Usagi sighed as she opened the cover to her favorite manga for the tenth time that night. She was sitting sideways on her recliner, her feet neatly folded at the ankles, falling off the padded armrest. Her hair kept wanting to fall into her eyes, so she had decided that she would take a break from the usual buns and settle for a pony-bun instead, situated high on her head.
She heard the front door open to the apartment she had been staying in since the fight with her parents. Truth be told, she didn't know how long she could keep up the charade that her friends had told her to go along with. It had already been a year.
"Welcome back, Mamoru. What took you so long?" she asked, flipping the page to her favorite part.
"Traffic," he replied simply. His reaction caused Usagi to look up at him.
"Traffic? We never have traffic. Anything bad happen?" Usagi made to close her book, but stopped short when Mamoru waved his hand.
"Nothing bad. There was some sort of construction going on down the road a piece." She watched him as he shook off his jacket and was amazed to see that it was glistening with raindrops.
"I didn't know it was raining!" she exclaimed, jumping while throwing her book down onto the chair. She heard Mamoru start to laugh.
"It's nothing big. Just a small spring shower." He disapeared behind his bedroom door.
Usagi, however, was getting anxious. Her friends were coming over for a small get together. She pushed aside the curtains and sighed in relief that the rain had stopped.
"What are you so uppity about?" Mamoru asked, startling her.
"I don't know. I'm just having one of those inky feelings." She sighed and let the curtains drop. She shook her head and walked back to her chair, tossing the manga to the coffee table.
Mamoru, she realized, had dissapeared into the kitchen.
( º)
Makoto had just reached the apartment building when she saw the drenched form of Ami hurrying along the sidewalk. She bit her lip from trying not to laugh.
"What happened to you?" she managed to ask with a straight face.
Ami stopped dead in her tracks and looked at Makoto with the 'don't ask' look, then continued on into the building.
As soon as she had disappeared, Makoto shook her head.
"Mako-CHAN!" someone called from behind. Makoto smiled, then took on a feigned scared look and whirled around.
"Wha.. Who's there?" She saw Minako and promptly burst out laughing. "You look as if the cat drug you through the swimming pool!"
Minako pouted, then stuck her tounge out. "Meanie!" She hen giggled and linked arms with her friend. "So, are you ready to climb that 20 flights?"
They mounted the steps.
( º)
She heard a knock on the door, and knowing that Mamoru was busy cooking dinner, raced from her seat to see who it was.
"I'm coming!" she yelled, throwing open the door and gasping with shock. "I'll be right back," she nearly yelled with one look to Ami, who was hugging herself, shivering.
"That's all right, Usagi! I'll be OK!" Ami yelled, frantically trying to keep her friend from worrying about her, but failing.
It was at that time that Mamoru decided to appear. "What's wrong, Ami?"
Ami shook her head, then softly giggled. "I had a run-in with someone trying to water their plants just before that brief shower."
They both laughed as Usagi appeared with huge towels and an extra change of clothes. "This’ll do until after yours get dry. Come on!" Usagi pulled her to the bathroom, then locked her in.
Mamoru chuckled and started to close the door until he noticed Makoto and Minako standing there.
"Hi!" they both half-yelled, striking different poses that reminded Mamoru of Charlie's Angels.
"Come on in, ladies. The fun is just beginning!" He ushered the two in, then warned Minako about what Usagi had done to Ami.
Minako looked confused, whereas Makoto just laughed. That's when Usagi appeared and started to "mother" her two late friends.
( º)
Swirls. Small bubbles. Steam slowly forming circles in the air. Drool. Hot chocolate.
Usagi smiled in bliss as she listened to everyone talking. The conversation ended, and Usagi sighed.
"I wonder why Rei couldn't come?" she mused out loud, tracing the rim of her mug.
Everyone sighed and looked into space at that comment.
"She said there was some family thing going on up North. She should be back shortly," Minako said, taking another sip of her drink.
"I hope its nothing bad." Usagi took another sip of her coca, and giggled. "Maybe she's gone to a wedding!" She took on a fake hurt expression while the others sweat-dropped. "She knows how much I love weddings. Why wouldn't she tell me about it?" She pulled on her pigtails that she had put up just after the girls arrived and pouted.
Everyone burst out laughing as Usagi got up and turned on the TV. "Time for Bad Movie Night to commence!"
As she was putting in the first movie, the phone rang. Seeing as it was beside her, she answered.
"Moshi moshi?"
( º)
"What movies are we watching tonight?" Makoto asked, setting her now-empty mug on the coffee table and sitting back.
"I don't know but, knowing Usagi, it'll probably be another Mystery Science Theater 3000 things," Minako replied, taking another sip.
Everyone tensed when they heard the phone ring and Usagi answering after only one ring.
"I think Minako might be right," Mamoru said, closing his eyes and allowing the tension to fade in his shoulders.
"Yes, this is she. May I ask who is calling?" Mamoru noticed her shoulders scrunch up.
Minako looked to Makoto with a worried glance. Usagi never talked formally unless something was wrong.
After a few moments, they saw Usagi start to hyperventilate and clutch the phone tightly.
"I'll be there as soon as I can." Usagi slammed the phone down and ran out of the door, not grabbing her coat.
The four that was left satin stunned silence before Ami sat down her half-full cup and ran after her friend, causing the rest to follow suit.
( º)
Usagi had been running for about fifteen minutes, never slowing her pace. She stopped just outside the hospital doors, pausing a moment to catch her breath.
'I am Sailor Moon.. I can do this..' she thought to herself, climbing the steps and entering to the emergency lobby.
She stood there, trying to get used to the mayhem, until a young doctor pulled her from the door to a sitting room that was empty.
"Tuskino-san, I'm glad you could make it on such short notice," the doctor began, getting a stunned look from Usagi.
"How did you know me?" she asked, fighting the tears back.
"Your father had a picture of you in his wallet. I rode with him here, and he showed me the photo, and told me where to call to reach you. I take it you don't live with your parents?" He opened his clipboard.
"No I don't, not any more," Usagi replied, sitting down on a chair that was near the door. "Can you tell me what is going on?"
The doctor shook his head and wrote something down, then looked her in the eye. "I'm afraid there's been an accident, Tsukino-san."
Usagi didn't hear anymore before she finally let loose of her emotions and broke down and cried. "Where are they?"
"There currently in ICU. You're mother has yet to wake up, and your father is currently being prepped for surgery."
( º)
The group of four had arrived and was standing a little to the left of the door. The three girls were bent over, hands on their knees trying to catch their breath. Mamoru, however, caught sight of Usagi and made his way to the room she was sitting in.
"Usa?" He knocked gently on the doorframe. "What's wrong?"
Usagi wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "It's my parents."
Mamoru walked over and placed his hands on her shoulders, bending down to sit on his knees. "Want to tell me about it?"
Usagi shook her head and drew her knees up to her chest, resting her heels on the edge of the chair. She looked out of the window and wasn't suprized to find that the rain had started back up again. "Dad has just gone into surgery. They think they may be able to stop the bleeding. ." A fresh wave of tears started to fall. "Mom. . They think she may have fallen into a coma. They don't expect her to wake up soon." She buried her head in her lap, the sobs too much for her.
Mamoru reached out and hugged her, not knowing what else he could do. "What happened?" He felt her shake under hid touch.
"They were in a head-on collision. The driver of the other car was drunk." She sniffled and leaned into the hug. "He didn't survive."
( º)
Mamoru walked out of the room, being as quiet as possible as not to disturb the sleeping bunny. He looked down the hallway, and saw the girls sitting in a row.
Ami was the first to notice his arrival, and stood to meet him. Mamoru held up a hand, and said, "It wouldn’t be wise to try to talk to her right now." He found himself a seat, and dropped into it. "She's really upset right at the moment."
"What's going on?" Makoto asked, twisting a piece of paper she had found.
"It's her parents." Everyone jumped at the sound of the newcomer.
"Rei? What are you doing here?" Minako asked, standing and hugging her friend.
Rei hugged Minako for a brief second, then pushed her away. "I had a vision in the flames. I saw what was going to happen, and I left ad fast as I could." She shook her head. "Our princess is in trouble, and there is no way we can help her."
Everyone jumped at that sentence, as well as Mamoru.
"What do you mean, Rei? Do you know who the princess is?" Mamoru asked, casting a hopeful glance at her.
"Yes, I do. I also know of the past." Rei looked into Mamoru's eyes. "I also know who you are, although Usagi doesn't."
The other girls watched as the two looked at each other, never blinking, never speaking. They saw Mamoru look down, and sigh.
"Usagi?" He asked, keeping his head down.
"Hai."
"Wait, wait. What is going on here?" Minako asked, throwing her hands up and waving them.
Rei told them what had happened to Usagi's parents, and what was going to happen afterwards. That stunned everyone into silence, even though the identity of the princess wasn't revealed.
"Mamoru, she has to find out on her own. Don't push her to find the answers too soon." Rei turned her backs on everyone. "That is the way Selene wanted it." She walked out the door, and into the room Usagi was sleeping in.
( º)
Usagi was having a strange dream, one in which her parents were yelling at each other. She stood wide-eyed as they continued their verbal fight, wanting to turn and run away, but finding her feet rooted to the spot. She looked around and took note that she was in the hall closet.
'Not again,' she thought, being able to finally move her legs and cowering in the corner. She heard the fight get louder, and she cupped her hands over her ears.
"Usagi?"
She sunk into the wall further, closing her eyes.
"It's just a dream.. It's just a dream.."
The fight got louder.
"Usagi!"
She opened her eyes and dropped her hands. "Nani?"
( º)
"Usagi, it's OK. It's only me," Rei said, gently shaking the small figure in front of her.
"Where am I?" Usagi asked, wiping some sleep out of her eyes.
"You're in a waiting room in the Hospital." Rei sat down next to her friend. "Is there anything you want to talk about?"
Usagi shook her head. "None that I can think of." She pushed her dream to the back of her mind. "When did you get here?"
"About half an hour ago. Some things are more important than being at a family reunion." She slightly smiled. "I wish it really was a wedding. Those are way better."
Usagi giggled. "So everyone told you about that?"
Rei nodded. "They told me everything that happened." She became serious. "Have you gotten any news from your parents?"
Usagi shook her head again and looked to the table. "They won't tell me anything, although I think they didn't want to wake me." She looked back to Rei. "How did you get here so fast?"
Rei looked at her friend sadly. "I had a feeling that I should be here, one about something big going down." 'Well, not a total lie.' "I got grandpa to bring me home. We've been on the road for about three hours."
Usagi winced, then laid her head down on the tabletop. "what was your feeling about?"
"It was about the princess. I couldn't get a clear picture, but the fire told me to get down here as fast as I could." She laid her hand on Usagi's back. "Don't worry about it. They'll be plenty of time for reading the fire again after your parents get better." She winced.
( º)
Usagi sighed as she opened the door to her childhood home. She shut her eyes as she walked, trying to keep the wave of flashbacks from coming on.
She had taken the doctor's advice and went home, although she didn't go to her real home, or what she truly thought of as her home. She walked in, carefully closing the door and walking up the stairs.
Each step she climbed she could hear the screams. She shut her eyes as she blocked them out, before finally reaching the top and opening the door to her old room.
She was shocked. Her mom hadn't been in here, and had obviously kept her father out. She sat on her bed, which was still un-kept from her hasty retreat. Tears sprang to her eyes as she remembered.
( º)flashback( º)
"You're drunk! I thought you had given that up after the accident with the kids!"
Usagi winced when she heard her mother's yell. 'Why now, after all these years?' she thought, pulling the covers over her head.
"I'm not drunk!"
Usagi tried to hide further down in the covers when she heard her father's slurred words and then a crash. She heard some thumping coming from the stairs, and nearly screamed when her door flew open.
"Usagi! Get up. You've got to get out of here!" Her mother grabbed her suitcase and started to pack it, throwing everything in without folding it.
Usagi flung the covers off her bed and helped her mother. "How much time do I have?" she asked, adding in her school uniforms.
"I don't know. I've knocked him out with the lamp." Her mother closed the suitcase. "Go. Don't try to come back. I'll try to join you soon."
They heard moaning downstairs, and Usagi quickly opened the window.
"I'll keep him out of here as long as I can." Her mother handed her the suitcase. "I've put my savings in here. Please find you a good place to stay, one far away from here." Her mother opened the door, locked it, and then walked out, closing it behind her.
'There's only one way I'll be able to get out,' Usagi thought, grabbing her broach off her bedside table. "Moon Prism Power, Make UP!" She whispered the whole command, and was instantly Sailor Moon.
Not wasting another moment, she jumped out the window, hearing a scream from somewhere inside.
( º)end flashback( º)
'How could I have left my own mother to the hands of that monster?' she thought bitterly. Wiping her eyes, she reached under the bed and pulled out a box.
She smiled as she shook it. It was still there. "Great. Now I can fulfill my wishes." Her smile vanished. "But Mom.."
Suddenly, her television flicked on. She dropped the box on her bed, and sat on the floor, trying to hide.
"Sailor Moon? I have your pathetic Moon Princess. If you want her back, you must come to the Starlight Tower at midnight tonight, otherwise she will be killed. Come alone."
Usagi gasped at the figure on the screen. "Kunzite?!" The figure fizzled out, then was replaced with a void of black.
Usagi shakily stood up, then promptly fell onto the bed. "What am I going to do?"
'Go to her,' a voice said inside her head. 'Save the princess.'
Usagi looked around and saw the box. She saw no harm in taking that with her, so she picked it up, and walked to the door, then stopped. 'Once the princess is found, will there be no more Sailor Moon?' She sighed and sat the box down on her dresser, then walked to her closet and pulled out another suitcase, and filled it with the dresses she could from her stash. She smiled. It was the only part of her room her Father didn't know about, otherwise they would be sold for his late night drinking binges.
Finishing her packing, she pulled out her old back pack and stuffed what few books and photo albums she could into the larger part, then got all the jewelry that she had hidden in the bottom of her sock box and threw all of it into the small pouch.
Seeing that everything was done, she transformed without even calling out, and disappeared from the house.
( º)
Mamoru looked up with a far away expression in his eyes. "She transformed," was all he said before he stood up and transformed himself.
"Remember, Tuxedo Kamen, that she must do this on her own. She will call us when she's ready," Rei said, pulling out her pen. "Everyone, transform. We won't know when she will call unless we do."
In a flash of four different colors, everyone stood in their uniforms.
( º)
"All right, Kunzite! I know you're here!" Sailor Moon yelled while running through hallways. "Show yourself!"
"I thought you wouldn't show, Sailor Moon." Kunzite appeared behind her. "Where are your Sailor Soldiers?"
"They aren't here. Can't you tell?" She stopped and turned around, casting a glare at the man in front of her. "Where is the princess?"
"Patient, Miss Moon. All will be revealed. But first, you must defeat. ." He disappeared, allowing Sailor Moon to see behind him.
"Mom! Dad!" She ran towards them, but they shot an attack of pure black energy to stop her.
Kunzite reappeared, floating in mid air. He had a smirk on his face. 'Come on, Usagi. I know you can do this.' "Give it up, Sailor Moon. Hand over your locket, and all this will be over."
Sailor Moon looked up at the man. "Never." She started her tiara attack, but a shield formed around her, canceling out the magic. "What the.."
She stared wide-eyed as her parents started to advance. She unconcusly started to back away, only getting zapped by the shield.
"Mom? Why are you doing this?" she cried, dropping the useless tiara to the floor.
"She's not your mother anymore, but a servant of the Dark Kingdom!" Kunzite exclaimed, dropping to the ground. "Just admit it, Sailor Moon. You can never win." He shot out a wave of dark energy, and it hit its mark.
Sailor Moon covered her ears and screamed.
( º)flashback( º)
Mamoru, please! I need help!" Usagi was banging on his door, still transformed in her Sailor Moon form. It was near midnight, and she was upset that she had, what she thought, lost her only living family in the world.
Mamoru was shocked to say the least when he opened his door to find the super hero clutching the small suitcase and looking down to the ground.
"What's wrong?" he asked, holding out his hand to take her burden from her hands.
Usagi looked up and let her transformation drop. "Gomen nasi. I had no where else to go." She fainted into his arms.
( º)end flashback( º)
Usagi was still screaming while the black energy washed over her. Her eyes were locked on her mother's, still thinking that she really wasn't one of the Dark Kingdom.
The energy stopped suddenly, and she fell to her knees, shaking.
"I did what you asked, why are you attacking me?" she asked, placing her hand on the ground to keep her balance.
Kunzite shook his head. "You should have never came to this place alone, Sailor Moon." He looked at the girl in front of him. "You aren't ready to protect the princess!" He shot another beam towards the weakened girl.
( º)
Tuxedo Kamen looked up to the moon, which had started to grow brighter.
"Sailor Mars, what's going on?" Mercury asked from somewhere behind him. He heard a slight tapping.
Sailor Mars sighed. "She's calling us. Everyone, stand in a circle, now!" They all did as they were told, and they disappeared in a beam of white light.
( º)
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