Disclaimer: Puh-lease. Be real. I own nothing but the mysterious new enemy, Person-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named (What? Voldemort? No, don't be silly!).
Saving Bonds of Love
Part 1: "Dangerous Drivers and Whiny Odango"
A steady rain drummed down, washing away dirt from the pavement and sending travelers inside to warmer, dryer places. Among these vagabonds were eleven friends, each alike in their purpose; their reason for being alive. They were the Sailor Senshi, guardians of the earth and all its people, fighting for a peaceful future- for love, truth, and justice.
A young blonde sat staring out the window, her face like a goddess, but her blue eyes sad behind their lids. Her hair was done in odango, and she wore a black high school uniform. A little girl came up behind the teen, pink tresses fashioned in almost the same way, albeit her coiffure was shorter and the buns curved delicately upward into cones. The child was adorned in a navy blue jumper, and an intricate broach nearly identical to the one on the elder rested upon her chest. She also sported a pair of vibrant red eyes and yet, despite the differences between the females, the younger one looked uncannily similar to the woman gazing listlessly out the window. The small girl reached over and touched the woman's shoulder, who started and glanced around with query scribed across her countenance. The doppelganger of a visitor twisted her features into silent inquirance and an equal measure of concern.
"Do you think it'll rain so long we end up not being able to make it to the ocean?" the blonde asked wistfully, gesturing back toward the streaming torrents.
"Of course not, Usagi! We only need to have some faith in the sun, that's all," the girl soothed, clearly unworried by the continuous downpour. Usagi smiled.
"Thanks, ChibiUsa. I'm just worried we'll have to cancel the trip because of this constant rain! We've waited and planned so long, and now that there haven't been any enemies for a couple months, it's the perfect opportunity for a little peace. Everyone needs a break after... well..."
ChibiUsa noticed the way her companion grew distant and somber at the mention of Galaxia, having heard the horrors firsthand from her mother in the future. Trying to assuage Usagi, she winked. "Don't be an idiot. The Senshi aren't about to let a little rain ruin this vacation!"
She pivoted and began sidling toward the door, but upon reaching it turned back. "By the way, dinner's ready and everyone's waiting. I just came up to let you know." Then she was gone. Usagi got up and traced ChibiUsa's steps, down the hotel's stairwell and into the dining area. She blinked, searching out her friends only to find there was already a whole table set for the numerous Senshi. All smiled as she entered, and if Usagi wasn't mistaken, a few even appeared relieved.
"We were wondering where you disappeared to, Usagi-chan," Makoto informed the sixteen-year-old, gracing her with a blinding beam. "You don't usually vanish when the smell of food is in the air."
"I was merely contemplating the weather," Usagi responded lightly, perching herself next to a smirking ChibiUsa. She ignored the exasperated eye rolling of her future daughter, instead deciding to peruse one of the menus for something appetizing.
~o~o~o~o~o~
The storm raged until sometime in the early morning, when it dissipated into blue skies and sunny weather. Dew hung from tree leaves and moistened the grass as the Senshi flooded from the hotel. ChibiUsa whooped her excitement to the heavens, skipping with childish exuberance toward Mamoru's red Ferrari. Usagi followed at a less lively pace, eyelids drooping and a yawn tugging at her features, whining irately that seven o'clock was far too early to begin a lengthy car ride. Mamoru himself was helping Haruka to load her flashy yellow sports car with countless suitcases, Hotaru, Setsuna and Michiru already settled in and ready to go. A few yards away, tensions were high as Rei and Minako fought over who would drive Yuuichiro's borrowed automobile. Ami and Makoto merely lurked on the other side of the white car, sharing embarrassed looks as they wondered whether it was a good decision to have agreed to carpool with the two brawling viragos.
At long last, the adventure of the packing mishaps concluded, and the ocean-bound, sleep-deprived Senshi were off.
Well, in theory, at least.
---
Mamoru's car
---
"ChibiUsa, you sit that butt back on the seat!" Usagi yelled from the passenger side, trying to yank the spirited child - currently half standing in an attempt to watch the other cars - down. She stuck her tongue out at Usagi.
"What if I don't wanna?"
"What if I grab you by those pink odango and *force* you?" Usagi fired back agitatedly, which got ChibiUsa back in her original sedentary position in a jiffy. Mamoru just sighed, placing the key into the ignition and regretting his lack of sedatives.
It was going to be a loooooooooong ride.
---
Inners' car
---
"Now, how do you work this thing...?"
"Minako-chan, if you don't know how to start a car, then honest to God, I'M NOT LETTING YOU DRIVE!" Rei yelled at the insistent blonde in the driver's seat, cursing the girl's luck with rock, paper, scissors. Otherwise, they wouldn't all be risking their safety on the whims of a stubborn Love Senshi right now.
"I just... forgot a couple steps. But I can drive! It's just... been a while..." Minako kept fumbling with the buttons and Yuuichiro's keys, trying to find where exactly they fit.
"Are you still going to be saying that when we're all in the hospital with ten broken ribs and extensive head injuries!?" Rei moaned, currently suffering a nervous panic attack beside her sometimes oblivious and altogether ditzy friend.
"Aw, Rei-chan, you should at least give her a chance!" Makoto rallied optimistically, only to receive the full wrath of the priestess' glare. Aforementioned raven-head threw up her arms.
"Not you too!"
She suddenly turned and glared daggers at Ami, as if *daring* her to side with Makoto and Minako.
---
Outers' car
---
VROM VROM!
"Haruka, will you stop that! This isn't the race track!" Michiru scolded, the perfect image of a nagging wife as she wagged her finger at the woman listening eagerly to her engine.
"I'm revvin' this baby up!" Haruka chuckled to her aqua-haired partner, donning an irritating air of explaining two plus two equals four to a kindergartner.
"I don't want a fractious trip down. You had better not drive recklessly," Setsuna warned, unfortunately prone to motion sickness. Standing for eons in front of a door did nothing to cure her mal de mer.
"What's life if you can't drive recklessly?" Haruka quipped in return, and seriously at that. She raised an eyebrow Setsuna's direction, then shrugged.
"It's a life you're not in," Michiru answered darkly, arms crossed and fingers tapping. She pursed her lips at Haruka's apathetic grin.
"Haruka-papa, when are you going to teach me how to drive?" Hotaru asked innocently, violet eyes wide and questioning.
"Absolutely never," Michiru cut in firmly before Haruka could answer, the promise of a threat brewing in her eyes as she glanced the sandy blonde's way. Haruka shot Hotaru a pitying look.
"You heard the boss, Firefly."
Hotaru huffed playfully as Mamoru stuck his hand out the window and waved, signalling that he was ready to begin the journey. Minako followed suit, then Haruka, and at last they were - finally! - road borne.
---
Mamoru's car
---
"Mamo-chan, I'm hungry," Usagi whined, nibbling on her nails and rubbing her stomach.
"Usako, we've only been on the road fifteen minutes!" Mamoru responded, a touch of exasperation flecking his tone, even if he realized he should have known better. Usagi pouted, clutching her growling stomach ever more tightly.
"Can't you tell the others to stop?" she sighed petulantly. Mamoru resisted a whine of his own.
"Just a little while longer, Usako."
"But I'm hungry nooooooow!" the blonde wailed, utilizing her forte for puppy-dog eyes to the fullest extent.
"I'm hungry too," ChibiUsa chimed in most inconveniently from the backseat, leaning forward so she was at level with her future father's head. Because propinquity to his ears made her efforts at accosting him all the more effective, of course.
Mamoru groaned. "Not you too!"
Usagi was one thing, but the two of them put together…
---
Inners' car
---
"Minako-chan, the point of the brightly painted lines is to show you where you STAY ON THE ROAD!" Rei shouted, grabbing the edges of her seat for dear life. She tensed her white knuckles around the gray interior leather as the car swayed from lane to lane, swerving this way and that before Minako finally found her bearings.
"What will Haruka-san think of you?" Makoto chided, who probably put the most stock in what Haruka had to say. Minako blushed and Rei muttered "Probably that she's suicidal". So much for trying to appear mature and sophisticated...
"There's a car in front of her," Ami stated, looking back. As if that helps hide Minako-chan's horrendous maneuvering. The erudite shook her head hopelessly and buried herself in Quantum Mechanics once more.
"Oh, thank God!" Minako cried in relief, forgetting to watch the road for a second time as the car lurched unpleasantly close to the guard rail. Rei sobbed a little prayer heavenward before sinking into her seat, waiting for impending death.
---
Outers' car
---
"You fucking bitches! MOVE FASTER!" Haruka hollered out the window to the family of four in the van proceeding them. It was probably very lucky that the quartet was enjoying the benefits of air conditioning, lest the little ones hear a fraction of the road rage-induced sentiments being flung their way.
"TENOH HARUKA! HOTARU'S IN THE CAR!" Michiru scolded, in a voice to rival a banshee's as she clapped her hands over Hotaru's ears. Aforementioned preteen huffed sulkily.
"Those idiots are moving like my grandma!" Haruka cried, affronted. A forehead vein on the hermaphrodite of a woman's forehead pulsed sporadically.
"They're going the speed limit, which is what you should be attempting to adhere to as well!" Michiru sniffed, gingerly releasing Hotaru but keeping her appendages within grabbing distance. One never knew what to expect when it came to Tenoh Haruka.
"The speed limit's for kids," Haruka pouted. "No offense, Firefly."
"The speed limit ensures safety," Michiru countered. "Now, I don't mind a little joyride here and there, but when Hotaru's in the ca- Watch the road!"
Setsuna leaned in and whispered to the Warrior of Death, "Does this happen a lot?"
"Every time we go somewhere," Hotaru answered with a slight smile. "You should see them on a bad day."
---
Mamoru's car
---
"MAMO-CHAN!!!" the two odangoed girls shouted in unison. "WE'RE HUUUUNGRY!!"
"Alright! We'll signal the others to stop! Just STOP BADGERING ME!" Mamoru howled back, patience thinned and in danger of disappearing entirely. He, like Haruka, had developed a nervous tick on his temple. It currently throbbed like the foreboding thunder of an approaching tempest.
Usagi and ChibiUsa exchanged gleeful looks, then sat back in satisfaction as they silently gloated over a job well done.
TBC
