[FFML] [FanFic][SM][NETTG] Terra in Tokyo Ch. 7 (of 27) "But the Dream was Real!"

[Benjamin A. Oliver]

Heya!  I've appreciated the feedback so far.  It's giving me ideas of
where to go with this in the future.  Thanks for reading!


Disclaimer:
This story is based loosely on Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon by Naoko
Takeuchi. This is a non-profit fan work created as a tribute, and no
infringement is intended. All rights to the characters, settings, and
situations of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon belong to Naoko Takeuchi,
Koudansha, TV Asahi, and Toei Douga, and DIC. ArbyFish belong to
Daniel Oliver and are used with permission.  Gotta have ArbyFish.
Wouldn't be proper if we didn't.  Who'd turn people into psychic ducks
and pour 'shrooms all over them?  The economy'd collapse, y'see!


With Chapter 5, They all died...
With Chapter 6, It was Just a Dream...
And now...

Nuke 'Em 'Till They Glow!!
Terra in Tokyo
Final Mix

---Chapter 7:  But the Dream was Real!

	The girl drifted for a very long time through the dreamlike state of
her own personal paradise.  Everything was so bright and beautiful.
She finally comprehended the universe and was able to explain it with
one simple equation.  Birds were chirping, the sunlight shone
brightly, and everything made her feel all right.

	And then she woke up.

	"Aahh... ughhhh," Terra groaned as feeling eased back into her
battered body.  "Mom?  What happened?"  Her vision was blurred as she
fluttered her eyes and tried to look around.  "Mom?  Are you there?"

	"Hello," replied a woman's voice.

	"Aw, Mom, I had the weirdest dream.  I dreamt that I was fighting the
generals of a transdimensional kingdom of evil, then everyone died,
then I went back in time and saved them.  Then I died and went to
paradise."

	"It's okay now.  You're very much alive and safe, here in the
Intensive Care Unit."

	Terra's eyes snapped fully open.  "Intensive Care Unit!?"  She sat up
with a start and looked at the one she had been speaking to.  "Mom!
You're so, so... pink!"  She paused.  "Oh wait, you're not my mom.
Who are you?"

	"I'm Nurse Joy," replied the woman.  "Your friends said you took a nasty fall."

	"Uh, yeah, right," Terra replied with an uneasy laugh.  "A fall."
Well, it was true that she did fall a lot, like when she slammed at
near-supersonic speeds into a concrete wall.  "I think I bounced a few
times, too."

	Nurse Joy looked at the teen's chart.  "Hmm.  You must have.  The
doctors had to resuscitate you about a dozen times over the past two
days."

	"I really, really thought I was dead."

	"Oh, nonsense.  You can't die.  You're a Pokemon."

	Terra froze, her mouth hanging open at the statement.  "What?!"  Then
she looked in a mirror, saw a big yellow duck, and started screaming,
"PSY!  PSY!  PSY!"

	Then she woke up in a cold sweat, screaming at the top of her lungs.

---

	"GYAAAH!" Terra cried, struggling in her sheets.  "What a nightmare.
Ugh... Mom, are you there?"

	"Wot?"

	"Ugh, yeah, Mom, I dreamt that I was in the ICU with a nurse and had
been turned into a psychic Pokemon."

	The girl felt a weight on her chest.  "Roight, well, ya's quoite safe
now, 'ere wit'cha very own ArbyFish!"

	Terra's eyes shot open.  "ARBYFISH!?!" she shouted and leapt out of
bed and landed in a crouch upon the cold tile floor.
Hyperventilating, she looked around and took stock of her
circumstances.  Arby seemed to have disappeared.  He wasn't around,
much to her relief.  She checked under the bed just to be sure.  He
wasn't there.  With that completed, she turned her mind to other
concerns.

	Am I human?  Check.  Still got bad hair?  Check.

	Then the girl stopped.  As a testament to her lack of experience in
waking up in strange places, there really wasn't anything else on her
personal checklist, though she wondered what her obsession with hair
was all about.  It wasn't like she could do anything with it, anyway.
She looked back and saw that her hospital bed had a mirror behind it,
and discovered that she appeared very much like herself, if a bit more
frazzled than average.  The view, combined with the draft, let her
know that her hospital gown didn't have a back to it, so she climbed
into bed again and covered herself with the sheets.

	Terra found a remote control and switched on the TV.  All that it had
on was a few talk shows, plus old Pokemon and Kamen Rider reruns, so
she switched it off again.  Now, if they had Rayearth or one of those
hyper-painful game shows on, that would have been different.  Not that
she enjoyed pain and suffering as such, but she had lately found such
material rather cathartic.

	Things seemed so normal and natural to her, it took her about fifteen
minutes to realize what was wrong.  First of all, she was alive, but
most disconcerting was that she didn't seem to have any broken limbs.
That shattered arm of hers now seemed to be in perfect working order.
In fact, she felt great, apart from some sore muscles in her arms and
legs.

	How could that be?  An experience like hers should have taken years
to heal--if, indeed, she managed to recover at all.  She checked her
body to make sure she hadn't grown up any more.  Terra would hate to
have thought she just spent years and years in a coma.  But no,
everything seemed pretty much the same as she remembered it.  Her
muscles were a little firmer than she recalled, but apart from that,
nothing had changed.  That meant she'd only been out of it for a
little while.  Days, probably.  At most, a month or two had gone by,
but not very likely, since her ability to walk and move around hadn't
atrophied any, near as she could tell.

	But that didn't explain how all her mortal injuries had just up and
vanished.  She'd heard rumors that Japanese doctors weren't that good,
due to apathy, culture, socialized medicine, or something like that.
And while Japan might have a few pretty awesome doctors, surely they
couldn't work miracles like this.  Perhaps one of her friends had some
sort of mystic healing power they hadn't previously disclosed.  It was
possible, after all.  She'd barely known Ami, Makoto, and Rei for a
couple of days before the fight with Jadeite.

	While she considered the possibilities, she sat up and scratched the
mushroom-shaped mark on her neck.  It was itching.  Using the mirrors
behind her to examine it better, she thought it looked slightly bigger
than before.  "What in the world is this thing?"

	"Oh, it's a Mystical Maligned Mutatin' Monosyllabalistic Myxocytic
Cursed Mushroom Mark.  It's Infectious!"

	When she heard the voice, Terra realized that this was going to turn
into a very, very long and agonizing day.  "Arby...."

	The ArbyFish hopped up upon her raised knee and bowed slightly.
"G'day.  'Ello sez Oye to Yew ta Me and Yew back in return!"

	"Ah, hello."

	"Roight nice job ya did whackin' them Negamafoozles.  Got ya'self
COMPLETELY ripped to shreds, yew did!"

	"Thanks, I think."  Terra wondered if she was being congratulated for
getting the job done, or being reprimanded for getting so badly
injured.  Arby was smiling, but as she'd come to learn the hard way,
that could mean anything.  "By the way, why do you always taunt me
about how I don't do anything?"

	"'Cause you'd never learn otherwise.  But'cha did.  And for that, you
gets a prize."  Arby took out something squishy and tossed it into
Terra's hands.  "There you go."

	The girl quickly identified it.  "Arby, this is a mushroom."

	"No, no, it's," Arby started to say, then stopped when he got a
better look at it when Terra held it up.  "Oh, so it is."

	Right about then, Terra's mind supplied her with a bright idea.  This
was rather unique, given how hard it usually had been before to think
in the presence of the ArbyFish.  "How about finally giving me my
wand, instead?"

	"Wot?  This?"  Arby whipped out and held up a wand.  Its sweet
pinkness and heart-shaped motifs just screamed that it ought to be
named something like The Pink Sugar Heart Rod.  "What'cha want this
hunk of junk for?"  Terra made a grab for it, but he quickly chomped
down on it and swallowed it.  "Roight tasty, it is!  Thousands of
years old and mouldy to boot.  You does MUCH better without it.
Besoides, it'd just melt in the rain anyways."

	"Arby!  That wasn't very nice."  As the girl stared at the little
smiling creature, she thought through all the various other ways he
might have been getting into trouble.  Thinking back to the lack of
sound in the hospital, she cautiously asked, "You didn't hurt anyone
on your way in, did you?"

	"A'course not.  Wouldn't be proper, this is an 'orse-spittle."

	Terra remembered that when she woke up and screamed, nobody had come
rushing to her aid.  "Arby, what happened to the nurses?"

	"Oh, well, they's... takin' a nap, y'see."

	The door fell open and an unconscious, snoring nurse slipped onto the
floor.  She had red hair in large cutesy ringlets as well as a
doll-like nurse outfit like what one might expect in a kids' show
targeted mainly at preadolescent males without totally neglecting
females due to the added marketing possibilities.  Her photo-ID
nametag read in kanji, "Joi."

	A terrible sneaking suspicion tingled its way up Terra's neck.
"Arby, you didn't turn me into a giant psychic duck, erase my memory,
and then knock me out afterwards before changing me back, did you?"

	Arby looked intrigued by the idea.  "Oh, well, Oye moight 'ave.  But
that wouldn't have been proper.  Can't very well go 'round turning
people into psychic ducks and erasing their memories.  If that started
happening, all the lakes and ponds'd get overcrowded, and property
rates'd skyrocket, then there'd be privacy issues and brain-readers'
advocates bickerin' about their intellectual impropriety roights....
The economy'd go straight to the birds, it would!"

	"I'll tell you what," Terra replied in the most diplomatic tone she
could manage, "I'll just pretend I didn't hear any of that and live my
life as if what happened really was just a stress-induced dream
flavored by my great dislike for certain cartoon shows.  Do you find
these terms agreeable?"

	The creature nodded pleasantly.  "Roight!"

	Then without another word, he fluttered off, out the window.

	It wasn't long before Nurse Joi woke back up.  "Unnh.  My head
hurts," she groaned, then blinked and looked around.  "W-where am I?"

	"You're still in the hospital," Terra said calmly.  There was no
sense in startling the poor woman.  Her best bet was to just act
normal and pretend that all was well, and with luck, her own questions
could get answered by the healthcare worker.  "You must have dozed
off."

	"What am I doing in a hospital?" Joi asked.  "I'm a veterinarian!
Umm, what happened to my hair?  And what in the world am I wearing?!"

	Terra slapped her forehead.  She probably wouldn't be getting any
answers from the individual in question.  Actually, she was probably
going to have to try and fill in some blanks herself.  "Oh dear."

	Arby strikes again, it would appear.  Hmm, Veterinarian, Terra
thought.  She sincerely hoped the woman's real name wasn't "Murray."
Then she abruptly decided to stop thinking about it.  The paths her
mind were pursuing started to get rather painful and disturbing.  "No,
just... no!"

---

	Terra eventually phoned home, found a clean set of her clothes in a
sack near her bed, and got dressed.  She tracked down a doctor to get
herself declared okay to go, then she was discharged, and had her
mother pick her up.  Their insurance would probably take care of the
medical costs.  Or if not that, maybe the government-supplied free
socialized health care.  Crossing over countries, she hadn't paid
attention to such things.  Terra hadn't exactly planned on visiting
the hospital so soon.  Back in Ireland, she'd hardly visited anything
besides a doctor's office for a regular checkup since she was six, so
she didn't remember right off hand if medicine back there was
government or insurance-funded.

	On her way out, a couple of doctors dropped their clipboards and
fainted when they saw her, like they'd seen a ghost.  A trembling
nurse--a real nurse, employed at the hospital--wordlessly shuffled
through a filing cabinet and handed her a folder with a big red stamp
on it, which Terra thanked her for and said she would read later when
she felt up to it.

	The ride home was unusually quiet.  Under normal circumstances, her
mother would be zipping around corners and peeling out in front of
stop lights.  This time, though, Kasumi was strangely behaved while
driving.  Under her control, the hum of the engine was soft, like the
solemn aftermath of a funeral.  The lack of expressed emotion unnerved
Terra, who still wanted answers, like how she could have survived her
ordeal.

	She picked through the contents of the folder she had been handed.
There were some X-rays, a few doctors' reports, and a gruesome death
certificate with her name on it, rubber-stamped "Cancelled."  She held
up some of the X-rays to the window against the sunlight.  They were
apparently hers, but she couldn't see any bones that weren't broken in
at least five places.  "Wow," she whispered, "these look pretty bad."

	"Terrible doctors they have here in Japan," Kasumi commented as they
turned a corner.  "They called me up and wanted me to come down and
identify your body.  Those silly people.  You weren't dead.  Just
passed out."

	"Uh-huh," Terra replied while looking over her files.  "It says here
I was admitted in terminal condition, not expected to survive, and I
finally bled out on the operating table when they tried a desperate,
last-ditch treatment on me, but couldn't, since they found that all my
bones and blood vessels were smashed.  One doctor comments here that,
'Nothing in that bad of condition has any right to be alive.'  So,
they must have thought something was up."

	Kasumi gently took the file and tossed it into the back seat.  "Yes,
well, don't believe everything you read.  There was probably a mix-up.
 I brought you a change of clothes and visited you for a few hours
every day.  You were fine.  You just weren't waking up."

	"But I thought I did break all my bones and get bashed up when I
fought last night.  I didn't think it was quite THAT bad, but I
certainly could die from it."

	"It wasn't last night.  Today's Tuesday.  It was two and a half days ago."

	"Hmm.  Well, whatever.  I'm sure there's some sort of reasonable
explanation for it."  Terra shrugged.  "My friends and I have been
dealing with magic, so maybe one of them came in and healed me."

	"Yes, that's probably it, dear," her mother replied in her usual
tone, though it did seem like she was trying to avoid the subject,
especially when they screeched to a halt and nearly hit someone while
turning left.  "Oh my.  That was close."  She waved to the startled
individual and moved on.

	Terra's mind came out to look and see if it was safe to think again.
It seemed all right, so she wondered why her mom was trying to avoid
the subject.  Then she was provided with the answer.  Of course she
wouldn't want to talk about it!  Her only child nearly died in a
terrible, terrible way, and didn't want to be reminded of it.  So, it
was very likely her mother would continue to avoid the subject as much
as possible in the future.  Therefore, she might as well stop talking
about it.  She would get no answers this way.  Perhaps she didn't want
to know, either, especially if Arby was involved.

	"That's the smartest thing you've said all day," Terra whispered.

	"Hmm?" Kasumi asked.

	"Oh, nothing, Mom.  Just talking to myself."

	"I'm afraid you've missed a couple days of school," Kasumi added.
"But I made sure to pick up your worksheets and study materials so you
could have them when you got better."

	"Thanks, Mom.  I'll do them when we get home."

	"And I didn't cancel your interview for today.  Were you still
wanting to go to that?"

	"Interview?" Terra asked.  Then she remembered the call they'd gotten
just before she'd gone off to whack some Negamafoozles.  "Oh, right,
that!  Yes, yes, I still want to go.  Modeling, pop idol singing, and
all that stuff.  It's probably more practical to go into something
like accounting... but I don't want to miss this chance.  Who knows?
I might get the job, and I might even like it."

	"That's the spirit, sweetie."  Her mother smiled at her.  "It's in a
couple of hours, so when we get home, you might want to hurry and get
ready."

	The girl nodded.  You're supposed to look good for job interviews,
she knew.  It's how you tell potential employers that you're serious
about it.  "Right."

---

	At home while looking through her wardrobe, Terra wished she had a
tee-shirt with a logo like, "I beat four Dark Kingdom Generals and all
I got was this lousy tee-shirt."  Mainly, she felt a little put off by
the fact that despite the incredible thing she did, she didn't have
anything appropriate to wear for a job interview.

	She had some casual outfits, but the only semi-formal things she had
were a white Halloween princess dress, a green ball gown, and a bunch
of sailor school uniforms.  She didn't even have anything remotely
dressy with which to attend church on Sundays, but that was probably
to be expected since she and her mom never went for as long as she
could remember.  In theory, they were Anglican, and if she looked,
they might have a bible somewhere, but they weren't exactly devout.

	Right now, Terra sort of wished they had been, because that would at
least mean she'd have some kind of formal dress somewhere.  A white
button-up blouse and a black skirt might work, but she didn't even
have those.  Or the right shoes to go with them, for that matter.

	Terra looked at the clock.  She'd taken half an hour to bathe and try
to fix her disobedient hair, leaving her an hour and a half before the
interview.  Not really enough time to do any proper shopping.  Of
course, in her mind, clothes shopping meant a three-hour minimum, plus
checkout time, so that wasn't an option.

	So, that meant she'd need to find someone quick she could borrow
clothes from.  Who could she ask?  Her mom was much bigger than her
and the woman's style was a couple years out of date, so that wouldn't
work.  There were also her immediate friends.  But Usagi was way too
skinny, Makoto was much too tall, Ami lived too far away, so that left
Rei.  She was about the right height and build, and seemed the sort
that would have formal things to wear.  They'd just met a short while
ago, but surely she'd help her out.

	Terra found Rei's number and dialed it up.  "Hello, is Rei there?"

	"This is her," Rei replied.  "Who am I speaking to?"

	"Hi, Rei.  This is Terra.  Say, do you mind if I come by right now
and borrow something to wear to an interview?"  She frowned when she
heard a crashing noise, as if someone had just fallen over in an
excruciatingly painful manner.  "Um, hello?  Rei?"

	After a moment, Rei seemed to find her voice again. "...whoever this
is, your joke is in very bad taste."

	"I'm not joking," Terra replied calmly.

	"Terra died.  I was there."

	"Aww, it was just a little thing, Rei!  I got better.  Bounced right back."

	Rei's voice turned hesitant, but hopeful.  "Terra-chan, you're not dead?"

	"No, my pulse is good and I'm feeling great.  A little sore, though."

	"But... we took you to the emergency room, and they came out and told
us what happened.  Usagi even ran into the operating room, saw you,
and went home crying afterwards.  It was like something out of a
horror movie!  And you're telling me you're Terra, and you recovered
from THAT?!"

	"Yeah, I got better," Terra replied.  Her mind nudged her about
something.  "You mean, it wasn't one of you that came in and healed
me?"

	"There's no magic I know that heal so much damage!"

	Terra nodded.  Okay, this wasn't as simple as she thought.  "All
right, but you know about magic that can heal.  Maybe somebody else
came in and did it, and we'll thank whoever it was when we find him or
her.  But right now, I'm in a real bind.  I've got this really
important interview in an hour--"

	"You come back from the dead and you're worried about a JOB INTERVIEW?!"

	"Well, of course," Terra said.  "There's no time like the present and
all that.  I mean, you've got to have job interviews when you come
back from the dead.  How else would you pay for living costs if you
didn't?"  She shook her head at herself.  That sort of logic she'd
expect from Arby, not from her own mind.  Perhaps on some level the
creature was psychologically affecting her.  "So, can I come over to
see if you've got some sort of formal wear I can use for it?"

	Rei seemed to be catching her breath and sorting things out in her
mind before replying, "Yes!  Yes, please!  Come over.  The others will
want to know about this, too.  I'll tell them you're coming.  I'm sure
they'll be over here fast."

	Despite there being no one to see her, Terra nodded.  "Okay."

---

	Terra put on a sailor uniform and rushed outside.  Her mom wished her
luck on her way out.  It was, like, a ten-minute half-run-half walk
over to the Hikawa Shrine.  The only reason it took her hours and
hours to get home that one time was because she was disoriented and
had taken the bus route home the wrong way.

	What on Earth am I doing? she wondered.  I nearly died, I should
still be resting, and I should be taking a lot more care of my bones
than running around like this.  And for what?  For a job interview;
for a job interview for something I've always wanted to do since I was
a little girl.  I've come back from the dead and now I can follow my
dreams.

	Putting it that way, it really didn't seem all that odd after all.
If she could just forget everything she'd been through, she could be
perfectly content with what she was doing right now.  She had great
friends, a great mom, a sharp mind, and it'd be all right.

	However, when she entered the shrine, there was a sad stillness about
the whole place.  Rei's grandfather led her into the back room where
all her friends were waiting.  The solemn expressions on their faces
showed that they still hadn't quite recovered from the trauma of
having to cart their dying friend off to the hospital to have her
apparently die in a horrible manner.  This experience would be with
them for the rest of their lives.  Perhaps they'd never be all right
about it, despite her being alive once more in their presence.

	What a bunch of pansies, her mind supplied.  Oh death, where is thy
sting?  Oh, grave, where is thy victory?

	Terra smacked her head for having produced that remark, though she
had said nothing.  "Hi, everyone," she greeted in what she hoped was a
bright and cheerful manner.  "How are you doing?"

	She kicked herself.  Perhaps striding in and acting like nothing had
happened wasn't the best thing she could have done, given their
responses.  On the other hand, maybe there was no "right" way of going
about breaking the ice on this occasion.  One by one, they broke into
tears, starting with Usagi, and finishing with Rei.

	"Sorry about the scare I gave you," Terra said, attempting to ease
the pain.  Three of them she'd only known for a short while, but even
a couple of days as fellow Sailor Soldiers was enough to create a bond
between them.  It was as if her "death" let them know how serious this
war to whack the Negamafoozles really was.  "You're not mad, are you?"

	It was about then that Usagi came up and hugged her.  "Terra-chan!
No, we're not mad.  We just missed you so much!"

	"Please, call me Terra.  No suffixes; they confuse me."  Terra patted
the blonde on the back and moved with her over to the table, sitting
down.  It was a little while before Usagi finally let go, like she was
afraid the Irish girl would vanish if she released her hug.

	"Glad to have you back... Terra," Makoto said, obviously struggling
to leave off the suffix.

	"We've had a lot to think about the last few days," added Ami.

	"On the other hand," considered Rei, "how do we know it's really you?
 We did see you basically smashed to pieces, and here you are without
a scratch on you."

	Terra nodded.  Proof, yes.  She needed proof that she was who she
was.  But if it came to that, was she really sure that she was herself
and not some sort of clone or robot programmed to think she was who
she was?  Her eyes widened as she considered the possibilities.  "I...
I don't know.  Maybe I'm not really who I think I am.  I remember
fighting, then I thought I died, and then I woke up in the hospital,
good as new.  Maybe I'm a clone or something.  Maybe somebody's got a
huge fish tank full of me in their basement, ready to come out
whenever I die.  Maybe I'm Terra the Second.  Oh!  I can't remember
much of anything from before when I was seven.  Maybe this has
happened before!  Maybe I'm Terra the THIRD!  Maybe--"

	Rei waved at her in an embarrassed manner.  "Umm, I was just saying--"

	Usagi glared at Rei.  "Rei-chan!  Don't confuse her like that!"

	"But we do really need to know about this," Ami interjected.

	Makoto shook her head at Terra's reasoning.  "You're the same as
ever, Red.  Really paranoid and so sharp you might cut yourself."

	"That DOES sound a lot like me, doesn't it?" Terra said.  "But how do
I know if I can trust myself?  If I'm some kind of secret robot
assassin disguised as me, I'd really want to know."

	Luna crawled out from under the table.  "Look, if you're so
frightened about it, there is a way we can tell if you really are our
Terra," she said, touching the crescent moon mark on her forehead.  "I
can read minds, to a certain extent."

	"Can you?" Terra asked skeptically.  "Can you really?  Then how many
fingers am I holding up behind my back?"

	A large sweatdrop appeared on Luna's forehead.  "Err, you're holding
your hands up in front of you."

	"Wow!" Terra said, wild-eyed and twitching.  "You're good.  Let's do this!"

	"She's lost it," Ami noted.

	"Have I?" inquired Terra.  "Have I really?  Maybe I'm just programmed
to THINK I've lost it and without my knowledge am really plotting to
destroy the world.  Figure THAT one out, will you?"

	I really have lost it, thought the crazed Irish lass.  One second of
doubting myself combined with the need for proof as to my true
identity and my brain's caught in a feedback loop trying to figure it
out based off of unavailable information.  The doubts keep growing!

	Terra scrunched her eyes closed and yelled at herself to stop
thinking.  Her mind, however, remained surprisingly strong.  "Shut up,
shut up!  Everyone just shut up!!!"

	Usagi and Makoto took the frightened and paranoid girl and tried to
steady her.  "It's okay," soothed Usagi, "just stay still and Luna
will help you.  Won't you, Luna?"

	The cat nodded emphatically.  "Yes, yes!  Luna Mindmeld!"

	With that, a beam of yellow energy shot out from Luna's crescent mark
and connected with Terra's forehead.

...

	The next thing Terra remembered was waking up on the floor, looking
up at Luna and her friends.  She felt surprisingly calm, considering
how frantic she'd been just before.

	The redhead sat up.  "How long was I out?"

	"About two seconds," said Makoto.

	"Was that all?  Hmm."  Terra sat back up and looked at the cat.  "So,
am I really me?  Or am I something else?"

	"I have no idea," Luna replied succinctly.

	Usagi frowned.  "What do you mean?"

	"Her mind's a complete and total mess," continued the dark-furred
kitty.  "It's like this beautiful, elegant mansion turned into a
college bachelor pad--really, really messed up, textbooks and sticky
aluminum cans all over the place.  Not unlivable, but... eew!"

	"That sounds like the Terra I know," Rei said.

	Makoto nodded.  "Same here."

	"I've also been in this mind before," Luna continued.  "I'm sure of
it!  It must have been a very, very long time ago, though.  I'll need
to work on remembering when and where.  Now if you'll excuse me, I
need to go off somewhere quiet for a while."

	The others watched the cat hop out the window and land with a
squelch.  "Eeew!" cried Luna.

	Rei turned a little red.  "Oh, the sewer line's broken, right about
there, outside.  We're getting it fixed in an hour."

	"YUCK!" Luna shouted.

	After a short pause, Usagi patted Terra on the back.  "Well, I'm sure
you're yourself, Terra.  You've got my vote of confidence!"

	Terra smiled faintly.  "Thanks, Usagi.  That... actually helps a
lot."  She looked at everyone else.  "So, who wants to, like, go to
the arcade or mall or something?"

	Before Usagi could shout out her desire to go, Ami held up a hand and
said, "But Rei said you had to go to an interview in just a little
while."

	Terra snapped her fingers.  "That's right!  I have to go to my four
o'clock interview over at that one place downtown.  It should only be
about a ten-minute bus ride, but I'll need something to wear.  Rei,
can you help me out?"

	The dark-haired girl nodded slowly.  "I'll see if I can find
something for you."

---

	As it turned out, the shrine maiden had plenty of outfits perfectly
appropriate for occasions like interviews or schmoozing with random
stuck-up businesspeople.  The reason she had such an ample supply was
that Rei's father was one of those stuck-up businesspeople.  She
obviously didn't like him very much, since she avoided talking about
him when Terra asked where he worked and what he did.

	"You could just use the pen Luna gave me," Usagi suggested, holding
up a small pink gem-tipped pen.  "You just say 'Moon Power' and tell
it to transform you into... whatever you like!"

	"Nnno, I don't think so."  Terra shook her head.  "Sorry, Usagi.  But
I haven't had the best luck with magic.  What if it fades in the
middle of the interview?  It might not last long for me."

	"I guess not," the blonde said glumly, but then brightened back up.
"Dressing up's more fun anyway."

	They found a black skirt, white blouse, and black blazer that looked
great on Terra.  She was slightly shorter than Rei, but not enough to
make a difference for these purposes.  They also found a pair of black
pumps that worked with the rest of the outfit.

	Rei examined how her selection looked on the Irish girl.  "Hmm.  You
look all right, but you're more like some slouching schoolgirl
dressing up for fun.  Stand up straighter."  Terra did so.  "That's
better.  If you're going downtown, you'll want to look confident, like
you know where you're going and what you're supposed to be doing.
That way, nobody'll bug you."

	Terra nodded.  "Right."

	"It needs something else."  Ami came up and straightened the blazer
and tied a long scarf around the collar.  When she was satisfied with
how it looked, she said, "There, you'll fit right in.  Where were you
going again?"

	"I forgot the company name," Terra said, "but I have the address
written down.  It's that one modeling agency that does the pop idol
singing and other stuff."

	"Oh, that one," Ami said.  "They do a lot of 'extreme makeovers' as
well.  At home I'm always hearing about the radical plastic
surgeries."

	"Yeah, well, I don't think I'll have to worry about that," Terra
replied with just a hint of pride that she was well spoken for in the
looks department.  "Thanks, everyone--"

	She was cut off when Makoto grabbed a brush, pulled it down, and
sprayed an awful lot of hairspray into Terra's unruly red mane.  "Hey,
what's the deal with your hair, anyway?  You'd think you were related
to Goku or someone like that."

	"There's a thought," Terra said evenly.  "Does that make me the
spiky-haired heroine of our team?  In cartoons, it's always the one
with the spikiest hair, isn't it?"

	"Nah," replied Rei.  "You're the comic relief.  We're just glad
you're our LIVING comic relief.  You should get going, and be
careful."  She smiled.  "I want that outfit back when you're done."

	Terra looked around at them.  While it may have been an adequate life
to die protecting her friends, it felt so much better to be quite
alive and surrounded by caring people whom she cared about in return.
"You gals be careful, too.  Don't get ambushed by Negamafoozles while
I'm gone."

	"Don't fall into any snake holes," Rei said back.

	Terra couldn't help but grin.  If there's one thing her mind ought to
be able to provide her, it's a snappy retort.  "Don't forget to mind
that temper of yours."

	"Don't burn your hands on any energy blasts," Makoto said.

	"Don't get your heart blown out."

	"Try not to strain any muscles," Usagi advised.

	"Yeah, well," Terra fidgeted while attempting to come up with an
appropriate reply.  "Don't eat any plastic yen!"

	As the Irish girl walked out, the others looked at Ami, who had yet
to deliver a proper fencing phrase.  She shrugged.  "I have no
response to that."

---End Chapter 7

And now it's time for... MIND YOUR MANNERS! with Sailor Nuke!

(Scene of the girls playfully taunting each other.)

Sailor Nuke:  Today, we learned that you should beat each other up at
every opportunity!

(Terra gets dressed up and doted upon by her friends.)

Sailor Kawaii(pops up):  WRONG!  (smiles)  Today, we learned that
being cute is the only way you'll ever get doted upon like a princess.

(Sailor Chibimoon knocks Zoicite's energy blast right back at him.)

Sailor Nuke:  BULL!  Beat the tar out of the villains and everyone'll love ya!

(Arby smiles at Terra while she's lying down in the hospital.)

Sailor Kawaii:  But if you're easier on the eyes, they won't even
hesitate to help out.

(Chibimoon smashes Nephrite's face in.)

Sailor Nuke:  Hey!  Violence gets you to where you can make demands.
Sailor Nuke sez.  BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!

Sailor Kawaii:  Looking cute gets you more willing friends.  Sailor
Kawaii says.  Tee-hee!


(Hmm.  New Sailor Moon coming out sometime this year, they say.
They're going to use all of my ideas, I just know it!!)

(startled) Hmm?  Oh, hey, you still here?

Well, thanks again for reading!! ;)

-- 
Benjamin A Oliver
benjamin.a.oliver at gmail.com

Technical Writer / Translator
M3 Engineering & Technology

Master of Science in Management Information Systems
Eller College of Management
University of Arizona

Writings: Fan Fiction
http://boliver.florestica.com/

Webcomic: Nuke 'Em 'Till They Glow!! The Early Years
http://nettg.com