Story notes: This is the sequel to my previous fan-fiction Fallen
Stars. If you haven't read that then please do so before starting in
on this story, because it won't make the slightest bit of sense
unless you know what has brought the characters to this point. It's
all pretty convoluted stuff!
***
Home Sweet Tokyo!
A Silent Return for the Dispossessed Girls.
Minako blinked, staring up at a night sky that had been filled
with an early afternoon sun only moments ago. She groaned loudly,
wondering why she hurt. There didn't seem to be a single muscle in
her body that didn't ache, and her head throbbed painfully. She must
have hit it when she landed.
Across from her she heard Rei's voice, grousing as usual. "I
forgot how much that sucked the first time around."
Minako blinked away the last of the cartoon stars that were
playing in front of her eyes and sat up. When she finally got her
eyes to focus she could see Rei and Makoto lying in a heap on the
grass just a few feet away. They were both looking rather relieved
though. It must have been nice, having each other to break their
falls. But why were they looking so annoyed at her?
"Idiot! Get out of the way!" Rei yelled at her. "Before..."
Ahh, so that was it, Minako thought. It was just a shame that she
hadn't twigged it for herself before Ami and Haruka were catapulted
into her. The three of them collided in a ball of flailing limbs and
Minako found herself buried under her friends. "Ouuuch..."
"Ohhhh..." Ami moaned, trying to remember how to pick herself up.
"S-sorry Minako-chan... Ow..."
Minako just groaned some more. "Please..." she begged, twitching
slightly, "Haruka-san... you're heavy..."
Haruka, propped upside down on Minako's stomach, just huffed.
"What exactly are you insinuating?" she asked, wishing Ami would move
her bag enough to let her free. After landing at such an angle Haruka
was surprised that she hadn't broken something.
"I did warn you," Rei said as she watched the three of them
disentangle themselves.
Minako glared at her as soon as she had managed to sit up again.
"What warning? You only just finished calling me names when they hit
me!"
"Hey," Rei shot back, turning away with a huff, "we had the
presence of mind to move before you fell on us."
Then Makoto's voice broke through the fledgling argument. A
quiet, awe-filled voice. "Uhh, guys? Look."
The others all blinked and followed her gaze, just in time to see
the last of the flames boil away into the cool night air. What was
left of the portal, the liquid disk of non-space that they had walked
through to get there, spilled out of its fading confines and into the
air, where it was absorbed like water disappearing into a sponge.
"That's it," Makoto said, placing her hand over Rei's, as if
affirming their success. "We're home."
It was only then that the others actually took the time to look
around them. The night wasn't the deep blackness they had become used
to in that strange and fantastic world. The street lights and the
shine from the buildings filled the air with a warm, artificial glow.
Even sitting in the park they could see the pathways lit up for those
wanting to stroll during the midnight hours.
Juuban park, looking just the way they remembered it. They sat in
the exact same spot from where their enemy had cast them out of their
world over two months ago. The place was empty now, but maybe that
was just as well. It would have been awkward to explain why the five
of them had just appeared out of thin air.
Minako felt invigorated, knowing where they were now. After all
this time she was home. She threw up her arms with a whoop, her
bruises suddenly forgotten. "Wa-hoooooo! We made it! Those crazy old
guys did it! Ha-haa!"
Her smile lit up her face and she staggered to her feet, only to
twirl herself around in the moonlight like a giddy schoolgirl before
flopping back onto the grass, her hair escaping from its netting and
fanning out majestically beneath her. "Hee hee, I'm going to be so
sore," she giggled, while the others just watched her antics with
their own inner glows of happiness.
Haruka stretched herself out and got to her feet, massaging her
abused neck even as she smiled. "I wonder what the date is," she
said, pondering the question to herself. They had been away for what
had seemed to be a little over two months, but who knew how that
related to the time that had passed back there in Tokyo. Time had
passed, that much was obvious seeing that the park was empty and it
was well into the night, but by how much? In what direction even?
And more importantly to Haruka, what had happened during that
time?
Ami had to mirror those thoughts. What had her mother done in her
absence? Did she think that she was dead? She hoped that whatever the
case was, it hadn't affected her mother's work. And Usagi; what had
she thought when they had been cast out of their world, and right in
front of her too?
It was a lot to think about when they had only just got back.
"You guys stay put," Ami said, following Haruka in getting to her
unsteady feet. "I'll find a newspaper."
"Roger!" Minako replied from the grass, giving her a playful
thumbs up. Right then, unlike the others, Minako didn't want to think
about the difficult stuff. She just wanted to enjoy the moment. She
had put on a brave face as they had all waited for the portal to
appear in that world of feudal fantasy, but in truth her insides had
been knotted up. The nagging fear Haruka had brought up had played on
her mind; that the burning gateway might not have got them where they
had wanted to go. Now it was all okay and she could let herself go,
if only for a short while. Whatever happened next would happen
regardless of whether she worried or not, so what was the point?
Her joyful respite was short lived though, and Ami soon returned
with an up-to-date paper. It seemed as though time had passed in
Tokyo just as it had in the land of Seiji, and the unpleasant trips
from one world to the other hadn't interfered with the matter of when
they had appeared. They had been gone for about two months in Tokyo
as well, and the paper even mentioned the Sailor Senshi, as well as
their reticence to give anyone any information on how they were
coping having lost a full half of their women. Not that they had ever
spoken to the press beforehand either. Why would this have changed
things?
So, Usagi and the others had won after all it seemed, but their
absence had been very obvious. No doubt the journalists would have a
similar field day with their return.
"And it means summer is nearly here!" Ami worried. "We have to
catch up on all our work! My medicine exams must be coming up soon!"
Once they had finished reading Rei sighed, and detached herself
from Makoto's arm. "I guess I'd better go home. I want to see Grandpa
again. I... I need to tell him what I've done."
Makoto shook her head. "What *we've* done," she amended, giving
Rei's hand a gentle squeeze. "Do you want me to come with you?"
Rei smiled at her with clear, emotional eyes, but she still
declined. "Yes, but I think I have to do this on my own. Besides,
he's old. Having 'us' on top of everything might give him a heart
attack!"
Makoto deflated a little but she understood. "Okay. I suppose I'd
better make sure my landlord hasn't sold my apartment anyway!"
They all had homes to go to after all, so after a round of hugs
and goodbyes they began to wander off into the night. However, as
they did Haruka noticed that Minako didn't follow their lead. She
just lay on the grass, looking thoughtfully up at what stars they
could see through the smattering of cloud and the glow of the
artificial lights. A glow that struck them both as rather a shame.
Nights in Seiji had been the deepest black, and in turn the stars had
held a sense of power as they hung in the sky.
"Minako-chan? What's up?" Haruka finally asked. "I'd have thought
you would want to see your parents again after all this. And
Artemis."
Minako nodded. "Yeah," she replied, digging through her large
bag, "I do. But Artemis will just grill me for information once he's
finished pawing at me, and my Mum and Dad will be jumping off the
ceiling at me for running away like this!" She grinned, producing her
cell phone. "You know how parents are, right? I think a warning call
is in order before the flan hits the... err... the fan."
Haruka nodded with a chuckle. For her, parental tempers were a
distant and unpleasant memory, but Minako was Minako and her mangled
sayings could help anyone forget their worries. "I get you. Take care
then."
Minako's grin faded into a simple, calm smile. "Thanks. Give my
love to Michiru-san and Hotaru-chan."
Haruka nodded with a grin of her own. "And Setsuna?"
Minako giggled at the thought of Setsuna being upset for being
left out. "If she cares then I bet she knows already!"
Then, after Haruka had left, Minako sat up in the grass with her
bag in her lap, and dialled for home. It took an age - it was past
midnight after all - but her mother finally picked up. Even if she
was annoyed at being woken it was still so good to hear her voice,
and Minako found herself with a few happy tears in her eyes.
"Hi Mum. It's me."
***
Rei had been given a lot to think about during her visit to
Seiji. Now that she was alone - properly alone for the first time in
a long while - she found that, whether she wanted to or not, some
long overdue thinking had begun. It was a long walk back to her
shrine after all.
For years now she had been so sure of what she wanted out of
life, and so sure of who she was. By day she was a student of
reasonable grades, working for her keep with her grandfather as a
shrine maiden. Those activities kept her busy and limited the time
she could relax with the other girls, but they were rewarding as
well. Her dreams of stardom, unlike Minako's, had been tempered as
she had grown up, and now she sang just for her own pleasure - and
that of anyone who wanted to listen of course. It had depressed her
when the talent scouts had passed her by, but she had come to find a
growing satisfaction in preparing to take over from her grandfather.
And by night, or whenever it was needed really, she was Sailor
Mars, defender of love, justice and righteousness. She would protect
the innocent and burn away the evils that threatened the peaceful
land of Japan, and the peaceful planet of Earth.
Then, all of a sudden, she was the one wielding the powers of
evil, even if they had been in a good cause. Every dream of hers had
been ridiculed and pulled apart from inside her own mind. She had
killed the innocent, because otherwise the innocent would have killed
her and her friends.
She had been forced to see that in order for her to run the
shrine, her grandfather would have to die. He was old, she had known
he could not live forever, but she didn't want to have to face up to
it yet. Not when the old letch still had the time and the energy to
keep going. He was all she had left of her family now.
And likewise, in order for Crystal Tokyo to be built, the old
Tokyo - her home - would have to die. Maybe it would be in a few
years, or maybe in a few hundred, but it would happen. It had to.
Rei hated it, but maybe that was how Sailor Pluto was forced to
think, she mused in her morbid little cloud. The 'Outers' had always
said that the end justified the means. Did that mean that they would
have to fail to protect the world, or just stand back and let it
crumble, in order for the future to be born? Was that just? Could she
stand by and let people suffer, so that a greater number did not have
to?
She knew the answer to that, because she already had.
Masquerading as the Seraphi, they had trampled on the lives of
Seiji's nobility in order that the common people might live better
lives. It was a good cause, she knew they had done the right thing,
but there would be noblemen that suffered because of it. There had
been soldiers who had died because of it. At her hands. Their hands.
Rei fought back her encroaching sobs. Ami and Minako had killed
men as well, and Haruka and Makoto had crippled others. They had
borne the weight of it, so Rei forced herself to be strong. She would
bear it too. They had not had a choice after all.
And from there she found the flip side. She had found happiness
in Seiji too. She had found Makoto, not as the friend she had
treasured for so long, but as something more. Somehow, as Rei had
wallowed in her own inability to cope with her literal inner demon,
Makoto had come to her rescue, and somewhere down the line Makoto had
come to love her.
Rei had been incredulous, but she had also put aside her girlish
need for romance for far too long. And, in humouring her athletic
friend, she had come to share Makoto's feelings. In such a short
space of time her ideas for the future had seen Makoto there to meet
her at the shrine after her day's work. It wasn't a pinkly romantic
fantasy, but just a nice warming thought that she found herself
unable to let go of, even if she had wanted to.
She did not know how Makoto had come to love her, but looking at
it now, and without the constant demonic voice inside her head, she
really did know that she had fallen in love too.
And then, making her way up the steps to the shrine, her mood
rocking like a seesaw, she would be brought back to her more
immediate worries. She could keep her secrets from Usagi - she didn't
think she could bear the look of disappointment in the girl's eyes if
she knew the whole truth - but she could not keep them from her
grandfather. He was a mad old pervert, but behind his eccentricities
he was the wisest and most perceptive person Rei knew. He would be
able to see right through any act that she put on, so she would tell
him everything.
Of course, as it turned out, it wasn't quite that simple. It was
gone midnight when she had got home after all, and the old man was
fast asleep.
Rei just smiled a sad smile as she watched him. 'I'm sorry
Grandpa,' she thought, 'I've let us both down. Please forgive me.'
Of course, he would. He would want to know that what she had done
had been justified, and he would be happy not to hear any more about
it. She had suffered enough for her sins already. At least, that was
what she wanted to believe.
***
Makoto breathed a sigh of relief when her key slid scratchily
into the lock on her apartment door and turned with such a familiar
click. Given the time that had passed she had worried that her
landlord might have decided to rent the place out on the assumption
that she wasn't coming back. She had already been close to 'rent day'
when she had disappeared, and she wasn't in the least bit surprised
when she found herself wading through two month's worth of post in
the entryway.
She gave herself enough time to get inside and take off her shoes
before scooping up all the envelopes and taking them out to her
living room, to be deposited on the table there. Then she watched in
horror as a plume of dust rose up from the table as the pile of
unopened papers disturbed it. Living alone had its drawbacks, and
Makoto sighed heavily before giving a small sneeze. She really didn't
want to have to clean just then. If nothing else she wanted to try
and get some sleep. She wasn't in the least bit tired, but she knew
that she would soon end up with the closest thing to jet lag that she
would ever experience.
Ignoring the thin film of dust that had settled over everything
she flopped down onto her settee, and held her breath until the
resulting cloud had settled. 'I'll have to spend tomorrow cleaning,'
she thought to herself with a hint of annoyance. She guessed it had
been too much to hope for just to return and bask in the glow of
being back in her own home.
But then, that glow wasn't as strong as she had thought it would
be. As she sat, staring at the ceiling, it struck her how silent the
place seemed. Unnaturally silent, save for the occasional car that
passed outside. Had it always been that quiet?
The lack of noise was only part of it though, she realised. She
was alone, and she hadn't felt that way since... since before her
nomadic foster family had picked her up in Seiji. After that she had
always had someone around her, day or night. She had always shared a
room or a tent for the night. Even as a prisoner, locked away in her
own private cell-coach there had been the constant milling of the
guards.
Now, for the first time in she didn't know how long, Makoto began
to feel a pang of loneliness. She missed the others. More to the
point, she missed Rei.
'No,' she told herself, shaking her head and getting to her feet
to put on a CD. 'That's not the way to think.' If that was the worst
of it for her, then what was she complaining about? She had always
lived alone. She had better things to think about, like being glad
that they were all back home. That Rei didn't have to live with a
demonette inside her any more. That Ami, Minako and Haruka could see
their families again.
That she could go and see Rei again tomorrow, or any time she
liked. That she, Kino Makoto, was in love!
That brought a guiltily giddy smile to her face. Despite
everything, despite herself and her stupid crushes and her stupid
body, someone could actually love her back. She had tried so hard and
for so long, and she had finally found what she had been looking for,
and that person had been right under her nose all along.
But still, that didn't solve her immediate problem. The cleaning
could wait, as could the post. The majority of that would be an
unmanageable number of bills anyway, and since she would have
undoubtedly lost her part time job after two months in another world
her savings fund would end up taking a nasty hit. There wasn't any
point in dwelling on it. It was inevitable anyway.
No, what she could do was stop herself wallowing in her sudden
solitude. The others all had people to return to, so they would all
be pre-occupied tonight, but Usagi deserved to know they were back.
It was the middle of the night, but if one of them didn't call as
soon as possible they would never hear the end of it!
She could just imagine Usagi's pretty face contorted into a
groggy scowl while she fumbled for the phone, and Makoto waited
patiently as the ringing tone repeated itself.
Then the tone cut out and a scratchy, feminine voice mumbled its
way out of the earpiece. "Chiba residence. It's late. Go to bed
already."
Makoto giggled, happy beyond words to hear that voice. "Hi Usagi-
chan, I'm sorry. I just wanted to tell you that we're back. It's
Makoto."
Then Makoto found herself with the phone at arm's length as Usagi
tried to deafen her with her ecstatic replies. Mamoru had to take the
phone off her before Makoto could get a full sentence in. She had to
laugh. It was good to be back.
***
Ami found her fingers trembling as she tried to fish her keys out
from the depths of her travelling bag. She had not even managed to
get into her mother's condominium yet and her imagination was already
running riot. She both hoped her mother would be at home and, at the
same time, hoped that the large, spacious apartment would be empty,
as it so often was when she arrived back from her classes. The desire
to hug her mother - to assure her that she was back and that she was
okay - was overpowering. And, to do that, her mother would have to be
giving up her work, and Ami would have to wait until at least two in
the morning until her mother's afternoon-to-evening shift was over.
Ami smiled to herself as her fingers finally worked and her key
slid into the lock with a click. She hoped that the latter was the
case. It was already late after all, so she wouldn't have long to
wait.
It was almost with a sigh of relief that she found the apartment
shrouded in darkness, and she slipped off her shoes before turning
the lights on. "I'm home," she whispered to herself.
That thought made her smile. She was home. Away from the
supposedly heroic madness of Seiji, away from the things they had
done there, and back to her normal life. A life where she could study
properly, with her friends. A life where she could forget these last
few months.
Of course, she wouldn't forget them, but no-one else had to know.
They would be her happy memories. Her painful memories. Her memories
of things that she should never have done. Haruka, Rei, Makoto and
Minako would let her pretend, the same way that she would let them
pretend. Those things didn't matter now. They had normal lives to get
on with.
She didn't tempt fate by thinking too hard about it. Instead she
headed for her room. She found herself giggling when she saw the
plaque on the door, emblazed with her name. It seemed like such a
silly thing now, but she felt a warm glow in her chest. It was
something that was hers, and had been for as long as she had lived.
And inside her room remained untouched. Her bed was made ready
for her, her books lay where she had left them, and only the lack of
dust showed that anyone had been in since she had been gone. Slowly
Ami stepped in and closed the door behind her, immersing herself in
the feeling of her own room again. She changed out of the old school
uniform she had worn and set it out to wash, grateful that she had
such an unnatural attraction to the outfit. She hadn't needed to wear
one since enrolling at university, but she still kept all her
uniforms. She couldn't begin to think how lucky she had been to have
it with her when they had been attacked and sent to Seiji. It was a
little too small for her now, but it had comforted her when she had
been homesick.
She slipped a night dress on and padded back out into the
apartment proper. She really wasn't tired, it was only mid-afternoon
for her after all, so it would not be a chore to wait for her mother
to return.
Of course, there was that little, nagging doubt. What if her
mother wouldn't return? What if something had happened since she had
last been there? What if she had had to go away?
'No,' she thought, 'don't think like that. My key worked, so she
must still be here.'
And what if she didn't want a daughter that had killed a man?
That had shot a crossbow into his chest and taken his life. What if
she didn't want a daughter who would steal someone's lover for
herself?
"No!" Ami shouted into the silent, empty room. "It wasn't like
that."
She took a deep breath and composed herself, forcing back
whatever tears had been threatening to spoil her return. It didn't
matter what had happened. It didn't matter how she felt. They were
secrets that she would bury. She would keep her happy memories, and
everything else was history. She found herself smiling again. They
had done more than enough good, both for the land of Seiji and for
each other, to make up for anything else that had happened.
It was only when she went to fetch herself a drink, something to
calm her excited nerves, that she saw the note.
It was written in her mother's neat, exacting script, but it was
creased and the edges were distressed. As if it had been read and
worried over many times.
'My Dearest Ami,
'I hope that you will somehow find yourself reading this. I don't
know when that might be, or how or why you might come back, but I
will not give up hope that you will. People have told me all sorts of
things about why you have gone, and I don't know what to believe now.
'But, if you aren't going to stay, then please at least leave me
some kind of message. I need to know that you are well, and happy. If
it was me that drove you away then I am sorry. I know I have been
hard on you, and have never given you the kind of attention that you
deserved. I know you blame me for your father leaving us. Just know
that I love you more than anything else in this world, and that if
you ever need anything then I will do what I can to provide it for
you.
'I won't believe that you were caught up in the battles of the
Sailor Senshi. I just can't, no matter what they all say. But if you
were, then I hope you have found peace.
'I am only sorry I am not there to welcome you home. If you have
returned for good, I don't need to know why, but I will make time to
hear you if you need to talk. That I promise.
'Also, please forgive me if I do something rash. It is only
because I am so worried for you.
'I will always love you,
'Mother
Ami stood staring at the note for a long time, tears coursing
down her face. Had her mother really believed that she would want to
run away? But then, what else could she think? She had been gone for
so long without so much as a goodbye.
Ami had hoped the apartment would be empty, but right then she
wanted someone, anyone, to be there with her. But now she couldn't
even call anyone. She wanted to hear Makoto's soothing voice on the
other end of the telephone so badly, just like it used to be when
they each needed someone else around.
She knew it was selfish, but she had to try.
However, surely Makoto had her own problems right now, and that
thought was confirmed when all Ami could get was the busy tone. She
forced herself to put the phone down. At least Makoto was being pro-
active.
She clutched the letter to her chest and found herself crouching
down to the floor as she began to cry in earnest. After everything
she must have put her mother through, and after everything she had
done since then, how did she even deserve to come home?
"I'm sorry Mother," she wept into the creased paper. "I'm so
sorry!"
***
Haruka really couldn't believe it. Of all the times she could
have forgotten her keys, it had to be the one afternoon that she
ended up being banished to another world. So much for her smooth
entrance. She just stood on the doorstep of the house she shared with
the other 'Outer' Senshi and rang the door bell.
There weren't words for how badly she had missed them. Her
strong, boyish facade covered a much more complex individual, and
much of that outer strength had come out of having Michiru there with
her. When they were together Haruka no longer felt the need to be the
rude, standoffish girl she had been in her earlier years.
And then like that they had been taken from her. She had been
left to re-learn that air of calm, playful stylishness that Michiru
had nurtured within her. She had come to see how little life she had
outside their family together, and how much she now needed someone
there with her.
She had lost her love in the Marine Cathedral, and they had lost
each other as Galaxia had cut them down for their arrogance. For
people she held so dear, Haruka now saw all too well how incapable
she was of keeping them safe and close to her.
But then, all soldiers faced those fears, didn't they? And she
had been lucky to have so many second chances. Haruka smiled at those
words as they popped into her head. They would have suited Minako
very well.
Eventually the door did open, and Haruka found herself staring
into the most beautiful pair of stunned, aquamarine eyes. Her heart
leapt into her throat, but she didn't let it show. She just put on
her smoothest smile. "I'm home."
The next thing that she knew was Michiru's head buried in her
wrinkled shirt as her lover almost tackled her off her feet.
"You're alive!" Michiru sobbed hysterically as she tried to
squeeze the life out of her prodigal girlfriend. Then in almost the
same instant she broke their embrace and Haruka saw the daggers in
her teary eyes. "Where have you been all this time! Why couldn't you
tell us you were alright?! After all this time..."
Haruka was taken aback by the outburst, but it was hardly
unexpected. Her more pressing concern was the way Michiru began to
sway as she stood in the doorway. In one deft move Haruka took her in
her arms before her girlfriend's legs could give out, and she ran a
hand down Michiru's cheek as the young musician's eyes fluttered.
"Hey now," Haruka admonished gently, the pair of them gazing
fondly at each other, "let's not swoon until we're both inside."
Michiru just nodded, trying not to faint and wrapping her arm
around Haruka's neck. "I thought you were dead," she whispered with a
grave air before she pulled Haruka to her in a long, loving kiss. One
that had been far too long in coming for them both.
Haruka just nodded. Right now, filled with so much relief at
being able to hold Michiru in her arms again, the rest of the world
might not even have existed. "Forgive me?"
Michiru gave her a smirk. "Always Haruka."
Haruka never really knew what to make of those smirks, besides
that Michiru was likely to be in an impishly playful mood, and at the
strangest times too, but they were always a good sign. She would want
answers and stories eventually, Haruka knew, but right now the fact
that they were together again would be enough. Michiru managed to
find her feet and press Haruka to herself as they shared another,
passionate kiss. A kiss that held the promise of much more to come.
"Always."
***
To Be Continued...
***
Author's note:
Please send any comments and constructive criticism to me.
They are always greatly appreciated, and there is no better reward
for a writer than to hear back from the readers.
Many thanks to Richard King for his proofreading assistance.
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