AN: A few short notes...the really long ones are at the end. As usual, rated G, though the tone is definitely more serious than my last stories have been. As for the time line, despite the title, this story takes place in the S season, in the very beginning... right after the second episode or so. (ep. 91, I think it was?) Warning: At the time I began writing this I hadn't seen any of the S season. So a couple minor details might be off. But only minor ones...chalk it up to creative license. The good news is I have seen half of it now! Yay! Thanks for this goes to a particular person who will be mentioned at the ending AN's. Vocab: okaa-san = mother juku = cram school fuku = one word for uniform minna-san = everyone Rei's attack I'm not going to bother to translate (cause I don't know all the words! But I think if you've seen the show it's pretty obvious what's going on. Finally, the Mariana trench is hopefully the correct name for the lowest place on earth. Happy reading! =================================================================== Chapter One "Your hair is like liquid sunshine..." "Oh, Mamo-chan..." "Your eyes are like the sky, on a beautiful spring morning." "Oh, Mamo-chan..." "Your lips, they are as red as the rarest rose..." "Oh, Mamo-chan..." "And your grades, they are lower than the Mariana trench..." "Oh...Mamo-chan?!" Usagi squinted up confusedly. Mamoru's tanned, handsome face, with that adorable shock of hair that refused to stay out of those gorgeous eyes--suddenly looked remarkably feminine. And when did he grow his hair out past his shoulders? "Wha's going on?" she murmured. "Mamo-chan?" "Try Mama-san!" Ikuko yelled, and Mamoru's face slowly dissolved, to be replaced with that of Usagi's mother. "Usagi, did you hear me? Your grades stink! Wake up and listen to me when I'm talking to you!" Usagi bolted up in her chair. Looking down, she realized she had fallen asleep at her desk. Disgustedly she noticed a small puddle of drool on the homework she had been working on. 'Oh well, Haruna- sensei will never know once it dries.' "Usagi, quit ignoring me. And you wonder why your grades are so poor. You are such a sloth! Falling asleep during your homework again. What am I going to do with you?" 'Send me to Abu Daibi,' Usagi thought sarcastically. 'Spank me. Kick me out of the house, never feed me again...you know, all your usual threats.' "I'll tell you what I am going to do--you're going to juku." "What?" Usagi scrambled out of her chair. This was *not* one of her usual threats. Her mother stood over at the doorway, arms crossed, with a smug expression on her face. "You can't do that!" Usagi protested. "Wanna bet? I am your mother, Usagi. As long as you live under this roof you will have to answer to *me*. And I am telling you that I have signed you up for a high-school prep course. It's a good one. Your friend Ami-chan goes there." "Oh, great. Any place Ami goes to is bound to be above my head," Usagi moaned. "Stop complaining!" Ikuko slapped the wooden spoon she was holding in her hand down on Usagi's desk, causing the girl to jump, startled, and replace her condescending tone with one of penitence. "I'm sorry, okaa-san," she said. "It's just that school is so hard for me..." "That's because you're lazy," Ikuko snapped. "Now listen, the first class starts at six tonight." "But it's four-thirty now!" "Yes, and that gives you an hour to eat supper and get ready for class. You should leave at five-thirty; it's a fifteen minute walk." Usagi knew better than to talk back again. "Yes, mother." "And you better not be late!" Ikuko snapped. "I mean it Usagi, you better shape yourself up fast!" She turned on her heel and marched out of the room, slamming the door in the process. The walls shuddered in response and two posters fell off the wall. A black cat looked up from the windowsill sleepily. "She seemed angry," Luna said mildly. "You're telling me..." Usagi sighed. "A juku! I'll never pass." "A little study never hurt anybody," Luna replied. "Oh yeah? It was the downfall of the Roman Empire!" Usagi said. Luna rolled her eyes. "That just proves it. You need to brush up on your world history...I think you could *definitely* benefit from a little more study. That juku won't kill you. At least it's better than a fuku." Luna grinned. Usagi groaned. "And I think you need to brush up on your poetry, Luna. That was awful." Sighing, she grudgingly agreed, "Though I suppose it is better than fighting a youma, or cardian, or whatever those things are that are attacking us now." "Daimon," Luna said. "Right, Dominoes, or whatever you just said," Usagi agreed. "I better go eat now. I don't want to miss dinner because of this stupid school. I'll get ready afterwards. Bye Luna!" She ran downstairs. Luna shook her head at her prodigy's departing figure. "Teenagers," she sighed. "The only good thing about them is that they grow into adults. Oh, me." She laid her head back down on her paws and fell back asleep. "One, two, step, one, two, step, one, two..." Usagi mumbled to herself as she walked down the sidewalk, carefully counting the number of steps between the cracks, then promptly stomping on each crack as she went past. She didn't care if she broke her mother's back, as she was slightly annoyed with her right now. "Can't believe I have to go to juku..." she said. "And at Albert Einstein, of all places. I am *so* going to flunk." Giving up her game, she resumed a more normal walking pace and observed her surroundings as she passed. She had to go by the Crown Arcade Center, and with great difficulty managed to keep herself from going in. That would surely be her downfall, and make her late. She couldn't afford to have her mother any angrier with her right now. As she passed by Juuban park, she decided to take a short cut. Looking both ways before she crossed the street, she walked over to its entranceway and started down the path through the center. This would save a couple blocks off of her route, a valuable asset since she was five minutes late getting out, a record for her. In being early, that is. She wondered what the juku would be like. She guessed it would be like normal school-boring. She also wondered if she would be in the same class as Ami. She assumed that Ami was in the advanced courses, but she wasn't sure what courses her mom had signed her up for. Knowing her mother, it was quite possible she had enrolled her in the most difficult courses there. Still, it would be interesting to be in Ami's class; even though the material would be too hard for her, she might manage to fail with a higher than usual grade, since Ami would more than likely volunteer to tutor her. Yes, she decided, being in Ami's class wouldn't be too bad at all. A scream broke through her reverie. Jerking her head around, she saw a strange creature at the other end of the park. It stood tall, almost twice as big as her, with a bulky brown body that looked almost like a tree trunk. Not only that, but its legs and arms had an uncanny resemblance to stems, and it was wearing bushes for clothing. She furrowed her brow and recognized what it made her think of: 'That reminds me of the thing that attacked Rei-chan. That tree-demon, or whatever it was.' Quickly she realized that if this was the case, some poor victim was having his or her heart crystal extracted. She couldn't sit by and do nothing. "So much for being on time," she sighed. Holding her locket up in the air, she yelled, "Moon Cosmic Power, Make-up!" The sparkling white light from the crystal surrounded her, and pink ribbons fluttered around to form her fuku as she underwent the familiar, yet cleansing transformation into Sailor Moon. When it was complete she decided to forgo the routine speech; there was no one around to listen to her. Instead she sprinted over to find the nearest audience, which would be the daimon and its prey, a young girl of about twelve. "Stop!" She said. The creature looked up, annoyed, but she continued. With a few elegant hand sweeps, she declared, "Parks are for playing and picnicking, not fighting. You ruined this young girl's lunch! I really can't forgive you for that. I am Sailor Moon, and on behalf of the moon, I will punish you!" The daimon paused in its attack. Two words clicked in its simple mind: Sailor Moon. It remembered its master's instructions: "If Sailor Moon and the Sailor Senshi interfere, stop what you are doing and kill them first. If you succeed, our mission will be completed that much sooner." Acting upon these words, it dropped its terrified victim, who used that opportunity to run away, much to Sailor Moon's relief. She wouldn't have to worry about hurting anyone innocent during the attack. "All right, you negatrash, now it's time for you to pay. Moon Spiral Hea...." her speech was cut short as the daimon attacked her. The fingers on each hand grew to be multiple vines that sped towards Sailor Moon. She barely jumped out of the way, and the vines crashed into the bushes behind her. "Ugh! Get away from me, you poisoned oak!" she yelled. "Don't you know it's rude to interrupt?" The daimon ignored her and the vines simply disentangled themselves and grew towards her new location. She jumped up and onto a low brick wall this time. "Minna-san, where are you?" she mumbled. "I need you..." The monster attacked again. This time she managed to surprise it by jumping straight up off the wall, then *over* its head. She landed behind it. "Let's try this one more time," she said. "Moon Spiral Heart... aaaah!" The daimon succeeded in grabbing Sailor Moon's ankle, then promptly wrapped another vine around her waist, pinning her arms to the side. It picked her up and held her upside down, high in the air. "Let go of me, negacreep!" she yelled. 'Thank goodness I'm not afraid of heights...' Managing to get one hand free, she used the spiral heart moon rood to give the monster a good *bonk* on the head. The daimon responded by swinging her around and around in circles. "Oh, this is not good..." she mumbled. "I *do* get motion sickness..." "Would you stop that already!" she yelled. The monster didn't answer, but began laughing in a jerky, convulsive way as he kept swinging her around. "Ugh," Sailor Moon said again. "You sound like you're coughing up a hairball, did you know that?" She closed her eyes; she was getting dizzy. Suddenly she was flying. She opened her eyes and realized with shock that the daimon had let her go; no, he had *thrown* her. The ground was coming up frighteningly fast. She twisted her body around in mid-air, trying to get in a position to land, but the monster had given her too much momentum; not only was she twisting, but tumbling in the air. Her feet were now higher in the air than her head. Without warning she stopped, hard, against a tree in her path. The back of her head, right above her neck, hit the tree first with a sickening crack. She felt a shocking electrical sensation rush down her spine, and her legs went numb. Her body immediately went limp and she slid down the trunk to the ground in a heap. As she landed she fell through a couple of shrubs at the tree's roots, and felt a couple of small branches scratch her face. Semi-conscious, she tried to lift her arms and legs to get up, but found she was too weak. Her neck ached; and her vision was growing blurry. Tears welled up in her eyes. She was scared; she was hurt, and the monster was probably on its way to finish her off right now. "Mamo-chan...help me..." she whispered, and then her world grew dim. She passed out without even noticing her detransformation. "SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!" The other senshi had arrived. Jupiter's attack came roaring down upon the daimon, which was facing opposite them, watching something they couldn't see. The attack managed to surprise the daimon, and it turned towards Jupiter, enraged. It began to throw out a vine to catch the green-clad senshi. "BURNING MANDELA!" Mars had jumped behind it, and threw a fiery attack at its hands. It shrieked as the attack struck and began smoldering its skin. It temporarily stopped to nurse its wound. The senshi used this time to consult. "Does anyone know where Sailor Moon is?" Mercury asked. "We should hit it now, while it is too injured to fight back!" "Who knows where that girl is!" Mars said. "She's such a slacker." "But we can't get finish it off by ourselves," Venus said. "We need her to heal it." Mercury was typing on her computer. It beeped at her to signify an answer. "My computer says that its molecular structure does not match that of a person, but rather a some sort of botanical object. So it is all right to destroy it instead of heal it," she said. "We're going to kill a plant?" Jupiter asked in dismay. "We have to, if Sailor Moon isn't here," Venus said. "But how will we do it?" Jupiter asked. Mercury typed on her computer again. "According to my data, the Sailor Planet Attack will work, even with just the four of us." "But that takes so long to power up..." Jupiter said. "And the daimon is getting stronger as we speak!" "Leave that to me," Mars said. She produced a thin strip of paper with numerous kanji on it. Holding it to her forehead, she began her incantation. "Rin, pyou, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, sai, zen. Akuryou taisan!" She thrust it forward, right in the middle of the daimon's face where it stuck. It roared in anger but was temporarily stunned by the anti-evil sign. "Come, let's do it now!" Venus shouted. "Mars Power..." "Mercury Power..." "Jupiter Power..." "Venus Power..." "Sailor Planet Attack!" They all yelled together. A rainbow shaft of light appeared above them, and then bent as if it were refracted and raced towards the daimon. Its force struck the weakened daimon directly on its chest. With one last, final roar, it began to disintegrate in a smoky mess. When the smoke cleared, the senshi noted with satisfaction that all that remained was a pile of charred ashes. They detransformed. "That one was strong," Makoto remarked. "Yeah, but it was no match for all of us," Minako answered. "Where *is* Usagi?" Ami asked again. "I'm kinda worried. She's sometimes late, but I've never known her not to show up." "She's probably playing a video game or something," Rei said. Ami frowned and looked about ready to scold her. "Maybe her communicator was turned off," Rei amended. Ami's expression was replaced with a thoughtful one. "It's possible, but I wouldn't think Luna would let her do that," she said. "Tell you what," Makoto said, putting her arm around Ami and giving her a one-armed hug, "why don't we just go over to her house now and check on her. It won't take long, and I don't have anything to do." "Me neither," Minako said. Rei sighed. "I guess so." Ami smiled gratefully. "It would make me feel better. Thanks, everyone." She hugged Makoto back. They turned and began walking out of the park, when a man's voice called to them. "Minna-san! Hold up!" Rei stopped first. "That's Mamoru," she said, turning around. The others followed her lead and saw him running towards them frantically. "Minna-san, have any of you seen Usagi?" he asked as reached them, breathing heavily from the exhertion. "I was in the middle of studying Genetics when all of the sudden I had this premonition that she in danger." The four girls looked at each other nervously at this news. "No, we haven't," Minako told him. "In fact, we just finished fighting a daimon, and she never showed up." "Where was the fight?" Mamoru asked. "Here," Minako answered. "But...my feeling led me here," Mamoru told them. "Are you sure you haven't seen her at all?" "Positive." Makoto jumped into the conversation. "We were about to go look for her, though." "Why don't we split up and look for her here?" Ami suggested. "If Mamoru thinks she is nearby, she probably is." "I hope she's not hurt..." Rei said to herself, Mamoru's intuition changing her mind as to Usagi's whereabouts. "Makoto, Ami, why don't you two look over in that direction," Minako instructed, gesturing towards the lake. "Rei and Mamoru can double back and see if she's anywhere behind us. I'll look that way," she pointed towards the center of the park. "Something probably just distracted her," she said hopefully. Mamoru didn't say anything but shook his head no. His heart was telling him otherwise; his Usako was in trouble. He said a quick prayer that they would find her quickly and safely. "Well, what are you waiting for, people? Let's go!" Rei clapped her hands, then grabbed Mamoru's arm and dragged him in the direction Minako had indicated. The others followed suit. Ami and Makoto started down the path towards the lake, walking side by side. "Maybe we should call out her name," Ami said. Her eyes searched the sides of the path as they walked. "I'd feel like I was calling a dog," Makoto laughed. She then sobered. "And what if she can't hear us...or answer?" "I don't know," Ami sighed. "I just feel like doing *something*." "I know what you mean," Makoto said sympathetically. "Don't worry, we'll find her." Neither of them voiced the question of what condition Usagi might be in when they found her. They reached the lake. "Why don't we split up again," Ami suggested. "I can go to the right, you to the left. We'll circle the lake and meet back up on the other side. It might find her quicker." Makoto hesitated, then agreed. "All right." Silently she hoped that Ami might be the one to find her. If Usagi was hurt-'or worse,' she thought-she wouldn't want to find her by herself. Ami, on the other hand, would be more well-equipped, seeing as she was studying to be a doctor. She set off around the lake, looking for her. Ami walked off to the right, scanning the area, unconsciously looking for Usagi's unique hairstyle, those tell-tale golden odangos. But no one other than a few strolling couples and a flock of ducks were along the lake's border. Instinctively she turned towards the wooded area nearby. There were several trees there; it would be easy to hide a person there. Several people, in fact. As she neared the area something told her to slow down and look more carefully. She wasn't sure why, but she obeyed the feeling. She crept closer and closer but still didn't see anything. She almost gave up, and started to walk past the area, when something caught her eye. The tip of a golden pigtail was lying on the ground, extended out from behind some low shrubs. Ami's initial excitement at this discovery was almost immediately replaced with anxiety; Usagi shouldn't be lying on the ground. With dread growing in the pit of her stomach she approached the shrubbery. "Usagi," she whispered. She walked around the shrub and came into full view of her body. Rei jerked her head around at the sound of the scream. "That's Ami," she gasped. She and Mamoru broke out into a run towards the lake. On the other side of the park, Minako and Makoto did the same. Ami almost retched, then tried to calm herself. 'Panic, don't panic...' she thought to herself. 'You can't do this when you are a doctor.' She forced herself to look at Usagi again, despite her churning stomach. Usagi lay on the ground before her, unconscious and pale. Her arms and legs were smeared with dried blood from the scrapes and bruises covering her body. Worst of all was the position of her neck; it was bent back in an unnatural position. 'At the least, she'll be in a neck brace for quite some time...' she thought. 'At the worst...' She didn't want to think about that. Ami sprinted forward and knelt down beside her friend. Carefully she leaned over and put an ear by Usagi's chest. Her breathing was somewhat labored, but *at least she was still breathing*, Ami noted with great relief. Very cautiously she touched Usagi's wrist to feel for a pulse, making sure that she didn't move her arm in the process. Her pulse was faint, but Ami was able to detect it. Usagi's skin was cold though. The thought scared her. Makoto, being closest, was the first of the others to arrive. Ami heard her gasp behind her. "Usagi..." she whispered. "Not again." Ami's heart broke for her friend; Usagi's critical condition was a painful reminder of Makoto's parents' own gruesome death. But right now she had to concentrate on Usagi. "She's breathing, Mako-chan," she said. "But she's hurt badly. We need an ambulance." 'Don't worry, I won't let her leave you, too,' she added silently. 'Or me, or everyone else.' "I'll go call for one," Makoto managed, then ran off. She bumped into Minako as she was leaving. "Excuse me, Mina-chan," she said, her voice cracking. She wiped her eyes and ran to the closest pay phone. Minako looked at her departing figure curiously. 'Mako-chan's crying,' she thought. Then she came closer to Ami and realized why. "Merciful heavens..." the words slipped out before she could stop herself. "What? Where is she?" Mamoru arrived at the scene. Minako was in too much shock to answer him, so he followed her stare. With a cry he saw Usagi and rushed forward. "Usako!" Ami realized with alarm what he was about to do. She stood up and propelled herself into his path. "NO!" she yelled. The others looked on in amazement at her audacity. "*What do you think you are doing?*" He stared her down, his anxiety making his temper unstable. "Get out of my way," he almost growled. "I need to see her." "No." Ami was a little scared but she knew what had to be done. "Ami...move it. I don't want to hurt you but I will get past you." "Mamoru, please, just listen first..." she pleaded. "I warned you." Inwardly apologizing to her, he grabbed her shoulders and forced her to the side violently, almost causing her to fall. He had barely taken his first step forward when a figure blocked his way. "Ami..." he looked at her, astonished at her persistance. He grabbed her again but Ami planted her feet in the ground and refused to be budged. To his shock, as hard as he pushed, Ami stayed firm. 'This is crazy,' he thought. 'She's barely half my size.' Ami's resolve kept her in place, though. "Mamoru, please," she begged again. A single tear threatened to spill down her cheek. "I know you want to see her. But we can't touch her right now. She's badly injured and moving her could hurt her even worse. I know that if that happened, you wouldn't be able to forgive yourself," she whispered. "But..." Mamoru protested weakly. He longed to pick his Usa up in his arms, but Ami's words sunk in. She was right; he would never be able to forgive himself is Usagi was hurt because of his carelessness. In resignation he collapsed on the ground, a few rebellious tears slipping down his cheeks. "Oh, Usako..." Rei had arrived during the dispute. She came forward now and put her hand on his shoulder, her own eyes brimming with tears. She knelt down beside him. "I know, Mamoru, I know," she whispered, then buried her head in his shoulder and silently cried. Makoto came back quietly and stood beside Minako. Without saying anything Minako reached out and hugged her friend, then rested her head on Makoto's shoulder and stayed in that embrace, drawing support from her presence. Makoto reached back over and laid her head on Minako's hair. She cried quietly into the golden strands. Ami sat next to Usagi, subdued but with dry eyes once again, intent on her goal. She kept her eyes on Usagi's still form to assure herself that her condition wasn't changing. Off in the distance, the wail of an ambulance was heard. ======================================================================== End Part 1 AN (long!): Well, long time no see. If anyone actually missed me, sorry for the lack of stories lately. Going back to school and having to start homework again kinda does that to you. :o) I'm also afraid to say that this series might be updated bimonthly rather than weekly. If anyone objects to this, you're more than welcome to do my Absract Algebra and Probability and Statistics homework for me, and then I'll be happy to update every week, K? ^_^ Though actually the first month or so might be weekly...it depends on how much time I have to edit. I need to send a lot of thanks out. First, to my sister Amanda, who has had to put up with my forcing her to read anything and everything I write. I really appreciate it. Even if she does think that the best way to edit my stories is to "delete them." Also, to my new friend Jen-chan. (Japanese class is a blast, ne, Jen-chan?) I really appreciate her help in not only learning Japanese though, but also in loaning me Sailor Moon S and some other awesome animes. Ririka is so kawaii...anyway... To Sharon. I can't even begin to say thank you to you. Thanks so much for all your help in editing my stories...but more importantly, for being my friend. ^_^ BTW...whatever happened to "the big one"? The same thing that happened to mine...it entered the "great sleep"? I think we need to find us a silver crystal to reincarnate them... ^_^ To Andrea and ASMR: Thank you doesn't seem like enough to describe how grateful I am for all the time and effort you put in to this site. I don't know if you realize it, but it was ASMR that brought me back to my love of writing after seven years. Thanks so much. Finally, what author can give thanks without mentioning the person who made this all possible? That person, of course, is none other than Naoko Takeuchi. The character developements and plot intricacies in her stories never cease to amaze me. I can never do my own proper justice in light of her work...but hey, I sure have fun trying. ^_^ And to the reader: What? You're still here? I told you that the notes were long. That's why I put them at the end, so you could skip them if you wanted! Don't you have other stuff to be doing? ^_^ But hey, btw...thanks for reading. Even the absurdly long AN's. I hope I met your expectations. What would I do without you y'all? (Yes, ya'll is a word!) I'll quit the incessant rambling now. Have a nice day...YA'LL! ^_^ Sincerely, Setsuna M e-mail: meiou_setsuna@hotmail.com Write me!