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." * * * * * * * * * * 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. * * * * * * * * * * 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?" "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. * * * * * * * * * * 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?" 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. 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. 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!" 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... 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. 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. "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. * * * * * 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... * * * * * 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. The words refused to leave Usagi's throat. She felt very much like a rabbit at the moment - she so desperately wanted to bolt. "I can't trust you any more, Usagi." Makoto paused one last second before turning away. "Goodbye." A swirl of pink rose petals, a stronger gust of wind, and Makoto faded away. Usagi fell to her knees, sobbing. This, she could hear. "No!!!" Usagi woke up in a cold sweat. 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. 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. 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...'" (...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. * Mike ('Kino Makoto') Koos: makoto@cal.net * http://www.fanfic.net/~makoto * * "I can do nothing to stop you. Your background music is too strong * for me." - Sam Johnson, Whose Line is it Anyway?