Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Lives Crossed ❯ Atonement ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Lives Crossed
Chapter Four - Atonement

< L 1 Colony - Resistance Base >
< Serena’s point of view >


I jerked awake. My body sleek with a thin sheet of sweat. At first I didn’t register my surroundings, confused about where I’ve woken up. I was making a habit out of that. Once I felt my breathing had slowed to normal I took notice of the specks of light seeping through the curtains indicating it was morning though early yet. The mewling cry of one of the girls squashed any thoughts of sleeping a bit longer. I got up finding that the sandals were in such a position that they were directly beneath my bare feet when I was about to stand. I grinned to myself wondering what had I ever done to merit all this attention.

I slipped them on wandering into the room across the hall that I knew to be my girls. Yes, I had taken to thinking they were my girls and so firmly believed it now that Diana had suddenly become a second biological daughter to me. I went directly to Diana’s crib; she had been the first to wake. I had noted very early on that Diana was a very light sleeper any noise set her off. Even in human form, her senses were very keen as had been her parents. Luna’s first days as my advisor as a human had found her awake many times from the slightest disturbance. I had discovered this quickly and developed the habit myself since I joined her most of the time on those nights she found it difficult to sleep.

Artemis had a different way of dealing with that all together. His senses were keen if not keener than Luna’s was. He always slipped out before Luna would notice hoping that she would not be prone to waking as easily. He would disappear into the palace somewhere and I had the funny feeling he would be down in the military base busying himself with whatever he came across. I never called him on this and though I knew Luna shared my thoughts, she never called him on it either. After some time it had become easier for them but the habit remained and if they were still living I’m sure things wouldn’t have changed. Diana had of course inherited their habit.

I lifted her out cradling her in my arms though my right wrist protested the weight as I walked to the rocker. I sat and shifted her to a more comfortable position for the both of us. She looked up at me curiously and I tapped her nose. She rewarded me with a giggle. It suddenly pained me that I couldn’t speak to her.

‘ Mama O.K ‘ she said reaching up to my face.

I gave her a small smile and hugged her close.

I was surprised that she called me that even though I knew it was because she associated my tending to her to the way Luna did. We had always shared the girls between us. We always raised them together as one. So I guess, were things reversed, my Reeni would call Luna ‘ Mama’ as well.

‘ Bottle Mama ‘ she told me brightly.

It was odd but I some how felt that the one year old was trying somehow to cheer me up.

I got up shifting her so that my hip was supporting her instead of me having to use both arms to cradle her and I walked out of the room towards the kitchen. I barely knew where anything was so it took me a bit to scrounge up a bottle.

As I had expected, the fridge was stocked with the essentials. I would need to do a bit of shopping for formula and some other things, but what we had was enough. I fixed the bottle with regular milk, heated it and returned to the sanctity of the rocking chair to feed Diana.

By then Reeni had woken up and when I walked into the room, she stood staring over the little veranda at me. I gave her a smile and sat in the chair to finish with Diana’s bottle. Diana promptly shoved the bottle out of her mouth surprising the hell out of me. I blinked and she pointed at her bunny in the crib.

‘ Bunny.’ was all she said.

I took that as a sign that she wanted back into the crib to finish the bottle on her own with her bunny, so I set her in. She clutched onto the plush rabbit with one hand and lay back holding her bottle with the other. Reeni reached for me then and I obliged, taking her into the kitchen to fetch her breakfast. It was easier to find a second bottle, now that I knew where they were. There were four in total in the same drawer. I pulled another one out and fixed Reeni’s milk. She eagerly reached for it as Diana had and I was quickly reminded of my own hunger. I hadn’t eaten more than a couple sips of the soup the previous day. I sat Reeni at the dining table and took a few seconds to pour myself a glass of orange juice and slip two slices of bread into the toaster.

I was soon going to realize how difficult it was to take care of infants the same age. It was just as difficult as twins were. I heard Diana’s tiny call for ‘Mama’ from the bedroom. I got up about to go retrieve her and cursed myself. I wasn’t about to leave Reeni out alone on the chair where she could fall trying to get out of it. Yes, call me overprotective but toddlers have a way of working themselves into trouble. I lifted her into my arms bottle in tow and all but marched into the bedroom. I had Reeni in my left since I was beginning to favor my right and despite my body’s protest, I hefted Diana into my right arm. My knee was already bothering me but I ignored that too as I walked back into the dinning room setting each of them into a chair. I put the two bottles into the sink and finished fixing my breakfast. It was rather lame, buttered toast and the remains of my orange juice, but it was enough. My appetite had not quite redeveloped.

I think I had entirely lost interest in my ‘breakfast’ by the time I got through the first slice of toast. I was just staring out the French doors that led out into the balcony. I was lost in thought about everything that had happened to me recently, staring out into the nothingness that I almost didn’t hear the door bell ring.

I stood giving the girls a look that clearly meant ‘don’t move’ and went to open the door. A young man dressed in delivery clothes was there. He had a package. I stood at the door and waited for him to say something. He just looked at me oddly and blinked. He probably hadn’t seen many women at the base. I had vaguely noticed that the majority of the population in the base was male military personnel. It was almost safe to think that perhaps Kumiko was the only other female on the base aside from myself and that the only children were my girls.

I gave him a small smile and I suppose it prompted him to speak. He coughed and was suddenly into his job ritual.

‘Package for a -- ‘

He re-read his paper. Obviously hadn’t paid much attention to anything but the address before.

‘Ms. Serena?’ he asked tentatively.

I nodded.

I was doing a lot of that lately. It was as close to an affirmative I could give with out resorting to writing. He flashed me a grin and handed me his clipboard for me to sign off the package. He had the courtesy to set the rather large package on the couch for me and with a cheerful ‘Thank you, good day.’ he was off.

I raised a brow at the box as if staring at it would tell me of its contents. Then I shook my head chiding myself. I made my way back into the dinning room ignoring the box for the moment. It could wait. The girls were sitting in their respective chairs looking at me expectantly. I cleared the table of my breakfast and returned with both girls into the living room where the box was just sitting there. Ominously. I stared at it feeling thoroughly irritated by now with all the attention. I was sure this was another of Quatre’s ideas.

With a sigh of frustration, I pulled the box in front of me on the floor and between the three of us, we opened it. I found myself feeling guilty when I saw the contents. This was more than likely a package from the medical ward. There was more of my medication with instructions on how to continue all the treatments I need. I found a pair of lightweights that went for working out my injured wrist and one of those rollaway leg presses. There was a knee brace and a wrist brace. A whole lot of fresh bandaging was also included in the pack and I assumed that it was to use for my abdominal injury since the brace for my wrist and knee indicated I could get rid of the bandages there. All of this reminded me of actually taking my medication so a quick trip to the kitchen and I had a glass of water with the medications that pertained to the morning. I took the girls into their room setting them down to play with their new toys. I left the door ajar and went to get a change of clothes intending on taking a shower.

I stood in front of the closet deciding what to wear. I picked out a silver halter-top that was mid-drift and stopped just above my wound. Did I mention Quatre thought of everything? Probably a dozen times by now. Feeling less fancy, I just pulled out a pair of low-rise flare jeans. I lay the clothes out on the bed and went out to the hall bathroom. I paused by the linen closet and pulled out one of those fluffy towels. Poking my head into the girl’s room, I saw them playing together contently. Reeni noticed me and gave me one of her beaming smiles. I smiled back and went for my shower.

I had specifically chosen the hall bathroom to keep an ear out for the girls. Again, with the protectiveness, I know, but I’m sure most single parents act the way I do. It wasn’t like I had anyone to count on if I wasn’t on guard myself. Before I had Darien. Before I had Luna. Before I had a complete family.

I stripped finding it a little more difficult to take the cargo pants I had slept in off. My knee was probably swollen seven ways to Sunday. I finally managed it and stepped into the shower, regulating the water to nearly unbearably hot. I let it rain down on me to wash away all the tension in my body. It felt good. Better than I thought I could manage in a while. The steamy water was definitely helping my knee and I could tell the swelling was going down. I lathered soap then shampooed my hair, a final rinse and I was out of the shower. Wrapping the towel around myself I padded bare foot into my room.

The halter top, I learned, was a bad idea. My right wrist was totally uncooperative in tying it behind my neck but I eventually managed. I put on the three braces. Starting with my wrist and lastly the knee brace. They helped considerably. I put on the jeans over that and slipped on my sandals. Feeling refreshed and much better than I had the previous day I decided to work out a little bit.

I warmed up a bit stretching out my bad knee as best I could until I felt I was ready to try the weights. I returned to the living room to retrieve the weights that had come in the medical package. That’s when the door bell rang again.
At the second ring, I opened the door and as promised, Kumiko was standing at my doorway with her medical bag. I gave her an amused look and showed her in. Her eyes fell on the opened package from the medical ward as soon as she was through the foyer. She smiled at me approvingly and we moved to sit on the couch together.

“I see you are following through with all the instructions. Did you already take this morning medication?” she asked

I nodded.

“Good.” she praised, “now let’s see that abdominal injury. That was a pretty nasty gash.”

I sighed and relented to have her check the injury. I had bandaged it just after my shower, but the binding was already starting to stain. I had probably reopened the cut with my little work out. I saw a frown playing at the corner of her lips but she said nothing as she undid the bandages. She finally ended up dragging me into the bathroom and used a clean rag to clean up the small trickle of blood that lined the gash and then she applied some kind of cream and re-bandaged it.

Kumiko stayed for a while longer after she checked up on us and she started explaining things about the colony. I listened intently very interested in the subject. I had my note pad and pen on the coffee table so occasionally I interjected a few questions, which she answered though she wouldn’t elaborate much about the war nor what Quatre or Duo had to do with it. When she bid her farewell, I found myself wishing she would stay longer. I guess being constantly surrounded by people will do that to you. I'm really not used to spending so much time on my own.

I ended up finding any little thing to keep myself busy. First thing was lunch. Kumiko had stayed long enough that it was mid afternoon by the time she left. I decided to give the girls a bath first though. Grabbing two fresh towels I set them on the toilet seat and started to fill the tub about one quarter full. That being done, I went to get them from their bedroom. I stripped them out of their clothes and set them both in the water; letting them splash and play for a bit. After much lathering and rinsing, the girls were fully bathed. I took them out, and wrapped them up in their towels. I turned back to the tub to set the water to drain and then carried the girls into their room. I dried them up and then picked out the outfits from the closet for them to wear.

Switching on their TV set, I flipped to a cartoon channel and then left to the kitchen to prepare lunch. I rummaged around the fridge for a bit and decided on grill cheese sandwiches. I prepared them and set two of the sandwiches into the small sandwich grill press. I left a third for myself on a plate to put into the grill after the first two were ready. I was getting ready to put everything away when the doorbell rang for a third time today. If I had placed a bet that it was Duo, Quatre or both at the door I would have won. Sure enough when I opened the door there was Duo with that grin of his and Quatre looking amused about something. I let them both in and had them follow me into the dinning room area.

They took too chairs at the table while I prepared some more of the sandwiches. I set two more on the grill and served the ones that were ready. I pulled a tray out from the pantry and set Reeni and Diana's sandwiches on. For drinks, I fished out a pair of juice boxes from the fridge and then carried the tray to the girls whom were watching one of those learning the alphabet and numbers cartoons. I set the tray down in front of them, handing a half of the sandwich to each so they would start eating and left the rest for them to finish. By the time, I was back in the kitchen the other sandwiches were ready so I served Quatre and Duo whom looked at me rather surprised. I simply smiled and went back for my own sandwich.

We ate in relative silence, which was getting on my nerves until Quatre started idle chit chatter. I was really grateful for that though I couldn’t put much into the conversation aside from the occasional nod or negative gesture. I did eventually write a few things out to them. It only lasted until Duo's pager went off. He gave me a guilty look and excused himself saying he needed to take care of something. Quatre and I walked him out and then we took to sitting in the living room. Deciding that this was a good time to ask him a few things that’s still on my mind. I took the note pad and wrote down what had been bothering me ever since I had met him and Duo.

Quatre, I've been wondering why the two of you have been taking care of everything for me.
I'm a total stranger and everyone is treating me like family.

I handed the paper to him and watched several expressions cross his features. Shock, embarrassment, and sadness to name a few. He contemplated his answer for a moment before speaking to me again.

"The Winner family," he began "is comprised of 28 children. Exactly 27 daughters and a son, myself. We aren’t what you would call a closely knit family. I only had two sisters that I was close with, both of which have died. When we found you that day with the girls you reminded me so much of them that I felt like I had to protect you in their place."

I sat stunned. I really didn’t expect an answer like that, but now everything made more sense. I had no idea how close I was to the truth with my first impression of Quatre. He really did look enough like me to pass as a sibling. We sat there motionless for a moment before I just broke and hugged him. I think he was stunned for a moment but then I felt his arms circle around me returning the hug. We broke from the hug feeling rather awkward. I decided to remedy that. Retaking pen and paper in hand, I started writing again.

I lost my brother a long time ago. I would be honored to have you as a brother.

He seemed to be thrilled with the idea and it was his turn to hug me. We talked for the rest of the day. Well of course he did all of the talking, I just went a long with it and wrote to him whenever I had a question or a comment. He sat with the girls for a bit while I made dinner later that night. When we all sat down to eat, he even helped me with feeding the girls. I have to say that this had turned out to be a great day.

That's how things went every day after that. Kumiko would make her rounds on us in the morning. The boys would visit around the afternoon, both or individually. If there ever were, any errands to run one of them would accompany me. Quatre had even taken me to get identification papers for the girls and me one morning, which took up most of the day. I ended up becoming Selena Marie Winner and the girls became Selena Andrea Winner and Diana Elizabeth Winner respectively.

No, its not what your thinking we didn’t get married. Quatre had insisted on registering me as his sister. It felt weird signing my name as Winner. I was so used to signing things with Serena Chiba that it took an awkward moment for me to re-adjust my signature to read Selena Winner. Signing as a Tsukino would have been easier.

Eventually the guys started to have more urgent missions as they called it. They were always gone a span of a couple of days before but then days turned into weeks and weeks into months. I was growing really anxious with the whole situation. Let’s face it I was worried sick. Things don’t completely change over night. I have this sixth sense when it comes to people I care about and both Duo and Quatre were people I had grown to love as family.

The day they came back both of them made it a point to come together to see me and the girls. I put the girls to bed early and I ushered Duo and Quatre into the living room. I had quite a few things to discuss with them.

They exchanged questioning looks but stayed quiet when they saw me pick up my note pad and begin to write.

I am so sick and tired of being holed up in these four walls worry about what could be happening to the two of you. I’ve decided that I want to join The Resistance and help in the fight against Oz.

The expressions I got from them when they read the note were priceless. Duo just gaped at me while Quatre just blinked and stared at me as if I were crazy.

“Selena -- I don’t think..” Quatre started to say.

I held my hand up to stop him and yanked the note pad that was still clutched in his hand and wrote another message.

I insist. This decision has already been made and the two of you will help me.

He simply shook his had and I instantly knew that I had won. Duo looked at him surprised but bit his tongue as well.

“Alright, we’ll take you through training. If you can handle the training of a Gundam Pilot then I’ll even see to having a Gundam constructed for you. I think if we make some adjustments to Zero‘s blue prints we can have something made similar for you”

Duo was near having a heart attack by the expression he was giving Quatre. I saw Quatre giving him one of those ‘I know something you don’t’ looks and a small grin. I frowned wondering what he was thinking about. Obviously, Duo got the point because he was smirking now. Damn it I’m going to wipe that smirk off his face one of these days!

“Tomorrow, early morning we’ll come to get you. I’ll bring Kumiko to care for the girls.”

I nodded and they both got up to leave. We walked to the door exchanging our good byes and then Quatre left. Duo lingered for a bit waiting for Quatre to get out of hearing range.

“Sere are you sure about this?”

I nodded and gave him a reassuring smile.

“Alright.” he replied

He pulled me into a hug and then left in the same direction Quatre had disappeared. I stayed leaning against the door watching him go. I felt like somehow I was getting back some of what had been taken away from me. They were such good friends and I don’t think I could bare losing them like I lost everyone from my world. I was going to protect them this time.



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Three years later...


The girls room furniture was completely covered in white sheets. It had been three years since I had arrived on the colony. I spent my first two years recovering from my injuries and getting accustomed to my new life. I regained my voice as well. I was starting to feel more at home even though I still missed Tokyo. This third year i've been in training with Duo and Quatre. At first they did anything imaginable to make the training difficult for me, but i'm not the type to give up. In the end Duo finally relented to even teaching me how to do Gundam repairs. With my training complete I had finally found time off so this was where I was, in my home, sitting in the middle of my daughters room painting it like I had imagined the very first time I had walked in.

I was wearing an extra mechanics suit from the pile I had accumulated from working with Duo on his Deathscythe. I had my hair picked up in a messy bun, to keep it out of the way. The girls room had been rendered unlivable for the time being since I had recently decided to make a project out of painting it. There were several buckets of paint around me and a grass green set in front of me. The wall I was working on was the one behind the girls beds. One of the beds had been moved to my room where the girls slept and the other was pushed up against another wall to be moved back when the paint dried. The very base of the wall was painted to be lush green grass like the lawns of my palace and the beginnings of Crystal Tokyo was taking form beyond that. I was about to start on a second coat of paint when I heard Reeni shouting for me.

"Mama!" she shouted from my room.

Running footsteps followed and my little four year old was standing in the door way. I looked up at her questioningly and let the brush fall into one of the empty paint buckets. A few seconds later the sounds of more scuffling and Diana was suddenly in the doorway behind Reeni wearing a full-blown frown.

"Reeni stop yelling!" Diana scolded with the most serious and ‘I’m older than you’ expression she could muster.

Reeni stuck out her tongue at Diana shortly diverted from her mission then turned to me with sudden realization.

“Mama, your computer is doing something funny.” she informed me.

It was actually cute. Diana was only a few months older but she still tried to play the big sister. It would work for a while but eventually the act would lose its desired effect once Reeni turned the same age in a few months.


I laughed as I got off the floor and whipped my hands on the suit. I ruffled Reeni's cotton candy hair and walked into my bedroom where my laptop lay opened on my bed. Sure enough, the email notifier was blinking. I sat down Indian style on the floor and pulled the laptop onto my lap. The girls by now had wandered into the room and were standing either side of me looking over my shoulder. I opened the file already imagining the contents.

All pilots, 01 through 06 required on suspicious Gundanium factory mission. Pilot 01 mission leader.

Orders are as follows:

Gain sufficient evidence of illegal Gundanium factory.
Gather any information possible on suspected Gundam construction.
Destroy factory and all associated units when recognizance complete.

Arrive on the dock 600 hours on Wednesday, May 4th for transportation to safe house Beta.

I blanched and quickly deleted the message. I hadn’t expected to be out on a mission so soon. I had never really left the girls with anyone for more than a few hours and this looked to be like a very lengthy mission. I sighed wondering how I would manage on my very first mission. Training was one thing but being out on the field and actually doing something was something entirely different.

"You okay Mama?" Reeni asked.


I smiled for her and she grinned. Then I suddenly found myself with both girls sitting on my lap hugging me.

"You girls remember what I told you about my going away?"

I immediately received identical nods with very grave faces from both of them. It was rather adorable when they timed things so precisely that they acted like real twins.

"I have to go away for a while and you girls will stay with Aunt Kumiko and be my good little angels till I get back." I told them.

"Yes, Mama" they said again in unison.

Reeni's serious face suddenly turned into a pout.

"I don't want you to go Mama," she muttered.

I sighed and kissed her forehead.

"I have to do this baby; you know I wouldn’t leave my angels otherwise."

She nodded and I saw Diana nudge her and make a face that apparently meant 'stop being a baby'

Reeni stuck out her tongue and they both left my arms to go play.

I sat on the floor contemplating what to do with myself. Wednesday was only two days away. There would be many things to do before then. I had to pack for the girls to leave them with Kumiko and I had my own belongings to pack. I figured there would be some time to do some pre-researching on the area. If we were going to safe house Beta then the factory was sure to be around the area and it was a good idea to know a bit more about where I was going. There would also be a debriefing the night before.

Another thing that nagged at me was the fact that I didn’t know the other pilots. I know Duo is pilot 02, code name Shinigami and Quatre was pilot 04, of course but by being the latest addition, I was pilot 06. It was strange that I had never been introduced to the other three pilots during training nor did I ever run into them during training.

Things were certainly going to get interesting...



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Two duffle bags lay on the floor near the bedroom door. I had finished packing for the girls and myself. The girls had the bigger bag while I had packed the smaller one for myself. The paints had been stored away, but the white tarps I had covering the girl’s room furniture remained. I would be finishing that project after all. The girls would stay in my room again tonight. Neither of the girls wanted to sleep in the extra bed I had set up in my room. Instead, they had both decided on climbing into my bed with me. I had them on either side of me watching as I worked. The laptop was on my lap again as I made some preliminary research.

With a sigh of frustration I pushed the poor unoffending computer off my lap all but slamming it shut. It took a minute for me to convince myself to get up and put it away. I did, but just as quickly returned to the warmth of my bed. Reeni crawled closer to me and I put an arm around her drawing her into a hug. Diana followed and they both settled laying their heads on my lap. I ran my hands absentmindedly through Reeni's hair briefly wondering how long it would be before I held them again.

"Mommy?" Reeni queried.

"Yes, baby?"

"You aren’t going to go away forever are you?"

"Honey, nothing in this world could keep me from coming back to you girls." I assured her.

I think I was trying to assure myself of that as well, but I won't admit to that any time soon. Diana spoke up next; I think she had been adamant about breaking the silence. You wouldn’t believe what a perceptive little girl she is.

"Mama, tell us about Crystal Tokyo again," she asked while curling up in my arms.

I smiled wistfully and settled us into a more comfortable position.

"Crystal Tokyo had the greenest fields the most beautiful blue skies ...”



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Next time on Lives Crossed…


HELL CAT


Serena is going on her first mission many things may happen. Will she be over her head or will these turns of events lead to the end of the war? What’s going to happen when the war is over? It seems like no one knows what a future of peace will bring. Serena is beginning to have her own questions regarding the future.