Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Brooch ❯ Chapter 7

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

The Brooch
By Jason C. Ulloa


Chapter 7


Lower/Outer Grounds Border, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 6, 1992. 2:16 A.M.


"REI!" Ryoku cried in anguish as he removed the arrow from her back and held her hand in his. He was
too late. Too late to save Rei. Just like he was too late to stop the claws that put his sister into her
coma. He....

Wait.

He quickly leaned down to put an ear to her back and strained to listen amid the cacophony of the
battle raging around him.

There. A faint heartbeat. Weak, but it was there nonetheless. She was alive, but she would die within
the hour if she didn't get help now.

"Mamoru!" he shouted as he ripped parts of his shirt off and tied a very crude bandage using the strips
of his uniform shirt and the belt from her robes. It wasn't easy to get the belt off with her lying on
her stomach, but he somehow managed.

"Go, Ryoku," he said with a grim nod. "She needs you more than we do right now. On your way back, send
the rest of the reinforcements, but leave a single unit to guard the hill."

"You sure you'll be all right without me?" he asked as he carefully scooped Rei in his arms.

"We'll be fine," Sailor Moon told him as she caught her tiara as it returned from another attack. "You
just take care of helping Mauri."

Ryoku nodded, then hurried off. 'Mauri?' he wondered as he ducked and weaved around battle after battle.
'Didn't she hear me call her 'Rei?' Does that mean Rei's like us? Someone from Serenity's Moon Kingdom?'

He glanced down at Rei's face. It was scrunched up in pain and there was a few spatters of blood dotting
her lower cheeks and under her chin. "Don't worry, Rei. I'll get help for you. I promise."

As she watched Ryoku leave with Rei held carefully in his arms, a dark, menacing expression fell across
her face. Mauri was one of her dearest friends during the Moon Kingdom. She had finally found one of her
Sailor Senshi, only to have her almost killed by a moment's distraction. Sure, a small portion of her
mind assigned some measure of guilt to herself. However, Mauri was the type of person who wouldn't worry
about danger to herself if someone she cared for was in danger.

Besides, this was war. People get hurt and people die in wars.

But knowing that didn't make Mauri's injury any easier to take. If anything, it only served to make her
even more livid.

There would be a reckoning.

Guided by instinct and fueled by rage, she closed her eyes and held both hands extended out in front of
her as she channeled all of her power into her hands. There was a soft glow at first, which rapidly grew
as the seconds rushed past.

"Serenity, what are you doing?" Mamoru yelled as a burst of wind exploded from the blonde-haired
senshi, knocking both him and the two sentries he was fighting off their feet. Mamoru managed to impale
one of the sentries as he fell, but the second one wouldn't fall quite as easily. He kicked the sentry
off of him and flung his sword as the sentry fell. The blade thrust through the back of its head and
came out the other end, killing the sentry instantly. "Serenity!" he called again as he jumped to his
feet and quickly retrieved his sword.

Sailor Moon ignored him as the light between her hands began to condense and solidify into a small
wand-like object with a sharp, crescent moon-like blade at one end. In the crescent moon end opposite of
where the moon met the handle, there was a place where it looked like some small object would fit.

Once the light had faded from the wand, Sailor Moon opened her eyes. And frowned. "This isn't what I
wanted," she said, scowling. "It'll have to do for now, though." She whipped her head toward Mamoru, who
was fighting his way toward her amidst a small group of sentries that had appeared. Around her, several
Hunters and sentries were approaching, drawn by the light and the power she had been emitting not too
long ago.

"Do you know who you're dealing with?" she snarled as she raised her wand overhead. "I'm the Sailor
Warrior fighting for justice and vengeance, Sailor Moon! On behalf of my dead kingdom, I'll destroy
you!" As energy gathered into the wand, she began to trace a large circle in the air before her. "Moon
healing escalation!" she yelled as the circle completed its trip from head to feet and back to head
again. Once complete, a burst of light and energy surged forward from the wand, flooding the area before
her with life energy. The power washed over the Youma, robbing them of their power until they crumbled
underneath the overwhelming power of the light.

The light continued to race forward, however, the power quickly dissipated once released from the wand.
The attack would only affect Youma in a wide arc about thirty meters away from Sailor Moon. Any further
and the attack was too weak to effectively disable even a sentry. Still, the attack was effective enough
for the Youma to start keeping a wary distance from Sailor Moon.

"That was incredible!" Mamoru remarked as he reached Sailor Moon and took up a defensive position behind
her and stood ready to defend her from any attacks from the rear. "Why didn't you do that before?"

"I didn't know how," she replied as she removed her tiara again. "I did that entirely by instinct. There
was something else I was supposed to have received instead of this, but I got this instead. I don't
think I'll be able to try for it again for a while, so we'll need to make do with this for now."

"What's wrong with the weapon you have now?" he asked. "It seems to work very well."

"The power is similar," she explained. "However, with what I was aiming for, the range is over fifty
times greater, even if the scope is smaller."

"I see. How long until you can try again?"

"I don't know for certain. Once I feel I can try again, I'll let you know."

"All right," he acknowledged. "I'll do my best to keep them off your back until then."

"Thanks, Mamoru-san," she nodded as she prepared her attack. "Moon tiara action!"

_________________________________________________________________


Takahashi Himeko was exhausted, both physically and mentally. The only reason why she didn't stop was
because people's lives depended on her.

She beckoned to a woman not to far behind her. "Misao-san! This man has a sucking chest wound!" she said
as she pointed to the man on her left. She then pointed to the other man she was kneeling beside.
"Paul-san! This man looks like he was hit by Claw Hunter poison! I don't think it spread too far. Tie
a tourniquet below the elbow, just in case. If we're lucky, someone will get to him before the arm has
to be amputated."

"Poor bastard," Paul sighed as he got to work. "One out of seven Claw Hunters has poisoned claws and he
just has to get one of the rare ones."

"I just hope that he's the only one around here," Misao added. "We don't have a lot of antidote left in
Stores."

"Hopefully, if it's dead already, someone had enough sense to remember to cut off its claws," Paul said
as he tied off the tourniquet and marked the man's forehead with a large 'T' in blood. The cloth on the
man's arm was already marked with the time it was tied on.

"One can only hope," Himeko said as she waved to a stretcher team bearing down toward them. "Sucking
chest wound," she said pointing to the first man as the team put him on the two-man wide stretcher.
"Claw Hunter poison," she continued, pointing to the second one. "This one has a tourniquet, tied on not
one minute ago. Hurry."

"Roger," the team acknowledged as they placed the second man on the stretcher and took off running.

"Things must be desperate if they've brought out the two-man stretchers already," Paul remarked gloomily.

"At least the teams are keeping up with the wounded," Himeko replied as she stood. "Come on, you two.
We've got to get closer to the battle. There'll be more wounded up there."

"Not to mention it'll be even more dangerous," Misao complained.

"You knew the risks when you became a field nurse," she replied absently, as if it was a ages-long
complaint rather than one that started only a couple of hours ago. "If you have the energy to complain,
maybe you want to carry my medical bag as well as yours?"

"I'll just shut up now."

Himeko nodded and said nothing. Paul also said nothing, but if one were to closely examine his
expression, one would find small traces of amusement, despite the grimness of the situation around them.

"Hey, look over there," he said, pointing as he spoke. "I see someone running toward us. Looks like he's
carrying someone."

Himeko scanned the area for any signs of another stretcher team. She thought she could see two of them
in the far distance, but she couldn't tell which one was closer.

"I think that's a miko he's carrying!" Misao exclaimed in surprise. "What's she doing out here? Isn't
she supposed to be in the jinja with the others, holding up the barrier?"

"I don't know, but that looks like one hell of a wound on her," Paul said sympathetically. "Hope that
wasn't from the same Hunter that got our poisoned friend."

"If it was, she'd already be dead, judging from the amount of blood on the guy's uniform," Himeko
observed as she started jogging up to them.

"Where's the nearest stretcher team?" Ryoku asked as soon as he reached the group. "I can't carry her
fast enough by myself."

"From the looks of it, there's two teams en route to the battlefield," Himeko reported. "However, I
can't tell which one's closer."

"Can you do something about her bleeding?" he requested as he gently laid her down on the ground. "I
didn't have the time to make anything better."

Himeko nodded as she quickly knelt down and started taking things out of her bag. As she did so, she
signalled for Misao and Paul to continue looking for wounded. "Remove her top, if you would?" she
requested as the two left.

Ryoku grimaced but complied quickly. It was to save her life. She would understand. Mentally, he
apologized to her, but he knew she would give him hell after she recovered. He was just grateful that
she was wearing a bra underneath. If she wasn't, he would've REALLY caught hell from her after she
recovered, regardless of whether it was to save her life or not.

"You're fortunate that she was struck by a normal Claw Hunter," Himeko told him as she applied a bandage
to the wounds from the Youma. "I just found a man who was just nicked by a poisonous Claw Hunter and
he's just started to display the effects."

"I know the effects of Claw Hunter poison all too well," he said darkly.

She blinked for a moment, then nodded. "Ah, yes. I almost forgot who you were for a moment. Your sister,
right? I'm sorry if I touched a sensitive spot."

"No, don't worry about it," he said as Himeko applied the second bandage to the arrow wound. "It's not
your fault."

One of the stretcher teams finally ran up to them as Paul waved them in. "Multiple wounds and
lacerations. Very deep. Possible organ rupture. Major blood loss."

"Roger," the team acknowledged and left with Ryoku running alongside them after giving Himeko a hasty
thank you. She merely nodded in response and turned to see if she could find any more wounded.

"Misao-san! Paul-san! We need to get closer to the battle! Closer!"

"I hope you know I don't have a death wish."

"I heard that, Misao-san."

_________________________________________________________________


Lower Grounds - Sendai Hill, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 6, 1992. 2:23 A.M.


Atsuko dashed from team to team, judging the severity of each patient brought in and sending them to the
appropriate section of the Medical building. Some of the teams had brought in people who had died on the
way here, but hadn't noticed yet due to their putting all their effort into getting here as fast as
humanly possible.

Thankfully, there wasn't that many who did die in transit, though judging by the small pile of bodies
that was slowly, yet steadily increasing, that number was still too many. However, everyone who could
man stretchers were already doing so. There were enough people so that whenever a team exhausted
themselves, a second team could take over, giving the first team a much needed rest.

"Mizuno-hakase!"

"Yes?" Atusko replied wearily as she turned toward the new arrival.

Orikasa Emi was the go-between for each of the Medical buildings and Atsuko. For the past few hours, she
had been running non-stop between the main Medical building, the infirmary, Medical Stores and Atsuko,
delivering status reports.

"E.R. rooms 2, 4, 5 and 7 are cleared and ready to receive new patients," Emi reported quickly. "The
infirmary reports that they are currently at 76% capacity. Approximately 45% of these patients can be
moved to their living quarters when the battle is over. Takaya-sensei reports that we are currently out
of all B-type and AB-type blood. Our remaining O-type blood is Rh-positive only, but we do have both
types of A-type blood. However, we are currently dangerously low on these reserves as well. Especially
the Rh-negative A-type blood."

"Damn," Atsuko growled as she indicated for another team to take their patient to the area reserved for
lower-priority injuries. "We're going to have to go among the people hiding in the jinja and ask for
blood donors. Have Morinaga-sensei assign a team to prepare the equipment for those who'll volunteer."

"Right away," Emi acknowledged and sped off up the stone steps to the top of Sendai Hill.

"Things are getting worse way too quickly," she sighed as she waved for another team to come up to her.
There were more stretchers arriving by the minute; more than the handful of nurses she had designated to
assist her in assigning priorities to incoming patients.

"Mizuno-hakase!"

Atsuko started at seeing Ryoku running toward her, accompanied by a stretcher team carrying someone in
what looked like a miko's robes. As far as she knew, everyone involved with maintaining the barrier were
in their assigned places. So, why was this heavily-bleeding miko lying in a stretcher coming from the
battlefield? A quick look at the body showed signs that first aid had already taken place, but from the
color of the bandages, she was still bleeding dangerously.

A quick scrutiny of Ryoku showed that despite the many cuts and slashes across his face, chest, arms and
legs, all his injuries were non-life-threatening. There was a lot of blood across his chest, though; way
too much to be his own considering the severity - or rather, lack of severity - of his wounds. Most
likely the blood was the miko's.

"Mizuno-hakase!" Ryoku shouted again as he struggled to catch his breath. "It's... Rei...."

Atsuko's eyes widened as she finally noticed the miko's face. It was Rei's face.

She had been purposely avoiding looking at any patient's face, in case anyone she knew came in with
wounds too severe to save. She didn't want to have to deny help to anyone she knew, even if she knew she
couldn't save them.

"Multiple deep wounds and lacerations," one of stretcher-bearers reported. "Possible organ rupture.
Major blood loss."

"Quickly," she told the team, "send her to room 7! Tell Asahina-sensei everything you told me!"

"Roger," he nodded as the team sped off toward the main Medical building.

"What's going on at the battlefield, Ryoku-san?" she inquired urgently.

"We're holding them off, but just barely," he reported quickly. "I'm here to order the remaining units
to deploy save for one. I'll be taking command of the unit that will remain."

"I see...," she said worriedly. "We're running low on supplies and space in the infirmary, but I think
we can hold out for a little while longer. We're starting to ask the ones who remained for emergency
blood donations, but I don't think that will help if the battle lasts for too long."

"Every little bit helps," he said solemnly. "I need a favor, Mizuno-hakase."

"I don't think this is the time for such things, Ryoku-san."

"Please!" he bowed desperately. "I want you to keep me informed on Rei's condition."

"Ryoku-san, I-"

"Please!" he pleaded. "I need to know! I know she's lost a lot of blood. Look!" he shouted, grabbing a
handful of his uniform shirt and pulling at it. "Most of this is HER blood! HERS! She lost this blood
saving our lives!

"I know she has AB- blood," he continued, releasing his shirt. "Ami told me about how rare that blood
type is. She can't accept blood from anyone who has positive-type blood, right? I have O- blood. If she
needs blood, she can have mine. I just... I just don't want her to die."

"I'd be more than happy to let you give blood to Rei-chan, but right now you have a job to do. Right
now, Mamoru-san needs reinforcements and he needs you to provide them. Morinaga-sensei will be gathering
blood donors amongst everyone who had stayed behind, so there should be someone there who has a blood
type that Rei-chan can accept."

"All right," he folded reluctantly. "Just let me know what happens, would you? I just don't want to
worry about her while I'm out there. I need to know that she'll be all right."

Atsuko regarded him with a sad smile. "I won't lie to you, Ryoku-san. There's more than just the
extreme loss of blood to consider. Judging from the location and severity of the wounds, I'd say that
Rei-chan's lost at least one kidney - maybe both - and probably has some other major internal organ
damage as well. We won't know the extent of her injuries until Asahina-sensei thoroughly examines her."

"Are you saying that...?"

"She could still die? It's a possibility. However, we won't know anything more until I hear from
Asahina-sensei." She sighed wearily. "I'm sorry, Ryoku-san. I wish I had better news for you."

Ryoku remained silent as he studied the ground pensively. Without a word, he turned and rushed off in
the direction of the closest fighting unit.

"I'll let you know if I get any good news," she called out to him. He stopped, turned and nodded
gratefully, then continued on his way. She had the feeling that he wanted to concentrate on doing his
job so he didn't have to think about the possibility of Rei's death. She couldn't help but feel sorry
for the poor boy.

_________________________________________________________________


Infirmary - Hikawa Jinja Proper, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 6, 1992. 2:27 A.M.


Hotaru ran as fast as she could to the infirmary like Yashiki-sensei had asked her to. It wasn't just
her, though. There were several other people coming with her. They were all older than her; the youngest
one was five years older than her.

When Yashiki-sensei came into the room asking for people to volunteer for giving blood, she was one of
the first to volunteer. At first, he didn't want to accept her because he thought she was too young.
However, times were desperate and blood was needed. So, he said that if she wanted to go ahead with it,
she could. However, the final word would be with Morinaga-sensei and not him. He was the one in charge
of the blood donor project.

As she reached the entrance to the infirmary, Hotaru saw Ami and Minako standing with about three other
nurses, each holding a large folder full of papers. Next to them, she saw an elderly gentleman directing
everyone to get in the line corresponding with their family names. Minako's line had the Pa-Tsu range,
so Hotaru went there.

"Ah! Hotaru-chan!" Minako exclaimed when it was her turn. "What're you doing here? I thought you were
too young to donate blood!"

"Everyone is fighting out there," Hotaru said quietly. "They're all risking their lives for us. I just
want to do something in return. Right now, all I can do is this."

"Noble words for such a young one," Morinaga said as he walked up to her. "However, you are much too
young to be able to give blood."

"But...," Hotaru began despondently.

"You still want to help, right?" he asked. "I think I can arrange for a way for you to help, if you
want."

"Yes!" she nodded emphatically.

"All right. Now, do you know where Medical Stores is?" She nodded. "Good. Sooner or later, one of the
five doctors will run out of needles or storage bags or anything else. Your job will be to get whatever
they need from Stores and bring it to them. Also, you will eventually have to take used needles to
Stores for sterilization, so we can reuse them. This is very important. Can you do this for us?"

"I'll do my best!" she said, determined.

"Good. Aino, I want you and Mizuno to help her when the lines get smaller. The others will be able to
handle the rest."

"Yes, Morinaga-sensei," Minako acknowledged. Beside her, Ami nodded her acknowledgement.

As he turned back to directing the incoming crowds, the three girls caught sight of a stretcher team
carrying someone in bloody miko robes into the main Medical building.

"Did you see that?" Minako asked Ami and Hotaru.

Ami nodded and frowned quizzically. What was someone in miko robes doing outside the jinja during a
Youma attack?

"Who was that?" Hotaru asked the two nurses-in-training.

"I don't know," Minako said. "But she looks really messed up. Say, didn't she look a little... familiar
to you?"

Both Ami and Hotaru shrugged. "I couldn't see her face from here," Hotaru replied worriedly. "I hope
she's all right...."

_________________________________________________________________


Lower/Outer Grounds Border, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 6, 1992. 2:41 A.M.


Mamoru was getting tired. More and more Youma were beginning to turn their attention toward the threat
of Sailor Moon and as such, it was getting harder to defend her, even with the addition of Yamada and
two of the new Recruit Blades.

"Shit!" Yamada cursed again for what had to be the twentieth time since he took up a defensive position
at Mamoru's side. "These bastards just won't stop coming!" This was also said for the twentieth time.

"Moon healing escalation!" Sailor Moon shouted, bathing the area in light again. Once more, a large
swath was cut before her, decimating the Youma horde in another wide thirty meter arc.

"Man, I'll never get used to that!" Yamada grumbled as he shuddered. As usual, he - as well as the rest
of the Blades with him - was in the path of the attack when she released it. The light from the crescent
moon wand passed through the Blades as if they weren't there, unlike her tiara's attack, which almost
clipped him in the head once. She had apologized, of course, but Yamada wasn't the type to let things go
too easily, even if she had already saved his life a number of times.

"Hey, girl!" he called out as he regrouped with the others. "Do you think you can try for that
superweapon or whatever that you and Chiba were talking about? We're still getting hammered out here!"

"Yamada!" Mamoru reproved sharply, but held off as Sailor Moon held up a hand.

"I think I can try again, but it will take a while," she replied. "Also, I'll be defenseless when I do
this. I'll need you all to keep the Youma off me until I'm done."

"Feh!" Yamada spat angrily. "Make things hard for us, why don't you! You just better not screw up while
we're protecting your ass." With that, he stalked forward with his sword out and glared. "I swear,
you're almost as much trouble as that idiot, Kino! Bah!"

Sailor Moon grimaced sardonically. "I think he likes me," she said with a snort.

"He's like that with everyone," Mamoru replied with a weary sigh. "Don't pay him any mind. We've got
more important things to worry about."

"Right," she agreed as she closed her eyes and held both hands extended out in front of her. "I'm
counting on you all."

"Right," Mamoru nodded and turned toward the Recruit Blades. "Take your positions." The Recruit Blades
nodded in acknowledgement and took positions opposite of him and Yamada so that all four Blades were
surrounding Sailor Moon.

"I hope the reinforcements Kino's sending arrive soon," one of the Recruit Blades mentioned as he held
his sword ready.

"They should've been here by now if that kid didn't screw up," Yamada grumbled under his breath.

"What was that, Yamada?" Mamoru inquired.

"Nothing."

As the Youma rushed forward to attack again, Sailor Moon began to channel all of her power into her
hands once again. Like before, there was a soft glow at first, which rapidly grew as time flew past. A
burst of wind exploded from the blonde-haired senshi, knocking the closest attacking Youma off their
feet. The four Blades remained on their feet, as Mamoru had warned them of the wind burst ahead of time.

As the battle raged on, the light between Sailor Moon's hands once again began to condense and solidify
into a long, scepter-like object. A miniature crown tipped the scepter with a small pair of white wings
attached at the joint between the top and the handle.

"This," Sailor Moon breathed as she opened her eyes and stared down at the scepter, "is it."

"That?" Yamada exclaimed incredulously. "It looks like a toy! What the hell can that stick do?"

"Shut up and watch," Sailor Moon snapped as she raised the scepter overhead, preparing her attack. A
rush of light energy surged into the miniature crown on the top of the scepter. "Moon princess halation!"
she shouted as she waved the scepter in front of her, ending with it pointing at the attacking horde. A
stream of light emanated from the scepter in a tight concentrated beam that destroyed any Youma it
touched. As the beam surged forth, she swung the scepter as if it was a sword, causing the beam of light
to carve the air before her, bisecting any sentry or Hunter it touched. The four Blades ducked under the
attack, not wanting to test whether or not the attack would affect them as well. The Blades shouted for
the rest of the human defenders to dive for cover as well, hoping that the message would get out before
it was too late.

"Holy shit!" Yamada breathed as he observed the damage. Every Youma within a three hundred meter radius
had been wiped out.

"Much better," Sailor Moon said with a satisfied smirk.

"That had to have been about a quarter of the enemy's troops!" the younger of the two Recruit Blades
breathed. "In one attack...."

"Let's not stand around here gawking!" Mamoru said loud enough to be heard by the other defenders who
were just getting up. "There's still a battle to be won! Let's move!"

As the other three Blades rushed off with the defenders toward the fighting, he glanced back at Sailor
Moon with a look of amazement mixed with deep respect. "I must thank you for what you've done for us,"
he said gratefully. "If not for you, we might be dead by now."

"The battle's not done yet, Mamoru-san," Sailor Moon said as she made her crescent moon wand vanish and
gripped her scepter tightly in her other hand. "You can thank me when it's over."

With that, the pair rushed off into the battle once more.

_________________________________________________________________


Lower Grounds - Sendai Hill, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 6, 1992. 2:48 A.M.


Atsuko watched Ryoku concernedly as he paced back and forth, waiting impatiently for news concerning
Rei's condition. It had almost been half an hour since she was taken in, but there was no news yet. Emi
had already come and gone with her usual report, but there had been nothing about Rei.

Ryoku had come up to her a few minutes ago and told her that he had put one of the defenders in charge
of the unit and had come up here to wait for news. He added that he told his substitute where he could
be found should an emergency arise, although she thought that doing this was a little irresponsible of
him.

Then again, despite all the airs he put on, he was still a fifteen-year old boy. Under the
circumstances, she supposed that she couldn't really blame him for wanting to be there for Rei.

"Mizuno-hakase!" a young girl urgently shouted as she ran up to them, breathing heavily.

"Hotaru-chan!" Ryoku gasped as he recognized the girl. "What are you doing here?"

"Ryo-niichan! Rei-chan's-"

"I know about Rei, Hotaru-chan," he interrupted solemnly.

"Mizuno-hakase, Asahina-sensei needed me to give you an urgent message," Hotaru told Atsuko. "She says
that she can repair the damage to Rei-chan's liver and large intestines, but she says that both kidneys
are too heavily damaged to save. If she can't get a donor kidney soon, Rei-chan will die!"

Ryoku stiffened in shock as she ran through every option she could think of to save Rei's life. They
didn't have any ready organs for replacement; the last organ they had was a liver they had already
transplanted half a year ago. All they had were the organs of the newly dead and whatever organs people
could live with only one of; like kidneys, for example.

Getting a donor kidney wasn't the problem, though. The problem was that Rei had a very rare blood type,
AB-. As such, finding a donor kidney that her body wouldn't reject was going to be extremely difficult.
Add to that the limited time they had to work with and that made things even worse.

Her mind ran through all the possible candidates. Her grandfather had AB-blood, but it was Rh-positive,
not negative. Hotaru had AB-blood, too, but it was also Rh-positive. Most of the people that she could
think of at the present that weren't out on the battlefield all had Rh-positive blood. That left only
one person.

"Ryoku-san."

"I know. I'll do anything for her, if it'll save her life."

Atsuko nodded understandingly. "All right. Hotaru-chan, please take Ryoku-san to see Asahina-sensei. And
hurry. We don't have any time to waste."

"Yes, Mizuno-hakase," Hotaru replied quickly.

"Mizuno-hakase," Ryoku said before he left. "If Fumai-san comes here looking for me because of an
emergency, tell him that I will trust him to use his own judgment."

"Understood," she said as she watched him and Hotaru rush to the main Medical building. "And good luck."

_________________________________________________________________


Lower/Outer Grounds Border, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 6, 1992. 2:55 A.M.


"Moon princess halation!" Sailor Moon shouted again, her attack ripping through the air to decimate
another quarter of the enemy forces. As the attack came to an end, Sailor Moon weakly fell to her knees,
breathing heavily.

"Are you all right?" Mamoru asked as he knelt down beside her.

"Yeah...," she breathed raggedly. "It's just that... that attack really... takes a lot... out of me. I
don't think... I can use it again... for a while."

"Man!" Yamada griped. "All that power and she can only use it short bursts? What the hell is up with
that?"

"Shut your mouth, Yamada," Sanzou admonished irritably. "Be grateful that she's done this much. She's
doing what she can, just like the rest of us. That's all we can ask of her."

"Thank you," she said gratefully.

"Chiba! Sanzou!" Konno exclaimed as he ran up to the group. "Reinforcements have arrived!"

"Looks like Kino came through for us," Sanzou remarked.

"Took his sweet time," Yamada muttered. Everyone else ignored him.

"All right," Mamoru said as he stood up. "We've got them on the defensive. It's time to finish off the
rest of them. Sanzou, I want you to take Yamada and half of the reinforcements and head east. Konno and
I will take the other half and head west." He then turned to the small group of Recruit Blades that had
gathered with them. "Aida, I want you, Todoki, Andou, Takei and Oda to guard Sailor Moon. We're going to
try to surround the remaining Youma, so make sure that they don't overrun her."

"Roger," the Recruit Blades acknowledged.

"Once we've whittled down their numbers, Sailor Moon can use her strongest attack to annihilate the
remaining Youma. Everyone knows their jobs, so let's get to it!" he said as the group dispersed.

"Mamoru-san!"

Mamoru stopped and looked back to Sailor Moon. "Yes?"

"Good luck. And be careful."

"You, too," he said and continued on.

"Ready, gentlemen?" Sailor Moon asked as she turned back to the Blades that would be accompanying her.

"Yes, ma'am," one of the younger Blades replied with a quick salute.

She gave him a thoughtful look. "What's your name?"

"Oda, ma'am. Oda Yuichi."

"Oda-san, you don't have to salute me or call me 'ma'am'," she explained with a small smile. "That goes
for the rest of you, as well. All right?" The Recruit Blades nodded. "At any rate, we've got a battle
to finish. Let's go finish this."

With a loud shout, three of the Recruit Blades rushed forward while the remaining two held back. Sailor
Moon pulled off her tiara again and gathered her power into another attack. "Moon tiara action!" she
yelled as she flung her tiara in one direction and started running in another direction with her escort
flanking her.

As she made her way through the battle, she fought her way up toward a clearing on a small hill she had
passed while running alongside the Blades as they retreated from the initial Youma charge. As they ran,
they easily took down any sentries and Hunters in their path, most of which were panicking as the tide
of battle turned against them. Once they reached the hilltop, Sailor Moon spun around and called her
tiara back to her hand, which had been following them on its return arc back to its mistress and leaving
a path of fallen Youma behind it.

"Can you see the others, Todoki-san? Oda-san?" she asked of the two Blades who accompanied her.

Todoki grinned at her correct guess of his name. "Everyone seems to be getting into position. Looks like
word of the plan has spread quickly."

Oda nodded. "I figure as long as the others slow the Youma down enough, we can hold out for another ten
or twenty minutes. That's just barely enough time to get everything ready."

"Well, we'll just have to do what we can," she replied. "Even if it isn't enough, we can still take down
most of the enemy. The others will just have to clean up after us."

"It'll be enough," Todoki said confidently. "We may not have had much training, but we're not about to
let that stand in the way. We'll get the job done."

"I'll be counting on all of you, then," she said as she replaced the tiara on her head and held her
scepter out in front of her. "I'm going to be gathering as much power as I can into this thing, so I
won't be able to concentrate on anything else. I'll be counting on you to protect me."

"Don't worry about a thing," Oda said firmly. "Do what you have to do."

"Right," she said as she closed her eyes and concentrated all her remaining power into her scepter as
she raised it into the air. Just as before, a surge of light energy began to rush into the miniature
crown on the top of the scepter, making the crown illuminate the air around her. As more power filled
the scepter, the brighter the crown became. Within minutes, the sky around the hill grew as bright as
day; the crown on the scepter becoming a midnight sun.

At one end of the battlefield, Sanzou glanced up from the pair of sentries he had just killed and looked
toward what he had thought was light from a flare. However, the sensation of a powerful energy washing
over everything in sight soon disabused him of that notion.

"My God...," he gasped as his eyes widened in shock. "Such power.... Who is this girl...?"

On the opposite side of the battlefield, Mamoru also paused as he noticed the light from the hill and
felt the power rush over him. He knew this power. He had felt it when he first met her.

"Sailor Moon...," he said to himself with an eager grin. "This battle is over."

"Now!" Sailor Moon screamed as she reached her limit. "MOON PRINCESS HALATION!"

What issued forth from the scepter wasn't a thin beam of light. Instead, it was a thick rod of light
that seemed almost as solid as steel and was brighter than staring into the midday sun. Youma burst into
flames just from being in close proximity of the beam as it tore the air apart, flinging men and monster
into the air and down to the ground as it passed. The roar of the attack drowned out everything; every
scream, every shout, every bellow, every clang and clash of metal against metal... everything.

The attack ceased after coming full circle around the battlefield... and left only silence in its wake.

"Is it...?" Oda swallowed nervously as he slowly stood up and looked around. "Is it over?"

"Hey, are you all right?" Andou shouted as he and the other two ran up to the top of the hill.

"I think we made it," Takei said as he sighed in relief and sat down in the rubble.

"Yeah...," Sailor Moon said as she slowly sank to her knees and fell on her behind, too tired to remain
standing. The scepter fell to the ground with a thick thump, then vanished. "We're safe...."

"It's over!" Mamoru shouted as he and the other Blades ran up to the hill, waving their swords
triumphantly. "We have saved Hikawa Jinja from certain destruction!"

A cry went up among the survivors ot the battle as Mamoru knelt down beside Sailor Moon. "We really owe
this victory to you, Sailor Moon," he said gratefully. "If you hadn't come to our aid, we would all be
dead by now."

"I guess... you could... call us even," she replied with a tired smile.

"Even?" he repeated, bewildered. "What do you mean-?"

"Don't worry... about it," she interjected as she tried to stand up. "Right now..., I need to... know
what's happening... with Mauri."

"Mauri?" he asked as Sailor Moon stumbled forward. He caught her before she could fall too far and spun
her around to face him. "You mean, Rei-san?" he asked, frowning in confusion. She nodded. "Why did you
call her Mauri?"

"I can explain on the way back," she told him as she managed to catch her breath. As soon as she tried
to take another step, she stumbled again.

"Look, you're completely exhausted," he said as he caught her again. "You need to rest. I can go check
up on her and let you know-"

"No, I need to see her myself!" she insisted. "Now! It's very important!"

"I don't think she's in much of a condition to see anyone," Mamoru remarked flatly.

"That's why I need to see her now," she explained quickly. "I might be able to do something to help her
recover sooner. Trust me."

Mamoru said nothing as he waved Sanzou and Konno over. "What's up, Chiba? Something wrong?" Sanzou
inquired.

"Sanzou, I need to take Sailor Moon to see someone that got injured saving us. A non-combatant that had,
amazingly enough, managed to make it all the way here in time to save her life."

"No way," Konno replied incredulously.

"Who'd be crazy enough to do something stupid like that?" Sanzou asked.

"Rei-san would," he said coldly.

Instantly, both men went silent. "Does Kino-?" Sanzou began.

"He knows," he continued. "He took her back to Sendai Hill himself.

"At any rate, Sanzou, I need you to look after things here while I take Sailor Moon to see Rei-san. She
thinks that she might be able to do something for her."

"Got it."

"Konno, I need you to help me take Sailor Moon back to Sendai Hill. It'll be faster if two of us carry
her on our shoulders, rather than me carrying her in my arms or by fireman's carry."

"Understood," Konno replied and walked up to Sailor Moon. "I hope you don't mind me helping you," he
said as he took her left arm and put it around his shoulders.

"Thank you," she said as Mamoru put her right arm around his shoulders. "Both of you."

Both men nodded in acknowledgement. "Now, let's hurry," Mamoru said as the three headed for the Hikawa
Jinja.

_________________________________________________________________


Lower Grounds - Sendai Hill, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 6, 1992. 3:21 A.M.


The good news had spread quickly. Once Atsuko had caught word of the victory over the Youma at the
Lower/Outer Grounds border, the word had already spread throughout the Medical buildings and was just
now spreading to the jinja and the hiding places where all the non-combatants were waiting for their
loved ones to return.

Even as news of the victory spread, the arrival of the wounded did not slow. She had already ordered the
transfer of the lightly wounded patients to their living quarters, along with the resident nurses that
staffed them. Space was needed for those who were closest to the battle and who might have injuries that
would match, or even surpass, those sustained by Rei. Already there were a few cases, and already a
couple of those had died on the operating table, but regardless, they had to press on.

In the middle of directing another stretcher team, she noticed a pair of Blades coming toward her while
helping a strangely-dressed girl walk between them. As the trio advanced closer, she was able to
identify the two Blades as 1st Class Blade Chiba and 4th Class Blade Konno. The girl seemed somewhat
familiar, yet she couldn't place where she had seen the face before. That is, if she had ever seen it
before.

"Congratulations on pulling off the impossible," Atsuko said.

"We did what had to be done," Mamoru replied. "However, I can't take all of the credit. If it wasn't for
her," he added, glancing toward the girl he was assisting, "the Youma horde would've overwhelmed us
within half an hour."

"Her?" Atsuko inquired curiously, appraising the girl dressed in what appeared to be a combination of a
skirt and bodysuit.

"Yes, her," Mamoru confirmed as the girl gently freed herself from the assistance of the two Blades.

"Mamoru-san, I don't mean to be rude, but I need to find Mauri... I mean, Rei-san, as soon as possible,"
she said urgently.

"Sorry," he apologized. "Mizuno-sensei, did Kino come by here with Rei-san earlier?" The doctor's
expression grew grim, causing anxiety and fear to flare up. "Mizuno-hakase, what happened? Is she all
right?"

"She is suffering not only from an extreme amount of blood loss, but both of her kidneys have been
damaged beyond our ability to repair," Atsuko reported calmly. The girl gasped in shock while Mamoru's
eyes widened in shock and Konno grimaced sadly. "Due to the fact that she has a significantly rare blood
type and to the critically short amount time I had to find a donor with a compatible blood type, I had
to ask Ryoku-san if he would give one of his kidneys to her."

"And he agreed," Mamoru said, already knowing the answer.

"They're both in surgery right now," she confirmed with a somber nod. "We can only pray that her body
won't reject the donor kidney."

"Would it be all right if I waited for her to come out?" the girl entreated.

"All right. Just as long as you don't get in anyone's way," Atsuko agreed. "Mamoru-san, you know where
the emergency rooms are?"

"I do."

"Good. There's an area near there where you can wait. I'm still needed here, so I'll trust him to take
you there." She turned toward Konno and smiled. "I'm sure you want to go see your family, Konno-san. I
believe they've taken shelter at the Hikawa Jinja proper."

"Go ahead, Konno," Mamoru said before he could ask for permission. "Don't keep Ichigo-san waiting."

"Thanks, Chiba!" Konno shouted gratefully as he started running up the stairs.

"At any rate," Mamoru said as he turned back to Atsuko, "I'm going to take her to see Rei-san now."
Atsuko nodded and turned back to her task as the two started climbing the stairs.

"Mamoru-san," Sailor Moon said as the reached the top of the stairs, "there's something about me that I
think you should know before we see Rei-san."

Mamoru slowed and glanced over his shoulder as she said this. "What? Is something wrong, Sailor Moon?"

"You remember what I told you my name was when we first met?" she asked him.

"Serenity, right?" he said as he continued toward the main Medical building. "I remember you saying
during the battle you said your name was Sailor Moon. Was that because of what you said before? That
the Dark Kingdom destroyed your kingdom?"

"That's part of it," she conceded. "But there's more to it than that.

"Of course, they don't know that I've been reborn, but the main reason is because Sailor Moon is the
name I go by when I'm transformed."

"Transformed?" he repeated, confused.

"Yes. This is not my true form; this is the form I take when I become a Sailor Senshi."

Mamoru became even more confused. "Sailor Senshi?"

She sighed and shook her head. "Yes. That's why I need to see Ma- Rei-san. I think she might be the
reincarnation of the Princess of Mars and one of my Senshi - Sailor Mars."

This time, Mamoru stopped dead in his tracks. "What?"

"I believe Rei-san might be Mauri's reincarnation, like...," she trailed off hesitantly.

"Like... what?" he prompted questioningly.

"Like... Ryoku-san is the reincarnation of the Prince of Jupiter, Jovan, and...." She paused, taking a
deep breath as she reverted back to her original form. "And like Usagi is my reincarnation."

Mamoru's jaw dropped in utter shock. "U-usagi-san? You're Sailor Moon?" He could hardly believe it.
This girl before him certainly wasn't acting like the girl he had saved a few days ago. If this really
was the same girl, why hadn't she used her powers to save her family?

"It's a long story, Mamoru-san," Serenity sighed. "But the long and short of it is this: Right now, I'm
not Usagi, I'm Serenity. I'm, more or less, a separate personality from the girl you know as Tsukino
Usagi."

Mamoru's mind was now boggling. "So... what you're telling me is that you're Usagi-san, yet you're not
Usagi-san...."

"It's a lot to take in, I know," she said understandingly. "However, there is something that I need you
to understand. Usagi doesn't know that I exist. As far as she knows, she's fast asleep. Furthermore,
she knows about the power she possesses as Sailor Moon, but she refuses to use it out of fear."

"Doesn't she realize that power like hers could save countless lives?" he asked, confounded.

"I think she does, but she doesn't want to risk her life because of a promise she made to her father,"
Serenity explained.

"A promise?"

"To live," she told him. "She promised her father that she would live and not let her family's sacrifice
be in vain. That's why she won't use her powers. That is also why I'm using them for her," she added,
giving him a hard look. "The Moon Kingdom may be gone, but my people have been reborn here. As such, it
is my duty to protect my people by whatever means I have. I understand why Usagi doesn't want to risk
her life, but people's lives are depending on this power. I can't just stand by and let them die without
doing anything!"

"I think... I understand what you mean," he replied after a moment of silence went by between them. "So,
I take it that you don't want me to tell Usagi that you've been borrowing her body to fight Youma?"

"If you would, please?" she requested. "I know she'll probably hate me for doing this. The truth is, I
probably deserve it. But, I can't abandon my people. The only thing I can do to make it up to her is
promise not to forcibly take control of her body and use it only when she's asleep or unconscious." She
smiled wanly. "I know she doesn't know about the promise. However, as long as I know about it, I'll feel
better knowing that I'm respecting the fact that it's her body and not mine. My body died millennia ago."

Mamoru placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't think any
worse of you for doing what you're doing. I know that if I was in the same position, I'd probably do the
same thing."

Serenity looked up at him and smiled gratefully as she hugged him. "Thank you, Mamoru-san," she said as
she blushed lightly and laid her head on his chest. "It makes me feel better knowing you think that
way."

"You're welcome," he said as he returned her hug. A smile crept across his face at the feeling of...
rightness the embrace was giving him. In fact, part of him was beginning to wonder what it would feel
like to kiss the young girl in his arms....

"We should get going," he said as he gently broke the embrace. "You said you wanted to wait for Rei-san,
right?"

"Y-yes," Serenity said, blushing as she realized what she had done. It was so easy to pretend that he
was Endymion. But, this was Mamoru, not Endymion. She shouldn't be doing things like that. It wasn't
fair to him, herself, or Usagi. "Please, lead the way."

They continued on in brooding silence.

_________________________________________________________________


Medical - Hikawa Jinja Proper, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 6, 1992. 3:48 A.M.


Ami stopped by Emergency Room #7 on her way back from unloading another box of used needles and sighed.
The red surgery light was still on over the door. She knew that he had been in there for only an hour
and that such delicate surgeries would take a long time to perform, but she was getting anxious. She
prayed that Rei would come out of this alive. They all were praying for it.

Every time she, Minako, or Hotaru came into the main Medical building to pick up or drop off needles for
blood donations, they passed by this door to check on the progress of the surgery. Even if they couldn't
see inside the doors, they could guess at the amount of progress that was taking place. She assumed that
the surgery would take a few more hours at the least. The light would probably go out at somewhere
between 6 or 7 A.M. at the soonest.

As she was passing by the waiting area, she noticed that there were two people there. Curious, she went
inside to get a better look. As soon as she stepped through the door, both heads turned in her
direction.

"Hello, Ami-san," Mamoru said, nodding toward the mute girl. She nodded back in reply. "I see they're
keeping you busy," he added, glancing toward the box in her hands.

Ami grimaced and shrugged. It was all part of being a nurse-in-training. All of the grunt work was
shunted down to the low man on the totem pole. And she was one of those on the bottom.

She was about to excuse herself when she noticed that Usagi was giving her a surprised look. She
returned her look with a questioning look as she glanced around, looking for the cause of her surprise.
There was nothing around out of the ordinary. She looked at herself. She looked the same as she always
did. She turned a questioning glance to Mamoru.

He shrugged in reply, then turned to Serenity as she left. "What's wrong, Serenity?" He thought for a
moment as he searched his memory. Suddenly, a realization hit him. "Do you think that Ami-san is
someone's reincarnation, too?"

"That was Meria...," she whispered to herself.

"Who's Meria?" he asked curiously.

"Meria was the Princess of Mercury. She was also one of my Sailor Senshi - Sailor Mercury," Serenity
replied as she broke out of her shock.

"Are you going to do that every time you see one of your Sailor Senshi?" he asked drolly.

Serenity gave him a flat look. "The Sailor Senshi were all dear friends of mine, Mamoru-san," she said
brusquely. "Imagine how you would feel if all of your closest, dearest friends suddenly had no memory of
you. I still remember their previous lives, but they do not. I was crushed when I realized that Ryoku
had no memory of being Jovan. I have to go through that realization every time I recognize one of my old
friends.

"Give me some time," she finished sadly. "Eventually I'll get over it. Besides, Usagi's becoming friends
with them pretty quickly. I suppose I can always make friends with them all over again." A pensive look
came across her face. "Still, I wonder why I never recognized her as Meria until now...?"

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" Mamoru asked.

"What?" she replied, curious.

"Is there a reason why you waited until now to show yourself?" he asked. "If we had your powers even one
year sooner, we could've saved hundreds of lives. Maybe even thousands."

She sighed sadly. "I wish I could've helped sooner. However, I only came into consciousness a few days
ago. Usagi's the one with the powers; I just have the knowledge of how to use them."

"Does this mean that Rei-san's going to have Mauri as a separate personality, too?"

"No. Usagi's condition is a special case. In Rei-san's case, Mauri is a part of her, just like I'm a
part of Usagi. However, unlike Usagi, Rei-san will have rely on instinct and intuition to guide her in
the use of her powers. All I can do is tell her what I've seen her do before and leave her to figure out
how to do it again.

"By the way, I noticed that Meria didn't say anything when she was here," she observed.

"Her name's Ami," he corrected. "And to answer your question, it's because Ami-san's mute."

"Mute?" she repeated with a worried look. "That's not good...."

"Why's that?"

"Well, besides the obvious reasons, the powers of a Sailor Senshi require several different focuses,"
she explained. "Primarily, each Sailor Senshi gets her powers from the planet she represents. In
Rei-san's case, she represents the planet Mars. In order to use our powers, we must be transformed into
our Senshi form. And transformations - and our attacks, as well - all require both a somatic focus, such
as gestures, and a vocal focus."

She nodded as she saw Mamoru's look of understanding. "For example, my attack, 'Moon Princess Halation',
requires that I focus my energy into my scepter and wave it in a certain way before I can release the
attack. That's the somatic focus. The reason why I wave the scepter as I do is because the attack
requires that I draw a certain rune in the air before releasing the attack. Otherwise, the attack may
warp into something that might not behave as I would want, like it may target my allies and avoid my
enemies, or it might explode into a burst of pure energy, eradicating everything within a small radius,
etc. As for the vocal focus, all I have to do is shout the name of the attack and it activates.

"If Ami-san is mute, she will not be able to use her powers, let alone transform," she concluded bleakly.

"I see...," Mamoru said somberly. "If you don't mind me asking, how many Senshi are you expecting to
find?"

"Hmm...," she said thoughtfully. "I've already found Mercury and Mars. I'm sure I'll at least find Venus
and Jupiter. If I'm lucky, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto would've been reincarnated as well." She
paused in thought for a moment. "However, I can't be too sure about Pluto. As far as I know, she may or
may not still be alive at the Gates of Time. If that's the case, then contacting her will be impossible
unless I have the Ginzuishou."

"The who, where, what?" he said, completely bewildered. "I think you lost me after Pluto."

"Don't worry about it, Mamoru-san," she replied. "It's my problem to worry about."

The conversation seemed to die off as Serenity started to stare pensively down at the floor. He knew
that the surgery was going to take a long time and the silence was starting to become oppressive.

"So... what was it like... being a princess?"

He blinked in bewilderment at what he just said. He couldn't believe that he had just said something so
lame, compared to the seriousness of what they were talking about earlier. He felt like smacking himself
in the head for saying something so maladroit. Serenity was probably thinking that he was an idiot.

"Life as a princess, huh?" she said, smiling wistfully. "I suppose I can tell you a few stories of
palace life as we wait...."

_________________________________________________________________


Medical - Hikawa Jinja Proper, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 6, 1992. 7:03 A.M.


As the need for sterile needles declined to almost nothing, Ami, Minako and Hotaru were finally excused
from their tasks. Due to the stress of the night's events, Ami and Minako were granted the day off.
After checking on Makoto again, the three went to go see if the surgery was over yet.

"Are you sure Usagi-chan was acting strange, Ami-chan?" Minako asked in the middle of another yawn. "You
were probably just imagining things. We're all exhausted, after all."

Ami considered this as they passed by the emergency room. The light was still on.

'Maybe,' she wrote on her pad. 'I suppose I could've been mistaken.'

"Hello, Mamoru-san, Usagi-oneechan," Hotaru said as she entered the waiting area ahead of the others.
"Did you hear about what happened to Rei-chan?"

"We know," Mamoru replied wearily. "We're waiting to see her now."

"Did you also know that Ryoku-sama is giving her one of his kidneys to replace the ones she lost?"
Minako asked as she and Ami entered the room.

"We heard about that, too," he replied.

"It's been over four hours already!" Minako said anxiously. "Shouldn't they be done by now?" Ami put a
hand on her shoulder and gave her a calming look. "I know, I know. I should try to be patient. But this
is Rei-chan and Ryoku-sama we're talking about here! How can I NOT be worried?"

Ami was about to reply when she noticed that Usagi was staring again. This time, her gaze was divided
between Minako and Hotaru. However, as soon as Usagi noticed that someone had seen her staring, her gaze
immediately dropped to the floor. 'Was I imagining things again?' she wondered, perplexed. 'Maybe I need
to get some sleep....'

"Is something wrong, Usagi-oneechan?" Hotaru asked as she sat down next to her. "You seem... different
today."

"Different?" Serenity repeated, confused.

"Yeah.... Almost like you're another person," she added as she looked at her curiously.

"Eh?" Minako said, surprised. "What're you talking about, Hotaru-chan? Usagi-chan is Usagi-chan. If she
isn't, then who is she?"

"I don't know," Hotaru replied with a shake of her head. "But, something feels different with
Usagi-oneechan today."

"Don't be silly, Hotaru-chan," Minako retorted. "I don't see anything different at all. There's nothing
wrong with her." She turned to Serenity and smiled in amusement. "There's nothing wrong with you, right,
Usagi-chan?"

"Um...," Serenity began.

"You know, somehow I knew I'd find all of you here," Asahina said from the doorway as she removed her
gloves and facemask.

"How did it go?" Mamoru inquired. "How is Rei-san?"

"What about Ryoku-sama?" Minako cut in. "Is he okay, too?"

"One at a time, please, before you all start flooding me with questions," the doctor said, holding up
both hands to forestall further questions. "First of all, Hino-san will live." There was a massive sigh
of relief from all those present. "It seems that her body has accepted Kino-san's kidney and she is now
in a stable condition. She's been moved to the infirmary and she's sleeping comfortably.

"As for Kino-san," she continued, glancing specifically at Minako, "he's fine, as should be expected.
Really, Aino-san. You should have more confidence in my abilities."

"Yes, Asahina-sensei," Minako said sheepishly.

"Hino-san will probably be asleep for a few more hours, but I think Kino-san will be awake as soon as
the anesthetic wears off. I'm guessing that he'll be awake in about half an hour or so."

"Thanks, Asahina-sensei," Minako said as she, Ami and Hotaru all left. Mamoru and Serenity left as well,
but Serenity held him back on the way to the infirmary.

"What is it, Serenity?" he asked.

"Those two," she said as she watched the three enter the building. "The blonde girl's hair is way too
short, but I recognized her as the Princess of Venus, Veis. The younger girl I recognized as the
Princess of Saturn, Sara. Sailor Venus and Sailor Saturn," she said in amazement. "I'd never have
thought I'd find so many of my Senshi so quickly. If Saturn is here, then Uranus and Neptune - and maybe
Pluto - have definitely reincarnated as well." Without another word, she rushed ahead, leaving Mamoru
behind.

"Hey! Serenity, wait!" he shouted running after her.

_________________________________________________________________


"I'm fine, really," Ryoku said as Serenity entered the door. "I feel a little light on one side and I
feel kinda tired, but other than that, I'm just fine."

"Did you hear, Ryoku-sama?" Minako said eagerly. "We won! The Youma have all been destroyed!"

Ryoku glanced over at Serenity as he noticed her walk in and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. Serenity
nodded her head in response. "That's good to hear," he said as he turned back to Minako.

The exchange between the two did not go unnoticed. Minako and Ami glanced back at Serenity, then at each
other as they exchanged confused looks.

'Ryo-kun, what's going on?' Ami wrote on her pad and showed it to him.

"Ryoku-san, I need to speak to these two for a moment," Serenity said, indicating Minako and Hotaru.

"All right," he replied. "Minako, Hotaru-chan, I hope you don't mind."

"S-sure, Ryoku-sama...," Minako replied reluctantly. "I suppose that'll be all right...."

"Don't worry, Minako," he said while Mamoru came into the room. "Mamoru will be watching over me as
well. Right, Mamoru?"

Mamoru blinked as he was caught off guard. "What?"

"See? Don't worry about a thing."

Minako sighed inwardly in relief as Ami sighed inwardly in disappointment. One girl's loss was another
girl's treasure... or something like that. At least Ami wasn't getting any alone time with her
Ryoku-sama.

Hotaru just shrugged and followed the two out. Now that she knew Ryoku and Rei were all right, there was
nothing to worry about.

"So, Ami-chan, tell me," Ryoku asked as Hotaru closed the door behind her. "How was your day?"

_________________________________________________________________


"What's going on, Usagi-chan?" Minako asked as she and Hotaru were lead around the side of the
infirmary. "What did you want to talk to us about?"

"There's something I have to show you first," she said as she glanced around. There was no one there.

"What?" Hotaru asked.

"This," she said as she flung her right hand into the air, fingers spread. "Moon prism power, make-up!"

Both Minako and Hotaru stared in utter shock as the change enveloped Serenity, transforming her into
Sailor Moon once again.

"Usagi... -oneechan...," Hotaru breathed in complete awe as she took in the sight of the transformed
girl.

"What...?" Minako also breathed, stunned.

"In this form, my name is Sailor Moon," she told them as she closed her eyes and extended her powers
toward the two in front of her. As she suspected, the two girls resonated with energies similar to her
own. "I have a request I must make of you both."

"A request, Usagi-oneechan?" Hotaru asked.

"Actually," Serenity said as she dropped her transformation, "right now, I'm not Tsukino Usagi."

Minako blinked and gave her a curious look. "What are you talking about, Usagi-chan?"

"Remember when she said that she thought that I was another person?" she said indicating Hotaru. "She
wasn't that far from the truth. My name is Serenity. This is still Usagi's body, but as far as she
knows, she's still asleep." An amused smile crossed her lips for a moment. "You know, I'm surprised that
girl hasn't woken up by now."

"You mean...?" Minako began as she warily pointed a finger at Serenity. "You mean...?"

"I mean, what?" Serenity prompted.

"You mean... you're an alien?"

Hotaru facefaulted while Serenity valiantly fought the urge to join the young girl. "NO!" she retorted
irritably. "Look. I'm the princess of a kingdom that the Dark Kingdom destroyed millennia ago. I was
supposed to have been reborn as Usagi, but something happened and I ended up as a completely separate
personality instead."

"Oh," Minako said, nodding understandingly. "Well, that makes perfect sense."

Hotaru promptly smacked herself in the forehead and this time Serenity had no qualms in joining her. "Is
it something about reincarnation that does something to people's minds?" Serenity supposed to herself
under her breath. Well, Ryoku and Mamoru seemed fine, so maybe it only affected females?

"What was it that you wanted to ask us, Serenity-hime?" Hotaru asked.

Serenity smiled kindly at the young girl. "Just 'Serenity' will be fine," she replied. "You see, the
reason that I'm here is to fight on behalf of my murdered kingdom and to help save humanity from the
Dark Kingdom. I've already fought alongside the Blades of Shishu. However, even with the help of every
Blade on Earth, I can't stop the Dark Kingdom without the help of other Sailor Senshi like myself.

"Minako-san, Hotaru-san, you two are both the reincarnations of two of my Sailor Senshi, Sailor Venus
and Sailor Saturn," she continued. "As such, I must ask you both to help me fight the Dark Kingdom.
Without your help, there will be no chance for us to save humanity from the menace of the Dark Kingdom."

Both Minako and Hotaru remained silent for a moment. "Serenity," Minako said seriously.

"Yes, Minako-san?"

"Ryoku-sama already knows about you, doesn't he?" she asked.

"He does."

"You mentioned that you knew our past lives," she stated. "Did you know Ryoku-sama's past life as well?"

"He was one of our kingdom's best generals," she told her earnestly, "as well as one of my best friends.
He was like a brother to me."

Minako nodded in satisfaction. "I see. Well, that explains things, then."

Hotaru and Serenity exchanged glances. Hotaru merely shrugged as if to say, don't bother. Serenity was
inclined to agree.

"I want to help Ryo-niichan and Usagi-oneechan," Hotaru told her. "I'll help you, Serenity."

"Yeah, count me in, too," Minako added. "I owe Ryoku-sama my life. Maybe if I become this Sailor Senshi
that you're talking about, then perhaps I might be able to fight alongside Ryoku-sama instead of
anxiously waiting for him to come back after every battle."

"All right, then," Serenity said with a satisfied nod. "Come with me."

_________________________________________________________________


Orphan's Quarters, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 6, 1992. 7:30 A.M.


"Luna!" Serenity called out as she opened the door to Usagi's room. "Luna, are you there? It's me,
Serenity!"

"Princess Serenity!" Luna called out as she hopped down from the window onto Usagi's bed. "You're all
right! Thank goodness! I was so worried about you!"

"The cat talked!" Minako exclaimed as she pointed at Luna. "Did you see that, Hotaru-chan? That cat
talked!"

"Hello, kitty," Hotaru said as she went over to Usagi's bed and started petting Luna. "What's your name?"

"That's Luna," Serenity said as she ushered Minako inside and closed the door behind her. "She was one
of my mother's advisors during the Silver Millennium, when my mother ruled our kingdom, the Moon
Kingdom. The other one, Artemis, is probably lounging around in Ryoku's room." She paused thoughtfully.
"Say, Minako-san, you know where Ryoku-san's room is, don't you?"

"Yes, I do," she replied. "Why?"

"I thought so," she said to herself. "Anyway, can you go down to Ryoku-san's room and bring Artemis
here? I'll need him here in order to get you both what you'll need to become Sailor Senshi."

"Right."

Luna's ears shot up as Minako left the room. "Did I hear you correctly?" Luna said as she regarded
Serenity. "Are they-?"

"Yes, Luna," she confirmed. "The one that left is Veis' reincarnation, and the one scratching your head
is Sara's reincarnation."

"Venus and Saturn?" Luna queried as she sat down.

"The same," she confirmed.

"Excuse me," Hotaru said in the midst of her scratching Luna's back, causing the black cat to arch her
back in pleasure. "My name is Hotaru, and her name is Minako."

"Hotaru-san, Sara was your name in your past life as the Princess of Saturn," Serenity explained. "Veis
was Minako-san's name in her past life as the Princess of Venus."

"So we're just like you?" Hotaru asked.

"Yes, I was the Princess of the Moon and I was supposed to be Usagi's past life," Serenity confirmed.
"Don't worry, though. Just because you're going to become a Sailor Senshi, it doesn't mean that your
past life is going to start using your body while you sleep. Usagi's condition is a special case. It
won't happen with either of you."

"Oh," Hotaru said, relieved.

"We're back!" Minako said as she came through the door with Artemis cradled in her arms.

"Minako-san told me what happened," Artemis said as Minako set him down on the bed. "So, you need me to
access Saturn's transformation wand?" he asked as he sat down.

"Transformation wand?" Minako repeated inquisitively.

"It's what you use when you want to transform into your Senshi form," Artemis explained. "When you want
to transform, you must raise the wand over your head and call out your transformation phrase. After
that, you'll transform into your Senshi form. Afterwards, your transformation wand will act as a link
between you and the planet that you draw your powers from."

Minako and Hotaru both gave him blank looks.

Artemis sweatdropped. "Um... let's just say that the wand allows you to become Sailor Senshi and leave
it at that," he amended.

"Anyway, are you ready, Artemis?" Luna asked.

Artemis stood up gingerly. "I'm just glad that Usagi-san has a soft bed," he said as he readied himself.
"I'd hate to have to do this on Ryoku-san's hard bed."

"Oh, stop complaining, Artemis," Luna chided as she leapt into the air with Artemis following behind
her. At the apex of their leaps, a pair of wands appeared and fell to the bed with a light thump.

Serenity scooped both wands up and examined them. "Thank you, Luna, Artemis."

"You're welcome, Princess Serenity," Luna said as she bowed her head respectfully.

"No problem, Serenity," Artemis added. Luna promptly thwacked him over the head.

"This belongs to you," Serenity said as she handed the orange wand to Minako. "And this belongs to you,"
she added as she handed the purple wand to Hotaru.

"How do they work?" Minako asked as she examined her wand. Next to her, Hotaru was examining her wand.

"Weren't you listening when I told you about how to use them?" Artemis scolded.

"Oh, you mean about raising them over your head and saying a transformation phrase?" Hotaru asked.

"Yes," Artemis confirmed. "The phrase depends on which Senshi is transforming. Minako-san, you say,
'Venus star power, make-up!' and Hotaru-san, you say. 'Saturn star power, make-up!'"

"Should we try them out?" Hotaru suggested to Minako.

Minako shrugged. "I don't see why not. Let's do it."

Both girls raised their transformation wands over their heads.

"Venus star power...."

"Saturn star power...."

"...make-up!" both girls concluded simultaneously. A brilliant light filled Usagi's room as the two
girls transformed. Once the light faded, Sailor Venus and Sailor Saturn stood in place of Minako and
Hotaru.

"Wow! That was cool!" Saturn said as she looked over herself.

"I feel so different," Venus remarked as she looked over herself as well. "This power.... Is this the
power of a Sailor Senshi?"

"Finally, two of my fellow Senshi have returned to me," Serenity said happily. "Things are looking up."

"Hey, Serenity! How come Saturn's got a spear and I don't have anything? I want a cool weapon, too!"

Serenity's smile faded a bit as she sighed vexedly. "Somewhat."


=================================================================


Author's Note: Well now, I bet you were all expecting Sailor Mars to be the first Senshi to awaken,
weren't you? And most of you were expecting only one Senshi to awaken at a time, right? Well, wrong on
both counts! The first Senshi to awaken are Venus AND Saturn! Yes, even though Mars and Mercury have
already been identified by Serenity, there's really nothing she can do about them right now. By the way,
I don't work in the medical field, so any medical inaccuracies is purely the fault of ignorance. At any
rate, now that the battle for the Hikawa Jinja has come to an end, how will Jadeite take this failure
once he learns of it? The next chapter shows the other side of the war, as well as the first practice
session of the nascent Senshi duo.


Disclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective owners. Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko
Takeuchi and a bunch of big companies. No copyright infringement is intended.

Questions? Comments? Anything?
Email: jasonulloa (at) hotmail (dot) com

Copyright© 2004, 2007 Jason C. Ulloa
All Rights Reserved.