Rei Hino felt herself rising back to consciousness, the spell of sleep slowly falling aside. The black haired young woman opened her eyes to look around the white room dazedly, trying to fit in where she was now with the last thing that she remembered. The Oni realm had been collapsing all around them, Setsuna and Usagi had crossed their weapons as the sorceress chanted, there was a surge of power then ... blackness. Rei tried to sit up, feeling a weight on her legs then looked down at a blonde head resting on her legs. "Usagi?' Rei blinked, reaching out to lay her hand on her head. "Mom, I don' ha' to go to school today," Usagi grumbled in her sleep. "Usagi, wake up," Rei felt herself smiling fondly as she shook her again. Blinking away sleep Usagi got up, then fully registered who had wakened her. Throwing her arms around the surprised Rei she said, "Oh, I'm so glad you're awake!" "Ow ow ow," Rei yelped in pain and Usagi let her go, simply beaming at her happily. "What happened?" Rei demanded fiercely. Still gently holding on to Rei's shoulders Usagi softly explained, "You were hit in the head by a piece of rock just before Setsuna could teleport us out." Rei reached up to her head, mildly surprised to feel the bandages there, "Damn." Usagi hesitated, "We reappeared up at the temple, scared your grandfather pretty badly. He and Setsuna bandaged up you head and we rushed you to the hospital." "I suppose Setsuna has disappeared on us now that it's all over?" Rei asked wryly, trying to get her head around the idea. Usagi finally let go, reaching for the nurse's call button as she said, "Not exactly." "Huh?" Rei blinked. A few moments later a tall, black haired nurse bustled in, her hair bearing the oddest tinge of green. "Nice to see you're finally awake," Setsuna smiled as she looked over Rei critically, "you had us worried for a bit." "You're a nurse?" Something she said registered and Rei asked warily, "What do you mean, finally awake?" "Usagi didn't tell you?" Setsuna tossed a frown at her then she addressed Rei, "You've been out for nearly two weeks." "Two weeks," Rei echoed. She could feel her mind start to work as she demanded, "What happened to the others?" "They're all right," Usagi quickly reassured her. "Recovering, anyway," Setsuna corrected. "Ami and Minako both have casts on, Michiru's strength is coming back and Luna is healing nicely." "Thank you," Rei murmured softly. She looked around again at the depressingly white hospital room, "How soon can I get out of here?" "You've just woken from a coma, Hino," Setsuna frowned. "But other than that, how am I?" Rei challenged. Setsuna sighed softly then gave up, "All right, but only if someone is up there at the temple to help take care of you." "I volunteer," Usagi waved a hand, "considering Makoto has taken over my house to take care of Ami." She frowned, "Though why they're staying in the same room I don't know." Setsuna and Rei exchanged a look, then decided not to say anything. "If it helps any," Rei added as she carefully eased her still mildly battered body off the bed, "I don't have a spare room, so we're going to have to share." A faint blush colored Usagi's cheeks as she said, "I don't think I'd mind." "So what happened to Hotaru?" Rei asked as Usagi helped her dress, "Is she still evil?" "No exactly," Setsuna smiled mysteriously. Across the city in a high rise apartment Minako Aino looked out of her window, the blonde actress fiercely scratching where her cast ended on her arm. "You really shouldn't do that," Hotaru Tomoe said, the black haired woman's voice gently scolding. "But it itches," Minako complained, looking back at her houseguest. The girl looked goth, pale skin and black clothes giving her a very occult look. "Probably a sign that it's healing nicely," Hotaru noted, putting a black gloved hand on Minako's arm to stop her scratching. Minako pulled her hand away from the red skin reluctantly, "And how are you feeling?" "Odd," Hotaru conceded. She looked at her black gloved hands, "I'm still an energy vampire like the Oni made me, bare skin to skin causing me to absorb life force." "Setsuna is working to find you a cure," Minako offered reassuringly. "She's never seen a case like mine," Hotaru shook her head, "it could be years before she can find a cure for my condition." "True," Minako reluctantly nodded. the two standing there silently for a time. "Have you thought about my offer?" "I thought Sailor V already had a partner?" Hotaru challenged. "Artemis is a little busy with Luna right now," Minako looked amused by the thought. "I saw how Artemis took care of her," Hotaru nodded, "but I thought the others said that Luna hated him." "Apparently it's a little more complicated than that," Minako chuckled before she revealed, "apparently they were engaged before Artemis took off with my chain. That, it seems, was why she was so annoyed with him... but now that they're on the same side she's forgiven him." "That's almost too sweet," Hotaru shook her head. "You have no sense of romance," Minako scolded. "So, would you be willing to use your gifts to help Sailor V fight the remaining monsters in the world?" Hotaru nodded, "Maybe it'll help make up for the things I did under the Queen's control." Seriously, "I'm not wearing a costume, though." Minako chuckled, "I wouldn't dream of it." Hotaru hesitated, "I remember hurting the water spirit... is she all right?" "I think so," Minako reassured her, "I understand Haruka is taking care of her." Across the world there is a tropical island, one that is so small that few have even noticed it. Now for the first time there is a sign of human habitation, a grass hut that sits amid the palm trees just above the beach. Emerging from the hut Haruka smiles, the shorts and T-shirt clad woman carrying two glasses as she walked down to the beach. Michiru lay on a lounging chair by the beach, sunglasses shading the green haired young woman's eyes. She smiled slightly as Haruka handed her a glass the settled into her own chair right beside her. "When you said you were taking me away to take care of me," Michiru said impishly, "I wasn't expecting this." "The sea is here if you need to restore yourself," Haruka chuckled, "and while storms are rare here, they're common enough I can come and go as I please." Michiru took a drink, then set it on the stand between them. "Now," she slid her glasses down to reveal her eyes, "I think giving you two weeks to stall has been long enough. You said you were going to explain your change of heart... now spill." "This isn't easy for me," Haruka looked off into the distance. "I told you about my father, about how at times he could be so fond of your memory, then suddenly curse your name," she said. "I remember," Michiru nodded. "He often spoke of how contemptible, how degrading it was that a woman would choose her own kind rather than men," Haruka continued bitterly, "you can imagine how I felt when I realized I had such feelings dwelling in me." Michiru reached out to squeeze her hand, "So you hid?" Haruka nodded, "As much as I could, to please my father. Even after he passed away I maintained the pose... until Setsuna summoned me." "And we met," Michiru murmured. "Yes," Haruka nodded. "I had never understood the tales of love at first sight, until the," she revealed, "but when I saw you my heart skipped a beat." "Me, too," Michiru murmured. She gave Haruka a teasing look, "You might have given me a sign, Windbag." "I was working against years or restraint, Waterlogged," Haruka replied. She squeezed Michiru's hand, "What do you think of staying here together for awhile?" "I'd like that," Michiru gave her a smile. The End Notes: I could have probably pushed this to thirty chapters with the wrap up, but I decided to keep it all to one chapter, more or less. The only couple that's 'blatant' is Haruka/Michiru, though Ami/Makoto and Rei/Usagi are strongly implied. The basic idea for this came from the mental image of a blood thirsty Usagi with a sword, and kind of just rolled on from there. 'Mad Scientist' Ami and 'Miko' Rei are both based on anime series archetypes, but I have to admit 'Street Fighter' Makoto is loosely based on a character from the anime My Dear Marie (Metal Angel Marie in the Dub). Sailor V is a darker version of the character from Sailor Moon, as are the redesigned Outers. I wanted the five core senshi to be basically humans with weapons, while Setsuna, Haruka and Michiru are more elemental forces in human form. The villains are taken from various seasons of Sailor Moon and are in no particular order. I do wish I had been able to work in the Starlights somewhere, but no dice. I did enjoy killing Chibi-moon off early on, and I've gotten a lot of favorable response to Mamoru's death. The only character I wish I could have developed more is Hotaru, but I may do a sequel on her and Minako. We'll see....
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