka looked at her suspiciously. Then, she closed her eyes, concentrating. "I think," she began slowly, "the last thing I remember is that I had just been in the middle of a race. I'd just had this weird vision, with someone talking to me, but I can't remember who it was or what is was about. I had just talked to this girl that I was racing against. Uh… Elsa Gray I think her name was."

Michiru gasped in recognition. "I know exactly when she lost her memory." Everyone looked at her.

"When?" Setsuna asked.

"The race against Elsa Gray. That was the race right before I met her." Michiru thought some more. "After the race, Elsa introduced me to her."

"Okay. So step one is to get Haruka to race against Elsa Gray," Rei instructed.

"She's not going to be able to walk for a few days, let alone race someone," Ami said.

"Okay, we'll do that later. What happened after that, Michiru?" Rei asked.

Michiru thought. "Well, I had this violin recital on a ship that she came to watch…"

"After only just meeting you? Wow." Usagi wolf-whistled.

"Not now Usagi," Rei said impatiently. "Then what happened, Michiru?" she asked gently, shaking her shoulder. Michiru tore her gaze away from Usagi, and continued.

"Well, we talked… about um… stuff…" Everyone raised their eyebrows, but Michiru shook her head. "Not THAT kind of stuff. You know… um…"

Ami seemed to realize something. "Hey, Mom? Do you think you could go get some juice for Makoto and Haruka? They probably need it from all of this blood loss."

Ami's mother nodded. "Of course." She briskly departed the room.

Ami quickly turned to Michiru. "Were you talking about Sailor Senshi stuff?"

Michiru nodded. "We talked about how it was our destiny, and how I'd already accepted the fact, but Haruka was still running away from her fate."

Usagi rolled her eyes. "Destiny? Fate? This sounds like a little kid show's plotline."

Rei sighed. "Usagi, I mean it. Shut up."

Setsuna turned to Haruka. "Haruka, do you know who you truly are?"

Haruka looked puzzled, and then said, "I'm Haruka Tenou, a racecar driver. Actually, I have a race in four days!"

"Well you're going to be in the hospital for at least a week, so I wouldn't count on that," Ami's mother said, reappearing into the room with a jug of orange juice and two paper cups, which she set down on the counter in between the two beds.

"WHAT!" Haruka shouted. "But I can't miss this race. Or any race. Racing is my passion!"

"I'm sorry. But if you want to get better, you'll have to wait. You wouldn't be able to drive a racecar in this condition, so you're better off just taking a break. Think of it as a vacation," Ami's mother suggested as she began to pour some juice for Haruka.

Haruka took the cup from her, drank some, and made a face. "Why would I take a vacation from something that's my passion?"

Ami's mother appeared not to have heard her. Instead, she turned to face everyone else in the room. "I'm afraid that visiting hours are over." Everyone groaned. "I'm sorry, but you can come back and visit her first thing in the morning."

Everyone reluctantly stood up, then, wishing Haruka luck, slowly departed the room. Michiru crossed back over to Haruka's bed, looked her straight in the eyes, and said, "Don't worry, Haruka. We'll get your memory back, I promise."

Haruka looked at her strangely. "Yeah, I guess…"

Michiru looked down at the ground. Makoto spoke up. "Hey, Michiru," Michiru looked at her. "Don't worry! She'll be better in no time! I'll bet you that she'll be her old self again by tomorrow. I'll help remind her. Just leave it to me!" Michiru nodded and smiled. She looked at Haruka once more, and then departed.

Ami's mother refilled (or in Makoto's case, filled) both cups, and handed one each to Haruka and Makoto. "Well, I'll have to be going now. I have other patients that need my attention. Just call me if you two need anything."

"We will. Thank you, Dr. Mizuno," Makoto said, taking the cup and smiling. Ami's mother walked briskly through the door.

Makoto situated herself in the bed more comfortably. She turned to Haruka and said, "Well, looks like we're going to be here awhile. Why don't you tell me about yourself?"

Haruka eyed Makoto suspiciously. "You sound like you're trying to pick me up. Besides, I don't even know you, let alone trust you. Why should I?"

Makoto sighed. "Just curious. Plus, I want to help you get your memory back. Believe it or not, I am your friend, you just can't remember." When Haruka continued to look at her suspiciously, Makoto sighed again. "Look, I'll tell you about myself if you tell me about yourself. Deal?" Makoto held out her hand, which Haruka eyed for a moment before shaking. "Let's see… My name's Makoto Kino and I'm in high school. I love to cook and am really good at fighting. I've fought YOU actually."

Haruka looked stunned. "Well… Who won?"

"Uh… Let's just say that it was an even match," Makoto stuttered, looking away.

"Yeah right. I beat you easily, didn't I?"

"Hmpf. You sound like your old self already," Makoto muttered. Haruka laughed. "Now, a deal's a deal. Tell me about yourself. What do you remember?"

Haruka thought awhile. "Well… My name's Haruka Tenou and I'm in high school too. I'm good at most sports, but what I really love is racing." Haruka frowned. "I can't believe she won't let me race. I'm perfectly fine." And, before Makoto could protest, Haruka stood up. "See, nothing to…ugh…" Haruka started to tip forward. Makoto jumped out of her bed, and slowly eased Haruka back onto her bed. Before Haruka could thank her, Makoto turned very pale, ran over to her bed, and collapsed onto it. After a moment, Haruka thanked her, "Thanks. I guess I'm not fine yet. You okay?"

Makoto was taking slow, deep breaths. "Yeah yeah, I'm fine." She cleared her throat. "Anything else?"

Haruka shook her head. "Not that I can remember." She paused. "But you said you would help remind me, right? So what else do I need to remember?"

Makoto thought. "Well, you know that ice under your butt?"

Haruka shifted. "Yeah, what about it? Is this even relevant?"

"Yeah yeah. Michiru put it there."

Haruka looked confused. "What do you mean? Why?"

Makoto laughed. "Your butt was bruised, and Michiru's your 'special friend'."

Haruka looked at Makoto as if she were crazy. "What do you mean, my 'special friend'?"

Makoto looked embarrassed and said, "Never mind. Forget I even brought it up."

Haruka shook her head. "Well, I'm pretty beat. I'm gonna go to sleep. Goodnight…. Lita?"

"Makoto."

"Right. Goodnight Makoto." Haruka instantly fell asleep.

"This is gonna be a challenge," Makoto muttered to herself before falling into a deep sleep herself.