[Spring 2005] Mamoru caught Usagi looking at the clock again. Leaning over, he whispered, "Usako, the baby is fine. Your mother would call if there were any problems. We'll head home when we need to, but for now, please try to enjoy yourself and stop fretting!" Usagi flashed a wry smile at her husband. "I'll try," she promised. Though it had been almost 7 months since Chibi-Usa's birth, Haruka and Michiru's dinner party marked the first occasion that Usagi and Mamoru had gone out together without their baby. It also represented the first time all of the senshi had gathered together for something other than a wedding or funeral in far too long. Usagi, though having a wonderful time, couldn't help but worry that something was going wrong back home. What if Chibi- Usa was crying incessantly? She tended to do that. Would her mother call and let her know, or would she stoically try to withstand the gale force screams of her beloved granddaughter? Of course, deep down, Usagi also wondered what it meant if Chibi- Usa was not crying. Did her little baby not need her as much any more? Her eyes drifted inexorably once again toward the clock on the wall. Suddenly, a dinner roll nailed her right between the eyes. "Stop looking at the clock, meatball head!" Rei yelled from across the room, another freshly-baked projectile resting dangerously in her hand. "Your precious little yam-head-to-be is just fine!" Mamoru had gained enough wisdom over the years to stifle the urge to whisper "I told you so." Glancing sheepishly at all of her friends, Usagi gave them all a wink and wailed, "Rei-chaaannnnn, why are you always so mean to me!!! Mina-chan! Have you been holding out on her? Rei-chan always gets extra cranky when she's not getting any loving!" As Mina and Rei stammered incoherent denials, blushing furiously, the rest of the women broke out into raucous laughter. Seeing the sweat forming on their foreheads, Usagi felt slightly guilty for embarrassing them, so she decided to fix it the only way she knew how. "Watch it, meatball-head, you almost made me spill my drink," Rei scolded, though she was unable to hide a joyous smile, as she and Mina tried to squirm out from under Usagi's patented tackle-hug. With one shared look, she and Mina changed tactics, grabbing pillows and simultaneously bonking Usagi over the head with them. "Ami-chan! Mako-chan! Your princess needs you! They're ganging up on me!" Usagi yelled, trying unsuccessfully to dodge their relentless pillowistic assault. Ami glanced at Makoto. Makoto glanced at Ami. Both nodded. Moments later, Usagi found herself being pummeled by four pillows! The feathery carnage continued until, suddenly, a guitar chord rang throughout the room and a folded-up red napkin flew through the air, landing in front of the roiling mass of inner senshi. "Pillows are meant to provide comfort and respite for weary heads. They bring joy and happiness to all who enjoy their cushiony goodness. You have turned these pillows into instruments of violence and aggression. For this, there can be only one response." Mamoru rose from his seat, standing menacingly over the five young women scattered in a heap on the sofa and floor. The young women in question hid their faces behind their hands using the techniques learned through years of fighting by the side of Tuxedo Kamen to suppress the laughter that his inane speeches inspired. Before he could make good on his threats, though, he fell back onto his chair under a pile of five pillows, the largest hurled by Usagi herself. "Do we all need a time-out, children?" Haruka announced from the doorway. "We step into the kitchen for five minutes to check on things and a riot breaks out?" As she turned to Michiru to share a witty jibe at the inners' expense, she felt something soft thud against the back of her head. "Ok, who threw that!" she demanded, spinning around to find five amused young women returning her stare with innocent smiles . Michiru giggled happily, reaching out to sooth her irritated companion with a gentle caress on the arm. "Dinner is ready, if you're done with the festivities," she announced to the room. As Haruka tried to pick up a pillow nonchalantly, Michiru added, "I wouldn't even dream of doing that if I were you, 'Ruka. Don't start something you know you won't be able to finish." "What? I was just stretching," Haruka lied, even as she jerked her hand away from the pillow in question. "What's everyone waiting for?" she asked, darting into the dining room. As everyone collected themselves and headed in to dinner, Mako whispered playfully in Ami's ear, "If you think you're going to have me as whipped as Michiru has Haruka, you'd better think again!" Ami smiled devilishly, not even turning to face Makoto as she replied quietly, "If you think I don't already, you'd better think again. We water senshi have a lot more in common than being good swimmers, Mako-love." Makoto grinned happily as Ami took her hand and led her to the table. ------------- Dinner proceeded more sedately, despite the barbs and jibes that characterize conversations among close friends. Though everyone had been keeping in touch more or less, each person spent some time bringing everyone up to date on their lives. Mamoru and Usagi tried to limit their parenthood stories, conscious of the fact that things that seem fascinating to new parents are often quite boring to non-parents. Thus, discussions of the consistency and frequency of Chibi-Usa's poops were left on the back burner. Haruka and Michiru described their latest trips. Haruka no longer raced full-time on the circuit, but still participated in various events when invited to do so by sponsors seeking to spice up the field. Similarly, Michiru's touring days were behind her as she limited herself to charity functions and filling in for old friends when necessary. Though they did not yet think it appropriate to discuss it, both knew that their days on Earth were increasingly numbered. Their duty called and soon they would depart. They wanted to enjoy as much of their home as they could before heading to the outer reaches. Setsuna entertained everyone with humorous stories about the undergraduate and graduate students in her physics seminars. For some reason, they all sought her out for advice, not only about their work, but also about their tumultuous personal lives. "You just radiate this aura of 'all-knowing seer'," Minako pointed out. "Maybe because she is an all-knowing seer," Haruka joked. Setsuna also filled in the gaps in Hotaru's accounting of her schoolwork and various activities, making sure the young girl got full credit from everyone for her exemplary grades and excellent performances in dance and soccer. Despite her international celebrity status, Minako had little to say. The fact that most of her activities were covered in the various newspapers around town made it somewhat redundant for her to describe her doings. She hoped to have her new CD ready to release in conjunction with a planned summer tour of Japan and Korea. Makoto was still searching for a suitable location to open her own cafe. Aside from keeping her and Ami's apartment clean and cooking their meals, she spent a great deal of time in a local greenhouse, playing with various orchid and rose hybrids. Despite the well-known fact that no one had ever bred a blue rose, she had sworn to keep trying. Ami dropped her eyes, embarrassed at the happy sighs from her friends, who all realized exactly why Makoto wanted to do such a thing, and for whom. Eventually, the conversation turned to Rei and Ami, though everyone had left them for last by unspoken consent. Their particular jobs hit very close to home, especially now that Ikuko had begun to grow increasingly frail. Rei tried to present a very upbeat picture of the work of her committee, emphasizing the large sums of money that had been donated and the unprecedented degree of international cooperation taking place. Unfortunately, Ami could not offer as upbeat an assessment of her own area of work. "Are the researchers making any progress at all?" Michiru asked her. Ami sighed, "No, not really. The effects are somewhat similar to advanced cases of radiation sickness, but none of the patients has been exposed to those levels of radiation. My mother has been coordinating a lot of the independent studies. She says that none of the tests done to date show anything conclusive as to the cause." "Radiation? I wonder..." Setsuna said. "Sometime ago, Artemis mentioned that they'd been getting some strange readings from the sun. Might there be a connection?" "I'm not aware of anything strange. There has been a slight rise in solar flare activity, but studies of the energy released by those flares have shown nothing potentially harmful," Ami informed them. Makoto chuckled grimly, "I guess we can't expect two cats to detect something that the world astronomical community can't." Suddenly, Ami's eyes went wide. "Wait. Mako-love, you may have just hit on something. Maybe they can detect something that we can't." Without further explanation, Ami transformed, to the amazement of her friends. As Sailor Mercury, she activated her VR goggles and pulled out her portable computer. Moving to the window, she looked up at the sky. No one spoke, not wanting to disturb whatever it was that she was doing. Finally, she muttered, "It's too faint. I need better equipment." "Ami-chan, what are you doing?" Rei prodded. Ami turned back to her friends, shifting wordlessly back into her normal form. "Well, when Setsuna mentioned Artemis and Luna, it occurred to me that any observations they would be making would be related to negative energy, like that used by our enemies. That kind of energy would not be detectable to modern instruments because it has a magical component." "Actually, some of the 'wilder' quantum physicists out there have described new kinds of energy and particles that one could interpret as having similar behaviors to what we call negative energy," Setsuna offered. Ami nodded, "Yes, but none of those are easily detected. We, however, have all sorts of ways to detect spikes of negative energy. Unfortunately, I didn't see anything unusual just now." Seeing her friends' excitement turning to dejection, Ami quickly added, "But, that might be because my instruments aren't designed to detect trace amounts, only large bursts. I'll need to do more research!" "Sounds expensive," Haruka grunted. "I know Rei's committee is rather well-funded, but I doubt they'd be willing to pay for research along these lines, and that kind of research isn't cheap. I remember seeing some of the class budgets for the advanced sciences at Mugen and they were rather pricey." She paused and looked over at Michiru. With a glance, they reached a decision. "Fortunately, both Haruka and I have been blessed by some generous patrons and have invested our money well," Michiru announced. "We'd be happy to contribute whatever you need, Ami- chan." "Me too!" Minako chipped in. "Heck, I just headlined a benefit concert for this illness, the least I could do is chip in my own funds." Ami bowed her head shyly. "You are all very generous, but it is just the beginnings of an idea. I don't even know enough yet to decide if it makes sense to continue. I'll have to consult with Luna and Artemis. Where are they anyway?" Michiru chuckled, "They're sleeping, as usual. I think they get bored watching us all eat, since they're stuck with cat food all the time. They asked me to wake them when we finished dinner." "Ami, how are you going to have time for all of this? You're already working sixty hour weeks with your mom," Makoto pointed out gently. "You can't push yourself so hard." "I'll be fine, Mako," Ami replied excitedly. "I'm going to go talk to them right now!" Excusing herself, she placed her napkin on her chair and hustled off to find the sleeping cats. After a few moments of silence, Minako tentatively asked, "Mako- chan, how long has Ami been able to transform without her wand?" "Well," Makoto replied, "she told me that when she saved those kids on the sailboat in San Francisco she transformed without it." "I've always been able to transform without a pen," Mamoru declared. Usagi kicked him under the table and everyone else ignored him. "Luna always said we'd be able to do that one day," Rei recalled. "I've never tried it, though." The others all nodded in agreement. Finally, Haruka rose from the table. "No time like the present," she said. After focusing her energy briefly, she looked to the sky and shouted, "Uranus Planet Power Make-Up!" Suddenly, the air began to crackle and swirl and everyone could feel the familiar energies of transformation. As the bright light died down, everyone could see Sailor Uranus standing before them, a proud, happy grin on her face. Of course, everyone else had to try it. Within moments, all of the Sailor Senshi stood around Haruka and Michiru's dining room table, accompanied by Tuxedo Kamen. "What's wrong? Is there a threat?!" Sailor Mercury shouted as she dashed back into the dining room, Luna and Artemis hot on her heels. "I could sense all of you transforming from the next room!" After the embarrassed laughter died down, Makoto explained it all to her and everyone resumed their normal forms. "Come on, Ami," Makoto urged, "at least finish your meal before you begin your research." As Ami sat down to eat, Makoto whispered, "You were the first of us to do that, love. I'm very proud of you." With a light kiss on Ami's ear, Mako returned to her own meal. --------------------------------- "Ami-love, are you ever going to come to bed?" Makoto asked from a darkened doorway, idly scratching a patch of dry skin on her arm. Over the last few months, she'd reluctantly grown used to going to sleep by herself. Usually, Ami would stay with her in bed for a while, but then excuse herself to continue with her work. Some nights, Makoto slept right through till morning. Most nights, like this one, she tossed and turned and then retrieved Ami herself. "In a few minutes," Ami called over her shoulder. She sat at her workbench, hunched over beneath the stark light of a lone desk lamp. On the desk in front of her, her mini-computer sat with most of its inner workings exposed as Ami made minute adjustments with delicate instruments. Makoto sighed heavily. 'A few minutes' usually translated to an hour at least. Glancing at the wall clock, she noted that it was close to 3 am. She moved slowly into the room and knelt down at Ami's side, waiting for her to finish whatever she was doing. Eventually, Ami pushed back from the desk and met Makoto's patient gaze. "Darling," Makoto said, "it is almost three. I know that you're going to insist on getting to the lab right on time in the morning. If you don't come to bed now, you'll get less than four hours of sleep, and you yourself told me that missing that much sleep is bad for your health." Ami reached out and gently caressed Makoto's hair. "I know, love. You're good to remind me. I lose track of time when I get caught up in what I'm doing. Just let me make this final adjustment. Then, I promise I'll come right to bed." "Fine," Makoto grunted, rising to her feet. "I'm going to stay here and watch though, to make sure you don't 'lose track of time' again." With a happy giggle, Ami leaned forward to kiss Makoto's hand where it rested at her hip. "I promise!" With that, she put on her jeweler's glass and went back to work on the computer. True to her word, in only a few moments, she began to reassemble the casing. "There," she announced, "we'll give this a try in the morning when the sun comes up." "Which should be any minute now," Makoto noted wryly. With a big yawn, she took Ami by the hand led her to bed. -- "Wake up, Mako! Wake up!" It took Makoto a moment to get her bearings. She was in bed, it was apparently morning, and Ami was shaking her shoulders quite vigorously. "What's wrong?" she asked, sitting up quickly. "Nothing's wrong... well, something is wrong, but now I know what!" Ami shouted. "Come on, let me show you!" With that, she darted out of their bedroom. Sliding slowly out of bed, Makoto paused to pull on her old green terrycloth bathrobe before following Ami out into the living room. Though it was a bit frayed around the edges, Makoto had had the robe since she was a teenager and couldn't imagine parting with it, despite the occasional jibe from her lover. In the other room, there was no sign of Ami. Mako looked about in hazy confusion, wiping the sleep from her eyes, until she noticed the sliding glass door partly open. Pulling the robe more tightly around herself, she stepped out onto the balcony. There Ami stood, staring almost directly into the sun through her Sailor Mercury goggles, tapping furiously at her mini-computer. "Look at this!" Ami insisted, sliding the goggles off of her head and proffering them to Makoto. Makoto slid them on. Ami had let her try the goggles a few times in the past, so she expected to see the usual tactical readouts and thermal scans. Instead, she saw a faint black light glistening throughout the display. Upon Ami's suggestion to look up, she turned her attention to the sky. The darkness seemed to grow stronger as she did so, coalescing into an almost solid orb. Taking the goggles off, she quickly had to shield her eyes, as she was staring straight into the sun. "What does it mean, Ami?" Makoto asked with a shiver. It was cold on the deck, but the shiver arose from a rising sense of foreboding. "It's just as I've suspected. Come inside and I'll explain it. We have to gather everyone together!" Ami declared. --------- "And that's my theory," Ami concluded, looking around the room. It had taken only a few phone calls and less than an hour to gather all of her friends. Everyone sensed that Ami had something particularly important to report and made quick arrangements to free up the morning. "It actually explains quite a bit and meshes well with what I recall from the Silver Millennium," Artemis noted. "Let me make sure I understand," Rei said carefully. "You are saying that the sun generates both positive energy, like the kind that powers our abilities and the Millennium Crystal, and also negative energy like our enemies use." "Yes, it always generates both, but not in equal amounts. I believe that there is a cycle, with positive energy waxing and waning alongside the negative. Periods such as the Silver Millennium occurred while the positive energy was dominant. That might explain why there was so much more magic in use and how the moon and other planets were habitable," Ami explained. "At other times, though, the negative energy becomes prevalent. I would guess that it was at such times that the foes of the Silver Millennium were at their peak. I also think it could explain the mass extinctions that have occurred deep in the past." "And we're moving into such a time now?" Minako asked. "My readings show massive amounts of negative energy being put out by the sun. We did not detect it before because our instruments are designed to register dangerous spikes of energy such as those used by our enemies. This is a more constant barrage at a lower level," Ami responded. "A lower, but still dangerous level, you mean," Michiru clarified. "Yes. I believe that the degeneration that we call 'hypercancer' is really an overdose of negative energy. I'm afraid that, in time, it will affect almost everyone on the planet." "Why 'almost everyone'?" Haruka asked. "I did some tests on myself," Ami continued, ignoring the concerned glare from Makoto. "I am not affected at all." "We are beings of positive energy. That is what the Moon Kingdom is all about," Usagi noted. "Just as we can resist the powers of our foes, we can resist this. But, what about everyone else, Ami-chan? There must be something we can do!" "I think there is," Ami offered. "We know that there must be a solution, since we all have seen Crystal Tokyo. That is what led me to this conclusion. You all remember that Wiseman was trying to plant crystals of negative energy throughout the past to help his cause. Well, just as there are crystals of negative energy, I believe that there are also crystals of positive energy in the universe. The greatest, purest of these is most likely sitting in Usagi's brooch right now. There should be others, however." "How will crystals help?" Mina inquired. "I believe that if we can gather enough positive energy crystals, we can construct a matrix throughout the planet that would collect and store positive energy from the sun. During the times when the positive energy was peaking, it would gather that energy. Those stores could then be drawn upon on the downside of the cycle. Such a construct should eliminate the threat of the cycle all together." Haruka rose to her feet. "Well, tell us how to find them. We can leave immediately." "It's not that easy," Ami went on. "I don't believe there are any left on Earth itself. We'll have to search for them in the other parts of the solar system and very likely other parts of the galaxy." "But that could take years, decades! Even using the powers we observed the Starlights using, it is no easy thing to jaunt off to the nearest star!" Haruka complained. "What about the people here now? Can they last long enough?" Makoto wondered quietly. Ami shook her head sadly. This was the one issue she had not been able to wrap her mind around. The room grew quiet. "We can freeze them," Usagi whispered. "What did you say?" Ami asked, startled out her melancholy silence. Raising her voice, Usagi repeated, "We can freeze them. We've seen it done. When Wiseman attacked, Neo-Queen Serenity placed herself in stasis, supported by all of you. That protected her while we fought with Wiseman." She raised her eyes and met the gaze of each of her friends calmly. "I'm not sure exactly how, but I know I can do this." "But, Usagi, Neo-Queen Serenity enclosed a palace, not an entire world," Rei pointed out gently. Usagi leaned forward to pat Rei on the knee. "She didn't have the Silver Millennium Crystal and she didn't have time to prepare. We do. It will work. Trust me. Please." Rei nodded gravely, as did all the others. The calm confidence Usagi projected faltered for a moment as she turned back to Ami. "Is there anything we can do to heal my...to heal everyone that is afflicted?" Once again, Ami shook her head ruefully. "I don't believe so. You have cured others before, but there is a difference between those who were assaulted suddenly by the magics of our enemies and those who have been inundated for weeks, months, or years. It may be possible, as we construct the crystal matrix, that those people who have resisted the disease until now will be cleansed of any trace amounts of negative energy. Those who are already sick, though..." Ami's voice trailed off. Usagi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After a moment, she set her shoulders, opened her eyes, and announced, "I think we had all better make peace with our lives. I'm going to need all of..." Suddenly, the phone rang. Makoto glanced at the caller ID. "It's from your house, Usagi-chan. Maybe it's your husband." Mamoru had remained behind to watch the baby, as Ikuko had grown much too ill to tend the little one on her own. Wordlessly, Usagi took the receiver. "Mamo-chan," she said quietly. Her friends watched in silence as she listened to her husband. The blood drained from her face and her eyes grew moist. "I'll be home right away," she said eventually. "I love you, too, Mamo- chan." Hanging up the phone, she turned to the room. "Ikuko-mama did not wake up this morning," she said in a steely voice. Everyone gasped. Some sobbed or began to cry openly. Usagi stood grimly, tears welling her eyes. "You all, and Mamo- chan and Usagi, are my family now. We have a job to do so that not one person more than we can avoid need suffer similar losses." She smiled wanly at her friends. "I will need you all to do this, just as I've always needed all of you to win any battle. I will need all of your power, for we have a very large area to cover. I know I can count on you." "Oh Usagi," Rei whispered weakly through her tears. Ikuko had been the closest thing she had had to a mother. Usagi laid a hand gently on Rei's shoulder, shaking her head lightly. "There is only one Usagi now," she said, her tears flowing freely. Rei nodded, understanding immediately. The world would never again be the same from this day forward. Taking Minako's hand in her own, she slid from the sofa to the floor, onto one knee. Ami, Makoto, then Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, and Hotaru all followed suit. Luna and Artemis dropped their heads respectfully as well. "Queen Serenity," they all whispered in unison.
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