[Well, I guess this kinda sorta heralds my return to the Net ... My
mailbox is completely, utterly and totally PACKED, though, so if you
wrote to me while I was away, please be patient with me. It'll prolly
be a week or so to catch everything up--yes, that includes the web page
(though I *do* have a neat new graphic on the Gateway that I made while
testing out the capture board ^_^). Gomen nasai, minna-san!]
Rating: PG
=====================================================================
STANDARD USELESS DISCLAIMER:
While the story, for better or worse, is all mine, the characters
aren't. Shocking news, no doubt. Well, take that back, one of them is
mine, but she's really quite silly, although I am rather fond of her
name.....
=====================================================================
"Sometimes reality really stinks."
A rock was hurled with tremendous force into the inviting waters of
a nearby creek, cracking the perfectly smooth surface and sending up a
small geyser, leaving behind as its only mark, ripples that eventually
dissipated into nothing. It was soon followed by another. And another.
Kino Makoto was not having a good day.
----=======----
"Mako-chan's Happy Ending"
A Lunar Eclipses Fanfic by Nikki Purvis
November 1996
"Shimatta," Mako swore to herself. She sat sullenly on a rocky
outcropping, looking out over the water into the horizon. The sun would
be setting soon, and Mako usually liked to sit by herself and enjoy the
beauty of it. But today was not one of those days. Today, she was
pouting.
She had just come from a meeting with her friends, the other Sailor
Senshi, at Rei's temple. Usagi had been late, as usual, but her arrival
had been heralded by heartwrenching sobs which halted all possible
gripes about her tardiness. Mako had rushed to Usagi's side with the
others, all frantically asking what had happened.
----=======----
"M--Mamo-chaaaaaan!!" Usagi wailed, tears streaming down her
cheeks. She clutched the sleeve of Mako's school uniform and buried her
face in it, sobbing as though her world had just ended.
"What about Mamoru, Usagi-chan?" Ami's soft voice was gentle and
reassuring, and served to bring Usagi's head up. She sniffled a few
times and opened her mouth, preparing to speak.
The girls leaned in close.
Usagi's bottom lip trembled.
Another ear-piercing cry invaded the air, sending several of the
birds that lived around the temple flying away, squawking angrily.
Usagi was once again weeping into Mako's shirt.
Rei's hands had reflexively gone to her ears, and she now removed
them, instead placing one gently on the girl's heaving shoulder. "Now
stop this, Usagi, before you drive every living thing from the grounds."
Usagi gave another sniffle and inhaled deeply. She stood up
straight and tall, finally releasing her grip on Mako's shirt.
Minako offered a towel to Mako so she could dry off her sleeve.
Usagi's eyes drifted towards the sky and she steeled herself for
what she was about to say.
Again, she opened her mouth.
The others took a wary step back.
"Usako."
The deep resonant voice from behind the group sent all five heads
spinning towards it. Mamoru was standing at the edge of the temple's
courtyard, hands in his pockets and a wry grin on his face. "Silly
little odango-atama."
"Hmph!" Usagi turned her head away and jutted her chin out, arms
across her chest defensively. But this momentary anger disappeared as
suddenly as it had come, and soon her eyes were again brimming with
tears and her lips were quivering. "You... You don't love me!"
At this, Mamoru laughed lightly, his eyes dancing. He looked
intently at Usagi, the smile never once leaving his face. "Of course I
love you, Usako. I've loved you for thousands of years and will love
you for thousands more." He laughed again. "All I said was that I
didn't like vanilla ice cream."
Mamoru spread his arms wide and with another cry--happy this
time--Usagi bolted into them, rubbing her face affectionately on his
shirt. Placing a finger under her chin, Mamoru tilted Usagi's head up
until they were gazing at each other. Slowly, he leaned toward her.
"Mamo-chan..."
"Usako..."
"Spare me." Rei rubbed her forehead and walked back towards the
temple steps, muttering about how the birds were never coming back
again.
Minako looked on cheerfully for a few moments before following Rei.
"Well, you know what they say, 'No news is good news.'"
Ami was walking along next to the blonde, reading a book that had
seemingly materialized from nowhere. "I don't think that's the right
phrase for this situation."
"Ami-chan..."
But Mako barely heard her friends as they moved away. Instead, she
stared, transfixed, at the future King and Queen, her eyes becoming
misty as she absently patted at her damp sleeve.
----=======----
Another rock whistled through the air and joined its brothers in
the creek. It wasn't often that Mako got in moods like these, but when
they did hit, they were killers. She was thinking about how Usagi and
Mamoru were (usually) so happy together, so supportive of one another,
and so completely, utterly and totally in love.
And she was thinking of him. Her sempai.
She lethargically tossed a rock towards the water, this one barely
making it past the shore. Mako sighed to herself and hugged her knees
to her chest, chin resting on them and staring out at the view, willing
herself not to cry.
All this time, and she still missed him. Hardly a day went by that
he didn't cross her mind, if only fleetingly. Her friends would laugh
and tease her for thinking that every guy she saw was exactly like her
sempai, but none of them really understood. It wasn't that they
physically looked like him, it was the ideal that each one suggested to
her. Companionship. Love. Security. And she was as likely to get
that from any of the males she encountered as she was from her sempai
himself.
Mako's sadness quickly turned to a more familiar and comfortable
emotion: Anger. She was mad at her friends for their ignorance and her
sempai for his actions. But she was downright furious with herself for
allowing the events of the past to still affect her to such an extent.
"BAKA!!" As fast as lightning, another nearby rock was hurtled
through the air toward the creek. Mako's eyes squeezed themselves shut
as she worked to calm the rage building inside.
After a few brief moments, she realized that something was amiss.
Some little detail was wrong, and it nagged at her like an itch she
couldn't reach. She opened her eyes and then realized what the problem
was. The rock had never hit the water.
This was probably because it was being held aloft by a creature of
some sort, hovering several feet above the ground. It would have looked
exactly like an average human female, were it not for the slightly
bluish tinge to her skin and the fact that she could fly.
Mako stared at the creature and blinked a few times.
The woman stared back at Mako and wiggled the fingers of her empty
hand in a small wave.
Then the battle instincts kicked in. With a hoarse cry, Mako flung
herself from the rock on which she was perched, rolling along the ground
and coming up into a defensive crouch. Her hand was already halfway to
her henshin pen before Mako noticed that the creature was no longer
floating where it had been before. In fact, she couldn't see it
anywhere. Head jerking around madly, Mako tried to find where it had
disappeared to when she heard a "Psst!" from above. Her eyes followed
the sound and came to rest on the creature draped in the branches of a
nearby tree, tossing the rock into the air and catching it in a
nonchalant manner that was extremely annoying.
'That's it,' Mako thought to herself. "Jupit--"
"Please don't yell, you'll ruin the ambiance. Besides which, if
you start throwing all that thunder at me, I won't get the chance to
tell you why I'm here. And why I'm here should definitely interest you,
Kino Makoto." As if to emphasize how important her purpose was, the
woman yawned and then tossed the rock into the air a few more times.
Several tense moments passed as Mako realized that the creature
didn't appear to be at all hostile. And, she had to admit, her
curiosity was raised. Releasing the grip on her pen, Mako came out of
her crouch and stared into the tree, her eyebrow raised slightly.
"Alright..." Mako began, somewhat trepedatiously, "what's so important
to me?"
The bored expression vanished from the woman's face and she smiled
down at Mako, flicking her wrist again and sending the rock into the
air. There was a shimmer and the woman disappeared from the branches,
rematerializing almost instantly at the foot of the tree. She stuck her
hand out and the rock landed neatly in her palm.
"My name is Negai. I'm here to help you."
"No way. No way!"
Negai sighed and rolled her eyes. Conversation with the girl had
been much the same as this for the past fifteen minutes, the only
variety coming from the occasional addition of "I can't believe it!" The
whole thing was becoming rather tedious.
"Believe it, Kino-san," Negai tried again. "Anything you want.
Just name it, and it's yours."
"No way!"
Negai ground her teeth together. 'Megami-sama...' She inhaled
deeply before speaking. "Entertaining as this is, I would really rather
not still be having this discussion a week from Thursday, so I'll
demonstrate briefly. Wish for something. ANYthing. It won't be
permanent, so don't worry about wasting your one shot. This is highly
irregular, but I don't see any other way around it."
"I can't bel--"
"KINO-SAN!!"
Mako's head snapped back, but it seemed to be exactly what was
needed to break her from the loop she had fallen into.
"Anything, ne?"
"Anything."
Mako closed her eyes and set to thinking. She needed something
that was impossible to ensure that Negai was telling the truth about
receiving a wish. 'No way!' Mako's mind shouted, but she stifled the
voice down. Something that was unlikely to happen, something unusual.
Something like... Like...
"Make Usagi-chan as smart as Ami-chan."
Negai's eyes widened before looking at Mako appreciatively. "Know
how to go for the jugular, don't you, Kino-san? Very well."
The woman's eyes closed and her hands started moving in an
exotically hypnotic fashion. She began to chant, the syllables fading
from Mako's memory as soon as they were spoken. The air seemed to
vanish from the area as Negai's chanting grew louder and her gesturing
more frantic. Blood was pounding in Mako's ears and she was certain she
was going to faint. And then, abruptly, everything returned to normal.
Mako looked over at Negai, who looked a little drained, but otherwise
fine.
"Sorry about that, I had to use a rather strong spell to pull
_that_ one off." Mako nodded understandingly. "Now then, you've got
approximately fifteen minutes before Tsukino-san returns to her normal
self. I suggest you find her quickly. I would hate to think that all
my hard work went for nothing."
It was amazingly easy to find where Usagi had holed herself up.
Following their reunion from the five minute break-up, Mamoru had used a
time honoured method to make Usagi happy again -- he offered to buy her
food. Knowing Usagi, she was probably still in the Crown Parlour,
stuffing herself while Mamoru kept a mental tally going of how many odd
jobs he would need to pay for it all.
Sure enough, there they were. Mako glanced through the window as
she jogged toward the door. 'Looks like Mamoru-san will be working all
next week, if those plates are any indication.' She tapped her foot
impatiently as the door slid open, squeezing through it as soon as she
could fit.
What she saw made her halt at the entrance, mouth gaping open in
shock.
Usagi was not eating.
Oh, it was quite apparent that she had been earlier, and with great
relish. Mako hadn't gotten a glimpse earlier at even a significant
percentage of the dishes that crowded the table between the couple. But
for now, Usagi sat with a half eaten sundae in front of her, examining
the ice cream on her spoon closely and giving a lecture on its contents.
"...and the fats, known collectively as butterfats, are
predominately of the regular (meaning triglyceride; I suspect mostly
made up of palmitic and stearic acids, chemically bound to glycerin, of
course) variety."
Mamoru looked positively sick with worry. His hand kept coming up
and resting on Usagi's forehead, removing it when he could detect no
sign that she had suddenly been afflicted with some kind of terrible,
mind-shattering fever.
Mako walked slowly to their table and stood next to Mamoru, facing
her friend who was busy rattling off the calorie content of all the food
she'd just eaten.
"How long as she been like this?" Mako gently asked, her voice
barely above a whisper.
"About ten minutes." Mamoru's face was grave. "I don't understand
what happened!"
Mako moved forward a few steps and knelt down. "Usagi-chan..."
Usagi's attention moved from the stacks of dishes through which she
was busily sorting to the face next to her. "Mako-chan!" she exclaimed
happily. Then her face took on a devilish look and she leaned over
conspiringly, hand shielding her mouth from any onlookers. "Or should I
say 'Jupiter-chan'?" With a huge wink, Usagi laughed loudly as though
she had just told the funniest joke in the world, banging her hand on
the table and causing the mountains of plates to wobble threateningly.
Suddenly, her face became intent again. "Did you know that Jupiter
was named for the King of the Roman Gods and its symbol comes from one
of his lightning bolts?" Mako was about to answer that yes, she did
actually know that, but Usagi continued on with hardly a pause.
"Jupiter accounts for more than two-thirds of all material in the Solar
System outside of the Sun. And it would take 318 Earths to equal its
mass! Isn't that interesting? Its year is equal to 11.86 Earth years,
and its day is 9 hours and 55 minutes long..."
Hardly taking time out to breathe, Usagi continued to list obscure
facts about the planets as Mako stood again. She looked over at Mamoru,
who appeared ready to rush his love to the hospital, and she placed a
comforting hand on his shoulder. Words of reassurance were about to be
spoken when Usagi's lecture seemed to trail off, attracting everyone's
attention.
Usagi was blinking hard, as though waking up from a long sleep.
While she initially didn't seem to notice anybody there, her eyes soon
lost their haze and she saw Mako's hand on Mamoru's shoulder.
"Mako-chan," Usagi began, narrowing her eyes and shifting them to
her friend. "Why are you hanging on my Mamo-chan?"
Mako was so surprised at the sudden change of tone in Usagi's voice
that she didn't bother trying to defend herself or point out that she
was hardly 'hanging' on Mamoru. Instead, she removed her hand and
walked over to the blonde's side of the table. "What was that you were
saying, Usagi-chan, about Mars?"
Usagi shrugged as she grabbed for a discarded spoon to eat the
melted sundae in front of her. "She's a brat?"
Mamoru shook his head. "What about the triglycerides? Palmitic
and stearic acids?"
"Tri-sig-la-huh??"
"Never mind, Usako."
Shrugging again, Usagi quickly finished off the sundae and began
motioning to a waitress for another one. With a sympathetic look to
Mamoru, Mako left the couple to continue with their date. The last
thing she heard before the doors closed behind her was Usagi ordering a
pizza to go with her latest sundae.
"Do you believe me now?"
Mako nodded her head, still not completely over the shock of
hearing Usagi talking like an encyclopedia. Upon her return to the
creek, Mako sat down and thought about everything she had just
witnessed. Negai was apologetic of Usagi's seeming instability, but the
sudden influx of knowledge had apparently thrown the girl somewhat out
of kilter. Mako was assured that there was no permanent damage and
Usagi would remember nothing of those fifteen minutes. Mamoru would
probably attribute the extreme personality changes to the amount of food
that Usagi had inhaled.
"Good, I'm glad. Now we can get down to business. So, name it
kid. What would you like?"
Mako looked over at the woman, her brow furrowed in thought. "I...
I don't know."
Negami sighed. "You're not making this easy for me, you know."
"I know, and I'm sorry, but... Well, there's just so much that can
go WRONG. Your demonstration of Usagi-chan showed me that. If she had
been left in that state, she probably would've gone insane! What's to
stop whatever I wish for from backfiring on me, too?"
At this, the woman stopped rolling her eyes and looked at Mako
strangely. "...that's a very good question. You're more intelligent
than you look, Kino-san." Mako seemed about to take offense at this
statement, but Negai didn't give her the chance as she continued,
seemingly lost in thought. "I usually just grant the wish and then go
home. The repercussions never cross my mind. Huh."
Negai seemed to reach a decision and her eyes refocused. She
smiled warmly at Mako, who might've smiled back if she hadn't noticed
the sharp edges to Negai's teeth, making the woman almost appear as
though she were snarling.
"I like you, Kino-san. I think you're a terrible
conversationalist, but I like you. This has already been one of the
most irregular assignments I've had, so I may as well go all the way. I
am going to grant you the ability to see the consequences of your
actions... Temporarily, of course."
Negai uncurled herself gracefully and then, slowly, her hands began
to move in a pattern similar to before. Syllables uttered slipped
around and through thoughts like grains of sand, refusing to be held.
As Negai's hand motions became faster and more desperate, the air
surrounding her was filled with fine threads and fibers of
rainbow-coloured light. Before long, they gathered together and started
to weave towards their target.
Mako thought, not for the first time, that she was going insane.
The first thing Mako saw when she regained consciousness was the
pinkish-yellow hues of the evening sky...with Negai's head superseding
it. The girl gave a startled cry and had rolled away into another
defensive crouch before she remembered where she was and came out of it,
an embarrassed grin on her face.
Negai, for her part, was annoyed that this was the second time she
had been almost attacked. "You should lighten up, Kino-san, not
everyone is out to get you."
Mako had the decency to look apologetic before her curiosity took
over. Her eyes shining, she asked Negai how her newfound power worked.
"Oh, very simple, just think of something you would wish for.
You'll appear at some time in that future, if that had been what you
'really' wished. You'll continue to experience that possibility until
you decide if that's what you want or not."
So, it was that easy. Mako wracked her brain, trying to decide
what her first "test" should be. She found her thoughts drifting back
over the past few minutes, including her repeated treatment of Negai,
something she truly felt bad for.
'If only I weren't so tomboyish and impulsi--'
And she wasn't.
----=======----
"Mako-chan, are you alright?"
Mako felt the hand on her shoulder and looked at its owner.
Looked UP at its owner.
"I'm fine, Minako-chan, just a bit tired. You know how shopping
can wear a girl out!"
Minako nodded her head solemnly, knowing her friend's statement to
be only too true.
"If Mako-chan's tired, let's sit down for a bit," Rei called back
to the group from a little further along. "I wanted to get started on
the newest edition... Of... USAGI!!"
A pair of wide and surprised eyes followed the blonde head in
unburying themselves from a volume of manga. In one swift motion the
book disappeared and Usagi was laughing hard, if unconvincingly. She
stopped after several seconds, and tried to look innocent. She batted
her eyelashes a few times and smiled sweetly. "Yes, Rei-chan?"
It didn't work.
With a snarl, Rei grabbed her manga back from wherever Usagi had
hidden it and returned to the bag with her other purchases. "Usagi, I
haven't even READ that one yet!"
"No? Oh, it's really good, Rei-chan, towards the end Sailor V--"
"Usagi no baka!!"
It was impossible to determine if anything intelligible was said
afterwards, and the disagreement soon degenerated into a pair of tongues
being stuck out at each other anyway. As usual.
The two of them would stay like that all day if no one interceded,
but peace came in its usual form of Ami. She walked between the
combatants and grabbed each of them by a hand, tugging them towards the
mall benches somewhat roughly and in a rather un-Ami-like manner. She
had lost the last of her patience with Rei and Usagi somewhere around
their fifth fight of the day. The two immediately launched into
simultaneous speeches defending themselves, the words combining to make
comprehension an impossible task, even for one as smart as their
blue-haired friend.
Ami just sighed to the world.
From a safe distance, Mako and Minako watched the usual battle with
a mixture of amusement and exasperation. After a moment, Minako
shrugged and winked at Mako before moving to follow the fading sounds of
bickering.
Mako turned back to what had made her pause in the first place.
She gazed at her reflection in the full length mirror that was propped
up in a shop window.
A delicate and demure looking five-foot-three Mako gazed back.
A brush, some hairspray, a mirror, enough make-up to open her own
cosmetics store... Mako was in heaven.
As soon as she sat down on the bench, she had delved into her
purse--her beautiful purse which matched her shoes which matched her
dress... She was _accesorizing!_ She was delighted.
The contents of her purse had been even better than she had dared
to hope, and the packages she had bought that day were all from the
petite clothing stores that she had only ever passed by before.
The short period of time that she had spent with her friends in
this form was the most comfortable she had ever felt when with them in
public. She had always towered over her friends, feeling awkward and
unsightly whenever anyone looked in their direction. And she was sure
that everyone was always gaping at her.
But now she was no longer the Amazon that incited fear into so many
by her mere presence. Now, she felt truly like "one of the girls."
She reached her decision. If there was a catch to this way of
life, she sure couldn't think of it. Taking a deep breath, Mako closed
her eyes and opened her mind. 'I wish--'
"Look out!!"
The raw terror and panic in the voice caused the five heads to
swivel toward the sound it as much as the words themselves. Within
seconds of the warning, half of the wall opposite the girls collapsed,
exposing a huge, salivating and feral looking monstrosity, gripping one
of the mall patrons by the neck. The creature looked ready to rip the
shopper's throat out, but chose instead to drain his energy before
tossing him aside and preparing to grab another.
The area cleared in less than five seconds.
In less than five more, the monster was faced with the Sailor
Senshi, not pleased that their day off had been interrupted.
Sailor Moon opened her mouth, preparing to severely chastise the
creature for its behaviour and proclaim that she would not forgive it,
when a furiously bellowing roar made her think twice about discussing
the ethics of its actions.
She chose to hide behind Sailor Mars instead.
But for once, she had the right idea. "Defense positions, now!"
Venus shouted, leaping in front of Sailor Jupiter. Mars was similarly
shielding Sailor Moon and Mercury was behind all of them, her visor in
place and computer whirring.
Due to her height, or lack thereof, Jupiter found it impossible to
see the monster or attempt an attack. Whenever she poked her head
around her friend, Venus' arm shielded the way, covering her again.
Mako was beginning to get annoyed.
"Venus," Jupiter began calmly, "would you mind moving out of my way
so I can GET that thing and we can try to enjoy the rest of the day?"
Despite the intensity of the situation, Venus favoured the girl
with a chuckle. "Jupiter-chan, what are _you_ going to do against
_that_? Come on, now, stay still so I can protect you better."
Mako was incensed. What could she do? PROTECT her?? Jupiter was
about to loudly explain how she could take care of herself just fine,
thank you very much, when a flash of heat and light signaled that Mars
had attacked.
An high pitched yowl of pain was the first indication that Mars'
fire had found its mark; the scorched stench of burnt flesh and fur, the
second. And then there was nothing, the only sound coming from the
crackling flames that raged where the monster been moments before.
With a happy cheer, Sailor Moon threw her arms around Mars,
embracing the Senshi in a quick hug from behind. "Sailor Mars, you're
the greatest!"
Mars turned around when Sailor Moon released her, a huge grin on
her face. She gave her Princess a thumbs up. "Of course! You'd think
that by now you'd stop being so surp--"
The horrible sound that emerged from behind the flames indicated
that not only was the monster not dead, but it was less than happy with
Mars' attempt to change that condition. Before the priestess could
recover her position, a chunk of rubble from what had previously been
the wall shot through the air and connected with her head.
Without making a sound, Mars was propelled across the mall and into
the unsuspecting Mercury. Both hit the benches on which they had
previously been sitting and slumped to the ground, unmoving.
"REI-CHAN! AMI-CHAN!" Sailor Moon turned her back on the creature
and started to move towards the bodies, her only concern being for her
fallen friends. Venus wasn't allowed such a luxury as she noticed the
monster, hurt and all the more dangerous, tensing and reading itself to
pounce.
On instinct, Venus began to move towards the Princess, but she only
got a few steps before stopping and casting an unsure eye towards
Jupiter, who had been staring, open mouthed at their attacker. Which
one was the target? Which one needed saving?
By the time Venus realized that she was the monster's prey, it was
far too late for her to do anything about it.
"No, Minako-chan!!" As another of her friends fell, Sailor Moon
prepared to attack. Wounded as it was, though, the creature was still
faster than she. The first hit knocked the weapon from her hands. The
second sent her crumpling to the ground to join her protectors.
Without a pause, the monster turned towards the only Senshi still
on her feet. Its eyes simmered with a burning hatred and it bared its
teeth.
'Move!' Mako's body was unresponsive. 'MOVE!!'
The best day of Mako's life was slowly turning into her worst
nightmare, the wonder of her newfound situation being ripped away by the
horror of what had happened. There had been no problem until Rei had
gone down, Ami quickly following. It was then that Mako realized it
wasn't there.
Her power.
That was why Minako was protecting her. Jupiter was powerless.
Well, that wasn't completely true. Mako could feel _something_
stirring within her, but it wasn't the usual torrential storm that was
barely contained by her burly frame. What she had now was more like a
light shower. It was all that her new body could handle.
And so, Mako had watched each of her friends--family--fall, one by
one, completely helpless to do anything about it. She didn't even have
the physical strength to try and bruise the damned thing.
The monster knew it.
Now that all of its threats had been eliminated, it was almost
toying with her--not attacking, but not letting her out of its sight,
either. It was slowly circling the girl, not paying attention to the
bodies that were strewn everywhere. Consequently, it never noticed that
Sailor Moon was not out of the fight just yet.
Usagi had regained consciousness and quickly took in the situation.
Rei, Amy, Minako... They were all hurt, no telling how bad. But Mako,
she was still untouched. Usagi was going to die before she allowed
another of her friends to be attacked by this thing. Before she could
think about what she was doing, Sailor Moon had flung herself around the
creature's neck, trying to divert its attention away from Mako and do as
much damage as possible.
Mako was almost as surprised as the creature when, blond hair
flying, Sailor Moon launched herself at it and tried to bring it down
with her bare hands. She watched, entranced, as the once and future
Princess gritted her teeth and landed another blow to the back of the
thing's head.
Jupiter couldn't be strong here, so Sailor Moon was trying to be.
It was a valiant try, but she never stood any real chance. Once
the creature had recovered from the shock, Usagi was plucked from its
back and thrown into the opposite wall, landing with a sick thud.
As Usagi crashed to the ground, Mako watched with horror.
'Not like this. I don't want this!'
-= Part 2 =-
There was an incredible feeling of deja vu as Mako opened her eyes,
again to be greeted by the mutli-coloured evening sky and Negai's face
hovering over her own. Unlike before, however, the girl stayed lying on
the ground; partly because she was getting used to Negai's presence and
partly because the mere thought of moving made Mako's head throb in
protest.
"Uhhh..."
"See? You're so much fun to talk to." Despite her words, however,
Negai looked sympathetic and waved her hand. Magically, the guy with
the jackhammer in Mako's head went on his lunch break and she was able
to sit up, taking the time to thank the woman before a feeling of dread
settled in her stomach.
"Usagi, Minako, Ami, Rei... Are they alright??"
"They're fine, Kino-san, they're fine! It was only a look at what
_might_ have been, not how things are. Here, see for yourself."
A full length mirror, similar to the one that Mako had gazed into
during her 'vacation', appeared before her. Sure enough, there she was,
the same Kino Makoto that had been looking back at her for years. Mako
never thought she'd be so happy to be reminded of how tall and out of
place she was.
Negai peered over the top of the mirror. "Didn't like it, huh?"
Mako shook her head emphatically. "Nope. It seemed to be going
along great at first, but my friends... I couldn't fight with them that
way."
With a big sigh, Mako turned away from her reflection and the
mirror vanished. Negai stood by while Mako returned to the outcropping
she had been sitting on before, deep in thought. "My friends are really
all I have, they're my family. Ever since my parents--" Her head
jerked up, eyes wide.
"My parents..."
----=======----
"Makoto, honey, what's the matter?"
The girl turned and faced the soft green eyes that were focused on
her, filled with concern.
"Nothing. Nothing at all is wrong. Everything's perfect... Mom."
The man chuckled and lowered his newspaper to see the same thing he
had seen several times already that evening. His daughter was staring
at him, entranced. She was a funny thing, his little Butterfly, she had
hardly moved since coming into the room and noticing him. He began to
wonder if he had sprouted a second head and hadn't noticed. It was
disconcerting, having her eyes on him every second. Still, she looked
so happy, he didn't have the heart to get angry at her. Sigh. He was
such a pushover for these women.
"What are you looking at, Mako-chan?"
"You."
He laughed again and shook his head, returning to where he left off
in his paper.
After a few moments, he peered around the side of it to see his
daughter still in the same position. Upon closer inspection, however,
he noticed that she was silently crying. He instantly tossed his paper
aside and moved to sit next to her, placing an arm comfortingly around
her shoulders.
"Oh, sweetheart, what's the matter?"
Mako responded by emitting a huge sob and burying her face in his
shirt. Shocked, the man didn't know what else to do but comfort her, so
he did, stroking her hair and rocking her gently.
All Mako could do was mutter over and over.
"You're alive! You're alive!"
Several reassuring words and a cup of her mother's special tea
later and Mako felt like she was on top of the world. Her parents were
both here, as wonderful and full of life as she remembered them to be.
Her mother was sitting at one end of the table, a concerned look on
her face as she occasionally patted Mako's hand reassuringly. Her
father was across from his wife on Mako's other side, his face showing
less emotion but still wearing a worried frown. Both were waiting
patiently for her to explain what had caused such a wave of emotion.
She didn't know where to start. How do you tell your parents that
they'd been dead for years and that they only now existed because you
wished it that way?
An ear-piercing siren cut off whatever Mako was about to say and
she bolted upright, eyes darting about in surprise. Her mother's face
suddenly drained of all colour and her father leapt to his feet, the
chair he'd been sitting in falling backwards.
"Damn it, they're attacking again!" He moved towards his wife and
daughter, arm outstretched and waving his hand as if to make them move
faster. "Downstairs, to the shelter. Hurry!"
Mako had no idea what her father was saying and the siren was
wailing so loud that she couldn't concentrate to try and figure it out.
Her parents didn't seem to notice her confusion as her mother urged her
out of her seat. There was a flurry of activity, and the next thing
Mako knew, she was flying down a flight of stairs into a cold and dark
room. The door slammed shut behind her, drenching the area in darkness
until a single lightbulb flickered to life over her head. Looking at
her surroundings, Mako saw that it was filled with the basic necessities
for survival and little else. If she listened hard, she could still
hear the siren, although it now sounded as though it were coming from
miles away instead of in her ear as it had before.
She felt her mother embrace her fiercely from behind as she looked
up the flight of stairs to see her father fastening the last of at least
a dozen locks on the door. He gave it a final, reassuring pat before
joining his family, checking to make sure that both were okay.
"Yes, yes, we're fine, dear." Her mother gave Mako a final squeeze
before busying herself with their surroundings, making sure that
everything was where it should be, although it seemed fairly obvious
that the room was well stocked on a regular basis.
Mako was still feeling completely confused as she watched her
mother methodically checking over the supplies with a speed that only
came from the actions having been performed several times. Her mother
reached for a tin of canned food, and it was then that the memories came
to her.
"They're attacking again!" her father had said. Now it seemed so
obvious--The Dark Kingdom! Queen Beryl was launching another attack on
the Earth, this one obviously in close enough proximity to set off the
town's early warning system. Beryl's forces had been randomly attacking
ever since... Ever since...
The answer refused to come to her. But there was something nagging
at her, something that just didn't make sense. If Beryl was opening
attacking the Earth, and had been for some time, whatever happened to...
"Daddy," Mako began, savouring the name, "what happened to the
Sailor Senshi?"
Her father shifted his gaze from the door to his daughter, furrowed
brow showing that he clearly didn't understand the question. "The who,
sweetheart?"
Mako consciously fought down the panic rising in her throat. "The
Senshi, Daddy. The Sailor Senshi."
The man started to shake his head when a soft voice off to the side
attracted their attention. "Yes... I seem to remember hearing about
them." Mako's mother had stopped checking their provisions and was
moving towards the conversation, trying to catch an elusive thought.
She looked towards her husband who still showed no signs of recognition.
"You must remember, dear, you were telling me about some articles you
read on them. A group of girls in Tokyo, about Mako's age, with strange
names. Oh, what were they..?"
"Moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus."
Her mother was so caught up in trying to remember all that she
could, the fear in Mako's voice went completely undetected. "That's
right! They were named after planets! Odd."
"I remember now!" her father added, clapping his hands and nodding
his head. "They fought the Dark Kingdom, said they stood for--"
"For love and justice," Mako whispered.
Her small voice spoke more volumes than anything else she could
have said, and her parents were again ready to comfort. Her mother
knelt down and grasped Mako's hands.
"I'm sorry, Mako-chan, but they're dead."
She had all of her memories of this life now. With the knowledge
of how things _should_ have been, it was a wonder that she didn't go
mad. She assumed that it was only the knowledge that this was nothing
more than a possibility was what helped her maintain a grip on sanity.
With her parents remaining alive, Mako had never moved to Tokyo.
After being kicked out of her last school, her parents decided that she
could best get along with private tutors. They certainly had the money
for it, and with being taught at home, there was nobody around to try
and instigate fights with her to prove how tough they were. There was
no one who was being bullied and needed protecting. There was just
Makoto and her parents, and both parties liked it fine that way.
On the other hand, without her parents' deaths, Mako didn't bounce
from school to school and city to city, eventually winding up at Juuban
Public School. She never rescued the blond girl with the peculiar
hairstyle from getting roughed up, never later met the girl's friends in
the arcade where she developed one of her many crushes on the
telekinetic boy. She never followed him, fought against him, or
discovered that cats could talk.
There never was a Sailor Jupiter. And her friends were all dead.
Again.
The people of Earth lived in almost constant fear. Without the
Sailor Senshi to stand in the way, Beryl seemed to have contented
herself with taking over the world instead of destroying it. The
various nations' militaries were of little use against the magical
hordes of the Dark Kingdom, even when they could all put aside their
differences and work together.
It seemed fairly obvious to everyone that Beryl was toying with
them and that when she grew tired of these games, the Earth would fall
completely under her control. The rate of the attacks had increased
dramatically over the last few weeks. It seemed as though the Queen's
desire to play was wearing thin.
Mako sighed heavily and looked at her parents. Her kind, gentle
mother that she resembled so much in appearance and who had never
uttered a harsh word in her entire life. Her strong, handsome father
from whom she had inherited her stubborn streak and the will to do what
was right, no matter what the cost.
Like now.
She drew both of her beloved parents to her in a tight hug, keeping
a desperate hold on the feelings of love and security that they fed to
her.
"I love you both so much." Mako's voice was low and hoarse, but
her determination never wavered. "I love you, and I'm sorry."
"Sorry? For what, dear?"
"What's going on, Butterfly?"
Mako's only answer was to squeeze her parents tighter as she called
out with her mind to end this wish.
----=======----
She found that this time it was much easier to return to her
reality. If she had been unconscious, it had only been for a few
moments and there was no trace of the headache that had plagued her
after her first attempt. In fact, the only evidence that she had seen
her parents were her damp eyes and the dull ache in her heart.
Negai floated into view, sitting cross-legged in the air. "No go,
eh kid?"
"No go. I wanted to, I really did. But not only were all my
friends...dead, but it seemed as though the rest of the world would be
following them soon. No. It was hard, but I think that I'll have to
make do with the little bit of time we all just had together."
The woman nodded understandingly. "So, Kino-san, what's next on
the agenda?"
Mako leaned back and looked up at the sky. "Dunno. Right now I'm
not sure that I'm really fit to handle this wish thing. I haven't felt
this alone since--"
----=======----
'I've got to hurry, he'll be here any minute!'
Slamming the pan on the stove in her hurry, Mako swore as the hot
oil sloshed over the sides, scalding her hand. She cast a frantic
glance towards the clock, the hands still moving in their usual,
uncaring manner. She was already running late, and didn't hesitate to
ignore her injury until there would be time to tend to it.
The clock ticked off that another minute had passed and the women
seriously began to feel pressured. Her stomach was fluttering uneasily
and sweat appeared on her brow. Opening a nearby cupboard, Mako grabbed
a plate and began to arrange the food from the many pots and pans that
littered the kitchen.
'Neat. Has to look attractive or he won't like it.'
She kept repeating this to herself, focusing three-quarters of her
attention on the task in front of her, the remainder keeping a wary eye
on the clock. It seemed to take an eternity to make the dish look the
way he liked, but he still hadn't arrived as she burst through the door
between the kitchen and dining room. The table had already been set in
a magnificently luxurious manner, the only odd thing about it being that
there was only one place set. It seemed intensely out of place, just
one end being decorated on the huge table that could comfortably seat
twenty.
Mako gingerly set the plate down in the center of the arrangement,
careful not to move any of the food from its delicate position, and then
turned back to the kitchen to get the basket of bread she had baked
fresh that morning.
The key unlocking the front door told her that she was just a
little too late this time and she froze in panic. Should she run and
try to make it to the table with the remainder of his meal before he
could see it? No, he would know. He always knew. Better then to
simply stay where she was and hope he had not had a bad day at work.
Slowly he walked into the room, peering around the corner and
looking at the table setting. Without a word, or even a glance at the
woman standing by the swinging door, he removed his tie and tossed it
over his shoulder where it landed in a crumpled heap on the hardwood
floor.
The woman hesitated momentarily, unsure which path was the best one
to chose, only positive that whichever one she picked, it would be the
wrong one. But she had to do something, so she moved as quickly as
possible to snatch the tie from the ground, checking first to make sure
that her hands were clean and wouldn't mess up the expensive fabric.
She winced as she was reminded of the burn, temporarily forgotten in her
panic. Oh well, no time to take care of it now. It would have to wait.
If her decision to pick up his discarded clothing from the floor
was the incorrect one, the man made no indication of it. He just
continued walking towards the food at the end of the table, examining it
and everything else in the dining room. Mako returned to her former
position by the doorway as she watched him circle around the chair like
a predator who had cornered its prey.
He gave a noncommittal grunt before pulling his seat back from the
table and preparing to consume the meal in front of him. Mako held her
breath. She had spent all of her time that day preparing it, when she
hadn't been cleaning the house or doing his laundry.
'Please let him have had a good day, please...'
The man finished chewing and swallowed, reaching for the glass of
wine in front of him as he surveyed the rest of the table.
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Yes, of course, I was just on my way to--"
"No lame excuses. Just get it."
Mako nodded quickly and rushed into the kitchen for the basket of
bread, thanking whatever gods watched over her that her husband was in a
good mood after all.
Half an hour later, the man was finishing his meal while his wife
continued to hover in the doorway as she had since bringing him the
remainder of the food, ready to fetch him whatever he asked for in
seconds. He suppressed a satisfied smirk at her subservience to him.
It had taken a while to get her to this point, but he did so love a
challenge. And he had to admit, it had all been worth it.
He settled back in the chair and tossed his napkin on the table.
Instantly, she was there, cleaning up his dishes. He supposed that she
would eat something later, he never bothered to find out. As she leaned
across the table to get his empty glass, he noticed the burn on her
hand. His eyes widened and he looked at the woman with surprise.
"What the hell is that??"
She didn't seem to know what he was referring to at first, but then
understanding dawned and she tried to hide the wound. "Nothing. It's
nothing."
"What do you mean 'nothing', you've been around food--MY food--with
an open cut like that! Do you have any idea what kind of bacteria you
could have infested me with?"
She was about to explain that it happened after his dinner had
already been made and that she just hadn't had time to bandage it, but
he cut her off with a wave of his hand.
"Whatever, just go cover it up or something, it's disgusting to
look at."
The woman nodded and turned towards the bathroom when a hand
gripped her arm and warm breath on the back of her neck made her freeze
in place. "You don't look half bad today, you know. If you're really
good, I'll even come up and visit you tonight."
He had to will himself not to laugh as he saw her back straighten
in alarm and her muscles tense under his hand. He'd been more than nice
and understanding so far this evening, even though she _still_ hadn't
had everything ready like she was supposed to.
Now it was time for some fun.
The mere thought of him touching her made Mako want to scream and
she had to fight down the bile rising in her throat. A voice began to
reverberate across her mind, yelling that this was wrong and that she
had to do something to escape, but she suppressed it, just as she had
been suppressing it down for almost nine years.
"What's the matter?" he asked, his voice low as he spoke into her
ear, "Don't feel up to it?" Laughing without a trace of humour, he
threw Mako's arm away, releasing his hold on her. She inhaled deeply,
realizing that she'd been holding her breath since his first touch.
"I'm not surprised, the only thing you're somewhat useful for is
keeping the house in shape."
The voice again popped into Mako's head, and she again shoved it to
one side, although she turned around to face her husband squarely.
Usually she averted her eyes, and he seemed to perk up at this sudden
spark that he had assumed was long since extinguished.
He took a few steps towards her, expecting her gaze to drop, but
she held his. He wasn't sure if he was more angry or impressed. Either
way, he was really getting into the fight now. Time to bring out the
big guns.
"You're no good, but you know who might be? One of those friends
of yours you always seem so protective of." Mako's eyes narrowed
threateningly, and the man returned the look with a cruel smirk, knowing
that he had hit a nerve.
"Yeah, I think one of them might suit the bill perfectly. How
about that cute little blue haired one, she looks like she could use a
real man in her life. No? Well then, I could always get that psychic,
she's by herself, I'm sure that she'd welcome someone like me to keep
her company on those cold nights." Ignoring Mako's furious snarl, the
man snapped his fingers as if suddenly seeing the perfect solution to a
problem. "That's it! I'll go for one of those blondes, the one that's
been married forever. Only being with one person for so long is boring,
it's only right that I should invite her to partake in the fun. Hell,
I'll go after all four of them. Maybe you'd like to watch and learn a
thing or two?"
He'd been so caught up in his plans for conquest that he never saw
the fist until it had already left his stomach and was heading for his
jaw. As he crumpled to the ground, unconscious, Mako felt as though
that had been incredibly therapeutic.
"Not in a million years, 'sempai'. I'm outta here, you son of a
bitch."
----=======----
"Kino-san, you're positively _glowing_!"
Mako nodded as she looked over at Negai in the dying light, feeling
as though a huge weight that she hadn't even known she was carrying had
been lifted from her shoulders.
"That was--wow. That was so different from the other two. This
time, I was actually more of an observer than a participant. I actually
had to fight to make myself do anything!"
"His hold on you was very strong. And now?"
"Now, for the first time, I feel like I am actually free. Free!"
Mako threw her head back in a joyous laugh and she rushed to
embrace Negai.
"It's getting late. What are you going to wish for, Kino-san?"
"Nothing."
"What?"
"Nothing. Not a thing."
Negai was certain that the girl had lost it.
Mako simply smiled. "It took all of this to make me realize that
my life is really pretty good just the way it is. Okay, so I stand out
in a crowd. But you know, my friends never once judged me because of
it, and I've got to admit, it's pretty handy to be able to toss anyone
that's bugging you out like the garbage.
"My parents are dead and that's a terrible thing. But seeing them
again today, even if only for a little while, reminded me that we're
never really far apart. Not if I keep them right here in my
heart--where they always have been and always will be.
"And then there's...him. I spent I don't know how long wishing
that he would come back into my life. Despite how he treated me when we
were together, I still wanted him back. I can't believe how much energy
and how many tears I wasted on him! But now my life can move on."
The girl looked over at her friend sincerely. "Arigato, Negai, for
helping me to appreciate what I've got right now. I'm grateful for your
offer--but I don't need it."
Negai remained unmoving for a few moments, and then she, too,
smiled. "You're a very special person, Kino-san." With a wave of
Negai's hand, Mako felt the abilities she had acquired fade away. She
wasn't sorry to see them go.
Both remained seated for a while, looking out over the water at the
star-filled sky and the full moon. Finally, Mako stood and took a final
look at the woman.
"I'd better get home. I've got to meet the girls for some serious
shopping tomorrow and I'll need my rest. I get the feeling that
tomorrow will be a whole new beginning." With that, Mako waved goodbye
and walked away, leaving only Negai hovering over the spot she had first
appeared in.
"I've got the same kind of feeling. I hope we're both right. Have
a happy ending, Mako-chan, you deserve it."
=====================================================================
'Lunar Eclipses' it says waaay up there. So what is that?
Basically, I just came up with the name and liked it a lot, so I had to
think of some way to work it into a story. ^_^ 'Lunar Eclipses' is a
banner title for a group of unrelated stories written by myself, myself
and other authors, and (if anyone's interested) just other authors. If
you have some ideas, please feel free to let me know, I'm rather fond of
tossing them back and forth and we might get something really good out
of it.
But now for stuff more related to what you just read. This story
is dedicated to and, in fact, written for UPN Mulder. If you don't know
him, you're missing out -- he *still* is one of the nicest people I've
ever encountered (anyone who'll go in search of Rei/Mars stuff for you
at an anime con is a great guy, ne?) and I'm proud to call him my
friend.
As for the origins of the story, it all came about one glorious day
when UPN replied to me with preview comments concerning "Pity the Child"
(haven't heard of it? Shame on you ^_-) ... and "mini-rant"ed about all
the horrible things that seem to happen to Jupiter in fanfics that I
post. Totally unintentional, of course, I'm very fond of Jupiter-chan.
She just has that lovely angst quality that one can really sink their
teeth into....
Anyway, I vowed then and there to write a story revolving around
Jupiter that had a happy ending, and thus this story developed. I admit
that it got away from me ... it's original length was supposed to be
somewhere in the region of 12K. ^_^;; Oh well.
But enough of my babbling. To those of you that have written with
inquiries, no, I haven't dropped "Forebears". Now that this story has
gotten out of my head, I plan to seriously get to work on part 2,
entitled "Love is Never Wrong". Look for it around the beginning of
December (hopefully) ... Yeah, okay, shameless plug.
Finally, I would love to hear what you thought of this at
JetWolf@ix.netcom.com, whether it be "I liked it!" or "It stunk" --
though if you go with the later, onegai, throw something more in there
so I can improve, ne?
--
===================================================================
JetWolf@ix.netcom.com -=- "Confuse, annoy, and DEE-STROY!"
** http://www.netcom.com/~jetwolf/slrmoon.html **
** for the Sailor Moon Fandub Homepage! **
-= Random Quote Du Jour =-
"I'm back! I'm bold! Maybe even beautiful..."
===================================================================
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geocities.com/tokyo)