Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Unexpected Seasons. ❯ Weathering the storm. ( Chapter 8 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

"I'm not like any other children I can hardly make a friend that's why I hold onto the ones I do have so hard and why I got along so well with Helios because he's like me"
"Well, I think its time to get back to training. I mean, you did say there was evil coming didn't you?" Gohan said this, after seeing a questioning look on the face of a certain classmate of his who had been listening all of this time. "It's obvious that Mamoru will take care of Usagi," he frowned when he heard Minako snicker, "and you aren't getting any stronger by sitting here, gossiping." He looked at his dad, who immediately smiled and joined the conversation.
"Yeah! How are you guys supposed to be able to spar with us if you can't fly yet? I was hoping you would all be ready to fight within a week, but you haven't even begun to hover with distractions yet look at the way you all fell when Videl showed up Let's get back to work, okay?" And so all those still there sat back down and worked.

When Usagi and Mamoru left

"Usako! Wait!" He watched as her steps slowed, then stopped altogether, and he hurried to catch up with her. "Are you alright?" He had caught up with her and, noticing the tear tracks on her face, pulled her into his arms. She moved her head against him in a nod, and then pulled away to look up at him.
"Mamo-chan, is Rei right? Am I dumb?" Her eyes were opened wide and filled with pain and tears.
"What?" This surprised him. "You're taking something that Rei the Antagonist said seriously? You know that she isn't being serious! She's only tough on you to get you to better yourself! You know that she's not serious and you know that you aren't dumb!" He held her, then smiled as a thought came to him. He sat down, pulling her with him, and they stayed quiet that way for a few minutes. Suddenly, he pulled away to kneel in front of her, and changed himself into Endymion. "My Princess, it is obvious that you are sad today. How about I carry you the rest of the way to the house and we sit, watch TV, and eat popcorn for the rest of the afternoon in an effort to cheer you up?" He held out his hand and a rose appeared there.
She giggled and nodded, turning herself into Serenity, knowing that if anyone could cheer her up, it would be him. She felt herself being lifted into his arms, and knew that she'd been right to pick him so long ago.

Back in the clearing next to Goku's house

All of the Senshi gasped as the felt the Prince and Princess's energy emerge, their clothes turning into prince or princess outfits immediately. The Z fighters looked up in surprise and asked what was going on.
"Usagi and Mamoru are in their royalty forms. Therefore, so are we." Saekos voice traveled quietly over the clearing. "I don't think there is danger guys. I think Prince Endymion was just cheering Princess Serenity up."
Minako smiled. "Yes, he was. Aww that was so romantic We won't be bothering them, got it?

That night

All of the Senshi walked up to the house they were sharing, and were amazed to find Usagi and Mamoru curled up on the couch, watching a movie, munching on popcorn.
"Have you guys been here all night? Just sitting here, watching TV?" Chibi-Usa asked this. She wasn't really surprised, because this is what they normally did in the future when they had time.
Usagi grinned and nodded. "I haven't felt this relaxed since I dunno when." She looked up at her Mamo-chan, smiling. "He calmed me down." Said boyfriend looked back down at her.
"Usako, maybe its time for me to go to bed I plan on taking the rest of the guys, and pushing most of the girls to their own rooms as well." He smiled slightly. "The only one left will be the one who needs to talk to you." He then got up, grabbed Chibi-Usa and Chibi-Chibi, and started forcing everyone but Rei towards the stairs. Everyone got the hint and walked up, leaving Rei and Usagi alone together.
"Usagi," Rei started. "I want to apologize to you. I didn't really mean what I said earlier-"
Usagi cut her off. "Rei, I shouldn't have gotten so mad earlier. I was just so fed up with the way everyone just assumes I don't know anything, or I'm not capable of understanding. I am capable of a lot; I just need to be helped a little. Luckily Mamo-chan noticed that. Your comment just sent me over the top, I guess."
Rei looked surprised. "We don't think that. We just act like we do, because that's what we've always thought you wanted us to believe. I mean, you act it, so we act it. We all know you could do better, but we figured you didn't want to. Of course, Ami looked a little hurt that Mamoru could do what she couldn't, and get you to study and get better grades" She stopped there, not knowing what else to say.
"Okay, how about we agree not to assume anything anymore? Does that sound fair?" Usagi smiled. She had always known that, in the back of her mind, but hadn't really let herself believe it. When she saw Rei nod with relief obvious in her features and eyes, she relaxed, and then processed the last of what Rei had said. "Did I really hurt Ami's feelings? I hope not. I didn't mean to" Her eyes widened a bit, and she got a worried look. "I had better go up and talk to her then, shouldn't I?" She gets up and walks towards the stairs, but stops to hug Rei first. "Let's not fight like that anymore, okay? We can argue like normal, but lets not get so mad or maybe I should say that I shouldn't get so mad Anyway, I'm going to go talk to my favorite female genius now" And with that, she walked up the stairs, leaving Rei to stare after her in surprise from her maturity.
Usagi walked into Ami's room and saw the girl sitting at the desk, reading a book. Only one tiny detail kept this scene from looking real She wasn't wearing her reading glasses. "Ami"
The blue-haired girl jumped when she heard her friend's voice. She set her book down and looked up at the blonde. She concealed most of the hurt in her blue eyes, but couldn't hide all of it. "Yes, Usagi?"
"I'm sorry."
Ami looked surprised. "Sorry? For what?"
"For hurting your feelings. I know that when you tried so hard to teach me, but it ended up only confusing me more, it must have hurt. Then when Mamo-chan taught me, and it was so much easier, I was so proud of myself. I thought that I would finally be able to understand you when you talk about stuff now. But I guess I forgot about how it would hurt you to see someone else able to teach me. I'm sorry Ami, I didn't mean to hurt you, but Mamo-chan just used smaller words at first, which made it easier to understand. He understood that I needed help with the little stuff so that I could understand the big stuff You, well, you talked as if I already understood the little stuff. You didn't do it on purpose, but it's just that you are so smart, you expect everyone else to know the basics, or what you consider the basics. It's actually a compliment really" She sighed, and laughed at herself a little. "I'm not doing a great job of apologizing am I?"
Ami spoke up then. "Not really. But you are helping me to comprehend what I was doing. You are right. I was expecting you to know things you didn't." Sigh. "I guess I won't be going into teaching will I?" She began to laugh lightly as she could practically see the sweat drop appear over Usagi's head.
"Just kidding. I understand, and I accept your apology." In a lower voice, "Now, what should we do about the people who are standing outside the door listening to us?"
Usagi smiled back at her friend. She hadn't seen this playful side of her often, and enjoyed it while she could. "I've got an idea, but its risky" She whispered back. She told Ami her plan, who nodded vigorously and grinned mischievously. They jumped out the window, landing gently on the grass below, and before sneaking back inside, Ami transformed to Sailor Mercury.
"They are being awfully quiet in there" Makoto whispered quietly. "Do you think they know we're out here?"
Just then, the two crept up behind the others, and everyone squealed as Mercury doused them with cold water.
"Yep," Rei said in a loud voice as she wrung her hair out. "They know."
Mercury and Usagi burst into giggle fits, surprising everyone there even more. Mercury, being the mature one out of the two, stopped laughing first and got up to detransform. "I am sorry you guys, but you really shouldn't be listening in on other peoples' private conversations"
Usagi's giggles had subsided, and she got up slowly. "You should see the way you guys look and the looks on your faces when she splashed you were priceless" She laughed a little more, but only lightly this time. "Next time you wont be so eager to spy on us, will you?"
Everyone grumbled, but went to their rooms knowing that they had deserved that.

At the cave

"Hey there little one. What's the matter, huh buddy?" Akira picked up his son and cooed to him. "I bet I know what it is You are hungry again, aren't you?" When the boy stopped crying and looked up at his dad with interest in his eyes, Akira smiled and looked at his wife. "I don't know how it happened, but somehow these kids inherited their Auntie Usagi's stomach"
Saeko smiled and took her son, handing Akira their daughter in exchange. "Yes, well, that could be it or it could be the fact that I ate nothing while in the coffin They are probably just making up for those months of not eating. Although they got the proper nutrition, they still came out hungry for food." Saeko watched as her husband rocked Nyoko to sleep and grinned. "You are a great daddy so far, darling." She looked down at her son when she noticed that he was no longer hungry, and sighing, began to clean up. She got up, put him in his crib, which Akira had made while she'd been asleep, and then moved back to let Akira do the same with Tamakazu. She helped tuck them both in, then moved to the bed. "Goodnight." She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, and Akira soon followed her lead.

At Goku's house

Goku, Chichi, and Gohan sat up watching TV. Goten had gone home with Trunks' family to stay overnight, since there was no school the next day. They were watching the news, which told them nothing important, and talking about the events of the day. Chichi, ever the mom who wants her son to be a genius, exclaimed over how far Ami was ahead of her class, which lead to how she thought Gohan should push up his studies more. Gohan distracted her with thoughts that maybe the Senshi who were in school should be going to school while they were here, which got Goku involved, saying that he thought they should stay where they were to concentrate on their fighting.
"But Dad, they are going to be here for five years! I don't care that they will only be gone for a few weeks their time, but if they are trapped here training all that time, they are going to feel cooped up, and really bored. They should at least have something else to do."
"You heard what Usagi said earlier about Ami's studies getting too far ahead, didn't you? If that is true for her, won't it be true for the others as well? They will be too far in advance in their time by the time they go back."
"Someone is going to notice that a bunch of teenagers are staying here with no parents, and not being enrolled in school. What do you think will happen if that occurs? We will get in trouble, not to mention they will all be separated and might not be able to get in touch with Setsuna until much later, ruining their chances for getting all of that training done. I think-"
Goku cut him off with a nod and a few spoken words. "All right. We'll ask Usagi what she thinks they should do in the morning."
The TV had been forgotten, but a sudden news bulletin about a storm headed their way startled them enough to get them to listen. It was a very formidable looking storm, which warranted immediate action. Someone called the Senshi to let them know, and someone told Saeko, Akira, and the babies the news, offering a room at the house, which was declined a few moments of deliberation later. Everyone settled down to weather the storm, and in the morning all was clear again.

The next morning Sunday.

When everyone had gathered to start working on his or her energy control, Goku approached the diminutive teenage girl who had turned out to be the leader of the Senshi with a slight hesitation, seeing her grumpy attitude. He knew how grumpy women could be, and didn't like approaching them. But, once Gohan had gotten his point across the night before, Chichi had deemed that he was right, and he had been forced to agree. He could just hear Vegita now. 'Imagine, one of the strongest warriors in the universe being forced to talk to a little girl by his woman!' Oh well, it can't be changed now. "Usagi, Mamoru, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something" When they looked up and smiled at him, he continued. "Gohan said that all of you might get bored stuck here all this time with nothing to do but train, so he suggested something. Chichi agrees with him, and I was forced- I mean, elected to approach you with the idea."
Usagi giggled slightly, her bedside manner improving more by the moment. "We're listening Goku What is it that your wife and son insisted you talk to us about?"
"Erm, well They seem to think that your going to school while you are here would be a good distraction from just training here all of the time." Goku braced himself and waited for an explosion that actually never came, and saw that a light had come on in the eyes of both them. "If you like the idea, just tell us and we will see to getting all of you enrolled in a school close by" He walked away then, knowing they would need time to think it over.
"Usako, I think it's a great idea. Not only for just the ones of us still in school, but for the Seasonals and Kurohyou, who will be bored also. Plus, this dimension is slightly ahead of us in the technology department, which means it will be the same with everything else. If we could learn any of that and take it back home, it would help a lot."
"But Mamo-chan! I don't want to have to go to school for five years here, then go to school at home as well!" She said this with a bit of a whine in her voice, but in the back of her mind a voice whispered that it could be good to do that. Mamoru backed up that voice with his next few sentences.
"Yes, but think. If you learned everything here, in an advanced world, and then went back already knowing everything that they are teaching, you would be able to sleep during those lessons at home. That would probably scare that Ms. Haruna lady you are always telling me about, if you knew everything without paying attention to her." He saw the gleam in her eyes and knew she was enjoying that thought. He almost had her convinced Just one more bit ought to do it. 'But what should I use?' You could practically see the wheels turning in his head for a moment, until they were replaced with a light bulb. "Plus, if you did even better at home because of this, your parents would believe you were more responsible, and probably let you come out with me more often." Well, that was that.
She let out a squeal. "Really? All right! Let's get to it. We've got to tell the others, and see what they think. I know Ami will definitely be all for it, but I don't know about any of the others." She pulled him towards where the rest of the Senshi were, but stopped abruptly. "Wait, we shouldn't interrupt them while they are training, should we?"
He shook his head. "We should wait until lunch. That way everyone will hear about it." He grinned at the face she made when she thought about lunch, and her response to what he'd just said. They returned their concentration to their energy exercises, and waited until they could talk to the others.

Lunchtime, 3 hours later

Everyone sat down for lunch and started arguing about which person had gotten the farthest in training, with no one really being able to claim he or she was actually the winner. Usagi smiled, happy that for once it wasn't her arguing with Rei. 'Wait a minute, come to think of it, Rei and I haven't really been fighting a lot Only two that I can remember since this whole Seasonal Senshi bit began Rei must have other stuff on her mind Back to business Usa!' With that last order to herself, she cleared her throat to get everyone's attention (which worked). "Um, guys? Think we can argue later? I want to ask you a question." All of the Senshi looked up at her and nodded slowly. "Ok, I want to know what you guys think of enrolling in a school while we're here. That way, we can keep up with our studies and we won't be bored doing nothing all day around here. Ami can keep up with her studies like she always does," Ami nodded and smiled at Usagi when she said that. "Seiya, Taiki, and Yaten will be able to study without having to worry about love-crazed fans because nobody knows them here," This got the boys attention and they sighed in relief, then nodded as well. " A nd everyone will get a chance to make new friends." Makoto grinned at the thought of making some new male friends, and the rest just looked a bit thoughtful and happy about the thought of not going through all the time they would be there without any outside contact. "I talked to Goku a few minutes before lunch, and he said that Gohan's school would probably welcome the smart students among us, and accept everyone else as well." Here is where Usagi smiled wickedly and turned back into herself. "Plus, can you imagine the look on Ms. Haruna's face if I came into class and knew everything before she taught it? It would so be worth suffering through twice as much school!" Everybody who knew Ms. Haruna laughed, and the others just smiled, getting the general idea.
Mamoru spoke up now. "I agree with Usagi. I think it would be good to learn everything we can while we're here, and not just fighting techniques. We should try to feed our minds as much information as we can. We could even learn about the technology here, since it is so much more advanced than ours, and take it back with us. I'm sure I would enjoy knowing something even the top scientists in our dimension don't, even if we never use it. Considering the way Pluto is about us learning about the future, I don't think she'd let us show what we learned here to anyone there." He smiled at that. "She'd probably even destroy whatever we took back with us before she'd let us tell people about it. Anyway, what does everyone think? Stay here and train all the time and possibly die of boredom, or go to school, learn what we can, and make new friends?" He looked at the others, then at Usagi, and waited for answers.
Everyone said yes, and Ami waited until everyone stopped talking again to say her piece. "I'm all for it. I would love to see what technologies there are here, and I need to keep up with my studies. Of course, what Usagi said before holds true... If we learn everything we will be studying at home here, we still would not be finished there and have to keep going through school. Is everyone willing to go through that?
Akino and the other Seasonals had kept quiet until now. All of them had already graduated, and Kurohyou had learned everything that Sayuki had while being inside of her mind. But Akino decided something and asked the others about it. "Do you think that you might want to take some college courses?" The others looked at her, then nodded. They wanted the same thing. They knew it would be boring to sit around here doing nothing but train. Usagi heard this conversation and looked at Goku questioningly.
Goku saw her look and had heard the Seasonals. "Yes, I think that there is a college close to the high school that everyone could go to. Gohan would know more about it than I would, since I don't travel into that city that often. And if the high school and college are reluctant to let you in without your information, I'm sure a few words from Hercule will change their minds..." The Senshi all looked confused about this statement, but said nothing. "Anyway, I'm sure you could all find something you would like to learn at the college. Even if you don't use what you learn here when you go back home, you wouldn't technically have been wasting your own time, just ours."
So it was decided. Everyone would go into the city where Gohan went to school tomorrow, and enroll wherever they needed to. That done, everyone, wanting to be able to fly tomorrow, finished lunch and worked on their energy control.
Goten asked if he could go with them tomorrow and get dropped off at Trunks' house, and was told that he could. He began to plan what to take, including a certain yellow cloud that he would ride in on.
Everyone was able to fly by the end of the day, if a little slowly.