"SAILOR ECLIPSE"
A Sailor Moon fanfic
Chapter 1: "From a Single Act"
By Bill K.
-------------------------------------------------
Sailor Moon and all related characters are (c)2002 by Naoko
Takeuchi/Kodansha and Toei Animation and are used without permission,
but with respect. Story is (c)2002 by Bill Kropfhauser
Special thanks to the Temple Priestess of codenamesailorv.com, to
Marisa Price and to Alex Glover their help with the history of Sailor
V.
As always, for those only familiar with the English dub:
Usagi=Serena
Ami=Amy
Rei=Raye
Makoto=Lyta
Minako=Mina
Haruka=Amara
Michiru=Michelle
Setsuna=Trista
Mamoru=Darien
Chibi-Usa=Rini
Yuuichiro=Chad
Naru=Molly
Umino=Melvin
Ryo=Greg
Shingo=Sammy
Finally, Haruka and Michiru are NOT cousins.
--------------------------------------------------
"It's a beautiful summer day!" whined Usagi as she angrily
attacked a patch of soil with a gardening fork. "I could be out
having fun, being with my friends, being with Mamo-chan!"
"Usagi," sighed Ikuko with the patience of seventeen years
experience, "I don't ask a lot of you."
"You want to bet?" the blonde girl grumbled.
"But I need some help with this garden and since you're
determined not to do anything better with your life . . ."
"Better by whose standards? Mamo-chan is only the man I'm
going to MARRY!"
"Which means you'll have the rest of your life to spend with
him," Ikuko replied, turned back to her daughter from the rose bush
she was pruning.
"Mother, I am wallowing in the dirt!" fumed Usagi. "Dirt is
ICKY!"
"Dirt is not 'icky'. The food we eat comes from dirt. Flowers
come from dirt. The soil is one of the nurturing wombs that life
springs from. You need to appreciate that."
"Well if it's so great, why are we always washing it off?"
Usagi groused. She violently slammed the fork into the soil again.
"Honestly, I can't believe you turned seventeen last month.
You can be so - - so juvenile sometimes!"
"It's not being juvenile to want to enjoy your youth while
you're young," Usagi protested. "Mom, Fall Term starts in a month!
I don't have that much time left!"
"And there are things one needs to learn when they're young,"
Ikuko snapped back, "such as doing things when they need to be done,
even if it means sacrificing some playtime. But I'm going to give
you a choice: You can help me with the gardening or you can go
upstairs and study your English verbs, since you STILL haven't
learned to conjugate properly."
"Great choice," Usagi grumbled, "hanging or the firing squad.
You forgot to throw in electrocution."
Ikuko ignored the argument and returned to her pruning.
"This is slavery, that's what it is!" Usagi huffed. "Now I
know how those poor people in America felt, forced to work in gardens
all day, forced to learn English verbs all night! Never being able
to go to the zoo or the amusement park or go shopping with their
friends!"
"Usagi, what do you do in school?" marveled her mother.
"Obviously you don't learn anything."
"Well I learned this much: They fought a war to free those poor
people! And eventually that's the way all people who make people
slaves end up!"
"And when was this war fought?" Ikuko asked, testing her
daughter, a sly smile on her face and an eyebrow arched.
"I don't know! A long time ago! 1961, I think."
Ikuko shook her head and returned to her roses.
"OW!" she heard Usagi gasp. Turning, Ikuko saw Usagi jerk her
hand away from the soft soil she'd plunged it in. Holding her hand,
Usagi looked at her index finger and the rapidly expanding bubble of
blood emerging from it. Usagi seemed to stare at the blood for a few
moments - - then fainted.
"Usagi!" gasped Ikuko in alarm. She was off her knees and to
her daughter's side in seconds.
CRASH!
Yuuichiro turned to the sound of glass breaking. His eyes came
to focus through his shaggy brown hair on Rei, standing about thirty
feet from him. A shattered glass votive candleholder lay at her
feet, while the raven-tressed shrine maiden stared blankly into space
with a look of great alarm. It was as if she was looking at
something that wasn't in the room.
"Rei?" Yuuichiro asked with concern as he quickly closed the
distance between them. His voice seemed to shake Rei from her vacant
state. She looked at him, taking a few seconds to realize who he
was.
"I've got to go," she whispered, fumbling with the sash around
her Miko's robes in an effort to draw them tighter.
"What is it?" Yuuichiro asked, by now recognizing the telltale
signs of a vision. "What did you see?"
"Something's wrong with Usagi!" Rei cried as she ran for the
door. Running down the temple steps, Rei pulled open the false face
on her watch, revealing her senshi communicator and hit general send.
* * * *
The faces of her four closest friends hovering around her
greeted Usagi's return to consciousness. Instantly she broke out
into a huge grin.
"Hi," she said dreamily. "What are you four doing here?" Her
features scrunched up in thought for a moment. "And just where is
here?" She looked around and quickly realized she was in her
bedroom.
"Are you all right?" Rei asked, clutching her far too roughly
by her upper arms and asking far too emotionally.
"Yeah, I guess," Usagi replied, still confused. Rei's tone
made her wonder if she was missing a limb.
"What happened?" Makoto asked. Usagi recalled her hand and
pulled it into her line of sight. A thick gauze wrapping was around
the index finger. Usagi swallowed in mortification.
"I," she grimaced, expecting Rei's wrath any moment, "cut my
finger."
The room sagged with relief - - all except Rei.
"She just fainted from the sight of the blood, I suppose,"
Ikuko offered. The woman was hovering off to the side. Beyond her,
Luna was perched on a dresser, watching with concern.
"Have you ever done that before?" Ami inquired.
"Cut myself?" Usagi asked. "Well sure, you know how clumsy
. . ."
"No," Ami said, more gruffly than she meant. "Fainted!"
"Well no!" gasped Usagi. "As many times as I've hurt myself,
I'm used to my own blood!" Everyone smothered a smile - - all except
Rei.
"Are you sure that's all?" Rei demanded.
"Yeah!" Usagi replied, exasperated. "What's eating you, Rei?"
"I felt you," Rei replied adamantly, boring holes into Usagi's
head with her intense violet glare, "blocks away! And not like all
the other times you've fallen down or burned yourself cooking or cut
yourself sewing - - I've learned to tune those out." Usagi wrinkled
her nose at Rei. "This was stronger - - worse. Now did anything
else happen? Think!"
Usagi furrowed her brow petulantly, scouring her mind. The
others watched her intensely, making her feel even more
uncomfortable.
"Well," she offered at last, "for a moment there, just after I
cut myself, it felt like my life was draining away. I guess that's
why I fainted." Ami and Minako exchanged concerned looks. "But I'm
fine now! Except my finger hurts."
Noticing the concern passing between the girls, Ikuko asked,
"This isn't some sort of Sailor thing, is it? She's going to be all
right, isn't she?"
"It's probably nothing," Makoto spoke up.
"But it wouldn't hurt to check into it, you know," Minako
added. "I can nose around the neighborhood, see if I run across
anything."
"I can do a computer analysis of Usagi's blood to see if there
are foreign agents in it," suggested Ami. "What did she cut herself
on?"
"A piece of glass was buried in the garden," Usagi said.
"Do you still have it?" Ami asked. Ikuko shrugged. "I'd like
to do an analysis of it and the soil, too," Ami continued, "perhaps a
variant energy comparison of the entire area." Ikuko, eyes wide,
just nodded.
"I'll go home right now and do a fire reading," Rei replied.
"I'll ring up Artemis and see if he can find anything on the
city-wide sensors," Luna added. Then she noticed Ikuko staring at
her. "Oh, dear, that's right. We never did tell you about me, did
we?"
"U-Usagi," Ikuko said, her eyes never leaving the black cat,
"Luna just talked."
"Yeah," Usagi replied, biting her lip. "She's kind of our den
mother."
"How long has she been able to talk?"
"From the start. She's the one who told me I was Sailor Moon."
"Mrs. Tsukino," Luna began delicately, "I'm aware that this is
a bit of a shock to you. However, once you get used to the fact, I'm
quite pleasant company."
"If you're in to 'stuffy'," mumbled Usagi. Luna shot her a
withering glare.
"Let's go, gang," Minako said, marshaling the troops. "We've
got work to do."
"I'll stay with Usagi," Makoto told them, "just in case." The
others nodded, but Makoto noticed Ikuko's worried look. "Don't
worry, ma'am. Like I said, it's probably nothing - - but it doesn't
hurt to play it safe."
Ikuko nodded unconvincingly and escorted the others out.
* * * *
"Glad you could join us, Minako," Luna said, her eyes fixed on
the blonde girl. Ami, Rei, Makoto and Usagi were waiting in the
shrine, in the room that had become their unofficial headquarters.
Artemis trailed behind his charge.
"Excuse me, 'Sensei-sama'," Minako huffed, "but sophisticated
deductive investigation does not operate on a time table. I got here
as fast as I could."
"Honestly Luna, you can be such a nag sometimes!" Usagi
criticized. Luna turned away, chagrined.
"Don't feel bad, Luna," Artemis said to her with a smile.
"We're late because she stopped for a soda on the way."
"Snitch," scowled Minako.
"Did you find out anything?" Ami asked, trying to steer the
group toward the problem.
"No. This whole area is disgustingly normal. If there are any
baddies lurking, they're dug in deep. How about you?"
"I found some low level background radiation in the garden,"
Ami reported. "It was too faint to recognize, but I'm trying to
project and analyze the readings I have and match it to known
hostiles or any know radiation spectrum. Unfortunately we couldn't
find the piece of glass Usagi cut herself on."
"Which strikes me as suspicious," Rei added. Minako and Makoto
both nodded.
"I agree," Ami said. "However, the analysis of Usagi's blood
sample shows no abnormalities at all." Ami failed to contain a
smile. "The blood sugar level was a little high, though." The
others glanced at Usagi and she blushed.
"Well, that's good news anyway," Makoto smiled. "You get
anything, Rei?"
Rei's brow furrowed. She started and stopped several times,
drawing concerned looks from the others.
"What is it, Rei?" Luna asked. "Did you see something?"
"I did," she replied reluctantly, "but it doesn't make any
sense. I kept trying to divine if there was a threat to Usagi, but
all I could see were visions of her - - and Sailor V!"
"Sailor V!" goggled Minako, articulating the surprise the
others felt. "What did you do, hook into the History Channel?" Rei
glared. "So was I protecting her? And why as Sailor V?"
"There was only one image of the two of you together," Rei
continued, obviously reticent to go further. "You were fighting."
"Arguing?" Usagi asked. "Do you know over what?"
"No. Not arguing; battling."
Makoto's gaze whipped around and landed square on Minako.
"Hey, the only way I'd attack Usagi is if she stole my
boyfriend!" snapped Minako.
"And since you seemed to be doomed to celibacy, that eliminates
that," Makoto chuckled.
"Said the Queen of the Old Maids," Minako jabbed back, her
tongue punctuating the statement. "Rei, is there any chance your
vision was wrong? I mean, you were wrong about Usagi being in danger
when she just fainted."
"My visions aren't wrong," bristled Rei. "I may misinterpret
them from time to time, but they're never wrong. Now I admit I don't
understand what I saw just yet, but unless some action is taken to
prevent it, what I saw will happen."
"Guys," Usagi interrupted, an urgency to her voice that got
their attention. "I know you're all just trying to protect me, and I
appreciate it. I do. But did you ever think you're all
overreacting?"
"I know what I felt, Usagi," Rei countered. "And I know what I
saw."
"I'm not doubting that," Usagi smiled that smile of hers that
always seemed to make the anger drain out of a person. "But we've
all faced so much over the last few years that maybe a couple of
incidents that look like they might be suspicious has us all jumping
to conclusions."
Rei and Ami both wanted to argue, as did the cats. Even Minako
seemed skeptical.
"After all, Ami said I'm fine. Minako can't find anything
suspicious going on, and we all know she'd never attack me. And it's
not like I've never hurt myself before."
"But what about what I saw?" Rei persisted.
"Maybe you saw some sort of training exercise," Makoto offered.
"Maybe Minako agrees to let Usagi test her skill against someone she
feels would be the ultimate opponent."
"Yeah, I mean if I could beat Sailor V, I could be anybody!"
chirped Usagi.
"Too true," Minako smirked immodestly.
"It seems a reasonable explanation," Luna said.
Rei didn't want to give in. The others could see it. Finally
Artemis spoke up.
"How about we do this: we keep our eyes open and stay alert for
some sign of a threat," Artemis offered. "But unless some more
evidence surfaces, I can't see assuming a bunker mentality over what
may be a series of coincidences. They do happen."
"I'll keep trying to reconstruct that background radiation
reading," Ami added.
"Make a copy of your readings and I'll take a look at it, too,"
Artemis said.
Rei sat silently. She still wasn't convinced, but said
nothing because she knew she couldn't win. Usagi noticed this and
came over to her.
"I know you're doing this because you're worried about me," she
smiled. Usagi bent over and hugged Rei around the neck. "Thanks for
worrying."
"Hey," Rei softened, her arms curling around Usagi's neck,
"somebody's got to keep you out of trouble."
"Great!" Usagi chirped, bouncing to her feet. "Now can we go
to the mall? The day's almost gone!"
"Yes, great leader!" Minako said, snapping to attention. "I go
wherever you lead, to the ends of the Earth if need be!"
Makoto rose as well. When she noticed Rei's look she shrugged.
"I need to look for a new pair of jeans."
"I'll get back to my analysis," Ami said.
"AMI!!!!!!" whined Usagi and Minako in unison.
"Oh, all right," Ami gave in. She glanced at Rei and shrugged.
"It was two against one."
Rei smirked. "Fine. Count me in, too." She headed off to get
her purse.
But the feeling in the back of her mind lingered.
Continued in part 2
A Sailor Moon fanfic
Chapter 1: "From a Single Act"
By Bill K.
-------------------------------------------------
Sailor Moon and all related characters are (c)2002 by Naoko
Takeuchi/Kodansha and Toei Animation and are used without permission,
but with respect. Story is (c)2002 by Bill Kropfhauser
Special thanks to the Temple Priestess of codenamesailorv.com, to
Marisa Price and to Alex Glover their help with the history of Sailor
V.
As always, for those only familiar with the English dub:
Usagi=Serena
Ami=Amy
Rei=Raye
Makoto=Lyta
Minako=Mina
Haruka=Amara
Michiru=Michelle
Setsuna=Trista
Mamoru=Darien
Chibi-Usa=Rini
Yuuichiro=Chad
Naru=Molly
Umino=Melvin
Ryo=Greg
Shingo=Sammy
Finally, Haruka and Michiru are NOT cousins.
--------------------------------------------------
"It's a beautiful summer day!" whined Usagi as she angrily
attacked a patch of soil with a gardening fork. "I could be out
having fun, being with my friends, being with Mamo-chan!"
"Usagi," sighed Ikuko with the patience of seventeen years
experience, "I don't ask a lot of you."
"You want to bet?" the blonde girl grumbled.
"But I need some help with this garden and since you're
determined not to do anything better with your life . . ."
"Better by whose standards? Mamo-chan is only the man I'm
going to MARRY!"
"Which means you'll have the rest of your life to spend with
him," Ikuko replied, turned back to her daughter from the rose bush
she was pruning.
"Mother, I am wallowing in the dirt!" fumed Usagi. "Dirt is
ICKY!"
"Dirt is not 'icky'. The food we eat comes from dirt. Flowers
come from dirt. The soil is one of the nurturing wombs that life
springs from. You need to appreciate that."
"Well if it's so great, why are we always washing it off?"
Usagi groused. She violently slammed the fork into the soil again.
"Honestly, I can't believe you turned seventeen last month.
You can be so - - so juvenile sometimes!"
"It's not being juvenile to want to enjoy your youth while
you're young," Usagi protested. "Mom, Fall Term starts in a month!
I don't have that much time left!"
"And there are things one needs to learn when they're young,"
Ikuko snapped back, "such as doing things when they need to be done,
even if it means sacrificing some playtime. But I'm going to give
you a choice: You can help me with the gardening or you can go
upstairs and study your English verbs, since you STILL haven't
learned to conjugate properly."
"Great choice," Usagi grumbled, "hanging or the firing squad.
You forgot to throw in electrocution."
Ikuko ignored the argument and returned to her pruning.
"This is slavery, that's what it is!" Usagi huffed. "Now I
know how those poor people in America felt, forced to work in gardens
all day, forced to learn English verbs all night! Never being able
to go to the zoo or the amusement park or go shopping with their
friends!"
"Usagi, what do you do in school?" marveled her mother.
"Obviously you don't learn anything."
"Well I learned this much: They fought a war to free those poor
people! And eventually that's the way all people who make people
slaves end up!"
"And when was this war fought?" Ikuko asked, testing her
daughter, a sly smile on her face and an eyebrow arched.
"I don't know! A long time ago! 1961, I think."
Ikuko shook her head and returned to her roses.
"OW!" she heard Usagi gasp. Turning, Ikuko saw Usagi jerk her
hand away from the soft soil she'd plunged it in. Holding her hand,
Usagi looked at her index finger and the rapidly expanding bubble of
blood emerging from it. Usagi seemed to stare at the blood for a few
moments - - then fainted.
"Usagi!" gasped Ikuko in alarm. She was off her knees and to
her daughter's side in seconds.
CRASH!
Yuuichiro turned to the sound of glass breaking. His eyes came
to focus through his shaggy brown hair on Rei, standing about thirty
feet from him. A shattered glass votive candleholder lay at her
feet, while the raven-tressed shrine maiden stared blankly into space
with a look of great alarm. It was as if she was looking at
something that wasn't in the room.
"Rei?" Yuuichiro asked with concern as he quickly closed the
distance between them. His voice seemed to shake Rei from her vacant
state. She looked at him, taking a few seconds to realize who he
was.
"I've got to go," she whispered, fumbling with the sash around
her Miko's robes in an effort to draw them tighter.
"What is it?" Yuuichiro asked, by now recognizing the telltale
signs of a vision. "What did you see?"
"Something's wrong with Usagi!" Rei cried as she ran for the
door. Running down the temple steps, Rei pulled open the false face
on her watch, revealing her senshi communicator and hit general send.
* * * *
The faces of her four closest friends hovering around her
greeted Usagi's return to consciousness. Instantly she broke out
into a huge grin.
"Hi," she said dreamily. "What are you four doing here?" Her
features scrunched up in thought for a moment. "And just where is
here?" She looked around and quickly realized she was in her
bedroom.
"Are you all right?" Rei asked, clutching her far too roughly
by her upper arms and asking far too emotionally.
"Yeah, I guess," Usagi replied, still confused. Rei's tone
made her wonder if she was missing a limb.
"What happened?" Makoto asked. Usagi recalled her hand and
pulled it into her line of sight. A thick gauze wrapping was around
the index finger. Usagi swallowed in mortification.
"I," she grimaced, expecting Rei's wrath any moment, "cut my
finger."
The room sagged with relief - - all except Rei.
"She just fainted from the sight of the blood, I suppose,"
Ikuko offered. The woman was hovering off to the side. Beyond her,
Luna was perched on a dresser, watching with concern.
"Have you ever done that before?" Ami inquired.
"Cut myself?" Usagi asked. "Well sure, you know how clumsy
. . ."
"No," Ami said, more gruffly than she meant. "Fainted!"
"Well no!" gasped Usagi. "As many times as I've hurt myself,
I'm used to my own blood!" Everyone smothered a smile - - all except
Rei.
"Are you sure that's all?" Rei demanded.
"Yeah!" Usagi replied, exasperated. "What's eating you, Rei?"
"I felt you," Rei replied adamantly, boring holes into Usagi's
head with her intense violet glare, "blocks away! And not like all
the other times you've fallen down or burned yourself cooking or cut
yourself sewing - - I've learned to tune those out." Usagi wrinkled
her nose at Rei. "This was stronger - - worse. Now did anything
else happen? Think!"
Usagi furrowed her brow petulantly, scouring her mind. The
others watched her intensely, making her feel even more
uncomfortable.
"Well," she offered at last, "for a moment there, just after I
cut myself, it felt like my life was draining away. I guess that's
why I fainted." Ami and Minako exchanged concerned looks. "But I'm
fine now! Except my finger hurts."
Noticing the concern passing between the girls, Ikuko asked,
"This isn't some sort of Sailor thing, is it? She's going to be all
right, isn't she?"
"It's probably nothing," Makoto spoke up.
"But it wouldn't hurt to check into it, you know," Minako
added. "I can nose around the neighborhood, see if I run across
anything."
"I can do a computer analysis of Usagi's blood to see if there
are foreign agents in it," suggested Ami. "What did she cut herself
on?"
"A piece of glass was buried in the garden," Usagi said.
"Do you still have it?" Ami asked. Ikuko shrugged. "I'd like
to do an analysis of it and the soil, too," Ami continued, "perhaps a
variant energy comparison of the entire area." Ikuko, eyes wide,
just nodded.
"I'll go home right now and do a fire reading," Rei replied.
"I'll ring up Artemis and see if he can find anything on the
city-wide sensors," Luna added. Then she noticed Ikuko staring at
her. "Oh, dear, that's right. We never did tell you about me, did
we?"
"U-Usagi," Ikuko said, her eyes never leaving the black cat,
"Luna just talked."
"Yeah," Usagi replied, biting her lip. "She's kind of our den
mother."
"How long has she been able to talk?"
"From the start. She's the one who told me I was Sailor Moon."
"Mrs. Tsukino," Luna began delicately, "I'm aware that this is
a bit of a shock to you. However, once you get used to the fact, I'm
quite pleasant company."
"If you're in to 'stuffy'," mumbled Usagi. Luna shot her a
withering glare.
"Let's go, gang," Minako said, marshaling the troops. "We've
got work to do."
"I'll stay with Usagi," Makoto told them, "just in case." The
others nodded, but Makoto noticed Ikuko's worried look. "Don't
worry, ma'am. Like I said, it's probably nothing - - but it doesn't
hurt to play it safe."
Ikuko nodded unconvincingly and escorted the others out.
* * * *
"Glad you could join us, Minako," Luna said, her eyes fixed on
the blonde girl. Ami, Rei, Makoto and Usagi were waiting in the
shrine, in the room that had become their unofficial headquarters.
Artemis trailed behind his charge.
"Excuse me, 'Sensei-sama'," Minako huffed, "but sophisticated
deductive investigation does not operate on a time table. I got here
as fast as I could."
"Honestly Luna, you can be such a nag sometimes!" Usagi
criticized. Luna turned away, chagrined.
"Don't feel bad, Luna," Artemis said to her with a smile.
"We're late because she stopped for a soda on the way."
"Snitch," scowled Minako.
"Did you find out anything?" Ami asked, trying to steer the
group toward the problem.
"No. This whole area is disgustingly normal. If there are any
baddies lurking, they're dug in deep. How about you?"
"I found some low level background radiation in the garden,"
Ami reported. "It was too faint to recognize, but I'm trying to
project and analyze the readings I have and match it to known
hostiles or any know radiation spectrum. Unfortunately we couldn't
find the piece of glass Usagi cut herself on."
"Which strikes me as suspicious," Rei added. Minako and Makoto
both nodded.
"I agree," Ami said. "However, the analysis of Usagi's blood
sample shows no abnormalities at all." Ami failed to contain a
smile. "The blood sugar level was a little high, though." The
others glanced at Usagi and she blushed.
"Well, that's good news anyway," Makoto smiled. "You get
anything, Rei?"
Rei's brow furrowed. She started and stopped several times,
drawing concerned looks from the others.
"What is it, Rei?" Luna asked. "Did you see something?"
"I did," she replied reluctantly, "but it doesn't make any
sense. I kept trying to divine if there was a threat to Usagi, but
all I could see were visions of her - - and Sailor V!"
"Sailor V!" goggled Minako, articulating the surprise the
others felt. "What did you do, hook into the History Channel?" Rei
glared. "So was I protecting her? And why as Sailor V?"
"There was only one image of the two of you together," Rei
continued, obviously reticent to go further. "You were fighting."
"Arguing?" Usagi asked. "Do you know over what?"
"No. Not arguing; battling."
Makoto's gaze whipped around and landed square on Minako.
"Hey, the only way I'd attack Usagi is if she stole my
boyfriend!" snapped Minako.
"And since you seemed to be doomed to celibacy, that eliminates
that," Makoto chuckled.
"Said the Queen of the Old Maids," Minako jabbed back, her
tongue punctuating the statement. "Rei, is there any chance your
vision was wrong? I mean, you were wrong about Usagi being in danger
when she just fainted."
"My visions aren't wrong," bristled Rei. "I may misinterpret
them from time to time, but they're never wrong. Now I admit I don't
understand what I saw just yet, but unless some action is taken to
prevent it, what I saw will happen."
"Guys," Usagi interrupted, an urgency to her voice that got
their attention. "I know you're all just trying to protect me, and I
appreciate it. I do. But did you ever think you're all
overreacting?"
"I know what I felt, Usagi," Rei countered. "And I know what I
saw."
"I'm not doubting that," Usagi smiled that smile of hers that
always seemed to make the anger drain out of a person. "But we've
all faced so much over the last few years that maybe a couple of
incidents that look like they might be suspicious has us all jumping
to conclusions."
Rei and Ami both wanted to argue, as did the cats. Even Minako
seemed skeptical.
"After all, Ami said I'm fine. Minako can't find anything
suspicious going on, and we all know she'd never attack me. And it's
not like I've never hurt myself before."
"But what about what I saw?" Rei persisted.
"Maybe you saw some sort of training exercise," Makoto offered.
"Maybe Minako agrees to let Usagi test her skill against someone she
feels would be the ultimate opponent."
"Yeah, I mean if I could beat Sailor V, I could be anybody!"
chirped Usagi.
"Too true," Minako smirked immodestly.
"It seems a reasonable explanation," Luna said.
Rei didn't want to give in. The others could see it. Finally
Artemis spoke up.
"How about we do this: we keep our eyes open and stay alert for
some sign of a threat," Artemis offered. "But unless some more
evidence surfaces, I can't see assuming a bunker mentality over what
may be a series of coincidences. They do happen."
"I'll keep trying to reconstruct that background radiation
reading," Ami added.
"Make a copy of your readings and I'll take a look at it, too,"
Artemis said.
Rei sat silently. She still wasn't convinced, but said
nothing because she knew she couldn't win. Usagi noticed this and
came over to her.
"I know you're doing this because you're worried about me," she
smiled. Usagi bent over and hugged Rei around the neck. "Thanks for
worrying."
"Hey," Rei softened, her arms curling around Usagi's neck,
"somebody's got to keep you out of trouble."
"Great!" Usagi chirped, bouncing to her feet. "Now can we go
to the mall? The day's almost gone!"
"Yes, great leader!" Minako said, snapping to attention. "I go
wherever you lead, to the ends of the Earth if need be!"
Makoto rose as well. When she noticed Rei's look she shrugged.
"I need to look for a new pair of jeans."
"I'll get back to my analysis," Ami said.
"AMI!!!!!!" whined Usagi and Minako in unison.
"Oh, all right," Ami gave in. She glanced at Rei and shrugged.
"It was two against one."
Rei smirked. "Fine. Count me in, too." She headed off to get
her purse.
But the feeling in the back of her mind lingered.
Continued in part 2