Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Dream Catcher ❯ Lost and Found ( Chapter 5 )

CHAPTER 5: LOST AND FOUND

"Mommy! I'm going to the beach!" a little ten-year old girl called heading out the door.

"Ok, Aki, but don't go too far" A female voice answered from inside. Soon the girl was skipping down the boardwalk. It was a warm sunny day, perfect for gathering shells on the beach. She turned right off the path and following the water line began to pick beautiful shells and throwing them in a plastic bag. She was so busy looking under her feet that she almost tripped over a body lying partially in the water and partially on the sand. Aki shrieked at first. Finally she gathered up some courage and touched the girl. The stranger was still breathing. The little girl managed to pull her out onto the dry land. The unconscious girl moaned in pain. She was a lot older than Aki. She was dressed in a white body suit and a green mini skirt. The blue bow on her chest was partially torn. And the girl seemed to be missing her left glove. The little girl cleaned the sand of the stranger's face and was now admiring the perfect beauty. She had never seen anybody like that before. The older girl moaned again.

"I'll be right back." The little girl whispered and ran off to get help. It wasn't long before she came back with her parents and other adults. Soon the older girl was transported into the nearby house and a doctor was called.

Sailor Neptune slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was a strange man in a white suit leaning over her.

"Oh, I see you've woken up." He smiled gently. "How do you feel?'

"Where am I?" the girl tried to sit up, but the man gently pushed her back.

"You are in Ebisu, the main town of the Island of Ebisu." He turned around to reach for some medication.

"Ebisu?" Neptune couldn't remember ever hearing that name. "Where is this place?"

The doctor turned around surprised. This girl never heard of Ebisu, how come?

"Ebisu is one of the eight islands south from Kinmoku's main continent."

"Kinmoku…" Neptune repeated quietly closing her eyes. "We made it." She sighed. She opened her eyes again and turned to the man. "Where are the others? Are they all right?"

"Others?" the doctor looked at her surprised. "You were alone when Aki, a local girl found you on the beach. The sea must have washed you out." He noticed the worry in her eyes. She tried to get up again, but the doctor wouldn't let her.

"I have to find them." Neptune insisted.

"All you need right now is rest." He said gently but firm. "Besides we would like to find out who you are."

"I'm Sailor Neptune." She started. "Me and my friends came here from planet Earth." The doctor was surprised once again, but this time it was mixed with excitement.

"I'm so happy to meet you." He grabbed her hand and started to shake it. "We've heard all about you and the Sailor Team." Neptune's eyes opened wide. They knew about them, but how? The doctor continued. "When Princess Kakyuu and the Starlights came back they told us all about Sailor Moon and how she and her senshi defeated Galaxia." The doctor finally let go of her hand and ran out to tell the others about the news. Neptune was left alone for few minutes. She finally had a chance to look around. She had a few bandages on her left leg and arm, but nothing seemed to be broken. "I guess the water soften the fall." She thought. The room she was in was simple, but cozy. Soon the doctor came back.

"We've notified the Palace of your arrival. I'm sure they will send somebody to search for your friends." He said and gave her some sort of medication. Neptune began to feel drowsy and soon was asleep.

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

The Starlights entered the city and began to scan the surroundings for any signs of intrusion. Suddenly Healer's communicator began to ring. She looked at the other girls and answered it. It was from the palace.

"We have just received a message that the Sailor Team from planet Earth arrived." Princess Kakyuu sounded very excited. The Starlights looked at each other and began to cry happy tears.

"Those ten objects that we detected must have been them." Maker stated when she calmed down a bit.

"There is one problem though. So far we have managed to get in touch only with Sailor Neptune. She's on Ebisu. We haven't heard anything from the other senshi." The princess continued.

The other girls looked at each other again. One of the objects they thought to be enemy landed in the city they were currently in. Maybe it was one of the other team members. They promised Princess Kakyuu to be careful and went on with the search.

Meanwhile a young woman, about 21 years old, woke up on a couch in an unfamiliar room. She lifted her head but immediately fell back down on the pillows. Her head was aching and she felt like every move was going to make it explode. She closed her eyes.

"Is anybody here?" she called out after a long while. The door on the other side of the room opened and in stepped an older woman with a bowl of something steaming in her hand.

"Hello." She smiled gently at the girl on the couch. "How are you doing? You've been sleeping for a long time."

"Where am I?" the girl looked confused.

"Don't worry. You are in my house. You're safe." She gently put a cold compress on the girl's forehead. "You seem to have hit your head pretty hard." The lady smiled again. The young woman relaxed. There was something calming in the other lady's smile.

"I'm Yuki Fujimoto. What's your name?"

"I don't know." The young girl looked at her in shock. As hard as she thought she could not remember her name. She didn't remember anything. "I really don't know." The girl began to cry desperately. Yuki pulled a few strings of blond her away from the young woman's forehead.

"I guess the impact was harder than I though. It seems that you have lost your memories." The woman looked at the blond with a pity. Then with few comforting words managed to calm the girl down. She put the bowl of soup in front of the young woman. The blond looked at the food and immediately grabbed the spoon.

"I see you haven't lost your appetite." The old lady smiled gently. "That's good. I need to go out now. I'm sure you'll be fine on your own." The eating girl just nodded. She was too busy swallowing her food to say anything. Yuki got up and left the room.

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

The Starlights didn't have much luck in their search. They had been asking all day if they had seen anything or anybody unusual. The scanners weren't much help either. The three young warriors finally reached the Town Hall. Out of lack of ideas they entered the building.

"What are we going to do now?" Healer sounded concerned.

"We need the Sailor team, but how are we ever going to find them." Maker was ready to give up the search. It seemed like they had been looking forever. Just then an older lady entered the hall.

"Let's try one more time." Fighter suggested approaching the old woman. The girl wasn't ready to give up now. They knew the sailor senshi were there. They came all that way to help them fight the enemy. It seemed only right that they would keep searching.

"Excuse me." She bowed in front of the old woman politely. "Have you seen anybody around that would seem lost or came from out of town?"

The old lady looked at her surprised.

"Well, I did find a girl who seemed to be lost. I came here to see if anybody was looking for her."

The other two soldiers became excited.

"What does she look like?" Maker asked quickly.

"Well, she's a lot shorter than you are." The old woman began to describe the girl in her house. "And she has the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen." She thought for a moment. "Oh, and her long blond hair is pulled in two buns on top of her head."

"That's Usagi!" all three girls exclaimed happily.

"Is that her name?" Fighter was trying to find out.

"I wouldn't know." The woman answered. "She doesn't remember."

The old lady offered to take the three soldiers to her house in hope that they can help the poor girl. Soon they entered the room in which Usagi was resting. The blond girl looked up. When the Starlights saw her all three began to cry. They were asking questions and telling how happy they were to see her. But the more they talked the more confused the girl looked.

"Who are you?" the girl finally asked. The three soldiers were shocked. How could she not remember them? They spent so much time on Earth fighting together. One just doesn't forget things like that. Fighter turned around to Yuki.

"We will need to take her with us and let the doctor in the palace take a look at her."

When Usagi heard that she began to cry.

"I don't want to go. Please, don't let them take me away." She pleaded to Yuki. The old lady approached her and gently caressed the girl's cheek.

"It's all right." She tried to calm her down. "These are our protectors. You don't need to be afraid. Besides, if anybody can help you then these girls can."

Usagi stopped whining and looked at the three soldiers one more time. It seemed that she didn't have much choice but to go with them. She thought for a moment. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. They talked about Palace, and where is palace there is a lot of food. She smiled to herself. She nodded in agreement and few minutes later she was on the road to the capitol of Kinmoku.

Princess Kakyuu waited for them impatiently. She knew from the Starlights that they found Sailor Moon. Finally they arrived and were immediately brought in to see the princess.

"Usagi, I'm so happy to see you." Kakyuu approached the girl with a smile.

"Do I know you?" Usagi looked at the other girl puzzled. Kakyuu was in shock. Fighter hurried with an explanation.

"Your highness, unfortunately she suffers from amnesia."

They summoned the medic as quickly as possible and Usagi was taken away. It was a long exam. Unfortunately the doctor wasn't able to determine if the girl's loss of memories was permanent. He recommended relaxation.

"Time will show." He ended his briefing.

"Maybe when we find the others, it will help her regain her memories." Kakyuu suggested. The three soldiers nodded and left to continue their search, Their next target was a small town of Onamuji, or rather what was left from it. The town recently disappeared, just like so many others. They couldn't determine the reason. Right now all they knew was that one of the senshi must have landed there.

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

Tuxedo Mask woke up in the middle of a cotton field. His body was sore and numb from hitting the ground, but amazingly nothing seemed broken. He slowly sat up trying to regain the rest of his senses. He looked around. A forest surrounded the field on three sides, on the fourth side Tuxedo Mask noticed some buildings. He got up and started walking towards them. The houses were small and the roofs were mostly covered with straw. He needed help, but he couldn't show up in the village like that. He looked down at himself. His cape was torn and covered with white fuzz, and his hat seemed to be lost. He decided to change back to his regular clothes.

Mamoru approached the first house and knocked on the front door. Nobody answered. The building seemed empty. Mamoru looked at the window to the left and noticed the curtain move. He knocked on the door again.

"Is anybody there? I need help." He called hoping that somebody would answer him. The curtain moved again. Mamoru decided to try one more time. "Could you at least tell me where I am?"

Still nothing. "Maybe they don't understand my language." He thought disappointed, but he wasn't ready to give up yet. He turned around and walked out onto the main street. He saw some people far in front of him. He decided to catch up to them. Maybe they would be more willing to help. But before he could reach anybody, they hid in their houses. He looked around.

"I hope the girls have more luck." He said out loud and followed the road. It led him to the Town Square. In the middle of it stood a huge stone obelisk. Mamoru walked up to it to read the words.

"Oh powerful master Onamuji,

You give us life,

You feed us,

You quench out thirst,

And you give us a place

To rest our tired bodies."

"What are you looking at, stranger?" A voice came from behind. Mamoru sighed in relief. Finally somebody who wasn't afraid of him and spoke his language. He turned around and stepped back in shock. What he was looking at was a mirror image of himself.

"Who are you? What is going on here?" Mamoru demanded answers. The other one just laughed.

"Well, well, if it isn't the great Tuxedo Mask."

Mamoru's shock grew even bigger. How could this man know about his other identity? He decided to transform, since his alter ego didn't seem to be a secret anymore. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a rose. His body began to glow, but nothing happen. Another surprise Mamoru wasn't prepared for.

"Surprise, surprise." The fake twin laughed again. "And I thought you were smarter than that. Don't you know that you can't use your powers in my domain?"

"I guess I just have to fight you with my bare hands." With the last word Mamoru attacked the opponent. The other one launched his attack as well. Their fists met in the middle causing Mamoru's bones to crack. The young man jumped back holing his hand. The false individual just laughed.

"Oh, poor Mamoru. Did it hurt?" He giggled watching Mamoru rub his hand. "Well, think of it as a prelude to what's going to happen to you."

Mamoru had to think of something quick.

"Who are you anyway?" Mamoru decided to buy some time. Maybe he could find something out.

"I'm you, and you are me. I thought you knew that already." The fake Mamoru winked at him. "Oh, what a pleasure it will be to watch your precious Sailor Moon in pain. Especially when she finds out that her beloved Tuxedo Mask won't be able to help her."

"You leave Sailor Moon out of it." Mamoru yelled at him. The man just smirked.

"If you think you can stop me then I must burst your bubble. You see I'm here, but I'm not. Even if you figure out how to defeat me I'll still be around."

The real Mamoru thought about the words the man said, that he was there and yet he wasn't. How could this be? If the guy wasn't real, then he must have been a mirage.

"You see I'm indestructible in the world we are in." The opponent kept talking.

Mamoru noticed another clue in what the man said. The world they were in wasn't what it seemed to be. In that case the surrounding couldn't be real. He quickly scanned the place. He noticed that the houses he passed on the way to the Town Square were gone. The obelisk was still there but the words on it were different.

"I see you've noticed the little changes I've made to this place. You like it? You see this place will slowly disappear all together and you'll go down with it."

Mamoru began to move towards the obelisk. The fake twin did the same. The young man took another step forward, so did the double. He was now only few steps away from the obelisk, but the letters were too small to read. The opponent laughed seeing Mamoru's frustration.

Suddenly Mamoru realized that the other man was moving almost the exact same way as he did, including the punch. To double check that he made a step backward. The fake twin did the same. It seemed almost as if Mamoru was looking in the mirror. "Now, if he's my reflection." He thought quickly, "then where is the mirror?" He looked around carefully. The axis seemed to be placed in the obelisk. Mamoru decided to risk it. He took his rose out again.

"I thought you've learned your lesson." The fake Mamoru hissed. The young man just looked at him and threw the rose at the obelisk with all his might. The rose's stem hit it right in the middle causing it to crack. The fake twin gasped in shock.

"But how…?" He started to say but before he could finish the question the surrounding began to fade, and Mamoru found himself in a ball of light. He blinked his eyes to see what was happening. When he opened them again he was lying on the ground surrounded by a crowd of people. They were talking to one another, asking who he was. When they noticed his eyes were open, they quickly helped him up on his feet.

"Are you with the Sailor Team?" Somebody asked from the crowd. Mamoru was overjoyed that he spoke his language. He nodded and quickly gazed around. The obelisk was still standing behind him, but the words on it were big and clear.

"Almighty Onamuji,

Your smile is like the rainbow,

Your cry is like the echo.

Together they are

Your powerful weapon."

The last thing he noticed before they led him into a nearby house was an image of a rose carved in the exact place where he struck the stone with his weapon.