Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Future Imperfect- Makoto and Minako's Journey ❯ Chapter 3: Future Imperfect ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: ST Pika

Chapter 3: Future Imperfect

Part A

After hearing Ami's confession about her feelings for Urawa and for the future, Rei decides to explain her situation.

“Well, I think it's my turn. I want to tell you guys what I want for the future…”

The other girls look at Rei and are surprised by that. `She's been dodging this issue for so long… and now she's ready to tell us all, it seems…' is the common thought passing through the others' minds.

“It all started about nine months ago. I was working on composing some music for a festival… and I was up all night trying to get the lyrics right…” Rei says, reminiscing about the night.

“That's not hard to picture…” Ami says with a nod. “When you sink your teeth into something, you're quite dedicated… especially when it comes to music.”

Rei cannot help but smile as a result of the compliment. “Thanks Ami.” Closing her eyes, Rei continues telling her tale. “It turns out that I wasn't the only one up all night…”

“Oh…” Usagi says, wondering what's going to happen next. “Then what?”

“I was about to call it a night so I went to get a quick snack. Guess who I found sleeping outside of my door?”

“Let me guess- it was Yuuichiro.” Makoto says, making an educated guess.

“It was…” Rei says with a nod. “I woke him up and asked him what he was doing… and he told me that he had been listening to me sing all night. All this quiet time we've had since Galaxia has opened new doors for me…”

“Having free time does help… if it was like the `old days', then I wouldn't have had time to contact Urawa…” Ami says with a slight blush.

“Can't stop thinking about him, huh?” Makoto says playfully, causing Ami's face to turn even redder. The soldier of Mercury says nothing but reaches for her computer and starts typing in a message as Rei continues…

“He agreed to help me out… listen to my songs and give comments. I guess that's how it all started…” Rei says while a small smile forms on her face. `Yuuichiro… I hope you're not mad at me for canceling that dinner date…'

Hearing that gets some wheels turning in Minako's mind and she cannot help but ask: “Didn't you write a song to go along with his music? I remember you mentioning something about a CD…”

“We're still working on that… I still have those connections from when I was an idol, you guys remember that, right?”

“Of course… we had to bring you back down to earth, you were so into it…” Minako says while elbowing her friend.

“I'm sure you'd have done the same thing… we all know how much you like to sing and be popular, too- Sailor V!” Rei says while elbowing back. Minako sticks out her tongue at Rei and the two keep on arguing, while the other three girls shake their heads silently.

“Something's never change…” Usagi says with a nervous chuckle.

Ami finishes her text message and sends it off to Urawa. Inside the message, she tells him about the invitation from her mother… and hopes for a “yes” reply back.

Makoto decides to break up this situation with something that everyone will like.

“How about some chocolate cake?”

All eyes turn and look at the brunette chef. “I think it's time for a break…” she says while walking into the kitchen.

Rei and Minako stop fighting and the other two girls stand up and head into the kitchen. Makoto gets the cake and starts serving it to her friends, who eagerly await tasting the culinary creation…

“Good, as always…” Usagi says between bites. “Delicious!”

Appreciating the comment, Makoto cannot help but say “Thanks!” immediately. The other three girls say nothing until they finish eating…

“Very good!”

“Great!”

”Delicious!”

“It was nothing…” Makoto says with a slight blush. With the situation back to normal, she wants to hear more about Rei and her relationship with her boyfriend and so asks her to continue, hoping to get more information about how relationships work and how to keep them going, from her friends' perspective.

“Well… we started working together and I got to talk with him a lot more then I had before. He's actually got a pretty interesting background…”

“So when did you start dating?” Usagi asks the former secretively Rei, who had never really revealed that information to her friends before.

“Hmm… I guess we started dating about six months ago. We moved from friends to something more… and I have to say, it's been pretty good ever since. I've never felt like this before- this never could've happened while we were busy fighting evil and saving the world…”

“I've never seen you so happy, Rei… you're even in a good mood sometimes…” Usagi says jokingly.

“Ha-ha, Usagi” Rei says crossly. “But… I don't want to see this end.”

“So that's the issue- everything coming to an end.” Ami says, speaking her mind. “What are we going to do?”

“I don't know…” Usagi scratches her head. “We saw the future… we went there… and came back. Can we change it?”

Minako looks at Ami. “Can we? Is the future set… or can we all be happy?”

Shrugging her shoulders, Ami thinks about that- only one answer comes to mind.

“Let's ask Setsuna- she is the guardian of time, after all…”

“Good idea…” is the common consensus from the other four Sailor Soldiers who are curious about their fate… and whether it could be changed…”

Across town, in Haruka and Michiru's apartment, Setsuna slowly awakens from the vision she just had. Involuntarily, she shivers… and realizes that she's covered in a cold sweat.

“What happened?”

Michiru helps her friend up. “You passed out over fifteen minutes ago. About a minute after you passed out, your rod stopped glowing and fell down to the ground.”

“Are you okay?” Hotaru asks while handing Setsuna a damp cloth.

“I think so… but I just saw something very disturbing…” Pluto says while taking the cloth and gently wiping the sweat off of her face.

That gets the other Outers attention immediately. “What did you see?” asks Haruka.

“It was a vision of the future… from Neo-Tokyo. I was in a ballroom… and then it went dark. There was a fog… and then a flame… and then screams and death…” Setsuna says while trying not cry. “There was so much pain… and suffering…”

“That's the future? Was this before or after the invasion by the Dark Moon?” a very confused Haruka asks.

“It was after…” Setsuna says grimly. “I'll have to look into this further… I have a really bad feeling about this.”

“Maybe you should do that here… in case you get caught up in a vision again.” Michiru says, worried about her friend.

“Good idea…” Setsuna says while getting on her feet. “I'll come back tomorrow afternoon then…”

Haruka gets Setsuna's coat and puts on her own. “I'll walk you home, just in case.”

The two Sailor Soldiers leave and walk down the nearly empty streets, taking notice of the night sky as they head to Setsuna's apartment.

“It looks so peaceful out there…”

“Yes… but I don't think our lives will ever be completely quiet…” Setsuna adds. “It's been nice, though, having all this time off from fighting evil…”

A stiff wind begins blowing, chilling both women to the bone and causing them to quicken their pace back to the apartment.

“Damn that's cold…” Haruka says.

“Kind of like the future I saw…” Pluto says to herself softly.

The two are back inside shortly and Haruka warms up in the apartment for a few minutes before heading back. What she witnessed earlier in the evening weighs in on her mind on the walk home. `I wonder if these bad future… includes Michiru and I? I didn't like what happened to Setsuna- something is definitely wrong…'

Back at Makoto's apartment, the cake is now gone and the girls have changed into their pajamas. All eyes are on Usagi as she prepares to tell her story and what happened last month…

Part A Omake:

Rei and Yuuichiro are playing some of their new music for the visiting Ami and Urawa…

“That was good…” Ami says while clapping her hands.

“You two make a good pair…” Urawa says while also clapping.

Rei bows slightly. “Thanks!”

“We got another song… it's not ours but we umm… changed the lyrics a little. Rei said it was perfect for you two…”

“Hmm… okay.” Ami says hesitantly, not knowing whether to be happy or fearful.

Urawa settles back in his seat and Yuuichiro starts playing the song.

I changed “Susie” to “Ami” in the lyrics for humorous results…

Wake up little Ami, wake up

We both been sound asleep

Wake up little Ami and weep

The movie's over, it's four o'clock and we're in trouble deep…

Wake up little Ami, wake up

Well… what we gonna tell your momma… what we gonna tell your pop

What we gonna tell our friends when they say “Ooh La La”

Wake up little Ami, wake up

Well I told your momma that you'd be in by ten

Well Ami babe it looks like we goofed again

Wake up little Ami, wake up little Ami- we gotta go home

Wake up little Ami, wake up

The movie wasn't so hot

It didn't have much of a plot

We fell asleep, our goose is cooked, our reputation is shot

Wake up little Ami, wake up little Ami

Well… what we gonna tell your momma… what we gonna tell your pop

What we gonna tell our friends when they say “Ooh La La”

Wake up little Ami, wake up little Ami, wake up little Ami…

Ami is totally red-faced after the song is done and cannot say a word. Urawa is blushing a little as well… he places a reassuring hand on Ami's shoulder.

“It's okay Ami… that kind of sounds like what happened that one time with us…” Urawa says with a nervous chuckle. “I know your friends acted the same when you told them…”

Softly, Ami agrees. “Yes… they did…”

Rei starts elbowing Yuuichiro. “See, I told you it was perfect!”

Having a sudden idea, Urawa begins grinning. “We'll have to find a song for you two…”

“We'll be waiting…” Yuuichiro says, wondering what the pair will come up with.

End Omake

I'll have to find a song for Rei and Yuuichiro for another omake… but with Ami and Urawa on the case, that shouldn't be a problem, right? ^_^

Part B

“Sooo… what did happen? You never did tell us why you were grounded Usagi…” Rei says in a teasing tone.

The other girls scoot in closer, wanting to hear every word of her reply, since she hadn't really told anyone present about it.

“Well, umm… you see…” a very nervous Usagi starts out. “I was on a date with Mamoru and… something happened…”

Usagi starts describing the scene…

A date in the park… with the sun setting on the horizon, casting its red glow on the blue water of the lake. The two lovers sit on the bench and watch the sun slowly disappear… and then move in for a kiss…

A young boy happens to see them and upon seeing them, he tells his mother. The mother is shocked and as the prince and princess pull away from the kiss, instead of a wow... or that was wonderful they get... "Young lady, just WHAT do you think you are doing?"

Nearly frozen in fear, Usagi turned to see her mother and brother had been watching her. "Um... hi... mom..."

"Don't 'hi mom' me young lady! Who is this?"

“Umm…” is about all Usagi can say back.

Wanting to get the attention off of Usagi and calm the situation down, Mamoru bows apologetically. “I'm sorry… I didn't introduce myself. My name is Mamoru Chiba…”

“Sis is busted!” Shingo chimes in a moment later.

Usagi's mom stops her son right away. “Hush!”

“Oh all right…” Shingo says reluctantly.

“You've got a lot of explaining to do young lady… just because you're in high school doesn't mean that you can keep secrets like this. When you're living in my house, you have to follow my rules…” Ikuko says before taking a few deep breathes.

“Why don't we go somewhere and talk about this?” Mamoru suggests.

Liking that plan, Usagi nods her head. “Yeah, good idea…”

“Well… hmm.” Ikuko thinks about it for a few moments and then makes her decision. “Fine… but I'd like to have your father's input on this as well…”

Usagi cannot help but gulp… but tries not to be afraid. `Mamoru will be with me… so I should be fine… I hope…'

“Aww… she's getting off easy…” Shingo complains.

“And who said anyone's getting away with anything?” is the almost instant reply back. Usagi wants to say something to her brother but is too overwhelmed at the moment to do so.

Calming down a little, Ikuko address Mamoru. “Do you mind coming with us, Mister Chiba? I'd like to know more about my daughter's boyfriend…”

“It's no problem…” is the reply back, much to the relief of Usagi.

“Good. Follow me then…”

Usagi and Mamoru stand up and then follow the departing Shingo and Ikuko Tsukino back towards home. On the way, Usagi's mom asks a few preliminary questions in order to prepared for her husband and his response…

At home, Usagi nervously waits at the kitchen table with Mamoru and her mom. It's not very long before Kenji Tsukino arrives home… and is surprised to a guest at the table.

“Shingo, upstairs. This doesn't involve you…” Ikuko says while pointing at the entrance to the room.

Shingo starts slinking off towards the entrance. “Aww man… just when it was getting good…”

“Go on…”

After hearing the second command to leave, the young teen begins moving in earnest and heads upstairs to his room. `With the amount of yelling they'll be doing, I'll hear most of it anyways…'

“So… let's get started. Honey, this young man here has been dating our daughter…”

“WHAT?” Kenji stands up and starts staring at Mamoru. “Hmm… college guy?”

“Yes sir…” Mamoru says with a nod.

“I see…” Thinking about that for a moment and realizing that his daughter is seventeen changes his reply a little. “Just how long have you two been going out?”

“Umm…” Usagi takes Mamoru's hand. “For a while…”

“When did you plan on telling us about your boyfriend? I hope it'd be before the wedding…” Ikuko says… doing her best not to be funny with that last line.

“I don't know… it just never came up…”

“NEVER CAME UP?” Kenji says while not trying to scream. “We're your parents… you're supposed to tell us about your friends… especially friends like this!”

“I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hide anything…” Tears begin flowing as Usagi covers her face with her hands. “I'm so sorry…”

Seeing their daughter's reaction softens the two parents and they pause for a moment to calm down.

“You two haven't done anything really… advanced, have you?” Kenji says while watching Mamoru, to see if he was telling the truth or not.

“No sir… we've just hugged and kissed. That's all…” Mamoru says while trying to maintain his composure. `There's nothing to hide… but I'm still feeling nervous nonetheless…'

Turning to address his wife, Kenji inquires about her opinion. “What do you think, dear. Are they telling the truth?”

“I think so… but I'd like to hear more about you, Mister…”

“Chiba. Mamoru Chiba. I'd be more then happy to answer any questions you two may have…”

“Good. Let's get started…”

Usagi takes a break from telling her story to drink some soda. The other girls sit back and silently think about what happened to their best friend. `No wonder she wasn't talking much around that time…' is the common thought passing through their heads. Usagi takes advantage of the silence and regains her composure. `It hurts a little to talk about this… but they should know. They are my best friends after all… and this will show them that everything's not perfect in my situation, either. The way they were staring at me before made me feel uneasy. I had nothing to do with the way that future turned out…'

“Let's take a little break… who wants the last piece of cake?” Makoto says in an effort to help Usagi out.

Minako is the first one to respond to the call. “Me!”

“It's yours then…”

“I'd like some cake, too…” Rei says while eyeing the last piece of chocolate cake.

“Then split it…” Makoto says with a shrug.

The two young women head into the kitchen and start eating the last piece of cake. Ami and Makoto try to cheer Usagi up a little…

“I never knew that was the reason… it must've been hard dealing with a situation like that. I can understand how you feel about being put on the spot… I already told you about what happened to me…”

“Yeah… parents can be `fun' to deal with sometimes, can't they?” Usagi says half-heartedly. “At least they didn't make me break up with Mamoru or anything drastic like that…”

“You stuck with it and you're still together. I envy you, Usagi.” Makoto says, baring her feelings to her friend.

A grin forms on Usagi's face. “If a ditz like me can get a guy, then you have nothing to worry about. Even Rei got a boyfriend…”

“I heard that!” Rei yells back from the kitchen.

“Don't forget about me…” a blushing Ami adds.

“Of course not. I'm here for advice for you, too…” Usagi says while elbowing the young woman sitting next to her. Rei and Minako finish eating and return to the “circle” of sleeping bags.

“I'd like to hear the rest of the story… if you don't mind, Usagi…” Ami says, wanting to know how much their situations were alike.

“There's not much more to tell…” Usagi sighs aloud. “I got grounded for a month… I couldn't go out at all… I wasn't even able to make any phone calls. It's a good thing I slipped him a communicator before he left…”

“So I'm not the only one who was using Sailor technology for personal use…” Ami says with a smile. “I'm glad it helped you trough that.”

“I don't know what I'd have done if I didn't have that. At least I had you guys to talk to in school… that made it bearable. I know it was hard on Mamoru, too… but we made it through.”

“So your parents are cool with him being your boyfriend?” Minako asks, not really sure she heard a yes or no on that question.

“Now they are… after talking with him and setting down some ground rules. They're still a little nervous about us being together alone… but I've had him over for dinner a few times since then. I think I'm making some progress with them…” Usagi says with a happy nod.

“That's a good idea… they get to know him better and you two spend time together.” Makoto acknowledges.

“I'm also doing the same thing this next weekend…” Ami says happily. “My mother has already agreed to it and I think it'll be fun.”

“Go Ami!” Rei says, trying to encourage her friend. “You two are two of a kind…”

The young woman blushes again but knows in her heart that's very true. Next to her, Minako has an idea that she wants to share with the others…

“Why don't we do this every other weekend? I think it'd be fun… and you guys would still have time to spend with your guys. I want to spend more time with all of you… you know we haven't gotten together much lately at all…”

“True…” Ami concedes. “It's been a while since we've done something like this…”

“And of course, we can all fill each in on how the relationships are going… or on stuff we don't want to talk about at school…” Minako says, finishing off her idea.

“I like it… we should try and make this work out.” Rei says, heartily agreeing with the idea.

“I'd be more then happy to have you guys over…” Makoto says with a smile. “It'd give me a reason to try out some new dishes and desserts…”

“I can just taste them now…” the blonde says, thinking about all of the wonderful food creations her friend has made in the past. “At least we'll be eating good that day…”

“Thanks…” Makoto says, flattered by her friends' comment. “Everyone… hold on a second… I have an idea…”

The brunette stands up and heads to her room… and returns with a camera.

“Everyone get together… let's get a picture of us. Friends forever…” Makoto says while setting up the time delay function.

“Sounds good to me…” Usagi says as she shuffles into position.

The five young women gather together just before the flash goes off, capturing the perfect picture…

In another part of the Tokyo area, however, Setsuna's night was far from perfect…

To be continued in Chapter 4: Visions

Part B Omake

The next day, Urawa and Ami return with a CD of their own to Rei's place…

“You found a song already?” Rei asks, surprised at their quickness.

“Of course… it took a little research but I think Ami and I have a winner. We reviewed all the details and came up with this song…” Urawa says proudly.

“I think it's very… Rei-like…” Ami says softly, not knowing how else to describe the song.

“Hmm… that sounds interesting. Let's put `er in and see how she sounds…” Yuuchiro says while extending a hand out to Ami, who gives him the CD. “I can't wait to see what you guys got for us…”

Ami says nothing more as the CD gets placed in the player and the song begins…

Author note: The song “Light my Fire” is performed by the Doors. Copyright 1967 from the “The Doors” album by Eleketra Records. Song written by Robby Krieger and Jim Morrison. Note that there is a musical interlude in the middle of this song, making it over 7 minutes long. As always, I recommend finding and listening to this song yourself so you can really get into the mood of what I'm trying to bring out here.

You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn't get much higher

Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire

The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre

Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire, yeah

The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre

Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire, yeah

You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn't get much higher

Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire

Ami and Urawa notice the normally vocal Rei is blushing and her boyfriend is nervously scratching the back of his neck.

“I take it you two liked the song?” Urawa says, breaking the silence.

“Umm… yeah… good one. You really got us back…” Rei says nervously.

Yuuchiro decides to show his feelings for the song. “I liked it! That's a great song! It's simple… but powerful…”

Ami decides to ask a question. “So it fits Rei?”

“Absolutely. I mean, she's always doing stuff with that fire of hers…” is the candid response back.

“But the song is about something else…” Urawa points out.

“Yeah, I know… I'd like to light her fire…”

“YUUCHIRO!” Rei yells out. “That sounds perverted you know…”

“Oh come on… it's just another name for making out…” the young man says back in his defense. “Just because we've never called it that doesn't mean…”

Ami and Urawa both say “Hmm…” before staring at the very embarrassed Rei. She's silent for a moment and then shoos Ami and Urawa out of the room.

“That's enough music for today… why don't you two find a song for Usagi and Mamoru…”

With that, the door closes and the pair are left out in the hallway, alone.

“So, now what?” Urawa asks while taking Ami's hand.

“Let's go back to my place… and do some more song searching… and maybe dance a little, like we did last night.”

“You got it!” is the happy reply back.

End omake- this will be continued in the next chapter.

I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and the new background information I've provided. Next chapter will be even better in that regard. Feedback would be appreciated!