Serena glared at Ginzuishou angrily, even though she knew that wouldn't help. Things on Earth here were much different than she remembered in the Moon Kingdom, yet she was familiar with how the world worked now, as if she really were a normal sixteen year old who'd been struck with amnesia. And she desperately wanted to know what had happened after she died. She closed her eyes and sighed. Getting angry wouldn't do any good. She closed her eyes and dropped into a light trance, letting all her agitation slowly drain away. She called to Ginzuishou again.
"Ginzuishou, tell me what happened after I died. I must know!"
A answering light, so bright it pierced through her eyelids, shone forth from Ginzuishou in response to her request. She felt more memories intrude upon her mind, but this time they weren't hers...
*****
Ron looked with worry at Dr. Bagley. "Do you know what's going on? She's never acted like this before!"
The doctor didn't respond at first, he was so busy studying Serena's now calm expression. Then he looked up into Ron's worried eyes. "I'm not sure. I would say her memories returned, but her behavior after she came out of trance was so bizarre..." Dr. Bagley shrugged. "And now, it appears as if she's put herself into a trance. Most definitely unusual, especially for someone who so strenuously refused to undergo hypnosis. Unfortunately, I have another patient due any minute now, so..." he trailed off.
Ron Williams looked at him in disbelief. "You want me to carry her out of here like this? What is wrong with you! Look at what's happened today! You can't just send her out of here like this!"
"I have many patients, Mr. Williams, and quite a few of them are much worse off than young Serena here. I don't have time to deal with this. When she wakes up, if she exhibits strange behavior, maybe I can schedule in a special session, but until then, I bid you good-bye." The doctor turned his back on them and spoke to his secretary over the intercom. Kate and Ron exchanged looks of disbelief. Then, with a shrug, Ron picked up Serena and carried her down to his car. She seemed to almost be asleep, but she clutched that crystal in her hands as tightly as if it were worth a million dollars. What exactly was happening here?
*****
"Well, Luna, SOMETHING happened. There are residual energy signatures throughout the area."
"What do you mean by area, Ami-er Amy?"
Amy smiled at her over her sky blue palm top computer. "It's been awhile since I used this. It's bringing back a lot of old memories for me too, Luna. Oh, your question. Well, I'd say, whatever happened took place within a hundred mile radius, but the effects of it reach far beyond that. From the way things look, any creature capable of sensing energy fluxes would have felt this up to a light year away!"
Luna looked as shocked as Amy. "No wonder you can't pinpoint the source any better than you could-that much energy is-it's almost impossible to fathom!"
Amy nodded. "It most definitely is, Luna, but that's not the most important news I have to tell you."
Luna looked at Amy. "Well, what are you waiting for? What could be more amazing than what you've already told me?"
"When that energy surge went out, five much smaller ones answered it. They are weak enough to pinpoint fairly accurately, and one of them originated at my school."
Luna thought it through, then gasped. "You! It was you that responded somehow!"
Amy nodded. "I think so. That's probably why I fainted. But why would five sources answer?"
"Why, that's easy, Amy-chan-there're five senshi-oh! There are only four senshi now, since Usagi died!"
"Exactly. Either Usagi is still alive somewhere, or something else answered. Either possibility is unnerving, but Luna, all the sources are within the hundred mile radius of the original energy surge-so whatever answered, whether they were senshi or not, are very close. Here, and not in Japan anymore!"
"You're right! Ami-Amy, we have to find these energy sources, whatever they are!"
"Hai!"
The conversation brought back old times-those last days when Luna still called her Ami instead of Amy. As she and Luna set out in search of the closest energy source, she remembered her last days back in Japan.
*****
"Ami-san! Why-how nice to see you! It's been awhile."
"I thought I'd come visit, Tsukino-san. I was thinking of Usagi-chan, and wondered how you were doing."
"Come in, come in!" Usagi's mother waved her in, and Ami obediently followed her gesture. The house was so quiet.
"I keep expecting her to come tripping in, asking for something to eat or crying because she got a bad grade on one of her quizzes." Ikuko couldn't yet bring forth a chuckle at the memory. "It just doesn't make any sense how she disappeared. Maybe-maybe if we'd had a body-something to bury or cremate-SOMETHING-it would be easier...But why am I loading this burden on you, Ami? You don't need to hear this." Ikuko laid a kind hand on Ami's knee.
Ami put her hand over Ikuko's. "I don't mind. It hurts to talk or think about her, Tsukino-san, but it feels as if, if I talk about her enough, hurt with grief over her death enough, the pain will eventually burn itself out. Keeping quiet hurts more than speaking. I keep feeling guilty for going on that hiking trip. If we'd never gone-if we'd never gone-" Ami's eyes teared up. She clenched her fists as tight as she could. The pain helped her focus on burying the tears, but the thickness of her voice betrayed her.
"Goodness, Ami-san! Don't blame yourself! It wasn't your job to protect her, it just happened. It wasn't your job to keep her safe, so don't feel guilt. There's more than enough pain to go around without feeling like that."
Ami gasped. Ikuko's words pierced her very soul-it WAS her job to keep Sailor Moon-Usagi-safe. And she'd failed. Well, she couldn't tell Usagi's mother about any of that. Why add to her burden? She took a deep breath, mastered the pain for a little while longer, and looked up at Ikuko. "You're right. Arigato. I came for a different reason, though."
"What's that, Ami-san?"
"I came to say good-bye. I'll be moving out of Japan. I wanted to see you, and this house one more time before I leave."
"I see...well, it was nice to see you, Ami-san. Thanks for stopping by. That was kind." Ami though she saw a small black body disappear around a corner as Ikuko led her out. "Sayonara, Ami-san."
"Sayonara."
Ami made her way home.
*****
"Mizuno-san! Mizuno-san! Wait, Mizuno-san!"
Someone was yelling at her as she made her way home. She turned around to see who it was. "Urawa-kun! Why are you here?" He stopped running when he got within a few feet of her.
"My father got transferred back here. He said we'd be staying here for a least a year! Isn't that great!" He smiled happily.
Ami felt the blood drain out of her face. "What?" she whispered.
Urawa's face fell at the expression she wore. "Oh-I-I thought you'd be happy to see me..." he trailed off awkwardly.
Ami rushed to console him. "Iie! I AM happy to see you, but..." <I don't have to leave Japan to study abroad. I could turn down the scholarship and wait until later, like I did last time. I thought I didn't have anyone here for me, but now, if I have Urawa-kun...> Ami struggled with herself while Urawa stood in front of her, pain plainly written across his features. <Iie! I can't stay here! The memories of Usagi are too fresh, and the senshi are separated. Maybe Urawa would comfort me, but too many pieces of my life are here. I'd be stepping on the shards every day. Maybe I could learn to live with it, but-somehow-I feel drawn to go live in America. What do I DO?!> She looked down at her feet and took a deep breath. "I'm truly happy to see you, Urawa-kun," she reached out and grabbed ahold of his hands. It was more than she would normally have done, but she had to ease the look of disappointment shining out of his eyes. "but, I did very well on my last exam."
"I know! I read about it in the paper! You got a perfect score, and won. . ." his voice trailed off before he finished the sentence. "Oh...I see..." He looked as if he'd just been hit by a car. "How long are you going to be here?"
"Only another week." Tears gathered again in her eyes. She was so tired of tears. They'd been her constant companion for months now. "I'm sorry, Urawa..."
She watched him pull up a cheerful expression for her. "Well, at least we have a week to catch up! I can give you my address, and we can be penpals! Where-where will you be going?"
"I chose the United States. For all of my high school years. . ."
"Well, it will be exciting! Cheer up! This is a great opportunity!"
"I thought so too, but now I'm not so sure. . ."
"You can't turn it down, Ami, not just to stay here! This could affect the rest of your life!" Urawa brought another smile up for her. Her heart twisted at the effort she knew that required, if he was hurting anywhere near as badly as she was. <Gomen nasai, Urawa-kun. If I'd only known, maybe...> But she knew she would have made the same decision, even if she'd known he would be moving back here. "We have a week to talk things over and have some fun together! Let's not waste it!"
Ami nodded. "Maybe we could go get a milkshake?"
*****
Ami's mother looked sympathetically at her daughter when she mentioned that Urawa had moved back into the area. "You don't have to go if you don't want to, Ami. I know it's hard to leave, like it was last time you won a scholarship for study abroad."
<Then I had friends here. Now, there's nothing but painful memories...> "Iie, Mom, I'm ready for it this time. I'm actually quite excited about it. Three years of accelerated high school in the United States!"
"Are you really sure, Ami? Last time you didn't change your mind until you got to the airport."
"I'm very sure, Mom. I'm going."
"If you're sure, I want you to hold off departing for as long as you can."
Ami was confused. Mother was dancing around something, and now that she was sure that Ami was serious about her study abroad, her expression had firmed, as if she had made a decision. "Why, Mom? Shouldn't I go there as soon as possible, and start learning English better?"
Her mother sat down next to her. "Ami, I think I taught you to speak English fairly fluently, since I received my pediatrics training in England, so you don't have to worry about that. And yes, normally it would be best to settle in early, but..."
Ami was starting to get impatient. "BUT?!"
"I was given a job offer, in about the same area as your new school. I wanted to make sure you were truly ready to go, and now that you are, we'll both move down there. I just need time to sell the house and buy one over in America."
"But...do we have enough money to do that?"
"I'm a very good pediatrician, dear, I earn quite enough to do this. My parents are gone, we both know the language, and these are great opportunities for both of us. Wouldn't it be better to do this together? Does that sound like a good idea?"
Ami could barely contain her joy. Mother was the only person she had left, and she'd dreaded leaving her too. With a wordless cry she flung her arms around her mother's neck. "That sounds like a perfect idea!"
*****
That night she began packing. It was a big job, and Ami wanted to get started as soon as possible. Being a night owl, she was still up when she heard a peculiar knocking at her window. She walked over and opened it. "Who's there? Is there anybody out here?" Something dark whizzed by her, and jumped onto her bed. Ami spun to take a look at the intruder.
"I wanted to ask you a favor, Ami-chan."
"Luna! What are you doing here?"
"I heard you mention that you were leaving, and I wanted to ask if you think it would be possible for me to go with you."
"Whatever for? Don't the Tsukinos want to keep you?"
"I'm not really sure they do, and I don't want to live there anymore. I can't talk to any of them, and what would I do if they decided they wanted to put me to sleep or something?"
Ami gasped. She'd never stopped to think of what a predicament being a cat could be for Artemis and Luna. "I'd never thought of that! I'm sure I can get Mom to let me keep you." She bent over to pick her up. "I'll go ask now."
*****
She heard another noise at her window when she walked back into her room after getting permission to keep Luna. She sighed wearily. "This is getting ridiculous. I just hope it isn't Artemis! Two cats may be pushing Mom's hospitality!" She knew Minako would never have left Artemis behind when she moved, but still, she felt a faint fluttering of worry. She opened the window. "Yes?" she called quietly. "Is anyone there?"
"Mizuno-san! It's me! It's Ryo!"
"Ryo? Oh! Urawa-kun! What are you doing up at this hour?"
"I saw the light was on in your window, and I just had to talk to you."
Ami blushed. Urawa wasn't going to make it easy for her to leave. "I have some good news!" she called back.
"Oh? What's that?"
"I've put off moving to the U.S.. Mother said she got job offer near the school, so we have more stuff to take care of here, now, so we'll be staying here in Japan longer."
"How much longer?" Did he sound breathless?
"Almost three weeks, now."
"Almost a month! Hey, that is good news!"
Ami nodded in agreement. "Yes it is. Well, it's late." She covered her yawn with her hand. "I think I need to go to bed. Good night, Urawa-kun."
"Good night, Mizuno-san."
She closed her window, and turned off the lights.
*****
The next three weeks were fun for Ami. She came out of her shell, and became her old self again. Towards the end of the third week, they went out for ice cream.
"You haven't told me what's made you so sad, lately, Ami. Maybe it will help to talk about it." He looked so concerned. Ami's eyes teared up at his thoughtfulness.
She looked down at her sundae, and poked at it absently with her spoon. <He already knows I'm Sailor Mercury. If I talk about Usagi as Sailor Moon, I won't be revealing anything new or dangerous. He's been discreet so far. And it will feel good to talk about it to someone, since the other senshi are gone.> "I-you know I'm Sailor Mercury, don't you?" she began. Urawa nodded encouragingly. Ami took a deep breath. <Well, here I go...> "Well, about six months ago, all of the Sailor Senshi were on a mission, and-" She paused, carefully put down the spoon she was clutching tightly in her hand, and clenched her fists as she continued. "-and we were sucked into a wormhole by our enemy. He had some frightening technology. He wanted a very important object-something that contains unimaginable power-something Sailor Moon guards. We couldn't let him have it. During our stay in the wormhole, Sailor Moon got separated from us. We couldn't find her. We had to save some civilians that got involved in the fight first. By the time we could come back for her, she was dead." Ami shut her eyes tightly, and brought her clenched fists up to her mouth. She felt something warm run from her wrists to her forearms. Ryo reached forward and gently opened her fists. She opened her eyes, and saw that her nails had broken her skin, and she was bleeding on the table. Ryo's eyes looked into hers with concern.
"Kami sama, I'm so sorry, Ami. That must be so difficult for you. Have you all broken up?" Ami nodded. Her throat was too tightly closed with grief for her to force words from her mouth. "That's why you're leaving-you can't stand to be here, where you remember her."
Ami suddenly wanted to throw herself in Urawa's arms, but the table was between them. She took a deep unsteady breath, and got herself partially under control. "That's not the worst part. Sailor Moon wasn't just another senshi."
"I know she was your leader..."
"Not even just that. She was our Princess-we were her royal court, and her guardians-and we failed her! It was our duty for a thousand years to keep her safe, and now we've failed her twice, only this time," Ami knew she really was saying too much, but she couldn't stop the flood of guilt-guilt that even the senshi had never been able to talk about to each other. Besides, Ryo could be trusted. "...this time she won't be coming back!" She felt her tears run cold tracks down her face. She felt as if there weren't enough tears in the universe to encompass her guilt and grief.
Ryo was listening with something close to awe. "You've been alive for a thousand years? You've known Sailor Moon for a thousand years, and now you've lost her?"
"No, we all died long ago, but Sailor Moon's mother brought us here, to protect the Earth of the future, and her daughter. And we failed one task."
Ryo reached out to her. "I know that nothing I can say can really ease your sorrow, but more has been asked of you five senshi than any other girls, probably in all of history. You're strong and brave, and even though Sailor Moon is dead, Ami, you haven't been a complete failure. The Earth is safe, and you couldn't have done anything more for Sailor Moon. And Ami, don't hate yourself." He hesitantly reached toward her face. With a playful grin he tweaked her nose. "I like you." Ami giggled.
He walked her home. At the doorstep she turned and gave him a hug. "Arigato, Ryo," she whispered. "It has been a very good three weeks. I'll write you all the time. Every day." <You're making it even harder to leave, Ryo! I could barely stop myself from running to Mom and pleading to stay here as it was. Now you do this! I could almost hate you. I could almost love you....> "Sayonara, Ryo."
"Sayonara, Ami."
*****
Ami took a deep breath. Her mother turned to her with a smile. "I know, Ami. It's a big decision to leave Japan. It'll probably be hard for both of us at first, but we'll find our niche, and it'll be an adventure for us." She gave her daughter a small hug.
"Mother?"
"Yes, dear."
Ami wrapped her arms around her body and hugged herself tightly. "I don't want to be Ami, anymore. I'm Amy now."
*****
Amy stood at the corner of State Street and James. She bent down and picked up Luna, putting her over her shoulder. "Well, this is it, the closest small energy surge, other than my own."
Luna and Amy looked around. "I don't see anything unusual..."
"Neither do I, Luna. I'll go ask that man over there." She walked purposefully over to an elderly man who ran a fruit cart on the corner. "Excuse me, sir, but did anything unusual happen here this morning, at about ten?"
The man stared at her for a second. "However do you get your cat to just hang over your shoulder like that? If I ever tried it, my Spider would claw my eyes out!"
Ami laughed. "I'm originally from Japan, sir. Most cats in Asia enjoy being carried around like this. Um...about my question?"
"What?" the man jerked his attention back to Amy. "Oh, yes, unusual. Well girl, if you'd gotten here a couple hours ago, you would have seen some amazing activity. Have you heard of the sailor vigilante?"
Luna's ears pricked up at that. "No, sir, I can't say that I have..."
"Well, she took down two bank robbers right in the middle of the intersection. I saw with my own two eyes. The police surrounded her, and arrested her, but I heard on the news, when I was gone to lunch, that she escaped the hospital where they were holding her."
"What did she look like?"
"She had long blonde hair, and she wore a sailor uniform, like they have at some private schools, you know? And she wore these giant orange glasses. It was quite an outlandish costume, especially the high heels..."
"Thank you sir!" Amy said, and left. She turned to Luna.
"Sounds like Sailor V is back. Minako is here, somewhere, Luna.
"Let's go find the others."