Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Chaos no Ageshio (Tides of Chaos) ❯ Episode 2: Gathering storm-clouds ( Chapter 2 )

BishoujoSenshi Sailor Moon: Chaos no Ageshio

(Tides of Chaos)

by P.H. Wise

key:

" " represents Japanese

< > represents English

* * is telepathy

. o O ( ) is thoughts

Episode 2: Gathering storm-clouds

In light of the threat of a new enemy, the Senshi have begun to gather in

Tokyo once again. Meanwhile, Usagi's going to a party...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun rose that morning in a truly spectacular fashion, her (1)

rays beaming through the clouds and the smog in a dazzling array of

light and colour, giving of herself without complaint to those who took

little notice of her. Though the day was newly born, many people were

already out and about, busy with the tasks that made up the day to day

affairs of their lives.

In one part of the city, Makaino Ryu grumbled to himself as he

went through the pile of paperwork that lay on his desk. He HATED this

part of his job, but it still had to be done. And since he was the only

one that had been conscious throughout the entirety of the M.H.T.'s

first mission, he was the one that got to fill all of this out.

The people in charge hadn't been terribly impressed with their

performance, either. In fact, there had been some talk of canceling the

program entirely! He hoped that it wouldn't come to that - the M.H.T.

really was the only agency short of the JSDF that was equipped to

handle battles with the paranormal. The government knew that. Or at

least, Ryu hoped that they did.

Regardless, Ryu was not about to give up. He had wanted to do

this sort of thing ever since he was a kid; ever since Sailor Venus

saved him along with a bus full of school children from being drained

by a cardian, actually. It had only been a few years after that that he

had discovered his talent for making wards and charms that actually

worked... With that thought, Ryu returned to filling out the much hated

paperwork with renewed energy. "After all," he thought to himself,

"It's a small price to pay to be able to help keep everyone safe."

In yet another part of the city: within the halls of the science

department of Tokyo University, to be exact, Chiba Mamoru was meeting

his new lab assistant for the first time, and it was something of an

awkward situation, though not for the reasons one might think.

"It's nice to meet you, Chiba-san! I've heard a lot about you.

Your theories were quite the topic of discussion back in school. I'm

really looking forward to working with you!"

Mamoru nodded, smiling in a friendly manner as he returned the

girl's bow, "Thank you. It's nice to meet you Ms. Ward."

Chiba Mamoru had just been introduced to his new assistant, Sulia

Ward, who would be working with him for at least the next six months.

He was grateful for the help; he had put in his request for another

assistant a month earlier, and the University had been uncommonly

prompt in its compliance. Having your work funded by Tokyo University

had at least some advantages, it seemed. He was quick to show her

around the laboratory and introduce her to the others who worked there.

Mamoru learned two things in those first few minutes of

conversation with his new assistant. First, she was both intelligent

and perceptive. Second, that she was interested. He didn't return the

sentiment. Although Sulia was quite beautiful, he had eyes only for

Usagi. Throughout the course of the day, he tried to ward off her

interest by talking about his wife. It didn't work. The day seemed to

stretch out, each second becoming a minute, each minute, an hour.

Eventually, and after many, MANY references to Usagi, Sulia finally

seemed to take the hint. That didn't put a stop to it, though. It only

sent Sulia into a line of questioning intended to help her scope out

what the competition was like.

"Chiba-san, what's your wife like?" Sulia asked.

"She's the most wonderful person I've ever met." he replied, a

smile on his face.

"Is she a good cook?" asked Sulia.

Mamoru sweatdropped. "Er, no."

"Er... is she graceful?"

Mamoru sweatdropped. "Um, no, not really."

"Is she intelligent?"

Mamoru sweatdropped but this time just kept his mouth shut.

"Ano, if you don't mind my asking, Chiba-san, what's so special

about her?"

At this point he began to get a bit angry and started to wonder

if it was worth it to have a new assistant after all. The questions she

was asking were the kind that a complete stranger was not supposed to

ask. "She's my wife. I love her and she loves me." he said. "You

shouldn't ask such questions of someone you've only just met."

Sulia flushed red. "Gomen, gomen! I have this horrible habit of

speaking first and thinking later. Please accept my apology, Chiba-

san."

Mamoru nodded and let his expression grow soft again. "I forgive

you."

They worked in silence for a little while, Sulia scarcely daring

to breathe for fear of further angering her employer. Eventually,

however, she found that she couldn't resist the urge to ask one last

question. "What's it like?"

"Mmn? What's what like?" asked Mamoru.

"What's it like to be in love? I've never been."

"I'm sorry." said Mamoru, the faintest hint of pity evident in

his voice.

"Why?" Sulia asked.

Mamoru thought for a moment before giving his answer. "If you've

never been in love, then nothing I tell you will help you understand

what it's like."

Sulia found that she had nothing to say in response.

Now, at last, we shall put the focus on one other who was already

hard at work at this early hour. Atop a small hill in the Juuban

district of Tokyo sat the Hikawa Shrine. Within this shrine, a sad-eyed

young man watched as the one he cared for tried to match the fire in

her heart to the fire burning before her. That One, Hino Rei, sat

before the sacred fire, concentrating intently. It was now three days

after the monster attack, and she was trying to gather information via

fire readings. This was the fourth reading she had attempted since the

attack - the other readings had given her a few images of an

approaching darkness, but nothing more. Before her the fire danced and

writhed like a living thing, giving off the eerie impression that even

as she was gazing into it, it was gazing right back at her. As she

neared the completion of the rite, she began to chant, starting low,

but gradually bringing up both the volume and intensity of it. "Rin,

pyou, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, sai, zen!"

As she spoke the final syllables of the chant, a faint aura of power

could be seen around her, and her hair floated up into the air. The

fire flared brightly, and then...

*flash*

A man lies dead on the floor of a very well furnished bedroom.

Smoke is still rising from the charred corpse; this man died in a very

intense fire, and yet there is absolutely no damage to any of the rest

of the room. The image shifts slightly and reveals another room in

which a second man, elderly, clad in a full tuxedo is encased in a

solid block of ice. The image shifts yet again to reveal a third man,

younger than the second (but still not all that young) dead with no

obvious cause.

*flash*

An image of the earth from orbit. For a few brief moments, all

is well... and then dark purple ribbons of pure destruction begin to

spiral across the surface of the planet, erasing everything they touch.

*flash*

Six glowing objects appear, each shining too brightly to be made

out clearly. They float above Tokyo for a moment, and then vanish.

*flash*

A man stands on top of a rocky outcropping that overlooks the

pool of liquid starlight. He's very handsome in an unearthly sort of

way, but his eyes are cold and unfriendly. He looks as though he's in

pain... as Rei watches, the man blinks slightly, seeming both surprised

and annoyed as he looks directly at Rei through the image being shown

in the sacred fire. After a moment, a look of recognition flashes

across his face. And then he glares at her. He snaps his fingers...

As the man in the image snapped his fingers, the sacred fire

flared violently, destroying the image and forcing Rei to back away

from the fire or risk being burned. After several attempts to recall

it, Rei sighed and turned away from the fire, a worried expression on

her face.

At that moment, a loud knock came at the door.

"Nani?" Rei asked, turning around as the door slid open just

enough for Yuuichiro, no longer a young man, to poke his head in.

"Rei-san, do you need anything before I turn in for the night?"

he asked.

Rei shook her head. "Iie, I'm alright. Goodnight, Yuuichiro-

san."

Yuuichiro smiled. "Goodnight, Rei-san."

Rei turned away from the door and listened as the sounds of his

footsteps faded into the distance. Once she had thought that she and

Yuuichiro... but something had always held her back from that.

Something that ached in her heart whenever she saw Mamoru and Usagi.

Still, even if he was not a potential lover, Yuuichiro was a

great help to her at the shrine. Ever since her grandfather had

died... no, she wouldn't dwell on her grandfather's death tonight. She

couldn't afford to fall into another depression; especially not now

that a new enemy had appeared. As she forced herself to smile she

silently thanked Kami-sama for Yuuichiro and the help that he had been.

Her vision was already half-forgotten.

******

*** Later... ***

A jet black limo made its way through the streets of Tokyo,

carrying within it a lovely young woman named Mizuno Ami. She had just

flown in that morning from Germany, and the reason that no one had been

there to meet her was that she had not told anyone that she was coming.

. o O (I wonder if they'll be surprised.)

She hadn't seen the others since last Christmas, and the thought

of being with her closest friends again filled her with a sense of

expectation.

As the limo drove along, something caught Ami's eye. She turned

to look, and felt a flash of nostalgia as her gaze fell upon the ferris

wheel of an old, closed down amusement park. For a moment she wondered

why it seemed so familiar to her. Then it hit her - of course! - How

could she have forgotten? That was where she had gone on one of her

first dates with Urawa-kun so many years ago, after preventing him from

being turned into one of the seven shadows by the dark kingdom. Ami

smiled. She could almost hear his voice, what he had said to her back

then... "It was my dream to go to an amusement park with you. Now I

have nothing to regret."

Looking out at that old and broken ferris wheel, Ami couldn't

help but wonder, . o O (If I go to the ferris wheel, will I find him

there, waiting for me?)

It was completely illogical, and yet she couldn't shake the

feeling that maybe, just maybe, he'd be there.

. o O (No. I'm just being silly.) she decided, shaking her head.

The limo drove on.

******

"We've been doing this for 15 years, and Usagi STILL can't be on

time. Luna, I thought you said you'd been working on punctuality with

her?" No prizes for guessing the speaker here.

Luna sweatdropped heavily. "I've been working on it, yes..." she

said, trailing off.

Both Rei and Makoto sighed dramatically. It was the day after

Rei's fire reading, and they were holding a Senshi meeting at Usagi and

Mamoru's house, and even when she was hosting the thing, Usagi STILL

managed to be late somehow. Mamoru was not present, though he was

supposed to turn up later, once he got off from work.

Just then, Usagi breezed through the front door. "Tadaima!" she

called excitedly as she rushed into the kitchen and set down a few bags

full of snacks that she had purchased at the supermarket.

"You're late, Odango-atama." said Rei, her annoyance on display for

all to see.

Usagi's eye twitched slightly at the name, and she tugged at her hair,

which she had cut short once again after its spontaneous

reversion the other night to the traditional style of the royal family

of the moon. "Gomen, gomen! I have a good excuse, though! You'll never

believe who I ran into at the store when I was buying snacks for the

meeting!"

That seemed to calm Rei down a bit. Her expression softened, but

she said nothing. After a moment, Makoto spoke up. "Well, don't leave

us in suspense, Usagi! Who was it?"

Smiling triumphantly, Usagi called out, "Come in!"

A moment later, the door opened, and in walked...

"Ami-chan!" Rei, Makoto and Luna exclaimed in unison.

Yes indeed. There in the doorway stood Mizuno Ami, well dressed

and with a smile on her face. "Minna, it's good to see you all!"

The reunited Senshi chatted excitedly for the next few minutes,

catching up on old times and gossiping away. They would likely have

continued doing so well into the evening (a scary thought, considering

that it was only mid-day) had Artemis not walked in at that very

moment.

"Ne, Minna, let's start the meeting!"

The first few minutes were spent filling Ami in on what had been

happening, and the next few were taken up by Rei's account of her

visions. Sensible as always, Ami decided to use her computer to scan

for sources of dark energy in Tokyo...

"Sorry, everyone. There's nothing out of the ordinary. The only

source of dark energy in the city is just the usual dark aura that

floats around the Tokyo Tower."

"Hey, maybe we should check it out." said Makoto.

Rei shook her head. "The dark aura around Tokyo Tower is always

there. It'd be a waste of time. The dark aura exists there because it's

a very popular dueling ground for newtypes."

"Maybe it's not a new enemy?" Usagi suggested, sounding hopeful.

"Those WERE youma, after all. Even I could tell that. Maybe they were

just survivors from the Dark Kingdom?"

Makoto made a face. "Dark Kingdom Refugees? Don't you think

that's just a LITTLE far fetched, Usagi-chan?"(2)

Usagi was right about to respond when Ami interrupted her, causing the

others to blink in surprise and turn towards the blue-haired woman.

"Minna, I don't think that what happened was just an isolated

incident. Back when Mamoru called me in Germany and told me that there

had been an attack, I KNEW that I had to come back to Tokyo... and now

that I'm here, I'm certain that something big is about to happen."

"Ne, Ami-chan, I thought Rei was the only psychic here? Are you

going to learn how to do fire readings?"

Everyone smiled at that - except for Rei, that is.

"Ami is right, everyone. Remember my fire reading! Something huge

is about to happen, I'm sure of it."

"Should we try to get in touch with the Outer Senshi?" asked

Makoto, sounding as though she wasn't entirely sure of what to think of

the idea.

Just then, there came a knock at the door. As one, the Senshi

turned towards the unexpected sound, each falling silent. "Ano, Usagi,

are you expecting anyone?" asked Rei.

Usagi shook her head.

"Well, don't just stand there, go see who it is!"

"Hai!"

Without further delay, Chiba Usagi went to answer the door. A few

seconds later, she came back into the kitchen with her visitor in tow;

a dark skinned young lady with kind red eyes and a smile on her face.

"Everyone," said Usagi, "This is Sulia. I met her at the airport, and I

guess she's working with Mamo-chan now, too."

"Ah," Sulia said, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything...?"

Usagi got VERY nervous at that. "NO NOT AT ALL!

Weweren'tjusthavingasecretmeeting!" she all but shouted, while the

others hung their heads in shame. For her part, Sulia simply looked

nonplused.

"Alright, so long as I'm not interrupting... Usagi-san, you and

your husband are the only people in this city that I know by any use of

the word... I hope I'm not imposing in asking this, but I'm supposed to

go to a dinner at the Prime Minister's mansion tonight, and I was just

wondering if you and your husband could come along with me?"

Usagi's eyes widened. "The Prime Minister?"

Everyone else looked on silently, their mouths dropped open.

Everyone, that is, except for Rei, who took an immediate dislike to

Sulia. "Usagi can't go." she said, "She has prior obligations."

Sulia and Rei locked eyes for a moment, and something resembling

an expression of annoyance passed over Sulia's face before she said,

"Well, how about just Mamoru, then?"

Rei shook her head. "He has prior obligations, too!"

The scene degenerated into bickering at that point, and after

several minutes of petty argument, Sulia finally secured Usagi and

Mamoru's attendance at the event by allowing Rei to come along as well.

For her part, Rei was more than slightly pleased with the arrangement,

though she tried not to show it. ^.^

Makoto and Ami, in the meantime, watched all this with a growing

embarrassment as their bigsweats grew gradually larger and more

numerous.

"Rei-chan kowaii." said Makoto.

Ami nodded sagely in agreement.

******

"Arigatou, Sulia-san!" Usagi exclaimed for nearly the hundredth

time since they had arrived at the mansion.

"Usagi-san, it's my pleasure." Sulia replied, also for nearly the

hundredth time.

The 'gala' was now in full swing, and Usagi, Rei and Mamoru had

been mingling with the members of high society for nearly an hour now.

Perhaps miraculously, Usagi had yet to make a complete fool of herself.

As she darted this way and that through the crowd, Mamoru in tow, she

caught bits and pieces of various conversations, though she paid them

little heed.

"Oh, I just adore your music, Hino-san!" the woman was saying.

"Hontou ni?" said Rei, seeming genuinely pleased to have found a

fan in the midst of the crowd (it gave her something to do other than

glare at Sulia). Smiling, she asked, "What's your favorite?"

The woman sweatdropped slightly. "Well, I rather enjoy the one

about Forever Love and all that. Quite touching, you know."

Rei pikupikued. "Ano... that's not one of my songs. That's by X."

The lady's sweatdrop grew in size. "No, the other one!" she said

hastily, "The one where you sing about dreams coming true! Of COURSE I

know that you didn't write Forever Love!"

Rei shook her head and sighed, her disappointment showing on her

face. "Never mind." she said, leaving the lady in a state of great

distress.

Usagi smiled comfortingly at Rei, and Rei's expression softened.

It was about at that time that the melodious tones of a violin

expertly played began to drift through the room from the stage on the

far side, accompanied by what sounded like a very accomplished piano

player. Usagi and the others looked towards the source of the music and

blinked in surprise, yet if those familiar musicians saw either the two

Inners or Mamoru, they showed no sign. It was only when they completed

their set that Haruka and Michiru let their gazes stray to meet the

eyes of their Princess.

******

"Haruka-san! Where have you and Michiru been? We haven't seen you

in years!" said Usagi, her eyes tearing up. A few moments later, the

waterworks began. "I missed you both SOOOO MUUUUUCH!"

Both Haruka and Michiru sweatdropped. Usagi had barely waited for

the door on Michiru's dressing room to close before launching into her

tirade.

"Gomen, odango. Michiru and I had things to take care of." Haruka said,

trying in vain to stave off hurricane Usagi.

"Don't ever do that again! We were so worried about you!" the

odango-haired princess exclaimed, hitting the Outer Duo with a full

force teary-eyed look of the long-suffering friend.

Michiru laughed. "We missed you too, Usagi-san. We've been

performing in the Kyoto symphony orchestra, ne? We did send you tickets

several times to come and see us perform... I wonder what happened to

them?"

Usagi bigsweatted and rubbed her two index fingers together,

looking extraordinarily guilty. "Ano..." she began, but Haruka

interrupted her before she could continue.

"Don't worry about it, Odango." she said with a grin that didn't

last - her expression turned serious soon afterwards as she took note

of the urgency in Usagi's expression. Glancing at Michiru, she said,

"You'd better tell her."

Usagi blinked, looking from Haruka to Michiru and back.

"Ara, Usagi-chan, we're sorry, but we can't help you to fight

against the new enemy."

Usagi frowned. "Why not?"

"The ancient oaths, Princess." said Haruka. "Don't you remember?"

Usagi shook her head.

"We aren't permitted to take action."

Haruka nodded in agreement with her lover. "The enemies thus far

revealed... are not from outside of the Solar System. As outer senshi,

we cannot intervene. We can defend ourselves if we're attacked, but

other than that... we're still bound by the oaths that all of the Outer

Senshi swore to Queen Serenity in the final century of the Silver

Millennium."

Usagi frowned, quite obviously disappointed. "Not from outside the

solar system?" she asked.

"Hai," said Michiru, "Oaths bound to us by the ginzuishou not to

interfere with the internal affairs of the solar system. We can take

action against external threats only. And the enemy that you're

facing... is a group of youma survivors from the dark kingdom."

Usagi's eyes widened. "Dark Kingdom refugees!?"

Haruka nodded. "It's got a ring to it, doesn't it?"

Michiru spared Haruka a sidelong glance, and Haruka simply

grinned and fell silent.

"Regardless, princess, we cannot take action."

"... Hai. I understand." said Usagi. She paused for a moment

then, doing something entirely out of the ordinary for the likes of

her: she thought. After a few moments, Usagi frowned thoughtfully.

"Haruka-san," she began, "if you can't fight enemies that don't come

from outside of the solar system, how come you were able to fight

against Neherenia?"

Michiru opened her mouth to answer, but whatever she was about to

say was lost as Haruka grinned and shrugged her shoulders, saying,

"Hell if I know, Odango."

Usagi facefaulted.

*** Meanwhile ***

Meanwhile, Rei and Mamoru were keeping Sulia occupied so as to

allow Usagi time to talk with Haruka and Michiru in private. That is to

say, Sulia was hitting on Mamoru, Mamoru was growing increasingly

uncomfortable, and Rei was glaring a lot and experiencing the symptoms

of high blood pressure. At length, Rei made an attempt to divert some

of Sulia's attention away from the prince of the earth.

"Sulia?" she asked.

"Hai, Hino-san?"

"How did you get invitations to this? It seems a little odd that

a lab assistant would be invited to something like this."

Sulia looked Rei in the eye, grinned slightly and said, "Sore wa

himitsu desu."

Rei fumed. It was, alas, at that moment that her communicator

began to beep, yet so angry was she that she paid it no heed. Only when

Sulia enquired, "Is that beeping your cell phone, or what? Are you

going to answer it?" that Rei finally noticed it and blushed slightly

before apoligizing and stepping into a more private area to answer it.

#Rei-chan! There's been another attack!# came Makoto's voice

through the communicator. #There's a youma attacking my restaurant! The

MHT is on its way, but they won't get here in time!#

"Wakatta wa."

A few moments later, Sulia realized that all three of her guests

had departed; neither Usagi, Rei, nor Mamoru were anywhere to be seen.

She frowned.

******

"SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!" shouted Sailor Jupiter as she flung a

ball of electric energy at a cat-like, purple-scaled female youma.

The last of the fog created by Sailor Mercury's Shabon Spray was

fading away. Jupiter and Mercury had already been battling the creature

for several minutes, and none of their attacks were having any kind of

effect, and this most recent ball of electricity was no exception.

"Chikushou!" Jupiter said in a heart felt whisper as she saw that her

most recent attack had done absolutely nothing to the creature (unless,

perhaps, caused it to grow more angry than it already was).

"Just a bit longer, Jupiter!" said Mercury, who was scanning the

creature with her computer and visor from behind the limited cover

provided by a nearby automobile.

"Wakatta wa!" said Jupiter. 'Alright,' she thought, 'It looks as

though I'm going to have to stop pulling my punches.' and then aloud,

"This time for real!"

Lightning crackled around the Senshi of Jupiter as she called

forth her power, causing her hair (and a great deal of debris, as well)

to lift up into the air as she shouted, "ION... STORM!"

With those words, a tremendous wave of electricity surged forth

from Senshi Jupiter, ripping violently across the youma's armored

flesh... and harming it not at all.

"CHIKISHOU!"

The youma snarled then and charged head long at the green-skirted

Senshi. Before it could get far, a clear voice called out, "SILVER MOON

CRYSTAL POWER... KISS!" A split second later, a beam of energy lanced

out from the direction of the call... and washed harmlessly over the

youma's scaled carapace. Jupiter, having assumed that Sailor Moon's

attack would finish the creature off, had dropped her guard and was

therefore taken flat footed by the thing. Lowering its shoulder

slightly and directing its elbow towards her stomach, the youma slammed

into Jupiter hard, sending her sprawling and blasting the air from her

lungs.

"JUPITER!" cried Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars in unison, as

Mercury continued to scan the youma, concentrating intently..

For its own part, the youma ignored the new arrivals. A thrown

rose announced Tuxedo Kamen's presence, but it didn't so much as

glance in his direction. Stalking towards the fallen Senshi of Jupiter,

it extended a set of wicked claws from its fingers and prepared for the

killing blow. An instant later, a gout of flame (courtesey of Sailor

Mars) washed over the creature, but it paid her as little heed as it

would have an insect.

Sailor Jupiter's next 'chikishou,' given as the creature stalked

towards her, while much softer than her previous ones was also much

more heart felt. "MERCURY!" she called out as loud as she was able,

"NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME!"

Things might have gone ill at that moment, were it not for the

beep that came at that very moment from Sailor Mercury's computer.

Glancing quickly at the display, the Senshi of Mercury saw that the

words: 'scan complete.'

"I'VE GOT IT!" Sailor Mercury exclaimed as she banished her

computer and visor back to their subspace pocket for storage. "Minna,

the creature's weak spot is the blue scale on its forehead!"

Jupiter's face took on a determined expression as she dove out of

the way of the youma's downward claw-swipe. Her eyes met Mercury's, and

they both nodded.

Sailor Mercury let loose a quick Shine Aqua Illusion that, while

it did no damage, did encase the youma's legs in a block of ice and

thus hold it immobile for the few precious seconds that Sailor Jupiter

needed to deliver a two fingered jab to the blue scale in the center of

it's forehead. While the scale could have withstood such a blow

delivered by a normal human, Sailor Jupiter could hardly be considered

such. The blue scale shattered, and light began to pour out from the

hole left in its place... and then the youma's entire scale covering

dissolved, leaving behind a completely unarmored cat-girl-thing.

"IMA YO, SAILOR MOON!"

No prizes for guessing the speaker.

"HAI!" exclaimed the odango-haired Senshi as she began her

attack. "SILVER MOON CRYSTAL POWER KISS!!!" she cried, sending out a

second blast of energy. This time, without the scale armor to protect

it, the youma was blasted to dust, crying out the word, "BEAUTIFUL!!"

just before it met its end.

******

"Gomen nasai, Sulia-san!" said Usagi, smiling nervously, "We're

sorry for leaving like that, but it was a big emergency and it couldn't

be helped."

After the attack, the Senshi had departed the area just quickly

enough to avoid the arrival of the MHT (coming onto the scene about

five minutes after the attack had ended). After having managed to

return to the mansion just in time to see the last guests depart, Rei,

Usagi, Mamoru and Sulia were back at Usagi's place.

Sulia nodded. "Don't worry about it, Usagi-san. It wasn't much

fun being there alone, but if it couldn't be helped, it couldn't be

helped." She gave Usagi an odd look. "… So what's with the new

hairstyle?"

Usagi's eyebrow twitched, but she otherwise showed no sign that

she had heard Sulia's question. "Hai, hai. Gomen!" she said.

Sulia frowned slightly. "Usagi, that's the twentieth time you've

apologized over this. But really, what IS up with that new hairstyle?

Wasn't your hair totally short the other day?"

Rei broke in at that point. "Twenty third, actually." she said,

also ignoring the question about Usagi's hair.

Usagi and Mamoru sweatdropped.

"You actually keep count of that sort of thing, Rei-san?" asked

Mamoru.

Rei decided that she would just remain silent, which was probably

for the best.

Sulia's eye twitched.

*** END OF EPISODE 2 ***

--=- Author's Notes -=--

1 - Yeah, I've read a bit too much of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Like

elves and hobbits, I have a tendency to refer to the sun with 'she.'

2 - I know, I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. ^.^