Chapter 8

Despair, Remorse, and Death

In France...

Amelia de Leon sat beside her heroine and watched as her chest rose and fell. She was still asleep and Sailor Pluto said both she and Sailor Uranus weren't going to be awake any time soon.

"Oh, wake up, Sailor Moon. I didn't mean to put you and Sailor Uranus through so much trouble," Amelia whispered tearfully. "I'm sorry." Big drops of tears began to fall from her eyes as she held the large hand of Sailor Moon and prayed for her to wake up. "Please, wake up."

The tears fell on to Sailor Moon's hands and she twitched. Amelia watched in amazement as the woman's eyes opened. Sailor Moon blinked a few times, then moaned.

"Where am I?" she asked in a slow voice as she struggled to pull away from the fog that she had been kept in for so long.

"Sailor Moon!" Amelia threw her arms around the woman's neck and hugged her tightly as she sobbed in relief. "I'm so glad your awake."

"Amelia, what's the matter?" Sailor Moon asked in shock as she hugged the girl tightly. "Amelia, don't cry, sweet heart. My goodness, you shouldn't cry. I'm right here. I'll always be here for you, love."

"Oh, Sailor Moon," Amelia sobbed.

"Your awake, thank goodness," Sailor Pluto sighed in relief. She stood at the doorway, well rested and stronger.

"Hello, Pluto," Sailor Moon said, smiling. "Where are we?"

"We're in Sailor Uranus's and Sailor Neptune's mansion," Sailor Pluto replied. "It was the closes place and it would give us some privacy while you and Uranus recovered."

"Really? What a nice place. How long have I been out of it?" Sailor Moon asked. She still held little Amelia in her arms, the little girl was sitting comfortably in her lap and it didn't look like she was going to move any time soon.

"About three days."

"Three days?! And no one called Sailor Saturn to come and wake me up?" Sailor Moon demanded indignantly. She wasn't becoming the sleeping, clutz again, was she? No, she was twenty-one.

"Well, you seemed so peaceful," Sailor Pluto said, smiling a small smile. "You needed the rest, Sailor Moon. You've out worked yourself too hard. I'll go get you some food and then we'll talk." She then stepped back into the shadows and disappeared.

Sailor Moon sighed and leaned against the head board of the large, canopy bed. She looked down at Amelia and found that she had fallen asleep. Sailor Moon pushed back the soft brown hair of the little girl and smiled wistfully. She had a daughter in the future named Rini and she missed her dearly. Of course Amelia was nothing compared to Rini. Sure Rini was annoying but lovable and Amelia is sweet and lovable. But Serena still loved Rini for all her bravery and strength. She was a wonderful daughter and Serena couldn't wait to see her again in the future.

Closing her eyes, Sailor Moon drifted back to sleep, but this time there was no gray fog to hold her back. Only a clear emptiness of no dreams but just rest.

Sailor Mercury sat down comfortably on the couch in the den and pulled out her computer. She flipped it open and started typing in it. She typed a little further and checked out every part of the world.

Suddenly the computer went crazy and started beeping that a major earthquake was going to hit Tokyo, Japan and it was in Juuban district. Sailor Mercury felt herself become cold and scared all over and began to type furiously away as she got more information about what was going to happen. The earthquake was going to happen....

Now?!

Jumping off the couch, Sailor Mercury ran out of the den. She headed for Sailor Pluto's room but found her while running down the hall. Sailor Pluto was carrying a tray of food but Sailor Mercury crashed into her and the food was thrown everywhere.

"Mercury! What's the matter?" Sailor Pluto gasped as the milk splashed on to her uniform.

"Oh! Sailor Pluto! I'm terribly sorry but a very bad earthquake is hitting Tokyo right now! It's centered in our district! Our family members, Pluto! We've got to save them!" Sailor Mercury shouted.

"My goodness! Get Sailor Moon! She's awake! I'll go try and wake Sailor Uranus," Sailor Pluto said calmly but hurriedly. Then she turned and ran down the hall.

Sailor Mercury ran to Sailor Moon's bedroom and exploded through the door. Sailor Moon shot up, awake, and blinked when she saw Sailor Mercury standing at the door way, breathing hard with fear written all over her thin, pale face.

"Mercury, what's the matter?"

"We've got big trouble."

In Tokyo, Japan...

Sammy Tsukino was studying in his room when suddenly, everything began to shake very hard. He was used to the earthquakes that happened in Japan but this was like nothing he had ever felt before. He tried to stand up but it was impossible. He just dropped to the ground and laid there as everything in his room began to fall from their shelves.

"What's going on?" Mrs. Tsukino's voice rang clear with fear as the shaking got worse and the rumbling of the earth shifting got louder.

"It's an earthquake!" Mr. Tsukino shouted in a panicked voice. "Take cover!"

Sammy wanted to get up and go to his parents but the shaking was so bad he could barely move on his own. He grabbed on the side of his table but suddenly the ground rippled and the desk slid towards him. He screamed in horror as it neared and slammed into him. He gasped from the incredible weight and everything blinked black and white until his vision finally cleared and he found himself pressed against the wall of his bedroom with his desk over him. He had gotten lucky and the table closed in on him through the opening where the chair went. He sighed in relief but now realized that he was stuck. What if the house fell in on him? Then he would be in a lot of trouble.

"Help!" Sammy yelled frantically as he pounded against the heavy desk. "Someone! Help!" He could hear his mother's screams and his father's shouting as the earthquake continued impossibly. It was just too hard to be real. He had been through earthquakes but this was just unreal. It was too hard.

Suddenly the ground threw Sammy up and he slammed the back of his head to the top of the table. He moaned and sighed as he slid into the black void of unconsciousness.

In Germany...

"Welcome back, Sailor Saturn," Sailor Neptune said warmly as she hugged the little girl tightly.

"Thanks for helping me teleport back. I tried contacting Sailor Pluto and Sailor Moon but they weren't replying," Sailor Saturn said with a frown on face.

"They've been doing a lot of work and are tired. They're probably still resting," Sailor Jupiter said. "So, how was Africa?"

"Hot," Sailor Saturn said. "But I liked helping those people out. It made me feel really nice inside."

"That's what healing is all about," Tuxedo Mask said, smiling. But it was a tight smile. He was tired and was still very worried about Sailor Moon and her condition. He wished he was with her but he was still needed in Germany as they helped out the injured, sick and homeless.

Suddenly all of their communicators went off like crazy.

"What's the matter, Sailor Mercury?" Sailor Jupiter asked. She was the first to get to her communicator.

"There's an earthquake in Japan. It's in our district. You guys, I think you should come back. Our families are here." Sailor Mercury's voice was broken with tears. "There's so much wreckage. Me, Sailor Moon, Sailor Pluto and Sailor Uranus have just reached it and stopped the shaking. But....Oh my goodness, it's horrible over here." She was sobbing now.

"We'll be right there, Sailor Mercury. Don't you worry," Sailor Mars said determinedly. They all clicked off the communicators and looked at each other with the most solemn of expressions. They were all very afraid and angry. "We've got to go home."

They all nodded in agreement and joined hands. They bowed their heads and concentrated. Then they disappeared in a bright flash of light.

In Tokyo, Japan....

They reappeared in the middle of a wide street in the Juuban district. They opened their eyes and looked around in shock and disbelief.

It was tragic. Tokyo Tower was just a pile of concrete, plaster, wood and glass. All the houses had collapsed in on themselves and the streets were broken and had large, deep crevices that fell to no where. It was horrible sight. Telephone poles had fallen over. Trees were uprooted. Cars were crushed together or turned over. Everyone was walking around, injured one or another. All trying to recover. Many of them were screaming and crying from the pain of losing their loved ones.

"Oh my goodness. It's as bad as Sailor Mercury had said it would be," Sailor Neptune whispered raggedly.

"This can't be Tokyo," Tuxedo Mask agreed in a shaky voice. "It's all been turned upside down." Horror and disbelief showed clear in his dark blue eyes.

"Where's Sailor Moon and everyone else?" Sailor Saturn asked.

"They must be in another part of town, helping out," Tuxedo Mask guessed.

"That's what she would do," Sailor Mars agreed.

"What kind of earthquake can do so much damage?" Sailor Venus asked softly. Tears shone clear in her blue eyes. "It's taken our beautiful home and ripped it apart."

Sailor Jupiter nodded as she stared around herself. "It just doesn't seem real, does it?" She was voicing everyone's thoughts.

"Let's go find Sailor Moon and the others," Tuxedo Mask suggested. "Then we can try and make some sense of this while we help clean up."

"Of course. He's right. We just can't stand here and gawk at everything," Sailor Neptune agreed.

"Then let's go," Sailor Saturn said.

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

Eternal Sailor Moon was hugging Amelia close to her body was she looked around herself. She still hadn't been able to get over the shock of her home being in pieces.

"I can't believe this happened. It was just like France. But, France wasn't this bad," Amelia whispered in a trembling voice as memories flooded her mind of what had happened to her own home. "Can you fix it, Sailor Moon?"

Sailor Moon looked at the little girl and sighed. Then she shook her head. "No. This is too much, even for me."

"This happened to me too," Amelia whispered. "But I got through it."

"That's because your a brave girl."

"You can get through this too, Sailor Moon."

Sailor Moon smiled and looked at Amelia. "How old are you?"

"Seven-years-old," Amelia said proudly.

"Really? I thought you were older," Sailor Moon said, smiling. Actually, she had thought the girl was much younger. She was so small that Sailor Moon had no trouble at all carrying her.

Amelia smiled and held Sailor Moon even tighter. "Sailor Moon, do your promise to be there for me, forever?"

Sailor Moon look at Amelia in shock. "Yes. Forever."

"Thank you," Amelia whispered. "I know my mom and dad are dead. Your now my own family. Can I call you Mommy?"

"But, Amelia, I'm not your mother," Sailor Moon protested in shock. She had never thought the little girl would want to call her mother. She hasn't even known the girl for that long.

"My mother, I loved her but she never really loved me. But you love me, right, Sailor Moon?" Amelia asked quietly, her eyes full of tears and hope.

Did she love this girl? Sailor Moon thought about it for a moment and only a moment. Yes, she did love the little girl in her arms. She was so innocent but so aware of the world around her.

"Yes, I do, Amelia and I'll always be there for you," Sailor Moon whispered. "Always. I'll never leave you. That I promise." She smiled and touched her forehead against the little girl's forehead. "How does your leg feel?"

"Better since you healed it," Amelia said, smiling.

Sailor Moon nodded and smiled as well. Amelia could always make her smile and she had only known the little girl for a few days. And she really did love the girl. She made her smile even when everything seemed so bad.

"There's a lot of causalities," Sailor Mercury said in a pained voice. She appeared with Sailor Pluto and Sailor Uranus. They all looked very pale and very solemn.

Suddenly a thought entered Sailor Moon's mind. "I've got to go and see if Sammy and my parents are all right." She faced Amelia. "Amelia, love, can you stay with Sailor Uranus while I go and find my family?"

"All right," Amelia said, nodding. Sailor Moon handed Amelia over to Sailor Uranus who awkwardly took the little girl into her arms and held her.

Then Sailor Moon shot off. She ran easily because her powers enhanced her strength and speed. She ran down the street and leaped over things easily. She wasn't as clumsy as she once had been. Then, taking a good leap she flipped up into the trees and started jumping from those. She ran easily as she made her way through her city. Then she reached her street and leaped out of the trees. She continued running easily down the street, only tiring just a bit. She skidded to a stop and gasped as she felt her knees go out from underneath her. She dropped to the ground and screamed in pain.

Tears slid down her face uncontrollably as she stared at the pile of rubble that had once been her home. She shook her head as she cried.

"No! This can't be possible!" She wailed in pain as she screamed and cried. "No! This can't be! It isn't possible!" She roughly rubbed the tears from her eyes and shook her head. "No, they must be safe. They must be alive. Oh, Mom, Dad, Sammy. Please tell me your all alive." She stood up and ran up to the gates of her home which had crumbled away and was just in the way. She leaped over them and ran up to where the front door used to be.

"Sammy! Mom! Dad!" She screamed as she pulled out her Eternal Moon Tier and waited as the lengthened to a staff. Then she used it as a shovel and began to flip over large pieces of plaster and wood. She dug and dug with her staff until she saw a hand. She recognized it immediately to be Sammy's.

"Sammy!" Sailor Moon gasped. She dropped to her knees and used her hands to pull off the rest of the junk off her little brother. Then she came to his face and let out a short sob when she saw all he horrible scratches and the blood. She pushed off the rest of the wood and glass, not caring that if she got cut since her gloves were strong enough never to really get torn badly. She then reached out and checked Sammy's pulse. She waited what felt like the longest time in her life. Then she felt a pulse.

"Thank goodness," Sailor Moon breathed in totally relief. She wiped away the tears that stung her eyes and lifted her brother slowly on to her lap. Then she took her Eternal Moon Tier and touched her brother with it. His whole body glowed as she thought up the proper words. "Moon Silver Healing Kiss." Suddenly Sammy shimmered silver and his wounds began to knit together. After a few moments, he looked perfectly fine.

His eye lids fluttered as he slowly woke up. He blinked and looked up at the strange, beautiful girl who sat looking down at him. Then he remembered who she was. She was a super heroine that he admired when he was a child.

"Sailor Moon?" Sammy whispered.

"Yes," Sailor Moon said, nodding. She was smiling happily but tears continued to stream down her face.

"What are you doing here?" Sammy asked.

"Sammy, don't you recognize me?" Sailor Moon asked quietly.

Sammy sat up and looked at the woman. "Sorry. Am I suppose to know you?"

"Sammy, it's me. Serena," Sailor Moon said. "Don't you recognize me? I'm your sister."

"Serena?" Sammy shook his head. "No way. Serena's a kindergarten teacher with immature friends. You can't be Serena. Your a super hero. Serena trips over her own feet. She wouldn't last in a battle against those evil bad guys."

Sailor Moon laughed and Sammy gasped in surprise. He recognized that laugh. No, it couldn't be possible. Serena couldn't be Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon was a super hero. Serena was a cry baby who couldn't walk two steps without falling on her face.

"I think I got hit too hard on the head," Sammy moaned.

"Sammy, where's Mom and Dad?" Sailor Moon asked urgently.

"Oh my god! Mom! Dad!" Sammy shook his head. "I don't know. I really don't remember."

"You've got to help me find them," Sailor Moon said, swallowing back tears. "They can't be dead. We've got to find them so I can heal them."

Sammy nodded. "Your right." He stood up and began pulling off all the wreckage and started looking for his parents. His mind was still fuzzy so he had a bit of a hard time accepting the fact that his sister was actually Sailor Moon. This whole time his sister had been protecting the world and he had no idea it was her. Now that he thought of it, the odangos should have given it off but he never paid attention. He always thought Serena was just copying Sailor Moon because she wanted to be like her. It turned our she was Sailor Moon. It sort of boggled the mind.

"I found them!" Sailor Moon--Serena--who ever! shouted.

"Are they alive?" Sammy asked as he stumbled over to where his sister was pulling off more ceiling pieces. Finally she seemed to get frustrated and stood back a few feet. She lowered the Tier in her hand and shouted a few words. The ceiling pieces flew off to reveal the bodies of their parents.

Sammy dropped down to his knees and checked his father's pulse. Serena checked their mother's. They waited for what seemed to be an eternity....

"I'm getting nothing!" Sailor Moon shouted shrilly. "Come on, Mom! I know you can pull through. Pull through for me!" She held her mother's wrist even tighter and waited. All she felt was nothing. Angry and desperate, Sailor Moon ripped off her gloves and checked her mother's pulse again. All she got was cold skin.

"No," Sammy whispered in a tortured voice as he lowered his head and closed his eyes. He had been checking for the past few minutes but felt nothing. His father was dead. So was his mother. Tears slid down his face as he released his father's wrist.

"Your not trying hard enough!" Sailor Moon shouted. "Try again! I know they're alive. You just have to try harder! Come on, Sammy. Don't give up on me!"

"Serena, they're dead," Sammy said in a dead voice.

"NO, they aren't!" Sailor Moon screamed. "They're not dead! They can't be!" She shook her head stubbornly. "They aren't dead!" Her voice cracked at the last word. Then she released her mother's wrist and buried her face in her bare hands. "They're not dead! They can't be!" Her voice was thick with tears and cracked with pain. She rocked back and forth, crying her heart out.

Sammy crawled over to his older sister and slipped his arms around her shoulder and held her tightly. She always had been far more emotional than her. "Serena, they're dead."

"NO!" Serena sobbed. She shook her head. "They can't be. They can't be! They aren't suppose to be dead! If only I came sooner. If only....They wouldn't be dead. It's all my fault. I should have been here to protect them. It's all my fault."

"No! Stop thinking like that," Sammy said fiercely, angry that his sister thought the death of their parents was her fault. He didn't want her taking on such pain of guilt. "It's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault. No one predicted this. How could you have known?"

"Oh, Sammy. I could have. I could have used my power and stopped this earthquake. I could have stopped so much pain. But no, I didn't do it and lost the two people most precious to me."

"I lost them too, Serena," Sammy reminded her quietly.

"I'm sorry, Sammy," Serena whispered. She looked up at her younger brother and touched his cheek with the tips of her fingers. "I'm sorry. It must hurt as much for as you as it does me."

"It does. It hurts a lot. But Serena, you've got the rest of the world to save," Sammy reminded her. He was being brave. Inside he was crying like a baby. It hurt so much to see his parents dead in front of him. Anger and remorse took his heart and ripped it out and then stomped on it. He had never really spent time with his parents. Always taking them for granted. It pained him very much to see them ripped out of his life in such a quick moment.

"Sailor Moon! Thank goodness we found you!" Sailor Mars appeared with Tuxedo Mask not far behind.

Sailor Mars saw the bodies of Sailor Moon's parents first. She stopped beside her friend and kneeled down. She looked at Sailor Moon and then took her into her arms. Sammy released his sister and watched as Sailor Mars began to comfort her. Suddenly, Sailor Mars looked very familiar.

"Raye?" Sammy asked, unsure of himself.

Sailor Mars shot a sharp look at Sammy. Sailor Moon whispered something to her and she nodded.

"Yeah. It's me, Raye."

"Wow," Sammy whispered. He looked up and saw the rest of the Sailor Scouts surrounding him. They all had the saddest expression in their eyes. Sailor Uranus was carrying a young girl with brown hair and the clearest gray eyes.

Sammy looked at Sailor Mercury. "Amy." She nodded. Then Sammy looked at each scout and named them. "Lita. Mina. Darien?"

Tuxedo Mask nodded and removed his white mask. It was Darien all right.

"I'm sorry. I don't know the rest of you," Sammy said, blushing slightly. He looked over to Sailor Saturn and his eyes widened slightly. She was really pretty with her purple-black hair and purple eyes. Very strange eyes. He had never seen purple before. Then he looked at Sailor Pluto and thought he had never seen red either. They were all very unique people.

"I'm Corinne," Sailor Uranus said, nodding.

"Nerissa," Sailor Neptune said.

"Jennifer," Sailor Pluto said.

"Helen," Sailor Saturn said quietly.

Helen. That was a pretty name. It was a common name but Sailor Saturn lived up to it. Being beautiful enough to have armies go to war for her like Helen of Troy.

"It's nice to meet you all," Sammy said. He found it had a little trouble pulling his eyes away from Sailor Saturn. But he managed.

Sailor Moon had stopped crying and had stood up, leaning exhaustedly against her Eternal Moon Tier. "My parents are dead. We've got to help out everyone else but I want to bury them first."

"But Serena," Sailor Jupiter protested, "I don't think a funeral home is open at the moment. Tokyo has just been hit really bad."

Sailor Moon was silent for a moment. "Let's at least put their bodies somewhere decent." She sighed wearily and closed her eyes briefly. "We've got a lot of work up ahead of us. We might as well start now." Her tone was far too cold and dead for anyone to be comfortable.

Amelia wiggled out of Sailor Uranus's hold and ran over to Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon picked up the girl and held her close as she cried silently with no tears.