Usagi Loves...Rei?!
by amiwakawaiidesu
(Here's the premise: what would happen if Rei and Mamoru switched
bodies? Here you'll find my answer, plus a salty sea tale of high
adventure (or at least a salty sea tale ^^). Although the story
takes place after the fifth season, it assumes that Sailor Moon
still has the use of her Moon Power Tier (broken earlier by
Galaxia).
Also, please note that I don't own any of the original characters
from "Sailor Moon", which was created by Naoko Takeuchi.)
----------
"Now that's what I call a ship!"
"Well, technically, a small excursion craft should be referred to
as a 'boat'."
Rei rolled her eyes, determined not to get upset with Ami.
"Well, it's a nice boat, then."
"Oh, absolutely."
"Oh, who cares what you call it," Usagi interrupted, wrapping her
arms around Mamoru; "as long as I get to spend the day with Mamo-
chan!"
Again, Rei rolled her eyes.
//Gods, give me strength//
For all her grumpiness, though, even Rei could not deny that it
was shaping up to be a wonderful day. Standing on the dock in
Yokohama, she, Usagi, Mamoru and Rei were looking up at the white-
colored hull of the university motor vessel 'Kofuku Shima', while
puffy white clouds loitered over the waters of Tokyo Bay. Ever-
popular at his school, Mamoru had struck up a friendship with
marine biology professor--and motor vessel captain--Yamamoto
Minoru, and thus the captain had invited Mamoru and friends
aboard for a midsummer excursion.
"It's a pity Mako and Mina couldn't make it," Ami said.
"That's true," Rei agreed. "Mako is really good with boats."
"And she could've made us a box lunch," Usagi said, "if she didn't
have a date."
"Honestly, meatball-head," Rei said, "it's like the only reason
you like her is because she cooks for you."
"That's not true," Usagi pouted. "I like her, AND I like the fact
that she cooks for me."
"Er...Mamoru," Ami interrupted, "aren't we supposed to be helping
the crew do some work while we're on board?"
"Oh, it's nothing too serious," Mamoru replied. "The university
is studying tidal currents in the bay, so the captain will
probably have us help throw his bottles overboard."
"Throw bottles overboard?" Usagi asked. "That sounds like
littering..."
"It's part of the study, Usako," Mamoru explained, patiently; "The
bottles have instructions asking people who find them to return
them to the university. Then, by recording where the bottles were
mailed from, Professor Yamamoto can make a map of the currents
around the bay."
Usagi looked up at Mamoru, mystified.
"Forget it, Mamoru," Rei said. "It went right over her head."
"Hey!" Usagi protested.
Before a full-scale tongue-war could erupt, however, Captain
Yamamoto appeared at the top of the boarding steps and hailed the
party. To the surprise of the girls, the captain was a handsome
man only a little older-looking than Mamoru, with an athletic
physique and rakishly coifed black hair.
"Chiba-san! Good morning!"
"Good morning, senpai!" Mamoru replied, moving to greet his
friend.
"Chiba-san, you didn't tell me you had so many pretty
girlfriends!"
Rei and Ami blushed, while Usagi flew to defend her honor.
"A-hem!" she coughed; "Mamoru, you've got just one girlfriend,
remember?"
"Yamamoto senpai," Mamoru said, "allow me to introduce my
girlfriend, Tsukino Usagi..."
"Pleased to meet you," Usagi said, bowing slightly.
"And these are Usagi's friends, Hino Rei and Mizuno Ami."
The girls bowed as well.
"Well, you're all pretty girls in my book," Yamamoto said. "Of
course, some sailors do say it's bad luck to have girls on a
boat...but what the heck! Welcome aboard!"
Rei smiled giddily, following the captain and the others up the
steps onto the ship.
//Sweet! Mako and Mina are going to be sooooo jealous!//
* * *
Although the 'Kofuku Shima' was spacious--25 meters long and 3
meters wide--Captain Yamamoto had cut the regular crew of eight in
half on account of his extra help for the day, and the trip being
little more than an 8-hour trek around the bay. And indeed, the
weather was most congenial when they set out, barely rippling the
canvas tarp stretched across the quarterdeck for shade.
"Can you really handle a boat this big with four people?" Ami
asked, tossing a plastic tidal-study bottle over the stern
railing.
"It's not too difficult," Captain Yamamoto said; "most of the
controls are automated, so you could really handle the boat with
just an engineer and a pilot."
"So it's safe?"
Yamamoto smiled.
"Just make sure you keep your PFD on," he said, patting the
shoulder of his own Personal Flotation Device. "If you fall
overboard, pull this grip here and the automatic beacon will go
off."
"Ah--so the Coast Guard will know where to pick you up."
"Bright girl."
Ami blushed, slightly, and Rei grumbled...once again, a good-
looking guy was not paying her attention.
"It must be awfully romantic," Rei said, finally--tossing her head
to let her long black hair, bound by a silken bow, flail
dramatically; "being the captain of a big boat like this."
"Actually, I spend most of my time in the classroom," the captain
said, watching the bottle-tossing technique of Rei, Mamoru and Ami
with satisfaction. When Usagi reared back and let her bottle fly,
however, it slipped from her hand and nearly clocked Yamamoto in
the forehead before bouncing off a lifeboat davit.
"Oops!"
"Are you all right, senpai?" Mamoru asked.
"Oh, I'm fine," Yamamoto said, still crouching on the deck.
"Maybe it's a good thing Mako and Mina didn't come," Rei offered.
"Usagi would probably kill them!"
"Hey!"
"Where ARE your friends?" Yamamoto asked, grasping the handrail
alongside Rei. "They must be doing something special to pass up a
free cruise."
"Well, Makoto said she had a date," Rei answered, tossing another
bottle overboard, "which I find hard to imagine--since I can't
imagine she'd get a boyfriend before me..."
Whereupon she chucked another bottle into the water.
SPLASH!
"You're right," the captain said, "it is hard to imagine you don't
have a boyfriend."
"Well, on the other hand," Rei said, blushing slightly, "it does
mean I'm free to look around..."
"What about Yuuichirou?" Usagi asked.
"Hey, just watch your aim over there, dead-eye."
"So what about your other friend?" Yamamoto asked.
"Oh, Mina?" said Rei. "She had to go to some talent show."
"What was that you said her name was...? 'Mina' or something like
that...?"
"Yeah--Aino Minako."
Suddenly--and incongruously--the captain's face lit up with
surprise.
"YOU know Aino Minako? That is so cool!"
"Excuse me?"
"Aino Minako, the idol singer? Ah, what a goddess! I saw her
last year on a TV special, and I had an instant crush on her!"
"Okay..." Rei said, giving the older man a curious glance.
"Ah..." the captain sighed, "you don't suppose you could get me
her autograph, could you?"
"I don't know," Rei said, grumpily. "She's awfully busy."
SPLASH!
Mamoru, meanwhile, was smiling in amusement--Yamamoto did have a
curious, if mostly-harmless, obsession with idol singers--but his
smile disappeared when he happened to glance over his shoulder.
On the horizon--unusual for a sunny August day--a cloud bank was
now looming low and dark ahead of the boat.
"Captain...?"
"Yeah, I see it," Yamamoto replied. "It looks like a storm."
"There shouldn't be a storm today," Ami offered.
"No, there shouldn't. Chiba-san, maybe you should get the girls
belowdecks."
"Are we in danger?" Usagi asked Mamoru.
"I don't know," Mamoru said, steering Usagi, Rei and Ami toward
the starboard companionway. "It's probably safer below, though."
Yamamoto, meanwhile, was already dashing up the ladder to the back
of the pilot house, where the pilot had just stuck his head out to
call him.
* * *
The companionway led directly to the crew's mess, where Captain
Yamamoto had planned to feed the landlubbers in return for their
help with his research. However--despite the cakes and candies at
hand--Usagi soon found herself losing her appetite as the ship
began rolling between 1 and 2-meter swells.
"It looks like a gale," Ami said, looking out the nearest
porthole.
"Ohhh...make it stop..." Usagi moaned, turning green as she
watched the snacks roll across the deck.
"It's all right," Mamoru said, comforting her; "we can't be more
than 10 kilometers from shore."
"You could've fooled me," Rei said, staring through another
porthole at the wind-driven waves; "I can't see a thing out
there."
"Well," Mamoru said, "I think we should have faith in the captain.
You know, he practically grew up on his father's fishing boat."
"Grew up on a fishing boat," Rei said; "well, that would explain
the attraction to girls."
For his part, Mamoru believed the storm would soon pass; Tokyo Bay
was hardly large enough to hold a full-scale tropical depression,
so the storm couldn't last for long. A few minutes later,
however, the boat was lurching erratically, and Mamoru was
dismayed to see Captain Yamamoto himself at the forward hatch.
"I think we need your help, buddy."
"Are we in danger?" Mamoru asked, standing up and grasping a
bolted-down table for support.
"No, we just need another hand."
A few seconds later, Mamoru found himself up in the pilothouse
with the captain and the pilot, Mr. Maryoku. Since the pilothouse
was very high up on the superstructure, he felt an immediate surge
of vertigo--looking through the large bridge windows at the sea
surging back-and-forth around the boat--but balanced himself by
focusing on the horizon.
"Chiba-san," the captain said, "you ever steer a boat?"
"Excuse me?"
"Well, I hope you can steer this one."
"What? Why do you need ME to steer?"
"Maryoku-san and I have to secure the tarp," the captain said,
pointing back toward the quarterdeck; "the wind is grabbing it
like a sail, and whipping the boat back and forth."
"What about your other crew members?"
"They're already blown overboard," Yamamoto said.
For a long moment, Mamoru stared at the captain in disbelief.
"That doesn't sound good," he said, finally.
"Just look here," Yamamoto said, guiding Mamoru into the pilot's
chair as the regular pilot stood up; "this wheel controls the
rudder, and this throttle controls the engines. Just keep the bow
pointed toward the S on the compass."
"This is crazy!" Mamoru said.
"Think any of the girls can do better?"
For a moment, Mamoru imagined Usagi at the controls--and shivered
with fear.
"Probably not."
A few seconds later--after the captain saw that Mamoru was getting
the hang of the controls--the captain disappeared aft with his one
remaining crew member. Facing forward while he tried to control
the boat, Mamoru gritted his teeth and tried to make the best of
the perilous situation.
//Maybe it's Usagi// he thought, //maybe just having her around
makes these things happen...//
But then again, he thought, it had been his idea to take the girls
along; it wasn't fair to put the blame somewhere else.
//Yes, it really is my fault. It's my fault we took this trip,
and it'll be my fault when I kill the Moon Princess and half her
court...//
Mamoru's focus intensified, however, when he felt the steady thrum
of the engines stop below him.
"Shit!" he swore, trying in vain to work the throttle...
Without power, the boat was out of control!
"God...damn it...!" he muttered, trying to fight the wheel and
realizing he had very little idea what the controls around him
actually did. Genuine fear finally washed over him when he felt
the boat lurch and swing hard to starboard--but then he realized
the storm was finally breaking up...
Then, suddenly, he heard a familiar voice below him.
"Mamoru? Are you there?"
"Usagi? I'm on the bridge!"
Usagi found her way through the open deck hatch a few seconds
later, and immediately embraced her beloved.
"Oh, Mamo-chan, I'm so scared--Ami says the ship is flooding!"
"What the hell...?"
"She wanted me to tell the captain; do you know where he is?"
"Yeah, he should be back there," Mamoru said, pointing aft and
finally--realizing the helm controls were dead--standing up to
join Usagi at the rear window. The tarp--he now saw--was flapping
loose in the breeze, but the captain and the pilot were nowhere to
be seen.
"Uh, Mamo-chan? Where IS the captain?"
//This is not good...// Mamoru thought, //...not good!//
* * *
Racing belowdecks a moment later, down the bridge ladder through
the chart room, then down another companionway to the main
deck, Mamoru spared a moment to check aft for any sign of the
crew, then continued downward one more deck to the gangway leading
aft to the engine room. There he found Rei and Ami up to their
ankles in seawater, with both their hands on the engine room
hatch.
"Usagi said we're flooding," Mamoru said.
"We really ARE flooding...!" Usagi said, coming up behind Mamoru.
"Oh my god--we're going to sink!"
"I don't think so," Ami said; "the flooding's in the engine room,
and we locked the hatch."
"Good thinking," Mamoru said.
Whereupon, the lights went out.
"Power's out," Usagi offered.
"Thanks, Usagi," muttered Rei.
"Did you find the captain?" Ami asked.
"I don't think the captain's with us," Mamoru said. "I think he
was washed overboard."
"You're kidding," Rei said.
"Actually, I think the whole crew was washed overboard. Anyway,
the helm is jammed, and now it looks like we're out of power."
"Oh, great," Rei said. "We are so screwed!"
"Well, let's try to get organized," Mamoru said, helping the girls
ascend the companionway back to the partial light provided by the
portholes on the main deck; "we can't be more than a half-hour
from the coast, and I'm sure the Coast Guard will see us
eventually. In the meantime, Ami, why don't you see if you can
get the radio working and call for help."
"What if she can't?" Usagi asked.
"Then we'll use your communicator to call Luna, and she'll call
for help."
* * *
The first wrinkles in Mamoru's plan developed just a few minutes
later. While the storm had finally blown over, leaving the ship
floating with a stern list in the strangely tranquil water, Ami
had trouble picking up any signals on the radio, and the girls'
personal communicators were likewise jammed.
"The radio is working," Ami said, "and there's plenty of power
from the batteries...I think we're being jammed."
"By what?" Mamoru asked.
"Well, I don't know if we're being jammed," Rei said, standing
alongside the others in the pilothouse; "but I do have a feeling
there's something nearby--a presence."
"Some kind of monster?" Usagi asked, mindful of her transformation
brooch.
"I don't know, but it does it feel familiar..."
Curious, Ami took out her pocket computer and began to survey the
area. Although her computer scanner wasn't working much better
than the communicators, she did find a massive energy source
floating nearby--and all eyes picked it up when Ami pointed
a finger at the water off the starboard bow.
"What the hell is that?" said Rei.
"It looks like a trash can..." Usagi said.
"No, it's more like a hatch of a submarine," Mamoru said.
"Quite," Ami said, attempting to scan the mysterious object.
Strong jamming--doubtless from the object--was still interfering
with her ability to make a proper scan, but that didn't keep her
from analyzing the jamming energy itself.
"That thing," she went on, "is putting out a very strong energy
wave, very similar to the energy wave created by the Imperium
Silver Crystal."
"Wait a minute," Rei said, "let me get this straight; we're being
jammed by radio signals from a lunar submarine?"
"I think that would be a conjectural leap," Ami replied. "Still,
it is peculiar--and the hatch is open; maybe we should
investigate."
"Out of the question," Mamoru said. "As long as this ship is
afloat and stable, we'll wait here for rescue."
Ami appeared more disappointed than Rei and Usagi, but even she
could see that his leadership was sensible. And a few minutes
later, it appeared that their salvation was at hand when a
Japanese Coast Guard plane flew almost directly overhead.
Ecstatic, the girls ran out on deck to wave and gesture toward the
plane, but it neither turned nor appeared to acknowledge them in
any way.
"I don't think they saw us," Rei offered.
"How could they not see us?" Usagi said. "They flew right over
us."
"Let's just be patient," Mamoru said. "I'm sure they'll come
back."
Nearly an hour passed, however, before another craft came into
view; this time it was a massive containerized cargo ship--but
she, likewise, passed the 'Kofuku Shima' without seeming to notice
the smaller craft.
"Aren't they supposed to stop to help people in distress?" Usagi
asked.
"That is the law," Ami said.
"Hm," Mamoru mused, rummaging around the pilothouse and digging up
a flare pistol. When the next ship appeared--a harbor tug--he
tried to fire off a flare, but the projectile seemed to slam into
an invisible barrier just a few meters above the ship and
disintegrated in a shower of sparks.
"Here, let me try something," Rei said, running up to the foredeck
and taking her transformation pen out of her jeans. "MARS
CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE UP!"
In a wash of red light and fire, Rei promptly transformed into the
pretty soldier, Sailor Mars.
"Okay, now what?" Usagi said, standing alongside Ami and Mamoru on
the bridge, and shouting through an open side window.
"Just watch," Sailor Mars said; "I've been working on a new
attack..."
"MARS CELESTIAL FIREBALL!"
Suddenly--to the utter surprise of Usagi, Ami and Mamoru--an
enormous ball of fire ascended from the hands of Sailor Mars and
began to rise into the air above the ship.
"Well, the tug out to see that," Ami conceded.
Just like the flare pistol shell, however, the fireball stopped
abruptly several meters above the ship--then exploded across the
foredeck like a gigantic gasoline bomb.
"Oh, shit!" Sailor Mars said, diving off the side of the boat just
in time to avoid getting roasted. The pressure wave, meanwhile,
cracked the windows of the bridge and sent everyone else ducking
for cover.
"I think that one needs some work," Usagi suggested, helping
Mamoru fish the waterlogged senshi out of the bay.
"Well, anyway," Sailor Mars said, "I'll bet the tug saw that!"
"Actually, I don't think they did," Ami said. "It looks like
they're still heading away from us."
"Well, hell," Sailor Mars swore; "what's out there, a force
field?"
"I think that's exactly what's out there," Ami said. "I think
there's a force field jamming the radio, bending our light
waves to make us appear invisible, and preventing objects from
leaving the area."
"But that's crazy," Mamoru said; "it would take a ridiculous
amount of power to encase a ship in a force field, and bend light
like that."
"Unless that submarine is from the Moon Kingdom," Ami conjectured.
"We know the Moon Kingdom had technology more sophisticated than
ours. Perhaps Queen Serenity built this thing with the power
of her own Silver Crystal."
"Well," Mamoru said, stroking his chin, "I suppose it is
possible."
"Yes. It's even possible that the submarine caused the storm in
the first place. If it is from the Moon Kingdom, it might have
been trying to get our attention."
All eyes turned to Usagi, as Sailor Mars squeezed the water out of
her long black hair and transformed back into Rei.
"Well, what about it, Your Highness," Rei said. "You feel
anything?"
"I'm just wondering why they'd have submarines on the moon," Usagi
said.
"I had to ask."
"Well, anyway," Usagi said, "somebody better go over there and
check it out. It's going to be dark soon, and we don't even know
which way the shore is."
"Usagi's right," Ami said--pleasantly surprised by Usagi's grasp
of the situation--"without power, we can't get away from this
'submarine', and we might drift right into the Pacific. Or sink,
and drown."
"We do have the lifeboat," Mamoru said. "If we rowed away from
the 'Kofuku Shima', we might get outside the jamming field so the
Coast Guard could pick up our life jacket beacons."
"Or," Rei countered, "we might drift into the Pacific in an even
smaller boat than we've already got...assuming we could even get
past the force field."
It was a classic impasse, although it was nothing new to Usagi;
over the years, she'd seen her friends have plenty of differing
opinions. Now, once again, all eyes turned to her for a decision.
"If it came from the Moon Kingdom," she said, "we should
investigate."
"As you wish," Mamoru said, "your highness."
* * *
What Usagi didn't realize--when she exercised her leadership--was
that the group wouldn't allow her to board the submarine. Mamoru
(the strongest) and Rei (the most psychically gifted) would take
the lifeboat over to the submarine while Usagi and Ami stayed on
board the 'Kofuku Shima'.
"I think it's for the best," Ami said, standing alongside Usagi
and paying out the line that connected their vessel to the
lifeboat.
"I just hope Rei doesn't take advantage of the situation," Usagi
said.
"How would she take advantage of the situation?"
"Honestly, Ami--boy plus girl plus mysterious submarine: do the
math."
"So you're suggesting Rei would flirt with Mamoru."
"She's crafty--that's all I'm saying."
* * *
Aboard the lifeboat, meanwhile, Mamoru and Rei were coming to see
that the submarine was less of a cylinder and more of a submerged
disk. Only the top hatch was clearly visible, but the outline of
the 'submarine' was clearly circular, perhaps 20 meters in
diameter.
Luckily, as they drew closer, they found projections they could
tie a line to, and a ladder leading down into the interior of the
submerged craft. It was comfortable--warm and brightly-lit--with
polished white corridors leading off to the right and the left.
"This is weird," Mamoru said. "It looks bigger on the inside than
the outside."
"Like a TARDIS," Rei said, grinning.
"Excuse me?"
"British TV--'Doctor Who'."
"Well, it sure doesn't look like any submarine I've ever seen;
where's the crew?"
Rei paused to exert her psychic senses. Holding her hands
together, she focused her chi and searched for a presence.
"There is something here," she said, "a presence--but I don't
think it's human."
"Don't tell me--something like the monster in 'Alien'."
"Oh, I hate that movie," Rei said.
"Which way, priestess?"
"This way," Rei said, keeping one hand around the transformation
pen in her pocket. If something was waiting to ambush them, she
could always change into Sailor Mars, and Mamoru into Tuxedo
Kamen.
Amazingly, Rei and Mamoru walked for several minutes down a
curving corridor before they found an obvious doorway leading into
the interior of the craft. There they found a circular chamber
with a glowing ring of light in the center.
"Maybe we're supposed to stand in the ring of light," Rei
suggested.
"Fine," Mamoru said, stepping into the ring beside her. A moment
later, the ring began to sink into the floor.
"An elevator," Rei noted, watching several levels of deck fly
past.
"I'm guessing this wasn't made in Japan," Mamoru ventured, as the
elevator finally came to a stop deep in the bowels of the ship--
this time in a poorly lit chamber illuminated only by glowing data
screens.
"I don't know," Rei said, peering into the darkness and noting a
pair of padded contour chairs; "you don't think Matsushita could
have built this?"
"More like Tokyo Disneyland," Mamoru said, stepping off the
elevator pad beside Rei and examining the chamber in detail.
"There's no controls for any of these displays, and the language
is completely foreign."
"Maybe it's Moon-ese."
"Maybe."
Rei, in the meantime, had slipped into one of the chairs and noted
a bumpy nodule on the end of one of the armrests.
"Do you think you ought to be sitting in that chair?"
"I don't think it's going to bite. Why don't you sit in the other
chair and see if something happens?"
"What if it's a trap?" Mamoru said, sitting down warily.
"I don't think it's a trap," Rei said. "I can't believe anyone
would go through this much trouble just to trap a couple of
people."
Mamoru shifted uncomfortably, dubious of Rei's logic.
"This is interesting, though," Rei said, feeling the nodule
underneath her fingers slide open.
"What is it?"
"There's some kind of button here."
"Well, don't push it..."
"I think I should push it."
"Rei, don't push the button."
"I'm going to push the button."
And Rei pushed the button. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but
then--suddenly--Rei felt a strange warmth suffusing her body, and
realized she couldn't move.
"This isn't good, Rei," Mamoru said, feeling the same warmth
burning in his own chest, and realizing he was likewise glued to
his chair.
"Okay, maybe I shouldn't have pushed the button..." Rei admitted,
feeling her consciousness quickly slipping away.
* * *
When Rei came to, her head was throbbing with a dull aching pain.
As her eyes focused, she saw that she was still in the same
circular chamber as before, but something was amiss; her limbs
felt heavy, and she glanced down at her body...
...it appeared to be a man's body...
...Mamoru's body.
"YAAAAAAA--!!!"
"I see you're awake," Mamoru said--only it wasn't his voice, it
was hers. Evidently, their bodies had stayed in their seats, and
their minds had traded places!
"I was pretty freaked out myself," the false--or 'nise'--Rei
continued, "at first. But I don't think the effect caused any
serious damage."
Nise-Mamoru--still panting with shock, his heart pounding in his
chest--couldn't even respond until a moment later.
"No serious damage--? How long have you been awake...?"
"I don't know--a few minutes."
"Well, don't look at my body!" nise-Mamoru said. "You haven't
been looking at my body, have you--?"
Nise-Rei cocked her right eyebrow.
"Rei," she said, "I like to think that I'm a gentleman, and I
would not lower myself to such base amusements. Even if I'm in
your body, it doesn't mean I have any interest in your body."
Even as she said that, nise-Rei realized it didn't make a lot of
sense.
"What--? Now I'm not attractive, or something?"
"Rei--focus: alien spaceship, mind transfer--not good."
Nise-Mamoru tensed and nodded.
"Is it possible this might be an illusion?" nise-Rei asked.
"Let me see," nise-Mamoru said, lifting his hands and closing his
eyes to focus his chi.
"I don't think so," he said, a moment later; "I think I really am
inside your body."
"But you can use your psychic power," nise-Rei noted; "that's
something. Maybe if you use your transformation pen, it will turn
you back."
"Good idea," nise-Mamoru said, searching in his pants for the
pen.
"Oops--I don't think that's the pen," he said a moment later,
pulling out...Mamoru's keys.
"Here," nise-Rei said, fishing the pen out of her jeans and
handing it to nise-Mamoru. The false Mamoru then tottered
upright onto his feet--surprised by his sudden height on Mamoru's
long legs--and held the pen overhead.
"MARS CRYSTAL POWER," he bellowed, "MAKE UP!"
However, nothing happened.
"Here, let me try my transformation," nise-Rei said, standing up
and swinging her right arm around dramatically. Unlike the Sailor
Senshi, Tuxedo Kamen could transform instantaneously, and thus
nise-Rei expected to find herself back in a man's body the next
moment, wrapped in a flamboyant black cape and sporting a top hat
and mask.
But again, nothing happened.
"This IS bad," nise-Mamoru said. "Mamoru, I'm sorry..."
"Well, it's too late for that," nise-Rei said, resting her hands
on her hips; "we have to reverse the effect."
"Well, we could ask Sailor Moon to use her healing power..."
"Are you kidding?" nise-Rei said. "If Usagi found out I was in
your body, she would kill me and skin you alive!"
"Oh, come on," nise-Mamoru said, without conviction, "Usagi
wouldn't be that upset...would she?"
The man and girl looked at each other a long moment, then nodded
agreement.
"Yeah," nise-Mamoru said, "she'd kill us."
"But what other option do we have?"
"We could always try to reverse the process; you know--we change
places in the seats and press the button again."
Nise-Rei was skeptical.
"I don't think that's wise. It might kill us, or scramble our
brains for good."
"Well, what then?"
"I say we talk to Ami. She might be able reverse the process."
"That's a long-shot..."
"Well, it's that, or we run around the ship pushing buttons at
random..."
"I'd rather bet on Ami," nise-Mamoru said, stepping onto the
elevator pad. "Come on."
Although nise-Rei was frustrated by the continuing mystery of the
origin and purpose of the 'submarine', she joined nise-Mamoru a
moment later. Shortly, they were both headed upward, with the
elevator evidently sensing their desire to return to the surface.
"Uh...Rei?"
"What?"
"I feel like I have to pee. Is that normal?"
"Yeah, probably. They do say boys can hold it longer than girls."
"Well, that's good," nise-Rei said, wishing the elevator would
hurry up.
"Don't worry, we'll be back on the 'Kofuku Shima' soon. Just
don't look at yourself when you go."
"Excuse me?"
"Just don't look at yourself when you do your business."
"And how am I supposed to 'do my business' if I can't look at
myself?"
"You can manage," nise-Mamoru said, primly; "it doesn't go
all over the place like when a guy does it."
Nise-Rei sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Of course," nise-Mamoru said, "I suppose I could help you, if
you want..."
"No," nise-Rei said, as the elevator finally stopped at the top
deck; "I think we'll draw the line there."
* * *
It was getting toward dusk when Ami finally spotted Rei and Mamoru
returning to the 'Kofuku Shima' in their lifeboat.
"Did you find anything?" Usagi yelled, helping Ami reel in the
lifeboat line.
Rei and Mamoru looked at each other, not sure who should answer.
"No, not much," Mamoru said, finally, "the submarine appears to be
abandoned."
"Mamoru, I'm concerned," Ami said, helping Usagi pull the others
on board; "I just saw Cape Suno off the port bow, and I think
we're being towed out to sea by that submarine."
"Oh, Mamo-chan," Usagi said, embracing her boyfriend, "what are we
going to do?"
"There, there," Mamoru said awkwardly, patting Usagi on the
back.
"Usagi," Rei said, "do you think you could run below and find us a
flashlight? Mamoru here said he wanted to check the flooding in
the engine room again."
"Oh, sure," Usagi said, dashing aft.
The moment she was gone, both Rei and Mamoru converged on Ami.
"Ami, you've got to help us," nise-Mamoru said.
"What's the matter?"
"We DID find something on that submarine," nise-Rei said; "a
machine that switched our minds into each other's bodies!"
Ami looked at the pair suspiciously.
"This is some kind of practical joke, right?"
"Will--you--listen--to--me--!" nise-Mamoru said, startling Ami by
grasping her shoulders and throwing her up against the deckhouse;
"if you don't help us, Usagi will kill us!"
"Easy, Rei," nise-Rei said; "you're a lot stronger than you were
as a girl."
"Sorry," nise-Mamoru said, letting Ami go. Released, Ami
immediately reached for her pocket computer.
"Oh my God," Ami said, scanning the man before her; "your brain
waves--you really are Rei!"
Then she examined the seeming Rei.
"And you ARE Mamoru! Incredible!"
"Yeah, it's real amazing," nise-Mamoru said, impatiently.
"Listen, Ami, you're a genius, right? Please, please, help us!"
Still amazed--and astounded--Ami looked back and forth at the pair
before her.
"Maybe we should tell Usagi," she finally suggested; "she could
use her wand to heal you..."
"No!" nise-Mamoru said; "Usagi would never understand this."
"Well, jeez, I don't know what I could do," Ami said. "My
scanner doesn't even work beyond a few meters, with all the
jamming from the submarine."
"Won't you at least take a look at the submarine?" nise-Rei asked.
"I don't know...shouldn't we be more concerned about being
stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?"
"Well, look at it this way," nise-Rei said; "we need to disable
that submarine if we're ever going to be rescued. That's a good
excuse for looking at the submarine, right there."
"Yeah," nise-Mamoru said, "you're good at breaking stuff, Ami."
"Excuse me!"
"I mean...you're good at figuring out how things work."
Ami sighed.
"Fine. Just let me tell Usagi where I went..."
"No," nise-Mamoru said, steering Ami toward the lifeboat, "she'll
just ask a lot of nosy questions."
"But..."
"We'll make up some kind of story," nise-Rei said.
"Oh, fine," Ami said, finally, stepping into the lifeboat and
taking up the oars. "But you two are going to owe me--big time."
* * *
"Where's Ami going?" Usagi asked, coming back on deck a few
minutes later with a couple of flashlights.
"Oh, don't worry about her," nise-Mamoru said. "She said
something about checking out a theory or something."
"But...someone should go with her."
"It's all right," nise-Rei said, taking Usagi's forearm; "Ami's
an expert swimmer, and she didn't want anyone else to risk their
life with the night coming on."
"Oh...okay."
"Now if you'll excuse me," nise-Rei said, squeezing her thighs
together, "I think I'll just be off to the little girls room!"
* * *
"Incredible!" Ami muttered, wandering down the winding top-deck
corridor of the submarine, then onto the automated elevator.
"Incredible!"
Curiously--inside the submarine--Ami's computer scanner seemed to
work perfectly well, and she could see that the submarine was
actually a vast saucer--more than 200 meters in diameter--with its
exterior distorted through extra-dimensional space to make it
appear smaller on the outside than the inside. Deep inside the
belly of the craft, a fusion powerplant was quietly humming away,
and there were no less than 12 decks in total, equipped with
elaborate electronic and life-support equipment.
"If I could find a way to salvage this ship," Ami thought out
loud--descending to the same level where Mamoru and Rei had
suffered their accident--"it would be the greatest scientific
discovery of the millennium!"
"Perhaps," a soft, feminine voice said behind her. "But is that
really for the best?"
Surprised, Ami spun around and felt her heart suddenly leap in her
chest.
"Mom--?"
It seemed impossible--Ami's mother was back at work at her
hospital in Tokyo--but this figure appeared to be a virtual twin.
She had her mother's beautiful blue eyes, long brown hair and
strangely sad expression...only her costume, a radiant white gown
in the style of Queen Serenity, was out of character.
"I'm sorry," the woman said, "I'm not your mother. Or at least,
I'm not your mother in this lifetime. I was your mother a long
time ago...in the Moon Kingdom."
"Who ARE you?" Ami asked, feeling a chill run up her spine.
"My name is Lady Maia," she said, "mother of Princess Mercury, and
physician to the court of Queen Serenity."
Despite herself, Ami felt her knees give out, and she stumbled
backward onto the floor, coming to a rest with her back against a
bulkhead wall.
"Oh, my precious daughter," Maia said, gently, "I didn't mean to
frighten you."
"I am Sailor Mercury--Princess Mercury--" Ami admitted, "--but I
didn't know Sailor Mercury had a mother. I guess she would have
had to, though..."
"Oh, you haven't changed at all," Maia said, bending down to sit
near Ami; "always thinking...always wondering..."
"Now wait a minute," Ami said--trying to remain rational despite
the trip-hammer beating of her heart; "why didn't my friends see
you...?"
"I didn't want them to. I only wanted to see you...one more
time."
It was then, as Ami looked into the eyes of the strange being,
that she realized she was semi-transparent, like a ghost or a
hologram.
"I'm not a real person," Maia admitted, anticipating Ami's
question and looking away for a moment; "I'm more in the nature of
a projection, containing the memories of Lady Maia. But I do love
you, and when I felt your presence near me, I had to see
you...just one more time."
"Do you mean," Ami conjectured, "you caused the storm...and
crippled our boat...just to see me?"
"Oh, child, I didn't realize how fragile your craft was. When
this hospital rose from the ocean floor, the storm was a side
effect of the energy being dissipated."
"Hospital?"
"That's what this is," Maia said, looking around herself; "this
was a hospital ship in the service of Queen Serenity. It
travelled throughout the solar system, helping the sick and
injured."
"And the jamming?"
"A defensive measure. The hospital has no weapons, so it had to
rely on passive defenses."
"So the distortion of the hull into another dimension..."
"...was also defensive; it reduced the apparent size of the
hospital, and made it easier to move through space."
Ami smiled.
"You do sound like my mother," she said, remembering her mother's
gentle, thoughtful manner.
Maia smiled back.
"She has my soul," Maia said, after a moment. "I survived the
destruction of the Moon Kingdom, but I was alone aboard this ship
after the passage of Beryl--the destroyer. I knew that the queen
had sent you into the future, so I tried to survive until you were
born again...but I was weak and sick without the power of the
queen. When I knew I could survive no longer, I prayed that my
soul would be born again in your time, and sank this ship in the
waters of your blue world, Earth."
Despite herself, Ami felt a tear roll down her cheek.
"I never knew..."
Maia tried to lay her hand against Ami's cheek, but her hand was
insubstantial--like a ghost's.
"I thought...this ship might help you one day, but I think I was
wrong..."
Maia then turned to face a dark viewscreen, and it suddenly
illuminated with scenes of violence. Ami was confused about what
she was seeing at first, but then she realized she was watching
recordings of naval battles from an undersea perspective. Ships
rocked with explosions of bombs and torpedoes, and Ami saw one
hapless ship slide beneath the waves with its back broken--a
warship still flying the flag of the rising sun.
"The Pacific War," Ami said.
"I had thought," Maia said, "that this might be a peaceful world,
where the Moon Princess could rebuild her kingdom, but I fear I
was wrong..."
Then, as if to illustrate her point, Maia brought forth images of
Tokyo burning--strangely distorted by waters overhead.
"But that was 60 years ago," Ami said. "We don't even have a
military now--officially, anyway."
"But what about the rest of the world? Is this world at peace?"
"No," Ami conceded. "Men still build weapons, and use them
against each other."
Having viewed enough destruction, perhaps, Maia turned off the
viewscreen.
"You are a gentle soul, Ami, but even you can see...if this
spacecraft fell in the wrong hands..."
"Someone would turn it into a weapon, yes. So why didn't you
destroy it in the first place?"
"Because," Maia said, turning back to Ami, "I missed you so much.
I needed to see you--at least one more time."
Ami bit her lower lip, caught on the horns of an unsolvable
dilemma
"I don't want you to die," Ami said; "can't you leave this ship?"
"No, I am part of this ship."
"Perhaps you could just return to the ocean floor..."
"No," Maia said, "your friends have seen the hospital. Others
would come."
"They COULD keep your secret," Ami replied. "They've certainly
kept bigger ones..."
"But my secret could destroy the world. No, my time has passed;
it was enough that I could see your face again."
Ami grimaced; certainly, destroying this ship would destroy the
jamming field around the 'Kofuku Shima'...
But then, suddenly, she remembered the slight problem shared by
Rei and Mamoru.
"Well, you might be right," Ami said, "but I do have a question.
My friends--who came aboard earlier--seem to have switched
identities somehow..."
"Oh, yes," Maia said, glancing at the chairs behind her; "the
soul inverter."
"Why in the world do you have a machine like that?"
"Actually," Maia explained, "it's a healing device. On the Moon,
I discovered that I could heal injuries in my own body by focusing
my mental energies, but I was frustrated because I couldn't do the
same for other people. Finally--with your help--I built the soul
inverter so I could enter the body of a patient, and heal that
person from within."
"Amazing," Ami said.
"I hadn't thought to include any safety features," Maia admitted;
"everyone in the Moon Kingdom knew how it worked."
"So, how do I switch them back?"
"Prince Endymion and Princess Mars?"
"Yes."
"Well...the machine does have a long recharging period. It can
only be used once per lunar cycle."
"28 days...?"
"I'm sorry."
"Is there ANY other way to reverse the effect?"
"Had you considered the Moon Princess? She has healing powers."
"Yes, I had considered that," Ami said, reflecting on the paranoia
of her friends. "Thank you, Lady Maia--I'll ask if she can help."
"Are you going to leave now?"
"My friends are on a leaking boat in the middle of the ocean," Ami
said. "I should be with them..."
Even if she were just a projection, Maia appeared sad beyond
words.
"I'll destroy the hospital then, after you go."
"Maybe you should give me an hour," Ami said; "just to straighten
things out over there."
"Of course."
"I am sorry I can't stay," Ami continued; "I wish I could, but...I
have a duty to my friends..."
Maia smiled, ascending to her feet as Ami staggered upright.
"You are my daughter," she said, proudly. "But...would you do me
just one favor?"
"What's that?"
"Hug your mother for me, when you see her again."
"I'll do that," Ami replied, pausing a moment to reach out her
hand and touch the space where Maia's heart would have been--if
she'd had one.
"I'll do that."
* * *
Aboard the 'Kofuku Shima', it was soon quite dark, despite a
cloudless sky spattered with stars. Using one of the two
flashlights Usagi had rummaged, nise-Mamoru inspected the flooding
belowdecks and reported it appeared to be stabilized.
"Well, that's something," Usagi said, yawning.
"You tired?" nise-Rei asked.
"We've been up all day," Usagi said. "But I'm afraid to doze
off."
"Go ahead and take a nap, Usako," nise-Rei said; "you and Rei--
I'll keep watch."
Usagi looked at nise-Rei, confused.
"Did you just call me 'Usako'?"
"Uh...no. I said, 'go ahead and take a nap, meatball-head'."
"Then you told Rei to take a nap, too," Usagi said.
//Damn it--she would have to be paying attention NOW.//
"Rei's probably just tired," nise-Mamoru said. "Why don't both
you girls try to get some rest, and I'll wait up for Ami in the
pilothouse."
Desperately--while Usagi's back was turned--nise-Rei tried to
wave off the suggestion, but nise-Mamoru was already heading for
the bridge. Finally, she had no choice but to join Usagi--leading
the way with another flashlight--as she descended belowdecks to
the passenger stateroom, where a bunk bed was stationed for longer
voyages.
"I am beat," Usagi admitted, taking the lower bunk. "What about
you?"
"Yeah, I'm a little tired," nise-Rei admitted, climbing up to the
top bunk.
"I'll bet my mom is worried," Usagi said, shutting off the
flashlight. "I told her we'd be back by sunset."
"You'll be fine. I won't let anything happen to you."
Usagi looked up at the bunk above her, mystified.
"You almost sound like Mamoru."
"Oh, sorry."
"No, it's fine. I'm just used to you insulting me, and calling me
a 'meatball head' all the time."
"Oh, sorry," nise-Rei said, adding--hastily--"meatball head."
"Well, you don't HAVE to call me that."
"Sorry."
"Do you really think I'm stupid, Rei? I mean, I know I'm not the
brightest person in the world, and I'm kind of clumsy and clueless
sometimes, but I still think I'm a good person."
"I'm sorry," nise-Rei said. "I think you're a wonderful person.
I wish I could tell you how much I admire you...standing up to our
enemies, protecting us all..."
"Are you sure you don't have a fever?" Usagi asked.
"Well--I am your friend, aren't I? Can't a friend tell her
friend how she feels?"
"Well, yeah...it's just, it seems like you're always hiding behind
insults and digs, like you don't want me to get too close to you."
"I'm sorry," nise-Rei said, again; "I'm tired...I guess I'm not
thinking straight..."
A few minutes later, Usagi--now wide-awake and pondering her
friend's odd behavior--heard her beginning to snore in the bunk
above.
//Poor Rei,// Usagi thought, //I was mean to her--when she was
trying to tell me how she really felt. I ought to apologize
later.//
Thinking about Rei's change in behavior, however--which she
attributed to their perilous situation--Usagi couldn't help but
think about Mamoru, alone on the bridge. Quietly, then, she
rolled out of her bunk, leaving the flashlight behind for Rei, and
felt her way topside.
"Mamo-chan?"
"Usagi...?" nise-Mamoru said, turning in his seat; "I thought you
were asleep."
"I was worried about you," Usagi said, startling the man by
dropping into his lap; "isn't Ami back yet?"
"No. Her boat's still out there."
"Do you think she's okay?"
"I'm sure Ami's fine," nise-Mamoru said, putting his left arm
around Usagi--and hoping Usagi couldn't sense his chagrin as she
laid her head against his chest; "I can sense it."
"You can 'sense' it? Since when are YOU psychic?"
"I meant...I have a feeling she's all right. Anyway, I must be
psychic--how else could Tuxedo Kamen always find Sailor Moon when
she's in danger?"
"You make it sound like Tuxedo Kamen is another person."
//If only you knew!//
Not sure what to do with his right hand, nise-Mamoru finally
rested it on the back of Usagi's head. After a moment, he found
himself idly stroking her long, twin pony tails.
"You do have nice hair," nise-Mamoru said; "it's hard to keep it
from fraying when it's long like that."
Suddenly, Usagi lifted up on her forearms to look nise-Mamoru in
the eyes.
"Since when do YOU know anything about hair?"
"I'm just saying--it's a lot of trouble to have long hair. It's
one thing you've got in common with Rei."
"Yeah, I guess. Rei does have pretty hair."
"You think?"
"Well, yeah. Guys are always gaga over how pretty she is."
"Like who?"
"Hey--you're supposed to be obsessed with me."
Nise-Mamoru shrugged, and nodded.
"Of course. Chiba Mamoru only has eyes for Usagi."
Usagi frowned.
"You know, that's weird. You just called me Usagi, and Rei called
me Usako. What, did you switch personalities or something?"
Nise-Mamoru chuckled, weakly.
"Maybe it's this stupid boat," Usagi speculated. "It's making
both of you silly."
"That might be true," nise-Mamoru admitted; "you do seem to be the
only sane one here."
"I know what will make you feel better..." Usagi said, gently
leaning forward toward her boyfriend's lips...
And suddenly, nise-Mamoru panicked, eyes wide with fear.
//No, this isn't good--!//
Finally--when Usagi's lips were mere millimeters away--nise-Mamoru
turned away, and received a kiss on the cheek.
"Mamo-chan!"
"What?"
"Mamo-chan, we could die here any minute! Don't you love me?"
"I think I'm beginning to see why I would," nise-Mamoru said, "I
mean--what I would see in you, as Mamoru. Even if you are as dumb
as a post, sometimes."
"Mamo-chan!" Usagi said, starting to cry.
"Oh, don't cry--! I'm sorry, that didn't come out right..."
"I knew it!" Usagi wailed, recoiling from his touch; "you hate me!
You think I'm stupid!"
"No...I--no, I don't think you're stupid...! I'm an idiot, okay?
Stupid Mamoru--stupid Mamoru doesn't have a clue what he's
saying...!"
"I'll say," nise-Rei said, from the back of the bridge.
Suddenly, both Usagi and nise-Mamoru turned around--and were
startled to see Ami there as well. Evidently, Ami had returned
while the couple on the bridge was otherwise occupied.
"Ami--?" nise-Mamoru said; "what are you doing here...?"
"Saving you and Mamoru from further embarrassment," Ami replied.
Despite her tears, Usagi noticed the apparent mistake.
"Don't you mean, 'you and Rei'?"
"No, Usagi. Mamoru, Rei and I have been treating you like a
child--afraid of telling you about something that happened--and I,
for one, want to be the first to apologize."
"Huh?"
"To break it down simply," Ami said, "Rei and Mamoru discovered a
machine on board the spaceship over there..."
"It really IS a spaceship?" Usagi interrupted.
"...yes, and they accidentally transferred their consciousness
from one body to the other. Judging by your reaction--Usagi--Rei
didn't do a very good job of acting like Mamoru."
For a long moment, Usagi simply tried to understand what Ami was
saying...then her eyes widened with fear and horror.
"Rei--?" Usagi said, facing first the false Mamoru, then the false
Rei, "Mamoru--? How could you...!"
Then, her face awash in tears, she broke away from the false
Mamoru and dashed belowdecks.
"Good one, Ami," nise-Mamoru said; "I knew she wouldn't
understand."
"Don't blame Ami," nise-Rei said. "She told me Usagi is the only
one who can help us."
"Well, we should stop her, then..." nise-Mamoru said, rising to
stand.
"No," Ami said, holding up her hand; "let her be. If I were her,
I'd be really pissed-off, too."
* * *
For Usagi, the farthest place she could run was into the belly of
the ship, down where the flooding water had pooled in front of the
engine room. On the way down there, she gave a passing thought to
throwing herself overboard--so deep was her sense of betrayal--but
something would not let her. Even as she splashed into the
pooling water, slipped and landed on a half-submerged step, she
wondered what she might have done if she were Rei or Mamoru.
It hurt to cry as much as she did--it swelled her eyes and burned
her throat--and it was a long time before she saw a bobbing
flashlight beam, and realized someone was down there looking for
her.
"Usagi...?"
Ami.
"Usagi, I'm sorry," Ami said, pointing her flashlight downward.
"I should have told you from the start."
Silence.
"Usagi, please don't hate us..."
"Oh, Ami," Usagi said, finally, "I don't hate you. Are you by
yourself?"
Ami nodded--immediately feeling foolish in the poorly-lit
corridor.
"Rei and Mamoru are topside," she said.
"Help me up, would you?"
Still holding her flashlight, Ami immediately splashed down into
the water and lifted up her friend.
"You're soaking wet," Ami said. "You'll catch your death of
cold."
Usagi snort-laughed, despite herself.
"Ami, why can't I have a normal life, with normal friends?"
"Usagi, I'm sorry. What can I say...?"
"I just wish," Usagi said, "you could trust me. Haven't I always
been there for you? Haven't I always risked everything I have for
you guys...?"
"I think that's the problem, Usagi. Rei and Mamoru do love you,
and they didn't want to burden you with this stupid mistake they
made."
"Is there anything I can do for them?"
"Yes," Ami said; "you're the only one who can heal them."
"Well--why didn't they ASK me?"
"Because they're your friends, and they thought you'd freak out if
you knew what happened."
"Well, I would freak out...! I'm mad, damn it...!"
Usagi stood there a moment, gasping with frustration.
"...but--I still love them. They are my friends."
"Well," Ami suggested, "maybe you should tell them. I think they
feel pretty stupid right now."
Usagi smiled, aware of the tears crystallized on her cheeks.
Angry and disappointed as she was, she couldn't imagine it was
very much fun for Rei and Mamoru to be trapped in the wrong
identities like they were; almost certainly, her friends were
hurting, just like she was.
"You're right, Ami," Usagi said finally, putting her hand on her
friend's shoulder, and pausing a long moment before she spoke
again. "I did forget to ask, though, how did YOU know what
happened?"
Ami did not answer straightaway, and Usagi was surprised to
realize SHE was now choking back her tears.
"My mother told me," Ami said, finally. "My mother from the Moon
Kingdom."
"She's still alive?"
"No. It was a message she left for me, a long time ago."
"Oh, Ami..."
"It's all right," Ami said. "Maybe if we live, I'll tell you
about her some time."
"I'd like that," Usagi said, amazed by this strange turn of
events--and wishing she could see her friend's face better in the
near darkness.
"Are YOU all right, Usagi?"
"Yes, I'm better now. Come on, let's go see if we can straighten
this mess out."
* * *
Nervous and apprehensive, the false Rei and false Mamoru were
standing on the open quarterdeck when Ami and Usagi returned
topside--only Usagi was now dressed as Eternal Sailor Moon,
replete with wings and holding the Moon Power Tier, her magic
wand.
"You two..." she muttered, spinning the wand around her body;
"STARLIGHT HONEYMOON THERAPY KISS!"
A moment later, a wash of radiant light saturated their bodies,
and their minds returned to their proper places--the girl's mind
in the girl, and the man's mind in the man.
"Rei...?" Mamoru asked.
"Mamoru...?" Rei replied; "I think we're back to normal!"
Whereupon, Sailor Moon strolled casually over to her friends--and
smacked them both over the head with her wand.
"Hey!" Rei cried; "that hurt!"
"Good."
"Usagi, I'm sorry," Mamoru said.
"I know," Sailor Moon said; "but what's that they say? 'A great
love is always tragic...'?"
"Well, this is good," Rei said, rubbing the bump on her head, "but
we're still stuck on a crippled boat..."
Even as she spoke, however, bubbles began to rise up around the
submarine that had been their day-long companion, and the topside
hatch slid beneath the waves.
"It's sinking," Ami said; "once it goes deep enough, the jamming
will stop, and the Coast Guard will see us."
"What...?" Rei asked. "How do you know that...?"
Ami, however, did not reply, simply looking out toward the sea as
the lunar hospital sank toward the floor of the bay. Several
minutes later, an awesome rumble issued from the depths, and the
sea heaved around the 'Kofuku Shima'--creaking the already broken
hull.
"It's gone now," Ami said, lowering her head. "The ship is
destroyed."
"How DO you know that?" Mamoru asked.
But he let the question drop a moment later, as the night was
cut by the searchlight beam of a helicopter. As if on cue, the
Coast Guard had found them.
* * *
A few minutes later, a Coast Guard cutter pulled alongside and the
passengers of the 'Kofuku Shima' were finally rescued. The Coast
Guard sailors were astonished that the university vessel had
seemed to vanish after the freak storm in the bay, but they were
glad to complete a rescue begun earlier in the afternoon; all four
of the sailors from the 'Kofuku Shima' had been found bobbing in
the water, thanks to their PFD's and radio beacons.
And, in fact, Captain Yamamoto was at the Coast Guard station when
the cutter pulled in, alongside several others: Kino Makoto, Aino
Minako, Usagi's mother Ikuko, and Rei's shrine-mate Kumada
Yuuichirou--the latter still wearing his red and white kimono.
"Miss Rei!" said the shaggy Yuuichirou, hugging her impulsively;
"I'm so glad you're safe!"
"Yeah, it's good to see you, too," Rei said--realizing his tall,
masculine body was not all that different from the one she'd been
borrowing, earlier. "Where's Grampa?"
"He fell asleep in the commodore's office."
Rei smiled.
"Well, you can hit me now," Yuuichirou said, backing up; "I know I
shouldn't be touching you."
"No, it's all right. It's all right."
Ikuko, in the meantime, had taken Usagi in her own arms, showering
her with questions and expressions of relief.
"I'm fine, Mom--I'm fine, really."
"I guess I shouldn't have worried," Ikuko said; "your friends are
pretty dependable."
Mamoru and Ami exchanged dubious glances.
"Yes," Usagi said; "I've got pretty good friends."
Mako, Mina and Captain Yamamoto then came up to express their own
relief--first to Usagi and Rei, then to Ami and Mamoru, standing
a few meters off to one side.
"You nut," Mako said, tearfully, embracing Usagi; "you can't die
without me!"
"I'm just glad YOU were safe on shore," Usagi said. "How was your
date?"
"Awful. He wasn't anything like my old boyfriend..."
The other girls smiled at that familiar refrain.
"...but the day wasn't a total loss," Mako continued; "I think
Mina met her biggest fan!"
Captain Yamamoto grinned cheerfully.
"An autographed copy of 'Route Venus'!" he said, holding up a tape
cassette. "This is so cool!"
Mina, meanwhile, leaned in close to Usagi.
"What a hunk--and he actually likes my act! No wonder you wanted
to go on that boat..."
Nearby--still standing alongside Mamoru--Ami smiled, thoughtfully.
It was a true that everyone was safe and sound...but she still
wished she could have saved Maia--even if Maia had already been
dead for a thousand years.
//I do wish I could see Mom,// Ami thought, glancing around the
room, //but she's probably still at the hospital. She probably
doesn't even know what happened...//
Just then, however, Ami caught sight of a familiar figure rushing
into the station.
"Isn't that your mom?" Mamoru asked.
"It is my mom...!" Ami said, recognizing her mother--rumpled and
tired after a day at work--before her mother saw her. Parting
from Mamoru, and breaking past the others, Ami dashed across the
room and virtually plowed into the startled Dr. Mizuno, hugging
her tightly.
"Ami, you're safe!" the doctor said; "you are all right, aren't
you? I only just heard that they found you..."
"I'm fine," Ami said, embracing her mother; "but I thought you'd
be at work..."
"I spend enough time at the hospital," Dr. Mizuno said, brushing
Ami's hair out of her eyes. "I was so worried about you..."
It occurred to Ami--just then--that she had faced death a hundred
times over, with Sailor Moon and the other senshi, but that was a
secret she could never share with her mother. Maybe, if nothing
else, this adventure had given her something--a fear she could
finally share with her mother.
"I'm so used to you taking care of yourself," her mother went on;
"I'm never there when you need me."
"No, Mom, you're great...you're the greatest mom ever."
"I'm terrible..."
"No, Mom, you're perfect. Just perfect."
Mamoru, meanwhile, had moved alongside Usagi--and was startled
that she was willing to hold him.
"It's amazing," he said, putting his arm--gingerly--around her,
"how much Ami looks like her mom."
"That's true," Usagi said. "I don't look anything like my mom."
"Maybe you just fell out of the sky and she took you in," Rei
suggested.
"No," Ikuko said, looking at Usagi. "That's my baby!"
And Dr. Mizuno smiled, overhearing.
"Why don't we go home now, Ami-chan."
"Sure, Maia."
Her mother looked at her, curiously.
"I mean, 'Mom'. Let's go home, Mom."
THE END
by amiwakawaiidesu
(Here's the premise: what would happen if Rei and Mamoru switched
bodies? Here you'll find my answer, plus a salty sea tale of high
adventure (or at least a salty sea tale ^^). Although the story
takes place after the fifth season, it assumes that Sailor Moon
still has the use of her Moon Power Tier (broken earlier by
Galaxia).
Also, please note that I don't own any of the original characters
from "Sailor Moon", which was created by Naoko Takeuchi.)
----------
"Now that's what I call a ship!"
"Well, technically, a small excursion craft should be referred to
as a 'boat'."
Rei rolled her eyes, determined not to get upset with Ami.
"Well, it's a nice boat, then."
"Oh, absolutely."
"Oh, who cares what you call it," Usagi interrupted, wrapping her
arms around Mamoru; "as long as I get to spend the day with Mamo-
chan!"
Again, Rei rolled her eyes.
//Gods, give me strength//
For all her grumpiness, though, even Rei could not deny that it
was shaping up to be a wonderful day. Standing on the dock in
Yokohama, she, Usagi, Mamoru and Rei were looking up at the white-
colored hull of the university motor vessel 'Kofuku Shima', while
puffy white clouds loitered over the waters of Tokyo Bay. Ever-
popular at his school, Mamoru had struck up a friendship with
marine biology professor--and motor vessel captain--Yamamoto
Minoru, and thus the captain had invited Mamoru and friends
aboard for a midsummer excursion.
"It's a pity Mako and Mina couldn't make it," Ami said.
"That's true," Rei agreed. "Mako is really good with boats."
"And she could've made us a box lunch," Usagi said, "if she didn't
have a date."
"Honestly, meatball-head," Rei said, "it's like the only reason
you like her is because she cooks for you."
"That's not true," Usagi pouted. "I like her, AND I like the fact
that she cooks for me."
"Er...Mamoru," Ami interrupted, "aren't we supposed to be helping
the crew do some work while we're on board?"
"Oh, it's nothing too serious," Mamoru replied. "The university
is studying tidal currents in the bay, so the captain will
probably have us help throw his bottles overboard."
"Throw bottles overboard?" Usagi asked. "That sounds like
littering..."
"It's part of the study, Usako," Mamoru explained, patiently; "The
bottles have instructions asking people who find them to return
them to the university. Then, by recording where the bottles were
mailed from, Professor Yamamoto can make a map of the currents
around the bay."
Usagi looked up at Mamoru, mystified.
"Forget it, Mamoru," Rei said. "It went right over her head."
"Hey!" Usagi protested.
Before a full-scale tongue-war could erupt, however, Captain
Yamamoto appeared at the top of the boarding steps and hailed the
party. To the surprise of the girls, the captain was a handsome
man only a little older-looking than Mamoru, with an athletic
physique and rakishly coifed black hair.
"Chiba-san! Good morning!"
"Good morning, senpai!" Mamoru replied, moving to greet his
friend.
"Chiba-san, you didn't tell me you had so many pretty
girlfriends!"
Rei and Ami blushed, while Usagi flew to defend her honor.
"A-hem!" she coughed; "Mamoru, you've got just one girlfriend,
remember?"
"Yamamoto senpai," Mamoru said, "allow me to introduce my
girlfriend, Tsukino Usagi..."
"Pleased to meet you," Usagi said, bowing slightly.
"And these are Usagi's friends, Hino Rei and Mizuno Ami."
The girls bowed as well.
"Well, you're all pretty girls in my book," Yamamoto said. "Of
course, some sailors do say it's bad luck to have girls on a
boat...but what the heck! Welcome aboard!"
Rei smiled giddily, following the captain and the others up the
steps onto the ship.
//Sweet! Mako and Mina are going to be sooooo jealous!//
* * *
Although the 'Kofuku Shima' was spacious--25 meters long and 3
meters wide--Captain Yamamoto had cut the regular crew of eight in
half on account of his extra help for the day, and the trip being
little more than an 8-hour trek around the bay. And indeed, the
weather was most congenial when they set out, barely rippling the
canvas tarp stretched across the quarterdeck for shade.
"Can you really handle a boat this big with four people?" Ami
asked, tossing a plastic tidal-study bottle over the stern
railing.
"It's not too difficult," Captain Yamamoto said; "most of the
controls are automated, so you could really handle the boat with
just an engineer and a pilot."
"So it's safe?"
Yamamoto smiled.
"Just make sure you keep your PFD on," he said, patting the
shoulder of his own Personal Flotation Device. "If you fall
overboard, pull this grip here and the automatic beacon will go
off."
"Ah--so the Coast Guard will know where to pick you up."
"Bright girl."
Ami blushed, slightly, and Rei grumbled...once again, a good-
looking guy was not paying her attention.
"It must be awfully romantic," Rei said, finally--tossing her head
to let her long black hair, bound by a silken bow, flail
dramatically; "being the captain of a big boat like this."
"Actually, I spend most of my time in the classroom," the captain
said, watching the bottle-tossing technique of Rei, Mamoru and Ami
with satisfaction. When Usagi reared back and let her bottle fly,
however, it slipped from her hand and nearly clocked Yamamoto in
the forehead before bouncing off a lifeboat davit.
"Oops!"
"Are you all right, senpai?" Mamoru asked.
"Oh, I'm fine," Yamamoto said, still crouching on the deck.
"Maybe it's a good thing Mako and Mina didn't come," Rei offered.
"Usagi would probably kill them!"
"Hey!"
"Where ARE your friends?" Yamamoto asked, grasping the handrail
alongside Rei. "They must be doing something special to pass up a
free cruise."
"Well, Makoto said she had a date," Rei answered, tossing another
bottle overboard, "which I find hard to imagine--since I can't
imagine she'd get a boyfriend before me..."
Whereupon she chucked another bottle into the water.
SPLASH!
"You're right," the captain said, "it is hard to imagine you don't
have a boyfriend."
"Well, on the other hand," Rei said, blushing slightly, "it does
mean I'm free to look around..."
"What about Yuuichirou?" Usagi asked.
"Hey, just watch your aim over there, dead-eye."
"So what about your other friend?" Yamamoto asked.
"Oh, Mina?" said Rei. "She had to go to some talent show."
"What was that you said her name was...? 'Mina' or something like
that...?"
"Yeah--Aino Minako."
Suddenly--and incongruously--the captain's face lit up with
surprise.
"YOU know Aino Minako? That is so cool!"
"Excuse me?"
"Aino Minako, the idol singer? Ah, what a goddess! I saw her
last year on a TV special, and I had an instant crush on her!"
"Okay..." Rei said, giving the older man a curious glance.
"Ah..." the captain sighed, "you don't suppose you could get me
her autograph, could you?"
"I don't know," Rei said, grumpily. "She's awfully busy."
SPLASH!
Mamoru, meanwhile, was smiling in amusement--Yamamoto did have a
curious, if mostly-harmless, obsession with idol singers--but his
smile disappeared when he happened to glance over his shoulder.
On the horizon--unusual for a sunny August day--a cloud bank was
now looming low and dark ahead of the boat.
"Captain...?"
"Yeah, I see it," Yamamoto replied. "It looks like a storm."
"There shouldn't be a storm today," Ami offered.
"No, there shouldn't. Chiba-san, maybe you should get the girls
belowdecks."
"Are we in danger?" Usagi asked Mamoru.
"I don't know," Mamoru said, steering Usagi, Rei and Ami toward
the starboard companionway. "It's probably safer below, though."
Yamamoto, meanwhile, was already dashing up the ladder to the back
of the pilot house, where the pilot had just stuck his head out to
call him.
* * *
The companionway led directly to the crew's mess, where Captain
Yamamoto had planned to feed the landlubbers in return for their
help with his research. However--despite the cakes and candies at
hand--Usagi soon found herself losing her appetite as the ship
began rolling between 1 and 2-meter swells.
"It looks like a gale," Ami said, looking out the nearest
porthole.
"Ohhh...make it stop..." Usagi moaned, turning green as she
watched the snacks roll across the deck.
"It's all right," Mamoru said, comforting her; "we can't be more
than 10 kilometers from shore."
"You could've fooled me," Rei said, staring through another
porthole at the wind-driven waves; "I can't see a thing out
there."
"Well," Mamoru said, "I think we should have faith in the captain.
You know, he practically grew up on his father's fishing boat."
"Grew up on a fishing boat," Rei said; "well, that would explain
the attraction to girls."
For his part, Mamoru believed the storm would soon pass; Tokyo Bay
was hardly large enough to hold a full-scale tropical depression,
so the storm couldn't last for long. A few minutes later,
however, the boat was lurching erratically, and Mamoru was
dismayed to see Captain Yamamoto himself at the forward hatch.
"I think we need your help, buddy."
"Are we in danger?" Mamoru asked, standing up and grasping a
bolted-down table for support.
"No, we just need another hand."
A few seconds later, Mamoru found himself up in the pilothouse
with the captain and the pilot, Mr. Maryoku. Since the pilothouse
was very high up on the superstructure, he felt an immediate surge
of vertigo--looking through the large bridge windows at the sea
surging back-and-forth around the boat--but balanced himself by
focusing on the horizon.
"Chiba-san," the captain said, "you ever steer a boat?"
"Excuse me?"
"Well, I hope you can steer this one."
"What? Why do you need ME to steer?"
"Maryoku-san and I have to secure the tarp," the captain said,
pointing back toward the quarterdeck; "the wind is grabbing it
like a sail, and whipping the boat back and forth."
"What about your other crew members?"
"They're already blown overboard," Yamamoto said.
For a long moment, Mamoru stared at the captain in disbelief.
"That doesn't sound good," he said, finally.
"Just look here," Yamamoto said, guiding Mamoru into the pilot's
chair as the regular pilot stood up; "this wheel controls the
rudder, and this throttle controls the engines. Just keep the bow
pointed toward the S on the compass."
"This is crazy!" Mamoru said.
"Think any of the girls can do better?"
For a moment, Mamoru imagined Usagi at the controls--and shivered
with fear.
"Probably not."
A few seconds later--after the captain saw that Mamoru was getting
the hang of the controls--the captain disappeared aft with his one
remaining crew member. Facing forward while he tried to control
the boat, Mamoru gritted his teeth and tried to make the best of
the perilous situation.
//Maybe it's Usagi// he thought, //maybe just having her around
makes these things happen...//
But then again, he thought, it had been his idea to take the girls
along; it wasn't fair to put the blame somewhere else.
//Yes, it really is my fault. It's my fault we took this trip,
and it'll be my fault when I kill the Moon Princess and half her
court...//
Mamoru's focus intensified, however, when he felt the steady thrum
of the engines stop below him.
"Shit!" he swore, trying in vain to work the throttle...
Without power, the boat was out of control!
"God...damn it...!" he muttered, trying to fight the wheel and
realizing he had very little idea what the controls around him
actually did. Genuine fear finally washed over him when he felt
the boat lurch and swing hard to starboard--but then he realized
the storm was finally breaking up...
Then, suddenly, he heard a familiar voice below him.
"Mamoru? Are you there?"
"Usagi? I'm on the bridge!"
Usagi found her way through the open deck hatch a few seconds
later, and immediately embraced her beloved.
"Oh, Mamo-chan, I'm so scared--Ami says the ship is flooding!"
"What the hell...?"
"She wanted me to tell the captain; do you know where he is?"
"Yeah, he should be back there," Mamoru said, pointing aft and
finally--realizing the helm controls were dead--standing up to
join Usagi at the rear window. The tarp--he now saw--was flapping
loose in the breeze, but the captain and the pilot were nowhere to
be seen.
"Uh, Mamo-chan? Where IS the captain?"
//This is not good...// Mamoru thought, //...not good!//
* * *
Racing belowdecks a moment later, down the bridge ladder through
the chart room, then down another companionway to the main
deck, Mamoru spared a moment to check aft for any sign of the
crew, then continued downward one more deck to the gangway leading
aft to the engine room. There he found Rei and Ami up to their
ankles in seawater, with both their hands on the engine room
hatch.
"Usagi said we're flooding," Mamoru said.
"We really ARE flooding...!" Usagi said, coming up behind Mamoru.
"Oh my god--we're going to sink!"
"I don't think so," Ami said; "the flooding's in the engine room,
and we locked the hatch."
"Good thinking," Mamoru said.
Whereupon, the lights went out.
"Power's out," Usagi offered.
"Thanks, Usagi," muttered Rei.
"Did you find the captain?" Ami asked.
"I don't think the captain's with us," Mamoru said. "I think he
was washed overboard."
"You're kidding," Rei said.
"Actually, I think the whole crew was washed overboard. Anyway,
the helm is jammed, and now it looks like we're out of power."
"Oh, great," Rei said. "We are so screwed!"
"Well, let's try to get organized," Mamoru said, helping the girls
ascend the companionway back to the partial light provided by the
portholes on the main deck; "we can't be more than a half-hour
from the coast, and I'm sure the Coast Guard will see us
eventually. In the meantime, Ami, why don't you see if you can
get the radio working and call for help."
"What if she can't?" Usagi asked.
"Then we'll use your communicator to call Luna, and she'll call
for help."
* * *
The first wrinkles in Mamoru's plan developed just a few minutes
later. While the storm had finally blown over, leaving the ship
floating with a stern list in the strangely tranquil water, Ami
had trouble picking up any signals on the radio, and the girls'
personal communicators were likewise jammed.
"The radio is working," Ami said, "and there's plenty of power
from the batteries...I think we're being jammed."
"By what?" Mamoru asked.
"Well, I don't know if we're being jammed," Rei said, standing
alongside the others in the pilothouse; "but I do have a feeling
there's something nearby--a presence."
"Some kind of monster?" Usagi asked, mindful of her transformation
brooch.
"I don't know, but it does it feel familiar..."
Curious, Ami took out her pocket computer and began to survey the
area. Although her computer scanner wasn't working much better
than the communicators, she did find a massive energy source
floating nearby--and all eyes picked it up when Ami pointed
a finger at the water off the starboard bow.
"What the hell is that?" said Rei.
"It looks like a trash can..." Usagi said.
"No, it's more like a hatch of a submarine," Mamoru said.
"Quite," Ami said, attempting to scan the mysterious object.
Strong jamming--doubtless from the object--was still interfering
with her ability to make a proper scan, but that didn't keep her
from analyzing the jamming energy itself.
"That thing," she went on, "is putting out a very strong energy
wave, very similar to the energy wave created by the Imperium
Silver Crystal."
"Wait a minute," Rei said, "let me get this straight; we're being
jammed by radio signals from a lunar submarine?"
"I think that would be a conjectural leap," Ami replied. "Still,
it is peculiar--and the hatch is open; maybe we should
investigate."
"Out of the question," Mamoru said. "As long as this ship is
afloat and stable, we'll wait here for rescue."
Ami appeared more disappointed than Rei and Usagi, but even she
could see that his leadership was sensible. And a few minutes
later, it appeared that their salvation was at hand when a
Japanese Coast Guard plane flew almost directly overhead.
Ecstatic, the girls ran out on deck to wave and gesture toward the
plane, but it neither turned nor appeared to acknowledge them in
any way.
"I don't think they saw us," Rei offered.
"How could they not see us?" Usagi said. "They flew right over
us."
"Let's just be patient," Mamoru said. "I'm sure they'll come
back."
Nearly an hour passed, however, before another craft came into
view; this time it was a massive containerized cargo ship--but
she, likewise, passed the 'Kofuku Shima' without seeming to notice
the smaller craft.
"Aren't they supposed to stop to help people in distress?" Usagi
asked.
"That is the law," Ami said.
"Hm," Mamoru mused, rummaging around the pilothouse and digging up
a flare pistol. When the next ship appeared--a harbor tug--he
tried to fire off a flare, but the projectile seemed to slam into
an invisible barrier just a few meters above the ship and
disintegrated in a shower of sparks.
"Here, let me try something," Rei said, running up to the foredeck
and taking her transformation pen out of her jeans. "MARS
CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE UP!"
In a wash of red light and fire, Rei promptly transformed into the
pretty soldier, Sailor Mars.
"Okay, now what?" Usagi said, standing alongside Ami and Mamoru on
the bridge, and shouting through an open side window.
"Just watch," Sailor Mars said; "I've been working on a new
attack..."
"MARS CELESTIAL FIREBALL!"
Suddenly--to the utter surprise of Usagi, Ami and Mamoru--an
enormous ball of fire ascended from the hands of Sailor Mars and
began to rise into the air above the ship.
"Well, the tug out to see that," Ami conceded.
Just like the flare pistol shell, however, the fireball stopped
abruptly several meters above the ship--then exploded across the
foredeck like a gigantic gasoline bomb.
"Oh, shit!" Sailor Mars said, diving off the side of the boat just
in time to avoid getting roasted. The pressure wave, meanwhile,
cracked the windows of the bridge and sent everyone else ducking
for cover.
"I think that one needs some work," Usagi suggested, helping
Mamoru fish the waterlogged senshi out of the bay.
"Well, anyway," Sailor Mars said, "I'll bet the tug saw that!"
"Actually, I don't think they did," Ami said. "It looks like
they're still heading away from us."
"Well, hell," Sailor Mars swore; "what's out there, a force
field?"
"I think that's exactly what's out there," Ami said. "I think
there's a force field jamming the radio, bending our light
waves to make us appear invisible, and preventing objects from
leaving the area."
"But that's crazy," Mamoru said; "it would take a ridiculous
amount of power to encase a ship in a force field, and bend light
like that."
"Unless that submarine is from the Moon Kingdom," Ami conjectured.
"We know the Moon Kingdom had technology more sophisticated than
ours. Perhaps Queen Serenity built this thing with the power
of her own Silver Crystal."
"Well," Mamoru said, stroking his chin, "I suppose it is
possible."
"Yes. It's even possible that the submarine caused the storm in
the first place. If it is from the Moon Kingdom, it might have
been trying to get our attention."
All eyes turned to Usagi, as Sailor Mars squeezed the water out of
her long black hair and transformed back into Rei.
"Well, what about it, Your Highness," Rei said. "You feel
anything?"
"I'm just wondering why they'd have submarines on the moon," Usagi
said.
"I had to ask."
"Well, anyway," Usagi said, "somebody better go over there and
check it out. It's going to be dark soon, and we don't even know
which way the shore is."
"Usagi's right," Ami said--pleasantly surprised by Usagi's grasp
of the situation--"without power, we can't get away from this
'submarine', and we might drift right into the Pacific. Or sink,
and drown."
"We do have the lifeboat," Mamoru said. "If we rowed away from
the 'Kofuku Shima', we might get outside the jamming field so the
Coast Guard could pick up our life jacket beacons."
"Or," Rei countered, "we might drift into the Pacific in an even
smaller boat than we've already got...assuming we could even get
past the force field."
It was a classic impasse, although it was nothing new to Usagi;
over the years, she'd seen her friends have plenty of differing
opinions. Now, once again, all eyes turned to her for a decision.
"If it came from the Moon Kingdom," she said, "we should
investigate."
"As you wish," Mamoru said, "your highness."
* * *
What Usagi didn't realize--when she exercised her leadership--was
that the group wouldn't allow her to board the submarine. Mamoru
(the strongest) and Rei (the most psychically gifted) would take
the lifeboat over to the submarine while Usagi and Ami stayed on
board the 'Kofuku Shima'.
"I think it's for the best," Ami said, standing alongside Usagi
and paying out the line that connected their vessel to the
lifeboat.
"I just hope Rei doesn't take advantage of the situation," Usagi
said.
"How would she take advantage of the situation?"
"Honestly, Ami--boy plus girl plus mysterious submarine: do the
math."
"So you're suggesting Rei would flirt with Mamoru."
"She's crafty--that's all I'm saying."
* * *
Aboard the lifeboat, meanwhile, Mamoru and Rei were coming to see
that the submarine was less of a cylinder and more of a submerged
disk. Only the top hatch was clearly visible, but the outline of
the 'submarine' was clearly circular, perhaps 20 meters in
diameter.
Luckily, as they drew closer, they found projections they could
tie a line to, and a ladder leading down into the interior of the
submerged craft. It was comfortable--warm and brightly-lit--with
polished white corridors leading off to the right and the left.
"This is weird," Mamoru said. "It looks bigger on the inside than
the outside."
"Like a TARDIS," Rei said, grinning.
"Excuse me?"
"British TV--'Doctor Who'."
"Well, it sure doesn't look like any submarine I've ever seen;
where's the crew?"
Rei paused to exert her psychic senses. Holding her hands
together, she focused her chi and searched for a presence.
"There is something here," she said, "a presence--but I don't
think it's human."
"Don't tell me--something like the monster in 'Alien'."
"Oh, I hate that movie," Rei said.
"Which way, priestess?"
"This way," Rei said, keeping one hand around the transformation
pen in her pocket. If something was waiting to ambush them, she
could always change into Sailor Mars, and Mamoru into Tuxedo
Kamen.
Amazingly, Rei and Mamoru walked for several minutes down a
curving corridor before they found an obvious doorway leading into
the interior of the craft. There they found a circular chamber
with a glowing ring of light in the center.
"Maybe we're supposed to stand in the ring of light," Rei
suggested.
"Fine," Mamoru said, stepping into the ring beside her. A moment
later, the ring began to sink into the floor.
"An elevator," Rei noted, watching several levels of deck fly
past.
"I'm guessing this wasn't made in Japan," Mamoru ventured, as the
elevator finally came to a stop deep in the bowels of the ship--
this time in a poorly lit chamber illuminated only by glowing data
screens.
"I don't know," Rei said, peering into the darkness and noting a
pair of padded contour chairs; "you don't think Matsushita could
have built this?"
"More like Tokyo Disneyland," Mamoru said, stepping off the
elevator pad beside Rei and examining the chamber in detail.
"There's no controls for any of these displays, and the language
is completely foreign."
"Maybe it's Moon-ese."
"Maybe."
Rei, in the meantime, had slipped into one of the chairs and noted
a bumpy nodule on the end of one of the armrests.
"Do you think you ought to be sitting in that chair?"
"I don't think it's going to bite. Why don't you sit in the other
chair and see if something happens?"
"What if it's a trap?" Mamoru said, sitting down warily.
"I don't think it's a trap," Rei said. "I can't believe anyone
would go through this much trouble just to trap a couple of
people."
Mamoru shifted uncomfortably, dubious of Rei's logic.
"This is interesting, though," Rei said, feeling the nodule
underneath her fingers slide open.
"What is it?"
"There's some kind of button here."
"Well, don't push it..."
"I think I should push it."
"Rei, don't push the button."
"I'm going to push the button."
And Rei pushed the button. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but
then--suddenly--Rei felt a strange warmth suffusing her body, and
realized she couldn't move.
"This isn't good, Rei," Mamoru said, feeling the same warmth
burning in his own chest, and realizing he was likewise glued to
his chair.
"Okay, maybe I shouldn't have pushed the button..." Rei admitted,
feeling her consciousness quickly slipping away.
* * *
When Rei came to, her head was throbbing with a dull aching pain.
As her eyes focused, she saw that she was still in the same
circular chamber as before, but something was amiss; her limbs
felt heavy, and she glanced down at her body...
...it appeared to be a man's body...
...Mamoru's body.
"YAAAAAAA--!!!"
"I see you're awake," Mamoru said--only it wasn't his voice, it
was hers. Evidently, their bodies had stayed in their seats, and
their minds had traded places!
"I was pretty freaked out myself," the false--or 'nise'--Rei
continued, "at first. But I don't think the effect caused any
serious damage."
Nise-Mamoru--still panting with shock, his heart pounding in his
chest--couldn't even respond until a moment later.
"No serious damage--? How long have you been awake...?"
"I don't know--a few minutes."
"Well, don't look at my body!" nise-Mamoru said. "You haven't
been looking at my body, have you--?"
Nise-Rei cocked her right eyebrow.
"Rei," she said, "I like to think that I'm a gentleman, and I
would not lower myself to such base amusements. Even if I'm in
your body, it doesn't mean I have any interest in your body."
Even as she said that, nise-Rei realized it didn't make a lot of
sense.
"What--? Now I'm not attractive, or something?"
"Rei--focus: alien spaceship, mind transfer--not good."
Nise-Mamoru tensed and nodded.
"Is it possible this might be an illusion?" nise-Rei asked.
"Let me see," nise-Mamoru said, lifting his hands and closing his
eyes to focus his chi.
"I don't think so," he said, a moment later; "I think I really am
inside your body."
"But you can use your psychic power," nise-Rei noted; "that's
something. Maybe if you use your transformation pen, it will turn
you back."
"Good idea," nise-Mamoru said, searching in his pants for the
pen.
"Oops--I don't think that's the pen," he said a moment later,
pulling out...Mamoru's keys.
"Here," nise-Rei said, fishing the pen out of her jeans and
handing it to nise-Mamoru. The false Mamoru then tottered
upright onto his feet--surprised by his sudden height on Mamoru's
long legs--and held the pen overhead.
"MARS CRYSTAL POWER," he bellowed, "MAKE UP!"
However, nothing happened.
"Here, let me try my transformation," nise-Rei said, standing up
and swinging her right arm around dramatically. Unlike the Sailor
Senshi, Tuxedo Kamen could transform instantaneously, and thus
nise-Rei expected to find herself back in a man's body the next
moment, wrapped in a flamboyant black cape and sporting a top hat
and mask.
But again, nothing happened.
"This IS bad," nise-Mamoru said. "Mamoru, I'm sorry..."
"Well, it's too late for that," nise-Rei said, resting her hands
on her hips; "we have to reverse the effect."
"Well, we could ask Sailor Moon to use her healing power..."
"Are you kidding?" nise-Rei said. "If Usagi found out I was in
your body, she would kill me and skin you alive!"
"Oh, come on," nise-Mamoru said, without conviction, "Usagi
wouldn't be that upset...would she?"
The man and girl looked at each other a long moment, then nodded
agreement.
"Yeah," nise-Mamoru said, "she'd kill us."
"But what other option do we have?"
"We could always try to reverse the process; you know--we change
places in the seats and press the button again."
Nise-Rei was skeptical.
"I don't think that's wise. It might kill us, or scramble our
brains for good."
"Well, what then?"
"I say we talk to Ami. She might be able reverse the process."
"That's a long-shot..."
"Well, it's that, or we run around the ship pushing buttons at
random..."
"I'd rather bet on Ami," nise-Mamoru said, stepping onto the
elevator pad. "Come on."
Although nise-Rei was frustrated by the continuing mystery of the
origin and purpose of the 'submarine', she joined nise-Mamoru a
moment later. Shortly, they were both headed upward, with the
elevator evidently sensing their desire to return to the surface.
"Uh...Rei?"
"What?"
"I feel like I have to pee. Is that normal?"
"Yeah, probably. They do say boys can hold it longer than girls."
"Well, that's good," nise-Rei said, wishing the elevator would
hurry up.
"Don't worry, we'll be back on the 'Kofuku Shima' soon. Just
don't look at yourself when you go."
"Excuse me?"
"Just don't look at yourself when you do your business."
"And how am I supposed to 'do my business' if I can't look at
myself?"
"You can manage," nise-Mamoru said, primly; "it doesn't go
all over the place like when a guy does it."
Nise-Rei sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Of course," nise-Mamoru said, "I suppose I could help you, if
you want..."
"No," nise-Rei said, as the elevator finally stopped at the top
deck; "I think we'll draw the line there."
* * *
It was getting toward dusk when Ami finally spotted Rei and Mamoru
returning to the 'Kofuku Shima' in their lifeboat.
"Did you find anything?" Usagi yelled, helping Ami reel in the
lifeboat line.
Rei and Mamoru looked at each other, not sure who should answer.
"No, not much," Mamoru said, finally, "the submarine appears to be
abandoned."
"Mamoru, I'm concerned," Ami said, helping Usagi pull the others
on board; "I just saw Cape Suno off the port bow, and I think
we're being towed out to sea by that submarine."
"Oh, Mamo-chan," Usagi said, embracing her boyfriend, "what are we
going to do?"
"There, there," Mamoru said awkwardly, patting Usagi on the
back.
"Usagi," Rei said, "do you think you could run below and find us a
flashlight? Mamoru here said he wanted to check the flooding in
the engine room again."
"Oh, sure," Usagi said, dashing aft.
The moment she was gone, both Rei and Mamoru converged on Ami.
"Ami, you've got to help us," nise-Mamoru said.
"What's the matter?"
"We DID find something on that submarine," nise-Rei said; "a
machine that switched our minds into each other's bodies!"
Ami looked at the pair suspiciously.
"This is some kind of practical joke, right?"
"Will--you--listen--to--me--!" nise-Mamoru said, startling Ami by
grasping her shoulders and throwing her up against the deckhouse;
"if you don't help us, Usagi will kill us!"
"Easy, Rei," nise-Rei said; "you're a lot stronger than you were
as a girl."
"Sorry," nise-Mamoru said, letting Ami go. Released, Ami
immediately reached for her pocket computer.
"Oh my God," Ami said, scanning the man before her; "your brain
waves--you really are Rei!"
Then she examined the seeming Rei.
"And you ARE Mamoru! Incredible!"
"Yeah, it's real amazing," nise-Mamoru said, impatiently.
"Listen, Ami, you're a genius, right? Please, please, help us!"
Still amazed--and astounded--Ami looked back and forth at the pair
before her.
"Maybe we should tell Usagi," she finally suggested; "she could
use her wand to heal you..."
"No!" nise-Mamoru said; "Usagi would never understand this."
"Well, jeez, I don't know what I could do," Ami said. "My
scanner doesn't even work beyond a few meters, with all the
jamming from the submarine."
"Won't you at least take a look at the submarine?" nise-Rei asked.
"I don't know...shouldn't we be more concerned about being
stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?"
"Well, look at it this way," nise-Rei said; "we need to disable
that submarine if we're ever going to be rescued. That's a good
excuse for looking at the submarine, right there."
"Yeah," nise-Mamoru said, "you're good at breaking stuff, Ami."
"Excuse me!"
"I mean...you're good at figuring out how things work."
Ami sighed.
"Fine. Just let me tell Usagi where I went..."
"No," nise-Mamoru said, steering Ami toward the lifeboat, "she'll
just ask a lot of nosy questions."
"But..."
"We'll make up some kind of story," nise-Rei said.
"Oh, fine," Ami said, finally, stepping into the lifeboat and
taking up the oars. "But you two are going to owe me--big time."
* * *
"Where's Ami going?" Usagi asked, coming back on deck a few
minutes later with a couple of flashlights.
"Oh, don't worry about her," nise-Mamoru said. "She said
something about checking out a theory or something."
"But...someone should go with her."
"It's all right," nise-Rei said, taking Usagi's forearm; "Ami's
an expert swimmer, and she didn't want anyone else to risk their
life with the night coming on."
"Oh...okay."
"Now if you'll excuse me," nise-Rei said, squeezing her thighs
together, "I think I'll just be off to the little girls room!"
* * *
"Incredible!" Ami muttered, wandering down the winding top-deck
corridor of the submarine, then onto the automated elevator.
"Incredible!"
Curiously--inside the submarine--Ami's computer scanner seemed to
work perfectly well, and she could see that the submarine was
actually a vast saucer--more than 200 meters in diameter--with its
exterior distorted through extra-dimensional space to make it
appear smaller on the outside than the inside. Deep inside the
belly of the craft, a fusion powerplant was quietly humming away,
and there were no less than 12 decks in total, equipped with
elaborate electronic and life-support equipment.
"If I could find a way to salvage this ship," Ami thought out
loud--descending to the same level where Mamoru and Rei had
suffered their accident--"it would be the greatest scientific
discovery of the millennium!"
"Perhaps," a soft, feminine voice said behind her. "But is that
really for the best?"
Surprised, Ami spun around and felt her heart suddenly leap in her
chest.
"Mom--?"
It seemed impossible--Ami's mother was back at work at her
hospital in Tokyo--but this figure appeared to be a virtual twin.
She had her mother's beautiful blue eyes, long brown hair and
strangely sad expression...only her costume, a radiant white gown
in the style of Queen Serenity, was out of character.
"I'm sorry," the woman said, "I'm not your mother. Or at least,
I'm not your mother in this lifetime. I was your mother a long
time ago...in the Moon Kingdom."
"Who ARE you?" Ami asked, feeling a chill run up her spine.
"My name is Lady Maia," she said, "mother of Princess Mercury, and
physician to the court of Queen Serenity."
Despite herself, Ami felt her knees give out, and she stumbled
backward onto the floor, coming to a rest with her back against a
bulkhead wall.
"Oh, my precious daughter," Maia said, gently, "I didn't mean to
frighten you."
"I am Sailor Mercury--Princess Mercury--" Ami admitted, "--but I
didn't know Sailor Mercury had a mother. I guess she would have
had to, though..."
"Oh, you haven't changed at all," Maia said, bending down to sit
near Ami; "always thinking...always wondering..."
"Now wait a minute," Ami said--trying to remain rational despite
the trip-hammer beating of her heart; "why didn't my friends see
you...?"
"I didn't want them to. I only wanted to see you...one more
time."
It was then, as Ami looked into the eyes of the strange being,
that she realized she was semi-transparent, like a ghost or a
hologram.
"I'm not a real person," Maia admitted, anticipating Ami's
question and looking away for a moment; "I'm more in the nature of
a projection, containing the memories of Lady Maia. But I do love
you, and when I felt your presence near me, I had to see
you...just one more time."
"Do you mean," Ami conjectured, "you caused the storm...and
crippled our boat...just to see me?"
"Oh, child, I didn't realize how fragile your craft was. When
this hospital rose from the ocean floor, the storm was a side
effect of the energy being dissipated."
"Hospital?"
"That's what this is," Maia said, looking around herself; "this
was a hospital ship in the service of Queen Serenity. It
travelled throughout the solar system, helping the sick and
injured."
"And the jamming?"
"A defensive measure. The hospital has no weapons, so it had to
rely on passive defenses."
"So the distortion of the hull into another dimension..."
"...was also defensive; it reduced the apparent size of the
hospital, and made it easier to move through space."
Ami smiled.
"You do sound like my mother," she said, remembering her mother's
gentle, thoughtful manner.
Maia smiled back.
"She has my soul," Maia said, after a moment. "I survived the
destruction of the Moon Kingdom, but I was alone aboard this ship
after the passage of Beryl--the destroyer. I knew that the queen
had sent you into the future, so I tried to survive until you were
born again...but I was weak and sick without the power of the
queen. When I knew I could survive no longer, I prayed that my
soul would be born again in your time, and sank this ship in the
waters of your blue world, Earth."
Despite herself, Ami felt a tear roll down her cheek.
"I never knew..."
Maia tried to lay her hand against Ami's cheek, but her hand was
insubstantial--like a ghost's.
"I thought...this ship might help you one day, but I think I was
wrong..."
Maia then turned to face a dark viewscreen, and it suddenly
illuminated with scenes of violence. Ami was confused about what
she was seeing at first, but then she realized she was watching
recordings of naval battles from an undersea perspective. Ships
rocked with explosions of bombs and torpedoes, and Ami saw one
hapless ship slide beneath the waves with its back broken--a
warship still flying the flag of the rising sun.
"The Pacific War," Ami said.
"I had thought," Maia said, "that this might be a peaceful world,
where the Moon Princess could rebuild her kingdom, but I fear I
was wrong..."
Then, as if to illustrate her point, Maia brought forth images of
Tokyo burning--strangely distorted by waters overhead.
"But that was 60 years ago," Ami said. "We don't even have a
military now--officially, anyway."
"But what about the rest of the world? Is this world at peace?"
"No," Ami conceded. "Men still build weapons, and use them
against each other."
Having viewed enough destruction, perhaps, Maia turned off the
viewscreen.
"You are a gentle soul, Ami, but even you can see...if this
spacecraft fell in the wrong hands..."
"Someone would turn it into a weapon, yes. So why didn't you
destroy it in the first place?"
"Because," Maia said, turning back to Ami, "I missed you so much.
I needed to see you--at least one more time."
Ami bit her lower lip, caught on the horns of an unsolvable
dilemma
"I don't want you to die," Ami said; "can't you leave this ship?"
"No, I am part of this ship."
"Perhaps you could just return to the ocean floor..."
"No," Maia said, "your friends have seen the hospital. Others
would come."
"They COULD keep your secret," Ami replied. "They've certainly
kept bigger ones..."
"But my secret could destroy the world. No, my time has passed;
it was enough that I could see your face again."
Ami grimaced; certainly, destroying this ship would destroy the
jamming field around the 'Kofuku Shima'...
But then, suddenly, she remembered the slight problem shared by
Rei and Mamoru.
"Well, you might be right," Ami said, "but I do have a question.
My friends--who came aboard earlier--seem to have switched
identities somehow..."
"Oh, yes," Maia said, glancing at the chairs behind her; "the
soul inverter."
"Why in the world do you have a machine like that?"
"Actually," Maia explained, "it's a healing device. On the Moon,
I discovered that I could heal injuries in my own body by focusing
my mental energies, but I was frustrated because I couldn't do the
same for other people. Finally--with your help--I built the soul
inverter so I could enter the body of a patient, and heal that
person from within."
"Amazing," Ami said.
"I hadn't thought to include any safety features," Maia admitted;
"everyone in the Moon Kingdom knew how it worked."
"So, how do I switch them back?"
"Prince Endymion and Princess Mars?"
"Yes."
"Well...the machine does have a long recharging period. It can
only be used once per lunar cycle."
"28 days...?"
"I'm sorry."
"Is there ANY other way to reverse the effect?"
"Had you considered the Moon Princess? She has healing powers."
"Yes, I had considered that," Ami said, reflecting on the paranoia
of her friends. "Thank you, Lady Maia--I'll ask if she can help."
"Are you going to leave now?"
"My friends are on a leaking boat in the middle of the ocean," Ami
said. "I should be with them..."
Even if she were just a projection, Maia appeared sad beyond
words.
"I'll destroy the hospital then, after you go."
"Maybe you should give me an hour," Ami said; "just to straighten
things out over there."
"Of course."
"I am sorry I can't stay," Ami continued; "I wish I could, but...I
have a duty to my friends..."
Maia smiled, ascending to her feet as Ami staggered upright.
"You are my daughter," she said, proudly. "But...would you do me
just one favor?"
"What's that?"
"Hug your mother for me, when you see her again."
"I'll do that," Ami replied, pausing a moment to reach out her
hand and touch the space where Maia's heart would have been--if
she'd had one.
"I'll do that."
* * *
Aboard the 'Kofuku Shima', it was soon quite dark, despite a
cloudless sky spattered with stars. Using one of the two
flashlights Usagi had rummaged, nise-Mamoru inspected the flooding
belowdecks and reported it appeared to be stabilized.
"Well, that's something," Usagi said, yawning.
"You tired?" nise-Rei asked.
"We've been up all day," Usagi said. "But I'm afraid to doze
off."
"Go ahead and take a nap, Usako," nise-Rei said; "you and Rei--
I'll keep watch."
Usagi looked at nise-Rei, confused.
"Did you just call me 'Usako'?"
"Uh...no. I said, 'go ahead and take a nap, meatball-head'."
"Then you told Rei to take a nap, too," Usagi said.
//Damn it--she would have to be paying attention NOW.//
"Rei's probably just tired," nise-Mamoru said. "Why don't both
you girls try to get some rest, and I'll wait up for Ami in the
pilothouse."
Desperately--while Usagi's back was turned--nise-Rei tried to
wave off the suggestion, but nise-Mamoru was already heading for
the bridge. Finally, she had no choice but to join Usagi--leading
the way with another flashlight--as she descended belowdecks to
the passenger stateroom, where a bunk bed was stationed for longer
voyages.
"I am beat," Usagi admitted, taking the lower bunk. "What about
you?"
"Yeah, I'm a little tired," nise-Rei admitted, climbing up to the
top bunk.
"I'll bet my mom is worried," Usagi said, shutting off the
flashlight. "I told her we'd be back by sunset."
"You'll be fine. I won't let anything happen to you."
Usagi looked up at the bunk above her, mystified.
"You almost sound like Mamoru."
"Oh, sorry."
"No, it's fine. I'm just used to you insulting me, and calling me
a 'meatball head' all the time."
"Oh, sorry," nise-Rei said, adding--hastily--"meatball head."
"Well, you don't HAVE to call me that."
"Sorry."
"Do you really think I'm stupid, Rei? I mean, I know I'm not the
brightest person in the world, and I'm kind of clumsy and clueless
sometimes, but I still think I'm a good person."
"I'm sorry," nise-Rei said. "I think you're a wonderful person.
I wish I could tell you how much I admire you...standing up to our
enemies, protecting us all..."
"Are you sure you don't have a fever?" Usagi asked.
"Well--I am your friend, aren't I? Can't a friend tell her
friend how she feels?"
"Well, yeah...it's just, it seems like you're always hiding behind
insults and digs, like you don't want me to get too close to you."
"I'm sorry," nise-Rei said, again; "I'm tired...I guess I'm not
thinking straight..."
A few minutes later, Usagi--now wide-awake and pondering her
friend's odd behavior--heard her beginning to snore in the bunk
above.
//Poor Rei,// Usagi thought, //I was mean to her--when she was
trying to tell me how she really felt. I ought to apologize
later.//
Thinking about Rei's change in behavior, however--which she
attributed to their perilous situation--Usagi couldn't help but
think about Mamoru, alone on the bridge. Quietly, then, she
rolled out of her bunk, leaving the flashlight behind for Rei, and
felt her way topside.
"Mamo-chan?"
"Usagi...?" nise-Mamoru said, turning in his seat; "I thought you
were asleep."
"I was worried about you," Usagi said, startling the man by
dropping into his lap; "isn't Ami back yet?"
"No. Her boat's still out there."
"Do you think she's okay?"
"I'm sure Ami's fine," nise-Mamoru said, putting his left arm
around Usagi--and hoping Usagi couldn't sense his chagrin as she
laid her head against his chest; "I can sense it."
"You can 'sense' it? Since when are YOU psychic?"
"I meant...I have a feeling she's all right. Anyway, I must be
psychic--how else could Tuxedo Kamen always find Sailor Moon when
she's in danger?"
"You make it sound like Tuxedo Kamen is another person."
//If only you knew!//
Not sure what to do with his right hand, nise-Mamoru finally
rested it on the back of Usagi's head. After a moment, he found
himself idly stroking her long, twin pony tails.
"You do have nice hair," nise-Mamoru said; "it's hard to keep it
from fraying when it's long like that."
Suddenly, Usagi lifted up on her forearms to look nise-Mamoru in
the eyes.
"Since when do YOU know anything about hair?"
"I'm just saying--it's a lot of trouble to have long hair. It's
one thing you've got in common with Rei."
"Yeah, I guess. Rei does have pretty hair."
"You think?"
"Well, yeah. Guys are always gaga over how pretty she is."
"Like who?"
"Hey--you're supposed to be obsessed with me."
Nise-Mamoru shrugged, and nodded.
"Of course. Chiba Mamoru only has eyes for Usagi."
Usagi frowned.
"You know, that's weird. You just called me Usagi, and Rei called
me Usako. What, did you switch personalities or something?"
Nise-Mamoru chuckled, weakly.
"Maybe it's this stupid boat," Usagi speculated. "It's making
both of you silly."
"That might be true," nise-Mamoru admitted; "you do seem to be the
only sane one here."
"I know what will make you feel better..." Usagi said, gently
leaning forward toward her boyfriend's lips...
And suddenly, nise-Mamoru panicked, eyes wide with fear.
//No, this isn't good--!//
Finally--when Usagi's lips were mere millimeters away--nise-Mamoru
turned away, and received a kiss on the cheek.
"Mamo-chan!"
"What?"
"Mamo-chan, we could die here any minute! Don't you love me?"
"I think I'm beginning to see why I would," nise-Mamoru said, "I
mean--what I would see in you, as Mamoru. Even if you are as dumb
as a post, sometimes."
"Mamo-chan!" Usagi said, starting to cry.
"Oh, don't cry--! I'm sorry, that didn't come out right..."
"I knew it!" Usagi wailed, recoiling from his touch; "you hate me!
You think I'm stupid!"
"No...I--no, I don't think you're stupid...! I'm an idiot, okay?
Stupid Mamoru--stupid Mamoru doesn't have a clue what he's
saying...!"
"I'll say," nise-Rei said, from the back of the bridge.
Suddenly, both Usagi and nise-Mamoru turned around--and were
startled to see Ami there as well. Evidently, Ami had returned
while the couple on the bridge was otherwise occupied.
"Ami--?" nise-Mamoru said; "what are you doing here...?"
"Saving you and Mamoru from further embarrassment," Ami replied.
Despite her tears, Usagi noticed the apparent mistake.
"Don't you mean, 'you and Rei'?"
"No, Usagi. Mamoru, Rei and I have been treating you like a
child--afraid of telling you about something that happened--and I,
for one, want to be the first to apologize."
"Huh?"
"To break it down simply," Ami said, "Rei and Mamoru discovered a
machine on board the spaceship over there..."
"It really IS a spaceship?" Usagi interrupted.
"...yes, and they accidentally transferred their consciousness
from one body to the other. Judging by your reaction--Usagi--Rei
didn't do a very good job of acting like Mamoru."
For a long moment, Usagi simply tried to understand what Ami was
saying...then her eyes widened with fear and horror.
"Rei--?" Usagi said, facing first the false Mamoru, then the false
Rei, "Mamoru--? How could you...!"
Then, her face awash in tears, she broke away from the false
Mamoru and dashed belowdecks.
"Good one, Ami," nise-Mamoru said; "I knew she wouldn't
understand."
"Don't blame Ami," nise-Rei said. "She told me Usagi is the only
one who can help us."
"Well, we should stop her, then..." nise-Mamoru said, rising to
stand.
"No," Ami said, holding up her hand; "let her be. If I were her,
I'd be really pissed-off, too."
* * *
For Usagi, the farthest place she could run was into the belly of
the ship, down where the flooding water had pooled in front of the
engine room. On the way down there, she gave a passing thought to
throwing herself overboard--so deep was her sense of betrayal--but
something would not let her. Even as she splashed into the
pooling water, slipped and landed on a half-submerged step, she
wondered what she might have done if she were Rei or Mamoru.
It hurt to cry as much as she did--it swelled her eyes and burned
her throat--and it was a long time before she saw a bobbing
flashlight beam, and realized someone was down there looking for
her.
"Usagi...?"
Ami.
"Usagi, I'm sorry," Ami said, pointing her flashlight downward.
"I should have told you from the start."
Silence.
"Usagi, please don't hate us..."
"Oh, Ami," Usagi said, finally, "I don't hate you. Are you by
yourself?"
Ami nodded--immediately feeling foolish in the poorly-lit
corridor.
"Rei and Mamoru are topside," she said.
"Help me up, would you?"
Still holding her flashlight, Ami immediately splashed down into
the water and lifted up her friend.
"You're soaking wet," Ami said. "You'll catch your death of
cold."
Usagi snort-laughed, despite herself.
"Ami, why can't I have a normal life, with normal friends?"
"Usagi, I'm sorry. What can I say...?"
"I just wish," Usagi said, "you could trust me. Haven't I always
been there for you? Haven't I always risked everything I have for
you guys...?"
"I think that's the problem, Usagi. Rei and Mamoru do love you,
and they didn't want to burden you with this stupid mistake they
made."
"Is there anything I can do for them?"
"Yes," Ami said; "you're the only one who can heal them."
"Well--why didn't they ASK me?"
"Because they're your friends, and they thought you'd freak out if
you knew what happened."
"Well, I would freak out...! I'm mad, damn it...!"
Usagi stood there a moment, gasping with frustration.
"...but--I still love them. They are my friends."
"Well," Ami suggested, "maybe you should tell them. I think they
feel pretty stupid right now."
Usagi smiled, aware of the tears crystallized on her cheeks.
Angry and disappointed as she was, she couldn't imagine it was
very much fun for Rei and Mamoru to be trapped in the wrong
identities like they were; almost certainly, her friends were
hurting, just like she was.
"You're right, Ami," Usagi said finally, putting her hand on her
friend's shoulder, and pausing a long moment before she spoke
again. "I did forget to ask, though, how did YOU know what
happened?"
Ami did not answer straightaway, and Usagi was surprised to
realize SHE was now choking back her tears.
"My mother told me," Ami said, finally. "My mother from the Moon
Kingdom."
"She's still alive?"
"No. It was a message she left for me, a long time ago."
"Oh, Ami..."
"It's all right," Ami said. "Maybe if we live, I'll tell you
about her some time."
"I'd like that," Usagi said, amazed by this strange turn of
events--and wishing she could see her friend's face better in the
near darkness.
"Are YOU all right, Usagi?"
"Yes, I'm better now. Come on, let's go see if we can straighten
this mess out."
* * *
Nervous and apprehensive, the false Rei and false Mamoru were
standing on the open quarterdeck when Ami and Usagi returned
topside--only Usagi was now dressed as Eternal Sailor Moon,
replete with wings and holding the Moon Power Tier, her magic
wand.
"You two..." she muttered, spinning the wand around her body;
"STARLIGHT HONEYMOON THERAPY KISS!"
A moment later, a wash of radiant light saturated their bodies,
and their minds returned to their proper places--the girl's mind
in the girl, and the man's mind in the man.
"Rei...?" Mamoru asked.
"Mamoru...?" Rei replied; "I think we're back to normal!"
Whereupon, Sailor Moon strolled casually over to her friends--and
smacked them both over the head with her wand.
"Hey!" Rei cried; "that hurt!"
"Good."
"Usagi, I'm sorry," Mamoru said.
"I know," Sailor Moon said; "but what's that they say? 'A great
love is always tragic...'?"
"Well, this is good," Rei said, rubbing the bump on her head, "but
we're still stuck on a crippled boat..."
Even as she spoke, however, bubbles began to rise up around the
submarine that had been their day-long companion, and the topside
hatch slid beneath the waves.
"It's sinking," Ami said; "once it goes deep enough, the jamming
will stop, and the Coast Guard will see us."
"What...?" Rei asked. "How do you know that...?"
Ami, however, did not reply, simply looking out toward the sea as
the lunar hospital sank toward the floor of the bay. Several
minutes later, an awesome rumble issued from the depths, and the
sea heaved around the 'Kofuku Shima'--creaking the already broken
hull.
"It's gone now," Ami said, lowering her head. "The ship is
destroyed."
"How DO you know that?" Mamoru asked.
But he let the question drop a moment later, as the night was
cut by the searchlight beam of a helicopter. As if on cue, the
Coast Guard had found them.
* * *
A few minutes later, a Coast Guard cutter pulled alongside and the
passengers of the 'Kofuku Shima' were finally rescued. The Coast
Guard sailors were astonished that the university vessel had
seemed to vanish after the freak storm in the bay, but they were
glad to complete a rescue begun earlier in the afternoon; all four
of the sailors from the 'Kofuku Shima' had been found bobbing in
the water, thanks to their PFD's and radio beacons.
And, in fact, Captain Yamamoto was at the Coast Guard station when
the cutter pulled in, alongside several others: Kino Makoto, Aino
Minako, Usagi's mother Ikuko, and Rei's shrine-mate Kumada
Yuuichirou--the latter still wearing his red and white kimono.
"Miss Rei!" said the shaggy Yuuichirou, hugging her impulsively;
"I'm so glad you're safe!"
"Yeah, it's good to see you, too," Rei said--realizing his tall,
masculine body was not all that different from the one she'd been
borrowing, earlier. "Where's Grampa?"
"He fell asleep in the commodore's office."
Rei smiled.
"Well, you can hit me now," Yuuichirou said, backing up; "I know I
shouldn't be touching you."
"No, it's all right. It's all right."
Ikuko, in the meantime, had taken Usagi in her own arms, showering
her with questions and expressions of relief.
"I'm fine, Mom--I'm fine, really."
"I guess I shouldn't have worried," Ikuko said; "your friends are
pretty dependable."
Mamoru and Ami exchanged dubious glances.
"Yes," Usagi said; "I've got pretty good friends."
Mako, Mina and Captain Yamamoto then came up to express their own
relief--first to Usagi and Rei, then to Ami and Mamoru, standing
a few meters off to one side.
"You nut," Mako said, tearfully, embracing Usagi; "you can't die
without me!"
"I'm just glad YOU were safe on shore," Usagi said. "How was your
date?"
"Awful. He wasn't anything like my old boyfriend..."
The other girls smiled at that familiar refrain.
"...but the day wasn't a total loss," Mako continued; "I think
Mina met her biggest fan!"
Captain Yamamoto grinned cheerfully.
"An autographed copy of 'Route Venus'!" he said, holding up a tape
cassette. "This is so cool!"
Mina, meanwhile, leaned in close to Usagi.
"What a hunk--and he actually likes my act! No wonder you wanted
to go on that boat..."
Nearby--still standing alongside Mamoru--Ami smiled, thoughtfully.
It was a true that everyone was safe and sound...but she still
wished she could have saved Maia--even if Maia had already been
dead for a thousand years.
//I do wish I could see Mom,// Ami thought, glancing around the
room, //but she's probably still at the hospital. She probably
doesn't even know what happened...//
Just then, however, Ami caught sight of a familiar figure rushing
into the station.
"Isn't that your mom?" Mamoru asked.
"It is my mom...!" Ami said, recognizing her mother--rumpled and
tired after a day at work--before her mother saw her. Parting
from Mamoru, and breaking past the others, Ami dashed across the
room and virtually plowed into the startled Dr. Mizuno, hugging
her tightly.
"Ami, you're safe!" the doctor said; "you are all right, aren't
you? I only just heard that they found you..."
"I'm fine," Ami said, embracing her mother; "but I thought you'd
be at work..."
"I spend enough time at the hospital," Dr. Mizuno said, brushing
Ami's hair out of her eyes. "I was so worried about you..."
It occurred to Ami--just then--that she had faced death a hundred
times over, with Sailor Moon and the other senshi, but that was a
secret she could never share with her mother. Maybe, if nothing
else, this adventure had given her something--a fear she could
finally share with her mother.
"I'm so used to you taking care of yourself," her mother went on;
"I'm never there when you need me."
"No, Mom, you're great...you're the greatest mom ever."
"I'm terrible..."
"No, Mom, you're perfect. Just perfect."
Mamoru, meanwhile, had moved alongside Usagi--and was startled
that she was willing to hold him.
"It's amazing," he said, putting his arm--gingerly--around her,
"how much Ami looks like her mom."
"That's true," Usagi said. "I don't look anything like my mom."
"Maybe you just fell out of the sky and she took you in," Rei
suggested.
"No," Ikuko said, looking at Usagi. "That's my baby!"
And Dr. Mizuno smiled, overhearing.
"Why don't we go home now, Ami-chan."
"Sure, Maia."
Her mother looked at her, curiously.
"I mean, 'Mom'. Let's go home, Mom."
THE END