Detective Williams brought in the Japanese interpreter with relief. Maybe now they could communicate. The girl was dressed in doctor's scrubs. She had long since outgrown the clothes she was found in, and she had often, with gestures and facial expressions, expressed her dislike of her hospital gown, so this was all that was available for her to wear. She didn't seem too pleased with what she had on now, but she seemed happier with real clothing, instead of open-backed paper gowns.
Williams turned to the interpreter. Her name was Kate, and she-unlike the blonde sitting pensively on the hospital bed and looking out the window-looked distinctly Japanese, even though she'd been born and raised in the U.S.
"You should tell her that the hospital's tests turned up no reason why she shouldn't regain her memory any time now. We need to make arrangements like a place for her to live, and clothes, and school. she'll have to learn English, and since she's been in a coma for so long, she'll be behind other children her age." Williams looked with sympathy at the girl, who hadn't turned from the window yet. "We're calling her Serena now, so just use that as her name. We'll also have to set up appointments with a psychologist or psychiatrist, to try to speed along the process of recovering her memory." Kate nodded and began to talk to Serena. A few sentences into Kate's translation, Serena excitedly burst into conversation. Williams touched Kate's shoulder when Serena finished her outburst. "What did she say?"
"She wants to live with you-she really trusts you for some reason. I'm no psychologist, but I think that for some reason, she's attached to you already."
Detective Williams looked concerned. "We can't decide anything about that now. Finish telling her everything, then we'll get a social worker in here, and maybe a pshrink. We'll need to work something out with them." <I don't know if I can handle her. We can't communicate, and I'm single. I don't have the kind of time for her that she'll need. Besides, I have no idea of how to deal with a teenage girl!>
Kate nodded and turned back to Serena, continuing her translation. Serena determinedly walked over to Detective Williams while Kate talked, and possessively grabbed his arm. Williams felt a few frightened shivers run through her body. <Now what?> he wondered, feeling a wave of compassion overwhelm him.
*****
Serena tried to stop her compulsive tremors. She couldn't allow herself to be weak. She was royalty after all. Her eyes widened.
"What?" the lady who had come in with the detective asked, noting the sudden change in her expression.
"I just remembered something, but it's way too weird to be true!"
"Tell me," Kate urged.
"I was just thinking that I couldn't let you see how scared I was-because I was royalty, and I couldn't show weakness! Where could that have come from? I can't be royalty, because someone would have recognized me then!" Her voice trailed off and became softer as a terrifying thought occurred to her. "Maybe I'm crazy! Oh! This doesn't make any sense!" Her voice rose in preparation for a long drawn out wail-as if it were a habit, but something deep inside her-something long dormant-reached up and stopped her from humiliating herself with such behavior.
"No, it doesn't," Kate shook her head in agreement, "but we'll bring it up in your therapy sessions. Maybe the doctors will understand what it all means."
"I hope so," Serena fretted as Kate turned to relate their conversation to the impatiently waiting police detective. Who was she?
The detective's radio suddenly burst to life. He conducted an animated conversation with it, and Serena waited expectantly for Kate to translate. "Detective Williams said that there's entirely too much excitement in this hospital. It seems that a police prisoner woke up in a hospital room on this floor, and managed to escape."
"What kind of prisoner?"
Instead of answering Kate strode over to the television and turned it on. She flipped through channels and finally settled on something that looked like the news. Kate saw Serena's impatient expression, and urged her to be patient.
"It'll take just a few more minutes-watch." she instructed, so Serena watched.
Suddenly the news anchor was given a signal from off camera. With a slightly startled look on his face he began to talk about something-something about a sailor. A piece of stock footage began to run. A girl wearing giant glasses and a modified school uniform knocked out a man with a huge kick, and then fell to the ground, screaming.
"Sailor V! That's Sailor V-chan!" Serena said excitedly.
"What's that?" Kate asked sharply.
"She's famous in Japan! That's Sailor V!" Serena repeated.
Kate turned sharply to talk to Detective Williams.
*****
"Raye? Raye...c'mon, the doctor said you'd be waking soon. Wake up, Raye"
It was her father's voice, Raye thought sleepily, but that was impossible. Her father would never have that worried tone in his voice. No emotion except anger ever tinged his words, especially when they concerned her. She opened her eyes to check, to see who it really was.
"Raye!" her father said explosively, and again Raye thought she detected a hint of worry, now becoming relief. But no, there was no expression on his face. She must have been mistaken. She began to close her eyes tiredly.
"Raye! Stay awake!" her father's voice commanded. That was him. He was good at commanding. She opened her eyes again, obediently.
"Father? What happened? I don't seem to remember..." Suddenly remembrance crashed over her in a disorienting wave. <Usagi!> Something to do with Usagi. She choked back tears and forced herself to speak rationally. "Where am I?"
"You were having a fight with a girl at school, and you screamed and collapsed. The faculty called an ambulance, and you were brought to the hospital. The doctors don't know what happened. I was hoping you could tell me."
Raye was starting to sort out her memories of what happened. She looked away. "I remember now what happened. I'll be fine."
Her father waited for her to elaborate, but she stubbornly retained her silence. The tension in the quiet room stretched to the breaking point. Her father finally broke the silence.
"Well?" he asked impatiently, "explain yourself young lady!"
Raye kept her face turned away. "It's something you don't approve of."
He snorted in disgust. "More of that mystical crap you grandfather crammed down you throat, I suppose."
Raye gritted her teeth and didn't rise to the challenge. She was still too tired. That psychic blast had taken a lot out of her. Instead she asked, "Could I go home now? Please?" in a tired voice.
Her father stood up abruptly. "I'll ask the doctors." He stalked out of the room. Raye sighed in despair. She'd lived here with her father for over a year, and every last second of contact with him had been hell. She couldn't last one moment in the same room with him without fighting. It almost felt as if he hated her. She was sure that underneath that stiffness he loved her, but his years of diplomatic service had forced him to be even more reticent with his emotions than most Japanese men. Her face reddened. She probably got her attitudes toward showing emotion from him. She'd always been rough on Usagi. Some of the fights embarrassed her when she thought back on them. Usagi had to have known that Raye-Rei-loved her more than a sister. But now it was too late. At that moment Raye resolved not to become like her father. She would never regret her treatment of a friend again. Tears rose unbidden to her eyes. She'd reacted so badly to Usagi's death. She'd hurt so many people. She'd never forgive herself for the pain she'd caused so many others. Guilt opened her heart and brought back all those painful and shameful memories. . .
*****
Mars opened her eyes and sneezed. Why was she lying in the middle of a meadow of wildflowers? Blades of grass tickled her nose. She sneezed again, and sat up. That was, unfortunately, a bad decision. "Oooohh, my aching head..."she moaned. She slowly looked around her. Nobody was near. What had happened? <The whirlwind sent us back-at least I think it sent us back to our own world. But where are the others?> Then more came back to her. <Usagi! USAGI!> She mentally screamed her pain, willing her consciousness to seek out any hint of Sailor Moon's survival, but she didn't even get an echo. Well, she wasn't going to get anywhere on her own. She closed her eyes for a second, gathering strength, then gingerly levered herself onto her feet. Resolutely, she began to walk. <Just put one foot in front of the other...there, see? It's not so hard!>
She walked to the crest of the hill she'd woken up on, and to her relief saw and orange and white shape lying a few yards from it.
"Venus!" she cried happily. Sailor Venus blinked her eyes open, and Mars saw memory wash over her, and transform her features into a mask of pain.
"Have you found Sailor Moon?" Mars saw Venus catch the look of pain that she couldn't quite suppress. They didn't need to say anything else. Venus wordlessly held out her hands for help up, and they began walking in the direction that Mars had started walking in.
A few minutes later they came up to Mercury. She was already up and walking, in the same direction they were. She was walking more slowly, however, and using a sturdy stick as a cane. She looked up, and they saw in her eyes that she already knew. No tears, no expression at all. That just made it all the worse for Mars to bear. Her throat tightened and her eyes stung with repressed tears. With a violent mental shrug she stuffed her emotions into the back of her mind. She'd deal with them later. They kept walking, silent, needing to say nothing, in search of Jupiter and the tourists.
They found them soon after they'd found Mercury. Jupiter was in bad shape, as were the tourists. They'd find no help there.
"Now what? I think our first order of business is to find Sailor Moon. If that knight gets ahold of Ginzuishou or Sailor Moon, we're finished," Venus offered tentatively. "Mercury, is that possible?" Mercury shook her head.
"I can barely walk and breathe at the same time. I can't get us back there right now. Maybe, with a few days to recover. . ." Mercury shrugged. "Not now." She sniffed, and wiped her eyes. They shone suspiciously. "I hate allergies..." she mumbled, unconvincingly.
Mars nodded in the most businesslike manner she could manage. "We have to get Jupiter out of here until she wakes up, and find help for these people."
Mercury smiled weakly. "I'm afraid I can't help you guys. I landed funny. I think I broke some bones in my foot."
Venus thought for a minute. "Why don't you get out of your uniform while Mars and I get Jupiter out of sight. One of us can get an ambulance for these people, while the other tries to wake Jupiter up enough to get her out of her uniform."
Mercury looked up. "Maybe I can help after all. I think I can get Jupiter out of her uniform. Then at least you don't have to drag her away. You can decide among youselves which of you will go for help." She knelt-almost collapsed, really-at Jupiter's side and wearily pulled out her computer. She began to type.
"Well, if she can get Jupiter out of senshi form, who should walk down the mountain for help?" Mars sat down on the grass and put her chin in her hands.
Venus sat down next to her. She sighed wearily. "I don't think I can make it. I'm beat." She wiped sweat off her brow with one hand, too tired to notice she left a crimson trail of blood across her forehead. "I can't move another step."
"I think I can make it. It would be good if you could keep watch over everyone, though. Maybe you and Amy could come up with a convincing story. I don't want to think-" <Usagi!> "-right now." Venus nodded in agreement.
"I understand. If you're going to walk all that way, it's the least I can do."
"Minna? Minna!" Mercury called. She was too weak for her voice to carry well. She waited for them to crawl through the grass to her before she continued. "I can get the uniform off her, but then I don't even know if I can remain conscious. I'll have to transform back to Amy before I attempt it, and I may need some energy from you."
"If you don't want to attempt it. . ." Venus began uncertainly.
"I think we need to. She looks to be seriously hurt internally." Mercury pointed to some dark discoloration that showed through a deep tear in Jupiter's uniform, over her stomach. Mars bit her bottom lip in concern.
Venus spoke up again. Mars wished she could look so confident when she was too tired to even walk. "We need to come up with a story for Mars to tell the authorities when she gets them. We thought you could help us come up with one."
Mercury pursed her lips in thought. "I don't know. Maybe a sudden squall hit us as we were hiking, and it knocked us around. That's got enough truth to it that the injuries won't be inconsistent. It'd probably be smartest for you to seem a bit hysterical and confused. If we all pretend we don't really know what happened, they can't catch us in a lie. Most of these people probably will show evidence of having breathed something harmful, and I can't think of a reasonable explanation for that. I think we should leave the door open for them to find one." Mars nodded. Act confused and hysterical. <That won't be hard-I nearly am!>
"That sounds like a great idea. Do you want us to give energy to you while you transform Jupiter, so you can draw from us if you need to?"
Venus shook her head. "You can't help us, Mars. You need your strength to go get help. I'll help Mercury. What I can provide'll just have to be enough." Mars nodded dubiously. It made sense, but. . .<I want to do more!>
Venus and Mercury closed their eyes, and after an instant of translucence, they were simply Ami and Minako. Mars released her own transformation and felt the familiar letdown when she was simply Rei, no longer Sailor Mars. She watched silently as Minako solemnly placed her hands on Ami's shoulders. Ami bent over her small palmtop computer and busily began to type. After a few minutes of concentration she began to sag wearily. Minako noticed as well, and closed her eyes in concentration as she started to send as much energy as she could into Ami's tired form. Her hands took on a faint orange glow to Rei's sensitive eyes, and Ami sat up straighter. She kept typing. Finally Jupiter shimmered into Mako. Ami sighed softly and collapsed slowly to the ground, unconscious. Minako's eyes slowly closed. Rei knelt next to her.
"Are you okay, Minako?" She was silent for a minute, then she slowly opened her eyes.
"I'm tired. Go get some help, Rei, we'll be waiting." She sagged in Rei's arms, and Rei gently lowered her to the ground. Her teeth gritted in determination. She wasn't feeling on top of the world herself, but everyone was counting on her. She walked in the direction of the nearest town, as fast as her tired legs could carry her.
At first she worried about how she would act in front of the police, or whatever authorities she could find. After a few minutes she stopped worrying about that, and just concentrated on moving first one step, then another.
One step.
Another.
Another.
Another.
She blinked. She was on her hands and knees, taking deep, sobbing breaths into her open mouth. Why not stop? She was so tired. Why go on? <Ami. Minako. Makoto.> She forced herself to her feet.
One step.
Another.
Another.
Another. . .Rei blinked. She looked around. She'd made it to a small skiing lodge. She nearly collapsed with weariness and relief, but she needed to contact someone. She fell against the door, and brought a scratched and bloodied fist down on the thick door. It resounded with the deep echo. She brought her fist down again. She felt the door shiver from the force of her blow. No answer. She brought up her fist again, but before it could fall the door was pulled open. She fell inside, and barely caught herself on the doorjamb before she fell on her face. She swayed visibly and forced herself to look up at who had answered the door. A young man stood at the door, his hand poised above the knob in surprise as he took in Rei's sorry state.
"Please," she gasped, "we need help. . ." She struggled to think of what else to say.
"Well, don't just stand there, dear, let the girl in. She obviously needs to sit down." A kind-faced woman walked into the room, wiping her wet hands dry on a kitchen towel. "Who needs help, dear? We do have a phone, who should we call?"
Rei motioned vaguely out in the direction she'd come. "We're a group of hikers, and we were walking in the mountains, and, and..." Her mind raced frantically. She twisted up her face in an expression of confusion mingled with exhaustion. ". . .I don't really know what happened. It was like a cyclone of poison...I can't explain it. Everyone else-everyone else just dropped. If I hadn't walked ahead. . ." Rei bent over in barely feigned tears. "None of them would wake up! They need help! Some of them are hurt! Please!" With a jerk she brought her head up, and tears splashed out of her eyes and sparkled in the sunlight streaming through the open doors and windows. the kind faced woman leaned in to give Rei a comforting hug, and gave her husband a glance over Rei's bowed head. He nodded and left the room quickly. A few minutes later he came back.
"The police and an ambulance are on their way. We'll need you to lead us back to them."
Rei shook weakly within the comforting arms of the woman. "I'm so tired." She closed her eyes, and her knees felt weak. She fought to keep them straight. "I can't walk it." The woman led her to a chair.
"Would you like a drink of water, or some food?"
"Please." Rei waited patiently, staring into space. <Please let them be okay!>
While she was still sipping her second glass of water the ambulance and police car pulled up. The man went out to meet them. He talked with them for a few seconds, then pointed at Rei and his garage. Then he walked into his garage while the policeman walked toward the front door. The officer entered and bent down to talk to Rei. She forced herself to hear him.
"We need you to lead us to your friends, miss. Can you do that?"
She nodded. "Yes, sir." She began to struggle back to her feet. She wobbled uncertainly when she finally stood. The officer steadied her and helped her out to where the man who owned the house sat, in an all terrain vehicle. She climbed in and pointed.
"That way."
They took off.
*****
It had been a week since the fight, and the girls had been too weak to get together before now. Rei impatiently waited for her friends to arrive. The absence of Usagi grated on her nerves every second, and the authorities weren't leaving the girls alone over it either. The police had visited her twice in the last twenty-four hours, questioning her closely. As the girls had discussed earlier, they just said they didn't know what happened, and so far the girls' obvious distress at their friend's disappearance had seemed to satisfy the police. Rei was still tightly wound, though. She nervously rearranged the pillows around the low table she sat at, and fiddled with the flowers in the vase in front of her while she waited. Finally her grandfather poked his head into the room.
"Rei, some of your friends are here." His head disappeared around the corner. Ever since she had gotten back from the hospital he'd been walking on eggshells around her. She got up to see who had arrived.
"Ami! You made it! Come in!"
"Hi, Rei. Mako-chan was right behind me...ah! Here she is. I wonder where Mina-"
"I'm not late, am I, minna?" Minako jogged up to Rei's door while the other three girls stood on the front porch.
"No, let's go inside." Rei nervously fiddled with her hands, despite her outwardly calm demeanor. "We really need to talk."
The girls followed her in. They settled themselves in around the table. Rei started talking right off.
"This is driving me crazy! Every second of every day, I KNOW Usagi-Princess Serenity-is in danger. The knowledge eats away at the back of my mind moment by moment. We have to do something!" Her fist crashed into the table. Minako and Makoto looked startled. Ami appeared unruffled, as always. For some reason that just infuriated Rei more. She sat down.
Minako cleared her throat in the uncomfortable silence. "I know what you mean, Rei. I can't think straight either. We need to know if Ami can open a door into that worm-hole before we can do anything, though."
Makoto turned to Ami. "Can you?" She still had dark circles under her eyes. The attack of the Silver Knight had taken a lot of the fight out of her. There was actually a spattering of gray in her brown hair. Rei noticed all of this with surprise. This was the first time she'd seen Mako since she'd directed the police to the site of the battle. The Ami began to speak.
"I know I can open a portal into that wormhole. While inside I was able to gather data on it, and it seems it is permanent on one end, but the other end can be-well, I suppose the best word is summoned-to any location. I can call it. If you help me, we can open it now, but we'll be weak after it's open."
"Will we be too weak to open it to get back?" Minako asked with worry.
"No, we just won't close the opening. That way we conserve the most energy. The problem is, if we don't find Sailor Moon inside the wormhole, we'll have to search at the other end. We're likely to meet more creatures like that knight, and if we're not up to full strength, we have no hope of defeating one of these creatures, let alone a group." That said, Ami leaned back, as if to watch the coming debate.
Minako leaned forward and looked around the table. "I don't know if it's safe for us to try this, but I for one don't care if it's safe or not. I have to go after Usagi if it's possible."
Makoto sat up and scanned the other's faces with a resurgence of her old fire. "I want to go as well. If I don't try I'll never forgive myself."
Rei stood up. "You already know how I feel. Let's do it now. If Sailor Moon's been captured, we have to rescue her. We really have no choice."
Amy nodded. "Then we're all agreed. There's no time like the present. We should go now."
"Mercury Star Power. . .Make up!"
"Jupiter Star Power. . .Make up!"
"Venus Star Power. . .Make up!"
"Mars Star Power. . .Make up!"
A dark swirling hole opened up in the fabric of the universe, and with a determined look they jumped through. The ride wasn't as rough as it was when the knight had pulled them in. The girls shot surprised looks around. Mercury smiled at their confusion and offerd an explanation. "We were caught in a backlash the first time-the tunnel was closing when we went through it. Now, we went though it safely. We'll have to hurry, this won't be held open indefinitely." The girls set off at a run. Mercury was constantly monitoring their environment, looking for hints of Sailor Moon's presence. Suddenly she let loose with a loud cry. "Stop! Something happened here!" The other senshi obediently skidded to a stop. Mercury was standing still, paying rapt attention to something flashing across her visor. "There was a fight, large energy signatures. . ." She began walking purposefully in one direction, typing and mumbling under her breath as she worked. The senshi follo wed, hanging on her every word.
Mars gasped. "Look!" she cried, and pointed at something shining in shadow. Everyone crowded around it.
"It looks like the knight's suit of armor," Jupiter ventured. "and it's pretty beat up."
Mercury nodded in agreement, then pointed at something else lying a little ways from the peices of armor. "And this was his sword-look, the black jewel is gone." She leaned over to type on her small keyboard. "It's more than his armor-it's his energy signature as well. This can only mean one thing. He died."
"Good." Venus' face held no sympathy, but rather, satisfaction. "Was it us, or someone else who killed him?"
"It wasn't us. The energy signatures. . .It was Sailor Moon! She killed him!"
"Is she-can you tell if she's alive?"
"Not directly, but-" Mercury stopped speaking and chewed her bottom lip as she thought. She looked up with bright, moist eyes. "We all saw that the scepter wasn't powerful enough to kill him. The only thing she had left was Ginzuishou."
Mars looked away from the others. If Princess Serenity had killed the knight with Ginzuishou, then she was dead as well. A tear threatened to fall down her face. She blinked her eyes furiously.
A thought struck her. "I don't see her body, so maybe she didn't die." Mercury looked at her sadly.
"The knight's body's no longer here either. I think that this fog," she gestured at the thick grey mist, "somehow ate his body. Only non-organic objects are left, see? I have no way to tell if she's alive, but-" She refused to finish the sentence. Jupiter and Venus looked down at the ground, and said nothing.
"NO! She's not dead! She can't be! Nothing's killed her before, she's always survived, so she's not dead now."
Venus closed her eyes at the raw pain in Mars' voice. "Mars, we know she's dead. Think about the evidence. We've done all we could. Princess Serenity did all she could, and probably saved Earth. We can't do anything, Mars, except accept what's happened."
Mars felt the emotions she'd savagely pushed to the back of her mind surge forward and overwhelm her good sense. Even as she was talking, she knew that what she was saying would hurt her friends, but she couldn't stop herself. "That's not true, Venus. You just want to be leader. You're just going to give up on her. I thought you were her friend! You're all a bunch of cowards!" Her voice rose steadily. She stopped to take in a breath. Jupiter angrily stepped in front of Venus.
"Stop that, Mars. You know that's not true. I know you're hurting, but we all are. Don't take it out on Venus." She crossed her arms stubbornly. Mars heard muffled sobs emerging from behind Jupiter. Venus was crying.
<I'm sorry Minako! I didn't mean to hurt you!> Mars knew she was in the wrong, but-"You don't care about Sailor Moon, Jupiter, not like I do, or you wouldn't be giving up! She's alive, and if you three are too selfish to look for her, then I'll do it alo-"
SLAP!
Mars stared in shock at Mercury, and held her stinging cheek. Mercury had tears running down her face, but she seemed to pay them no attention. "Stop it, Rei! Stop it, before you say something we can't forgive you for."
Mars didn't even think about what she was doing. She was so filled with rage and helpless grief; she was incoherent, and she wanted to strike out at something.
With a wordless bellow, she slapped Mercury right back, putting all her anger behind the blow. With a faint cry Mercury fell to her knees. Jupiter and Venus gasped, and both crouched defensively, obviously ready to defend themselves against a friend gone berserk. Mars didn't attack them, though. She stared wide-eyed at Mercury, and then, with an inarticulate cry, she fell to her knees and sobbed uncontrollably, one thought circling through her head.
Usagi was dead.
*****
Raye closed her eyes and choked back the guilt she felt every time she remembered that day. She still couldn't deal with it, and now, it was too late to apologize to Usagi, for all the fights and nagging, and too late to apologize to the other senshi for her actions that day.
Never again. She made it a litany that went through her mind every time she felt her temper slipping out of control. Never again. She would never cause such pain again. If only she could get along with her schoolmates, things wouldn't be so hard. . .
She closed her eyes and huddled into a miserable ball on the hospital bed. Never again.