Tempest

I sighed as the transformation finished, still not at all comfortable with my Senshi girl-form. Ash had insisted on seeing it before she would believe what I had to say. Now, of course, both she and Cali were staring open-mouthed at me, and I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks with embarrassment. "Happy now?" I asked bitterly, dropping into a nearby chair.

Cali smiled at me in an attempt to cheer me up. "Actually, I was thinking that you make a pretty cute girl... not that you're a bad looking guy, either..." Her eyes twinkled with mischief, and I had to wonder exactly what she was thinking.

I blushed a little more. "Um... thanks, I guess," I mumbled. I wasn't sure I wanted to be thought of as a "cute" girl... that led in all sorts of directions I didn't want to be going. Still, a compliment was a compliment, I supposed.

Sharon laughed, and Ash shot a quick glare in her direction. That was all the reminder I needed that I didn't particularly like Sailor Aries.

"Ok, I've proven myself," I said. "How about you two?"

Cali grinned. "I think you just want to watch me transform," she said teasingly. Pulling out her henshin wand (as Aries had insisted we call them), she held it up over her head. "Taurus Star Power, Make Up!"

I won't deny that it was an impressive sight, though I was trying not to watch. Taurus was... well, she had a very nice body, and it was difficult to keep my eyes off of it during the transformation sequence. While not *completely* revealing due to the lightshow effects (a fact for which I was *very* thankful since I had become a Senshi myself), it certainly showed enough to be highly distracting. The knowledge that she was watching *me* to see if I was watching her helped, though. I had enough problems with changing sex; the last thing I wanted was for them to think I'm a pervert, too.

When it stopped, Sailor Taurus looked every bit the part. Her white fuku was trimmed with pink, the color of her sign, with short boots unlike mine and Sharon's. She struck a typical Sailor Moon pose, grinning at me. "Do I need to make a speech, too?" she asked, teasing.

Sharon shot a dark look at me, and for some reason I shivered. "Um... that won't be necessary." Turning to Ash, I prodded, "What about you?"

"I fail to see why I should have to transform in front of you to satisfy your adolescent fantasies," she said coldly.

I rolled my eyes. "Skip the righteous indignation kick, Ash," I growled. "You made me transform in front of you, and mine is no less revealing than yours, I'm sure." I sighed, turning to Taurus. "You've seen her transform, I assume? If you'll vouch for her, and she'll show me her henshin wand, I'll
accept that as proof."

Cali nodded. "She's for real, yeah." Turning to Ashley, she added, "Gemini has a point, you know."

Ash mumbled something under her breath, then flipped the wand in my direction. I snagged it in the air with my left hand, then looked it over carefully. It was red, and bore the sign of the ram... otherwise, it was much like mine. Satisfied of its authenticity, I tossed it back to her.

"I assume," I asked pointedly, "that since you don't want to transform in front of me, you won't be asking Sharon to, either? You've already seen her henshin wand."

She just glared at me. "Whatever."

I smiled as cheerfully as I could manage, unwilling to let my irritation with Ash show any more than it already had. "Well, then. Now that we've established our identities... what next?"

"Well, we had been out looking for more Senshi," Cali answered. "We should probably keep searching."

I nodded. "True... logic suggests that there will be twelve." Turning to Ash, I suggested, "We should also look into training, of sorts... to familiarize ourselves with our powers, and with working as a group."

Ash sighed. "The Senshi didn't have to train, why should we?" she asked sharply.

I found myself suddenly wondering if she had any common sense at all. "In this world, Ash, we ARE the Senshi... and our world is a little different from the one in the anime, or the manga. If we assume that everything will be the same, we're dead."

"Why should we assume that things are different?" she retorted angrily.

"I'm not assuming anything," I answered, trying to rein in my frustration with her. "I just think we need to be prepared for any situation. We don't know what we're going to be up against, after all."

Ash sighed. "All right," she grumbled. "Since you seem to be so bent on this, we'll train. Looking for other Senshi has to be our first priority, though."

I shrugged. "I can live with that." Ash relaxed a little at those words, but I could tell she was not accustomed to having her orders questioned. She would have to get used to it.

Back to being myself, and very happy about that fact, I set down my tray and prepared to finally attack my lunch. It was, as would be expected, typical burger-joint fare. This was, after all, an anime convention, and even if I had more pressing things on my mind, I was still at the hotel. I'd already wasted money on one lunch I hadn't gotten to eat, and since the hotel restaurant was prohibitively expensive... it was fast food or nothing. Sharon sat down across from me, wearing a thoughtful expression.

"What is it, Sharon?" I asked. Sharon was usually, well... careless, both in the sense of not being cautious when she should and of not letting things worry her, so seeing her with such a serious look was unusual... not that the events of the last two days hadn't been sufficient cause.

She shook her head. "It's nothing, really," she answered, forcing a smile. "Just thinking about Ash and Cali. I mean, I should have known there would be others, but..." She shook her head.

"...but you didn't plan on running into them so soon." I finished the thought. "Yeah, I know. Didn't think they'd be so... abrasive, either. Well, not 'they'... Cali seems nice enough, but Ash seems to think it's her divine right to boss us around. And some of those ideas of hers... all I know is *I'm* not taking orders from her."

Sharon laughed, and her earlier concerns seemed to fade. "You've never taken orders from anyone, Jon... wouldn't think you would start now. Still... what *are* we going to do? I mean, according to Ash we all live in the same area, so we should be able to keep in touch... but if we're going to act as a group, we've got to figure out who's in charge and all."

"I know," I answered with a sigh. "This isn't going to be pretty, Sharon. We may not be able to work it out at all. I never wanted this... I never wanted these powers, and I sure didn't want the responsibility... but now I'm stuck with it, and if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right. Even if it means I have to go it solo."

Sharon nodded. "Not solo... I'm with you, at least. I don't know anything about fighting or strategy or any of that... but I know that I trust you, and since I dragged you into this the least I can do is back you up."

I smiled reassuringly. "It's not any of your fault, Sharon... I mean that. But I appreciate your support. I'm going to need it."

We walked back to the hotel in silence as I pondered the implications of our situation. I was determined to do things the right way, meaning we would train for the job, but on our limited resources that would be rather difficult. Senshi powers are almost universally destructive (and in some potential cases, destructive on a universal scale!), which made collateral damage a serious consideration. At the same time, this was exactly why we needed to train... how easy would it be for an innocent bystander to get caught up in one of our battles, take a stray energy blast, and be wounded... or worse? I knew Ash didn't see it that way, but I would make her see it somehow. Presenting another problem was the fact that our powers tend to be flashy, when the last thing we needed was to draw attention to ourselves in training. If we wanted to make this work, we needed a controlled, isolated environment in which to train, and that could prove difficult to come by.

I considered a few ideas; I had family with land... quite a bit of it, actually. I dismissed that thought quickly, though. I would need permission to use that land, which would mean explaining why I needed it, and there was no way in hell I was going to tell anyone about this. I'd never live it down. Besides, there was the whole secret identity thing to deal with. Call me paranoid--I won't deny it--but there are a lot of people out there who would do a lot of nasty things to get their hands on power like ours. Thanks, but no thanks, ne? We needed to keep this quiet... something else I would probably have to explain to Ash.

On that thought, I came to another point that might be a tough sell. We didn't just need a place to train; we needed a training program. There is more to being a hero--even a magical girl, as much as the term made me wince--than power, or even the ability to control that power. We needed to learn strategy and tactics, and for that we needed not only to understand our own powers, but each other's as well. On top of that, we needed communication, something we sorely lacked. I thought back to what little I knew about combat teams (based mostly on anime I'd seen, like Bubblegum Crisis), and began to mentally compile a list of things we needed to work on.

Of course, there were some things we had failed to consider completely. Senshi powers are designed to work in concert. It's something you don't really pick up from watching the anime... but it is there. One Senshi has a lot of raw battle power, but she also has a lot of weaknesses. We're more durable than humans, certainly, but our enemies are numerous... and most of us are better at taking on one big target than a bunch of little ones. As a team, though, we're downright scary... like adding Senshi doesn't produce a linear increase, but more of an exponential one. It was a lesson I would have driven into me very soon.

We were almost back to the hotel when Sharon spoke up again. "Jon..." she asked, her voice hesitant with worry. "What are we going to do when the con is over? What will we tell our parents? I mean... you're about to move out anyway for college... but I've got another year stuck at home with my family. How am I going to hide this from them, if we're off fighting monsters all the time? How am I going to get through school?"

"I don't know," I answered, wishing I had something better to offer. "I was wondering the same thing myself... how are we going to do all this without someone figuring it out. It's the old comic-book hero dilemna... except most comic-book heroes don't have to hide from their own family." I turned to rest my hand on her shoulder, meeting the anxiety in her sapphire eyes with what I hoped was certainty in my own. "We'll figure it out somehow." Forcing a smile, I added, "Look on the bright side. If they do find out, at least you don't have to explain any gender issues..."

She laughed, but the look in her eyes didn't change. I knew then what it was that had been bothering her earlier... she had her dream, only to realize that it might not be such a dream after all. "I guess you're right. I just... I'm worried about it."

"So am I, Sharon... so am I." I hugged her then. I still don't know why I did that... it was just an impulse, I guess... I wanted to help her, and didn't know anything better to do. I remember it well, though... remember her arms closing around me, remember holding her there like that for a while. Through all the shock, I had been kinda... numb since the first change... but for that short moment... I could feel again.

And then, as suddenly as it began, it was over. The feeling was gone, and I was back to my thoughts. That moment left a mark on me, though... and on her, too, I think.

Some things you never forget.

We had hoped that monster appearances would be rare, and that we could still have some semblance of a normal life. Perhaps mercifully, those hopes were quickly and completely shattered. Not one afternoon had passed before we found ourselves in another confrontation, this time with a pack of monsters. At least this time they were mostly humanoid, with two arms and two legs and no tentacles, but the green-tinged skin and glowing red eyes were disturbing in their own right, and the fact that we were outnumbered five to two didn't help, either.

"Where are all these monsters COMING from?!" Sharon demanded, wincing as an energy beam deflected off her shield, burning a hole in the pavement at her feet. "There wasn't anything like this around two days ago!"

"More possessed otaku?" I offered, unleashing an air blade at one of the creatures. It easily flipped out of the way, firing off an energy beam in response. I rolled to my right, narrowly avoiding the attack as I ducked behind a parked car. This was *really* not a good place to be fighting, I thought... the hotel parking lot was about as public as you could get, and a crowd was starting to form at what I hoped was a safe distance.

"No... they have a different feel to them." She paused for a moment, concentrating, then added. "That thing was like a demon... these are... something else." Another energy blast deflected off her shield, the golden aura flaring brightly at the point of contact, and she took cover behind another of the cars.

"Just great..." I muttered. My Senshi body was resilient--I knew that much from my fight with the tentacle monster--but I really didn't feel like finding out how well it absorbed energy attacks. Casting a quick glance at her, I asked, "Can you shield me? If I try to fight 'em without some protection, I'm gonna get roasted."

She nodded, an anxious look on her face, then whispered something. As the familiar warmth of the shield enveloped me, I noticed that the golden aura around her faded out. She was dropping her own shield to provide mine?

"Shar--I mean, Cancer... are you sure?" I asked, concerned.

She nodded quickly. "It's draining... I can only maintain one shield at a time... but I don't have any attack power, so I should be helping you instead. It's... what I'm supposed to do."

I shook my head, something inside rebelling at that thought. Still, there was nothing to be done for it now. We were pinned down, and our green-skinned friends were moving closer. If I didn't make a reduction in the monster population soon, we were in trouble. They were expecting me to come around the corner, waiting to pop me as soon as I stuck my neck out. Maybe I could surprise them a little. Pressing my hands against the back bumper of the car, I pushed suddenly down, flipping myself up and vaulting over and onto the hood.

"Division Blade!" I called out, unleashing a torrent of smaller blades that caught one of them off guard. He... I think he was a he... scrambled to evade, but the little spinning knives sliced straight through him, and he dissolved in a pile of dust. The sight of his demise stunned me a moment... in spite of what Sharon had said, I'd half-expected him to just flicker out like the tentacle beast had, leaving some poor misguided otaku in his place. But he didn't... and I had killed him, whatever he was.

The hesitation was dangerous, and I was immediately jarred by the impact of two energy blasts against my shield. The first hit square on, absorbed by the shield but still carrying enough force to knock me backwards off the car's hood. The second struck as I was falling, deflecting wide, hitting another car
behind me...

... which promptly exploded in a ball of flame. The force of the blast slammed me back up against the car I'd just fallen off of as searing heat washed over me for an instant, then faded. I dragged myself back up to my knees, amazed that I was mostly unharmed, even though Sharon's shield had collapsed under the force of the blast. I tried to check on her, but the thick black smoke pouring from what had been only moments before a nice red sports coupe completely obscured my view.

"Fucking Hell!" I spat out the curse, whatever reluctance or hesitation that might have overcome me blown away by the violence of the situation. This was escalating way too fast, and I had to put an end to it, even if it meant I had to kill them all. First, though, I had to find out of Sharon was all right.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. I needed to think, not just react to what was happening. We were still outnumbered and still outgunned, and if we didn't come up with a strategy, we were going to be the next to die. Creeping around the back end of the car I was still using for cover, I moved as silently as I could. It was a gamble--if they knew where I was, they might well just blow up this car, too, hoping to take me with it--but the odds were that they were as disoriented as I had been, and that was something I could use to advantage.

Just as I reached the back of the car, the smoke cleared slightly, and I was able to look over to where Sharon had been hiding. She was still there, though she had moved back a little bit. She looked exhausted--probably from the effort of shielding me in that explosion, I thought--but she was unhurt. She looked in my direction, a relieved expression crossing her face as we made eye contact for a brief moment.

It was then that something occurred to me. "Where the hell are Aries and Taurus?" I muttered. "They were in the hotel, they should have come running by now!" Even in my anger, though, it was an encouraging thought. They had to show up eventually... we just had to hold out a little longer. I could hear footsteps approaching now... the monsters were coming. I couldn't see them yet, not through the smoke, but I could hear enough to tell where at least one was... one that was going to get a surprise when he got too close.

I could feel the power coalesce in my hand as air shaped itself into a cutting edge. I gripped the blade's hilt tightly, coiling to strike as the steps drew nearer. The wind shifted a little, thinning out the smoke, and I was able to make out the monster's silhouette. Just a little closer, now...

"Blast Wave!" a voice that would soon be familiar to me called out sharply, and a ripple shot through the Earth just before me, the pavement erupting beneath the monster's feet, blasting him into the air. I ducked beneath the car I had been using for cover as fist-sized chunks of concrete and earth rained down around me. After a moment the fallout subsided, and I slid out from underneath the car, looking up at a rather... interesting view of Sailor Taurus. Either she didn't notice or didn't mind, because she grinned down at me. "Looks like you were in a bit over your head," she teased.

"Nice of you to show up," I muttered, dragging myself to my feet. I ducked behind the side of the car again, motioning for Taurus to take cover as well. The smoke was thinning now; soon it would be open season again, and there were still three more out there. "What took you so long?"

"We had to find a place to change. It is a bit on the revealing side, after all." She grinned conspiratorily at me.

"Uh-huh," I answered, deciding not to accept her bait. "There are still three more of them out there, but at least it's more of an even playing field now. Where's Aries?"

"She's with Cancer. We were hoping to set up a crossfire."

I nodded; maybe Ash wasn't entirely stupid after all. "Sounds like a good tactic to me." Motioning to the next car over, I added, "They have to know we're here by now. Let's get moving." She nodded, and we crept toward the front of the car, watching for movement. Seeing none, we leapt across the gap. Energy blasts erupted around us, narrowly missing as we both rolled to cover, and I let out a held breath.

"You were right, they know where we are," Taurus observed flatly.

"I noticed. We can't move or they'll blast us, and if we just sit here they'll blow up the car and try to take us that way."

She flashed me a wicked grin. "When I told people I like it both ways, I don't think that was what I meant. Besides, they're not my type."

I raised an eyebrow at her, then smiled slightly myself. "Well, I've never been the type to sit and take it. I say we go get 'em."

"Ooooh... the aggressive type. I like that." She winked at me. "I know Aries... she can be abrasive sometimes, but I trust her; she'll cover for us. On three, then?"

I nodded. "And it's one, two, three, and then go, not the other way. One... two... three... now!" Not wanting to go around the car where they would expect, I leapt over the hood. "Division Blade!" I called out the attack, releasing a single, large spinning blade at one one of the monsters. He sidestepped the attack, turning to fire an energy blast at me...

...and suddenly fell, engulfed in flames, as Aries stepped out from her hiding place on the opposite side. I grinned, forming another blade in my hands, and ran at one of the two remaining creatures. To my left, I heard Cali call out her attack against the other.

"Taurus Golem Charge!" A low rumble was the first response to her command, then a section of the pavement ruptured as the earth rose beneath it, rapidly taking the life-size form of a bull. It stamped once, then charged with surprising speed. The monster tried to evade, but the golem-bull was faster, catching him between the horns and ramming him into one of the nearby cars. The monster shuddered once and crumbled to dust.

One left, and he was mine. I closed my eyes, the full knowledge of what I was about to do returning to me. It had to be; there was no other way. I felt a warmth surround me as Sharon gave me a little more of her precious strength for protection... and somehow, knowing she was with me made it easier. I opened my eyes, leaping toward the monster. It slid sideways, away from my initial thrust, but could not escape the backhanded blow that followed... and it, too, was gone, leaving the battlefield empty of all but Senshi.

Ash quickly joined us, with Sharon lagging a bit behind. "Is everyone all right? she asked.

I nodded, answering for Cali also. "We're fine. What about Cancer?"

"I'm fine, too," Sharon replied as she caught up. "Just tired, like last time."

"Your powers are that draining?" Aries questioned. Sharon nodded silently, and Aries started to ask another question before I cut in.

"We'll have time for explanations later," I suggested. "For now, we need to get out of here before the cops show up. I can't speak for any of you, but I don't think trying to explain this would be a good idea. It's bad enough that there were witnesses."

Aries nodded her acquiescence. "Let's go, then. Back to my room, I think... we can lay low there for a while... and there's a TV, so we can see what the local news makes of all this."

"Nothing good, I promise," I said dryly. "I do agree, that's a good plan... but we need to go someplace away from there first, to change. We don't want anyone to track us." I offered my arm to Sharon for support, and she accepted it gratefully. "Now... let's get moving."

Back in Ash's room, I gently lowered myself into one of the chairs. My whole body ached, inside and out; with the pain I was feeling, I should have been covered in bruises... but there was not a mark anywhere on me. It was just more reinforcement of something I'd already realized... Senshi bodies are tough.

At the same time, the fact that I *was* still feeling the pain was a serious disappointment. Half the reason I'd wanted to change back--aside from the secret-identity concerns--was that I had hoped switching bodies would make the pain go away. Obviously, it hadn't worked. The implications of that would have been fascinating under most other circumstances, as it meant that my Senshi body and my regular body *were* one and the same, but at that point I had little appreciation for the fact. It would be some time before I understood just how important it really was.

At that point, though, I had a number of more pressing concerns. Aside from the fact that I was hurting, I was worried about the implications of the day's events. Sharon's questions from the walk home echoed in my mind. We were Senshi. Warriors. This was going to change our lives in ways we couldn't begin to imagine. We were fated... doomed, some might say... to live a double-life, to put our own lives on the line to protect humanity from evils we'd never heard of just days before. Suddenly, in the face of having just fought a group of monsters that wanted us dead, turning into a girl just to use my powers seemed like a minor issue. That's not to say it didn't bother me... but there were other things that bothered me more.

As she does so often, Sharon seemed to sense my mood, and she rested her hand on my shoulder to draw my attention away from my fears. There was something about that touch that was comforting, as though she had taken a little of my fear and given me a little of her strength in that moment... something else I would not understand the significance of until later. I looked back up at her, forcing a smile, surprised at the steadiness of her gaze as she met mine.

Minutes passed in silence, as each of us seemed to consider the implications of what had just passed. Finally, Aries picked up the TV remote from her nightstand and turned on the news.

"--Hotel where a scene has unfolded that can only be described as 'unreal'," the reporter droned in her best 'I-am-an-objective-journalist-I-am-not-stunned-by-what-I-just-saw' voice. "We have several eyewitness reports of what seems to have been a battle of sorts between a number of high-school and college-age girls and what has been described as 'a pack of demon monsters'. Ordinarily, I might think this absurd, but you can see the damage left in the wake of this clash behind me, with one car in the parking lot completely demolished, and several others scorched or smashed."

"Brenda, hold on a moment," the anchorman interrupted her. "Could you please repeat that? You said it was a fight between high-school age girls and demon monsters? This is, as you said, rather... difficult to believe."

"Dan, I have here one of the eyewitnesses to the situation. She is an attendee at the animation festival and convention being held at this hotel, and she claims to have seen the entire altercation." The camera then shifted to a girl who looked to be about fifteen years old, wearing a con badge, as the reporter asked, "Your name is Angela, right?" The girl nodded. "Can you tell us what you saw?"

"Yes," Angela answered. "These monsters... I think there were six of them, but I'm not sure... were all out here in the parking lot threatening people, shooting beams of energy at cars... they beat up a couple of guys who tried to stop them; the paramedics took those guys to the hospital. Then the Sailor Senshi showed up..."

"Sailor Senshi?" the reporter echoed questioningly. "Were those the girls that fought the monsters?"

Angela nodded. "Yes... there's a show about them called Sailor Moon... but these were different than the ones in the show. They used different powers, and had different color outfits. I..." the girl shook her head slightly, words coming out in a stream as she tried to make sense of what she had seen. She told the story about as well as she could be expected to be, I guess... she got most of the details right, even though the reporter kept stopping her and asking her to explain stuff. I guess I can't blame people for not wanting to believe in all this... at the time, I'd rather have not believed it myself. Sometimes I still would.

Finally, the girl finished telling her story, and the reporter picked it up again. "--not really sure what to think, Dan," she said, visibly shaken now. "Whatever happened here was clearly not a show or a fake... the police are here investigating it now, and two young men were indeed taken to the hospital with serious injuries. The kind of powers involved in this are frightening at best."

"Does anyone know what happened to these girls who supposedly fought these monsters?" the anchorman asked. "Have the police taken them in for questioning?"

The reporter shook her head. "No, eyewitness accounts indicated that the girls left the scene immediately after the fight. Nobody seems to have been able to give a good description of them except for their colorful outfits, so the police say there is little chance of finding them. From what everyone here tells me, the girls are heroes of a sort, like out of a comic book or a movie. But how can we really tell?"

"How, indeed? We'll continue to fill you in on this story as more details--" the anchorman's voice was cut off abruptly as Ash switched off the TV angrily.

"Idiots," she muttered. "What else would we be? We fought off a pack of monsters. Does that make us the badguys?"

"Easy, Ash," I said as soothingly as I could manage. "These people have never seen monsters, remember? They don't know what to think of all this. People are gonna be confused, and we're just gonna have to do our best to stay on the high ground so people can see us for what we are."

She sighed deeply. "I guess. I'm just... it makes me mad that we just saved a lot of people, and they talk about us like we're just as bad as the monsters."

"Yeah, you're both right," Cali said wearily from where she lay on her bed. "It sucks, but it's gonna be this way, at least for a while until we can prove we're really on the side of the angels, so to speak. And it may always be this way... some people are always gonna be scared of us, you know."

I felt Sharon rest both her hands on my shoulders, leaning on me a bit as she spoke. "That's part of why we have to help them, too. They're afraid of us... but they'll be afraid of the monsters more... and fear just makes the monsters stronger."

I looked up at her. "What do you mean?"

She shook her head slightly. "I'm not... exactly sure. It's just something I could tell... when we were afraid of the monsters, they were stronger than when we weren't. It's why we could beat them so quickly once we were all there."

"And here I thought it was just good tactics," I said dryly, but I could see in Sharon's eyes that she really believed what she was saying... and for some reason, I couldn't argue with her. "I'll take your word for it, though... demons and such traditionally are said to feed on human fear and suffering... maybe these monsters do, too."

"Whatever," Ash muttered, laying back on her bed. "At least we know the disguise effect works."

I shook my head. "We can't assume that after one fight. Just because nobody got a good look at us this time doesn't mean anything. What happens when a news crew actually gets film of us in action, hmm? Can we fool a camera? I think we should assume not, and take some precautions at least."

"Why are you worried about it, girly-man?" Ash shot back. "They couldn't recognize you anyway!"

I bit my lip, trying to contain my anger, but it wasn't working very well. I started to stand up to leave, but Sharon's weight on my shoulders pushed me back down into my chair. "Calm down, Jon," she whispered into my ear, then looked up at Ash. "That was uncalled for, Ashley."

"Yeah, whatever," Aries answered dismissively. Whatever effect Sharon's gaze might have on me, Ash seemed perfectly able to ignore it. Even with that, though, she lay back on her bed and fell silent.

"We need to get some rest," Sharon said softly. "All of us. It's been a long day already, and it's wearing on me, too."

Cali nodded, glancing meaningfully at Ash. "I think we can all agree on that. Pulling out a piece of paper, she scribbed something on it and handed it to Sharon. "Here's my cel phone number... give me a call when you're ready to meet up again. Do y'all have a place to crash?"

Sharon nodded. "One of my friends and I have a room here." She lifted her other hand from my shoulder then, letting me stand up, and as I did so I rediscovered the collection of body aches I had acquired in that last fight.

"Ow..." I muttered. "Being a Senshi hurts."

"Tell me about it," Cali agreed, winking at me. "Now you two go relax, have fun." There was something about her tone when she said that... and it wasn't quite lost on Sharon, who turned bright red.

"It's not like that!" she insisted, dragging me along with her as she headed for the door. I tried hard not to laugh at Sharon's vehement denial, which was made all the more funny by the fact that it made things look much worse than they were.

"We're just friends, really," I explained, still laughing as Sharon glared at me. To this day, I'm still not sure if she looked at me like that because I was laughing or because of what I said.

I do know, though, that Cali didn't buy it either way. That girl has a one-track mind. "You may think so," she prodded, wearing a Cheshire-cat grin, "but she doesn't. I promise you, every time I look at you she gets jealous."

Sharon's blush deepend to about the color of Aries' fuku. "I... I... " she stammered, her expression caught between anger and embarrassment. "I do not," she said weakly.

"Yeah, real convincing that was, Sharon-chan," Cali countered. "You believe her, don't you, Jon?"

It was my turn to be at a loss for words, and I knew I was about as red as Sharon. "I... I think I'll not answer that," I answered, even as I kicked myself mentally for a response even more lame than hers. Still... I didn't know what to think. Cali had a point... Sharon *did* act jealous, and I had to admit I liked that. What did it mean, though, really? I wasn't sure.

Before I could complete the thought, Sharon was tugging on my arm, dragging me out of the room again. As the sound of Cali's laughter followed us out and down the hall, I found myself wondering what to think of all this. It was so much, so fast... it was so overwhelming... and yet some things just felt right, in spite of all my misgivings.

What, though, did Sharon think? I would have to ask her eventually; I was sure she wouldn't say it on her own.

Sharon didn't let go of my arm until we got back to her room, and though her blush had faded mostly, she still seemed rather flustered by the whole 'discussion' that had just taken place. So much so, in fact, that she had completely failed to notice all the people staring at us as she dragged me down the hall. At the door to her room, though, her frazzled mental state was even more apparent as she dug through her pockets for her room key.

"I know this is in here," she muttered to nobody in particular as she pulled dollar bills, a pen, her house keys, some loose change, and several other assorted items out of her pockets before finally discovering the cardkey she was looking for. Did I ever mention that Sharon is not a terribly organized person? The fact that she wasn't carrying her purse around with her anymore didn't help, of course; her pockets were stuffed with all the things she thought she might need. You can read that as "way too much junk".

Opening the door to the room, she walked in and dropped lifelessly down onto one of the beds. It was then that I really remembered just how exhausted she had seemed earlier... the incident with Cali had pushed that to the back of my mind. "You ok, Sharon?" I asked her, concerned.

"Just tired," she said softly. "Give me a couple of hours and I'll be fine. The energy I give up... seems to regenerate, though I'm not really sure how that works." I nodded, laying down carefully on the other bed. I was very sore, still... a little sleep would do me a world of good. Thus, Sharon's next words were a bit of an unpleasant surprise.

"You can't sleep there, Jon... Stephanie will come back and she'll be mad that someone's sleeping on her bed."

I sighed. "It's not like I'm sleeping *in* her bed... I'm just laying down for a while on top of the blanket." Surely her friend wouldn't be *that* pissy about it, I thought. Besides, the other alternative sounded very painful in my present state. "Do I *have* to sleep on the floor?"

She propped herself up on her elbows and looked over at me. "No, you can't sleep on the floor, either. Someone will trip over you and you might get hurt."

"As if I'm not hurting already," I mumbled. "Do I need to go home, then?"

She gave me one of those looks like all women have. You know the one... that exasperated expression they get when a man says something that makes perfect sense to him but she thinks is ridiculous? Yeah, that one. I get it a lot, dealing with a whole pack of Sailor Senshi; usually it's followed by some long, drawn-out explanation of why the thing I said is stupid. Sharon is different, though... she just smiled at me. "No, no," she laughed. "You can sleep next to me."

I blinked, not sure I'd heard her right. "Sharon, is that really a good idea?"

She laughed, patting her hand on the empty half of her bed. "It's not like we're *doing* anything," she pointed out. "Besides... we're just friends, right?"

There was something about the way she said that last part that seemed... false, in a way. Like she really wanted to say something else. Still, I was tired, and so was she. Maybe I was just imagining things. "...right," I agreed quietly, wondering if my voice sounded like hers in that moment. She didn't seem to react, but that didn't really mean anything, either. Lifting myself from the bed, I moved to lay down next to her, stretching out as best I could without intruding into her space. "Thanks."

She looked at me, her eyes meeting mine for a moment before she turned over, facing away from me. There was something in that gaze--an expression I'd seen before, that afternoon when we were on the way back from lunch--something that made me think of what Cali had said in the room, and of Sharon's reaction. Cali had been right... Sharon's denial wasn't terribly convincing, and as oblivious as I might be to the ways of the female heart, even I couldn't miss the fact that she'd been acting differently around me of late. I had assumed it was just the stress of the situation, that she was just looking for someone to lean on. In that moment, though, as I lay there, I started to wonder.

I looked up at the ceiling, trying to force my exhausted, battered body to relax, but I couldn't get the thoughts to stop. There was more to this... more to her feelings than I knew. More than that, she wasn't the only one acting differently. I'd always liked Sharon, even if I thought her Moon obsession was a bit over the top, and I've always been protective of my friends. This, though... this was more than that. I worried about her; I worried about her power and the way it drained her; I worried about her emotions, and the self-doubt and self-blame she was feeling from getting me involved in this; I worried about the life she would have to lead now, and how she would handle it, even more than I worried about myself. I wanted to protect her, to shield her from any and every threat, no matter how small. And somewhere down deep inside, I had this feeling that this was the way it was meant to be.

I lay there in silence as the minutes ticked by. Ten... twenty... thirty... still my mind ran itself in circles. As tired as I was, I wasn't going to sleep any time soon. I glanced over at Sharon, who still lay facing the wall. She wasn't asleep either... she moved every so often, seemingly unable to get comfortable. Was she thinking about the same things I was? Or was I imagining it all? When it came down to it, there was only one way to find out, and I wasn't going to get any rest until I did. Swallowing hard, I pulled together all the courage I could muster. "Sharon...?" I asked, trembling.

"Yeah?" she answered. Her voice was weak, tentative... was she afraid?

I drew a deep breath, willing myself to ask the question. "She was right, wasn't she?"

She turned over to face me again, her gaze searching mine. She knew exactly what I meant, I could tell... and really, the look in her eyes told me everything I needed to know. After a moment's silence, she nodded slowly. "Yeah... she's right."

"Sharon..." I whispered, desperately hoping I didn't sound as nervous as I felt. "I... don't see you as just a friend anymore, either." I paused, trying to rein in my emotions enough to be coherent. "I... you mean a lot more to me than a friend, Sharon."

Her eyes widened a little bit as the anxiety in her expression gave way to relief. She reached out to me then, and I drew her into my arms, hugging her tightly as she rested her head in my shoulder. It was everything I had felt that afternoon and then some, and I wondered where such depth of emotion could have come from so quickly, but considering what we had been through together already, I suppose it should have been no real surprise.

We held each other like that for several minutes before finally she pulled back enough that I could look at her again. "Thank you, Jon," she said softly. "I was worried... afraid you wouldn't understand so soon. I'm not even sure I understand it myself, really."

"Some things aren't meant to be understood," I answered, smiling at her. After all, I didn't understand it any better than she did... but I knew what I felt, and what I felt was not to be denied. I don't know, I've never thought of myself as a terribly romantic person... but I have my moments. Maybe it was just because of how different it felt. I'd had girlfriends before, been on dates before, and all that... this was different. I knew then that I would fight for Sharon... and I have, since, many times. I knew then that I would die for her, if necessary.

I only know one word that can describe that feeling, and it's one I've been taught to use cautiously, and sparingly. I'd never said it to any of my girlfriends before, as much as I thought I felt it. I was ready to use that word then... but Sharon beat me to it.

"I love you, Jon," she said softly, hugging me tightly again.

"I love you, too, Sharon."

Silence reigned as we held each other then... long moments of silence that could never be long enough. Deprived of the anxiety that was keeping me awake, I found myself growing very sleepy. Finally, I had to pull back from her, stifling an oncoming yawn.

"Oh, good," Sharon said with a smile. "I'm getting sleepy, too, but I didn't want to say anything."

I laughed... then frowned. "Um... now that we're more than 'just friends'... do I need to sleep on the floor?"

She gave me that look again, then shook her head and giggled. "No, silly... just don't get any ideas."

I smiled at her. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Yes, you would, you hentai." She stuck her tongue out at me. "But I trust you not to do more than dream." With that, she lay back on the bed and closed her eyes. Within a few moments, she was asleep. I've always wished I could just drop off to sleep like that... never has worked for me. Even so, it wasn't much longer before I to gave way to my dreams.

Sharon, of course, was right about those.