Tears of Light – Chapter 14 – A Fragile Candle

(ASMR NOTE:  For some reason, last week chapter 4 was re-posted instead of 
Chapter 14.  Hopefully you are seeing this by the 22rd(?) if you are, be 
thankful, I'm going to North Carolina on the 21st.  I'll be gone for two 
weeks..)

AN:  Did ya miss me?  I was ohhh… well I was busy.  There were exams, and then 
West Side Story, yes, I was in a musical, and then there were exams again… well… 
umm….  Anyways, this chapter's a little short but that's cause I found a good 
place to end it and figured I better get this out as soon as possible.  Enjoy 
minna-chan!

Disclaimer:  Don't own Sailor Moon or DBZ.  Own Silia though!  And Kira, but 
that pertains to a different story….  Anyway there's no point in suing me, there 
are tons of other fan fic authors out there, you can't get us all!  *jumps into 
a getaway car and grabs Kait(Fuzzy Elf) and Stef on the way*  You'll never take 
us alive!!!!!!!!!


****************

	Usagi had never been so terrified in her life.  Strangely though, as she 
plummeted towards the ever-nearing ground, Gohan wrapped in her arms, she 
refused to consider this to be her last moment.  She refused to give in and 
simply say her farewells to Mamoru while she had the chance.  She wouldn't let 
Gohan die at the very least.  She closed her eyes, there had to be a way, some 
way to save him.

	Please, let me save him.

	As if that one spark of selflessness had triggered something within the 
ginzuishou it started it flared to life, moments before Usagi and Gohan hit the 
ground.  The pure white light nearly blinded everyone on the battlefield and 
Lady Frost let out a shriek as she covered her eyes.  Piccolo's face was nearly 
laced with worry, he had noticed Gohan and Usagi falling right before the light 
flared and feared it was the result of Usagi dying, and, in all probability, 
taking Gohan with her.
	However, as the light dimmed, though it only dimmed ever so slightly, and 
angel could be seen silhouetted by the radiance.  Wings spread from her back as 
she hovered just barely off the ground, cradling Gohan in her arms.  The young 
Saiyan blinked a few times as he woke, his wounds no longer aching and feeling 
strangely comforted.  Usagi smiled softly down at him and eased him to the 
ground.  He landed easily, if with a lot of wonder at what had happened.
	Usagi was dressed in her princess gown but quickly decided more 
appropriate apparel was necessary and in a flash was returned to her comforting 
form of Eternal Sailor Moon.
	She reached forward with both hands and her tier appeared in her hands, 
extending from the ground to just above her head.
	"You attacked us for no reason and seek only to gain your own power.  Give 
me one good reason why I shouldn't destroy you."  Usagi stated in a calm voice, 
giving Frost one last chance at survival.  Her glow never ebbed and the power 
that had healed Gohan's wounds was still there, ready to be used to destroy 
Frost.
	The woman eyed Usagi for what seemed like a very long time.  Was it really 
worth it now to continue trying to destroy them all?  Mamono had offered her 
that much money, not enough to face almost certain death and with the power now 
radiating from Sailor Moon combined with that of all the others, gave her a 
sinking feeling of doom.  On the other hand, turning her back now would only get 
her killed.  Either her foes would destroy her before she could escape, or 
possibly a worse fate; Mamono would destroy her for failure.  The women paid 
great if you succeeded but failing was not an option.
	"Why Princess," she started in the most complacent voice she could fake, 
carefully gathering energy within. "I don't fight without reason.  I have been 
threatened, and it is destroy you or face certain death!"  That sounded 
reasonable enough Mamono decided, and probably the truth as well.  Usagi still 
didn't move but Vegeta and Piccolo were both twitching slightly as if waiting 
for the right moment to attack.
	Not good.
	"So you see while I face certain death at the hand of my employer I can 
still kill you!!!!!"  With an enormous eruption of power she flung her hands 
towards Usagi and channeled all her energy at her foe.
	Usagi, slightly expecting this, was ready; she immediately channeled all 
her power through her tier praying that she could defeat her foe before she 
destroyed them all.
	For a moment she thought that she wouldn't have enough strength, she 
fumbled and Frost's power got closer.  That's when she heard, and felt, her 
friends.
	Immediately, each of the other three warriors flung all their power at the 
Lady Frost and she, unprepared, was utterly consumed by it.

************

	Mamoru tensed a little as he and the senshi walked through the corridors 
of Mamono's lair.  Things had been far too quiet already and he was half 
expecting to be ambushed at any moment, so when he felt Usagi's power flair back 
to life he started and stopped walking only to be walked into by Goku.
	"What's wrong Mamoru?"  He asked with a blink, as Mamoru recovered from 
the hit.
	Mamoru shook his head a little and smiled.  "I think Usako's going to be 
all right."  He answered simply with a little smile, his posture full of relief.  
"Now let's keep going."
	The group traveled down the dark depths of Mamono's lair, every moment 
they were left alone filled with relief and anxiety.  It didn't seem right; all 
her creatures should have been residing within, and yet they saw neither hide 
nor hair of them.  In fact, Rei was getting so twitchy that she had her Flame 
Sniper bow armed and ready to fire at first sign of an attack.
	Ami kept scanning the area with her visor and computer.  Because she was 
so preoccupied she was walking in the middle of the group, guarded soundly by 
the others.  Goku and Hotaru led the group, Makoto was at the back with Rei and 
the rest were to either side of Ami.
	Makoto was gently crackling with electricity, but otherwise the rest were 
keeping a tight reign on their powers.
	Goku sent his little balls of light further on ahead, they zipped along 
quite pleasantly for a while and then, abruptly, stopped.  Hotaru ran up ahead a 
little and then stopped.  The energy globes had stopped at a fork in the path.  
Both routes seemed identical in every way except one went to the left the other 
towards the right.
	"Now what?"  Makoto asked with mild annoyance.
	Hotaru bit her lip as she looked back and forth between the two corridors.  
To be completely honest, she didn't have a clue as to which way she should go.  
"I don't know guys, I'm pretty sure it was suppose to be straight going the 
whole way.  But we never were sure if we had things exactly the way they are."
	There was a murmur of acknowledgement in the background and Goku looked 
back and forth between the two paths with a pensive, though still goofy, 
expression.
	"Maybe we should split up?"  Silia tentatively suggested, fingering the 
ring on her finger nervously.
	Goku shook his head.  "No, that would be the perfect opportunity for them, 
we'll stay together and go... this way."  He said moving off towards the left.
	The others shrugged a little but it gave them something to do so they 
followed the Saiyan swiftly.
	As Goku led the group through the tunnels he could only hope he had made 
the right decision.  He knew for certain they couldn't split up; the fork in the 
road seemed designed for that and there was no way he'd fall for that trick.
	Behind him, Mamoru was lost in thought.

**********

	Usagi touched the ground with a sad smile on her face, the battle was won, 
but she had helped to kill another.  The fact never settled easy on her.  She 
sighed; her silver energy was still flaring around her and she smiled a little. 
The extra energy she had now would be just enough to accomplish her goal.
	Gohan looked up at her with wonder.  "What happened?"  He asked quietly.  
The others merely stared at her and waited.
	Usagi smiled softly, glancing at her wings.  "This is my Eternal form.  
This is the power I had before I came here, the power I need to help my 
friends."  She paused for a moment.  "I have a lot of excess energy, I think 
it's because of the way that I got my powers back, and... I think I can bring 
myself home with it.  All I have to do is follow my link to Mamo-chan."
	"Are you sure it'll work?"  Gohan asked cautiously.  He didn't want her 
doing anything that could kill her before she even realized what was going on.
	Vegeta and Piccolo stared at her silently.  Vegeta seemed to be 
calculating something in his head; perhaps how powerful she was as there was a 
scowl on his face.  Piccolo's expression was one that was mildly impressed, and 
not much else.
	Usagi smiled softly, "It has to, I just spoke with Mamo-chan."  Her eyes 
became worried.  "They're going to fight Mamono, they don't have a choice 
anymore.  Mamono's attacking my home and I have to return now, to defend it.  Do 
me a favour though; don't wish Goku back until he's ready to return, you'll know 
when.  If what I'm being told is right, he doesn't want to leave until our world 
is safe."  Her eyes shone with happiness.  It seemed that in many ways Goku was 
a lot like her.  Secretly she couldn't wait to meet him.
	"Ok."  Gohan answered, accompanied by a nod from Piccolo.  "We'll take 
care of it.  But, be careful ok."
	Usagi nodded, kneeled down and gave the child a hug.  Gohan smiled and 
hugged her back; her power was warm and comforting.  She felt different then the 
Usagi he had known over the past few months, and yet the same.  In her 
transformed state she also acted more mature.  A good thing, Gohan decided.  He 
like carefree Usagi but that wouldn't do her any good on the battlefield.
	Usagi stood again and smiled in Vegeta and Piccolo's direction.  "Take 
care you two, send my regards to the others."
	With one last grin she crossed her arms in front of her and closed her 
eyes, her bright aura slowly encasing her in it's warmth.

	"Ja ne, minna."  

	With those simple words her aura completely encased her and in the blink 
of an eye she was gone.

**********

	"They're watching us."  Rei commented to Makoto through tight lips.  "I 
can feel them watching."
	The Amazon scanned the area carefully but could see only the caves walls 
and the unending darkness.  "If they are here, why aren't they doing anything?"  
She whispered back hesitantly.
	Rei shrugged, her fingers twitching as she held her attack like a real 
bow.  "I don't know, but I think Goku feels it too and maybe a couple of the 
others."
	They walked in silence a while longer, for a few moments Hotaru was 
conversing with Ami, when the blue haired girl suddenly stopped, her eyes 
widening in disbelief and fear.
	"What-" Silia started only to be cut off by Ami who started walking again.
	"Guys there's a large cavern up ahead," she twitched a little as her 
computer beeped something at her.  "I suggest we run."
	There was no time to question what the little genious said, as if on cue 
several shadows separated from the wall and set upon the group.
	Mars and Jupiter fired of their attacks in a flash and the entire group 
lunged foreword, dashing for the opening while firing off any attacks to keep 
their enemies at bay.
	Goku zipped ahead first to clear the way while Mars and Jupiter kept the 
Shadows as far back as possible.  Goku fired of a series of ki beams once he hit 
the open cavern taking down as many shadows as he could in the shortest amount 
of time.  About 15 fell instantly and then, the fighting stopped.
	The senshi stood in the middle of the cavern and, to everyone's surprise 
and trepidation, the shadows stopped attacking.  Their glowing crystal eyes were 
no longer hidden and the walls of the cave were outlined with countless pairs of 
jewel like eyes, each pair a different colour.
	"We're in trouble."  Silia whispered so softly that even those crowded 
around her could barely hear it.
	However, as if in response and deep, female laughter came from the 
opposite side of the cavern as the tunnel.  Goku's little lights still bobbed in 
the air around them, but it was still nearly impossible to see beyond their own 
noses.
	"I'm so glad you could join me in my domain."  The female voice trilled.  
Nearly everyone reacted to the voice in an apprehensive fashion. 
	"Kuroi Mamono."  Tuxedo Kamen breathed viciously.
	Mamono laughed again, the cavern bouncing her voice around so that they 
couldn't quite tell anymore where she was.  "So glad you remembered me."  She 
drawled out sarcastically.  "Though considering you'll be nothing but a pile of 
ashes in a moment, it's not really that consequential."
	"That's what you think!"  Goku shot back, only barely restraining his 
powers from flaring into full life.  Somewhere, deep beneath, he could feel the 
power of Super Saiyan calling to him, an angry raging beast ready to be released 
once again.
	Mamono made a small noise of scorn, though refrained from laughing again.  
"That's where YOU are wrong Goku."  She declared, full of self-assurance, 
"already the other senshi's defeat is close at hand.  My reshaping of this 
planet will proceed unhindered soon."  Her voice slowly grew in joy and was 
dripping with malice.  "And as we speak your precious Moon Princess is about to 
die at the hand of my minion on the other side, and once that happens there will 
be no one left to stop me."
	Tuxedo Kamen clenched his fists, but he knew one thing that Mamono didn't.  
He could talk with Usagi.  She, Vegeta, Piccolo and Gohan had just overcome 
Mamono's minion and his Usako was safe.  He daren't say anything about it 
though.  It fueled the other's powers and gave them the element of surprise if 
Usagi did find a way back here.
	Mars hissed venomously.  "Our princess will NOT be killed and WE will stop 
you here."
	"Now come out from hiding and face us!"  Joined Jupiter.
	Mamono chuckled a little.  "I'm not hiding, fools."  She spat out.  "I AM 
the darkness, however it would be much more amusing to fight you in my physical 
form anyway.
	If it was possible to say the darkness actually grew, it did, as Goku felt 
Mamono's power coalescing on one point ahead of them.  It only took a moment and 
her golden eyes were glimmering in front of them.  "It's a shame you cannot see 
me in all my glory.  Your pathetic minds just can't process my absolute 
darkness, that's fine.  I'll just kill you now."
	The darkness in front of them appeared to swirl as if the group could 
detect different levels of darkness.
	Each warrior called out the begging of their attack and the room began to 
light with the brilliance from their powers.  Nothing reached Mamono though.  
Her powers seemed to neutralize any light thrown her way.
	Goku was the only one not powering up an attack.  There was something 
deadly wrong about all of this and he couldn't quite grasp.  Something, though, 
told him that attacking her right now wasn't right.  While he was thinking, they 
loosed their attacks.
	Flame, water, lightning, ice, earth and destruction soared towards Mamono 
with all their fury, and stopped.  As they reached Mamono's attack they simply, 
vanished.
	"Oh, my, god."  Silia mouthed as she lowered her hands.  Everyone in the 
group was either now afraid or angry.  Except Goku, he was oddly pensive, a mode 
he only went into when dealing with a foe that was a serious threat.
	He started, slowly, to raise his power, his eyes scanning Mamono and her 
attack ruthlessly.
	Mamono laughed.  "Come now, you can do better than that!  What about you 
Goku?  Hmmmm?  Don't feel up to my powers?  Come now, I expected better from 
you."  She prodded maliciously.  She eyed him warily though, at the moment he 
was her biggest threat, and yet, he did nothing.
	Goku's eyes flickered back to Mercury who had resumed her scanning; she 
simply shook her head.  Nothing she found would do them any good, not as far as 
she could tell anyway.
	Goku nodded his head slightly, ignoring Mamono.  He would have to try 
anyway; he wouldn't go down without a fight.  He moved into an aggressive 
position and started raising his power towards just below Super Saiyan, as he 
wasn't sure he could attain that level again yet.
	He was about to start his Kamehameha when a tiny speck of light penetrated 
the darkness.  Both he and Mamono faltered for a moment.  The bright white light 
grew; it's speed doubling every second.
	Tuxedo Kamen smiled and the girl's eyes lit up.  They could never mistake 
that power.
	The light spread across the cavern, lighting everything but Mamono up.  
That scared her.  The demon of darkness loosed her attack in surprise and anger.  
That light, she knew it, the light of the moon, the light that was SUPPOSED to 
be dead.
	Her darkness soared towards the light, gobbling up everything in its path.  
There was nothing the senshi could do as it headed towards the source.  The 
collision of powers there, light against dark, even if the light wasn't quite 
aware of anything but the threat yet, was hard to watch; the unfathomable 
darkness against the near blinding light.  
	They struggled back and forth for sometime until BOTH gave at once.  Half 
of the power from each side collided with each other and simply vanished, the 
rest soared towards the enemy unhindered.  The light slammed into Mamono, 
sending her crashing into the ground.  At the same time the darkness tore at the 
source of light, Usagi's scream as she was thrown back into her home dimension 
while being bombarded by dark power tore at Mamoru's heart and, ignoring all 
caution, he tore towards her.
	She landed hard on the floor with a groan of agony and Mamoru immediately 
scooped her up.  Somewhere in her journey she had detransformed.  Mamono had had 
the advantage, as Usagi wasn't completely aware as to what was going on as she 
arrive, and her tiny limbs were now covered in countless cuts and bruises.  She 
opened her deep blue eyes to stare into Mamoru's lighter one's.  She nearly 
burst into tears with her joy at the sight and pain combined but held them back.
	His warmth, his love, his joy and concern wrapped around her like a 
blanket of safety.  She could lie in his arms forever now and feel that all was 
right.  As Mamoru cradled her injured body in his arms she smiled up at him, 
despite her pain, running a hand along his cheek as if to reassure herself that 
he was real.
	"Aishiteru, Mamo-chan."  She managed, and with one last smile blackness 
overtook.

**************

AN:  *dodges rotten fruit* You wanted a new chapter no?  I could have kept 
writing but I though, they'd like a shorter chapter sooner, ne?  And what a 
perfect place to stop.  *screams and ducks an arrow* …. Man you guys are 
serious, ok, next chapter will be out soon, I hope.  If it's not out before the 
21st of July, umm.. well I'm going on Vacation so it'll be 2 weeks after that.  
Okey day?  Right….  *runs of to hide*

Next Time: What's this?  Is Usagi DEAD?!  Would Ti'ana really do that to you 
poor readers or is she just unconscious?  How will the others react?  Will 
Mamono win?  Is there any hope now that the one person who stood a chance is 
possibly DEAD?  I guess you'll just have to wait to find out, won't you.  And 
wait, is Goku sporting a Golden hair-do, or are my eyes playing tricks on me?

Next time!!!!!!!!!!

Ja ne, minna-chan!  Encourage me with your emails!  tiana@nrtco.net

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