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Diamohns are Forever	By : SailorSol Category: Sailor Moon > General Views: 22490 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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AFTER SHOWDOWN

Haruka watched Aster fix lunch, a frown creasing her forehead. She was worried about her lover. They had been home for three days, and Aster was apparently unconcerned about the lack of word about the other Senshi and the Kishi.

She sensed movement behind her, and turned her head to watch Joben approach and stand beside her.

�You are worried,� he said. �You should not be. She is putting on a brave face for you. She is very concerned about the others. She worries that they will not come back, that some kind of alternate timeline has been created. She fears that the involvement of Chaos has changed everything, and not for the better.�

�How do you know?� Haruka asked her satellite.

�She talks in her sleep,� Joben answered. �I have so little time with her, I do not waste it in sleeping. Instead, I watch her sleep. While she sleeps, I hear things.�

�I hope the others come back soon,� Haruka said. �She doubts herself enough. I don�t want her doubting herself more.�

�They will come back,� Joben said softly. �They will all come back.�

Abruptly, the phone rang, making them all jump. Aster wiped off her hands and picked it up.

�Moshi, moshi,� she said.

Haruka watched her become very still. She saw Aster�s eyes widen in shock, and then her face lit up in delight.

�Nathan?� she asked. �Who is with you? Where are you? Osaka? A shopping mall? Get to the airport and I�ll have tickets waiting for you. That�s wonderful. Just Haruka and I so far. No, nobody else. I have hopes, now, though. Take a cab from the airport. I�ll pay for it, Arashi. It�s good to have you back. We�ll be waiting.�

Aster hung up and turned to Haruka, her cheeks flushed with excitement.

�That was Nathan and Quentin!� she said excitedly. �They showed up in a shopping mall in Osaka. They�re heading home.�

�That�s great, Sun Face,� Haruka said. �You have to call for their tickets, don�t you?�

�Yes,� Aster said. She picked up the phone again and quickly called Japan Airlines and arranged for two tickets in the name of Nathan and Quentin Winters from Osaka to Tokyo.

***** *****

A day and a half after Nathan and Quentin�s return, the phone rang while Aster and Quentin were enjoying a mid-morning swim.

�Moshi, moshi,� Haruka answered it, both hoping and dreading what the phone call would bring.

�Haruka?� the voice on the other end of the line was unmistakable.

�Moon Face?� she responded. �Where are you? Who�s with you?�

�I�m at that hotel in the mountains,� Usagi replied. �You remember, the one we saw you and Michiru at when we were avoiding heart snatchers. I�ve got Mamo-chan, Mako-chan, and Martin with me. We just kind of showed up, in the woods. We walked to the hotel.�

�Do you need any help getting home?� Haruka asked.

�No,� Usagi said. �Mamo-chan had his wallet and stuff with him, and I have my purse. We�re renting a car to get us back to Tokyo. We�ll probably be there this afternoon. I can�t wait to see that everyone�s okay.�

�Not everyone�s back yet, Moon Face,� Haruka said. �So far, it�s just me, Aster, Nathan, and Quentin.�

�Oh,� Usagi said. �Well, I�m sure that everybody just got separated. How long has it been?�

�Aster and I got back five days ago,� Haruka said. �Nathan and Quentin, day before yesterday. We�ll go over the details when you get here.�

�Okay,� Usagi said. �We�re getting take away. I�m starving.�

�You�re always starving,� Haruka said, smiling. She hung up and turned to the pool to see Aster and Quentin toweling off.

�I heard your half,� Aster said. �We need to be ready when she gets here. Usagi can�t eat much on a car trip. She gets sick.�

�I hope Fancy Pants remembers that,� Haruka said, smiling.

�If he doesn�t, Mako-chan will,� Aster said. �She always remembers things like that.�

~*~*~*~*~

They busied themselves with making sure the ofuros were ready, and that food was waiting when the rental car pulled up in front of the house.

Before the car had even turned off, Usagi was out of the vehicle, through the foot gate, and running up the walk to the front door.

Aster opened the door before she reached it, and caught Usagi as she threw herself into her arms.

�I�m so glad to see you!� Usagi gushed. �I was so worried when it was just the four of us! All we have to do is wait for the others to get back!�

Aster folded her arms around the younger woman and held her close. She kept her worries to herself, and allowed herself to believe that Usagi was right, and everyone would come back safe and sound.

�Let�s get you inside,� she said after a moment. �You must be starving after that trip. I hope you didn�t make a mess in the car.�

�We got her out of the car in time,� Makoto said, coming up the walk. �I�m for a bath, though. I feel like I haven�t cleaned myself in a year.�

�The bath�s ready,� Aster said. �We made sure of it. There�s also finger food you can eat while you soak, so you don�t have to favor one over the other.�

�That�s the best news I�ve heard since Usagi told us we weren�t the only ones,� Makoto said.

***** *****

Six days went by without any word from any of the others.

The first two days were not bad. Aster occupied herself with cataloging where everyone had shown up, what time of day, and how long between appearances, trying to find a pattern. There did not seem to be one.

After three days had gone by, Aster woke everyone in the middle of the night, screaming. Joben had his arms wrapped around her, and Sakura was stroking her hair and murmuring to her. She looked around at the gathered warriors, surged up to throw her arms around Haruka, and then burst into hysterical crying. She was so incoherent that Usagi quickly went downstairs and came back with a cup of tea. She ordered Aster to drink it, and then watched while Aster�s sobbing slowed, and then ceased, and then the older woman fell asleep in Haruka�s arms.

�What did you do, Moon Face?� Haruka asked, gazing at her sleeping lover. Joben helped her get Aster settled back into the bed and then settled down next to her.

�I used those sedative drops that Lucinda put in the cupboard,� Usagi said. �She�ll be able to tell us what happened in the morning.� She carried the cup out of the room without another word, beckoning for the others to follow her.

~*~*~*~*~

The next morning, Aster was quiet while she help fix breakfast, and then she let Joben pull her into the main room and sit her in his lap.

�What happened last night, Aster?� Usagi asked. �You never wake up screaming like that.�

�I dreamed about that place again,� Aster said softly. �I was alone, all alone. Then, I heard Setsuna�s voice. �It�s all your fault,� she told me. �If you had listened to me, they would still be alive. You wouldn�t be trapped in the dark. You�ll never see the sun again, and you can never see any of them. They�re all dead because of you.��

Mid-morning on the third day, they were all startled by a voice coming over their communicators.

�Is anyone there?� the voice of Sailor Mercury was a welcome relief to all of them.

�This is Sol,� Aster replied, pressing her own communicator. �Where are you, Mercury?�

�We�re at an office building,� she said. �It�s just me and Kishi Moon. We�ve detransformed. We can see a sign for the train station. We�ll find out where we are and make our way home.�

�Get to the airport,� Aster said.

�We�ll do our best,� Mercury said. �We�ll let you know where we are, as soon as we find out.�

�Keep in touch,� Aster said. �Tell Moon that this is what I gave him a credit card for.�

�Understood,� Mercury said.

~*~*~*~*~

They let Ami and Thomas take a taxi from the airport, putting things together so that there would be clean clothes, a bath, and food waiting for them.

When they arrived, Usagi raced to greet her friend and her partner. Ami was the first of the Senshi she had met up with, so she was even happier to get her back. She clung to Ami, laughing and crying at the same time.

Thomas greeted Aster with a warm hug, and then he greeted Mamoru with an embrace that left no doubt that he was looking forward to being home, for more than one reason.

�We were in Hiroshima,� Thomas told Aster, without releasing Mamoru or moving out of his Primary�s embrace.

�Hiroshima,� Aster said, thinking. �That doesn�t help much. There�s still no pattern.�

***** *****

Fortunately for everyone, only three days went by before the next return. Aster was curled up next to Haruka while they all watched the late news. None of them were sleeping well. They were all plagued with the possibility that the future had been altered.

Mamoru was sitting on one of the sofas with Usagi on one side, and Thomas on the other side. He had an arm around each of them. He missed Lucinda more than he would tell anyone, but the presence of both of them was helping him.

When the phone rang, there was a brief race while three people reached for the phone. Aster picked up a fraction of a second before the other two.

�Moshi, moshi,� she said softly. She sat up abruptly, which caused Mamoru and Makoto to pick up extensions.

�It�s good to hear your voice, Sunny,� a deep, Irish brogue was on the other end of the line. �Your cousin Lucinda and I�ve had enough of Shikoku, an� we�re after charterin� a plane to bring us home. We�ll call the hotel to pack our things. We don�t even want to be goin� back there.�

�I�ll be waiting at the private terminal at Haneda,� Aster said. �I have a feeling that I won�t be the only one.�

�We�ll be lookin� forward to it,� Sean said. �I canna wait to see all of ye again.�

He hung up before Aster could tell him that he would not be seeing everyone, least of all the one he loved most.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The private terminal at Haneda airport seemed crowded, even though there were only five people waiting in it. The hour was late, well after midnight, but the five people assembled were wide awake and full of energy.

A handsome black-haired man sat with his arm around a blonde with odango and long pigtails, as well as an equally handsome younger man with long silver hair. A pair of blondes, one clad in scarlet with hip-length titian curls, and the other dressed mannishly with short sandy hair, stood staring out of the windows, holding hands.

�Nothing else is going to happen, Aster,� Haruka said quietly. �They�ve been coming home. You�ll see, there won�t be any problems.�

�There�s already problems,� Aster said softly. �We shouldn�t have been separated during a Sailor Teleport.�

�That�s true,� Haruka replied. �There are factors that normally wouldn�t be there.�

�The Dark Millennium,� Aster said. �The Chaos spirit, whatever you call it. The separate dimension. Okay, we wait.�

Despite her words, she tensed up when they saw a plane come in for a landing and taxi to outside the terminal they were in. Her reaction alerted the others. When Lucinda and Sean came into the terminal, Usagi and Thomas both wrapped themselves around Lucinda while Sean shook hands with Mamoru and then hugged first Aster and then Haruka in greeting.

�I�ll be after wantin� a bath when we get home,� he said. �We landed in the ocean, an� we havena had time to wash the brine off.�

�I�m sure that won�t be a problem,� Mamoru said. �A bath has been first priority for everyone coming back.�

�Then let�s get goin�, shall we?� Sean said, one arm around each of the women who had come to meet him.

They went out to the cars they had brought for the trip. Haruka and Aster led Sean to Aster�s Rolls while Mamoru led the way to the Bentley that had been a wedding gift from Chiba Imports.

In the Rolls, Washino waited in the driver�s seat. Haruka, Aster, and Sean entered the back seat. As soon as the car started, Aster climbed into Sean�s lap and clung to him while Haruka pressed up against them both. The separation had been hard on all of them, but Haruka had kept it bottled up until now.

***** *****

Three days later, a late afternoon taxi arrival brought someone else home: Aster�s cousin, Tanamura Kojiro. Kishi Mercury had appeared on a mountainside outside his birthplace of Nagano. He had made his way into the city, and told his family that he had come up for the day. They believed him, and had not asked questions when he had left in the morning and taken a plane home to Tokyo.

He was enthusiastically greeted by both Lucinda and Makoto, but the three of them seemed incomplete without Vincent.

Aster looked away, not wanting to be reminded of the two people still missing from her life, for an unknown amount of time.

***** *****

Two days after Kojiro�s return, the phone rang again. Aster scrambled for it, snatching it from under Lucinda�s fingers. She pressed a button on it, and put it on speakerphone.

�Hi, honey,� Vincent�s voice nearly echoed through the room. �Ah don�t know what�s goin� on, but we�re here in Sendai outside some supermarket. It�s me, Eduard, Robert, Rei, and Minako. We�re gonna catch us a bus, and then a train down to Tokyo. We should be home tonight.�

�You�re gonna be a busy boy, Apollo,� Aster said. �You�ve got both of your ladies and me waiting for you, not to mention Kojiro.�

�Ah think ah�m up for it,� Vincent said. �You jes� wait til I get back.�

TBC
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Diamohns are Forever