Gomen ne! I am sooo sorry! I am the laziest person in the whole world! You have my complete permission to write me a note and yell at me for a very long time! I have had this finished for a long time, I just have been way too lazy to send it in! I feel so bad! I've been getting e-mails from a lot of people asking when I would send it in, and I completely spaced! Unfortunately, I am like this in many regards, which a lot of my friends can tell you. (Sorry again, Guine-chan! I hope you're proud of me!) I'd like to thank all my friends, my best friend Angela, who does not like Sailor Moon, but puts up with my jabbering, and gave her advice on this story. Thank you so much, Ange! Thank you, Guine-chan, who puts up with me even though I'm one of the leading experts of procrastination! (You know what I mean!) I LOVE her story, Ami's Diaries, and I am especially looking forward to reading the next entry, because I've been waiting for this FOREVER! You're the greatest! Thank you my dear friend Bettina for also putting up with me! You're one of my favorite people to talk to, and I'm STILL waiting to read the rest of that terrific story you're writing! And last but definitely not least, I want to thank everyone who was rooting for me. Those who wrote me, and those who are like me and forget or are just too lazy! I've only got one more to go! I have just one more thing to say before I let you get on with reading my hopefully good story. There is only one more part to go after this, so you don't have much longer to wait. (Hopefully. Keep your fingers crossed, and remember to write and bug me about it.) This was very hard for me to write. I am a great fan of happy endings. I refuse to write a story that does not have to have a happy ending. Unfortunately, I got myself into a problem. THIS JUST DIDN'T HAVE A HAPPY ENDING IN IT!!!!!! Darn. I thought and thought, and thought. But it just didn't! Fortunately, I came to my senses, and realized that this is a story! It doesn't need to have a reasonable ending! The good ending comes next chapter. Until then, this is sad. Sorry! NOW, on to the story! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Finding Faith- Chapter Seven By Acacia Aben ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Seven Amy nodded. "I think that would do it. Are you sure?" Faye looked over at Kyle, at his hand clasped tightly in hers. He met her gaze, unflinching. She turned back to Amy, after meeting Lita's eyes briefly. "We're sure. We don't want Earth to fall like Tiranita did. This is the place where the future will be made. I know Sere will do more good than anyone can imagine. And I want to do my best to give her the chance to do everything." Kyle nodded. "I don't know what I can do about my family, but I know this is for the best." Lita's eyes filled with tears, and she reached out to hug her friend. Amy nodded her head quickly, forcing back a wave of sadness. "I can't believe this is happening," Lita whispered softly. Faye looked over Lita's shoulder to look at Kyle. A long, deep soul-searching second later, "Neither can I," she croaked. She forced back tears, unwilling to let Kyle see her cry. She had just found him, and now she was losing him. Losing it all. It was just a week after Faye and Kyle had been caught kissing. They were in a small clearing in the forest. They needed privacy to discuss what they were going to do about Faye and Kyle's impending death. The sun was shining in, but since it was mostly blocked out by leaves, only minimal light was visible. Amy grasped for control, and with what little she found, she asked, "when do you want to do it?" Faye seemed out of it. She blinked a couple of times, then mumbled softly, "I don't know. Soon. Maybe tomorrow morning, ten o'clock. That gives me time to, to just see Sere one more time. To get time with my family. I can't tell them, but I can say good-bye in my own way." Kyle nodded. "Yes. Tomorrow morning is good," he agreed quietly. Lita couldn't stop herself. She burst into tears and hugged Faye again. Once she calmed down, she looked helplessly at Faye. "Is there anything you want us to do? We could be there to back you up. If anything goes wrong-" She couldn't continue, only begged Faye to say she had changed her mind. Faye shook her head. "No. Your powers won't work against theirs." "I'm sorry you can't. I know this has to be hard for you," he explained. "I'm really sorry, but this is something we both have to do." Amy sighed deeply. "Serena might try to spend time with you tomorrow. I know she doesn't wake up early, but if she tries to find you, it won't be hard. She has that ability to track you, and even if you can sense her coming, there's nothing you can do to stop her from coming," she glanced over at Faye, her eyes wide. Faye glanced at Kyle. "I know. I already thought of that. And I know how to stop that from happening. At ten twenty-five, you have to tell them what's going on. Make sure that everyone is there, all the scouts, and Darien, by ten ten at Raye's temple. We should be-" her voice choked. "be done by ten thirty, at the latest. Not even the fastest scout could get from the temple to the park in five minutes." Lita nodded, "Okay, don't worry about a thing. We'll wait until then. Just don't take too long. Serena won't let you go without a fight, and it will be hard enough for us to do it. I won't be able to hide how upset I am for long, and even Amy won't be able to hide her feelings for long." Faye's facade of calm collapsed. She had promised herself that she wouldn't cry anymore, she would let go and say good-bye. Her shoulders lowered and her muscles relaxed from her frozen stance. She sagged onto Kyle, unable to answer Lita without bursting into tears. He reached an arm around her waist and made sure she was okay, then soberly answered Lita. "Don't worry, everything will work. Jade has a temper the size of Europe. She'll blow, and Harden won't be able to stop her. We'll get it done." Amy looked sadly at Faye. "That's what we were afraid of." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Faye stared blankly at the ceiling, forcing back tears. Luna was gone, over at Mina's to talk to Artemis. "Hey, Sere?" "What?" Serena's voice was sleepy. "If you had to make a really hard decision, one you knew was the right one, but it would make someone you cared about really sad, would you do it? Would you make the right decision?" Serena turned on her bed, looking up over the edge so she could look at Faye. Her eyes were wide, and innocent, but mostly tired. She bit her lip, pulling her covers up to her chin. "I don't know, Lina. I guess if it was something important, something I was supposed to do, then I really wouldn't have a choice." Faye was still staring up at the ceiling, pain and fear clouding her thoughts. Abruptly, she twisted to look down at her sister, trying to hide the urgency she was feeling. "You always have a choice. You could have run away and left the others to fight Beryl alone. You might have only gone so you could get Darien back. See, you'll never know the real reason you went, or what you would have done in another situation. You can't know!" Serena looked earnestly into her twin's eyes. "I know me. I may have done some things different, but in the end, the result would have been the same. I can't chicken out on the important things. They don't just involve me, they involve innocent people. I couldn't let them get hurt because I wasn't brave enough to do the things I was destined to do. That's wrong." Faye rolled back over, letting the tears spill now that Serena couldn't see them. She nodded, and whispered softly, hoping the tears didn't show in her voice. "You know, you're pretty smart. If Luna knew, she'd never let you get away with anything!" Serena's laugh was like silver bells, filling the room. "Why do you think I keep it a secret? But promise you won't tell, okay? I'm saving it as a surprise for when I become Neo-Queen Serenity." "Sere, I won't tell. I would never tell on you, not for anything," Faye promised. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Faye straightened her skirt. "How do I look? I know it's got to look real." She waited, but he was staring at her, his cheeks pale pink. "Well? Kyle!" "Oh! Uh, sorry. You look fine. Like any normal girl. I don't know why you're so worried. After all, they won't suspect anything," he stumbled, his blush intensifying. She looked annoyed for a moment, but then her face softened. "It's not like I'm in an evening gown or anything. I'm just wearing a skirt and a sweater-vest. Completely normal clothes." "It looks nice. You look all sweet and innocent and stuff. Plus, then skirt is really short," he grinned devilishly. She rolled her eyes, then reached out and hit him over the shoulder. She nervously reached down and patted her skirt and sweater. She looked up. "Well, this is it." Her eyes were clear, gray clouds on her face. A shade of indecision and doubt reached her face, but she shoved it back down, holding it inside. "Faye, you know, you don't have to-" "No! Kyle, don't start," she begged. "If you start to protect me, to tell me I shouldn't go through with this, then I won't. I'm brave," she hesitated, then plunged on, "but I'm not that brave." She looked down, and her shoulders seemed to shave for a second. When she looked back up, her eyes were filled with tears. She walked up to him and reached up to touch his chin gently. "I want to live, Kyle. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you. I always have." He didn't say anything. He didn't have to. They stood there, unmoving, just looking into the others eyes. Then, at the same time, they turned and headed towards the very secluded clearing where their battle was to take place. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Jade trembled. With shaking hands, she gently stroked her arms, and ran her fingers briefly over her legs. She stared into the mirror, unblinking, at her slightly scarred body. Kyle had kept his promise. He had healed her, leaving only minimal scars. They were barely detectable. "I'll kill them," Jade vowed, her eyes strangely blank. She had no emotion in her eyes. The brilliant green eyes darkened, until they became nearly black. A transformation overcame her body. She grew stronger. She put her arms down, palms flat, and her mist began to seep out. She tightened her lips, and energy cackled around her. The whites of her eyes turned as dark as her pupils, and the only part of them not black was the queer dark green. Back lightning began to form around her mouth, growing in strength until she let it out in a horrific howl of agony and pain. It went on for what seemed like hours, the scream a mixture of noise and actual power. Black and gray swirling energy belched out of her mouth, filling the room and eventually gathering around her. She stopped screaming, but she was obscured by the boiling energy. From inside, quiet moans and sobbing noises came. The black clouds started to dissolve, molding into the air. And Jade was seen. She was different. "Are you done? Personally, I thought it was too showy, but hey, that's just me," a casual voice said from the doorway. Jade turned, her eyes glowing. "I'm ready. It's time to find those idiots, and destroy their lives. I don't want Kyle anymore, but I swear to all the demons that I will have him. I won't lose to that blonde child." Her voice seemed to echo deeper, almost as if a dozen other people were speaking with her. "Do you know where they are?" Harden smiled. "I just got a message from Bright Eyes. They're waiting for us." "Good." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Faye glowed with a faint violet light. Her eyes were closed, and her mouth was moving silently. Kyle sat cross-legged across from her, and she was sitting the same way. The violet crystal she was holding in her hands glowed softly. Kyle looked at her intently, worrying about her safety. Abruptly, the link cut off, and Faye's head jerked back. Her eyes opened wide, and the Light Crystal went dull. She dropped it like it was a hot coal. Then she flushed, and gently picked it up. "I got a hold of Harden. He and Jade are coming." Kyle watched as she opened up the hyperspace pocket and put the crystal back in its cage, the one she had programmed it for so long ago. "And this is a good thing?" She glared at him. "Don't revert to your annoying form. You hadn't been getting on my nerves at all yet. Don't start." He grinned. "I thought you liked it when I was playing jokes on you." "I'm warning you, don't start with me." "I thought I had already started." She gave up, and stood up, stretching her muscles, preparing for the battle to come. Then she turned. "I'm not doing this okay? I don't want to argue with you, not now." He smiled ruefully. "I understand. So, are you going to give the necessary materials?" She frowned in confusion, then shook her head. "You are so strange. All right, hold out your hands." He did, palm up. "Okay, now just hold still." She frowned in concentration, and a few seconds later her hands started to glow. She put them face down directly over his. The energy began to transfer from her body to his. And during the time, they stared into each others eyes, trying to forget that they were going to die very soon. She sat back. "Do you think I gave you enough?" He shrugged. "I guess so. I don't think we've ever done that before. Or what we're planning to do." He grinned. "Itrinata's going to be mad we didn't confer with her about this. When I went home last night, she talked on and on about how she had been trusted council on Tiranita, and she had been the one to approve, or at least know every plan they made." Faye looked down. "You know, you never told me about your family. What are they like?" "I was never really that close to them. Mom and Dad divorced when I was ten, and I only had one sister, Lissa. It was short for Melissa. Lissa and I were actually pretty close, but she was seven years younger than I was, so when I left home, she was too young. She's thirteen. I guess that she'll be upset when she finds out I'm dead, but I doubt my parents will. They never liked me that much. But Lissa loved me a lot. It's been almost two years since I've seen her. I left home on my eighteenth birthday, and now that I'm in college, I don't have time to see her at all. Mom moved to the US after I left, and I never had enough time and money at the same time." "I'm sorry," she murmured. She ran her fingers through his dark hair. He leaned down and kissed her. She reached up and looped her hands around his neck. He put his arms around her waist, pulling her as close as possible. "Oh, come on. I thought you asked us here to fight, not to watch the two of you make out. That gets so boring." Jade's voice came from all directions, it seemed. Different tones of the one she had. It had been screamed from behind them, whispered in front of them. A high tone from beside them, and low from the other side. More and more forms of her voice, haunting them, teasing them. It went on and on. As soon as one voice finished the sentence, another started it. She was standing five feet in front of them, a foot in front of Harden, who was smiling slightly. Faye took a step back, her eyes wide. "God, what happened to you, Jade. I didn't do that." Kyle just stared, horror covering his features. Jade smiled sweetly. "No, child. I did this to me. I'm so much stronger than I was before. This form is better. I'm so much better. She had on impossibly long high heeled boots, ones that went halfway up her thigh. Her skirt was shorter than any scouts, and her shirt was as revealing as a bikini top. Her hair was longer, reaching her heels, redder than blood. Woven into the strands of red were green threads. It would have been lovely, the hair at least, if not for the fact that she was holding a huge butcher knife. And that wasn't the part that was scary. Her skin was white. Not white as in having pale skin. White white. Like a piece of paper white. It was unnatural. Shiny silver lines ran over every part of her body except her face. Scars, from Faye's attack. Her lips looked like they had been dipped in the same blood-red coloring as her hair. But that wasn't what scared them the most. Her eyes were green, the same as they had always been, only darker, nearly black. The problem was, the thing that had scared them so much was that the white of her eyes had turned black. She didn't look human at all. Harden took a step forward, unchanged. He grinned. "Personally, I think she looks sweet." His look hardened. "Now we fight." Faye's eyes began to widen, and she took a couple of steps back. She wasn't fast enough. Harden whipped his hand out, and ebony robes slammed out to wrap around her. She screamed, and tried to break out. Nothing worked. As the cords started to retreat, dragging her to Harden, she closed her eyes in panic, trying to find whatever powers had let her loose from Jade the first time. Nothing happened. Faye opened her eyes to see herself only two feet from Harden. He was smirking. A flash of light whizzed in front of her, causing her to cry out. The ropes fell, cut through, and she leapt back, towards Kyle, who was standing with his palm out, eyes blazing, staring at Harden with hatred. He had used some of the power Faye had given him to cut through the ropes holding her captive. "Don't ever touch her again. I'll kill you if you try." Harden smiled. "I guess that means you'll fight me while she fights Jade." Kyle smiled back, concealing barely contained rage. "That's fine with her." Jade leaped forward, grabbing Faye, and as Kyle turned to look, to try to help, Harden pinned his arms behind his back, and tripped him, causing him to fall down. He shot out the jet black ropes again, trying to use them to wrap Kyle up like a package. Only, for Harden, it didn't work out like he wanted it to. The ropes worked, true, they tied him up, only not quite like he wanted them to. Instead of falling backward, away from Harden, he shifted his weight, and fell forward, allowing him to pin Harden to the ground. The change caused the ropes to only bind one of his arms. His right hand was free. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Amy nodded to Lita. Lita stood up and looked at the assembled crowd. Serena was frowning, looking around for Faye. All the scouts and Darien were there. The clock read; ten twenty-four. "Faye asked Amy and me to tell you all something at precisely twenty-five after ten 'o'clock," Lita began. Amy stood up. "She wanted to tell you, she really did, but something else has come up, and Kyle and Faye are very busy." Serena looked at the clock, which hadn't changed yet. She smiled, eyes confused. She wasn't worried yet. Not yet. "Well, we can always wait for her to get here. I don't have anything to do all day, and neither does anyone else." Lita's face froze. Her eyes shone for a second, then she forced a smile. "No, Serena, we can't. We have to tell you now." Darien's eyes widened in comprehension. He slowly shook his head no, and tightened his grip on Serena's hand, causing her to look at him in surprise. He was staring at Amy, though, who was avoiding his gaze, as was Lita. His shoulders slumped, and he put an arm around Serena. Amy slowly said, as the clock changed, "Faye wasn't doing so good." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Faye turned to face Jade, her eyes wide. She reached up to place her index finger on Jade's forehead. A golden energy began to shimmer around the tip of her finger, placed firmly against Jade's head. The butcher knife slid from Jade's grasp. Kyle placed his thumb against Harden's forehead, and he furrowed his brows in concentration. After a few seconds of strained silence, a silver energy began to shine. Jade and Harden were frozen in place. Jade realized what was going on first. "You'll kill yourselves, if you do this. Our energy will need somewhere to go, and since your touching us, it will go inside your bodies. You'll explode, in a manner of speaking." Kyle said, "We know." Harden bared his teeth. "You can't do this," he snarled. "You'll be sorry." Faye shook her head. "No, we won't." "You aren't even transformed! Do you think you can do it with this little energy? You may be able to hold us captive, but you can't kill us." Faye smiled, and reached with her free hand to pull off the fake shirt she was wearing. Not very strong, it ripped at the seams, exposing her sailor suit. She reached into the purse she was carrying and pulled out her tiara. She threw Kyle's mask and hat over in his general direction. "We knew that if you thought we weren't at our highest power level, you'd be careless. And you were." --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Faye had fainted a couple of times, you know that. But she knew, as you remember, that it wasn't normal." Serena frowned. "But she told me that she was all right. She was fine." "She lied," Lita whispered. "I was there when Amy told her what was wrong." Mina leapt up. "What was wrong? Come on, guys. You're scaring Serena, and I'm confused." Her eyes were begging Lita and Amy to start laughing, and tell them that this was one of Faye's famous practical jokes. Neither one said anything. A tear trailed down Lita's cheek. The clock turned to ten twenty-six --------------------------------------------------------------------- Jade shook her head. "You won't go through with this." Kyle looked over at her. "We will." "You don't understand!" A sly grin grew on Harden's face, the only part of his body he could feel anymore. "The people Jade infected with her dark power, they are our slaves, Without us around to control them, they'll go rogue, attacking people to get power." Faye laughed lightly. "I knew about that. Kyle and I tracked down all of them. They are healed, and don't remember a thing." Kyle said softly, carefully, "We made sure we didn't have any loose ends. We never would have been able to beat you in a regular fight. I had been deceiving myself in that regard, and so had Faye. This is our only option." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Darien said abruptly, "Kyle knew, didn't he? That's why Faye got upset when she met him. He told her what he knew, and she had been trying to forget it. She ran out crying, because she had been pushing back her emotions on the subject." "Yes. But, Darien, you have to know, he helped her come to terms with it, because he was hurt, just like she was. She wouldn't be alone anymore. I never would have let her do this if I thought there was another way," Amy implored him to understand, so he would help Serena understand, once she found out. "I never would have let her go through with it. It had to be for the right reasons." Serena pulled away from him. "Darien, what's going on? How do you know what they are talking about? What's going on?" Raye shook her head. "Yeah, Lita, what are you all talking about? If she was sick, and didn't want to tell anyone, why didn't she just go to the doctor or something. I don't care if it was some sickness from the Silver Millennium or something. We could have come up with an explanation, if we really had to." Mina nodded. "Guys, what's wrong. Where are they?" --------------------------------------------------------------------- "We weren't supposed to be here anyway. We would have died any day now. This is just pushing forward the unavoidable. It's mostly that which led us to the decision to do this," Faye reasoned. Harden shook his head. "I don't want to die," he croaked, his face a mask of fear. Kyle smiled. "Go to hell." "Now," Faye commanded. A mix of silver and gold lights blazed in the small clearing. A man and a woman's screams were heard for an instant, then the two lights were consumed by a black light, and two new screams filled the air. It went on and on. And if anyone would have been close enough to hear them, they wouldn't have wanted to hear them anyway. The lights flared, grew brighter. Abruptly, they went out. Then all was the blessed silence of death. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The clock turned to ten thirty. "You don't understand, Raye. Faye and Kyle were dying. They didn't have much time left. Maybe a day or two, if they were lucky. "Were?" the word was almost voiceless, coming out of Mina's mouth, denial on her face. Serena jerked, finally understanding something. "You don't mean. . . . No, you mean that you healed them, right? They're okay, and they are just busy celebrating somewhere," Her voice lowered to a whisper, she was begging for them to agree. Begging. "Right?" Lita shook her head. "No, Serena. They went to defeat Jade and Kyle. Their powers are basically equal. The only way," she was sobbing now. Tears were rolling down her face. Serena started to cry. "The ONLY way to beat them was to use a technique that would paralyze them, and then they could be killed. But to do it, you have to touch them, and then they would be killed in the aftereffects. They said that they would be done by ten thirty." Serena spun to face the clock. She was shaking her head, hoping she still had enough time to go and stop them, to be the rescuer, to go save them like she had been able to save everyone else she had tried to save. She didn't want to believe that there was nothing she could do. The clock changed to ten thirty-one. The next words Lita said were ingrained on Serena's mind for her entire life. "They had planned to fight them in a clearing by the picnic grounds, where we fought that cardian of Alan and Ann's. But Serena, I'm so sorry. They are dead. And they might have died long before ten thirty. You couldn't have been there in time. That was what Faye wanted. She knew you would try to save her." Amy whispered, "She knew you wouldn't accept that the one time you couldn't save someone was the time it would be your twin sister." It was then Serena felt the aftereffects of the pain her sister had just gone through. The joy at winning, and then the pain of seeing Kyle in pain, Kyle dying. Faye's own pain hadn't even been noticed until Kyle was gone, until the blackness had covered her vision. Then Faye had felt the immense pain. Serena screamed, and the force of the agony and energy her sister had been blasted with hit her. She was thrown backward, and slammed into the wall. She got up, feeling pain in her shoulder that Faye had felt for long after she had been hit. Feeling how Faye hadn't died right away. Serena ran out of the room, heading for the park. She was sobbing hysterically and shaking her head in denial. --------------------------------------------------------------------- "NOOOOOO! FAYE!" Serena screamed. She shook her head, tears flying everywhere. "You can't leave me! I love you, Lina! Lina, please don't leave me!" She fell to her knees, sobbing helplessly over the body of her sister. Faye had a peaceful look on her pale face. The only sign that she wasn't just sleeping was the cool feel of her body. Her skin was even whiter than normal. Kyle was a foot away. He had the same peaceful look Faye had, only his body was burnt black on his arms, in small furrows. It looked like he had been tied up, and the rope had burnt him badly. Faye had the same marks, but they were much lighter, not nearly black, only a light gray. Kyle's skin wasn't white, just paler than his usual dark tan. Jade and Harden's bodies were gone, vanished. But Serena could feel their deaths, in her mind, in her heart. Faye and Kyle had gotten rid of them, at the cost of their own lives. Serena reached out to her sister, and frantically felt for a pulse. There was none. --------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Chapter Seven, or just The End? --------------------------------------------------------------------- Well? What did you think? I worked very hard! Write me at: acacia_aben@yahoo.com! Cya next time! ~Acacia Aben