Gosh, I'm disappointed in myself. I thought
that since I'm on break this week, I'd get more
chapters done, but I guess I was wrong. Then I
tried to start the next part to "Sister Earth"
but I can't seem to think of a way to start it.
Oh well, I'll figure it out tonight before I
fall asleep, I guess. That's when I think the
best anyway.
     Oh! Guess what? This fic is now on three
pages! I'm so happy! ('Course, I had to ask.
No one actually requests my fics...but still!)
RJ's and Bunny-San's pages both have all three
of the crossovers I've written, and then Lady
Cosmos has this one. (And that doesn't include
my straight SM fics on Lady Spring's page, but
I don't want to do non-crossovers anymore, at
least not right now) Anyway, I'd love some
feedback on this. *hint hint* (Kit begins to
pout) I never get any feedback...
    Oh! I forgot to ask. What did y'all think
of the ending of the last part? *grins evilly*

Searching
Part Four


_______________________________________________________

    As promised, the wedding was performed by sunset.
At first, the council was a little put off by Hotohori's
choice of a bride. Not only was she a stranger who'd
appeared out of nowhere, but judging by her hair, she
was also a foreigner.
    Unfortunately for them, a promise was a promise,
and they had promised their emperor that he could
have any bride he wanted, so he did.
    The ceremony didn't take too long, and before
the young emperor of Hong-Nan knew it, he was
leading Usagi to his...their room.
    The two were purposely not looking at each
other, Usagi keeping her eyes glued to the floor,
and Hotohori locking his gaze on only what was
before him. He knew, and she guessed, that there
would be immediate demands on the part of the
council for them to produce an heir.
    The result was an embarrassing and awkward silence.
    Suzaku! What am I going to do now?
    He'd acted without thought, he knew it. His
anger at the council's disrespect and his own
attraction to the strange girl had spurred him
to action, and now...
    They entered the room without speaking and
Usagi looked at the floor, the wall, the ceiling,
once she looked at the bed, then hastily looked
somewhere else. Her gaze traveled to the window,
the closet. Basically, she looked everywhere
except in his general direction.
    Hotohori steeled himself with new resolve. He
was the emperor, and the pounding in his chest was
beneath him. The council could shut up. Obviously
they'd have to wait for an heir to the throne,
because he would never do anything without Usagi's
consent, and he could tell she was scared. That
meant they would wait. He opened his mouth to tell
her just that when-
    "So this is your room. Kewl."
    He looked at her in astonishment and she was the
same person he'd met a day ago. She was nervous and
unsure of herself, but she was still cheerful, still
herself.
    "Yes..."
    "So this is getting kinda weird, huh?" she
asked dryly, finally looking at him.
    He found himself smiling, despite himself. "Yes."
    "Your council is going to want heirs, aren't they?"
    "Eventually, but it doesn't have to be right
away. I can send for an extra bed if you'd like."
    "Well..." She looked away from him, back to the
bed, then back to him again. He felt his arms begin
to ache to hold her. Not only was this embarrassing,
but *hard,* too! "I...no, that's not necessary,
Hotohori. Unless..you'd rather..."
    He couldn't stop himself. He reached out and
gathered her into his arms. With a sigh, she snuggled
close to his chest, her own arms circling around him.
Before either of them knew it they were kissing.
    Usagi giggled slightly as he lifted her into his
arms. Neither of them could stop smiling, and both of
them felt without a doubt the absolute *rightness* of
it all.
    (Quick A.N.- Did I write that part okay? I don't
usually write stuff like that so I don't know...)
_______________________________________________________

    The next few days were the happiest Hotohori could
remember in his entire life. He knew that he was falling
in love with Usagi, and it was great. She was the perfect
empress, too. The day after their wedding, they'd taken
a small tour around the city to expose her to her new
people. She'd been a little afraid at first, but once
the tour was on the way, she'd had a blast. Hotohori
had loved seeing the city through her eyes. It was
almost as if Usagi had been trained to rule a kingdom.
    But of course, that was impossible.
    Where would she get training for something like that?
    He found himself reaching for her hand, and
she smiled brightly at him. They were in the middle
of hearing requests from the peasants. He knew that
she, as energetic as she was, was probably bored to
death, but she didn't show it.
    She really was amazing. He even found himself
staying up late some nights watching her sleep. He
smiled back, then they turned their attention back
to the petitioner, who was watching them, who was
happy that his emperor was finally happy.
    Hotohori was about to give the man before them
a solution to his problem, when Usagi beat him to
it with an answer that he never would have thought
of but that was much better than his own. He looked
over at her. She never ceased to surprise him. She
was smiling to herself as if she had just won a
victory over something, but he couldn't imagine what.
________________________________________________________

    Usagi smiled happily to herself at having
solved the man's problem with an answer even
her mother, great queen that she had been,
would have had trouble thinking of. Despite
what everyone back in her own time thought,
Usagi was not stupid. When she was younger,
she'd even made good marks and some of her
teachers had wanted to consider letting her
skip a few grades.
    But Shingo had teased her about it, calling
her a nerd, and her parents, who had been having
money problems at the time, didn't even notice
how well she did, or didn't do, in school.
    So she let her grades slack, and had
seriously tried to bring them back up.
    If she had, her friends would probably have
tried to take all the credit for it, and would
have undoubtedly teased her about it.
    But now...now she was free, and it was
wonderful. Was this part of the reason her
mother had sent her here? To become who she
was supposed to be?
    Or was I sent here because of Hotohori?
    There was no doubt in her mind that he was
the one she was supposed to be with. She had
fallen in love with him even though she had only
met him about a week ago. She didn't know why,
or how, or when, but she had. She couldn't help
loving him. He had such a kind heart and was the
hottest guy she had ever seen, but there was so
much more.
    I...I just can't explain it!
    She'd realized that she loved him when they'd
gone on the tour of the city. He'd been so excited
and had kept his eyes on her the entire time. She
knew then. She knew.
    Being an empress was boring though.
    Oh! Was it boring!
    But she'd been trained to rule during the
Silver Millennium, and had received a little
extra training when they'd all thought that
she was going to rule Crystal Tokyo. She'd
expected boredom.
    She stifled a yawn as the last petitioner left
and rose to her feet. "I need to go for a walk,"
she muttered to Hotohori, who had looked at her
questionably.
    "You sure you do not wish to stay? The council
meeting is about to begin."
    She found herself grinning. "The council doesn't
like me very much."
    "All the reason to stay."
    "My legs are asleep from sitting so long. Maybe
I'll slip in later." She squeezed his hand, her heart
filling with love for him, and left, noticing with
amusement that Nuriko followed her. He didn't like
her either for his own...reasons.
    Once she was out of earshot of the council
meeting, she stopped and turned around, smiling.
    Nuriko stopped dead in his tracks, surprised at
being caught, while Usagi fought the urge to laugh.
    That's right, buddy! Busted! I didn't spend four
years as a Senshi of love and justice for nothing!
    "Nuriko, I assure you, I don't need your help.
I'm going to walk in the gardens. I'll be fine."
    He opened and closed his mouth stupidly a few
times, obviously trying to decide what to do. He
probably wanted to yell at her for marrying the
emperor, but she *was* an empress and he could get
into trouble.
    I hate formalities.
    "Speak freely," she said tiredly. "I'm just
Usagi, plain old ordinary me. What do you want?"
    "You...you know how I feel about your husband,"
he said after some hesitation.
    "Yes, I've figured it out."
    "I know that he doesn't feel the same, but I
still care about him."
    Usagi smiled. "I'm not going to hurt him, Nuriko.
I promise. I know you don't like me for taking him
away from you...but as a person, I'm not really
that bad. If you'd give us a chance to be friends-"
    She was cut off by Nuriko grabbing the collar
of her dress threateningly. "I don't want to be your
friend. I want you to fall in a hole somewhere or
drop off the face of the earth."
    Poor guy. He's hurting about something. I wish
there was something I could do.
    "Hey! What are you doing?" A guard, who had just
been about to go off-duty, ran forward. Nuriko dropped
Usagi, a guilty look crossing his face. "Your highness,
are you all right? Do you want me to take him away?"
    "No, I'm fine. Nothing's wrong. Nuriko was just
telling me something." She smiled and walked away.
    Nuriko and the guard looked each other up and
down for a moment before Nuriko "hmphed" and went
back to the council meeting.
_______________________________________________________

    "How are things with the Empress, your majesty?"
A council member asked, his voice for some reason
suspicious.
    "Yes. She is doing a superb job, is she not?"
    "Yes, of course. Any chance an heir is on the way?"
    "We do not believe that is any of your business."
These council members had been very uppity lately!
    They probably doubt someone as young as I can rule.
    "Do you suppose, your highness, that the Empress is
not what she seems?"
    "What do you mean?"
    "Forgive us, but she seems suspicious. She appeared
out of nowhere, married you her second day here, and for
some reason, knows perfectly how to rule. We have talked
and think that she may be a spy from another country,
sent to bring down Hong-Nan.."
    Hotohori felt anger welling up inside him, slamming
his hands on the arm rests of his throne, and he stood.
"How dare you? We advise you to stop now, before we are
forced to stop you ourselves!"
    "Majesty, what do you know about her? What has she
told you about her home or her past?"
    The young emperor stopped. Nothing. He knew nothing
about her.
    Before he could reply, there was a disturbance in
the hall and in walked Miaka and Tamahome, trailed by a
stranger with blue hair. Without thinking, he reached out
and hugged the small priestess of Suzaku. He no longer
loved her, but he did consider her a friend and had been
concerned about her safety, although he'd almost forgotten
about her in the past few days.
    He released her just as Nuriko walked in and Miaka
ran to him like they were best friends.
    "Nuriko! Looking good in drag as always!" She
rejoiced happily as the two clasped hands.
    "Miaka! Looking stupid as always!" He rolled his
eyes, then turned to Hotohori. "Do you know um...how
temperamental Usagi is?" he asked hopefully.
    "What do you mean?"
    "Well, I think I might have made her mad...."
    "Who's Usagi?" Miaka asked, confused at not being
the center of attention.
    "What did you do to her, Nuriko? Choose your
answer carefully."
    "Um...nothing really. I just think she might be mad.
She was going to the gardens and....you don't think she
can hurt me, do you?"
    "Usagi doesn't become angry very easily, and I truly
do not know if she could hurt you. What did you do?"
    "Who's Usagi?" Tamahome and Miaka asked at the same
time now, both not liking being left out.
    Hotohori and Nuriko turned and stared at them like
they were idiots.
    "Da-a!" the blue haired man pushed his way into the
group. "You forgot about me, no da." (Aww....)
    "Oh, right," Tamahome shook his head. "Your highness,
this is Chichiri, the fourth Celestial Warrior. Now, who
is this person Nuriko is afraid of?"
    "I am *not* afraid of her, Tama-baby!" Nuriko
protested, putting his hands on his hips.
    Hotohori smiled tightly, becoming annoyed with all
the chaos around him. "Let us go and find her then, and
see if she is angry."
    "Oh, no!"
    "Who's-"
    "Yes, let's go find her." Hotohori took off,
trusting his power and position to ensure that
Nuriko followed. The others did, too, spurred on
by their own curiosity.
    They found her in the gardens, sitting on the
edge of the fountain she had landed in when she
first arrived. Her eyes on the sinking sun, she
looked up as they approached, and it took a moment
for her eyes to snap out of their dreamy state. She
smiled and rose gracefully to her feet.
    "Was the council meeting canceled then?" she
asked, her voice full of warmth.
    "Yes. Unexpectedly. Nuriko is afraid you are
angry at him and are going to hurt him."
    She laughed a little and stepped toward the
group. "I don't hurt people, especially ones who
are hurting."
    "I am not hurting!" Nuriko protested.
    Usagi looked over the newcomers and Hotohori
remembered that he needed to introduce her.
    "Oh, I apologize, Usagi. This is the priestess
of Suzaku, Miaka, and two more of her Seishi,
Tamahome and Chichiri. Everyone, this is Usagi, my
empress."
    Miaka and Tamahome nearly fell over with shock.
Tamahome was the first to speak. "Y-you got married?"
    "Yes."
    Miaka shook her head to clear it, then stepped
to Usagi, hand outstretched. Hotohori was embarrassed
for her. Usagi wouldn't know about the strange custom
of Miaka's world called shaking hands.
    "Hi! I'm Yuuki Miaka."
    "Tsu-well, I used to be Tuskino Usagi." The
blonde reached out and shook Miaka's hand, smiling
warmly. Miaka, as well as everyone else, stood back
in surprise. "So, that uniform looks familiar. Do
you go to a school in Tokyo?"
    "Y-yes...how do you know about-"
    She was cut off by a loud crash behind them. Part
of a decorative wall was in shambles. A blonde man in
a gray uniform floated above it as guards came running.
    "Where is the princess of the White Moon Kingdom?
Bring her to me or everyone will die." The blonde man
chuckled as if he wouldn't mind killing off a few people.
    Hotohori was more than a little surprised when
Usagi pushed past him and the others and went straight
to the front of the disturbance, but then what she
said was even more shocking.
    "You want the Moon Princess? Well, I'm right here!
What do you want, Jaedite?"
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
To be continued
Please e-mail me, I don't bite...anymore...