Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Rebirth ❯ Dark Diamond ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi.

Note: I forgot (actually, I never knew in the first place) how to spell the Queen of the Dark Moon Circus's name, so she's just known as "the woman" or "the queen" here...

Warning: This one is a little graphic, so be warned.

are thoughts.

Rebirth, Part 5: Dark Diamond


The breakfast table was silent until Serena asked, "Reenie, where's Hotaru?"

Reenie looked up from her cereal bowl. "I guess she's still in the bathroom, Serena."

"Well, what's she doing in there? We have to go see that lawyer today, and it's important that we get there early."

"I'll get her," Sammy volunteered. He walked upstairs and knocked on the bathroom door. "Hotaru, are you in there?"

The door slowly opened, and Hotaru stared back at him. "I'll be downstairs in a minute."

"Um...right," Sammy said. He started to leave, then stopped himself. "Can I ask you something?"

Hotaru blinked in surprise. "Yes?"

"You're going to be staying here for a while, right?"

"I think so."

Sammy hesitated. "So...that means you're going to be a member of our family?"

"Yes, but I don't-"

"So you're going to be...my sister?"

Hotaru was silent for a moment. "I suppose so."

"Oh." He grinned nervously. "I was just curious, I guess. Seeya later." He turned and quickly went downstairs.

Hotaru watched him go, a puzzled look on her face.

* * * * *

As Hotaru had expected, the trip to Mr. Hiyashi's office was depressing. Nearly everything he said had something to do with her father, and ten minutes into the conversation, she felt like dying herself. Serena must have noticed this, because she suggested that Hotaru leave the room while she handled the rest of the business. Reenie volunteered to go with her, but Serena insisted that Hotaru be left alone for a while.

Hotaru didn't get very far when a familiar voice asked, "Bad day?" She turned around to see Darien behind her.

"I don't want to talk about it," she replied sternly, turning away from him.

"I know you're upset, Hotaru, but these things happen, and you have to learn to deal with them. Now that your father is gone, you're going to be doing a lot more on your own. That is, unless you ask us for help."

Hotaru bit her lip. "Darien, just leave me alone. I need to think for a while. Please."

Before he could reply, there was a loud explosion nearby, and they both fell to the ground. Smoke and dust quickly filled the hallway, making it hard to breathe or see.

Hotaru soon realized that the explosion had come from the lawyer's office, and that both Serena and Reenie were still there. Covering her mouth and nose with one hand, Hotaru stumbled back to the office. Once the smoke cleared, she found Mr. Hiyashi slumped over his desk. Serena was still in her chair, but she was also out cold. Otherwise, both were fine.

It was then that Hotaru realized just who was missing. Without another thought, she summoned one of her black holes and vanished.

* * * * *

"So you're the one I've been looking for? You're the one with the beautiful dreams that Pegasus has been hiding in? I'm almost disappointed."

Reenie glared at the woman. "Let me go right now, you...you witch!"

The woman drew back, as if someone had struck her. "What?! How dare you!" She slapped Reenie hard across the face. "I am the most beautiful person alive, Little Miss White Moon Girl! Even more beautiful than your precious Queen Serenity!"

"In your dreams," Reenie muttered.

The woman's eyes narrowed, and she raised her hand again, but she was interrupted.

"Your Majesty, the Sailor Scouts are approaching."

The woman glanced at the mirror behind her. "Have the Amazon Quartet ready to deal with them, Zirconia. I don't want to see you again until they have been destroyed. Is that clear?"

"Quite, my queen. I will do as you command."

"See that you don't fail this time, Zirconia. If you do, you'll answer to me!" She turned back to Reenie and smiled evilly. "Now...where were we?"

* * * * *

Sailor Saturn's first thought was to go charging into the circus tent, destroying anything or anyone that got in her way. But she remembered her training, and what had happened the last time she'd gotten too caught up in the fight.

"You weren't going to go in there alone, were you?" a voice asked.

Saturn closed her eyes, not bothering to turn around. "Actually, I was just considering that, Sailor Moon."

"Well, it's a bad idea," Mars said, stepping in front of her.

"It certainly is," Venus agreed. "Hotaru, you can't-"

"My name," Saturn said quietly but very sharply, "is Sailor Saturn."

A hand came to rest on her shoulder. "She's right, Saturn. We've already got one Scout to rescue. Don't make it two."

"I wasn't planning on getting caught, Sailor Mercury." She tightened her grip on the Silence Glaive. "If you'll excuse me, I have a friend to save. Feel free to join me at any time." With that, Saturn stepped around them and disappeared into the tent.

"I guess that's as close as she's going to get to 'I need help,' guys," Jupiter said.

Tuxedo Mask smiled as they entered the tent.

* * * * *

"Your Majesty?"

The queen sighed in frustration. "What is it, Zirconia?!"

"Well...I thought you should know...there are seven Scouts."

"Yes, yes, I know! Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Tuxedo Mask, and that little one! What's your point?!"

Zirconia paused. "Your Majesty...unless the little one dyed her hair and grew a few inches...we have a serious problem."

"What are you blathering about now?"

"There's an eighth Scout, my queen! She's got this long stick with a blade at the end, and it hurts!"

The queen closed her eyes. "Zirconia, are you telling me you can't handle a mere girl?"

"It's more than that! She has these black holes that-"

"ZIRCONIA, DESTROY HER AND DON'T CALL ME AGAIN UNTIL ONE OF YOU IS DEAD!"

"...what?"

"GET OUT THERE!"

"...yes, my queen..."

* * * * *

Sailor Jupiter was the first to speak. "I think we should do something."

"How?" Mars asked. "She's doing EVERYTHING!"

It was true. Saturn WAS doing everything...which left nothing for the other Scouts to do.

"She's actually handling the Amazon Quartet all by herself," Mercury whispered in awe.

"We might as well try to find Reenie," Venus suggested.

"No," Sailor Moon said. "I've got a better idea." She turned to the battle and shouted, "Saturn!"

There was a slight pause, and then four bodies went flying in different directions. Saturn appeared beside Sailor Moon a moment later. "Yes?"

"We can wrap things up here. Why don't you go find Reenie?"

Saturn gave her an appreciative smile and a nod before vanishing into a black hole.

* * * * *

When Reenie woke up, she could see the queen lying on the floor. She was weeping uncontrollably, muttering something about her face. Reenie didn't have time to figure it out, because a gloved hand came to rest against her cheek.

"Reenie?" a voice asked.

She looked up and smiled brightly. "Sailor Saturn! I knew you'd come!"

"Hold still for a minute. I'm going to try and cut you free."

But Reenie saw the queen rise up, and she quickly found out what was wrong with her face. There were long, bloody cuts covering almost her entire face. They had almost certainly been made by the Silence Glaive, which was stained dark red.

The queen stumbled closer and raised her hand, which began to glow bright red. "You'll pay," she whispered, "for taking my beauty from me!"

Just as Saturn cut the last restraint, the queen fired.

Reenie did the only thing she could do. Summoning all her strength, she shoved Saturn aside...and took the full force of the blast. She hit the floor hard, and did not move again.

Before Saturn had time to check on her friend, the queen fired again. With obvious ease, she leaped over it and knocked the queen to the floor with a roundhouse kick. Instead of staying down, the queen grabbed Saturn's leg and tossed her into the wall.

Suddenly, there was the sound of glass shattering.

Saturn looked up to see Sailor Pluto standing beside the broken mirror. Pluto smiled a bit. "I'm so clumsy sometimes."

"You fool!" the queen screeched, rushing toward her.

"World Shaking!"

"Deep Submerge!"

Twin balls of energy shot out of the darkness and slammed into the queen from behind, forcing her closer to the mirror.

Pluto raised her Time Staff. "Deadly Scream!"

The third ball of energy hurled the queen through the mirror. Her final screams could be heard just before the mirror itself turned to dust.

Uranus walked over and helped Saturn to her feet. "You're tougher than I gave you credit for, kid. Nice work."

Instead of answering, Saturn ran over to Reenie, who wasn't breathing.

"Looks like we're done here, guys," Neptune said.

The Outer Scouts all glanced at each other and nodded before fading into the surrounding darkness.

Saturn gently cradled her fallen friend in her arms. "Reenie?" she whispered sadly, tears coming to her eyes. "Reenie, please wake up. Please?"

The little girl's limp body didn't move an inch.

"You can't die!" Saturn sobbed. "I need you, Reenie! Wake up!"

Nothing...but silence.

Suddenly, Queen Serenity's words stood out in her mind.

Sailor Saturn transformed back into Hotaru, then pressed her hands to Reenie's arms. Instantly, a green glow surrounded the little girl. Hotaru bowed her head. "Please don't die, Reenie. Wake up, my most precious one."

After a few seconds, Reenie's eyes fluttered open. "H-Hotaru?" she whispered.

"Don't try to move," Hotaru said, a weak smile coming to her face. "Just lie still."

Reenie rested her head on her friend's shoulder. "I knew you'd save me."

The green glow suddenly faded away, and Reenie felt a stab of pain in her stomach. "Ow! What-" She froze when Hotaru collapsed in her arms. "Hotaru?! NO! Hotaru!!!"

* * * * *

Sailor Moon wasn't sure what to think at first. She found Reenie sobbing hysterically over Hotaru, who appeared to be...dead. She wasn't breathing, and there was no pulse. To make things worse, Reenie hadn't noticed the slowly spreading red stain on the front of her dress.



A few minutes after the other Scouts caught up, Mercury had formed a theory. "I believe that Sailor Saturn managed to defeat the enemy and save Reenie. However, Reenie was wounded in the battle, and Saturn used up all of her energy."

"So how do we help them?" Tuxedo Mask asked, holding Reenie carefully in his arms. His cape was tightly wrapped around her, in a failed attempt to stop the bleeding.

Mercury's face fell. "I don't know if we can. Reenie has a serious wound, but she's already lost too much blood. In Hotaru's case, I'm really not sure. If I knew exactly what happened here, it might be different, but..." She trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

Sailor Moon stared at the frail girl in her arms. In the last few days, while struggling to find herself, she had lost everything. She had lost her father to Death's icy grip, and now she would lose her best friend and her own life. Sailor Moon's only comforting thought (and it wasn't very comforting at all) was that young Hotaru Tomoe had nothing else to lose.

"Thank you for trying to save my daughter, Hotaru," she whispered, her voice breaking. Sailor Moon leaned over and gently kissed the girl's forehead, where she imagined the sigil might be. Instantly, a bright light filled the room, blinding them all for a few seconds.

Tuxedo Mask was the first to regain his vision. "It's...her!"

The spirit of Queen Serenity touched down, folding her arms around Sailor Moon and Hotaru. "She has not lost everything, my dear child," the queen said. "She has not lost her hope."

* * * * *

Hotaru had a hard time remembering where she was. She recalled the battle, and the Outer Scouts, and Reenie, but that was it. Yet, now she was at home, in bed.

Hotaru's eyes widened. Reenie was lying next to her. Her eyes were closed, but she was breathing! Hotaru reached out and touched the girl's hand. It was warm.

She felt a sudden weight in her hand, and her fingers fell away to reveal a locket, not unlike the ones Sailor Moon and Mini Moon used to transform. This one was violet, with silver around the edges. Hotaru opened it carefully, staring at the small diamond she found inside. It appeared to be black for a moment, but when she held it up in the moonlight, its true color of sparkling violet was revealed.

Hotaru closed the locket and placed it on the bedside table. She had a feeling it would be very useful in the near future. Maybe even more useful than it had been this day.

As she drew the blanket up to her neck, Hotaru felt a hand against hers. She looked over to see Reenie caught up in one of her dreams again. With a tiny grin, Hotaru gently touched her forehead.

Reenie's eyes shot open, but seeing Hotaru, she relaxed. "I really thought I'd lost you today, Hotaru," she whispered.

"I thought the same thing about you."

"Maybe my head was still hurting from the blast...but I thought I heard you call me something."

Hotaru hesitated. "Like what?"

"It was something like 'most precious one,' I think." Reenie looked over at her. "Did I just imagine that, or...?"

"It might have been a dream," Hotaru replied quickly.

"Oh." Reenie looked away. "I was kinda hoping it really happened..."

"You were?" Hotaru asked in surprise.

"Well...yeah," she admitted quietly. Reenie blushed a little. "I-I shouldn't have said anything. S-Sorry." She rolled over so that her back was to Hotaru.

After a few seconds, Hotaru placed a hand on her friend's back. "Reenie?"

"Yeah?"

"...I wish it had really happened, too."

Reenie rolled back to face her. "You mean that, Hotaru?"

"Yes, I do."

"Are you sure?"

Hotaru pulled Reenie close and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl. "Positive."

Reenie smiled and closed her eyes. "Sweet dreams, Hotaru."

"Same to you, little one," Hotaru replied, "now and forever."

The End!


I'm currently working on a sequel, but in order to be unique, I'm writing from Sammy's POV. I haven't found too many SM fics involving him, and I think he's very underused. (Okay, I KNOW he's underused, and so do all of you) Anyhow, it should be...different, I guess. Hope you enjoyed what I've come up with so far.