AN: Hope everyone is doing OKAY with the hurricane! I'm lucky to have power, I know. This was requested by many, so I had to update it. Thank you all for the reviews and letting me know this story is still wanted! Please check out my original Growing Pains on Kindle Vella or Kindle. It promises to distract you thoroughly from everything you're supposed to be doing at the moment! LOL!
Chapter Fifteen
"Hope can be a powerful force. Maybe there's no actual magic in it, but when you know what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic."
― Laini Taylor, Daughter of Smoke & Bone
It didn't make any sense; this was Mamoru. He would NEVER help Beryl, yet it had been confirmed many times that there was something between him and these generals. And he knew far too much about Tuxedo Kamen and his motivations before. God, she was an idiot; why hadn't Usagi seen it before?
The world slowed, falling back to the snow and on her knees; Usagi found her Senshi standing to the side while Nephrite and Tuxedo Kamen dueled. The three of them just watched, not lifting a finger even when Nephrite had Tuxedo Kamen on the ground. A sword was dangerously close to Tuxedo Kamen's neck; she pulled herself off the ground and rammed her body into Nephrite's. The cocky general wasn't expecting such an attack and flew several steps away, dropping his sword. In a swift move, Usagi had it in her hands, standing over Tuxedo Kamen's prone body and holding the sword out between the two of them.
"Usagi!" All three Senshi cried.
"Usagi, stay out of this!"
She ignored Tux on the ground behind her and focused on her Senshi. "Don't you see, this is what he wants! He KNEW you would abandon him!" She turned her glare back to Nephrite, who stood smirking at her. "Well, I'm not. I won't give up on him!"
He chuckled darkly, Tuxedo Kamen taking the sword from her and flinging it into the distance. "A little Princess protecting her Prince. How...poetic."
In a flash, he stood before them, punching Tuxedo Kamen in the face and backhanding Usagi. They both went flying away from one another, her body rolling out across the snow. Hands stopped her roll, looking up at Tark and Matsouri.
"No, you guys need to get out of here."
"We aren't going anywhere."
She looked up, Saori standing at Usagi's feet with her gun in her hand. Utena was on the other side of her. Toki helped Usagi to her feet, and they all tried to hold her back. "You should stay out of this too, Usagi. These people are like Gods. You need power to stand a chance."
So they still had no clue, not noticing that she had been left in the ring with the 'gods'.
Looking back, she settled slightly at the sight of Tuxedo Kamen and the Senshi working together to bring down the man. Nephrite was tiring, and it was clear, Jupiter landing a shock wave on him that knocked him deep into the Earth. Then Tuxedo Kamen shook the Earth, burying Nephrite even deeper.
Nephrite screamed, his voice cracking with pain and fatigue. But he couldn't move; his limbs were deep under the ground and snow. "You think this is over? It's not over!"
He was manic; the possibility of losing was not an option. The wind picked up again and swirled, the force of it pulling on Usagi and everything around her. The sun was still blotted out by dark clouds, clouds that started to pull down to Earth and create a large funnel in the middle of the field, right on top of Nephrite.
"He's going to kill us all!"
"And himself too!"
Usagi forced herself to look, even with the cold air whipping at her face and drying out her eyes. The stadium was pulling up in pieces, flying around and joining in on the funnel. Everyone was still standing, but barely, struggling to keep their footing and not get dragged in.
She turned to the ragtag group, all of them struggling just as much, if not more. "You guys should get out of here!''
Turner stared at her, his eyes wide. "What about you? Aren't you coming with us?!"
Offering him a smile, Usagi shook her head at him. "No, I need to stop this."
Toki gently but firmly grabbed her arm. "Usagi…"
"I have to, Toki. I'm the only one."
He released her, even as Tuxedo Kamen's voice came to their ears, yelling at them to get out and take her with them. But Usagi blocked him out, the clock inside her ringing its alarm. Her time was up, and she was ready to release the bomb.
Without fear, she walked away from the group and didn't hesitate to step into the swirling clouds. In a second, her hat was whipped off her head and danced away in the current, her hair flying around her free. She had to take a quick step back, avoiding a large plank of wood as it flew past her head. A few steps more, and she pulled back again, this time jerked back, a cement block almost colliding with her ribs.
Black and white in her view, she didn't even look up. "You know as well as I do that I have to do this."
She wasn't sure Tuxedo Kamen could hear her; Usagi could barely hear herself. But he released her slowly and placed a hand at her back, assuring her he was going with her. Although she didn't want Mamoru there, Usagi was sure she didn't have a choice in the matter. And she didn't have time to argue about it.
Everything was calm and still at the center, Nephrite standing stock still with his hands and head to the sky. He had used the funnel to pull himself free of the ground, but sweat was pouring down his face and back; he was killing himself.
Usagi's hair fell (in what she knew was a mess that would take hours to detangle), but that was something for later. Taking another step, Usagi was stopped for a second, Tuxedo Kamen threading his gloved fingers through hers as if to hold her back. But, instead, she pulled him along, the two of them coming to stand in front of Nephrite, who slowly lowered his head to look at them.
"It's too late."
"It's never too late."
His eyes pierced hers, finding her words to be true. Or at least that Usagi believed them. "You are just a stupid child. Beryl is far and beyond your reach."
She shrugged, "That might be true...but you're not." Freeing her hand from the gloved one, she took the final step and grabbed Nephrite's face in her hands. "It's never too late, Nephrite, to change."
Light flooded them, blinding even herself, her bomb going off. It shot out from them, blowing everything and everyone back. Usagi heard the bones and parts of the stadium fly back and hit the walls and the grunts of everyone else as they hit the ground. Even Tux hit the floor behind her. The only ones standing were her and Nephrite, who looked at her with wide eyes, tears in the corners of them.
Falling to his knees, Usagi held tight to Nephrite, laying a small kiss of forgiveness on his forehead as the light returned to them. Imploding in on them, Usagi felt him shudder under her hands, her light surging between them. It was like a spring breeze, pulling them up, their hair stretching up into the air and pulling her up on her toes from the intensity. Soon, Nephrite's hands joined hers and not to rip them off. Instead, Nephrite gently gripped Usagi's wrist, and the light flew out and away from them again, her sending it out to the void yet again.
Nephrite's hold on her slipped….or Usagi was falling she wasn't sure, but warm arms caught her as gravity flipped up on its head. Mamoru looked down at her, hat long gone and mask still on his face, blocking the now sunny sky above them.
Brushing a few stray hairs out of her face, he grinned at her. "I guess it is your destiny to take my breath away constantly."
She smiled...or she thought she was smiling; there wasn't much feeling in her body at the moment. "Is that...a good thing?"
A small chuckle came from deep within his chest. "Yes, Usako...it is an excellent thing."
Too tired to hold them open anymore, she let her lids slide over her eyes, knowing she was in a safe place. A slight pressure fell on Usagi's forehead, and warmth spread over her like wildfire, making her press back, wanting more of whatever it was. But it disappeared soon after, leaving Usagi feeling cold. She could hear voices, calling, yelling, and a few mocking. And clapping. She didn't understand, but she could hear someone clapping.
oOo
Usagi sprung up -everything sore- and it was dark. The walls were stone, a small glitter from the flecks of minerals in them. The small cot she was lying on squealed loudly with every tiny movement she made. Springing off of it, Usagi found her coat lying on a small chair next to a wooden door. There were no windows in the room, and she thought she might die of suffocation.
The door banged on one side from the force Usagi used to open it. Instantly, a blond man she didn't recognize was alerted to her. "Hey!"
Usagi turned away from him, taking off in a sprint down the hall. The man continued to call after her, but she didn't stop, taking turn after blind turn.
Another door was before her, and Usagi didn't hesitate to open it, it banging against the wall again from her force. Ami's head popped up and stared at her, the bluenette sitting next to a fire with a book on her lap. "Usagi-chan? You're up!"
She looked around, recognizing nothing, and her heart began to pound painfully in her chest. "Oh God, how long have I been asleep?"
Ami's book dropped to the floor, jumping off the couch and racing to her side to pull Usagi into her arms. "Just a few hours, Usa, it's okay. Everything is okay."
"Wow, man, you are a fast little rabbit, aren't you?"
The strange man came to stand next to the two of them, Ami keeping her in a somewhat protective hold. "Usagi-chan, this is Haruka. Or rather, Sailor Uranus."
"Sailor Uranus? What are you doing here?"
She chuckled, a hand going to the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Well, Michiru and I saw what you did at the coliseum…."
"Wait...you were there? And you did nothing?!"
The woman held out her hands in defense. "We had to see your...conviction. And see if you truly were her, if you were our Princess."
"You knew she was from the beginning." Rei stepped into the room, closing the door behind her that looked like it led outside.
Not missing a beat, Rei walked over and hugged Usagi as well, not so subtly checking her for injuries. "I'm fine, Rei. As long as it is the same year I fell asleep in, I'm good." Rei smiled, the first one she had seen from the girl since they returned to one another. "Where is everyone else?"
Haruka sighed, pointing a thumb in the direction Rei just came from. "Outside. Apparently, our lovely and safe bunker here reminds them too much of being underground. So they want to sleep outside like animals."
Usagi left the three of them to either follow or stay; she didn't care either way. The sun was almost fully set, only a few remaining golden rays filling the sky. Everyone was around the fire, cutting up and being so...human.
It was beautiful.
Even Mako sat with them now, chatting it up. They went through a lot when Usagi and Mamoru split off. It hit her then that Mamoru was not with them, but she silently walked into the conversation, not wanting to change or disrupt the current tangent Turner happily went on about.
"I'm telling you, the kid was such a brat back then."
"Yeah, Turner, we all remember, we were there."
"None of you were there to deal with him when he first started sneaking out! Oh man, I thought Chiba-san was going to chain him up and throw away the key!"
Turk chuckled, "But, Baby Tsukino was way too clever for that. How did he ever get Chiba-san to let him go with him?"
Matsouri shrugged, a few people looking to him for an answer. "I just thought Chiba-san and Furuhata-san gave up and took him with them to keep him from getting killed."
Turner almost leapt out of his seat. "No, man! That's not what happened! I tried to tell you guys this before; I was there! Chiba-san had just dragged Tsukino back from another escape, and they both lost it on one another. Chiba-san was yelling at him about being irresponsible and to think of his family while Tsukino kept pushing him away."
"Wow, hard to see Chiba-san treating the kid like that ever."
"Oh, Mary, you have no idea; it used to be rough. Then Tsukino has enough, jumps up on the mess hall table, and turns on Chiba-san, yelling, 'You don't care, you never cared, you just act like you do cause you're in love with my sister'."
Usagi's heart was in her throat and pounding, feeling like she might vomit it up any second. Tark scoffed, "That didn't happen; you're making that up. There is no fourth Tsukino!"
Usagi's eyes found Toki's, wondering how long he had known she was there, and said nothing.
"Yes, there is actually. Ikuko momma told me once. Sad story. Their eldest, a girl, ran off in the middle of the night to meet some friends and didn't return. Then the city started to fall with the absence of Sailor Moon. And when they still wouldn't leave, Chiba-san made them."
Utena looked sad for once, telling Usagi's story to the group and then looking up to see her finally. Utena's eyes teared for some reason at the sight of her.
"Well, Chiba-san turned white and pulled Tsukino off the table to drag him off. Whispering. After that, the two of them were tight. Like brothers."
Usagi cleared her throat, and it caused all the others to turn, growing silent and still at the sight of her. Even Saori looked at Usagi with some kind of reverence.
"Can someone point me towards Mamoru, please?"