2551/M*A*S*H 2969

M*A*S*H 2969
Date of Scene:	21 May 2025
Location:	Crystal Millenium
Synopsis:	In the infirmary in Crystal Tokyo, Diana is cute AND helpful, Hotaru tiredly tries to keep healing Mamoru and Nephrite discovers, injured himself, how badly the fight with Demande went for Mamoru.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Chibiusa Tsukino, Hotaru Tomoe, Nephrite
Tinyplot:	BMC: Dimension Future
Tinyplot2:	Black Moon Clan

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Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's maybe been six hours after everyone came back from Nemesis, and the poor beleaguered-from-Neph skeleton crew of the infirmary had to deal with a healer prince who was in Extremely Terrible Shape. A healer prince who had to be cut out of his clothes before he could even be worked on...

...a prince who couldn't answer questions yet.

Now he's been wheeled in next to Masato and is blearily waking up, Saturn's work upon their arrival having done a good deal to reduce the inflammation and Chrono having set his nose-- he looks awful, but he definitely looked worse.

There is mlem, and then there is water, and then there's "...Neph?" he croaks, not moving his head.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Plodding in an out of the infirmary over the last few hours has been a small gray kitten. Those who have been in the palace for long know her as Diana. She has tried her best to be helpful, to ensure that word gets around when it needs to, that the right people have been reached. She is, in the absence of the future princess, been carrying out the will of Princess Usagi Small Lady Serenity, acting upon her last known orders: To watch over the people of the palace, the survivors, and the friends who came from the alternate past.

    Occasionally a small child with silver hair in twin buns has also been wandering around, usually to deliver something to the infirmary that was requested of Diana. This small child usually enters and leaves without much conversation, because she too is very busy, but she also has the tell tale shining crescent moon on her forehead.

    Diana is here now when Mamoru first makes a noise. "Mamoru?" she asks, hopping up to a table next to his bed, because cats have super jump as a baseline racial ability.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe had been exposing (almost) all her energy to heal people when she could. Unlike a certain prince, her style of healing was... untrained. It used to freak people out when she'd done it, so she just... never... had. She'd kept it to herself, so it was untrained. She'd gotten more training with Riventon and even more with Haruka, but it was, for the most part, something where she just kind of touched people and helped them. The closest she got to real training were those scant few times she was able to join Mamoru and help him when he had to heal someone.

It didn't help that her method of healing was also... different from his, so it wasn't the same, either. It wasn't purifying healing, either. It was... just... healing. It was a part of the 'rebirth' package, apparently. But despite being a part of the rebirth package, it didn't mean much as it was yet another ability that her past life hadn't trained because she'd been asleep all the time. She was beginning to see a lot of flaws in this whole 'sleep all the time' lifestyle of hers.

IT kind of sucked.

But with Mamoru gone and Nephrite hurt, she had been getting a crash course. Her healing was... far from the best and she'd been doing her best (alongside Zoisite).

One advantage, at least, was that it was powerful healing. So at the very least it was somewhat effective, if a bit... brunt force, as healing went. But the precision of the Earth's healing was sorely missed.

So when Mamoru arrived?

Hotaru had TRIED to help. She'd done what healing she could for his hand, tears in her eyes, clutching it, trying to do the same as she had once for Riventon whenever his stupid fool self had gotten too hurt, until eventually she'd not been able to go on any further, finally collapsing on one of the spare beds. Which was why, when Mamoru woke up, there was another guest in the bed, resting on the covers, a small little out-of-henshin child who would begin to stir and not give them long alone before she awoke to the sounds of, well, them waking.

Nephrite has posed:
At some point, Masato had finally fallen asleep waiting on those returning from Nemesis. He didn't remember exactly when he nodded off, but after watching the holo-screen for any signs of movement for hours with Makoto, he'd finally closed his eyes.

Of course, when he did, that ship would return. Masato remembers briefly stirring to the renewed feeling of Mamoru's proximity. He blearily recalled Makoto poking his shoulder, telling him the crew was back, and that she was going to go get news. Check in with the others. Make sure people hat hot meals to recover to. She would be back, and he should sleep, and he did.

It feels like an odd blur, that Mamoru's nearness feels closer and closer, though weaker than it should. Then voices. 'Neph?'-- it's a hard scrape of a sound. 'Mamoru?' says another, and he turns his head, blinking, towards the shape in the other bed.

A half awake moment passed before he realised, jerking upwards. "Mamo--" A lance of pain cut him off and halted his motion. No. Still he struggled to sit up more, leaning on the rail of his bed.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Heyyyyy," says Mamoru, and there's an abortive motion to lift his arm, and it hurts enough that it cuts through the painkillers he's on and he stops trying to lift his arm. No reaching for Neph, no pets for Diana. :(

His face is, again, at least not the swollen puffy mess it had been on the ship, but he still looks like he got hit by a truck.

He recognises voices though, and he says warmly, "Diana." It sounds less bad than did the 'Neph', and then Masato's creaking sudden loss of voice registers. "Oh sh-- shimatta, Masato you-- what happened? Wait, where is Saturn-chan, or Rashmi-chan, their friend--"

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Diana, being an intelligent cat, knows when pets are wanted. So she does a short little hop onto Mamoru's bed and gently rubs her face against his cheek.

    "Are you awake? So much happened."

    She glances around at the others and says, "Last I saw you, you were chasing after Small Lady. After that, I think others can tell the story better than me."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe slowly opened her eyes, giving a groggy, slightly bubbly. "Ngggg? Saturn... here... save... day... I got the juice... here's the box and.... yahhhh! I sa-- AHHHH!"

And then she fell out of the bed with a *thump.*

"I'm okay!" she called from the other side before groggily getting to her feet and shaking her head. She had little bags under her eyes. "M-Mamoru-sempai? How does your hand feel? I tried to heal it as best I could, but... I don't know how good it did, here, let me see it again, I'll try and see if I can do any better now," she said, before reaching out to try and take it again. Her hands were moving sluggish, though. Any guess what she'd been doing a lot, lately! Rebirth is not the senshi of good night's sleep, it seems!

"Careful, Diana-chan, don't nudge him too much, he still needs sleep... Neph-kun does too... I'll... try and work on him again, too, just... just as soon as I'm done here..."

She really, really, really wished there was a second Sailor Saturn now, more than ever.

Nephrite has posed:
An almost frustrated shuffling blooms with distinctive envy. Diana can touch Mamoru, and Masato cannot. Not with the distance between beds, and Masato's own slung arm nearest, and Mamoru's general state of looking like the bloodied teeth somebody spat out after a heavy weight match.

Masato's gaze is running over whatever he can see of the injuries, cataloguing whatever he could at a glance. Habitual, it seems. The particularly state of Mamoru's hands do not escape him and an incandescent spark of anger burns like a dense star in the pit of his stomach and nauseate him.

"Everything went to hell, that's what happened," he says, perhaps a little unhelpfully, but he's a little emotional at present, "We're going to kill that bob-sporting streak of bird droppings and the rest of his merry band of freaks--"

It takes a great deal of restraint on his part, for Diana's sake and Hotaru's, not to say far more colourful things about Demande. Teeth catch his tongue.

"Jupiter and I got a good hit in on Esmeraude and she took it out on me. I'll live." He mutters this, a response to Hotaru but also some answer to Mamoru.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I'm awake, babycat. ...eee," the tiny little 'eee' is very soft and it goes with Diana cuddling his face. Mamoru and kittens, man.

"Oh, Hotaru-chan! Lumie is safe I have him. Ah-- g-gentle--"

That's the sound that goes with Hotaru picking up Mamoru's wrist, though the brief mild panic's at least, well, brief. "No, sweetheart," he says, much less worried, his own voice gentle, "you don't have to keep working right now. They gave me very good painkillers, I can barely feel anything unless I make a mistake. Take a break."

He listens to Nephrite and the corner of his mouth turns up a little bit. "Of course we'll kill them. You don't need to get so worked up about it, I'll be fine." Deliberately breezy sounds more like wheezy at the moment, but he has a go at it. "And you'd better be fine or I'll ask Hotaru-chan to death and rebirth your ass...ignments."

Hotaru can tell, in his touch: he's dissociating hard, and he's grieving, and he's frightened, and he's exhausted, and he's furious, and he feels sick and helpless. He doesn't sound any of these things. But then he starts showing her, and it helps him to show her, what to do next. What each bone should look like in the hand, where to push the healing and where to hold it back just a little longer...

"Here, Hotaru-chan, if you want to do this while ostensibly taking a break, it takes less energy and more finesse..."

He closes his eyes. "Also... Hotaru Tomoe, Masato Sanjouin."

They knew each other as Nephrite and Firefly, and Neph did know, of course, that Firefly was Hotaru, the daughter of the director of Tomoe LifeSciences, another Obsidian division. Mamoru was absolutely supposed to tell the Shitennou that Hotaru was probably Sailor Saturn, but *god only knows* if he ever did, he doesn't remember.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Diana sits next to Mamoru, but doesn't want to nudge or bother him too much. Sending him 'smol kitten loves you' vibes is about the extent of what she can do for him in this moment.

    Her ears perk up when Lumie is mentioned. "Luminous Titan? Her device? What about...?"

    Diana knew that Small Lady had Luminious Titan and the Time Key, and recently found out that she also had the Silver Crystal... which is honestly the second best place it could have been aside from the altar where it belonged. Her tail swishes back and forth as she sets one paw forward.

    "Does that mean... she's defenseless? Or..."

    Small kitten's eyes are full of concern.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe cringed, shaking her head. "No. I don't need to sleep while my friends die," she said. And she said that with... far... far... far too much determination. She, at least, was careful not to lift his wrist, mostly just pressing her hand to it. Pushing energy into it, magic washing over it. Soothing over it, washing along it. There was a light washing over it...

But he'd been healed by her before. He knew how her healing was. She was Saturn, she was the nuke of the senshi. The universal doomsday weapon. NOTHING she did was subtle and small, including her healing. This? Was pathetic... she was tired.

But when he guided her, when he SHOWED her? When he gave her direction? That helped a lot.

"Thank you, sensei," she said, focusing her energy again, her eyes drooping again as she knelt on her knees by the bed, holding his wrist, slowly flowing her energy into him. Directing her power into him to heal where she could.

"Hi Nephrite-senpai, sorry we haven't had much time to hang out much since I've been in hiding and stuff, but now that you're a good guy and I'm a sailor senshi and stuff, maybe we can..."

And then she trailed off. And Mamoru would feel a light pressure on his side as Hotaru had fallen asleep, her head laying against the bed, leaning against it, arms pushed forward... but only for a second before she jerked, shaking her head. "I-I'm up! I'm up! W-what? Wait, Luminous Titan? You have him? He's okay? He... Is he... Is... Are they..."

And then, well, she was right back at it, trying to heal.

She couldn't sleep. Had to help. She slept too much once. First mission. She'd already failed once...

Nephrite has posed:
He and Mamoru are both playing the 'I'm fine' game, it seems. Masato's somewhat glad that his punctured lung has healed enough that he doesn't feel like a hypocrite when 'right, you're fine, a real wheezy-breezy-beautiful-covergirl' slips into his head. He doesn't say it.

He sighs lengthily instead, and let's his attention drift to Hotaru. What a time to bring all that up. Thankfully he had already gained some awareness of Hotaru's situation before all this, but with a year abroad between his time in Obsidian and now, true enough that certain things had just never been addressed. He'd torn himself away from many connections and left a fraying edge, after all.

He forced himself to soften a little, regarding Hotaru directly. She looked exhausted. "We're all getting through things in our own way." He noted, feeling suddenly a little more sorry he hadn't made more time to talk to Hotaru. "Thank you for working hard. You've done a good job of taking care of us." He said quietly.

His attention flicked to Mamoru though. He wanted to know more about the Princess.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru's eyes stay closed, but they sting, they're hot, they're not something he can control, and they leak.

"We lost. I have her necklace, Diana, everything on it is in my hat."

He blinks and his eyelashes are wet, and he finally, gingerly turns his head toward Nephrite and Diana. "She's alive, just... corrupted. I think they think she's on their side, but I think-- I think she's on her own side, she's hiding Usako from Demande, and-- she's safe for now. They both are, for different reasons. We-- we have to trust them. About that. We need someone to be fake Sailor Moon."

A beat. A sigh, and Mamoru's eyes shut again, and he says in an affectionate but extremely tired voice, "You need to stop now, Hotaru-chan. The more you bump where you're trying to heal, the more work you're making for yourself."

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    So... Small Lady is corrupted. Diana looks at Mamoru with wide haunted eyes, then down at the bed, then paws at the blankets for a moment. Not much to say about all that but... oof. "Thanks for bringing it back."

    This time Diana turns her concerned eyes towards Hotaru and says, "Hotaru Tomoe, we're very grateful for the work you've done so far, but you can only do so much without rest. Sleeping isn't an avoidance of work, it's a part of work. It gives you back the resources you need in order to help other people."

    Diana reaches over to put a tiny paw on Hotaru. "Please... you need rest. You've done all you can for now."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe stared at his hands before, very slowly, she pulled her own back. "I... I can't sleep, though," she whispered. "When I sleep... I just... I dream... and... I just... need to rest a little bit..." she mumbled, crossing her arms and laying her head on them.

"... Lumie... is a good device. He's... the best device. He... and... and Chibiusa... she.... she's... she has to be okay... I... was supposed to be protect her... she..."

This was her first mission. The first time she was allowed to come on a mission. The first time she was allowed to be awake for one. Maybe.... maybe this was wrong. MAybe she should have... been asleep. Stayed asleep. Maybe... she was...

She sighed... and waved her hand... and a weird pillow appeared in said hand, which she laid her head on, from her kneeling position. Getting up and laying on the bed felt like it was too far away now.

"I'm... sorry... If I could... If I had been... better... If I could have controlled my powers better... I could have wiped all of them out... in a second... I could have ended this... the moment they were here... and none of this would have happened..." she mumbled gently.

In theory, yes. But she would likely NEVER have enough control to wipe them out AND not, you know. Wipe out EVERYTHING when she did that. So that kind of expectation was likely far, far too much to put on herself.

"... Oh huh... there's a talking cat here... when did you get here?"

Nephrite has posed:
"Minako-san's been working on her hair." Masato offers of a fake Sailor Moon, the corner of his mouth ticking. "I'm sure she'll want to... do whatever she can to help."

The rest was heavy news. He recalled the moment Chibiusa had flown the coop, so to speak, and remembered his conversation with Usagi in the garden. That she was willing to do anything to protect her future daughter. To think that, in this instance, it might have been reversed in the strangest way...

"If you say we need to trust them... then we'll trust them."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Face set in a sort of grim sympathy at Diana, Mamoru blinks away more saltwater. "Sorry I-- it didn't work. The fight I picked didn't even work. I can-- think about how frustrated I am about that, and that's an emotion it's easier to handle and isn't at somebody."

It's unclear who he's saying this to; maybe he's just telling himself, reminding himself. "Hotaru-chan, I'm sorry, I do not have the bandwidth, but I do have a solution. Under my hand you will find a rose. Go sleep on that bed over there with the rose. When you get to sleep, you can borrow my couch in the courtyard."

His gaze is unfocused on Masato, and the corner of his mouth turns up a little again. "Can't trust the dark energy, can't trust the Black Moon Clan, but can trust that Wicked Lady is keeping Usako moderately safe. She showed me."

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Diana frowns at Hotaru, who was too tired to even know she was here. "I've been coming and going the whole time. You must really be focusing hard."

    To Mamoru, Diana tilts her little kitten head and asks, "Moderately safe? What do you mean by that? You said that she was on her own side... does she plan on betraying the Black Moon Clan?"

    Diana isn't quite sure how 'safe' the two of them can really be. At least they're still alive. She has to have hope in that.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe gave a small nod before, groggily, she pulled herself up and shakily took the rose, crawling back towards the bed and hugging it to herself. However...

"Mamoru-senpai... I'm... sorry... I never... appreciated just how hard you worked to do all this... how difficult it must haveebn to.... try and take care of everyone, to heal all the... injuries and.... know where all the.... hurts and stuff had to be helped, and stuff.... I'm sorry I can't do it as well as you... I'll try to do better so... please get better soon and... don't overdo it as much..." she mumbled softly.

"... Lumie... I... think you can hear me... if you're on... thank you for keeping Chibiusa safe... and Mamoru-senpai... and everyone else... I hope you're not mad at me or anything..."

... Lumie, at least, was not. And was, admittedly, likely going to be requesting to be going back to her. You know, once Mamoru wasn't aching and broken and beaten so much.

Nephrite has posed:
A short nod-- can't trust the dark energy. He understood that perfectly, but if 'Wicked Lady' had her own agenda, that was a new angle to work with, at least. His brows were still furrowed, though, absorbing this.

He hadn't even gotten to the part of anxieties still tucked up on the 'who took dark energy up' shelf in his brain, before getting the gut punch of 'Usagi and Chibiusa were corrupted'. Not the news he expected at all, but strangely worse than whatever dread had existed beforehand.

A moment was spared to watch the tired Hotaru finally concede to rest, and he squinted at Mamoru. "She *showed* you?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Safe as in she's about as powerful as Beryl and not on our side but extremely protective of her mama," Mamoru sighs, and he closes his eyes again. "I don't think she has planned that far out yet. Betraying, I mean. She doesn't intend to give the dark energy up."

He takes a breath. "I can't... get him out of my hat right now, no, I'm sorry. As soon as I can," he promises Hotaru. "And you're really good at this. I can't-- say more than that. You just are."

The Prince opens his eyes a crack and squints back at Nephrite. "Yes. In my head. She touched my face and showed me where Usagi is, and we can't get to her right now, but she'll be okay. Wicked Lady is going to keep her safe until we can get them back. And..."

He winks.

"No one knows where the Silver Crystal is."

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Small Lady... no, Wicked Lady... is about as powerful as Beryl. Diana frowns and furrows her brow. Her tail flops sideways against a pillow, as her tiny paw reaches up to her furry chin.

    "It's almost as if... her love for her mother didn't really go away so much as get twisted. You say she's protective, but... she didn't exactly release her to our care, either."

    Could dark energy do something like that? If Wicked Lady has Sailor Moon... what does that mean about her intentions?

    Then Diana has a strange thought: What would Luna-P do here? As much as the small kitten doesn't like to speculate on the catball, the truth is that it and Small Lady must resonate on some level...

    After Diana thinks on that, she seems to reach some conclusion. "I see. I think I understand a bit better now. If I'm guessing right... Wicked Lady doesn't want to share her momma."

    Diana looks back to Mamoru, and lightly puts a reassuring paw on his arm. "I'm going to go check on some things. Please let us know if you need anything. It's good to see you awake again, after everything that's happened."

    Then the small kitten hops down the side of the bed and plods out of the room, off to do important talking cat things.

Nephrite has posed:
Brows lifted, and a small wave-- perhaps the first-- of visible, almost tangible relief sweeps over Masato's features. The Silver Crystal is safe.

"Thank the stars for that much, at least..." He mutters, and considers what Diana supposes. Wicked Lady being *possessive* of her mother. A short nod is given to the cat as she leaves them, and sapphires turn back to Mamoru.

"And you held out through all that..." It's a small observation, loaded and relieved and betraying some of where his thoughts had been. On what Mamoru was enduring, in all capacities, and what he was resisting as well.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Mhm, I mean, we're all jealous people, and she has to share her parents with the world--" agrees Mamoru to Diana, starting to nod and then thinking better of it. "All right, I will." And he will, too. He's a terrible patient, but he'll be good for Diana.

His attention drifts back to Masato when his knight, his friend, looks at him. "Do you want to get more mad, or just be proud of me for calling him an incel and then explaining what it was?"

Nephrite has posed:
Masato draws in a breath slow, easy on his ribs, and holds it for a moment. Mouth a thin, terse line.

"I could be both." He reminds. "I can swear, now."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"As long as you swear quietly," Mamoru says with a little huff that's almost a laugh, and then he sighs, and it's deep. "I barely dinged the bastard, but I made him really mad and I held him back a good five minutes."

He takes a breath. "After I unequivocally lost the fight, he said he didn't want me but he'd take me anyway because Sailor Moon would come rescue me and fall right into his hands. He dragged me back to Nemesis and dumped me on the floor in a dark room next to a hologram of Neo Queen Serenity-- I'll show you when we can touch it was so creepy... and I was on the floor the whole time. With a shattered leg, elbow, hands, a bunch of broken ribs, a con-fucking-cussion, but I'm glad he didn't kill me.

A quiet inhalation, an uncomfortable sound, a shift, and a fullbody flinch. It sounds bad in his voice as he recounts the other part. "The whole time. The whole place. It was a little less lethal than the Dusk Zone, you could probably last a couple of weeks without accepting dark energy before you died. It sang. It sang with power, Masato. And I know how to be Hematite. I could have handled it. I'm still sure I could have handled it, which is why I'm very, very glad that I promised Kazuo I would never voluntarily pick it up again."

That's not a happy laugh at all, it sounds almost like a loss of composure. "That promise is the only reason I didn't let it in."

Nephrite has posed:
Something like a vicariously wounded ego scratches at him, that Mamoru could only hold bag an onslaught for five minutes or so. His pride in Mamoru doesn't falter, but it feels almost like a pointed insult towards himself and the other Knights, as well. The dismissal, the reduction of the Prince to bait, takes a specific kind of audacity and earns an equally specific disdain.

The face he makes at the mention of the hologram is that of a man who has caught whiff of a fart in an elevator, but even this deepens into a darker look.

The rest is exactly as he thought, and that fact alone makes it worse to hear, because he *understood*.

"I don't doubt you could have handled it, either," He agrees mutedly, "Hematite-- it was a tempting thought, even from here. If the worst came to it... Practically being force fed that shit, and you still didn't take it."

A weak laugh leaves him too, and it hurts his still mending ribs. "They're lucky."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"We're lucky too."

It's just a breath, that whisper, and Mamoru's eyes are closed again. He sighs and says it a little louder, "We're lucky too. We're not going to win with hate. Demande was cruel, was deliberately physically brutal. We're going to put him out of his misery, and... oh how evening the scales is tempting, too, but everything I look at now and say, that's tempting, is something that's really not good for me. Wicked Lady wanted me to come with her. To swallow the darkness and come with her."

Nephrite has posed:
Masato let himself settle back a little more, easing his weight onto the pillow, but kept his face turned to the other.

"You're right... We have to stay the course. Keep to our convictions. Be better. I know." A faint smirk briefly flickers across his face. "Soemtimes, that's going to kick our arses. But it'll pay off. I really am starting to believe that."

He lets his eyes close. "You made it out in one piece, and on your own back. They'll regret not taking you more seriously. They've got no idea what true strength looks like."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Oh, they know what she looks like, they just don't know what that means yet," Mamoru sighs out, but there's a smile in it this time. "It'll work out. Can fix everything later, anyway."

Even quieter, and eyes-closed and falling asleep, "Love you, Neph..."

He'll get there, Masato.

Nephrite has posed:
A heartbeat or two, and a sigh. Tired, but determined to keep pushing through.

"Yeah." Masato agrees. "I love you too."