Special Thanks: "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl for editing, good ideas and comments, and providing me with Sailor Moon stories to enjoy! Thanks Will! Disclaimer: Sailor Moon, Sailor Senshi and all terms, names etc associated with the series are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha. The Guardians and everything pertaining to the Star Kingdoms are MINE! Sailor Moon: Guardians of the Star Chapter Three: Awakening of the Senshi In the guest room, sunlight from the rising sun came through the window illuminating the two people sleeping in the room. Mamoru slept in the chair next to the bed, his Usako's hand lightly held in his. Usagi stirred as the brightening light began to wake her. Her eye lids fluttered and opened as she looked across the room. Tears gathered in her eyes and streamed down her cheeks as she remembered. She felt her hand being held. She thought it was probably Lynn, not being awake enough yet to sense who it really was. Since Usagi didn't want to wake her, she tried to cry quietly but wasn't able to prevent a choked sob from escaping. At the sound of a sob from the bed, Mamoru woke up with a start. He looked at the bed and saw Usagi facing away from him. She was quiet now, but her shoulders shook with suppressed sobs. Hurting with her and for her, he softly called her name, "Usako." She gasped and turned to look, slowly. "Mamo-chan!" she cried as she saw him. She gave a great heaving sob and hurled herself from the bed and into his arms. She wrapped one arm tightly around his neck as she cried on his shoulder. His arms tightened around her as if to ease the shuddering sobs that wracked her delicate frame. "I love you, Usako," he whispered into her ear, "I will always love you. I'm here now and everything will be alright!" He continued whispering things into her ear, until the storm of her weeping began to subside. They sat and held each other for awhile, Mamoru silent, and Usagi, face buried in his shoulder, drawing an occasional shuddering breath. Sunlight spilled through the vaulted windows of the Star Chamber brightening the large room. Ami woke up slowly. She sat up, stretched, yawned widely and rubbed her eyes sleepily. When she noticed the statues along one wall, tears came to her eyes as she remembered. Impatiently, she wiped them away. she thought, Ami smiled fondly as she remembered that Usagi and Mamoru were safe in another part of the Palace. She got to her feet and stretched again. She noticed, then, that she was still in her Sailor fuku. she thought curiously, She pulled her computer from the subspace pocket she kept it in and reached up to activate her VR visor. Her vision became enhanced as its blue form materialized over her eyes. She walked over to the statues and turned her enhanced vision on the nearest, Sailor Jupiter. Figures and stats began to show on the visor's display and Ami gasped. she thought in horrified fascination, She punched in a few commands into her computer and the display in the visor obediently changed to record the power of the spell. Ami drew in a surprised breath. She began to look worried. She punched in the command to save the information she had scanned and put her computer away. Reaching up, she deactivated her VR visor and it faded from sight. Knowing it was early in the morning and knowing the exhausted Guardians would be sleeping for awhile yet, Ami decided to seek out Usagi. She walked over to the doors and opened them. "Could you tell me where Usagi's room is?" she asked the guards outside. "I could, Your Highness, if I knew who Usagi was," one of the guards replied, confused. Ami thought, disgusted with herself, "Oh, I'm sorry!" Ami said sheepishly, "I meant Princess Serenity." "Ah! Yes, I know where her room is. If you'll follow me, Princess Mercury, I'll take you there." He led her through the Palace halls and into the guest area. "There you are," he said, pointing to a guarded door down the hall, "I must return to my post, Your Highness." Ami nodded and thanked him with a smile. She walked down the hall to the guarded door only to find that the guards wouldn't let her through. "I'm sorry, Your Highness!" one of them said apologetically, "But our orders are that only Guardians may enter." Ami fumed for a moment and then got an idea. "I AM a Guardian!" she explained, "Look at my uniform! It's similar to Serenity's because I AM one of HER Royal Guardians, Princess Mercury! Look!" She removed her tiara so that the guards could see the glowing symbol of Mercury beneath. "I'm sorry, Your Highness!" the guard said as he opened the door. Ami nodded in acceptance and entered the room and the guards closed the door behind her. Ami noticed, at once, that the bed was empty. It took only a moment to find the two figures in the chair. Usagi was curled up on Mamoru's lap sleeping while he stroked her hair absently. She was reluctant to disturb them, but she needed to talk to them. Mastering her reluctance, she walked quietly across the room to the chair and laid a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and seeing Ami, barely managed to stifle a surprised exclamation. "Ami! How....?" he questioned her softly. "Lynn thought up a possible spell to free us and needed to test it," Ami explained, smiling, "She felt that, between herself and Greywolf, they had enough power to free one of us. They chose me because they felt my skills could help with freeing the others. Needless to say, it worked!" Mamoru smiled with relief. "What about the others?" he asked. Ami frowned thoughtfully. "Well, I did some scans and Lynn was right," she replied, "It will take all our power to break that spell. We'll need the Ginzuishou to focus the Guardians' power." "The Ginzuishou is what's keeping her alive!" he said, horrified, "If she uses it, she'll die!" Ami shook her head. "No, the Ginzuishou's own power is not needed," she explained, "It's needed merely as a focal point to unite the Guardians' powers and transfer them to Lynn's Soul Gem." At this point, Usagi stirred and opened her eyes. She focused on Ami and her eyes widened unbelievingly. Her lips formed Ami's name silently. She reached a violently trembling hand towards her. Ami gripped her hand tightly to still its trembling. At the touch of her hand, Usagi went white as a sheet and her head dropped back to Mamoru's shoulder as she fainted. "Usagi-chan!" "Usako!" Mamoru quickly felt for the pulse at the side of her neck while Ami fumbled for her wrist. "Do not worry!" Ami and Mamoru turned, startled, towards the door as Lynn walked in. "The relief at seeing Ami alive after the terrible grief (she showed to me when she thought her friends were all dead) was simply too much for her in her weakened condition," Lynn explained, "She'll awaken shortly." A single tear tracked down Ami's cheek as she regarded Usagi with sorrow. she thought sadly, Lynn walked over to them and placed an affectionate hand on Usagi's head. "Her grief was terrible!" she said, remembering, "None of the Guardians present were dry eyed after seeing it. I shooed them from the room because I knew she wouldn't want them to see her in that condition. But I saw it and felt it during the mind-link. Morgoth filled me with terror but her grief is what made me cry." Their attention turned back to Usagi as she began to stir. With a gasp, she sat up. She looked around and spotting Ami, she got shakily to her feet. She slowly walked toward Ami, step by trembling step, only the blazing crescent moon on her forehead betraying the intensity of her emotion. When she reached Ami, she said nothing and just hugged her tightly. Usagi was trembling and Ami was content just to hold her dearest friend and Princess until she recovered her composure. After a long while, Usagi managed to still her trembling and pulled away from Ami, but didn't let her go. "How are you alive?" she asked hoarsely, "I saw you die! And the others too!" Ami looked at her through narrowed eyes and noticed she was on the verge of collapsing again. she thought as she put her arm around Usagi's shoulders and led her back to the bed, She sat Usagi on the bed and then sat next to her keeping her arm around Usagi's shoulders to provide support. Her friend's greatest strength was also her greatest weakness. Her capacity for love was very great, so great that she fought like a raging banshee when those she loved were endangered. But, by the same token, the loss of loved ones was a crippling blow and more than capable of immobilizing her with grief. Ami looked at Lynn for help. Lynn walked over and sat on the other side of Usagi. "Your friends aren't dead, just imprisoned in the statues," she explained gently, "I have a spell that will free them if we can get enough power together to shatter Morgoth's spell." She took her by the chin and met her eyes. "We will need all our power, BUT..." She looked at Usagi firmly and raised a finger to emphasize her point. "You must use the Ginzuishou to focus and unite our powers ONLY. You must NOT use the Ginzuishou's own power. In your weakened state, that would kill you as surely as Morgoth almost did!" Usagi looked down at her clasped hands and finally nodded. Both Ami and Mamoru looked faint with relief. They knew she was capable of killing herself to free her friends. Now she knew it wouldn't be necessary to sacrifice herself. Lynn explained to Usagi exactly what they would do. Usagi nodded when Lynn finished and got up. Ami noticed, however, that she was still very, very pale. "Does she have enough strength for this?" Ami asked, concerned. "It'll be alright, Ami," Mamoru replied as he put an arm around Usagi's waist to support her, "My strength will support her in this effort!" Ami agreed as she remembered Lynn telling her that Haeth may need all the Senshi to help her with the Soul Healing. The four of them left the room and headed for the Star Chamber. The Guardians in the Star Chamber turned to the door as Lynn led the others into the room. There were shocked looks among the Guardians at sight of Usagi. They couldn't believe how pale and ill she looked. "That's it!" Nonja exclaimed, "We can't do this today. She's just not well enough. We have to wait until she's stronger!" Ivee turned an incredulous look on Nonja. "Are you for real?" she responded sharply, "She won't get stronger! She's losing more every hour! If we wait too long, the tiniest use of power will kill her!" "Then we wait for Haeth to heal her," Soloman argued, "She's just too ill to exert herself now!" "Haeth will need the others to assist in the healing," Lynn explained with a bite in her voice, "It's now or never!" As the debate continued, Usagi went even paler and began to tremble again, the only bright thing about her being her colorful Sailor fuku and the glowing moon crescent. Ami rushed over to help Mamoru support the rapidly wilting Usagi casting a silent plea at the Guardians. Kreigh noticed Ami's pleading glance seeing what the argument was doing to Usagi. Her legendary temper, already near the boiling point, exploded. "ENOUGH!!!" she cried in a raging fury. At her cry, the others fell silent and turned to regard the infuriated redhead with surprise. "Look what this idiotic argument is doing to her!" she snarled, pointing at a near fainting Usagi, held up only by Ami and Mamoru's support. "If you want her to recover, her Senshi MUST be freed first so they can help Haeth when they're needed!" Nonja rushed to Usagi and placed a hand on her forehead. Her hand glowed as she transferred energy from herself to Usagi. Usagi's stance became firmer and when she looked up, recovered from her near faint, she had a little more color in her pale cheeks. "I'm sorry, Usagi," Nonja said as she removed her hand, "That was my healers oath kicking in over my common sense." She turned to Greywolf and said, "You were right. She's failing fast. It IS now or never." Greywolf sighed with relief. Mamoru looked around and noticed the blankets on the table. "What are all the blankets for, Greywolf?" he asked curiously. "Well," Greywolf replied, "after we free the Senshi, few of us will have enough strength left to go anywhere. We'll be sleeping here for a few hours to gain some strength back." "Can we get on with it?" Usagi asked in a quavering voice. Mamoru looked down at her gravely and bent down to kiss her, hoping to give her some of his strength. When they parted, she smiled reassuringly at him and turned a questioning glance to Lynn who nodded in agreement. She took Usagi by the hand and led her to the center of the Star emblem. Mamoru followed and placed a hand on one of her shoulders. Ami activated her VR visor so she could track the energy levels, and then placed her hand on Usagi's other shoulder. They would be her strength. The eight Guardians each moved to their assigned points of the Star. Lynn turned to Usagi who stood beside her in the center of the Star and nodded. Holding her hands in front of her broach, Usagi summoned the Ginzuishou and it left the broach. It moved between her hands and floated there. She raised her hands over her head and looked at the Guardians. Each Guardian began sending streams of power to the Ginzuishou and Usagi's moon crescent glowed brightly as she struggled to unite the power within the Ginzuishou. Usagi felt strength flowing into her from both Ami and Mamoru; it was enough to keep her on her feet as she struggled. Ami kept tabs on the power level in the Ginzuishou with her visor. She watched for several moments as it climbed steadily, approaching the amount they needed. It slowed as the Guardians began to flag. she thought urgently, She decided to add her bit. Raising her hand, she yelled, "SHINING AQUA ILLUSION!" The attack was converted to energy almost before it left her hand and was absorbed into the Ginzuishou. She wearily watched the counter rise and slow down just short of what was required. Mamoru, however, followed Ami's example and tossed a rose. The Ginzuishou converted and absorbed it as well. The counter on her visor rose and slowed at about five percent above what was needed. "We have the POWER!!" Ami cried exultantly. Lynn smiled and created her Soul Gem. She sent it to float high above the Senshi. "OK Usagi," Lynn instructed, "Cut loose the united power at the Soul Gem. Remember not to use the Ginzuishou's power! We have enough without it!" Usagi nodded and closing her eyes, aimed the Ginzuishou at the Soul Gem. "COSMIC MOON POWER!" she cried, commanding it mentally to expel the alien power it had gathered. The Ginzuishou unleashed all the power it gathered in a single blinding blast. Lynn actually swayed as it struck the Soul Gem. With the transfer of power complete, the other Guardians collapsed in exhaustion. Greywolf staggered over to support Lynn while Mamoru and Ami held Usagi up. Lynn shuddered as she struggled to transmute the powerful blast. Bright light exploded from her Soul Gem and enveloped the Senshi. There was a blinding flash as Morgoth's spell was destroyed. When it faded, the Senshi were standing before them, in the flesh. A moment later, they collapsed. The exhausted Guardians moved slowly to help them. "Go and help them," Usagi said softly to Ami and Mamoru, "You lent me strength, so I have enough to stand on my own." Ami nodded and went to get the blankets. After studying Usagi closely, Mamoru smiled and went to join Ami. Usagi watched them spreading blankets on the floor, and help the exhausted Guardians and Senshi to their resting places. Her vision started to blur. she thought, Her vision went black and she crumpled. With the spell shattered and Jupiter fell to her knees, she was concerned with only one person -- Usagi. She mastered her terror at her entrapment and, finding her friend, studied her with a narrowed green gaze. Jupiter was always the most protective of her friend when she was in any danger. Since she first protected Usagi from bullies when they first met, she regarded Usagi as a little sister, despite the fact that they were the same age. This feeling solidified when Usagi ignored her bad reputation for fighting and befriended this very lonely girl much in need of a friend. Jupiter regarded Usagi as sister and friend (more than Princess) since that day and she watched Usagi now. Ami and Mamoru were fooled be Usagi's false display of strength, but Jupiter, who knew Usagi very well indeed, was not. As the other Senshi were helped to their blankets or staggered there on their own, Jupiter gathered the remaining dregs of her strength. As Usagi started to collapse, as Jupiter had KNOWN she would, she leapt to her feet and rushed over just in time to catch her unconscious friend. Mamoru was about to get up when Jupiter glanced at him. "Stay there, Mamoru-chan," she ordered with a smile, "I have more strength than you at the moment and it's my turn to look after her." He looked about to argue but finally returned her smile and nodded. He was simply too exhausted to get back up. Jupiter lifted Usagi up into her arms and carefully placed one foot in front of the other as she walked to the place they would sleep. She carefully placed Usagi on a blanket and sat on the one next to her. she thought weakly, She placed a trembling hand on Usagi's forehead. she thought with dismay, "Hey Jupiter!" Mars called tiredly from across the room, "How is our little baka brain?" She smiled wearily as she said it. The other Senshi turned to look and wait for Jupiter's answer, the Outer Senshi looked particularly concerned. , she thought, "She's all right," Jupiter lied, "Just exhausted." Usagi opened her eyes and her wandering gaze found Jupiter. "Mako-chan!" she whispered weakly. Jupiter whirled to face her dearest friend with surprise. "Shhh, Usagi-chan! Don't talk," she said soothingly, placing her hand on Usagi's forehead again. "I'm here and so are all the other Senshi. Just sleep and get well." Usagi smiled and fell asleep almost instantly. Jupiter glanced around and noticed everyone else was sound asleep. She looked up in surprise as Ami sat up from where she appeared to be sleeping on the other side of Usagi. "Is everyone else asleep?" At Jupiter's nod, she said, "Good, we have to talk!" A tear coursed down Jupiter's cheek, the first time Ami had seen her cry. "Ami," she whispered, her voice hoarse with grief, "She's dying! I couldn't tell the others so I lied, but I can feel her sickness and it's mortal!" Ami nodded. "I know," she replied, "Lynn told me yesterday and told me not to tell the others, but I could see that you knew already." Jupiter put a hand to her mouth to hold in a choked sob. She had thought that after losing her boyfriend that she'd never cry again. Oh, how very wrong she was! "What do we do, Ami? I...we can't lose her!" Ami activated her VR visor and studied Usagi with it. "Well..," Ami answered softly, "According to my visor, at her present decline, the Ginzuishou can keep her alive for another three days." Jupiter gasped and turned white at that. As she watched Usagi, her green eyes shimmered with tears. In just three days, she would lose the most precious friend she had ever had. "Hold on, Mako-chan! I'm not finished yet!" Ami remonstrated, "There's another Guardian coming. Lynn said that she should be here by midday. That's in a couple of hours. I suggest we get some sleep NOW, so we can be awake THEN." "Can...can this other Guardian heal her?" Jupiter asked hopefully. "According to Lynn, this Haeth is a healer of unmatched skill and specializes in nonphysical injuries," Ami replied, "If anyone can heal her, she can! Now let's get some sleep so we can wake up when she arrives." Ami laid down on her blanket and was asleep in moments. Jupiter looked at her in astonishment. Then she laid down. she thought, She fell asleep. End of Chapter 3 NEXT: Chapter 4: Haeth, Healer of Souls Haeth, Usagi's healing, plans are made. Be There!