Cd:SM cp3 ~ Strangers Around Us

I have two cats. One is female with black fur and golden eyes. Her name is Roswella. The other is male with white fur and blue eyes. His name is Zandro. Neither one has a golden cresent moon on their forheads. Neither have talked in English to me, and Roz has never jumped up in the air and done a backflip to create a golden brooch that I can use to turn into a defender of love and justice. If you think I'm pissed about that, then you know I'm pissed when I say that I don't own Roswell or Sailor Moon, so don't sue me. It's also hard to go to college and take care of two cats who never seem to not be hungry, so don't sue me because obviously I don't have much money after tuition and this week's supply of cat food is paid for. If you want to see pictures of my cats, go to https://www.angelfire.com/oh2/Bryn/Cats.html

The three sat in a booth in the empty Crown arcade. It was the morning after the shooting, and so far no customers had shown up yet. That wasn't a surprise to anyone, considering that it was only five in the morning and the sun had yet to rise. _Our meetings are best at night_ Motoki decided silently. _It lets us feel safer when the rest of the world is asleep_ Then again, it was hard to feel safe when her anger was filling the small store.

"I can't believe you were so reckless! Using your powers on a stranger! And in *public* no less!" Her voice cut through the air, dangerously close to shrieking. She glared at the dark-haired man siting in front of her, anger practically rolling in waves off her. She turned her glare to the other man in the booth. "And why didn't you stop him?"

Motoki shrugged. "You know Mamoru. Once he's decided on something, it's impossible to change his mind."

"Usagi had been shot. She would have died if I hadn't saved her." Mamoru murmured, half-heartedly defending himself. His thoughts were mostly occupied with wondering about Usagi. Was she all right now? Did she remember what happened? If he told her the truth, would she accept him for what he truly was or would she despise him, scared of the truth? His thoughts were a jumbled mess and he could barely spare the brainpower to focus on the conversation.

"I don't mean to sound heartless, but are you sure that saving her life was the right thing to do?" That broke through his thoughts. Mamoru looked sharply at her, his eyes looking shocked and defensive at the same time. "How can we know if we can trust her?" she continued. "What if we tell her the truth, and she reveals us? Then it's only a matter of time before they find us and turn us over to some government agency where they're going to test us and prod us and, oh yeah, exterminate us."

Mamoru didn't mention that he had been thinking similar thoughts. It would just encourage her. "You're overreacting. Besides," he replied, trying to sound calm and in control. "I couldn't just stand there and watch her die. I had to save her."

"That's where you're wrong." she cut his explanation short. "The only thing you have to do is pretend to be human and help us find the prince. Everything else is just a means to the end."

Motoki sighed before breaking into the conversation again. Usually it was fun to watch them bicker, almost as fun as watching Mamoru and Usagi go at it, but even though he was kinda ticked that Mamoru would almost blow their cover, he had to side with him this time. Motoki knew he would have risked their secret too if it had been Minako who was dying. "It's been over a year since you joined us," he said to her, "And we still haven't found the prince. What makes you think we ever will?"

She turned her golden eyes to meet Moto's. "We will find the prince. We have to." she replied, her tone allowing no denials. "And once we find him, he will lead us into the battle against Beryl and we will take back his throne from that usurper. But first we must find the other two like us. Once the four square is complete, the prince will be revealed."

Motoki just shook his head. _She sounds so sure of herself_ he thought silently. Mamoru's thoughts still centered on Usagi. Right now he couldn't concentrate on two others like them hidden on this planet, or on the mysterious prince who had yet to be found. All he could think about was, _What is Usagi thinking right now?_

~~~~~

_Just act normal. Just act normal_ Usagi chanted to herself under her breath as she walked into Juuban Junior High. She hadn't been able to sleep so, as a last resort, she had worked on schoolwork, hoping it would tire her out so much that she would fall asleep. No such luck. She hid the circles under her tired eyes with makeup and the silver handprint on her stomach under her second uniform's shirt. She had also decided to tuck the shirt into the hem of her skirt in order to lessen the chance that it could flap up and reveal to the world that something had changed about her. Entering first period homeroom, Usagi realized her mistake immediately. She was not just on time, she was actually early for the second day in a row.

_So much for acting normal_ she groaned inwardly as everyone turned towards her and stared. Even though she was a few minutes early, most of the students were already there, and there were only a few empty seats left. Usagi didn't think she could handle sitting next to Minako right now. Luckily, her other best friend, Ami, wasn't in the same homeroom as Usagi and Minako. If she didn't think she could handle one friend, she *knew* she couldn't handle two. But Ami was the school genius and was in a few advanced classes: homeroom being one of them. Usagi made a beeline to the closest empty seat that wasn't near Minako, and as she plopped down in the chair she realized her second mistake in less than five minutes.

"Hi Usagi! I didn't think you'd sit next to me!" A boy with short brown hair and large cokebottle glasses gushed. _Umino_ she silently groaned again. Minako would never forgive her for blowing her off to sit next to the class nerd. And 'class nerd' was exactly what Umino was. Then again, maybe she could turn this mistake into a good thing. Maybe talking with Umino could get her mind distracted from its Mamoru/handprint/shooting circles of thought. "Did you hear the news? Crown Arcade was almost robbed yesterday!" he continued, not noticing as she visibly paled a shade or two.

_Why me?_ she wondered, looking out the windows at the sky and ignoring Umaino's tries at conversation. _What did I ever do to anybody? Why is this happening to me?_ her right hand unknowingly drifted down to settle on the fabric covering the silver handprint, her smaller fingers spreading in the same manner as the marking. She realized what she was doing and yanked her hand away, glancing around to find out if anyone had seen her strange movement. Nobody had noticed it. _And what exactly is happening to me?_ she wondered again. Would the marking fade like a bruise, or was it permanent? She decided to pay a visit to Mamoru after school to ask a few questions.

"Good morning, class." Miss Haruna greeted as she walked into the room, arms full of papers. Setting them on the desk, she turned back to the door to smile at the strange girl walking through it. Usagi woke up a little more as she caught sight of the new girl. She was tall and athletic, with long light brown hair tied back in a loose ponytail with a few strands loose to hang down either side of her face. Instead of the Juuban uniform (white blouse, blue skirt, and red bow), she wore a white and brown number that hung comfortably on her tall frame. "This is Leda Kino, a new student." Usagi frowned as she shook off a mild wave of deja vu. She seemed familiar, but Usa couldn't figure out why. The new girl grabbed one of last empty seats and Usa tried to concentrate as Haruna-sensi started the class.

~~~~~

"It says right here that shots were fired but no one was injured." Ami read, a newspaper open in front of her. Ami and Minako were sitting together in the lunchroom, and Minako had filled her friend in on all the details of yesterday... at least, all the details Minako knew. But weird vibes had bothered the blond last night walking Usagi home, and now she was certain something was wrong. Especially since it was lunch period, Usagi's favorite time of the day, and the girl in question had yet to show her face in the cafeteria.

"Then where's Usagi?" Minako shot back at the bluette. "I mean, why is she avoiding me? Okay, first of all, Usa is always late right?" at Ami's nod, she went on. "She walks into homeroom today, early. Early! For the second day in a row. And then she goes and sits next to Umino. She like, hates Umino and you know like, goes around admitting it openly... and..." She broke off and glared at her best friend, "Ami, are you listening to me?"

The blue-haired brainiac sighed. "Yeah, Mina-chan, I'm listening to you. But this is just you being you. All right? Usa is fine, nothing happened at the arcade. It's all right here in black and white." she finished, pointing to the article in the paper. Minako was cut off from replying when a tall shadow fell over them.

"Mind if I join you?" They turned to see the new girl holding a lunch tray. Minako motioned to the empty bench on the other side of the lunch table.

"Make yourself at home." Ami said as she moved the newspaper out of the new girl's way. "My name is Ami, and she's Minako."

"Leda Kino. Nice to meet you." the girl replied, setting her tray down and sitting facing the two.

"Welcome to Juuban Junior High. It's a nice school once you get used to it and Umino stop it!" the last was directed to the local geekmeister who was tugging at Ami's elbow. With a mild glare at the boy, Ami excused herself and walked a few steps away from the table before turning to him. "What do you want?" she demanded in a whisper to keep her voice from carrying.

"You should be careful of the new girl," Umino advised, whispering aswell. "According to my notes, she got transferred from her old school for fighting. Everybody's keeping their distance. This girl sounds like major trouble."

Ami sighed. The poor girl hadn't been here more than a day and already the rumor mill was churning out stories about her. So much for the 'Juuban Junior High is a nice school' speech. "You really shouldn't judge people according to gossip." she chided her peer. A mischievous grin crossed her face. "Why don't you meet her for yourself?" she told Umino, before grabbing his wrist and dragging him back to the table.

"Ami! What are you doing? Let go! Have you lost your mind? Don't..." he trailed off as she pushed him onto the bench between herself and Minako. "Umm... Hey." he mumbled to the brunette.

Leda grinned in greeting. "Hi. I'm Leda."

"I know." Umino replied absently. At her questioning glance, he blurted, "I'm Umino."

"I'm glad to discover there's at least a few nice people here." Leda said. "Everybody's been so mean."

Ami shrugged. "That's because they're scared of you."

"She means, they're scared of your reputation." Minako elaborated. Leda's eyebrow lifted in disbelief. Ami and Minako glanced at each other before elbowing Umino simultaneously.

"Ow!" he yelped. Hunching his shoulders against the two glares, he mumbled, "There's a full report on you already. Word gets around fast in this place."

Leda frowned. "Oh, well, maybe I should transfer to another school."

Minako's eyes grew wide. "Are you crazy? What for?"

"You'll be the mysterious new girl." Ami put in.

Leda rolled her eyes. "You mean the karate maniac?"

Umino hunched a bit lower while Minako exclaimed, "Who would call you that?"

_Only Usagi's pals could make friends with a martial arts psychopath_ Umino thought. As he watched the girls talking and laughing together, he had to wonder if maybe he was wrong about his assumptions about the new girl. But there was still something about her that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. No matter how much she acted like a normal girl, chatting with friends, he had the nagging feeling that she was hiding something. A big something. There were only two other people he knew that gave him the same feelings: Motoki the arcade guy and that Mamoru Chiba who often hung out at the arcade too. He has once told Minako about his suspicions back when she and Motoki started dating. _But she just thought I was being paranoid_ he reminded himself. And she was probably right. He did have one of the largest alien/UFO sighting websites in the world, and Usagi always teased him about his supernatural obsession affecting his judgement.

"Anyway," Minako continued, "How are you liking classes so far?"

Leda shrugged. "It's okay. School has never been my strong point though. But gym is fun. The volleyball coach looks kinda like my old boyfriend."

Minako grinned. "You got Coach Godai?" At Leda's nod, she continued, "You are so lucky. First day here and you already snagged the hot gym teacher. We have to wait until next quarter before we get volleyball. Oh, and I wouldn't recommend eating that."

Leda paused, a bite of salad halfway to her mouth. "Oh?"

Ami smiled. "It's an unwritten rule. Never eat anything green that comes from the cafeteria. Never eat *anything* from the cafeteria, actually. Especially on Mystery Meat Mondays. It's best to brown-bag it." she explained, gesturing to all the students' lunch sacks in the cafeteria. As Leda returned the uneaten bite to her bowl, Ami slid her own sack of sandwiches closer to the girl. "My mom made too much again, so I'm more than happy to share."

Leda smiled in gratitude as she took one. "Thanks. I usually make my own food, but I was in a rush this morning and didn't have time." she sighed. "My apartment probably looks like a disaster area... I haven't had time to clean it and the movers just delivered the last boxes yesterday."

Umino's eyes widened. "Your parents let you have an apartment?" he exclaimed in disbelief.

A shadow passed over her face. "My parents died in a plane crash." Leda admitted quietly. A stricken silence settled on the three figures opposite her.

After a moment passed, Minako murmured, "I'm so sorry."

"Thank you." Leda replied. "It was a few years ago. I've been living on my own ever since." she took a deep breath, released it, and changed the subject. "So, you guys know anyplace fun around here?"

"There's a couple movie theatres." Ami suggested. Umino was still shocked by Leda's admission.

"Or there's a good arcade nearby." Minako added. She grinned, "Why don't we take you there after school?" Ami nodded her agreement.

"I'd love to," Leda answered, "but I really have to unpack after school. How about tomorrow afternoon, say two?"

Ami nodded, "Two o'clock it is. How about we come by your place first?"

Leda smiled, "That would be great." She just had time to finish the sandwich and jot down directions to her apartment for her new friends before the bell rang, announcing the end of lunch period.

Minako frowned as she realized Usagi had never shown up.

~~~~~

Usagi grabbed her backpack and bolted from her chair as the last bell rang. Sprinting through the older halls and out the back door, she managed to leave the school without running into her friends. Breathing a sigh of relief, she headed towards the arcade. She just didn't think she could be around her friends right now without breaking down and telling them everything, which was something she really didn't want to do. Not yet, at least. She had to see Mamoru, to find out what had happened.

Walking into the arcade, she looked up to see Mamoru sitting on a stool, talking to Motoki behind the counter. The scene was so familiar to her; it was as if yesterday hadn't happened. Then Mamoru turned and saw her, and the spell was broken. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she walked up to him.

"We need to talk." she whispered. Mamoru glanced at Motoki. Moto sighed in reply and nodded towards the back room. Mamoru slid off the stool and accompanied Usagi into the back. The back room was often the place where Mamoru and Motoki hung out on breaks, as well as the site of a few of Motoki and Minako's makeout sessions. The living-room-sized area contained lockers for employees, a couch, a television, and doors to the bathroom, kitchen, and a staircase heading upstairs.

"So." Mamoru said as they both sat down facing each other on the couch. "How are you feeling?" _How are you feeling. What a lame thing to say_ he chastised himself silently.

"I'm still sort of shaky, I guess." Usa answered. "That's normal, right? I probably have all this adrenaline racing around in my body with nothing to do. Like I ate too much sugar or something." Turning to him, she repeated the words she had been practicing all day. "I lied to everyone just like you asked me to. But I need to know what really happened."

He nodded slowly to himself. "Okay. But before I start... there's no chance I could get *you* to believe that syrup story, is there?" he asked.

She gave a short laugh. "I don't think so." she said, then grasped the edge of her school blouse and slowly pulled upward.

~~~~~

"What is she doing?" he screamed mentally, unable to look away from her. He had thought she wanted an explanation, but she was taking her shirt off! His heartbeat sped up as her shirt inched higher and higher, and then paused just below her bra. He released his breath in a hiss when he saw the shining silver handprint. *His* handprint.

"I didn't get this from a glass of strawberry syrup." Usagi held the hem of her shirt up with one hand and reached for Mamoru's hand with the other. Placing his hand palm down over the silver imprint, she spread his fingers out to match it. The marking perfectly matched his hand.

Mamoru gulped nervously. When he was touching her yesterday, he had been totally focused on healing her. But now... now he was hyperaware of the texture of Usa's skin, soft and smooth. So warm beneath his palm. He immediately mourned the loss of contact as she released his hand and moved a step away.

"You did this, Mamoru. " Usa continued, smoothing her shirt back into place. "You saved my life. How?"

Mamoru was stuck. What should he tell her? Where to begin? He finally decided to stick with the simplest answer. "I connected to you."

Her brow wrinkled in confusion. "What do you mean, 'connected'?"

"Our minds joined." Mamoru struggled, unable to find words to accurately describe the process. A thought occurred to him. "I've never tried this before, but maybe I can make the connection go the other way. So you can see that... that I'm still me." Slowly he leaned toward her on the couch. He noticed her begin to tense as he got closer. "I have to touch you,” he said. After a moment's consideration she nodded her consent, and he placed his hands on either side of her head. Looking deep into her moonbeam eyes, he murmured, "Now relax and try to let your mind go blank."

~~~~~

The touch of his hand on her cheek startled her. She had never realized how warm his hands were, and energy seemed to spark like static electricity where their skin touched. The feeling was rather pleasant though, and she relaxed as he cradled her head in his hands. She let her mind go blank as she gazed into his deep blue orbs, lost in his beauty. His eyes darkened a shade or two while she watched, and suddenly images unfolded like a movie in her head. Four children, two boys and two girls, approximately six years old. One boy had sandy-blond hair... Motoki, she recognized... one girl who looked faintly familiar had medium dark brown hair, the other two had onyx-black hair... Mamoru and some other girl. She saw the dark-haired girl and young Motoki walk off, while the brunette and Mamoru walk together hand in hand. Men in white lab coats approaching, finding out that they didn't have any parents. Fear and anger as the men pulled the siblings apart, forcing them away from each other. Mamoru being left with a smiling couple. Fear. A car driving off a cliff. She saw a Mamoru as a young, raven-haired boy, looking the same as he did in the previous vision except a year or two older, with a bandage around his head, sitting in a large bed with men in white doctor coats standing around. Feelings of pain, loneliness, fright overwhelmed her, until she thought she might drown in the sorrow before the image shifted. The boy was now sitting on a different bed, in a large room filled with many identical beds in rows. An orphanage, she realized. The loneliness was still there, but it began to fade as she noticed a sandy-haired boy sitting on the bed opposite his. A tearful reunion as they recognize each other, and wondered where the other two were. Growing up together in the orphanage, sticking up for each other. Fastforward a few years. Mamoru is older now, a bag full of high school homework slung over his shoulder as he enters Motoki's adopted family's arcade. Greeting his friend, arguing with the young blond with the strange hair on one of the stools. Another image of herself, this time standing with Minako and laughing at one of her friend's jokes. His desire as he watched her swept over her and nearly stole her breath away.

She breathed deeply as her vision cleared. Mamoru stood so close to her, waiting for her reaction. The severity of what had happened rocked her to her toes. She had actually viewed his memories, felt everything he was feeling. She had felt his loneliness, the pain that he kept hidden under his cool demeanor. For the first time she was really seeing Mamoru Chiba. She had seen herself as he saw her, and the amazing thing was, in his eyes, she was beautiful. A shocking fact made her gaze at Mamoru in wonder.

He loved her.