Ail and Ann stood before the Doom Tree, thinking as they brooded over the steadily declining health of the tree. There had to be a better source of energy out there that they had yet to tap into…. Slowly, a grin slid across Ail’s face as he displayed images of babies giggling, playing and smiling above them.
“Babies are filled with young, fresh energy,” he explained to Ann as he turned to look at her.
“So, our next target is babies,” Ann agreed.
“Ann, choose a Cardian suited for this plan,” he told her as he brought out a hand of cards and spread them before her.
“Right,” she replied as she pointed a finger at one and made it rise into the air, away from the rest of the cards.
Ail put away the rest of the cards and snatched the floating card out of the air. With a silent exchange between the two, they both vanished, only to reappear on top of one of the taller buildings in downtown Tokyo. Ann simply sat down on the concrete foundation of the building and watched as Ail walked over to the edge of the building with her chosen card in hand. He deftly flung the card into the air where it flew up and hung in place a short distance away.
“Come forth, Cardian Amateras,” he commanded as he raised his flute up to his lips and began to play. As he played, the card began to glow as it stretched, expanded and reshaped itself into the summoned Cardian. She was a feminine Cardian with long blue hair and orange and yellow robes tied together with a blue sash around the waist. The golden bracelets and choker that she wore glimmered in the sunlight.
“Cardian Amateras,” Ail began with a sinister grin, “here are your targets….”
The giggling and gurgling of happy babies filled the air out side of the daycare center. One little redheaded baby in particular was busy being picked up the baby’s mother, who was smiling lovingly down at her child.
“Have you been good, my little Manami-chan?” she cooed as she held Manami in her arms.
“But, of course,” the woman supervising the babies replied. “Isn’t that right, Manami-chan?” she asked the baby.
Manami’s mother grinned as she looked back down from the woman back to her child. “Say bye-bye to the lady,” he said encouragingly.
“Bbrgurah,” Manami gurgled.
“Ah, you’re too young to say bye, aren’t you?” the woman said cheerily to the baby.
“Oh, how cute!” Usagi exclaimed in delight as she, Ami and Ryoku just happened to be passing by the daycare center.
“What’s the baby’s name?” Ami asked.
“It’s Manami,” the baby’s mother told them, smiling.
“Hello, Manami-chan,” Ryoku said, half-grinning at the baby.
“Heegh,” Manami gurgled again.
A bright red light suddenly burst above the daycare center as Amateras appeared overhead, hovering in front of the sun.
“What the…?” Usagi exclaimed as she, Ami and Ryoku each winced at the bright light and threw their arms up to shield their eyes.
“Cardian?!?” Ami shouted.
With a small grin on her face, the Cardian slowly placed her hands together down in front of her with her palms down. A sphere of blue light formed in her hands, while blue strings floated out and headed for everyone inside the walls surrounding the yard of the daycare center. The three outside the daycare’s walls gasped in horror as they watched everyone – adult and baby alike – get drained of their energy. The only person in the yard that wasn’t caught by the strings was Manami. Manami’s mother had turned just enough so that she would take the attack instead. When Amateras was finished draining everyone, she released them and began pulling back her strings. Manami’s mother slowly began to slump down until she fell to the ground. However, she never let go of her child as she fell to the ground.
“Damn…,” Ryoku growled as he leapt up to the top of the gate and pulled himself up and over after the Cardian retracted her strings.
“How terrible!” Ami exclaimed as they saw all the babies stop moving around. Many of them closed their eyes as if they had merely gone to sleep. Ryoku quickly went from baby to baby, checking all of them. Above them, Amateras merely laughed as she vanished, bringing the red sky back to its normal blue color.
“Ryo-kun?” Usagi called out worriedly after the Cardian left.
“It’s not looking too good,” he said as he went to go check on Manami’s mother.
“What do we do?” she asked as Mamoru suddenly ran up to them, having seen what happened from far down the other side of the street.
“Hurry, get an ambulance!” he shouted as he took in the entire scene.
“Right,” Ami nodded as she ran off to find a phone.
As Ryoku knelt down to check on Manami’s mother, he paused as he noticed the baby trying to crawl out from under his mother. “So, little one,” he said as he gently moved the mother’s body so that he could get to the baby, “your mother protected you from the Cardian.” He frowned as he picked Manami up. “Don’t worry. We’ll make sure your mother gets help.” He turned toward Usagi and Mamoru and displayed the baby. “There’s one survivor. However, the mother is unconscious.”
“I hope that ambulance arrives soon,” Usagi worried as she glanced out at the babies lying still on the ground. Mamoru was also watching the babies with worry etched on his face.
“Same here, Usagi-chan,” Ryoku replied as he looked down at the baby in his arms. Manami stared back up at him and smiled. “Same here….”
It wasn’t too long before several ambulances arrived. Each baby, the woman that was in charge of the babies at the time, and Manami’s mother were all loaded carefully into the ambulances and were rushed toward the hospital. Usagi, Ami, Ryoku and Mamoru were all riding with Manami’s mother in her ambulance, partly because Manami was perfectly all right and needed to be watched and partly because they were worried about her as well.
“Hang in there…,” Usagi murmured to Manami’s mother as she watched her concernedly.
Back in the chamber where they kept the Doom Tree, Ail and Ann watched as the tree glowed as it absorbed the energy that the Cardian had collected. Once it was done, Amateras reverted back into her dormant card-shape. The card dropped from the air down to where Ail was waiting for it. He caught it on the tip of his finger and let it spin on its tip as he grinned smugly.
“The plan was a success.”
“Let’s harvest more young, fresh energy,” Ann said smiling as Ail stopped spinning the card and put it away.
“We have no idea when the Sailor Warriors may appear,” he warned her as he dropped his grin. “We must carry out the plan cautiously.”
The hospital room that Manami’s mother was taken to was big enough to accommodate all of the other energy drain victims as well. Manami’s mother occupied a bed at the very front of the room near the door. A hospital crib for Manami was placed next to her bed so they wouldn’t have to be far apart.
Usagi and Mamoru were standing at the foot of the bed, watching Ryoku as he sat in a chair beside the crib. His right arm was inside the crib and Manami was currently using his index finger as a replacement pacifier. Ami was speaking with the doctor about his examinations of all the energy drain victims.
“Are you sure you can’t find any pacifiers?” he asked with a patient grimace. “This is becoming slightly… uncomfortable.”
“We already told you that we couldn’t, Ryoku,” Mamoru replied, repressing the urge to laugh.
“Could one of you trade places with me?” he asked, which almost seemed like begging. “Please?”
“No way,” Usagi replied, shaking her head. “Not me. Besides, she was the one who grabbed your finger and started sucking on it. You remember what happened when you tried to take your finger back.”
“Don’t remind me,” he grumbled. “The kid has a powerful set of lungs for being so small.”
“Why does Ryo-kun have his arm in the crib?” Ami asked as she walked in.
“Long story,” he told her as she walked up and peered into the crib and observed Manami peacefully sucking away at his finger.
“Oh, that’s adorable,” she said as she smiled down at Manami, then up at Ryoku. She paused and blinked as a realization hit her. “But, why didn’t you get her a pacifier? You could’ve asked one of the medical personnel where they keep them.”
“Is that so?” he said slowly as he turned and glared at Usagi and Mamoru over his shoulder. “Now, what was that you said about you both being unable to find a pacifier?” he asked flatly. “Usagi-chan? Mamoru-san?”
“Ehehehehe…,” Usagi laughed in chagrin as she put a hand behind her head. “Well….”
“What?” Mamoru asked with a shrug. “We can’t have a little bit of fun at your expense?”
“Why me?” he sighed in exasperation. Manami just sucked away happily.
“What did the doctor say, Ami-chan?” Usagi asked, turning serious.
“The babies can leave the hospital in a week,” she reported.
“What about Manami-chan?” she asked, glancing down toward the baby.
“She’s fine,” Ami told her.
“Because her mother shielded her…,” Usagi said quietly. As one, they all turned to gaze concernedly.
“She’ll be discharged in about three or four days,” Ami continued. “But, there’s a problem.”
“What’s that?” Ryoku asked, as Manami finally relinquished his finger. He quickly removed his arm from the crib, should the baby have second thoughts about the finger.
“Manami-chan’s father is out of the country on a business trip,” she explained.
“There are no relatives?” Mamoru asked as Ryoku left the room.
She nodded. “So, there’s nobody who can look after her till her mother leaves the hospital.”
He frowned thoughtfully as he looked down at the baby. Manami almost seemed to be staring at him as the baby sat there contentedly.
“I’ll take care of her.”
“What?” Usagi said as she spun toward him in surprise.
“I said, I’ll look after her,” he told her.
“Are you sure you should volunteer so fast?” Ami asked concernedly. “It’s hard work looking after a baby.”
“I’ve found a pacifier,” Ryoku said as he came back into the room. “Here, Usagi-chan.”
“Oh, good,” Usagi said as he handed it to her. “Here’s your pacifier,” she said as she gently placed the pacifier into Manami’s mouth. “Good girl.”
Ami grinned at Ryoku. “You must be glad you don’t have to give her your fingers anymore.” Ryoku merely nodded.
A few seconds after Usagi gave Manami the pacifier, the crying began again.
“No!” Ryoku countered as they began to stare at him. “Not again. I got you the pacifier; use it!”
“I don’t think that’s it,” Usagi said after turning back to Manami. “It’s really hard to tell why she’s crying.”
I want my mom, Manami thought while continuing to cry.
“It’ll be hard,” she continued as she reached into the crib and picked Manami up. “I’ll give you a hand, Mamoru-san. Ami-chan, Ryo-kun,” she said as she turned toward the two, “you two can help, right?”
“I don’t know how to take care of babies,” he replied. “I’d just get in the way.”
“I don’t know…. I don’t want to bother you two,” Ami replied.
“That’s all right,” Mamoru said. “You don’t have to help. I can manage fine by myself.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Usagi said as she turned toward the door while still holding Manami. “Well, if we’re going to go, you’d better grab all the things that we’ll need.” With that, she left.
“Hey!” Mamoru shouted as she left, but it was already too late. “Well, I guess she can help take her home…,” he muttered as he grabbed the bags of baby supplies that were sitting beside the bed.
“What’s so funny, Ryo-kun?” Ami asked after Mamoru left.
“I suppose they’ll find out soon enough,” he said after he stopped chuckling quietly to himself. “In a way, it’ll almost be like a small retribution for that little joke they played on me.”
“Find what out?”
“I’m surprised you didn’t catch it, either,” he said, half-grinning in amusement. “At any rate, I’m sure they’ll be surprised to find out about ‘her’….”
After they arrived at Mamoru’s apartment, Usagi set Manami on Mamoru’s bed, then went to help Mamoru with the bags he was carrying. There wasn’t that much to look through, although a book on baby care caught Usagi’s interest since Manami had started crying yet again. She began to look through the book as Mamoru began making stupid noises and faces at the baby while shaking a baby rattle.
He’s a funny man, Manami thought while staring at Mamoru.
“She stopped crying,” Usagi noticed as she closed the book and went to try her hand at making stupid faces and noises. It turned out that she was exceptionally good at it.
She’s funnier, Manami thought as a small smile started to form.
“You can go home now, Meatball-head,” Mamoru said as he stood up and folded his arms. “I’ll look after the baby. I don’t want to drag you into this as well.”
“Oh yeah?” she exclaimed as she stood up as well, but he had already bent down to pick up the baby. Now he was lying on the bed, holding Manami over him and making flying noises.
But, I wanted to bring her home, too! she fumed as she scowled at him while he sat back up, holding Manami in his arms. Her scowl faded away as she watched him play with Manami, until she was smiling again. Then again, he’s a pretty gentle guy, isn’t he? She walked over to the bed and sat down, then unconsciously leaned against him as she closed her eyes.
She likes him? Manami thought, reaching out toward the blonde-haired girl.
Usagi opened her eyes and glanced up at Mamoru, only to find him looking back down at her with a quizzical look on his face. That was when she realized what she was doing and quickly leaped to her feet while blushing.
“Your room’s pretty clean, isn’t it?” she said while trying to hide her embarrassment. Suddenly, the baby started crying again, saving Usagi from a very embarrassing situation.
“What’s the matter?” she asked as they both turned their attention toward Manami.
“Must be hungry,” Mamoru reasoned as he rummaged through one of the bags that he had brought with him, looking for a bottle and the canister of powdered milk.
“I’ll do it,” she stated as she snatched the bottle and canister out of his hands after he took it out of the bag. She hurried into the kitchen and proceeded to make the milk… or rather, tried to. First, it was too much powder; then, she spilled the powder all over the counter. After that, she went to the sink to fill the bottle with warm water, but she used too much water pressure and the bottle was knocked out of her hands and into the sink. Furthermore, the water splattered everywhere – mostly on her.
“Done,” she announced as she left the kitchen looking like both the powder and the water faucet had ganged up on her, leaving white splotches everywhere on the front of her clothing and her face.
“What the…?” Mamoru gasped as he sweatdropped. Could she not even prepare powdered milk without making a mess?
Without another word, she knelt down in front of the bed and tried to feed the baby. “Why aren’t you drinking?” she asked when Manami refused to take the bottle.
“The milk must be too hot,” Mamoru supposed.
I’m not hungry! My diaper’s wet! Manami thought while crying.
Usagi decided to test the formula the only way she knew how. “This milk is very good,” she said after taking the bottle out of her mouth.
Mamoru knelt down before Manami and checked the baby over. “I should’ve guessed,” he said as he stood back up.
“What is it?” Usagi asked nervously. “Is she sick? Measles? Chicken pox? Whooping cough?”
“No. Her diaper is wet,” he replied as he reached for the bag again. “There should be a disposable in the bag.”
“That’s not a job for men,” she said as she took the diaper from him. Considering the fact that he was about to change a soiled diaper, he wasn’t about to complain.
“All right, let’s just get rid of this…. Eh?!?” she exclaimed after removing the diaper.
“What’s wrong, Meatball-head?”
“She’s a girl… but, she’s got a… thingy!” she said, pointing.
“What’s that?” he asked as he moved around to where he could see what she was talking about.
I’m not a girl, Manami thought, staring at Usagi.
Mamoru started laughing after he saw what she was talking about. “Sure, he’s got a feminine name, but he’s a boy, aren’t you?” he said, grinning down at Manami.
“He startled me for a moment,” Usagi said as she continued with changing Manami’s diaper. “You’ll catch cold with your bottom exposed like that.” As soon as she finished changing him, he started crying again.
“Now what?” she exclaimed in exasperation. “I just changed his diaper! Did he pee again already?” She opened up his diaper and checked.
I’m hungry.
“It’s not wet,” she noticed. “What is it, then?”
“Now, he’s hungry,” Mamoru said as he held out the bottle for Manami, which he gratefully accepted.
Thank you, Manami thought as he sucked away on the bottle.
“You understand babies really well, don’t you?” Usagi asked. “Have you had a baby before?”
“Of course not,” he replied flatly.
“Oh, right,” she said as frowned in chagrin. Why do I always ask such dumb questions?
“There you go!” he said encouragingly as he had Manami sit up. “Eat well and grow well.” He glanced at the bottle in Manami’s hands and grinned. “That is milk. Say milk.”
Manami looked at him, blinked, and continued to suck away at the bottle.
“Come on,” Usagi said, smiling condescendingly as she walked over to the bed, “he’s still a little baby. He’s still too young to speak.”
She reached out and lifted him to his feet. “Let’s see you stand,” she told him as she let go. Manami plopped back down on his bottom, looked blankly at Usagi, and started sucking at his bottle again. She tried again, setting him on his feet, but he merely plopped back down on his behind and stared blankly at her as he sucked on his bottle.
“He can only crawl,” Mamoru said dryly as he crossed his arms and gave her a flat look. “It’s hard enough making him stand up. Forget about walking,” he added after giving her a pointed look.
Usagi scowled indignantly. I wasn’t even going to suggest that! Well… not yet, at least. “Sure, I’m just a lousy, stupid girl!” she shouted angrily as she stormed out of the apartment, leaving Mamoru and Manami to stare after her in confusion… or rather, leaving Mamoru to stare after her.
“Eehaa,” Manami gurgled as he took the bottle out of his mouth for a moment.
“Yeah,” Mamoru murmured in reply as he blinked in perplexity.
Outside the apartment complex, Usagi furiously marched away from the building. Her feet stomped hard against the pavement as she tried to work off her anger.
“Damn Mamoru-san!” she growled as she clenched her hands into fists and threw them down at her side as hard as she could. “He just has to find faults in everything I do! I never thought he was that kind of idiot!”
She kept ranting and grumbling as she continued to walk, until she had blown off all her previous anger. Now, all that was left was a small feeling of apprehension. The feeling started to grow until it included doubt and depression. She was walking across a small footbridge when a sudden thought caused her to stop walking and stare despondently over the side of the bridge as tears slowly began to form in her eyes.
“Could it be that we aren’t made for each other?” she said quietly to herself with a hint of dread. “I couldn’t stand that….”
The next morning, Luna woke up and yawned as she arched her back in a slow stretch. After her little stretch, she leapt up onto Usagi’s bed to wake up the lazy girl. She paused before the first word left her mouth since the blonde-haired girl in question wasn’t in her bed. The bed was already made and her pajamas were lying on top.
“Usagi-chan’s already up?” she said in astonishment. “She always sleeps in on Sundays. Where could she be?”
Usagi was leisurely pushing a baby stroller down the street as Mamoru walked behind her, carrying several boxes. Manami was content to just sit quietly in the stroller and enjoy his little ride.
“Will that be enough diapers and milk?” Usagi asked.
“He’s only going to be around for two more days,” Mamoru replied dryly. “This is far too much.”
On the other side of the street, Natsumi was just about to turn the corner when she noticed Usagi and Mamoru… and the baby stroller that Usagi was pushing.
“No way!” she murmured to herself as she ducked back behind the corner and peered around it at them. “Mamoru-sama and Tsukino-san have a baby? Could they have already…?” She scowled fiercely at the thought.
“Wow!” Minako exclaimed as she, Makoto, Ami and Ryoku all walked over to see the baby. Minako looked up at Usagi and grinned slyly. “Usagi-chan, when did you have his baby?”
Usagi’s eyes widened in shock and embarrassment. “You dummy!!!” she yelled as she balled up a fist and shook it at Minako. “Why should I do that?”
“Hey, Mamoru-san,” Ryoku said as he walked up to him, “why are you hiding your face behind those boxes?” He quickly tugged back on the boxes just enough so that he could see his face before Mamoru could hide behind the boxes again.
“Hey, what’re you doing?” Mamoru exclaimed as he tried to hide, but it was too late.
“Ah, I see…,” Ryoku said grinned just as slyly as Minako had earlier. Usagi turned around to see that Mamoru’s face had turned a bright red.
“Come on,” Makoto said casually while grinning at Usagi and Mamoru’s discomfiture. “Do you seriously think that Minako-chan thought that something had happened between you?”
“I was just kidding,” Minako added, grinning.
“Usagi-chan, we’re going over to Rei-chan’s place,” Ami told her quietly so that Mamoru couldn’t hear. “We’re going to try to learn something about this new Cardian. Are you coming?”
“You bet,” Usagi replied. “Well… just as soon as we finish taking Ma-chan and the baby supplies back to Mamoru-san’s apartment….”
Later that day, Usagi joined the others as they all met outside the Hikawa Shrine. They all followed Rei inside to the fire room and sat in a row behind her as she knelt in front of the flame with her eyes closed and concentrated.
“Rin…,” she chanted as she unconsciously moved her hands into the positions that she had been taught time and time again by her grandfather. “Pyou….” For each word, she would change the position of her hands while maintaining her concentration. She had done this so often it was now second nature to her. “Tou…. Sha…. Kai…. Jin…. Retsu…. Sai…. Zen….” As her eyes snapped open on the last word, the fire suddenly surged as an image appeared in the flames.
“That’s it!” Usagi exclaimed as she and the others gasped at the sight. “That’s the Cardian that attacked the babies.”
“I once saw a similar image on a tarot card; the Sun card,” Rei said distractedly as she stared at the image of the Cardian. “It’s said that the Sun tarot card means a happy marriage or romance.”
“That’s a good meaning,” Ami remarked.
“However,” Rei continued, “reversed, it symbolizes the breakdown of a marriage or trouble in love.”
“That’s really bad,” Makoto remarked, frowning.
“So, which way is it for Usagi-chan and Mamoru-san?” Minako asked, grinning.
“I don’t think we should be worrying about that right now,” Ryoku interrupted in a serious tone. “Rei-chan, what can you tell us about this Cardian?”
“All I can see is that this Cardian seems to be targeting only babies,” she told him.
“Babies…,” Ryoku said, frowning as he trailed of. “Like Manami-chan….”
“Listen, everyone,” Usagi said as she stood up. “I’m getting worried about Ma-chan. I’m going to go see him.” With that, she turned and left.
“One thing that I know for certain,” Rei said as she stood up, “is that the Cardian is definitely going to strike again. Next time that it shows up, we’ll destroy it for sure.”
“Right!” the others replied as they stood up as well, determination set on each of their faces.
“There,” Mamoru said, turning off the water faucet. After running hot water over the bottle, the milk was now warm enough to give to Manami. At the same time, Manami was busy doing baby stuff; namely, making a mess by grabbing a box of tissue paper and pulling them out one by one, then throwing them up in the air to land where they will. By now, a good portion of the floor surrounding him was covered in tissue paper.
As Mamoru straightened up to take the bottle to Manami, the doorbell rang. “Yes?” he called out as he turned to go see who it was.
“Mamoru-sama?” Natsumi called out as she let herself in. “I heard at the hospital that you were looking after a baby. It must be hard, so I’m here to help you.”
She headed straight for Manami and picked him up, preventing him from making the mess any worse than it already was. “Now, don’t make a mess of the room,” she told him sternly as he started crying. “Very naughty baby. Mamoru-sama’s making milk for you now, so be patient.”
Manami paused his crying as stared at her for a moment. I hate her, he thought as he resumed crying.
“Stop crying,” she demanded harshly in a quiet voice.
“His diaper must be wet,” Mamoru said as he peeked out from within the kitchen.
“Okay, I’ll change it,” she replied eagerly as she glanced back at him over her shoulder. She turned back to Manami and removed his diaper in order to check. “It’s not wet…,” she said, slightly puzzled by his continued crying.
She’s bad! he thought, crying louder.
“What an insulting baby!” she grumbled under her breath just as Mamoru came out of the kitchen and gave Manami his bottle, quieting him.
“You can ask me to do anything,” she told Mamoru as she picked Manami up. “I’ll help you anytime.”
I hate her! Manami thought again as he expressed his feelings the best way he could.
“Aaaah!” she shrieked angrily as she tossed away Manami and tried to wipe away the warm liquid from her face as fast as she could. Mamoru quickly jumped forward and caught Manami before he could fly very far. “I can’t stand it!” she shrieked again as she whirled around and stormed off. “I’m leaving!”
At that moment, Usagi walked through the open door. “How are you feeling, Ma-chan?” she called out just as Natsumi walked into her view and furiously strode past her without ever noticing her. “Natsumi?” she said in surprise at seeing her there, but the other girl didn’t even respond as she marched down the hallway.
“Wait!” Mamoru called out as he ran after her up to the door, then stopped as soon as he noticed Usagi standing there.
“So…,” Usagi said sadly as she stared up at him with tears starting to form in her eyes, “you really didn’t care who looked after Ma-chan.” She turned around and started to leave, when Mamoru caught her by the shoulder.
“Wait, Meatball-head!” he said, almost desperately.
“Lemme go!” she shouted as she tried to pull her arm out of his grasp, but he was too strong.
“She just came to help me, that’s all,” he explained as she stopped struggling.
“It’s okay,” she told him as she stopped crying, although her tone was still hurt and upset. “I’m leaving.”
“What’re you so mad about?” he asked as he let go of her arm and gave her a questioning look.
“I can’t stand men who can’t understand girls!” she snapped as she turned around, but gasped in surprise as she glanced at Manami.
“Look!” Mamoru gasped as well after he looked to see what had caused that reaction in Usagi.
While they were arguing, Manami had slowly pushed himself up to his feet and was now standing by himself. The box of tissue paper was across the room from where Mamoru had put him down and he wasn’t finished playing with it. It was fun and he wanted to play with it some more. Since the grown-ups were busy, he had to get to them himself, so he carefully put one foot in front of the other – just like he had seen the grown-ups do – and….
“Manami is…,” Mamoru breathed incredulously as he and Usagi watched.
“He’s… walking?” she murmured as she stared as well.
Manami slowly and deliberately walked directly for the box of tissue paper that he had been playing with a short time before. Once he had reached the box, he promptly dropped onto his diaper-padded bottom and resumed his game of pull-the-tissue-paper.
Usagi and Mamoru stared at Manami for a few moments, then at each other, and then back at Manami again as the very act of Manami walking slowly registered into their respective brains.
“ALL RIGHT!!!” they both shouted joyfully as Usagi took Mamoru’s hands and started jumping up and down in celebration while Mamoru just laughed happily.
“What’s wrong?” Ami asked as she and Ryoku walked into the apartment in mid-celebration.
“I don’t think it’s a question of what went wrong, Ami-chan,” Ryoku remarked as he nodded pointedly toward where Usagi and Mamoru were holding hands.
“Oh,” she said, nodding. “Sorry to disturb you,” she added after they released each other’s hands.
“It’s not what you think!” Usagi said defensively as she waved her hands in denial.
“Oh?” Ryoku asked, half-grinning mischievously. “And how do you know what we were thinking?”
“Ah…. Ma-chan was…,” she began, hoping to quickly change the subject.
“He was walking,” Mamoru said as he picked him up.
“Really?” both Ami and Ryoku exclaimed in pleasant surprise.
Mamoru nodded as he set Manami down again, but on his feet. “Now, let’s see you walk again,” he said encouragingly.
“Come on,” Usagi said, adding her encouragement. “Stand firm.”
Manami promptly fell on his diaper-padded behind again.
“Usagi-chan, it’s an emergency!” Ami whispered aside to her as Ryoku walked over to Manami and set him on his feet again. “Rei-chan sensed the presence of the Cardian.” Manami fell on his bottom again.
“Mamoru-san, something came up,” she told him as he knelt down to stand Manami up again. “I’ll drop by again.”
“Ryo-kun, we’re going now,” Ami called out as she and Usagi turned to leave. “Bye.”
“All right,” Ryoku said as he stood up. “Sorry, Mamoru-san. We have to go. See you later.” With that, he was gone, too.
For the second time, Mamoru was left staring after Usagi with a look of confusion on his face.
“Eehaa,” Manami gurgled as he glanced up at him.
“Yeah,” he murmured in reply as mulled over the feeling of déjà vu that had suddenly caught him.
Some distance away, the sky above a daycare center similar to the one that had been attacked a few days ago turned red as Amateras appeared overhead. On the ground below the Cardian, the babies continued their playing, oblivious to the danger that they were currently in.
Amateras placed her hands together, just as before, and a sphere of blue light appeared within her hands.
“Hold it!” a voice shouted, interrupting the Cardian before she could strike. As she turned in the direction of the voice, Sailor Mars, Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter each leaped into view before her.
“You won’t take any energy away from these cute babies!” Mars shouted as she pointed accusingly at Amateras.
“Now, beat it!” Jupiter added fiercely.
“Crescent beam!” Venus shouted, firing her attack at Amateras.
The Cardian quickly dodged the attack, then responded by blowing across her right palm, which spread a shower of orange bubbles down to the ground. Whenever a bubble touched a baby, that baby became trapped inside the bubble. The ensnared babies began to cry as the bubbles slowly lifted them into the air, placing them between Amateras and the Sailor Scouts.
“What a scumbag,” Mars seethed furiously.
“I can’t attack…,” Jupiter growled in frustration.
Amateras took advantage of the Scouts inability to attack her through the shield of babies and fired an attack at them. The blast struck the ground in front of them, but it was enough to knock them off their feet and send them flying a few feet back. When Usagi, Ami and Ryoku finally arrived on the scene, they found the three other Scouts lying on the ground.
“We’d better get to it,” Ryoku told them as he brought out his Knight swords.
Usagi and Ami nodded as they each grabbed their respective transformation item.
“Moon crystal power, make up!”
“Mercury power, make up!”
“Knight swords power!”
Amateras wasted no time in attacking the newly transformed Sailor Scouts. Sailor Moon and Mercury both leaped in opposite directions while Knight dived forward and rolled toward the Cardian as he prepared to jump at her. As the three Scouts scattered, Amateras used her energy draining attack again. This time, the strings managed to wrap around the arms and legs of the three Scouts.
“What’s this?” Sailor Moon murmured as the Cardian drained her energy.
“My strength is going…,” Mercury murmured weakly.
“Let go…,” Knight growled faintly as he glared up at Amateras.
As Amateras continued to drain them of their energy, a white rose suddenly flew through the air and struck the Cardian in the face, stunning her. While the Cardian was stunned, the blue strings holding the Scouts loosened and fell away. At the same time, the bubbles holding the babies slowly floated down to the ground.
“On Sundays, when families should be happily together, it is intolerable for monsters to intrude,” the Moonlight Knight stated from the roof of the daycare center.
“Moonlight Knight-sama!” Sailor Moon shouted.
“Babies are adorable,” he continued as the bubbles faded away from around the babies. “Their smiles when kissed on the cheek are beyond description.”
“That’s right!” Mercury stated fiercely. “How dare you use those babies as a shield! Now, I’m mad!” There was a fire of righteous rage burning in her heart… her soul. She went through the motions of her attack, but the words she spoke were different. Words fueled with rage on behalf of the defenseless innocent.
“Shabon spray freezing!!!”
At first, the bubbles seemed exactly the same as before, but when they struck Amateras, her body was quickly enclosed in ice.
“Sailor Mercury, when did you pick that up?!?” Sailor Moon asked, astonished at seeing her new attack.
“It must be from the anger of that thing using babies,” she replied.
“That’s right,” Knight added, nodding. “When both Venus and I discovered our hidden powers it was when we were angry. I think that is what triggered our powers.”
“Sailor Moon, hurry before the Cardian breaks free,” Mercury told her urgently.
“Right,” Sailor Moon agreed as she brought out her Moon Scepter and faced Amateras. “Now, on behalf of the Moon, I’ll punish you!” She raised the scepter over her head in preparation for the finishing attack. “Moon princess halation!” she shouted as she waved the scepter in front of her, ending with it pointing at the Cardian. A stream of light emanated from the scepter and struck Amateras destroying her and leaving nothing behind but a smoldering card stuck into the ground.
As the Cardian was destroyed, the other Scouts recovered from the attack and stood up. All of the Sailor Scouts quickly checked over the babies for any signs of harm, but none of them seemed to be adversely effected by the bubbles that they had been trapped in.
“Maternal love is appreciated only after nursing a baby,” the Moonlight Knight stated as he turned to leave. “Farewell.”
“Moonlight Knight-sama…,” Sailor Moon sighed happily as she turned back to the others. They were laughing in delight at being around so many cute babies. Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Venus were each holding one of them while they were smirking at Sailor Knight, who was having difficulty trying to persuade a cluster of babies from trying to latch onto his legs. They laughed even harder after he fell over backwards and the babies crawled up to him, patting him as if they were trying to make him feel better after having fell down.
“Aw, poor baby…,” the others said in unison, laughing almost hard enough to make their eyes water.
“Shut up,” Knight muttered sulkily as he frowned. “That goes for you to,” he told the babies after they started laughing, or rather, gurgling in amusement. To his annoyance, they just kept grinning at him.
“I think they like you, Knight,” Venus giggled.
“It’s always been that way,” Jupiter said, chuckling. “Almost like they can sense the kind heart in him… despite how he acts,” she added aside jokingly.
“I heard that!”
Later that afternoon, Manami’s mother stopped by Mamoru’s apartment to pick up her son.
“You’re leaving the hospital already?” Usagi asked as she and Mamoru walked with her down to the apartment complex’s entrance as Usagi pushed the baby stroller. “I thought you weren’t due to leave until tomorrow.”
“I managed to get discharged a day early,” she told her as she bent down to check on her son. “Hello, Manami-chan,” she said, smiling cheerfully. Manami gurgled happily in reply. “I’m really grateful,” she told them as she straightened back up.
“Not at all,” Mamoru replied offhandedly.
“We really couldn’t do much,” Usagi said as she knelt down to say goodbye to Manami. “I’m sad to see you go, Ma-chan.”
“But, it’s better for him to be with his real mother,” he told her as he knelt down as well.”
“I know,” she sighed regretfully.
“Momou-shan,” Manami said as he waved at Mamoru, surprising him. “Usahi-shan,” he then said, waving at Usagi. This surprised Usagi, not only because he said her name – well, he was close enough – but because he said her name and not Meatball-head, since that was what Mamoru was calling her while she helped to take care of Manami at his apartment.
Usagi and Mamoru both waved goodbye after Manami’s mother took the stroller and started to leave. She walked a short distance, turned and bowed her thanks, then turned back and left as the evening sun began its trip below the horizon.
“Ma-chan…,” Usagi said in disbelief after Manami and his mother left their sight.
“…spoke,” Mamoru finished, also staring in disbelief.
The two stared at each other for a time, letting the thought register in their brains. There was only one thing to do in a situation like this….
“ALL RIGHT!!! YEAH!!!” they both shouted joyfully as they clasped the other’s hand and celebrated the fact that they had taught the baby how to walk and talk.
To Chapter 50: Rei’s Day in the Spotlight