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"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
Zuben's eyes snapped open and he slipped off his chair. His heart pounding, he dashed over to Minako's bed and held her thrashing body to the comforter as her head flailed from side to side. She kicked desperately, howling in anguish.
"Minako!! It's okay!!"
Her eyes flicked open, but were wild with fear. Her ivory skin was paler than usual, tears sparkling off her cheeks. She pounded Zuben in his chest, crying loudly. Her body was racked with sobs.
"Noooo! Harukaaaa!! Nooo!!"
"Minako! It's.... Me!!" Zuben yelled, trying to make himself heard over the heartbreaking pandemonium. She lashed out, scratching his cheek, forming a thin ribbon of blood. Zuben gasped wiping his cheek with the back of his sleeve.
"Stop it! Minako! Snap out of it!"
He plunged her down roughly, holding her firmly. She blinked confusedly, gazing up at him, silent except for the sobs that escaped her lips.
"Minako..."
"Zuben...?"
They stared at each other, both hearts pounding. Zuben opened his mouth to speak but was silenced when Minako yanked him down on top of her. She grasped him desperately, weeping uncontrollably into his chest.
Zuben scrambled off her, off the bed, but she gazed at him past the tears, her face white and innocent.
"Zuben?"
He looked at her open face, frail and panicked, and raised a hand to her cheek. He frowned and remained silent, his heart jumping as if on a spring.
"...Okay." He murmured, lying next to her. She embraced him, her fingers digging into his shirt, and he lay there staring uncomfortably across her sobbing head at the far wall.
He felt her stir and she sat up, wiping her eyes with her bandaged hands. She drew her hands away from her face and stared at them. Her gaze travelled along her own legs, exploring the bandaged wounds and the bruises that peeped out between the gauze.
"I'm...injured." She made it sound halfway between a statement and a question.
Zubens face twisted in confusion.
"Yes. Don't you remember?"
Minako hesitated, her eyes flitting from finger to finger, rotating her hands.
"Yes...But...Where was I? A moment ago..."
Zuben placed a hand firmly onto her shoulder. She looked up silently.
"Minako..." he began
"You've been unconscious with blood loss for 14 hours. You haven't moved from this room...at all."
Minako hung her head as tears began to fall. She absorbed the details of the medical ward. The firm, grainy feel of the heavy cotton comforter, the dull, cold metal trays and shelves, piled high with unidentifiable serums and fluids. Outside the arching windows the storm had augmented, spiralling into chaos. The lightning cracked like a whip, temporarily exploding the outside environment into light. Whilst staring, Minako eased of the bed and limped closer to the window, examining the distant statues below in the courtyard. The nymphs seemed to dance in the flashing light. In Minako's mind, she envisioned the crumbling body of Setsuna, her shaded beauty fragmenting into nothingness. The power of her anguish forced her to her knees, her weakening fingers gripping the cold windowsill. She became distantly aware of Zuben saying something in a rushed manner to the side of her, his deep voice becoming merely a drone of sound.
The vision of Setsuna phased into the charred and bloody image of Haruka, her hard, muscled body laying lifeless and decapitated in the spill of her own blood.
"Haaaaaaaaruuukaaaa! Seeeetsuuuuuunaaaa!"
Zuben dashed forwards and cradled Minako's head in his arms.
"Shhh... quiet now."
Minako sobbed, her body jerking solidly.
"But...my..."
"What did you see?"
"Sailor...Pluto and...Uranus...."
"Haruka and Setsuna? Are they the people you were screaming for?"
Minako nodded. She closed her eyes in despair.
"I...before... I saw them. They were...someone... killed them," she choked on her own words.
"They were murdered!!"
Zuben frowned, yet stroked her hair comfortingly.
"Minako...you were out cold, Princess. It was just a dream."
Minako snapped away from him.
"But... the power... the darkness..."
He froze as if trying to understand. Failing that, he simply nodded, his expression weakening.
"Dream, Princess. Do you want to talk about it?"
She shook her head for no, feeling relief at knowing that the apocalyptic scenario was a dream, and that it was very well possible that the Outer Senshi were still alive.
Yet she also took great comfort at the fact that someone was watching her, guarding her.
Look ahead, Minako...Look ahead, Minako...Look ahead, Minako...
The voice chimed into her thoughts, clear like a pealing bell. She felt the warmth return to her heart as the memories of the golden star burst into life.
Look ahead, Minako...Look ahead, Minako...Look ahead, Minako...
The words were as strong as the voice that said them. If her terrible dream was false why did she feel such heavenly power emanate from her actions in it. Who's voice was it? This voice that made her want to cry and smile at the same time. Why did it touch her so deep in her soul? The idea hit her with such force that she shuddered, both with excitement and nervousness.
She looked up, eye-level with Zuben. His charcoal eyes pierced her own as her heart felt heavy with the velocity of her blood.
"It was you..." she began.
Zuben didn't even flinch. He held her gaze steady, enveloped in intensity.
"You were...the voice..."
He didn't move, yet his eyes burned with a strange new fire and the corners of his mouth curled slightly, smiling, as if he were a child withholding a secret.
"But how did you...? Why did you...?"
His hands slid up her arms, delicately sliding along her neck, resting on her jaw bone. His fingertips pulsed with the same warmth as the star in her dream, as she felt it run into her skin. His expression melted into a controlled bliss, his eyelids half closed and his mouth slightly parted. He leaned forward, his hair, thick and dark, falling over his forehead, brushing Minako's skin in a silky gesture. On his knees, Zuben seemed to hold Minako in place, his finger tips heating her skin, as he moved his face next to hers. She closed her eyes, the star in her heart beating and growing. She felt his wavering breath on her lips as she felt his skin move next to hers. She held him tighter, leaning in towards him, reaching up, parting her lips.
The knock at the door jolted both people back to the current situation. The warmth disappeared from Minako as Zuben retreated, mere millimetres from her lips. Zuben averted his eyes and coughed uneasily. Minako reached for his arm, but the rapping at the door became incessant. Zuben, silently, stood up and retook his place in the chair by the bedside.
"Come-- come in!" Minako chirruped, trying to hide he extreme disappointment.
Zuben hunched up and stared at the floor, his mood retracting back to the same old foul attitude.
The door creaked open. For a moment there was inactivity, but it was disrupted by the round, blonde buns that peeped around the door. It was followed by two clear-blue eyes and a angelic face. Minako struggled to her feet.
"Neo-Queen Serenity!"
Serenity gasped and ran forwards to help her friend.
"C'mon Mina-chan! No need for that!"
"Usagi...?"
Usagi led Minako to the bed.
"Sure!"
It always confused the Scouts when Usagi transformed. You could never tell what form she took, her serene beauty being the same in any role. One minute she was the beautiful and magnificent Neo-Queen Serenity, the next she was the happy-go-lucky woman, Usagi.
Minako winced as she lay down, being eased by her Queen. Minako watched Usagi's night-dress shimmer pink in the light.
"Oh, Mina-chan. Ami-chan said you where bad, but..."
"It's okay, Usagi-chan. It's not as bad as it seems..."
Without warning, Usagi's eyes began to fill with tears and she practically pounced on Minako, embracing her fiercely. Minako hugged her back, fear swirling once again in her mind.
"I'm so happy you're okay." Usagi whimpered.
"Thank you, Usagi-chan."
Minako looked warmly at her friend, but the feeling turned cold when she realised the state Usagi was truly in. Her icy-cold eyes where red with crying and her skin looked puffy. Her fragile hand shook as she gripped Minako.
"Mina-chan...something has..." she sobbed
"...happened."
Minako shot up.
"Not Pluto! Not Uranus! Please tell me they're okay!"
Usagi's mouth hung open as the tears slicked her skin.
"How did you....know?" she sobbed.
"Dream...I had a terrible dream! Oh no! Oh no! I...I thought it...wasn't true! Oh Usagi!! No!!"
Usagi and Minako held each other tightly.
"Minako... Do you think...you could help us... with any...information. We aren't sure what happened... all I know is Uranus and Pluto...."
Usagi stopped.
"Neptune and Saturn are okay, right? I saw them leave for the palace safely."
Usagi gasped in shock, a pale hand rushing to her lips.
"You... really did see everything!"
Minako nodded.
"I will help! I promise!"
Zuben stood up uneasily. Usagi looked at him, still holding Minako.
"Please, Zuben-san. Join us in the briefing room."
Zuben frowned darkly.
"Please?" Minako added, attempting to smile. Salty tear slipped through her lips onto her tongue.
"We need you."
Zuben nodded briskly and stalked out of the room silently. Usagi brought her face close to Minako's.
"He's a hunk, Mina-chan, but do you think you can handle his attitude?"
The two women smiled, the mutual pain gnawing at them. Together they slid off the bed and made their way towards the other Senshi's rooms, tears slicking the marble as they went.
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