Bad Memories Chapter 1: Shadows Of The Past, a sailor moon fanfic

BAD MEMORIES
Chapter 1: "Shadows Of The Past"
A Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.

A rustling from the small alcove that Usagi used as a studio roused Luna from her nap atop the back of the sofa. The alcove had been a walk-in closet at one time, in Luna's estimation, but Usagi liked it and it kept her from being distracted - - most of the time. A glance at the clock told Luna that it was four-thirty, too early for Usagi's usual late afternoon trip. Recently Usagi had gotten the brainstorm of picking Mamoru up at work and then walking over to whatever restaurant she planned to buy take-out from to fulfill her part of the cooking bargain between her and her husband. At first, Luna saw it as yet another way for Usagi to avoid her responsibilities, but the prospect of picking her husband up rather than wait for him at home seemed to motivate Usagi to remember to pick up dinner in the first place. Grudgingly Luna had surrendered her disapproval.

Another rustle piqued the cat's curiosity to the point where she actually got up and wandered into the studio. There she found Usagi working on the pencils for a page of the latest chapter of the spy manga she was drawing. The woman would draw a figure, then look at the clock; sketch in the background, then look at the clock again.

"You'll only do a poor job if you divide your concentration like that," Luna commented.

"Then look at the clock for me!" Usagi squealed, beginning work on the next panel. "Tell me when it's five."

"If it will keep your concentration centered," the cat sighed. "Have you spoken to Minako recently?"

"Last night," Usagi answered as she drew. "She's still depressed. But I think she's coming out of it." The woman glanced at Luna. "Don't you ask Artemis how she is?"

"I do - - but Artemis tends to be a little overly emotional where Minako is concerned. I can never tell if his opinion is an accurate reflection of the situation or colored by his - - well, paternal interest in the situation. I find that by hearing your side as well as his, I can distill an accurate assessment of the situation."

Usagi stared at her for a moment and Luna knew she'd lost her.

"Whatever," Usagi mumbled, shaking her head. "Thankfully the bad publicity is finally dying down. Maybe now people will leave her alone and let her heal. What time is it?"

"Four thirty-seven," Luna sighed.

"She seemed a little more upbeat last night. I think she just has to get out more - - be with people. If I didn't have this story to finish, I'd take her out. She seems so lonesome."

"Well, that is her doing. Nobody could expect someone to stay loyal after a betrayal like that," Luna proclaimed.

"Some people could," Usagi murmured.

"No luck in finding Ace?"

"No. That man can disappear better than anyone I know."

Usagi finished the page and sat for a few moments, torn. She glanced at the clock. She scowled. She glanced at the script clipped to the top of her drawing board. She scowled again. Her brow furrowed.

Then she picked up her pencil box and stored her .7 mm mechanical pencil in it.

"You're stopping?" Luna demanded. "It's not even five yet!"

"So I'll be early," Usagi pouted. "All this talk about Mina-Chan being lonely has made me miss Mamo-Chan."

"Discussing the grocery list would make you miss Mamoru," Luna muttered sourly.

"I heard that!" Usagi growled. She was struggling to put on her jacket.

"Then hear this," Luna shot back. "When you're rushing to complete your assignment because you frittered away your time on anything and everything BUT your art . . .!"

"You'll have told me so!" Usagi fumed as she fought to get her shoes on. "Don't you always?" And out the door she flew.

"I'd prefer some seafood for tonight's dinner!" Luna called after her. The door closed. "Heaven knows why I bother sometimes." And the cat reclaimed her perch on the sofa.

It was also afternoon in the house that Haruka Tenoh and Michiru Kaioh shared. Michiru sat at the kitchen table, sharing tea and cake with her mother, Constance Grace Kaioh. The last name was now an affectation, as she and Michiru's father had been divorced for sixteen years. Constance Kaioh, the former professional dancer and international jet-setter had slowed down the last few years, after a successful bout with cancer. Michiru had noticed the change in her formerly fun-loving and flighty mother with growing approval.

Then Constance reached over and stole the cherry from atop Michiru's slice of cake.

"Old habits die hard, I see," Michiru observed sternly.

"Oh, loosen up, Michi-Chan," Constance replied smugly, the cherry poised between her thumb and forefinger. "You never liked cherries anyway."

"Who says?" protested Michiru.

"Well I never saw you eat them as a child," Constance argued.

"I never had a chance. You always beat me to them."

"Oh," Constance replied contritely. She looked at the cherry for a moment. Then she popped it into her mouth. "I guess you've got to learn to be fast."

"And that's another thing," Michiru grumbled, for the cherry was small aggravation in comparison. "How many times have I asked you NOT to call me 'Michi-Chan'?"

Constance leaned in, her lined face still attractive and a lock of her blonde hair tumbling across one eye.

"Dear, you will ALWAYS be my little 'Michi-Chan', so you'd better resign yourself to it," she said playfully, but with an undertone of seriousness.

Michiru sighed with frustration and sipped at her tea.

"I saw you and Haruka play last month," Constance told her. "It was breath-taking."

"I never knew you to be a classical music fan," Michiru replied.

"Well, I'm not," Constance shrugged, causing Michiru's eyebrow to arch. "You know I tend more to show tunes. Actually I'm talking about the show itself. Michi-Chan, you had the audience enraptured. I've always said you have such a commanding stage presence. It really sells what you're doing. You just take the audience on a trip they'll never forget. And that's just with you, your violin and your accompanist. It's not a gift to be taken lightly." She sipped at her tea. "I've always wondered why you don't tour more often."

"Haruka is only available for about five months out of the year," Michiru said. "And I won't do it without Haruka."

"Well, I can understand that," Constance replied. Then she grinned. "Are you and she still lesbians?"

"Yes, Mother," Michiru replied, her grin unable to be stifled.

"Then grandchildren are still out of the question?"

"As of the moment," Michiru answered, then switched subjects. "So how are you and Dad doing?"

Constance grew quiet and cupped her hands around her tea. Michiru instantly picked up on it. Constance always seemed to lose her glibness when something serious came up.

"That's," Constance began, "sort of kind of why I dropped by. Honey," and she took a steadying breath, "what would you think . . ."

Michiru studied her, suppressing the urge to prod her along.

"Well, what would you think," Constance continued, "of your father and I getting married again?"

Rei was inspecting the grounds of the shrine and greeting visitors when she spotted Makoto coming up the steps. Hope began to swell in the priest. Though the rational part of her had believed all along that Makoto would stop by simply because Rei had asked her, there was a tiny, insecure part of her deep down that feared Makoto wouldn't. It was silly, but it was there and no amount of rational argument on the part of Rei's brain could banish that lonely little nine year old girl who missed her mother and wondered why her father didn't want anything to do with her. Toddling along next to Makoto was her son, Ichiro. When he saw Rei, the boy waved happily. Hit with a burst of child-like joy, Rei waved back.

"I'm glad you could spare some time for me," Rei smiled, cutting the distance between them. "And I'm sorry for dragging you over here. I'm sure you've got a lot of things to do."

"It's no trouble," Makoto replied. "I had to pick up Akiko from school anyway and the shrine isn't THAT far out of my way." She knelt down to Ichiro. "OK, Champ, you go have fun on the grounds. But don't get dirty, OK? And don't talk to strangers."

"Yes, Mommy," replied the four year old boy. He turned and sprinted for the small bridge over the pond in the back of the grounds.

"I'm going to hate having to let him go to school next year," sighed Makoto.

"Still, I shouldn't have asked you to come all the way over here," Rei persisted. "I should have visited you."

"Or you could have called. You do have a phone now."

"Yeah," Rei nodded. "I'm still getting used to that."

"Well I'm here. So what did you need to talk to me about?"

Rei sighed, hard. Immediately Makoto knew Rei was troubled by something and was embarrassed by the fact that she was troubled by it. Patiently she waited for her friend to work up the courage to confide the problem.

"I," she began haltingly, avoiding Makoto's gaze entirely, "got a letter."

Makoto waited for more.

"From," Rei struggled, "Derek."

"Derek?" Makoto asked, puzzled. Then she remembered. "The American baseball player you were stuck on?"

"Yeah," Rei scowled.

Makoto remembered that Rei had broken off the relationship after traveling all the way to the United States only to find him with another woman. She only knew that because Rei had confided in her one day when the pain of the breakup became too much for her. It had been a closely guarded secret for years. The other senshi only knew because Usagi had pried it out of Makoto and then told the others, much to Rei's chagrin.

"What's he want?" Makoto asked.

Rei sighed again. "Well, he was let go by his team in America - - San Diego, I think it was - - and he has two offers he's trying to decide upon. One is with a lower level club in America. It's less money and less prestige. The other option is to rejoin the Yomiyuri Giants at the money he was making before. But he wrote and asked me what he should do." Rei's face scrunched up as she stared at the ground. "He probably doesn't want to come to Tokyo if it will upset me. And he probably doesn't want to come back unless he might have a chance of . . ." She grimaced.

"Of picking up where you left off?" Makoto asked. Rei nodded. "Do you want to?"

"How can I? How can I possibly trust him again? Look what trusting an untrustworthy person got Minako!" Rei fumed. Then she fell silent.

"But you want to," Makoto assessed. "And that scares you."

"Sure it does," Rei replied.

"You don't want to get burned again."

"Would you?"

"Me? I got burned by so many guys when we were teenagers, I couldn't get fire insurance for ten years," Makoto smiled wistfully. "I don't know if I'm the one to ask."

"Well I trust your judgement in this," Rei explained. "Usagi's too pie-in-the-sky, and Ami doesn't have your experience. And Minako - - it's just not the right time to bring up something like this."

Makoto began to walk slowly down one of the shrine's paths. Rei followed along hopefully.

"If it were me," Makoto began tentatively, "and I still had feelings for him, I'd say 'yes'. But only IF I could forgive him for what he did. I know that's tough for you, Rei. If you can't forgive what he did, don't do it." Then she sprouted a dreamy smile. "But some guys are worth giving a second chance to."

"But," Rei fretted, "what if it happens again?"

"Well, there's no guarantees, Rei. Everything in life is a risk. You have to decide whether what you gain is worth what you're risking. And you're the only one who can do that."

Rei walked on, still conflicted.

"The way I see it, everybody's entitled to a mistake, Rei," Makoto advised her. They passed through into a clearing. The pond was visible now. Ichiro stood on the bridge watching the fish in the pond swim around. When he spotted his mother, he waved. "Maybe you can give Derek another chance. You don't have to marry him the minute he hits Tokyo. Look at him with clear lenses instead of the rose-colored ones. See if he's changed, if he's ready to atone for his mistake." She shrugged. "And in the mean time, maybe you and he can have a little fun."

"Fun? What's that?" Rei quipped.

"Maybe that's your answer," Makoto told her. "Rei, matches only burn you when you let them. But doing without them doesn't make you safe - - it only makes you deprived of a source of great comfort and joy."

"You'd think a Fire Priestess would know that," Rei sighed.

Ichiro ran up and Makoto scooped him up into the air, holding the boy to her.

"Did that help?" Makoto asked.

"It gave me something to think about," Rei nodded. "Besides, I don't want to keep you."

"Call me if you still have doubts. You do have a phone, remember?" Makoto said. Rei grinned. "Come on, Champ. Let's go get your sister. Give your Aunt Rei a kiss."

Rei leaned in and pecked the child on the cheek. The priest watched as Makoto let the boy slide to his feet, then walk hand in hand with Makoto to the steps leading down to the street. She turned away and wandered back into the grounds.

"I'd hate to bring Derek all the way over here and then not be able to let him in," Rei mused. "But I have to be honest: I do miss him."

Rei realized she was absently massaging her breastbone. Flushing slightly, the priest headed for her quarters in the shrine.

"Well, just sit up here and let's see what's wrong."

Mamoru was in an examination room in the offices he shared with Ami Mizuno. His patient was a four year old boy, accompanied by the boy's mother. The boy was complaining of headaches. Even now the child was lethargic and sullen, the result of his pain. Otherwise he seemed like a normal four year old boy. His mother, a small woman with black hair like his, helped the boy onto the examination table and hovered by the boy's side. Mamoru smiled. The boy didn't know how lucky he was to have a mother so devoted to him. As long as she didn't get in the way of the examination, he would let her dote on her son all she wanted.

"Now I'm going to have a look at your eyes," Mamoru told the boy, taking out a pen light and bracing his free hand gently on the boy's forehead to hold the eyelid back. "Try to follow the light. Has he suffered any injury to his head, Mrs. Nishi? Even just a bump?"

"No," Mrs. Nishi gasped fearfully. "Not that I know of. Of course, he is a normal boy and boys do get rough sometimes. You haven't hit your head, have you Iboshi?" The boy shook his head.

"Pupils are responsive," murmured Mamoru. "And he hasn't been diagnosed with any allergies?" Mrs. Nishi shook her head. The woman was quaking with fear. Mamoru gently felt around the boy's cranium. "No trauma that I can find. Is he sensitive to light?"

"Not at all," Mrs. Nishi responded. "Doctor Chiba, what is it?"

"That's what we're trying to find out," Mamoru assured her. On a hunch, he gestured for Iboshi to open his mouth. Using his pen light and a tongue depressor, Mamoru looked over the boy's mouth. At length, he spotted something. "Mrs. Nishi, when was the last time your son was at the dentist?"

"I," the woman hesitated, "can't get him to go. Is that what it is?"

"In the roof of his mouth, back by the molars is a growth," Mamoru explained. "Possibly an abscess, possibly something else. But the growth is in the right spot to be pressing against some of the nerves in the lower right sinus cavity. And pressure on the right nerves could induce headaches. A dentist would be better equipped to find out exactly what that growth is and where it's pressing."

"I'll take him to one right away," Mrs. Nishi proclaimed.

"But Mom, I don't want to go to a dentist!" the boy wailed.

"Oh Iboshi," she cooed, trying to calm him. Her hand gently ran through the boy's thick black hair.

Then she noticed Dr. Chiba staring. He was looking at them, but it was like he was somewhere else, seeing something else that only he could see. Mechanically his hand came up to his forehead.

Ami was in the other examination room with a patient. Her patient had been diagnosed with diabetes, and she was discussing what lifestyle changes would have to be made to accommodate the patient's condition. Suddenly the door to the examination room burst open. Ami turned with a start and found Chiyo the receptionist standing in the doorway, in a very agitated state.

"DR. MIZUNO, DR. MIZUNO!" she gasped. "Come quickly, please!"

"Chiyo-San, what is it?" Ami inquired anxiously.

"It's Dr. Chiba!" she screeched. "He's fainted! He may be hurt!"

Continued in Chapter 2