Usagi is slumming it at Mamoru's in bunny PJs and ice cream, twin tails secured in bows, new necklace around her neck. It's not her being mopey for once, it's her actually enjoying a spoonful of yummies.
She's technically out with friends, so far as her parents' know, and hey, these two guys, Ben and Jerry, are great new friends!
She's curled on the couch, watching something for background music. Though his place is still clean, it looks more lived in than it did when he was actually there. A few books and magazines, heck, there's even tests stuck under nerdy magnets on the fridge. (Passing! Though not A's, so they're obviously not his.)
There's a noise and she glances up, expecting some random Mamo-Friend to pop in again. They do that a lot. (She may or may not have scribbled down the names of people who's stopped by that she's aware of.)
"Hewwo?" Her mouth is around the spoon. She is not giving up this taste for something so paltry as manners.
While Usagi is hanging out with Ben and Jerry, Sailor Mars is bringing one more potential friend to Mamoru's apartment. She actually arrives by balcony with Saburo in tow, unlocking and then entering through that door. She's in henshin, and with good reason, considering what she's coming here to do.
When she notices Usagi here, she says, "Oh! Hi... um... Usa-chan. I thought you might be here. I um... have a guest! A very special guest who... probably needs Sailor Moon's help. It's complicated. He's one of Mamo-kun's friends."
Mars tilts her head and grits her teeth somewhat awkwardly. She's really not sure how to phrase or handle this. "I... don't suppose you've seen Sailor Moon? Because I need to talk to her specifically. Please? We have to discuss important things."
Mars is confidently hoping that Usagi will catch the hint. After all, there's a strange boy here now, and she doesn't want to really give away Usagi's henshin that directly.
Usagi may have seen this particular boy in Mamoru's company before, she may not have. He's wearing a uniform from the same school, however, carefully and precisely fitted and only barely ruffled by the experience of travelling with Sailor Mars. He looks *troubled*, like this has already been an incredibly long day and it's only promising to be longer. When he's introduced, he inclines his head towards Usagi, saying only. "Please. It is very urgent."
Minako Aino/Sailor Venus provides the perfect opportunity for Usagi to slip out and change from her PJs to her big girl clothes.
She kicks in the door (she carefully turned the knob first so it doesn't get damaged) and power-walks through the entrance. She's accompanied by a very displeased looking cat (the kick was not part of his plan). It's very dramatic.
"Sailor Mars," she says, as a means of greeting, complete with a little head-nod.
Then she greets the boy with her. By throwing a single Crescent Beam at him. It's small and pale and quite dull compared to her usual ones. But it's still a crescent beam.
"You had me at 'hello'."
Usagi slowly gulps down her ice cream as she just stares at Mars. It's not the hint that's giving her pause, it's the delivery of it.
"Um..."
She slowly covers the lid of her ice cream, contemplates leaving it out, but Mars may try to sneak some and it may get melty...
She stands up and goes to the kitchen, hiding it behind frozen goods. "Okay. But don't touch my ice cream, Mars! I know exactly how much is in it!"
Fingers point to her eyes than at Mars. I'm watching you!
"I'll call her while I'm...out. Picking up...dessert. Wait, no. Dinner. Yes. But not chicken."
Shudderrrrrr.
She offers Mamoru's friend (she never got the chance to meet him, but she's heard of him) a small smile. "Don't worry. She'll be here."
She picks up her purse, her keys, slips on shoes, jogs out into the hall.
Ignore that she just 'went to the store' in her PJs.
She does, of course, have to wait until she's outside the building to 'call' Sailor Moon.
(Mamo-chan's old grumpy night doorman gives her a pleasant wave and assures her his cats are all doing okay. Sadly, she still can't take home the cute cute cute runt kitty but she wants to!)
"MOON PRISM POWER, MAKE-UP!"
His balcony isn't too many leaps, and she lands almost delicately. (Ug, who moved that planter? Oh, right. She did. Ug.)
"Mars, Usagi-chan told me to make sure you didn't eat her ice cream." This is her introduction! She turns to the friend. "Hi! You must be Mamo-chan's friend." Owwwww. "What do yo---"
Venus' entrance stops her in her tracks and she's sort of frozen in place, wondering what she's just missed.
Mars rolls her eyes. "I'm not gonna eat your ice cream, Usa-chan! Seriously. Could you just... yes please thank you."
Even knowing that Usagi is the moon Princess, Rei can't help but feel just a bit of irritation from her sometimes. This is serious business! This is not an ice cream heist!
Then Mars gets the second unexpected visitor for today.
"V-chan, no!" shouts Mars, a bit too late to actually stop anything. Seeing the crescent beam fire, she just places her palm over her face and groans. "I can't believe you. Geeze. This guy needs our help! We already checked to see if he was an illusion or a youma!"
Mars is rubbing her forehead and muttering, "Well at least you came in henshin. Hi." When Moon comes back in, Mars adds, "Hi, Moon-chan. Usagi-chan's ice cream is safe. But maybe it should be in the freezer if no one's going to eat it?"
Jadeite's eyes widen, just faintly, as Sailor Venus enters just to *fire on him*. It's reflex that has him leaping out of the way, a graceful arc up and back that's far too collected for this to be the first time he's ever had blasts of energy fired at him. He holds one hand out in a precise gesture, clearly ready to do *something* to defend himself, if it happens again. Something grows a little hard, around the corner of his eyes, his tone low and edging towards anger. "I came with goodwill!" Not *unarmed*, of course, but Jadeite is never unarmed.
He's already tensed again, although he isn't *running*, mostly because he has nowhere to run *to*. Still, there's an element of a cornered animal in the way he flicks his attention between the attending Sailor Scouts, clearly afraid he's just stepped into a trap.
Minako Aino/Sailor Venus just nods in response to Mars as her beam goes wide and leaves a hole in the wall. "I know. I trust you, Mars. I'm 100% confident he's not an illusion or a youma. He was just entirely too unharmed and untied for my liking," she comments, half-leaning and half-taking cover behind Mamoru's (expensive) couch.
"Anyway, 'I came with goodwill' is what every other general but one of 'em has said until now. But none of them got into the same room as our Princess before. So forgive me if I'm suspicious," she comments, almost flippantly.
"What's up, Mars!"
Mercury doesn't jump onto the balcony. She appears on the balcony, stepping out of a doorway from nowhere. The bluentte blinks in surprise when she spots the black singed mark on the wall. Not exactly what she expected to see, but Jadeite's still alive so she's just not going to discuss that.
In one hand, she has a small black plastic box, which she carries inside with her, and sets on the counter. "Hello, Venus, Moon," she comments cheerily, as she pulls out a rubber tourniquette, a syringe, a fresh needle (still in its package), and a large vial for blood.
Setting these carefully down on the counter, Mercury moves to the sink and begins washing her hands very, very thoroughly. One can never be too health conscious. "Hey, whose ice cream is this?"
Sailor Moon just sort of...stares. What? "I missed something here." Wait, what?
"Venus, I don't think Mamo-chan would enjoy finding bits of boy all over his floor and walls when we get him back..."
Mercury comes in, and instead of clearing some things up, the confusion just grows.
The things she knows:
:::He's a general
:::Rei brought him here
:::Minako is ready to ruin Mamo-chan's apartment
:::Ami may or may not be trying to steal her ice cream.
"It's, um, it's Usagi's."
She picks it up from the counter, stirring the now soupy stuff.
Then it's just all...confusing. "What's going on here!!"
She looks at Venus. "If you're going to be protecting me, don't you think I should know what from?"
Mars. "Why didn't you tell me you were bringing him over here?"
To Mercury. "What are you doing?!"
To Jadeite. "Where is he?! Is he okay? Is he hurt? I just need to know if he's alright!"
Mars frowns at Minako. That frown uncurls into a :\ expression and then goes flat. "Alright. Alright. I get that. You're giving me a heart attack, but I get that." She does trust Venus a bit too much to assume that her reasons were bad ones, but that surprise wasn't great on her nerves.
"Okay. So this is Saburo." Mars gestures to Saburo, taking his hand with hers, partially to say 'he's with me' but also as a way to stop him from actually physically running away.
"Except actually he's Jadeite. He's fleeing from the Dark Kingdom, and according to what he says he's convinced that he can't go back or he'll be killed. Mercury's going to run some tests on him to see if it's safe to Moon Healing Escalate him. Then once we're sure it's safe, we're going to have Moon-chan do that. At least that's the plan."
When Mercury shows up, Mars greets her with a smile. "Hi, Mercury-chan. That's Usa-chan's ice cream."
Mars is really feeling the tension in the room right now, especially after what she just explained. She's just glad that so far the potential damage has been minimized. Except for the damage to Mamoru's wall.
To Usagi's barrage of questions, Mars answers with, "Well I tried sending you all a text. I mean I assume that's how Venus got here."
To say that Jadeite is *shocked* when Mars takes his hand is an *immense* understatement. He doesn't manage to contain all of his reaction, making a quiet noise of surprise in the bottom of his throat. He blinks, and his other, outstretched hand wavers, then drops, no longer a threat to use his powers. He's still tense and far from comfortable, but he doesn't run. He doesn't even try to make Mars let go of his hand. He just kind of stands there, now awkwardly, holding hands with Sailor Mars.
Actually, it's oddly comforting, in its way. The reassurance, at least, that Mars believes that he's making an honest attempt to make things right encourages him enough that his blue eyes trace over to where Sailor Moon stands, responding to her questions. They're not nearly as depthless as Mamoru's. "He is...not himself. Which is why I am here. Because I remembered. Who he's supposed to be, who *I'm* supposed to be, and who we are now...isn't those people. I am here to help you save him, to help you save *all* of my brothers. But if *she* finds me first, the *least* she would do is take from me what I've remembered. I don't--I don't want that. I don't want to forget *again*."
"Ooooh, giving you a LoveLove heart attack? Now is not the time for confessions," she sings, interrupting Jadeite's explanation and his potentially cuddly moment. It is silly and ridiculous but actually very cruel: she doesn't want him to feel comfortable or forgiven.
Quickly and more seriously, Sailor Venus amends Sailor Mar's words slightly:
"We'll escalate him no matter what the results are."
"Alternatively, he can deal with my beams instead. Or he can be my prisoner for a hostage exchange. Might be better choices. Might not be. He's free to choose, but considering the situation he helped to put us in, 'Jadeite's safety' is right there on the bottom of the list..."
"...Assuming it's even on the list. And so far, I see no compelling reason to do so," she comments, massaging her pointer finger in a way that would be 'amusing' or 'dirty' if it wasn't obvious what she was *really* implying.
"The only reason I am concerned for Jadeite's safety right now," Ami notes as she finishes washing her hands, "is because I want to ensure he is actually useful to us, and not a liability. So first I will make sure he is safe to purify." Mercury pulls on a pair of latex gloves, then pulls open the needle and affixes it to the syringe. "If he is, then we will Escalate and begin a cross-examination. If he is not, then we will take him somewhere safe and begin a cross-examination, and then figure out how to proceed from there."
She gives Venus a briefly challenging glare, then charges the vial into the syringe. "Yukimura-san, please take a seat. I'm going to need to draw some blood."
The syringe fully prepared, Sailor Mercury turns around and peers at him uncertaintly.
Sailor Moon sighs. "My phone died."
Venus ignores her. Mercury's busy drawing blood, so she's forgiven.
"What if I want him to be, Venus? Is that a good enough reason? We are supposed to be the good guys." Her eyes are sharp when she looks at the leader of the senshi. "If he has a chance to get away from there, I will do what I can to help him. Are we going to blame Mamo-chan for what he's done when we get him back? For what he will do? Are you?" The look on her face clearly suggests that that will not be tolerated.
Still glowering at Venus, a finger points at Jadeite. "He may not be important to any of you, but he's very important to Mamo-chan, so he's very important to me. And I will save. Them. All."
Something about holding Jadeite's hand tugs at Sailor Mars's memories. Distant memories. For a moment, she remembers standing in a much different place, in a beautiful palace... was she holding someone's hand back then?
The immediacy of the current situation quickly snaps her out of it. Hearing Jadeite's description of Mamoru's current situation, she remembers something. "Oh. Right. Also, Moon-chan... He returned this to us, as a sign of good faith." She digs into a pocket, retrieving the Luna Pen. Didn't Jadeite hand that to Rei? Well now Mars has it. Deal. She holds it out to Moon, saying, "The prince had this last, didn't he?"
Venus delivers her ultimatum. Mars sweatdrops. Her intensity is making her nervous. She holds on tighter to Jadeite's hand as a result. "Considering what happened to Apatite, I find it difficult to see him as anything but a victim here. Maybe he made a deal along the line that he shouldn't have, but regardless of that he could probably really help us. Not to mention that healing him, in of itself, brings us one step closer to finishing our war with the Dark Kingdom."
"Maybe you're still angry with him. I understand. It's not as if he hasn't done things, but this does help us far more than it does our enemy."
Then Moon steps up and says more than Mars ever could. "Right, right, princess. We will save them all. Except Beryl. Screw her."
Shadows begin to move over Jadeite's face, the more that Venus speaks. They make his features seem sharper, more like the Jadeite they've known in the past, willing to throw youma at them and mock any defeat. He looks as if he might be about to speak, anger leaning in against those shadows--and then instead the others are speaking on his behalf. *Moon* is speaking on his behalf, without any room for misinterpretation. All he actually says, all that anger locked up in caskets of ice, "What I *did*, was follow my brothers. And now, I'm turning my back on them to try and save them."
There's no way for him to justify himself any further. Without thinking about it, he gives Mars' hand a brief, fleeting squeeze, as if to reassure or or maybe in response to her tightened grip. Only then does he try to let go, so that he can sit where Mercury has asked and take off his school uniform jacket, push up his sleeves to make it *possible* to draw his blood.
Minako Aino/Sailor Venus assumed Sailor Moon's question was rhetorical. But she answers it now: "Protecting you from The Dark Kingdom. And their generals. And their tricks. Somebody has to think creatively," she comments. "And yeah, of course we'll question him and find out more. But when your sins are blood, you earn your forgiveness in blood," she explains as if this were obvious, not backing down at all.
"And -somebody- needs to remember to blame where blame is due. Whether he is a 'victim' or not, Mars. There's a difference between forgiveness and just giving every sort of crime a free pass."
"Besides, I have your best interests at heart. This whole set-up is suspicious. I was *this* close to killing Kunzite before Mercury got captured by him, taken out of my sight, and then she somehow escaped without being hurt. And all of a sudden, here comes Jadeite, who 'still can be tracked by Beryl', right into the very same room as the Princess," she comments, reaching down to pet at Artemis' face while she chatters along.
"Hey, Mercury, did you pass on the secret information to Mars? The *one* thing I asked you to do? That I *needed* you to do? Or did you 'forget'?" she asks, a little petulant, a little cutting.
Sailor Mercury makes a soft noise when Venus explains that someone needs to think creatively. That noise is not one of approval of pleasure. It in fact sounds distinctly more like a strangled cat.
But it's the only noise she makes in response. She shuts her mouth fully, glares at Venus' question about secret information ... and then doesn't respond to it. Instead, she very pointedly turns to Saburu and tourniquettes his arm.
Mercury seems to tune the rest of the world out as she brings her black box nearby and ensures she has everything she needs. With that done, she checks Saburu's veins, finds the right one, and very carefully inserts the needle.
She watches, she waits, and she hopes ... and then she lets out a soft breath of relief when his blood emerges looking very much like human blood.
When your sins are blood, you earn your forgiveness in blood. Ami only needed to see the colour of it for the test, but she fills the vial. When the flow slows, she undoes the tourniquette and waits for the vial to finish filling, then extracts the needle and puts a cotton swab over it immediately.
Still, mercury says nothing, as she sets the vial and needle aside, and begins wrapping Jadeite's arm with medical tape to hold the swab in place. She offers him only a smile, then steps away to begin the process of storing that blood for later. Starting with a label.
Sailor Moon's eyes widen a bit as she takes the Luna Pen from Mars. She looks up at Jadeite, a soft smile. "Thank you."
For a moment, she's lost in thought before she shakes herself. "Yeah, he did."
Her words upset Venus. Sailor Moon is feeling like she's a very bad princess. "Hey!" Her voice is a snap. "Just because you're annoyed at me, don't take it out on Mercury. She is the hardest workers any of us knows, and to say otherwise is just...mean."
Her shoulders slump, and she's not angry, just...sad. "I'm not just her anymore. I'm also...me. And this time, I'm not...it won't end like that. I won't do that to any of you. I can fight this time. I can help. I can protect."
Then, slowly, her shoulders straighten. "But I refuse to allow vengeance. I'm not smiting down one when I saved Kyouko already. I don't remember...much, but Jadeite? He was sweet, and he was kind, and I want him back the rest of the way."
She tilts her head and smiles at Jadeite. "I would very much like to meet you again."
Mars releases Jadeite as he goes on. At least she knows he's not going to flee. She crosses her arms and turns towards Venus. She bites her lip, saying, "So that's really how you feel? You feel that way? You don't want to forgive him so easily? You think this is a free pass?"
She glances once towards Jadeite, and then back to Venus. "Regardless of any of that, there's nothing in that conversation that can't be discussed after we're done. He still needs to be tested, then escalated, regardless of whether or not you choose to forgive him."
"As for me... my only concern is the fact that he's not my enemy anymore. I understand your concerns regarding the princess, but her presence is necessary for this to work. That would be true no matter how or when we choose to deal with him, or any other general."
She frowns at Venus as Kunzite is mentioned, then smiles and almost laughs. "Right. Right. Okay. Yes. I was there. I saw exactly how close you came to killing him. In very explicit detail." Mars comes very close to calling Venus out on her real intentions for that night. If she really wanted to kill Kunzite, blinding her allies would not be the way to go about that, and Venus knows that just as much as Mars does. But if Venus is trying to look scary in front of Jadeite, she's not going to ruin that for her.
Mars can't help but notice the effect it has on Mercury. She rubs her forehead. "V-chan, you're a dear friend, and a respected veteran, and I know you think you have to carry your burdens alone, but we aren't going to always let you have your way. Yes, she did share that information with me. I have it memorized."
Moon's words earn a smile from Mars, but she quietly suspects that Venus is putting on a front. A front that her friends are finding somewhat abrasive.
Jadeite is silent and patient as Mercury takes his blood, showing no real sign of discomfort. This is probably an expression he's learned from Kunzite, this attempt to remain cool and collected in front of adversity or pain. He watches the vial fill with his blood and doesn't at all show the sort of relief Ami does, even if he feels it. After all, he already *knew* he bleeds blood.
Instead, when the procedure is over, he flexes his hand once or twice and lets his eyes sweep back up to Sailor Venus. His tone is just as chilly and distant as his demeanor, his anger held on a very short, carefully gripped leash. "If it comforts you at all to *know, Sailor Venus, until this *very moment*, I didn't have any idea there even *was* a Princess, much less who she was. I could leave any time I wanted, and none of you could stop me, and yet, I am *still here*. My orders come from my *Prince*. My Prince as *himself*, not twisted or tainted."
Anything else he might have said is a little waylaid by Sailor Moon's words. He pauses, giving a short, quick breath that might have been a faintly wounded sound if he'd allowed it, and then looks to Moon herself with a softer expression. "I am...sorry. I don't remember you yet. But I hope I can get to know you now."
Minako Aino/Sailor Venus gives a little careless wave of her hand, insisting she was *very* close to getting her prey. Mars' little smiles ruffle her feathers. "You make it out like 'getting my way' is some little petty girl who didn't get enough birthday presents. 'Getting my way' is doing my mission. 'Getting my way' is hearing that sudden intercontinental trips and Jadeite randomly showing up here wasn't Mercury being seduced to the dark side... just us getting *really* lucky, albeit suspiciously so."
"But for now? He might not feel like -your- enemy. But he's MY enemy. He's OUR enemy. And if he wants to change that, he needs to PROVE it," she says, seething under her breath. "He killed my friends, whether he remembers it or doesn't want to remember it."
There's a weird little moment where she isn't mad, but a little glowy - her orange fuku melts away and then it's just Minako there.
"Everybody is talking about 'getting to know the real you', but I'm the only one actually willing to do it. Here's the real me," she says, before turning to the door. "If someone comes after me, you know who did it."
"You girls have fun. Tell me how it goes. Protect the princess for me." She tries as hard as she can to sound fluffy and casual, and not 'bitchy' or 'mad'.
Mercury hesitates a little at Moon's words in her defense. A little more at Mars'. But it's Jadeite who has her cringing outright. Still she says nothing.
That is, until Minako rants and starts to leave.
"Please stay," Mercury replies quietly. "I've done everything you have asked me to, Venus, except when it would compromise my mission. And then, I told you why I could not compormise my mission, and tried to compromise with you anyways.
"Pleaes," Ami turns, now, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes. "Just stay. I have to leave, and I cannot protect the princess. I have work to do. I have a mission to complete."
She closes up the black case, with the blood sample inside, then explains, "He's safe to purify. Venus, please. Don't leave. Sailor Moon needs you."
Then, she too turns away, and starts walking towards the wall. Sailor Mercury raises her hand and whispers, "Hyperspatial Tunnel: Generate." A portal into nowhere appears before her, stretching out to infinity.
Wait. Himself? Her fingers close below her neck, her choker, feeling for a pendant that isn't quite there yet.
She shrugs at him, a little bit later, and gives a wave of her hand. "That's okay! I don't remember much, either. Just bits and pieces."
Flashes of faces, and little impressions.
Skin that's darker than it is now.
A blade slicing through her gut, driven by her own hand.
(Does anyone here remember this? Usagi feels shame for it.)
Venus may. Is this why she's so protective now? Would she know? Could she know? Is this why she doesn't trust her?
And now Venus is heading to leave, and she opens her mouth to stop her, but Mercury beats her to it. And now Mercury is leaving.
For one long moment Sailor Moon is just Usagi caught between two friends who are mad at each other, at least one mad at her, and she doesn't like it.
It's somewhat surreal to turn her eyes to Mars, eyes wide and watering as she doesn't know what to do.
She then studies the carpet, scuffing her boot along a mark she'd missed earlier when cleaning. "Mercury? That movie? I left it with you if you wanna watch it again. And Mr. Hopplesworth."
Then the harder of the two. "Venus? I'm sorry. I meant what I said, just not...how I said it. I'm sorry I'm not good yet."
Still, she was given the go ahead.
There's a moment of hesitation as she holds the wand tight in her hand. The last time she used this...
Nope, that won't happen this time.
Determined, she leveled a look that could be considered frightening on Jadeite. Really, she's just trying o concentrate.
No warning.
"MOON HEALING ESCALATION!"
Mars looks between Mercury, Venus, and Moon. This didn't work out well at all. She has very little to offer to Venus, except to say, "I think you're underestimating me. A lot. And I find it a little insulting." She has absolutely nothing to offer to Mercury either. To Moon, all she can do is wordlessly walk up to her and give her a tight hug. "It'll be okay. This is a tense situation for everyone. I'm sure V-chan will come around. For now, I think it's best to let them go if they want to leave. I don't think anyone could say anything that wont make it worse."
She pulls away from Moon, but she smiles at her, then watches as Moon Healing Escalation is used. She keeps an eye on Jadeite, to see if he actually does survive.
A week ago, Jadeite would have been almost *gleeful* to be made aware of this kind of infighting and fracturing between the Senshi. Now, it just worries him, makes something sad come across his face. He watches first as Venus turns to leave, and then Mercury in turn, and he opens his mouth like he's going to say something--
--which is exactly when Sailor Moon draws upon her power. Suddenly, he's awash with light.
The problem is, he hasn't just been held in shadow. He's been opened up and pulled apart and the shadows were put *inside* him, made a *part* of him, as unnatural as it's been. Now, Sailor Moon's love is pouring out to burn those shadows away, and it hurts. It *hurts*, like pain Jadeite has never known. There's an immense part of him that starts to panic, the moment that power touches him. It wants to teleport away, to flee back to Beryl's embrace, to hope in that hopeless place that she might not utterly destroy him for what he's trying to do here, because it couldn't hurt any more than this does.
But he doesn't move. He doesn't leave, even as his back arches with the pain, his hands clench shut and Jadeite starts to *scream*, like that sound is being ripped straight out of his chest, too. He can't leave, because for as much as part of him wants to run, the rest of him is *remembering*, warm afternoons in Elysian fields, the love on his Prince's face when he gazed at his Princess, flashes of laughter and dark hair and apples in the fall and beauty beyond a Dark General's reckoning, and more than the part of him that's afraid he's being pulled apart, he wants that *back*.
So he stays, and screams, and hopes he isn't dying, because Kunzite told him to *stay alive*. He lets the light take away what it wants in hopes it will leave the rest of him behind. His eyes clench shut, tears at the edges, and then a gemstone appears in the middle of his forehead, cut precisely into a long rectangle. It's dingy, a lifeless grey color, but the longer that Jadeite stays in the torrent of power, the more that changes. It clears like smoke blown away on a hazy day, revealing a light, bright green like new growth on an old tree.
Minako Aino sticks around, if only because she was asked. The little bit of contriteness in everybody's voices convinces her to stay. She was really going to walk (and leave Artemis awkwardly sitting behind).
For Moon, she wants to say a bunch of things, but sticks to a 'praise in public, criticize in private' mentality and just gives her a little wave. "Yeah, yeah, it's hard. No worries."
And her response to Mars is just a thin smile. "Maybe I am underestimating you. Feel free to prove me wrong," she says, like it's an afterthought. And a challenge.
For Jadeite, she just observes, watching out for tricks. "Huh? Still alive? So... what happened?" she asks, as much to him as everybody else.
"Come by when you're ready," Mercury replies to Sailor Moon. She doesn't wipe away her tears. She instead tries to deny them.
But Venus--Minako--is staying. So Mercury steps through the portal she has created, and it closes behind her.
Mars gives very nice hugs. There's even a brief, happy sigh.
Mercury's leaving, but Moon's sure there will be a Sleep Over soon in their future. (Maybe in the meantime, she'll send Luna over for cuddles.)
Venus stays, and Moon somehow feels a bit chastised in the overall silence.
But she's too focused on healing Jadeite, to push away the wrong she feels, to bring out the right.
He's screaming, and she hates that she's hurting him, but she can't stop until this is done.
He's still screaming, and the only relief she feels from it is that by screaming, he's still alive. She's not killing him.
That doesn't make hurting him any easier, of course.
When she's done, she's shaking and panting and gasping because it had felt like trying to clean out a deep fryer in a minute that hadn't been cleaned in decades. And possibly baked dry in some apocalyptic sun.
She gives Venus a tired, almost drugged grin. "I just cleaned his grease traps. He will make tasty potatoes."
Of course, she's still worried.
But she doesn't rush to him, because she's just hurt him. "Are you okay?"
Mars rolls her eyes at Venus. Her patience is gone. "I wont bother to prove a thing to you until you respect us enough to be honest. I don't need your approval. If you're gonna have poor judgement about the capabilities of your allies, that's your own problem. You talk about winning the war. Well if you want to do that, then wake up and pay attention. Whatever happens, we've won something today. That's not something to get sour about."
She crosses her arms, saying, "I'm going to stand here and look after the princess, and support her, because that's what my job is. One way or another, a Dark General is getting taken out of the fight, which is also a necessity of my job."
She turns her eyes towards Jadeite. She cringes, somewhat, but on some level it's not surprising that he's in pain. Whatever was done to him must have been pretty deep. It's still worrying, because they still don't know if it will kill him or not.
When the gemstone appears, she watches it closely, as it becomes more and more clean. Is this good? Is it bad? How would they even know?
Mars watches Moon with concern as she finishes the escalation, clearly a bit drained, and then she looks to Jadeite again. There's no point in repeating the question Moon just asked, but she's waiting for the answer.
When it's finally over, the gemstone fades, or maybe retreats back into Jadeite's skull. As the last hazy parts of Sailor Moon's power fades from around Jadeite's body, something else fades, too. The school uniform that he'd been dressed in just kind of stops existing like someone's turned its opacity gradually down to zero. What's left behind are clothes that were made for someone several sizes smaller; his jeans ride up well past the high-water mark and his shirt is almost scandalously tight. It's black, the little stylized crown and the words 'FOB - SAVE ROCK AND ROLL' completely distorted by the stretch. Jadeite is paying no attention to either point.
Instead, he's pitching forward like he's about to fall over. He probably *will*, if he isn't caught, ending up on his hands and knees in front of the couch. His hair's utterly plastered against his forehead with sweat, he's breathing too-heavily, but then Sailor Moon is answering the question of what she did in that utterly ridiculous way--
--and helpless, a little edged with hysteria, Jadeite starts to *laugh*. Really, really *laugh*.
"Wow, Sailor Moon. You're *really* bad with expressions," Minako Aino comments before leaning back against the door.
She raises up her little transformation pen and drops it to the floor like it's a mic. "My judgement isn't poor. But if it is - here you go. You're leader now. Battlefield promotion," she says, giving her pen and Artemis a little push forward. "You can't give me away!" he insists, quietly, clearly not wanting to speak out loud in front of strangers but also not wanting to be given away to Mars.
She has more to say, but instead turns her eyes to the spectacle of the floor, figuring it more important to deal with that issue right now.
A quick examinatino of Jadeite, his clothes, and his behavior leads her to suspect that Moon broke something.
Sailor Moon blinks at the sudden onslaught of laughter from Jadeite.
She giggles a little herself, looking at him, humming, turning and stumbling toward the back room. When she comes out, some clothes are draped on the couch and she kneels in front of him (totally also resting because hooboy head rush!) and waits for his laughter to subside a little.
"You're not really a deep fryer." She didn't need to reassure him, but she did, anyway.
Sailor Moon suddenly has a Very Serious Question.
"Are you staying here? You should know the bed's claimed. It even has the bunny sheets to prove it."
"Oh how clever," says Mars to Venus, looking at her drop her pen and push her cat away. "I suppose I'm supposed to feel guilty now? Or hey, maybe I'm supposed to feel like my ego is satisified. Is that what you're trying to prove here? Whatever it is, it's suitably dramatic and theatrical! I'm incredibly entertained. Incredible performance, super star V-chan!"
Mars stares dead at Venus and gives her a slow, deliberate golf clap. This goes on for a while, probably for as long as Jadeite is laughing.
"But hey. Free stuff! I mean it's a pretty nice pen, not gonna lie." says Mars, walking up to the pen and cat, reaching down for Artemis first. "Come on. You live with me now. V-chan gave you to me."
If Venus actually lets her take the cat, Mars will be very surprised.
She takes one look at Jadeite, saying, "Grats on still being alive. Good job, Sailor Moon."
By the time Moon comes back with some of Mamoru's clothes, Jadeite has more or less gotten himself under control. He's sitting up, now, rubbing at his face with both hands. It isn't until Sailor Moon puts the clothes near him that he seems to realize his ridiculous attire. There's a brief grimace for that, before he's distracted by the Senshi kneeling in front of him.
He smiles at her like this is the first time the sun has come out from behind the clouds in *years*. His eyes are still tearful but he's ignoring that part. "Thank you. I'm--I'm okay now. *Thank you*. I was hoping to stay here. I don't have anywhere to go. I can sleep on the couch if I have to." He'll sleep on the *floor* if he has to. He'll sleep on the *balcony*, as long as he doesn't have to go *back*. "...Sailor Venus said that I should prove myself. If I haven't started--Saito Kunihiro is Kunzite. Be careful around him. He won't be able to hide my defection from *her* for long. If she figures it out and believes he had any hand in it, she'll take his memories from him. He was on your side when he helped me escape but you can't trust he'll stay that way."
Her responding smile is just as bright. "Oh no, I'm just so happy you're back. And the couch is super comfy, don't worry. And you can go in there, you know, and the shower is nice, it's just--" she shrugs.
Sailor Moon listens to the fighting around her. She's not immune, of course. She offers Jadeite a small shrug. "It's not their fault, you know. I've been very selfish lately. A very bad friend."
She listens to what he has to say, intent and focused,nodding. "Okay, good. Thank you."
She leans forward, close, and speaks very quietly. "And don't worry. Venus doesn't trust me, either."
Minako Aino narrows her eyes and gets an angry look across her face. Artemis gets an angry face too, but all cats look happy, even when angry. Only his ears and tenseness suggest anything else. But he keeps the claws in and accepts with dignity being picked up and repossessed at the same time as writing utensils.
She just nods her head to Sailor Mars. "I see."
She's more interested in Jadeite's words, and only smiles at his revelations. "See? That wasn't so hard. You're already making friends and proving your worth. Still going to be keeping an eye on you, friend, but a good start."
She doesn't say 'friend' in a way that's very reassuring.
Mars frowns at Venus, holding her cat in her arms and her pen in the other. "Seriously? You are stubborn. I have to wonder what kind of victory you hope to gain from this."
She looks at Artemis, and then at the pen. With an eyeroll, she says, "You know what? I don't really care to have your stuff."
She drops Venus's pen, like a mic. Artemis is set down a bit more gently. Then Mars walks over to Jadeite and Moon, standing next to Moon specifically, asking, "Hey, are you going to be alright here, with just the two of you?"
He's escalated, and presumably powerless, so she's not terribly worried at the moment, but leaving the Princess alone with him seems maybe a little too trusting.
Jadeite gives Moon a smile that's a little sadder, now, one with more sympathy in it. "Don't worry about it--" There's a pause there, like he isn't sure what to *call* her, which Jadeite stumbles over before he continues. "--You can't have been a worse friend than *I've* been, lately."
Counterleaning to Moon's increased closeness, there's another little quirk to his mouth, and this time the lilting nature of his voice is so, so quiet in response. "Yes, she does, for the most part. But it scares her, and she worries for you. If she didn't care at all, it would be much different."
Turning back to face Mars, Jadeite seems to take an extra amount of time just looking over her face. He doesn't say anything, mostly because he has nothing *to* say--there's no way for him to assure that he's not a threat except through time and trial. His words mean nothing, and with good reason.
Sailor Moon shrugs at that, not noticing the falter. "Well, I don't know what all went on, but the best you can do is..."
Here she shrugs, because she's not entirely sure, herself. "Try to make amends and hope they're not mad forever?"
And here she is, leaning close, whispering secrets with someone who, a few weeks ago, would have killed or captured her given the chance. Which, of course, is the last thing on her mind. "You think so? Okay. I'll try not to make her worry any more. And--"
Whatever she's about to say is lost when Mars is standing over them. Sailor Moon leans against the miko's leg. "Yeah. I'll be fine if you need to leave. I also need to order food. I ate it all."
Mars looks at Jadeite, then Moon, then Venus. She shakes her head. "Yeah... I feel like I should leave. Thank you, Moon-chan. I know it was sudden, but we did need your help."
Rei turns towards the balcony and walks out. If Venus does something drastic to Jadeite while Mars is away, well, that's just how it goes.
Within moments, she's gone, leaping across the rooftops to make her exit. She did just leave her temple suddenly over this, and grandpa is probably wondering where she is.