Disclaimer: Sailor Moon, Sailor Senshi, and all terms, names, etc.
associated with the series are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi and
Kodansha. We make no claim to them and this work of fanfiction should
not be seen as making a claim.

Those characters that are original and the story "Chibi-Usa Times Two"
are copyrighted (c) 1997 by Douglas Helm & Will Wolfshohl.

This fanfic and over 300 other SM fanfics reside in "Tuxedo" Will's SM
Fanfics Archive at http://log.on.ca/users/helm/anime/index.htm

Send comments to: Douglas "Candle Light Author" Helm (dhelm@log.on.ca)
or "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl (wwolfshohl@logicon.com)


Chibi-Usa Times Two
Part 8:  Negotiations

Usagi had already gathered the clothing she'd brought for Chibi-Usa.
She thanked Ami for taking care of the child and asked her to arrange a
meeting at the Hikawa Shrine for later that day. Then Usagi left Ami's
place carrying Chibi-Usa who was still clad in her bunny pajamas and set
off for home.

Now as they walked Chibi-Usa yawned. It was still early morning. The sun
hadn't risen yet and the wind had a definite chill to it.  Shivering
slightly Chibi-Usa tried to snuggle a little deeper into Usagi's warmth.
<Onee-san...>

She was only partially awake when Usagi told her, "Imouto... You're
going to have to sleep in your own bed when we get back." <I don't think
Mom could stand the shock of seeing Chibi-Usa sleeping with me right
now.>

"Hai..." Chibi-Usa mumbled. She didn't care at this point.  As far as
she was concerned, anything would be okay as long as she got to go home
with her onee-san. <Arigato Onee-san. Arigato.>

Creeping softly into the house, Usagi and Chibi-Usa climbed up the
stairs and into Chibi-Usa's room. She gave Chibi-Usa a hug and a light
kiss before pulling the covers up firmly around the little girl.
Chibi-Usa almost fully asleep now mumbled out, "'Night Mommy..."

<I almost feel like your mother. Someday I hope I'll have a daughter
like you...> Usagi smiled at the sleeping child. With that Usagi quietly
sneaked out of Chibi-Usa's room and headed for her own. <Oh, I hope I
can help you, little one.> It had been a long night.

                                  ******

Making the Tsukino family forget all the horrible things the evil
Chibi-Usa had done was more difficult than Usagi had thought. Even under
Luna-P's influence, there were still some deep seated emotions that
couldn't be suppressed completely. Fortunately, for the most part, Ikuko
and Kenji waved them off as stress related rather than child related
troubles.  Chibi-Usa was accepted by the family as a cute little girl
who rarely caused trouble.

Shingo still resented Chibi-Usa to some degree but she seemed to accept
this calmly. Usagi wrote it off as normal sibling-like jealousy and not
outright hate. As Chibi-Usa had told her on the way to school that day,
"Shingo tried to get me in trouble before but as long as you believe me,
Onee-san, it doesn't bother me."

Giving a reassuring hug to Chibi-Usa, Usagi walked off towards school
but paused long enough to watch her safely enter. She just didn't feel
right about leaving that little girl, the little girl that she'd caused
so much trouble to and she loved with all her heart, alone unprotected.

                                  ******

High above the City of Tokyo, unseen, was Rubeus' UFO. Sitting in the
ship's brig was Chibi-Usa who at the moment wasn't very pleased. Beruche
had brought her here and then teleported away without Rubeus even being
present. She had been here several hours waiting and with each passing
moment her anger and frustration grew. She had come here to see Rubeus
not to be a common prisoner.

She was now searching for a way out when Rubeus finally appeared and
said smugly, "Ah Rabbit..."

"Listen to me!" Chibi-Usa whirled around and bellowed, "I'm only going
to tell you this once! I'm Princess Usagi of Crystal Tokyo... NOT
RABBIT!!!"

Rubeus paused, <Hmmm... strange, first she surrenders to us and then she
isn't afraid of me... What's gotten into her?>  Then it suddenly hit him
like a brick, <My attack?!? Of course, she absorbed Dark Energy and now
seems to be infused with it!>  He could readily feel the energy
pulsating from her with his senses. <How could I be so lucky? Wiseman
will be pleased!>

"Your lackeys kept me waiting here... This is NO WAY to treat royalty,"
Chibi-Usa growled out.  <I hope he says something...> She slowly looked
over Rubeus almost leering, <You know if I didn't want Mamoru... I think
I could go for him.>

Rubeus gave a feral smile and bowed deeply, "Forgive me, `Your
Highness', would you like something to eat?"

"No, but thank you for offering. Arise, Rubeus. What I want is to get
back at those commoners that treated me badly."

"Then why come to us?" <What is she up to?>

"You have something I like... guts." <But I still don't trust you.> "You
do what you like and no one tells you to stop it. Your lackeys have the
right idea... I was thinking we could make a deal."

The only thing keeping the Rabbit free was Rubeus' fascination with the
new toy that happened to walk straight into his lair... "Then shall we
commence negotiations, Your Highness?"

"Hai." And with that they both teleported away.

                                  ******

After her classes were complete for the day, Usagi walked to Chibi-Usa's
school but the child wasn't waiting for her. Fear started to build up in
Usagi. <Kami-sama, where's Chibi-Usa? I hope that other one didn't get a
hold of her and do something.... I'd never forgive myself.>  A false
sense of reassurance came over her, <Maybe Mom or Dad picked her up...
but they knew I'd be doing that...> She was now almost in a panic.
<Okay Usagi... calm down. She's just inside somewhere.>

Usagi entered the school. She wandered into Chibi-Usa's classroom and
found it empty. <I've got to call Mom and Dad.> She looked around for
the office. She figured that she might be able to use their phone to
contact her parents. As Usagi approached the office she heard two
teachers talking and their conversation piqued her interest.

"I've never seen a child so... sensitive to a mild rebuke."

"What did you say to her?"

"All I said was maybe she should have gotten a good night's rest that
way she wouldn't have fallen asleep in my class."

For some reason Usagi found this just too familiar to pass up. She
recognized one of the teachers and approached her tentatively.  "Excuse
me, Sensei..."

"Oh Tsukino-san... what can I do for you?"

"Have you seen my cousin, Chibi-Usa?" <Please say yes.>

"Hai, she's laying down in the Nurse's Office... Tsukino-san, I hope you
don't find this too personal but when I mildly rebuked your cousin for
falling asleep, she acted like she had done the most horrible thing...
and well..." the sensei trailed off but sent a questioning look towards
Usagi.

"Sensei, Chibi-Usa-chan's just had... a rough past week or so... I think
maybe in a week or two," <Hopefully...> "Things should be back to
normal."

"You should be proud of your cousin. She's been doing very well here
lately then today... Well, I'll show you where she is. Hopefully, you
can cheer her up, Tsukino-san."

As the teacher led Usagi to the Nurse's Office, her sense of panic
lessened. When she entered the office, she saw Chibi-Usa laying on the
small cot looking rather dejected but asleep. <Kami-sama, she's
alright.>

Quietly Usagi went over and gently shook Chibi-Usa. It was several
seconds before Chibi-Usa's eyes opened. She focused her vision on Usagi
as if not recognizing her, then a frown crept onto her face and tears
started to build in her eyes. <Gomen Onee-san. I was bad. I shouldn't
have fallen asleep in class.>

Usagi was quick to comfort and said, "Imouto, did you enjoy your nap?"
Chibi-Usa's only response was to wrap her little arms around Usagi and
hug her tightly tears flowing. <Kami-sama, I'll have to make sure she
gets proper rest... Being this sensitive is a big problem.>

                                  ******

Chibi-Usa and Rubeus appeared in a rather sparsely furnished room. It
had only a large table with six chairs around it. The table and chairs
were made of a black crystalline substance; the walls seemed to give off
an ambient glow of energy but there was no visible source of light. The
ceiling was lost in a multicolored ringed mist that seemed to shift
occasionally.

Both predators studied the other carefully for a few seconds trying to
size the other one up. Rubeus was the first to sit at the one end of the
table. Chibi-Usa examined the chairs and table before sitting at the
other end.

"Now where shall we start?" Chibi-Usa asked.

Rubeus was about to respond when a deep voice boomed through the chamber
calling out, "RUBEUS!!!"

Chibi-Usa startled, jumped up, and whirled around to find out where the
voice was coming from.  Seeing no one, she turned about to demand Rubeus
to tell her where the voice originated. She noted he looked slightly
ill.

"Excuse me, Your Highness... I have an urgent matter to attend to." With
that Rubeus walked through a nearby mirror and vanished. Chibi-Usa
wanted to find out what had spooked Rubeus but couldn't push her way
through the mirror like he did; she was trapped again.

Then with a squeal of surprise Chibi-Usa fell backwards as someone
pushed their way into the room through the same mirror. Chibi-Usa
recognized the person as Cooan, the youngest of the Four Sisters.
Scrambling to her feet Chibi-Usa said, "You DARE to touch royalty!"

Cooan smiled viciously before saying, "You are NOT royalty... You are
the Rabbit... You were stupid in coming here. I remember what your
savior, Sailor Moon, did to me so I think it's only fitting that I do
the same to you since..."

Chibi-Usa was angered at first by this mere peon addressing her in such
a manner. Cooan started towards Chibi-Usa but stopped when Chibi-Usa
started to laugh, "Sailor Moon MY savior?! Where've you been, BAKA?
There's no Sailor Moon in my time and in this time, she's thicker than a
brick."

Cooan didn't like being laughed at and started towards Chibi-Usa again
to teach her a lesson when Rubeus returned, "Cooan, what are you doing
here?"

"Oh Rubeus-sama... I was just saying hello to the `Rabbit'."

"Never call her that. She is, after all, Princess Usagi of Crystal
Tokyo." Rubeus smiled and then said coldly, "You have a job to do... Go
talk to Beruche. She can fill you in." As Cooan walked out rebuked,
Rubeus turned to Chibi-Usa, "Now, Your Highness, shall we get down to
the matter of negotiations?"

"Hai..." Chibi-Usa answered and resumed her seat. <This will be... I
must be careful though.>

                                  ******

The only thing keeping Rei's temper in check was the fact that Ami had
called the meeting and refused to start it because she said that Usagi
had something important to discuss. She wasn't giving any hints to what
that something was. Just as Rei was about to stalk back into the room
and tell Ami to get on with the meeting regardless, Usagi and Chibi-Usa
came up the Shrine steps more than an hour late.

This just irritated Rei further, however, she figured it wasn't worth
getting into a fight over because it would just delay things further.
Huffing slightly Rei pointedly turned and stalked back into the Shrine
where the others were waiting.

The reason Usagi was late were two fold.  One, she had to reassure
Chibi-Usa that she didn't do anything wrong by falling asleep in class.
It was because she had been up late and hadn't gotten proper rest not
because she was trying to be bad.  This seemed to cheer her up a little.
The second reason, however, was more shaky.

Usagi had devised a way to explain to Chibi-Usa what had happened so she
had gone to a toy store to buy a few props. Now leading Chibi-Usa by the
hand towards the Senshi meeting, Usagi was practicing in her mind what
she was going to say. For her part, Chibi-Usa, wasn't sure why they'd
gone to the toy store or come to the Shrine. She was just happy to be
with Usagi.

When they got to the Great Fire Room, Chibi-Usa greeted everybody
pleasantly and then promptly sat down beside Usagi who was sitting
slightly away from the others; she wanted a good running head start when
the yelling started.

"Usagi-chan, what took you so long?" Ami questioned. She really didn't
expect a good answer but it was the natural question.

"I had to get some props, Ami-chan," Usagi replied. Ami looked
quizzically at her.  Rei snorted but remained quiet.

Usagi turned slightly so she was facing Chibi-Usa and after rummaging
around in her shopping bag brought out a small stuffed pink bunny with
blue eyes and floppy ears.

<I wonder what Onee-san's going to do with that? Is that for me?>
Chibi-Usa wondered looking at the bunny. <It's so kawaii. I hope
Onee-san gives it to me.>

"Chibi-Usa-chan, do you remember our talk this morning at Ami-chan's?"
Usagi asked. Chibi-Usa scrunched up her face for a few moments before
nodding, "Good girl..." Chibi-Usa beamed happily, "Now can you pretend?"
Everyone had puzzled expressions including Chibi-Usa who gave another
nod.  "Okay, Chibi-Usa-chan, now pretend this is you..." Usagi said and
sat the pink bunny in front of Chibi-Usa.

"What's going on? Kami-sama, Ami, I thought you said this was
important!" Rei declared. Ami shot her a warning look and watched
curiously. Minako and Makoto were oblivious to the small outburst as
they too watched in fascination. Artemis who had been informed of the
situation by Luna earlier could practically hear Minako scream that she
wanted that bunny for her collection.

"Now do you remember when you messed up my room?" Usagi spoke in a tone
like she was reading a bedtime story to the child.

With a nod Chibi-Usa picked up the pink bunny and said to it, "Bad
bunny," while shaking her finger at it. This just caused Minako to
giggle at the implication but Usagi was keeping a straight face. It was
a very serious matter.

"Now do you remember when I told you I used the Ginzuishou to heal you
after you got infected with Dark Energy?"  There were gasps from the
other girls, Chibi-Usa nodded and Ami shot warning glances to the other
girls to keep them quiet but put a warning hand on Rei's arm.  Her
hot-tempered friend had started to get up.

Rei mumbled something about Usagi being the poster child for baka around
the world but stopped when she noticed that Usagi wasn't even paying
attention to her.  What fun was it to rant and rave when she couldn't
get any reaction except an uncharacteristically hostile glare from Ami?

"Well..." Usagi took the pink bunny out of Chibi-Usa's hand and returned
it back in the bag. Chibi-Usa frowned slightly, "The Ginzuishou split
you into two... A good one..."  With that Usagi pulled out a small white
bunny, "and a very bad one," Usagi pulled out a small black bunny.  "You
are the white bunny... You have all the good behavior in you... The
other you, the black bunny, has all the bad behavior in it.  Do you
understand?"

There was a hushed silence for a few moments as Chibi-Usa glanced back
and forth between the two stuffed toy bunnies considering what Usagi had
said.  She reached into the bag and pulled out the pink one.  Another
moment passed as she seemed to be having a conversation with herself.
Usagi was starting to think that Chibi-Usa was more interested in the
bunnies as play things rather than her explanation when Chibi-Usa gave a
broad smile and beamed, "Hai! I get it... You're like my mommy now."

"Nani?!" Usagi croaked out, "Like your mommy?" The other girls and cats
were equally as shocked and confused as Usagi was.

"Hai! You gave me a new sister I can play with!  But I don't get one
thing, Usagi-chan?"

"Nani..." Usagi squeaked out. She couldn't believe it!  This Chibi-Usa
wanted to play with the other one?!?

"Why did you say you were sorry for giving me a new sister?"

Before Usagi could answer Rei burst up from her position and shouted,
"Of all the moronic, BAKA, ODANGO ATAMA, dense things to do!!!"

Unseen by anyone Chibi-Usa's lower lip began to tremble; she sniffled
slightly, <Why is Rei picking on Onee-san? She did something really good
for me.  Rei, shouldn't be mad at her.>

"Rei-chan, I didn't think..." Usagi started.

"You're right, Usagi. You DON'T THINK... You NEVER DO!!!  It's no wonder
that Mamoru hate's you... YOU'RE SO DENSE!!!" Usagi just sat there
stoic. Inside she knew she deserved every word of Rei's ranting for
putting the little girl through this.

Just then everyone's attention was drawn by a wail that Chibi-Usa put
out. It started out softly enough but eventually it grew to a proportion
that even Usagi couldn't match. Usagi reached over and pulled the crying
child into a hug.

"And what's your problem!" Rei yelled at Chibi-Usa. This drew harsh
looks from the others and cries of "Rei-chan!"

This just caused Chibi-Usa to cry harder, "Rei-chan, why are you being
so mean to MY onee-san?!" she choked out. "She did something really nice
for me and you're being really mean!"

"YOUR ONEE-SAN?!?!" Rei couldn't believe it, "I think I'm going to be
sick!"

"Onee-san was just trying to help me be good... It isn't her fault that
I was bad," Chibi-Usa sobbed out.

"Gomen nasai, Chibi-Usa-san, I didn't mean to hurt you," Usagi bowed her
head and tried her apology again.

Chibi-Usa brought down the volume of her wail but was still crying and
clinging to Usagi when she said, "But Onee-san... Why are you saying
you're sorry to me? I don't understand. You didn't do anything wrong. I
love you."

Rei made a gagging sound. "I don't believe it.  Usagi, you've done some
baka things before but this is THE dumbest thing I've ever seen."

Chibi-Usa looked up at Usagi who still had her head bowed in shame. She
didn't understand why Usagi wouldn't defend herself against Rei. <I have
to help you, Onee-san. It's not right for Rei to be so mean to you.> She
gathered her courage.  "YOU LEAVE ONEE-SAN ALONE!!!" Chibi-Usa yelled.
She let go of Usagi and whirled around to stand in front of Rei.
"Onee-san isn't dumb. She's very smart and she loves me!  Why are you
picking on her?!"

                                  ******

Rubeus sat across the table from Chibi-Usa who was lazily reclined on a
crystal chair, feet propped up on the table and eyes half closed.  He
licked his lips slightly before saying, "So, Your Highness, you would
like me to lend you one of the Sisters so you can get a little revenge
and cause some general mayhem..."

"Hai," Chibi-Usa replied. To the casual observer she appeared to be half
asleep but, in reality, she was paying very close attention to what her
advisory was saying. <It looks like he finally figured it out.>

<Why am I putting up with this brat's insolence?> Rubeus had been
playing these children's games long enough. It was time to cut to the
chase.  "And what do I get in return?" he demanded.

"The Ginzuishou," Chibi-Usa said softly.

The words echoed around the chamber for several seconds as Rubeus sat
quietly mull over this new development.  <Hmmm... If she really does
know where the Ginzuishou is, then I can deliver both it and her to
Wiseman and be rid of this primitive backwater...>

As an extra incentive Chibi-Usa said, "I also want to torture one of my
tormentors to death... I'm quite sure you would like to see that."
<That baka! I'll get `Chibi-Usa' to tell me where the Ginzuishou is and
then I'll kill her slowly. I'll have the Ginzuishou for my own...  and
then...>

"What's to keep me from simply torturing the information out of you...
or ripping the memories out?"  Rubeus shivered slightly in anticipation
but fought the urge.  <If those baka Sisters could do anything... Maybe
I can use this opportunity to gain some power from Prince Dimando.>

"'Cause, my DEAR Rubeus, I know WHO has it... not WHERE she has it.
I've been looking for it ever since I came back to this backward hell
hole and haven't found it yet. What's to say that grabbing her would be
easy... The Sailor Senshi always seem to be around to mess up YOUR
plans," she smirked.

She'd definitely hit a nerve as Rubeus leapt to his feet and snarled,
"Never doubt my power! Those incompetent Sisters are to blame..."

"I never doubted your power for a second... I'm just saying that so far
you haven't had much luck that's all..."  Chibi-Usa gazed at Rubeus who
sat back down and composed himself.  <The baka! So easy to control...>

<Yes... she's got a point. I can't really lose. Even if she fails, I can
hand her over to Wiseman. That might be enough to save me... In the
meantime I can continue to have the other Sisters try to take over
Crystal Points.> Rubeus gave a short bark of laughter before saying,
"Then we have a deal, YOUR HIGHNESS."

Chibi-Usa just smiled evilly and nodded her agreement, <The Ginzuishou
will be mine... and `Chibi-Usa' will suffer.>

End of Part 8

Coming in Part 9: Beruche
Doug
Rakura Sakuya's Accountant
http://log.on.ca/users/helm/anime/index.htm
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Sailor Bean : "For puttin' me in this RIDICULOUS SAILOR SUIT
	      - ya sick little monkey - I *WILL* PUNISH YOU!"