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 VI - One Thread at a Time Sailor Moon arrived in time to see Mars, Venus, and the blue and green Tsukikage no Knights fighting a deer. It had golden antlers and brass hooves. It charged for Mars, but was yanked back abruptly. Venus held it tightly with her whip; Mars rolled out of the way quickly. The green Tsukikage no Knight threw ninja stars at the youma. They embedded themselves deeply in the deer's side. It reared and Venus gathered her whip back. It tossed its head and shot dark energy towards Sailor Moon. She was glancing to make sure Mars was unharmed and was unaware that she was the next target. She turned just in time to see how close it was. And Tuxedo Kamen was there just in time to whisk her out of harm's way. She shrugged out of his arms quickly. "Let go." In a low, angry voice he growled, "I just saved your _life_. Be a little more thankful." Her only reply was, "Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" The attack hit the rear end of the deer and it fell to the floor writhing in pain. Blue Knight raised his crossbow and aimed at the deer's throat. Hitting its mark exactly, the youma disintegrated into dust. When the youma was officially dead, Sailor Moon immediately turned to the unknown men. "Who the hell are you? And don't give me any shit about the time not being ripe!" "Patience, little one, is a virtue," the green one said, somewhat cheekily. "Don't call me little," Sailor Moon warned darkly. "What do you want?" "We want to help." "Why? Who _are_ you?" Sailor Moon asked frustrated. "How do we know we can trust you?" "You don't," the one in blue said. He looked over at Mars and Venus standing off to the side and then at Tuxedo Kamen blending in with the shadows. He glanced at green Knight before turning and saying, "We need to go." "Until next time, senshi," green Knight said bowing, before turning and following his partner. "WAIT, DAMMIT!" The two ignored her and soon disappeared into the night's boundless darkness. Sailor Moon gritted her teeth before looking around and de-transforming. Venus supported Mars with an arm around her waist. She led her to a bench. Mamoru grabbed Usagi's arm before she could walk away. "What the hell was that?" "What the hell was what?" Usagi shook free of his grip. "I just saved your life." Usagi gave a short laugh. "I've suffered and survived much more than a youma's attack, Mamoru. Don't give yourself so much credit." "Look, you don't have to like me but at least _pretend_ to be polite. I -" "WHY? I didn't ask you to be here. If you've got better things to do, then fine. I couldn't care less, Mamoru-san. I _don't_ need you." And she walked away, unknowingly to the others holding back tears and biting the inside of her cheek. Mamoru glared at her retreating figure. 'Shimatta. She's right.' He turned back. "You okay, Rei?" "I'll live." He nodded and was on his way. "Don't feel bad, Mamoru." He paused, cocking his head slightly. "She doesn't need any of us," Minako finished sadly. Mamoru started at the words. 'She really doesn't . . .' ^ ^ ^ the next day ^ ^ ^ Usagi waited with declining patience for Noriko. He was supposed to have met her 10 minutes ago so they could go to lunch. Normally, she wouldn't have been so impatient, but she had gotten little sleep. The reason she had not slept well was because there had been another attack. There had been attacks every night for the past three days. What irked Usagi was that last night, like most of the other attacks, the mystery men had shown up and helped them. They refused to say anything! Of who they were. Of what they wanted. It was infuriating. It drove her absolutely insane. What's more, Tuxedo Kamen had helped her out more than once. It wasn't really that he had helped her, but the fact that he had _had_ to help her. She refused to admit that she needed his help. 'Not after he hurt me so much. I don't need him. I _refuse_ to need him. Not that _he's_ making things any easier.' He was being so . . . so . . . so like Tuxedo Kamen that it annoyed Usagi to no ends. She didn't know what the new enemy wanted. The youmas showed up, went into rampages, and were defeated. They didn't attempt to take energy. It confused Usagi; she didn't know what they wanted if it wasn't that. Her exhaustion was taking its toll. She fell asleep in class. Her homework was horrible, if ever it was done. The little study time she had was not sufficient. But the one thing that got her the most was that she was alone. She was unable to communicate with anyone about how she felt about anything. Kai, Noriko, Jiro, Zared, and Kiyoshi - she couldn't go to them about _this_. They'd think she was insane. And even if they didn't, she couldn't put them in the middle of this whole mess. Besides, the latter four were still . . . not well. She couldn't go to the senshi. Or Tuxedo Kamen. She was alone. It was so hard to let out frustrations when there was no one to let them out to! The combination of confusion, loneliness, and exhaustion left her drowsy, cranky, and constantly unsettled. 'Dammit, Riko! You've got 3 minutes to get here before I come and kick your ass!' ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ As Noriko rushed towards the restaurant, all he could think was, 'She's gonna be _pissed_!' Noriko had taken a nap because he was so tired and had slept right through his alarm. By the time he had woken up, it was time for him to meet Usagi. He threw on some decent clothes, ran a wet hand through his hair, popped some altoids, and was out the door in 8 minutes. When he arrived, he could feel, before he could actually see, Usagi's impatient glare. "NORIKO!" "Usagi," he said breathlessly. "Gomen. I overslept." "It's 1 o'clock!" "I woke up at 2 with a headache and couldn't go back to sleep. I fell asleep at 11. That's why I overslept." Usagi sighed and rolled her eyes before nodding her head towards the entrance. As they were being seated, Usagi asked, "Are you still having trouble sleeping?" "Not really. But I keep having these disturbing dreams . . . nightmares, really." "About what?" she asked as she opened the menu. Noriko hesitated. "I'm not sure." "You mean you don't remember?" "Yeah," he mumbled. "Something like that." Usagi peeked at him curiously over the top of her menu. It wasn't like him to be so vague or to mumble. She cleared her throat. "So, what're you getting?" ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ As they were eating, Usagi asked, "So, are the other guys as bad as you are?" "I'm not sure. I haven't had the chance to talk to any of them lately," he said. 'Which needs to change. We need to figure this out. For the sake of my sanity.' "Have the doctors figured anything out?" For the past 2 weeks, he would pass out at random moments. More than once, he - and the others - had been sent to the hospital for blacking out in public areas. They would wake up with no recollection of what happened. For this reason, it had been recommended that they stop driving and operating machines until they figured out was wrong. Once or twice, they had actually woken up with mysterious bruises or had been sore where they hadn't been before. It was strange and curious. Noriko sighed. "Nope." Usagi pushed the food around on her plate. She frowned slightly. "Do they think they know what it is?" Noriko blew at the strands that had fallen into his eyes and slumped down slightly. "Not really. All they can come up with is that we're having weird reactions to the youma attacks. After each one is when we wake up. They say it might be because we're not used to it. Sounds like bull, if you ask me." Usagi continued to frown. "Not hungry, Usagi?" Noriko asked, noticing her playing with her food. Usagi shook her head. "Hey, you okay?" Usagi nodded, but kept her head bowed. "Usa, what's wrong?" Noriko was now concerned. Kiyoshi had said that she was a little more withdrawn than usual, but this was just getting weird. Usagi took a breath and looked up at him. "I'm just worried about you guys. That's all." Her eyes shimmered slightly. Noriko took her hand. "We're gonna be fine, Usa. If it's not the whole youma thing - and I doubt it is - then the doctors suspect stress or not enough rest." "What about your bruises or the dreams?" "The bruises could be from when we fell unconscious. And . . . umm . . . we didn't tell them about the dreams." "Why not?" "It's just so strange. We don't even remember what they're about, you know? How can they help us with that?" "I guess. But I know from experience, that dreams mean stuff; they affect you." "Personal experience, huh?" Usagi saw his teasing face and smiled slightly. "Yeah. Personal experience." Usagi squeezed his hand and for the briefest of moments, they looked into each other's eyes. Unconsciously, they both leaned forward. They felt they should remember something. A bond. To each other. They felt they should know something. About each other. About the past. They felt déjà vu and then . . . They heard Mamoru's voice. And for that reason, they broke away from the intense gaze. But not before Mamoru noticed the deep gaze they had been engaged in. Usagi looked at Mamoru. He only responded with that cool gaze of his. 'Why does he always have to look so good?' She looked at his companion. It was _the_ girl. Noriko watched Mamoru talk with the waiter. He seemed so familiar. As if he should know him. 'Like with Usa.' With that thought, Noriko looked over at Usagi to see the black-haired man and her stare at each other briefly. 'Do they know each other?' Noriko looked over at Mamoru, though he didn't know why. 'Who is this guy?' The girl Mamoru was with was clearly oblivious to the mounting tension surrounding her. Leaning towards Mamoru, she shared her menu with him. When he did have his own. He lowered his head and smiled at her. 'Hoe.' Usagi swallowed hard. "Usagi, daijoubu?" Usagi was startled out of her thoughts. "Um, yeah. But I need to get going. I've got some stuff to do." "Oh, okay. I'll get the tab this time. I think I owe you some money anyways. Call me later, 'kay?" Usagi nodded quickly. "Arigatou. Ja." She quickly grabbed her back and exited the building. Noriko sat back in his chair. He wondered at the connection he felt with Usagi. He made eye contact with Mamoru and wondered about who he was. Mamoru looked at him unemotionally. Checking him out. 'Who the hell is this fool? Usagi can't be serious!' Just as Noriko was getting up to leave, the bartender raised the volume on the TV. "Special Report! Once again, we are under attack from the resident aliens of Tokyo. A youma has once again appeared and is raiding Samoa Avenue. You are warned to stay indoors until the Sailor Senshi are able to contain the monster. Please, STAY AWAY FROM SAMOA AVENUE!" 'Samoa?' Noriko thought for a minute. 'What's on Samoa? . . . Usagi passes that on her way home!' Noriko ran out the door quickly, hoping to catch Usagi before she became involved with the fight that was sure to occur. As he was running, he was overcome with a throbbing headache. 'God, not now!' The further he ran, the stronger and more painful his headache became. But he refused to stop and rest. Instinct was taking over. He followed it blindly. He saw Usagi ahead of him, looking around and ducking into an alley. He ran towards her. 'She must've heard already. I've got to get her out of here.' He kept running towards the alley and stopped when a bright light emanated from the alley. 'USAGI!' He was 20 feet away when somebody emerged from the shadows. 'Sailor Moon!?!?!' But it couldn't be! Usagi went in and Sailor Moon came out? But that would mean . . . "Omigod," Noriko whispered. His headache increased and he leaned his shoulder against the brick wall for support. Through blurry vision, he saw Sailor Moon attack. The ginzuishou glimmered in the light and caught his eye. Suddenly, he stumbled backwards. He was bombarded by a quick attack of vivid memories. He remembered the Silver Millenium and the attack on the last night. The ginzuishou. Its power. The Dark Kingdom. The brainwashing. The Prince. The others. But he didn't remember Sailor Moon. He didn't understand who she was. But she had to be good. She had the crystal! He also remembered, "Jupiter . . ." With that name on his lips, his eyes rolled back into his head, his legs failed him, and he collapsed into a heap. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Usagi immediately saw the youma as she was passing by. Looking around quickly, she disappeared into the alley and re-appeared as Sailor Moon. She came face-to-face with Medusa. Wings, claws, snake-hair and all. As ugly as ever. Quickly remembering the myth of Medusa, Sailor Moon averted her eyes from the youma's. Using a car as protection, Sailor Moon popped up every now and then to yell, "Moon tiara action!" or "Moon spiral heart attack!" Only the tiaras were effective, cutting off the snake hair. The youma hissed and finally just blew the car away from Sailor Moon. She threw her attack blindly, unsure of whether directly looking at the youma would turn her into stone. The youma threw an attack of snakes at the girl and they wrapped around her to prevent her from moving. Using her tiara, Sailor Moon began to frantically cut them up as the youma walked towards her. Before the youma could reach her, someone from behind held a staff at its neck to prevent if from moving forward. Sailor Moon struggled to sit up and outstretching an arm, had to call, "Moon Spiral Heart Attack," twice before the youma died. That's when she saw the one who had helped her. The red 'Tsukikage no Knight.' He twirled his staff above his head and disappeared into thin air without so much as a glance. Sailor Moon watched dumbfounded and slowly stood up. She turned around to see how much damage had been done. In the process she saw a body on the ground and upon closer investigation, recognized Noriko. She quickly took his pulse, found one, and decided to take him to his apartment. Knowing it would cause too many problems and be too difficult to actually carry him there, Sailor Moon closed her eyes, touched the ginzuishou, and transported herself and Noriko to the apartment. Fortunately, Zared was not there. Sailor Moon managed to drag and lift Noriko's body on the couch. She de-transformed and could do nothing else but wait. She watched him sleep quietly for a while, While she rested and tended to her snakebites. She hoped he was okay. She'd never forgive herself if he wasn't. 'He probably came after me to warn me and got caught in one of the attacks. Always hurting the ones I love. I hate ironies.' ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ He was floating. Seeing everything that Kiyoshi had explained in the dream. Except he didn't see the blonde beauty Kiyoshi had spoken off. He saw blonde hair, but none attracted him easily. The brunette did, though. Brown hair piled on top of her head. Small, cute ears. Long legs. A Grecian nose. He began to stir. Usagi knelt by the couch and rested a hand on his arm. His eyes opened and he focused them on her. "Sailor Moon," he croaked. Usagi was taken aback by the name, but recovered quickly. She half-smiled. "You were lucky. Sailor Moon saved you. She helped me bring you here." "No!" he said, struggling to sit up. Usagi let him and sat back on her heels. "_YOU'RE_ Sailor Moon!" "Noriko . . ." "I saw you Usagi! I _saw_ you! I saw you go into the alley and I watched Sailor Moon come out." Usagi looked down at her lap and watched her fingers intertwine with each other. "Usagi, why didn't you tell me?" "I couldn't. It might've put you in danger." Noriko shook his head. "For how long?" "Since I was 14." "How?" Usagi thought of Luna. "Slightly long story." Noriko racked his brain for another question. He remembered Sailor Jupiter. "Do you know the other senshi?" Usagi nodded hesitantly. "You guys aren't friends?" "We have our differences." "But you know Sailor Jupiter, right?" 'Mako-chan?' "Why?" Usagi asked, slightly suspiciously but more so confused. "Just wondering . . ." Noriko said quietly. "How come nobody can see you? How come every time you fight, people don't recognize you? We see you easily enough, but we can't distinguish who you are?" Usagi shrugged the question off. "Magic." "Usagi . . ." "I'm serious! How else could it be done? It's just some kind of cover-up. How do people not know that Superman is Clark Kent? Because he wears glasses?" Noriko frowned. "I guess . . . How come I saw you today?" "Because you know who I am. We senshi see each other because we know our real identities. We need to be protected from those who don't know. If someone knows, it's kind of pointless, you know?" "What are these differences with the other senshi?" After a pause, Usagi said, "Noriko, you look exhausted and I'm tired. You need time to absorb all this. I need time to think about what I'm gonna do with you. We'll talk tomorrow, okay?" Noriko eventually nodded his head. "Tomorrow. We talk. I mean it Usagi. Everything. You come clean." Usagi nodded affirmatively. "I come clean with _you_, Noriko. Just you. Don't tell the other guys." "Fine." Usagi sighed and stood up. "At the park. Where we usually are. What time do you work?" "I'll tell them I got caught in the attack and can't come in. People have done that before." Usagi nodded her head. "So, at 10?" Noriko nodded his head once. Usagi looked at him for a short moment before turning around and walking out the door. Noriko heard a soft, "Ja," before the door closed. He lay back on the couch and closed his eyes. After a few minutes he decided his bed would be much more comfortable. He swung his feet to the floor and headed for his room. Quickly shutting the door, Noriko climbed under the sheets and lay facedown on his bed, hugging a pillow. 'Usagi is Sailor Moon. _Usagi_ is Sailor Moon. Usagi is _Sailor Moon_!' Repeating the inconceivable thought made Noriko think of all the danger she had had to face, the danger she still faced. He remembered all the times she was fatigued or failed to show at a designated meeting place and time, instead providing a weak and repetitive excuse. He recalled how she attempted to cover her skin by wearing long sleeves in warm weather . . . 'So we wouldn't see she was hurt.' Noriko's head started to spin. Usagi's secretiveness and closed nature began to fall into place. His thoughts about her slowly faded as he was swept into dreams of his own unknown life. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ "Nephrite!" she cries joyously, ignoring the blood on his gray uniform as well as the stains on her own. He sees happiness and joy in her eyes and yet he tries to yell, "NO!" only to fail miserably. He sees himself, or rather Nephrite smile sadistically and gather Jupiter in his arms. They hold each other tightly. Noriko's voice cries out frantically, "STOP!" Nephrite lifts Jupiter's tear-stained face to softly kiss her cheek. As Jupiter nuzzles her face into his neck and holds him tightly, Nephrite's arm raises to reveal a dagger. It gleams brightly in the darkness and again Noriko shouts desperately and in vain, "JUPITER!" Quicker than the eye can see, the dagger is lodged in Jupiter's side. She screams her pain to the world. She clutches at the front of his uniform, gathering it in her fists. "Nephrite . . ." she gasps. Nephrite pushes her away, at the same time that he draws his bloody dagger out of her body. She cries out again in pain and stumbles backwards. She looks up from the ground to see Nephrite smirking down at her. She lets her head fall back on to the ground. 'Why? Why?!' "WHY?!?!?!?" Her agonized scream goes unheard among the other screams of death and battle. She holds her arm against her wound, hugging herself as her body shakes with the sobs that wrack her body. "Nephrite," she whispers heartbreakingly. He looks over at her from where he had briefly commanded youmas. He stands above her fallen body. "Hello, beloved," he mocks. "You don't look too well. Maybe you should rest. Let me assist you," he finishes, lowering to one knee and stroking her cheek slightly. He raises his dagger once again. Jupiter watches in horror as he comes closer to her. Something in her, more in her mind than anything else, causes her body to jerk violently. She thinks she can actually hear Serenity screaming. 'The princess. I have to protect . . . the . . . prin-' By then, Nephrite has already knelt beside her blood-spattered body. She looks into his deep brown eyes once more, and seeing no love or regret or concern or anything of the sort in them closes her own. She feels disgust as he lightly caresses her cheek. 'Jupiter, give me strength.' She concentrates. 'Jupiter Oak Evo-' "AHHHHHHHHHH!!" Nephrite's dagger pierces her heart and she screams in pain. Aloud she cries, "Evolution!" through her tears. Nephrite sits back in surprise as her body begins to glow and roars his own defeat when the light engulfs him, leaving the two for dead among the battlefield turned graveyard. Noriko cannot stand it. "JUPITER!!! NOOO!" His anguished cry is lost among the many others and he wakes up with a start. His legs were tangled in the sheets from kicking them in his sleep. One of his pillows lay on the floor. He ran a hand through his tangled hair and sat up. Still breathing heavily, he looked towards his window and saw the sun setting. 'Z's should be home soon.' He got to his feet unsteadily and headed for the bathroom to take a shower. Already, he sensed the sleepless night that lay ahead of him. ~ ~ ~ End ~ ~ ~ Author's Notes: Stop! Stop! *dodges rotten tomatoes* I'm sorry! I'm sorry! *ducks behind monitor* Let me *puts hands up in front of face* explain. *ducks* It's not *gets grazed by something, looks like lettuce* MY FAULT!!! *abruptly flying vegetables cease. expectant impatience fills air* It's not my fault, not really anywayz. *armed arms (get it? yeah, I didn't think so *sigh*) raise threateningly. hurriedly speaking* See, I sent this thing in 4 weeks ago but it wasn't posted, so I thought I had missed the deadline and it would be posted the week after. But it wasn't - obviously. So, I sent it in on a Thursday, so I would be sure not to miss the deadline, but as you see, that didn't work out to well either. I guess my attachments haven't been working, and I don't know why. So, I sent the attachments to my sister's email and it worked just fine. So there I was, crossing my fingers and hoping it would work. But crossing my fingers obviously didn't work, cuz here I am, again adding to this already incredibly long author's notes! I'm really, really sorry!! Onto the real author's notes: A lot of you emailed me telling me that the chapters were short but what bugged you more was the fact that I left a lot of cliffhangers. So, while I work on extending the length of my chapters, I'll try not to leave you guys hanging as much, k? Is this chapter considered long enough? I was originally going to end it when Sailor Moon came out of the alley, but in an attempt to please all of you, I doubled the length. =) See how much I care about you guys? (What? My attempt at sucking up is _not_ working? Ahhh . . . what else is new?) And although I know it's really going to annoy some of you, I don't plan on extending the end of chapter 5. I know, I know: How could I do that, right? It's one of those things you have to remember later on. Sorry. *dodges more of the rotten veggies* One more thing guys, if you haven't read 'Letters' yet, please read it, if you have the time. There's a revised version I'm posting (or attempting to post) this week. I'd like to know what you think of it. There's also 'Games,' which is in the library. They're both one-parters and not very long. Check out one or the other or both if you have the time, por favor! As long as my email doesn't screw up (again), Chapter 7 should be out next week. It's done, but I don't want to send in two chapters - especially since they're so much longer now. So, make sure to come back next week!!! One more thing: I have been emailing ALMOST EVERYONE who has emailed me about the story. IF you did not receive an email reply, I apologize. It only proves that it really hasn't been working. To Sailor Angel: I hope you _did_ get my email. There were a few impt comments I had. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think! Ja! HoNeY Hnymustd@hotmail.com 07/12/00