Well here it is, the next two parts of this story. Your comments have been
greatly appreciated.

Doug
----

                              Mama's Hand
                                   By
                              Douglas Helm

                           Edited/Co-Plotted
                                   By
                        "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl
                               Rated : R


Part V - Alone Again

"DON'T LEAVE, MOMMY!!!" Chibi-Usa cried early Monday morning. She clung
desperately to Usagi's leg, "I'm scared!" She howled and tried to
squeeze Usagi's leg tighter. <Mommy promised not to leave me.>

Reaching down, Usagi gently lifted the little girl into a hug and said,
"Chibi-Usa-chan, I have to go to school. We talked about this
yesterday."

"But you promised," Chibi-Usa protest, "You promised you wouldn't leave
me!" Giving a sob of anguish, Chibi-Usa wrapped her arms around Usagi
and clung to her mother. "Let me go with you." Chibi-Usa tried to
compromise, "I'll be really good, I promise!!!"

"Gomen, I can't take you to school with me," Usagi said while hugging
the very upset little girl, "But my mom will be here and so will Luna."

"You're going away cause I was bad??" Chibi-Usa asked but it sound more
like a statement. <Even Mommy doesn't love me now... Why am I so bad all
the time?>

<What am I going to tell her?> Usagi desperately thought, <What can I
say to help reassure her?!?> Usagi looked around and noticed her family
watching the unfolding scene with varying expressions. Both her parents
were looking concerned while Shingo seemed confused.

"Usagi-chan, if you want to get to school on TIME, you'd better leave
now," Ikuko said gently.

<But I'm up early,> Usagi thought, <That's enough of a...> Then it
clicked in. Carrying Chibi-Usa out into the hall where a clock was,
Usagi said, "Chibi-Usa-chan, what does the clock say?"

Distracted for the moment from her worries that Usagi would be leaving
her, Chibi-Usa calmed slightly and looked around for the clock.
Sniffling, she said, "It says twenty to eight."

"That's very good. Boy, you're smart," Usagi said, "What if I promise to
be home at twenty to four?" She smiled slightly, "You can draw me a nice
picture and show it to me when I get home."

"But I want you to stay!" Chibi-Usa started to protest again.

"Honey, do you want to be really good?" Usagi asked. Chibi-Usa nodded,
"Well if you stay with my mom until twenty to four, then you WOULD be
REALLY good." Hugging Chibi-Usa Usagi continued, "I'll think about you
all day. Now then will you stay with Luna and my mom?"

"Do I have to?" Chibi-Usa asked softly. <I'm scared.>

"Hai," Usagi said, kneeling to set the little girl down, "Now you be
good for my mom and when I get home you can show me the picture you
drew. You said you like to draw, ne?"

"Hai," Chibi-Usa said but still kept her grip on Usagi, her hopes of
keeping her mother with her were fading away. Hiccuping, she sniffled
and wiped a tear away. "I love you," she said softly, hoping that her
last resort would work.

"I love you too, Chibi-Usa-chan, but for ME to be GOOD, I have to go to
school," Usagi said. Then picking up Luna, she handed the Lunar Cat to
Chibi-Usa, "Now you and Luna have a good day. I promise I'll be home at
twenty to four."

Wrapping her arms around Luna, Chibi-Usa sniffled again and slowly
backed into a wall as Usagi unwrapped her comforting arms. Closing her
eyes, she felt her mother kiss her forehead before heading down the hall
and then the door opened and, after a brief pause, closed. <Mommy,
please come back to me!> she thought, a new set of tears streaking her
face.

                                  ******

"Chibi-Usa-chan, would you like to help me?" Ikuko asked from the door
way into the kitchen. She looked sadly at the little girl. Chibi-Usa
hadn't moved since Usagi had left ten minutes before. She hadn't even
reacted to Kenji and Shingo leaving the house. "Chibi-Usa-chan?" Ikuko
asked again when the little girl didn't respond. Chibi-Usa opened her
eyes finally and looked directly at Ikuko, "Would you like to help me?"

"Do I have to?" Chibi-Usa asked, a tremble in her voice.

"No," Ikuko said, "You could watch the television if you want to."

<Mommy said she be back at twenty to four,> Chibi-Usa glanced up towards
the clock, <That's a long time away.> "I don't know..." she said
reluctantly. <What's school anyway?!?> Giving another sniffle, she
looked towards the door that her mother had left by. <Mommy, please come
back.>

"Okay Chibi-Usa-chan, if you don't want to help it's okay," Ikuko
reassured the child. "Why don't you go brush your teeth and then maybe
you can watch some television, or draw Usagi that picture she was
talking about," Ikuko suggested. Much to Luna's relief, Chibi-Usa nodded
before heading off towards the bathroom. Shaking her damp fur Luna
started trail her. <This is going to be a very LONG day,> Ikuko thought
to herself.

                                  ******

Even though it was lunch time, Usagi wasn't in the mood to eat. Her
thoughts were focused on the little girl who had suddenly appeared in
her life. <Where did you come from?> Usagi thought as she picked away at
her bento box, <Where is your mother?> Even though Chibi-Usa called her
"Mommy", it was rather unreasonable. <How could I be your mommy?> Usagi
thought, <I'm only fourteen. You said you were seven.>

"Usagi-chan?" came the voice of Makoto, "Are you okay?"

Usagi turned and looked towards her friend, "Hi Mako-chan, what's up?"

Makoto sat down beside Usagi and gave her friend a worried look. "What's
up? Usagi isn't eating her lunch, that's what's up."

"Are you sick, Usagi-chan?" Ami asked as well coming over to eat lunch
with her other friends, "You look like you're worried about something."

"Well..." Usagi began but trailed off. <How much should I tell them?
That monster might hear something. I can't risk that by blabbing, but
these are my friends.> Usagi struggled for a moment before making a
decision, "I can't come to the Senshi meeting today but Luna will tell
you why."

"Usagi, you can trust us," Makoto said, "What's the matter? Is it
Mamoru?"

"No," Usagi said shaking her head, "It's just... here's a little too
public a place." Makoto and Ami exchanged worried looks. "Gomen, I do
trust you but something might slip out and for the moment, I'm not sure
what to do."

"Okay Usagi-chan, if you say so," Ami said, "I saw you talking to
Haruna-sensei this morning before school started. She seemed rather
perturbed.

"Well I didn't do my homework. I didn't have a really good excuse but I
can't afford to get detention... at least NOT today," Usagi said, "I
said that I'd try and get what I could done for tomorrow along with
today's homework."

Makoto whistled, "Wow, whatever the heck happened between the time we
last saw you and today sure must have been something." Usagi just gave a
weak smile but didn't fall for Makoto's ruse. <What is she hiding?!>
Makoto thought, <Usagi, are you in trouble?!?>

                                  ******

Ikuko gave a silently sigh as she lifted the tea cup to her lips and
took a long, refreshing sip. The morning had been painfully awkward; it
had taken Ikuko nearly half an hour to convince Chibi-Usa help her make
some muffins. Eventually Chibi-Usa had agreed to help; however, the
process of making the muffins was slowed down because Chibi-Usa kept
stopping to ensure that Luna was close by.

The thought of Usagi's cat brought a curiosity to mind. <I've never seen
a cat that followed a person around so much. I know that it's content to
ride on Usagi's shoulder but I didn't think it would watch Chibi-Usa for
most of the morning.> Glancing over, she saw Chibi-Usa was chewing
contentedly away on her lunch but was keeping a very careful watch on
Ikuko. Any unexpected noise made the little girl jump. Getting
through the morning had been rough and Ikuko didn't have any illusions
about the afternoon either.

"You were a good helper, Chibi-Usa-chan," Ikuko said, setting her tea
cup down, "I bet Usagi will be really proud of you."

"What about Daddy?" Chibi-Usa questioned.

<I wonder...> "Hai, I think your father would be proud of you as well,"
Ikuko said carefully. Her suspicions grew as she noted that some of the
tension flowed out of the little girl, "Do you help Mommy clean the
house?"

"No, but we pretend that I do," Chibi-Usa said, "This is good,
Obaa-san, arigato." She smiled at Ikuko. <Sobo said I was a good helper
and she thinks that Daddy will be proud of me!> "Luna-chan!" Chibi-Usa
called, "Do you want something to eat?"

"I already fed Luna, Chibi-Usa-chan," Ikuko said, "But maybe you could
get her some milk."

"'Kay," Chibi-Usa agreed and hopped off of her chair, <I miss Mommy. I
hope she comes back soon.> Chibi-Usa thought and through a glance
towards the clock which read, "12:30".

                                  ******

As Usagi came up the walkway to her house, the front door was flung open
and Chibi-Usa came running out. "Mommy!!!" she cried happily and running
to her mother wrapped her arms around one of Usagi's legs, "I missed you
so much!" Chibi-Usa cried.

Usagi put her bookbag down and, reaching down, lifted the little girl
into a hug, "Shhh..." Usagi comforted while stroking the girl's hair, "I
promised I would come back." She felt little arms wrap around her neck
in a hug, "I didn't lie to you. I'm home now."

"Mommy, please don't leave me," Chibi-Usa whispered out, "It was scary."
She snuggled against Usagi and shivered. <Sobo was nice but I like
having you around, Mommy. We do things together and I like that.>

Picking up her bookbag, Usagi walked into the house and closed the door.
Once inside, she wrestled getting her shoes off with one hand and
toppled to the floor in the process. Both girls gave a yelp of surprise
and then Chibi-Usa took on a expression of horror as Usagi rolled and
hit the floor, banging her head in the process.

"Ow!!!" Usagi whined while rubbing her head.

"Are you okay, Mommy?!?" Chibi-Usa demanded scrambling off of her mother
and taking on a worried expression, "I'm sorry if I hurt you!"

Usagi sat up, and reaching out an arm, took Chibi-Usa's hand, "You
didn't hurt me, Chibi-Usa-chan. I just tripped," Usagi reassured the
little girl, "I think a hug would make it better though." Chibi-Usa was
quick to oblige and gave Usagi a quick hug, "Were you good for my mom?"

"Hai," Chibi-Usa said and nodded rapidly, "I helped her."

"Did you really?" Usagi said while standing and smiling at the pride
that was showing through in Chibi-Usa's voice, "I bet you were a good
helper."

"She was a very good helper," Ikuko said from the kitchen doorway, "She
is a very well behaved little girl." <Too well behaved. That monster's
got her trained not to be a normal kid!>

"I'm very proud of you," Usagi said while picking Chibi-Usa back up,
<I'm happy to see you smiling.> "You know you should smile more often,
you look very kawaii when you do."

"Arigato Mommy," Chibi-Usa said and blushed at the compliment. "Here I
drew this for you," Chibi-Usa said after taking a neatly folded piece of
paper out of her pocket.

"This is a very pretty picture. You draw bunnies really well," Usagi
said, "It's very nice, arigato. Want to help me with my homework?" Usagi
asked. <I have a ton of it to do too.>

Chibi-Usa wrinkled her forehead and said, "Mommy, what's homework?!?"
Both Usagi and Ikuko stared at her in some disbelief. "Nani?" she asked
starting to worry again. <Did I say something wrong?!?>

                                  ******

The Sailor Senshi minus Usagi were gathered in Rei's room at the Hikawa
Shrine. Rei had been rather upset that Usagi was skipping a meeting and
didn't have the nerve to give her usual lame excuses.

"Rei," Luna admonished when the fiery Shrine Maiden was calmed down
sufficiently to listen, "Believe it or not, Usagi has more important
things to do today."

"Oh yeah? Like what?!?" Rei demanded.

"Just be quiet and I'll tell you!" Luna commanded. Rei took on a stunned
expression before grumpily sitting down at the table, "That's better.
Now girls I want you to listen carefully. I'm glad Usagi didn't go
blabbing this out in public."

"She looked really worried, Luna," Makoto said, "What's the matter?"

"Last Saturday Usagi found a little girl. She had been physically abused
severely. If her story is to be believed, she Usagi's daughter and she
came from the future."

"You don't believe her?" Ami asked.

"It isn't a matter of belief. She somehow knows Usagi and knows that I
can talk. What I find hard to believe is that she's Usagi's daughter.
There is definitely a physical resemblance but until I can get Ami to do
a scan on her, I won't have any solid proof either way. As well her name
is Tsukino Usagi but we're calling her `Chibi-Usa'."

"So what does that have to do with Odango Atama missing this meeting?"
Rei demanded.

"Chibi-Usa is very attached to Usagi and is also deathly afraid of
anybody or anything that is strange or new. She's very timid," Luna
explained, "Usagi nearly didn't make it out of the house this morning.
She only managed to get to school ahead of time by promising to be home
at twenty to four. It would have been difficult to come here, likely
because Chibi-Usa would want to come and she's not ready for that type
of exposure yet."

"I have a few questions, Luna," Ami said.

"Go ahead and ask. I'll try and answer the best that I can but I caution
you all, DO NOT mention this publicly, at least for the moment.
Chibi-Usa is in Tokyo and she isn't saying how. Her abuser might be
looking for her."

                                  ******

"My Queen, I must leave for now," Pluto said.

Serenity, whose vision was slowly returning, looked towards Pluto's
voice. "You have not answered my question. Where am I?" <Endymion has
not been able to find me so far. I have a feeling he will find me soon
though.>

"You are with allies that I have found," Pluto stated, "They are loyal
to you and only you." Pluto's tone indicated that they had better stay
that way as well.

"Please tell me you did not bring me back to the past," Serenity said,
"That would complicate matters."

"No, but I must leave now. You will be safe here, My Queen, until I
return. You will likely sleep for a while more." Pluto moved over to the
entrance way of the room, "I must retrieve the Ginzuishou from Endymion.
If I do not return, then you know that I have failed."

Before Serenity could protest Pluto's almost suicidal actions, the
Sailor Senshi of Time was gone. <Pluto, my little girl needs you more
than I do. May Kami-sama guide your hand in defeating him. I never had
the strength too.>

Once again she was alone, but not alone in the struggle and for that,
Serenity was thankful.



Part VI - Introductions

Tuesday afternoon found Chibi-Usa staring out the window in the front
door. <Mommy, where are you?!> Chibi-Usa thought. Sending another glance
at the clock, she saw that there was still one minute to go, <Hurry
Mommy!> Chibi-Usa thought.

That morning hadn't been as rough as Monday morning but she still missed
her mother and didn't understand why Usagi couldn't stay with her like
before. As she turned back to the window Chibi-Usa thought that she had
seen a figure coming to the house but it was only a woman walking along
the sidewalk.

A minute passed and still Usagi didn't come. <Mommy promised that she'd
be here,> Chibi-Usa thought as she strained to see past the wall, <Maybe
she got lost...> That thought only served to heighten her sense of
worry. As another minute slipped by Chibi-Usa started to feel a
desperation. <Maybe... maybe Daddy found her,> Chibi-Usa thought. The
last image of her mother being flung across the room rushing towards
her. Squeezing her eyes shut to try and block the image, Chibi-Usa
whimpered slightly.

"Chibi-Usa-chan, is something wrong?" Ikuko asked.

"Mommy isn't here," the little girl said turning to face Ikuko, "I'm
scared. Maybe Daddy found her."

<I hope not!> Ikuko thought. "Honey, I'm sure that Usagi will be here
soon." Just then the sound of the door took both by surprise. Chibi-Usa
jumped and moved away to avoid the door. Her face changed from one of
relief to one of disappointment when she saw that it was only Shingo.

After Shingo had taken off upstairs Chibi-Usa turned back to her vigil
but as another minutes and then two passed, her sense of worry and the
need to see her mother grew. <I gotta find Mommy! Maybe Daddy's mad at
hear 'cause I'm hiding. If I go find her, then he won't be mad at her,>
Chibi-Usa thought. Quietly she put her shoes on and started to open the
door.

"Chibi-Usa, where are you going?" Ikuko asked from behind her.

Jumping, Chibi-Usa turned around and said, "Obaa-san, Mommy isn't here.
I gotta find her!"

"Why don't you come help me. I'm sure Usagi will be here soon. She
probably got detention."

"What's de... de-ten-tion?!?" Chibi-Usa questioned.

"Honey, just close the door. Usagi will be back," Ikuko said again.

Reluctantly, Chibi-Usa shut the door. Turning, she gazed out the window
again and gave a sniffle. <MOMMY!!! Please come back! I'll try really
hard to be good!!!> And as another minute slipped by, the little girl's
eyes started to fill with tears.

                                  ******

"I'M SO LATE!!!!" Usagi wailed as she raced down the sidewalk towards
home. <What a day to get detention. I don't see why Haruna-sensei was SO
upset with me. I mean, I really did try to finish all the homework.>
Dodging several slower moving pedestrians, and wiping out in the
process, Usagi turned the final corner towards her house. "Five o'clock!
Oh no!!! Chibi-Usa must be worried stiff!"

Her concern started to grow even more when she approached the front door
of her house and heard screaming. Bolting inside, Usagi was nearly
knocked over by the yelling. Most of it coming from Chibi-Usa. Running
into the living room Usagi found a very strange sight. Ikuko was sitting
on the couch with both arms firmly wrapped around Chibi-Usa. Kenji was
standing off to one side and was trying vainly to talk with Chibi-Usa.

Chibi-Usa was putting up quite a struggle, trying to free herself. She
twisted and squirmed trying to get free of Ikuko's grip. Her voice was
hoarse from crying and she was howling at the top of her lungs for her
mother.

"MOMMY!!!!!!" Chibi-Usa howled and put a surprise extra effort to get to
her mother who had finally come home. Ikuko seeing that Usagi was home
let go of Chibi-Usa who shot, almost literally, across the room and into
Usagi's arms. Clamping on tightly, she hid her face and cried a new set
of tears. Her death grip broke no comprise; she was not going to let go
anytime soon.

                                  ******

Getting Chibi-Usa to bed that night was difficult but she finally went
to sleep after wearing herself out. As Usagi came down the stairs her
parents called her into the living room.

"Usagi," Kenji seriously, "We would like to talk to you." Usagi shuffled
into the room to stand before her parents. "Usagi, WHERE were you?"

"I got detention because my homework wasn't finished," Usagi said
sheepishly, "I told Haruna-sensei yesterday that I'd try my best to
finish all the homework from Friday and Monday." <I never even finished
Friday's.>

"You knew that Chibi-Usa was going to be looking for you," Ikuko said,
"Usagi, I know you want to help her but being this irresponsible isn't
doing her any good."

"I know. I'll try harder," Usagi promised.

"You're quite right, Usagi," Kenji said sternly, "Starting right now,
you won't be going anywhere until your homework is finished. You also
won't be getting any allowance if it's not done."

"And to make sure you do your homework, I'll be watching you," Ikuko
said, "That means you'll also be doing some of the chores I have to skip
over."

"But Mom..." Usagi started to protest.

"NO!" Ikuko said getting up and coming to stand in front of Usagi, "You
are fourteen. You also decided that you'd try to help this little girl.
This is real life and it's time you started living in the real world;
You can't just `help' when it suits you." Ikuko matched Usagi's gaze
until Usagi looked towards the floor, "Do you understand?"

"Hai," Usagi said softly, "Gomen nasai."

"We aren't the ones you need to apologize to," Kenji said, "Chibi-Usa
trust only you. We aren't trying to be mean, Usagi. We love you very
much but that little girl needs love more, and you are the only one at
the moment that she's willing to get that love from." Usagi didn't
respond, she just slowly walked towards the stairs deep in thought.
<Gomen,> Kenji thought, <I hope you understand, Usagi.>

                                  ******

The rest of the week past only slightly smoother. Wednesday morning was
even more of a struggle for Usagi to get to school. Chibi-Usa was
unwilling to believe that Usagi would be home when she said she would.
It broke Usagi's heart to the leave the little girl so miserable but
there was very little she could do.

The weekend brought relief for both Usagi and Chibi-Usa. Usagi wasn't
going anywhere and Chibi-Usa was quite happy about that. So Saturday
found Chibi-Usa sitting with Usagi watching the television and enjoying
the anime that was playing. Even though Ikuko had gotten her a set of
bunny pajamas to wear, Chibi-Usa seemed to have grown quite attached to
Usagi's pajama top and used that to sleep in.

Ikuko was just looking in on the girl at about ten that morning when a
knock came at the door. Going to answer it, she found Haruna Koume along
with the original police officers.

"Konnichiwa, please come in," Ikuko said while moving out of the door
way. Haruna-san and the two officers entered the house, "Can I get you
some tea?" Ikuko asked.

"No, arigato, Tsukino-san," one of the officers said, "Tsukino-san, we
had the police department in Okinawa checked in on that address that you
gave us. After doing an investigation we've found that the little girl
is not your cousin's daughter." Ikuko furrowed her brow, "We were
wondering if you could have been thinking of someone else?"

"I don't think so," Ikuko said, "I know the family that I keep in close
contact with don't have any children her age."

"Well if you do think of anything, could you let us know?"

"Hai, I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help. You might want to check with
my husband. He might remember someone," Ikuko offered, getting a piece
of paper she wrote down the phone number and address of where Kenji
worked before handing the paper to the officer.

"Arigato, we'll do that. Your cousin did give us a lead though.
Unfortunately the family moved to North America. She's unsure where and
we're having trouble tracking them down. Well we should go but we'll let
you know if anything turns up."

"Good-bye," Ikuko said and showed the two police officers out of the
door. Turning Ikuko said, "Haruna-san, would you like some tea?"

"Hai, arigato." Koume said, "May I see Chibi-Usa?"

"Hai, she's in the living room watching television." After pointing her
guest in the proper direction, Ikuko walked into the kitchen.

Koume smiled, the little girl was looking a lot better. "Konnichiwa,"
she called.

"Haruna-san, konnichiwa," Usagi said, "Chibi-Usa-chan, do remember
Haruna-san?"

"Konnichiwa Haruna-san."

"Well, Chibi-Usa-chan, do you like it here?" Koume asked as she sat in
an armchair.

"Hai, I like spending my time with Mommy. She's neat, but I don't like
her going to school. We used to do all sorta stuff together but now..."

"Chibi-Usa-chan," Ikuko interrupted, "Why don't you go get dressed and
then you can show Haruna-san the pictures you've been drawing."

"'Kay Obaa-san. Come on, Mommy," Chibi-Usa said and taking Usagi's hand
started to pull her towards the stairs, "We gotta get Luna. Haruna-san
will want to talk to her too!"

<I just bet she would!> Usagi thought as she was pulled up the stairs,
<I can just see her reaction. If Haruna-sensei is any indication of
what the family acts like...>

                                  ******

Chibi-Usa sat in one of the examining rooms at the doctor's office along
with Usagi and Ikuko that Saturday afternoon waiting for the doctor to
come in. She was wearing one of those drafty medical garments and was
longing to wear the yellow sundress that her grandmother had bought her.
She had fallen in love with it as soon as she had laid her eyes on the
dress.

Jumping slightly as the door opened, Chibi-Usa stared wide-eyed at the
female doctor that entered the office. "Well hello there, and how are
you today?" she asked Chibi-Usa.

"Konnichiwa Sensei," Chibi-Usa replied formally. <I'm cold!> To
emphasize the thought, she shivered.

"My a polite patient, I like that," she remarked, "Well you must really
like your grandmother's cooking because you gained about five pounds."

"Yeah, Obaa-san cooks really good!" Chibi-Usa said and smiled.

"Well let's just finish you up then," the doctor said, "Can I get you to
lay on your tummy?"

Chibi-Usa looked nervously at Usagi who got up and walked over to the
table. "Come on let's get this over with and then we can go get ice
cream," Usagi said. <Hmmm... ice cream. Oh! I haven't had that in such a
long time!> Taking Chibi-Usa's hand, she reassured the little girl and
helped her lay on her stomach.

The doctor carefully started the examination and as she worked she kept
up questioning Chibi-Usa about what she had been doing lately.
Occasionally, she would scribble something down on the chart that was
beside her and then continue to poke and probe.

After about five minutes the doctor said, "Okay Chibi-Usa-chan, I just
need you to lay on your side." Waiting until the little girl was on her
side the doctor said, "Okay now I want you to listen to me very
carefully." <Well here goes nothing.>

                                  ******

As Chibi-Usa was getting dressed the doctor pulled Ikuko out into the
hallway to have a talk, "Well I see what you mean. I say that her
inability to have a bowel movement is due to stress. We'll try the
natural approach first, feed her bran or something along those lines.
Other than that she seems to be improving. The welts are nearly gone but
I'll give you another prescription for some more cream. The bruising is
fading and she's starting to gain some weight. Most of the visible
physical damage should be gone within another week or so. The x-rays
came back fine, well as fine as could be expected under the
circumstances." Both adults turned as the examining room door opened,
"Oh now that's a pretty dress."

"Arigato," Chibi-Usa said, "Mommy, can we get some ice cream?"

"Hai, let's go," Usagi said, "I think we have some at home." <I hope.>

Shaking her head, Ikuko thanked the doctor before leaving. <Oh Usagi,
you ate it all. I'll have to stop and buy some more. Better make it
double if Chibi-Usa is as big an eater as you are,> Ikuko thought and
gave a little giggle.

                                  ******

High above Tokyo, shielded by the detection equipment of that day,
Rubeus' crystalline ship appeared. Inside Rubeus gazed out over the city
and gave a feral grin. This was going to be easy picking.

Yes indeed, he was going to enjoy this assignment. <I will not fail and
Endymion will reward me again, with more power. That weakling Diamondo
was a fool. So was I for following him at first.> He turned his back and
continued along his pleasant line of thought, <This will be fresh
hunting grounds for me for the time being.>

Calling to his four traveling companions, he said, "It is time. To plan
for the capturing of Endymion's little Rabbit. But first, let's have
fun." From the darkness four sets of eyes glinted evilly, hungrily
waiting for the hunt to begin.

End of Part VI

Coming Next in Part 7 & 8 -

Chibi-Usa meets Mamoru for the first time. Has King Endymion given Rubeus
the Senshi's IDs? How will Usagi cope with the responsibilities forced upon
her? And when Ami discovers who Chibi-Usa's mother really is, what will she
tell Usagi?