The Tangled Web We Weave
by Crawlspace
~Day 7 – Friday~
~
The night air hummed with activity,
as if every creature knew something was about to happen. And that they needed to get out of the way.
Venus followed behind Jupiter as
Mercury led them to the farthest corner of the property. The ebb and flow of their moods swirled
around her – impatience, reluctance, eagerness for battle. All of these things pulled at her,
accentuating her own emotions.
She had faith. They knew their enemy and knew how to fight
them. They knew where they were
going. Mars had clearly described the
large dining hall with its massive wooden table, cast iron chandeliers, and
large fireplace. It would be a good
place to enter and exit, and Mercury would be able to find the baby once they
were there.
But she also had doubts. The battle was going to be in unfamiliar
territory. Where they were going, there
was no easy in or out. This was
someplace that could not be reached by plane or boat, and in all of Pluto’s
vast memory, they had never tried to teleport with a civilian. Her own heart ached at the idea of
failure. She feared what such an outcome
would do to Jupiter, and as she watched her friend’s tension grow, she feared
they wouldn’t be able to calm her long enough to even contemplate failure.
Venus breathed in the crisp night
air and focused herself by listening to the tread of their footsteps over the
grass. The process was interrupted,
though, by Uranus’ fist hitting her palm.
“When we find him, dogboy is mine,” grumbled the wind senshi.
She could hear Mars’ smirk as the
fire senshi returned with, “Only if I can help, because I don’t think Jupiter
will leave any of the catgirl for me.”
Venus shot them an unhappy look over
her shoulder. She understood the
sentiment, but now wasn’t the time.
Unfortunately, the question this exchange prompted couldn’t be
prevented.
Trailing at the end of their march
with Tuxedo Kamen, Pluto, and Kyo, Ami’s mother easily translated the feelings
behind the words. “Personal
grudges? You’ve had dealings with this
girl before?” Kaya asked, directing the question at anyone who would answer.
A beat of silence before Pluto
accepted the responsibility of answering.
“Yes, about a year ago. It was a
random meeting that we thought had been dealt with. We didn’t expect to ever see them again.”
“’Them,’” repeated Kaya as she
turned things over in her mind. “They’re
going after more than just the girl.”
“And it’s personal beyond what happened
tonight,” interjected Kyo. “Why?”
This time,
“Are you often targets for those
you’ve fought in the past?” asked Kaya.
They were blessed once again with
silence, even if it wasn’t completely comfortable, and before more questions
could be asked, Mercury looked back at Venus.
Venus nodded, then moved back to the end of the
line. Stopping in front of Chibi-usa,
she indicated this was the end of the march for those staying behind.
“We’ll be back soon,” she promised,
smiling at Kyo and Kaya. “We’ll all be back, and these guys will make
sure you’re safe in the meantime.”
Luna and Artemis sat up proudly,
projecting as much reassuring confidence as they could. Chibi-usa and Tuxedo Kamen gave her a nod,
acknowledging silently that they knew this was going to be a long, tense wait.
“You may want to move back a bit,”
said Venus as she moved to join her comrades.
“This might get a bit rough.”
Leaving Ami’s family in the most
capable hands she could, she took her place in the circle. “Okay, real quick
one last time. Mars leads us there. When we get there, we stay together. First we find Miki,” her eyes cut over to
Mars, “and then we’ll make whatever point we need to.”
A nod from Mars,
as well as several of the others.
They were ready. Hands joined and
eyes closed. Venus could feel the ground
tremble as the power built. The focus of
their energy wrapped around Mars, and a moment later, they were gone.
Kyo shielded his eyes and stumbled
back several steps as the blinding rainbow of light set off a small
earthquake. Dirt and rock churned up
into a perfect circle, which was all that remained of the girls once the light
had faded. He stared at the empty,
destroyed ground in wide-eyed wonder and whistled in disbelief. “Well, damn,” he finally muttered. “I could explain the bedroom, but how the
hell I am I supposed to explain that?”
Kaya’s frown was so tight it looked
painful, and her brother’s comment pushed her over the edge. She started to turn, but before she could
take a step, Kyo grabbed her arm.
“You can’t keep running,” he said
quietly, the sorrow in his eyes more than she could deal with.
She pulled away from him, staring
him down for just a second before going back up to the house alone.
* * *
*
For something so little, it made an
awful amount of noise. Kai frowned at
his little sister’s latest mess and jacked up the volume on his headphones.
Leaning against the cold stone wall
in Kei’s room, Kai watched in mean-spirited amusement as his sister struggled
to get the human baby to shut up. Dark
wisps of hair fell into her eyes as she bounced the retched creature at arms
length, which only seemed to make it cry harder. Ti looked almost as distressed as the
baby. He covered his ears with his hands
and looked pleadingly at his big brother.
Kai just smirked, showing a flash of
fang. “You two are in so much trouble.”
“She did it!” yelled out Ti,
pointing an accusatory finger at Kei.
The girl turned her head and hissed
at her youngest brother. “Stupid puppy!”
she shot back, causing the red bow that sat haphazardly between her ears at the
top of her head to finally fall away. A
sheet of hair fell across her face, and she tried to huff it away.
Now completely frustrated, she moved
over to the round, cushioned bassinette she’d found to match the dark blue and
gold fabrics in her room. She laid the
baby down, roughly pulled her hair away from her face, and marched over to
stand in front of Kai.
The posturing did nothing to faze
her older brother. He only stared down
at her looking as though he were very bored.
Kei fumed. In a sudden impulse, she balled up a fist and
punched her brother in the arm. “Jerk! And don’t you
dare say anything to Shin!”
“Or what?” threw back Kai, knocking his
headphones off his ears so they hung lopsided around his neck. He stood to his full height, his lanky form
towering over her. “What is it you think
you can do?”
There was a lot she could do,
thought Kei as she stared daggers at Kai.
She just wasn’t sure how successful any of it would be. However, before she could form a doable list
of mischievous deeds, the sudden quiet in the room seized her attention.
She and Kai forgot about each other
and looked over at Ti. The little boy
grinned and made silly noises down into the bassinette. His brown eyes lit up when the baby grasped
his fingers, and he grinned even wider when teary blue eyes blinked at him in
curiosity.
“I want to name you Henry,” said Ti
as the baby hiccupped. “Can we name him
Henry, Kei?”
The little girl frowned, but rather than
say anything, she shrugged.
“Whatever. Just make sure it
doesn’t cry anymore.” She walked over to
stand beside Ti and stared down at the baby.
She smiled widely, then reached over and ruffled Ti’s
sandy blond hair. “Okay, next we feed
him. Then you get to change him.”
Ti looked at her, confused. “Do we have to change him? I like Henry the way he is.”
Kai laughed at the evil grin on his
sister’s face right that moment. “You
are in so much trouble,” he murmured through a smirk of his own. Then he pulled his headphones back on, turned
the volume up as high as it would go, stuck his hands in the pockets of his
jeans, and meandered out of the room.
The techno synth
vibrated out of the speakers and into his ears, leaving a pleasant tingle in
his bones. Kei closed his eyes and his
head bounced in rhythm as he navigated the hallways at an easy pace. His footing was sure even without his sight,
and behind his eyelids, he could see the turbulent, uneven patterns of the
music.
But then his footing faltered. His eyebrows knit together in confusion as a
dull orange glow invaded the familiar light patterns of the song. The synthesized rhythm was underscored by an
odd rumble, and before he had time to open his eyes and see it coming, he was
lifted off his feet and tossed aside like a crumpled piece of paper in a
massive explosion of earth and stone.
* * *
*
The castle hallway was eerily quiet,
the only light coming from wooden torches that lined the rough stone
walls. The air hung heavy around them,
as if the castle itself were holding its breath, waiting. Then, in the shadows of the dancing
firelight, one tiny sound emerged.
The toe of her shoe tapping in
measured annoyance, Mars stood on one side of the small ditch created by
Uranus’ attack and frowned down at the pile of rubble with an unconscious dogboy buried in the middle of it. Then she turned her displeasure onto Uranus.
On the other side of the ditch,
Uranus looked back at her and shrugged.
“What? He’s not dead. See, look.”
She kicked aside some of the debris and felt around until she found the
front of his shirt. What was left of his
CD player fell aside as she hauled up his limp form. “Now get ready,” she said, about to prove she
hadn’t ruined all of Mars’ fun.
Mars braced herself,
her fist opening to reveal a ready flame.
Uranus grinned, then
went all serious as she raised a hand and slapped Kai across the face. “Come on, snap out of it!” she barked, giving
him a rough shake.
Kai groaned, the sound cutting off
as he was slapped again. He growled at
whatever was attacking him, his eyes glowing red as they snapped open. His body hurt like hell, though, and before
he could command it to do anything, he was jerked aside and manhandled to the
floor.
“Son of a…” muttered Mars as she was
pushed aside by Jupiter. The flame in
her hand extinguished as she watched the other girl knock dogboy
from Uranus’ grip and toss him back onto the pile of cold earth.
Jupiter leaned down over him,
pinning him down with her knee in his gut and her fists wrapped tightly in the
tattered remains of his shirt. “Where’s
my son?!” she demanded.
Kai blinked at her, still dazed and
reacting on instinct. He growled low in
his throat, baring his fangs as he did.
Fangs that were suddenly no longer there as an electrified fist slammed
into his face.
“That was a warning,” said Jupiter,
her voice cold and hard. “Now I’m going
to ask you one more time. Where. Is. My. Son?”
Blood trickling down his throat and
nose, Kai gagged, unable to speak through his broken mouth. His eyes were already swelling shut, leaving
him little more than slits to see through.
But what he could see terrified him.
Her shadowed face was that of a demon’s, her eyes a murderous
green. His blood stained her gloved
fist, and with one more blow, she would kill him. So he gave her what she demanded.
Raising a shaking hand, he tried to
point down the hallway. “Kei,” he
gurgled out in a grossly distorted fashion, and he prayed she understood.
It must have been enough. In a breath, she was gone, and Kai relaxed as
he listened to the others chase after her.
Someone cried out her name, the sound desperate. That was the last thing he heard as
everything around him faded to black.
* * * *
It wasn’t the answer she wanted, but
it was enough to get her started.
Jupiter released the demon and headed in the direction he had
pointed. The girl was here, and she
would tear down every wall in this dank, dark castle to find her if she had to.
“Mako-chan, wait!”
Had it been any other voice, she
would have ignored it. Her feet slowed
until they stopped, allowing Mercury to catch up.
The girl came around in front of
her. Their eyes met and they took a
collective breath, its release equally shaky.
Then Mercury held up her mini-computer.
A map Jupiter didn’t fully understand appeared, and at the top of the
screen, a bluish-green dot pulsed gently.
“That way,” said Mercury, her voice
an unsteady calm. “Up
two corridors, then left. I’ll
lead.”
Jupiter nodded, and with the sound
of their comrades’ feet trailing behind them, they went to reclaim their son.
* * *
*
A rare curse flitted from Venus’
lips as she admitted to complete loss of what little control she’d had over
this whole situation. “Come on!” she
called as she began the chase after Jupiter and Mercury. “Uranus, catch up to them and…”
Her command was abruptly halted
along with their stride as a giant, black-furred beast appeared in the junction
of the corridors. Saliva dripped from
razor sharp fangs as it growled out its displeasure with them. Dark eyes began to glow a deep red, and it
reared back to strike.
But this time, Mars was ready.
The glow of the creature’s eyes
paled in the flame of her bow, and as it lunged forward, her arrow flew.
The creature howled in pain and fury
as the fiery arrow pierced its right shoulder and knocked it off balance. The creature fell to the ground and rolled,
hitting the wall. Breathing hard, more
from anger than pain, the creature began to rise, its
focus now on Mars.
Mars didn’t give it the chance. Another arrow flew,
striking the creature’s left shoulder and pinning it to the wall. The smell of burning flesh and fur wafted
through the air as a third arrow was released, striking it in the left thigh
and securing it more fully to the wall.
Sailormoon
gagged at the stench as the dog-like creature bellowed in agony. She turned away and moved closer to Pluto to
hide her reaction, but as the howls tapered off, she slowly looked back. The creature slumped against the wall, held
in place by Mars’ arrows, and slowly morphed into a human form. He was tall and thin, with thick curly black
hair and a goatee that made him look sinister.
His brown eyes glared at Mars and Venus, though a cloud of impending
unconsciousness tinged their depth, taking away some of the ferocity.
Mars held her bow at the ready,
standing one step behind Venus as the arrows that immobilized the now human
looking demon began to wisp out. As the
last arrow faded, he fell unceremoniously to the floor. All that moved were his eyes,
and he looked up at them, one lip curling as a growl rumbled from deep in his
chest.
“Go ahead,” challenged Mars. “See which one of us is faster.”
The demon glared at her. In a deep, echoy
voice, he demanded, “Who are you? Why
did you attack us?”
Venus wanted to scream. Instead, she stood up straighter and took a
step forward. “A child who belongs to us
was taken. We’ve come to get him back.”
The demon rolled his eyes and sighed
in an annoyed manner. “You’re Kei’s
humans. She took the kitten after I told
her not to.” He thought to wave his hand
dismissively, but the burning agony in his limbs made him think otherwise. Displeasure rumbled in his throat, and he gruffed in obvious pain.
“Find her and do what you wish with her.
Kill her if it pleases you. Just
take your child and leave here without doing any further destruction.”
Taken aback by his response, Venus
glanced over at Mars, who only shrugged.
She didn’t need to look back at Sailormoon to
see the horrified expression on her princess’ face.
The sound of thunder and splintering
wood saved her from having to say any more.
Turning her attention away from the demon, Venus shouted, “Let’s go!”
before leading them in the direction of a vengeful Jupiter.
* * *
*
It was a magnificent explosion. Wood and stone cracked, then
vaporized into a thick cloud of ozone under the force of Jupiter’s attack. Through all of it, though, the only thing she
heard was the crying.
Electricity still dancing along her
fingertips, she charged through what was left of the wall. She could feel Mercury at her heels, and her
partner’s anxiousness fed into the already chaotic cadence of her own
emotions. Miki was here. She would get him back. She would turn this entire castle to rubble
if she had to.
And this time, the girl wouldn’t
escape.
Ash and dust burned her eyes as she
tried to focus. Debris made her footing
less sure. She felt Mercury’s hand on
her arm, and her eyes found what they were seeking. Through the settling cloud, she saw the girl
just well enough to realize her target.
Before any of them had so much as a
chance to take a breath, Jupiter moved forward.
Her boots trampled over the remains of a glass baby bottle, its contents
retreating into the cracks and crevices of the stone floor. The girl herself wasn’t so lucky. This time Jupiter didn’t miss as her fingers
wrapped into the fabric of Kei’s dress.
A strangled squeak issued forth, followed by a breathless huff as the
girl was slammed into the wall. A hand
at her neck held her in place, her feet dangling above the floor as she fought
to stay conscious.
The blips and bleeps of Ami’s
computer abruptly stopped, and the tone of Miki’s crying changed. For just a moment, Jupiter’s grip loosened as
she looked over to see Mercury lifting Miki from the arms of a frightened
little boy. The relief she felt was a
painful thing, and through the tears it brought, she looked back at the girl.
And
then we’ll make whatever point we need to.
Jupiter’s fingers squeezed
tighter. She ignored the desperate
clawing that ripped at her gloves and tore at her skin. She was going to make her point, and it was
going to be definitive.
* * *
*
“Damn,” whispered Uranus long and
low as they rounded the corner into what used to be the hallway.
No
kidding, thought Venus. And you haven’t seen the half of it, yet.
Maneuvering around debris that had
survived the blast, Venus led them forward.
Smoldering, splintered wood mixed in with scorched rock, making it
difficult to get through the opening in the crumbling wall. Glowing embers danced like fireflies in the
unsettled dirt and ash, burning their lungs as they tried to breathe. But what truly stole Venus’ breath was the
scene she walked into.
Mercury held Miki close to her and
covered his face before turning her back to the boy crying desperately for her
to save his sister. Jupiter ignored
them, her concentration squarely on the girl she held pinned to the wall. The girl’s struggle was coming to a swift end
as Jupiter’s bloodied hand cut off her oxygen, and the cold, distant look in
those green eyes… Venus’ heart nearly
stopped, fear chilling her soul.
Her hesitation passed quickly,
though, and she moved towards Jupiter calling out orders as she went.
“Uranus, Saturn!” she shouted,
hoping she could bring order back to this mess.
“Help me with Jupiter! Restrain
the girl when she’s released, but nothing more!
The rest of you deal with Mercury and the boy!”
They moved quickly, and much to the
consternation of Mars and Neptune, Sailormoon went
immediately to the boy. She spoke to him
gently and moved him away from Mercury and the others, all the while Mars
trailing behind her and grumbling about her princess’ lack of sense when it
came to their enemies.
Beside Jupiter, Venus placed a hand
lightly on her arm. Beneath her fingers
she could feel raw strength and focused rage wrapped in a barely controlled
energy that was uniquely Jupiter’s.
Standing on tiptoe, she said softly, “We’re here now, you can let her
go. I’ll handle her. Mercury’s got Miki, and that’s where you need
to be.” Her hand moved from Jupiter’s
arm and rested gently on her cheek. “Trust
me to do this, Koto. Trust me.”
The storm in Jupiter’s eyes lifted
just a bit, and she looked at Venus. The
blonde fell back on her feet and smiled.
“That’s it. Now go on. I’ll finish up here.”
Jupiter looked back at the girl, then released her grip.
Kei’s limp body fell to the floor, and Jupiter turned and walked away.
Hitting the floor jolted the girl,
and she gasped a raspy breath. She tried
to sit up straight as she coughed violently, her bloodshot eyes tearing as she
held her damaged throat. But before she
could get up enough to even see her savior, the metallic *shing*
of a blade cutting through the air made her freeze.
The blade of Saturn’s glaive stopped
abruptly in front of her face, and Kei pushed herself hard against the wall in
a futile effort to get away from it. The
blade only followed her, coming to rest at the base of her throat, the cold
metal whispering against her skin. She
licked her lips, and her eyes traveled up the staff of the glaive.
Death frowned down at her, the
purple depths of its eyes drawing her in and pulling her under the icy black
mists. A warm voice tickled against her
ear, but rather than find comfort in it, she shivered in fear.
Having knelt down beside the girl,
Venus kept her voice low as she spoke.
“The order right now is to let you live, but only because I think it would hurt my friend more to let you die.
I’m not completely sure about that, though, so this is how it’s going to
be. If you or your brothers ever come
near us again, we’ll test my judgment by letting her finish what she
started. We are not toys, and we don’t
like being played with, and when you find your brothers, you’ll realize just
how lucky you really are.”
Venus stood and looked over to
Jupiter. Her friend held her child in
one arm and pulled Mercury to her with the other. Tears had spilled over,
leaving tracks in the dust that stained their cheeks. Jupiter’s control still balanced on a hair trigger,
but at least her focus was where it needed to be.
“We’re leaving,” announced Venus,
then she moved over to Jupiter. She
stroked the baby’s head and grinned down at him, thankful that they’d found him
unharmed. “You guys ready?”
“Yes,” answered Jupiter curtly.
Mercury nodded, the stillness of her
form and the paleness of her face evidence enough that she was more than ready
to leave this place and never come back.
Sailormoon
smiled sadly at Ti, then wiped his tears one last time
before releasing him. With one last look
behind her, she followed Mars and the others out of the room. It was time to go home.
*
* *
They returned to the same spot they
had teleported from, their feet balancing on upturned earth as the sensation of
weightlessness passed. Venus felt the
last vestiges of the teleport wear away, and was almost afraid to open her
eyes. But when she did, a sense of
relief washed over her.
Held securely in his sling against
Jupiter’s chest, Miki fidgeted, then began to
cry. He was confused and unhappy, but he
was okay.
Venus released the breath she was
holding and allowed herself a smile as Uranus clapped her on the back in
congratulations. This part of the plan
had been a success, and she was going to find joy in the moment before focusing
on the failures.
An arm slung around her shoulders,
and Mars gave her a crooked grin.
“Welcome home. We did it,” she
said simply.
Nodding, Venus answered, “There’s
still a lot more we need to do.”
Mars nodded back, though Venus knew
she didn’t fully understand. But the
next thing on her mental checklist was getting back to the house, not having a
heart-to-heart with her partner.
Stepping over to Mercury, she
wrested some of the girl’s attention away from Jupiter and the baby. “Ready to go,” she asked.
“Yes, very much so,” answered
Mercury as her fingers held on to Miki’s tiny hand. “Oh, but,” she added as the thought came to
her, “I think I would rather return as Ami.”
“That’s easy enough,” said Venus
with a grin. A faint haze flowed around
her and her eyes closed briefly. The
steady hum of power that made her Venus quietly faded into the background of
her consciousness, and a second later, Minako opened her eyes.
The others followed suit, all except
for Jupiter.
When Ami looked at her
questioningly, she indicated her injured hand and arm. “It’s starting to hurt. Badly.”
Minako rested a hand on her shoulder,
and with sympathy in her voice, replied, “Speaking from experience, it’s not
going to make much of a difference this time.”
Jupiter’s frown deepened. Grudgingly, she allowed her power to
rest. As familiar as the change was,
this time it left her uncomfortable. She
suddenly felt as if she were standing there naked and defenseless in the open
field. Holding Miki to her a bit more
tightly, she found herself very anxious to get back to the house.
*
* *
The wait on word from the girls was
becoming disquieting. Slowly tapping her
thumbnail against her lips, Kaya concentrated on the even pace of her
breathing, forced as it was. Kyo had
become so anxious he seemed like he was going to jump out of his skin. She’d needed to get away from that simply to
keep herself sane. He didn’t understand
that, though. Instead, when he’d found
her alone in the dark of her mother’s office, he’d accused her of some kind of
macabre brooding.
Kaya promptly closed the door in his
face.
Macabre brooding. That wasn’t what she was doing, of course,
but as she sat there alone, the words flitted across her thoughts. In the small, soft spotlight of the desk
lamp, she studied her reflection in the glass of a picture frame. Perhaps it was her expression
– not quite a frown nor a scowl – that had brought about the sentiment.
If only it were that simple.
Kaya closed her eyes and let the
quiet of the room embrace her. She took
several deep breaths, trying to force away the discordance of her
thoughts. The night had always been her
friend, offering her safe haven in its dark cover. She knew the specter of death just as
intimately, though he had never been a friend, and she was not going to allow
him to chase away her beloved mistress.
Not even after tonight’s infidelity.
The quick movement of her hand
flicked off the lightswitch, and she turned the chair
so she could look out the windows. The
stars and moon shone bright against the dark backdrop of the sky. Tiny sounds filtered through the windows and
replaced the sound of her own breathing, helping to settle her nerves. The night was her friend, and she had never
been more grateful.
A rapid knock shattered her newfound
peace, and she barely had time to turn around before Kyo burst in, his restless
energy obviously unstated.
“They’re back,” he said, a huge grin
on his face. “All of them.”
Rising
slowly, her outward calm in sharp contrast to her brother, Kaya asked, “Are
they all right?”
“I think so,” answered Kyo. “I haven’t seen them up close yet, but they
were all on their feet and moving on their own.”
Kaya frowned, though it wasn’t
really at him. She took a deep breath, then moved over to Kyo.
He smiled at her and nodded, and didn’t take any offense when she turned
away and started downstairs in that measured pace of hers. Instead, he fell in a step behind and tried
not to step on her heels.
*
* *
She was expecting soldiers to walk through
the door, thought Minako. But then she
realized it wasn’t what Ami’s mother was seeing that had slowed her down, it
was what she wasn’t seeing.
Minako took a step to the left and
nudged Mamoru to do the same. That left
Ami and Miki clearly visible to the doctor, and her uncertainty immediately
disappeared. Kaya walked up to them and
pulled Ami into a crushing hug. Then she
reached out and touched Makoto’s cheek gently before letting that hand fall
down to stroke Miki’s hair.
The baby looked up at her wide-eyed
as he chewed on the front of his shirt.
It was almost as if he were asking why she was looking at him in such a
solemn manner, because his mommy had rescued him and everything was okay now. Minako grinned, envious of his point of view.
Still holding onto Ami tightly, Kaya
said quietly, “Welcome back. I was
almost ready to start worrying about you.”
Then she saw Makoto’s injured arm and frowned. “Or perhaps I still should worry. Let me see.”
Kaya let go of Ami, but stood in a
way that wouldn’t let her go far. Not
that Ami wanted to, but her mother wasn’t going to give her that chance as she
gingerly turned Makoto’s arm, frowning hard at the ragged, angry gashes. “Are there any other injuries,” she asked
finally.
A few no’s and heads shaking let
Kaya focus back on Makoto. The girl was
starting to get fidgety, perhaps because she’d had enough attention or perhaps
because she knew there was a bottle of peroxide in her future, she wasn’t sure,
but either way, that didn’t change the situation. Letting her have her arm back, Kaya ushered
her into the sitting room to be tended to.
She would be as quick as she could about it, and then would give Ami and
the baby a once over just to satisfy herself.
Then perhaps they would all be able to start coming down off the tension
that was still pulling at them.
*
* *
Minako cringed
a split second before the peroxide made contact with Makoto’s skin. Makoto’s scowl followed, and her uninjured
hand balled up into a tight fist. Minako
found herself winding just as tightly.
In vivid color, memories from a lifetime ago ran behind her eyes. Replayed were the deafening howl of the wind
and the rumble of the ground as it shook beneath their feet. In sharp contrast against the background of a charcoal
gray sky, the beauty of pink petals and deep green leaves swirled, slicing
through and cutting down everything in their path as blood dotted the ground in
a sickening pattern.
Minako shuddered and closed her eyes
against the memory. It would never
happen again. She wouldn’t let it.
The light brush of fingers against
her arm made her open her eyes, and she looked up into the worried violet of
Rei’s gaze.
“I think you’re the tensest person
in the room right now. You even beat out
Mako-chan,” said Rei quietly. “What’s
wrong?”
Minako looked back over to Ami and
Makoto. Ami rocked the baby in her arms,
humming softly as he slowly fell asleep.
Makoto… she wasn’t completely sure what she was seeing beyond the
physical discomfort.
Rei raised her eyebrows, silently
asking the question again.
This time, Minako nodded and tilted
her head in the direction of the door.
There were things that needed to be said, and it seemed now was going to
be the time to say them.
Rei followed her out of the room and
down the hall. As they moved further
from the family room, Minako crossed her arms tightly over her chest and bowed
her head slightly, a thoughtful expression appearing on her face. They were nearly to the kitchen when she stopped
and turned around to face Rei.
Blue eyes serious and intense, she
asked, “Why did you follow Uranus when she attacked?”
Thrown off by the unexpected
question, Rei’s mouth opened, then closed.
Her arms crossed to mirror Minako’s, and she answered, “I’d think that
would be obvious. He was our enemy.”
“He – they – had no idea we were
there,” returned Minako. “Why did you
break off and attack?”
Rei frowned, quickly becoming
frustrated with the question. She had
given the answer, and though it was as plain as the nose on her face, it
clearly wasn’t what Minako was looking for.
“First off,” threw back Rei, “between Uranus and Jupiter, I didn’t get
to attack, not until I had to so that giant black furry monster wouldn’t kill
us. And second, they were the
enemy! What was I supposed to do? Invite them for tea?!”
Minako frowned right back at her and
shook her head. “That isn’t what I mean,
and you know it. We had a very specific
plan going in there: Stay together, get
the baby, fight only if needed. You had orders that I thought you understood,
and you threw all of that away so you could get back at someone because they
hurt me.”
“That isn’t true!” defended
Rei. Then her eyes looked away and she
scowled. “Okay, maybe a little, but we
got Miki back and everything is fine.
And we would have had to fight them anyway.”
“Maybe,” said Minako, her arms
dropping to her sides. “But that isn’t
the point. There was a reason orders
were issued before we went in, and not following them put all of us in danger
more than we already were. Uranus I can
kind of understand ignoring me. I
haven’t earned her respect yet. To her,
I’m just the little blonde kid who’s goal in life is
to beat her at Grand Prix, and that’s my fault.
But you and the others, do I still have to fight there, too?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” snapped
Rei. “You know you have our
respect. We won tonight, didn’t we? That’s largely because of you.”
“Do you have any idea how close we
came to losing?” returned Minako. “Because of me, because I’m the leader.” She sighed and took a few steps to the side,
then back again. “Jupiter was already
out of control, Mercury was on the edge.
I needed you under control to help me keep things balanced and to keep
Jupiter from going off and destroying everything in her path. We were going in quietly for a reason,
Rei. A reason you understood when we
made the plan. You saw what kind of
damage Jupiter did just trying to find that little girl and Miki. If they had been standing any closer to that bedroom
wall when she let loose…”
Minako let the sentence trail off,
and Rei’s eyes fell to the floor. “She
could have killed him.”
“If Miki had died because of
something she did,” went on Minako, “she would have
died with him. Or
worse. You’ve never seen what she
can do when she’s like that, and I never want you to. And I won’t lose her because I can’t figure
out how to lead the way I’m supposed to.
I’m not saying any of this as your friend, your wife, or as Minako with
a bruised ego. I’m saying this as a
leader speaking to her second-in-command.
Tonight was a disaster. We got
lucky and everyone came home, but it can’t happen like this again. I’m not going to lose anyone on my watch, and
I’m not going to have lives risked because of personal grudges.”
“Okay,” relented
Rei. “We screwed up. Now what?”
Minako took a long, deep
breath. “I don’t know, not for
certain. Right now I’m just thinking we
need to clean things up around here and really hope that in the morning, no one
asks why they can’t remember how they got to bed. Or about that giant hole in
the backyard.”
Rei smirked, than said, “You know,
Mako-chan still looks like she’s about to snap.
Maybe we should get everyone away from her before we…”
“No,” interrupted
Minako. “The idea makes sense,
but we did that last time and it just made everything worse.”
Rei took a step closer to her and
rested a hand on her shoulder, noting the hint of a shimmer in Minako’s
eyes. “I’m afraid you’re losing me here,
Mina. What ‘last time’ are you talking
about? What happened? What did she do that makes you so afraid for
her?”
An errant tear fell from Minako’s
eye, and she sniffled. “Not tonight,
okay? Besides, you always say you want
your own memories back, not someone else’s version of them.”
With a shrug, Rei pulled her into a
hug. “That’s still true, but if there’s
something hurting you, I want to know.
Likewise if it’s something I need to know to keep us safe.”
Minako returned the hug, her fingers
holding on to the back of Rei’s shirt.
The warmth gave her comfort and a sense of finding her anchor in the
storm. She closed her eyes and breathed
in deeply, Rei’s presence wrapping around her like a soft blanket.
Rule
number ten, she reminded herself. Even leaders need a shoulder to lean on
sometimes.
*
* *
Damage control. Rei almost laughed at the idea as she made
her way to the dining room alone. As
Minako had pointed out to her, control was not something they were excelling at
tonight. But these things needed to be
done, an attempt to make things look as normal as possible when the sun
rose. And Rei figured she had been given
the easiest of these tasks.
Arriving at her destination, she got
down on her hands and knees and studied her quarry. Kara was where they had left her, curled up
on her side under the dining room table with her thumb in her mouth, sleeping
soundly.
Rei smiled at the way the child
clutched her Sailor Mars doll, and she couldn’t fight the idea this brought to
her. Backing away from the table, she
called up her henshin wand. A moment
later, Mars crawled back under the table to gather up Kara and her dolls.
Mars found herself treading slowly
up the stairs to the bedrooms, the child feeling like she had doubled in weight
in her unconscious state. “Darn kid,”
she muttered softly as her foot landed on the last step. “But that’s okay. Sailor Mars won’t drop you or your dolls. She’s too awesome a superhero to do something
that stupid. Especially
to one of her biggest fans.”
Seiji had already been brought in
and placed in his sleeping bag. Mars
toed open the empty bag beside the sleeping boy and knelt down. Carefully arranging Kara so she had all her
dolls around her, Mars tucked the little girl in and grinned.
“I know you won’t remember,” said Mars, her voice barely above a whisper, “but I wanted
to do it anyway. I like that I’m your
favorite, and I’m going to take extra good care of you. I promise that you’ll be safe, and that
nothing else will happen to you.”
She kissed the tips of her fingers
and touched them to Kara’s forehead, then stood to leave. Closing the door behind her, she never did
see the happy smile that formed around the thumb in Kara’s mouth.
*
* *
Eyes tired and heavy, Ami yawned and
shifted in her upright position, Makoto’s grip keeping her from going very
far. Even asleep, Makoto’s hold was
unyielding. Ami sat up a bit straighter,
trying to abate the tingles in her leg without disturbing her partner or their
child. She wasn’t entirely successful,
though, and Makoto sucked in a breath, her eyes cracking open.
“I’m awake,” she murmured. “I’m awake.”
Ami grinned and leaned across to
kiss her lightly. “So am I,” she
whispered.
Makoto adjusted herself without
letting go of either Ami or the baby.
She had handed Miki away only long enough to have her already healing
wounds cleaned and bandaged. Then she’d
settled on the loveseat in the family room with Ami and Miki, and they hadn’t
moved since. Now, with dawn not far
away, everyone was still here with them sleepily standing guard. Except for one very
noticeable exception.
“Where’s your mom?” asked
Makoto. “She was here a second ago.”
“She’s…” Ami looked over to where her mother had been
sitting by one of the windows, and a tiny frown touched her lips. “Not there anymore. I must have dozed off.”
Makoto let go of Ami’s arm and
brought her hand up to her cheek. “I
think we all did a little. Even Minako.”
Ami glanced over in the direction
Makoto indicated. Seated on the floor
and propped against a chair, Minako sat with Rei’s head in her lap and Usagi
sleeping on her shoulder, softly snoring in her ear. The blonde smiled and shrugged.
“But your mom just left a few
minutes ago,” added Minako quietly. “I
don’t think she went very far.”
“Thank you,” answered Ami. “She turned back to Makoto and placed a hand
gently against Miki’s back. “I’m going
to see if I can find her. I won’t be
long.”
Makoto hesitated, then
reluctantly said, “Okay. But hurry
back.”
Minako was right when she said her
mother hadn’t gone very far. Ami could
see her form in the dim light of the hallway, sitting near the bottom of the
stairs. Her bare feet moving silently
over the floor, Ami moved over to her mother and sat beside her on the
step. They were quiet for several
minutes, a normal and comfortable state for them in uncomfortable moments. She didn’t feel a need to question her
mother. Instead, she found a sort of
comfort in just having her mother near her, their arms brushing in the tight
space.
“You remind me of your father.”
The quiet statement startled Ami,
and she looked over at her mother.
“The best of him I’ve always seen in
you,” went on Kaya. She smiled as she
glanced over at her daughter, then looked back down at her hands as they sat
neatly folded in her lap. “Now I’m not
sure what it is I see. I’m not
accustomed to such confusion.”
“I’m still me,” replied Ami, a touch
of hurt in her voice. “I’m still
Ami. This doesn’t change that.”
“I know,” answered Kaya. “You are still who you’ve always been.” She looked back at Ami, aching because of the
hurt she saw in those beautiful eyes.
The hurt she had caused. Reaching
out, she pulled Ami into a hug and held her tightly. “I love you, no matter who you are, Ami. I’ve just never had to ask who that is
before. I always felt like I knew. Now…”
Kaya released Ami and gestured to
one of the small windows in the foyer.
Pale light was beginning to trickle in, indicating sunrise. “We need to get everyone settled in their
rooms and at least try to get some rest.
It’s going to be a long morning once it truly begins.”
Ami nodded and began to rise, but
was stopped by her mother.
“There is one thing I’d like to
know,” said Kaya hesitantly, as if the question was still forming in her
mind. “How did you really meet
Usagi? Did the cats arrange it?”
Ami nearly laughed at the expression
that came over her mother’s face as the last half of her question was asked,
the precise and scientific nature that made up so much of who Kaya was kicking
in too late to keep the question from coming and obviously completely
confounded by such a thought. A soft
grin on her lips, Ami answered, “I met her just as I told you. She thought having an intelligent friend
would make getting her schoolwork completed easier and result in better
grades. It wasn’t until after all of
that, that Luna realized I was Mercury.”
Intentionally leaving out the details of just how it was Luna had
realized she was Mercury, Ami added, “Usagi has a kind heart and loves her
friends deeply, but that doesn’t keep her motives from occasionally being
shallow. Most often with her, what you
see is what you get.”
Kaya didn’t believe that for a
second. All of them, Usagi included,
were far more complex than Ami was giving them credit for. But this was Ami’s truth, and for now she was
willing to accept it. She nodded, filing
away what she’d been told and pulling out the long mental list of things they
needed to do before breakfast.
“Thank you,” said Kaya, giving Ami
one last tight squeeze. Then they stood
and started back towards the family room.