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remix_reduxTitle: The Quest (Eternal Optimist Remix)
Author: Sarafu/![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
obsessivemuch
Summary: You prepare for a difficult confrontation with Sailor Anubis, wondering if history is doomed to repeat itself.
Fandom: Sailor Moon
Characters: Sailor Moon, Sailor Anubis
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Spoilers: General Crystal Tokyo arc
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, the alternate universe belongs to AnarchicQ
Original story: Cleansed by Fire byanarchicq
Notes: My thanks as always to the people who let me talk until I'm blue in the face and then tell me what to fix. In particular, I want to thank Casey, Arrow, and Kikos for being so very awesome.
***
"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asks, leaning against the door of your bedroom with a maddeningly neutral expression.
And it's only because it's Rei asking that you bite your tongue and continue brushing your long blonde hair. You refrain from answering until you've twisted your hair up into your familiar style. "Did they send you to talk me out of it?"
"Of course," she says, and you release a small breath you didn't know you were holding. Rei has never lied to you and you didn't expect her to start now, but you've already had this discussion with everyone you love. Haruka had punched a hole in the wall in frustration and Minako had cried buckets of tears while Ami tried reason and Makoto had bribed with sweets. You love them all the more for trying, but you wish they trusted you on this matter. It has to be done, and they have all tried and failed on your behalf already. You are the only one left to do it and you've spent too long shoring up your strength for the confrontation.
"I wish you wouldn't."
"Is it worth it, Usagi? Reason has gotten us nowhere with Anubis and it would be very easy to use our powers to isolate hers."
"Is it worth it?" you repeat, startled and upset that she would even dream of pursuing this line of questioning. "Was it worth it to save Michiru, Haruka, Hotaru, Setsuna, Chibiusa, Endymion?" Your voice breaks on the last names. You almost lost the ones dearest to your heart because no one thought they could be saved. No one except you.
She doesn't flinch, but you didn't expect her to because she's Rei, your worst enemy and best friend rolled up into one person. "They had no choice in the matter, and you could heal them. Anubis is not under a spell. She doesn't want you to heal her pain. She thrives on her agony and her need to cause destruction."
"The foundation of Crystal Tokyo will not be blood and chaos," you say, standing up and peering at your image in the mirror.
"Blood has already been spilled on every planet that lies outside your sphere of influence. So many senshi that I hear their voices on the wind. The young, the old, the powerful, and the powerless all cry – they demand retribution." Rei's voice is not cool any longer, the warmth of her anger burning the neutrality from her expression.
Turning, you stare past Rei's slumped figure into the bedroom beyond the doorway. You know it is useless to explain it to Rei as it was useless to explain to the others. Endymion passes through your line of sight, his befuddled expression betraying his search for his glasses. Not Endymion, you correct silently, still Mamoru, but that name feels foreign on your tongue these days, immediate and distant. The advent of Crystal Tokyo weighs on your mind, and more than once, you've missed responding to the name your parents gave you at birth. Usagi seems a lifetime ago, a girl who wore every emotion on her sleeve and didn't understand the consequences of her actions, just let herself go with hope that everything would turn out all right and that her friends and love would be safe with her sacrifices. You are Serenity now if only to yourself, aware that the future of Crystal Tokyo and of your beloved daughter, rests on the coming confrontation with someone you've never had a connection with even during the age of the Silver Millenium. Her isolation was retribution enough, you think. Ana blames you for the death of her family and of her planet, but you know that she must be persuaded to see the future the way it will be, an age of infinite beauty, peace, and prosperity. "I have to go," you say, ignoring Rei's speech stumbling to a stop. "It's time."
You do not go alone exactly, leaving Mamoru and Haruka nearby while instructing them to stay put until you call; it's a favor to your friends more than a safeguard. You find her where you expect and she looks at you with all the derision and fury that she feels. It bounces off your emotional shield effortlessly – you no longer feel everything that people throw at you. She only sees Usagi with sincere eyes and a sweet pleading tone, but you are Serenity, Moon Princess and future ruler of Crystal Tokyo, and your patience is infinite. You pour all of Usagi's innocence into your words for Ana, but she is Anubis, a true believer who wants the death and destruction of everyone before peace wins out. Her barbs fall flat because you know what she does not, that there will not be loneliness or pain when Crystal Tokyo comes to be. Every attempt to cause physical pain is met with forgiveness and love, two weapons you have at your disposal, and that fact frustrates her to the point where she betrays her own weakness before she leaves you bleeding on the floor.
That brief weakness is what gives you hope for the first time since the murders began, and in spite of your aching body and the blood on your dress, you greet Mamoru and Haruka with a grim smile. The confrontation is over, but the war can be won. You wonder if there will ever be anyone you won't have to use love against. "No," you say to Haruka when your friend starts toward the door with rage as she gets a good look at your bruises. "We have to regroup and come back with a different strategy." But when you leave the place, supported by two who love you beyond reason, you make a silent promise to the girl you saw for a moment. You do not make the promise as Serenity or Sailor Moon or Usagi; you make the promise as a dear friend, as a person who loves her friends unconditionally. You will come back and free her from the prison that she has built out of hell.
***
Author: Sarafu/
obsessivemuchSummary: You prepare for a difficult confrontation with Sailor Anubis, wondering if history is doomed to repeat itself.
Fandom: Sailor Moon
Characters: Sailor Moon, Sailor Anubis
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Spoilers: General Crystal Tokyo arc
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, the alternate universe belongs to AnarchicQ
Original story: Cleansed by Fire by
anarchicqNotes: My thanks as always to the people who let me talk until I'm blue in the face and then tell me what to fix. In particular, I want to thank Casey, Arrow, and Kikos for being so very awesome.
***
"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asks, leaning against the door of your bedroom with a maddeningly neutral expression.
And it's only because it's Rei asking that you bite your tongue and continue brushing your long blonde hair. You refrain from answering until you've twisted your hair up into your familiar style. "Did they send you to talk me out of it?"
"Of course," she says, and you release a small breath you didn't know you were holding. Rei has never lied to you and you didn't expect her to start now, but you've already had this discussion with everyone you love. Haruka had punched a hole in the wall in frustration and Minako had cried buckets of tears while Ami tried reason and Makoto had bribed with sweets. You love them all the more for trying, but you wish they trusted you on this matter. It has to be done, and they have all tried and failed on your behalf already. You are the only one left to do it and you've spent too long shoring up your strength for the confrontation.
"I wish you wouldn't."
"Is it worth it, Usagi? Reason has gotten us nowhere with Anubis and it would be very easy to use our powers to isolate hers."
"Is it worth it?" you repeat, startled and upset that she would even dream of pursuing this line of questioning. "Was it worth it to save Michiru, Haruka, Hotaru, Setsuna, Chibiusa, Endymion?" Your voice breaks on the last names. You almost lost the ones dearest to your heart because no one thought they could be saved. No one except you.
She doesn't flinch, but you didn't expect her to because she's Rei, your worst enemy and best friend rolled up into one person. "They had no choice in the matter, and you could heal them. Anubis is not under a spell. She doesn't want you to heal her pain. She thrives on her agony and her need to cause destruction."
"The foundation of Crystal Tokyo will not be blood and chaos," you say, standing up and peering at your image in the mirror.
"Blood has already been spilled on every planet that lies outside your sphere of influence. So many senshi that I hear their voices on the wind. The young, the old, the powerful, and the powerless all cry – they demand retribution." Rei's voice is not cool any longer, the warmth of her anger burning the neutrality from her expression.
Turning, you stare past Rei's slumped figure into the bedroom beyond the doorway. You know it is useless to explain it to Rei as it was useless to explain to the others. Endymion passes through your line of sight, his befuddled expression betraying his search for his glasses. Not Endymion, you correct silently, still Mamoru, but that name feels foreign on your tongue these days, immediate and distant. The advent of Crystal Tokyo weighs on your mind, and more than once, you've missed responding to the name your parents gave you at birth. Usagi seems a lifetime ago, a girl who wore every emotion on her sleeve and didn't understand the consequences of her actions, just let herself go with hope that everything would turn out all right and that her friends and love would be safe with her sacrifices. You are Serenity now if only to yourself, aware that the future of Crystal Tokyo and of your beloved daughter, rests on the coming confrontation with someone you've never had a connection with even during the age of the Silver Millenium. Her isolation was retribution enough, you think. Ana blames you for the death of her family and of her planet, but you know that she must be persuaded to see the future the way it will be, an age of infinite beauty, peace, and prosperity. "I have to go," you say, ignoring Rei's speech stumbling to a stop. "It's time."
You do not go alone exactly, leaving Mamoru and Haruka nearby while instructing them to stay put until you call; it's a favor to your friends more than a safeguard. You find her where you expect and she looks at you with all the derision and fury that she feels. It bounces off your emotional shield effortlessly – you no longer feel everything that people throw at you. She only sees Usagi with sincere eyes and a sweet pleading tone, but you are Serenity, Moon Princess and future ruler of Crystal Tokyo, and your patience is infinite. You pour all of Usagi's innocence into your words for Ana, but she is Anubis, a true believer who wants the death and destruction of everyone before peace wins out. Her barbs fall flat because you know what she does not, that there will not be loneliness or pain when Crystal Tokyo comes to be. Every attempt to cause physical pain is met with forgiveness and love, two weapons you have at your disposal, and that fact frustrates her to the point where she betrays her own weakness before she leaves you bleeding on the floor.
That brief weakness is what gives you hope for the first time since the murders began, and in spite of your aching body and the blood on your dress, you greet Mamoru and Haruka with a grim smile. The confrontation is over, but the war can be won. You wonder if there will ever be anyone you won't have to use love against. "No," you say to Haruka when your friend starts toward the door with rage as she gets a good look at your bruises. "We have to regroup and come back with a different strategy." But when you leave the place, supported by two who love you beyond reason, you make a silent promise to the girl you saw for a moment. You do not make the promise as Serenity or Sailor Moon or Usagi; you make the promise as a dear friend, as a person who loves her friends unconditionally. You will come back and free her from the prison that she has built out of hell.
***
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-04-23 05:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-04-29 05:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-04-30 07:57 pm (UTC)I'm sorry for putting you through that. You must have been so "oh crap!" When you came upon my meager body of work.
But you managed to make it into something truly unique. You salvaged my mess! You got skills, girl!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-04-30 11:31 pm (UTC)