Rising Darkness

By Sillabub 429

Chapter Six - Reverie

*****

"You have a weird knack for attracting psychos." Tsukino Chibi-Usa

*****

Usagi dreamed.

Her subconscious was filled with swirling, thick fog, and she squinted through it, waiting for it to 
clear and show some indication of where she was, what she was seeing. And then the fog began to part,
clear, and she saw a light. Moving towards it, Usagi found she could see a room, occupied by two 
people, and after she pushed through the fog, she stopped short.

She was in the Royal Palace of the Moon Kingdom. To be exact, in Queen Serenity’s bedchamber.

The Queen was sitting at her vanity, her long, silvery hair loose from its customary style and sweeping 
over the floor as she brushed it gently, humming a quiet tune. Princess Serenity, who looked to be about 
age six, was sitting on the Queen’s bed, kicking her little legs happily as she looked around the 
Queen’s chamber. The walls were a pale, pale lavender, with details gilded in glowing silver and pearl, 
and on the far wall was an enormous portrait of the Royal Court from the Queen’s coronation. The portrait 
contained several rich, lavishly-clothed figures, most of whom the Princess recognized. Her heart gave a 
funny little squirm as she recognized the tall, golden-haired man who stood beside her mother; her father,
who had died when she had been just an infant. Serenity had always been sad that she hadn’t gotten to know
him because she was certain her father had been the most gentle, loveable man in the Moon Kingdom. At 
least, he had to be if her mother had loved him so. Serenity’s large blue eyes scanned the painting, and 
then she paused as she observed the figure standing on the other side of the Queen.

The Princess squinted. The figure was a woman, around the same age as the Queen was in the painting, and 
she was very, very beautiful. She had long silky hair that hung down her back and was a color unlike any 
Serenity had ever seen; a deep, fiery crimson. The woman’s eyes were a gentle blue, but there was something 
about them that was uneasy, or perhaps sad.

“Mama?”

The Queen looked up from her hair brushing, catching her daughter’s gaze in the mirror. “Yes, Princess?”
Serenity shifted on the bed and pointed at the woman in the painting, her skirts crinkling around her as she did so. 

“Who’s that?”

“Don’t point, dear,” said the Queen gently.

The Princess scowled slightly, but retracted her hand, albeit reluctantly. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Now, who is it you wanted to know about?” the Queen asked with a small smile, setting her brush down. Her amusement 
at her daughter’s petulance was evident, but she managed to keep her grin contained. “Did you want to hear another 
story about your father? I know how you love to hear those.”

Shaking her head so that her curls brushed her cheeks, Princess Serenity replied. “No, not him. Her.”

“Who, dear?” asked the Queen offhandedly.

“Her. That woman in the painting,” Serenity said, with the impatience of a child. “The one standing next to you. Who 
is she?”

Queen Serenity stopped, remaining silent for a long moment. The Princess looked over at her, blinking widely, but the 
Queen’s face was unreadable except for the slight sadness evident on her lovely face. Slowly, the Queen turned to face 
her daughter, her gaze steady but her face pale.

“The woman with red hair?” she asked softly.

“Yes,” said the Princess, bobbing her head in affirmative. “Who is she?”

The Queen silently turned and studied the woman in the painting, quite expressionless for a long moment. Then, quietly, 
she said, “That woman is someone who used to be a member of the Royal Court many years ago.”

The Princess blinked. “What happened to her?”

Pausing as if unsure of what to say, the Queen sighed and replied, weakly. “She died, dear.”

“Oh.” As the reality of this sank in and the Princess realized why mentioning that woman had made her mother so sad, 
she sat back and was quiet for several minutes, as if showing respect for the dead.

“Mama?” she said after a moment.

“Yes, Princess?” said Queen Serenity, her voice sounding slightly stronger than it had a moment before. Taking that as a 
sign that it was alright to continue, the Princess looked up at her mother.

“Was she your friend?”

Queen Serenity looked at the painting for a long, quiet moment, her gentle eyes focusing on the woman’s face as her 
smooth, white brow creased. Slowly, she looked away from the portrait and peered at her daughter, her face sad again, 
but her eyes still warm.

“Yes, dear. She was.”

*****

Artemis did not know why he woke up, but he knew that for some reason he was too uneasy to go back to sleep. It was very 
late, he knew, and, blinking sleepily, Artemis turned bleary eyes to the digital clock on Minako's dresser.

3:16 AM? he thought sleepily, his brow creasing as his mind registered the numbers. But why . . . ?

The sound of a quiet weeping reached the sleepy cat's ears, and he immediately sat up and instinctively looked towards 
Minako's bed. It was empty.

He found her in the living room, sitting on the floor by an open window, her legs pulled up to her chest with her arms 
around them, hugging her knees and resting her chin on top of them. As he drew closer, the pale moonlight shone across 
her hunched form, and he noticed her shoulders shaking. Artemis swallowed hard, feeling suddenly nervous as he approached 
the crying woman cautiously.

“Mina . . . ?” he said gently, moving to her side.

A strangled sob escaped from her lips, and she buried her face into her knees, mumbling miserably. Artemis frowned as he 
deciphered the words “idiot,” “different,” and, he was pretty sure, “Yaten,” but this only confused him all the more.

“Mina, tell me what's wrong,” he said, rubbing his head against her side and purring softly.

With a great shudder, Minako lifted her head to stare at him, looking thoroughly miserable. “I’m s-such an idiot,” she 
whispered.

Artemis stopped purring and peered up at her uncertainly. “What makes you say that?”

Moonlight glinted off the wet path of tears on her cheeks as she shook her head and looked away. “I thought I could 
hide the truth from him, but I c-can't,” she said, sniffling. “Y-Yaten-kun . . . he suspects something . . . he knows 
something's wrong . . . something's different.”

Artemis studied her for a moment, pity evident in his big eyes. “Why don't you tell him yourself?” he suggested quietly. 
“Wouldn't it be better to hear it from you than to find out on his own?”

Minako buried her face back into her knees, letting out a hollow, dry sob. “N-no, I can't. He'll h-hate me.”

“I don't think so.”

Minako's shoulders shook. “It's not a risk I'm willing to take,” she mumbled through her tears. “I could never live with 
myself” Sniffling, she raised her head and gazed steadily at Artemis, and it was as if her resolve had stiffened in 
those few seconds.

“He can never know, Artemis,” she said softly.

Artemis stared at her hard for a moment, a strange feeling of dread creeping up inside him, but he slowly nodded.

*****

“Usagi,” someone said.

“Mmph,” replied Usagi, turning over and pulling the covers over her head.

“Usagi . . .” Whoever it was began to shake her.

“Mmph.”

“USAGI!”

Screaming hysterically, Usagi bolted upright from where she had been asleep in bed, eyes wide as she looked around in 
panic. But when she saw who it was, her heart leaped in both surprise and joy, and without hesitation she threw her 
arms around the skinny child sitting at the edge of her bed.

“Chibi-Usa!” she cried, engulfing her in a hug.

Chibi-Usa choked, and Diana went scampering away, either to find Luna and Artemis or escape her mistress’s possible 
death-by-squeezing. But a small smile had curved Chibi-Usa’s lips, and she allowed herself to return the hug happily.

“Hi, Usagi.”

Usagi pulled away, her eyes huge and shining as she stared at the pink-haired girl. “Chibi-Usa, you’ve grown!”

“Yeah,” grinned the child. “I’m probably tall as you now.”

Usagi’s smile grew gentle. “You look beautiful.”

A faint blush stained Chibi-Usa’s cheeks as she waved a hand dismissively, saying, “Oh, stop.” Then her gaze turned 
critical as she glanced down at Usagi’s stomach. “You’re growing too, you know,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

Usagi’s smile slipped. “What?” she squeaked.

Chibi-Usa leaned over and patted Usagi’s stomach, a look on her face that was both inquisitive and teasing. “Bun in the 
oven?”

This time it was Usagi’s turn to grow red, and she immediately began to ramble. “What do you mean? How do you know? Is 
it noticeable? Did Setsuna-san tell you? How did you . . .”

“Easy, Usagi, easy,” giggled Chibi-Usa. “It’s December so you should be . . . what, about two months along?”

Hardly daring to breathe, Usagi nodded very slowly. “Yes, but . . . how . . . why . . . how . . . ?”
Chibi-Usa flicked Usagi’s forehead, grinning. “Dummy. I know when my own birthday is.”

“Oh,” said Usagi, looking puzzled. Before she could appreciate just how truly weird and paradoxical Chibi-Usa’s presence 
was, she tensed up again and looked earnestly at Chibi-Usa. “Listen, don’t look too much into this, and please don’t be 
too mad at me, but it’s kinda a secret.”

Large ruby eyes blinked. “What is?”

Looking around in a secretive sort of way, Usagi patted her own stomach and shot Chibi-Usa a meaningful glance.

“Really?” the child asked, forehead creasing. “Why?”

Usagi’s swallowed hard and sat back, looking away. “Things have just been . . . dangerous lately,” she replied quietly. 
She suddenly was overcome with the urge to cry. “Really dangerous.”

“But no one knows?” asked Chibi-Usa, incredulously.

Usagi shook her head slowly. “Only Setsuna-san.”

“Not even Mamo-chan?” Chibi-Usa asked, even more incredulously.

Usagi once again shook her head, and Chibi-Usa’s lips tightened into a thin, disapproving line.

“I had to do it,” said Usagi at once.

Chibi-Usa was staring at her as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She looked ready to shout at Usagi, and 
for a moment Usagi was sure that she was going to, but then Chibi-Usa sat back and looked as if she was composing 
herself before speaking. She paused for a very long moment, and Usagi felt herself growing anxious.

Finally, Chibi-Usa spoke, her brow creased with concern. “You have to understand how dangerous this is,” she said softly.
“I know, but I don’t care.”

Chibi-Usa’s nostrils flared, but that was the only outward sign of her irritation as she said, very quietly, “How on 
earth could you not care, Usagi? You may be putting both of our lives on the line.”

Suddenly, Usagi found her eyes full of tears as she stared at Chibi-Usa and cried, “But I can’t let them die for me 
again!”

There was complete silence. Usagi began to cry, and Chibi-Usa stared hard at her for a long moment. Then, after a few 
minutes, Usagi took in a deep, shaking breath, trying to steady her shaking shoulders and calm the sudden onslaught of 
tears.

“Usagi . . .” started Chibi-Usa, reaching a hand forward.

“I can’t let anyone know yet,” Usagi interrupted quietly, sniffling. “It’s for the best.”

Chibi-Usa shook her head. “I don’t agree.” When it looked like Usagi was going to protest, Chibi-Usa held up her hand 
and added, “I’m not blaming you for anything, Usagi. I just want you to be safe.”

Usagi sniffled and nodded. “I know. I’ll be careful, I promise.”

“Yeah, but you have a weird knack for attracting psychos,” said Chibi-Usa, raising an eyebrow.

Usagi sniffled again, letting out a watery laugh. She was finding herself slightly embarrassed by her outburst moments 
before. “These dumb hormones,” she said, wiping her eyes. “I’m going to have to try my hardest not to break down around 
everyone.”

“And that would be different how?” asked Chibi-Usa with a smirk, obviously trying to get Usagi to lighten up.

It worked. Usagi began to giggle. “Hey . . .” she started.

“I’m kidding,” said Chibi-Usa with a grin. As Usagi recovered and Chibi-Usa stared at her for a moment, she voiced the 
thoughts that had been going through her mind for the past few minutes.

“I knew it something was wrong,” she said quietly. “I could feel it.”

Usagi looked up at her. “That’s why you’re back?” she asked softly.

Chibi-Usa nodded.

“Even if it’s for that reason,” Usagi said softly, smiling warmly, “I’m glad you’re back.”

Smiling gently back, Chibi-Usa reached out a small hand and touched Usagi’s shoulder. “Usagi,” she said softly, “do you 
really think you can protect everyone while you’re pregnant? I don’t even know what’s going on right now, and it seems 
like it’ll be tough.”

“I know,” she replied, and Usagi shifted in her bed, playing idly with the covers. “Do you think I can do it, Chibi-Usa?”

Usagi looked lost and doubtful, but suddenly she found herself being squeezed by a very small pair of arms. Looking down, 
she found Chibi-Usa hugging her, a gentle look on her face.

“I have faith in you, Usagi,” she said softly. “I always have. And I always will.”

Usagi smiled, sniffled, and rested her golden head on top of Chibi-Usa’s smaller pink one. After a moment of embracing, 
they pulled apart, and a thought suddenly occurred to Usagi.

“The Lights don’t know about you yet.”

Chibi-Usa blinked. “The what now?”

“They’re friends of ours who fought with us against Galaxia, years ago. You left before we met them.”

“Okay. And they’re here now?” said Chibi-Usa.

Usagi grinned, but a look of obvious excitement was spreading across her face. “They’ve never met someone from the 
future before,” she said, looking mischievous. “And seeing how you’re my daughter . . . this could be fun.”

*****

End Chapter Six