We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
     By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
     Till human voices wake us, and we drown.

          - T.S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"



     She knew it was futile from the moment she turned the key in
the lock.  There is an instinct, basic in humans, buried deep
perhaps within the reptilian cortex, that alerts the body to the
presence of another organism.  It may be the mind's recognition
of subtle temperature changes, sub-auditory respiratory noises
and peripheral movement, combining with the usual signs of human
activity such as activated light switches, the hum of electricity
or the background drone of televisions.  The lack of these
suggests a vacant house.  Whatever it was that penetrated her
awareness, Ami was feeling that disquieting sense of emptiness
now.

     Opening the door lost its former anticipatory zeal.  The
moment she had looked forward to all day had just turned to ashen
disappointment.  But maybe she was wrong, and somebody was home. 
She pushed open the door, shouldered her pack and stepped inside.

     She was not wrong.  It was dim in the hallway, the only
light coming from the late afternoon rays slanting through the
window blinds.  The apartment was silent, except for the faint
bubbling from the fish tank.  She carefully slipped off her
shoes, hesitated, then stepped into the dining room with her
shoulders in their familiar hunch.  

     There would be a note.  There always was.  She and her
mother were good at notes.  It was safer, easier, far less
vulnerable than simple human contact.  She turned on the overhead
chandelier.

     Arranged on the round art-deco table, in tasteful style, was
a bowl of fruit.  Mundane fare like starfruit, lychees and
bananas propped up exotics like apples, pears and strawberries. 
A relish tray, replete with pickled ginger, sunomono, and other
assorted delicacies lay beside a special treat - sandwiches.  Egg
salad, tuna salad, and her favourite, peanut butter and jelly,
were carefully stacked.  A pair of delicate blue and white
teacups set off a china teapot with tea caddy.  Two modern
kitchen stools in black metal tubing all but completed the scene. 
The last touch to this tableau was the precisely squared letter
on her place setting.  Ami fixated on the note, and plucked the
scrap of paper from the table.

          Ami

          Mrs Matsushiki went into labour a few days earlier than
          expected.  Sorry to miss our appointment again.  This
          time we will make it up - is Saturday lunchtime good
          for you?  Please help yourself to dinner.  I'll be home
          late.

          Love,
          Mom

     She remained silent, varied thoughts chasing around her
brain.  Anger, frustration, even a bit of hate crept into the
whirlwind of seething thoughts.  That last thought she ruthlessly
crushed, ashamed of her feelings.

     My mother is a good person.

     My mother is a good person.  She repeated that thought.  She
deserved the support of her only child.  She ran her clinic, took
professional upgrade classes in the evening. lectured all over
Japan, and had more patients than she could cope with.  All
without the support of a husband.  They had made an attempt to
set aside Wednesday afternoons as sacred mother-daughter time. 
The idea was to lay aside their respective responsibilities and
just spend time with each other.  It was merely unfortunate that
their first three attempts had been aborted.  There would always
be another time.  She could get Rei to shift the Saturday senshi
meeting to... to... to when?  She would have to figure that one
out.  She gave up on that for the time being, and turned to more
pressing matters.

     She hooked one of the stools out from the table with her
foot, perched herself on it, and took her schoolbooks out of her
bag.  She scanned her list.  She was ten chapters ahead in both
math and history, and she had completed her English assignment
during class time.  That left just three subjects.  She looked at
her watch.  Three subjects, ninety minutes.  Should be enough
time - just.  Then she would have to scramble to get to cram
school, then perhaps a bit more homework, followed by a monster
attack and what WAS she doing, a young girl dressed in a short,
short skirt in the middle of the night and then four hours of
sleep if she was lucky before school started again...

     She stopped herself.  Usagi could handle it, albeit by not
doing her homework.  There would be time for self-pity later. 
She grasped a sandwich and started to chew, not even noticing
what flavour it was, as with the other hand she flipped open her
first book.

     Physics.  This was pretty easy.  She let her Mercury
computer crunch some numbers.  She let herself crunch an apple. 
Sometimes, being Sailor Mercury had its advantages.  She paused
over the next subject.

     Japanese composition.

     It was a simple assignment, really.  Just write a poem.  Not
something the computer could do.  Not really something she could
do.  Ten minutes of scribbling produced only frustration. 
Perhaps it was time to take a different tack.  Think of it like
painting.  Approach it around the edges, don't force it or
overanalyze it, just let it flow.  She read the haiku that
resulted:

          fragile butterfly
          dancing on the edge of oblivion
               settles on a flower

     Not bad.  She spent a few minutes trying to decide what it
meant.  She spent a few more trying to improve it.  She shrugged;
it would have to do.  She brought out her last subject.

     The chemistry problems were easy yet interesting.  She loved
balancing chemical equations.  Unfortunately, there were a lot
of them.  By the time she finished, it was time to leave for cram
school.

     She glanced at the food on the table.  Her stomach confirmed
the information her eyes conveyed.  It was hardly touched.  Oh
well, there would be time to eat later.  Later, it was always
later.  It seemed there would be time to do many things later.

     She was still in her school uniform.  She threw a pink
cardigan over her shoulder, grabbed her pack and headed out the
door without a backwards glance at the crumpled up note on the
table.


                              Human Voices


                                 A story
                                   of 
                               Sailor Moon


                                   by
                              John Hitchens

               Dedicated to: Sherri-Lee Lavender Thornton,
                              in friendship
                                    

         DISCLAIMER:  This story takes place at the beginning of
the Sailor Moon S season, and replaces episode ninety.  The story
contains some disturbing subject matter and graphic violence, and 
is recommended for mature audiences.




     The sun was sinking gloriously in the sky when she got home. 
She didn't notice.  She was tired, and in a hurry, and maybe,
just maybe, she could catch her daughter at home.  She tapped her
foot while the elevator carried her upwards.  She was out the
doors before they had fully opened, and almost racing down the
corridor.  She fumbled with her keys before managing to open the
apartment door.

     No lights were on.  Perhaps Ami had gone to bed early.  She
checked her daughter's room.  Nothing.  The couch was likewise
empty.  She stepped into the dining room and noticed the hardly
touched food and the crumpled note.

     Poor thing.  Her daughter was a hard worker and a good
person.  She was always out late, either at cram school, at the
library studying, or tutoring a friend.  She wished her daughter
would do more things for herself.  The last few years had been
hectic for them both, which is why she had recently decided to
set aside some time each week just for the two of them.  Three
straight emergencies had made a mockery of her plans, but she was
cancelling her weekend lecture in Osaka to make up for it.  It
was time to start being a mother again.  Ami would be starting to
need her now in her teenage years.

     She put the kettle on to boil, and helped herself to a
sandwich.  As she sat there, she mused about the times she and
Ami would make cookies together.  That was, hmmm, Ami was now
fifteen - ten years ago?!  She had, she realized, missed her
daughter growing up.  It was a wonder that the scholarship offer
in Germany last year hadn't woken her up sooner.

     It was strange, she thought, the dichotomy within her
daughter.  Just like her father, she shied away from
confrontation, preferring to be seen as wrong than to risk an
argument.  Meek, shy, quiet.  Perhaps she was driving away her
daughter the way she drove away her husband.

     On the other hand, Ami could also be very competitive. 
First in all subjects, she worked to maintain that.  She hated to
lose at chess, and was working hard on her own to study the
subjects she would need to be a doctor.  Which is why turning
down that German scholarship rang such a strange note.  She could
see Ami in her mind's eye - a much younger Ami.

     "When I grow up, I want to be a doctor just like you."

     So why didn't she go abroad?  Was it lack of self-
confidence?  It couldn't be because of the unlikely friends she
had made?  Well, now they would get the time to talk about it. 
That, and other things.

     Drinking the tea did nothing to soothe her restlessness. 
The hall clock chiming 8:30 set her decision.  It was a nice
evening; Ami had probably gone down to the library - she would
walk down and meet her.  They'd go to the local cafe and chat a
bit.  This new resolve lifted her spirits.  Ten minutes later she
was locking the door and heading down to the library with a
spring in her step.

                               *    *    *

     The students filed out as the buzzer went.  Ami stayed at
her desk.  She had to decide where she wanted to go.  The empty
apartment was unappetizing.  She was mildly surprised to realize
that she wanted company.  She considered her options.  Usagi was
out with a friend.  Minako?  Too hyper for her when she was this
tired.  Rei?  No, too demanding.  Makoto would be nice.  No,
wait, it's her karate night.  She decided on the usual.

     Juuban Public Library was a beautiful mixture of Japanese
modernism and traditional architecture.  Just walking through the
doors was a soothing experience.  The excitement of new books
awaiting, combined with the familiarity of old surroundings,
rewarded her with a comfortable and pleasurable sense of being. 
Except for today.

     Today she didn't feel at ease.  After pushing her homework
around for a quarter of an hour, she decided to back up her books
and go home.  There was nowhere else to go.  At the exit, she met
Osaka Naru, also on her way out.

     "Naru-chan!  What are you doing here?  I thought you were
with Usagi-chan, eating pizza and studying."

     Osaka Naru was not usually described as beautiful.  Pretty,
or cute, were the most often used words.  She had freckles and
permed auburn hair, and her long limbs displayed a disarming
coltishness.  Her clothes were always costly and in taste, and
her manners hinted at wealth.  Tonight she was wearing a tailored
brown jacket and skirt.

     "Hi Ami-chan!  Usagi-chan went home after dinner."

     "Home?  But you were supposed to be ..."

     "Studying?  Yes, but she said she was too tired and full to
study anymore, and was going to bed early."

     "And to read manga ...", Ami said.

     Naru laughed.

     "Probably.  Anyway, my Mom was working late at the store, so
I came down here to study."

     "You too?  Usagi-chan is lucky to have her mother home all
the time. And to have a father."

     "Yes.  I miss mine too."

     They both looked a little bit wistful, standing there for a
minute.  Ami still felt a little shy around Naru, so she extended
a tentative feeler.

     "We both live in the same area.  Would you like some company
while you walk home?"

     She could see Naru light up.

     "Oh sure, that would be great!  I feel so much safer not
being alone, what with all the monsters that always seem to be
trying to eat me."

     "Well, let's hope that doesn't happen tonight!"

     "Agreed."

     They both laughed, the awkward moment forgotten.  The walk
was peaceful until they passed the park.  There, the animated
tree took them completely by surprise.

                               *    *    *

     The daimon egg, possessed with a limited intelligence and
rudimentary sensing devices, was winging its way to the temple
chosen for it as the most likely place to find a pure heart.  Its
plans went awry when it passed a really strong signature - two
pure hearts in one place, not ten yards from it.  The egg
adjusted its priorities, and embedded itself in the nearest
object at hand - a tree.

     The egg absorbed itself into the tree.  Possessive power
steamed through its veins and embraced the trunk.  Now grounded
in a host, the daimon woke up and stepped free.

     "Mikuuji!" it roared.  The saying of its name seemed to give
it power.  "Mikuuji!!"  It stepped out into the path of the two
approaching figures.  Naru saw it first.

     "Oh my God, it's a monster!!  Run Ami-chan!"

     Ami followed her friend's gaze.  Stepping out of the park
was a grotesque parody of a woman.  She had branches and twigs as
arms and legs, and a crown of leaves for her hair.  She was
closing rapidly, vine-like tendrils reaching out towards the two
girls.

     Ami could sense Naru's panic.  She gripped Naru's arm and
pulled her away.  They sprinted down the street, away from the
monster.  A glance back showed that it was gaining.  Unlike Naru,
Ami felt no panic.  She had faced and defeated monsters before. 
She needed a ruse to get Naru away so that she could transform. 
Her brain worked coolly on the problem.

     "Split up!" she cried.  "The monster can't follow us both!"

     She pushed Naru down a side street, then veered in the
opposite direction.  The monster paused, creating a bit more
separation, then started after Ami.  Good, she thought.Naru's
safe.  She ducked behind a bush and dredged out her communicator. 
She pressed the "All Call" button and then stood up, hand
upraised, one small fist enclosing an ornate pen.

     "MERCURY STAR POWER !!!"

     A pyrotechnic display lit the evening.  Soft aqua beams
merged with electric-blue brilliance.  Then came the power.  It
left her nowhere to hide as it washed over her.  Her senses
heightened, but the sense of violation always returned.  The
energy was too..personal..touching her like an unwanted lover. 
She felt forced out front and centre, against her wishes to just
blend in.  After a few seconds, her mind adapted to the new form,
but she still didn't like it.  Not that she had much choice. 
Duty was duty and wants didn't come into it.  She made a moue of
disgust.

     Her communicator lit up, showing an emerald-eyed brunette
with perky hair.

     "What's up Mercury?"

     In a bit of a hurry due to the approaching monster, she
machine-gunned out her words.

     "Jupiter - monster attack - park near the library".

     "Okay girl, I'm on it.  Don't attack it by yourself, wait
for us".  Her face faded from the screen.

     Ami flushed, Jupiter's words ringing through her mind. 
Don't fight it.  Wait for backup.  The others wouldn't wait. 
Sure, she was the weakest of them all, but she had her brain. 
She would outthink it.  First she had to stall for time.  Then
she would gather information.  This was the first supernatural
attack in two months.  Was a new enemy on the rise?  She stepped
out into the street to face the monster, like a gunman in a
frontier Western movie.

     "Hey you!  You hideous, uprooted deciduous!  You are
endangering the lives of unprotected citizens, and I will not
stand for that.  In the name of the planet Mercury, I WILL PUNISH
YOU!"

     The monster stopped, puzzled at the change in its quarry. 
Good, Ami thought.  Those corny speeches that Sailor Moon uses
actually work.  A touch on her right earring brought up her
enhanced vision visor, while her left hand deftly flipped open
her notebook computer.  Time to get some data.

                               *    *    *

     Dr. Mizuno's stroll to the library was interrupted by a
human missile streaking around the corner.  The impact knocked
her back, while the person who had hit her bounced down hard on
her bum, letting out an "Oomph!" as she fell.  She looked at the
girl on the ground.  The girl's face showed astonishment, then
recognition.

     "Gomen nasai, Mizuno-sensei".  The girl started to scramble
to her feet.  "We have to run, there's a monster after us!"

     Ami's mother gave her a quizzical look.  Who was this again? 
Oh yes, Osaka Naru, her mother owned the jewellery store OSA P. 
She caught the girl by the shoulders.

     "What's that, Osaka-san?  Is someone chasing you?"

     Naru struggled to get free.

     "Let me go.  We have to get out of here.  There's a monster
after us!"

     She was not to be so easily evaded.  She held the frantic
girl.

     "Osaka-san, calm down.  Nobody's after you.  And if they
are, I can handle it.  They wouldn't dare assault a respected
doctor."

     Naru looked back.  The street was empty.

     "Oh my God!  The monster must have gone after Ami-chan
then!"

     In an instant, Dr. Mizuno's tone changed from a detached yet
considerate voice to a determined, sharper note.

     "What's this about my daughter?  Is Ami in some sort of
danger?"

     "Yes!  That's what I'm trying to tell you!  There's a
monster after us, and it must have followed Ami-chan!  She's in
danger!"

     "Osaka-san, I don't believe in monsters.  But if Ami is in
some sort of trouble, I mean to get to the bottom of it.  Here." 
She fished into her doctor's bag for a cell phone.  "You call the
police while I go investigate."

     She left a dazed Naru standing there with a phone in her
hands, as she stalked off in the direction from which Naru had
come.  But when she turned the corner, she was unprepared
for what she saw.  Her daughter was nowhere in sight, but faced
off against each other in the street were two things in which she
had never believed - a monster, and a Sailor Senshi.

     The antagonists were at the side of the road, separated by
a small bush and a bus stop bench.  The monster was tall, easily
over six feet.  She had the body of a beautiful woman, but the
effect was ruined by the tree-crowned head, wooden roots, and
grasping claw-like branches where her hands should be.  Her
unearthly being resonated menace.

     Compared to the monster, the girl seemed perilously frail. 
She was slim, and short, and could not have been over fifteen
years of age.  Her features were hard to see, as her eyes were
obscured by some sort of blue visor.  She was glancing in
concentration at a small computer in her left hand, her right
hand tapping the keys with increasing rapidity.  How could she be
so unconcerned as to the danger?  She saw vine-like tendrils
reaching out towards the seemingly oblivious girl.  Her heart
went out to her.

     "Look out!" she cried.

     Two heads swivelled towards her, one registering annoyance,
the other, shock.  She belatedly realized that she was standing
exposed in the street, and had just made herself the object of a
dangerous monster's gaze.  She gulped.

     The senshi acted.  A girl's voice rang out.

     "MERCURY SHABON SPRAY !!!"

     Immediately her vision was obscured, as if in a dense fog. 
She felt rather chilly.  Amazing what powers these girls must
have.  Well, if she could not see the monster, the monster could
not see her - she hoped.

                               *    *    *

     The tree daimon saw its opening.  Its quarry had been
distracted.  True, the fog obscured her vision, but she knew her
opponent's position.  She threw her claw-like arms out, intending
to ensnare the girl, then wrest her heart crystal.  It was only
when her claws met soft resistance, and she heard the soft
squelching noise, followed by a gurgled scream and the clattering
of plastic on pavement, that she realized she had miscalculated.

     She drew her arms back, reeling in the unwilling burden. 
The girl was already on her knees, hands clenched around the
wooden arms stuck through her stomach.  The once-proud warrior's
white body suit was now dyed crimson with her own blood.  She
withdrew her arm from the senshi's body, so that she could use
the hand that had been protruding out her back.  More blood
spurted out of the gaping wound.  Deprived of the artificial
support, her victim collapsed bonelessly to the ground.

     The daimon was upset.  If the girl died too soon, she would
not be able to salvage the heart crystal.  She had to act
quickly.

     "Now, fool, I will have your crystal."

     She opened her dress, exposing a black mark just above her
heart.  An eerie black beam erupted from that spot, and bored
into the unconscious girl's chest.  The girl's body spasmed, then
out of her body floated a shining red crystal.  The magic fog was
beginning to fade, and in the dying twilight she examined her
prize.

     "This is not the one!  There is no talisman here!"

     "JUPITER SUPREMU THUNDER!!!"

     The words arrived a scant second ahead of the attack.  The
daimon grunted in surprise as a powerful electric bolt coursed
through her body.  She turned to find the source of attack.

     She saw another senshi, this one dressed in a green and
white fuku.  Her attacker was a good deal taller than her last
victim, with a much more aggressive attitude.  Obviously, this
one needed to be taken down quickly.

     "MARS BURNING MANDALA!!!"

     Rings of fire seared her body.  She roared, pain mingling
with her rage.  Off to her left, flanking her, was a raven-haired
senshi in a red and white fuku, looking very angry.  Both her
opponents were powering up for a second attack.  Time to leave. 
She turned to run.

     "VENUS LOVELY CHAIN!!!"

     Linked loops of shimmering golden energy coiled around the
daimon's legs.  She tripped, and the heart crystal she had been
holding flew out of her hand, skidded across the street, and came
to rest by a metal storm drain.  None of the combatants noticed
the tall yellow-and-white clad warrior stooping to retrieve the
crystal.  The short-cropped blonde gathered her prize and
retreated into the bushes to watch the fight.


                               *    *    *

     The fog had started to dissipate.  Through it, Dr. Mizuno
could see a combat in progress.  Three senshi, garbed variously
in green, red and orange, had trapped the monster in the centre
of a triangle.  The fourth senshi, the blue-clad one she had
first seen, lay outstretched on the pavement in a pool of
spreading blood.  Kneeling beside her was a girl who was
obviously none other than the famous Sailor Moon.

     She ignored the battle.  Her doctor's instincts kicked in. 
She hurried to the downed senshi.  Sailor Moon was looking at
her, mouth agape, a horrified recognition in her eyes.  How would
she know me?  Why would I cause her such terror?  A riddle to be
solved later.  She put down her doctor's bag and knelt beside the
fallen warrior.  She noticed the abnormal pallor of the skin;
cold and blood loss.  A blue sigil still glowed on the girl's
forehead.  Some sort of astrological symbol - Mercury.  This must
be Sailor Mercury then.  She rolled the girl onto her back, and
saw the full horror of the wound.  Blood still spurted weakly
from the gaping cavity in her stomach, but it would not be much
longer.  She shook her head, once, before she realized what she
had done.

     She stole a glance at Sailor Moon.  Tears trembled their way
down Sailor Moon's cheeks.  Her body wracked and shuddered in
sobs.

     "Sailor Moon!  Stop your crying and help us out here!"

     Dr. Mizuno searched for the exasperated speaker.  It was the
red-skirted senshi.  Sailor Venus?  No, Mars, of course, the red
planet.  She and the tall brunette were pummeling the monster
with twin blasts of fire and lightning, while the orange-clad
senshi struggled to contain her in loops of golden chain.

     She watched Sailor Moon's face harden into a look of firm
resolve.  Deliberately, the superheroine raised herself to her
feet, and faced the monster.  Comjuring an ornate sceptre out of
nowhere, she spoke the words of power.

     "MOON PRINCESS HALATION!!!"

     A beam of light played over the monster.  It was visibly
weakened, but still defiant.  The senshi all looked surprised. 
Sailors Mars and Jupiter started some more attacks, while Sailor
Moon prepared another assault.  She decided the battle was in
capable hands, and turned back to her patient.

     The visor no longer covered her eyes, and bereft of that
shield, she looked even younger.  Probably about Ami's age, she
thought.  Definitely too young to die this way.  Where was Ami,
anyway?  She must have escaped when Sailor Mercury showed up. 
What a brave, brave girl.  She knew it was hopeless, but she had
to try.  The first thing to do was to stop the bleeding.  She
reached into her bag for a roll of cloth, and started to compress
the wound.

                               *    *    *

     Sailor Moon's third attack had finally destroyed the
monster.  The tall watcher stepped into the open as the remaining
senshi milled around their fallen comrade.

     "You'll need this."

     The senshi whipped their heads around.  She held aloft the
gleaming heart crystal.

     "Who are you?  Are you another senshi?  Why didn't you help
us?  And what is that you're holding?"

     The accusations came from the black-haired girl.  The tall
watcher snorted.

     "This is a heart crystal.  Without it your comrade will
die."

     She threw the heart crystal towards the group.  It hovered
above Sailor Mercury, then entered the senshi's body.  She spoke
again.

     "You children are meddling in affairs too dangerous for you. 
Next time let us handle these monsters.  Go play hop scotch or
something."

     She turned away, leaving the girls fuming.  Out of sight
from the senshi, she joined her companion, a sea-green clad
senshi with aquamarine hair.

     "They will be trouble."

     Her companion nodded.

     "I have foreseen it."

     They left together.  It was not their concern.

                               *    *    *

     Dr. Mizuno watched in wonder as the glowing jewel entered
her patient's chest.  That must be the source of their magical
power!  It was in no biology text she had ever read.  With the
restoration of the heart crystal, the girls eyes snapped open,
although the gaze was vacant and unfocussed.  An ordinary person
would be dead by now, but maybe this girl would make it.

     "There's a cell phone in my...."

     She stopped abruptly.  Naru had her phone.  She almost wept
in frustration.  Maybe the police would be able to help when they
got here.  She gave a bitter smile. It didn't matter anyway.  The
girl had maybe two more minutes.  A red-gloved hand gripped one
of her wrists.  Not moving her hands from putting pressure on the
stomach, she looked up into the eyes of Sailor Moon.

     "She'll live, won't she?  Tell me she'll live!"

     The voice was as frantic as the eyes.  Dr. Mizuno considered
lying, but these brave girls deserved the truth.  It was what
they stood for.

     "I'm sorry. She has lost too much blood, and her internal
injuries are fatal.  I ... I'm sorry about your friend."

     Her words felt inadequate even to her.  The senshi all
gasped.  Despite being battle-hardened warriors, they were still
young girls.  She wondered if they had ever seen a comrade fall
in battle before.

     "Mama..."  The whisper was barely audible.  "Mama..."

     She knew it was the end.  She had served in the mercy
missions in Cambodia in her youth, and knew death in all its
brutal forms.  Young soldiers always called out to their mothers. 
There was nothing she could do but comfort her.

     "I'm here", she soothed. "Be a brave little angel for me."

     A tremor shook the dying senshi at the sound of her voice,
and a shaking hand lifted to cup the doctor's face.

     "Mama!"

     There was recognition in her eyes, and as Dr. Mizuno
returned the gaze, the clues clicked into place.  She saw not the
Warrior of Ice, but the eyes of a little girl with whom she used
to bake cookies.

     "Ami?"  

     She said it tentatively, not wanting to believe.

     "Mama!"  There was relief and contentment in the voice.  "I
love you Mama."

     This was unreal.  Her daughter could not possibly be a
Sailor Senshi.  Could she?  She looked around at the anguished
faces, and knew the truth only too well.

     "I love you too, Ami."

     There.  She had said it.  By saying it she had admitted it. 
As if those words had been the blessing for which she had been
waiting, Sailor Mercury gave a last smile.  Dr. Mizuno knew her
daughter was gone even before her eyes opened for all eternity. 
And with the expiration of her last breath, the transformation
reversed to leave only a small Tokyo school girl lying on the
pavement.

     "AMI!!"

     She broke down and sobbed on her daughter's chest.  She was
oblivious to the strangled noise Sailor Jupiter made, or Sailor
Venus' heels clicking as she rushed after the departing brunette. 
A sharp voice snapped her out of her stupor.

     "Sailor Moon!  Can't you do something?  Wave your wand and
make it all better?"

     She saw only two people left, a pleading Sailor Mars, and a
shell-shocked Sailor Moon.  Something snapped.

     "You!"

     She lunged at the leader of the senshi, and shook her by the
shoulders.

     "You!  This is all your fault!  She's dead because of you! 
Your fighting has taken away my baby!"

     She felt Sailor Mars trying to split them apart, then stop. 
Sailor Moon just looked at her with those shimmering eyes, that
changed colour to an even bluer blue as she watched.  Her tears
mingled with Sailor Moon's as the leader of the senshi embraced
her.  Sailor Moon cupped the tears in her hands, then brought
both their hands to her chest.

     She looked down and saw, glittering like the morning star, a
brooch unfolding underneath her hands.  A bright light sprang
forth, momentarily blinding her, and red ribbons trailed and
swirled about.  The young girl she had identified as Sailor Moon
was gone, replaced by a princess in simple white.  Deep blue
pools bored into her soul.  She felt an overpowering drowning
feeling, a mixture of love, compassion, sorrow and ancient
wisdom.  In that intimate moment, she realized the power
emanating from the princess' body.

     "Your tears and my tears, your blood and my blood, your love
and my love. By the power invested in me through my inheritance,
I may grant your unspoken wish.  You won't be alone again."

     The white-gowned princess stepped back, stretching her arms
out over her daughter's body.  She watched as a soft blue glow
grew steadily more powerful, saw her daughter's body within start
to knit the wounds.  As the last gash faded off her stomach, the
light abruptly cut out.  She looked up.

     The princess, or Sailor Moon, or whoever she really was, had
fainted into the arms of a new arrival, a tall masked man in a
black tuxedo.  The other senshi had gathered around their leader
in concern.  She looked back at her daughter, and her heart
almost stopped.

     Ami was breathing.

     Ami was breathing!  She felt for the pulse, it was weak, so
weak, but it was there, her baby was alive.  She gazed in awe at
the girl who could raise the dead.

     "Thank you."  It was all she could get out.

     It was the man who spoke.

     "We must leave before the authorities get here.  We can
trust you?"

     It was more a statement than a question.  There was only one
honourable answer.

     "Yes."

     "You know why we must leave?"

     Again, the same courtesy, the same compassion, the
restrained drive.  She nodded.

     "You will not have to wait alone."

     He nodded behind her.  She turned to see the disbelieving
figure of Osaka Naru, peering around the corner, cell phone still
in her hands.  Then Naru came  rushing into her arms.  They held
each other, watching Ami's shallow breathing, until the police
arrived.

                               *    *    *

     It was late morning.  She was still bleary from the events
of the night before.  She had been up with Ami in the trauma unit
for six hours before she finally felt it was okay to leave.  The
grisly wounds had all been perectly healed, but a massive blood
transfusion had been needed, and Ami was still in shock.  She was
going in to the hospital again to check on her daughter, but
first, there was something she had to do.

     She opened the door that she seldom opened.  She felt that
she was violating Ami's trust by stepping into her room like
this.  But trust was a two-way street, and she was Ami's mother.

     The room was spotless.  It was a busy room, but tidy and
organized.  Scientific paraphernalia abounded, from the telescope
Ami had received from her father, to the globe, through to the
microscope she had won at the Science Fair.  Books on science and
math filled the shelves.  Was that all her daughter was?  Last
night's revelations made that impossible to believe.  She decided
to look closer.

     She noted her ex-husband's landscape paintings on the wall. 
One seemed a bit out of place.  She moved to take a closer look. 
It was Tokyo Bay as seen from the Tokyo Tower. The style was
close, but the signature gave it away. 'Mizuno Ami'.  She had
never known.  Had she taken the time to know?

     She opened the clothes closet, and jumped back.  Staring
back at her was the impassive gaze of Sailor Mercury.  The life-
size poster was taped on the inside of the door.  Ami probably
confronted every morning when she got dressed.  She certainly had
a dry sense of humour.  The blue dresses took on added
signficance. She knew now why Ami had never asked for a computer. 
Sailor Mercury's was probably more powerful than anything out
there.  She prowled the room.


     Beneath the framed picture of Einstein was a dresser with
photographs.  Ami and her father.  What's this?  A recent picture
of Ami and a teenage boy holding hands on a ferris wheel.  Did
her daughter have a boyfriend?  What DID she know about Ami
anyway?  Only what Ami had carefully constructed for her.  She
had seen it, believed it, because she had wanted to believe.  It
was much easier than actually getting to know your daughter. 
Self-loathing started to creep in again.  She continued her
search.

     In the bottom drawer, at the back, under some panties, was
an envelope addressed to her.  Her hands trembled as she opened
it.

          Mom

          If you are reading this, then there was no miracle this
          time, and I will no longer be coming home.  I love you
          Mom.  You have always been there for me.  It was you
          who made me what I am.  I am sorry to have kept this
          secret.  Do not grieve for me.  Instead, help the
          senshi left behind.  They will need all the help they
          can get to carry on.  I know you will soon figure out
          their identities.  Please offer them a safe haven as a
          last request to me.

          God bless you

          Your loving daughter,
          Ami

     You were wrong, Ami, oh so wrong.  A miracle did happen.  And
I will not let it go to waste.  She looked down with tear-blurred
eyes at the letter. She had crushed it in her grip.  She started
to laugh, painfully.  The letter had suffered the same fate as
the one she had left for Ami earlier.  She smoothed it out as
best as she could, and managed to get it back into the envelope
on her second, shaking try.  She slid it carefully into her front
pocket, then turned out the lights and shut the door.  It was
time she did something about that gifted daughter of hers.

                               *    *    *

     Ami was sitting up in her hospital bed, wanting to go home. 
The doctors said she might be released tomorrow, but she felt
fine.  All this isolation, and no book to read.  She looked
forward to visiting time.  It would be great to see the others. 
She wasn't sure how she felt about seeing her mother.  What would
she say?  How would her mother react?  She felt like the girl
caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

     A nurse poked her head in the door.

     "Mizuno-san, you have a visitor."

     The nurse withdrew.  She saw her mother step into the room. 
She cringed.  Then she took a closer look.  Her normally cool,
confident and crisp mother looked old and tentative, and her gaze
was fixed on the floor.  C'mon, Mom, look at me please.  Scold
me, yell at me, say you're sorry.  Say something.  She waited an
eternity.

     Her mother finally looked up at her, then did something Ami
hadn't seen her do since her father left.  Her mother ran across
the room, crying, and grabbed her in an all-encompassing hug.  No
words were said, but no words were needed.  Five, ten, fifteen
minutes passed.  At long last, her mother released her from her
grasp.

     Ami smiled.  It looked like they would get their mother-
daughter time after all.

     The nurse poked her head in the door.

     "You have some more..."

     "No!"

     The voices rang in unison.  The nurse left in surprise. 
They both looked at each other, first in shock, then with
laughter.  And Ami knew, this time, that things were going to be
all right.  Her mother broke the tension.

     "Ami.  I am so proud of you.  Can you ... can you tell me
about yourself?"

                               * F I N I S *


Special thanks once again to:

Naoko Takeuchi, for creating my goddess

Ken Wolfe and +Gradient, for raising the bar

Ken Wolfe, again, for C&C - I'll repay you sometime

W. A. Mozart and T. S. Eliot, for inspiration

And to everyone who wrote to me on my first story.

John Hitchens
makofan@yahoo.com