Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Ascension Trilogy, Book 1: The Coming Ice Age ❯ Matters Of Life And Death ( Chapter 10 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

THE COMING ICE AGE,
Chapter 10: "Matters of Life and Death"

By Bill K.

"Her condition is listed as stable, but grave," the admitting
nurse told Rei.

"What does that mean?" Rei snapped shortly. "Does it mean she's
dying?"

"It means," the nurse said, smothering her own anger and
frustration, "the patient's condition is currently stable, but the
possibility of her passing away is significant."

"Of what?" Rei persisted.

"I'm sorry. I can't give out that information. Only immediate
family members are permitted that kind of information."

Frustrated, feeling helpless, Rei turned away from the desk. She
headed back to the group that included Makoto, Minako and Setsuna to
relay the little information she had. As she walked, she noticed out of
the corner of her eye Kenji and Ikuko Tsukino talking with one of the
emergency room doctors. They had steamed in just a little while ago,
called Rei assumed by Mamoru.

"Poisoned!" she suddenly heard Kenji shout. Actually the entire
emergency room had heard the paunchy sixty-year-old shout the word. He
drew stares from everyone in the room - - except Rei. She just felt her
stomach fall through the floor.

"Kenji," whispered Ikuko, the fifty-eight year old matron trying
to calm her husband.

"Who would do something like that?" Kenji demanded, staring at the
doctor in horror. "My little girl is the sweetest girl in Japan! She
wouldn't harm a fly! What monster could do such a thing like that?"

"I really don't know, sir," the doctor said. "That would be a
matter for the police."

"Well, you can be damn sure I'm calling them!" Kenji roared.
"Nobody does this to my little girl! I will have answers and when I do,
there will be Hell to pay!"

"Kenji," Ikuko said more fervently, jerking on his arm. "Kenji!"
When she finally had his attention, she relaxed just a bit. "Kenji, we
have to talk. Come with me, please," and she tried to tug him toward
one of the private rooms the ER had for patients to discuss things with
doctors and other personnel of the hospital.

"Ikuko, our little girl's dying in there!" Kenji raged, for
nothing brought out the lion in him than a threat to his little
princess.

"I know," she said, knowing from years of intimacy just how to
reason with him, "but there's nothing we can do for her except wait.
Meanwhile, there's something you have to know about Usagi."

Rei watched Ikuko lead Kenji into one of the rooms. She felt a
touch on her arm. Makoto was there, flanked by Minako and Setsuna.

"Did he say what I thought he said?" Minako asked. "Somebody did
poison her?"

"I guess," Rei said. "They won't tell me anything. Given what's
happened, it makes sense."

Suddenly Makoto lashed out with her foot, smashing a table of
magazines into splinters. Rei saw the rage in her friend's eyes. It
matched her own.

"Sailor Moon?" Kenji repeated, stunned. "Our little princess?"

"Apparently she's more of a princess than either of us thought,"
Ikuko told him, holding onto his hands as she sat next to him.
"Unfortunately that comes with risks, and I think this was one of those
risks."

"My little girl is Sailor Moon?" Kenji repeated, almost stuporous.
"Ikuko, do you know what she means to Japan? How many times she's saved
us all? How much she's done for everyone?"

"Yes, I do," Ikuko said, feeling her husband's awe and pride.

"And you always thought she wouldn't amount to anything," Kenji
said.

"Well," Ikuko replied with a wry, knowing smile, "I guess I was
wrong about her."

The gravity of the situation descended back upon them, sobering
each one. Without any further words, they returned to their vigil out
in the ER.

Outside, in concealing bushes near the hospital, Luna paced while
Artemis worked on his laptop. Occasionally he would glance at the black
cat, knowing all too well what she was going through.

"Why hasn't there been any word?" Luna asked no one in particular.
She stared up at the sedate beige concrete structure as it silently
loomed over her. "Artemis, at this very moment she could be - - oh, I
don't even want to say it! I just couldn't bear the thought of losing
her."

"She'll be all right," Artemis offered weakly, preoccupied with
his sensor readings.

"I might be more inclined to believe that if you put a bit more
feeling behind it," Luna said with an undertone of warning. Artemis
sighed involuntarily. He loved Luna dearly, but when she was feeling
distraught and put-upon, she could be as cutting and as vindictive as
anyone he'd known.

"Luna, I'm trying to keep a positive attitude," he replied,
keeping his attention focused on the computer. "Given everything that's
happening, that's not easy to do."

"Well it seems to me you're being particularly cold-blooded about
the entire business," Luna snapped. "Usagi may be dying in there! And
here you putter with your infernal gadgets! Don't you care at all?"

"Of course I do. Usagi's death would be beyond a tragedy. But
we've still got a situation here, Luna. It didn't go away when Usagi
got sick. And this situation is a potential threat to all of Tokyo,
maybe even all of Japan or the world. That's millions of lives - -
maybe billions! Are they any less important than Usagi? I don't think
so - - and I don't think Usagi would think so, either."

Luna flinched, stung.

"Well, I congratulate you on your scientific detachment," sneered
Luna. "I wonder how detached you'd be if it were Minako lying in
there."

"I'd like to think it wouldn't change," Artemis said hoarsely,
looking back at his computer screen.

"Really? And if it were me?"

Artemis quickly looked up at her, his eyes communicating the
devastation he felt about even thinking of a life without the little
black cat. He just as quickly returned to looking at his screen.
Luna's rage began to cool. She began to regret even posing the
question, particularly since it was taking Artemis far too long to
answer.

"Duty and love aren't always compatible, Luna," he choked out. "I
know you're worried about Usagi. I know you're frustrated about not
being able to care for her and guard her like you always have. This is
a tense situation and I suppose it's made you a little short."

"Perhaps," Luna said quietly. "We'll say nothing more about it."
Luna looked back at the hospital, aching for some news.

"Call Minako," Artemis suggested. "Use the senshi communicators.
I know she'll have it with her."

"Do you think so?"

Artemis nodded. "Yeah. Minako's scatterbrained about a lot of
things, but not the things that are important."

Luna nodded and engaged the senshi communicator. As she spoke,
Artemis stared at her tenderly. Yes, he'd save the world, even if she
were lost from it - - but it wouldn't really be worth saving then - - to
him.
* * * *
Mamoru watched as Sailor Mercury typed in a complex set of
commands into her senshi computer. For a moment he dwelled on the
incongruity of the situation. He was four years older than Mercury was
and their medical studies were similar. They each had a Doctoral in
general medicine. Mamoru had a passing knowledge of nuclear medicine.
If Ami had more, it was because she studied it in her off-hours.
Knowing her, she probably did.

Yet between her brain and that of her wondrous computer, Sailor
Mercury was fashioning an isotope based anti-toxin in a fashion that
quite frankly made Mamoru's head swim. The radiation chamber flared
into life, bombarding the mercury sample inside. He would be hopelessly
lost if it were up to him. Usagi would be hopelessly lost, too.

Thank the gods for Sailor Mercury.

She consulted the computer, but frowned at what it told her. This
concerned Mamoru.

"Problem?" he asked.

"Yes," Mercury admitted, typing in a response. The reply she got
back further disappointed her. "The isotope I'm trying to recreate
isn't stable. It disintegrates back into component parts after a few
seconds."

Mamoru sat back as Mercury input another set of commands. He
tried not to show his fear, because Mercury would pick up on it and she
didn't need frantic emotions from him putting even more pressure on her.
She was putting enough pressure on herself as it was without him
compounding things.

"Is there any other type of anti-toxin we can use?" he asked.

"Perhaps something else would work," Mercury replied, her brow
knit with thought. "I don't know what, off hand, and I don't think we
have time to search and experiment."

"Then we'll just have to conquer this problem," Mamoru told her
firmly.

Mercury nodded, seemingly reinvigorated by his confidence in her.
She began typing rapidly. It was a small gesture on his part. After
all, he couldn't do anything, short of keep Usagi alive with the Golden
Crystal, and that would be a temporary solution. She was the only one
who could cure Usagi.

"Perhaps I should go to her?" Mamoru offered, as much to remove
the pressure of his presence as to aid Usagi. "Keep her going with the
Golden Crystal until you can stabilize that isotope."

"If you think it's necessary," Mercury shrugged. He seemed to
sense she wanted him there as a fallback should she fail, but was being
polite again. No matter how old, Ami would always be Ami. "You're the
one with the strongest telepathic link with her."

"Why don't I check," he said.

"Usako," he thought, feeling along the link they shared. He could
feel her distress, sense the pain she was enduring. It was worse than
he anticipated. It ate him up inside that he could do nothing for her.
"Usako? Can you hear me?"

"Mamo-chan?" he heard her respond faintly. "Where are you?"

"With Mercury. We're working on an anti-toxin for you. Do you
need me to be there with you?"

"If Mercury needs you, stay with her," she responded over the
pain. "I'll be all right."

"Usako, I feel the degree of pain you're in," he chided her.

"I'll endure it. I'll be strong. You can count on me. I'd love
for you to be here, but I can hold out. Mercury may need your help."

"I love you for being brave, but don't be reckless. That's what
got you into this mess."

"Yes, Mamo-chan. Come if you feel you must. But I think you
should stay if Mercury needs you. I can get along. I promise. I'm a
big girl now. All I need to know is that you love me."

"Until the end of time and beyond, Usako."

He could feel her contentment just before she drifted away.
Mamoru knew she was still alive, but it made him nervous just the same
to feel her slip off like that. His eyes opened and Mamoru saw Mercury
slip him a nervous glance between command entries.

"You were really zoned out," Mercury said. "I was becoming
concerned."

"Sorry," Mamoru said, more fatigued than he realized. "Usako's in
a lot of pain. It was hard to maintain the link. She said to stay
here, though, in case you needed me."

"Why am I not surprised," Mercury smiled.

She hit 'enter' and the radiation chamber flared again. But
Mamoru could see from her expression that the result was the same.

"No luck, huh?" he asked.

"No," she groaned in defeat. "What am I missing, Mamoru? Why
won't this isotope stabilize?"
* * * *
Ikuko brought Kenji a cup of coffee and slid down next to him on
the sofa. The waiting room was deserted save for Rei and Makoto and
both were looking quite weary.

"Thank you, dear," Kenji said, absently sipping the drink.

Ikuko reached over and brushed her husband's thinning black hair
from his forehead. His lenses were thicker, as was his midsection, but
she could still see the light in his eyes of the man she fell in love
with thirty-five years ago.

"We have to believe she'll be all right," she told him.

"It's hard to believe anything anymore," Kenji replied softly.
"My little princess is Sailor Moon. Does Mamoru know?"

"Yes," she smiled, gently amused once more by this marvelous man.
"It's a pretty hard thing to conceal, particularly from a loved one."

"I don't know," Kenji looked down. "She managed to keep it from
me for twenty odd years." Ikuko winced inside. "How long have you
known?"

Ikuko sighed, expecting the question eventually, but not wanting
to answer. "Almost twenty years," she admitted.

"Am I that stupid?"

"No," she said, her arms around him. "You just saw what you
wanted to see. You saw your daughter - - your little princess. You
didn't see her Sailor Moon side just like you never saw her clumsiness
or her irresponsibility or her lack of realistic ambition. You've
always seen Usagi with rose-colored glasses, dear. When she finally
decided to be an artist, you didn't even look at her drawings to see if
she was any good. You just opened your wallet and asked how much art
school cost. You didn't have any doubts she'd pass." Ikuko looked
down. "I've always been the realist and you've always been the
optimist. It's one of the reasons I fell in love with you. You always
saw the potential in everything and everyone. I was always looking for
the bottom line. If you didn't notice Usagi was Sailor Moon, it was
because you already saw her as so much more."

He grasped her hand. She gratefully gave it to him.

"What was my bottom line?" he asked. "The one that made you marry
me."

"Well," Ikuko mused, "You were cute as a button. You made me
laugh - - it's something I didn't do a lot of as a girl. And you made
me look at things from your perspective and see the potential in
things." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Our daughter's a lot
like you, Kenji. She always sees the best in things and people. She's
always so optimistic about the future. She brightens a person's day
just by being there."

Tears began to sprout in Ikuko's eyes and she turned her face into
her husband's shoulder. He snaked his arms around her and gave her a
haven to burrow into.

"I don't want to lose her, Kenji," she sniffed. "I don't want to
outlive my baby."

"Then we won't lose her," Kenji whispered, stroking his wife's
graying hair. "After all - - she's Sailor Moon, remember? Don't
underestimate her, dear."

A haggard smile curled onto her mouth.

"I won't," she whispered.

"And we're going to tell her how proud we are of her," Kenji
continued, "and how much it means to us that we're her parents."

"And she's going to give us that big, wide smile of hers," Ikuko
said through the tears, "and then she's going to ask us for candy."

They both got a gentle laugh from that.
* * * *
Sailor Uranus returned to the room. She glanced over at Candes
and found the woman still unconscious on the futon. She glanced over at
Sailor Neptune and found her sitting on a chair, absently studying their
captive. Uranus could tell, though, that Neptune was turning everything
they knew about the situation over in her mind, trying to find the key
to the puzzle.

"Doing that is going to give you stress lines," Uranus said,
trying to lighten her lover's mood by teasing her. Neptune flashed her
a pouty scowl and Uranus knew she'd struck a nerve.

That was half the fun.

"Scowling will give you stress lines, too," Uranus taunted.

"You're not going to enjoy sleeping alone tonight," Neptune
warned. She understood it was all in good fun. It's just that Uranus
didn't have to enjoy it THAT much.

"Who says we're not going to be here all night," Uranus muttered.
"You really hit her hard."

"She must be particularly vulnerable to the attack," Neptune
judged. "It was a standard 'Deep Submerge'." Neptune sighed in
frustration. "Uranus, what do you think it all means?"

"I don't know," Uranus shrugged. "Same old same old, I guess.
Somebody out there wants what we've got and they're going to try to take
it from us. The only questions are how, who and when?"

"And whose side she's on," added Neptune.

"And whose side Janus is on," Uranus tacked on. "Don't forget
about him."

"I haven't."

They studied Candes a little more.

"Did you call the hospital?"

"Yes. Setsuna says there's no change." Knowing her lover as she
did, Neptune looked up at Uranus to judge her mood. "We have to believe
she'll make it."

"Why?" Uranus asked.

"Because a long time ago she helped me believe you were going to
make it," Neptune admitted. "Because she's spent her whole life pulling
rabbits out of her hat at the last moment. Because it's the last thing
I should by all rights believe, so naturally it's the exact thing she'll
make come to pass."

Uranus nodded.

"And because I know how much she means to you, Haruka," Neptune
said, "and I want to see you believe it so you'll smile again."

That drew a timid grin from the tall blonde. She glanced
gratefully over to her life mate and that single action gave Neptune new
life.

"Of course, if she does die, we will avenge her," Uranus said.

"As long as there's breath in us," Neptune replied. She turned
back to Candes and studied the woman further. "We just have to find out
who to avenge her death upon."

Continued in Chapter 11