Forgotten Forever by Kihin Ranno

Part Five: Freeze Over

Cooan was very grateful when she arrived back at the base, captive in hand.

She staggered forward, dropping the limp girl to the ground within seconds of her heels touching the floor. She hissed loudly, holding her arms close to her chest, afraid to have them touch anything else. They ached enough on their own. She didn't want to think about how much worse it would be once pressure was applied to them. Then she gingerly pressed her fingertips to the open wound on her cheek, wincing when they became wet with blood. She shut her eyes tightly, swallowing to relieve the way her throat was constricting. She'd had a difficult time getting Sailor Mars back without shedding a tear or two, but she had held them back, not wanting to arrive home from a successful mission in tears. She didn't want to think of what Rubeus would feel about her if he saw her show that kind of weakness.

Cooan was continuing her valiant effort not to cry, when Petz arrived several feet away. Cooan could instantly tell that her older sister was livid. Her dark eyes were flashing as she stalked forward, the belts on her hips moving in time with her pace. She pointed at Cooan and hissed, "How could you have been so careless?"

Cooan was in no mood to be lectured. Least of all by her oldest sister, who all of the other girls thought took her age a bit too seriously for her own good. Cooan glared in Petz's direction and said, "Petz, I don't know what you're talking about, but I don't want to hear it."

"You don't want to hear it?" Petz snapped, mystified by Cooan's attitude. "Have you completely lost your mind?"

"No, but I will lose my hearing if you don't stop being so shrill," Cooan countered, curling her lip.

Petz was not the least bit amused by this retort, and every inch of her posture made this infinitely clear. She stepped over the still body of the red soldier, shoving her gloved finger into Cooan's face. "You attacked a person outside of the situation. You weren't supposed to let anyone else get involved."

Cooan narrowed her eyes, wanting nothing more than to push Petz's hand away from her face. Unfortunately, she still didn't want to move her arms. "He got in the way," Cooan explained, feeling that she was pointing out the obvious. "Don't act like you wouldn't have done the same thing."

"I wouldn't have been stupid enough to let someone get in the way to begin with," Petz informed her self-righteously.

"How do you even know about this?" Cooan asked testily, leaning forward to give Petz little choice than to let her arm fall. She glared and spat, "Were you watching me from the mirrors?"

Petz arched an eyebrow, but it did nothing to soften her scowl. "Of course. As if I would trust you to perform your task correctly."

Cooan felt her cheeks begin to turn red. She would have liked to have clenched her fists, but she had to settle for digging her teeth into the inside of her cheek. She quickly tasted blood, and it did not improve her mood. "If I am so incompetent, why didn't you come down and fix everything, taking all the glory for yourself?"

Petz was about to interrupt, but she was interrupted by the sound of a third party scoffing from some distance away. Both Cooan and Petz whirled to see Karaberas and Beruche watching with interest.

"Don't be stupid, Cooan," Karaberas said unkindly, though her malice was actually directed as Petz. "She only likes to show me up. She doesn't care enough about you two to do that."

Beruche glanced at Karaberas out of the corner of her eye. "Oh, that's nice."

"I prefer truth to niceties," Karaberas said bluntly, examining her nails.

As usual, Karaberas had the talent to bring out the worst in Petz. Her creamy skin turned splotchy with rage, once again stepping over Sailor Mars in order to reach her auburn-haired sister. "Stay out of this, Karaberas."

Karaberas feigned being hurt. "And here I thought you enjoyed my commentary. I'm depressed now. I don't know how I'll ever recover."

Petz snarled and curled up her fist, getting right up into Karaberas's face so that their noses were nearly mashed together. "I would like to be furious with only one sister at a time, if you don't mind. I'll deal with you later."

"Ooh, scary," Beruche said smoothly, covering her mouth with her hand.

Petz stamped her foot and yelled, "I cannot kill all three of you at once, but right now, I would certainly like to try!"

Before any of the other three sisters could respond to the threat, Rubeus appeared, his army jacket slung over his shoulder casually. He looked over at Petz coolly, his intense gaze silencing her even before he spoke. "Control your temper, Petz."

Amazingly, the statement actually managed to sober Petz, but Cooan had always found that her sister was a bit of a volcano. It was only a matter of time before she would explode again. Still, Petz nodded obediently enough. "Yes, Master Rubeus."

Rubeus continued looking at her for a moment, holding her gaze to ensure that she would not suddenly change her mind. Once he was assured that her tirade was over, or at least suppressed for the time being, he moved over to the still unconscious Sailor Mars.

He crouched down beside her, slinging his jacket over his elbow in what must have been a practiced movement however effortlessly executed. Mars had landed somewhat awkwardly, lying mostly on her front but with her neck turned to the right. Her hair was obscuring her face, and Rubeus reached forward and moved it away, smoothing it back in a manner that was gentle only because it was not violent. He narrowed his eyes, studying her fine features as Saffir studied what few pieces of literature were available on Nemesis.

A part of Cooan knew that Rubeus was likely just checking for similarities between this girl and the Sailor Mars from the thirtieth century, but she didn't miss the brief flicker of appreciation. It filled her with jealousy to think that Rubeus could find this girl, their enemy and a mere child, the least bit physically appealing. It made her want to choke the remaining life from her pale neck. If Cooan hadn't been in so much pain, she doubted that she would have been able to hold her ground.

Perpetually careless, Karaberas moved forward to get a better look at the captive as well. As she passed by Cooan, she bumped into the injured girl's arm. Cooan could not stop herself from crying out as soon as the other woman came into contact with the scorched skin. Karaberas seemed surprised, as if she hadn't noticed that Cooan was injured to begin with. Cooan felt tears prick at her eyes again, but she still held them back. She didn't want to cry in front of Rubeus, but it would have been far worse to cry in front of Rubeus and all of her sisters.

Rubeus looked up quickly, the speed of the movement betraying his surprise and nothing more. She searched for some sort of concern, but found nothing to confirm or deny whether he felt it. "You're hurt," he observed, getting to his feet.

Cooan nodded, grinding her teeth together.

"What happened to you?" Karaberas asked, leaning forward to get a better look at Cooan's arms.

It took her a moment before she was able to open up her jaw again to speak, and even then her voice was incredibly tight. "She didn't go without a fight."

Rubeus moved over to Cooan, still looking her over with his painfully intense gaze. He reached forward, brushing the pad of his thumb over the open wound on her cheek. Even in her harried state, Cooan couldn't help but find herself blushing at the contact.

"Apparently," he said neutrally, lingering for a moment.

Cooan swallowed, wanting nothing more than to look away, but finding herself at an extreme disadvantage. "And I'm afraid that the other Senshi were there as well."

Rubeus furrowed his brow. "Including Sailor Moon?"

She nodded silently.

Rubeus considered this information for a moment. He was subdued for the time being, but she could tell that he was a little frustrated with that development. He would have preferred the element of surprise while he could hold on to it. From that moment forward, their attempts would be far more difficult now that the other girls would be on alert.

However, he said nothing. There was still their triumph to consider after all. He would accept this victory and deal with the losses later.

He moved away from her, and Cooan thought that her cheek hurt even more now that the warmth of his skin was no longer there. He looked over at Petz and said, "Take her to where I showed you earlier, and put this on her neck when you get her there." Rubeus held out his hand where a ball of dark light flickered for a moment before a thin circlet fell into his palm. It was a dark stone - black that sometimes glittered emerald or purple. Cooan was willing to bet it was the same material that hung from their ears as another sign of solidarity - a piece of the Jakokuzuishou. "That will bind her powers until the Wiseman is available for the more permanent solution."

Petz nodded again as Rubeus tossed the circlet to her. She caught it easily, demurring as much as Petz ever demurred. Still, Cooan was certain that Petz was insulted by being assigned the grunt work. Her feelings did nothing to stop her from moving forward to drag Sailor Mars off to wherever it was she would be kept. The two of them vanished the moment they touched.

"Karaberas," Rubeus said, startling her from her thoughts.

She straightened, uncrossing her feet at the ankle. "Yes, Master Rubeus?"

"Take Cooan to the infirmary and start to get her cleaned up. I'll be along to help with her wounds in time," Rubeus instructed.

Beruche and Karaberas exchanged a surprised glance. The former quickly turned back to Rubeus, saying, "Pardon me, Master Rubeus, but isn't that my job?"

"Normally, it is," Rubeus said coolly, flipping his jacket so that it was once again slung over his shoulder. "But I'm afraid you'll be busy with other matters."

Beruche arched a delicate eyebrow. "Oh?" she queried, intrigued.

Rubeus looked over at her, amused by her coyness. "We believe that we may have discovered the identity of Sailor Mercury. Seeing as you two had several confrontations before, I assumed you would be interested."

Beruche's elegant face remained still for a moment, but a smile quickly formed on her red lips. It looked innocuous enough at first, but even Karaberas looked uneasy when she saw the look in her sister's eyes. Beruche was fiercely competitive, almost to the point of being pathological. She had considered Sailor Mercury her exclusive opponent from the beginning, and Beruche had not always faired well. She obviously considered this as much of a chance for revenge as Cooan had.

"Oh, I'm interested," Beruche said, her sugary-sweet voice in somewhat disturbing contrast with the darkness in her eyes. "Very interested."

Rubeus returned her grin, looking more smug than usual. "Good."

-----

The police and members of the press had arrived within minutes of Cooan vanishing with Sailor Mars. Apparently some passerby had decided to report the commotion in hopes of getting their fifteen minutes of fame. Minako and Ami had done most of the talking, finding that Usagi was too traumatized by the incident to even speak. Makoto stayed by her side, glaring malevolently when someone got too close.

They had come up with a convincing enough story. There was no hope in hiding the supernatural nature of the attack, so they had decided to play into it. Considering the incident with the giant tree destroying an apartment complex not days before, they were met with minimal skepticism. According to what Minako and Ami managed to whip up together on the spot, Rei had been kidnapped by some mysterious being, and they had been injured in the attempts to keep that from happening. It seemed that the police were assuming that her disappearance was some sort of attack on her father, the senator, and none of the girls did anything to encourage or dispel that rumor. It was of no consequence to them.

But all of them were gone now, Minako and Yuuichirou with them. He had needed to go to the hospital to treat the injuries he had sustained trying to protect Rei. Minako decided that it would be better if one of Rei's friends told him what happened when he woke up. No one had been particularly surprised when she volunteered to go with him.

Now the three remaining girls were gathered in Rei's room along with Luna and Artemis. The cats weren't sure that it was best if they were in there at that point, but they had little choice in the matter. Once the police had left and Rei's grandfather had been contacted, Usagi had walked straight into the house and into Rei's bedroom. There, she had collapsed on the bed, curling into as small a ball as she could manage. Usagi still hadn't said a word since Rei and her captor had vanished, and no one saw any point in moving her.

Makoto was seated on the bed next to Usagi, smoothing the hair on the back of her head while Luna also remained close to her charge. Ami was sitting in the chair at Rei's desk, her back unnaturally straight for an informal setting. Artemis was standing by her, occasionally butting his head into her arm or hand, though they could all tell that he wasn't completely with them at that point.

Everyone was badly shaken. So much so that they had trouble doing anything but sit in palpable silence long after the press and detectives had left. Ami would occasionally clear her throat and Makoto kept moving her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but neither of them could figure out what to say. They had just been attacked by a mysterious new enemy, and before they had even had time to process the fact that a new fight was beginning, one of their best friends had been kidnapped. What could they possibly say after that?

Artemis seemed to have some idea, apparently having as much patience for silence as Minako. "What the hell just happened?" he asked, his green eyes oddly unfocused.

Another long moment was spent in silence before anyone spoke up.

"I don't know," Makoto said quietly, clearly unsure of herself as she glanced down at the claw marks on her arm.

Ami preferred logic and literalism at that point, so she answered the question directly. "Rei was taken."

Luna shook her head miserably, hanging her head in shame of being unable to do more to help one of her friends. "The worst possible thing that could have happened to us, that's what."

Usagi still didn't say anything.

"But what happened?" Artemis repeated, flicking his tail in frustration. "There was no warning for this. There was--"

"No," Luna interrupted harshly. "There was Rei's vision."

Ami swallowed, gathering the fabric of her skirt in between her fingers and squeezing as hard as she could. "She knew something bad was going to happen, but we still weren't prepared."

Makoto shook her head, resting her forehead on the heel of her hand but never letting the other one leave Usagi's small, frighteningly still frame. "We should have known better," she insisted fiercely. "We should have been on guard."

"You did everything you could," Luna insisted, trying to soothe them, but she wasn't in a position to do so given her agitated state. "She called you, and you came running. There wasn't anything more to be done."

They all became quiet when that was uttered. Though none of them particularly believed it, they found themselves repeating the phrase in their mind, thinking perhaps if it was reiterated they would begin to think it was true. But it did nothing to alleviate their guilt or to make them think that they hadn't failed their friend. All it did was quiet them for a time and made them decide that it was best to let that line of conversation drop.

Artemis sighed, his whiskers drooping. "There must be a reason for them to have taken Rei. I mean she could have just--"

Sensing where Artemis was going with his line of thought, Ami cut in before he could continue. She didn't want to think about what that line of speculation could have done to Usagi's already fragile mental state. "She said something very strange to me. She seemed to imply that... we had met before."

Makoto looked up, blinking rapidly at this bit of news. "What?"

"Do you mean that she said she was from the Silver Millennium?" Luna asked, doubt evident in her voice.

"She didn't say that exactly," Ami clarified, furrowing her brow. "But that is how I took it to mean."

Makoto looked weary and glanced down at Usagi to see if she was having a reaction. She hadn't so much as twitched. Makoto clenched her teeth and ground out, "Another enemy from the past? I thought the Silver Millennium was a time of great peace up until Beryl showed up."

"It was," Luna said, twitching her left ear. "There was no war between the kingdoms - no war anywhere except for on Earth."

"Could she have been connected with Beryl somehow?" Ami theorized, realizing she was grasping at straws. "Perhaps she was part of another faction that was against the Moon Kingdom. It would explain the mark on her head."

"An inverted black crescent," Makoto recalled, tightening the muscles in her calves as if preparing to launch into another assault. "The same one Rei saw in the fire."

Luna continued to shake her head. "I highly doubt it. I think I would remember something like that. It is a perversion of our symbol and an insult to the Moon Kingdom. Believe me, I would have remembered it."

"I don't remember anything like it either," Artemis said, his voice a great deal gentler.

Ami pursed her lips, still trying to puzzle it out. "But that doesn't make sense. If she's not from the Silver Millennium, then how has she met us before?"

Before any more theories could be presented, Luna stood and hopped off the bed. Her amber eyes were narrowed in consternation, walking forward to a clear space in the middle of the room. "I don't think it much matters where they have come from or why they are here at this precise moment. We will figure that out in time. What matters right now is that they are here and that they will be coming back."

Makoto nodded in agreement, finding that this was the sort of attitude that she could get behind. "Right. And now that we know they're here, we'll be ready for them next time."

Ami wanted to point out that their primary motive should be finding Rei and that they weren't in much of a position to do that until they knew about their new enemy. Still, she could see Luna's point. Sitting there and talking about it wasn't doing anything to get Rei back either. They wouldn't be able to come up with the answer that afternoon, and it was more productive to prepare for the next battle in the long run. In the meantime, she could try and gather more information and puzzle out the truth on her own time. So she kept her peace.

"We need to focus on getting stronger before the next attack," Luna continued. "And that's why I think it is time to give you these."

Artemis opened his mouth to say something, perhaps to protest, but he wasn't given much of a chance. Luna swiftly launched into her trademark back flip, a trail of moondust following behind her as she went. There was a flash of light, and as she landed, two wands and three wrist-watches clattered to the ground.

Makoto leaned forward, but she still didn't feel comfortable leaving Usagi's side. "What are they?" she asked, hoping that this would bring the blonde into the conversation.

Ami got up from her seat to get a better look. She noticed that Luna looked rather exhausted and unsteady on her feet, and Ami wasn't the least bit surprised when Artemis came bounding over to stand next to her. He leaned into her, keeping her upright.

"I tried to tell you not to do that all at once," Artemis snapped, his voice tight with concern. "I could have helped."

Luna was once again disbelieving. "Generally, if you aren't fetching Minako's things, you're not of much use."

Before their conversation could be continued, Ami reached forward and picked up the blue wand. She held it between her fingers with some amount of reverence, gazing upon the all too familiar symbol in renewed awe. She got the same rush each time she touched her henshin pen, but she could feel an even deeper connection with this one. She felt strengthened just holding it in her hand, and in that moment, Ami felt that maybe things weren't as hopeless as she had previously been thinking.

"These are going to make us stronger," Ami murmured in amazement. "Aren't they?"

Luna nodded heavily. "Artemis and I have been working on them for awhile. They were nearly done in time for the last fight with Ail and Ann, but we were unable to get them finished in time. However, when Rei alerted us to the new threat, we managed to work out the rest of the problems." She paused, her eyes softening. "I only wish that we had been able to give them to you before today."

Ami nodded, wishing the same thing though she didn't dare say so.

"The watches are new communicators," Artemis explained. "We think they'll be less conspicuous than talking to calculators in public, and the reception should be better."

Makoto nodded in understanding, watching as Ami gathered up the instruments in her hands. The smaller girl got to her feet and walked them over to Makoto, handing her the appropriate tools. Makoto felt the exact same rush Ami had felt the minute before, running her thumb over the base of the wand. She looked up at Ami and said, "We'll be able to beat those guys for sure now, won't we?"

Ami couldn't tell if she was looking for reassurance or if she was just illustrating her usual amount of bravado. The fact that she couldn't tell was worrisome. In the end, she just nodded.

Luna coughed, drawing their attention back to her. "The next time you transform, use those wands and shout, 'Mercury Star Power, Make-Up' and 'Jupiter Star Power, Make Up.' You'll be able to handle stronger enemies as well as get another attack if Artemis and I did everything right."

"Did you hear that, Usagi?" Makoto asked gently, leaning down to try and catch the girl's gaze. "We'll be getting new powers. That means we'll be able to take care of the bad guys next time."

She waited for a response, but Usagi still appeared to have not heard her.

Artemis sighed and said, "Maybe we should leave her alone for awhile." He gestured for everyone to follow him, moving slowly so that Luna could still use him for support if she needed to. Makoto was reluctant to leave Usagi, but eventually she rose to her feet, following behind Ami.

The brunette slid the door closed behind her and followed the others out until the living room where Usagi wouldn't be able to hear them. Makoto shook her head as she crossed the threshold and muttered, "She's getting worse. I don't think I've ever seen her like this."

"She's in shock," Ami said soberly. "It's a typical reaction given what happened."

"We're not in shock," Makoto pointed out, sounding as if she thought they were doing something wrong.

"You can't afford to be," Luna countered gently. "You two and Minako have to keep it together for Usagi's sake."

Artemis nodded in agreement. "She has to know that she can talk to us, and the only way she is going to do that is if she sees that we can handle her grief as well as her own. She's been shutting us out ever since this whole mess began, and that cannot continue."

Makoto let that sink in for a moment before shaking her head, folding her arms in front of her chest. "She doesn't deserve this."

"Who does?" Ami asked quietly, her eyelids drooping.

No one knew how to answer that question.

After a moment, Artemis turned around and started to walk out of the room. "I'm going to go wait for Minako and fill her in. I'll give her the new wand and communicator when I see her next."

Luna nodded in understanding and then turned back to the other girls. "I don't think Usagi's going to be able to walk out of here under her own power any time soon."

Ami and Makoto exchanged a worried glance, knowing that the cat was right but not liking it at all. Ami sighed and said, "What are we supposed to do? Let her sleep here?"

"Would that make things better or worse?" Makoto asked.

"I think that she needs her family right now, whether she knows it or not," Luna said before any more speculation could be made on that front. "She might not be able to tell them what's wrong, but a few more hugs certainly couldn't make things worse."

Makoto nodded looked over at Ami's. "I'll call the Tsukinos and let them know what's going on. I can stay here until one of them comes and picks her up. You..." she trailed off, finding that was she was about to say was grossly inappropriate. "Nevermind."

Ami smiled joylessly. "You were about to say something about cram school, weren't you?" She didn't wait for Makoto's response, knowing that she was right. "There's not much point in going at this hour. I was planning on skipping it today anyway."

"Still, you should get home," Makoto pressed. "Your mother will be worried."

Ami looked at Makoto for a moment, instantly picking up on the subtext. Ami had a mother to worry about her. Makoto didn't. She felt like she should say something to make that harsh reality of life less profound, but she found she was just as ineffective in that as she was with Usagi's troubles. In the end, she couldn't do much more but nod and turn to go. But before she walked away, she looked over her shoulder and said, "It's going to be okay, isn't it?"

Makoto gave her a blank stare for a moment before nodding as brightly as she could manage. "Yeah," she said, clearly determined to make her words become real. "It's going to be okay."

Strangely reassured, Ami continued out the door, leaving Luna and Makoto alone to deal with the remainder of the aftermath. She wasn't sure she felt good about leaving like that, but on the other hand, there was no reason to stay. As much as she hated to admit it, there wasn't much else she could do.

-----

Mamoru knew that he was often made fun of for his perpetual state of obliviousness. Motoki, Reika, Kobayashi, and Saori had gotten together on numerous occasions that Mamoru sometimes thought were specifically for the purpose of mocking his social ineptitude. Of course, they all denied it vigorously, but it did nothing to alter the preferred topic of conversation. They had a seemingly endless supply of stories and recollections that they broke out over a bottle or two of gin and laughed until they were too drunk to remember what had been so amusing to begin with.

But at that particular moment, Mamoru did not find his cluelessness the least bit amusing. He was infuriated by it, twitching his legs to circumvent the desire to pace or kick the walls or do something else pointless and/or destructive. He wished that he could use his reported intelligence to puzzle his life out as opposed to only finding it useful in hypothetical academic situations.

He simply couldn't wrap his head around what had happened during Usagi's visit. Of course, he often found himself bewildered by her behavior, but he was at an even more profound loss than usual. The crying he had understood. The awkwardness seemed strange at first, but he decided that he could associate that with embarrassment over her previous outburst. But when she had left, she had seemed almost angry with him, and he could not begin to think of what he had done to offend her.

Granted, this was hardly the first time that women had left infuriated with him without him knowing why, but this bothered him more than those times. He couldn't say if it was because he actually felt some amount of affection for Usagi or if it was because he couldn't associate her with actually being angry. Yes, he enjoyed riling her up and making her indignant, but he had never thought of her as being capable of having any real malice toward another human being. It didn't fit in with her make-up. Yet he knew that while he had no idea what she had meant by it, Usagi had uttered her last words with the intention of being cruel, or as much as she could possess that intention.

It was making his head hurt, and he didn't like it. He wanted nothing more than to turn the television on and distract himself with some mindless children's show or melodramatic movie or even a pretty girl in a bikini in a nonsensical CM (preferably on repeat). But a part of him knew that it wouldn't be very effective.

Especially considering that there was the even more unsettling question. How had Usagi known about Natsumi and Seijuurou?

He supposed there were several logical answers. Usagi and Natsumi had seemed to have some sort of rivalry, so perhaps Usagi had been spouting petty accusations that had wound up being true by sheer coincidence. Though again, this hardly seemed in character for her. Perhaps Natsumi had actually gotten around to threatening Usagi, and that had been what set her off. Or it might not have been Natsumi at all. Maybe Seijuurou had been the one to put Usagi ill at ease with his unwanted affections. Hell, perhaps Rei had been the cause of all this. She considered herself a clairvoyant. Maybe she had sensed something and told Usagi about it. It did seem like the sort of thing Usagi would latch on to, especially if she needed an excuse to stay away from them. But if that were true, why had she been sneaking around outside their apartment building?

Mamoru sighed, shielding his eyes with one hand and reaching out for the remote with the other. He had now given himself an incredible migraine, and he had not made any progress on anything. He decided to go with his alternative idea to distract himself with television and hope that no perky blondes smiled at him from the other side of the glass.

He was just beginning to settle in to some very odd action-drama when it was interrupted by a news report. He rolled his eyes and made a move to change the channel out of habitual annoyance at reality for interrupting his preferable fantasy. However, his hand stilled above the black contraption, a cold sweat breaking out at the back of his neck. He knew where that reporter was. He had been there on a several occasions. And he was very familiar with the shrine maiden whose name and school picture were superimposed on the left side of the screen.

"This is Wagashi Sakura, reporting for Nippon Hoso Kyokai," a woman announced in a manner that managed to be equally business-like and frantic. "I am currently at Hikawa Jinja located on Sendai Hill, You may remember that this very shrine was at the center of numerous mysterious disappearances earlier in the year, and now it is the scene of yet another supernatural abduction. Hino Rei, daughter of Senator Hino Nibori, has gone missing. Witnesses are attributing it to otherworldly causes. This reporter could not get many details, but I have learned that an employee of the shrine, Kamada Yuuichirou, was apparently involved in the attempted prevention of the kidnapping. He was very badly injured in this attempt and was rushed to a nearby hospital to tend to first, second, and third degree burns. Neither the senator's office nor the remaining witnesses to this crime have offered comment. Tokyo Metropolitan Police request that any information you may have on the whereabouts of Hino Rei be forwarded to the following number..."

Wagashi Sakura might have gone on, but she quickly became a dull roar in his ears. Mamoru merely continued to stare at the television screen, making eye contact with the still, alarmingly lifeless photo of Hino Rei. And even when she had vanished from his television screen just as instantly as she had vanished from her home, he kept looking at that same spot. He was unsure of what else he was supposed to do and confused at why he felt the inclination to do anything at all.

-----

Minako was sitting at Yuuichirou's bedside, still amazed that they had allowed her to do so based on her claim that she was his cousin. She hadn't even been trying particularly hard. She wondered if the nurse on duty had taken pity on her, assuming that Minako was his girlfriend lying in order to be close to him. Minako would have liked to have corrected her for Rei's sake, but she didn't, deciding it was more important that she was with him.

Minako sighed, leaning forward on her plastic chair and resting her elbows on her knees. She folded her hands in front of her face, resting her chin atop her knuckles and stared down at Yuuichirou. He was wrapped up nearly from head to toe, his body literally covered in scorch marks. There had been several hours where she had been sitting in the waiting room where she had been told that the burn unit was removing the dead skin from his body. She had also been told that he was lucky. Looking at him now, she wondered what that doctor had been smoking when he told her that Yuuichirou was lucky.

She had been the one to go and find Yuuichirou after everything happened, and she still didn't know how she had kept herself from being sick after inhaling the smell of his burnt flesh and hair. He had almost been unrecognizable at first. She had been afraid that he might have been dead until she saw him breathe.

His injuries were bad. There had been discussion about keeping him sedated until the wounds could be healed, but the doctors had decided to keep him on high dosages of morphine for the time being. If the pain became too intense, they would put him under immediately, no questions asked. There was merely a question of whether he would be able to handle the anesthetic given that they were apparently unable to locate his medical records or his next of kin for reasons that she hadn't bothered to pay attention to when they had been explained to her. Minako wanted to believe that they were all exaggerating or overreacting, but she had heard the doctors talk about scarring and physical therapy. There was a significant chance that permanent damage had been done.

She decided that she would begin forgetting about that information just as soon as she was on her way out of the hospital.

"Minako?" a feeble voice whispered from a few feet away.

She looked up, surprised at having been addressed. She had to look around for a moment before she realized it was Yuuichirou speaking. She softened her gaze instantly into one of extreme empathy and leaned forward. She wanted to take his hand, but she kept them close to her sides. "You're awake," she said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.

"I wish I wasn't," Yuuichirou admitted, his voice unbelievably tense.

"Are you in pain?" Minako asked rather stupidly, noticing a minute later that the unmarred, exposed portions of his face were turning red. Apparently he was clenching his jaw to keep from screaming. Not even the morphine was helping him.

Minako got to her feet and said, "I'll get the doctor. They said they'd put you under if it was too much to take."

"No," Yuuichirou insisted, his arm jerking as if he wanted to grab her hand. He seemed to lack the coordination to do so at the moment.

Minako turned back to him, her stomach knotted in worry. "Yuuichirou, your wounds are serious. They didn't even want you to wake up in the first place. They said something about anesthetic." She paused, deciding that there was at least one good outcome of him being awake. "Before they put you under... I suppose I might as well tell you."

"Tell me what?" he asked, his quiet voice rising in panic.

Minako found that she saw Yuuichirou's eyes for the very first time. They had always been masked by his unkempt bangs, but he had lost a fair amount of hair in the attack. They were a shade of dark blue with just a hint of green that she would have found lovely had they not been clouded by so much pain, fear, and despair. He already knew that the news was bad. She almost didn't want to tell him and let him know just how bad it was.

Still, she resumed her seat for the moment. She sat on her hands, looked down at the ground, and told him everything she could.

When she was done, he didn't say anything to her. He merely stared at the ceiling, his Adam's apple jerking up and down. Minako felt wretched for having played any part in what happened to him. She wanted to apologize for not being able to get there in time to keep him from getting hurt or for not saving Rei, but she couldn't even bring herself to apologize to him, finding herself unworthy.

He didn't object when the doctors told him they were putting him under again.

-----

It took a very long time, but eventually Rei woke up.

The first thing she noticed was that she wasn't wearing any shoes. She was no longer in the guise of Sailor Mars, and she couldn't help but wonder what had been done to ensure that. She also realized that there was something around her neck. It wasn't heavy nor was it particularly uncomfortable, but its presence still unnerved her. She reached up to touch it, shivering at how cold to the touch it was.

Then Rei took a look around. She had been tossed (or so she assumed given the unnatural position she had woken up in) into a typical cell, hidden in some dark corner of wherever she was and barred in to keep her from escaping. She thought at first that the bars were made of emerald, but upon further examination, she could tell that it was too murky. Of course, it was probably better if she didn't try to identify things. After all, according to Cooan, their enemies had all come from the future. For all Rei knew, the substance didn't even exist yet.

She could also see what looked to be intricate wiring lined throughout the chamber, something that might have impressed her in another other situation. The floor beneath her was just as dark, but it had a different sheen, suggesting that it was actually metal stained to blend in with the walls. She was no expert and she was rather dizzy, but for whatever reason, that detail stood out.

In spite of the way her head was spinning, Rei decided to get to her feet, if for no other reason to determine if she was able to do so. It proved to be a bit more of a chore than she would have anticipated. Her muscles ached from the last battle, her previous injuries, and the uncomfortable way she had been laying on the floor for however long it was that she had passed out. When she straightened, she found that she was rather unsteady on her feet and she reached out to the bars to steady her.

Rei was taken off guard by the shocks that assaulted her neck, obviously coming from the collar that had been place there. Rei shrieked in pain and instantly crumpled to the floor again. She reached for the stone and tried to yank it off her neck, but several seconds after she let go of the bars, the shock stopped. Unfortunately, she suspected that the pain would remain for quite some time.

"You're so loud," a familiar voice muttered from outside the cell.

Rei looked up, her teeth bared as if dripping with venom. She recognized Cooan instantly. Even in her temper, Rei was pleased to see that her opponent's arms had been bandaged. She could also see that she had taken what looked like a nasty blow to the face. Rei didn't know who she had to thank for it, but she was pleased to see that someone had at least gotten one punch in.

"Where am I?" Rei demanded. "What are you going to do with me?"

Cooan smirked and walked forward, her heels clanging against the floor unpleasantly. "Who cares where you are? The point is we have you and that you aren't going anywhere."

"I did ask a second question," Rei snarled, ignoring how ridiculous she sounded by demanding politeness from her kidnapper.

Cooan shrugged delicately, a gesture that likely had more to do with the state of her arms than her upbringing. "I'm just the messenger. They don't tell me much."

"If you were just the messenger, I would not be so inclined to shoot you," Rei responded caustically. "Tell me what's going on. Why are you here? What do you want from me?"

Cooan narrowed her eyes, her own temper stirred by Rei's voice. "Personally, I would like to string you up by your thumbs and whip you until you begged me to rip your heart out of your chest. Unfortunately, that isn't why you're here."

"How vivid," Rei spat.

Cooan seemed extremely irritated that Rei was not quaking in her knee socks at the remark. She curled her lip, revealing a smear or either blood or lipstick on her teeth. "You're here because we need you. You'll get nothing more out of me."

Rei did not consider this an appropriate answer, but there were other matters to attend to. "What's with this thing around my neck?"

"It's what we used to bind your power," Cooan said. "Don't pull at it like that. If you do it too much, it's designed to shock you just like if you get too close to the bars. Granted, we don't necessarily need you in one piece as I understand it, but I'd rather not have to choke on the stench of your burnt flesh. There's no ventilation up here."

"Up here?" Rei asked, hoping to absorb any information in hopes of using it against Cooan at the earliest opportunity.

Cooan frowned, annoyed at herself. Obviously she had said something she hadn't meant to say, though Rei couldn't decipher the significance of it anyway. "Just get comfortable. You're not going anywhere." She paused and glanced over her shoulder, smiling cruelly. "But at least you'll have company soon."

It didn't take Rei more than half a second to realize who she was referring to. She leapt to her feet, trying not to touch the bars no matter how much she wanted to see if she could stand the pain long enough to rend them apart and wring Cooan's neck. "Leave them alone! Don't you dare lay a hand on them, you witch!"

"I likely won't," Cooan giggled. "Not in my state. But there are others."

Rei leaned forward as far as she could. "I told you to leave them alone! You have me. What do you need them for?"

Cooan laughed again, nearly on the verge of hysterics. "Do you really think that you're the important one here? Please. You're just a necessity. There are others we value more than you."

Rei would have liked to spit but her mouth was alarmingly dry. "I seem to be important enough for you to hate me."

Cooan obviously didn't like being caught in word games. Her pink cheeks turned fuchsia with shame. She glared and stalked back towards Rei. She was nearly within arm's reach. "You stupid, evil brats! You were children when you inherited the Earth, but you were always so damn entitled and more protective of each other than your people. You'd die for them sooner than you would a stranger, wouldn't you?"

Rei stopped as if she'd hit a wall, staring down at Cooan. She hadn't expected or wanted to conversation to go in this direction. She couldn't say that it hadn't crossed her mind before, but it didn't make her anymore eager to discuss it with Cooan. She always settled the query with the ideal situation - that Rei would somehow find a way to save her friends and the people should never have been dragged into the situation in the first place. But she knew better than to say that to Cooan. The woman wouldn't let her get away with it that easily. She would have to decide.

And what would she decide in a split-second? What would her instincts tell her to do? Who did she value more - her closest friends or nameless strangers?

"Well?" Cooan demanded, her thin patience wearing thinner.

In the end, she couldn't say.

"And what would you do?" Rei asked, her voice shockingly still.

Cooan stammered for a minute. Rei could have sworn that she started to say something along the lines of 'I asked you first,' but thankfully, it didn't come to that. Cooan eventually cursed, storming out to do whatever it was that kidnappers did when apart from their victims.

It left Rei alone, standing in a cell designed to kill her if she didn't behave like a model prisoner. She had nothing but pain and rage, and she didn't have the slightest idea as to when that would come to an end, if it would, and if the only resolution for this new mess was her own death.

It would have grieved her if she'd had room for anything but anger.

-----

She wasn't supposed to be there.

Of course, Minako had a certain knack for doing things she wasn't meant to be doing. Always with a higher purpose, or so she told herself, and this time was no different.

After the doctors had put Yuuichirou into an induced sleep, Minako stayed by his side for several hours longer than she was technically allowed to. She couldn't say if it was because of her guilt over what had happened or latent maternal instincts kicking in, but the result was the same. Eventually, she'd been discovered ducking into the bathroom when a nurse came in to adjust Yuuichirou's medication. Minako had then been told to leave in the kindest way she'd ever been thrown out of anywhere.

Before she had gone, Minako remembered something. She turned to the nurse and gave the older woman the best smile she could manage given the situation. Judging by the nurse's reaction, it had just the right amount of wistful hope to be endearing. It gave Minako enough confidence to continue.

"I'm sorry, I meant to ask this earlier," Minako said quietly, inclining her head apologetically. "I have another friend in the hospital that I was planning on visiting today until..." she trailed off as if unable to finish her sentence.

The nurse's face was positively dripping with sympathy. "Of course, dear. Give me the name, and I'll tell you where they are. That way you can visit them as well tomorrow and not have to waste time."

"Thank you so much," Minako said earnestly, bowing deeply.

"What's the name?" the nurse asked, walking over to the information desk to get the room number.

" Chiba Mamoru."

Within minutes, Minako had the information she wanted. She gave the nurse one last thank you and then made it seem like she was on her merry way.

But in reality, once she was out of sight, Minako had veered away from the door, struggling to make herself as inconspicuous as possible. No easy feat, but she happened upon a set of backstairs quickly enough. Once there, Minako headed up the stairs to the appropriate floor where Mamoru was presumably resting comfortably.

It had taken another half hour or so, and she had nearly been caught at least a dozen times, but somehow, Minako managed to slip into Mamoru's room. She moved quickly, squeezing through a tiny opening in the door to avoid alerting the now sleeping man to someone entering his room. He didn't even stir as a sliver of light spilled into the room. But she kept holding her breath until several minutes after the door had clicked shut, flattening her back to the steel in anticipation of being discovered.

Eventually, her eyes adjusted to the light, and she could see Mamoru more clearly. Only then did she allow her breathing to become somewhat regular, though the adrenaline rushing through her veins was making it very difficult for her to be quiet. She moved further into the room in order to get a better look.

Mamoru certainly didn't look like he was resting comfortably. Aside from the various bruises and bandages that decorated his frame, Minako couldn't help but notice that his brow was furrowed even in sleep. He wasn't tossing and turning (she wasn't sure that he could given the fact that he was hooked up to various machines, but he was still sleeping fitfully. She could even make out several veins raised on his right temple, and upon further inspection she realized that his jaw and hands were clenched painfully.

Minako frowned down at him, wondering what exactly she had come up there for in the first place. She'd had an overwhelming urge to do it, but she hadn't bothered to examine her motives on the subject. It hadn't seemed important at the time.

Maybe she needed someone to blame for everything that happened. Mamoru was certainly a prime candidate for that. Maybe she couldn't blame him for losing Rei, but she could put some of Usagi's pain on his shoulders. It was well deserved.

Though perhaps not as well deserved as on hers.

"Idiot," Minako whispered, unsure of who that was directed at.

Before she could examine that any further, Minako noticed that Mamoru was beginning to stir. She started panicking and thought of running into the hallway, but that would have likely resulted in being caught by any number of orderlies. She had no interest in spending any quality time with security or the police, which meant that she was going to have to find another way to get out in the next three seconds or so. This did not take nearly as long as she would have originally thought as eliminating the door left her with exactly one other option - the window.

They were several stories up, meaning that Minako had no chance of making it as she was now. Finding that she had little choice in the matter, she ducked down and transformed quickly. She moved over to the window and made a move to open it, only to discover one final problem.

It was locked.

"Who's there?" Mamoru called groggily.

Venus looked over her shoulder to see that Mamoru was sitting straight up in bed, looking around the room. He wasn't quite awake enough to have the good sense to be afraid, but she could tell that that was fast in coming. She turned around and began dealing with the window lock, which as usual turned out to be much more complicated than she would have previously anticipated.

"Answer me," Mamoru insisted, his voice shaking a bit. "I know someone's in here."

Venus rolled her eyes and muttered, "If you would give me a minute, I wouldn't be."

The next second, Venus's work came to a grinding halt. Her muttering had been quiet, but not quiet enough. She could feel his eyes on her now, pinning her to the wall as effectively as his arms would have if he had possessed the strength. She didn't know why, but it formed a knot in her stomach.

"Who are you?" he asked, suspicious of her motives.

Finding that she once again had no choice, Venus answered him. "At the moment, I am the person trying to open your window."

He sounded puzzled. "Why?"

"So I can get out," Venus said, making it clear in her tone that this should have been terribly obvious.

"You can't use the door?" Mamoru asked, neglecting to add the phrase "like normal people" onto the end of his sentence as she had expected.

Venus frowned and continued to struggle with the window. "I'm not exactly dressed for it."

She suspected that his eyes were beginning to adjust to the light if the way his breath caught in his throat was anything to go by. This did nothing more than remind her of how imperative it was to get out of his room and fast. She strained a bit and the window finally began to give.

"Is it you?"

Venus stopped abruptly. She didn't have time to hold her position in shock, so she spun around, her eyes wide in the darkened room. Her mind worked quickly, wondering if maybe her silhouette was doing something to stir his memory. She moved forward before she could remember that it was a bad idea. "What do you mean?" she asked quickly. "Do you remember something?"

Mamoru looked in her general direction, clearly puzzled, and trying to figure out where her eyes might be. He was aiming too high. "You don't sound like her."

"Sound like who?" Venus questioned. "Who don't I sound like?"

Mamoru kept looking at her, and for a moment she couldn't read him. Then he leaned over to the other side of the bed as far as he could, his eyes narrowed. He was once again suspicious. "Who are you?" he repeated.

Venus stared for a moment, completely at a loss. He might have been on the verge of a breakthrough. But now they were right back where they started. He was no closer to remembering Usagi, and she was no closer to fixing the mess she had caused.

Tears rushed to her eyes before she had a chance to stop them. She whirled around and stalked back over to the window. With a burst of frustrated energy, she managed to get it open without any more difficulty. She kicked out the screen, sniffling childishly. She began to step out, but before she left, she turned back to Mamoru, seething.

"You're killing her," Venus told him gravely. "I thought you should know."

Before anything more could be said, Venus moved out of the room. She balanced on the window ledge for a moment before leaping upwards and away from Chiba Mamoru and his amnesiatic suspicion. She landed on the roof of the hospital a few seconds later and was grateful to find that no orderlies had snuck up there for a quick cigarette break like they did on television. Her legs gave out from underneath her immediately, a sob escaping her throat.

He could have remembered. He could have figured everything out if only Venus had said something else. There must have been something she could have done to stir his memories. Some trigger or kind word or even a gesture that would have brought it all flooding back. Then Mamoru and Usagi could figure out their relationship together and Minako would be back on her good side. It wouldn't have fixed everything, but things would have been better than they had been.

But her wishes went unanswered as she cried all alone on the hospital roof, remembering bitterly that she had always had a talent for not doing what she was supposed to do.

-----

It was well past midnight, and Beruche was beginning to wish she had a more impulsive nature. It would have meant that she would have snatched up the sleeping Mizuno Ami hours ago and hopefully been through with loitering about the filthy city that was Primitive Tokyo. But sadly, that was not the case and Beruche was certain she was going to be floating outside of the girl's window for many hours to come.

She may have matched in physical appearance, but Beruche had reservations about whether or not Rubeus had done his job right. For one thing, Beruche had the benefit of skepticism, a trait that Cooan lacked considerably when it came to anything involving Rubeus.

Such was the nature of love, Beruche supposed.

She snorted at the very notion. Cooan loving Rubeus? Sadly. Rubeus ever returning Cooan's affections? Never. It was more amusing than many sitcoms of the era in which she was currently forced to reside.

Frankly, Beruche didn't know what Cooan saw in him. Rubeus may have been pleasing to the eye in a rugged sort of way, but he was a notoriously selfish brute - a soldier promoted to his current rank because of ruthlessness and treachery, not because of any great mental prowess. Of course, Beruche couldn't help but admire such tenacity, but it didn't change the fact that she looked upon Rubeus with some distaste, even if it wasn't a privilege of her position to do so. Still, she wasn't one to make waves, so she held her tongue, trusting that Rubeus didn't notice or didn't care about the glances she sent him when she couldn't keep herself in check.

Besides, she was no fool. Rubeus was renowned for his willingness and ability to kill. She may have been powerful, but she was no match for him. And though it would have meant keeping her looks, she had no intention of dying so young.

Even if she didn't doubt Rubeus, her intended target gave her enough cause to be dubious. Cooan had also remarked that she found her charge had not quite matched up with the Sailor Mars she had grown to know at first. Later, the girl had shown her true colors, or at least Beruche presumed by the nasty state Cooan's arms had been in. Beruche was finding that she was having the same reservations about this mousy little thing.

Sailor Mercury was just as much of a legend as her compatriots even though it was known far and wide that she was the least powerful of the four. It didn't make her the least deadly by any stretch of the imagination, though Beruche couldn't say that she saw many differences in the number of casualties that could be attributed to each soldier's hands. Her intelligence could be more effective than any weapon in battle, and she had used it to out do their side on more than one occasion. Beruche almost considered herself an intellectual match, though their tactics for cruelty greatly differed from each other. But there was another reason why some members of her clan feared Sailor Mercury more than the other three.

Ice may not have been as destructive as fire or as fearsome as thunder, but there was still a certain stigma attached to it that worked in Mercury's favor. Firstly, there was the fact that her mannerisms seemed to match her element perfectly. The woman was ice, plain and simple. Neither the elders nor even the current citizens of Crystal Tokyo could recall a time when they had seen Mercury show anything other than cool indifference. She had not smiled or cried or screamed or laughed or anything else that required emotion since she had ascended to her place among the so-called saviors of the world. It was that coldness that made her deadly. Without emotion, how could she feel remorse? Or mercy? How could she administer justice properly when she could sympathize with no one, not even herself. She was a dead, soulless woman, and quite the force to be reckoned with.

But there was yet another reason why people had such fear of Mercury. She was the Soldier of Ice, after all, and that was how the world had ended the first time. Some wondered if she would be the harbinger of the Second Apocalypse; if she would one day go completely mad and release her power on to the world, trapping it under a thick veil of ice, frozen for all time.

Beruche shivered at the image in spite of the amount of bloody scenes she had witnessed. As hardened as she was or perhaps pretended to be, it still disturbed her to think of the Earth as a barren wasteland. A planet of death.

But then maybe it wasn't the fear of loss that made her shiver. Maybe it was just the reminder. After all, wasn't that what Nemesis was?

In the end, none of it mattered. What mattered was that Beruche had her reservations, and she saw no reason to rush into anything. She would wait for proof positive before attacking, regardless of anything Petz would say about it if she heard of her sister’s caution.

Though she couldn't understand Petz's impatience. There was no hurry. They had all the time in the world.

-----

Even without the benefit of thinking that things could not have possibly gotten worse, somehow, they had managed to get worse.

After arriving home from the shrine, Usagi had climbed into bed, uniform and all. She had not moved since then, not even to look up when her parents came in to check on her. She appreciated their concern, and she knew they must have been worried about her. It was unlike her to long for solitude in times of crisis, especially considering the nature of it. It was more likely that she would ask for support, start crying into their arms, or, when she couldn't confess everything to her family, receive help from Luna. But Luna had tried to talk to her on several occasions since they had gotten home, and Usagi had not been particularly responsive. She had left some time ago, saying that she would be downstairs if she was needed.

It was well past dawn now, and still no sign of her mother to come and tell her to get ready for school. She supposed that Ikuko had decided that her daughter was allowed a day or so to mourn, though Usagi didn't know how long that grace period would last. Usagi thought of getting up and going to school in yesterday's clothes, but it wasn't something she considered for long. She knew she could have used the distraction, but she didn't see how she could hold it together.

There was a knock at the door. Usagi didn't answer it or even look up to see who it was. A few long moments passed before the door opened and someone walked in.

"Usagi?" Shingo's tentative voice called as he entered the room. She had never heard him say her name with such care before. In fact, of all the people she would have expected to come see her, Shingo was at the bottom of the list. "Are you awake?"

She thought about not answering him, but in the end she decided against it, likely out of shock that he was even there. She still would not speak, however, and merely nodded her head in response.

Shingo continued moving forward until he was alongside her. He cleared his throat uncomfortably and sat down on the edge of her bed. The situation was obviously awkward for him, and Usagi wondered if their parents had sent him in to see if he could succeed where they had failed. It was explain his presence easily enough, but it didn't explain how gentle he was being with her. If he had been sent on an errand, she didn't think he would have been so kind.

"Are you going to go to school today?" he asked.

Usagi shook her head silently.

She heard him swallow. "I don't think you should have to do anything," he said, stammering a bit. "Not right now."

"Thanks, Shingo," she whispered, surprising even herself.

He shifted again, apparently taken off guard by the sound of her voice. Usagi thought she felt him start to go, but something stopped him. Maybe he figured that as long as she was speaking, he should do all he could. "This is probably a stupid thing to ask, but... Are you all right?"

Usagi almost pulled out the stock answer of "I'm fine," but once again, she thought better of it at the last minute. "Not really," she admitted softly.

Shingo coughed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Usagi didn't know the answer to that question. She knew she probably should, but she also didn't know if she wanted to say anything about it. She almost wanted to bottle it up and let it swallow her whole, but that wasn't in her nature. She began to speak.

"I know that everything is going to turn out all right in the end. It has to." Her voice started trembling. "But Rei's gone, and I don't know where she is. Yuuichirou is badly hurt. Minako and I aren't speaking. And Mamoru..." Usagi trailed off as her eyes and throat began to burn.

"Mamoru?" Shingo asked, not recognizing the name immediately. "Wait is that the guy from--"

"It doesn't matter," Usagi said quickly, trying to keep her voice from revealing that she was about to start crying yet again, but failing miserably. "I don't have any right to be upset about that. Not now. Not with Rei missing." Usagi shut her eyes tightly, trying to will away the pain.

Shingo laid a hand on her arm, sudden and unsure. He had never done this before, and he wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to. "Usagi, you can't control what hurts. If you want to cry about something or about a lot of stuff, then you should. It's okay to be upset about this Mamoru guy."

Usagi shook her head, unconvinced. "But Rei--"

"Wouldn't want you making yourself sick for her sake," Shingo supplied, making Usagi wonder if he knew Rei better than he let on. "I know that I tease you about being a crybaby, but you should cry about the important things. No one's going to say anything." He paused. "I won't. And I'd kick anyone who would."

Usagi's chest heaved as a laugh escaped her throat, finding the image of Shingo chasing after her friends to be slightly amusing even in her state. But then she realized that she couldn't get her chest to start convulsing. She was having a hard time breathing, and it took her a moment to realize that Shingo had set her off again. Before either of them knew what was happening, Usagi was sobbing once more, and Shingo had wrapped an arm around her, hugging her awkwardly. She grabbed his wrist and held on tightly but kept her face turned away. It was better that way.

He held her until she'd finally fallen asleep. She had never been so grateful to have such an annoying little brother.

-----

Makoto and Ami were standing at the gate of Juuban Middle School, waiting. They had been standing there since very early that morning, when they had both arrived with unkempt hair, blood shot eyes, and a sort of unsteady walk to suggest that neither of them had slept very well. The pair had both been hoping to see Usagi before school started and see if there was any more they could do to help her.

The bell was going to start ringing at any moment, and there was absolutely no sign of Usagi.

Makoto sighed, pushing her bangs away from her face and scratching her head. She flinched at the state of her hair as she had neglected to shower before coming to school that day. It did nothing to improve how awful she felt. "I had a feeling she wouldn't come."

Ami shook her head, her fingers tightly curled around the handle of her briefcase. "It can't be healthy. Staying in bed like this."

Makoto wanted to point out that not everyone would consider school to be a comfort, but she held her tongue. There was no reason to argue with Ami just because she was in a bad mood. "Maybe it's better if she could sleep through today."

"That would only be beneficial if we could have Rei back and Mamoru's memory restored by the time she wakes up," Ami said softly.

"Wouldn't that be something?" Makoto murmured to herself wistfully, wishing that there were some way to accomplish such a feat.

Makoto realized that Ami had heard her when the other girl shut her eyes tightly and bent her head as if unable to hold it up under her own power anymore. "There's no hope in that. I can't figure out why Mamoru doesn't remember anything, and I can't figure out who that girl that took Rei could have been."

"No one expected you to," Makoto soothed, which wasn't entirely true. She had been hoping that Ami would race up to her that morning with every crisis solved, but she knew now that such an expectation had not been realistic.

Ami shook her head, not believing her. "I expected it of me."

Makoto frowned and started to move forward. "Ami--"

"The answer has to be staring me right in the face," Ami insisted. "I just know it. I mean, it can't be that difficult. She made it sound like she knew us. We must have faced her before. I thought of maybe asking Minako if she remembered anything like that mark from her Sailor V days, but she would have mentioned that, wouldn't she? Even with what's happening with Usagi, she wouldn't have--"

"She would have mentioned it," Makoto interrupted, wishing that Ami hadn't brought up that particular subject.

Ami pressed on before Makoto could say anything else to change the subject. "And then I've been thinking that Luna and Artemis must have been wrong. She has to be connected with the Silver Millennium, because what else could it be? But they seemed so certain, and I don't see how they could have forgotten something like that."

"Ami, stop it," Makoto said gently. "You're just making yourself crazy."

"No," Ami insisted, the volume of her voice quickly increasing. "I should be able to figure this out. I have to figure this out."

"But--" Makoto started.

Once again, Ami preempted her. She opened her eyes suddenly, turning her head so quickly it made Makoto's ache in sympathy. "What good am I if I can't figure this out?" Ami asked, her voice strained and clearly fighting tears.

Makoto stared at her, now completely at a loss. All she was immediately conscious of was the fact that the look in Ami's eyes was making her heart break, but she didn't know what she could do or say to make it better. And that made her wonder what use she was.

The bell rang, but it took a moment for either girl to respond to it. They stared at each other, caught in their own world that not even their other friends or family members could have infiltrated if they wanted to. No one else could have really empathized with either one of them. No one would be able to understand the pain, the helplessness, and the growing fear that perhaps neither one of them could do much of anything to fix the chaos they had fallen into.

"We better get to class," Ami said finally, turning to leave.

Makoto nodded and followed suit. "Yeah."

But all either of them really wanted to do was scream.

-----

Beruche had been watching Mizuno Ami for approaching twenty hours now, and she was no closer to finding out whether or not she and Sailor Mercury were one in the same. She was still hanging outside of a window, though this time she was peering into a classroom instead of a bedroom. The girl had been silent for most of the day, speaking only when she was spoken to, and keeping her answers short when she was called upon. Apparently this was not the norm as both the teacher and the other students seemed to be quite flustered with her inactivity. It was all very tiresome and quite boring, and it was wearing Beruche out.

Beruche sighed, leaning the side of her face into her palm. "If this girl is Sailor Mercury, she must be the most boring Sailor Senshi of them all."

"And you must be the most boring Akayashi Sister of them all by the same logic," a familiar alto voice called from some distance away.

Beruche frowned and turned around in time to see Petz arrive, presumably from the ship or from wandering around Primitive Tokyo herself. She was glaring at Beruche, but then the Sisters were quite convinced that this was Petz's permanent expression as they could not remember the last time they had seen her do anything else.

"You're following me following the Mouse?" Beruche queried lazily. "My but you have a lot of time on your hands, sister dear.

Petz huffed quietly, catching the subtle insult easily. "Master Rubeus sent me to check on you."

Beruche sniffed, turning her nose up at Petz. "Please. Master Rubeus would do no such thing unless he hadn't heard from me for days and days. You came to check on me of your own initiative."

Petz neither confirmed nor denied this accusation, but Beruche didn't need her to. She knew Petz well enough. "At least Cooan checked in every once in awhile. You haven't been back to the base since Master Rubeus sent you out."

Beruche had to concede that point. "I'm diligent. And I have no interest in hearing Cooan whine about her injuries or you yelling at her for whining or Karaberas laughing hysterically at the whole mess. And as I recall, Sailor Mars is something like a Banshee. Is she shrieking much?"

"Only when one of us gets near," Petz said. "We've been keeping our distance for the most part."

"Oh, you're all just have a gay old time, aren't you?" Beruche asked, covering her mouth as if to yawn. "Honestly, I have a choice between being bored here and being bored there. Primitive Tokyo may smell, but at least it doesn't have many feuding sisters with supernatural powers giving me a migraine."

Petz glanced in and sought out Beruche's target, finding her well enough. "You could burst in and take her. That might make things interesting."

"And we get to the real purpose of your visit," Beruche said in mock contentment, crossing her legs delicately. "I had been wondering when you would get around to it."

Petz frowned even more, making Beruche silently wonder if she was permanently disfiguring her face. "We don't have a lifetime to wait for all of you people to be absolutely certain before you take the targets."

Beruche rolled her eyes. "Oh, for pity's sake. We have access to the Time Gate. We have all the lifetimes we need."

"Not if Pluto can figure out a way to interfere with the Wiseman's powers," Petz snapped.

Beruche gasped, pretending to clutch at her pearls. "Why, Petz! That's as close to blasphemy as I've ever heard you get! What's next, dear? Are you going to call Prince Demando's lineage into question? I hope you don't go down this road, Petz. I would hate to report you to the proper authorities for treason and have your head severed." Beruche wrinkled her nose. "Especially since I'd probably have to witness it."

Petz practically snarled at her, an act that Beruche had always thought was more comical than frightening, though she had never bothered to mention it. "Don't be idiotic. I just want to get back to Crystal Tokyo. I hate being stuck in this city just as much as you do."

Beruche shrugged and said, "I suppose I can give you that. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to fly in through the window and drag that little mouse up to our ship only to find that she isn't Sailor Mercury. We'd have to keep her as well, and that would be far more trouble than it's worth."

"Doubting Master Rubeus isn't blasphemy?" Petz asked.

Beruche scoffed, waving a hand at Petz. "He isn't nearly important enough."

Petz shook her head, obviously tiring of the conversation. She looked back into the building and said, "What makes you think that she isn't Sailor Mercury?"

"Has Karaberas actually succeeded in driving you to distraction so that you can't see what is right in front of your face?" Beruche asked.

Petz scowled. "Just answer the question, Beruche."

"She doesn't seem that fearsome," Beruche said with a sigh, flipping her braid over her shoulder testily. "Hardly the sort that parents would use as a model threat." She turned to her eldest sister, eyebrow arched in an accusing manner. "Didn't you use to threaten to send us to Sailor Mercury and have her freeze us alive if we didn't behave?"

Petz smirked at the memory which was pleasant only for her. "I remember those days. Of course, you were too clever to fall for it and Karaberas relished in testing my limits, so it really only worked on Cooan."

Beruche sniffed, wanting to point out that she had had several nightmares about it before she'd managed to realize that Petz was lying, but she held her tongue. It was better if she didn't give her sister any sort of leverage against her. "She's hardly terrifying to look at. Not the sort of woman I'd expect to grow into such an Ice Queen."

Petz chuckled and folded her arms across her chest. "Well, I could say the same for you." She laughed even louder when Beruche's shoulders hunched over, reveling in her little sister's reaction. "And children run away from you for the same reasons as I recall." Petz released one last scathing guffaw before vanishing, escaping before Beruche could recover enough to be scathing.

Beruche scowled at the place where Petz had been, fingers curled into fists beneath her blue vinyl gloves. She squeezed her eyes shut, briefly trembling from the force. She breathed for several minutes, filling her lungs to full capacity each time until she finally began to calm down. Then she turned back to the window, watching as her unsuspecting prey went through the motions of her day, never realizing that a bitter huntress was waiting for just the right moment to strike.

-----

Ami and Makoto had agreed to eat lunch separately in order to give Ami more time to sort everything out. Makoto had been, perhaps understandably, reluctant to give in, but in the end she had respected Ami's desire for space. Makoto had said something about how no one would blame her if she was unable to figure everything out, but Ami hadn't been listening very closely, already trying to find the elusive solution to their current problem.

She was sitting on the roof, her empty bento box sitting beside her on a bench. She was still wondering about their enemy, wishing that the girl who had taken Rei had been a bit more forthcoming. Then again, that did her as much good to wish that she had been strong enough to prevent Rei's abduction or to wish that the enemy had never come at all. It was useless and it did nothing to help with her problem.

Who were they? Where had they come from? Why were they there? How had they met before and why couldn't anyone remember them? The questions seemed simple enough, but she still hadn't come up with an answer.

Ami felt like crying. She needed to figure this out, for Usagi's sake and for Rei's. She had no idea how much time Rei had before something worse happened to her, but Ami was terrified that it wasn't much. She felt like it was running out, speeding towards her friend's oblivion. If not worse.

She sat there trembling for a moment until she felt as if something was beginning to life. All at once things felt like they were becoming clearer. The watch on her wrist felt very heavy, and she turned to look at it as the epiphany hit her.

"Time," she whispered.

Ami had been fixating on the idea that their enemies had known them in the past life. But now, as wild as it seemed, Ami wondered if perhaps the Sailor Senshi had not technically even met their enemies yet. Maybe they were supposed to meet five or ten years in the future.

It was a long shot, but it was all she had.

"Could that be possible?" Ami muttered, her eyes darting back and forth along a crack in the roof frantically. "Could time travel be mastered in so short a time? Then again, even if our race wouldn't have an understanding on how to make it work, perhaps another would."

Ami felt her heart begin to lift in a giddy adrenaline rush. The thought was terrifying, of course. It meant that their enemies were unable to defeat them in the future, so they had gone back to try and eradicate them in the past, making it possible for them to take over the world or steal the Ginzuishou or do whatever else it was they hoped to do years before the Senshi were ready to face them. But it also meant that Ami and the others now knew who their enemies were and it gave them a better chance at being able to meet them. The scales were still uneven, but they were on their way to balancing. That might just give them a fighting chance.

Unable to contain herself, Ami got to her feet. Her heart was pounding in her chest so hard that she felt as if she'd just run a marathon. But that was only what she wanted to do. She wanted to run and yell her theory as loud as her lungs could manage.

"That has to be it," Ami concluded. "They have to be from the future. That's how that girl knew us. It's how she knew to be at Hikawa Jinja." Her glee quickly retreated, leaving her with nothing but fear as the full implications of that theory played out in her mind. "Does that mean they know who we are?"

"No, it doesn't."

Ami whirled at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. She turned to face a scantily clad woman with ice blue hair standing on top of the guard fence that surrounded the school's rooftops. She was smiling at Ami, but it wasn't what anyone would call friendly. She twirled the end of her French braid between her fingertips and said, "Well, I didn't know who you were until you started talking to yourself. You know, that really is a terrible habit. People will think you're crazy." She paused, her eyes flashing. "Sailor Mercury."

Ami began to back up, swiftly running through her avenues of escape. She thought of transforming right then and there, but it was only a matter of time before one of her classmates looked up and saw the commotion on the roof. Danger or not, Ami had no intentions of revealing her identity to the entire student body until she had run out of options. "Who are you?"

"Beruche," the girl supplied with a polite bow. "Your enemy from the future. Though I don't know what you meant by a short time."

Ami furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

Beruche giggled, covering her mouth with a gloved hand. "It's just that you girls don't meet us for another thousand years or so."

Ami stared at the other woman, completely slack-jawed. "What?"

Beruche sighed, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Oh, honestly. What am I thinking, engaging you in chit chat like this? That's just asking from one of your other little friends to come riding to your rescue." She shook her head, extending her hand upwards in a graceful arabesque. "And we can't have that now, can we, Little Mouse?"

Ami had recognized the gesture as a sign of impending attack, so she was ready to throw herself out of the way when Beruche let her magic loose. However, Ami was not expecting a huge jet of water to come surging forward, completely engulfing the area that Ami had stood. It left a large patch of ice in its wake, draining all of the blood from Ami's face.

"Your power..." Ami whispered.

"Remarkably similar to yours, wouldn't you say?" Beruche asked, holding her pose as if nothing had happened. "That's why you and I have a special bond, Sailor Mercury. We are so alike in some ways." Beruche darkened within a matter of seconds, her eyes thunderous and cold as a scowl marred her once placid features. "And that sickens me."

Beruche leapt upwards, floating on the air as she pushed her hand forward again. Another attack sped towards Ami, this one even more powerful than the last. Ami had less warning this time, but she managed to roll out of the way just in time.

Ami quickly scrambled to her feet so that she would be ready to get out of the way when the next attack came. She also noticed that the noise from the other students was growing louder. More and more people were noticing Beruche, and that meant that now Ami really had no choice in her strategy. She was just going to have to keep dodging and hope that Makoto was in a position to come to her aid in time.

"Why are you doing this?" Ami shouted up at her, hoping to buy Makoto some time.

"You're my enemy," Beruche said, her lips curled in malice. "What else would I do?" Beruche threw her arm back and fired off another shot at Ami.

This time Beruche managed to hit her on her left arm. Ami cried out in pain as the cold hit. Her arm didn't freeze, but it felt completely numb. She found that she could not move it and so it hung useless and heavy at her side. She looked back up at Beruche, her eyes wide with fear and confusion. "But why are we enemies?"

Beruche seemed to find this very amusing. She laughed, throwing her head back as elegantly as she could manage. Once she calmed down, she shook her head and said, "Don't be silly, Little Mouse. How could we not be enemies?" She paused and held both of her arms up above her head, making Ami prepare to dodge again. "You insisted upon it."

Ami dodged to the right as Beruche brought her arms down, but much to her surprise, Beruche had vanished. Ami looked around frantically for her opponent, terrified of what she knew was about to happen and wishing that Makoto would hurry up and help her.

Just then, Ami felt something cold and hard hit her square in the back. She shrieked as she went flying forward towards one of the fences. She twisted quickly in the air so that her side went crashing into it instead of her face. Her head hit before anything else, and Ami's scream briefly intensified with that explosion of bright red pain. Beruche's attack was powerful enough to make the metal give way, and for a moment, Ami was falling through the air. She heard people screaming - sometimes it was her name, sometimes it wasn't. Then she felt two arms wrap around her waist, holding her tightly enough to make her want for air.

Ami's heart sank just before she slipped into unconsciousness for she knew that she had been taken.





Coming Soon - Part Six: Like Rain

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