Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ ABSENCE: May the Farce be with you! ❯ Get Back to Where You Once Belonged ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter Five: Get Back to Where You Once Belonged

That night, Rei Hino slept quietly but uncomfortably. She had a strange dream where she was in her uncle's house in the country, and she was going downstairs for some reason or another, but found Usagi down there playing mindlessly with some action figures. She had no idea what the dream meant, other than that it was time to change the carbon monoxide detector in the room, and woke up soon after the dream ended. It was 2:42 a.m., and Rei was a mess.

"Ughn… weird dream…" she murmured to herself. It was painful to keep her eyes open at first, and they burned slightly as she laid there in her bed. Around 2:46, when her eyes softened to the point of being able to look again, Rei Hino had yet another bizarre dream, but this one happened while she was still awake. From out of the darkness in her room, a ghastly image of a specter appeared, wailing and waving its ghostly arms in the air.

"Ebenezer Scrooge… Ebenezer Scrooooge!!"

"Wh… who are you? W-what do you want?" asked Rei as she sat up in bed. The ghost wailed again as it floated closer to her.

"Don't yooooou recognize meeeee?"

"…Should I?"

"I'm your old paaartnerrr, Jacob Maaaarley!" wailed the ghost. Rei shook her head.

"Nope, doesn't ring a bell."

"Awww, come on!!" Rei's violet eyes burned at the ghost, glaring at it angrily for disturbing her sleep.

"Listen, I've had a really rough day, and I haven't been sleeping well, either! Why did you come to me, you stupid spirit?" The ghost wailed again and shook its hands in the air.

"Tonight, yooou will be visited by THREE spirits!!"

"…But you're only holding up two fingers," she observed.

"But that's all I have!"

"What about your other hand?" she asked. The ghost held up two fingers on its other hand.

"That's it for this hand as well!"

"Oh. Well, hold up one finger on one hand, and two fingers on the other hand!" The ghost did so, and Rei smiled. "There, that's right!"

"Where was I? Ah, yes! Tonight, yooou will be visited by THREE spirits!"

"Umm… why?" A pause.

"Uh… I… doooon't knooow! Farewell, Ebenezer! Fareweeellll…"

"Wait, hold on!" shouted Rei angrily. "I'm not Ebenezer Scrooge, I'm Rei Hino! You've got the wrong person, Mr. Ghost!"

"Whoops, sooooorry about thaaaat, kid…! But I think I have a message for you anywaaaaaay!"

"Oh, really?" she asked, sounding interested. The ghost nodded its head.

"Yeeeeees! You seeeee, Miss Hinoooo, your friends back in Tokyoooo are saaaaaaaaad!!! They miss yoooou! They all think that you're dead, just like meeeeeeee!"

"Really?" squealed Rei in disbelief. She sat still for awhile, and mulled over this new information quietly. She never realized that her selfish desires could have had such a negative impact on her other friends--she just assumed that they all would forget in time--but now that she knew this, there was a newly-burning desire in her heart to return to Tokyo. And besides, she still had a certain blonde angel to return to…

"Yes, really!" exclaimed the ghost. "Listen, Rei: you should return to Tokyooooo! Your friends neeeeeeeeed yooooouu! Especially that young girl you love soooooooo much, Usagiiiiiii Tsukinooooooooo!"

"Why are you talking like that?" she asked, exasperated. The ghost shrugged.

"Sorry, I have to. I'm a GHOOOOOOOOOOOOOST!! Whooooo!!"

"Well, you can shut up," she said bitterly. "And the sooner you let me sleep, the sooner I can wake up and get on that train! I've been gone from Tokyo for too long… and from Usagi… so I should just face up to my own selfishness and go back to where I belong."

"Well, it seems that you understaaaaaaand!" wailed the spirit. "And now, it seems as if my time here has passed! Have a good night's sleep, Rei, and dreeeeeeam of the future! Fareweeeeell, for the final time! Aaaand maaaaaaaaaaaaaaay the Fooooooooooooorce beeeee with yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuu, yooouuuuuuu, uhhhh, ohhhh, urrggh, what a world, what a world…!" With that final wailing moan, the ghost vanished from the room forever, and was not seen ever again (unless you back up and read the chapter a second time). Rei sighed with relief, and snuggled back under the covers, and was able to sleep soundly for exactly 12 seconds.

----------

Rei breathed in a sigh of steamy relief as the train chugged to a stop. In her hands were her suitcases, a ticket to ride, and hopes for the future. She was ready to return to Tokyo, and face up to all the things she had avoided, but there was still one more matter that needed to be attended to in Okinawa. Smiling warmly but sadly, she released her luggage briefly and gazed at her good buddy and ex-coworker Tsubasa.

"Well, I guess I'll be leaving right about now…"

"…Yup," he said. Rei breathed in a lot of air, and released it again.

"…Yup," she said.

"Yup," he said. Sanjuro whined.

"Urgh, can somebody help me with these bags?!" Rei shot him a rather nasty look, one that would have knocked him off his feet if it had the power to.

"You be quiet!" she snapped. "Nobody likes you, you jerk!" Sanjuro ended up crying, and both Rei and Tsubasa laughed at his babyish antics. The train whistle called out, and the conductor shouted for all to come aboard, and Rei and Tsubasa sighed at each other again.

"Well, please take care of yourself," she said warmly.

"You too. But will we ever meet again?"

"Who knows?" she shrugged. "God willing, we'll all meet again in Absence II: The Search for More Shoujo-Ai. It's been a pleasure, Tsu." He shook hands with her and smiled, and slipped her his jacket as a fond keepsake of their time spent at Okinawa.

"Your jacket…! No, no, I can't accept this!"

"Take it," he advised her. "You just might need it. It can get cold in Tokyo, and I'm sure that if you don't need it, somebody you care for just might." She smiled at him again, and gave him a brief hug. Of Sanjuro, she gave him a smart kick in the ribs, and ordered him to take her luggage up in the train. He obeyed, poor dope, and Rei followed him inside. Once she was settled in, she violently pushed him out of the train, wherein he landed rather uncomfortably on the platform. Tsubasa smiled and waved at the train, and Rei stuck her head out so she could wave as well. The train slowly scooted out of the station with Rei protruding out, and waves going around, and poor Sanjuro rubbing his noggin, and so many goodbyes being said that it must have been a record.

Suddenly, Rei's outstretched head smacked up against the tunnel, knocking her backwards into the train with a painful blow. Both Tsubasa and Sanjuro grimaced terribly at the horrible injury, and screamed at each other for their shared incompetence.

"You moron!" yelled Sanjuro. "You should have brought our video camera! That one shot alone was worth $10,000 on America's Funniest Home Videos!"

"Sorr-ry!" snapped Tsubasa. "And anyway, I loaned my camera to Sakura and Tomoyo in the Crossover Department. God knows what they'd want with it, but since this is a shoujo-ai story, technically, one can only guess."

"Indeed," murmured Sanjuro. "It's a good thing that Kirika didn't do a Card Captor Sakura story!" He crossed his arms and snorted out some relief, but in the two seconds of silence, Tsubasa screamed as he realized what his companion had just said.

"SANJURO, YOU IDIOT! DON'T YOU DARE GIVE HER ANY IDEAS!!!"

----------

Usagi Tsukino's face was contorted and twisted into horrible anguish and indescribable fear: tears streamed down her face, veins appeared on her neck and forehead, and her skin was cold and clammy from shock. Her fingers clutched onto a large knife so much that the knuckles had turned white, and her voice was whiny with fear. Desperately, she stumbled into the bathroom and locked the door as much as she could, but screamed once she found that there was no other way out. With her heart throbbing like a great bass drum, she held the knife shakily and waited on the other side of the door, refusing to go down without a fight.

The door suddenly shivered under some intense blow, and from the other side, the sound of chopping could be heard. Usagi screamed every time the door was slashed and hacked at, and slowly, chips and splinters were picked and torn off as the axe dug its way through. Again and again it pounded away at the door, like the footsteps of a giant, until a small hole had been made in the framework. From the opposite side of the door, a twisted and depraved face stared back at her, and leered as it screeched out its insanity.

"HEEEERE'S JOHNNY!!!" Usagi froze, but not in fear, and crossed her eyebrows as she recognized the face and voice.

"…Rei?"

"Hey, Meatball Head!" smiled Rei. "Did you miss me?" Usagi nearly screamed with joy, and unlocked the door so she could see Rei face-to-face. The shrine maiden was holding an axe for reasons unknown, but looked as innocent and blameless as the day she had been born. Usagi was overjoyed.

"Rei, you're back! And you're not dead!"

"I'm not?" she asked.

"NO! At least… I don't think you are…" Usagi stepped closer and gently poked the other lady, and smiled as she came in contact with flesh and not ectoplasmic material. "It IS you!" she exclaimed, and dove forward to give the once-dead woman a big Welcome Home Hug. Rei returned it happily (after releasing her axe, of course), and looked gently into the eyes of the woman she had loved and missed for all those days…

"HEY, what are you looking at?!" screeched the blonde. "This isn't a frickin' peep show!! Why don't you go grab a sandwich or something?!" Usagi hastily bolted towards the door, and slammed it shut so that she and Rei could have their privacy.

2B Continued!

…Well, what are you waiting for? The chapter's over. There's nothing else that's going to happen for awhile. Go away.