Author's Notes:  And so the revisions continue.  I've actually cracked
out an outline for Arc 2: Chapter 8 (aka, part 19), but I haven't
fleshed out more than half of the first bullet.  In any case, looks like
Nephrite's reign will end about A2C9 (part 20).  Anyway, here is the
revision of A2C3 (formerly part 14).  I've been trying to fix all of
those old errors like misspelled names, Americanizations, etc, so if you
spot any, let me know.  If you're just now catching up on the series,
the latest and most thoroughly edited editions are on the webpage
(http://www.angelfire.com/tn/twillia).  I know there are still some
problems with them, but they're the best versions I have so far.

You can reach me via email at ffml_tim@yahoo.com or
fireangel37@yahoo.com for C&C, questions, fic requests, or anything
else.  Also, if you happen to have a copy of V&J #3, could you please
email it to me?  I know a few people out there may have it, but I don't
have it on archive anywhere that I can find, unfortunately.

Oh, and I just want to thank you for reading.  If you've made it 14
chapters into this story, you certainly deserve my thanks

Disclaimer goes here (Sailor Moon).


The Rebound Effect
Arc 2:  Chapter 3 (formerly Part 14)
Memories of the Way We Were


For three days, Taika had been contemplating her meeting with Jadeite.
Something was definitely going on beyond what she would have originally
suspected, and she had a nagging feeling that she should have knows what
it was.  She hadn't taken the matter to Serenity yet because she was
still so uncertain about everything.  Besides, she was certain that she
would get a Look for going out with him in the first place.  Her cheeks
reddened at the thought.  Serenity was always one for being judgmental
in areas where she didn't want herself to be judged.

By the time Friday evening rolled around, she had decided that facing
the music and telling everything to her Queen might be the best idea.
However, on her way to the Tsukino home, she ran into the man who had
been haunting her thoughts.

"Ah, Hino-san, how nice to see you again."  He smiled broadly, once more
wrapped in his American disguise.  "I've been trying to find you ever
since we were interrupted.  I really must make it up to you."

"Now, Fujii-san," Taika replied in what she hoped was a happy voice.  In
less than the time it had taken himself to greet her, she had pierced
his illusions and gleaned a view of his aura.  That guttering spark of
humanity was still there, she saw with some relief, and it may even have
been a little brighter.  "You don't have to do that!  I had a wonderful
time, and I perfectly understand that you had other things to attend
to."

"But, I insist!" he proclaimed, his own smile completely unforced.
"There is a romantic cruise this weekend, and I've been asked to fill in
for the regular captain.  I insist that you come and join us.  It'll be
lots of fun."

Somewhat fragmented memories flashed through Taika's mind.  If this time
line was mimicking her own, then this would be Jadeite's last gambit.
That meant that it would be her only chance to attempt what she felt
needed to be done.  "Oh, Fujii-san, I just can't say no to an offer like
that, can I?"

He produced a ticket and pressed it into her hand.  "Boarding starts at
seven Saturday night, but if you show up early, I'll give you a tour of
the ship."

"I'd like that," she said.  With this new turn of events, she decided
that Serenity could be told afterwards.  Sometimes it was better to ask
forgiveness than permission.  //Besides,// she thought.  //I can handle
him if things get rough.  I think.//

***

It was only by chance that Serenity had been walking along the same
street as Taika.  She had known something was bothering her friend and
had thought to make a visit to the shrine to see if everything was okay.
As it were, Serenity had spotted Taika a few seconds after Jadeite.  She
would have walked over to say hello, but she noticed the blond man Taika
was talking to.  Figuring it for a romantic rendezvous, she quickly got
out of sight and watched the meeting transpire.

Frustrated at having chosen a hiding place that was too far away to hear
anything, she worked a sight clarifying spell so she could at least see
him better.  It worked and she soon had a clear view of a handsome man
apparently in his twenties.  The spell also had the side effect of
piercing his illusion and she recognized him almost immediately.

//What's Rei doing meeting with Jadeite,// she wondered, trying to
puzzle out what was going on.  //And what's she so happy about?  This is
probably another one of his traps, though why he would target her, I
don't know.//

She decided that this needed an explanation.  She waited for the two to
go their separate ways and then followed Taika for a block or so before
making her presence known.

"So, have a hot date?" she asked, coming up behind her friend quietly.

"Umm..." Taika stammered, surprised that Serenity had been able to sneak
up on her.  "What are you talking about."

"That blond man you were just talking to... you do know that he's
Jadeite, don't you?"

"Yeah," Taika frowned at being caught, though it was almost a relief in
some ways.  "I know... I know that I shouldn't be letting him get near
me, but there's something strange about him.  His soul seems trapped by
darkness and I need to know why."

Serenity sighed.  "Listen, Rei-chan, there is something that Endymion
and I never told you girls...  When Endymion was being controlled by
Beryl, he kept having these flashes of memory about the Generals.  They
were part of the Silver Millennium, too.  But we think that they were
corrupted by Beryl's power.  Just as Endymion was.  He said that once he
saw Kunzite almost break through her control, but she snapped it back
immediately."

"The Silver Millennium?  But who were they?  I don't remember..." but
she did.  Something vague about Jadeite and her.  It was like so many of
the other memories that had never come back to her, vague and fleeting
unless you knew exactly what to look for.  She focused in on the image
she had of Jadeite and found an image of the two of them, walking
through a park, arm in arm.  "I... I think we were in love."

Serenity embraced her friend gently.  "I'm so sorry that we couldn't
save them before."

"That's... okay," Taika said sadly.  "We can save them now."

***

At lunch the next day, Umino Gurio was staring at the two tickets to the
romantic cruise he had won in a raffle, trying to figure out how he was
going to get Taika to go with him.  If his one-sided relationship with
Usagi had taught him anything, it was how NOT to go about it.  However,
knowing that only left him on unfamiliar ground.

He was still thinking when Serenity sat down beside him.  "What do you
have there?  Oh, tickets to tonight's romantic cruise."

"Yeah, so?"

"You're thinking about asking Taika, aren't you?"

Umino almost jumped out of his seat.  Serenity was Taika's friend, and
she seemed the type to be overly protective.  "W-well, so what if I am?
It's none of your business."

"Come on, I'm your friend," she said with a smile that made him at least
want to believe it.  "And I happen to know that Taika's already got a
date.  But I don't think she really wants to be with him, Umino-san."

"Oh, and who would do you think she would rather be with?"

"You."

Umino's eyes grew a little larger in shock and he laughed nervously "R-
really?"

"Yeah, she just doesn't know about it yet."  Serenity offered him
another winning smile.  "Why don't you just take me tonight and I'll see
what I can do."

***

Serenity made everyone aware that the romantic cruise that night was
going to be a Senshi attended event, though she left everyone to find
their own tickets.

Usagi still hadn't managed to find tickets by for the cruise by that
night.  Rei and Ami were going with a pair that Ami's mother had given
her in a vain attempt to get the girl to ask someone out.  Usagi had a
feeling that Ami's mother had definitely not intended for her to take
another girl, but, then again, she may have been ecstatic to find her
daughter going out at all.  Makoto and Minako had managed to worm their
way into dates, even if they didn't really like they guys they were
with.  The elder Senshi, Mamoru and Endymion were apparently all adept
at finding their way onboard, tickets or not.

That just left Usagi and Luna standing on the pier watching everyone
else go past.  "Luna, are you sure there isn't some way to sneak on
board?  I've got to get in there."

Luna seemed lost in thought for a few minutes then suddenly perked up.
It wasn't often that she got asked to help, and even less often that she
actually could.  "Yes, the Lunar Disguise Pen."  Luna did a backflip and
the pen popped into being.

"That's great..." Usagi began.  "But how do I use it?"

"Just hold it up and say 'disguise power make me a' and whatever you
want to look like."

"Ah, okay," she said, a little doubtfully.  Sometimes she wondered why
all of their magic talismans had to have such silly activation phrases.
Nevertheless, she whipped the pen up above her head.  "Disguise Power!
Make me a cute camera girl."  Nothing seemed to happen.  "Did that
work?"

"Yes, it certainly did.  Take a look at yourself."

Usagi looked down at herself and found that her clothing had changed and
she now had a camera around her neck.  "Neat!"  She picked up Luna and
placed her gently into the camera bag that had appeared as part of the
disguise and went to find a way onboard.

***

Taika had shown up early as requested, hoping to get a chance to
confront Jadeite before things went too far.  Her hopes, however, were
dashed when she found that he was too busy making preparations for the
evening's festivities to give her the tour he had promised.

It was a disappointment, but nothing that she couldn't live with.  She
knew she would get her chance later, given all of the extra attention
Jadeite had been directing her way.

She spent most of the early evening wandering the ship and marveling at
the strength of the illusions that Jadeite had created around the old
barge.  It took a fair amount of effort for even her practiced eyes to
pierce them, and there was no telling how much energy he had been forced
to expend to make them so strong.  The paltry disguise magics he used on
himself certainly didn't indicate that he would have this level of
skill.  Then again, it was always harder for a sorcerer to disguise
himself than to disguise just about anything else.  It went with the
strong sense of self that magics required, usually.

Finally, other people started to wander on board, but that didn't help
her mood much.  She purposefully avoided the younger Senshi, and
virtually everyone else was there as part of a couple.  Seeing people
happy together was never one of her favorite things, not when her life
was filled with so much loneliness.

She sighed deeply and rested against the railing, watching the sun
gently set over the bay.  The beautiful moment seemed hollow since it
was the perfect sort of moment to share with someone else.

She was brought out of the near trance that she had fallen into by a
bouquet of red roses that was being held a half foot in front of her
face.  With a broad smile, she turned to give Jadeite a hug but found,
instead, Umino to be holding the roses.

The intensity of her smile went down a bit, but she managed to avoid
loosing it entirely.  Umino was persistent, but also slightly delicate.
"Oh, hello, Umino."

"Hello, Taika, these are for y-you," he stammered, looking fully ready
to be shot down.  "You looked so lonely..."

She sighed and accepted the roses.  "That's very sweet of you, but you
shouldn't have."  The roses were nice enough.  They were only a little
damaged from being held too tightly in a sweaty palm, and they did
appear fresh.  "Are you here with someone?"

"Usagi's cousin, Serenity, but she disappeared right after we got on
board."

Briefly, Taika thought of getting rid of him, but that wouldn't really
improve her mood any.  He was, after all, at least some kind of person
to talk to.  He was even kind of sweet, even if he was a bit too nerdy
for her tastes.

"Shall we walk for a while?" she asked him.  "There isn't anything else
to do."

As if hearing her statement, the PA suddenly blared into life and
announced the start of the "romantic show" in the reception hall.

"We could go see that romantic thingie."

Taika sighed.  "No, romance just doesn't seem to be my thing tonight."

Umino wasn't sure what to make of that statement, but decided to just
let it go.  Taking a walk with her had been more than he could have
dreamed of, so there was no need to push it.  Together, they walked the
deck for a while, watching the full moon war for dominance with the
lights of Tokyo.  For Taika, the cool sea breeze seemed to wash away the
disappointments and the stress of they day.  Companionship, even if it
was only Umino, seemed to help a little, too.

//Actually,// she mused, //when he just kept quiet for a while, he
wasn't bad company.//

Of course, she knew it couldn't last forever and some part of her brain
kept going over and over what she was going to do when Jadeite made his
appearance.   After a while, the General showed up, still wearing his
captain's illusion and asked her to come see something very special he
had prepared just for her.  She had known it was coming, but some part
of her had held out hope that maybe the confrontation would not have to
be here with so many innocent bystanders about.  If she were wrong, what
she was about to do could end up costing many lives.

With a final sigh, she turned to Umino.  "I'm going to go with him," she
said.  Then leaned closer and added, "Please, stay here, where it's
safe."

Umino, as well, had know that the beautiful time he was having wasn't
meant to last.  Nothing like that ever really happened to him.  Now she
was going off with the captain of the ship no less.  But she wanted him
to stay there, so he would.

"Yes, Taika-san.  I'll wait for you here."

Taika smiled and turned to go with Jadeite.  Before they were out of
sight, however, the implications of her use of the word "safe" sunk in
and Umino decided that he needed to follow them.  To see what would make
this place safer than any other.

***

The reception hall was filled with crumpled bodies by the time Usagi
finally got there.  It was also about half full of Sailor Senshi.

Quickly, Usagi put down Luna, transformed, and took up the point
position.  She used a quick speech to cover her entrance and buy her a
couple seconds to assess the foe.


Water.  That's the best way to sum up Youma Tetis.

As the speech ended, she called out, "Mars, Jupiter, attack!  Venus,
Mercury, ready!"

Sailors Mars and Jupiter began to build up attacks and Youma Tetis
screamed for youma to attack.  Sailor Venus held an attack ready, but
paid only minimal attention to Tetis.  A couple of what had once been
the crew of the ship changed into vicious black things and leaped
forward to attack.  Tetis used the distraction to begin building up an
enormous ball of water in the palm of her hand.

Mars and Jupiter loosed their attacks, but targeted the new youma
instead of Tetis.  The weaker creatures were vaporized almost instantly
and Usagi called out "Venus!  Attack!"

Sailor Venus let loose the Crescent Beam she had been holding, just
beyond firing.  The shot destroyed most of Tetis's right hand and caused
the attack she had been building up to splatter uselessly on the floor.

"Please surrender!" Sailor Moon pleaded, dreading the inevitable answer.

"NEVER!" Tetis screamed as she launched a swarm of water darts at Sailor
Moon.

Usagi dove to the side and called out another order.  "Mercury!
Disable!"

Sailor Mercury quickly summoned forth the Shabon Spray to wrap around
Tetis and disrupt her concentration before she could try anything else.
Sailor Moon got to her feet as quickly as she could manage and took off
her tiara.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

The glowing disc vaporized the trapped youma and the Senshi breathed
sighs of relief.  They had managed to pull off the new team drills
without too much trouble.

A single person began applauding and they turned to find Serenity
standing in the door watching them.  "Very nice, but it might be a good
idea if you hurry on up to the deck and see if Taika needs any help.
She's probably fighting Jadeite by now."

The Senshi exchanged glances and bolted out the door in search of the
elder Mars.

***

Jadeite didn't waste much time.  He lead her straight to a slightly
hidden area of the deck a bit fore of the place where he had found her
and Umino.

Taika, for her part, followed along a few paced behind him trying to
build up her courage for what she was going to have to attempt.  She ran
out of time more quickly than she had hoped.

Jadeite spun around and let his illusion drop.  "Make this easy on
yourself and just surrender.  I promise that I'll make your death
quick."

"What?  No long speech about how your going to rule the world after I'm
dead?"

Jadeite, more than a little put off when Taika failed to show any
surprise at his transformation grumbled, "How about: After I kill you,
your little friends will be next and then Queen Beryl will be free to
take over the world!  Good enough?  I just know that Queen Beryl wants
you dead and what Queen Beryl wants, she gets."

"Don't I get an explanation of why, at least?"  Taika carefully tapped
into the flows of elemental fire and prepared herself for what would
come next.  She took extra care to make her actions difficult to detect.

"Have it your way.  You're the moon princess.  You oppose the Dark
Kingdom.  You must die.  That good enough?"

"Well, I've been a lot of things in my time, but I've never been a moon
princess."

"At this point, I don't really care.  Bringing her your head will buy me
some time, at least.  Tetis has gone and gotten herself killed and I'm
not exactly going to get a warm welcome when I get back if I don't have
SOMEONE's head."

Taika could see that Jadeite was beginning to get desperate and decided
that she'd had enough banter and transformed.  She didn't transform the
way the younger Senshi transform, by calling out the activation phrases
that would start a transformation sequence programmed into their Senshi
identities thousands of years before.  She transformed by weaving the
magics manually.  While it wasn't as flashy as the normal transformation
sequence, it was certainly a lot more menacing.

To the observer, she seemed to be encased in a column of flame through
which only her outline was visible.  Then the flames died back to reveal
her, still in her normal identity, but on fire.  The flames melted her
features into new ones and her clothing seemed to burn from the edges
up, leaving behind the armored sailor fuku.

"Well, one of the Sailor Senshi.  I had a feeling that you would prove
to be someone useful.

"Jadeite, the power of Mars lies within the cleansing flame.  Know also
that that power extends to truth."  She flipped the specially prepared
ward into her hand and charged it with her power.  "Know the truth."
She leapt toward him, but he dodged back and countered with an energy
bolt.

She encased her free hand in a web of flame magic and used it to deflect
the attack, sending it to explode harmlessly over the sea a dozen paces
overboard.  "Stand still," she gritted out between clenched teeth.

Jadeite refused to comply and dodged her second charge and then her
third.

"Alight then, I'll just have to slow you down."  She stopped her
charging and readied an attack.  By her standards, Jadeite was rather
fragile, and most of the attacks she knew would maim or kill him rather
quickly, which forced her to fall back on an old standard.  "Burning
Mandala!"

Jadeite dodged most of the attack but took a few powerful hits.  He fell
to the deck flat on his back gasping in pain.  Taika wasted no time in
slapping the ward on his forehead.

As his body went rigid and tendrils of flame began to dance over his
form, she refocused her vision and saw the blackness that was
surrounding his soul being torn apart by the energy stored in the ward.
First little bits of it came flaking away and then bigger and bigger
pieces.  The guttering spark of goodness in the middle seemed to
brighten a little with each bit of its prison that faded.  Finally, his
uniform flickered from the dull grey of the Dark Kingdom to the black
armor embossed with silver that the Kingdom of Earth had so favored in
the Silver Millennium.

It was at that point that the other Senshi arrived on the scene and the
illusion that had cloaked the ship fell away, leaving it an old wreck.
Serenity stood back, knowing what was coming.

"Jadeite!" Rei shouted and virtually knocked Taika aside in her rush to
get to him.  She gently cradled his head in her arms and at his
unconscious face.

Taika could only gape.  Slowly, almost mechanically, she got up and
moved over to Serenity.

"You knew."  She said it flatly, but the note of accusation was clear in
her voice.

Serenity nodded solemnly.  "Yes.  We restored ALL their memories,
remember?  That had to be one of them."

Taika let the tears that she felt building flow silently down her face.
"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You had to be the one to do it, only getting close enough to him for
his true soul to respond to your memory could you free him.  Would you
have gone through with it if you had known?"

"Yes.  No.  Maybe," she furrowed her brow in confusion.  She would like
to think she would have risked the spell for her younger self.  It was
all too possible that one of them could have died in the battle.  "But
that doesn't make it right."

Serenity sighed deeply.  "I know.  But I've learned that the hard
choices rarely end up being right for everyone.  Please, try to
understand."

"I... I'll try."  She turned away.  "I just want to be alone right now."

Serenity made no move to stop her as she wandered off across the ruined
deck.  "Please, understand," she whispered at her friend's retreating
form.  She turned quickly when she heard the startled cries of the
others.

Jadeite was fading out of view.

Quickly, she latched onto him with an anchoring spell and attached
something rather nasty to the spell that had been seeking to summon him
away.  Someone would be in for a big surprise.

***

Taika wandered off, looking for some place where she could just sit and
cry for a while.

Once again, she'd forgotten that her other self already had claims on
the things that had truly mattered to her in her previous life.  It
wasn't fair.  Rei got grandpa, Rei got Yuuchiro, Rei got Jadeite.  What
did Taika get?  Nothing.

She got to be alone.  Like always.

She found her way over to a sturdy looking patch of railing and leaned
against it.  Looking out across the moonlit waters served to calm her a
bit.

"Taika?" she heard someone ask from behind her.  It was Umino.

"Oh, hi, Umino," she sniffled and kept her gaze directed out to sea.

"Taika... are you alright?"

"Me?  I'm fine!  Never better!" she tried her best to sound convincing,
but there was a definite quiver in her voice.  "Don't worry about me."

"Umm... here," she heard some rustling cloth behind her and then felt a
jacket being set onto her shoulders.  "It's a little cold out here, and
that thing doesn't look very warn."

For the first time since their conversation had started, Taika realized
that she hadn't remembered to change back.  And now Umino knew her real
identity.  What else could go wrong?

She sighed deeply, "So I guess you know."

"Yeah, I followed you and the captain..." he sat down beside her, "you
sounded like you were going to do something dangerous and I didn't... I
didn't want you to get hurt."  He laughed nervously.  "I guess I
shouldn't have worried.

She willed her clothes to return to normal, and they did.  The change
back was always less dramatic, particularly when she was doing it
manually.  Sighing, she let her arm rest around his shoulders lightly.
"You know, you're really a sweet guy.  You just talk too much."

"I know."  He looked despondent for a second or two, but the warmth of
her body next to his made it impossible to be anything but happy.  "D-
don't worry, I won't tell anyone about this.  I do know when to keep my
mouth shut."

Taika smiled weakly.  "Yeah, I guess you do."

"So... Umm... Taika..." Umino's voice was really shaky.  "Would you l-
like to... um... go out on... a d-d-date or s-something next weekend?  I
mean, you don't have to... but I'd really like to..."

Taika turned to him and gave him a small smile.  "I guess it's time I
try for something of my own, isn't it?"

Umino just looked at her, puzzled.  Taika giggled.  "That was a yes."

Together, they watched the last vestiges of the sunset fade away.  Soon,
they were replaced by the search lights of rescue boats, and life was
back to normal.  Well, as normal as things got in Juuban.

END


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