Life's Lessons
By Kristin Renee Taylor
Chapter 12
Ami stared down at the cup of hot tea held between her hands, wondering how long till the purification systems were up and running, since the bottled water wouldn't last forever.
'I should have had Minako-chan bring a couple of the portable water purifiers with her, then we could have had fresh water immediately, instead of planning to use whatever facilities Beryl may have left behind. Of course, I probably wasn't in the correct frame of mind to give the necessary orders while we were evacuating.'
She smiled ruefully. And while she was thinking about stuff she should have brought, how about adding a new wardrobe, a queen-sized bed, a spa, and her library to her mental list? And a couple of space heaters. And a very strong drink. Preferably scotch. Or whiskey. Or something stronger than whiskey. What was stronger than whiskey? Maybe Rei would know.
No, wait. She couldn't ask Rei. Talking to Rei would remind Ami about the thing Ami was desperately trying to forget.
Ami winced and sipped her tea. It was lemon tea. She hated lemon tea. Why couldn't it be green tea? Makoto had been growing green tea. Why hadn't she brought some of it?
"What time is it?" Someone muttered nearby.
Ami looked up, dreading what she find, but too polite to simply ignore the voice.
Rei stared blearily down at Ami from across the table. Other than a few thin lines of paler flesh along her arms, Rei showed no obvious signs of earlier trip down the volcano's side.
"Three in the morning," Ami said thickly.
Rei grunted and walked away, headed for the stove and the big pot of food cooking on one of the ranges. This area, a small clearing in a veritable maze of canvas that had been erected, was one of three cafeterias for people who, like Ami, spent most of their time being nocturnal.
How unfortunate that, at this particular time, the only two people up and about were Rei and Ami herself.
'Vodka. That's the alcohol I'm thinking of. Definitely vodka.'
Rei set a bowl on the table and sat down. "Where's Mako-chan?"
"Sleeping."
"Voluntarily?"
'As voluntarily as a couple of grams of diazepam could make her.' Ami took a swallow of her tea. "Not entirely."
"Can't say she didn't deserve it." She ate some of the yellowish substance in her bowl and made a face. "I wish stuff wouldn't taste like it looked."
Ami made a sound of acquiescence. Rei gave Ami an odd look, then shrugged and continued eating. She ate about half the bowl before she said, "So what are you waiting for?"
Caught off guard, Ami looked up in surprise. "What?"
Rei kept eating. "I'm too tired to yell back, Ami-chan, so you'll never get a better chance to tear into me."
"'Tear into?' Oh... you mean for me to..." Ami hesitated, and looked at Rei. "Actually, Rei-chan, I believe I should apologize for my earlier behavior. I... I... jumped to conclusions before I fully understood the reasons behind your behavior. I'm very sorry."
To Ami's surprise, Rei started to laugh. "I guess I should've expected that," she said when she had calmed down some. She patted Ami's hand. "It's okay, Ami-chan. It's no big deal."
'Oh, Rei-chan, but it is.' Ami took a deep breath. "Rei-chan..."
"Yep?"
"I know what happened in Chicago."
Rei's spoon froze halfway to her mouth. A complex array of emotions flashed across her face, before settling on disconcerting blankness. "Is that so?" She kept eating.
Ami stared at her, Rei's sudden lack of expression more upsetting than any of the emotional outbursts that Ami had expected. Disturbed, Ami looked down at her tea. "I guess I shouldn't have pried, but, what was I supposed to do? I was angry. Angry at you, angry about what you did, angry about the fact that you never told us. I just wanted to know why."
"And when you found out why?" Rei asked softly.
Ami couldn't look up. Numbers ran through her mind. Forty-eight dead. Two hundred sixteen injured. Ami's hands tightened. "Now I want to know why you did it."
Rei sighed and set her spoon down. She laced her fingers together. "What do you want me to tell you, Ami-chan?"
"I don't understand. Rei-chan, what are you talking a-"
Rei leaned across the table, staring intently at Ami. "What conceivable reason could I give you that would put your mind at ease? How can I justify the murder of nearly fifty people? *What* do you want me to tell you?"
Pinned by Rei's stare, Ami tried to come up with something, floundered, and remained silent. Seeing this, Rei backed off, leaning back in her chair. "Why did I do it?" She shrugged. "Somebody probably pissed me off. Or maybe I just couldn't handle grief. Losing my grandfather and my best friend in the same year's kinda tough." She was silent for a moment. "But whatever the reason the result was the same: I lost control of my own power."
Ami's mouth was dry. She sipped her tea, which was pointless since it was cold. "That... is a lot of fire to lose control of."
Rei laughed humorlessly. "Damn straight." She stood, got herself a cup of tea, and sat back down. "Anyway, we have Minako-chan to thank for stopping me. While I was in the process of creating the second Chicago Fire, she hunted me down, stuck a gun to my head, and told me that if I didn't get a hold on myself, she'd aerate my brain."
Ami spluttered. "She did *what?!*"
"She stuck a gun to my head and told me-," Rei said, much to calmly.
"I-I know what you said, but where did she get a gun? And what was she doing in Chicago? All of the records say she was in Greece!"
Rei stared into her tea, probably wishing that she, too, had something stronger to drink. "Minako-chan's job as a model was a cover, an excuse she used for being able to travel freely across the globe. Her real job was as a Black Ops Special Agent for PUMA."
"The political organization responsible for the creation of the United World Nation?"
"One and the same."
"I wasn't aware they had a covert operations division."
"Ami-chan..." Rei shook her head, faintly amused. "I'm sure that if you had known about them, they probably would have killed you pretty fast." Rei drank some tea.
Ami said, "The mental block in my brain."
"Was put in after I regained my sanity and returned to Japan," Rei confirmed, nodding. "There's one in each of us." She set her cup down. "Does knowing the 'why' of it make it easier to accept?"
Ami sighed. "It does, yes. I just wish you had told us earlier. Don't you trust us?"
"I trust all of you, even Minako-chan although she makes me want to kill her sometimes." She ran a finger along the edge of her cup. "I guess... I wanted to spare you guys the guilt of knowing that you were friends with a homicidal maniac."
"Rei-chan..."
Rei laughed suddenly and smiled ruefully at Ami. "And speaking of homicidal maniacs, would you be willing to break all of this to Mako- chan?"
* * * * * * * * * *
"Are you sure you're going to be all right?" Michiru asked again.
Terri smiled at her hostess and nodded. "I'll be fine, Michiru-san. I was just a little dizzy. Probably got out of bed too fast." The use of the old Japanese honorific came easily to Terri, and it surprised her that it seemed almost natural to add it Michiru's name. Michiru didn't seem to mind, either, probably because her own accent was nearly as thick as the Descendants.
Michiru stared briefly at Terri, but did nothing to point out Terri's lie. Instead, she said, "Then I'll let you meet your friends in private. They should still be down at the beach."
The path they stood on branched off into two different directions. Michiru would be heading down the right path, towards the stables, where Terri could already see a group of people gathered about. Terri would keep straight until she ran into the beach.
Movement caught Terri's eyes. She turned her head, and saw another woman approaching them. But not just any woman.
'A Senshi?! *Here?!*' Terri opened her mouth to scream a warning.
The Senshi looked directly at Terri, and the scream died in her throat. The world around her seemed to shrink, everything fading till the only thing she became aware of were blood-red eyes boring into her own.
The Senshi spoke. "Do you know who I am?"
"You're Sailor Pluto," Terri said without hesitation.
"I am many things," Sailor Pluto said. "However, for the time being, I am not your enemy. Is this understood?"
Terri nodded. "Yes. Of course. You're not my enemy."
"There are two people on this island with whom you are capable of forging a magical link with, a link that is similar to the one you share with Hino Rei. Although you will not be consciously aware of it, you will set about forging those links with Ten'oh Haruka and Kaioh Michiru. You will do so in such a way that neither you nor they will be aware of them. However, you will not activate the links until you receive the sign to do so."
Terri frowned in concentration. "I... understand. What is the sign?"
Pluto pointed skywards. "The Phoenix and the Dragon." Terri looked up, puzzled, then back at Pluto.
"One last instruction. Very soon now, you will see Me walking towards you. You will not know Me. In fact, you will not consciously remember that this discussion took place. Is this understood?"
"I don't have a clue who you are. We never talked," Terri agreed amiably.
Pluto smiled and-
Movement caught Terri's eyes. She turned her head, saw another woman approaching them, and had the sudden overwhelming feeling that she had been through all of this before. 'Must be the heat,' she thought, baffled.
"Setsuna," Michiru said, smiling brightly as the newcomer joined them. "I don't believe you've met Terri-chan, yet." To Terri, "Terri- chan, I'd like you to meet Meioh Setsuna."
"A pleasure to meet you, Setsuna-san." Terri bowed slightly.
Setsuna smiled warmly. "The pleasure is all mine, Terri-san." Their eyes met.
For a brief moment, Terri had the oddest sensation that she should be afraid of Setsuna. But that was silly; Setsuna wasn't an enemy. Terri blinked rapidly, and realized that Michiru was looking at her expectantly. Quickly, she tried to recall the last thing that had been said. "Uh... yes. I think I should be going, now." She started to turn away.
Setsuna called out, "Don't forget what I said, Terri-san."
Without knowing why, Terri shuddered.
* * * * * * * * * *
The structure of ice was impressively tall, and the magic that had not only built it but had sustained it through centuries of ice and snow storms was equally impressive. Mars would have given quite a bit to know who was capable of such strong magic.
Mars looked behind Her. About a kilometer away was another structure, this one more like a spire, and it was even taller than the one She currently stood on.
Mars turned towards the volcano in the distance and frowned. What *had* happened here?
Well, it didn't matter. It wasn't Mars' job to figure that out. Her job was to deal with those irritable Descendants.
Mars settled Herself on the ice, sitting lotus-style, and tried to make Herself comfortable. This was going to take a while.
* * * * * * * * * *
"TEEEEERRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Terri stopped her cloud-watching, looking around her in time to be tackled by a blue-haired barefoot streak of silliness. She hit the sand with a startled "Oof!"
"Oh, God, Terri! I was so worried about you! I mean, after they split us up and I didn't know where they put you and Shouji was gone and I couldn't see and then I could see but then the cruiser blew up and I didn't know where we were 'cause there was nothing but snow-" Kiyomi inhaled "-and there was soooooooooooo much snow and all we did was walk around and then you guys were gone and I passed out and then I woke up and we were here and I'm so happy to see you!" Kiyomi grinned brightly down at Terri from her position on Terri's lap.
Terri managed a groan.
Kiyomi gasped. "Oh, no! I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"Ow..."
Kiyomi scooted over to Terri's side and hauled Terri into a sitting position. She carefully examined her. "You look okay... Maybe you hit your head? How many fingers am I holding up?" She waved her hands in front of Terri's face.
Terri caught her hands. "Kiyomi."
"Yes, Terri?"
"If you ever so much as think of tackling me again, I'm going to kill you. Okay?"
Kiyomi stared at her silently. Slowly, her eyes begin to fill with tears.
"Oh, great. Kiyomi, don't start cry-"
"I'm SORRY!" Kiyomi threw her arms around Terri's neck and started sobbing into Terri's shoulder. "I'll never do it again! I promise!"
Terri gritted her teeth. "Kiyomi... Kiyomi! Kiyomi, cut it out!"
Kiyomi pulled away, sniffling. "I'm sorry." Sniff. "It's just-" Sniff. "-I'm *so* happy-" Sniff. "-to see you!" Sniff sniff sniffle.
Terri's smile was strained. "I'm happy to see you, too, Kiyomi. And I'm happy that you're happy to see me, but can you be just a tad less-"
"Hyperactive?"
"Zealous," Terri said firmly, but she smiled to soften her words. "You do get a little carried away sometimes."
Kiyomi laughed. "Yeah, I guess I do." She sobered, though, and started to study Terri intently.
Terri blinked at her friend's switch in behavior. "Um... Kiyomi? Is something wrong?" Terri frowned, and poked Terri in the chest. Terri jumped. "Hey! What're you doing?!"
Kiyomi smirked. "I knew it. You're not wearing a bra!"
"WHAT?!" Terri's blush must have gone all the way to the ends of her hair.
"Well," Kiyomi drawled. "You were kinda bouncy when you were walking down here. And I must say that I'm surprised. I would've never pictured you as being the braless type."
Terri stammered incoherently and stood, face so hot she thought that, at any moment, she'd burst into flames. "Where's Shouji?" she squeaked eventually.
Kiyomi rose more gracefully, still smirking. She casually brushed sand off of her dress. "Oh, he's out in the water, reliving his childhood. Why? You wanna show him how 'perky' you are, too?"
"Cut it out, Kiyomi!" But she laughed. She hadn't seen Kiyomi this happy since... since... 'Since we entered that subway tunnel.' She headed for the water's edge, Kiyomi keeping pace beside her. "Say, Kiyomi?"
"Hm?"
"How exactly did we escape from Mercury? I don't remember."
Kiyomi looked at her strangely. "I told you. The cruiser blew up."
"Blew up? How did that happen?"
Kiyomi paused to pick up a handful of sand. "I don't know. Probably an engine blew and- Blam!" She scattered the sand out ahead of them. "Of course, I didn't see the actual explosion. Heard it, though. Felt it, too. And from what I heard and felt, I think it's a miracle we survived the thing. Shouji said the cruiser was this big, burning mess behind us."
"Behind us? What were we doing in front of it?"
Kiyomi gave Terri the strange look again, then she shrugged. "I don't know how we got there. It's bizarre. Shouji said that one moment the cruiser was coming apart at the seams, and then the next thing he knows the three of us are standing in the snow watching the sucker turn into a big pile of melted slag. He also said that you were acting really strange, not talking or anything. You just started walking, so we sorta trailed along."
Terri frowned. "I don't remember any of this."
"Don't worry about it. Look. There's Shouji!" She waved. "Shouji! Look who I found!"
Shouji, clad in only a pair of cut-off shorts, rose from the sand and waved back, a huge grin on his face. "Terri! I'm glad to see you are all right."
Terri laughed. "Everybody keeps saying that. You guys are making me think I was about to die or something."
Shouji and Kiyomi exchanged a look. Terri blinked and looked at them, suddenly uneasy. "I wasn't going to die... was I?"
Kiyomi sidled over to Shouji and whispered something in his ear. Shouji stared at Terri for a long, uncomfortable moment, and said, "You might wanna wear a bra with that shirt, Terri." Kiyomi grinned and took off running.
"Kiyomi! I'm gonna *kill* you!"
* * * * * * * * * *
"Sleep
Dream
Remember
What you once were."Lives lost
Lives lived
Relive
Through the dream."Past strengthen
Present fade
Reality slumber
Only dreams are real."The past comes alive
Remember
Dream
Sleep."<Sleep>
Makoto leaned against the wall, using her knife to clean her fingernails, listening intently as footsteps approached, passed her, and faded into the distance. Across from her, a man slumped against the ground, seemingly asleep. The instant the last footfalls vanished, the man lifted a hand and knocked on the wall behind him.
Above her, a head poked out of a window. "Myrmidon?" A constable this close could make leaving the scene of the crime considerably harder.
"Mobility," she answered sharply. Slipping her knife into the sheath hidden in her sleeve, she turned, grabbed the hand stretched towards her, and scrambled up the wall and through the window. She crouched below the window. "Well?"
The boy flashed her a smile, teeth bright in the darkness. "The Oak's out like you said, old hand."
Makoto whacked the boy on the head. "Shut up. You wanna get caught and die of hempen fever?" The boy shook his head rapidly. Makoto stood. "Then find the iron and drop 'em to the family man." She jerked her head towards the window.
They split up and begin to move through the rooms, Makoto picking up things of value and stuffing them into the sack she carried. Whoever lived here was of considerable wealth, which was why she had chosen to break in here in the first place.
She was considering breaking open a small chest, when the boy squealed "Mort!"
Makoto ran back to the original room, which was suddenly lit by a lamp set on a table. She froze when she saw the woman holding the boy by the scruff of his collar. Makoto scowled. "Alethea. How nice to see you."
"Is this one your's, Faith?" Makoto's twin gestured to the boy with her free hand.
"He is. And don't call me that," Makoto growled. They stared at one other coldly. The silence was broken by the boy's snicker. "Faith!? You've got a girl's name?"
Makoto pinned him with a glare. "You. Shut up."
Alethea smiled down at the boy. "Well, of course she has a girl's name, hon. What do you think she is?"
The boy goggled. "You mean... He's a..." He stared wide-eyed at Makoto. "You're a mort!"
"I thought I told you to shut up," Makoto said angrily. She glowered at Alethea. "You gonna cry beef?"
"Why would I do that, Faith?" She released the boy, who scrambled over to cower behind Makoto. "Despite your... questionable choice of careers, you are still my sister. I'll let you and your companions go, so long as you return the things you and your male friend there have already stolen." She politely inclined her head towards the doorway.
Grumbling under her breath, Makoto handed her sack to the boy. "Do as she says. And be quick!" The boy scurried off, still giggling.
Makoto leaned against the doorframe. Alethea inspected her hands. "So..." Makoto said slowly. "How's the academy?"
"It's going well. The girls are doing very well at their studies."
Makoto snorted. 'I can bet. And she calls my line of work questionable.'
Silence.
"Is that boy your-"
"Rum bob." Meaning that he was Makoto's apprentice, and a skilled one at that. Alethea nodded and looked outside. "Your family man is still there. Should I tell him to leave?"
"He'll leave on his own."
The boy returned, tripped over Makoto's foot and sprawled on the floor. Makoto picked him up, carrying him easily under her arm like a sack. "Well, I guess we'll be leaving. By the door." She turned around.
"You know, Faith, the girls miss you. They still wonder when 'Aunt Faith' is going to come back."
Makoto flashed her sister an insincere smile. "It's nice to know you still know your slang, Abbess." The boy giggled. Makoto punched him in the back of the head. "Quiet!"
'Great. Now I'm never gonna live this one down...'
Author's Notes:
All of the gibberish spoken during Mako-chan's scene I got from the Lexicon of Thieves Cant (compiled by Shaun Hately). Here's the meanings of all the words I used.
Abbess - the mistress of a brothel
Academy - brothel
Aunt - a prostitute or someone who procures prostitutes.
cry beef - to "cry beef" is to give an alarm
family man - a receiver of stolen goods
gibberish, slang - Thieves cant
hempen fever - a person who has been hanged is said to have died of "hempen fever."
iron - money
Mobility - A commoner
Mort - a woman
Myrmidon - a constable
Oak - a rich person
Old hand - an experienced thief
rum bob - a skilled apprentice thief.
And by the way, Alethea is Greek for Truth. Go fig. :) And another one bites the dust. *singing* And another one. Another one. Another one bites the dust. Okay, I'll stop.
Anyway, onward to Chapter 13!
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