Eeeee! I'm so happy! I have gotten feedback! 
Yaaah! (Kit jumps around the room happily) Um, 
sorry, that "One Mello-Yellow a Day" policy I've 
been keeping makes me prone to hyper strikes. 
Heh heh, not like that's a bad thing...(Okay, I 
know you can put a liver in a pan of coke and 
the coke will eat it, and that anything with 
caffeine in it is bad for me, but it keeps me 
awake in Geometry, so it's worth it) So how many 
emails have I gotten? Well, I'll tell you, I've 
had...(counts on fingers)...six! Well, that 
probably doesn't sound like much to any of you, 
but it feels like a hundred to me! And because 
of those very nice people who wrote to me, I'm 
bringing out the next chapter. (Truthfully, I 
wasn't gonna work on it this week.) 
   Owww, I just got back from the orthodontist. 
I'm in pain. I just got a chain across my braces. 
Guess I'll be having ramen for dinner. (Anything 
else is too painful!) Oh well, if it's working me 
towards my surgery, than it's worth it. Oh, I 
better get started now, ne? 


Searching 
Part six 


__________________________________________________________ 

   Usagi had never felt so tired in her life. 
   Well, actually, she probably had, but no one 
thinks about times they'd been worse off when they 
are about to drop from exhaustion. 
   Heavy-lidded, she forced herself to braid her 
hair, knowing somewhere in the back of her head 
that if she didn't, it would get tangled and take 
forever to fix in the morning, not to mention that 
tangles in hair as long as hers would be painful. 
(She knew from experience.) 
   Oh, but she was tired! She laid her head on the 
table of the vanity she was sitting at and just 
managed to tie off the end of her braid before she 
found she couldn't open her eyes. They were way too 
heavy. 
   Oh well, I've probably fallen asleep in weirder places. 
   She smiled at that thought, remembering that 
once, when she was younger, she had fallen asleep 
in a rocking chair, with her rear and legs hanging 
off the seat. Then Usagi knew no more until she felt 
gentle hands trying to get her to sit up. 
   "No, momma, I can't go to school today..." she 
protested. "I'm to...*yawn* sleepy. It's too..*yawn* 
hard..." 
   "Usagi, let me help you to bed." 
   Her eyes snapped open. That wasn't her mom's voice! 
She felt herself being lifted into arms that cradled 
her like some precious treasure and relaxed, remembering 
where she was. 
   "Hotohori, I'm so sleepy..." she muttered, putting 
her head on his chest. "I used up too much energy..." 
Distractedly, as if watching from afar, she noticed 
him carefully lay her down on the bed. She snuggled 
into his arms with a sigh. 
   "You didn't need to do so much." 
   "Yes, I did, you don't understand. It's my 
responsibility." 
   "Just because you are the empress does not mean you 
must exhaust yourself like that." 
   She laughed softly. "It's not because I'm the 
empress, Hoto. I guess I should go ahead and tell 
you everything now." 
   "No, you are tired, go back to sleep. There is 
always tomorrow." 
   She shook her head and sat up a little so she could 
look at him. "I have to tell you now." 
________________________________________________________ 

   She did. She told him everything about her life, 
starting in the Silver Millennium and working her way 
to the present and the reason she was there, going 
into as much detail as a person half-asleep could. 
   Hotohori could only stare at her in wonder. If it 
had been anyone else besides her, he wouldn't have 
believed a word of the story, but Usagi was different. 
He knew enough of her personality to know that she 
would never lie to him. 
   She'd been through so much more in her life than 
he had, yet she was still a happy person and didn't 
spend her time feeling sorry for herself like he had 
done before meeting her. 
   She was really an amazing person. 
   And judging by the look of things, there was a 
good chance her life would get even harder than it 
had been already. 
   Any way that I can help you, I will. I swear it. 
   He held her close and watched her fall asleep, 
waiting until he was sure she was completely out of 
it before kissing her forehead and tenderly brushing 
back her hair. 
   "I love you," he whispered softly, smiling at his 
own words. Hotohori settled back, not expecting to fall 
asleep anytime soon. 
__________________________________________________________ 

   When Usagi awoke the next morning she didn't really 
remember what had transpired the day before until after 
several minutes of coddling closer to her sleeping husband 
and trying to go back to dreamworld. 
   When she did remember, she wished it had been a nightmare. 
   I told Hotohori everything. He knows...he knows... 
oh no! Okay, Usagi, girl, you gotta get out of bed or 
else you're  gonna be very embarrassed when he wakes up. 
   For a moment, she actually hesitated. She really 
liked lingering in bed in the mornings with Hotohori. 
   But now that he knows what I am, he won't like me anymore... 
   Slowly, she began trying to sit up and move cautiously 
out of bed. Somehow, she believed that if she could just 
get up, everything would be okay. 
   She almost made it, too, until Hotohori reached out 
and grabbed her arm. 
   "Where are you going?" he asked sleepily, only half- 
awake. 
   Usagi forced a bright smile. "It's morning, silly! 
Time to get up!" 
   "Not yet." He pulled her back into his arms. "I 
still feel like sleeping." 
   Well, so much for the quietly sneak away ploy. 
   Usagi, he doesn't know what he's doing. When he 
really wakes up, he's going to be mad... 
   Wait. He doesn't get mad, does he? 
   For a moment, her thoughts were off escape and on 
what her gentle husband would be like when angered. 
She was so intent on these new thoughts, she didn't 
notice he was staring at her. 
   Well, didn't notice until her mind wandered back 
to her problem. 
   Instinctively, she froze and chewed on her bottom 
lip, but this time, at least it didn't do any good. 
   "Usagi? Are you all right?" 
   "I..." 
   Come on, Usagi. Tell the truth. 
   "I'm fine." 
   Liar! 
   "You're lying," he said in his calm way, propping 
himself up on his elbow to look at her. 
   "I'm sorry. It's just...well, I know that now you 
know who I am, you aren't going to like me anymore. I 
was just trying...oh, I don't know. Never mind." 
   From him, in response, came a deep rumbling sound. 
   Was he actually laughing? 
   He is laughing, isn't he? 
   Why is he laughing? 
   "It's not funny!" Usagi protested. How dare he laugh 
at what was breaking her heart! "Stop-" 
   She was cut off when Hotohori, who had somehow 
stopped laughing, took her chin in his hand and kissed 
her like he hadn't seen her in ten years. He smiled 
lightly and pressed his forehead against hers. 
   "Don't ever think something like that, Usagi. I 
couldn't 'not like' you." 
   "Why?" 
   Baka odango atama! Don't you dare cry! 
   Still smiling, Hotohori brushed a lone tear off her cheek. 
   "Because I love you." 
_________________________________________________________ 

   In the utter darkness that gave the "Dark Kingdom" 
its name, Beryl stirred on her throne, a frown on her 
almost-purple lips. So far, her plan hadn't been 
discovered. Everything should be going good, shouldn't 
it? 
   Well.... 
   For one thing, when you're a physcopathic witch 
with bad hair, who's in charge of an entire kingdom of 
ugly, smelly, and moody youma, being stuck in ancient 
China isn't exactly your ideal vacation. Sure, there 
were no rights whatsoever back then, so cruelty to your 
fellow man wasn't unheard of, but there were other evil 
things she was missing. Like math homework, daytime 
talkshows, and poptarts. 
   Beryl was an evil person, so of course she thrived 
on evil things and the unhappiness of others. When were 
these stupid people going to invent TV? She was almost 
starving from lack of corruption around her. She knew 
it had to be the lesser levels of evil in the past that 
were messing her up, because there was no other explanation. 
   Jaedite had come back from his visit to Hong-Nan 
nervous and uneasy. No, the power signature they'd felt 
and identified as belonging to the Princess of the Moon 
hadn't been her after all. 
   Well, did he at least have some extra energy to 
show for his labors? 
   No, they were being protected by something. 
   And they were. Right as he had said that, Beryl had 
felt a barrier go up around Hong-Nan. A barrier that felt 
very much like it had been constructed by Moon magic. 
   I must be losing my touch. 
   Well, that's what you get for sending someone to 
Hong-Nan. That place is way too peaceful for its own 
good. Now, Qu-Dong on the other hand... 
   Beryl smiled and looked into her ball of dark energy, 
summoning the image of Qu-Dong with a thought. Yes, there 
was plenty of corruption there, almost as much as one 
could find in an episode of Jerry Springer, or at least 
Barney. 
   If only she could get a contact there.... 
   So the dark queen began to search. There had to be 
someone there she could use. Her own kings were obviously 
less-than-competent, and this time she didn't have the 
leisure of brainwashing Prince Endymion, unless she 
*wanted* to use precious energy sending someone to the 
future to fetch him. 
   She almost missed the one she searched for, so deep 
was she in her thoughts, but she snapped back just in 
time to see a blonde man pacing in the palace gardens. 
His heart was already evil, that was good. She could work 
well with him. And he wanted power, even better. 
   Beryl concentrated and his name came to her mind. 
She called it over her dark sphere of energy, summoning 
him, promising him power and revenge. Anything his heart 
desired. 
   "Nakago..." 
   In the energy ball, he looked up questioningly. 
   Yes, here I am, you fool. You mean nothing to me. 
I will use you until your usefulness runs out, then 
destroy you. Yes, fool, join me. 
   "Nakago, I am your friend," she said, making her 
voice sound like honey, knowing only he could hear 
her. "Give me control, and you will have everything." 
   He smiled and nodded, then began to disappear as 
dark energy transported him. 
   Beryl laughed. 
   That's right, you fool, you will help me take over 
the universe, then when it is all over, you will share 
the same fate as the humans you betrayed. 
__________________________________________________________ 

   Miaka sat with Tamahome in one of the large 
lounges the palace had, feeling total bliss. 
Things were okay. She had to protect Hong-Nan, 
she understood that now, and somehow the empress 
had helped her with that. 
   She didn't exactly understand that part though, 
but she accepted it. Whatever that girl had done 
had worked. 
   She liked her instinctively, Usagi for some 
reason reminding her of herself. Besides, she had 
married Hotohori, which left Miaka free to be with 
Tamahome without feeling any regret over rejecting 
the emperor. She would hate to think that she had 
hurt anyone's feelings. 
   And Tamahome loved her! He had told her so last 
night, after the whole weird "mysterious voice 
abruptly stopped by even more mysterious new empress 
who somehow knows about where you're from" thing. 
   Maybe now she'd be able to save Yui. She knew 
her friend blamed her for what had happened, and 
that Yui was one of the most stubborn people on the 
planet, but somehow there had to be a way that they 
could be friends again. They needed to go to the 
same high school together, and go on double dates, 
and talk about people they didn't like on the phone. 
Things couldn't change between them! 
   Her thoughts were interrupted by Nuriko storming 
in as if he had just received the worst insult in the 
world, which, knowing him, was most likely an 
exaggeration. Behind him bounced in a very happy 
Chichiri. (yah!) 
   "Sit down!" Nuriko roared at him. "Suzaku! Why do 
you always have to be so HAPPY?" 
   "I am not *always* happy, no da. I just like to be 
in the palace. No da!" 
   "Will you just shut up!" 
   "Um, having a bad day, Nuriko?" Miaka asked timidly, 
somehow thinking that she wouldn't get yelled at. 
   "You shut up, too, make-up thief!" 
   "What? I didn't steal your makeup, Nuriko." 
   "Don't lie to me! I know you did. You stole it so 
you could look good for Tama-baby!" 
   "No, I didn't, Nur-" 
   Nuriko flung himself on a couch and began to cry. 
The others backed away in fear. 
   "This has been the worst!" he sobbed. "First, that 
little bimbo stole Hotohori, and now I can't find my 
makeup!" 
   "By bimbo, do you mean the empress?" Chichiri, the 
only one to notice that remark, asked. 
   "Of course, I mean her, baka!" 
   "I've been meaning to talk to you all about that, 
no da. What do you think of her?" 
   Nuriko sat up, suddenly tear-free. "Gossip? I love 
gossip! That's a very good idea. Who wants to go first? 
Nevermind, I will. I hate her and I wish she would die. 
I don't care if she *is* protecting Hong-Nan, I just 
know she forced Hotohori to marry her." 
   Chichiri sweatdropped. "Da...That isn't exactly what 
I meant. She has power like I have never seen before. Do 
you all think we should trust her?" 
   Miaka raised her hand eagerly. "I do! I do!" 
   "Um...I guess I'll trust Miaka's judgment," Tamahome 
said, sounding like he thought he might one day regret 
his words. "She's usually right about these things... 
isn't she?" 
   "If you don't count that she trusted Nakago, no da!" 
   "That was for like, two seconds!" Miaka protested. 
   The door opened and a page walked in, followed 
by two strange men wearing gray uniforms. One had 
curly brown hair and the other had white-bluish hair. 
   The page looked around. "Is the empress in here?" 
   "Do you see her in here, you dolt?" Nuriko asked crossly. 
   "N-no. These people insist on seeing her. Do 
you think I should go find her?" 
   "Do you want to keep your head?" 
   The white-haired man frowned at Nuriko, then 
addressed the page. "Yes, please go find her. We 
will wait here." He and the other man sat down, 
neither saying another word, as the page made his 
hasty retreat. 
   They didn't have long to wait. Within moments, 
Usagi and Hotohori were standing in the doorframe, 
holding hands. 
   "I have a visitor?" Usagi asked, sounding surprised. 
   "Two," Miaka said, pointing to where the men 
had sat, conveniently out of Usagi's line of vision. 
   When she saw them, she jumped back in surprise, 
eyes widening to the size of saucers. 
   "Nephrite! Kunzite!" 
__________________________________________________________ 

__________________________________________________________ 
To be Continued