Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of Love ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

"When I was a kid, I loved the smell of the ground after it rained. It was always fresh and sweet, kinda like the cookies I saw through the windows when I was starving. Of course, no one paid any attention to the dirty blond girl who was clutching her stomach… watching as other mothers and fathers took care of their kids. Feeding them, hugging them, telling them that they were loved" Ren glanced down sadly at the unconscious scout. "I know you can't hear me, but I was feeling kinda lonely," he laughed a bit. "So I guess I'll tell you a bit about my life. That is…while you're still unconscious. Hmmm… When I was a little, my parents left my brother and me in a small alleyway. Yep, they abandon us. Great parents, huh?" Ren looked sarcastically at the roaring fire. "It took us a while to figure out that they weren't coming back, but when we did, we decide to fend for ourselves, just the two of us. Me and Jadeite. Jadeite and me" Ren grimaced as a bad memory came to him. "We had to steal just to survive when we were kids. We were even grateful if we managed to steal a little sour apple, but there was this one time…

"Run, Usa!!!" Jadeite panted as he ran after his sister. He clutched desperately onto the three oranges he had in his arms. His breath came in uneven as his footsteps sounded in his ear.

"Over here! Jade!!!" Usagi ran quickly passed a small sign and fell on the ground.

"Usagi!!!" Jadeite bent down to help her up. His eyes glancing back. 'Hey! He stopped!!!'

"Huh?" she quickly glanced back confused. The man that had been chasing them looked unsure and uneasy before giving them a dirty look.

"Keep the damn oranges you little thieves! If I ever see you again I'll kill you!"

"Huh" Usagi dusted herself off. "Why did he stop Jade?" She watched as the man walked away.

'I wonder why he stopped,' she thought. 'He really seemed determine to catch us and now he's walking away?'

"I'm not sure" Jadeite frowned. "But lets worry about him later. Let's find out where we are"

"K" she beamed a smile at her brother and glanced around, amazed, at all the beautiful springs. "It's so pretty!!!!"

"Usagi!!! Don't!!!!" Jadeite called out worriedly. He watched nervously as she stood at the edge of a spring.

"Don't worry, I promise I won't get too close" She kneeled down and glanced at her reflection. Almost hesitantly she touched the ripping water. "I want to go home," she whispered. Her mother had always told her that if she makes a wish and wanted it enough… that it would come true. "I wish I could go home" Suddenly a faint cracking sound caught her attention.

"USAGI!!!" Jadeite scream when he watched the ground beneath her suddenly broke apart. "USAGI!!!!" He quickly ran forward and didn't notice the small rock that was in his way until he flew into the spring next to the one his sister had fallen into. The water was deeper than he had thought, but it didn't matter. He had to get to Usagi!

"Usa" he choked out the water when he hauled himself out.

"Are you ok?" a boyish voice asked worriedly. "Jade?"

"Yeah. I'm ok" Jadeite blinked a bit before asking… "Who are you?" The boy seemed surprised.

"It's me!" Usagi frowned. Why did her voice suddenly get lower? And she felt awfully strange.

"Usagi?!!!" Jadeite wheezed a bit.

"JADE!!!!" Usagi watched stun when a small bunny took her brother place. "Jadeite?!!!" the bunny sniffed and glanced everywhere before it panicked. It ran like crazy everywhere, making little squeaking noise that sent chills down her spine. "Calm down!!!" she reached down to grab him when she noticed a small bulge in her pants.

"What?!!!!" she gasp before everything went black.

"When I woke up again. I was still a guy and Jadeite was still a bunny" Ren chucked. "We must have looked strange. A boy carrying a white bunny in his arms, but we didn't care much. I guess we were trying not to panic. Then we found this old guide that told us something interesting. Apparently, Jadeite and I had fallen into something called the cursed spring. Who ever fell into one will take on the form of what ever died there last. So that meant that I fell into the spring of the drown boy and Jadeite fell into the spring of the drown bunny. The guide also told us that cold water will trigger our curses and that warm water will change us back to normal. I bet this must sound strange, huh?" Ren glanced down at Haruka sleeping face. "Boy! When you sleep you really sleep! You've been conk out for about a day!!!" He glanced at the roaring fire. With no one to talk to, things were boring. Quietly he mused about his twin.

"I wonder how far he got…"

* * *

It was always the same thing. Night after Night, in her dreams she could see the destruction of the Silver Millennium. The explosions, the blast, the screams…and the worst part was that she couldn't do anything to prevent it! And it was all Beryl fault!!! Setsuna tried to calm her pounding head. It was getting worst now…the vision was coming to her even when she was awake. Taunting her with the destruction. Silently, she took out the locket that Queen Serenity had given to her as a gift. The soft melody that pure forth soothed a bit of her confusion.

'I want you to have it' Queen Serenity smiled a bit sadly. She fingered the locket lovingly and watched, amused, at the guardian's stun face.

'I-I couldn't!' Sailor Pluto stared at her queen in shock. 'It's a family heirloom! A treasure that should stay in the royal family!'

'I don't have anyone to give it to' the Queen walked out onto the balcony. 'I guess it wasn't meant to be. Still, I had hoped…' she trailed off when she touched her stomach. 'I'm too old and I don't have a daughter to give this to'

'What about Princess Mina?' Sailor Pluto looked at her confused. 'Shouldn't she be the one to receive the locket?'

'She is my heir, I know that' Queen Serenity turned around. Her blue eyes showed a faint amusement. 'But I wanted you to have it' Silently, she opened the guardian's hand and placed it inside. Sailor Pluto fingers automatically closed around the precious object.

'But why?' she questioned.

'Because if I had a child…a daughter…I would have wanted her to be like you' Queen Serenity laughed. 'I consider you to be my daughter since your mother and I were so close. Since the moment you were born I've loved you like you were my own child' Tears came into her eyes. 'And I'm proud of you'

'Queen Serenity…' Sailor Pluto trailed off. She didn't know what to say.

'Do you know the future of the Silver Millennium?'

'Yes' her answer was small and weak.

'Not good, huh?' The Queen glanced wearily at the scout.

'I'm afraid not.'

'I thought half as much' Queen Serenity told her gently. 'What was that saying? All good things much come to an end?' She laughed a bit. 'Will you take care of the locket for me?'

'Yes, I promise' Sailor Pluto looked at her queen alarmed. 'Queen Serenity?!!!' She watched as her queen clutch her heart.

'I'm fine' Queen Serenity laughed. 'I'm just getting old. That's all. Setsuna?'

'Yes, my queen?"

'Will there be any one left from the Moon kingdom?'

'I-I'm not allowed to say'

'I understand' the Queen gave her a small smile. 'Thank you'

"Thank you" That was the last thing the Queen had said to her. And now, since the queen death, the wedding allegiance between the Earth and the Moon Kingdom had been moved up. In fact, it was in 4 days. One day after this test was over. She would be able to make it in time for the wedding to make sure nothing happens. Hopefully nothing will happen, but she doubts that. Beryl would stop it nothing to make sure that the Earth and Moon doesn't unite. And that Endyimon would be hers.

"Are you alright?" Nephrite voice drew her back from her thoughts.

"I'm fine." Setsuna gave him a warm smile. Suddenly, she shivered when she felt an unexpected burst of wind. A warning chill went down her spine. 'It started' she thought sadly. 'The destruction of the Silver Millennium has already started'

* * *

Hotaru sighed a bit when she watched him work. Even after spending four days out here, Jadeite still didn't know how to make a fire. It amused her a bit to see him sweating. He was too cute when he was frustrated.

"ARGH!!!" Jadeite sighed in frustration. "Light up!!!"

"Glaring and cursing at it won't make the wood burn, you know" Hotaru hopped from her tree stump and peered over his shoulder.

"What do you know?" he muttered.

"Excuse me?" her tone grew low and dangerous.

"Nothing" Jadeite hastily got up and rubbed at his aching back. It was cramped from him having to bend down for so long. Painfully, he tried to smooth out the knots. He ignored the snickers of laughter coming from the scout next to him and walked over to his pack. "We need to find some food." He glanced, amazed, at the fire that she had created. "How did you…?"

"Skill" she told him smugly. At the corner of her eyes, she spotted something moving and leaped for it. "Gotcha!!!" she held it up triumphantly. "Dinner is served! What's wrong?" she looked at his pale face.

"It's a bunny" he glanced at the fur in her arms.

"No" she corrected him. "It's dinner." She looked at him confused. His face was white as a ghost. Was he allergic to rabbits or something?

"We can't eat it" he told her firmly.

"Why not?"

"It's…"

"It's what?" she challenged.

"It's…" Jadeite struggled to find the right words. What was he suppose to tell her? That his cursed form is a bunny? He shuddered a bit when he recalled an incident where this butcher almost made him into a pie. He was in his form that day…

Jadeite glanced around ,amazed. Everything seemed so big and tall when he was in his bunny form. Everything, that he would have considered small, now seemed large and enormous!

'Don't go far' Usagi whispered in his ear. He wagged his ears as an answer and hopped off. Eager to explore. His eyes took everything in. He had spent an hour just hopping around, glancing at things.

'I can't wait to tell Usa' he thought pleased. Suddenly, a wonderful smell caught his attention and he hopped over to a small door. He hopped through the dust-choked floor and gulped when he noticed all the rows of sharp knives. Each one glinted in the sun.

'Oops. Wrong place' he thought. Before he could leave, a sweaty hand caught his neck and pulled him up. 'Hey!' he tried not to throw-up when he saw how high he was.

'Hey, Bib!' the guy shouted 'do you want rabbit stew tonight?' Jadeite gulped.

'Sure!' an enthusiastic answer came back.

'Alright right, little bunny' the guy walked over to the counter. 'Time to meet your maker' He reached for a large knife.

'Help me, Usa!!!' he tried to shout the mental call as loud as he could.

'STOP!!!'

Thank god!!! Usa showed up in time! She had managed to convince the butcher that it was her rabbit that he was about to cut up. And since than, he had a lot more sympathy for the animals. He was strictly a vegetarian.

"It's probably full of disease," he suggested. Hotaru rolled her eyes at the lame excuse.

"Would you rather starve?"

"Please, Hotaru" he pleaded at her. "Trust me on this one"

"Fine" Hotaru sighed as she released the bunny. "Alright" she glared at him. "There goes dinner. Now what are we suppose to eat?"

* * *

"Do you want to talk about it?" Zoisite struggled to keep up.

"No"

"But…" he trailed off. He knew it was useless and it frustrated him. He didn't know what to do when Michiru drew back into herself like that. Keeping all her emotion bottled up. It was unhealthy and he was really worried. It was obvious that something was wrong, but he couldn't help her if she wouldn't even tell him what the problem was. Silently, he walked beside her, studying her along the way. Nothing seemed wrong with her at the first glance. She was still as beautiful as the first time he saw her. Her pale skin was still transparent, still unaffected by the sun, and her hair was still the same healthy green. But when he took a closer look…he could see the lines under her eyes. The two green ores that glanced at him looked so forlorn and unhappy that it scared him for some reason. Her eyes seemed dim almost.

"I'm sorry" Her voice cut into his thoughts.

"What?" his jaw dropped at the unexpected apology.

"For crying like that. I'm sorry" she turned her eyes to look at him. "I was weak."

"No…you're weren't…"

"Yes, I was." she interrupted.

"Michiru…"

"Let's move ahead," Michiru pointed to a small path wearily. "In an hour or so, we can rest"

"If you say so…" Zoisite shook his head. 'If she keeps bottling her feelings like this, one day it's going to exploded' he thought. "Listen, Michiru…I-if you ever need to talk…I-I'll be here"

"Thanks" she gave him a small amused smile. It was cute the way he stuttered. Letting her know that he cared for her…enough to be there if she ever needed him. He was caring…that was one of the reasons why she liked him so much.

"No problem" he grinned a bit. "Now how about finding something to eat? I'm afraid our food supply ran out."

"Then let's find something" she glanced around. A small chill went down her spine. It was almost as if something…was watching them. Suddenly, the small crack of a branch made them whirl around.

"Argh!" Zoisite cried out in pain and fell to his knees.

"Zoisite!!!" Michiru bent down by his side and frantically tried to stop the bleeding on his shoulder. Already the blood was soaking through the fabric of his shirt.

"I told you Michiru…" a familiar nauseating voice called out. Silently, she watched as her worst nightmare stepped out of the bushes.

"You" she hissed. She shot glares at him, but all he did was laugh.

"Is that anyway to speak to your husband?"

"You're not my husband!!!"

"No" the man looked smug. "But I will be"

"In your dreams" she looked worriedly at Zoisite. Already, she could see the sweat dripping down his forehead. 'Please! Don't lose conscious' she prayed.

"No. I think not" the guy grinned. "If you don't come with me right now, Michiru, I'll kill that little boy toy of yours" he aimed his weapon at Zoisite's heart.

"And don't think about transforming" his eyes narrowed. "In fact…give it here!" Growling, she handed her pen over.

"You'll pay for this," she warned him. She watched as he sickeningly scratched one of his zits. Now she was pissed off. Not only is she engaged to this freak, but she couldn't do anything to him. Not with Zoisite injured and bleeding. Silently, she applied pressure to the wound and winched when Zoisite cried out in pain.

"Sorry" she muttered.

"Just leave him," the guy ordered rudely.

"We can't just leave him here!"

"Watch me" he grabbed her arms roughly and jerked her away. Desperately, she looked back to see Zoisite still form lying there.

TBC