Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Ascension Trilogy, Book 3: Ressurrection ❯ A Feather In The Wind ( Chapter 7 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

RESSURRECTION,
Chapter 7: "A Feather In The Wind"

By Bill K.

"Daddy?" young Ichiro asked, leaning on his father. "When are we
going home?"

The boy liked leaning on his father. His father was strong and
massive and could defeat any menace that might harm him. And his mother
was the famous Sailor Jupiter and whatever menace his father couldn't
handle, she could. Life intimidated him sometimes, but never when he
could feel his father or his mother next to him.

But recent events had shaken even that vestige of security for
Ichiro Ikegami. There seemed to be no safe place, no secure sameness
anymore. Not even the strength and warmth of his father's arm could
make him forget about the ice monsters and sinking into the cold
blackness, and being afraid that he'd never come up again. And if,
somehow, they could all just go home, be in familiar surroundings and be
a family again and not refugees, maybe he could forget about how scary
it was to go through that.

"You want to go back to the restaurant?" Sanjuro asked him
curiously.

"No, not the restaurant," Ichiro said, struggling to make his
father understand. "I want to go HOME. I want us all to be home.
Can't we go home?"

Sanjuro looked at his son helplessly. "I don't think it's there
anymore, son."

The boy buried his face into his father's side.

"Hey, it'll be all right. We'll build a new home. You and me,
and your mom and your sister, we all made it through. And we'll start
over again."

"Will it be like it was before?" sniffed the boy.

"Maybe not. A lot of things won't be the same. But some things
will be better. You'll see."

"How do you know?" the child whimpered. Helplessly Sanjuro
searched his mind for an answer, but at the moment he was coming up
short. Then Ami's husband, Hayami, eased over and sat down next to
them.

"Ichiro?" the squat, plain man said, squinting because he lacked
his glasses. "You remember me, don't you?"

"You're Uncle Hayami, aren't you?" Ichiro replied.

"That's right. And you should listen to your father. He's right.
Life may not be the same as it was, but some things will be better - -
and some things won't change at all."

"How do you know?" Ichiro repeated.

"Because life's always changing. Does your Mom have a garden?"

"No. But Auntie Rei does, at the shrine."

"And it's a pretty garden, isn't it?" Ichiro nodded. "But it
changes in the fall, doesn't it? And it changes again in the winter.
And it's not as nice, is it?" Ichiro shook his head. "But it blooms
again in the spring. And it's never exactly the same two years in a
row, is it? But it's always pretty." He put his hand on the young
boy's shoulder. "Our life is in winter right now. It's not very pretty
now, but something will grow from this. It might be different from what
you're used to, but it can be just as pretty if we work hard and give it
a chance to grow."

"How do you know?" Ichiro asked.

"Because that's the way life is, Ichiro," Hayami grinned, his
ordinary face taking on a satisfied glow. "That's the way it's always
been. I know, because I've seen it. You see a lot in thirty-five
years."

Ichiro still seemed skeptical.

"Ichiro," Hayami persisted. "My grandfather used to tell me
stories about another time when he went through something like this. My
grandfather was a boy during World War II and during that time he went
through his own terrible winter. For a time it looked like he was never
going to see the springtime. But he saw Japan's springtime. He told
me it was so different from the old times, but that in its own way it
was beautiful. He lived to be eighty-one, my grandfather." Hayami
paused, as if listening to someone. "He says you shouldn't be afraid.
You'll see your springtime, too."

"He's here?" gaped Ichiro.

"All our ancestors walk with us," Hayami smiled. "Didn't Sensei
tell you that at the shrine?" Ichiro nodded vigorously. "So don't be
afraid."

Ichiro leaned back onto his father. He looked around the room, as
if he was trying to see the grandparents he'd never met, the ones that
his mother always talked about. Sanjuro patted Hayami on the arm and
mouthed a thank you.

In another part of the room, Ami leaned over to Rei and said, "Is
my guy something special or what?"

"He's got a way about him, that's for sure," grinned Rei. Then
she glanced wickedly over at her friend. "Now if you could get him to
stop undressing me with his eyes."

"YOU he only undresses with his eyes," Ami replied proudly.

Rei gaped in shock at Ami. "Ami, listen to you!" Then she shook
her head. "I can remember when you were too embarrassed to even say the
word 'sex'! Just where did that shy young girl go?"

"She grew up," grinned Ami. "And she found out just what she was
missing." Rei nudged her with a sympathetic gleam in her eye.

Suddenly Rei stiffened. Knowing her friend, Ami looked on with
mounting concern.

"Rei, what is it?" she whispered, trying not to let the others
hear. "Is it more trouble? Is it Serenity?"

Rei only stared off into space, her face painted with anxiety.
* * * *
Sailor Star Fighter looked on as her Princess and her true love
elevated into the sky. They slowly revolved as one as they rose, as if
orbiting around each other. The senshi from the stars looked on, unable
to shake the premonition of - - not disaster, but of something she
wouldn't like. Not that there was much about this trip she liked.
Seeing her wonderful "Odango" again after all these years hurt enough,
for she knew the woman loved another. To see her so far beyond her now
in her "Serenity" form, as her princess was beyond her in power and
scope and evolution, was the crushing blow. Before there was some slim
hope, but now . . .

The senshi turned around and found Sailor Uranus and Sailor
Neptune behind her. That they had approached unnoticed was bad enough,
but it was attributable as much to their skill as her preoccupation.
The fact that they were here probably meant nothing good for her. But
Sailor Star Fighter never backed away from anything, so she turned and
met them face to face.

"What are they doing?" Neptune asked as Uranus glared sullenly.

"Precisely?" retorted Star Fighter. "I have no idea. Knowing
them as I do, I imagine they're trying to help your people."

With a rush that caught even Star Fighter unprepared, Uranus
pushed forward and shoved Star Fighter to the ground. She stood over
the prone senshi, towering menacingly.

"I don't like your tone," Uranus announced, daring Star Fighter to
object. Star Fighter started to push to her feet, with Uranus waiting
for anything the woman might wish to throw at her. However, Neptune
interceded, holding Uranus back with an arm and allowing Star Fighter to
regain her feet.

"Uranus," Neptune whispered sternly. She turned to Star Fighter.
"We just want to understand why you're here."

"We're trying to help your people," fumed Star Fighter irritably.
"Don't you two understand debts of honor?"

Uranus started to lunge, but Neptune restrained her.

"Debt of honor?" Neptune questioned. "For her help against
Galaxia?"

"You make it sound like she helped an old woman out of her chair,"
frowned Star Fighter. "Your Sailor Moon saved the universe that day!
You saw with your own eyes the death and destruction Galaxia visited
upon your world! And what she did here wasn't a tenth of what she did
to Kinmoku or a hundred other worlds! And my princess knew Sailor Moon
was our only hope, even when I doubted. I'm not the fastest learner in
the universe, but even I can see what we owe her! And my princess
certainly can, because she knew from the start! Yet you two can only be
suspicious of conspiracies."

"All right," Neptune said placidly, though Star Fighter could tell
she was anything but placid in this instance, "I'll accept that
explanation - - for her."

"What are you doing here?" Uranus asked, finishing Neptune's
thought.

"I'm here at the behest of my Princess," Star Fighter replied
coldly. "That's all the explanation either of you need."

"You're not here trying to get lucky?" Uranus persisted.
"Thinking maybe you can pick up where you left off? If so, it'll be a
lot tougher this time around. You can't sneak around behind Mamoru's
back this time. He's here this time." Uranus never looked away as she
spoke, keeping her eyes trained on Star Fighter the entire time. "And
I'm still here."

The look Sailor Star Fighter gave Sailor Uranus told Sailor
Neptune that the woman would gladly spontaneously combust in an orgy of
fire that would consume her if she only had the chance to take Uranus
with her. Once again it made her feel bad to be the one who had to ask
the questions nobody wanted to ask. But she had to know if Princess
Kakyuu was as sincere as she came across. Besides she knew the look in
Star Fighter's eye, the look that was still there and still as strong as
it was twenty years ago. And she had no guarantee Crystal Tokyo would
come to be if it was destined to be ruled by Queen Serenity and Queen
Seiya.

"I think we've each made our positions clear," Neptune
interjected, pulling everyone back from the precipice. "Come on,
Uranus. We still have people to help."

The pair was about to leave. Suddenly Uranus stopped, listening
to a light gust of wind. Neptune sensed something as well, as did Star
Fighter, but Uranus seemed more tuned into whatever was coming, so
Neptune looked to her partner for clarification.

Uranus suddenly looked up into the sky. Neptune followed, as did
Star Fighter. There was a wave of energy and Neptune felt it pass
through her, making her uneasy. She didn't know what was causing it.

"It's Dumpling," Uranus whispered, as if in reply.
* * * *
Artemis found Luna perched out on the window sill of their
shelter's second floor. The black cat looked down on the milling crowd
around the husk of a building, enraptured with curiosity. The white cat
eased up as close to her as he dared, though nothing short of actual
contact was close enough for him. Luna tilted her head slightly toward
him to acknowledge his presence.

"What do you suppose they want?" Luna mused.

"Maybe they heard Minako was here and they want an autograph,"
quipped Artemis. Luna responded with one of her acid glares and Artemis
smothered a grin. Once more he'd managed to get a rise out of her.
"They're probably waiting for Serenity. They probably figure she's
their best chance at getting back what they've lost and they want to be
first in line."

"Human sloth," scowled Luna. "They should be out rebuilding or
pulling out the dead and giving the poor souls a proper burial."

"There's enough people doing that," Artemis told her. "Everyone
has their job in life, Luna. For some, it's standing around looking
lost so other people know someone needs help."

"You've always had the oddest way of looking at things," Luna
commented. Her words sounded reproachful, but only half-hearted. Her
expression even seemed mildly amused. Encouraged, Artemis swallowed and
took a deep breath to steady himself.

"Luna," he began. "In the park - - when that Frost Giant got us.
Just before I froze, I-I said something."

Luna smiled. "Artemis, I don't take stock in proposals made under
duress."

It wasn't what Artemis wanted to hear. "Well," he stammered.
"All right then. No duress now. Luna, will you . . .?"

"Artemis," Luna said uncomfortably. "Please don't."

"But," he sputtered. "Why? You said you loved me."

"I-I do."

"Well, I love you. What's the problem?"

Luna looked away. She seemed to want to be anywhere but there.

"Is there someone else?" Artemis asked.

"Don't be ridiculous," scowled Luna.

"Then what is it? Don't you think I'm good enough?"

"Of course not! I'm," Luna began. "Artemis, you're asking for a
commitment that I'm not ready to make just yet."

"When?"

"When? Do you want me to set up a timetable for you? I don't
know, Artemis! This is hardly the time to think about such things,
either! Usagi is at a critical crossroads in her life! She needs my
guidance now more than ever!"

"I've seen you multi-task with the best of them, Luna. Stop
hiding behind Usagi. What's the real reason?"

"Well - - we're hardly compatible, you know!"

"We're not?"

"Certainly not. As admirable as I find you, there are things you
do that just drive me 'round the bend! And I don't doubt that there are
things about me that you find equally irritating. And to enter into a
commitment with such things hanging over our hopes of happiness - - well
there's just too much chance of poisoning what we have. And I don't
want to risk that." She peeked back at him. "You see, I've hurt you.
Can you imagine something like this happening if we were more
permanently attached?"

Artemis stared at her, wounded. "There's risk to any
relationship, Luna, but it's a risk I'm ready to take. The things I
like about you outweigh the things I don't, by a huge margin. Obviously
I don't measure up the same in your eyes."

"Artemis, please," pleaded Luna. "Don't take it that way. It
isn't you it's me! I'm - - so very frightened that I'll do something to
turn you against me. I don't want to risk it because I don't want to
endure such a thing. I don't trust myself with your feelings. That
should be quite obvious by the mess I'm making of all this! Perhaps
someday I can. We all have the capacity for growth. I beg you, please
bear with me. The thought of losing you is quite abhorrent to me. It
isn't that I don't want to, it's that I can't trust myself yet to make
you happy. And it's better that we have a-a means of escape if
something should happen." She turned away with trepidation. "However,
if you feel you can't abide such a stance, I fully understand."

The silence between them seemed to linger. For Luna, it was sheer
torture, but she held her tongue.

"Well," Artemis said in a soft voice and Luna cringed, "they say
nothing worth having ever comes easily."

Luna turned back to him, daring to hope.

"You're probably the only thing in the universe that's actually
worth all of this grief," she heard the white cat say.

Luna sprang up and rubbed foreheads with Artemis.

"I promise I'll make this up to you," she sniffed. "Please be
patient with me. I will say 'yes' one day, I swear it!"

"You better," grinned Artemis. "You don't want to leave little
Diana without a mother, do you?"

"I shant," Luna smiled sheepishly. "If anything, I'm ready to be
her mother this very moment. When I'm ready to be your wife, the wife
you deserve, then I'll say 'yes'."

"All right," nodded Artemis. Then he glanced around. "You know,
if you really are ready to be her mother . . ."

"Don't press your luck, Artemis," Luna said sourly, though inside
she was laughing.

And reality rippled around them. Instantly both cats were on
their feet. They looked around and saw that the gathered crowd also
felt the energy wave pass through.

"Artemis, what was that?" Luna asked.

"I don't know, but I think we better find out and quick," Artemis
replied.
* * * *
Usagi felt fear once more. She could feel the strain like she did
previously when she grew fruit and vegetables all over the world, then
collapsed. Panic began to swell in her breast and she thought for a
moment about fleeing, flinging the power away and never returning to it.

"I am here, Usagi," she heard in her mind and knew it was Kakyuu.
"Do not be afraid."

"It hurts, Kakyuu!" Serenity thought back.

"Then you are attempting too much too soon again." Kakyuu was
silent for a moment. "You cannot rebuild every structure the way it was
all over the globe in a single attempt. You are straining beyond your
ability to recover."

"What do I do?" Serenity pleaded silently.

"Simplify. You must choose to restore smaller sections of the
world or to rebuild everything into more simple, more uniform
structures."

"Which one do I choose?"

"That choice must be yours."

Serenity bit her lip, turning over the prospects in her mind. Her
mentor waited patiently, using her power to support Serenity's life
force while the woman considered. At once Serenity made a decision and
Kakyuu pulled back to let her function unimpeded.

It was just a thought, but an energy wave fanned out from Serenity
with that thought and at the speed of thought. It spread over Tokyo,
over the surrounding rural lands, over other cities and towns in Japan.
The wave continued to extend, into Asia, across the ocean to North
America, down to Australia and South America, on to Europe and Africa.
To Serenity it seemed no more of an exertion than squeezing a lemon.
But the evidence was clear to her wondrous eyes.

The broken structures of businesses and offices remained. But
every house had been replaced, rebuilt into a new abode. They all
looked the same, a bland white and oval-shaped, like so many eggs
sitting in a cardboard tray. Here and there, where high-rise apartments
had stood, were giant white pillars, box-like abodes stacked atop one
another like a child would stack blocks. But they were solid and
functional shelters for people to live in. They were nests where people
could be safe and secure while they worked to rebuild the rest of their
lives.

"Hey," Serenity grinned. "I did it!"

"You certainly did," smiled Kakyuu.

"They're not much to look at," the woman scowled.

"All things in time, Usagi. Your people now have a haven from the
elements and a hearth to call their own. What they do with it from here
on is up to them. You see, not only have you given your people a
shelter to call their own when before they had none, but you have also
given them a blank canvas upon which to mold the new home of their
dreams. You have not returned everything to them, but you have given
them something and given them something to strive for beyond simple
existence. Be proud of your work, Usagi."

"OK," Serenity smiled sheepishly. Then she noticed Uranus,
Neptune and Star Fighter below them. Instantly she swooped down to
them, Kakyuu following behind.

"Serenity!" gasped Neptune in wondrous surprise. "You rebuilt
everyone's home for them?"

"Yeah!" Serenity squealed. "And not just here, all over the
world! I know they're not much . . ."

"It's more than any of us had," Uranus grinned, that old familiar
"older brother" look she used to give Sailor Moon. "More than some of
them deserve. You did good, Dumpling. Um, am I still allowed to call
you 'Dumpling'?"

Serenity burst out laughing and threw her arms around Sailor
Uranus, hugging her with wild abandon. No sooner had she let Uranus
loose than she turned on Neptune and hugged her, too. Star Fighter
looked on, slightly melancholy, but happy for her. Without warning,
Serenity disengaged from Neptune and lunged at Sailor Star Fighter.
Before the woman could move, she was caught in Serenity's grasp and
tightly embraced.

"Oh, I just love it when I can help people like this!" Serenity
squealed, hugging Star Fighter to her. "Maybe being Serenity won't be
so bad after all!"

Star Fighter, though, seemed to want to be anywhere but here. She
fidgeted in Serenity's grasp, trying to find a graceful means of escape.
She didn't want to damage Serenity's euphoria, but at the same time
hugging her was too painful. Then she noticed Kakyuu. In an instant
she knew that Kakyuu could see her discomfort and understood, even
sympathized. It gave her the strength to bury her feelings. She
lightly wrapped her arms around Serenity and patted her on the back,
amid wary looks from Uranus and Neptune.

"I'm glad for you," Star Fighter whispered to Serenity.

Continued in Chapter 8