[Thread] She was her mother's daughter...

[waterfell]

Characters: AU:Chibiusa, OU:Mercury
Where: Loh-Tessera
When: after this convo and more importantly, this
Summary: A weary Chibiusa seeks quiet and answers.
Warnings: She's seeking them from Mercury. 'Nough said.

Comments

[neo_sailor_moon]

Perhaps I should have gotten the Luna Pen first. Standing in front of the door to Mercury's room, Chibiusa considered the idea briefly and then quickly dismissed it. Right now she still hadn't figured out what she would tell the younger version of her Mom. Seeing her would only complicate things further. Perhaps when she had had the time to think, she would know what to do. Still, she was wearing her Senshi uniform and she wasn't sure if Mercury would be henshined as well. There was very little she could do about it, however, since it had been years since she had last been simply Chibiusa.

Never forget the magic word that will raise your spirits. The memory of Sailor Pluto's words made her feel slightly better, though she was still feeling lost and confused. There were people here who seemed kind and willing to listen. She hadn't found anyone yet who seemed to truly understand how she felt, though. But that could only be expected. She hadn't been here that long and she knew very little of what had happened before her arrival.

In her

[waterfell]

The knock startled Mercury far more than it should have; she'd been expecting it, for crying out loud. Her head bowed slightly for just one last second to gather her thoughts, then she opened the door for her guest.

It was a long moment before the Dark Kingdom senshi remembered to invite Chibiusa in. She stared at the girl, thoughtfully, scrutinizing her, trying to trace a resemblance other than the too-obvious one to her mother. At first, nothing, but then... yes, something in one or two features... Mercury almost wanted to smile; here in this place where everything was strange, to see even that little of someone familiar - of Kunzite, she admitted to herself - was making her react to the idea of him differently than she ever had in her own world; tired of battling him or proving her independence from him and wishing she could--

Wishing she could see him, and this was a very ironic answer to her private journal post of a few days previous. Mercury finally broke her gaze. For her part, she was indeed transformed, but with a much

[neo_sailor_moon]

Chbiusa felt nervous under Mercury's intense gaze. It seemed the other Senshi was searching for something. She could only guess that her appearance reminded Mercury of the Sailor Moon from her own world. The idea that Mercury was actually thinking of her father never once crossed Chibiusa's mind

[waterfell]

There was such a strong temptation to equate this girl even more closely to Kunzite, to want to suddenly even hold onto her as if doing so could let Mercury touch her own world. "You look like him, a little," the senshi admitted

[neo_sailor_moon]

"That obvious?" Chibiusa asked softly, realizing that she had indeed been hiding she was her father's daughter. She wouldn't have done so, if it hadn't been for Mio's words. Mio ... She wasn't looking forward to meeting her. There had to be some reason that several people had already warned her to stay away from her. Yet, she couldn't help but be curious. Obviously Mio knew things that Chibiusa didn't. The question was, however, if Mio told her something, could she believe her

[waterfell]

Two worlds. In one, Kunzite returned to his loyalty to Endymion, married Sailormoon, and had Chibiusa as his daughter - all of them living in Crystal Tokyo or some version of it; the world continued on. In the other, Kunzite was soon to die, had no such family, and lived in the Dark Kingdom; that world was close to its end. And he loved Sailormoon in that first world, while in the second, Mercury was - as much as she interested him, as much as his attention was flattering - in the end...

'Slave.' 'Kunzite's underling.' 'Creature.'"It's different worlds," Mercury said aloud then, in answer both to the earlier portion of her silent thoughts and ostensibly to Chibiusa's implied question, "So I'm not in love with your father." she wasn't reacting angrily; that much was probably obvious anyway from her demeanor, still calm. If anything, it was a melancholia settling over her still

[neo_sailor_moon]

Chibiusa gave a small nod as Mercury told her she was not in love with her father. She felt somewhat relieved at that. If Mercury had been in love with her father, she had no idea what she would have done. She really didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Having to tell the older Usagi that she was not her daughter had been hard enough. She still blamed herself that she had made this version of her mother cry

[waterfell]

Her slight slip of speech had gone unnoticed; Mercury's lips found a little, almost coy, smile. But then suddenly in front of this girl, suddenly when she had been saying she'd be more obedient and then this girl who was part of Kunzite had appeared, Mercury didn't want to deny him. No, it wasn't Chibiusa's father, but...

"The one I love is the Kunzite of my world," the Dark Kingdom girl admitted. And in the end, somehow she didn't choke on the words or trip over them. Her eyes widened as she realized what she'd spoken aloud. "That's between us," she added - a little more characteristically - whether as warning or request, an obvious wish that the comment not be shared. "In my world, Zoisite and I, we don't know each other well even."

Then Chibiusa was stiffening...at thoughts of the Dark Kingdom? He didn't have much choice. A quick answering anger rose in Mercury - of course it was his choice! - then she realized the comment could be heard two ways: he had had little choice in telling his daughter about the Dark Kingdom

[neo_sailor_moon]

When Mercury told her she loved the Kunzite of her world, Chibiusa's eyes widened and she stared at Mercury for a moment. Then realization set in and she smiled a little. "I will not tell anyone" she said while trying to ignore Mio's words suddenly coming back to her. No. she thought In the end it doesn't matter, our worlds are different.

Chibiusa bit her lip as she debated on whether or not to answer Mercury's question. She had never told anyone of what had happened that day. Except her father, no one knew, not even her mother. If her father hadn't wanted to protect her, she would never have found out. But he did and the price he, no they, had to pay for it had been great.

"I would have preferred being told about it" she spoke, the bitterness in her voice impossible to miss "That would have been easier for the both of us."

[waterfell]

That sort of bitterness... "You didn't know about the Dark Kingdom. You found out accidentally."

The tone was simply stating or summarizing facts; that much of the story was obvious, even though how wasn't obvious. A slip of the tongue? Something kept in their home that Chibiusa had come upon? An overheard conversation? And she was saying 'both' not 'all three' or 'all'. Whatever had happened later, the actual event was between the two of them, so an overheard conversation was less likely; the other possibilities remained.

"How did that happen?"

[neo_sailor_moon]

Chibiusa snorted at Mercury's words. "That depends on what you call accidentally."

She closed her eyes as hot tears started leaking from them. The memories hurt and she didn't know if she would be able to actually talk about them. She hadn't wanted to remember but here, in this strange place, everything seemed to be crashing down on her and she felt like she was drowning in her emotions.

Bottling things inside can have explosive consequences. Believe me, I know what I am talking about. The words Uranus had spoken to her one day came back to her and with them more tears. The Outer Senshi had been right, she realized and she slowly opened her eyes. Not bothering to wipe her tears away she was silent for a moment as she looked down at her hands which were resting in her lap

[waterfell]

Tears... Chibiusa's reaction was unexpected again, and Mercury found her gaze faltering, lowering uncomfortably. But the other sailor-suited girl continued on, and the darker-colored one let her.

The Dark Kingdom senshi felt her heartbeat quicken suddenly at Chibiusa's final pause. She certainly knew the Kunzite of her own world well enough to know his determination, that focus, that drive...Anything could be the next part of this story. Mercury took a slow - hopefully not too noticeable - breath.

She could almost feel what was coming next, but she asked: "What was the price?" It was a phrase used often in Econtra, usually in reference to wishes from the elder Yuuko.

[neo_sailor_moon]

Chibiusa closed her eyes again as she continued telling Mercury what had happened that day. "The one who had captured me was Esmeraude, a woman with the most high-pitched, annoying laugh I have ever heard." It was something all of the Senshi agreed on, they all hated the sound of Esmeraude's laughter. Chibiusa hoped she would never have to hear it again but knew it was impossible. She would probably be hearing it for the rest of her life in the nightmares she had

[waterfell]

Mercury found her anger rising again, this time on behalf of this girl sitting next to her, and the Kunzite-who-was-this-girl's-father. This girl she barely knew - but this girl whose life somehow formed a harmonic with Mercury's own. Not that Mercury could - ever - imagine Kunzite debased or humbled, but she could imagine him determined, set, willing to pay what was asked to gain his goal. A fist formed at her side almost without her thinking.

Then Chibiusa was saying Kunzite had wept, had asked for forgiveness. Different worlds indeed, but the thought was given only a brief second's consideration but it shook the girl nonetheless. It was Kunzite and not-her-Kunzite she was hearing about; a story from a different world, only a story, but like the king anxious for tales from Scheherazade, Mercury couldn't stop hearing, couldn't stop wanting to know what next.

So she simply nodded, letting Chibiusa - Neo Sailormoon - continue.

[neo_sailor_moon]

Silent tears were flowing down Chibiusa's face as she started speaking once more, her voice shaky. "Esmeraude snapped her fingers and a black crystal appeared on Dad's forehead. He started screaming in pain and I was yelling at Esmeraude to stop. She started laughing and snapped her fingers again. I felt something on my own forehead and the next moment my body felt like it was being ripped to shreds."

She was clenching her fists as she could feel the pain again. As she remembered what it had felt like. Her body was trembling and it took her a few moments to calm down enough so that she could go on. "I told myself this was nothing if it meant keeping Dad safe, that I could do this. Then suddenly there was no more pain and I thought it was over. I was wrong, it was only the beginning."

[waterfell]

So she'd been right; the Dark Kingdom senshi was sure of it now. It was the only logical trade that would have led to Chibiusa learning about the Dark Kingdom. "Dark energy," she said. Chibiusa had been... attacked by it or imbued with it? They'd already attacked her before Kunzite had arrived, so...

"You were... given dark energy?" Mercury thought of the Kunzite in her own world; yes, he was someone who would undergo that if there was a reason for it that he considered strong enough. He wouldn't back down.And in her world, it was him... he had...

'I'm glad it's you falling into my hands.' She'd transformed and prepared to fight - prepared, because he'd absorbed her entire attack with what seemed like no effort at all; he had been especially determined and forceful, and his energy had been too strong