The Youma Strike!
Final Confrontations of Heart and Soul
"Humanity, we cannot survive you. Your 'champions', your Sailor
Senshi, destroyed us. Now, just as they defended you from us, so we
must defend ourselves from you. We must take a new Kingdom for our
own, and you shall be the people of that kingdom, Humanity. You shall
be made powerful, unique beyond your basic egos - you shall be our
people."
So Tyranya had spoken.
"You cannot survive us, unless you become us. We will not live
like refugees; we will no longer survive on scraps so that we can
remain hidden from the Sailor Senshi. What was taken from us and
destroyed, we shall take from you. But we shall not destroy. We shall
create.
"The Sailor Senshi will not allow us this. They have shown their
will to complete their mission of genocide against us, and they have
their own plans for your future, Humanity. Plans you will not be able
to escape from.
"We will not harm you, Humanity. Those of you who believe that,
wait here with us. We will await the Sailor Senshi's attack in plain
sight. Today we will see who will survive whom."
***
Sailor Jupiter looked down from the rooftop, watching the crowd
in the distance. It seemed to grow every minute, slowly filling the
street. "They had a lot of guts to do this," she said, her fists
clenched at her sides. "Do they really think they can win?"
Sailor Pluto looked up to see the helicopter that hovered
overhead, catching the first glimpses of them on the scene. "Whatever
they have been planning must be completed."
Sailor Moon looked away from the scene to her eldest companion.
"You don't know what it is?"
Pluto shook her head. "These youma breached their way into our
time stream. The future is too changeable when it is so close to us."
"Let's go," Sailor Venus said, stepping up to the raised rim of
the otherwise flat roof. "The longer we wait the more innocent people
will be in the way."
Mercury agreed. "We are lucky that there is no traffic, but this
is dangerous enough for those people already."
"It is a good tactic though," Neptune said, as they made to move.
"How are we going to fight without catching bystanders?"
"Just be careful," Sailor Moon answered. "They are the people we
are trying to protect in all of this."
In turn they all leapt to the ground, and began the harrowing
walk towards their foes. They couldn't make the first attack without
risking even more people doubting their integrity, and that was what
the youma was obviously trying to damage right now. Hundreds of pairs
of eyes were on them, and Sailor Mars swallowed hard. "Where is
Tuxedo Kamen?"
Sailor Moon looked at her. "Don't worry Mars. He'll be here.
He'll probably make his usual entrance at just the right time!"
The crowd parted for them, in turns silent and worried or
cheering them on, but as they got closer to their enemies those
cheers turned to conflicted questions, and finally to outright abuse.
One worked up woman even spat at them, and Sailor Saturn blocked the
sputum with the blade of her Silence Glaive. She gave the woman a
look, and at once the crowd on that side receded from the Senshi.
"Saturn," Sailor Mercury said gently, "don't scare them."
Sailor Saturn nodded, but she didn't say anything and instead
turned her eyes forward to the youma who stood only a few metres
ahead.
Tyranya stood unafraid as she finally came face to face with
their nemeses. Her long, slender fangs slipped out between her lips
as she spoke, and her deadly sharp nails made her gestures innately
threatening. "Are you prepared, Sailor Senshi?"
Sailor Moon returned that look with sad sympathy. "I know what we
did," she said, "and that we can't take it back. But we can work this
out without fighting, can't we?"
The Senshi saw Myoshiya bristle at those words, and Tyranya shook
her head, her silver mane swaying majestically. "We cannot live with
compromises, Sailor Senshi. We are too different."
Sailor Venus took up the mantle of spokeswoman now. "You do know
that you can't win against us?"
Tyranya nodded. "A few survivors from the Dark Kingdom cannot
defeat all the Sailor Senshi, this we know. But," and she raised her
hand, "our new Kingdom?"
Behind her Shivis held out an energy crystal, and slammed it into
the wall of thin air behind her. The crystal hit home with an
unearthly clang, seemingly stuck into an invisible hole there, and
the energy soon drained out.
Tyranya smiled. "Our Kingdom can win."
The Senshi watched as the huge magical machine, a spiked metal
shell the size of a truck, slowly revealed itself. An awe struck
silence fell across the crowd as they watched it, the thing seeming
to materialise right before their amazed eyes.
And, once fully activated, the machine performed its primary and
most powerful function. The crystals that ringed the rim of the shell
began to glow again, but with a swirling green and not the empty blue
they had held only moments before. A magical hum filled the quiet for
a few seconds, the light growing brighter all the while.
Sailor Pluto knew there could only be one outcome to this, if
they had been allowed so close. Using her powers as the guardian of
time, she looked forward those brief few seconds to see what that
inevitable outcome would be.
A split second later she turned to the crowd with urgency in her
voice. "Everybody, run!"
A few seconds later, and the future had caught up to the present.
The hum from the metal shell suddenly ceased, and the light pulsed
outwards in an ethereal green shockwave. Each of the Senshi felt the
green light like a sickly pulling at their bodies, prying at their
magical powers as if it was trying to rip them away. It only lasted a
moment, but it left every one of them gasping for breath.
The heroines spun away from the enemies in worry, to see the
thronging crowd behind them. A thronging crowd of twisted caricatures
and contorted cliches, with skins and bodies and clothes of every
shape and colour imaginable.
A hundred new youma, all standing in wait, looking expectantly at
their creators.
Tyranya smiled, and flung her arms wide. "Welcome brothers and
sisters! Do not worry, in time you shall outgrow your child-like
facades. But first, let us make this human Kingdom our own!" She
turned to Sailor Moon, who looked out speechlessly at the terrible
spectacle. "Heal one of them," Tyranya said, "and twenty more will
overpower you. If you do not harm them, I will allow you a quick end,
by my own talons."
Sailor Pluto just looked at her princess. "Sailor Moon..."
Then, as Tyranya raised her vicious nails out in offering to her
enemy, a single red rose shot down from above, slicing into Tyranya's
wrist and embedding its stiffened stem into the tarmac. Tyranya
recoiled, cradling her bleeding hand and looked up to the roof of the
Crown Fruit Parlour, where the rose had shot from.
Tuxedo Mask leaped to an inactive street light from the roof, and
dropped down to the ground. "You have enough power to heal them all,
Sailor Moon."
Sailor Moon just smiled and nodded, and raised her sceptre.
"Silver Moon!..."
Tyranya cursed herself for her naivete. Could Sailor Moon really
be that powerful? She couldn't take that chance. "Stop her!"
Youma leapt from in front and from behind, but the crowd came
too late, and Tyranya's sisters found the Sailor Senshi blocking
their paths. "Not today," Sailor Venus said, catching Kaizi's massive
fist in her hands. She couldn't hold the youma's strength for long,
but she would hold it long enough. Even if Sailor Mars couldn't back
her up.
"Crystal Power Kiss!" Sailor Moon finished, her sceptre casting a
brilliant yellow light over everything that stood. It was a gentle
explosion of power as the healing winds swept across the entire
street, flooding the air with feathers and making the youma scream.
It was their turn to feel their powers pulling away from their
bodies.
"BEAUTIFUL!!"
Only Tyranya and her sisters resisted the urge to make that
scream, and they were left panting for breath as they pulled
themselves free from the Senshi. Sailor Moon could not heal what they
had been born as.
Tyranya looked out over what remained of the crowd: nothing but
the humans who had trusted them enough to stay, and who now lay
unconscious in the street. "H... How can you have that power? Damn
you." She pulled herself upright, and stared at the nine who would
thwart her. "Then we must risk this ourselves. Sisters, let us go!"
At the same time Sailor Moon addressed her friends, tired and
breathless after the effort of her attack. "Everyone, do your best.
Tuxedo Kamen-sama, help me get everyone to safety."
The Senshi took their cues, and both Pluto and Saturn picked
their target, moving in with their weapons without a second thought.
The other Senshi were too kind hearted to take the fox-girl as their
target, and yet being so fast and nimble would have made her a
serious problem if left uncontested. After all, she would do little
on her own, but she would defend her sisters.
Aretsuki, wild eyed and scared, took flight the second she saw
the pair of Senshi close in on her. She wanted to help her sisters,
but the Senshi were so powerful, and these two had weapons! "L-leave
me alone!" she screamed, dashing to the pavement. "I hate you Senshi!
I hate you!"
Pluto replied with a whispered, "Dead Scream," and her coils of
purple magic balled atop her staff before being launched at the
speedy youma. Aretsuki screamed and leaped to one side as Pluto's
attack tore into the concrete wall behind her, but that put her
within reach of Saturn's Silence Glaive, and the huge pole-arm sliced
down her side, only cutting fur and skin but causing enough pain to
make the young youma panic.
"Leave me ALONE!"
Aretsuki took off on all fours, but she could no longer think
beyond getting out of the way of her pursuers. A glance passed
between Sailor Pluto and Sailor Saturn as they ran, ready to corral
the fox-girl once again as soon as she got to the other side of the
street. They had done enough already. All they needed was to keep up
with their target, and they could keep her out of the real fight. Two
of the most powerful Senshi might have seemed like a high price to
pay for it, but that also played into their own plans. They had
removed a full half of the wild element from the fight. The rest
would be child's play, assuming the giant metal turtle's shell had
already done everything it could.
*
The feathered one, they had all guessed, would have been the
least threatening. She was obviously frail, even for a youma, and so
the other Senshi had all picked other targets. Just as Sailor Mars
seemed to hesitate, so Shivis did the same, and that appeared to be
that. Sailor Mars scrunched up her courage and stepped forward. This
was her target, and she had to do her part.
Shivis, however, had her intelligence. She had known Sailor Mars
was the most likely to hesitate, so it had been her that she had gone
for when Tyranya had sounded the charge, and not Sailor Moon. That
left her up against the Senshi that would give her the most freedom
to act.
As soon as Mars made her move Shivis broke into a dash, casting
her arm backwards towards the girl and throwing out a flurry of
feathers from her own skin, launching them like darts. Sailor Mars
had to leap back to avoid being turned into an avian's pin-cushion,
and that gave Shivis just enough time to get what she needed from the
bag that lay unattended on the floor by the giant mental shell.
Mars recovered just in time to see what Shivis had intended. The
feathered youma had hefted a large device from her bag, slung it over
her shoulder, and taken aim. To Mars' horror, this youma-made gun was
huge, venting plumes of bright blue smoke from the ports in its
bazooka-like barrel. And worst of all it was not pointing at Mars
herself.
Shivis' plan had relied on her single shot, exchanging the one
meaningful attack she could make for the Senshi that posed them the
most threat. Shivis gritted her teeth, aimed for the heart, and
pulled the trigger.
"SAILOR MOON!"
Mars' screamed warning came only as the blue-white laser of
searing magical energy hit its target squarely between the shoulder
blades, and sixty feet away Sailor Moon's eyes flew open in pain as
she arched from the impact. The conscious people she was helping to
safety screamed and ran as Sailor Moon fell backwards, still on her
knees.
Shivis let out a contented sigh, and lowered her spent weapon.
There was no point waiting for it to recharge. She had done her work
for her Captain and sisters. She could die in peace.
Except that death didn't come. She looked up to see Mars running,
screaming out her tears until she reached her dearest and most
annoying friend, and likewise Tuxedo Kamen had left his charges and
was by her side, cradling her in his arms as Sailor Mars took her
hand.
"Sailor Moon, please be okay! I'm sorry! I should have done
something sooner!"
Tuxedo Kamen was in shock that anything could have felled Sailor
Moon in one blow, but to his eternal relief she could still look up
at him, and squeeze on the hands that he and Sailor Mars held. "I...
I'm okay, I think. It really hurts though. W-what happened?"
"Stupid!" Mars shouted through her tears. "You've been shot!
Don't talk!"
Tuxedo Kamen nodded in agreement. "She's right, I'll take you
somewhere safe, and we can see how badly you're hit."
He lifted her up gently, until Sailor Mars let out another gasp.
"Oh God, Kamen, her sailor fuku has been burned right through. It's
really bad."
"Ahh," Sailor Moon whimpered, "don't say that! It makes it hurt
more!"
"No, no," Mars rectified, "you'll be okay, you're not bleeding or
anything, it's just burns, you'll be fine. We're the Sailor Senshi,
remember? You'll heal no problem."
Tuxedo Kamen squeezed Sailor Moon's hand in reassurance. "I won't
let anything happen to you, Sailor Moon. Come on, I'll get you
somewhere safe."
"No," Sailor Moon replied, with obvious effort. "We have to wait
for Haruka-san!"
"You didn't tell her to come here, did you?!" Tuxedo Kamen asked,
astonished.
Sailor Moon smiled. "She wouldn't have stayed at home. It's okay.
I planned it."
"As if that makes this any better," Mars chastised, though her
worry had taken all the edge from her voice.
*
Surely enough Sailor Moon had only just persuaded them to let her
stand on her own, even if she needed Tuxedo Kamen's shoulder to keep
her upright, when they saw Haruka's red convertible speed up, coming
to a racing stop only a few feet from them.
"Sailor Moon!" she exclaimed, leaping out of the car and up to
her future princess. "What happened!?"
Sailor Moon smiled through the pain. "I just got hurt a little
when I wasn't looking."
"That feathered youma..." Mars said, balling her fists.
Maxill looked at them from the back seat. "Shivis? So she made
herself a weapon as well."
"Ah, good," Sailor Moon said as she saw Maxill, "you brought
her."
As Haruka looked out to the battlefield Sailor Mars stared at
Moon in disbelief. "Why did you want to bring *her*?" she asked, a
mixture of confusion and fear filling her as she raised her
fingertips, ready to attack if she had to.
Sailor Moon just shook her head, the combination of pain and
exhaustion making her head foggy. "Maxill, just watch. Just watch
it."
And Maxill watched as Haruka leaped back into her car, driving
right for the battlefield.
"What is she doing?!"
Tuxedo Kamen helped Sailor Moon down again, so she could sit on
the curb. "That is what I would like to know."
For Haruka it was simple though. She couldn't do much now, but
she wasn't completely helpless. She needed to be better than that, if
only for herself, and her baby. She gunned the engine.
It was strange how scared she felt. With her sailor fuku on, even
if she disliked the style, she was always filled with a sense of
power, as if battle was filled with an air of adventure. The magic of
her transformation made it... almost thrilling.
Now, as Tenoh Haruka, she was terrified. She wanted nothing more
than to turn the wheel and flee, like those few stragglers who still
clambered to their feet behind her. She guessed human determination
was a wonderful thing, because she didn't turn back. She was going to
do her bit to fight, and to take revenge for Sailor Moon.
Shivis, now with no-one to fight, had chosen Sailor Pluto to
hassle. She couldn't actually threaten the Senshi, but it made it
harder for them to attack Aretsuki. Unfortunately for her, that meant
her full attention was on Sailor Pluto's staff, and she only heard
the noise of Haruka's approach as the car appeared through the wisps
of a Dead Scream. Shivis's weak feather projectiles scored harmlessly
across the car's bonnet and windscreen, and the car ploughed into her
effortlessly, tossing her up and over in a whirl of yellow feathered
limbs.
She landed heavily on the tarmac, rolling briefly from the
speeding impact, and she tried to struggle to her hands and knees.
Only her unnatural toughness as a youma had kept her alive after
being hit at such a speed, and even then she was barely conscious.
That consciousness was dealt with when Sailor Pluto's staff was
brought down, smashing her on the back of the head and putting her
out of the fight.
Pluto looked up from the feathered youma, obviously not amused
that Haruka had come, but Haruka looked defiant, having brought her
car to a stop. It looked like she had had the same idea as Pluto, as
she had already reached into the back seat for the golf club that lay
there. Pluto would have to talk to her later, but right then she
needed to get back to helping Sailor Saturn. The sooner she and
Saturn could trap the fox-girl behind a Silence Wall the better, as
it seemed that the youma was showing no signs of tiring.
Haruka was also reminded just how much danger she had just put
herself in, as from the top of the metal shell Kaizi looked down at
her fallen sister. "Shivis! You sadistic human!" she shouted, and
flexing one mighty arm she punched out towards Haruka.
The attack shot from her fist, the force of the punch smashing
into Haruka's red convertible as she hit the accelerator, crushing
the side of the car only inches from where Haruka sat as she sped
off. Had that attack hit her, even with a glancing blow, Haruka
doubted that she would have survived it as she looked in her wing
mirror to see the impact crater that the rear side of her chassis had
become.
Kaizi could not take another shot as Haruka disappeared though,
as Sailor Venus appeared in front of her in a flash of light, looking
tired and put out at the youma's constantly changing priorities.
"Hey! I said I'm the one you're fighting!"
Kaizi roared and swung at her, leaving Venus to leap back to the
street once again to avoid getting hammered. "Slowpoke! ... Hey!"
She could only watch as Kaizi ignored her completely and
corkscrewed open a hatch in the top of the shell, and got inside. It
was too cramped in there for Kaizi's muscular bulk, but she knew that
it was time to play their last card, before any more of her sisters
got hurt. Remembering the instructions that Shivis had given them,
she started pulling levers.
"Hey!" Venus shouted ineffectually. "I said *fighting*, not
*hiding*."
Then, slowly, the huge spiked shell began to spin on its base.
Sailor Venus watched, confused as the huge magical machine started to
grind up the tarmac beneath it. Then, as it got faster, Venus
realised what it was doing. It was surfing on the loose gravel it had
just made, until it was spinning like a top. The energy crystals that
ran along the side had blurred into a single line of greenish blue
colour, and Venus swallowed as the thing slowly advanced towards her.
"Oh boy." She shot out her Crescent Beam without any real effect,
and she tried smashing the crystals around the side with her Love-Me
Chain, but while she could break them it didn't even begin to slow
the machine down.
After that she only had one idea left. "Venus Spinning Stomp!"
she cried, leaping high into the air for her improvised attack,
spinning like a ballerina and landing right on the top of the shell,
to deliver a crippling kick straight down onto it.
That was even more useless that the Crescent Beam had been, and
Venus found herself twisted off balance until one of the conical
spines slammed into her. The impact sent her flying and she landed
right on top of Jupiter, Neptune and Tyranya, bowling them over like
pins and breaking up their close quarters brawl.
Neptune had to blink away the stars in her eyes as both she and
Tyranya staggered back to their feet. Both of them wore a few
scratches, bleeding slightly, while Jupiter took Venus by the collar,
sporting another cut of her own thanks to Venus' kamikaze landing.
"What do you think you are doing?! We had her on the defensive!"
Venus tried to focus on her friends' face, but the world was
spinning too much. "Eh, sorry. It worked for Super Mario!"
Jupiter decided to leave her there, as she saw Neptune trying to
put some distance between herself and Tyranya's claw-like nails.
"What? And to think we were worried about you being too serious! Just
try and think of a way to stop that thing before it destroys the
street! Jupiter Oak Evolution!"
*
Meanwhile, Mercury and Myoshiya had chosen each other to fight.
Mercury was one of the least combat oriented Senshi, and Myoshiya had
decided that her chances against her were better than against the
others. However, she was now sporting more than a few scratches and
ice burns from too many close calls, and worse, Mercury had been
appealing for her to stop throughout the entire battle.
"It doesn't have to be this way! Why won't you hear us out?"
Myoshiya snarled again, dislocated her many arms, and slipped
past the parked vans that blocked her escape route. "You think we
would live with people like you? Don't you get it? Your false
sympathy makes me sick. How could you people ever live with us? You
would have us live as experiments and freaks for your amusement!"
Mercury leaped a car a little further down and forced Myoshiya to
head back towards the pavement again. "We're trying to help you! I
don't want to kill you!"
"We don't need your sympathy!!" Myoshiya screamed, incensed as
she fled down the alleyway behind her. She needed something, an edge
or even just a weapon. She had no special attacks or powers to help
her. Then, as she ran, she saw the discarded kitchenware piled among
the rubbish.
Mercury had only just reached the alley when she saw Myoshiya arm
herself. "Wait, don't do this!"
The youma just grinned manically and broke into a run, headed
straight for her enemy, knives of every sort clutched in her many
fists. "You will *die*, Senshi!"
Mercury backed up a step before, with regret in her eyes, she
raised her right hand. "Tearful Celebration..."
A single shard of ice materialised, hovering above her
outstretched wrist. Then she closed her fingers, and the shard leapt
towards Myoshiya at frightening speed.
And missed.
"Ha! That was your only chance!" Myoshiya said, seeing nothing
but the blood that she would soon spill. The blood that she so
despised.
Mercury however, just looked saddened as she flicked her wrist
around, her palm open on front of her "...Blossom."
The shard exploded in mid flight, like the firework it was named
after, and freezing shrapnel showered the alleyway. The razor sharp
slivers of ice buried into Myoshiya's back and took her off her feet,
her expression lost in surprise and despair as the knives fell from
her limp fingers. "No..."
She collided with Sailor Mercury and the pair of them fell to the
pavement, Mercury getting to her hands and knees to try and tend to
her own victim. "It's okay," she soothed, even though she knew full
well that she had created that attack to be her most powerful
offensive option. "We will make sure you come through this, okay. We
won't treat you the way you think we will."
Myoshiya just stared at her as defiantly as she could. "N-no,"
she managed to say, despite her pain. "I won't have it. I won't... I
won't live with you people... Never..."
Myoshiya knew that the Senshi could probably make sure she
survived even from those wounds, and she was sure that anything she
did to Mercury now would be rendered useless after the battle was
lost. So, before Mercury could stop, her she used the last of her
energy to reach out for one of the knives she had dropped. In one
quick motion she swung the weapon, not even caring that Mercury had
scrambled easily out of range, and buried it in her own chest.
Mercury watched with horror, unable to do anything for the youma
as she let out a last ragged breath. This creature had hated them
enough to die rather than attempt coexist? It was a bitter pill to
swallow, but Mercury could actually understand it to some degree. It
was better that the youma had died now, if she had been so blinded by
rage inside. At least she wouldn't have to suffer with that hatred
any longer. There was no point dwelling on that sadness. Mercury had
others who she could try to help, even if they were just her own
friends.
Maxill however could only look on with tears in her yellow eyes.
"M-Myoshiya... No, you didn't just do that. You didn't! She was
trying to help you."
Sailor Moon watched thinking just the same thing. "I don't get
it," she said to Maxill, her heart heavy. "We can live together.
We've done it in the past. It's not that hard! If... If you want to,
we can all work it out."
Maxill heard the words, but at the same time they only conjured
up the memory of her blood-sister. Surely, for the life she
sacrificed to bring them all there, she should want revenge more than
anything. Yet was that revenge worth their lives? If Myoshiya was
dead, then that was one more death too many. The humans could be
decent people. Even the Senshi, she realised as she watched Mercury
close Myoshiya's eyes, even they could be good people. "Captain, S-
Sisters..."
But Tyranya still had once chance, as she fought with Neptune and
Jupiter. One chance to salvage this battle. Kaizi had taken control
of their weapon, and nothing the Senshi could do would stop it. It
had been designed specifically to shrug of their magic. Surely this
was enough to allow them victory, however bitter it may be.
Rei knew that as well. It was her who watched the spinning metal
fortress through Sailor Mars' eyes. The power and courage of her
transformation seemed to have left her, and Rei stood scared as she
watched the shining fortress that she had seen in all those
nightmares of hers. She had been running, but her fellow Senshi had
turned back from their flight, to fight what would be an impossible
enemy. She now knew what that fear in the dreams had been. They would
fight, and they would lose. Everyone would lose, friend and foe
alike.
She knew what had to happen next as well. She would force herself
to stop running. Sailor Mars would fight, even though she didn't want
to. Even though she knew what it would cost.
A fearful resolution fell over her. She had sacrificed everything
for her friends before. Now she had to do so again, because that was
what it would take to stop this 'fortress', and end the battle for
good. Sailor Mars, trembling, raised her hand, and waited for that
dreadful touch.
"Soul Conflagration Pact!"
The orange hand, tipped with nails of flame, alighted on her
shoulder. "Thank you for calling, my little Rei," Desir said. "I knew
that you would."
Sailor Mars, Hino Rei, stood there vacantly, her demonette
wrapped around her as Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen looked on. "No,
Sailor Mars, don't!" "Sailor Mars!"
Jupiter looked away from her fight for a split second, and froze.
"No, Rei..."
But the pact was made. Desir rose up behind her charge, and their
powers merged in an almighty eruption of flame. The fires wreathed
them both, playing across their skin, and Sailor Mars could not
believe how good it felt to be free. Free of the fear and
uncertainly. She controlled the fire now. She was the fire.
Smouldering footprints softened the tarmac as she approached the
spinning shell, and she raised her hands again.
"Sailor Venus, do not worry. Please stand clear."
Minako stared at Desir with spiteful eyes. "What have you done to
her!?"
Rei simply smiled. "It doesn't matter," and with a motion she
poured their combined flames onto the weapon. At first it seemed as
ineffectual as every attack Sailor Venus had tried, but this was an
attack that Sailor Mars had spent more than just her magic on.
Soon, as the flames kept coming, the metal dervish began to glow
red, then orange, then yellow, and inside Kaizi found that the
controls and walls had heated beyond the level she could touch. She
reached up to the roof hatch, but even that was beginning to glow.
"Captain," she said sadly, her feet beginning to blister on the
floor, "I am sorry."
Out in the street Maxill was frantic. "Please, stop it! Captain,
tell her to surrender! This isn't worth our lives! There has to be
another way! Please!"
Now, however, Tyranya didn't need the convincing. She had stopped
her fight altogether, and now struggled as Sailor Neptune held her.
"Stop this! You have proved that we cannot win! Let Kaizi free, at
least!"
But Sailor Mars didn't stop. She couldn't. She didn't want to go.
Not just yet. As soon as she let go of Desir, that would be it.
"Sailor Mars! Please, stop it! That's enough!"
Mars looked over with a teary eye as Jupiter made her plea.
"That's enough..."
Mars smiled. "I love you."
She pulled back the fire, and ended the spell. It was just a
single attack, after all. All that was left was her part of the
bargain.
Sailor Jupiter watched with relief as the fire fell away from the
now stationary shell, and Sailor Venus waited with her Love-Me Chain,
ready to take Kaizi into their custody as soon as she emerged.
However, Jupiter's relief soon faded, as the fire did not abate
completely. Desir and Sailor Mars still burned, and now the fire had
begun to burn away the edges of Mars' sailor fuku.
"M-Mars?"
Sailor Mars just continued to smile sadly as she burned, even
though she didn't feel any pain, and Desir shared her host's
expression. "I'm sorry," said the demonette. "It's kind of
complicated."
Jupiter couldn't believe it. "No! I won't let you have her
again!" Before any of the others could stop her she broke into a run,
straight into the flames.
She screamed as the fire scorched her skin, but she wrapped her
arms around Sailor Mars as tightly as she could. Mars had started
screaming, struggling against her, but Jupiter was undeterred. "Stop
it, I'm not leaving you! Not like this! Not ever!"
*
In the blink of an eye, the flames ceased to burn her, and Makoto
looked up to see the world frozen. Only Sailor Mars and Desir still
moved. As did Pluto.
"What..?" Jupiter asked, suddenly confused. She looked at her
skin. There wasn't even a single singe.
Mars didn't reply. She hadn't wanted any of them to hear what she
had decided. Desir, however, seemed pleased. "I was hoping you would
say that, little Mako."
Jupiter glared at her. "What have you done Desir? How can you see
who I am? And why can Pluto still move too?"
Sailor Pluto gave her a smile. "I am somewhat involved, I am
afraid." She turned to Desir. "I apologise for waiting until now, but
Makoto-chan's involvement was all but guaranteed. Now, let us work
this out between us, so that no-one has to have their lives taken for
good. Are you happy with that Rei-chan?"
Sailor Mars felt herself tearing up. "T-thank you. I didn't
think..."
Desir patted her on the head. "I didn't know this was possible
either, little Rei. I am playing by ear, but this is all so
wonderfully symmetrical! Now, to business..."
*
Sailor Moon felt the tears coursing down her face as Jupiter was
consumed by the flames. "Jupiter! Mars!"
Then, quite literally in the blink of an eye, the fires subsided
and Desir could just be seen burning off into the air, disappearing
back to wherever she had come from.
The other Senshi gathered around as quickly as they could, only
to find both Mars and Jupiter safe and sound, holding each other with
tears in their eyes.
Tyranya, her arms held behind her back by a very confused Sailor
Neptune, just stared at them all. "What... what happened?" She looked
back over her shoulder. "What are you people?"
Neptune would have liked to know that herself. Pluto on the other
hand just smiled. "We are human, just a little more complicated than
is usual. Saturn, you can release her now. We are finished."
Sailor Saturn nodded and lowered her Silence Wall, leaving
Aretsuki free to run to Tyranya. "Big Sister!"
Tyranya looked over to Shivis, who still lay unconscious as
Sailor Mercury started to tend to her, and Venus was happily tying up
Kaizi now that she had appeared from the still red-hot machine. "What
will you do with us now?" she asked.
Sailor Moon sat smiling happily with tear-stained cheeks as
Sailor Saturn ministered to her, the dour young warrior slowly using
her powers to heal her princess' deep burns. "There are some people I
would like to introduce to you," Sailor Moon said. "They were called
the Four Phantom Sisters. They weren't like us either, and we fought,
but they discovered that they could love being human. Even if you
don't want that, they'll still understand how you feel. And we'll try
to help too."
Tyranya looked down at the young youma who hugged her, then up to
Maxill, who stood looking thankful that her Captain had surrendered.
"That is... kind of you. Thank you. For sparing our lives. We would
not have done the same."
"No," Sailor Moon said. "I think you would. You care about each
other too much to be so cold."
"Do you really give us so much credit?" Tyranya asked sadly.
Sailor Moon nodded. "You are willing to try, aren't you?"
***
"What!? If they're all fighting the youma what are you doing
here?!"
Artemis tried to get to his feet, but his astonishment was soon
replaced with the sharp pain that ran down his cast-covered leg. He
let himself lie back down on the blanket that lined his box and
settled for staring at his visitor.
Luna on the other hand just watched him with a mild sense of
surprise at his reaction. She had only mentioned it offhandedly, and
Artemis was not usually one to get so excited unless Luna made the
seriousness of the situation absolutely clear. "Artemis, you'll hurt
yourself. Don't worry about them, they will manage quite well without
needing me to shout encouragement. We haven't exactly been needed in
their last few battles, have we?"
Artemis looked non-plussed. "And see how well that worked against
their last enemy. We lost half our soldiers."
Luna had to accept that. "True. But we did get them back. The
point is that they don't need watching, and even if they did the
youma have been so public that the entire battle is being shown on
the national news! If it isn't over already."
Artemis settled himself properly, resting on his good side and
leaving his broken paw out in front of himself. "No wonder the Ainos
haven't come to pick me up yet. They'll be glued to the T.V."
Luna nodded. "Probably. That is why I thought you needed the
company."
Artemis sighed, a wry smile appearing on his feline lips. "You're
being awfully nice, too. I would almost think you didn't have a
lecture ready for me about this."
"Oh, I do," Luna replied, a similar smile appearing on her own
face, but softer and more genuine. "It *is* your own fault, and it
*was* stupid of you. But it was rather brave too, and you did it for
Minako-chan's sake. I'm glad you didn't get yourself killed. If only
for Diana's sake."
Artemis looked at her, blushing slightly. Like Usagi and Mamoru,
knowing for a fact that he and Luna would have a daughter at some
point in the future had changed their relationship somewhat. Luna
didn't talk about Diana often, the idea of their future relationship
seemed to unnerve her, but on these few occasions it was plain that
Luna did care about them both, even if she wanted to pretend not to.
"Thanks Luna."
***
Just like the rest of Japan, Katsura hadn't been able to take her
eyes off the television screen. Few people had ever seen a full on
Sailor Senshi battle, let alone one on this scale. Even from the
unsteady helicopter camera it had been both terrifying and riveting.
Katsura had been shocked to see Haruka get involved. Surely that
meant that the other girls wouldn't be Sailor Senshi either. That was
the excuse that instantly sprang to mind. But then, she rationalised,
Ami would never have let a pregnant woman fight, so...
As Sailor Moon talked to the subdued youma and the police,
ambulances and media finally started to appear properly, Katsura knew
that she would need to get ready to work. After that the hospitals
would be inundated with patients, even if it was just to make sure
that there had been no ill effects from the transformations they had
undergone.
Yet she couldn't help but stare at the heroines on the screen.
How could Ami possibly be one of them? What hurt Katsura the most was
that, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't recognise her
daughter. Even with their bold costumes and distinctive hair styles
she couldn't match even one name to any of their faces. 'Which one
are you, Ami? Why can't I see you!!'
And then an idea came to her. She could find out. If one of them
was really her daughter she would surely respond, and from the
distance the helicopter was at no-one but her would know. She could
feel the sweat on her palms, and her eyes were watering at the
frustration. It was too tempting not to try, no matter how ridiculous
it seemed; like checking under the bed for monsters before putting
the lights out at night.
Katsura reached her hand into her bag, started tapping buttons on
her phone, and then sent the message. Surely, even in that guise, Ami
would still have her pager on her. She never went anywhere without
it.
But, of course, wasn't that futile? Where would any of the Sailor
Senshi have kept a pager in those outfits?
Then, in the bottom corner of the picture, to Katsura's
disbelieving eyes, Sailor Mercury turned away from the youma she
knelt over and looked away at something in her hand. Where did any of
the Senshi keep their pens when they weren't in hand? Or Mercury's
computer for that matter?
After that, it all seemed to click into place. Ami was Sailor
Mercury. Sailor Mercury was Ami: the same, and yet completely
separate. Usagi, with that exuberant hair and kind, earnest eyes,
could only be Sailor Moon. Minako was Venus, Makoto was Jupiter,
Michiru was Neptune, little Hotaru was Saturn...
Haruka *was* Uranus, even if she could not fight as such.
And Setsuna. She had been fooling the parents club all along.
Sailor Pluto had been there with them all, making sure no-one
suspected enough to be able to break through the magic of their
children's transformations. She had been allaying fears, and drawing
them all closer to each other, and yet still keeping the Sailor
Senshi safe from being identified.
It was so much, so fast, that it made her head hurt.
"K-Katsura-sensei! It's okay, sit down, I'll find someone to help
you."
Katsura looked up at the orderly with confused eyes a she was
eased into the chair behind her. "W-what?"
The young man laid a hand on her shoulder and tried to look
reassuring. "You're bleeding, Katsura-sensei. Just sit still, I'll be
back in a second."
Now that he had said it, Katsura could feel the trickle down her
earlobe, and put her hand to that ear. It came away smeared with
crimson. 'Oh...' she thought, strangely unconcerned. 'I must have
burst something when I saw through the magic. I had better send Ami
another message. I hope I didn't make her too worried.'
***
As it turned out Ami hadn't been worried so much as surprised.
Once they had all made their escape from the media circus that the
scene had become, she had needed to double check her messages.
'Are you watching the T.V.?' it had said, 'I will have to work
late again. I love you.'
And then, only a minute or so later, 'I'm sorry Ami. I must be
feeling over-emotional. I will see you tomorrow, I hope. Please treat
yourself.'
Ami hadn't really known what to make of it. It wasn't like her
mother to worry like that. Working late had never been much of an
issue before, and she had *never* received an apology for being
motherly!
Ami smiled as she reached their condo apartment, hoping the
hospital wouldn't need her mother to do too much overtime. Then, when
she put her key in the lock, her eyes widened in worry. Someone was
already inside.
Very slowly she inched open the door, swallowing hard, and crept
inside. It didn't sound like anyone was robbing them, but it could
have happened already. She left the door ajar and pulled out her
mobile phone, dialling for the police and ready to both start the
call and dash for the door at the first hint of an intruder.
What she found instead was Katsura sitting at the kitchen table,
a bandage over her left ear. "M-Mother! What happened?" she asked,
dropping her bags and rushing over. "Why aren't you at the hospital?"
Katsura just smiled up at her attentive daughter. "It's okay Ami.
This is nothing, my colleagues saw to it at work before they sent me
home."
"Sent you home?" Ami echoed in concern. "What happened?"
"Just a little concussion dear," Katsura replied, staring into
Ami's eyes. It was strange, having such a simple conversation now
that she knew who she was talking to. "I am fit to work, but you know
how they can be there. They threatened to take me home in an
ambulance if I didn't agree to leave them to their work."
Ami sighed, shaking her head. "Mother, you should know better
than that! How did you do it?" Ami didn't even notice her mother's
stare. She was too busy performing her own quick diagnosis, and her
mother let her.
"They don't know," Katsura replied, "I don't have a mark on me.
It was quite amusing."
"Mother! Be serious! People do not suffer concussions
spontaneously. They should have kept you there and done a full check
up!"
Katsura's smile grew. "No, I know what it was, Ami. There are
some things that science cannot explain just yet. Things like magic."
Ami just stared at her. "Magic?"
Katsura nodded. "It happened just around the time that Sailor
Mercury checked her pager on national television."
Ami blanched. The implication was clear as crystal to her. It was
supposed to be impossible for anyone, any human at least, to discover
their identities. "M-Mother..."
"I didn't expect that fighting off your magic would have such a
physical effect," Katsura said, taking her daughter's trembling hand.
"Some of your friends' parents have had suspicions for a while,
though I doubt if they have gone as far as I have."
Ami barely even heard it though. "I-I'm sorry, Mother. I didn't
mean to lie. It's just..."
Katsura sighed and got to her feet, lifting her daughter's head.
"I know why you did. I am sorry for doing something I shouldn't have.
I knew that magic was there for a reason. It is just that, for that
split second, I had to know. And I am proud of you Ami. You've been a
hero time and time again, for six years, and no-one has ever thanked
you for it."
Ami shook her head. "We've been thanked. Even the government..."
"I mean no-one has ever thanked *you*," Katsura interrupted. "You
have just gone on being Mizuno Ami after fighting so hard. I remember
that the Sailor Senshi almost died... and you must have still been in
high school. I'm... more proud of you than I can say, Ami."
Ami had never been happier to hear her mother say anything.
"Thank you. Thank you so much Mother!" But, of course, she had to let
the reality of the situation reassert itself. "Mother, I'm glad you
feel that way, but could you please keep this to yourself? If an
enemy found out that you knew, or if it was made public..."
Katsura could only agree. "Of course. I know that I am a risk to
you now."
"No, you're not!"
Katsura shushed her. "I know I am, and I will do what is
necessary. Outside the two of us, and perhaps your friends, I do not
know anything. As long as you know that I am proud of you, and that I
expect you to come home safely."
Ami nodded. "I will. Do Usagi-chan's parents know? Or Minako-
chan's?"
Katsura shook her head. "The Tsukinos, as nice as they are, do
not want to believe. They seem happy to let the magic allow them that
peace of mind. Hino-san suspects, and seems to know more than he lets
on, but that is probably because he and Setsuna-san appear to have an
understanding. Maybe he knows to suspect Setsuna-san of being one of
you all."
"Setsuna-san?" Ami asked.
Katsura nodded. "It seems that your magic is a singular
possession between you all. Once I could see past it, I could
recognise you all, even from memory. I know about Sailor Pluto."
Ami was a little worried by that. "She does mean well."
"No doubt," Katsura agreed. "I may not like her methods, but she
seems to have good intentions, and she is good company. No doubt she
will want to talk with me if she finds out what I have done."
Ami thought that turnabout was fair play in this instance though.
"She doesn't have to be told. We can let her discover it on her own."
Ami smiled. "She finds out everything else well enough!"
Katsura allowed herself a chuckle at Setsuna's expense. "I see.
Makoto-chan does not have a guardian, the dear girl, so she does not
have anything worry about in this regard. As for the Ainos, I suspect
that..."
***
Minako hugged Artemis tightly, at least until the poor cat mewled
in discomfort. "Ah, I'm sorry Artemis, but I'm so glad you're okay!"
She turn on her parents, who watched the display with a strange
concern. "How could you leave him at the vet all this time?!" Minako
chastised them, clutching her feline friend to her chest. "I bet he
was so lonely waiting for you to pick him up."
Kikon didn't trust herself to speak, and looked to her husband.
"I'm sorry Minako," he said. "We were... caught up in the news on
television."
"Oh, you mean the Sailor Senshi?!" Minako beamed, acting as eager
as a puppy, "You saw them too? Weren't they so cool?"
Yokozuki swallowed hard. "Yes. They were."
Minako dropped her act. "Daddy? Are you okay? You hate the Sailor
Senshi."
"No Minako, your father doesn't think anything of the sort,"
Kikon explained for him. "They just do dangerous things, and people
get hurt. We don't want... we don't want you hurt Minako, so please
don't do anything reckless, okay?"
Minako blinked. It was nice to hear them seriously worried for
her for once, without telling her off. If only they knew.
"Don't worry Mum, Daddy," she said with a smile, taking Artemis
up to her room. "I'll be okay. I'll leave that kind of thing for the
Senshi."
Yokozuki swallowed hard again, and his wife squeezed at his hand,
looking for the support she needed to stay quiet. "That's good."
Yokozuki said. "I'm proud of you Minako."
Minako almost tripped up the stairs, her eyebrows twisting in
confusion. "Daddy? Are you really sure you're feeling alright?"
"Of course I'm sure," he barked. "Can't I be proud of you just
once in your life? Go on and look after your cat already."
"Yes sir!" Minako said, bouncing up to her room with a huge grin
on her face.
When they heard her door shut Kikon let out a sigh and looked up
to her resolute husband. "Dear, are you sure? Is this really
alright?"
Yokozuki nodded. "We might still be wrong, Kikon-chan, but it
mustn't matter either way. We are not supposed to believe. We have to
keep their secret, because if even one of those girls is a Sailor
Senshi, then we can't risk putting them, or ourselves, in danger.
Leave the Tsukinos and Hino-san and everyone to their ignorance. We
can keep on fooling ourselves in their eyes, as long as we are
cheering our girl on from the shadows, whichever one of them she
might be."
Kikon nodded. It would be a bitter pill to swallow, but if Minako
was pretending not to be one of the Senshi, then Kikon would let her
pretend. "I'm sorry I misjudged you, dear. I'm glad you told her how
proud you are of her. You should say it more often."
Yokozuki nodded, and Kikon stood up on her toes to kiss him. "If
only she knew the real reason."
***
"So," Grandpa Hino asked, as he sat with his single visitor, a
cup of tea slowly cooling in front of his cushion, "that explains it.
At least she will have Mako-chan and yourself with her."
He looked up from the limpid beverage, and for once he actually
looked as old as he truly was. "Will I live to see it happen?"
Setsuna shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Hino-san."
Grandpa Hino let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I hope you will
take good care of her for me, Setsuna-dono."
Setsuna smiled a little at the respectful suffix, while the
priest himself seemed to regain some of his bounce. "So," he said,
"how long have I got, Pluto-chan?"
Setsuna chuckled at his show of cheek. "Long enough, Hino-san.
The future is always flexible, but we all have time before then,
yourself included. And don't call me that. It is... inappropriate.
How you saw through us all I will never know."
Grandpa Hino chuckled. "Well, after six years suspicions have a
tendency to add up. Especially after the whole 'Jiji' incident," he
said, remembering all his confusion after he himself had been
attacked by the Dark Kingdom those six years before. "Yoko-kun's
theories were just the push I needed. Though I could have lived quite
happily without the ambulance trip that followed, I can tell you.
That was an experience, to have my own guests having to look after
me. They thought I was having an aneurism!"
Setsuna shrugged. "I have been told it is somewhat dangerous to
force your body to accept magic that it was not meant to deal with.
You are lucky you got off so lightly, old man. But this must have
happened before I joined your 'club'. You really are quite the
showman."
Grandpa Hino bowed his head in apology. "Can you blame me,
Setsuna-dono?"
Setsuna didn't answer that. It was certainly not an acceptable
turn of events, but the old priest had done a great deal for them
over the years, it seemed. More so than even she had ever suspected.
"So, now that you have admitted your knowledge, will you tell Rei?"
"I am not sure," Grandpa Hino admitted. "It is more your decision
than mine. I would rather like to live out my remaining years with
all my limbs, if you know what I mean."
Setsuna thought on that for a second. "Remember our
understanding, Hino-san. What you tell your granddaughter is your
family business, but beyond that this must remain a pleasant fiction.
Anything more could be... somewhat dangerous."
Grandpa Hino nodded. "Well, I have answered your questions, and
you have answered mine, and we have both had our share of surprises
from it all. I can be happy with that, so I would have thought that
nothing more need be said. Right Setsuna-san?"
Setsuna nodded, and humoured him with another smile. "Yes. Thank
you for the tea, old friend. I look forward to our next meeting."
The priest got to his feet and beamed as he walked her to the
door. "A beautiful lady will never be turned away!"
They both stopped there to see Rei appear at the top of the
shrine steps, and catch sight of them. "Setsuna-san! What are you
doing here?" she asked as she jogged up, her re-packed over-night bag
slung over her shoulder. "Grandpa isn't trying to flirt with you is
he?"
Her grandfather just put his nose in the air. "Hmmph, I can have
my friends over too you know. Especially cute friends like Setsuna-
chan!"
"Grandpa!"
Setsuna just shook her head, and waved as she left. He really was
a charming old man, she thought. Even if he was too perceptive for
his own good.
Grandpa Hino returned the wave before turning to his annoyed
granddaughter. "Honestly Rei, after what they showed on T.V. is it
any wonder people want a little company now? It was a scary looking
battle."
"Yeah," Rei agreed, as if she had watched it herself instead of
living it. "Yeah, it was scary."
"The Sailor Senshi are very brave," he continued, "especially
that Sailor Mars. I was worried that she wouldn't make it at the end
there. It's a good thing she and Sailor Jupiter seem so close. Say,"
he added suddenly, with a twinkle in his eye, "have you invited Mako-
chan over again tonight? It would be much less lonely with her here."
Rei blinked, feeling embarrassed at the apparently indirect
praise. "Umm, I already have. I mean, if you don't mind."
Her grandfather nodded, satisfied by the answer. "Good, good. I'm
sure she doesn't want to be alone in that apartment of hers tonight
either. It does an old man good to see you girls happy, especially
after something like today."
Rei could have sworn he was insinuating something that he
couldn't possibly have been insinuating, but she just smiled back,
happy that he was so supportive. "Yeah. We're... we're happy Gramps.
Thanks for understanding."
Grandpa Hino just nodded, and left it at that. If Rei was happy,
what more would he ever have to say?
***
Meanwhile Makoto was also continuing with what would have been
her plan for the day, unaware that certain pretences no longer needed
to be kept up. In all honesty she would have liked the rest of the
day off from everything, but she didn't need yet another excuse to
put off what she needed to do. It had been long enough as it was. She
just had to swallow her pride and ask, or Rei would never let her
hear the end of it.
"Mizuno-sensei," she said standing in Katsura and Ami's living
room, bowing as deeply as she could, "I know you have already done a
lot for me, but I have a favour to ask..."
And she explained, at length and with great self-deprecation,
about how she would have to re-take her current year at college
despite Ami's diligent help, and how she would not be able to pay for
another year, thanks to her own lack of foresight with her money. Ami
found herself blushing for her friend as Makoto slowly became more
and more embarrassed, and not least because she was trying to paint
herself in the most unfavourable light she could so that none of the
others could be blamed for influencing the situation.
Katsura would have found it amusing in a motherly sort of way,
had she not known who it was who was putting herself down in order
not to tarnish Ami's reputation as student tutor extraordinaire.
"Makoto-chan... Makoto-chan!"
"Yes maam?" Makoto said, suddenly looking up, a little bit
worried. Had she gone too far?
Katsura sighed, and looked up at the still bowing girl from her
seat on the couch. "Makoto-chan, I don't believe that what I am
hearing was entirely within your control. I am sure that your parents
would be proud that you made it to college, and I think you have done
more than enough to deserve a second chance." She smiled as Makoto
stared at her. "You can straighten up now, Makoto-chan."
Makoto did so, slightly dazed at how easily Ami's mother had
agreed. "T-thank you Mizuno-sensei. I... I promise to pay you back!"
Katsura nodded and got to her feet. "As you wish. Now, I'm sure
you two would like a cup of tea. Or coffee?"
"Yes please mother," Ami said, both glad that her mother had
spared Makoto any further embarrassment and curious that she hadn't
told Makoto about what she knew. Still, she supposed, it would be an
easier secret to keep this way, even if she trusted Makoto
implicitly.
"Makoto-chan?" Katsura asked, extending the offer to their guest.
Makoto blinked. "Umm, coffee would be nice. Thank you."
Katsura nodded in satisfaction. "Good. I will leave you two to
talk, assuming you can stay for a little while. I have not had very
much chance to show you any hospitality recently, Makoto-chan."
Ami giggled at Makoto's confusion as Katsura left for the
kitchen, while Makoto visibly relaxed. "Ami-chan, have I missed
something?"
Ami shook her head as Makoto took the now vacant seat on the
settee. "Really, you did lay it on a bit thickly Mako-chan. I told
you that Mother thinks quite highly of you, and that she would be
happy to help you."
Makoto shrugged awkwardly. "I guess I'm lucky then."
"No," Ami corrected, "just loved. Sometimes being someone's best
friend comes with a few extra perks."
Makoto smiled at that. "Best friend, huh? I haven't been too
attentive recently," she joked, despite the truth that she felt in
that statement
That time it was Ami's turn to feel awkward. "Neither have I. But
you are still the best friend I have."
Makoto nodded. "Same here."
"So..." Ami said after a moment's uncomfortable silence. "How is
Rei-chan? You both scared me back then."
"She's fine," Makoto replied, trying not to make too much out of
it. "It could have been bad, I guess, but we worked it all out."
"It could have been bad?"
Makoto nodded. "She was trying to be noble. And she gets so upset
when Usagi-chan tries that too."
Ami sighed, interpreting that correctly. Sailor Mars had been
ready to sacrifice her life for that one attack. "I'm glad you
stopped her." Then she remembered that it had been Desir fuelling
Mars' extra power. "It hasn't cost you too badly, has it?"
"You don't need to worry about us," Makoto replied, choosing her
words carefully. Ami was perceptive, but she didn't want her to be
concerned. "We still need to get our heads around it, but we'll be
okay. I'll tell you before anything happens, I promise."
That sober thought brought Ami to the right conclusion. "We'll
still worry you know."
Makoto smiled at her, trying to lighten the mood. "Hey, we've got
a lot of free credit this time around. Desir won't collect for a long
time."
Ami decided to let that reassurance work. "As long as you will
both be alright."
"We will." Makoto decided this was as good a time as any to
change the subject. Especially since she still had so little idea of
the situation herself.
"You know," she said, sitting back lazily, "I wanted to tell you,
but I didn't get the chance. That was really brave of you, when you
gave Haruka-san that brooch. It was just amazing."
Ami blushed. "Well, I wanted to give her something, if Usagi-chan
won't let me give anything at the baby shower. I guess I was a little
extravagant, but it made a good thank you."
"A thank you?" Makoto asked.
"Mako-chan, I've been given more leeway than I have deserved,"
Ami explained. "They have gone out of their way to humour me, when
they have every reason not to. Haruka... Haruka-san even told me that
I mean something special to her. It is more than I could have asked
for. I wanted to say thank you to her, before I have to face up to
reality."
Makoto stared at her for a moment, turning those words over in
her mind. "Ami-chan, don't you think that maybe they have been trying
to accept you for a reason? Michiru-san had as good a time at the
party as you did. Think about it. It could have been a disaster, but
you and Haruka-san and Michiru-san all got on wonderfully."
"Mako-chan, do you really think it will be that easy for them, or
for me?" Ami asked, a little wistfully.
"No," Makoto replied, "I bet it'll be tough, but you've all been
making the effort, and you've all done better than I thought anyone
could. You're all friends, and you can both still be in love too.
Isn't that an effort to cherish?"
That speech drew out the longing in Ami's heart. "Yes. I hope
that the second shoe never has to drop. But even if it doesn't, how
could that work? I don't know if *I* could deal with the kind of
relationship that would become, let alone what Michiru-san would
think."
However, Makoto's eyes seemed to hold enough hope for her. "I
don't think *anyone* would know how to deal with it. But as long as
you don't give up, you'll work out what's best for you all."
Ami had to smile as that hope seemed to invigorate her. "Thanks
Mako-chan. Maybe you're right."
***
That evening, with their upstairs neighbours partying audibly
like so many others in the wake of another victorious Sailor Senshi
battle, two of the true heroes sat at their small dining table,
sharing a large delivered sushi plate between them.
"Are you sure you don't want to go out tonight Usako?" Mamoru
asked. "I think you deserve it."
Usagi shook her head, wearing the same smile that she had done
for the past six hours. "In which case so do you. And nope, I just
want expensive sushi with my Mamo-chan." She popped another salmon
roll into her mouth, and chewed luxuriously. "It doesn't seem right
to party though. And besides, I'm still tired. All that 'Moon Kiss'
stuff is really exhausting, you know."
Mamoru nodded, conceding the point. "I suppose getting shot
wasn't the best thing that could have happened to you either. You
were very brave there; I could have fallen for you all over again
with that willpower you showed."
Usagi giggled. "Hee hee, and my knight came rushing to my side.
You were so dashing. It would have been nice if it hadn't hurt so
much!"
They both shared a laugh over that.
Usagi eventually sighed, and rested her head in her hands, her
elbows propped up on the table. "We did good today."
"That you did," her finace agreed. "And it doesn't look like
we'll get a witch hunt for the youma after all. Everyone is too busy
thanking the Sailor Senshi to notice the bad guys have been spirited
away. By the time the thought occurs to them the youma will be so
well hidden they'll never find them."
Usagi nodded, picking out another of the choicest sushi. "Koan-
san looked delighted to have more potential help, and a real makeover
challenge. I swear, I was never as addicted to makeup as those
sisters are. Well, almost, but not quite."
"What do you think they'll do now?" Mamoru asked, subtly taking
the cucumber rolls that Usagi was working her way around.
Usagi shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe they'll help Koan-san and her
sisters with their cosmetics store. The big youma - was it Kaizi? - I
bet she'll want to go back to that fitness company, even if she can't
use the same disguise. I'm sure it will work out. As long as they
don't try draining peoples' energy again, I'm sure they'll never be
noticed, and they can live happily."
"They will have to eat, you know," Mamoru put in, but Usagi
didn't seem worried.
"They don't need much though, do they," she said, giving them the
benefit of the doubt. "All the energy they harvested before, most of
that went into their machine. If they only take what they need... And
Koan-san and her sisters seemed willing to donate a little. Maybe if
the scientist one can really set it up under the cover of a medical
check-up or something... or like a blood drive..."
Mamoru was glad to hear his fiancee's thoughts. "As long as you
are okay with that. I don't think we can expect them to give up their
necessities just in order to fit in."
That was Usagi's opinion as well. "We can trust them, I think.
And anyway, I'm sure that Sailor Pluto will be keeping a very good
eye on them. She still checks up on the cosmetics shop, though I
don't think they know that."
"It all turned out for the best then, almost," Mamoru said. "Did
Rei-chan ever tell you what happened to her? I am assuming that the
demon showing up again was not a harbinger of good news."
Usagi shook her head. "No. Well, she didn't say anything apart
from that it wouldn't happen again. And she seemed okay with that."
"Did you believe her?"
Usagi grinned. "Nope, but as long as she's okay, I'll trust her.
Rei-chan wouldn't lie about it if it was important. Open wide."
She held up another piece of sushi between finger and thumb, and
fed it to her obliging fiance, who closed his mouth around the
savoury treat and the fingers that had held it.
"Oi, Mamo-chan!" Usagi giggled. "I need those!"
Mamoru smiled around his food and released the captive digits,
before he returned the favour and held up his own next roll, which
met similar results. Usagi grinned, nibbling on both the rice and
Mamoru's fingers before letting them free. "There, now we're even."
Mamoru cocked an eyebrow, and looked down to see the last piece
on the plate. He glanced up to see Usagi noticing the exact same
thing. They shared the same ready smile.
The challenge was on. To the winner would go the spoils, and to
the loser, the pleasure of being made up to!
***
The sunlight was warm on Rei's back next morning. She lay on her
bed, the covers crumpled up against the wall, and watched as Makoto
dressed for the day. She glanced at her clock, and yawned loudly, as
if to make a point. "Makotooo, it's too early. Why are you up
already?"
Makoto looked over her shoulder once she had pulled her head out
of her top. "Oh, sorry, did I wake you?"
Rei shook her head, and managed to remain thoroughly
unconvincing. "Nope," she replied, letting her head flop back onto
the pillow, which made her rather dramatic bed-hair even more
comical; like an unshorn dust bunny, as drawn by Usagi. She didn't
bother to pull the covers back over herself though. The sunlight on
her back was too nice for that. "You're not going to run around the
shrine at this hour are you?"
Makoto smirked at the idea. "Why not? Your grandpa is up
already."
Rei closed her eyes and smiled. "That's the reason why not! I
don't want that old pervert thinking weird thoughts about my
girlfriend's athletic assets."
Makoto covered her chest with her arms and gave Rei a pointed
look as the girl giggled. "Hey."
Rei just rolled onto her side and stretched out her arms. "Come
here."
Makoto did as she was told, and was promptly pulled to sit by her
supine girlfriend. "Better," Rei muttered, wrapping her arms around
Makoto's waist and snuggling down into her pillow.
"Hey," Makoto exclaimed, "don't just go back to sleep!"
Rei smirked and opened her eyes again. "Spoilsport. Come on Mako,
what's up?" She dropped the humour in her voice and sat up, her arms
still encircling Makoto's waist from behind. "Are you worried about
Desir? I am sorry I didn't tell you. I just..."
"You wanted to play hero," Makoto interrupted, "and I would have
lost you. But no, that's not the reason, so don't look like that."
Makoto pulled Rei around to face her. "But if you're okay to talk
about it, are you sure you're fine with this?"
Rei looked at her. "I thought you would have wanted to go back to
Seiji. I know you liked it there."
Makoto was happy to admit that, but it wasn't the point she was
making. "No, I don't mind, but what about you. I don't want you to go
through all that again. If Pluto and me hadn't stopped it, you would
have gone back for good!"
Rei looked ashamed of that. "I told you, I'm sorry. I thought it
was worth it. That was how it had to work. Desir would lend me her
power so no-one else had to get hurt - so we could win - and in
return I would go back and be her Seraphi."
The mention of that name filled the air with a contemplative
silence. "I guess it's like she said though," Makoto observed after a
moment. "It's all very... symmetrical. I always thought it was weird
when Desir said it took her years to get back here with Ami-chan and
Haruka-san's baby. Now she's found her own loophole back to Seiji,
and it's so far back in the 'past'. And you, me and Setsuna-san..."
Rei nodded. "We are the real Seraphi after all. We were
impersonating ourselves all that time, and we didn't even know it."
Makoto thought that it felt too big to be real. "We're supposed
to introduce magic to them all? What about Ami-chan's magic, and
Minako-chan's and Haruka-san's? How are we supposed to be leaders
when they taught us everything we learned? We were only novices, even
when we left."
Rei agreed, "But we will know more than they do. We will look
really powerful to the people in Seiji's history. I guess we just
teach them the basics, and they work it out from there. They'll never
know any better."
Makoto nodded. "I guess so. Ami-chan has figured it out though, I
think. How am I supposed to tell her we'll be okay if Desir is just
going to pop up one day and take you, Setsuna-san and me back to
Seiji? We're not going to get any warning, she just said she'd come
when she had worked out how to do it with all three of us."
"We'll just tell them the truth," Rei replied, voicing the only
idea that had come to her. "We can give it a few years, until
Setsuna-san can check up as much as possible, and just say that we'll
be gone for a bit. We know that we'll be back, after all. If we are
the Seraphi, we know we'll leave Seiji just as mysteriously as we
arrive, and it'll only be a few years."
Makoto looked at Rei seriously. "And are you okay with few years?
That's such a long time."
Rei didn't know. "I'll have you there. And maybe we'll work out
something so Desir doesn't drive me nuts. Sorcery wasn't.... isn't
supposed to be an evil power when the Seraphi... eh, when *we* first
introduce it."
Makoto was satisfied with that. She had helped Rei through that
ordeal once. She would do the same again without a second thought.
"Well, at least we've read our own history, so we know we probably
come out of it okay. I guess, for the Magicians' and Warlocks' magic,
we manage to work out something between now and then. I mean, it's
already happened, sort of."
Rei smiled at the thought. "I bet Setsuna would have something to
say about that. You know how she used to be about paradoxes."
Then a thought struck her. "Makoto... In the books in Seiji it
said that we are each supposed to teach them a different kind of
magic; one for the Warlocks, one for the leaders and one for the
nobles, which the nomads stole. The Warlocks got the 'Art', and I
guess Setsuna-san figures that out somehow."
"And," Makoto added, the idea clicking together in her mind, "I
bet you anything that's why the Warlocks only wielded staffs.
Setsuna-san *teaches* them to fight like that, because that's how she
fights as Sailor Pluto!"
Rei nodded. "I teach the leaders Sorcery, so they have powerful
advisors - demons and demonettes - who can also help them lead
battles. You teach the nobles how to look after the land they own."
Makoto sighed then. "It's kind of depressing. I mean, we already
know that all of that stuff doesn't come to anything. Sorcerers and
Warlocks either go mad with power or become hermits, and the nobles
barely even bother with their magic before it gets stolen from them."
"Well, it was supposed to have worked for a while," Rei said,
"But that's not the point! The common magic is something we all teach
to everyone else, and that eventually got evolved into stage magic
and telekinesis and so on, but what about the Seers?"
Makoto thought about that. "I don't know. You were the one who
did most of the reading Rei, you just told us that they were
descend... You're kidding!"
Rei nodded, her eyes wide, barely able to believe it herself. "We
don't teach them the 'Sight'. The Seers, like that slave girl, could
make prophesies about the future because they were the direct
*descendants* of the Seraphi. Setsuna-san is Sailor Pluto..."
"... guardian of the gates of time," Makoto finished.
They both swallowed in unison. "Setsuna-san finds a husband
there!!"
Makoto stared at her girlfriend for a moment, before suddenly
breaking into a huge smile. "How many kids do you think they'll have?
I mean, that bloodline lasts a long time!"
"More to the point," Rei said, "do you think we should tell her?
I mean, what if she doesn't like the idea of hooking up for a short
lived relationship in some ancient parallel world?"
"She will know what she is doing," Makoto said. "It wouldn't be
any fun if we spoilt the surprise now, would it?" She turned around
until she stood up over Rei and leaned down to kiss her. "I wouldn't
have wanted anyone to spoil it for me."
Rei closed her eyes as Makoto kissed her again, playfully laying
her back down on the bed. "Makoto..."
Makoto smiled down at her still dishevelled girlfriend, but she
stopped, one hand either side of Rei's pillow. "Sorry. You just
looked so cute. Do you want me to stop?"
Rei blushed, and wriggled her way back up so she could sit close
Makoto's head height as she leant on the bed. "We shouldn't," she
said, but at the same time she smiled and locked her hands behind
Makoto's head, and Makoto sat back down on the mattress.
"But I won't mind any more," Rei added. After Sailor Jupiter had
run into those flames, for no other reason than to hold onto her,
Rei's insecurities had once again been re-aligned. For all Makoto had
known, she might have been running to her death. It had been a
remarkable gesture of self-sacrifice.
On her part Makoto nodded, smiling. It would be nice to finally
give to Rei what Rei had been giving to her. Makoto had been longing
to since they had first come back to Tokyo. With a cheeky grin she
pulled Rei back down the bed, making the girl shriek.
"Mako, no!" Rei objected, trying not to let a smile break her
mask of embarrassed indignation as she pulled her top back down from
where it had rucked up beneath her unbound breasts. "We've only just
got up! And Grandpa is around somewhere!"
Makoto just grinned, and kissed her frowning girlfriend on the
nose. "I never did keep that promise of a proper date, did I? Do you
have to work today?"
Rei looked up at her, still trying to fix her pyjama top, and her
indignant mask slipped. "Maybe I don't care." Then Makoto raised an
eyebrow, a twinkle in her eye, and Rei decided this was a battle that
she would rather lose. "... It's not like Grandpa actually needs the
stairs swept today. I'll make him give me the day off!"
***
At the same time, a few miles away from the shrine, Meioh Setsuna
poked her head into a darkened bedroom. It was still early, so she
managed to slip into the room and close the door behind her without
rousing her prey. While the room was dark, she could still see the
outlines of that sleeping pair, wrapped haphazardly in their bed
sheets as their arms and legs crossed each other.
Setsuna smiled, and crept forward. Sailor Pluto's garnet rod was
carried carefully in her hand, but she was not a Sailor Senshi just
at that moment. This was something she needed to do as a woman, not
as a soldier.
Being careful not to disturb them she pulled away the covers from
Haruka and Michiru's bed. The two of them looked very peaceful, half
wrapped around each other as Haruka snored quietly and Michiru
murmured faintly into her pillow. In typical fashion Haruka was under
clad once again, but Setsuna had come to expect that of her. At least
she was wearing some nice feminine panties, and not those awful boxer
shorts. It always riled Setsuna that Haruka would not model the
dresses she designed, but she was too mature to admit it.
Instead, ignoring the temptation to find Haruka's stash of boxers
and surreptitiously dispose of them, she knelt down next to the bed
and brought Pluto's staff across. She would have to be quick, before
one of the sleeping pair stirred from the feel of the air against
their skin, but she took a moment to smile as she looked at Haruka's
unclad stomach. There was not single sign to betray what was
happening inside her, but Setsuna smiled all the same.
"Hello Miranda," she said quietly. "It is nice to meet you. I am
Setsuna. You were quite the little surprise, but it looks like you
will be a good influence."
"I hope you don't mind," she continued, placing the ornate garnet
tip of her staff against Haruka's skin, "but you have something that
I need. Don't worry, you won't miss it, it is just a little left-over
packing material, but one day it will help a lot of people."
A faint trace of purple vapour began to rise from the contact
against Haruka's abdomen, and Setsuna watched with a vague sense of
awe. "Don't worry, little one. I will make sure that you have a power
of your own one day. Just don't tell your parents. We don't want them
to worry before it is time."
The vapour soon ebbed, and Setsuna watched as the strange inert
magic swirled within the gem of her staff, before looking back to
Haruka's stomach. "Thank you Miranda. You can go back to sleep now. I
will see you again soon."
Setsuna paused as Haruka stirred slightly, and the slumbering
young woman rolled over onto her side. "Enjoy your lie in, Haruka,
Michiru," Setsuna whispered. Then she slipped out as quietly as she
had come in, to begin her studies.
At least until Hotaru appeared for breakfast, she amended to
herself. It was strange to think that Sailor Saturn, a harbinger of
destruction who had filled her with such deathly fear for the future,
could have become her own beloved daughter, and have ended up being
such a similarly good influence on them all. She would make a very
capable older sister indeed.
***
Ami looked at her hair in the mirror as she combed it, wondering
whether it was high time to have it cut at last. It was that little
bit longer again, and was moving from 'grown out' into the territory
of 'untidy'. She liked it being a little longer, like it had been
those few weeks before, when she had had too much else to think about
besides her appearance, but it was high time she did something with
it. It wouldn't do to look too lax when the new university year
started. She had always been a little proud that she could be the
presentable face of bookish student life.
But, in reality, that was just a distraction. Her mother had
given her the message before leaving for work, and had been far too
kind about it not to have been a little worried.
Ami and Haruka had not been able to see much of each other, with
Ami preparing for new classes for over a week and Haruka and Michiru
getting back into their high profile lives, but Haruka had called.
She wanted Ami to meet her at the Tenoh/Kaioh/Meioh house. There was
something they needed to talk about.
It saddened her as she made herself presentable, but Ami had
expected something like this. It was not timed as well as it could
have been, but then these things happened. Once Ami had finished she
picked up her one and only bag, locked the door behind her as she
left, and made the walk to Haruka's.
It was a reasonable distance, but it gave her time to think. Over
these last few weeks Makoto had been proved right. Haruka had made
time for her, when their circumstances had permitted it. Michiru had
been more distant and quiet about the situation, but Ami had most
likely been the same towards her. They had all been amicable,
allowing each other space when needed, and taking the cues as they
were given.
But, naturally, something had to change. Ami and Haruka had
started to regret the lack of time they could spend together, and Ami
felt guilty about the amount of Haruka's time she took up when
Michiru was there. Likewise, Hotaru had confided in her that Michiru
felt the same, in her own way, and had consciously tried to give Ami
room on those occasions they could meet up. It had all become a
little strained, because of the logistics and the over-generous
levels of consideration they all gave each other.
This wasn't a contest, or even romantic game. None of them were
trying to win. Ami couldn't try and do that in good conscience, and
it surprised her that Michiru had not taken that as an advantage.
Haruka seemed happy, but at the same time it was obvious that she
felt like a cad. She had come to make a joke of it, and they could
all laugh it off as such, but that flirtatious humour had masked a
definite uneasiness.
And, simply put, an intimate relationship had been impossible.
That was Michiru's domain, and Ami could not intrude on that. It was
ironic that, since Haruka had admitted that she loved Ami, she had
been forced to stay faithful to Michiru. They had come close, but one
of them had always turned away, and always for all manner of reasons.
Just as Michiru was undoubtedly jealous of Ami's new place in
Haruka's heart, so Ami was jealous that there was still such a rift
between them.
She seemed to reach her destination before she knew it, and
Haruka was there to open the door, and usher her inside. "Good
morning Ami. I'm glad you came."
Ami smiled, despite her fears. It didn't matter how much she
thought about it, she was always happy to hear Haruka's voice sound
so kind. "Haruka, I'm sorry, but can we move past the pleasantries
today. As happy as I am to see you again after all my study
preparations, I know there is a reason you asked me here."
Haruka nodded, swallowing her prepared line, and lead her inside.
"Yes, that's true." She sat herself down on her favourite chair, and
offered Ami the settee. "Ami, I know things have got a bit tense for
us. I don't like seeing you like that, or Michiru."
Ami nodded, glad to hear Michiru's name there. It would hurt, but
at least it would be honest.
"And," Haruka continued, "I know it's your birthday in a few
days, just after your new term starts."
Ami looked up in surprise. It was true, she would be the last of
the 'Inners' to turn twenty, and in less than a week but...
"But we thought we could offer you a present a little early,"
Haruka finished. She looked at Ami seriously, but wore a genuine and
slightly hopeful smile. "Would you like to live here? With us."
Ami almost choked. "W-what? Haruka, how can you say..."
Haruka didn't let her finish. "Ami..." she said, trying to
collect her own thoughts enough to explain properly. "We seem to be
working when we are all together, don't we? I know it's a delicate
situation, but it seems that it troubles us most when we have to be
making time for each other. Both you and Michiru, you keep trying so
hard to 'play fair', and that is making you both act awkwardly when
the other isn't around! I want to love you as an equal Ami, and I
want Michiru to stop hiding from you."
"Hiding?" Ami echoed. "Haruka, she can't want this. I don't even
know if I can believe it."
"Ask her," Haruka replied. "We all talked about this." She turned
away from Ami and looked at the door to the hall. "Michiru. I know
you are there."
Ami just watched as the door swung open, and she saw Michiru
leaning against the frame. "Michiru-san."
Michiru sighed, and walked over to take her own favourite seat,
staring at her hands. "You're right Ami-chan," Michiru said. "I don't
want this..."
Ami was about to speak, but Michiru forged ahead. "But I'm not
the only one I have to consider. You are a good friend, Ami-chan, and
I am tired of exhausting myself over this. I never expected this
contest of ours to last. I thought that either Haruka would choose
you, or you would decide not to pursue her any longer. As long as I
continued to love her, without backing down, I thought one of our
relationships would prevail.
"But you didn't back down, and yet Haruka didn't choose one of us
over the other. Now, Hotaru is convinced that you are as much a part
of this family as any of us, and I cannot think of any rational
reason why she should not, despite my best efforts." She looked up,
smiling in resolution. "In our inaction, my choice has been made for
me. I will not leave my family, but at the same time I would never be
able to forgive myself if I went back on my word. You are going to be
yet another very unique 'father' Ami-chan, and I will not deny you
the chance to see your child grow up."
She looked over to Haruka's stomach, and then back to Ami. "She
will start showing eventually. That is as definite a beginning of
that life as we will be able to understand. I am prepared to be
Michiru-mama for a second child, I am even looking forward to it a
little, and I am willing to learn to live with you as 'Ami-papa'."
Haruka nodded. "That's the reason," she finished for her. "If you
want to, then we won't have to worry about who is overstepping whose
bounds, because we'll all be here, and I'll try to be fair too. I
know Hotaru and Setsuna would both be happy to have you. I have to go
and get my first ultrasound soon too. It's scheduled for the ninth."
The ninth of September, Ami thought. Just one day before her
birthday.
Ami looked to Michiru again. "But... what about..."
"If you are worried about sleeping arrangements," Michiru said,
"we have more rooms here than we need." And she went beyond that,
just to make herself clear. "I don't think I can share a bed with you
both, Ami-chan. But if we are going to live together, we shall have
to try and be fair. Can you live with that?"
"I... don't know," Ami replied honestly. "But I have known that
you two have been with each other all this time. I've been so jealous
of that, but I still love Haruka."
Michiru nodded, letting out a sigh. "Then I suppose it will have
to be my turn to know what that feels like. Maybe it is fitting."
Ami shook her head. "I haven't said I will accept."
"But you will," Michiru said. "As hard as it might be, we will
both continue to try our best. We will just stop pretending that we
still think of it as a competition."
Haruka, however, was far more practical about the matter. "If you
don't want to, then that's okay Ami. It is quite selfish of me to
suggest it."
"Selfish?" Ami asked, breaking into a trembling smile. "I never
thought... I want to! I want to try. But only if you mean it, both of
you."
Haruka nodded without a thought, smiling from ear to ear. Michiru
still had her reservations, but she paused only briefly. She had
already made her decision. Following through with it might be
difficult, but she was not going to surrender now. "You do not need
my permission Ami-chan. I said that I am willing to learn how to do
this, if you want to be here. As long as you let me cry myself to
sleep tonight." She said it with a laugh, but it was obvious how much
she was worried about the idea of her first night knowing Haruka was
with someone besides herself. "And don't look like that Ami-chan. I
can endure a little more heartache. I simply do not have your
strength yet."
Ami looked concerned, and got to her feet. "It's not strength
Michiru-san. I just... I know how it has to be for you both. And
please don't say that. I wouldn't be able to stay tonight anyway."
She turned to Haruka. "I have to talk to my mother, and there is a
lot to sort out."
"Do you think she won't understand?" Haruka asked.
To their surprise Ami shook her head. "I think she might be
concerned, but she and I have reached an understanding. As long as it
is you, she will not object, as long I assure her that it is all
alright. If nothing else, she knows that I am old enough to make my
own mistakes!"
Then, from behind her, Hotaru's voice drifted into the room. "Is
it alright to come in yet?"
Haruka and Michiru nodded and Hotaru, clad in a lavender
sundress, walked in with a hesitant air. "It's okay, Ami-papa?"
Ami stood staring at her open and honest face as she joined them,
and all at once she burst into tears. Hotaru looked mortified as Ami
hugged her, sobbing openly over her shoulder. "Ami-san! I'm sorry! I
didn't mean to make you cry!"
"It's okay," Ami sobbed, holding the girl. "Oh God, I never
thought this could happen." She choked back her tears and stood back
up straight. "I'm sorry Hotaru-chan. You really don't think I'm
intruding?"
Hotaru sighed, realising what Ami was thinking, and shook her
head. "I'm not a child any more Ami-papa. You've all been happy
together already, so this is just the next step, right? It would be a
shame if you couldn't be here for my little brother or sister too.
And anyway," she said with a smile, "I like having my parents as
friends too. So, getting a friend for a new parent, sort of, is kind
of nice."
Michiru had to admit, her daughter made it sound so simple. "Come
on Hotaru, we have to go and tell Setsuna."
"Like I said," the teenaged girl sighed, "I'm not a child any
more Michiru-mama." Of course, while she wasn't a child, she was
sensitive enough not to say exactly why they were leaving Haruka and
Ami to it. She just coloured a little and made for the door while
Michiru followed, explaining that she knew what it was like, but that
she wasn't ready to have her little girl explaining that she
understood too much just yet.
"So," Haruka said, getting to her feet and wiping away the tears
on Ami's cheeks, "you do want to live here?"
Ami nodded, beaming. "I've never had a better present." She
looked down, before wrapping her arms around the taller woman. "I
know what Michiru-san means. I don't think I can... be there with you
both..."
"I'm not asking you too," Haruka said, returning the embrace. "I
don't know how it will work either."
Ami nodded into Haruka's shirt. "I love you though. I'll try my
best, and I'll do everything I can to make Michiru-san happy too. And
Hotaru-chan, and Setsuna-san." She found herself laughing. "This is
going to be so strange!"
"I think Hotaru has it right," Haruka replied. "It's only a
little stranger than what we are used to here, at least from the
outside."
"So," Ami asked, picking up that observation, "what will you tell
your fans about us all, and the baby? It will be hard to explain."
Haruka shrugged. "Who says we have to say anything? It was a dear
and trusted donor, and we of all people don't need any more reasons
to have another resident here. People have always thought what they
like about Michiru, Setsuna and myself. Now they can speculate about
you too, if they want." She lifted Ami's head from her shirt. "If we
have to, we can make something up. As long as you are okay with
people speculating. It doesn't bother us, but I know Hotaru doesn't
like it."
"I can ignore people whispering," Ami replied. "I learned not to
pay any attention to it at school."
She leaned up, and her lips touched against her new partner's.
"Thank you Haruka," she whispered, allowing her tears to flow again.
"I love you."
Haruka leaned into the kiss, stroking away Ami's new tears with
her thumb as she held her. "Sorry I got you into all this," she said.
"But I love you too."
Then she cracked a smile, and pulled them together until their
stomachs touched. "So, do you think you can come for the ultrasound?"
Ami had to giggle at how exited Haruka sounded. She had to admit,
her own heart skipped a beat at the thought. "I will be able to
manage something."
***
At the back of the house Michiru sighed, watching as Setsuna
stared intently at her Garnet Rod. Hotaru had been happy to head back
to her room, leaving her to inform Setsuna of Ami's answer, and in
typical fashion Setsuna hadn't seemed in the least surprised.
Instead she just looked up from her Senshi staff. "Are you okay?"
Michiru nodded. "I'll be fine. Ami-chan isn't staying tonight
anyway. At least I can cry into Haruka's arms." Setsuna gave her the
same look that Ami had, and Michiru let out another sigh. "Setsuna,
don't. It has been decided, and we never said it would be easy. They
have their own misgivings as well. The least we can do is try and
make it work."
"And," she added, moving over to lean against the wall beside her
co-mother's desk, "even if it doesn't work, you're the one who said
it. We will always have our times together and our times apart, and
it will always be for the best. Right?"
Setsuna nodded, smiling to herself. "Something like that. Do not
worry Michiru. I think Ami-chan will surprise you. You might surprise
yourself as well."
Michiru shook her head at Setsuna's elliptical advice. "Would you
care to elaborate on that, or is this a mystical prophesy to keep me
occupied at night?"
Setsuna chuckled. "You will be beside them at the ultrasound,
won't you?"
Michiru paused, and her expression softened. "Yes. Of course I
will."
"There you are," Setsuna replied. "Isn't that all the reassurance
you need?"
Michiru looked at her with deadpanned eyes. "You're doing this on
purpose, aren't you?"
"Yep."
But, as exasperating as Setsuna was at times, Michiru could see
her point. She would be there together with Haruka and Ami to see
their new child, and when that happened, at least for that short
while, she doubted that anything else would matter. For all the
complications Ami had brought, it was a wonderful gift.
The thought brought a warm flush to her. She was going to be a
mother again. One of three, true, but that was the kind of motherhood
she knew. And, thinking back to Hotaru's all too brief childhood, she
wouldn't have traded it for the world.
She smiled to herself, and shook her head. "I wonder what the
others are going to think of this."
"I don't know," Setsuna said, a hint wickedness tweaking at her
smile. "It is all so scandalous Michiru: lesbians living under the
same roof as other women, and all masquerading as parents to boot!
But with all of our girls, I am thinking a certain surprise birthday
party would sound about right."
Michiru's smile wavered, only to be replaced with an impish smirk
as she imagined Ami on the receiving end. A very red faced Ami,
holding her hands in her lap, driven mute by the embarrassment of it!
Once Michiru had got that good, heart-aching cry out of her system it
would be the ideal sort of revenge. "You know Setsuna, I think you
might be right."
***
The End
***
Author's Note: Well, there it is. It's been a fun trip. Almost two
years in the making if you include Fallen Stars. My most sincere
thanks to everyone who has kept reading for all this time. I hope you
have all enjoyed it as much as I have.
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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