Back at the Tsukino household, Luna paced around the crystal that was Usagi. The whole family stood in silence in Usagi's bedroom. They weren't quite sure whether to panic or not and Luna was able to keep her cool enough that it seemed like it wasn't a dire emergency. Luna however was panicking more than she was letting on. She had called over Ami as soon as she saw the state that Usagi was in. She had never seen this before in her entire existence and she knew that the only person who would able to tell what exactly was going on would be be Sailor Mercury.
Concerned, Ami took a cab over to the Tsukino residence. Shingo let her into the house with a stern look on his young face that made a fear rise in Ami's heart. Her thoughts immediately went to Usagi. Her princess. They had just found her. She would be devastated if something had happened for them to have lost her already.
Running up the stairs she stopped in front of Usagi's room to take a deep breath in order to prepare herself. Walking into the room, her eyes zoned in on the bud-like crystal sitting at Usagi's vanity. Whatever she was expecting, that was definitely not it. For awhile fascination took over the fear that was rising in her, wondering at the scene before her. Even with her Mercurian memories back, she had no recollection of such a phenomenon.
A clinical part of her brain kicked in as she told herself to put her visor on. She was sure there was something in her computer that could at least give them some insight as to what had happened to Usagi. She scrolled through her computer, finally getting to a section where she could analyze an organic object directly, and informed those waiting that it might take awhile to do a full scan. She then turned her focus onto the crystal making sure to read and try to understand how the scan itself was actually working.
Luna turned to Shingo and asked him finally, "Shingo, do you have any idea what might have happened to lead to this?!" She asked him calmly.
Shingo, face full of concern conveyed the conversation that Usagi had with him on their way home from the arcade. He stated that Usagi seemed desperately concerned about something called the Silver Crystal to the point where she was almost panicking about it.
Upon hearing the word Silver Crystal, both Luna and Ami stopped what they were doing, and just turned to look at each other, their eyes wide. They understood Usagi's concern.
Ikuko seeing this interaction asked, "Luna, what exactly is the Silver Crystal?"
Luna swallowing her own panic replied, "The Silver Crystal is what gives the monarch of the Moon power. It is a crystal, stronger than almost any other source of power in the universe. And… I think it's missing."
Ikuko's eyebrows raised high. "And, um, what does that mean for this battle against the Negaverse?"
Luna shook her head trying to clear it of hysterical thoughts. She took a moment to collect herself. "I think we can be assured that the Negaverse currently doesn't have the Silver Crystal. If they had, they wouldn't be focusing so hard on trying to collect energy, because through the Silver Crystal, they would have all the energy they would need." She started pacing, That doesn't mean though, that they aren't also looking for it."
Several beeps from Ami's computer distracted them all from the conversation at hand. They all turned to her with anticipation.
Ami sighed after reading the synopsis that her computer had given her. She turned to the family and cat and said, "Usagi is alive and well. She's in some kind of enchanted sleep. She's in a total state of stasis. She doesn't need to eat or drink or anything. It's fascinating. Now as to why she's in this state, I don't know. But this crystal that had formed around her is not a material known to man-kind as it stands. It's got incredible magical properties and is harder than diamonds. I doubt that there is anything on this planet that can crack through it."
Luna let out a sigh. At least Usagi was alive. "So I guess all we can do is just wait for her to wake up?" She asked the bluenette.
"I'm afraid so. Think of it like a coma. Except here, her brain activity is functioning as normal. I don't know if she can hear us or not, but she's not in a vegetative state. She's in there thinking and existing," Ami replied.
"Okay. So we keep an eye on her and hope that she wakes up soon. Ami, thank you so much for coming as fast as you could. I need to go to HQ and inform them of what transpired here and to see if they can give me any insight."
Shingo piped up, "I can look after her while you go Luna. I know that she would feel more comfortable if I were around."
"Thank you Shingo," was the reply. "I'll be back as soon as I can, rest assured."
Ikuko stood, smoothing out her apron. "Well, people still need to eat during this crisis, and I'll just make a little something just in case she does wake up."
Kenji stood, "Thank you again Ami, would you like me to give you a ride home?"
Ami nodded, "I would appreciate a ride very much, thank you."
"Let's be on our way then. I know tomorrow is a school day after all. Come on Luna, I'll give you a ride over to the arcade as well. Let's do what we can to keep the ball rolling so that when Usagi wakes up, everything will be running as smoothly as normal"
Ikuko nodded, agreeing with her husband. There was nothing they could do at the moment for Usagi. It was out of their hands, but what they could do, is just make sure that they were taking care of themselves so she wouldn't be concerned when she woke up. She piped up, "I'll also call Makoto and make sure that she's filled in with what's happened. I know that she lives alone, maybe she would want to spend the night over to be closer to Usagi."
Everyone agreed and went on their way to get things done. Shingo pulled up a book in his sister's room, sitting on her bed, worried eyes not really reading the words, but staring at the crystal just across the room.
Makoto did in fact want to spend the night despite knowing that she had school the next day. As the newest Sailor Scout to have been awakened, a lot of things were still taking her by surprise, even with her memories back. She walked up to the crystal surrounding Usagi, and despite her assumption that it would be cool to the touch, the crystal was warm and she could feel power pulsing through it.
She decided to sleep in Usagi's room on the pull out bed. It didn't feel right to sleep in Usagi's bed with her right there. Throughout the night, she kept glancing at the glowing crystal. It wasn't shining brightly just a slight pulsating glow, mimicking a beating heart. Even though she knew that Usagi was stuck in the crystallized coma, she felt reassured in her presence.
In her dreams, Makoto felt like she was with peaceful company. She lifted her head and looked around. She was in her Sailor uniform, in a garden. She sat up from where she was resting her head on the table. Across from her, she saw Usagi. Wait, it wasn't Usagi. It looked like Usagi, but she was all grown up. Makoto realized that she was sitting across from Princess Serenity. It wasn't the Princess Serenity from the past, but the Princess Serenity that Usagi would grow into.
"Usagi," Makoto began hesitantly. But Serenity just smiled at her sweetly.
"I'm okay, Mako," Usagi said. "My body just needs some time to get used to my memories."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Makoto asked. She would do anything for her princess.
Ami had called her after she had gotten to the Tsukino residence, and they had a good talk about their roles in regards to Usagi. They knew that in this life, Usagi was also a Sailor Scout, but more importantly, she was still their princess. And they had let her down in their past life.
"It was our duty then, and it's our duty now to protect her," Makoto stated matter of factually.
"She's different now though," Ami replied. "Serenity of the past had no training and wasn't expected to fight. Usagi has been taking lessons and is the first out of all of us, outside of Sailor Venus. She would never let us go into battles alone. In order to protect her, we must also accept her as one of us."
"But she doesn't have any past fighting experience," complained Makoto. "Even if in this life we haven't had the same inexpedience, in our past lives, we had intensive training! Usagi goes to the dojo a couple times a week. That's not going to equal to our experience, even if she has been doing this longer than we've been awakened."
"I mean, you can try talking to her about this," sighed Ami. "But we both know her well enough to know what the outcome of what conversation will be."
Makoto deflated with that. She knew Ami was right. She knew that she also owed it to Usagi to trust her. She was just scared. She didn't want to lose her princess again. Her newly unlocked memories haunted her and she was ashamed of how her past life ended.
"It's going to be different this time," Ami said. Makoto could hear the conviction in her voice. She could tell that her memories haunted her too.
"Yes. Makoto agreed. Yes it will be."
"Just give me time, Makoto. I'll do what I can from where I am to protect the city. I should be up and about in no time." Was cryptic reply.
Makoto woke up to the sunlight bathing into Usagi's room. She didn't know how, but she slept so well. She looked over to Usagi, still encased in crystal. She got ready for school, with Luna poking her head into the room, making sure that she was up.
"I'll come by after school, Usagi. Rest up and I'll see you soon." And with that Makoto grabbed her book bag and headed out the door. She couldn't help but feel as if Usagi was there behind her wishing her a good day. She turned back to her friend smiling and waved.