{Jon Carp} Sailor Moon Pain: The Lovers: Part 2 Address: jcarp@med.unc.edu Okay, kinda melodramatic. Heh heh heh...isn't that cute...BUT IT'S WRONG!!!--Hollywood (2 Stupid Dogs) ALIVE?! What the hell... He checked the record again. Yes, says right there, "Kaiou Michiru...Alive." This isn't right. She's dead and buried, he knows that. Everybody knows that. Yet here it is, right in the computer, "Alive." It's probably a mistake. Somebody entered it in wrong. Ooh, whoever did that is gonna pay. Still, the guys who're in charge of the computer system are professionals, they haven't made a mistake for thousands of years. Something's wrong. She couldn't be on earth now, she would have had to escape from Hades to do that! Only four people have ever done that successfully, and they came in already alive. He ran off to the Fields to make sure. Usagi, Rei, Ami, Luna, and Makoto sat in Rei's temple after a quick visit to the ice cream shop, happily licking up their frozen sugary milk. "Chocolate," Usagi said blissfully. They all nodded. "My thoughts exactly," Makoto said. They sat slurping for a few minutes, before Ami remembered what she wanted to ask. "Oh, Usagi, how was Haruka yesterday?" Usagi chomped on her waffle cone and sighed. "The same. Y'know, I'm beginning to think she's not going to get any better. She's sure not showing any signs of improvement." "Oh, it's just depression," Makoto said. "One of the stages of loss. I know I went through it when my parents died. I don't remember it lasting this long, though." "It's not supposed to," Ami said. "At least that's what my psychology books say." "Well, we shouldn't press the issue," said Luna. "Just let her recover at her own pace. Remember, she did lose someone she loved." Rei snorted at this, and the others glared at her angrily, but before they could say anything, Minako and Artemis walked in. They both looked nauseated. "What is it?" Luna asked. "You didn't hear?" Artemis said. "Setsuna didn't tell you?" They all shook their heads. Minako leaned forward and spoke in a whisper. "Somebody stole Michiru's body last night." "Somebody STOLE it?" Makoto said, obviously disgusted. "Why would they do that?" "We don't know, and neither did Setsuna," said Artemis. "All we do know is, whoever did it really wanted to, because they must've worked incredibly fast. The groundskeeper said that he makes his rounds every hour, and he didn't see anybody digging. Just the next morning, he finds this hole going down, the coffin ripped open, and her body gone." Usagi gasped. "Oh god, it couldn't have been Haruka, could it?" Minako shook her head. "That's what we thought too, but Setsuna seemed pretty sure Haruka didn't have anything to do with it. We belived her, because, y'know, she's Setsuna." Rei was about to say something, but a loud beeping stopped her. Usagi reached down and got her communicator, and pushed a button on the side. Bloodshot grey eyes appeared in the little screen. "Hi Terrae." "Hi. Um, would you all be so good as to come down here and help me, please? I'm having some, uh, problems subduing a monster in the park. Okay? Please?" "Yeah, we're coming." They all prepared to transform. "Good. Listen, hurry, because I think he knows where I--" The screen went blank. They all glanced at each other and transformed. Sailor Earth was unconcious when they got there. After five minutes, so were Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury. The energy beams the monster shot were fast and effective. ZAP! Down went Venus. ZAP! Down went Moon. Two people stood watching with amusement. "Well," one said. "It appears it's up to us." The other looked confused. "Huh?" "We've got to save the day. C'mon, let's go." "Go?" The first one sighed. "Yes." "Um...okay." They went. Jupiter was the first of the inner senshi to come to. The monster was nowhere in sight. All she could see was Sailor Earth standing and just staring at two people who kind of looked familiar. She stood up and walked over to Earth, who didn't seem to notice. She was just looking at the people, smiling, and muttering something. "I knew it," she was saying. "I KNEW it." Jupiter tried to figure out who the people were. They were dressed as Sailor Senshi. Hmm. The one on the right was Sailor Uranus, she knew that. It had just been so long since she'd seen her, it was hard to tell at first. But who was the person on the left? She was so familiar...that hair, bluish and wavy, it was really distinctive...who had that kind of hair? Who was...oh my god. Uranus seemed to take great pleasure in Jupiter's shock, but Neptune was extremely confused. She hugged Uranus's arm tight. "Wh-who is that, Haruka?" "That's Sailor Jupiter," said Haruka patiently. "Remember? That's Makoto." Neptune seemed to be thinking very hard. "I...I don't understand," she said after a while. "It's okay," said Uranus. "I KNEW IT!!!" Earth screamed, as if reaching that conclusion for the first time. Neptune cowered behind Uranus. "H-Haruka...who is that? Why is she yelling?" "I just told you," Uranus said calmly. "Sailor Earth, remember? She's your friend." "Friend? What...oh yes, I remember. I think." "Don't worry about it," said Uranus. Three days later. All of the senshi except Neptune and Uranus were gathered in Rei's temple. "I guess it makes sense," Minako said. "I mean, we all came back to life when we were fighting Beryl. Why shouldn't she?" "Yeah, but we were all normal after that," said Rei. "Have you talked to Michiru yet? She can barely form complete sentences. She's worse than you, Usagi." "HEY! I'm not THAT b--" "SHUT UP!" Setsuna commanded. They did. "I don't like it," Hotaru murmured, much to everyone's suprise. She rarely contributed to their discussions. "I saw them both yesterday. Haruka kept trying to get Michiru to play the violin, and Michiru didn't even know what it was. And she kept forgetting my name, and who I was, and..." "That's enough," Setsuna said, noticing how distraught Hotaru was becoming. "We get the picture." "Doesn't anyone think this is a good thing?" Usagi asked. "Am I the only one? I mean, Haruka's okay now, and Michiru's alive. They're together again." "Yeah, 'together' is right," said Rei. "They're ALWAYS together. Even more than before. Has anyone noticed that? They're completely dependent on each other." Makoto agreed. "Yeah. Especially Michiru. She's always hanging onto Haruka. It's like she doesn't know there's anyone or anything else in the world." "She probably doesn't," Ami said. "Can you tell what's wrong with her, Ami?" Ami scratched her head thoughtfully. "Well, nearest I can tell, she's just stupid. It's like her mind isn't all there." She sighed. "I hate to think what could've happened to cause this." "It doesn't matter," said Terrae. "If I've learned anything in my years on this planet, it's that there is nothing, NOTHING more important than happiness. People say love, people say goodness, but they're wrong. If you're not happy, you really haven't got anything. And those two are probably the happiest people I've ever seen." "Hmmph," said Rei. "Well, I agree with you on one thing: it doesn't matter. I don't even know why we're talking about this. It's not like we can do anything about it. Michiru's back, and she's dumb. That's the way it is." They all nodded. A day and a half later. The lovers were lying on the bed, together as always. Michiru's head was on Haruka's shoulder, her eyes were closed. Haruka was playing idly with Michiru's hair. Beautiful hair, she thought. So beautiful. She had thought she'd never be able to touch it again, but here she was, stroaking it gently. She wasn't alone anymore. She was filled. Whole. It was incredible to think there could be such a difference, but the gods had smiled on her, and she was finally happy again. "You awake, Michiru?" she said quietly. Confusion. "I don't know." She smiled. "Go to sleep." They were silent for a while. Then: "Michiru?" There was a small grunt in response. "I...I love you. I wasn't sure before, but now I know I always did." But Michiru was asleep, and didn't hear. "It's okay," Haruka whispered. "There'll be plenty of time to talk about that." She leaned over and kissed her happiness on the forehead. Then she lay back, and went to sleep. Then, suddenly, she was in a completely different place. Outside, lying on dirt. She jumped to her feet, upsetting the previously sleeping Michiru. They weren't alone. Setsuna was there, looking very sad for some reason, talking to a huge black-bearded man with a stern expression. Haruka tried to call out to them, but it was as if her mouth was frozen shut. She tried to walk closer, but her legs wouldn't work. She couldn't move at all. The man looked at her and Michiru. "Ah, here they are," he said. "You've caused me a lot of trouble, Sailor Neptune. A LOT of trouble. I'm going to be working for days to fix it." Michiru stood up and cowered behind her lover. "Haruka," she whimpered. "Who is that man? He scares me! What's he doing here?" The man walked towards them. "Oh, stop whining. You need to come with me to where you're supposed to be." Michiru was getting hysterical. "NO!! Haruka...don't let him take me away! Please...I'm scared!" Haruka could do nothing as the man reached behind her, grabbed Michiru, and began to drag her away. She couldn't do anything at all. It was then that she realized where they were. The Graveyard. And she saw where that man was taking Michiru. A coffin, stark and brown in front of the gravestone. "Kaiou Michiru, loved by all, inspired by life." "HARUKA!! HELP ME!! I DON'T WANT TO GO!! I WANT TO STAY WITH YOU!! PLEASE, SAVE ME!!" She tried, she really did, but her body wouldn't do anything her brain said! She tried to scream, but her mouth wouldn't open. She tried to cry, but no tears came. The man threw Michiru into the coffin. "The body must be returned to the ground," he muttered. Then he gestured, and the lid closed. Haruka could hear the muffled screams, and the frantic thumps against the hard wood. The coffin lowered into the open grave. Within an instant, it was filled with dirt. Haruka was able to move right then, but she didn't. She just stood and gazed at the gravestone and the huge man, a blank expression on her face. Then, after about five minutes, her eyes suddenly filled with horror, her mouth got huge, and she ran off, screaming. The man shrugged and looked at Setsuna, who was still staring at where the coffin used to be. "Human's minds are so weak," he said. "Well, anyway, thank you for your cooperation. I'll collect her soul now, and then she's to be returned to the Elysian Fields." He disappeared. Setsuna didn't notice. The next day. Terrae walked alone down the street, triple espresso in hand. Something disturbing had just happened, and she didn't like it at all. She'd been in the coffee shop, sipping her sweet, sweet caffeine, and this guy kept trying to talk to her. She brushed him off, of course, but he wouldn't leave. So she eventually gave up and let him sit with her. But then it occured to her after a while, that A: he wasn't frightened or disturbed by her insanity, and that B: she was feeling something she'd never felt before towards him. It took her a minute before she realized it was attraction. She left immediatly, of course. That was a little more normal than she cared to be. It was probably those pills that did it. Sure, they did some good things, her depressions had gotten considerably shorter since she started taking them, and she didn't have the intense fear that used to consume her, but enough is enough. She was perfectly happy the way she way. Maybe she was just getting too sane for her own good. Oh well. She walked into her building and then up to her apartment. She was about to get her key, but she noticed that the door was already slightly open. Hmm. That's not right. She put her coffee down, took her butcher knife out of her pocket, and walked in slowly. But it wasn't an evil monster, or some bloodthirsty axe murderer, it was Setsuna. She didn't look like normal, though, she was dirty, ragged. "Hello," Terrae said suspiciously. "I need you to come with me, Terrae," she said quietly. "What?" "Come with me to Haruka's house. I...I can't go in there alone. I would take Hotaru or Usagi or Chibi-Usa, but they're too young. I don't want to expose them to...to what could be there." "What happened?" "I'll explain on the way over." They left. Twenty minutes later. They approached the house slowly, trying to prepare themselves for what they were going to find. Haruka was definately in there. The lights were on, the car was still in the garage. Setsuna was having a very difficult time. Her brain was driving her insane. SHOT THROUGH THE HEAD. BLEEDING IN THE BATHTUB. There were so many ways Haruka could be dead, all running though her mind at once. UP IN THE ATTIC, HANGING FROM THE RAFTERS. They went inside. The light was on in the bedroom. She was up there. LYING ON THE BED, BOTTLE OF PILLS IN HAND. They opened the door, and went in. Don't be dead don't be dead don't be dead don't be... She wasn't dead. When they walked in, she turned to look at them, a huge smile on her face. A large pile of stuff lay beside her, Michiru's violin conspicuously on top. "Setsuna! Terrae! I'm glad you're here!" Her voice was abnormally high-pitched. And there was something else strange about her. She was wearing...a dress. She noticed them staring. "Oh, look at this," she said, and turned around so they could see the back. "I did some shopping, and this is what I found. Great, isn't it? Ha ha ha!" They both noticed the laugh, and the lunacy in it. It had been far too big and easy. "It was hard finding something that fit me, I wish I wasn't so big, but I thought this was really cute!" Her guests glanced at each other. "Sure," said Terrae. "Real cute." "Isn't it? What do you think, Setsuna?" She looked at her friend hopefully, but Setsuna couldn't think of anything to say. "What's the matter with her?" Terrae rubbed her hands together nervously. "She's...um... suprised." Haruka looked confused. "Why is she suprised?" Terrae thought for a second before answering. "Uh...you're not... well...dressed like a man, for one thing." Haruka looked even more confused. "Dressed like a...why would I be dressed like a man? I don't...oh wait. I used to do that, didn't I? A long time ago." She laughed again. "But why would you think I still do?" "No reason." Terrae pointed at he pile. "What's that?" "Oh, that's just some junk I found lying around. I'm gonna throw it out, except maybe that violin. It looks pretty expensive. I wonder how it got here, anyway." "Yeah, it's a mystery. Listen, we have to go." Haruka looked disappointed. "What? But you just got here!" "Yeah, I know, but we really have to go. Now. Bye!" She grabbed Setsuna and pulled her out of the house with her. Four hours later. "Maybe she's not crazy, y'know?" Minako said. "Maybe she's just, um, adjusting." "No," said Terrae. "No, she's crazy." "Are you sure?" asked Usagi. "Yep. Pretty damn sure. It's not like it's an unusual thing." "It's common?" "Yes," said Ami. "It's a defense reaction. Her brain decides that the way she's been living is too painful, so it changes everything, and leaves the old life behind completely." "Does that include being Sailor Uranus?" Hotaru asked quietly. Ami nodded. "Probably," she said. "Where is she now?" Usagi asked. Terrae laughed bitterly. "She's on a date. With a man." They were suitably suprised. "Who?" Minako asked. "I'd never seen him before," Terrae said. "Did you know him, Setsuna?" Setsuna grunted negatively and looked at her feet. "Well," Rei said, "Maybe this is a good thing. Not for the Senshi, I mean for her personally. She's getting over Michiru, finally." Setsuna glared at her. "You don't know what you're talking about, Rei. So don't say anything at all." Rei wasn't going to take that, even from Setsuna. "Excuse me," she said. "But all I'm saying is maybe this isn't bad. All of you are saying she's crazy, but just because it's new, it's a change, doesn't mean it's bad. Maybe she's just moving on from...y'know. She's being normal now. I don't see that as crazy." The other inner senshi nodded and murmured agreement. "You don't know anything, Rei," Setsuna said angrily. "You sit there, and you think you're so big, but only I really understand anything. Why don't you try living for a couple of fucking millenia, and then you can talk to me about changes and what normal is. "The world's gotten worse. I remember back when everyone was happy and good, and in love, but that was so long ago. Just take a look around you now. I've seen people of this age do such terrible things to each other. Love is dead! I'm more sure of that than anything else in the world. "That's why I was so glad when you all came back, y'know, bringing the past to this god-forsaken planet. The Moon Princess and Prince Endymion could finally be reunited, and so could Luna and Artemis. But I was by far the happiest about Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus. I haven't ever seen such devotion and love from two people in my entire life. You weren't there when Beryl killed them. You didn't see them as they lay dying, and they used the last of their strength to crawl to each other. You didn't see them die together." They were silent for a minute. Eventually Ami had the courage to speak. "We're sorry, Setsuna. We didn't know it was that serious between them. They always seemed so...embarrassed about it." Setsuna laughed wistfully. "You should've seen them when they first met. But then they realized the way they felt, and what the other one felt, and they accepted it. It wasn't going to be long, just a couple of years, until it was the way it was before. But now...now it's never going to happen, is it? I had thought that Haruka would be able to move on, but she's not. It's impossible. She'll never be happy now." "I don't like this, Pluto. I don't like this at all." "I'm sure you don't, old man, but there's nothing you can do about it. Why are you talking to me about this, anyway? Insanity isn't my domain. Talk to me when she's dead." Uranus sat down and rubbed his aching back. "That's not going to be very long, and you know it," he said. "You won't do anything anyway." "It's my job," Pluto said. "When mortals die, they're supposed to stay dead. But I made an exception with the Senshi, even yours. The only reason I didn't do it to Neptune's is that I don't take kindly to mortals who break out of Hades without my knowledge." "You're punishing mine for what Neptune's did!" Pluto laughed. "It's not my fault those two humans were dependent on each other. You should be talking to Venus here, not me. There's nothing I can do." "Yes, actually there is. You could swallow your pride and bring Sailor Neptune back to life." "Well, that's not going to happen." Uranus glared at Pluto. "That is yet to be determined. Why was Sailor Neptune like that, anyway? Why was she so stupid, was that some big joke you played on my senshi?" "It's not my fault. Sailor Neptune just did a shoddy job of putting herself together. She deserved it, though, for trying to go over my head. But let me tell you, it gave me more than a little pleasure seeing your senshi go insane like that. I never liked her. I didn't expect to have you come calling, though. I thought you were too senile to know anything that was going on." Uranus looked at Pluto threateningly. "You respect your elders, boy. And being a stubborn son of a bitch doesn't make you good at your job. Don't make the humans suffer because you can't accept that Sailor Neptune got one over on you." Pluto folded his arms across his chest. "Let me tell you what she did to me. First, she somehow escapes from the Elysian Flields and convincesthe Fates to get her her soul. Then she attacks Cerebus, damn near kills him, seduces Charon into ferrying her across Styx, sticks her soul and essence into her body, and digs out of her grave, all without my consent! I don't stand for that kind of thing in Hades." "I'm sorry about the 'trouble' she caused you, but you were going to bring her back anyway! If you could just get over yourself, you could do it in a second. Just go get her in the Elysian Fields..." "She's not in the Fields. She's in Tartarus." "WHAT??!!" A flash of light, and the sea god suddenly appeared. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT, PLUTO!!" Pluto yawned. "I have every right. She disrespected me, and I can do anything I want with her once she's in Hades. That's the way it works. I wouldn't have any power if my Senshi fell in the ocean." "But she served me, she served all of us, faithfully for hundreds of years!! You can't just damn her for bruising your ego!" "Yes, I can, actually." Neptune looked like he was about to scream from rage, but instead he took a deep breath and calmed himself. "Fine. Fine, Brother, have your little power trip. Just stay away from Olympus for a while. Jupiter really isn't going to like this." Pluto smiled. "I'm not afraid of him, or any of you. Now, if you both would please excuse me, I have a mess to clean up in Hades." He disappeared. Uranus put his hand out before Neptune could speak. "Don't lose control of your emotions, boy. I'm sorry about your Senshi, I don't think we're going to be able to get her out. But I have a plan to save mine. That's the best we can do." Neptune grimaced. "How can I help?" Haruka looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't know how one was supposed to put on makeup, having never done it before, but she thought she had done a pretty good job. Wait...too much lipstick. She looked like Setsuna. She rubbed her lips...there we go. She picked up a brush and with the intention of fluffing her hair up some, but then she looked down and saw several long, curly, turquoise hairs embedded in the bristles. Without knowing why, she began to sob. She'd never seen those hairs before. She didn't know whose they were, or how they got there, yet she still couldn't keep the tears back. She thought she was going insane. After a few minutes, she dried her eyes, and glanced out the window. There were people out there, walking toward the front door. All her friends! They were coming to visit her. How nice. Then very bizarre things started to happen. A furry, growling, huge, purple thing appeared out of thin air, screaming at her would-be visitors. Oh god, it was some kind of monster! Then her friends all reached up into the air, and there were big lights and flashing things, and when it was all over they wore completely different clothes, and looked threatening, mean. What the hell was going on?!! Rei and Makoto tried to shoot things at it, but their shots bounced off the laughing monster and hit the attackers. The same thing happened when Terrae, Minako, Hotaru, and Usagi tried to fight. The others backed off warily. Haruka felt a strange urge to run out there, help them, fight the monster, but there was like a wall in her brain, blocking her, keeping her from moving. The monster grabbed Ami by the head and threw her against the side of the house. The impact made a sickening thump that Haruka could feel under her feet. She couldn't understand what was happening, but she knew she had to do something. She couldn't, though. When she tried to run downstairs, she burst into tears. The monster was advancing on Setsuna. She knew that her dead scream wouldn't work. For some reason, none of their powers did. But the monster didn't really want to hurt them. It easily could have ripped Ami's head off, but it didn't. It just wanted her out of the way. WHY? Something was wrong, this monster was too powerful. They couldn't hope to destroy it. Then she realized what was happening, it occured to her that in front of Haruka's house was an extremely strange place for a monster to appear. Unless it was on purpose. The monster was upon her. "HARUKA!" she screamed. "HELP US!! WE NEED YOU!!" Then is grabbed her. Setsuna's voice smashed Haruka's brain-wall down completely. Her mind filled with things it could no longer keep down, all the pain and memory she'd lost. Michiru... The monster was roaring in the front yard. It laughed at the defeated senshi, taunting them. And then somebody yelled, and it exploded. Setsuna retched as flying blood hit her in the face. When she recovered, she looked up and saw Sailor Uranus standing, unmoving, where the monster had been a few seconds before. She stood up and walked to her friend. "Haruka..." she whispered. Haruka was crying. "It's not fair," she said. "It's not fair..." She cried on Sailor Pluto's shoulder for hours, mourning what she had lost. Then she dried her eyes, and started living again.