There was a brilliant flash of light, and Neo Queen Serenity
stood before Usagi in all her glory.  "Neo Queen Serenity," Usagi
near-whispered in awe.
     "Usagi," the Queen began.  Talking to one's self was never easy.
"I have come to ask a favor of you."
     The expression on Usagi's face brightened somewhat.  "Sure! 
Anything."
     "I want you to promise me that you will try to pay attention and
study harder in school."
     What?  Had her future self actually said that?  "You're kidding,
right?"
     Though the Queen's voice kept the same practiced, gentle tone,
her features betrayed her sadness.  "Usagi... one of my biggest
regrets is that I never really learned all I could while I had the
chance.  You don't know how often I have wished I could pass on more
than I have to our Small Lady..."
     Chibi-Usa... "I don't think that would change how much she loves
you," Usagi said in a moment of inspiration.
     "Maybe," Neo Queen Serenity appeared thoughtful.  "But she isn't
the only reason I wish things were different."
     "Then what--"
     The Queen smiled.  "I don't want to trouble you any further,
Usagi.  Just promise me you'll attempt to try harder."
     Usagi paused.  "I will."
     Neo Queen Serenity faded away, her voice becoming ethereal. 
"Never abandon the ones you care for and they will always stand by
your side."

     Usagi sat up in bed, glancing around to make sure no one else
was in the room with her.  When it came to dreams or visions, she
wasn't sure what was real or imagined, any longer...

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon
Thanks for the Memories, Part 1
written by Mike Koos


     "So you're saying Neo Queen Serenity appeared in your dreams and
told you that you should study harder?"  Ami looked surprised.
     Usagi nodded.  "I guess so."
     "Hmph!  Some help that does," smirked Rei.  "Usagi's told
herself to do better in school before and she never got any better."
     "And YOU do better?"  Usagi raised an eyebrow.  "Why don't you
ever tell us what your grades are?"
     "My grades are just fine, thank you very much."
     Minako had had enough.  "Knock it off, you two!  We're supposed
to be having fun and you're arguing about who makes better grades?" 
She made a face.  "Honestly, you pick the weirdest things to argue
over."
     Usagi's expression shifted a range of gears abruptly.  While
such a procedure might have been dangerous for a car, for Usagi it
was quite normal.  "Oh, yeah!  I almost forgot!"  Luna looked up at
her 'owner' and sighed.  
     In fact, Luna had an extensive library of sighs for every
situation Usagi could get herself into and practiced them on a
regular basis.
     Here it was, the beginning of the week and the girls had already
decided to blow off a measure of after-school steam.  All except for
Makoto, that was, who'd managed first thing to earn herself a
detention.  So Usagi, Rei, Ami and Minako had thought to wait out in
the school's courtyard until Makoto could leave.
     This particular idea still had yet to sit well with Minako, who
was anxious to get going.
     Ami, on the other hand, was content to sit in the shade of a
tree, absorbed in a textbook titled Advanced Calculus III.  There
had been the customary "What, no pictures?"  crack from Minako, which
Ami met with a barely distinguishable look of disappointment.
     All Usagi knew was that she wasn't about to leave Mako-chan
behind... Makoto, who seemed to be more in touch with Usagi's way of
thinking than mean old Rei-chan...
     On cue, Rei silently glowered Usagi's way.
     Who was she to consider having Mako-chan miss out on an
opportunity for the Sailor Senshi as a group to have fun?  Those
'daimon'-monsters - Usagi still wondered if she had the name correct
- had kept her, Mamoru, Chibi-Usa and the other Sailor Senshi
extremely busy of late.  Other monsters and demons, such as that
video-game maniac, Chelise, whom had trapped a countless number of
innocent people inside the universe of a role-playing game, were also
popping up in spite of the busy schedule of the Senshi to spread
their own particular brands of trouble.  Ah, the life of a hero...
     Not only that, there was the mystery of those two 'new' Senshi,
Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune.  Usagi thought she might well know
who they were, although she wasn't sure.  After all, the very first
time she'd tried to tackle the task of figuring out someone's secret
identity all by herself was with Tuxedo Kamen, and she had spent more
time daydreaming about him than trying to figure out who he was.
     Then came the Moonlight Knight.  Her love and faith helped lead
her out of that crisis.  And faith was something she needed to keep
handy in large quantities these days...
     Minako soon grew tired of watching Ami flip through the pages of
her book.  "What's Makoto in detention for, anyway?"  She didn't mean
to sound insensitive, but she'd fully expected to be off somewhere
having the time of her life... well, the day, at any rate.  Not
sitting in an obviously vacant school courtyard waiting for Makoto to
get out of detention.
     Ami looked up with a start.  "You know, I forgot to ask."

*  *  *  *  *

     I decided to stare at the clock for a good seven seconds; I
timed it.
     Okay, I'll admit I wasn't interested in the time.  I was through
torturing myself by counting the minutes - or hours - I've been
locked up in here.
     I guess I just needed a break from the writing project
Moriuchi-sensei gave us to work on in here: an essay, something or
other, on what we did wrong and why we shouldn't do it - again - like
all good little girls should.  All in about five pages.  Hmph.
     Between you and me, even though I hate writing large essays, I
probably ought to have memorized the words to this type of essay by
now.
     I was in for detention type three.  Yeah, I've got a list.  Type
one is 'picking a fight with another student.'  Heh, I oughta
reorganize the list since I haven't gotten a Type One since I came to
this school and became a Sailor Senshi...
     Type three?  Oh, well, that's where Akemi and I got caught
passing answers to a test.  No big deal; certainly not a Type Two...
     Akemi sits behind me, so I can't see her face without turning
around, and sensei wouldn't like that.  Anyway, she's probably a bit
sore at me by now.  Guess I'd better call her up later and apologize.
     ...As soon as we get back from... oh, great.  They're going to
be mad at me, too.
     Page three...

*  *  *  *  *

     Minako yawned, stretching her arms into the air and tumbling
backward onto her back for effect.  "This is boring!  C'mon, let's
go!"
     "Okay!"  Rei agreed, standing up.  "Now you're talking!"
     "But Mako-chan..." Usagi said, haltingly.
     "She wouldn't want us to wait around if any of us were stuck
in detention," Rei pointed out, fixing Usagi with a stare as she did
so.  Usagi knew exactly what she meant by that look...
     Tact wasn't on her side.  "And what do you mean by THAT!?"
     "Don't play dumb, Usagi!  You know you spend more time in
detention than all of us put together."
     "I do NOT!"
     "Yes, you DO!"
     A few seconds of this prompted Minako to interrupt.  "Geez,
don't you two ever stop?"
     Rei and Usagi turned their backs to each other, putting on airs.
"Hmph!"
     Minako grinned.  "Guess the only way to fix this is to seperate
you."  So saying, she took Rei by the arm and walked her out of the
courtyard - although the raven-haired Shinto priestess-in-training
couldn't resist sticking her tongue out at Usagi as she left.
     Ami demurely closed her book, putting it away, and stood up. 
Usagi joined her.  "Ami-chan," she began, a hint of sadness evident
in her voice.  "You don't believe Rei-chan, do you?  Am I really...
really stupid?"
     Ami looked at her friend with surprise.  "No, of course you're
not stupid!  Why would you say something like that?"
     "Well..." Usagi's gaze dropped to her toes.  "I'm always
screwing up in school, doing stupid things... Rei-chan's always
yelling at me..."
     "Usagi-chan, you are not stupid," repeated Ami.  "You do need to
learn how to apply yourself more and pay attention in class, but you
are not stupid."
     That fateful day Usagi had introduced herself to Ami, Usagi had
visions of perfect test scores dancing gleefully through her mind. 
She'd known exactly how she was going to put Ami-chan's genius to
use.  "Super-genius Usagi," they'd call her.  And maybe Mom would
stop yelling at her so much...
     Things never quite worked out the way Usagi planned them,
however.  Instead, Ami became one of Usagi's best friends, and Usagi
couldn't bring herself to use Ami like she'd originally thought to
do.  Come to think of it, she wouldn't have been able to do it
anyway.  Rei had said once that anyone could see through Usagi's
motives a mile away.
     "Do you think you could help me?  Improve my... er, study
habits?"  Usagi tried to recall the words.  "I don't wanna be called
'stupid.'"
     Ami studied her friend with a practiced gaze.  This was going to
take a lot of work.

     They caught up with Rei and Minako outside of a new gift shop. 
"It's about time you showed up," Rei grinned, not taking her eyes
from the store's sign.  "We were beginning to get worried."
     "Oh, please," came Minako's reply.  She rolled her eyes.
     "This is a new store, isn't it?"  asked Ami.  "I've never seen
it before."  She entered the shop.  The others shrugged and followed
her in.  Luna and Artemis remained outside.

*  *  *  *  *

     I hope they've decided to go on without me.  I'd hate to think
they were waiting out in the schoolyard for me...
     Come to think of it, that's probably what they're doing.  If I
listen hard enough, I can almost hear Usagi-chan and Rei-chan arguing
out in the yard.  Or maybe that's just my imagination.  I don't care
one way or the other right now.
     What's the argument about, you ask?  I don't know.  With those
two, it can be almost anything, take your pick.
     There's a sharp whap!  of wood on wood in front of me.
Startled, I look up.
     "Kino-san!  Quit daydreaming!"  Moriuchi-sensei says, holding
his ruler as if it were a weapon or something.  Maybe he thought it
was.
     I look straight at him.  "Hai, sensei..." I've already gotten in
trouble this detention for flexing my writing elbow - I don't want
anything keeping me in here any longer than I have to.
     Is it just me, or do teachers actually enjoy getting on your
case for every little thing you do in detention?

*  *  *  *  *

     An extravagant display of stuffed animals attracted Usagi's
attention.  "Oh!"  she exclaimed, eyes widening past the danger
point.  "Would you look at these?  They're so cute!"
     "Get a life, Usagi," Rei chided.  "Stuffed animals are for
children."  Minako looked at her, wondering if her friend had meant
what she said.
     Usagi's face contorted into an odd version of a frown.  "You're
the one who needs a life.  You're so dull!"  Stuffed animals, being
just for children?  Hardly... but... She'd told Chibi-Usa the exact
same thing not too long ago.  Yesterday, in fact.
     Usagi Tsukino.  That was what her parents had named her; the
word 'usagi' in Japanese literally became 'rabbit' in English.  So,
the naturally cute thing to do while growing up was have practically
everything she owned embellished with cute little bunny rabbits -
right down to her bedspread and pajamas, overflowing to the rim with
little cartoon bunny-faces.
     Then one day, she decided she had outgrown it all.  The constant
rabbit jokes and associations had quickly grown old.  She was sick of
people telling her to be more like a rabbit and - ahem - 'hop to
it.'  Of people assuming she loved to eat carrots, when in reality
she couldn't stand the things... of course, her disliking the
vegetable probably grew out of having them heaped upon her in the
first place.
     At least Chibi-Usa knew well enough not to like carrots, either.
She was learning.
     In many ways, Chibi-Usa was both the child Usagi had been and
the young woman she was now.  Usagi certainly didn't want to admit
it, but Chibi-Usa was more like her than some people thought Rei was.
So much so that people mistook Usagi and Chibi-Usa for close sisters.
     Not to mention that the young girl was prolonging the 'rabbit'
image.  Okay, maybe it hadn't been entirely her fault... she'd
fallen into Usagi's life trying to dodge Rubeus and company's
attempts to get rid of her by playing 'kill the rabbit...'
     The four reformed 'weird sisters' - Petz, Karaberas, Beruche and
Cooan, who were a part of that game at the beginning, were doing well
enough with their cosmetics business to expand to more than one
location, as Ami had suggested the last time she visited them.  Now,
all they had to do was stop arguing long enough to agree on who would
be in charge of the new location.
     Usagi's thoughts wandered back to the subject at hand. 
Chibi-Usa had a fondness for collecting anything that had to do with
rabbits... whether it was clothes, stickers, or... stuffed animals. 
When she had come home from shopping with Mrs. Tsukino with a
brand-new stuffed bunny in hand, Usagi felt she had to say something.
     "A stuffed animal?  Isn't that a little... childish?"
     "Look who's talking," the younger Usagi volleyed, holding her
toy tightly to her chest.
     "Take that back!  I am NOT childish!"
     Chibi-Usa instead walked away and up the stairs, nose to the
air.  She broke character at the top of the stairs to make a face at
Usagi before running to her room.
     "Hmph!"  Usagi wheeled ninety degrees on the heel of one foot.
     "Usagi!"  a voice interrupted, nearly startling her out of her
socks.  It was her mother.  "Geez, Mom, don't do that!  You scared
me!"
     Ikuko Tsukino wondered for an instant, as was the norm these
days, where in Usagi's upbringing she had gone wrong.  "Why do you
insist on pestering Chibi-Usa?  Picking on her because of a stuffed
animal... I happen to know you still like stuffed animals."
     "Mom... please.  I've outgrown all that."  She was fifteen,
for goodness sakes...
     "Have you?"
     Have you?
     "Classic airhead,"  Rei sighed in disgust.  "She's the only
person I know who can empty her mind at a moment's notice."
     Usagi threw a peripheral glance her way.  "You've got nothing
to empty."
     She spotted one animal that stood out from all the rest.  "How
about this one?" she raised it for the others to see.  It was a
bright-eyed, small gray cat.  "Don't you think it looks kinda like
Luna?"
     "Actually," Minako moved in to eye the cat from three different
angles, "I think it looks kinda like Artemis."
     That set Usagi to thinking, a goofy grin taking shape on her
face.  "Hey... You don't suppose this is what the kittens would look
like if Luna and Artemis ever had kittens?"
     Rei frowned.  "Didn't I just tell you to grow up?"  Minako
obviously wasn't warming up to the idea, either.
     "No, really!  Back me up on this, Ami-chan--"
     "Er... um... I suppose it could happen..." Ami stammered, before
she'd had a chance to recall her facts about genealogy.
     "See?"  giggled Usagi.
     Before Rei or anyone else could offer a reply, a wildly
overblown, warped and amplified version of an electric guitar riff
shattered every last window in the area.  The Senshi threw their arms
up over their faces to shield themselves from the suddenly airborne
glass.
     "Well?"  a voice boomed.  "How did you like that one?  I can
repeat it if you didn't hear it!"
     The four girls, as did everyone else on the street, poked their
heads through former windows to see exactly what was going on.
     Sitting casually on the hood of a small import car - its windows
long since blown out as well - was what looked to be a female
punk-rocker, complete with long, spiked magenta hair offset by sparse
green and yellow patches further diluted by violet strands of hair,
large gold-plated earrings and a boom-box larger than any previously
manufactured in the country.
     This punk-rocker, however, had eyes the color of burning coals
and skin tinged a delicate shade of blue.  Combined with her hair
and the rest of her ensemble, this gave her a mildly sinister
impression.  Another daimon, perhaps.  But she apparently hadn't come
with a specific Human target of pure spirit in mind, and no one was
lurking in the background to pick up where their daimon-servant left
off... like that Eudial, for example.
     She had to be a rogue demon, then.  The things a warrior for
justice had to put up with...
     Usagi, Minako, Ami and Rei met each other's gazes and nodded. 
They had learned to communicate some things in a mere glance, yet
none of them had to be told it was time to transform and contend with
one further problem.
     Wordlessly, they backed away, heading to the women's restroom to
transform.

     "Just be grateful you're not a dog," Artemis joked, helping Luna
recover from the demon's music-blast.  "I think their ears are even
more sensitive, if I remember correctly."
     Luna shook her head to clear it.  She hadn't had ringing in her
head this bad since Sailor Moon took on her first youma with
amplified wailing or another youma soon after that with the feedback
from the youma's own sound attack.
     "Always the optimist, aren't you, Artemis?"
     "I merely thought I'd cheer you up," Artemis offered the feline
equivalent of a shrug.
     "I don't need cheering up."  Luna forced herself to look instead
at the scene out in the street.  Rather than stand conspicuously in
front of a shop, Luna and Artemis occasionally waited outside in
nearby alleys or in the narrow spaces between buildings.  Pity the
stores didn't allow cats inside...
     Where, Luna wondered, were the Sailor Senshi?  Why in the world
weren't they out there this very moment, dealing with that demon?
     The demon was already well on her way to becoming impatient. 
"Well?  Come on, I don't have all day!"  she yelled, hopping off the
car.  "Buncha music critics, this lot.  No accountin' for taste!"
     She hefted her boom box into position for another blast.  "I'll
jus' have to show 'em how wrong they are!"
     Sailor Moon made her usual grand entrance.  "Hold it!"
     The demon didn't seem to notice, moving her fingers to adjust
the stereo's levels.
     One by one, Mars, Mercury and Venus appeared.  "I said, hold
it!"  Sailor Moon repeated nervously.
     "Allow me," Sailor Venus drew her arms up.  "Venus... Love-Me...
CHAIN!!"
     Sailor Venus' Chain whipped forward to strike the demon's boom
box in the side, tearing away chips of plastic and wiring.  The wound
fizzled and shortly died away.
     This came as a big surprise to the demon.  "Huh--" she cast a
dull eye on her damaged stereo.  She spun around to face the Sailor
Senshi.  "All right, which one of you did this?  This here box cost
quite a bit of money, and somebody's going t'pay for it!"
     Now, all of the Senshi were nervous.  Luna walked up to Sailor
Moon's boots.  "Ahem..."
     Sailor Moon took the cue.  "How dare you!  Music is something
that brings great pleasure to people all over the world, and you turn
it into a weapon of great destruction?  That's unforgivable!  In the
name of the Moon--"
     "Excuse me?"  the demon hollered.  "Could you speak up?  I'm
afraid I can't hear you!"
     Even Luna and Artemis were clearly taken aback this time.
     "We should've known," Sailor Mars sighed.  "She must be almost
deaf by now carrying that big thing around."
     "Okay..." Sailor Moon said, undaunted.  "One more time..."
     "Forget it!  We don't have the time!"  Sailor Mars powered up. 
"Burning... Mandara!"
     The demon leaped backward to avoid Mars' strikes.  "So that's
how it is, is it?  You must be the worst music critics ever!  I'll
teach you not to look down on Trianna's music with disrespect..."
     Trianna brought her index finger down upon the Play button.  The
Sailor Senshi, Luna and Artemis each flinched, fearing the deafening
blast that would come next.
     Which never came.
     Trianna realized Sailor Venus' attack must have knocked her
stereo out of the running.  She looked down at it for an instant then
at the Sailor Senshi standing across from her.  "Um.  Heh... Well,
gotta go!  See ya!"  Trianna turned and bolted - with amazing speed,
considering the large stereo she still carried.
     The Sailor Senshi chased after her.

*  *  *  *  *

     I'll admit I was a little nervous while I handed my essay in.
Sensei didn't seem to care much about it - he just sat there and
looked at it for a couple seconds, like, "You're handing this in?"
After that he paged through it, quick-reading the whole thing, I
suppose.  Well, he'd better like it.  I worked long enough on the
stupid thing...
     Another page.  Hey, if you go a little faster, maybe I can get
out of here before the sun sets...
     Last page.  "That will do.  You may go now, Kino-san, and I hope
you will not repeat this in the future."
     What, the cheating or the essay?  Oh, and while I'm at it, a
little emotion now and then wouldn't hurt you, you know.
     All I wanted to do now was get outta here, so I agreed with him.
I threw Akemi a glance when sensei wasn't looking.  She nodded. 
Maybe she wasn't that mad at me after all.

     They always say, 'no running in the halls.'  I'm sure they do
that in schools in other countries, too.  It's so burned into my
head, I don't even get the idea to do it now.  Not really fun when
you aren't really breaking the rules, I guess.  Or something like
that.  So I just walked on down the hall and picked up my shoes, even
though I was too late to catch up to Usagi-chan and the others.  They
didn't wait for me after all.
     I don't get it.  I'm a Sailor Senshi, aren't I?  We risk our
necks all the time to save the world and we still gotta take
detention and write essays... bet we never had to do this in the
past...
     I never get any recognition - no one ever goes, "Hey, it's
Sailor Jupiter!"  Usagi and Minako both have their own fan clubs. 
Minako has two: one for Sailor V, the other for Sailor Venus. 
Everybody knows Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus.  Me, I'm 'the tall
girl with the green skirt and pink bows.'
     Don't worry, I'm not complaining.  I like being a part of the
team.  If it wasn't for Usagi and the Sailor Senshi, I'd be moving
around from school to school with no real friends to speak of... that
is, if Mom and Dad were still around.  I do wonder every once in a
while what the Senshi'd do without me, but that would never happen.
     I'm Sailor Jupiter, now and forever.

*  *  *  *  *

     Trianna swerved and pitched through the crowds of people on the
street, most of whom weren't too happy to come face-to-face with her.
Worse still, she insisted on keeping her boom box firmly riveted to
her shoulder, and the blasted thing kept hitting anyone unlucky to be
close enough in the face.
     Fortunately, no one's lives were being threatened.  Yet.
     "We've got to stop her before she does something we're all going
to regret!"  Sailor Mercury shouted to her teammates.
     "Okay, how?"  hissed Sailor Mars, iciness and impatience showing
through.  Uh-oh.  She hadn't meant to transfer her frustration to her
friend - Ami was the brains of the team, after all, and analyzing the
situation at hand was now second nature to Sailor Mercury.
     Ami wished everyone wouldn't think of her that way.  Until
meeting Usagi, she'd almost had to live in her own secluded world. 
Her mind set her painfully apart from most everyone in school.
     It didn't take long for them to start steering clear of her.
     But that was of little concern to her.  She had a goal: to make
her mother proud.  She would study hard, commit herself to her work
and become a doctor, just like Mother...
     "We're worried about your daughter," the school officials would
tell Mrs. Mizuno.  "Ami is definitely a model student, but she simply
isn't socializing very well with the other students.  Frankly, we're
concerned about her."
     Not that Ami didn't want to socialize, though.  She always hoped
that one day, someone would see her for her, not her mind.  There'd
been Urawa-kun, charmingly innocent and simple.  For all the good her
vaunted intelligence did her, it hadn't helped her see that Urawa-kun
had come to develop feelings for her.
     The Sailor Senshi... now there was a group of people who treated
her like a real person, rather than a Human computer.  First and
foremost, Usagi.  Ami knew by heart all the gossip about her, could
sense it as she passed people in the halls or classrooms... Yet Usagi
had seen past all that, and tried speaking to the 'girl prodigy'
anyway.
     Rei, Makoto, Minako... Mamoru, Luna, Artemis and Chibi-Usa. 
Each one a true friend she could count on and know that they, too
cared about her goals, even if those goals meant her leaving the
team...
     Her second family.
     Mercury switched to tactician mode.  She'd quickly come up with
an idea that sounded good, at least to her.  "Since she apparently
can't hear us that well, maybe two of us can sneak around and block
her path from the front."
     Venus understood.  "Cutting off her escape."
     "Guess it's worth a shot," Mars gave in.
     "Okay!"  Sailor Mercury glanced sidelong at Sailor Moon.  "Come
on!  We'll be the ones to come around from the front!"
     Sailor Moon's voice grew quiet.  "We will?"

     Well, that's that.  Wonder if I can figure out where everybody
else went... if I know Usagi, she's in some shop looking for
something cute for Mamoru-san... a stuffed animal or toy.
     That's one good thing about Usagi - she never gives up when it
comes to love or romance.  She's never given up on Mamoru-san, always
trying to show him how much she really loves him... Ah, I don't know.
I've never been able to pick out anything like that and give it to a
guy with a straight face.  Flowers?  Yeah.  Food?  Sure.  But a cute
little toy?  Not my style, heh.
     Ah... Miyamoto's Books, Rainbow Cuisine, jewelry shop... hey,
there's that new plant shop I've been meaning to check out... nah,
not now.  Better see if I can find the gang first.

     Sailor Moon let Mercury lead her through a series of connected
side streets which, if it weren't for the chase, Usagi wouldn't have
had much reason to set foot on.  The two Sailor Senshi moved with
breathless speed, not giving anyone who recognized them a chance to
do anything about it.
     "Are... you sure... we're out in front?"  Sailor Moon strained. 
Forget diets - chasing weird monsters around the streets of Tokyo was
the greatest way to stay fit.  Yeah, right.  If that were true, why
wasn't she as slim as she wanted?  Why did she become exhausted so
easily?  Wasn't she Sailor Moon, the beautiful sailor-suited warrior
for justice?  She had a lot of fans looking up to her, a group which
- ironically enough - included her own brother, Shingo.
     For a brief instant the picture of an undignified, fat Sailor
Moon Luna had once drawn for her replaced her sight.  Lately, the cat
was likening her to a 'full moon,' a reference which Rei had eagerly
picked up on.  And Ami-chan... Ami-chan had laughed, too...
     Ami soon apologized, but Usagi had felt the full impact of the
insult nonetheless.
     Sailor Mercury's visor gave her the lowdown on the chase.  "Heat
and motion scans say we're ahead.  Also, the sounds of the chase are
directly behind us."
     "How soon till we're in position?"
     "Not long," Sailor Mercury's attention was still focused
elsewhere.  "Mars and Venus are trying to make it easier for us by
herding the monster into position.  However, they don't have any way
of knowing exactly where we are."
     Sailor Moon took the time to glance about her.  "I don't know
where we are."

     "Do you have any idea at all where we're taking this chase?"
     "Of course not.  What do you take me for?"
     Mars chose to ignore the comment.  "So we're just bringing up
the rear and HOPING Ami and Usagi meet us in front!?"
     "Yeah."
     Sailor Mars sighed ever so slightly, resigning herself to
keeping their charge on the correct path - she hoped - with a couple
of hastily-aimed Burning Mandara shots nipping at Trianna's feet.  It
worked; the demon at least kept to a relatively straight path.

     I thought I'd let my feet drag a little as I walked out of the
shop.  Who am I kidding?  I'm never gonna find them this way... might
as well go home.  Maybe there'll be something on the answering
machine.

     Trianna blundered onto a side street.  Those girls were making
it awfully tough to find an electronics repair shop.
     She found her path blocked by two of them.  How had they gotten
there?  Weren't they supposed to be behind her?  Stupid music
critics were everywhere these days...
     "That's far enough!"  Sailor Moon made sure to speak loud enough
for Trianna to hear her.  Sailor Mercury said nothing.  "Your days of
terrorizing innocent people with your music are over!"
     "'Terrorizing innocent people'!?"  Trianna repeated, indignant. 
"I resent that!"  Music critics who thought they could control what
everyone else listened to were the worst...
     Without her box, there was nothing she could do about it.  She
turned and began fleeing in the opposite direction.  No, not
again!  Usagi mentally protested.  "Stop!"  Sailor Moon
followed... and ran full-tilt into Sailor Mars, who was herself
moving to stop Trianna.  Both Senshi fell backward to the street.
     Deciding to add insult to insult, Trianna leapt over the
grounded Senshi to escape.
     Rei pulled herself up.  "Usagi!  If she gets away, it's all your
fault!"  she fumed, watching Trianna disappear into the maze of
streets.
     "If you hadn't gotten in the way--"
     "Argue later!"  Sailor Venus instinctively growled.  "We've
gotta stop her!"

     What was that?  Sounded like a bunch of people screaming!
Wonder what's going on?

     Trianna ran.
     She didn't particularly care where anymore, just so long as she
ditched the wacko music critics who were so insistent on silencing
her beat they were attacking her physically.  True, she was a
full-time agent of Darkness, but ignorant Humans could appreciate her
music as much as any of her peers, right?
     Guess not.
     She'd have to teach them how particularly stupid and wrong they
were.  Music was indeed a dangerous business.
     The crowds were thinning.  There were fewer people on the
streets now, because she was nearing the outskirts of the shopping
district.  That meant no more crowds for her to lose herself in...
only wide open space.  Still, she had to get away... fix her stereo,
and return to try again.
     She saw her path.  And through it walked a girl, unusually tall
for her age, with a long brown ponytail, beautiful pink rose earrings
and some sort of laced-up white-and-brown dress uniform, with the
accent on the dress.  Humans always did have strange dress habits...

     What the...!?  A monster, right in front of me?  Don't know if
the others are on the way but I've gotta do something!

     Trianna grabbed the girl and shoved her head-first into the
large brick wall bordering the walkway.  "Outta my way, girlie."  No
mere mortal girl was going to keep her from her goal now.  She
continued running.

     I... can't see... musta... hit that wall... pretty hard......
is that... blood...... on my face.........?

     Sailor Mars was the first to arrive on the scene.  "She came
this way!  C'mon, let's go!"
     "Right!"  chimed her three teammates in unison.
     Sailor Mercury saw something that made her stop cold.  She
gripped Sailor Venus' arm tightly.  "Look!"  she said, her voice far
more of a whisper than she hoped it would be.
     Minako saw it, too.  "Mako-chan!!"  It was Makoto, all
right, lying unmoving in a crumpled heap next to one of the border
walls beside the road.  Mercury reached her first and straightened
her friend's body so that Makoto rested properly on the concrete. 
Oh, no, I've already made one mistake...
     "Is she a-all right?"  Sailor Moon worriedly asked.
     "I don't know."  Mercury put her developing doctor's skills to
the test.  "She's lost quite a bit of blood from a blow to the
temple.  Looks like she may have a concussion.  Her pupils are
dilated.  Her pulse is okay, I think..." Frustrated, Ami removed her
fingers from Makoto's neck, where she had tried to gauge her friend's
pulse.
     "I saw the whole thing!"  a boy rushed up.  "A monster pushed
her into that wall and took off!"
     Mercury stood on one knee.  "We've got to call an ambulance."
     "I already did," the boy answered.  "They said they'll be here
as soon as they can.  Hey, aren't you the Sailor Senshi?"
     "Yeah," said Sailor Mars.  "That's us.  ...Maybe you should call
the hospital again to make sure.  Speed up the ambulance or
something."
     "Okay!"  The boy ran off.
     "It doesn't work that way, Rei-chan," Mercury frowned.
     "So what about that demon, then?"  Mars persisted.  "We can't
let her get away with this!"
     Sailor Moon looked helplessly at her fallen friend.  "We can't
leave Mako-chan like this..."
     Sailor Mercury took charge.  Now wasn't the time for Usagi to
make a sensible decision.  "You and Venus see if you can find her,"
she told Mars.  "We'll stay here with Mako-chan until the ambulance
arrives."

*  *  *  *  *

     "Oh, swell," Rei cursed under her breath.  She and Minako had
just spent the better part of six minutes combing the streets for
Trianna, but the rogue demoness was nowhere to be found.  "If Ami had
come with us, at least we'd have some way of sensing where she went."
     "Ami-chan's the closest thing we have to a doctor.  It's more
important she stay with Mako-chan than come with us."  Sailor Venus
tried to read her friend's expression.  "I know you wanna catch this
monster.  So do I.  But she can wait; Mako-chan can't."  She felt a
little less guilty preaching to Rei without Trianna around.
     Sailor Mars didn't feel like arguing the point.  Minako was
right - who knew how severe Makoto's injuries really were?  And despite
the fact that Rei was a Sailor Senshi, who could actually do
something about any monsters who made their presences known, she
felt helpless worrying about Mako-chan...
     Then again, she always felt a measure of helplessness whenever
she wasn't in complete control of a situation.
     She glanced back the way they had come, not expecting to find
anything.  "The ambulance ought to be there by now."

*  *  *  *  *

     As it turned out, Rei's guess had been correct.  The ambulance
had arrived and taken Makoto away, with Ami and Usagi accompanying
her to the hospital in their normal forms.
     Mako-chan was secured in a stretcher, a blanket up to her neck
and a paramedic near her head monitoring her for anything critical. 
Usagi and Ami could only watch Makoto from their seats on a cold,
metal fold-out bench.
     Every now and then a bump in the road jostled them all about. 
The paramedic did his best to keep Makoto's head from moving.
     Ami tried desperately to fix her attention on anything else...
the faded pieces of paper taped to the interior walls of the
ambulance - some of that tape was peeling and curling away - picking
out details in the scenery flying past the windows, the roof, the
floor, the occasional bumps in the road... anything not to fix on
Mako-chan's lifeless facial features.  It scared her so, to think of
all the possibilities...
     Only one endless thought kept running through Usagi's mind.  She
refused to let it die, to take her eyes from Makoto's still form.

     Never abandon the ones you care for and they will always stand
by your side.

*  *  *  *  *

     A quarter of an hour later, Usagi and Ami were sitting quietly
in the waiting room at Juuban Central Hospital.  The hospital crew
had wasted no time in rushing Mako-chan off to who knew where, and
that left her two friends to continue worrying in the sparsely
furnished waiting room.
     Why were waiting rooms always set up like this?  Usagi
wondered, her mind slipping off-track for the first time since she
had seen her friend lying prone on the street.  Walls painted one
simple, warm color, or perhaps wallpapered, a few chairs, a table
with magazines on it - ones she never read anyway.  Oh, and a lamp,
couldn't forget those; maybe a television, some unnamed paintings or
a fan...
     The thought did her little good.  She was far too distraught to
concentrate on anything but Mako-chan's state of being.
     She had once seen her friends die before her eyes, one by one,
and wasn't about to let that ever happen again.
     Ami-chan was asleep, her head rested peacefully on Usagi's right
shoulder.  How could she sleep at a time like this?  Wasn't she
worried whether or not Mako-chan was gonna make it through this...
ordeal?
     Of course Ami was.  Usagi felt like a fool for even thinking
that her best friend wasn't as concerned as she was.  Ami-chan was
worn out from the day's events, including the chase after Trianna. 
Sailor Senshi could get tired, too.  Usagi let Ami sleep; Ami
deserved the rest.
     Usagi felt tired as well, but she wouldn't allow herself that
luxury.  It was her punishment for abandoning a friend.  Maybe she
was being a little stupid... but she'd let Mako-chan tell her that
what she was doing was wrong.  Until then, she'd let no one else
convince her.
     A doctor approached them.  "Excuse me... Are you the two girls
who came in with Miss Kino?"  The question wasn't really necessary -
there weren't that many other people in the waiting room.
     Usagi nudged Ami awake.  "Yes.  We're her friends."
     The doctor changed his expression ever so slightly, a look that
said, 'I see.'  "Does she have any immediate family members we can
contact?"
     "Not really," Ami answered.  "Her mother and father... were lost
in a plane crash, and she's been living alone ever since."  Although
most people at the time wouldn't have believed you if you told them,
Makoto Kino was a sentimental person, too.  When she received the
news that her parents had been killed in a plane crash while
returning from a business trip, she took it in stride, publically. 
Privately was a different matter.  She had no idea what she would do
without them.
     Her relatives soon called to console her, and offer her the
chance to come and live with them; their homes were always open for
her.
     Makoto, however, turned the invitations down.  For as much as
she wanted to live with one of her favorite relatives, she couldn't
bear to part with the home she now lived in.  She felt that if she
left, she might lose the memory of her mother and father.
     Her relatives understood.  Makoto did happen to be an
independent young woman and quite stubborn, and so they allowed her
to continue living in her home, supporting her as best they could.
     Visitors to Makoto's house knew the plants she had planted in
memorial of her late mother and father.
     "We could contact her uncle," continued Ami, "but he lives in
Shizuoka, and it would take a while for him to get here."
     "Does she have any other relatives?"
     "Most of her family lives even farther away," Usagi tried to
regain control over the conversation.  But why?  She didn't really
need it...
     "We really do have to contact someone..."
     "How is Makoto doing?"  Ami thought to ask.  First things first.
     The doctor looked at them for a second.  "Follow me."

     Makoto's room was darker than the waiting room, and put Usagi
more at ease, though her anxiety took priority.  Mako-chan had been
transferred to a hospital bed, her trademark ponytail undone -
although her long-permed hair tried to keep its form - and a
linen-white bandage wrapped around her head.  She was so pale in the
light from the window... Usagi had never seen her friend with her
hair down before.  Minako, yes, but no one hardly ever saw Mako-chan
without her hair up in a ponytail.
     The doctor moved closer to the bed and made another quick
examination of her.  Nothing much had changed.  "She's had a bad
concussion.  We've stopped the bleeding and put in a few stitches to
seal up the wound, but we won't be able to tell if there are any
after-effects until she wakes up."
     Ami realized what was wrong.  "She hasn't come to yet?  She
should have, by now..."  That declaration brought Usagi around with a
start.
     "It's a mystery to us.  You're right, she should be awake by
now, but she's still unconscious.  The lab plans to run some tests on
her to see if there's anything about her that might be causing her to
remain unconsious for an extended period of time.  Her medical
history doesn't indicate anything extraordinary... Does she take any
medication or drugs... maybe... narcotics?"
     Mako-chan, use those?  "No,"  replied Ami.  "She isn't the
type to use drugs.  And she isn't on any medication, as far as I
know."
     "Sorry.  But the question had to be asked; we can't understand
why she's still in this condition."
     "I understand."
     Usagi didn't; she saw only the still form of her friend, a
friend she had unwittingly abandoned.  Ami-chan and the doctor were
talking about some sort of nonsense like CAT or MRI... I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, Mako-chan!  This is all my fault... my fault.........

*  *  *  *  *

     The following morning, Haruna-sensei was attempting to interest
her homeroom class in the lecture of the day when Usagi Tsukino
entered the room and took her seat without a word.  Late as usual. 
Well, at least Tsukino hadn't bothered with sneaking in, or coming up
with a pitiful excuse every teacher in the world had already heard.
     "Tsukino-san?"
     "Here," Usagi raised her hand, then changed her mind halfway so
that the gesture became more of an indifferent wave.  Her voice had a
different, more serious tone to it.  Usagi Tsukino, serious?  Now
what?
     "Tsukino-san!"  Haruna strided over to Usagi's desk, where the
girl was losing herself in her textbook.  "You're late, again.  Where
were you this time?"
     Usagi's gaze traveled from the textbook to Haruna-sensei's face.
Ordinarily, she would have reacted to that stern, inquiring
expression by becoming flustered, trying to come up with an excuse
that sounded a whole lot better - to her, anyway - than "I overslept
again."
     This time, she had a real excuse.  "My friend Makoto was in an
accident, and I was talking to her teachers about getting her
homework for the week 'cause I don't know how long she'll be out."
     Haruna wished she could take her words back.  "Kino Makoto?" 
Usagi nodded.  "I'm sorry.  I heard about what happened to her.  How
is she?"
     "The doctors say she's stable."
     That didn't tell Haruna much.  She didn't want to pry.  Not when
the issue was so sensitive; tact was needed here, not something said
in haste.  And Tsukino-san... she was acting quite unlike her usual
self.  She must have been close friends with the Kino girl... 
     Usagi seemed to have a knack for picking unique friends.  
     Makoto Kino had been one of those 'special case' students
teachers were warned to be on the watch for.  Not because of her
performance in class, but because she got into trouble on more than
one occasion for fighting.  Makoto was noticeably tall for her age
and strong as well... one might think that others would have sense
not to provoke her, but there was always someone who wanted to prove
himself or herself to be the toughest fighter in the entire district.
That meant bad news for Makoto, who found herself in trouble for
things as simple as fights over the boy she happened to have a crush
on at the moment.
     All Haruna knew was what she had heard from rumors about Makoto
and what was in Makoto's permanent records.  That Makoto was another
individual who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time
and was attacked by yet another one of those monsters that didn't
want to leave people alone.  Haruna had been one of those victims;
she knew the monsters didn't care who they hurt or how.
     With all the thoughts and memories temporarily clamoring to be
heard in her mind, the only thing Haruna could think to say was,
"Will she be all right?"
     "It's too soon to tell."  The oddly cold, serious tone
re-established itself.  "The doctors won't know for sure until she
comes to."
     Two rows away, Umino was privately shocked.  She hadn't come to,
yet?  He'd fully expected to hear Usagi say that the Kino girl was
awake and fighting for the return of her strength.  Umino still felt
a bit uncomfortable around Makoto... on those few occasions when she
was near.  She didn't seem as bad as some of the rumors Umino had
originally heard made her out to be.  She was a tough, though, and
for an accident to displace Makoto and Usagi so, there had to be much
more to it than what everyone thought...

*  *  *  *  *

     That afternoon...
     Luna walked briskly into the Tsukino kitchen.  The Senshi had
planned an emergency meeting at the Shrine today, and it was Luna's
established role to remind Usagi of the meeting, to get her there as
quickly as possible.  'On time' was generally out of the question.
     If Usagi wasn't in the kitchen, she would be watching television
or playing video games in the family room... or upstairs, lounging
around in her bedroom.
     Usagi wasn't in the kitchen, in fact, but Chibi-Usa was, helping
Mrs. Tsukino get an early start on preparing dinner.  "Ah!  Hello,
Luna-chan!"  Mrs. Tsukino smiled, cheerfully greeting Luna.  It was
her customary greeting, the one Luna disliked so.  Not that it was
Mrs. Tsukino's fault - how could she know Luna wasn't simply another
ordinary cat?  Still, it wasn't as bad as calling the crescent-moon
mark on Luna's forehead a 'crescent-shaped bald spot.'  Thank
goodness she'd broken them all of that habit right away.
     Chibi-Usa excused herself from the counter.  "I have to go...
powder my nose."  Why did people say that?  Whose idea was it to make
such a big deal out of something she never knew anyone to do, anyway?
     Mama had let her get away with saying, "I need to go to the
bathroom," or other informal statements, until Future Luna had
reprimanded her.  A true Lady would not speak as such.  The Small
Lady compromised; she spoke as Luna expected her to in public, but in
private, and around those she knew, she spoke normally.
     She kept up the practice around Ikuko and Kenji Tsukino because
they, too, were her elders.  Grandmother and Grandfather, on Mother's
side.
     Luna followed the girl from the future out of the room.

     "Where's Usagi-chan?"  an impatient Luna asked.
     "What's going on?"
     "We're holding a meeting today, and if she doesn't get moving
now, she'll be late!"
     Chibi-Usa looked surprised.  "Oh, that's why she left in such a
big hurry!  I thought she was going to go see Mamo-chan.  What's with
her, anyway?"
     "Do you mean to tell me, she's already left?"  Luna didn't wait
for an answer.  "When did she leave?"
     "About twenty minutes ago."
     Luna exhaled.  Usagi, not only on time but early?  "It was
quite irresponsible of her to leave for the meeting without me.  I'll
have to talk to her about that."
     "Maybe she thought you were already there," the young girl said.
"I think she had a lot on her mind."
     Chibi-Usa paused.  "But then again, she's the biggest baka I
know."
     Luna craned her head to look at one of the hanging wall clocks. 
Barely enough time for her to make it to the meeting.  "Well, I had
better get going if I want to be at that meeting.  Thank you for your
help!"  The cat leapt onto the sill of an open window and departed.
     "You're welcome," Chibi-Usa said out of habit.

     "This is a switch, Usagi."  Rei checked her watch.  "Luna's late
and you're early."  Usagi didn't say anything, content to sit
silently on the raised deck of the Hikawa Shrine's main structure. 
She'd already dropped by the hospital to check up on Mako-chan, only
to find nothing had changed.
     "Do we have to wait for Luna?"  Minako was again impatient. 
"We know that monster - whatever she is - is still out there
somewhere on the loose, and we need to stop her before she does to
someone else what she did to Mako-chan!"
     "Yeah!"  seconded Usagi.  The declaration lacked her usual good
cheer.
     Ami sat up.  "Luna is a member of our team and she deserves the
right to hear and be heard.  I know all of you are troubled by
Mako-chan's current condition, but trying to do anything about it
without a plan isn't going to accomplish a thing."
     "Thank you, Ami-chan."  Luna, out of breath, took a seat on the
deck next to Usagi.
     Usagi cast a glance down at Luna.  "Okay, Luna's here.  Now can
we start the meeting?"
     Ordinarily, Rei might have followed this up with a retort like
"What's your hurry?"  She had much bigger concerns to preoccupy her
thoughts, however.
     "Ami-chan?  A quick recap of what we know, if you will." 
Artemis sat beside Luna.  They were fraternal twins, almost.  Not so
much yin and yang as brother and sister, in a way...
     Ami cleared her throat.  "Each of us knows what happened last
night.  Today, while we were in school, there were reports that the
monster we fought yesterday had created another disturbance in the
shopping district."
     "She must be smarter than we gave her credit for," surmised Rei.
"What did she do, find an electronic parts store and repair that
monstrosity of a radio of hers overnight?"
     "Who cares about how smart she is?  We've gotta do something
about her!"
     Minako glanced for a second at Usagi, then the rest of the
group.  "Yeah!  We don't want her to hurt anyone else, do we?"
     "Of course not!  How could you think otherwise?"  Luna scolded.
     "Calm down, Luna.  You know they're upset over what happened to
Makoto," Artemis whispered to her.
     "...Yes.  Well, as Ami-chan mentioned, we do need a plan.  So,
do any of you have a suggestion?"
     "I don't think so.  The best we can do is to go out alone or in
pairs and see if we can find anything."  
     Usagi frowned.  "That's what we ALWAYS do."

*  *  *  *  *

     "How could you let this happen to me?"  Makoto asked accusingly,
her hair toyed with by a slight breeze that Usagi barely felt or
acknowledged.
     I didn't... I couldn't...  The words refused to leave Usagi's
throat.  She felt very much like a rabbit at the moment - she so
desperately wanted to bolt.  Mako-chan...
     "I can't trust you any more, Usagi."  Makoto paused one last
second before turning away.  "Goodbye."
     Mako-chan!  Wait!  No...!  A swirl of pink rose petals, a
stronger gust of wind, and Makoto faded away.
     Come back.........  Usagi fell to her knees, sobbing.  This,
she could hear.

     "No!!!"
     Usagi woke up in a cold sweat.  Just a dream...  She caught
her breath, turning her head to check on Makoto.  Mako-chan hadn't
changed at all, not even to respond to Usagi's sudden awakening.
     She hadn't changed at all since the accident.
     Usagi opened the window blinds to allow more sunlight in.  None
of it really reached Makoto's face, meaning that the eerie sense
Usagi felt when looking at her friend's face would remain, but at
least it was an improvement over the cold, pale light she... slept in.
     The team hadn't had much luck searching for Trianna the night
before.  Usagi had searched the longest and the hardest, but Trianna
had outsmarted them; she was nowhere to be found.  She'd struck again
while the girls were in school, to fade into the shadows before
anyone knew what happened.
     Feeling helpless, Usagi had volunteered to stand the first vigil
at Mako-chan's side.  Rei straightaway told her that she wasn't much
help anyway, and Usagi hadn't responded.  Rei's rival was suddenly
full of a serious, no-nonsense attitude, and it surprised her.
     "I'm sorry," Usagi apologized again, to Makoto's face.  Makoto
didn't respond.  Tears began to form in Usagi's eyes, not coming as
easily as they usually did.  "I didn't mean to let this happen to
you."

     Unseen by Usagi, Rei watched from the door.  She, too, had taken
a break from the search to look in on Makoto and Usagi.  She had
heard everything, seen Usagi's tears...
     Rei quickly walked away from the door and turned a corner in the
hallway, pulling out her Senshi communicator.  "Ami-chan? 
Mina-chan?  This is Rei..."

     Half an hour passed... or was it fifteen minutes?  She wasn't
paying attention to the time at all.  She kept her eyes fixed on
Mako-chan, coming dangerously close to drifting off to sleep again.
     At least in her dreams Mako-chan wasn't lying dead to the world
in a hospital bed.  Though, on the other hand, the dream version of
Mako-chan was confirming Usagi's fears - that Usagi had let her
friend down.
     I didn't mean for this to happen.  Try as she might, she
couldn't say the words to Makoto's face.
     Makoto's friendship meant so much to Usagi as her friendship
with Rei, Minako or Ami... She hated to think of losing any of them.
     A breeze found its way through the open window to blow a single
curl of Makoto's hair into her eyes.  If only she would react...
Usagi stood still for a second, then brushed the errant hair back
into place.
     She took her seat and let out a deep sigh.

     Makoto's left hand twitched, slowly but surely.
     The few machines monitoring her vital signs were the first to
notice this, changing their behavior in ways only a doctor understood.
     She was beginning to stir.  "Mmmmmm............"
     Usagi had fallen asleep in her chair beside the bed once again. 
The voices invaded her dreams.  "She's coming to!  Quick, get the
equipment!"
     Now, why would someone in her dreams say a thing like that? 
Usagi thought, just before her dream shorted out.
     A hand touched her shoulder.  Her eyes opened upon a human
shape, dressed in a white blur... "Miss?"
     "...What's going on?"  Usagi blinked, allowing her eyes a chance
to refocus.  She took note of the nurse hooking some sort of weird
machine to Makoto.
     Usagi shot to her feet.  "Oh, no - she's not gonna die, is she?"
     "No, no," the doctor assured her.  "She's coming around, and I
thought you might want to be awake."
     The young woman's face brightened.  "She is?  But... then, what's
that?"  she pointed to the machine.
     "Oh.  Um, well, we're just making sure she's all right," said
the doctor.  At moments like this most people often didn't care what
the machine was or how it was amazingly doing what it was supposed to
be doing, just the end result.
     Usagi sneaked a look at the graphs monitoring Makoto's brain
activity.  They were dramatically coming to life.  Did that mean
Mako-chan was, too?  She crossed her fingers - on both hands for luck
- and stood back.  Please be all right, Mako-chan!
     Makoto's eyes struggled to open and stay that way.  The lines on
the machine grew thicker.

     ................
     Pain...... what?  Head hurts...
     "Come on, you can do it!  You're going to be okay!"
     ...Trying... who said that?  Mmmmm......
     "Are you sure?"
     "Yes."
     Light... too bright... can't see!  ...I think.
     "Now, don't worry.  She's fighting hard to come to full
consciousness on her own, but we're going to help her along a little
bit."
     Can see more now.  Not much... ow!  Head... still hurts.
     "I don't know..."
     Wait - do I know that voice?
     "She's reacting to your voice.  That's a good sign."
     "Okay... Mako-chan, this is Usagi.  Can you hear me?  I know
you're gonna be all right..."
     I'm gonna be all right?  I don't feel like it...
     "Her eyes are open--"
     "Mako-chan!?"

     "Where......"
     Usagi froze.  "She spoke!  I knew it!  You are gonna be all
right, Mako-chan!  Er..."  She turned to the doctor.  "She is going
to be okay, isn't she?"
     "It looks like she's recovering, but she still has to worry
about her head wound.  It will heal in time, though we still need to
determine whether or not she will completely heal, both physically
and psychologically."
     Makoto blinked twice, looking up at Usagi blankly.  "Mako......
-chan?  Is... is that my name?"
     The others were surprised.  "You don't remember your name?" 
Usagi asked her friend.
     "What do you remember?"  the doctor decided to take control of
the moment.
     Makoto was silent for several seconds.  "Nothing.  I can't
remember anything."  Her thoughts jumped tracks.  "What's wrong with
me?"  She touched a finger or two to the bandages wrapped around her
forehead.  "What happened to me?  Why am I here... in the hospital?"
     "You must be suffering from traumatic amnesia as a direct result
of the concussion you sustained," the doctor told her in a clinical
tone of voice.  "Don't worry, it's usually only a temporary
condition."
     Makoto stared at him.  "Traumatic amnesia?  Concussion?  Only
temporary!?  What in the world happened to me?"
     "Uh, calm down, Mako-chan.  You're going to be all right,
remember?"  Usagi was quick to try to put Makoto at ease.  "But until
you remember everything, I'll help tell you what you want to know." 
To a point, anyway.  The fewer surprises she threw Mako-chan at this
stage, the better.  That included the fact that Makoto was Sailor
Jupiter...
     "I'll let you visit with her for a little while longer.  She
needs her rest, and we want to keep her here overnight for
observation," the doctor took Usagi aside.
     "But..."
     "I've had someone call your parents.  They're on their way to
pick you up."
     "What?  That's not fair!"
     "I know she's your friend.  You're worried about every little
thing that's happening to her."  He stopped, chuckling softly to
himself.  This was the type of speech he often reserved for close
relatives, not best friends.  Usagi was the nearest Makoto had to a
close relative in the area, though, so he allowed her a little
leeway.  "She's been through quite a lot, and the best thing you can
do for her right now is to let her have some time to herself."
     Usagi was too busy holding back her emotions to argue.  "Okay..."
     As he had promised, the doctor made sure everyone else left the
room.  Usagi took her seat next to the bed.  "Your name is Kino
Makoto, but your friends call you 'Mako-chan...'"

     I tried to keep up with everything Usagi was telling me.
Having amnesia sure isn't fun.  At least I've never had it before...
or have I?
     My name is Makoto Kino, 'Mako-chan' to my friends.  I live by
myself, my parents lost in a plane crash, one of the reasons why I'm
afraid of flying and planes... is that right?
     I'm unusually strong, capable of taking care of myself and was
expelled from my last school for fighting......
     Wait a minute.  That can't be right!
     "What?  You're joking, right?"  I say.  "I can't be like that!" 
I grabbed one of the metal bars on my bed.  My hand still shook. 
"I'm not some kind of tomboy..."
     "You're not a tomboy.  You just believe in fighting for what you
care about."
     "I..."  That sounds kinda better, but I still can't believe
people think of me as some sort of tough girl...

(...to be continued...)


Next: Will Mako-chan recover?  Will Usagi stop blaming herself for
Makoto's condition, or will Trianna finally find a kindred spirit who
enjoys her music as much as she does?  Find out in Part 2 of Sailor
Moon: Thanks for the Memories.  (Soap Opera Mode: OFF :)

This story's been a while in coming - and having my main hard drive
die a permanent death on the morning of May 31 did not help at all.
:)  I'd like to thank everyone who wrote in about Sailor Moon:
Digital Moon; I'd name a few names, but most of the copies I was
keeping of the mail you sent was lost along with the old hard drive on
May 31.  (All of the DM mail that was sent before that date, anyway.)
Thanks again.

Credits:
Written by: Mike Koos
Pre-readers: Richard Beaubien, Artemis & Luna, David Wills
Special Thanks: Everyone who read Digital Moon :), Tom Williams, and
                Artemis and Luna for helping me to make sure my story
                made some sense in medical terms.  ^_^

Comments, questions, suggestions?  E-mail me at the address below.