Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Saga of Mercury ❯ The Swimming Lesson ( Chapter 20 )

The Saga of Mercury

Chapter 20

"The Swimming Lesson"

Written by Jose I. Ramos

Portions based on "Mercury Knight stories" by Ryuuen No Miko

"Sailor Moon" and all related characters are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, TOEI Animation and other agencies.

Storyline © 2003 Jose I. Ramos

DISCLAIMER

As usual, "Sailor Moon" and all related characters are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, TOEI Animation and other agencies.

The Saga of Mercury story is copyrighted by me, however content in some chapters is based on the Mercury Knight Stories as described in the Chapter 1 Introduction.

Please feel free to write a critique or send your comments to JRHORSE98@AOL.COM with the subject line, in all caps, SAGA OF MERCURY. If you do not do this then the filter will block your e-mail.

Chapter 20 - The Swimming Lesson

Greg was sinking into the couch in his living room, arms crossed over, and thinking.

It was five days after a most amazing thing happened to him… he found out that in addition to Amy Mizuno becoming his future wife and Queen of Mercury, the two of them would have a daughter… a beautiful daughter, who was intelligent and wise, just like them… Sasha…

He still couldn't believe it.

He'd been recalling the events of the past few days over and over in his head.

The day after the important revelation, Amy and her mother got together along with Greg and his father to discuss an adoption of a child.

After some nice conversation, Mrs. Mizuno and Mr. Urawa agreed that Amy and Greg, at this point in life, were mature enough to take equal responsibility of a child… a child, which Amy described, looked a lot like her.

They re-affirmed their approval when they saw Sasha the very next day.

Before Amy and Greg introduced Sasha to the two, they signed the discharge papers at the Nagatacho orphanage, and everyone there wished Sasha, and her new "foster" parents, all the best.

The arrangement was made that Sasha would stay with Amy during the workweek, and in Greg's house on weekends.

Yesterday, Amy and Greg officially introduced Sasha to the other Sailor Scouts and Knights, in a meeting at Raye's temple. Everyone… including Michelle and Amara, who had stopped by for a little while… welcomed Sasha to the Sailor Scout family with open arms, and they were looking forward to working with her, as well as teaching her, in their fight against evil. Then, Sasha and Rini played hide-and-seek inside the temple, while Jamie kept an eye on them and the others discussed sailor business.

And now, today.

Today, Sasha would step into his house for the very first time.

And he was very excited.

Earlier in the day, Amy had told him that she and Sasha would spend the morning swimming at the fitness center.

I wonder how Sasha will do, Greg thought to himself. It should be a piece of…

Greg then had a thought… a psychic thought.

The former rainbow crystal carrier realized something.

Sasha, he said to himself, was never taught how to swim… she was always shy…

Greg thought for a moment… then stood up, and walked over to the answering machine.

He pressed the "MEMO" button, and then spoke: "Dad, it's Greg. Just in case you get home first, I'm going over to the fitness center, Amy and Sasha are supposed to be there and I'm gonna check in on the two of them. I'll bring the two of them home after that. See you later."

Greg then donned his light blue jacket and walked to the corner, to pick up the bus that would take him to the fitness center.

Meanwhile, back in the Negaverse…

"I'd rather call her `Squasha'", said the blue-bodied, white-faced feminine youma Tortowaki to Queen Sorinya, regarding Amy and Greg's future daughter. "Give me the command and I will crush her in one swing! She's still inexperienced… I'll isolate her parents, and then take her with ease!"

"I want to do that, too," said Sorinya. "But I want to look at the whole situation first… do some reconnaissance and then report back to me. I want to see all of the options that I have when it comes to getting rid of Sasha… without her parents even seeing it…"

Sorinya smiled. Tortowaki followed suit.

At the fitness center…

Greg unzipped his jacket as he entered the fitness center and showed his I.D. at the front desk.

"Uh…" said the woman at the front desk, "you currently have two people using your buddy passes… an adult and a child… in the training pool, all alone in the rear."

"Thank you," said Greg.

Greg walked through the corridor, past the all too familiar main pool, and through two more corridors… before the bright, white door to the training pool was staring him right in the face.

"Well, this is it," said Greg.

He took a deep breath… and opened the door.

As he stepped into the training pool area, which was smaller, and shallower, than the main pool, he immediately saw two figures standing off to his left.

Greg took two steps, then leaned against a roof support beam… and watched.

"I'm nervous," Sasha said to Amy at the edge of the pool.

"Don't be nervous," said Amy gently. "Remember everything that I've told you… and what we've been working on. I'll be right here for you."

Sasha, donned in her yellow, one-piece suit with a yellow cap, was ready to try to swim on her own, without any assistance from Amy, who was wearing a spiffy blue-colored two-piece.

Wow, Amy's got on a two-piece? Greg said to himself.

Amy was going to let Sasha try to swim the whole length of the training pool… 20 yards… using a free-style stroke. She had already taught her how to float, how to move her arms and legs in the water, and how to stay afloat if something went wrong.

"Ready," said Sasha.

"Okay, I'm going to count to three and then let you go," said Amy.

"One… Two…"

"WAIT," cried Sasha. "I'm scared!"

"Oh Sasha, calm down. I know you can do it, and YOU know you can do it. Now, just like Greg has always told me… take nice, deep breaths…"

"AND BE STRONG!" yelled a voice.

Amy and Sasha gasped… was someone spying on them?

They turned their heads around… to notice that Greg was right there, near the entrance.

"GREG!" yelled Sasha with a smile.

"I love you, Sasha!" said Greg.

"And I love you… DAD!" yelled Sasha.

Greg huffed… and smiled. "Hey, I wanna give you a BIG hug, but you'll have to get to the other edge…"

In the middle of Greg's sentence, Sasha wasted no time, springing out of Amy's arms, and swimming as hard as she could.

"… of the pool," said a monotonous Greg, completing his sentence.

Sasha was swimming the freestyle stroke, exactly as Amy had taught her.

"There you go!" said Amy. "Go Sasha!"

"Come on Sasha!" said Greg. "I know you can do it!"

Sasha was now halfway home… and was getting closer… closer… closer to the goal…

Then…

Sasha could feel her swimming cap come off… and a strange force pulling at her hair.

Sasha stopped swimming and screamed in pain, as the force lifted her out of the pool and into the air.

Greg gasped at what he saw. Amy gasped, too, and went into a fast stroke in the pool to try to get close to Sasha.

Sasha was being pulled toward the glass roof. It looked as if Sasha's blue hair was sticking straight up on ends… worse than the bride of Frankenstein.

But Greg wouldn't allow any of that… he ran to the edge of the pool, leaped up in the air, and was able to grab Sasha's shoulders.

He reached over Sasha's hair with one hand, and could feel an electrical force go through his body.

Amy rose out of the pool at the other end, to see that Greg was being shocked in one hand, and was tugging on Sasha with the other end.

"Careful, Greg!" yelled Amy.

Greg's teeth were clenched as he struggled to free his future daughter from the zapping force.

All of a sudden… the electrical force stopped.

Before Greg could notice, the momentum brought him and Sasha into the water.

A part of the glass roof then shattered, and a blue figure dropped in.

Greg rose out of the water… his body and clothes completely drenched… as he heard the figures first words…

"I am Tortowaki, CHAMPION OF THE NEGAMOON!" she said. "By the darkness of the negamoon on my forehead, I will destroy the future daughter and princess of the planet Mercury!"

Greg looked down at Sasha, who was in tears, her hair a total mess.

He kissed Sasha on the cheek and said, "Hang tight, I'll be right with you."

He passed her off to Amy, and then quickly turned back to Tortowaki.

"REALLY?" yelled Greg. "Well then I have no choice but to huff and puff and blow you out of here!"

Greg then noticed something floating in the water right in front of him…

It was his Mercury dagger.

Greg easily grabbed its handle.

Perfect timing, he said to himself.

Greg raised the dagger over his head, and yelled… still waist-deep in the water… "MERCURY KNIGHT POWER!"

Once the transformation was complete, Tortowaki said, "Oh, poor Mercury Knight, soaking wet. Why don't you give up and I'll hang you out to dry!"

Then all of a sudden, Mercury Knight sprung out of the water with tremendous force and speed… drew his sword… and slashed at Tortowaki's left arm.

Tortowaki wailed in a painful response, while Mercury Knight touched down on terra firma.

"I guess it helps when you happen to be from a planet that deals with water ALL THE TIME!" yelled Mercury Knight.

"Oh…" said Tortowaki. "That doesn't matter to me at all!" she said, proceeding to send an electrical surge toward Mercury Knight.

Before he knew it, Mercury Knight found himself being pulled toward Tortowaki, similar to one of those tractor beams in the sci-fi films.

Mercury Knight grunted as the intense force was making his feet slide closer and closer to the youma.

Meanwhile, Amy took Sasha back to the beginning of the pool, and the two of them ran onto the edge.

Amy sprinted to her chair, and brought back her transformation pen and Sasha's locket.

"Well, here comes your first test as an official member of the scouts," said Amy.

"Come on, or else Greg will get hurt!" said Sasha.

Amy raised her pen into the air, while Sasha opened her locket and raised it up.

"MERCURY PRISM POWER!"

"MERCURY STAR POWER!"

Mercury Knight was now only a few feet from Tortowaki's wrath.

He was trying to aim his sword at him, but the sword was wobbling back and forth, like a repellant of the electrical surge.

"SHABON SPRAY FREEZING!"

Mercury Knight flung back to the floor. He quickly got up… to see two females with familiar-looking hairstyles looking right at him.

Mercury Knight smiled, and then turned back to Tortowaki. As Tortowaki was struggling to break out of the ice that encased her, Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mini Mercury went up to join Mercury Knight.

Now able to freely maneuver his sword, Mercury Knight yelled, "Now you see what happens when you try to snatch my daughter! We fight right back at you! For love, justice, and swimming, we are the future royal family from the planet Mercury! I'M MERCURY KNIGHT! Thanks to you, I AM NOW THE DRIPPING-WET MERCURY KNIGHT! And don't you forget about that!"

"Wet or dry, I am the pretty-suited sailor soldier of intelligence, SAILOR MERCURY!"

"And I am their future daughter and princess, SAILOR MINI MERCURY! And on behalf of Mercury,"

"WE SHALL PUNISH YOU!" said the three.

They could barely hear Tortowaki's faint grunting from within the ice.

"Ahh… yeah, I think she got the message," said Mercury Knight.

"I'll take my best shot!" said Sailor Mini Mercury, stepping forward.

"SHABON FAN!"

Immediately the waves of super cooled water began to form around Sailor Mini Mercury. The water shot directly at the ice that enclosed Tortowaki. It sealed the ice around her, all but guaranteeing that she wouldn't escape.

The wind from Mini Mercury's Shabon Fan attack blew across Mercury Knight… drying his uniform up in an instant.

"All right!" said Sailor Mercury. "It's time we put an end to your destructive crusade."

"We're ready to take you down in the name of all that is good!" said Mini Mercury.

"Knock, knock. Who's there?" said Mercury Knight, drawing his sword. "Lettuce. Lettuce who? Lettuce in and you'll find out! Well… we can't go in because you're all sealed up! And if that didn't crack you up, THIS WILL! MERCURY ICE BLADE!"

"SHABON SPRAY!" yelled Sailor Mercury, forming a fog bubble.

"SHABON FAN!" yelled Sailor Mini Mercury, starting to spin up the cold water once again.

"PLANET ATTACK!" yelled Mercury Knight, whose sword began to glow a bright blue. "CHARGE!"

The large ray of light burst forward from Mercury Knight's Ice Blade, while Sailor Mercury dispersed her fog bubble and Sailor Mini Mercury sent the cold water flying. The three danced together, until they were spiraling together at a tremendous speed toward Tortowaki.

Tortowaki's yell was barely audible, as the Mercury Planet Attack struck the ice, shattering it and Tortowaki into thousands of pieces. Seconds later, the ice melted and evaporated.

As Mercury Knight sheathed his sword, Sailor Mini Mercury hi-fived Sailor Mercury and jumped for joy. "We did it! We did it!" she cried.

Sailor Mini Mercury jumped into the arms of her future mother.

Sailor Mercury was all smiles, as she said, "That was your real first test as a Sailor Scout, and you've made me so proud!"

Mercury Knight crouched down to Mini Mercury's level. "And you know what else, Sasha?" he said, "you've made your planet proud, too!"

Mercury Knight felt vibes coming from inside him as he used his psychic thoughts… and Mini Mercury was starting to shed a tear.

"I, uh… shouldn't have said that," said Mercury Knight. "I'm sorry. That reminded you of your friends, right?"

"Mm-hmm," replied Mini Mercury in a low tone.

"Well don't worry," said Mercury Knight, "'cause you've got friends right here. You've got me."

"And you certainly have me," said Sailor Mercury.

"Hey, don't forget thirteen others!" said Mars Knight.

"Chad?" said Mercury Knight, turning his head to see everyone else that had just entered the training pool area: Sailor Moon, Sailor Mini Moon, Sailor Mars, Mars Knight, Sailor Jupiter, Jupiter Knight, Sailor Venus, Venus Knight, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, Luna and Artemis.

"Hey, dude," said Mars Knight. "Looks like we missed all the fun."

"How ya doing, kid?" asked Sailor Uranus.

"Hi! I'm just fine, watch this!" said Mini Mercury as she de-transformed and jumped into the pool.

"Sasha!" said surprised Sailor Mercury.

Sasha was dog-paddling her way to the edge of the pool. When she got there, she said, "I never finished swimming. I want to swim all the way now."

Mercury Knight looked at his good friend Venus Knight.

"Well it's all right with me," said Venus Knight.

"Hey, I'll lead the cheerleading committee!" said Sailor Venus.

"Oh, you mean we'll root for Sasha!" said Sailor Moon.

"But it's getting late," said Sailor Mini Moon. "Can I go to bed?"

"Oh, Rini," said Sailor Mars. "Come on, just this one time for our new friend, huh?"

"Come on, Sasha!" said Sailor Neptune. "If you can do this, you can race against me any time you want!"

"Go Sasha!" said Sailor Jupiter. "Let's see some of that fighting spirit!"

Everyone made their way to the opposite edge of the pool, except for Mercury Knight, who was off to one side to send Sasha off.

"Ready Sasha?"

"Ready, Greg!"

"3… 2… 1… GO!"

Sasha made her way off of the pool's edge and began to make her way toward the other edge… but slowly at first.

Meanwhile, everyone else was cheering her on and giving her support. Jupiter Knight even started a "SASHA!" chant at one point.

About two-thirds of the way through, Sasha was pumping with her arms and legs… but wasn't moving.

"Sasha's stationary," said Sailor Mercury.

"She's turning into paper?" asked Sailor Moon.

"No, stupid," replied Sailor Mars, "it means she's not moving!"

"Oh," replied Sailor Moon with a sweatdrop.

"Something's gone wrong," said Mercury Knight. "Sasha! Come on! Only about 15 feet to go!"

"Sasha, think positively, and you will overcome this!" said Tuxedo Mask.

Sasha was grunting and struggling, trying to move through the water… but was unsuccessful.

"Sasha's in trouble!" said Sailor Jupiter. "What do you want us to do about it, Greg?"

Mercury Knight had to think of a solution… quick.

"You got any ideas, Sailor Moon?"

Sailor Moon shook her head. "Nuh-uh!"

Mercury Knight looked back at Sasha.

Then he had an idea… a risky one… that would probably do the trick.

"Artemis," said Mercury Knight, "how do we get the girls to supercharge their powers to become the princesses of their respective planets?"

"Supercharge powers?" said Artemis. "Whoa… uh… we've… never tried that before. Luna, do you know how that is done?"

"Greg, why do you want to do this?" asked Luna.

Mercury Knight again looked at Sasha in the water, and then turned to Luna. "For E and E… Evaluation and Encouragement. Trust me on this one!"

"There's another Greg-ism for ya," said Sailor Venus.

"The sailor scouts would have to shout `ETERNAL - whatever their planet is - POWER'. That should do the trick," said Luna.

"All right," said Mercury Knight. "I need all of the scouts only to line up a bit from the edge here."

Once they were lined up, Mercury Knight instructed them to yell out those words.

"ETERNAL MOON POWER!" yelled Serena and Rini.

"ETERNAL MARS POWER!"

"ETERNAL JUPITER POWER!"

"ETERNAL VENUS POWER!"

"ETERNAL NEPTUNE POWER!"

"ETERNAL URANUS POWER!"

Sailor Mercury was last. "ETERNAL MERCURY POWER!"

As they transformed, Mercury Knight looked at Sailor Uranus.

I guess she actually wants to try a dress, he thought.

When the transformations were complete, the sailors were dressed in beautiful and gorgeous gowns, flowing down to the floor. All of the princesses had the symbol of their planet glowing brightly on their foreheads… including the royal moon symbols on Serena and Rini's foreheads.

"I'm feeling something," said Tuxedo Mask. Tuxedo Mask started to see his tuxedo rip and tear apart… to reveal… his uniform as Prince Endymion.

For a few seconds, the princesses felt peaceful and serene… until…

"Wowie! This dress is so cool!" yelled Princess Serena.

"Mine is better!" responded Princess Rini.

Princess Raye stepped in between the two. "Aren't you two gook-heads forgetting something? We're TRYING TO SAVE SASHA!"

"That's right," responded Mercury Knight, "and the way we're going to do this is by just standing here, and that's it."

"That's it?" asked Princess Lita. "We're not going to cheer her on or anything?"

"Well you can encourage her if you want," responded Mercury Knight. "All right, let's see if this works… SASHA!"

Sasha was barely able to get her head out of the water while still struggling to swim.

Then… she saw some people that looked very familiar.

She stopped swimming and floated as she saw the girls standing in a straight line… girls that she once knew in the 31st Century.

"Sasha, do any of these princesses look familiar to you?" said Mercury Knight. "I know that this is really the 21st century, but maybe if we dressed like your friends from the 31st century, you'd be strong enough to finish."

Sasha looked at Princess Serena and Princess Rini, doffed in their bright white gowns.

She looked at Princess Raye, wearing a white gown with red trims.

She looked at Princess Lita, who was in a green gown, Mina in an orange and yellow gown, Princess Amara in a black gown with gold trim, Princess Michelle in a blue and green gown…

And she saw the light blue gown of her future mother… Princess Amy… who was blowing a kiss to her.

Without any further hesitation, Sasha began to swim as if the previous tries were miniscule. She was really making some progress now… and fast.

Before anyone knew it, she was only a few feet from the edge.

All of the knights and princesses… and yes, even the cats… were all shouting out encouraging words…

Words that turned into cheers when Sasha finally hit the edge.

A smiling Mercury Knight was about to reach into the water to pick up Sasha… when all of a sudden he saw ripples of water gather strongly around her in the pool

Then the water shot into the air, wrapping around Sasha.

Jupiter Knight told everyone to get back a few feet, which they did.

The area of water began to grow and grow, even cutting over the edge of the pool.

When the water dissipated, a dry and beautiful Sasha… in a blue and white dress with the Mercury symbol on her forehead, stood there.

"Hi everyone!" said Princess Sasha.

Princess Amy immediately stepped forward and lifted up Sasha to give her a big hug. Mercury Knight also shared in the embrace.

"Well, that worked," said Prince Endymion.

"Yeah, kudos to you, Greg," said Venus Knight, "you knew just what to do - AGAIN…"

"Thank you Greg," said Princess Amy, "and thank you everyone, for helping us."

"You're now an official sailor scout graduate, at least I think," said Sailor Mars.

"I think so too!" said Princess Mina.

"Everyone probably thinks that," said Princess Raye.

As the others looked on, Princess Sasha said, "I have been praying softly that I would see all of my friends again… and you have all helped to make my wish come true."

Everyone smiled at that comment.

"Well," said Princess Serena, "why don't we all celebrate this joyous occasion by getting out of our dresses and uniforms and going to see Andrew for some large bowls of…"

"VANILLA AND CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM!" yelled Princess Sasha.

Serena and Rini's eyes shrunk. "How do you know that…" they said.

Princess Sasha turned to Mercury Knight. "Yep… they always got that from where I came from. You know what that means, right?"

"No, what?" said Mercury Knight.

Princess Sasha whispered into his ear: "Everything is JUST FINE."

Mercury Knight smiled, and whispered those words into Princess Amy's ear. Amy's face lit up when she heard them.

The entire sailor team very happy with Princess Sasha's performance, they all de-transformed and headed to the Crown parlor for a much-deserved reward of dessert.

Serena and Rini decided to have about five or six rewards…

Greg is now ready to welcome Sasha to the Urawa household.

Are there any surprises in store for her? Or Greg? Or Amy? Or even Greg's dad?

Find out in Chapter 21 of The Saga of Mercury.

The Saga of Mercury Chapter 20 - The Swimming Lesson 14

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