[FFML] [Fusion][One-Shot]{Sailor Moon] MMSS - Waiting (chapter 2)

[StudioPC]

Okay, so I wrote another one because this world will not leave me alone.

Disclaimer: No money is being made from this and no such intent should  
be inferred.,
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In those very rare moments of self-honesty, Minako admitted that as  
roommates went, Makoto was the best she could ever hope for. Their  
fathers had been best friends and when the Kinos had been killed in a  
plane crash, Makoto came to live with them.

Minako's parents, remembering their own siblings, had divided the  
bedroom in half, laid down some rules, and ruthlessly enforced them.   
And for ten years and counting, it mostly worked. Each girl had a desk  
with chair, wardrobe, bookshelf, and bed. Side by side, the  
bookshelves subtly marked the line between them.

Minako's side was decorated with posters, photos and her wardrobe was  
well stocked with the latest fashion.

By contrast, Makoto's side was, for lack of a better term, empty.  
Money and posessions simply for the sake of either, had never been  
part of Makoto's nature. Her clothes were chosen for function, rather  
then any  particular style. She'd put up no posters and her bookshelf  
was all but empty. On the other hand, she only spent a fraction of her  
allowance every week.

It drove Minako mad. She simply could not comprehend Makoto's complete  
and utter disinterest in the very things that even Usagi was  
passionate about. God knew why, but Makoto seemed to be content  
drifting along in Usagi's shadow. The irony that Minako did the same  
thing, only to Rei, was lost on her.

"Hey, Makoto?"

"Yo."

"What do you think of . . . no, never mind."

"'Kay."

"You know, I just don't get you."

"Sorry."

Minako fell back on her bed, clapped a pillow over her mouth and  
screamed in fustration.

---------------------

Ami lay on her bed in the darkness of her room. She should be asleep.  
Her optimum bedtime, calculated by her fitness level, age, average  
physical activity per day, travel time and schoolwork, had passed more  
then an hour ago. But she couldn't sleep, for something new had  
happened today. Something wonderful.

She reached for her cell phone and flipped it open, then to the  
contacts menu.

Minako Aino
Mother
Mother's Office
Rei Hino
Makoto Kino
Usagi Tsukino

New names on her phone list. Four of them. Perhaps they would even be  
her friends.

Dr. Hinako Mizuno MD, PhD, did not approve of friends. Social  
relationships distracted you from the pureness of science, she said,  
but Ami had often longed for a friend. Just one. She'd never owned a  
stuffed animal. and talk of imaginary friends had been quickly  
sqaushed. Dr. Mizuno saw no reason to indulge flights of fancy.  
Imagination was there to be used to invent that which furthered the  
exploration and understanding of the universe.

Having those four names meant Ami was disobeying her mother.

She closed her phone.

Oddly, she didn't feel as bad about that as she should.

----------------------

Usagi and Rei sat across from each other at the resturant and glared.  
Not  anyone but a keen observer, who knew both girls well, could tell.

They put a pleasant mask on it of course, a show for their parents.  
Polite conversation wrapped around needle sharp barbs disguised as  
metaphors and euphinisims. At present, they were engaged in a razor  
sharp dance of trying to eat more neatly then the other.

Next to Usagi, Shingo, her younger brother, ate silently and tried to  
be invisible. He was convinced that someday, perhaps even tonight,  
Usagi and Rei were going to suddenly manifest magical powers or  
something like in an anime and slaughter each other in a spectacular  
display of violence.

While part of him was chomping at the bit for this, another part, the  
survival instinct of any little brother with a quick tempered sister,  
wanted to hide under the bed until it was over.

It was then that he noted that both girls were wearing identical  
wristwatches. Maybe they were henshin devices! His friends would be so  
jealous!

Then he rolled his eyes. The watches were just them trying to show  
each other up again. What sort of lunatic would put Rei and Usagi on  
the same Sentai team?

-----------------------------

The hour was late, but Artemis hunched over the Spirit Scanner,  
checking over each and every sqaure inch of the planet, searching  
intently for one particuar soul.

"You will be of no use to anyone if you do not sleep, Artemis."

The Mage looked up, almost guiltily. "I will sleep soon, my Queen. I  
just . . . I was hoping to find her."

Serenity might have been a hologram, but she could still give The Look  
and Artemis flinched. "What happended to Luna was not your fault,  
Artemis. She would have jumped into battle, trained or not." Her look  
softened. "She is much like her father when he was younger."

Artemis sighed. "Would that you were wrong, My Queen, but the fact  
remains that we should have left with the transports and not stayed  
behind. Luna's education was my responsibility and I failed her."

Serenity would have laid a comforting hand on his should if she could,  
but instead she gave him a soft smile. "The bond between a Master and  
his Apprentice is strong, but even more so when it is also Father and  
Daughter."

"I should have told her who I am."

"Would it have changed anything? The Mau do not acknowledge fathers.  
You know that."

"I . . . I would like to think so. Part of her is Imperial. I had  
always hoped that .  . . it is a foolish hope, I know."

"Are you proud of her?"

"Of course! She was a brilliant mage! She was almost ready for her  
Trials."

"And at a young age too, due to your instruction. Take comfort in  
that." Another smile. "Seek your bed, Artemis. I will mind the scanner."

"My Queen, you do not need to--"

"I need less sleep then you, and . . ." She trailed off, concern on  
her face.

"My Queen?"

"I want to research a way to break through the Chronos Shield, if I  
can. We may need the Keepers' help before this is through."

Artemis blinked and then chose his next words very carefully. "Your  
Highness, as the Senior High Mage present, I am oath-bound to remind  
you that your father forbade contact with both the Keepers and the  
outer planets. A decision that was upheld by the Senate."

"And look where it got us," Serenity snapped, bitterness in her voice  
and then she looked down. "No, you are correct, Artemis, he did, and  
for good reason. But you and I both know part of that reason was his  
fury at Setsuna."

"The Lady had always known her own mind, Your Highness. I must also  
remind you that trafficking with the Keepers of Time is not without  
risk."

"As I well know," Serenity replied, "But you and I, the Senshi and  
this place are all that's left of the Imperium. Our options are few  
and I must take larger risks if we are see Beryl defeated."

Artemis bowed. "Yes, Your Highness." He straightened. "The Lower  
Tachyon Bands are usually the best place to find cracks in a Chronos  
Shield, my Queen."

Serenity smiled. "Thank you, Artemis. Pleasant dreams."

"Good Night, My Queen."
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