Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Knight for Neptune ❯ Chapter 10

Rating: PG

Notes/Foreword: I use one made-up character in the story, Taylor. Taylor's original appearance was in my first fanfic, "A Knight for Uranus." After that, he started making at least some appearances in most of my Sailor Moon stories. During Silver Millennium, Taylor was one of the guardians of Princess Uranus. They began to fall in love with each other, but the relationship was cut off when Taylor had to leave to protect Queen Serenity and Sailor Uranus was forbidden to leave her post. This was the last she saw of him until both of them were reborn in present time. Soon after meeting Haruka, Taylor recovered his memories and they fell in love once again. Taylor is carefree and easy-going when he's civilian (he usually lets Haruka have her way whenever she wants). As a fighter, he is highly determined and won't go down easy. His major purpose is to help Sailor Uranus upgrade, but this only works for short intervals, like when Super Sailor Moon used the grail to upgrade. He has brown hair, hazel eyes, and enjoys watching races (go figure,) reading, and fishing.

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A Knight for Neptune: Chapter 10
by Katrina Kadabra

Neptune walked nervously up to the city park. She could sense the enemy's presence strongly here. And surprisingly, except for a few squirrels and birds that walked along the path, the place was empty. Neptune tightened her grip on the Aqua Mirror, glancing around her, ready for any kind of attack.

"I know you're here..." she whispered quietly. "So why don't you come out?" Inside, Neptune felt a bit guilty for running off and not saying anything. But if she had told Haruka where she was going, her companion would no doubt want to come with her, and that was something Michiru could not allow. Just once, she wanted to fight on her own. Once she proved to herself she could do it, things could go back to the way they were. And wouldn't everyone be so shocked that she beat the enemy on her own? "I can do it..." Neptune told herself firmly. "I know I can."

"Well, look who it is!" rang out a hauntingly familiar voice. Neptune whirled around to see the same girl who had attacked them at the dance standing in front of her. Eos. But something was different this time. She had a new kind of power inside of her, a cold power.

"Fancy seeing you here," Eos teased. "Aren't you going to run away again?"

"I don't run away," Neptune said firmly with even a touch of anger. "Now are you going to fight me or not?"

"Anxious to battle are we?" Eos asked. "It that because you really want to defend your planet? Or can you just not stand the thought of your allies finding their knights and not you?" Eos' words stung hard at Neptune's heart. How did this witch even know anything about the knights? But Neptune didn't care about that right now. She lifted her hand as a large ball of blue water formed.

"Deep Submerge!" she yelled out. The attack blasted through the air, heading straight at Eos. But to Neptune's shock the girl didn't move. She simply stood still and when the attack came near, she held out her hands in front of her, forming a strong barrier that averted the attack and left her unharmed.

"You'll have to do a lot better than that," she said. Neptune scowled. It looked like she had no other options. She held out the talisman she had been keeping with her and called on its power.

"Submarine reflection!" As Neptune had suspected, Eos made a grab for her weapon as well, the red mirror. Except that it wasn't ready anymore, this time it was jet black.

"Shadow reflection!" she called out and a blast of light collided with Neptune's. Neptune gasped in shock. The two attacks had cancelled each other out. Eos looked a bit steamed, apparently she didn't expect Neptune's power to be that strong.

But whatever her worries were, Eos did show them. She simply prepared herself for another attack. This time she ran towards Neptune, fiercely calling on her power.

"Shadow Reflection!" Neptune was shocked by Eos' aggressiveness, but managed nevertheless to side-step the attack.

Suddenly, Eos vanished from view. Neptune looked helplessly around her. Where was she? The answer came when a sharp blow hit Neptune on the back of the head. The senshi fell forwards, skinning her elbows a bit, but otherwise uninjured. The Aqua Mirror was at her feet.

Neptune glanced up, her head throbbing in pain. Eos stood above her, a look a pure evil steamed across her face. Neptue grunted and tried to reach for her weapon, but Eos pushed her foot down hard, right onto the senshi's wrist. Neptune screamed in pain.

"You fool," Eos said. "You really thought you were a match for me?" She reached down and picked up the mirror at Neptune's feet. "This is a nice little keepsake, maybe I can get Cin to transfer its power to me, wouldn't that be grand?" Neptune did not answer. She could not. She could not do anything expect turn her face down in defeat. Frustrated, Eos gave Neptune a swift kick to the chin, and the girl fell backwards. She didn't try to move.

"Time to finish this," Eos spat. She held up her dark mirror and prepared herself for the final attack.

"Shadow Reflection!" The black ray of energy came forth on Eos' call.

This is it, Neptune thought to herself. I'm going to die. Nathan... Haruka... forgive me. But suddenly, just before the blast made contact, a figure stepped in between taking the blunt of the hit full force and shield Neptune from harm. Eos looked up in shock - who would be foolish enough to step right in front of her blast?

"Nathan!" Neptune screamed in horror when the light had cleared. And it was Nathan. Weakly he opened his eyes, and looked up at Neptune, somehow managing to force her a weak smile.

"Are you okay... Michiru?" he asked.

"Nathan..." Michiru forced herself up and ran to Nathan's side, falling onto her knees as she reached him. This was the last person she'd want to see hurt for her. She wanted to hold him, but his skin was badly burned and she was afraid she would only cause more pain. Instead, the tears started streaming from her eyes.

"How did you know...?" she asked.

"Haruka told me," he whispered. "About Sailor Neptune... and the knights..." He struggled for the next breath. "Michiru, you're a strong fighter no matter what. I always have faith in your power. But please, whatever you do, don't get yourself hurt. I don't think I could stand to see that..."

"Silly," Neptune said through her tears, trying to force a smile. "You're the one who's hurt." She reached up and gently stroked Nathan's cheek with her finger. "I'm going to have to yell at Haruka, you know. She can never keep a secret."

Nathan didn't answer, but he did reach his up hand and hold Neptune's palm against his cheek, which only made her cry more. Why? Why had she done it? She'd gone off on her own, against an enemy that was far more powerful. She should have been killed in that blast, and here Nathan, who didn't even have any powers of his own, was injured for her. Neptune would have done anything to reverse their positions right now.

Neptune gasped. She suddenly felt Nathan's hand falling limp in her own. No... this couldn't happen.

"Michiru..." he whispered. "I want you to know... I... I..."

"I love you, Nathan," Neptune blurted out. She couldn't believe she just did. But the feelings were true. Underneath all the anger and jealously, in her time she spent with Nathan, a warm light was beginning to grow in her heart. Only now did she have the strength to bring it to the surface. On Neptune's words, Nathan smiled broadly, as if all his injuries were worth it just to hear those words.

"I love you too, Michiru," he said, with a small laugh. "Geez, you don't know how long I've wanted to say that." The laugh suddenly turned to a harsh cough. Nathan's strength was leaving him, and quickly.

"Nathan!" Neptune yelled. "Please, you can't leave me now!" He didn't respond, his body was still struggling to keep consciousness, but it was losing the battle. "Please..." Neptune whispered, and brought her lips in towards his. The moment they touched, Nathan's body suddenly let off a bright green glow. The blast startled Neptune at first, but she held strong, pressing her lips ever closer against his. As she did, the green light engulfed her body as well. Eos gulped nervously and stepped back. These two... it couldn't be.

Neptune slowly opened her eyes. They were surrounded by waves of blue and green light, as if under the ocean, but there was no water. She looked across from her to see Nathan standing there, his injuries healed, but also, he was wearing a much different attire.

"Nathan," she whispered, as she touched his shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes, their deep blue passion staring up at her.

"Michiru," he said, then he glanced around. "Where are we?" As he turned his face, Neptune thought he saw something, some kind of greenish mark on his forehead.

"Come here," she whispered. He turned back towards her. Taking his chin gently in her hand, she brushed away his white-blonde hair to reveal a glowing green trident etched on his skin. "The symbol..." she gasped. At that moment, the vague surroundings began to fade, leaving the two of them standing back in the park. Neptune looked down at her own outfit to see it had changed - to that of an Eternal Sailor Soldier. And next to her was Nathan, dressed in a brilliant green and blue armor, and looking rather handsome, if Michiru said so herself.

"It was you the whole time," she whispered, embracing his warm body. "You were my knight."

Nathan wasn't quite sure how to react, but apparently it was true. He could feel the power of Sailor Neptune's planet within him, their hearts bonded with a strong passion unlike anything they had felt before.

"My princess..." he whispered, kissing her soft green hair. "I've finally found you."

"Oh, this is just too cute!" said a familiar voice. Neptune looked up to see Eternal Sailor Uranus along with Knight Uranus standing on the hillside. The two jumped down and ran up to the scene.

"So I see you found your knight?" Sailor Uranus asked casually with a broad smile on her face.

"You always interrupt my special moments, don't you?" Neptune asked, a bit irritated, but nevertheless happy to see her friend here. Uranus reached out and placed a reassuring hand on Neptune's shoulder.

"You shouldn't ever feel like you have to fight alone," she said. "No matter what happens, I'm always at your side."

"I know," said Neptune, drying a tear from her eye.

"What do you say?" Uranus asked. "Shall we take care of this punk?" Neptune smiled and nodded.

"Yes. Let's do it." The two friends stood back to back, each holding her respective weapon with utmost confidence. There was no need to hesitate now, Neptune told herself. She had both her knight and her dearest friend here at her side. Both of them cared deeply for her, she could sense their power, just the way she always had, in times long ago.

"Planet Neptune," Nathan whispered. "Please lend your power to the talisman. Give my princess the power to protect us." His hand shot forward, and Neptune's mirror began to glow. But instead of giving off a blast of power as she expected it too, the item began to morph, changing its shape in a while light until it was no longer a hand mirror, but a beautiful crystal violin. An accompanying bow appeared in Neptune's hand. Neptune gasped. Was this her new power? Almost instinctively, Neptune brought the bow to the instrument's strings and began to play, sending out a wave of powerful energy as she did.

"Submarine Violin Tide!" she yelled out.

"Uranus Space Turbulence!" thundered Uranus' voice at almost the same moment. The two attacks made their way straight for Eos, combining together just before impact. The villainess tried to hold up her own mirror to reflect the attack, but the blow was far too great, and the glass shattered. Then the attack overtook Eos and she vanished from sight.

At the same moment, a flash of light erupted from the water mirror that Cin was gazing into, completely enveloping her. She screamed out in pain, but by the time her mistress came running, she was no more.

"Cin! Cin!" Garnet yelled, but the room was empty and there was no answer. Garnet ran over to the mirror and saw Uranus and Neptune standing there, their knights alongside them. Then the water became distorted, showing nothing but Garnet's own reflection.

"Those brats!" she growled. "They took my two best warriors! They are not getting away with this!" With that, she vanished.

Neptune fell to the ground, quite exhausted, but very pleased with herself. Her uniform morphed back to a Super Sailor's, and her crystalline violin became a mirror again. Uranus morphed herself back as well, her sword going back to a more normal size. She placed a comforting hand on Neptune's shoulder and helped her to her feet.

"You did an awesome job," she said. "I mean it. Both of you." Uranus glanced over at Nathan, who was beaming like a child at Christmas as he took Michiru in his arms. But the moment of peace was not to last. The air was suddenly filled with a fiery anger, the clouds darkened, and in a blast of lightning, another woman appeared before the group. This one was dressed similarly to Eos, only she had red hair and armor, and her expression did not look at all careless.

"I never thought you would get so far," she spat. "Destroying my two best warriors... as well as my water mirror. But I won't let anything stand in my way. You are all going to pay for this. My name is Garnet." She took a step forward and Neptune felt her body tense with fear. The energy emanating from this girl was even more powerful than Eos, from Garnet's talk, she must have been her leader. And now they had to face her? The situation was not looking too promising.

"I don't think I have the strength in me to power-up again," she whispered to Uranus as she held her knight's arm tightly.

"I know what you mean," Uranus muttered back. "But we have to do something, or she'll kill us."

"Don't worry," Nathan whispered, holding Michiru closer to him. "No matter what happens, I will protect you."

Neptune nodded and stood firm, ready to defend herself if she had to. Garnet held her hands together and yelled out, "Dark Lightning!" as a blast of black and red fire formed in her hands. Neptune closed her eyes, preparing for the worst, but suddenly as Garnet released the attack, Neptune felt another blast of energy coming from behind her, this one a warm and caring familiar light.

"Crystal Power Kiss!" The two attacks impacted with each other and dissipated. Neptune gasped and opened her eyes. She was alive.

"Attacking our friends? I just can't allow that!" Sailor Moon announced, walking up to the scene with her four allies and Tuxedo Mask at her side. "I don't know who you are or why you keep attacking us, but it's going to end here!" The Inner Knights appeared behind their princesses, as if just to annunciate Sailor Moon's seriousness. But Garnet only laughed.

"So... Moon Princess, keeper of the Silver Crystal. Thank you so much for saving me the trouble of looking for you."

"You will not beat us!" Sailor Moon announced. "Now or ever!" She turned to her friends. "Everyone," she said. "If we combine our power into one Sailor Planet attack, I think we can win." The senshi all looked doubtful at first but with an enemy as powerful as the one they were facing, it seemed there was little choice. While Garnet watched skeptically, they all gathered in a circle, including Uranus and Neptune, though Neptune had some doubts her power could be of help. Still, she would try her best for her friends. And her knight.

Sailor Moon began the power up, together with Tuxedo Mask. Each of the inner senshi and their knights followed in turn.

"Silver Moon Power!"

"Mercury Crystal Power!"

"Mars Crystal Power!"

"Venus Crystal Power!"

"Jupiter Crystal Power!"

As the couples called on their respective planet's Neptune felt some new kind of power run through her, but she couldn't tell anything for sure. That and there were more important things at hand right now. She gripped Nathan's hand.

"Uranus Planet Power!"

"Neptune Planet Power!" Everyone closed their eyes, hair and cloth whipping in the wind with the power that surrounded them. This was it.

"Sailor Planet Ultimate Attack!" The energy of the seven girls and their knights combined into one huge blast, hitting Garnet head-on and turning her to dust. Neptune thought she heard one last cry of "You'll pay for this!" but then there was silence. Garnet was defeated.

The light faded and everyone reverted back to their earth forms, tired but proud.

"Hey... our transformation pens changed," Haruka observed. She pulled out her pen to see it held a crystal heart on the top, with the emblem of her planet encompassed by a star inside. The other girls took out their pens to see the same thing had happened. With perfect timing as usual, Luna walked up to the group to offer an explanation.

"Through combining your power, your energy has expanded, and now you can transform into Eternal Sailor Senshi at will," she said. "Keep your knights by your side, and they will give you even more power to protect this world." She turned towards Michiru... "Now, Neptune..."

"Luna," Michiru said quickly. "I'm sorry. I acted very foolish, running out on my comrades like that. I almost cost us the entire battle."

"Don't apologize," Luna said. "It wasn't entirely you. Artemis and I were doing some research. It seems Eos and Garnet had a third ally, called Cin. Her evil energy was enunciating your fears and doubts about the absence of your knight. Because of this, it was more difficult for Nathan to awaken, and thus your fears were confirmed." She walked up to the new couple. "But despite all this, both of you have come through the trial brilliantly. I must say I'm impressed."

Nathan smiled and put his arm around Michiru. At first, Michiru was surprised, she even blushed a little. This new feeling she had been waiting for so long, was finally here. And it felt wonderful. She leaned her head onto Nathan's shoulders, feeling his power and love for her. And her heart returned the same. All the doubts, anger, frustration that she had harbored in herself melted away at Nathan's embrace.

"I could get used to this knight thing," she thought as her lips found his, and in one brief moment, sealed their passion forever.

Author's Notes: Long ending chapter, I know. I really did consider breaking this up into two chapters, but it just seemed like it would be dragging the storyline on when it didn't need to be. So what did you think? This was my first Michiru-centered story, and I really did try to make it more her tale than Haruka's. (It was so hard!) Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with it, though I think there's some parts that could have been improved. Not the least of which would have been more timely updating, and I'm very sorry to everyone who had to put up with the long waits. Classes really took a toll on me this time, and I had to cut back on a lot of my normally fun activities to get work in. Another thing is that I think I just plain started posting too early. Normally I have the stories almost finished by the time I get to posting them. "Knight for Neptune" was only part-way done when I started. But live and learn, right?

So now Michiru's got her knight. Nathan's a lot quieter than Taylor, but he's got his good points. He always thinks things through, and he's very passionate about Michiru, despite his shyness around her at first. Maybe now that they're dating, Michiru can help cure some of that. :) I have a few new fanfics that should be coming up soon, some Sailor Moon in which Nathan may make a second appearance, but also some other series too. I like to keep variety, in both my fanfic writing and my original writing. Otherwise I get predictable. (As if this story wasn't predictable… *Sweatdrop*)

BTW, If anyone is interested, I have also gotten to launch my new website, Katrina's Forest: (www.katrinasforest.com). This is a site of my original work only, some of which you can see on FictionPress.net, but most of it is newer stuff that I won't be posting on FictionPress for a while. Anyways, enjoy. As always, thank you for reading my work and giving me feedback. It always means so much!

-Katrina ^_^