Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Runaway Heartstrings ❯ Healing ( Chapter 6 )

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

Runaway Heartstrings
Chapter Six: Healing
7/15
by Kihin Ranno
goddess_branwen@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/kihin_ra nno/starlithorizon.html
R

~~Date Started: June 26, 2002~~
~~Date Completed: September 28, 2002~~

This story is an alternate reality taking the characters from Sailor
Moon and inserting them into a different situation while remaining in
their own universe. In essence, I am screwing around with the story of
Sailor Moon because I can. This in no way reflects Naoko Takeuchi's
version of Sailor Moon or the anime version. However, I hold no claim
onto Sailor Moon as that is owned by Naoko, Bandai, Kodansha, Toei
Animation, Mixx, DiC, Cloverway, and I'm sure about 100,000 others. I
am merely doing this for my own sick amusement and once again, because
I can.

~************************************************************ *********~

The morning light was ever so slowly getting brighter... Minako knew
that she would have to be getting home very soon, and that she
would be in deep trouble if she was late again... She was supposed to
have a meeting with her new tutor or something of that nature. But it
was just too painful to walk, much less rush home at the breakneck
pace Minako would have to reach in order to do that. She had tried to
explain this to her mother when the woman had "gotten her up" earlier
that morning along with the fact that she hadn't slept very well...

The woman had then related to Minako how worried she and her father
were. She was staying out at all hours of the night and came home
bruised and battered.

Did she have a boyfriend? Was he hitting her? Was she involved in
anything illegal? Did she make a mistake of some kind? Was she in
trouble? Did she want to talk about anything?

Minako had just sighed and told her the truth... As much as she was
allowed to anyway. She obviously couldn't say, "No mom. Actually the
reason I'm coming home looking like hell every night is because I have
been fighting some weird enemy every night. Who are they? Wish I
knew. The only indication I'm getting is that they're some all
powerful force threatening to destroy your very existence... Oh and
we're losing to boot. Mind getting me some coffee? That youma last
night was wasted easily enough, but those darn Shitennou..."

Minako sighed, remembering how worried her parents were. Her mother
may have been a relentless nag and her dad borderline neglectful...
But they did care about her. Her mother just kept pushing her and her
father... Well she supposed he just didn't know how to express his
emotions very well. He always was uncomfortable hugging her when she
was little...

It was nice to know they loved her... But considering what she was
doing, Minako almost wished they didn't care.

Minako stopped rubbing her leg for a moment. That was when the pain
decided to compound and send a painful shock up from her calf to her
hip. Minako yelped and resumed the massage, trying her best to make
the pain stop, and stay away...

Minako continued kneading away at her calf, not paying any attention
to anything around her. She didn't see the need seeing as it wasn't
dark out... The enemy had this thing with attacking at dark...

Minako decided she may as well start calling them the Dark Kingdom. It
fit somehow.

The blonde sighed at the thought of those wretched creatures and looked
out at the rising sun. She narrowed her eyes and thought back to the
night before...

It had been another seemingly random youma attack that had happened
at the park. Those youma seemed to revolve around the park. More
than likely because of the amount of people that gathered there. This
time they were attacking some young family who was leaving to go him.
Drained the kids of all their energy of course, nearly killing them;
there was no other methodology that she could see.

They had killed the parents. There was no methodology behind that.

Ami had been reading in the park, again... It annoyed Minako a bit that
this girl would rather read for pleasure than help her figure out the
Dark Kingdom's base (which Minako believed she was more than capable of
doing with that handy little computer of hers, no matter what the blue
haired girl claimed). But the girl's unhealthy fascination for books
had often tipped them off to attacks. In any event, she had called
the others about the attack, and they had given her strict
instructions not to do anything.

Or rather Minako had. It wasn't that the blonde thought Ami was a
total incompetent, but she didn't trust her in one on one combat.
Ami was a strategist and a defensive fighter... Makoto provided the
muscle and assisted Rei a lot on the offensive... Rei's ofunda came in
handy of course... Minako doubled in the case of being offensive and
defensive... Which had probably contributed to her being the
leader.

That was how things were. That was how they worked well.

And so she was told to wait. Ami would never go against any authority
exacted on her. So she stayed put... Unfortunately, doing that
she had allowed about four other people to get drained.

Perhaps Minako should have told her to at least distract the thing.

Thankfully, the other three had gotten there within five minutes of
Ami's call and all at relatively the same time. After Rei had told
Minako that she had once again been unable to reach Mamoru, they all
transformed and began attacking. No one had thought to look for a
Dark King. They had just assumed Ami had checked the area and started
in on the attack.

So they had did what they usually did. Mercury would cloud the area
and then scan the monster to find its weakness... This particular
youma was a strange, centaur-like Cyclops and one of the ugliest things
on God's green earth. And there had been plenty of ghastly things
that had been sent out.

Naturally, the weakness was the eye. They should have known that
right off and saved Mercury the trouble of using her computer. But Rei
had insisted they be sure, not trusting Venus' judgment. Once the
gold senshi had been proven right, she had gloated relentlessly. And
since Venus' beams had the best accuracy of all their attacks, she was
chosen to deliver the final blow...

Little did they know that that was exactly what Nephrite had wanted.

Mars and Jupiter had weakened the monster with their own attacks, and
then Venus was to go in for the kill... Venus was lining up the shot,
not paying attention to anything but the now disoriented youma. The
other senshi weren't watching Venus' back at all, and because of that
Venus had nearly been captured...

The monster had gone down easily enough. That wasn't the problem.
The problem was that Venus (and the other senshi) had expected Mercury
to check the area...

As they all quickly found out, she hadn't.

Nephrite had jumped her from behind, but due to her quick reflexes,
she had managed to dodge. She was more than a little annoyed, but she
had the good sense to keep her mouth shut...

Rei was not so blessed.

After conversing with the man for a few moments (Venus still didn't
know why the heck they bothered), Rei had gotten fed up. The miko
tended to do that and often. Very quickly as a matter of fact. Well,
Minako couldn't remember exactly what the girl had said, but it wasn't
very nice.

And Minako, being the kind soul that she was, distracted Nephrite.

The man looked as though he had forgotten something and then gone after
her. Much to her surprise, he had leapt from where he was standing,
about ten feet away and tackled her. The force ended up taking her
down rather roughly...

Venus hadn't known he could form a sword like that out of thin air
until it was aimed for her heart, and that had nearly killed her.
Thankfully, Jupiter had the good sense to pry him off of her, and given
him a fistful of lightning for his troubles... The general retreated
and Venus was left with a wounded ego and a hellish temper.

After Nephrite was gone, the real trouble started. Venus was angry at
everyone because no one had bothered to be watching her back. She was
supposed to be the Moon Princess for heaven's sake, and so they should
at least pretend to care about her welfare. Mars was too busy to
listen as she was dressing down Mercury for not doing anything to stop
the monster from harming those other people. The blue haired girl had
looked close to tears, but she had said nothing in her defense. Jupiter
was just angry at all of them for her own reasons. But then Jupiter
was always angry about something.

Usually Tuxedo Kamen was around to break them up. But this time he
hadn't shown up to begin with.

In any event, Venus had finally taken pity on Mercury (mainly because
she was getting very tired of the fire senshi's self righteous
attitude) and told Mars to shut her mouth and leave the poor girl
alone. After all, it was she who had told Mercury not to do anything.
She had only been following orders. Then Mars had accused her of
trying to act like she was better than her. Venus, already infuriated
by Mars' bad attitude and her very near death experience, had screamed
that she was because she out-ranked them all.

She had forgotten that no one else was supposed to know that they
were ranked.

After the initial shock at Venus' slip of the tongue, Mars of course
was first to speak. She was more furious that she had been placed
under Venus then the fact that it had been kept from her. Naturally,
Venus had taken offense and the two had began arguing... Violently. It
eventually escalated into an all out physical fight. Venus had gotten
in a few good punches, but it was Mars' sweep kick that had made her
leg this way... When Jupiter noticed Venus was down and was not getting
up, she broke up the fight.

That was when they all parted ways.

Minako sighed and looked up at the sun, and then down at her watch...
The tutoring session was supposed to have had begun by now, but she
found herself not caring. School and grades had seemed trivial before
she discovered her mission, but now it was down right useless... She
had bigger things to worry about...

Minako had actually come here today to apologize to Rei for keeping it
from her and flying off the handle. She thought that the priestess was
at fault as well, but Minako was willing to swallow her pride, knowing
Rei wouldn't do any such thing if her very existence depended on it.
And there couldn't be rifts in a four man... or woman rather, team.
They all had to be able to co-exist, and an argument this big was not
going to help that at all. But so far their bickering seemed
unstoppable. Luna and Artemis had helped, but... They couldn't do any
such thing now...

Minako bent her head at the thought and tried to put it out of her
mind... that was when a little runaway made her presence known by
saying, "Umm... Excuse me?"

Minako gasped and jumped up, curling up her right fist, preparing to
smash it into the face of the disgusting youma or one of the Shitennou.
She gasped when she saw it was a stark thin blonde, who bore a striking
resemblance to her... The girl was staring at her almost in fear, and
Minako immediately flattened her hand and said, "I'm very sorry! You
just startled me is all..."

Usagi's cheeks stained pink and she meekly said, "I'm sorry too... I
shouldn't have snuck up on you... I... I'm sorry for disturbing you.
I can leave if you want..."

Something about this girl sparked a protective need in Minako's gut.
It was almost primal. She just had this weird feeling...

Minako shook her head, telling herself she was being silly, "No. I
could use some company. I'm really not some anti-social fighter or
anything. I'm just... really stressed," Minako smiled warmly and bowed
deeply, saying, "My name is Aino Minako,"

Minako would later realize she hadn't been that cheerful in quite some
time.

Usagi smiled warmly and bowed as much as she could, saying, "My name
is Tsukino Usagi." The girl looked as though she were going to
continue, but then flushed slightly and fell silent.

Minako stared at her; a little confused at first and then smiled,
saying, "So I guess you're a friend of Rei's. I didn't think she had
any," Minako narrowed her eyes slightly at that, waiting for Usagi to
respond.

Usagi blinked and said, "Aren't you friends with her?"

Minako snorted slightly, folding her arms in front of her chest. She
shook her head vigorously and said, "Hardly. We're more like...
Business associates,"

Usagi blanched at that and paled slightly, 'That's the same thing
Mamoru said to me about Rei... What exactly is going on?' Usagi tried
to say something to Minako's comment about being friends with Rei
without giving anything away, but found herself unable to do anything
but stammer a lot.

Minako stared at the girl in confusion, thinking, 'What the heck sent
this girl off? Did I say something wrong?' Finally Minako just decided
that she was better off not questioning it and just giggled a little,
saying, "Hey relax. Why don't we talk awhile? I mean you don't seem
like you're going anywhere... And I should be somewhere else, but I
don't want ot be there. If you don't mind me asking, are you
feeling all right?"

Usagi sat down on the ground in front of Minako, a gesture that took
her a little off guard. Usagi didn't notice her surprise and said,
"I'm all right... Just a little weak and tired... And kind of hungry,"

"I'd imagine so." came another voice from behind them. Minako once
again leapt up and a little in front of Usagi, only to discover it
was Rei. The miko raised an eyebrow and said, "My Minako, you
certainly are jumpy... It isn't good for that leg,"

Minako narrowed her eyes at the priestess and said, "Not so much,"

Rei regarded her with a little hostility and spoke to Usagi without
actually looking at her, "Usagi, I'm sure you're starving. You most
definitely need to eat. Minako..." Rei sighed, looking away and
said, "If you have nowhere else to go you might as well stay too. I
doubt you've eaten yet and I don't want you walking around with a bad
leg. My grandfather has a salve for such wounds and of course
there are always the modern pain killers."

Minako blinked in surprise. This was certainly a first. Rei was
mildly concerned about her well being AND she was being nice to her.
Well, at least civil...

Minako looked over to the other blonde whom Rei was helping up off the
ground and for the first time noticed how bony her arm was. Then she
noticed the bruises and burns... And wondered why she hadn't see them
before. She narrowed her eyes just a little bit and looked at Rei
quizzically. The raven-haired girl cocked her head towards the house
and mouthed that she would explain it all later.

Minako finally got up off of the bench (not without some difficulty)
and said, "Actually I do have somewhere I'm supposed to be, but I do
not want to be there,"

"Tutoring session?" Rei asked dryly.

Minako blinked and said, "How did you know?"

"It made sense. And that fire reading I did a minute ago helped. Your
parents aren't happy..." Rei warned with a slight sparkle in her eye.

Minako giggled a little and said, "They never are. I'll just say my
leg hurt too much for me to leave the shrine and you don't have a
phone..."

Rei smirked and said, "I'm beginning to think your taking advantage of
my dislike for modern society,"

"Oh yeah," Minako said, "That's the only reason I hang around you."

Usagi listened to the two girls as they walked, and couldn't help but
remember how Mamoru had described his relationship with Rei. And then
how Minako had mimicked the exact phrase. They all claimed to be
business associates. But what sort of business could they all be
involved in? Was it something sordid and evil as she feared? Should
she even be here?

Should she run from here too?

Those thoughts came again and again, but for one reason or another,
Usagi continually ignored them. While she was a little unnerved by
these people, she felt as though she knew them... And that she could
trust them.

Usagi suddenly wondered if maybe she had been beaten about the head too
much.

Minako watched Usagi walk ahead of them slightly and made sure that she
couldn't hear. She was obviously lost in her own thoughts, so she did
not have to worry if she overheard what Minako said. The limping
blonde opened her mouth to bring up the battle last night or something
to do with the senshi, but instead she said, "Why are you being so nice
to me?" Minako was surprised she had even said it, but it was out in
the open now and there was no taking the words back.

Rei shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Fighting obviously upsets her, so
we at least have to pretend to be friends. Remind me to tell Makoto
the same if she comes by. Ami will be arriving shortly, but she's
not one to argue anyway,"

"Oh..." Minako said quietly, dropping her gaze from Rei's. She had
thought that maybe the miko had come to accept her as a friend and
maybe at least the two of them could submerge the screwdriver or
whatever the saying was... but she was just trying to make the other
girl feel welcome. She still hated Minako... And Minako was still
alone.

Rei watched Minako look at the ground as she limped, putting far too
much effort than she should have been into each and every step. And
for a brief moment, Hino Rei felt a pang of guilt. Maybe she was
treating the blonde a bit too harshly... Yes she resented her now that
she knew she was ranked just under her, but that was no reason to be so
cruel to her, was it?

Then that one moment of sympathy dissolved into indifference. Rei did
not care for Minako and would probably never care for her... Especially
now that she knew all she knew...

The three finally entered the shrine, each of them lost in their own
thoughts, and each one thinking about the other two...

*********************************************************** ************

Kino Makoto ran through the streets of Tokyo like a woman possessed.
She ran so fast and so hard that sweat literally poured off of her and
she found it harder and harder to take a breath. She pushed her
sopping wet bangs out of her eyes, making sure they stuck to the top of
her head and ran on. Her feet pounded against the pavement again and
again, and soon her limbs and her lungs were screaming for her to stop.
She ignored their silent cries and kept running, as if chased by the
very wind that blew past her.

Finally she could not ignore what her body was telling her and she
nearly collapsed in front of the shrine. She found it ironic that she
had stopped somewhere that would remind her of the very reason why she
was running like a mad woman...

Rei and Minako. Or maybe the whole business with being a Sailor Senshi
in general was what was making her run as she did. Or maybe just the
way they got along.

In any event, it had something to do with that whole mess.

Last night had been stressful at best. The Senshi had had their petty
arguments and tiffs before, but that was the first time she had ever
seen it escalate to violence. And Minako had even been hurt over it.
If they were attacked again, they'd be down one senshi, thanks to Rei.

Makoto growled slightly, taking down her hair, and then slowly working
it back up into its customary ponytail. Minako was the last person who
should be out when it came to the four of them. Not only did she have
the most experience with the enemy, whoever they were, but she was also
masquerading as the Moon Princess until they found the real one.

They needed her.

Makoto shook her head and was about to keep running when she saw a
familiar blue head walking towards her. She blinked in surprise and
said, "Ami?"

*********************************************************** ************

Ami and her mother did not leave for the Hikawa Jinja immediately.
While her mother had completely forgotten about the patient she had
been about to look at when Mamoru arrived, she had not forgotten to
finish her rounds. Then she told the desk she was going out on call
for a few minutes. After about ten minutes of arguing, they had left
without permission.

Her mother was like that, Ami mused. She was a stickler for the rules
when it came to her daughter and most other things. It was only when a
person's well being was at stake that she would do anything like she
had just done. Ami had always admired her mother for that...

Her mother was so much better than her at everything.

Ami looked despondent at that thought. But it was true. Her mother
saved lives. Her mother was self sacrificing. She was brave. She was
not afraid to speak her mind. She would break rules to save lives.

She would have made a fine senshi had she been about twenty years
younger.

Ami was just pathetic. She had been so afraid of disobeying Venus'
orders that she had just watched as those people were attacked. She
tried to help them afterwards, but what possible good had that done?
Two people still died...

Ami felt tears fill her eyes just at that thought.

She was a terrible excuse for a human being much less a Sailor Senshi.
She holed herself up in her room, trying to decipher problems she had
never seen. She worked endlessly to find out anything at all about the
enemy, but to no avail. She had gone days without eating she was so
focused on this. She had such a high IQ and so many resources and she
had been of little or no use as of late.

Ami didn't know what was wrong with her... She had never been this
mousy before. It was just... The other girls dominated her in so many
ways and then the youma were frightening. She woke up each day, when
she bothered to sleep anyway, dreading the night when they would
attack...

And more would perish because of her incompetence.

Ami was rather surprised when she heard her name. She looked up,
surprised to see that she and her mother had reached the shrine
already. She was even more surprised to see Makoto standing there.

"Makoto?"

"What are you doing here?" the green eyed girl asked. Her tone was
in no way all that warm. It was really just curious.

Then Ami's mother and Makoto exchanged pleasantries and greetings and
the woman relayed her a Reader's Digest version of what had happened.
The news of this had left Makoto, as usual, itching for a fight.

"Why the little rat bastard... If I ever get my hands on the creep,
I'll pound him from here into next week!" then she looked up, her green
eyes glittering wildly...

Ami knew that look. The young genius sighed as Makoto ran up the
stairs to right wrongs and triumph over evil as she often found the
taller girl saying. She was now on a mission to avenge this young
girl and she would not rest until she had won...

Ami just hoped she didn't scare her to death. She heard her mother
snickering behind her, but following the two girls from behind.

Dr. Mizuno smiled and said, "It's nice to know she has some friends...
I was beginning to think she was feeling lonesome,"

Ami heard her words and nearly fell over. The Sailor Senshi had been
called many things in the past, but that was a first. Friends?!

Suddenly Ami realized what was happening.

Meanwhile, Minako was watching as Makoto sprinted towards the shrine.
Usagi and Rei were chatting amiably, both of them being surprisingly
open with each other. It was like they had known each other for years.

Minako was remaining quiet only because she was still upset about what
Rei had said earlier... About them not being friends.

Then Minako had seen Makoto and Ami running up the stairs... And
wondered if maybe, just maybe... Their rifts were somehow healing.

Minako looked at Usagi and wondered.

~******************************************************* **************~

This is dedicated to victims of abuse along with their friends, and
families. And if you are suffering from abuse of any kind, it isn't
hopeless. There are people and organizations that can and will help.
Also, if you know or suspect that someone is being abused, don't keep
it to yourself. Don't be a coward and look away. Do the right thing
and confront the problem. Get help, for yourself or for them...
please... don't do it because I'm telling you to. Do it for yourself
and the ones that didn't make it.

If you need help, call:

The National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-SAFE

The Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN)
1-800-656-HOPE

Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline
1-800-4-A-CHILD

Or call your local authorities or any state/local agencies that can
help you or someone you know get out of your situation.

Coming Soon: Chapter Seven: Friends