Tension of the Past
Part 5
*~*~*~*
She
was so beautiful the last time I saw her… I can’t deny that I loved her. She was so radiant and lovely. The brightest
star I had ever seen besides our own princess.
I lost hope. We all lost
hope. But I’m not like Star Healer or
Star Maker. I can’t bask in the glow of
pain, like Yaten. I can’t hide it or
ignore it like Taiki. I break under
it. I knew the only way to stay alive,
to keep from drowning in my sorrow, was to be around some one who could take
away that pain, or to let me forget about it.
I fell in love. I won’t say I
didn’t want to. Because I did. Oh, God how I loved loving her. But in the end, where would I be? Back in the pain… in even more pain because
she couldn’t return my affection. How
could I forget my princess that was waiting for me? How could I forget that she out-shown even Sailor Moon? Was I really that desperate to end the
sadness?
And
yet, when ever I think of her…
*~*~*~*
Ichigo
quietly opened the door to the princess’ room, peeking through the crack to see
her sitting on the bed and playing with Diana.
He sighed and opened the door all the way, watching with dread as the
pink head quickly swiveled and locked into his direction.
“Glad
to see you’re awake,” he said, and sat next to her on the bed. Diana quickly leaped onto his lap, mewing a
hello, and Ichigo started to scratch her ears, trying not to look in the
direction of the princess.
“You
left me all alone!” cried Chibi-Usa. “I
can’t believe you did that! Something
could have happened, and you’re supposed to take care of me.”
“Ah,
come on,” he said, not taking his eyes away from the blissful kitten. “It was only for a little while. And weren’t you the one who was screaming
about having to be supervised?”
“I
was in a bad mood! Mom never told me
she was going to see Pluto.”
“Aunt
Serenity doesn’t need to justify everything she does. Princesses can’t have tantrums.
There’s no way you’ll grow up with that attitude.”
“What
about you, huh? I don’t see you
aging. And anyway, I AM growing! You even noticed yesterday, and said I was
starting to look like a ‘real lady’.”
“But
that was before you stuffed yourself with food.” Chibi-Usa glared at him, and Ichigo moved his attention from
Diana. “Fine, fine. I’m sorry.
But you were getting into one of those fits.”
“A
fit?! You were the one that kept
wanting to wander off and look at Hotaru more than be with me. Maybe if you just told her how you felt, you
would grow up.”
Ichigo
glared at her. “What about you, huh?”
Chibi-Usa
smiled, and sighed, a far-away look coming into her eyes. “I already have my Elios… it won’t be long
until he’ll see me again, and I’ll a true lady.”
The
smile turned to a grin, and Ichigo rolled his eyes. Chibi-Usa looked at him and smirked.
“Well
maybe if you did something more than just gazing into her eyes, and sighing
at every move she makes…” she batted her eye-lashes and clasped her hands
to her chest. Ichigo groaned, and
suddenly an idea came to Chibi-Usa.
“I
know!” she cried, and leaped to her feet from her place next to him on the bed.
“Here
it comes…”
“I’ll
tell her for you!”
Ichigo’s
mouth fell open. “WHAT?! NO!”
“Of
course! It’s the only way!” she
said. “If you won’t tell her, I’ll do it.”
And
with that Chibi-Usa, bounded out of the room cheerfully, Diana scampering after
her.
“WAIT! COME BACK!”
“Hotaruuuuuuu? Where are youuuuuuu?”
*~*~*~*
“In. Now.”
Taiki01
walked into the dungeon (one that could be compared with the royal chambers),
and Jupiter slammed the cell door into place, locked it, fused the lock with
electrical heat, melted the key on the floor, watching the bubbling liquid cool
on the marble with satisfaction, and then set to work on fusing the dungeon
cell bars with the walls, floor and ceiling.
“Going
a bit overboard, aren’t you?” asked Venus.
“It’s
the only way. I can’t stand it any
longer. You’ve probably been out more
than that one time too.” She narrowed her
eyes at the clone. Taiki only smirked.
“Why
is he here anyway?”
“Let’s
face it. Jails are collecting
dust. What better way to protect the
queen then have the monster—“
“—I
resent that—“
“—Here
to be looked after by Sailor Senshi?”
Jupiter’s face scowled. “But
what good is THAT doing?! This is
insanity, I swear to God. This is not
what a veteran senshi is supposed to be doing!
This is a game! These petty acts
of crime are making… me… INSANE!!!”
“Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa. Let’s calm down now. Breathe in, breathe out.
One more time… good… breathe IN Jupiter! IN! … There we go. Feel better?”
“…hai,”
she grumbled. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Until
next time!”
“Why,
you little—“
“Oooh,”
he taunted. “I’m sooo scared.”
Jupiter
rushed to the bars, but Venus grabbed her arm and shook her head. The brunette flushed angrily, and then
cursing, she turned her back to the prisoner.
The two senshi left, leaving the prisoner alone to deal with his inner
thoughts.
*~*~*~*
“It’s
beautiful.” Yaten, Hotaru and Rei stood
in the middle of the Crystal Garden, a small area of a public park that lead
into the palace grounds. Roses of all
colors were lovingly tended among the seemingly random crystals that grew
beside the plants. The sun danced off
their shining edges, sending out small rainbows to lie on the petals of the
flowers.
“Do
you have gardens like this on New Kinmoku?” asked Hotaru.
“Our
planet is very different… We modeled it
after both Earth and Kinmoku,” said Yaten, and smiled. “We aren’t attached to a sun, so the
planet’s light source is from the land itself.
Plants grow from the light that is in the ground… but the sky is always
night.
“The
planet free floats, but we have mobility and defense if any… disaster
comes. Luckily, nothing like that has
ever happened. We reside in a Divinely
Protected area that has been safe for over three thousand millennia, but
somehow, we feel we should be prepared.”
“Wow,”
said Rei. “We’ve only been protected
since The Black Moon family disaster ended.”
“It’s
a funny thing, this protection, isn’t it?” said Hotaru. “It all depends on the people whether or not
to be a part of it.” She cupped a
flower in her hand, bending it so the rainbow was surrounded by shadow. “Light will always over power dark. If enough people want the light, and are in
it, it overrides the darkness’ ‘authority’, as if there was such a thing. It was only until this last disaster that
the people realized the fate of the Earth was in their hands as well.”
No
aliens may come into Earth without our permission now… but the problems of the
people must be solved by ourselves.
“Yaten-kun!” They all turned to see a black blob racing
towards them.
“Luna!” The cat, finding that using the pathway was
too slow, bounded through the flowers and crystals and grass, and stopped at
his feet, where Yaten picked her up, and hugged her. “It’s good to see you again.”
“It
seems like forever,” she sighed, and then twisted her body so she faced
him. “Where have you been?”
“A
very long story, one that I don’t even really understand,” he answered. “But where Taiki and I live there’s no
reference to time, except star calculations and even then…”
“They
thought it had only been nine years,” said Rei. Luna nodded.
“It’s
still a long time though.”
Yaten
could only shrug. “Where’s
Artemis? Isn’t he usually hanging
around you? I didn’t see him with
Minako.”
“Ah…” Luna sighed. “He’s traveling with King Endymion overseas… they should be here
tomorrow though. If only you had
notified us, we would have been able to make arrangements.”
“We’ve…
been a little isolated,” said Yaten.
“Hotaruuuuuu-chan! There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!”
Yaten’s
gaze turned to a small girl running down the path, her pink hair pulled back in
a similar version of Sailor Moon’s odangos, only more like rabbit ears. Behind her ran a small gray kitten, and when
Luna saw her, she jumped off her perch on Yaten’s shoulder. Behind them ran the boy, his face in a scowl
of dread, fear, anger, and calculation.
An
expression that reminded Yaten so much of Taiki. It was one of those obvious things where hints and just plain
blunt comments could be pieced together by less than intelligent creatures, but
it was still just as shocking. Taiki
had a son. Ami had Taiki’s son. Ami had Taiki’s son. And a son.
“Ichigo
has something—“
“Small
Lady!” The small girl abruptly closed her mouth, and looked at the disapproving
Luna. “We have a guest. How do you greet strangers?”
Chibi-Usa
blinked, and looked at the intense Yaten with curiosity. There was a small, delicate, yet chastising
growl, and Chibi-Usa quickly bowed, and said, “Hello, I am Princess Usagi Small
Lady Serenity. Welcome to the palace.”
“Very
good,” nodded Luna
The
silver haired figure bowed deeply.
“Yaten Kou, Sailor Star Healer from New Kinmoku. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“Yaten
Kou?” asked Chibi-Usa, her eyes widening.
There was a similar reaction from the boy. “Really?! Wow! Mom’s talked so much about the times when
she fought with you as Sailor Moon.”
Yaten
blinked. “So um… Princess Usagi Small
Lady Serenity’s the daughter of—“
“Chibi-Usa,”
she said. “It’s much easier. I’m Neo-Queen Serenity’s daughter.”
Yaten
could only nod.
“Sailor
Moon’s full form is Neo-Queen Serenity.
She is married to King Endymion,” explained Luna.
“King
Endymion?”
“You
would know him as ‘Mamo-chan’,” said Rei.
Yaten blinked.
“Oh! Of course.”
“You
get used to it,” continued Rei.
Yaten
looked at Ichigo who bowed politely once the stage was set for him.
“I
am Prince Ichigo of Mercury, son of Sailor Mercury. It is an honor for you to visit us.”
Yaten
bowed as well. They searched each
other’s souls for a brief moment, each getting nothing.
He’s
carefully guarded, thought
Yaten. He has the gift. I had always wondered what a child of Taiki
would be like… Will I be here long enough to find out?
“So
how do you like Earth so far?” asked Ichigo.
“It’s
a lot different than I remembered, but there are some things that bring back
memories.”
“Really?”
asked the boy. “Like what?”
“I
saw the Crown when we arrived. I can’t
believe how much it has changed.”
Rei
nodded, and Yaten began to weave his spell on Ichigo, a spell he had used countless
times to find his princess, only to bring in countless girls who didn’t even
know the meaning of love. Including one
who did, but who hid it from everyone.
*~*~*~*
“We
need to talk,” said Makoto as they walked down the hall to the gardens.
“About
what?” asked Minako, her eyes set dead ahead.
“Well,
about your… presence, I guess.”
“My
presence?”
“You
haven’t been yourself lately, Minako-chan.
You hardly ever interact with us, and you’re either in town or in your
apartments. That tells me there are
some real problems going on. I-I’m not
saying that you’re neglecting your duties.
You’ve been doing an awesome job… but…”
Minako
sighed, and stopped walking. Makoto
stood next to her.
“I’m
worried about you. Really I am.”
“Thanks,
but you really don’t have to be. I’ve
just been doing some thinking.”
“For
a week? Come on, Mina-chan, I just want
to know what’s going on.”
“I…”
“….You?”
“I…
I don’t think I can tell you… anyone, really, right now.”
“Oh.” Makoto nodded. “I understand.”
And
yet she looked incredibly hurt.
Minako’s heart burned with guilt.
“B-but,
when I’m ready, you’ll be the first one I’ll tell.”
She
brightened up. “Great. But if I’m the last to know, I’ll lock you
up, I swear to God! You and Taiki can
have staring contests until you pass out.”
“Are
you kidding me? No one can beat Aino
Minako in a staring contest. Anyway, I
don’t faint.”
“Oh
really?”
“Well,
the last time I did was when I caught Ichigo sucking down helium from a party
balloon… with a look in his eyes that scared to me to death. My God, I thought he was possessed! And he just started bouncing off the walls,
and I couldn’t catch him. I had to end
the pain somehow.”
Mako
burst out laughing, causing Minako to giggle.
“God,
we never change, do we?” said Makoto.
“I don’t care. Living your life
too seriously is a total waste of energy.
If we acted as old as we really were… no, I don’t want to even get into
it… I’d die just thinking about it.”
The
two women giggled again, and walked with a lighter pace.
It’s
been a while, she thought, feeling
positive. I had forgotten how even
acting like you were happy made you feel high.
Finally
they entered the gardens, and everyone turned to see them walk down the path,
including Yaten.
Minako’s
heart leapt as his energy moved to her, seeming to caress her soul. They had shared a moment back on the roof in
a way she had never shared anything before… when he helped her to remember a
part of herself… to remember her ambition.
Makoto
and Minako reached the group, and joined in the conversation. A little while later, Ami and Taiki came to
the gardens too, looking very happy, and even Ami seemed to have her old
strength back. Most of Minako’s energy
was spent watching Yaten, though. Every
move he made, every small glimpse he sent in her direction, would thrill her
beyond belief.
Don’t
do this to yourself, Minako. He’ll be
gone soon. It’s only a visit. And then he won’t ever come back. This is a good-bye trip… a time to tie loose
ends. Don’t make any new ones.
Suddenly,
Neo-Queen Serenity appeared at the doorway, a look of confusion and impatience
on her sweet face. Yaten’s heart
stopped.
Beauty
beyond compare… a grace that defies the laws of nature… could this possibly be
the former Sailor Moon? She reminds me
so much of…
“Mom!”
cried Chibi-Usa.
“Everyone!” she called.
“I must speak with you urgently!”
Instinctively,
all the five women of Earth henshined, their faces masked in emotionless
stone.
Yaten
and Serenity locked eyes, both incredibly surprised. There was a small pause as she looked over at Taiki, his fingers
entwined with Ami’s. Her eyebrows
lifted, and she beckoned for everyone to enter the palace. They all did so, with an unknown fear.
If
Serenity was worried, what did this mean?
*~*~*~*
“What
the hell is that thing?!” shouted Uranus.
The
two women stared at the small star that had appeared to the left of the sun. No star at noon was bright enough to be seen.
“It
is a vessel of a billion stars,” said Neptune.
Her face was slack, but her heart had stopped.
“Shit. This is all we need,” muttered Uranus. “Do you sense any danger?”
“I
sense… impatience… and excitement… it’s very faint though, they must be far
away.”
“That’s
enough for me. We need to contact the
inner senshi, and get them up here.”
“We
have Divine Protection, Haruka,” said Neptune.
“That’s
true,” she answered. “But what if it’s something
different? I don’t want to take any
chances. Are you getting a signal at
all?”
Neptune
nodded, but frowned. “It’s very faint,
though. Almost as if they’re obeying
the Galactical Law, but not wanting to be overly seen. I can’t make out whether it’s hostile,
though.”
“I
hate it when people try to be subtle.”
“I
know,” Neptune said with a small smile.
*~*~*~*
“Venus.”
“Hai!”
“There
is an unknown object heading straight for Earth. First Gate asks assistance from Inner Senshi immediately!”
“Permission
granted! We’ll meet you at the summoning point.”
“Thank
you! We’ll see you there.”
Venus
ended the conversation with Neptune and turned to the group who were all now
inside the palace, facing the queen.
“We
are to meet Uranus and Neptune. I need
two people to stay with Serenity for back up.”
“I’ll
stay,” answered Mercury.
“Me
too,” said Jupiter.
“Are
five people enough up there?” asked Saturn.
“I’ll
go!” cried Chibi-Usa hopefully. But
Venus shook her head.
“Small
Lady, you are the heiress to the throne.
You need to be safe with your mother.”
The princess nodded sadly, and Venus smiled slightly. “Maybe next time…”
“Right,”
said Chibi-Usa half-heartedly, hanging her head.
“Has
anyone contacted the King?”
“I
just finished talking to Artemis,” said Luna as she stopped at the side of
Serenity. “King Endymion saw the
star-like object in the sky around the same time as Neptune and Uranus. They are traveling back to Crystal Tokyo,
and will arrive within the hour.”
“Good,”
said Venus. “That’s everything
then. Let’s go.”
“WAIT!”
cried Star Healer. “It’s them! I feel it... they mobilized the planet!”
A
sun harboring a billion lives speeds to this Earth, a force magnified to ours,
bound by strings that no one can see.
The lives of the senshi will end when we invite them to our home.
“They’re
coming here?” asked Taiki. “What’s
going on?”
“I
don’t know… I can’t… they’re too far away.
All I can sense is that they’re here.”
Our
queen has come here. What’s wrong? What happened? I knew I never should have left.
I knew it. Why didn’t I just refuse to leave? What’s going on? If something
happened, I would never forgive myself.
What if Kakyuu—
“YATEN!” Startled
and back in reality, Star Healer looked up at Venus. “We’re out of time. I’m
sorry.”
“Let us come with you!” cried Star Maker. “Please!”
“If our queen is in danger—“
“Go,” said Serenity to the Star Lights. “Hurry.
And… come back as soon as possible.
If anything is wrong, Earth will do everything in its power to help your
planet.”
“Thank you…”
The five Sailor Senshi rose into the air and sped into the
sky.
“The time has come for a new revolution,” murmured
Serenity. She stood between Mercury and
Jupiter, her hands reaching out to be entangled with theirs.
Her heart leaped when each held a hand, and they watched as
the speeding stars reached to meet the speeding planet.
“I will protect you all with all my strength,” said the
queen, and her face filled with determination, transforming her features, if
only for a moment... into Sailor Moon.