Hello yet again minna-san!!  This is another short chapter.  Guess what?  I
finally finished my chem project!!  Whoo-hoo!!!  All I have to do now is
present it to the class.  (I don’t wanna!!!)  Just the final project for my
history class is left!!  And I’m almost out of school!!  And you know
what?  I still don’t own Sailor Moon!! (*sniffle... sob... sniff...*  Oh,
how I wish I did...)  Thank you to all of the AnimeNoHito for being such
great friends!!  I really appreciate it!  Okay, now on with the story!

New Snow by Chichiri
Chapter 9- Goodbyes

“How are we going to get them back then?” Rei asked puzzled.
     “We’re going to fight for them,” Usagi declared.  “We’re going to go
into the Negaverse.”
     “What?”  Rei was shocked.  “You truly are worthy of being the
Princess.  You’re willing to risk your life by going into the Negaverse in
order to save your court.  You really are a great person to have as a
friend.”
     “Does that mean that you’ll come with me?” Usagi asked.
     “Of course I’ll come with you!” Rei exclaimed.  “Not only am I sworn
to protect you as a member of your court, but you’re also my best friend,
and I’m not about to let you go into the Negaverse alone!”
     “I’m glad to hear it,” Usagi smiled.  “Unfortunately, we’ll have to
wait a while because I used a lot of my power today.  Powering-up really
drained me.  Also, we need to say our goodbyes.”
     “All right,” Rei agreed.  “I’m a little drained from powering-up,
too.”

The next day, the situation had gotten much worse.  The Four Generals had
released Dark Energy all over the city and youma were draining energy all
over as well.  Usagi teleported herself to Rei’s temple to talk.  She found
Rei in the fire-reading room.
     “Rei-chan?” Usagi asked as she entered the room.  “We need to get
ready to leave now.”
     “We can’t go into the Negaverse yet!” Rei protested.  “There’s no way
you’ve recovered enough power!”
     “But if we don’t go now, the Negaverse will take over this city,”
Usagi pointed out seriously.  “We have no other choice, we must go today.
Let’s say our goodbyes and meet back here in an hour.”
     “All right,” Rei consented reluctantly.

Usagi had instantly teleported herself to Mamoru’s hospital room to say
goodbye.  She was happy to find him awake.
     “Mamo-chan,” Usagi began.  “Rei-chan and I are going to go into the
Negaverse to fight.  So I’ve come to say goodbye.  But I’ll be back real
soon.”  Usagi smiled and tried unsuccessfully to force herself to believe
what she said.
     “Usa-chan, you don’t have to pretend to be brave with me,” Mamoru
comforted her.  “I know that you’re afraid, I can feel it.  It’s okay to be
afraid.”
     Usagi smiled at his comforting words and tears spilled out of her
eyes.  Mamoru held out his arms to Usagi and she sat down on the edge of
his bed and lay down on his chest.  He held her close and she felt safe.
They lay silently for a while, each shedding silent tears, each afraid of
losing the other.

Rei sat in the fire-reading room, silent tears flowing down her cheeks as
she waited for Usagi’s return.  She couldn’t bring herself to say goodbye
to her ojii-san.  But after a while, he walked in and saw her crying.
     “Rei, what’s wrong?” he asked.
     “Ojii-san!” Rei cried.  “I have to leave in less than an hour and I
don’t know if I’ll come back!”
     “Does this have anything to do with the Sailor Senshi?” he asked.
     “Yes,” she said, then she told him the whole story of how the other
Senshi had been taken one by one.  “Now it’s just Sailor Moon and Sailor
Mars, and Sailor Mars is the reason all this happened.  Sailor Moon
symbolizes the hope for this world and Sailor Mars symbolizes the
destruction of this world.  They don’t stand a chance together.  The best
way is for Sailor Moon to go alone!”
     “Rei, Sailor Mars does not symbolize the destruction of the world,” he
objected.  “She has learned to control her Dark Power and I know she will
help Sailor Moon win this battle, but they must work together.”
     “But ojii-san...” Rei’s voice trailed off.
     “You’re afraid?” he asked.  Rei was silent.  “It’s okay to be afraid,
Rei.  I don’t think you have anything to be afraid of, though.  I believe
that you can do this.  You’ve come so far already in overcoming your Dark
Power, why are you afraid now?”
     “Yes, I’m afraid!” Rei cried, tears still flowing freely.  “Because my
Dark Power came from the Negaverse and that’s where we’re going!  I’m
afraid that I won’t be able to control my power there, I’m afraid that I
will fail the others, and more than that, I’m afraid that I’ll never see
you again!”
     “Shh, it’s okay,” he soothed.  Rei allowed herself to be comforted a
little and accepted his hug.

“Usa-chan,” Mamoru said after a while.  “I’m not going to let you go
alone.”
     “But you’re hurt, and I’ll be with Sailor Mars,” Usagi protested.
     “I’m going to give you something to help you fight,” Mamoru
explained.  “Now concentrate on the energy I’m sending you, like we used
to.”  Usagi nodded and they were silent as Usagi received Mamoru’s gift.
She looked puzzled when nothing appeared so Mamoru explained, “I gave you
some of my energy.  It will help you when you need it.  I stored the energy
in the Star Locket.”
     “Thank you, Mamo-chan,” Usagi said gratefully.  “Aishiteru.”
     “Aishiteru, Usa-chan,” Mamoru replied.
     Usagi gave Mamoru a quick kiss on the lips, wanting more but knowing
it would only make it harder to leave.  “Goodbye,” Usagi whispered,
flashing one last brave smile at Mamoru before teleporting herself to Rei’s
temple.

Rei wiped her eyes and said, “Thank you, ojii-san.  Thank you for
everything.  I’ll miss you.”
     Usagi appeared then and asked, “Are you ready, Rei?”
     Rei nodded.  “Let’s go.  Goodbye, ojii-san.”
     “Oh, I need to make one more stop before we go,” Usagi remembered.
“Do you want to come?”
     “Sure,” Rei said.  Usagi and Rei held hands and teleported to Usagi’s
house.  Shingo was outside, so Usagi approached him.  “Hi, Shingo, are you
feeling all right?”
     “Yeah, why?” Shingo asked.
     “Well, I was just checking, after all you were captured by one of the
Four Generals,” Usagi replied.  “So, there’s something I need to ask you.”
     “What?” Shingo asked.
     “I need you to tell Mom and Dad that I’m Sailor Moon,” Usagi said.
     “Why can’t you?” Shingo asked.
     “Because I have to go fight,” Usagi explained.  “Rei and I are going
into the Negaverse.”
     “Will you be all right?” Shingo asked concerned.
     “Yes,” Usagi said trying to sound confident.  “I’ll be fine.  But we
might be gone for a while, so I need you to tell Mom and Dad who I am and
where I’ll be.  Luna will help explain.”
     “Um, Luna’s a cat,” Shingo said.
     “Yeah, I know that, but she can talk,” Usagi explained.  “Luna is my
advisor.”
     “Are you sure you’ll come back?” Shingo asked worriedly.  “Won’t this
be dangerous?  Will you promise to come back?”
     “Yes, it will be dangerous,” Usagi said sadly.  “I promise to come
back.  No matter what happens, I promise I’ll come back.  Now, I have to
go.  Goodbye.”
     Usagi and Rei walked out to the street.
     “Moon Crystal Power!”
     “Mars Power!”
     Usagi and Rei held hands again and teleported away, leaving Shingo
standing on the front porch with Luna.

That’s it for Chapter 9.  Next chapter: they’re in the Negaverse, so stay
tuned for more adventures.  So, what did ya think of Chapter 9?  E-mail
me!!  (runnerup2001@netscape.net)  Ja ne!
~Chichiri