Sailor Moon is copyright 1992 by Naoko Takeuchi.
North American Rights for Sailor Moon are owned by
D.I.C.

Rating:  PG-13


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Life ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Part II - Unravelings
Chapter I - Bitter Sorrow


^ ^ ^  At the temple  ^ ^ ^


	Four girls sat in a room in a circle.  A head
of blue hair faced a raven-haired girl.  A girl with
brown tresses faced a blonde.

	Water against Fire.  Lightning against Love.

The first two liked to discuss serious things.
The other two were the more flippant ones.

It seemed that this was their position whenever
they were together.

	But it wasn't right.  They wished it was
different.  But what could they do?  There was
nothing . . . no one to change it.

	They had all noticed the changes that occurred
in Usagi.  She was so serious and distant now.  If
ever she talked to them, it was senshi business or
homework.  Not that there was any senshi business
anymore.

	She did her homework now!!  Another thing they
could not get over.  Now granted, she was no genius.
But from 30s and fails to a B student.  Anyone would
consider that pretty damn good!!

	She was a better fighter.  She might not be
able to beat Makoto in hand-to-hand combat, but she
would certainly be able to hold her own for a while.

	She wasn't ditzy anymore.  It wasn't so much
that she had turned into a graceful swan overnight.
It was more like: she carried herself differently.
She carried herself in a way that would make it hard
to believe she was ever a klutz.  Maybe it was an air
of indifference that people mistook for confidence.

	But there was one specific thing that worried
Rei.  Rei had once tried to probe Usagi's mind to
learn about the newfound changes in her.  But Usagi
had managed to block the attempt, and Rei couldn't
get in.  What's more, Usagi had known what Rei was
doing.  She had given Rei a just-give-it-up-this-is-
so-stupid-and-it's-pissing-me-off look.

	Rei was surprised to say the least.  She had
gone into each of the senshi's minds at one point or
another - with good reason.  None of them had even
seemed to suspect or notice.

	Rei didn't even know that Usagi had physic
abilities.  Now that she knew, she wondered when
Usagi had discovered them and how she had developed
them, without a teacher.  Or did she have a teacher?

	Tonight, like almost every other night, they
gathered together to have fun, but ended up talking
about Usagi.

	"I'd just really like to know where she goes
after school," said Makoto, taking a cookie from the
plate that lay in the middle of the circle.

	Minako nodded.  "And what she does there."

	At one point, all of them had thought that
there was a chance that Usagi was on drugs because
the symptoms were all there.  Depression.  Seclusion.
Isolation.  Moodiness.

	But they had eventually dismissed the thought
due to the fact that she was doing well in . . . in
everything.

	"I'm sure it's not anything bad," said Ami.

	"I know," Makoto said.  "But, really, what
could she be doing for hours after school?"

	They had attempted following her, but always
got lost because she took the bus in a business
district, which meant there were always crowds.

	"I don't know," admitted Rei, chewing on her
own cookie.  "But we really should find out.  I mean,
we ARE still her guard and protectors and stuff,
right?  And we still care about her even if she
doesn't about us."  The end came out very bitter.

	Rei had naturally taken Usagi's change of
personality the hardest.  They were best friends.
She couldn't believe that it had all happened and she
hadn't noticed the extremity until it was done and
irreversible.

	Minako put a hand on Rei's shoulder.

	Silence reigned.

	There would always be sudden outbursts of
sadness or anger towards Usagi's switch.  They all
felt a certain degree of betrayal.  More so, they
felt guilt.  They knew that she had changed because
of what they had said and did to her from the time
Mamoru broke up with her to the night when they had
all sided against her.  They knew that Usagi had
never fully recovered from that night, had never
fully forgiven them. And they knew that the blame lay
on their shoulders.

	The night that Usagi had kicked Luna out, Luna
had gone to Artemis and Minako on the verge of tears.
They had told her that Usagi was just upset and
didn't mean anything, but Luna had a nagging feeling
. . .

	She decided to let Usagi have her space for a
while.  A week later, she had returned and had
sneaked in through Usagi's window towards sunset.
Usagi wasn't home; Shingo was in his room, playing
video games, Luna assumed; and Kenji was nowhere to
be found.  She walked into the living room and heard
Ikuko on the phone.

	"Hai, he's alright . . . We're not sure . . .
We hope so . . . Iie, the doctors aren't sure . . .
It was bad . . . He would love to have you visit, you
know that . . ." She sighed.  "Not good.  Shingo
hasn't really been communicating with anyone anymore
. . . um-hm . . . Well, I think it has something to
do with Usagi . . . She's taken it the hardest.  She
barely eats anymore.  She spends a lot of time
outside the house . . . I think it's because she's so
upset, that Shingo's upset . . . We weren't hurt as
badly as Kenji.  We're fine really . . . I suppose .
. . Makes sense . . . I don't know.  It's more than
that . . . Well, ever since the accident, she's
changed . . . I guess it could just be my motherly
instinct going into over-drive . . ." She laughed.
"Yes, well, we'll look forward to it . . . You, too .
. . Okay . . . Okay . . . Give him my love . . . Domo
arigatou . . . Ja."  And then she hung up the phone.

	Luna stood, rooted to her spot behind the
couch.  The words echoed through her head.
'Hospital.  Accident.  It was bad.  Barely eats.
Taken it the hardest.  Changed.  Upset.  Hurt . . .
as badly as Kenji.'

	Then, Luna's eyes widened as she remembered.
'You don't know everything!  You weren't even here
the whole day!'

	Luna ran back to Usagi's room, practically
leaped through the window, and raced towards the
jinja, where she knew all the girls were.

	When she got there, tears had already made
their way down her face.  As fast as she could, she
explained everything she had overheard.  She had to
repeat several things several times because it was
hard to understand her through her crying and
shortness of breath.  But finally the story came
through.

	The girls were quiet.  Finally, Luna managed to
look up, from where she had been crying into Artemis
and her front legs.

	Ami sat with a stunned expression on her face,
mouth open, shame written all over her face.  Makoto
looked horrified, probably remembering her own
parents' unfortunate deaths.  Minako's eyes shimmered
with unshed tears.  Rei had her back to Luna, facing
the window and looking through it.  Luna was sure her
shoulders were shaking.

	Luna began speaking again.  "I don't know if
you all ever noticed, but because I lived there I
know."

	Five pairs of eyes looked at her.

	"Usagi was rather close to her family.  It was
just her nature to be.  She talked to them openly
about everything.  Even to Shingo.  Most people only
see the fights with Shingo, the lecturing of her mom,
and the over-protectiveness of her father.  But there
was a lot more to that family.  Think of how Usagi
feels for each of you.  It applies to her family as
well."  Luna took a breath.  "If her father _was_ in
an accident and it was bad, it would explain why
she's been so upset lately."  She glanced at all of
them.  "If she was in the accident, it would also
explain why she was so weak that night."

	Ami immediately started crying and let her face
hang down into her hands.  She only whispered, "Oh,
God, Usagi!  Gomen!  Gomen!"

	Makoto's sobbing grew stronger.  Minako
remained still as a statue.  Her eyes growing wide in
realization of what that meant; tears poured down her
face, unchecked.  Rei once again turned to gaze out
the window, in shame.  'Usa.  What have we done?
What have _I_ done?'

	They had attempted to apologize, but to no
avail.  Usagi refused to take any phone calls.  She
always told her mother to tell them that she would
call back once she was done with her homework, unless
it was Naru or Kai.  She avoided them throughout the
day at school.  She always found a way to slip
through their grasp or she simply ignored them.  When
the attacks had occurred, she would come, do her
thing, and then disappear without a word.  She pulled
a 'Tuxedo Kamen', as the senshi referred to it.
Finally, they gave up, frustrated, saddened, and
guilty.

	Over time, they had sworn to never drift apart.
This small circle of senshi knew that they had to
stick together.  The only good that came out of the
horrible event was that it had brought them closer
together.

	Usagi - along with Fate - had been the one to
bring the senshi together in the first place.  Now,
without meaning to, she brought them closer than any
of them had ever thought possible.

	But now, she was gone.  And they weren't sure
if they would ever get her back.


~ ~ ~ End ~ ~ ~


Author's Notes:

	Well, here's part II.  I finally intro-ed the
senshi.  It'll start rolling in the second chapter.
I PROMISE!  Stay w/ me, kay?

	I hope this answered some of the questions you
have about Usagi's dad.  By the time part I ended,
her dad was fine.  I'll get into that again, don't
worry.

	THANKS again to all those people who emailed me
with suggestions, ideas, and criticism.  It's greatly
appreciated.  Keep it coming!

	Thanks for reading!

HoNeY
hnymustd@hotmail.com
4/28/00