~Who We Are~ Chapter 3-Haruka

By: Meatball Head

E-mail: pomprincess@hotmail.com

Rating: PG (For now.  This may fluctuate.)

Minna-san, konnichiwa!!!  How is everyone?  Good, I hope.  I truly hope you haven’t driven yourself mad over the ending of chapter 2.  It was a cruel thing for me to do, I know.  But that’s the way I keep your interest, isn’t it?  And now a few problems may just be resolved in this chapter.  Though the most important might not be for a few more chapters yet.  I kinda like the suspense:)  In any case, I need to wait for the next Ai chapter.  I hope you enjoy, that’s all the author’s notes this time.

Disclaimer: This story is MINE.  Sailor Moon is not.  Keep those two straight and you’ll be just fine.

            We entered the throne room to find an air of tense agitation.  In fact, the Lady Topaz was lying on the floor, obviously unconscious.  Amethyst was shaking her awake halfheartedly, but her real focus was on the figure in the middle of the room.

            In the center of the black throne room stood Ai, eyes seemingly focused inward, as she did not recognize our arrival.  In her white dress, with her pale hair and skin, she looked like a statue of a marble goddess, with only the brilliant violet of her eyes and the glimmer of her symbol to evidence that she was real.  It reminded me very much of the time long ago, when she was a young girl, that she had received her Senshi identity.  She had looked like a standing statue then too, deadly pale with the symbol on her forehead.

            Indeed, I realized all three women had their symbols in evidence, though that was very unusual for Topaz in her current state.

            Instinctively, I held out my hand as a warning, and Small Lady stopped as she was about to run to Ai.  Carefully, I walked up to her myself, and took her gently around the shoulders.  “Ai?  Wake up.”  Déjà vu washed over me as suddenly her body went limp for a second, and then she was back, stronger than ever.

            “Haruka!”  She hugged me tightly.  It had been almost a month since we had seen each other.  “Michiru!  Small Lady!  Everyone!  Please sit down… Amethyst, get someone to take Topaz out of the room.”  Amethyst called a servant and Topaz was carefully carried away.  Amethyst joined us.  Ai waved her arm and a large table with chairs appeared in the middle of the room.

            “Are you all right?” I asked her with worry.  I knew that though she had put on the calm façade again she might not be.

            “Don’t worry.  I am… we have lots to talk about.  Take a seat.”  I settled into a chair with Michiru on one side and Ai on the other.  Again, I felt her strength surge into her, almost as if it was a tangible thing.  She stood, and looked at everyone around the table.  Every planet was represented except Pluto, but we had expected Setsuna not to have time.  Even Small Lady, not quite so small anymore, was sitting seriously and ready to listen.  “As you know,” Ai began, “the Alpha Federation has declared war on Nemesis.”

            I nodded.  “The Uranian military has already been called into active training.  We will be ready to help you.”  All around the table the others nodded.

            “What you may not know is that this war could be avoided.”  She sighed.  “I called this as a war council, but perhaps first I will simply ask for advice.  Please, see the person in question not as me, your friend, but as a random ruler of a planet in the Alliance.  Can you try to do that for me?”

            A few of the others nodded uncomfortably.  I looked at her uncertainly.  “What do you mean?”

            “Try, Haruka.”  Her voice was steel.  I nodded.  That was a tone of voice we had learned not to argue with.

            “I have received a most interesting proposition from Prince Kyogou of the Federation.  He offered to call off the war and work together with the Alliance, to sign a peace treaty.”

            “That’s PERFECT!” shouted Small Lady.  “That’s exactly what we need… isn’t it?”  She looked at the severely grave faces around the table.  “Why are you all so upset?  It seems to me like the problem has been solved.”

“What were his conditions, Ai?”  Michiru looked as worried as I felt.  “There were conditions, of course.”

“Only one,” Ai nodded.  “The perfect solution, I suppose.  But I’m not sure it is what I should do.”

“What did he want?” asked Serenity.

“That I marry him within the week.”

“NANI!?”

“Sit down Haruka,” Michiru said calmly.  “I know how much you care for her.  I do too.  But we are supposed to se her as a person we do not know.  Sit down.”  Her voice was steel too, steel hidden by a soft layer of velvet.

I realized I had jumped up, as Small Lady had.  I felt foolish as I sat back down slowly.  Serenity motioned her daughter to her seat.

“I want everyone’s honest opinion.  I don’t know what I should do.  There is a catch there.  I’m not sure what it is, but it is there.  I need to see more perspectives than my own.  Amethyst, I believe I know your opinion.  You told me earlier today that a queen always does what is best for her people.  Before you knew of this situation.”

Amethyst nodded slowly.

“Serenity?  Endymion?  I would like your opinions now.  Should I marry him?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

I looked in starlement at the two rulers who rarely disagreed about anything.  Ai seemed surprised as well.  “Would you elaborate on that?”

Endymion inclined his head.  “I think you should do it.  If I look at you as my friend, I want to say no.  But as the ruler of Nemesis, this would be the better thing to do.  It would save perhaps millions of people from needless death.”

“I don’t agree,” Serenity said.  “I believe that ninety percent of every decision should be made with your heart, and the remaining part with your mind.  You do not want to do this.  Don’t do it.”

“I like you too much.  Don’t do it.”  Small Lady looked deadly serious.  “Betraying your heart is the worst crime you could commit.  Don’t allow yourself to commit it!”

“Do it,” said Rei.  “Sometimes your real dream needs to be overshadowed by a more imminent need.  It would be nice to have life be perfect, but if it can’t be, take the best of the two evils.”

“Do it,” agreed Makoto.  “Can he really be that bad?  Save your people and worry about yourself last.  That is the only way.  Keep your inner strength hidden and nothing can touch you.”

“Don’t do it,” disagreed Minako.  “I agree with Serenity.  Heart over mind.  You belong to yourself foremost, only then to your planet.  Betraying yourself is high treason too.  You are, after all, the queen.”

“Do it,” Hotaru shook her head.  “You owe it to your planet to save lives.  Sacrifice yourself, but save others.  It is the correct way.”

“Do it”, Michiru sighed.  “You know how much we all like you, Ai.  You are like my younger sister.  My heart is screaming at me to forbid this.  I listen to my heart under normal circumstances.  Not so here.”  Minako glared at her.  “Think of what is best for everyone.  A selfish decision is not what you need here, as much as I want to urge you to make it.  I will help you make this as painless as possible.  But I advise you strongly to accept.”

I slammed my fist on the table.  “What can I say about it now?  It seems like it’s decided, doesn’t it?  But if you want my opinion, I say no.”

I looked at Ami.  She was last, and seemed hesitant to speak.  I was sure of what she would say anyway.  Mind over heart, safety for the Alliance.  She would also give Ai what I felt was the wrong advice.  “Don’t you dare do it.”  Everyone turned their shocked faces to Ami.

“Come again?  I’m not sure I heard right.”  I shot a quizzical look at her.

“You did.  This could be a huge disaster.  What does Kyogou want?  He wants Ai, true.  But he wants something else too.  What he doesn’t want is war.  Otherwise he would not offer this.  As much as Ai’s perfection may have captivated him, he is a very intelligent man.  He would not cancel a war for one woman.”

“What does he want then?” asked Michiru.

“Nemesis.  Perhaps the whole Alliance.  He wants to take it from the inside.  His children would rule Nemesis, he would marry them into the Earth’s ruling family, and where would we be?  Part of the Federation.  Small Lady is still too young or he might have asked for her.”

“How can you be so sure?” Hotaru asked.

“Remember when he took the throne ten years back?”

“Yes.  His father died.”  Michiru shrugged.  “There’s nothing exceptional about that.”

“How?” Ami pressed.

“Age, I suppose?”

“He was thirty.  He had no known illness.”

“So then…” Serenity began to get a look of pure horror on her face.

“Yes, I remember!  His mother had the throne for three days exactly.  Then she mysteriously disappeared.”  I glared at everyone around the table.  “THIS is what you want for her?”

“She would be relatively safe.  Powerful rulers don’t destroy beautiful things that belong to them.  But that is all she would be,” Michiru stated.  “A beautiful belonging of the Prince.”

“I think I see everyone’s point of view,” Ai finally spoke up.  I realized she had not said anything up until now, letting us argue it out.  “Thank you for all the advice.  I promise I will consider it all.  I knew of the prince’s parents before, it was in the archives here.  Nemesis had more contact with them at that time.  But I think I’ve made my decision.”

Just then, a servant walked in and bowed low.  “My Queen, the elite officer Alexandrite is here to see you.  I told her that you were busy, but she refuses to leave.”

Ai smiled for the first time that night.  “That is like her.  Send her to the library and tell her Amethyst and I will be there shortly.  Don’t forget to thank her for coming so promptly.”

After the servant had left, Amethyst also stood up.  “White Lady, it is late.”

“Yes,” Ai agreed.  “It was already evening when I went out.  How much has happened since then!  I will meet with Alexandrite and then I will rest.  The rest of you are welcome to stay here if you have far to go.  I would love to have you.”

“We’ll stay,” I said speaking for Michiru and myself.

“So will I,” said Small Lady.  Her mother sighed and her father nodded.

The other Inner Senshi left, along with Hotaru.  “Please follow the servants you will find in the hallway to your rooms and sleep well.  I will see you in the morning.”

“Will you just tell me what you’ve decided?”  I was becoming frustrated.

“I will arrange to meet with Kyogou tomorrow, and perhaps the interview will change my mind, but for now I think that I will agree to the wedding simply to buy some time.  A royal wedding takes MUCH longer than a week to prepare.”  She smiled.  “In the meantime I will look for a way out.  And if I don’t find one… well, then, I will just have to go through with it and teach Kyogou from the inside that I’m not a beautiful trifle he can command.”  With a wave, she swept out of the throne room.

“Don’t worry Haruka,” Michiru said, putting her head on my shoulder.  “She can take care of herself.”

Back to fanfics now!  Go on!!!