Not much revision on this, but I got rid of the typos. ^_^ Author's notes and disclaimers at the bottom. Arigato, minna-chan! ^_^ -Lianne (LianneSen@aol.com) *Usagi and Mamoru's Love: Strike* Part 3 Haruka frowned as she looked at the numbers on the seemingly endless hallway of doors. "Which number is it? I haven't been here in ages." "Shut up, Haruka," Michiru said flatly. "Since I KNEW you'd forget, I double- checked it before we left." Hotaru giggled. "Crap, Michiru-mama! You're so mean to her!" "It's the only way to keep her in line," Setsuna said flatly as she ran a hand through her sleek hair. She flipped it behind her back and brushed a few stray wisps of dark green bangs out of her eyes. Hotaru walked excitedly quicker than the rest, her small feet making muffled footsteps on the carpeting. "I can't wait to see Usagi-san and Mamoru-san again! It's been almost a month since we've seen little Chibi-Usa - I'm sure she's so much bigger now!" "We shouldn't drop in like this, ya think?" Michiru asked no one in particular. "I mean, maybe we should've called..." "We didn't know we were coming until we were nearby," Haruka muttered as she stared at all the doors. "I'm sure they won't mind. They never mind when people drop in." She smirked. "Kinda reminds you of college, doesn't it?" "Mmmm...speaking of which, I didn't do my essay yet, and it's due in a week," Michiru breathed. Haruka waved her hand. "Ah, don't WORRY about it. You always get it done." Setsuna cocked an eyebrow at the blond. "And what about YOU, O high and loyal Haruka? Didn't you have some exam in a few days?" "I'll study tomorrow night, I swear," Haruka said with a grin. Michiru glared. "You better, you can't afford to flunk ANOTHER one..." "I didn't FLUNK that one!" "A 59 is an F, Haruka-chan!" "It is not! Most teachers'd count that as a D!" "But did YOURS?" "Um...well...my teacher's an an old idiot that doesn't realize my creativity -" "Here it is." Setsuna held out a hand. She went to the door and knocked a few times, waiting for an answer. None came. Haruka made a face. "Hmm...I sure hope they're home." "Lemme try." Michiru knocked a few times and waited a moment, but again recieved no answer. She frowned. "But I think there's someone moving around inside, cause I hear movement..." Suddenly, a crash came from inside the apartment, followed by a scream. The outer senshi all froze. "What...?!" Haruka ran to the door and started to bang on it. "Usagi?! Mamoru?! Are you OK?!" Another scream erupted from the room, followed by thudding noises and another crash. Haruka grabbed the doorknob and yanked on it, but the door was locked. Her eyes narrowed. "This isn't good. Stand back!" The other three women quickly moved out of the way, and Haruka moved back and slammed her shoulder in the door. When it didn't open, she slammed harder, then moved back and spun a high, fierce kick at it. The door slammed to the floor of the doorway with a loud crash, and the four of them ran in and took fighting stances. "Usagi! Mamoru!" Haruka shouted urgently as they rushed in. A blur of pink flew between Haruka's legs. She blinked at it for a second before a blur of yellow crashed into her so hard she was thrown back into the hallway, another person on top of her. She took a second to focus her blurry eyes, her head throbbing. She saw who it was, then blinked. "Mina-chaMPPHH!" Minako, who hadn't even looked down at Haruka, had proceeded to scramble up as fast as she could, her palm accidentally squashing Haruka's mouth. Her sneakers scraped against the taller woman as she flew to a sprinting position and dashed down the hallway. "GET BACK HERE, YOU EVIL CHILD!!!" Minako screamed as she disappeared around a corner after the dashing toddler. Haruka painfully rolled to a sitting position, her eyes utterly confused. "What was -" "HARUKA-SAN!!!!" Haruka was immideately tackled by another woman, a pair of strong arms squeezing her ribcage without mercy. She choked, then brushed wavy brown hair out of her face. "Mako...chan...can't...BREATHE!!!" Makoto immideately loosened her grip, but refused to stop hugging the blond. "You're here to save us...you'll save us...everything's gonna be OK...you'll save us..." the brunette mumbled over and over, her voice feverish and on the brink of insanity. Haruka flew to a standing position while pulling Makoto with her, ignoring her aching head as her warrior instincts kicked in. She grabbed the younger woman urgently. "What's wrong?! Save you from what?!" "We heard screams - what's going on?!" Setsuna asked quickly. "Were you attacked?" Michiru asked as she took Makoto's hand. "YES!!!!!" Rei and an unusually disheveled Ami ran through the doorway and each grabbed one of the other outer senshi. "SAVE US!!! PLEASE!!!!!" Hotaru, the only one NOT in a strangle hold by a member of the inners, looked around urgently. "Where? I don't see anything -" "She ran out the door!" Ami cried as she buried herself in Michiru's scarf, trembling madly. "Stop her before she attacks anyone ELSE!" Rei cried from within Setsuna's arms. "Nani...who are you -" "CHIBI-USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!" All four of the outer senshi simultaniously blinked. "Nani?" ***************** Minako ran down the hallway as fast as she could, her eyes narrowed and fiercely blue as she ferociously glared around for the infant that had escaped. She had lost a sight of the pink blur a moment before, as Chibi-Usa proved to be quite a bit faster than she. She turned another corner, jerking her head angrily in searching. "Chibi-Usa!" she called out angrily. "Get back here right now!" She still didn't see the baby. She growled ferally and whipped around a few more times before she dashed around a corner in the hall, muttering. "Chibi-Usa, I'm gonna get you you little -" She slammed into another person so hard she nearly cracked open her skull. She fell forward onto the person, immiting a groan from the stranger. Minako grabbed her head. "I'm just crashing into EVERYONE today..." she muttered. She looked at the person. "Gomen nasai, atashi wa baka...NANI?!" She grabbed his shoulders. "YATEN-KUN?!" "OWWWW!!!" Yaten cried as his head spun with her jarring clutching. "Knock it off, Mina-chan! Are you TRYING to kill me?" Minako could only stare at him, her eyes quivering. Seiya walked over, a sweatdrop on his head. He held out a hand. "Ah, Mina-chan...lemme help you up." Minako silently took his hand, staring at him. Seiya held up to it a minute, before he frowned. "Minako-chan? Daijobu?" Minako turned her head to face Yaten again. She choked on her breath. "L...Lights!" she suddenly screamed as she ran and tackled the just-recovered Yaten with a hug so fierce they fell onto the floor again. Yaten slammed his head against the floor, everything going dark...he immideately woke up fully when she squeezed his ribs so hard his eyes popped out of his head. "M...Minako!" he choked. "Y...you're HERE!!" she screamed as she hugged him tighter. "I...I don't believe it! You've been gone for YEARS..." "OWWWW!!!" Minako, Yaten, and Seiya turned to see Taiki holding a struggling Chibi-Usa out in front of him at an arm's-length, frowning at her. "Is this yours? She just kicked me in the forehead when I tried to pick her up!" "Well, you know what they say about kids looking for big targets when they attack," Yaten mumbled as he struggled to squirm from Minako's arms. Taiki glared at him. "Oh, yeah? Aino-san, Yaten said he missed you." "REALLY?!!!" Minako immideately squeezed him harder, and Yaten nearly lost whatever food he had eaten in the last 24 hours. He managed to flick a vicious look at Taiki as he grabbed Minako's arms and started prying with all his might. "Mi...na...ko...chan...please...let...me...breathe..." "You REALLY missed me, Yaten-kun?" She cried jubilantly as she ignored his cries. "Oh...I...I missed you, too! I missed you...so much, Yaten-chan!" Yaten stopped prying a moment to look down at her with a strange look in his green eyes. He quickly looked away, a slight blush rising on his cheeks. "R...really?" he asked quietly. Taiki noticed his redness and smiled wickedly at him. Yaten glared daggers before looking back down at Minako again. "Um...that's...sweet of you, Mina-chan. Uh, could you get off? My lungs are having trouble moving in and out." Minako blinked, then slowly let go and got off him. He sat up. "Arigato." Minako stared a minute, then looked up at the other Lights and smiled. "Oh, it's so GOOD to see you all again! I thought you'd NEVER come back!" Yaten brushed himself off as Seiya went to help Taiki with the struggling Chibi-Usa. "Well," Yaten said, "that's a rather long story. Which we'll get into later. Where're Usagi and Mamoru?" "Out," Minako answered. Seiya frowned as Chibi-Usa screamed and kicked to get out of his arms. "Mina-chan," he asked. "Did you have a kid? She doesn't look a whole lot like you." Minako blushed furiously and looked away. "No," she said quickly. "She's not mine. She's Usagi and Mamoru's." Yaten blinked. "Really? They had a kid so young?" Taiki smiled. "Well, she's got her mother's sugar rush potential, apparently... but enough. Let's get this child back to it's proper environment, shall we? She's getting a bit hard to keep a hold on." Minako frowned. "Wait'll you see what she does in her HOME..." ********************* A middle-aged woman walked down the hallway briskly, flipping her hair angrily behind her shoulders. She glared behind her. "Stupid kids..." she muttered. "The CITY will be quieter tonight than it is in THIS apartment building..." She got to the elevator and pushed the button to go down. A few moments later the door opened up. She frowned. "Um...Usagi-san? Mamoru-san? Could you please not kiss so much in public?" Usagi and Mamoru immideately parted and blushed. "Um...gomen nasai, Kirei-san," Mamoru said quickly. "DIdn't see we'd...reached our floor." The woman rolled her eyes as she went into the elevator and the couple walked out. "Young couples..." she muttered as the door closed. Usagi giggled as she took Mamoru's arm. "Old, single women..." Usagi muttered in a mocking tone. Mamoru chuckled. "Think she's jealous?" he asked with a smile. "Of course she is," Usagi said plainly. "Gotta feel bad for her, though. That old hag couldn't get a date if she had a wad of money glued to her forehead..." "Usako! That's pretty harsh," he reprimanded. "You shouldn't make fun of others less fortunate than you." She stuck her tongue out at him. Mamoru smiled and started to tickle her fiercely. Usagi screamed and tried to get away, but she couldn't get out of his grip. She slammed up against one of the walls and started kicking out at him, laughing and screaming, but he only tickled her harder. "M...Mamo...chan!" she screamed. "S...stop...it!" Mamoru clucked his tongue. "Not as fast at being rebellious NOW, are we?" A door right next to them slammed open, and an older man stuck his head out angrily. "If you two are gonna be like that, get a room!" he yelled angrily before slamming the door again. Usagi and Mamoru stopped and blinked at the door. Mamoru made a face. "I think you're right, Usako. Too many old, single people in this building..." Some loud noise from coming down the hall made them look up. Usagi blinked. "What's all the racket down there?" Mamoru titled his head. "I donno. It's pretty loud, though. Maybe a party?" Usagi took his arm. "C'mon. We better get back and check if our kid's still alive." As they got closer to their room, the noise got louder. It sounded like a mix of breaking objects, screaming people, and lots of running. Mamoru frowned. "Doesn't sound much like a party...more like a police raid..." Usagi suddenly stopped. "Mamo-chan." Her eyes were wide. "What?" "Can you see our door from here?" He blinked. "I...I see our...doorway...but...but...there's no...door in it?" "Exactly my thoughts. Doesn't it sound like all that racket's coming from OUR place?" Mamoru's eyes widened. "Uh-oh..." Usagi dashed down the hall to the open doorway. She screeched to a stop in front of it. Her eyes went huge. "My...my God..." The apartment was a reck. Pots, plates, and tins were littered, some broken, on the floor, furniture was knocked over, articles of outer clothing such as jackets and vests were thrown everywhere, and the door was on the floor in the doorway. Besides that, Minako was sprawled out in a very painful position that looked like she had fallen off the couch, Makoto was hiding in the closet, Rei was on the shoulders of Setsuna, fistfuls of the older woman's hair in her hands, Michiru was nursing a swollen ankle with a towelful of ice, Yaten was standing on the dining room table, Taiki, Ami, Haruka, and Hotaru were unconscious and lying in various parts of the room, and Seiya was holding a screaming Chibi-Usa upside- down by her feet. All conscious people looked up at Usagi. Seiya smiled. "Um...komban wa, Odango. How was your date?" Mamoru ran up behind Usagi just in time to catch her as she fainted. **************** Mamoru sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "All right, run this by me again. Michiru - YOU do the talking," he added quickly as everyone started to talk at once. Michiru sighed as she gently rubbed her ankle on her propped-up leg on the couch. "Well, Haruka, Setsuna, Hotaru, and I were nearby, so we figured we'd come by and pay you a visit. When we got here, the inners were having a bit of...trouble with Chibi-Usa, so we tried to help them out. Needless to say, we were...a bit surprised at how much of a handful she was. "HANDFUL?!" Yaten screamed. "Mamoru-san, what were you and Usagi ON when she was concieved?!" Seiya slapped him hard on the back of his head. "Shut up, Yaten!" Mamoru rolled his eyes as he adjusted the infant he held on his hip. Chibi-Usa was sucking on a pacifier and leaning her head on his shoulder tiredly. "Mina-chan, I TOLD you you wouldn't be able to handle her." Minako glared furiously as she picked dried peanut butter out of her hair with her fingernails. "That is NOT a child! It's a MONSTER!!!" Mamoru looked at her skeptically. "Don't you tell ME she's hard to handle. I deal with her every day." "But you're her FATHER! She behaves better for you!" Rei exclaimed. "Not by much," he muttered. "But thank you anyway. Usagi and I got to spend a little time alone when we can hardly do that anymore. We appreciate it. Whether or not this place IS livable anymore," he added as he looked around the destroyed apartment. Setsuna sighed. "We'll clean it up, Mamoru-san," she said quietly. Mamoru looked at Seiya. "And you three. Didn't expect to see YOU here amongst the rubble. Whatcha doin' back on Earth?" Yaten was still standing with his arms crossed angrily. Seiya looked at him and rolled his eyes. "Um...we've...come back. For good." Everyone whipped their heads at him. Everyone, except for the four of them out cold and piled in the middle of the living room, Makoto that was still cowering in the closet, and Usagi that was passed out in the bedroom. "Y...you're WHAT?!" Minako's eyes quivered. Seiya sighed. "Well...we've spent the past five years or so working to rebuild our planet. We found quite a few survivors, actually. We thought everyone had been destroyed, but there were small colonies hidden in remote places that were waiting for Galaxia's reign to end. They had no idea she had been turned from evil. We helped them rebuild their lives, and they're going to restart the population. Through everyone's help, including Galaxia's, we were able to...start everything over." He smiled. Yaten let out a breath. "They don't need us anymore. Our job is finished. Our Princess knew how much we loved Tokyo, so she's freed us of our duties. We can live here for the rest of our lives. In fact, she encouraged us to. She thinks we're happiest here." "Are you?" Michiru asked quietly. Yaten couldn't keep the small smile from tugging at his mouth. "Yeah," he said quietly. "No more fighting," Seiya said quietly. "No more pain. We don't have to face any of it anymore. We've been...freed of our powers." "Your...powers...?" Mamoru looked at him with anticipational eyes. Seiya took in a breath. "We...no longer have our transformation ability. We don't have our magic anymore. Our Princess took it from us to help our lives be easier here on Earth." "How is that?" Yaten made a face. "You think you're emotions are in CONTROL when you occasionally turn female? One of the hardest things about being a Starlight was the fact you had to get a hold on your feelings in two totally different bodies. Our minds were always the same, but you have emotional difficulties when you're two different genders." Minako blushed. "Right. I can...imagine." Mamoru looked at Seiya silently a moment. He looked down to see Chibi-Usa asleep in his arms. "Hang on," he whispered to the others as he quietly brought his daughter to the other room. He gently put her down in her crib and covered her with a blanket. When he came back in, Rei had a hand on her forehead. "Thank GOD she's asleep," she whispered as she fell back onto a chair. Mamoru went to the closet and slowly opened it up a crack, looking in curiously. "Mako-chan? Daijobu? Chibi-Usa's asleep - you can come out now." He looked down and blinked. Makoto was curled up on the floor, asleep. He gave a lop-sided smile. "Hmm. Guess we have a sleep-over guest tonight." He bent down and picked her up, bringing her to the couch. He winced. "Big girl," he said with a wink as he gently laid her out. He put a spare blanket over her. He looked up and sighed. "Um...since half the people here are either asleep or unconscious, I guess you're all invited to stay here for the night. Not that Usagi and I mind, it's just I hope you find room..." "We'll find room," Setsuna said. "Thank you, Mamoru-san." Mamoru pulled a pile of blankets from the closet and handed them to Rei. "Bathroom's the first door on the right, there's some more room in the other room, I think you may find a few sleeping bags in the closet. OK, minna?" Everyone nodded. Minako looked up at Seiya. "Um...Seiya-kun? What about Galaxia and Chibi-Chibi? Are they OK?" "They're fine," he said with a smile. "They wanted to stay behind, but they assured us they, too, would come down here to live for good soon. They missed you all, too, and the Princess can run the planet by herself." Mamoru smiled. "That's great, Seiya," he said quietly. He looked at him for a moment; the younger man looked back at him fully, then, slowly, he smiled. Mamoru held out his hand. Seiya took it, and Mamoru clasped it firmly. He smiled warmly. "Welcome back, Seiya Kou." To be continued... -All right, NOW the unplot-forming beginning is finally finished. ^_^ Next part, Part 4, is FINALLY going to get the action moving. I hope this story so far isn't TOO much like "Surprises." ^_^ Anyway, from here on it gets really different. Oooohhh, I can't wait to write it! I've been waiting so long to do this story. ^_^ Since I haven't said this in a while, NINX IS REALLY COOL! READ THINGS BY HER!!!! She's SO nice, ya just gotta let her know you appreciate her as much as *I* do. ^_^ Also, Sailor Charon is LOVELY as always, Sailor Mercutio is making me DIZZY with her kindness, Sue Mei's story "Lost Chances" is SSSSOOOO GOOD!!!! READ IT!!!! IT'S SO SWEET AND SAD!!! (Hehhe...maybe NOW you'll blush...^_-). Also, Tiga Shadow is wicked funny and very cool, Razzz is incredible as always, Jenn never fails to make me laugh, Sailor Dolphin's story "Night and Day," is VERY well done - go read it! It gets REALLY good later! Chimera tells me she'll update "Midnight Star" soon, for those of you waiting (it IS good, isn't it? I TOLD you! ^_-). Also (I'm in a rush) thanks to Pandora, Jen (I AM alive! I'm just busy! ^_^;), Alpha, and many others. "The Wacky Adventures of Psycho Setsuna" is having technical difficulties...don't worry! We're just having problems sending it IN! It should be put on my web page in a few days (http://members.tripod.com/~Lianne_Sentar/index.html) for those of you waiting for it, AND on my page, within the next few days, should be the first part to the sequel of "Surfacings!" Check it out! Check it out! Bye! -Lianne (LianneSen@aol.com) *Sailor Moon and all its characters are copyright Naoko Takeuchi/Kodansha Ltd./Toei Animation, Co., Ltd. and the English adaptation is copyright 1995 DIC productions, LP. This story is copyright Lianne Sentar, December 1997. **DOWN WITH DUB-BASHING!!!