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[[BREAKING INSIDE]]

“Ugh. I’m getting sick of your attitude!” Jupiter shouted.

“And I’m getting sick of you being weak!” a harsh, male voice answered.

“Since when am I weak?” the Lightning Senshi demanded.

“All you humans are. Every last one of you!” the male answered.

“Then why is it you chose a human for your host? Why is that, Ratatosk?” Jupiter asked.

“It was better than watching him throw his life away. But if you want him back so damn bad, then fine!” Ratatosk shouted. The Exsphere on his left hand flashed for a moment, and he closed his red eyes. When they reopened, they were blue, the blue that she was used to, the blue of her lover, Adrian Tyndall.

“What’s been going on now?” Adrian asked, seeing Jupiter’s temper.

“That Summon Spirit of yours, that’s what!” Jupiter shouted. “He keeps talking like he’s the best thing to happen to this planet, and we’re all getting in his way!”

“Well, you’ve got to understand, he’s used to dealing with humans from my wor…”

“Humans from your world, I get it. But that doesn’t mean he has to treat us like scum! He wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for you!” Jupiter interrupted.

“Yes, I know,” Adrian replied calmly. “And I wouldn’t still be here if it weren’t for you. Believe me, I know. But you owe him quite a bit too. He did save you guys quite a few times, after…”

“But of course, you have to rush in to defend him! No matter that he keeps taking over your body whenever he pleases, doing whatever he wants while you sit in there and watch. You don’t have any control over him, and yet you don’t care! What’s going to stop him from hurting a civilian next time? Or one of us? Do you even care?” Jupiter asked.

“Of course I care, Jupiter, you know I-”

“Then why can’t you stand up to him? Why can’t you take your body back, or tell him to go somewhere else, or something?” Jupiter asked.

“Because we need him. He’s got knowledge of the past that’s invaluable to-”

“You need him. I don’t. If you’re going to keep siding with him, fine. I don’t suppose I need you either,” she said. She turned away from him and began to walk off. When he followed her and grabbed her arm, she turned back and slapped him, the sound of the impact echoing. She shook his arm off and kept going, not caring where he went afterward.

How dare he? Defending that… that thing, no matter how it treated others. It made her sick thinking about it. From what she could tell, he wouldn’t say a word against Ratatosk no matter what the summon spirit did. And that was dangerous; she’d seen Ratatosk’s power on numerous occasions, but if that power was turned against humanity?

She dropped her transformation halfway home, making sure there were no people in sight. By the time she reached her apartment, the dark clouds in the sky began colliding, threatening a storm. She hurried inside and closed the door behind her, kicking off her shoes.

As she entered her bedroom, Makoto noticed something that had been sitting on the side table where she usually kept her henshin wand. It was a picture frame, still fairly new. The picture inside was very new, taken only a few weeks previously. She saw herself, enfolded in the arms of Adrian, punch-drunk smiles plastered to their faces. She remembered the day it had been taken, how full of love they’d been. Of course, that had been before Adrian made the pact with Ratatosk, before he had essentially changed.

Or had he? The only reason he even made the pact was to keep himself alive while still sealing a powerful enemy that had threatened Tokyo. Ratatosk, he’d explained, was the guardian of the Ginnungagap, the door to Niflheim, the demonic realm. Adrian’s father, James, had broken the seal some seven years previously, and Adrian had been ready to die to correct his father’s mistake. Ratatosk sealed the gate with his own power, but required a host in order to survive and keep the seal active. Adrian had agreed, coming back to them alive and well.

At first, it had been easy to overlook the summon spirit’s attitude, because they rarely saw it. As it came out more often, though, it became harder to ignore. Makoto had finally had enough of it. But she couldn’t deny, now that she was away from it and thinking clearly, that Adrian really had been thinking in their best interests when he formed the pact.

She looked down at her hand. Her palm still sting from where she’d slapped him, and she wondered exactly how red the mark she’d left had been. She looked at the picture again, trying to imagine that mark on Adrian’s portrait. Thunder rumbled overhead as she felt tears well up in her eyes. She had to apologize to him, tell him that she hadn’t meant to hurt him. He had to be feeling miserable.

Makoto got off the bed and went into the living room, picking up the phone and dialing his number almost automatically. One ring. She started formulating exactly what she wanted to say. Two rings. She hoped he’d understand, then shook her head. She knew he would, that was the kind of person he was. Three rings. It shouldn’t take him this long to get the phone, unless he was showering. But why shower so quickly? And why not take the phone with him? Four rings. Something was definitely wrong.

There was a click, and she prepared herself to speak. Adrian’s voice entered her ear, but not the way she’d hoped; it was the swordsman’s answering machine. “Hey, sorry I can’t get the phone. Leave a message and I’ll call you back,” he’d said.

She hung up the phone, her heart heavy. She waited another few minutes, and tried again. There was still no answer. He had to have gone somewhere, probably stricken with grief. And she’d done it to him, by slapping him. By hurting him. If she’d looked up, she’d have seen it in his eyes. She shouldn’t have done that to him, not for as much as she loved him.

The brown-haired girl turned and walked back to her bedroom, her feet shuffling on the floor the entire way. The tears sprang up again, stinging her nose and threatening to flood loose. Once she lay down on the bed, they did in earnest. Why did she have to do that? Why couldn’t she have just dealt with it? It was part of Adrian, the man she’d promised her life to, the man who had promised to live his solely for her. Why couldn’t she accept it?

Her pillow was soaked in moments, but she didn’t care. She kept crying, kept hoping to hear her phone ring and to go pick it up and to hear his voice. The phone remained silent, though, and the thunder rumbled again. And still she cried. She cried and cried, until she felt drowsy, and almost at once, she began to fall asleep, regretting her action, willing herself to fall into oblivion, in hopes to remove the pain from herself.

* * *

When she could see again, dark clouds surrounded her. Ahead of her was a gate, one she recognized from her early teenage years. The Gate of Time, the portal to either the past or future. She walked to it and touched a hand to it, confused at why she would be here.

“Because you have to be,” a woman’s voice answered. “You have to see what you’re doing.”

“Pluto!” she said, surprised. She hadn’t expected the Time Senshi to be able to read her thoughts so easily, but apparently she could. “What do you mean, see what I’m doing?”

“See what you’re doing to the timeline, by forsaking yourself, and by doing so, the one you love,” Pluto answered. Makoto fought the impulse to scratch her head; the older woman had always spoken cryptically, preferring for Usagi and the others to figure things out on their own. The benefit Pluto had was, being from the future, she knew what was going to happen, but sometimes Usagi wasn’t too bright, and someone had to show her the way.

“You mean by hurting Adrian?” she asked. “I’ve… I’ve done something to the future by doing that to him?”

“You must step through the door, and look for yourself,” Pluto answered. “I warn you, though. The scene is grim, the outlook bad. Only you can change it, and only if you want to.”

Makoto nodded and pushed open the door, stepping into the white light. She emerged on the streets of Tokyo, immediately becoming disoriented again. She stopped and looked around, getting her bearings. Only then did she realize it was not the Tokyo she knew.

The buildings lay in ruin, signs having fallen off, entire walls caved in. She looked above her, and the sky was black. Lightning flashed dangerously, striking all around. She stepped forward slowly, tentatively, hesitantly. Dust swirled around her, and she choked and coughed until it left her lungs. The lightning flashed again, striking a tree and setting it aflame.

She heard someone calling to her, a familiar voice. Adrian? she thought. She moved toward the source of the voice as it called out to her. It soon became apparent, though, that there was no one else in the city.

She felt something on her face; at first, she thought it was snow, but turned out to be a darker gray. Ash. Something had been completely obliterated, and ashes were all that remained. She continued on her journey, surveying the destruction. My God. What did this?

“You did,” the voice from earlier said. “By forsaking your love, you have forsaken yourself. And in doing so, you have destroyed this world.” It wasn’t his voice, but it was close. It was colder, more of a bark than a real voice. Ratatosk.

“What do you mean?” she asked. “What happened?”

The air in front of her shimmered, an illusion filling her eyes. She stood in a park, healthy and green. The scene swirled around her, revealing Adrian, his eyes full of hurt. A white-gloved hand flashed out, hitting the swordsman in the face. His eyes filled with shock, and the scene swirled again, the trees flying past her. “You mean… you mean when I hit Adrian?” she asked.

“When you hurt him, you shattered him,” the voice said. “And by doing that, you took his reason for living.”

“His reason…?”

“He only wanted to be here as long as he was with you,” the voice answered. “Without you, he had nothing, no reason to stay on Earth. If you continue down this path, he will leave. He will become so filled with pain and anger that he will destroy himself. When that time comes, the Earth will be torn asunder. Everything you know will die in flames.”

“Everything… because I hurt him,” Makoto said. “What can I do? How can I change it?”

The Time Gate appeared once more, and Pluto with it. “You must return to your time, and return to him. He believes you no longer love him.”

“But that’s not true! I do still love him. I love him more than anything!” Makoto protested.

“You must not tell me. He is the one who needs convincing,” Pluto said. “Go, and quickly!”

Makoto nodded and broke into a running, pushing the door out of her way with ease.

* * *

Thunder broke directly overhead, as loud as a tree breaking. Makoto jumped, her eyes snapping open instantly. Rain was pouring outside now; it appeared the storm had finally hit. How long was she asleep?

Then she remembered her dream, remembered it as clearly as if it were real. She pushed herself off the bed and headed for the living room. There was no time to lose. Perhaps, if she hurried…Please, let him be there, she thought desperately.

She pulled her shoes on and ran from the apartment, scarcely remembering whether she even locked the door. She had grabbed her mp3 player before leaving, though, to drown out the thunder, which brought back horrible visions of the dream she’d just had.

As she fled through the downpour, one of the songs began playing, one that Adrian had gotten her into:

“I caught a chill, and it’s still frozen on my skin. I think about why I’m alone, by myself, no one else to explain. How far do I go? No one knows. If the end is so much better, why don’t we just live forever? Don’t tell me I’m the last one in line. Don’t tell me I’m too late this time…”

As the last line played, she began agreeing wholeheartedly with it, not listening to any other part of the song. I hope I’m not too late. Please let me make it…[ she thought. This thought carried her into Adrian’s building, up to his floor, right to his door.

She knocked on it loudly, breathing heavily, and the song continued playing. She pulled the earphones out, but the song was mysteriously louder. The door opened before she could knock again, revealing Adrian, the man who she loved, the one who’d given up a kingdom for her, the only one she could see herself with in the future.

The reason for the music being louder became clear; he’d been playing the same song. Probably at the same moment. He opened his mouth, somewhat stunned by her appearance. “Mako-chan… what is it? Why are you…”

All thoughts fled her mind, all intentions of answering him with words. Words weren’t enough now. She pushed off, flying toward him. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him, not wanting to let him go. The chorus played behind them as Adrian’s stunned arms found their way around her;

“…I finally figured out what’s mine… I don’t wanna live, to waste another day, underneath the shadow of mistakes I made, cause I feel like I’m breaking inside. I don’t wanna fall, and say I lost it all, cause maybe there’s a part of me that hit the wall, leaving pieces of me behind… leaving pieces of me behind… and it feels like I’m breaking inside…”

Makoto finally broke the kiss, looking into his eyes, fully aware that hers were filled with tears once more. At first, the swordsman seemed stunned into silence. Finally, though, he said, “You… You’ve got to be freezing. Come in and change into something dry.”

She nodded and walked in. She headed for the bedroom as he closed the door behind him; she kept a spare change or two of clothes over here in case something happened to hers in battle. After changing, she re-emerged, finding him sitting on the couch, looking back at her. She walked to him, sitting next to him.

“Adrian… I… I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was angry… and I wanted to hurt Ratatosk, not you.”

“I understand, Mako-chan,” he said softly. “I’m sorry I keep letting him take control. I should be stronger for you.”

“No! No, you don’t have to,” she said, looking up at him. “You were always plenty strong for me. I love you just the way you are.”

“You mean it?” he asked. She still heard dejection and uncertainty in his voice.

“I’ll always love you for who you are,” she answered, wrapping her arms around him again. “It doesn’t matter how strong you are, or how much you fight. It doesn’t even matter that you made that pact with Ratatosk. I still love you, more than anything.”

He smiled slowly, closing his eyes. He wrapped his arms around her, and she knew instantly that this was what was supposed to happen. This was where she belonged, and she’d be damned if she ever gave it up again.

They sat there for awhile, listening to the storm in silence, basking in each other’s presence, and knowing that they were both happy and, although she didn’t actually live there, both at home...

I really liked it. Personally I can't write stuff like this myself, so that makes me appreciate the skill it takes to write this all the more, but I really like it! I usually can't handle romance or even fluff unless there's a plot to it, and this kinda was some of both. xD