Chapter 7

What are Friends For?

In France...

Sailor Pluto and Sailor Mercury ran out of the collapsing building as the ground began to shake horribly.

"Where's Sailor Moon and Sailor Uranus?" Sailor Mercury shouted as they ran down the hall towards the exit. The light lead the way as they ran harder to escape from any danger of staying longer in the building.

"I don't know," Sailor Pluto said, shaking her head. Her face was smudged with dirt and sweat and she looked very tired. Sailor Mercury figured she looked the same as well.

A large, heavy beam was about to fall on their heads but Sailor Pluto reacted quickly and held up her Time Staff and her Garnet Orb began to glow a bright, dark red color. It formed some sort of protective field as the girls continued to run down the hall. They leaped through the exit and fell to the ground which wouldn't stop its relentless shaking.

"Where are they?" Sailor Mercury shouted. She started running back into the apartment building but Sailor Pluto reached out and stopped her.

"No! You'll get yourself killed!"

"We have to save them! Now let me go!"

"Remember what Sailor Moon said? You have to save yourself in order to save the world. If you go in there you might get caught and get killed under the collapsing building. We can't lose you too," Sailor Pluto exclaimed urgently.

Sailor Mercury stopped struggling and drew her breath sharply as she realized that Sailor Pluto was telling the truth. She couldn't get herself killed going back for Sailor Moon. There was everyone else that needed her there to fight Mother Nature. It would be senseless to lose another Sailor Scout if Sailor Moon and Sailor Uranus was really dead.

"But--" Sailor Mercury still wanted to protest everything. But her mind told her that she didn't have anything to protest to but the truth. She gasped fearfully and buried her face in her hands as she sobbed. She knew what was right but she didn't want to lose her friend either.

Sailor Pluto nodded, tears shining in her eyes. She was losing a good friend as well. And her princess. She reached out and comforted Sailor Mercury as Sailor Mercury comforted her. They stood outside of the falling apartment complex, believing that all was lost.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Corinne!" Sailor Moon wailed in fear and panic. She stood up with an unconscious Amelia in her arms and looked around in the thick falling dust for Sailor Uranus. It was very difficult and the dust was getting into her throat and nose. "Sailor Uranus, where are you? You cannot leave me alone! Where are you?"

"Go, Sailor Moon!" A pained voice shouted. "Leave me. You have to save yourself."

"No! I'm not leaving without you. Your my friend!" Sailor Moon shouted in return. She whirled around, looking for the direction where the voice came from. She just had to save Sailor Uranus. She couldn't just leave her to die!

"You have an innocent life in your arms, Sailor Moon. You have to save that life."

"In return lose yours? We've been through this before, Sailor Uranus! We can save everyone if we try! I'll get you out of this! Where are you?" Tears slid down Sailor Moon's dust and dirty smeared face. She continued to look for the direction the voice was coming from.

"No! Leave!" Sailor Uranus shouted angrily.

Suddenly another ceiling caved in. Sailor Moon leaped out of the way and missed it by inches.

"Sorry, Uranus. I know you'll hate me for this..." Sailor Moon let out a cry as she rushed through the falling ceiling. She screamed and wailed in pain as they slammed into her back and head as she ran with her body bent over to protect Amelia from any harm. She ran harder as she jumped and leaped and dodged out of the falling ceiling's way. She screamed as something hit her arm and numbed it. She looked down and found that her glove had torn and revealed three bloody rips in her skin. She winced and blinked away tears. They fell on to Amelia's face and stained it.

Then she came to the collapsed hall way where Sailor Uranus was caught. She was trapped under some fallen beams and pain was written all over her face. It turned to shock and pain when she saw Sailor Moon run near her.

"What are you doing here, Meatball Head?!" Sailor Uranus screamed. "Get out! Your so stupid! Get out of here!"

"No!" Sailor Moon coughed as dust filled her nostrils. She sneezed and coughed. Then she reached Sailor Uranus. "Everything's coming down. I'm weak but I think I can pull together enough energy to get us out of here."

"No! There's too many people. Just get out, Sailor Moon. Your such an idiot for coming back."

Sailor Moon shook her head stubbornly. "I'm not leaving without you. I'm your friend, aren't I?"

Sailor Uranus looked at Sailor Moon for a long time. Then nodded and smiled slightly. Her eyes bright. "Yes, you are."

"Then trust me." Sailor Moon reached out and grabbed Sailor Uranus's hand. Then she closed her eyes and concentrated. Sailor Uranus did the same. Suddenly they both glowed a bright white and gold. Then they disappeared.

In Northern Africa....

Sailor Saturn pushed her purple-black bangs out of her face and yawned tiredly. She had been doing that a lot lately. Even though she had been getting a lot of sleep since Sailor Moon left suddenly. And she had been eating as well. But she was still tired. Her body just wasn't made for it. She was just too weak. How long could she last? Not long, that was for sure.

"Miss Saturn, that's about it. Everyone else is going to transferred to a real hospital and we can pack up and rest," Rachel said cheerily.

Sailor Saturn smiled. "That's wonderful. I can go back and see my friends again."

"I knew you would like the news. Now, just go and get some rest. Then you can go."

"Thank you, Rachel, for telling me that," Sailor Saturn said, smiling tiredly. She turned back and headed for the nearest empty bed. When she wakes up she'll contact Pluto or Sailor Moon and ask them to help her teleport to where ever they were.

In Germany....

Sailor Venus and Sailor Neptune sat down on the freshly changed beds of the temporary hospital and sighed wearily in unison. They had been hopping all over the globe, putting out impossible fires and helping out with the food and medicine along with Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mars and Tuxedo Mask.

The whole world had finally announced a crisis and that everyone was to be careful. All over the world leaders were trying to solve these problems by supplying food and medicine to those who needed it the most. It was very tiring but the sailor scouts helped out by appearing and disappearing with the supplies to make the transporting quicker.

"You both should rest. You've been working really hard these past few days," Luna said worriedly.

"Don't worry, Luna," Sailor Venus said, smiling tiredly. "We're okay. This is our job, right?"

"Yes, Luna, we're fine. We just need some food," Sailor Neptune sighed. "I am very hungry. I haven't eaten in two days."

"Have you seen Sailor Moon?" Luna asked worriedly.

"No. I haven't seen her since we split up," Sailor Venus said, shaking her head. "What has that Meatball Head been doing?"

Artemis appeared with a very worried expression on his face. "I just spoke to Sailor Mercury and Sailor Pluto. It looks like Sailor Moon and Sailor Uranus got very lucky. They almost got killed under a collapsing building. Right now both of them are very tired and haven't woken up yet."

"We've got to get to them and make sure they're okay," Sailor Jupiter said, appearing behind Luna.

"She's right. We can't leave them like that," Sailor Mars agreed.

"Is Sailor Moon all right?" Tuxedo Mask asked anxiously.

"Yes, but very tired," Artemis said seriously. "She used the last bits of her strength to teleport her, Sailor Uranus and this child they had found in the collapsing building. She was already low on energy teleporting from Northern Africa to France to see what Sailor Pluto, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Mercury had done to stop the earthquake there."

"That girl. She'll never learn to save her energy," Sailor Jupiter sighed.

"What does she want? To kill herself by draining her energy like that?" Sailor Mars demanded angrily.

"She does mean good you guys," Sailor Venus said softly.

"She always does," Sailor Mars snapped. "But it doesn't mean she should be going around wasting her energy like that and getting herself killed."

They all knew that Sailor Mars was worried for the Meatball Head and it was the only reason why she was so angry and snappish.

"What do you guys want to eat? I just whipped up some really good soup with the food you guys brought in a few hours ago," Sailor Jupiter said cheerfully.

"That sounds good," Sailor Neptune agreed, smiling.

"Wonderful. Be back in a sec." And then Sailor Jupiter disappeared into the kitchen.