Disclaimer: I do Not Own Sailor Moon or Gundam Wing. As fervently as I wish I did. So don't sue, because all you'd be getting anyway is the lint in my pockets. I do however, own this plot, and I am very proud of it! So no stealing! :)

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Fuseiseki : Failure

Chapter Five : The Power Within

...

Dinner was quiet, for the most part. There was the moment she had arrived, to see Wufei chasing Duo around the large table with a katana. Quatre had broken them up. She noticed Hiiro did not join them. She supposed it was better that way. He made her uneasy in a way she couldn't explain. She didn't need any distractions.

Usagi learned at dinner that Fire and Wind had been called away on some business, and would be returning to speak with her as soon as they were able. She took it all in stride. She was not stupid enough to think that the people who had taken her in were not suspicious of her. It mattered little. She'd be gone tonight. And even if she had decided to tell them the truth... she doubted they'd take the story that she was a thousand year old deity in stride.

When dinner was finished, she expressed that she was tired, and Duo offered to take her to her room. She reached out for his hand automatically, one last time. As they moved down the hallway after climbing the stairs, he pointed out to her each of their rooms. The first was Quatre's on the left, followed by Trowa's and then Duo's. On the right, was Wufei's, her own, and Hiiro's. Interesting how they had caged her in. She wondered if some part of them knew she did not intend to stay. Or perhaps none of them had the heart to occupy Iria's room.

When they got to the door, she looked up into Duo's eyes. He was startled by the sudden change in her demeanor, for she had grown very quiet. "Arigatou, for walking me to my room, Duo-kun." Why was it so hard? To leave them? It was tearing her in two already.

"Your welcome babe." He said with his signature smile, he reached up and brushed his unruly bangs out of his eyes. "Are you okay, Usa?'

She smiled because she had to. "I'm fine." She squeezed his hand, and because she had to, because she needed to, jumped into his arms for a hug. Her arms did not reach all the way around him, but she buried her face in his chest. He returned it after some hesitation, but before he could say anything, she pulled away. "Goodnight Duo." She said softly, and opened the door to her room without turning away, disappearing inside and closing it behind her with a soft click.

Once inside, she leaned against the door for support, and willed the bad feeling in her chest to go away. "Goodbye." It was a soft whisper. This was the right thing to do. She was saving them, wasn't she? Then why did it feel so wrong?

She moved to the bed and removed her sandals, laying above the covers. She would have to wait until all was quiet, to make her move. It was best they come for in the morning and simply find her gone. She hoped they didn't search for her.

She had not meant to, but in the quiet of her room, she dozed off, waiting for her moment.

...

"Come to me..." The voice was overpowering. It promised warmth, love, anything she wanted if she obeyed. She walked the dark streets, coming to stop before a large tree in Winner Park. He was there. He was waiting.

She couldn't scream when her body started moving of it's own accord. Couldn't stop him from taking her. She had made it so easy. Too easy. In the waters of the lake the tree stood next to her eyes glew a brilliant red. And a voice that was not her own, too cold, too dark, issued form her lips.

"I'm waiting for you Serenity." She couldn't scream. She wished she'd never come here, never heard that voice. It was too late. She couldn't scream.

...

Usagi awoke with a gasp. A girl. he had taken a little girl. He'd let her see it with her own eyes. She knew it was bait, knew it was a bad idea, but the innocent soul cried out to her. She had to go now.

She rushed through tying the black sneakers on her feet, and moved to the balcony, opening the swinging doors as quietly as she was able. She had to hurry. The drop to the gardens below was daunting. She hesitated at the edge of the balcony for only a second, and jumped.

She landed crouched on the soft grass of the gardens, and no longer had her feet touched the floor, than she ran. Ran for all she was worth, towards the cry of the small one's soul.

She did not see the eyes of Prussian blue in the dark, watching her descent with rapt interest. Was so focused, that she did not see him follow her, taking the 10 foot drop himself, easily, and landing with a roll. She only kept running. Fear in her heart.

...

The park was quiet. She didn't know how far she had run. Her chest heaved with the loss of breath. Her limbs ached. She was healing, yes, but it was nowhere near her usual rate. She stopped at the edge of a small lake, beneath a large Cherry Blossom tree. It was heavy with flowers, and the air was warm. Here. She'd seen the girl here. But where was she now?

She turned at the snap of branches. Nothing. A squirrel. And when she turned back there was the barrel of a gun in her face, behind it, Deep Prussian blue eyes. "Omae o Koruso."

Her own eyes softened. How could she have been so careless? To let him follow her. Behind him there was movement, and she ducked beneath the barrel of his gun in one swift movement, wrapping her arms around him and taking him down to the ground with her. She rolled away from him, back into a crouch when they hit the ground, holding her shoulder. He was fast. The bullet had grazed the skin there.

Her eyes turned to the tree she had been leaning on. The bark was scorched. Her vision flickered then, to the small girl that stood meters away from them, her hands raised in the air and her eyes glowing red.

"Nice dodge, Serenity." The voice was childlike, but menacing in a way that made her shiver. She stood, ignoring her shoulder. Hiiro was crouched a foot away from her, and his gun was now pointed at the girl.

"Let her go." There was no emotion in her voice. It wasn't conscious. It was the presence of him, that made her insides cold.

"Now that would be no fun." The girl still had her hands in the air. "Who should I kill first Serenity?" The girl's eyes narrowed. It was so unnatural to see such a look upon such an innocent looking face. "You, or your little boy toy?"

"Omae o Korosu." Hiiro was standing. She didn't spare a glance at him. Didn't have time. She ran to jump before him as the fizzle of energy and the sound of two, quick gunshots rang through the air. The power this girl emitted from her hands was strong enough to knock both she and Hiiro back into the scorched tree. She grunted with the force of the blow, the smell of burning flesh filling her nostrils. She groaned. It was her flesh burning.

Hiiro's arms were around her. She could feel his breath, It was short. His eyes weren't on her however, they were on the girl.

She was standing there with a look on her face that embodied pain. Two gunshot wounds were in her chest, and deep red blood leaked steadily from them, staining her white sun dress. Her long blue hair, tied in pigtails, trailed to the ground.

Usagi pushed herself away from Hiiro, standing once again. As she watched, Chaos took the body over once more, his influence had only left long enough for the girl herself to take the shots. She felt her fists clench. That evil bastard.

"Feeling sorry for my young pawn, Serenity?" The blood was falling faster from the wounds. It dripped down the girl's bare legs to puddle on the ground. She raised her arms again. It was enough. There was a spark inside her that lit like a fire, and without thinking, she raised her hands, the words coming to her lips as if they'd always been there.

"Mars Flame Sniper!" The arrow of fire was loosed from the bow, and in the same moment the girl let off one more burst of red, crackling energy. The arrow hit it's mark, and the ball of energy hit...Hiiro.

She cried his name as he was bounced yet again off the solid tree, and she watched him fall, unconscious and looking broken. Her eyes turned, filled with hatred towards the girl, and softened as she realized she was just that, a scared little girl. Chaos was gone, driven away no doubt by the sudden attack. Usagi wrung her hands. The small form of the girl had collapsed to the ground.

She cast out her senses, and could not find the dark presence of her forever enemy. For a moment she was undecided who to go to first, and with a cry of frustration, moved to Hiiro's side. His breathing was shallow. The energy that had hit his chest had burned through the black tank he was wearing. She laid him gently as she could on his back, her heartbeat too fast in her chest. At least he was alive.

"Oh Hiiro." She whispered. "You shouldn't have followed me." Her mouth was caught in a silent 'o' of surprise when his eyes opened. "Hiiro."

"Daijoubou Ka?" He said it simply, in the same monotone he always used. She looked down at the skin of her chest and stomach. It was bloody, raw, and burnt. Her shirt was in tatters. Her shoulder bled very little. She shook her head, her hair flying about as she did so.

"Are you okay Hiiro-san?" He tried to sit up, but she could see the pain in his eyes. If only she had her ginshinzou, she could heal him. She could fix this. Oh, how had it all gone so wrong?

There was a gasp behind her. And a gurgle. She turned apologetic eyes on Hiiro, and moved away from him, towards the small, prone form of the little girl. She stared up into the canopy with red eyes. Not glowing, just red. They matched the baubles in her pigtails. And the stain that was spreading across her dress.

"Gomen Nasai. Little one." Usagi could not stop the tears. They were like an river, pouring down her face.

"He promised. I'd be warm again." The girl croaked. She was so close to death Usagi could feel it. It was a tug on her soul. It hurt more than her body did.

"And you will be." Usagi promised, forcing her voice to be steady. She reached out and brushed strands of blue from the girl's eyes, and when she stopped breathing, she closed them with a shaky hand.

"She was just a little girl." She whispered. And she knew Hiiro's eyes were upon her. Could feel them, boring into her back. And there was that fire again, in her soul. She reached for it for solace, reached for it because there was nothing left to do. "SHE WAS JUST A LITTLE GIRL!" It was half a scream, and half a sob, and then, as light poured from her chest, her very being, she was ripped in two.

...

"Oh Hiiro. You shouldn't have followed me." He could hear her soft voice. It pulled him up from his unconsciousness, and he opened his eyes to meet hers. They were different than before, now a soft, shining silver instead of grey. "Hiiro."

It took him a moment to gather his thoughts. They had just been in a fight with a little girl. A little girl that had been shooting energy from her palms. He looked at Usagi's shoulder, and the burns on her chest she had acquired jumping in front of him. She'd saved him from a blow, and he had shot her in the shoulder. He was not so cold that hid didn't feel slightly guilty. But he'd thought...He'd thought she'd meant to... What the hell was going on? "Daijoubou Ka?" He asked.

She shook her head. He was amazed. She ignored the bleeding wounds she had to tend to him. Who was this girl? "Are you okay Hiiro-san?" There was a gasp in the distance, followed by an unnatural gurgle. The girl. She was still alive? What had happened? He remembered Usagi shooting an arrow. A flaming arrow. And then, darkness. Her eyes were apologetic when she left his side, and he struggled to sit up, leaning against the tree's base as he watched her.

His back hurt. He felt that perhaps his ribs had been broken. And his chest burned. He had been hit by the energy that small thing had omitted. But, Usagi had too, much more directly that he had, and seemed not to notice.

She bent over the girl, meters away from him, by the edge of the duck pond, and whispered to her. He could not make out the words. His mind was fuzzy with pain and confusion. He'd seen alot in his years, but never something like this. He was still having a hard time wrapping his brain around it.

"SHE WAS JUST A LITTLE GIRL!" Usgai screamed, with such sorrow in her voice it startled the perfect soldier, and as he watched, a light started at her chest. It enveloped her in seconds, so bright he had to shield his eyes, and when it died down, in Usagi's place stood a goddess.

Her hair was done in two heart shaped Odangos, and trailed in a wind that was created by the mere presence of her. She wore a short, white and silver fuku, with gauzy accents the color of rainbows trailing from her waist, her chest, and the knee length white and silver boots she wore. Pure white angel wings had burst from her shoulder-blades, and her skin was not marred, no bruises, no cuts, just the pure color of moonlight embodied.

She reached down to brush the hair of the girl that lay in the dirt, and then turned to him. He could not help his eyes widening in shock. She was gorgeous. Her face spoke of elegance and an innate confidence. She was like a Queen.

His eyes met hers as she came closer. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. They were pure silver. No white or pupils to be seen. She fluttered her huge wings and she kneeled before him, reaching out as pale hand. He was too shocked to move as she laid her palm to his cheek, speaking softly. "So cold, little warrior." Her voice was so commanding he felt if she'd asked him, he'd jump off a bridge for her.

"Who are you?" He managed.

She laughed. "I'd never ask you to jump off of a bridge Hiiro-san." What was she? had he said that aloud? "No, you did not say it aloud." She laughed again at the look on his face. It was like the jingling of heaven's bells. "This form hears all, sees all. Knows all. But it will not last forever, I fear. She is weak." She smiled and his heart stopped. He could only follow her with his eyes and her hand trailed down to his chest, softly prodding.

Light started where her fingers touched, and he gasped in wonder as the wounds he had sustained, simply dissipated. Heard the crack of his own ribs as they mended themselves. There was no pain. Only a tingling that seemed to travel through every nerve. "There." she said, satisfied.

And then her eyes were full of sadness. His resolve kept him from reaching out to her. "Who are you?" He asked, again. His voice was gruffer than he had meant it to be.

"I am Usagi." She said with a soft smile. "And I am not. I am sure she will explain when she wakes. It takes alot, without her ginshinzou, to bring me into existence." She frowned. It looked wrong on her face. She turned from him for a moment, looking at the still form of the little girl. Then her eyes turned back to his.

"I cannot stay." She said simply. "Take care of Usagi. Little Warrior. She needs all the help she can get. War is upon us again."

As he watched the white's of her eyes returned, and the silver faded to a steel grey. He was looking at Usagi again. Her entire body spasmed as the wings wrenched back into her back, leaving bleeding scores at her shoulder-blades. He put his hands to her shoulders to steady her, his eyes wide.

When the spasms left her, her eyes stared into his, and she spoke. "Hiiro-san." He caught her as she collapsed into his arms, and with her face in his chest, she whispered. "I'm so glad you're okay." And then nothing but silence.

Gathering her up in his arms, her blood painting his skin, he took one last look at the small dead from of the girl that had attacked them, and lifted Usagi, carrying her back to Winner Mansion in the dark.

...

Quatre's mouth was agape when he met Hiiro at the gates of Winner Mansion. "What happened Hiiro?" He questioned. But the perfect soldier did nothing more than deposit Usagi on the cot Rashid and Lana had waiting, and trudge up the stairs. He refused to have Lana tend to him, though he was covered in blood.

Duo, Trowa and Wufei appeared at the bottom of the stairs with question in their eyes. They had obviously seen the pilot on his way up.

"Usa." Duo ran to be beside the girl, but Quatre stopped him.

"She's injured Duo. Let Rashid and Lana care for her." Trowa was beside him.

"What happened?" Quatre shook the blonde locks from his eyes. He really needed a haircut.

"I don't know." He looked at the pale girl. Rashid was gently washing the blood from the bullet wound on her shoulder, trying to decide whether to tend to the burns on her chest, or the long cuts on her shoulder blades. "Hiiro walked in with her a moment ago. I wouldn't have even known they were gone, but he rang the bell at the front gate to get in."

"Was it Tenshu?" Wufei asked. His arms were crossed over his chest in his usual fashion. "Did they come for her?"

"I don't know Wufei." Quatre was frustrated. Hadn't he just said that? "And Hiiro wouldn't speak. I suggest we allow Rashid and Lana to take care of Usagi and wait until one of them decides to tell us."

"Injustice." Wufei grumbled, but he begrudgingly took a seat. They all knew better than to try to get The perfect soldier to talk. He would tell them what happened when he saw fit.

Quatre ran a hand through his hair and sat, and smiled when Trowa sat down next to him. Duo took a chair as well, and together, they waited to see how Usagi would fare.

...

He sat in the dark. His clothes were still covered in her blood and his own, though he no longer had any injuries to speak of. He had to wait. To wait, to see if she would survive. The Usagi that was not Usagi, had said to take care. To take care of her.

But he did not have the expertise that Rashid and Lana had. He would wait until she woke up. And then she would tell him what happened. What she was, and what her alter ego had meant by 'the war that was upon them'. He would wait.

...

'You must tell them.' She had never fought with herself like this. Yes, she had screamed in the mirror, or chided herself secretly, but she was literally fighting with herself. Usagi, Serenity and Cosmos stood before her, and each had something to say.

'They can help you.' Usagi's eyes were bright with mirth. She seemed to find this amusing.

{I won't involve others in this fight.} She said, stubbornly.

*So you'd leave it up to you alone? With half your powers and all those injuries?* Cosmos's voice was hard. *Think clearly. Do they not have a right to fight for their world too?*

{Why would they believe me?} She was exasperated.

[I think you jumped through that hoop by transforming in front of the perfect little warrior.] Serenity scoffed.

{He is not little.} She pouted. Goddess, this was too strange.

[I am over three thousand years old.] Serenity protested. [He is little to me.]

{You can't fight Chaos with bullets.} She had them there.

*The perfect soldier has proven you can.* Her eyes were wild when she answered.

{It destroys the host!} Cosmos was unforgiving.

*Chaos destroys the host. You know this.* She hung her head because she knew it was true. *You don't have room to be soft this time, dearest.* Her voice was just the slightest bit quieter. *There will be more lives lost. It is up to you on which side.*

'We are right here with you.' Usagi was at her side, a comforting hand on her shoulder. 'We are you. You needn't worry.'

She sighed. {I am worried. I'm floating on a plane in my own mind talking to all three of my-selves. If you are Serenity,} She pointed. (And you are Usagi,} Another point. {And you are Cosmos. Who am I?} Her finger was at her chest, and Usagi reached out to grab her hand. Cosmos followed suit, and not long after, so did Serenity. Between all their fingers, hands stacked together, there was a glow.

[We are all different.] Serenity said with a smile. [And all the same. You are us. And we are you.]

*There is no separation. We merely wait for you to accept us. And to accept the responsibility of ascending with us.*

{If it helps in the defeat of Chaos, I accept right now.}

Usagi giggled. 'If it were that easy he'd be gone.' Her hand squeezed her own. 'It will take time. And it will take help. You are weak without the ginshinzou.'

*Rest.* Cosmos said. *Prepare. Yourself and the men you stay with. This war is theirs too. I think you will find them in-disposable allies. We must go.*

[We will not be able to come to you again.] Serenity said, and looked sad. [But we want you to know, they believe in you.] She could tell in her eyes that she meant her court, her senshi.

'As do we.' Usagi said. 'So please believe in us too. Believe in yourself.'

*Take care.* Cosmos said. *The road ahead is long and filled with peril. Be strong.*

She got one last look at each of them, before she floated up into consciousness. When she opened her eyes, they started into Hiiro's Prussian orbs. And she couldn't help herself. "Kuso."

...

Damn imagination. It's running rampant right now. Which is good, because I have lots of story material on another chapter soon. I've also kicked the story into high gear. Now Hiiro knows Usagi's secret. A lot of explaining in the next chapter. Please try not to get bored, and remember to review! How am I supposed to know you like it if you don't review? Ja, .