Power Transcendent (part 18 of 31)

a Sailor Moon fanfiction by Jessica

Back to Part 17
Mars turned into an alley and out into the next street. She didn't know 
if anyone was following her, and she didn't care if they were. She could 
barely see through her tears, so it wasn't truly surprising when she 
tripped and fell flat on her face. With a shriek of frustration she 
pounded on the sidewalk, pushing herself to her feet. Without missing a 
beat, she planted her foot into an innocent newspaper vending machine 
with such force that the door fell off completely. 

"Stupid...so stupid!" She sobbed, slumping against the nearest wall and 
sliding to the floor. She felt guilty, angry and humiliated. Part of her 
wanted to go back and take Sailor Neptune's head off for speaking to her 
like that. Another part wanted to run so far away that she'd never have 
to see the aqua-haired woman again. So she just gave into her other 
impulse, curled her knees beneath her chin and buried her face in her 
hands. 

However, after a few moments, she was broken out of her stupor by a loud 
cracking and rumbling from the building she was leaning on. She looked 
up in time to see a massive cloud of dust blow out of the store's front 
door. For the first time, she took in her surroundings. Though this was 
several streets away from her previous fight, this area was empty as 
well, save for the prone victims of the other daeva. There was one a 
short distance away, a young woman carrying several bags. 

Sailor Mars approached the woman and felt for a pulse, wincing as she 
felt how hot the woman's skin was. There was a pulse, faint but steady. 
She tried to wake the woman, but she didn't move, her face a mask of 
pain. With a sigh, Mars let her go. Frowning, she stood and approached 
the store. Even from here, she could see that one of the interior walls 
had collapsed. She approached cautiously. This kind of destruction 
didn't seem like Valena's style, but who knew what her partner would do?

But when she entered the doorway and her eyes became accustomed to the 
light, caution was abandoned. A small white hand was sticking out of the 
bottom of the pile of rubble. "Chibi-Usa?" She cried out. The hand 
curled, but there was no other movement. "Chibi-Usa, is that you?" Mars 
fell to her knees and began hurling the debris out of the way, tugging 
on the arm now and then to see if it's owner had come free. Whoever it 
was did not seem to have been infected, but the hand was very cold. 

Finally, Mars was able to gently pull the small form from the pile 
safely. She breathed a sigh of relief that it was not, in fact, Chibi-
Usa, but her relief was quickly replaced by concern. It was a little 
girl, maybe eight years old, and dressed in the uniform of a nearby 
elementary school. She was bruised, and there was a small cut on her 
forehead, but she didn't seem to be seriously injured. She groaned 
weakly as Mars brushed her long, violet hair away from her face, but did 
not awaken. 

"You must have ducked inside to get away from the daeva." Sailor Mars 
said softly, gently stroking the child's cheek. "I wonder what made the 
wall collapse like that, though?" She stood, cradling the little girl in 
her arms. Even for such a small girl, Mars found her surprisingly light. 
"Well, I can't leave you here." She sighed deeply. "I guess I'd better 
try to find the others." She winced at the thought of seeing them again.  
"Well, maybe bringing you with me will make everyone forget about what 
just happened." 

She left the store carefully, still worried that the other daeva might 
be somewhere nearby. As she walked, her mind was totally occupied, both 
looking out for danger, and still consumed with the embarrassment of 
what had just happened between her and Sailor Neptune. So she didn't 
notice the girl's eyes begin to flutter, or the tiny smile that appeared 
on her lips. 

-------------------

Sailor Venus fell back to talk quietly with Sailor Mercury. She spoke 
very quietly, so as not to be overheard. "Are you getting anything?" The 
blue-haired senshi had her visor out and was punching keys with a rather 
dissatisfied look on her face. 

"Nothing beyond just a few feet." She answered back just as quietly. 
"There's some kind of interference field."

"Do you know what's causing it?" 
 
"No." Mercury whispered with a small sigh, turning off the visor and 
putting the computer away. "That's the most frustrating part. Every time 
I try to analyze the field, it changes. It seems to be completely 
random."

"I hope Mars is okay." Venus murmured. 
 
"I just hope we find her soon." Mercury answered with a wry smile. The 
two of them were in the back, and Sailor Moon was in the middle of the 
group, where Sailor Venus had been until just a moment ago. Tuxedo Kamen 
had left a short time ago, saying it was better to split off into two 
groups to look around. 

In the lead of the group, and the reason for the extremely uncomfortable 
atmosphere, were Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Neptune. Both were stalking 
forward, not looking at each other. Both had a furious expression on 
their face. It was obvious why Neptune was still angry, but Venus was 
surprised at Jupiter's reaction. After Sailor Mars had run off just a 
minute ago, Jupiter had stared Neptune in the face, a look in her eyes 
so intense that Venus was afraid the Senshi of Thunder was about to hit 
the other girl.

But without a word, Jupiter had spun on her heel and quickly started off 
in the direction Mars had fled. Neptune followed after a moment, as did 
the others. That had been just a couple of minutes ago, but Sailor Venus 
was already getting worried. There was still another daeva out there, 
somewhere. She didn't quite understand why Sailor Mars had run off like 
that...there was an idea in the back of her head, but it seemed so far-
fetched she couldn't really finish the thought. But she was becoming 
increasingly convinced that Mars had put herself in terrible danger by 
running off alone. 

And where was Sailor Saturn? Was she in danger as well? Had she and 
Diana found Chibi-Moon? Venus bit her lip and looked up and down the 
silent, desolate street. She felt a hand on her arm and looked over at 
Mercury, who gave her an encouraging smile. 
 
"I'm sure they're all okay." She whispered. "They can take care of 
themselves."  
 
Venus nodded, smiling in return. Ahead of them, the two leaders had just 
turned a corner, and Sailor Moon followed. However, the blonde senshi 
was bounced back and fell on her backside. The other two girls had 
stopped dead just as they turned the corner. 

"Ow!" Sailor Moon cried indignantly. "What's *wrong* with you two..." 
She sucked in a deep breath and covered her mouth. "Oh no..." She said 
in a faint voice. "Please..."

Venus and Mercury ran forward to look. Venus took a few steps back as 
she saw, but Mercury, ever the pragmatist, ran forward. Rei was laying 
facedown in the street, her transformation banished. She almost seemed 
like one of the ill victims that lay everywhere, save that she was 
laying in a slowly expanding pool of blood. 

Sailor Mercury knelt next to the miko. This seemed to snap Jupiter out 
of a trance, and she did the same. The Senshi of Ice very gently and 
slowly turned Rei over, and there was a quiet gasp of horror from 
everyone. Rei's face, usually rather pale, was now as pallid as death. 
Her fuku was absolutely soaked in blood that was still welling up from a 
deep wound in her right shoulder. 

Sailor Moon first found the courage to speak. "Is she...please, don't 
let her be..." She trailed off, her voice shaking and tears running down 
her cheeks. 

Trying to ignore how cold Rei's skin was, Mercury felt her neck for a 
pulse. "She alive." She said in a shaky whisper. "But she's lost so much 
blood..." At that moment, Tuxedo Kamen leapt from the rooftop above, his 
cape swirling around him.  
 
"What happened?" He asked in a stunned voice. 

"We don't know, but it's not important. We need to Rei to a hospital, 
now." Mercury said, her voice gaining strength. She looked over a 
Jupiter. "Jupiter...here." She took the brunette senshi's hand and 
placed it over Rei's wound. "Keep applying pressure to try and stop the 
bleeding." 

"I'll drive her to the hospital." Neptune said, stepping forward. "We 
should go now." 
 
"No." Sailor Jupiter said in a harsh voice, glaring daggers at the 
Senshi of the Sea. 

"Jupiter, we don't have time for..." Venus started, but Jupiter cut her 
off. 

"I don't care!" Jupiter snapped, drawing Rei closer protectively. "I 
don't want her anywhere near Rei. This is her fault."

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Neptune looked stricken. "I'm...sorry." 
She finally said in a very weak voice, stepping back and turning away. 

"I'll take her." Tuxedo Kamen said quietly. Jupiter nodded and very 
gently picked Rei up, cradling the girl in her powerful arms as easily 
as she would a child. 

"I'll go with them." Mercury said, standing as well. "My visor isn't 
working at all, so I'll be more useful there."  
 
"I'll go..." Sailor Moon said. She was still crying shakily. Venus 
placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled as the princess looked at her. 
 
"We can't all go, Sailor Moon. And we need you here. There's still 
another daeva out there, remember?" Sailor Moon nodded, looking unhappy. 
The small group split off, but Mercury beckoned Venus to join them. 
Venus fell into step with the other girl. "What's up?" She said in a 
quiet tone. "I probably should stay here too..."  
 
Mercury cut her off by pulling her into a doorway and kissing her 
fiercely. Venus fumbled for a moment, then returned the brief kiss, 
holding the other girl tightly. "Be careful." Mercury whispered in a 
teary voice. "There's something wrong here, I feel it. Promise me you'll 
be careful." 
 
"Hey..." Venus said with a small, confident smile. "Don't worry about me. 
I'll be fine. I promise. Nothing could keep me from you." Mercury nodded, 
not smiling. She gave Venus another kiss, a very brief one, and then ran 
to catch up with Jupiter and Tuxedo Kamen. Venus jogged back to join 
Sailor Moon and Sailor Neptune. 

-------------------

Meanwhile, a few streets down, two more Sailor Senshi were trying to 
figure out what was going on. "Are the communicator's still not 
working?" Sailor Pluto asked, her face tight, as if she wasn't feeling 
well. 

"Nothing." Sailor Uranus answered, giving the little device on her wrist 
a frustrated flick. "Whatever's getting to you must be affecting them as 
well." 

"Or whoever." Pluto replied, holding her forehead in her hand as she 
leaned on her Garnet Rod. "I'm starting to think that the one who's been 
blocking Rei and I is close by."

"Hm." Uranus looked up and down the street, at all the figures laying 
there. "Are you sure you're not getting whatever these people have?" 
 
"Yes." Pluto said, straightening. "As I said...whatever they have, it's 
not natural. I doubt you can catch it from another person. These people 
have been attacked."

Uranus slammed her fist into her hand. "Damn it...I hate not knowing 
what's going on."  
 
"Shh!" Pluto said, holding up her hand. "Do you hear that?" Both fell 
silent to listen. Sure enough, from some distance away, the sound of a 
little voice singing happily could be heard, though the song was in no 
language that either of the senshi recognized. 

A little girl, dressed in a elementary school uniform, danced out of a 
side street, her violet hair twirling around her. There was something 
glittering in her hand. She caught sight of the two Sailor Senshi and 
waved, smiling brightly. 

"What's wrong with her...?" Uranus began, but was cut off by a sharp 
gasp from Pluto.

"Look in her hand." The Guardian of Time said softly. Uranus did so, and 
narrowed her eyes. There was a slim, long-bladed knife in her hand, and 
there was blood still dripping off it. "It's her." Pluto whispered. "I 
don't believe it...she's the one."

"You're Sailor Senshi!" The girl chirped, stopping when she was about 
twenty feet away. "Which ones are you?"

"Um..." Uranus glanced over at Pluto, who nodded slightly. Uranus took 
that to mean they should keep the child talking. "I'm Sailor 
Uranus...this is Sailor Pluto." 
 
"Ooo!" The girl gasped dramatically, holding her free hand over her 
mouth. "Sailor Pluto? You're the one I've been shielding us from. You're 
really good...it's been hard! There's another one I was shielding...but 
she won't be a bother anymore."

"What do you mean?" Uranus asked, a cold feeling appearing in her 
stomach.

The tiny girl grinned, an expression that twisted Uranus' gut. There was 
absolutely no sanity in that smile. She brought her knife up to her 
mouth and licked the blood from the blade.  
 
"What did you do to her?" Uranus demanded, starting forward. Pluto laid 
a restraining hand on her shoulder, and the blonde senshi shook it off, 
though she did stop. 

"She screamed once, when I stabbed her. She was too loud, but the knife 
made her stop. I was aiming for her heart, but she saw me and twisted 
away. But I cut her really deep...she's probably dead now." She pouted. 
"She was *beautiful.* I wanted to carve her up into little pieces, but I 
couldn't, because I knew there were others coming." 

She looked up at Uranus, a soulless glitter in her eyes. "You're really 
pretty too, though. I like blonde girls. Maybe I can carve *you* up. She 
ran forward, knife held high. Uranus seemed transfixed. 

Not understanding why Uranus wasn't moving, Pluto moved instead. Her Rod 
swung down, blocking the knife's blade. There was a sickly yellow flash 
as the two of them came into contact, and the girl sprang back. Pluto's 
action seemed to have surprised her, shocked her so much that her mask 
dropped for an instant. Pluto shuddered as she saw what lay behind it. 

For an instant, the girl's face assumed an expression of madness and 
anger like Pluto had never seen. She knew that this child didn't just 
want to kill, she wanted...she needed...to make her victims suffer. 
There was nothing inside of her except hatred and frustration. "Who are 
you?" Pluto asked in a calm voice. 

The mask had already shifted back, and the girl smiled at her. "I'm 
Tachyon. I guess I should have known you'd be immune to me." Pluto 
looked at Uranus again. She had moved, but only a little. It did seem 
like she was going to try to block the strike that Pluto had deflected. 

"So that's it." Pluto said in understanding. "That's how you're doing it. 
You don't actually affect the timestream...you just affect the way 
things move through it." It was the difference between a river and the 
boats that floated on it. Sailor Pluto could change the flow of the 
river itself. This girl Tachyon could control the boats that moved 
through it. It took a lot less energy, and it was easy to hide the 
little boats in great river of time.

Tachyon giggled. "That's right! Of course, Lady Meson will probably tell 
me I need to get to work, but you all caused poor Gluon such problems, I 
thought I should get a few of you out of the way first. Like the other 
one...even if she's not dead, she'll never bother me again."

"Don't be so sure, Tachyon." Pluto touched the Garnet Orb lightly to 
Uranus' shoulder, and with a red flash normalized her passage through 
time once again. Uranus looked disorientated for a moment, then turned 
angry eyes to the tiny girl. 

Tachyon took a few steps backwards. "I don't have enough time to fight 
with you, Sailor Pluto." She said with a smile. "So I guess I'll have to 
leave it up to her." The blue-haired daeva suddenly appeared, kneeling 
behind Tachyon and holding her close, her cheek pressed to the child's. 

"This is Malattia." She said, stroking the daeva's pale face gently. 
"She's very sad, because her sister just got killed. It was the dark 
haired one who did it." She smiled fondly. "Did it make you feel better 
when I stabbed her?" Malattia nodded. "Good!" Tachyon sighed. "Poor 
Malattia just isn't having a good day...she got hurt, too." 
 
Pluto surveyed the street. "She is the one making all these people 
sick." She stated. 

"Yes! You're so smart!" Tachyon beamed, clapping her hands. "Malattia 
puts a tiny little bit of herself inside all these people and they get 
really sick. They'll die eventually, once she gets tired of feeding on 
them. But it takes awhile. But the pink-haired one...Malattia wanted her 
to die quickly, so she put a lot of herself inside her. But then someone 
came along and killed the piece of her inside the pink one. I bet it 
hurt really bad." 
 
"What the hell are you talking about?" Uranus snapped. 

"You'll see. Tell the others I said hi. Bye bye!" Tachyon vanished in an 
instant, leaving the blue-haired Malattia alone. The daeva stood up, 
looking carefully at the two Sailor Senshi. There was a sound from the 
side street Tachyon had emerged from, and all three turned to look. 
Sailor Venus, Sailor Moon and Sailor Neptune all emerged, looking like 
they were under a huge strain. Neptune looked the worst of all, as 
Uranus was able to immediately see she had been crying. 

Uranus was about to ask what had happened, but Malattia wasted no time. 
She streaked forward, almost too fast to be seen. Uranus twisted out of 
the way. There was an odd smell in the air in the daeva's wake. It made 
Uranus feel dizzy and feverish. She stumbled back, but Pluto caught her. 

"Are you okay?" Pluto asked. Uranus nodded, standing straight. 

"I'll be fine. Be careful!" She called to the others. "She's the one 
making everyone sick." 
 
"Right." Venus said, assuming a defensive posture. Sailor Moon stepped 
to the side, casting the silent daeva a frightened look. Neptune gave 
Uranus a look that almost broke her heart. -What happened? Oh no...Rei!- 
Uranus thought, her stomach going cold again. -No, it can't be 
true...she was lying...-

Malattia was on the move again, twisting towards Sailor Moon. The pig-
tailed girl looked terrified for a moment, then frowned. "I'm tired of 
you daeva! MOON TIARA ACTION!" The glowing disk tore through the air, 
slicing through the enemy. "Yes!" Sailor Moon exulted. But even as they 
watched, the daeva's torso floated in the air, bonding with her lower 
half once again. "What?"

"Let me try!" Venus said, stepping forward. "CRESCENT BEAM!" 
 
Pluto attacked at the same time. "Dead...scream...." The attacks struck 
the daeva at the same time, and there was a detonation of garnet and 
gold. When the light cleared, Malattia was nowhere to be seen. 

"Did we get her?" Venus asked. The next instant, she fell to her knees, 
coughing. The world spun around her in a hot, feverish haze. She was 
sure she was about to be sick. 

"Venus!" Sailor Moon cried out, reaching for her. But she began to cough 
and fell onto her side, groaning weakly. The Outer Senshi were now the 
only ones standing. 

"She's still here...but where?" Uranus said, turning around as if trying 
to catch the invisible enemy off-guard. 

"Wait...maybe I can find her." Neptune said, revealing her Talisman 
Mirror. "SUBMARINE REFLECTION!" The light poured from the mirror, and a 
twisting blue mist was revealed, hanging in the air. It seemed to be 
pouring into Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus's open mouths. 

"How do we fight that?" Uranus asked, aghast. 

"You don't." A languid whisper seemed to come from the air itself. "Soon, 
we will all be together." The mist gathered itself and shot tendrils out 
towards the other three Senshi. They tried to dodge, but it was no use. 
The mist poured into their mouths and nostrils, and they fell as well, 
coughing and gasping for air. A rippling sound filled the street, and 
the Senshi dimly realized that Malattia was laughing at them. 

"Enough." The voice was quiet, but there was a power to it that made the 
world freeze. Sailor Saturn stepped out of the shadows of an alley, the 
sunlight gleaming off of the blade of her Silence Glaive. "Leave my 
friends alone, and remove yourself from all of these people."

"You....you healed the girl." The mist swung through the air and slowly 
assumed human shape once more.  
 
"Yes...I am Sailor Saturn, the warrior of death and rebirth." Saturn 
leveled her weapon at the daeva. "This world has no place for a creature 
like you. Leave now, or be destroyed." 
 
Malattia smiled. Quick as thought, she moved forward, her lips making 
contact with Saturn's before the small senshi could react. She jumped 
back, avoiding the clumsy swing that Saturn aimed at her. Her smile 
vanished, however, as a violet aura suffused Sailor Saturn. The daeva 
clutched her chest in pain and took a step back. 

"You cannot survive within my body, daeva. As I said...leave."  
 
"We shall see." Malattia vanished again. Sailor Saturn's aura became 
visible once more, but she began to cough and fell forward on her knees. 
The daeva was invisible once again, but Saturn could easily imagine that 
mist pouring into her lungs. The pavement beneath her began to sway 
violently back and forth, and she caught herself on her hands before 
falling on her face. 

Calling forth all her power, Sailor Saturn saw that it was useless. Her 
powers of healing worked best when applied to others, not herself. She 
was able to fight off complete incapacitation, but it was a losing 
battle. And she couldn't fight back while concentrating so much on just 
staying conscious. 

She pulled herself upright, using the blade of the Silence Glaive for 
support. As she moved, the sunlight caught on something on Sailor Moon's 
chest, moving in time with her weak, shallow breath. It was her 
transformation locket. "Ginzuishou..." Saturn coughed, starting forward. 
It was their only chance. She thought of Chibi-Usa, laying asleep in the 
alley with Diana watching over her. Malattia would find her once Saturn 
fell. She couldn't let that happen. 

She started forward, but fell to her hands and knees after just a step. 
She let the Silence Glaive fall as she doggedly crawled forward. "Just 
give up." The voice seemed to be coming from Saturn's own mouth. She 
ignored it. "Give in...it hurts now, but I am always kind to those I am 
with. When you finally die, you will feel such relief, it will be bliss. 
Just give yourself to me."  
 
"Never." Saturn croaked. She had reached Sailor Moon. Her eyes were 
fluttering, just as Chibi-Usa's had been. Throwing caution to the wind, 
she placed her hands against Sailor Moon's chest and threw everything 
she had into healing the Sailor Senshi's leader. With a great, hacking 
cough, Sailor Moon cracked her eyes open. She wasn't healed, but she was 
awake. Saturn prayed that would be enough. 

"Sailor Saturn?" Sailor Moon asked weakly. Feeling herself slip away, 
Saturn took Sailor Moon's hands and placed them on her locked. 

"Ginzuishou..." She whispered, her eyes rolling back into her head. She 
slumped against the street, breathing weakly. 

Sailor Moon closed her eyes, detaching the locket from her fuku and 
holding it up with a shaking hand. She could feel the daeva slipping 
into her body, trying to reclaim her. "No..." She said, coughing. "My 
friends...all these people...you can't have them..." Her voice was 
gaining strength as she spoke, and pink and white light began to shine 
from between her fingers. "In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!" 

"MOON HEALING ESCALATION!" White light blazed over the street, making 
the sun appear dim in comparison as a star appeared in Sailor Moon's 
hands. She felt her body purged of the presence of the daeva, and as she 
stood, looking from side to side, she saw the white light wash over the 
other Senshi, snuffing out a tiny wisp of blue that appeared in each of 
their mouths. Up and down the street, the same thing was happening to 
everyone else. Finally, just in front of Sailor Moon, Malattia appeared, 
hovering in the air. She seemed to be boiling away slowly, and she 
arched her back and shrieked as the light finally tore her apart 
completely. 

The daeva's victims began stirring to life. Sailor Saturn was the next 
one to stand, and she walked over to Sailor Neptune, who was pulling 
herself into a sitting position. Saturn extended her hand, still 
speaking with the voice of her older side. "Your protectiveness will 
endanger all of us. Even if the danger is greater, no one Senshi is 
worth more than the others. I trust all of you to keep me safe, just as 
I hope you trust me to keep you safe." 
 
Neptune looked down, her face dark. "Michiru-mama..." Saturn said, her 
voice slipping towards it's normal tone once again. "I love you. But I 
need to fight, just as much as you do. You can't ask me to stay behind."

"I know...and I'm sorry..." Neptune's face seemed to crumple, and Sailor 
Saturn was there in an instant, holding her close. "I'm sorry Rei-
chan..." Neptune sobbed. 

"Rei?" Pluto asked sharply, looking down at Neptune. "What happened?" 

"We'll explain on the way." Venus said, letting Sailor Moon help her to 
her feet. "Is Chibi-Usa alright?" Venus asked Saturn, who nodded, 
looking worried. "Good, we'll pick her up. We need to go to the 
hospital." 
 
"So Rei is..." Uranus started. 
 
"Alive." Venus nodded, her face hard and worried. "But she was hurt 
really badly." Neptune's sobs redoubled as Uranus helped her to her feet. 

-------------------

In the waiting room, things were tense. So tense that the others who had 
been sitting there all decided to leave for other haunts, leaving just 
Ami, Makoto and Mamoru. Mamoru was leaning against the wall next to the 
operating room doors, eyes closed. The only outward sign of strain were 
his knuckles, which were white as his fists hung at his sides. 

Ami was in a chair, her fingers drumming the arms as she continued 
looking from the clock, to the doors, to Makoto. Makoto herself was 
pacing a wide circle through the room, clenching and unclenching her 
fists, slamming her fists together and muttering to herself the whole 
time. It was the muttering, along with the murderous expression, that 
had gone the furthest towards driving everyone else out of the room. 

Finally, finally, the door opened and Ami's mother stepped out, dressed 
in scrubs and drying her hands. Everyone rushed towards her. "Is she 
okay?" Makoto asked desperately. 

Dr. Mizuno nodded, looking sober. "She'll be okay, but she's going to 
need a lot of rest." She looked around. "You say you found her near the 
area that the police have sealed off?" Ami nodded a little. "That 
explains a lot...though something different seems to have happened to 
all those people. A nurse just told me that they're all coming to, but 
their symptoms don't seem anything like's Rei's."

"What do you mean, Dr. Mizuno?" Mamoru asked. "I thought she just had a 
stab wound." 
 
"That's what I thought at first as well...but the wound didn't seem to 
want to close. We had to put in many, many more stitches than I thought 
advisable at first to stop the bleeding. And then we noticed that she 
seems to have suffered a severe electric shock, or something close to it. 
There's some nerve damage. Nothing irreparable." She said quickly, 
holding up her hand at everyone's shocked expression. "And besides..." 
She cast a sidelong look at Ami, who looked intensely uncomfortable. 
"Something tells me she'll be a fast healer."

"Could whatever she was stabbed with have been electrified?" Mamoru 
asked.  
 
Dr. Mizuno shook her head. "No...that would have cauterized the wound, 
at least a little. But I can't find out where the shock would have come 
from...so I think something happened that was a shock to her nervous 
system, but it was different than actual electricity." 

"Can we see her?" Makoto asked quickly. 
 
"In a few minutes." Ami's mother poked her head back into the operating 
room an beckoned. An orderly emerged. "He'll take you to a closer 
waiting room, and tell you where she is when she's ready." The three of 
them left, and Ami began to breathe a sigh of relief when her mother 
called her back. "You go on ahead, but I'd like to talk to Ami for a 
second."  
 
Ami stood in front of her mother, who just looked at her carefully for a 
long moment. "Are you okay?" She finally said. 
 
"Me?" Ami blinked. "Um...I'm fine, Mom. Really. I guess I'm a little 
shaken up, finding Rei like that, though." 

"Hm." Dr. Mizuno made a noncommittal noise. "Found her...so you don't 
really know what happened to her?" She asked, looking piercingly at her 
daughter. 

"I have no idea." Ami answered, absolutely truthfully. She felt her gut 
twist slightly at the lie of omission, however.  
 
"Hm." Ami's mother said again. She was silent again, and Ami fought off 
the urge to twitch nervously. "Do you trust me, Ami-chan?"

This was not a question Ami had been expecting, and it made her fumble. 
"Do I...trust you?" She bit her lip. "Of course I do Mom. I trust you."

"Do you?" Ami's mother gave her that piercing look again. "I'm starting 
to wonder...I feel like there are whole sections of your life that I 
know nothing about. I know...I know you're not a child now, and that you 
won't share everything with me. It hurts, but I know it." Ami had no way 
to respond to that, so she didn't try. 

"But I want to be part of your life, Ami-chan, if you'd let me. You're 
my daughter, and no matter what you had to tell me, I really hope that 
you do trust me enough to know that it would be okay. So I can wait. 
Because I trust you, Ami-chan. Enough to believe that if you're keeping 
me out, there's a good reason." Dr. Mizuno gave Ami a hug and a smile 
and went back into the operating room, leaving Ami alone. 

Ami's feet automatically took her to the door, where she followed the 
distant forms of her friends as they followed the orderly down the long 
corridor. Her mother had just given her a lot to think about, and she 
was too stressed to handle it at the moment. She wished that Minako was 
with her, and hoped she was okay, although what her mother said did 
reassure her quite a bit. If people were recovering, it was a good sign 
that the Sailor Senshi had won. 

Ami puffed out her cheeks and sighed. Minako didn't have the market 
cornered on wanting to keep things a secret for no good reason, it 
seemed. She wondered how much her mother already knew, and if it really 
was a good idea to tell her the rest. One thing was certain, though. She 
didn't have much time. When her mother decided she needed to know 
something, she found out. And quickly. 

-------------------
AUTHOR'S NOTE: You know what's one of my favorite things about writing 
in a magical girl universe, especially Sailormoon? The minimal police 
presence that is just accepted. Cops are, at best, a minor inconvenience. 
I used to worry about the 'realism' of not having the cops show up when 
a city block's worth of citizenry is incapacitated, but then I re-
watched the end of Sailormoon R, where a skyscraper-sized crystal 
formation appears in downtown Tokyo and the Senshi arrive without seeing 
a single police officer, let alone the military and media presence that 
would swarm such an event. Cops? What cops? ^_^

I don't own Sailormoon or any of the characters thereof. Any resemblance 
to actual events or people is purely coincidental or the result of a 
practical joke. Story void in Utah. If not completely satisfied with 
this story, please return unused portion for a full refund. 

Onwards to Part 19


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