387/Moonlight to Ease the Darkness

Moonlight to Ease the Darkness
Date of Scene:	07 September 2023
Location:	Plot Room 2
Synopsis:	Usagi Tsukino tracks down Hannah to try to convince her to spare her Uncle's life. Usagi learns more of Hannah's inner turmoil, love is shared, and Hannah decides to at least consider mercy to be an option
Cast of Characters:	Hannah Steiner, Usagi Tsukino

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Hannah Steiner has posed:
It's midnight. Traditional magical girl hours, but for once, Hannah isn't using them for patroling. Rather, recent events have prompted her for a bit of soul searching, and though the Sankt Church hasn't blessed this world with their presence, well-worn places of worship easily call to the devout young woman.

And, well, frankly St. Mary's Cathedral nestled in Sekiguchi amidst Tokyo is a marvel. Most wouldn't even recognize it's rhomboid shape with a church, but for local catholics? It's a mainstay, given it's the seat of the Archdiocese.

A place blending the past, faith, and the future in one neat symbolic gesture after its' rebirth. With it being so late, Hannah has managed to generally snag the place all to herself. Foreigners aren't exactly an oddity, and the single nun keeping watch over the place briefly joins Hannah for silent prayers before leaving the young woman alone with her guide animal after realizing a sister in religious fervor.

Usagi, like all the others, has been given a specific number for the Trager...and amidst the plates of food, also slipped her mundane number with obvious implications.

But which would the dear odango use for this night?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The midnight after Naru was kidnapped, Usagi Tsukino stood exhausted in the hallway of her dorm room. She couldn't bring herelf to move forward - to go into her room would be to confront that Naru was gone. It would be to tell Luna that Naru was gone, to have to break the news again, to someone whose fear and grief she would have to see with her own eyes, cause with her own eyes. Darien, Inai-sensei, Nephrite, even, they had all known already. Chiyo-chan, Ikiko-chan, Wako-chan, they had been over the phone.

But Luna was in her room. Luna had lived with Naru for as long as she had, Luna spent mornings with Naru, Luna cared about Naru, Luna -

Usagi wasn't ready.

She wasn't ready for a lot of things.

It's impulse that has her turning on her heel, pulling out her phone, and reaching for a new contact.

The phone rings. Rings. When, if, it's answered, she'll say, "Hannah-chan, are you free? It's Moon."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Her religious reverie is suddenly interrupted by the vibrating of a phone - despite the late hour, Hannah is nothing if not conscious of any fellow odd folks seeking religious sanctity in the night - and wanders off past the altar and into a side room. Click. Lyra stands 'guard'.

She pops her neck, and stifles a yawn.

"Mein dear Knight of the Moon! Staying up to appreciate your namesake in ascendency, mein freund?" Starts Hannah, warmly as ever for Moon - and now thus - Usagi.

"For /you/, I shall ever make time. Unfortunately if you are in the dorms, you are in for a bit of a /walk/. Know you Saint Mary's Cathedral?" Pause. Pauuuse.

"Nein, nein, /not that one/ the other one mein freund! I shall text you the address!" A voice.

"Acht, mein apologies Sister Takano! I shall add upon mein manyfold sins!" her voice suddenly drops.

"Church, altar, alone. Ware the good Sister's wroth frau Moon." She advises, before she wanders back towards the altar, closing the side door so that said Sister doesn't bonk her on the head. She kneels.

When Moon arrives? Hannah is finally in proper prayer.

"Oh Sankt Olivie, grant me your peerless grace, your kindness, und your strength and desire to hold our Ancient Accords honorably and true. That peace touch every star that knows your name. That the Seven Shattered Swords find peace, and those that remain untarnished, hold ever to your will und and gift of freedom from the Madness of your predecessor's vanity und greed for the whole of the universe. May the light of the Cradle ever shine und your name und deeds never forgotten that we may be inspired again und again. In the Sankt Kaiser's name!" Then, the knightly Belkan, grips her cane, and slashes the air twice in front of her in a Duelist's Salute to...something. A small breath, and she runs her hand through her hair gently.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Something like that, Hannah-chan," Usagi says tiredly, and hopes the exhaustion and drain in her voice is accepted for the late hour. She doesn't want to tell Hannah. She should tell Hannah. She will tell Hannah later - later, for sure, when she has told Luna. She sent Darien off, told him he couldn't stay the night with her because Luna would claw his eyes out, and she'd meant it, but she's glad for the impulse to call Hannah, to meddle in someone else's affairs, because she doesn't want to be alone right now either.

"I am in the dorms, so I'm in for a walk, is it the one over on," she offers a street name, thinking through the houses of worship she recognizes...

"Oh, that one? All the way in Sekiguchi? Yes, thank you, the address would help!"

"Church, altar, alone, got it, I'll be very respectful, Hannah-chan."

She will, she promises. When the phone disconnects, she does what makes sense - heads up to the roof of the school to transform for the second time tonight, lights, ribbons, cosmic energy, the whole shebang. Being Sailor Moon doesn't make her feel strong, not now, not when she can't use any of her powers to find Naru, but it will mean she can get from here to Sekiguchi in a breeze.

Sailor Moon reaches the church, eventually. She lands on the roof nearest it, hops to the ground and - frets. Hannah's never seen her out of transformation, would she recognize her? Wait, Hannah's never seen her at all, would it matter? Ah, ah, ah -

Eventually, it's Usagi Tsukino who steps into the church - her disguise pen used to transform her school uniform into a plain and simple black dress, something respectful for the atmosphere. It's weird enough being a schoolgirl out after midnight to visit a church - she doesn't need it obvious that she's a school girl.

She finds the altar with a bit of trial and error, poking around, and waves to Lyra, waiting for the prayers to be over.

"Good prayers, Hannah-chan?"

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Lyra does her traditional hiss-bork sound at Moon as she arrives, tastefully magically dressed and respectful as promised! Likely for the best, as the Belkan would absolutely not allow disrespect for any religious institution if she can manage it!

The young woman sheaths her blade, and gently turns, one hand caressing the altar for support as her attention turns to a familiar voice. Her chin tilts upwards in contemplation. The feeling in such a place tends to invite such things.

"She is very far away from here, mein dear freund, perhaps even farther than mein own self from home. Und yet I have faith that the good Sankt has ears keener than mein own. Und if naught? That the God watching this place of reverence shall ferry mein prayers as allies." Her head then tilts just a bit.

"Luckily, as a most curious und fierce miko has explained, this is a land of gods und Gods, perhaps they shall be so merciful as to grant a touch of luck, nacht?" Ends the dramatic Belkan, finally pausing to offer her peculiar bow to her dear magical warrior friend.

Then, he starts to slowly tap her way towards Moon.

"Business, pleasure, or Sankt willing, both frau Moon?" Comes the Belkan Noble curiously with a raised brow.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Religion has never really been on Usagi's mind. Sure, Japan is largely a country of Shinto and Buddhist practices, and she and her family are both observants - they join in the festivals and the rites, they practice faith, they visit shrines, and on the personal level, like most Japanese girls, her earrings are clips ons, rather than piercings, and she's never seen a tattoo, let alone envisioned getting one. But other than that, the idea of actually communing with the gods, of reaching them and being heard, has never really crossed her mind.

Sure, she's paid for charms for good luck on tests (worthless!) and prayed for romance, but proper, true faith, like Hannah clearly has?

"I'm sure she listens. Gods don't leave their people alone, right?" Even if you were outside of a gods realm, surely they still heard. Surely Hannah still has that, right?

And she swallows, and does not sit, in this place of worship, though she fidgets, and finally, she says - "Neither, Hannah-chan. I want to talk to you about - about what you said. About your uncle, if we can."

This is what she'd texted Naru about, in their last serious text conversation. This is what she'd texted Kazuo about, when she had the chance. This is what she'd confronted Pluto over.

This moment, right here. She casts her eyes about, to make sure they're alone.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
"May She und all others witness our failures und triumphs as people both! I am naught but flesh, yet I quite like your sentiment, she whom embodies the reflection of the sun..." Offers Hannah, before she walks away from the altar. She's a good read on people, and that comes in handy. This is clearly not a place Moon frequents, and so she casually taps her way over to the pews. And then relaxes into the stiff wooden bench as she's done a thousand times before back home, and then pats the space beside her welcomingly.

"...A question of morality then. Come. Load off. Pews may be stiff, but better for pondering." Comes the young woman.

Moon has been a righteous, stalwart, and frankly, /innocent/ soul to her own estimation. There's no one about aside from Moon, Hannah, and Lyra, diligently guarding the door. Even the good Sister from earlier is far away. By how the Belkan grips her cane? She's clearly willing to transform in a moment's notice to offer a Barrier if need be.

But for now it seems she's open to God, gods, and Sankt Olivie.

"Given mein failure to run you off as mein lifeward? I owe you such, mein dear. You...strike me as a person of Justice. Und one I admire greatly." A sigh. She offers an arm about the shoulder, a half-hug. Being close to a good soul feels nice, and she would really like that right now.

"May those that cast their gaze from on high keep us honest. Ask your questions. Frau Mun, you've an indulgence greater than most, use such wisely." Counsels Hannah, her whole of attention on her fellow mahou!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"May she," Usagi echoes awkwardly, thinking that, at least that much should be done. She follows Hannah to the pews and sits, slumping forward, elbows on her knees, head down. She's thinking of Naru. She's wondering if she's okay. She's thinking of Hannah. She's wondering -

"Not as bad as kneeling," it's a quiet sentiment, her hand stroking the hard wood of the pew. "Hannah-chan, you don't owe me anything. You've been - you've been really nice to me, right from the beginning. You've helped me become stronger and learn to use my power, and you're always so encouraging and warmhearted and it makes me want to do better. If you did owe me anything - it's only what I owe you too."

And she turns - she isn't sure if that's okay, but she feels she has too, and looks at Hannah. "My name is Usagi Tsukino. I'm in grade 9, at Radiant Heart, and I live in the dorms. Hannah-chan, I trust you, and I like you, and I don't know if I'm a person of justice, or, all that, but - and I know I'm lucky and I don't understand and I haven't suffered but - Hannah-chan. I'm sorry. I don't have a question - I have a request. Don't kill your uncle."

She's fumbling over her words, throwing so many things Hannah's way, her thoughts a mess, but there's a single conviction held strong. That Hannah shouldn't do this.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
There's a pile of regrets in Hannah's life, but one most piercing is the fact she hasn't been graced with a sibling. The kind, awkward, even perhaps cowardly visage of Sailor Moon -and as she quickly explains - one frau Tsukino, mixed in with all that willingness to step up despite her flaws?

Usagi may not have the soul of a Belkan, but by Kami, God, und Sankt, this Belkan Noble wishes she had been blessed with such a sister for such kindness and regard in so many words.

But before she is about to try to try to lift up her sparring partner and new friend, Usagi makes her a bold request even as she reveals her own self.

Silence grips her. Someone else would have been called a curr, a wretch, and immediately called to a duel for such an insult. But Usagi, despite being so fumbling, offers the Belkan a full throated request while making plain her own faults.

Straightforward as they are, her people cannot disregard such pure honesty. To do otherwise would be a blasphemy upon the Sankt.

Tears streak down Hannah's face, her shades hanging awkardly.

"You." Starts Hannah, and it's her turn to fumble for words.

"Have you any idea what you ask, Sailor Moon?" Her question is equally as blunt, coming from gritted teeth, and her hands grip the pew behind her.

Old wood creaks, and then shatters.

"Because I hold you in mein heart so dearly...explain. Immediately why I shan't gut the Kinslayer like a misbegotten sow?" Again there's that tone. Pure, unrestrained hatred dancing on her tongue.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The request is bold, audacious, shameful even. To interfere so boldly with someone else's affairs, to drag herself in - she was invited to help, not to counsel, not for this - is rude beyond measure. Usagi's always flirted with disaster in that way, claiming familiarity that she hasn't earned, declaring closeness without fighting for it, offering her name and her heart as easily as she demands that others give theirs.

She doesn't know what it means to be Belkan, but she knows that Hannah is honorable and loud and just as audacious, that she lives for battle, that she wears her heart on her sleeves, and that she hates her uncle, for what he's done, what he's cost her.

Even before the tears fall, she knows she's going to hurt Hannah. It doesn't make it hurt less.

"I think I do," she answers quietly, because she already suspects she'll have to stop Sunbreaker's death. Her friends wouldn't kill the girl, she's sure, but Darien's - Nephrite and Pyrite and Jadeite, if he got involved - might try it. Might want to. And she doesn't think Naru would want that. She doesn't want that. She's so angry, down in the pit of her, but even still - "I probably don't though. Not really. But even if he deserves to die for it, you don't deserve to kill him Hannah-chan. You'd - to kill your own uncle, even if you hate him, even if you're right to hate him, wouldn't that hurt you?"

Hannah Steiner has posed:
It's lucky that Lyra is such a good Space Lizard, because by the end of Usagi's request! There is just this pure snarl from Hannah, and the Belkan is reaching into her back pocket to draw out the Dueling Glove! There's a muffled sound of surprise, and Lyra has chomped on Hannah's wrist just before she can throw down the gauntlet as it were.

There is, again, a gulph of silence that yawns as Lyra holds fast, and a mental council plays out. Suddenly teeth grit, semi-sapient eyes narrow, and Hannah kneels down to kiss Lyra between the ears.

Finally those jaws move away, and suddenly Hannah whirls upon Usagi with...well she's rubbing her arm, but is offering the full brunt of her wroth towards Usagi. Tempered only because she can't find it in herself to hate the waxing moon!

"Und you dare to tell me whom I shall slay, und whom I shall naught, frau Mun!? If your ears have naught been at attention, what does a 'unlawful coup, slaying the two most precious lights in mein life as well as Sankt-blessed compatriots again und again und /again/' not offers that butcher anything other than striking his head from his neck!? Hurt me? HURT ME!?" She's suddenly getting very, very loud, and she rounds on Usagi, face very close to the other mahou's own.

It's easy to feel the tears and even easier to feel the despairing laughter from such a bold question, that issues from Hannah's throat.

"You are kind, mein dear freund. Perhaps too much so. Und so I do not begrudge you such sympathy for his soul. But mein Uncle is fated for death, such is his crime. I have traveled far, far too many lightyears to fail in offering retribution for his sin." Offers Hannah, and suddenly, she falls into the pew beside Usagi.

"...You beg the life of a man unworthy of you, Usagi of House Tsukino. Allow me to deal with him and think naught else." Her voice, for all that earlier hate, is /pleading/ Usagi to leave the issue alone. And from her tone? Knows it's useless.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There is a rush of movement and Usagi is a coward and a crybaby and she hates pain and discomfort and arguing and she holds still. She doesn't flinch away. If Hannah is going to hit her for this one, for pushing -

Well she'll take it, because she's not going to fight back, because Hannah is crying and that's Usagi's fault, for not being careful with her words, for not being better at arguing, for not -

Lyra (very good dog, very kind dog, very good lizard-beast that isn't a dog at all) stops Hannah. Usagi exhales, slow.

There's still no motion from that oh so still girl.

She's earned it, after all. Every yell, every word, she should have been better about this, should have phrased it better, of course Hannah is already hurt, of course there's no way that doesn't hurt, but still, Usagi persists, doesn't pull back, even if there's a tremor in her voice and blinking wetness in her eyes, tears but oh, she's always crying about something, right -

"I dare. I'm sorry. I should have said it better, but I meant it. You are hurt and there's nothing that doesn't hurt and I don't know what it's like and maybe I'm ignorant and stupid and foolish and dumb and silly and all of that and more, and he's earned it over and over and over again with all the things he did -"

Killed Hannah's parents, took her home, tried to kill her, tried to hurt her, had hurt her -

Usagi's tears spill for the second time that night. This time, it's not devastation. This time, it's not uncontrollable weeping. It's just tears, the outpour of emotion. She is innocent, she is young, she hasn't been fighting more than a couple of stressful months, and she's never thought of it as a game (too scary, far too scary to be a game), but she's only recently had to grapple with the idea of dying. Now it's the idea of killing, the idea of ending, the idea of people going from someone to nothing.

She can't picture herself doing it. Doesn't know how she'd look at her Mama and Papa and know she killed someone. Thinks of Hannah, who doesn't have that option, and scrubs at her eyes.

"If he has to die, if you're sure, if he won't stop, if he'll always come after you -" just a few hours ago she had told Darien that Jadeite wanted to kill Naru, that she wouldn't let it happen. She hadn't said she would kill him. She can't imagine it. Even now, especially now, she can't think of it, death, dying, the end, someone over.

But she pushes on.

"I'm daring, Hannah-chan, because even if he has to die, I still don't think you should have to be the one to do it. I'm not - I don't care about him. I don't care about him or his soul or any of that, he hurt you Hannah-chan. I just don't want him to have to hurt you again. Maybe I'm wrong, and you'd - maybe it wouldn't hurt you to kill him, but I can't imagine it wouldn't, to have to know you did it, and live with it."

A deep, shaking breath, wiping her eyes with her sleeve - "You can hit me now."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
'You are hurt'

Hannah's chest pounds. Lyra, gently crawls into the Steiner Noble's lap, using all her feathered-fuzzy bulk to keep her in the pew. And then nuzzling against Hannah's chest with far too much empathy as she soaks in the intent of one Usagi Tsukino. It seems, Sailor Moon has passed Lyra's muster twice over.

It's not just hurt. The wound from both her parents' passing and the many gallant soldiers, allied branch family members, and nevermind the results of brief civil war she has had to negate on Tharkad, followed by the desperate plunge towards this dirtball of a planet?

Usagi offers her own tears, and then Sankt Olivie bless her, tries to tear the guilt from her own duty as head of House Steiner, suggesting that his death might be a second stain upon her.

So much as she might like people, the Heiress of Steiner suddenly is coming to grips with the enormity of dear Usagi's love for the human condition.

For but a brief moment, Hannah feels lower than the sow she conjured in her words, only to draw herself to full height.

"He shall slaughter anyone in an effort to take mein own head." Offers Hannah, and then she continues.

Or, at least, tries to. She ponders Usagi's words, and then crosses her legs. Her face twitches.

"Und whom exactly else shall be the one to bring Justice, hm!? Dare naught seek refuge in ignorance! Even if I should deign to whip up a firing squad, shall I consider such /their/ violence!? Whether it be mein own hand, or mein /order/, I am the sole ruler of Tharkad, Countess-Palatine! It shall be mein own act. By mein own blade, I shall clear any such guilt, no matter whom deals the sentence, it shall always reach to me, frau Moon!" Ends the young woman desperately.

Her hand lifts, reaches, and then ruffles those wonderful Odangos.

"Nein. I should offer you a Duel by whim, whimsy, or insult, but by mein Sankt Kaiserless wretch of a relation, as you seem quite keen to keep his throat, break mein if you wish to clash!" Okay the last bit is a touch petty, but Hannah is sounding a bit tired by this hour.

Thankfully, Lyra is bapping her in the face with her tail by now, and any attempts at insisting Moon engages in a duel is a bit hard by feathered fuzzy tail!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's the first and only time Usagi's ever wished she paid more attention in school - maybe if she had, she'd have more philosophy to lean on. Something from history to offer, some story of a great hero or a wise king or anything but the musings of a fourteen year old girl with no life experience.

It doesn't occur to her that her words may make Hannah feel low. How could they? She doesn't have anything but her own gut to back them, her own faint, never tested convictions.

She doesn't want Sunbreaker dead, but would she, if Naru didn't come home? She doesn't want Jadeite dead, but wpuld she, if he decided to strike at Naru?

She's killed youma. Destroyed monsters. Helped slaughter a Witch that burned dozens.

Are people that different? Is what Hannah wants to do, so different?

It is.

In her heart, in the pit of her, it feels like it is. Like it must be.

If he'll slaughter, if he'll kill -

"Then we stop him," and her own fists clench, and her tears are stubborn and fall but her jaw is stubborn too. She swallows hard. "We fight him. We beat him into the ground and we throw him to a court, and okay, you're a ruler -" Not okay, that's wild, she can't absorb it, process it, "So maybe, maybe whatever happens, a part of you is always responsible. But that's different, then you setting out to murder him, Hannah-chan."

And it's the first time she's used that word, and maybe it's another mistake.

"You hate him and he deserves that and you're not wrong to hate him, but you shouldn't kill him for that. And if we stop him and he goes to the courts, and they say he has to die - then maybe, maybe he still dies. Probably no matter what even, he still dies. But it's not because you hate him. It's not because you got revenge. It's because the only way to make him stop for good, as decided by like, everyone! Is that he has to die."

And she reaches out, and she puts her hand on Hannah's shoulder, and she grips it, and she says, "Hannah-chan, I'm silly and a crybaby and I'm lazy and sometimes I'm really dumb. Maybe I'm being all of those things now. But I don't want to hurt you. And I really don't want to fight you, not unless it's for fun and at Fite Club. I don't want to - insult you, either. It's not that I think you couldn't do it. I know, back when we fought that Witch - when we fought that Witch."

And she pauses. And she considers. And she says what she hadn't said then -

"Hannah-chan, that Witch tried to kill my little brother. His name is Shingo. He's nine years old. That's why I was there, because my Mama and Papa asked me to come home, because Shingo-kun was hurt and he'd got burned and he wouldn't tell them how and he wasn't acting right, and I saw the Witch's kiss, and then I made him tell me what happened. And I went there. And I went to stop the Witch."

And they both know how that had gone. She wonders if Hannah remembers the anger, the aggression.

She swallows.

"Shingo is better now, because the Witch is dead. And maybe you'll feel better, a little, when your uncle is dead. But -"

But would it help if Hannah-chan did it, because she was so angry, and hurt, and grieving? Would it feel better? Would it fix anything? She can't believe it will.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"But killing the Witch didn't make me feel better. Shingo being better made me feel better. My friends being better made me feel better. And your - I'm sorry, Hannah-chan," her voice breaks a little. "That I'm lucky, that Shingo can feel better, and your important people can't, and that's why I'm not saying your uncle has to live, because maybe - m,maybe sometimes people have to die, but I think - I don't think you should -"

Want it? Look forward to it? Plot it? Hadn't she wanted that Witch to die? Hadn't she gone there to make it die? Is this different? Is it really? The Witch was an awful, cruel thing, and Hannah's uncle is an awful, cruel thing, and - it's all confused and messy in her head, conviction with purpose but not understanding, belief and inclination without wisdom to back it.

"I'm not making any sense. I wish Naru-chan was here, she'd have, she'd have the best words to make it make sense and she'd know what I mean but -" but she can't have Naru-chan here, and that stabs just like reaching back to those old memories stabs and -

"What would you do, after you killed him?"

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah wants merely dismiss Usagi's words as the work of the innocent, the foolish, the naieve. But the more the warrior of the Moon talks? No, she knows what resolve sounds like. And even as she explains, lays out her reasoning, well. It all makes her chest hurt. Her heart thuds with an ache she shouldn't feel for years upon years to come. Murder. A plea to mercy, again and again, but then the dear, empathy-filled rabbit of the moon recognizes her pain and hatred and with such a heart filled with love and hope?

Usagi's words feel like a sword through her chest. She recognizes the futility of this noble spat, this coup brought to Earth. The logical and empathic end to two people with the power to wield 'law' and 'justice' and offer the meaning to both, should one but hold a symbol of office in their hands.

Such as Blauer Greif, gripped with white knuckles, as Hannah takes in Usagi's words.

"/Murder/" Comes Hannah, openly snarling this time, and even Lyra doesn't dare try to ward her off from that tone.

"Implies a wrongdoing. Und as you have so /elegantly/ put together, you realize I am both lawkeeper und arbiter upon whom gets the butcher's block at the end of the day! Shall I shower you, dear Moonlight, upon just /how/ many laws that wretched hund has broken in order to sit upon a karking throne!? Were the wretched bastard to have /asked/ for it!? By the weight of their souls, I should have begged to be a ragpicker for just one of them to live!" Comes Hannah breathlessly, only to realize just what Usagi is getting out. Vengeance. The thing that always is swirling on her tongue, just out of reach.

When her dreams aren't filled with the screams of her parents, but the feeling of her Uncle's blood splashing on her face, and how /good/ such a dire fantasy feels.

Her sightless tearducts feel dry. The hand upon her shoulders is, at least, comforting in some passion. The weight of her anger and pain may directed in Usagi's direction, but not /at/ her. Mostly. Hannah can't help but offload some of her fury given the other young woman's temerity.

'The Witch tried to kill my little brother'.

If there's a bridge between these two souls, it's family. All of that outrage dies in her throat as Usagi reveals the truth of that horrifying night. It all makes a horrible sense in retrospect. Just how determined Moon was, Trager-chan's read on people has always been a boon. Now everything /clicks/, and then? Usagi is talking about Naru. Naru Osaka!? The dear warrior-apparent and mundane that proved so curious!? It's Hannah's turn to feel her brain swimming, for once completly caught off guard!

"Wait. That. That boy. He was your..." Her throat feels dry. She should feel joyous for saving Shingo. Usagi apologises, and yet? For all that she put forth against the Witch, she somehow feels she should have burned her Linker Core so much harder to prevent such a wonderful soul as Usagi and her family pain.

"NEIN! Do not DARE to beg forgiveness that your precious brother yet lives! By Olivie's socks, had I known such, I should have fought thricefold harder in the name of your House, Usagi!" Comes Hannah, suddenly urgent, and worst of all?

Fear is in her voice. She's felt horror in the face of a Witch, but not quite fear. The realization Usagi could have lost a family member?

It is far, far to easy to hear a boy's screams added to the nightmares in her head.

"I won't. I shall never allow you to..." It's her turn to struggle for words, promises lost in a new terror upon her soul.

Her allies, her allies' family? She struggles to swallow down the sheer /threat/ to them all.

"frau...Osaka?" So much. So much to take in.

Hannah sucks in a breath, and forces herself to focus. Then the question comes.

The Scion of House Steiner shudders. And struggles to find an answer.

"Return." Her voice is quiet, and worse? Flat. It might be another person, but Hannah is right beside her friend.

"Rule. Lead...lead everyone.." It should be so easy to say she could lead them all to prosp

Hannah Steiner has posed:
"Rule. Lead...lead everyone.." It should be so easy to say she could lead them all to prosperity. The Kinslayer dead, well, she already has /so/ much political capital back home. She could be one for the historybooks as a Countess.

No joy finds her lips. It's as if she can't imagine past that end point despite her mind seeing to its' end.

She suddenly sits straight.

"What does it matter!? I should have died in that throneroom! Not mein parents, not the guards, not the dignitaries! Me! By mein own /weakness/ their lives are spent und yet I live! Und so I shall hunt down that wretch, claim his head, und use the rest of mein worthless life to slay any monsters that dare threaten this Sankt-forsaken backwater!" Ends the young woman, her rage getting the better of her heart!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi doesn't have the words, the experience, the sensibilities to express that if Hannah killed her uncle in battle, if he fell, if she attacked and he failed to dodge and the wound overtook him -

That somehow, that would be different. She doesn't have the words to properly convey her fears, of Hannah in the aftermath, Hannah in the wake, Hannah not killing him in battle but after, stringing a man up because he deserved to die and making it hurt, of execution, pain for the sake of pain -

"Not a wrongdoing," she starts, and doesn't know how to continue. Would it be better, if it was an accident, or if it was a hit he failed to dodge, if it was the consequence of battle than if she did it on purpose, willful, wanting?

She doesn't know how to say that Hannah shouldn't kill out of anger when she wanted the Witch dead for the same reason, when she was mean to that boy because of it, when tonight she'd been impatient and mean with Nephrite because Naru was -

Not a thought to continue. Not now. "Not that boy; he was - someone else. But my little brother - I'm from Juuban. He found the circus, and he went, with his friends, and that Witch - it let people go. It let them go and get caught again and again and again, until it didn't. And Shingo - he'd gone three times. He told me. The fire burned closer every time, and that's how Mama and Papa caught him, because his uniform was singed -"

And that was why they'd called her home, because they were scared, because they needed to know she was safe and she wasn't and she hadn't told them but she could fix it for Shingo. She can't fix it for Hannah. Can she fix it for Naru? She can, she has to, right?

"You fought hard!" Hannah's vehemence startles her out of her thoughts, her melancholy, brings back feeling and hope and love, because - "Hannah-chan, you almost died, and you were so brave, and we did it, and that's - I told you, you have my support. And I'll fight with you! I will! And I won't turn my back on you. Even if - even if -"

Even if Hannah didn't heed her words. Even if she didn't hold back. Even if she slaughtered -

Hannah asks about Naru, and Usagi can't. She can't. She - "It matters because you have to live after, Hannah-chan!! Because! Because - because even if - because it wasn't a mistake that you survived and it's not a bad thing that you survive and that's why I don't want you to do it, because you already have to live with all of this and you'd have to live with that, and Hannah-chan, I'll fight with you. I'll hunt him with you, and track him with you, and beat him with you, it has to be done, you have to be safe, but you have to live after too! You're going to go to amusement parks and dances and parties and graduate! Go on dates and get married and, and maybe have kids? And just - live."

And there's some of her invigorated spirit, again, and she is sitting up straight and she is scrubbing at her face, and she is, scowling and upset and, "That's why it matters, Hannah-chan. Because you have a lot of things to do, after, and he doesn't get to be the las thing!"

Hannah Steiner has posed:
There's so much love and emotion pouring out of Usagi, that it's stunning. While she might be loud, brash, stubborn and friendly, Hannah despite her love for people finds the pure /empathy/ that Usagi so effortlessly shows to be amazing. She can't really put herself in others' shoes so easily, the mental calculation of a life at court, where 'Governments have no friends, only interests', and a life where she embodies an entire planet hasn't allowed that.

Here, though, she can at least try. There's nothing ulterior about Usagi. Not in this. "I...Usagi. Are you certain? I trust you as a warrior und freund. But are you certain you are prepared?" Came Hannah hesitantly. She says it over and over. And clearly she had been trying to run many of them off last time. Again. It's like she's /trying/ to isolate herself even as she reaches out.

And from the look on her face, she hates herself for having to involve good people like Usagi in the whole mess.

"Saving the life of a child und ensuring a creature that preys on people - particularly if YOUR brother was involved - is well worth dying for! Better than an assassin's blade or rival's poisoned tea." Hannah adds, almost proudly, and perhaps worse? She seems far too comfortable with dying. Just like back at the Witch, when she so cavalierly pushed herself up to and past her limits, just to see them all safe and to destroy the thing.

"Better me than losing you." Mutters the young woman, her thought slipping out of her mouth without even thinking about it.

After. She should be able to see it. But every thought just comes back to her Uncle. She /knows/ she should be able to imagine adopting a child, finding a worthy wife, a career, all of it. But it Just. Won't. Come.

Her head aches. She rubs it, and finds herself sinking into a pew. Her head tilts back. She's silent, for a long time, almost brooding as Usagi's passionate words echo through the mostly empty church.

"You are the most caring, loving person I have ever met, Usagi Tsukino. It is as if you've eyes to see straight into one's heart und pull out what lays within like a surgeon. By the Sankt, had you a single calculating bone in your body, you would make a /terrifying/ politician or ruler."

A laugh, small and tired escaped her.

"Und so loyal too. Just promise me. I want you alive by the end of all of this. I cannot...the future I once looked to seems so far away, as if enveloped in a mist that no magic can remove. Truly, Usagi. I try to see past him. But every thought bends to the past. Every nightmare has his presence. Barely a night goes by that I do not relive it all over und over. Never even...I never even attended to their graves." She starts to shiver. So many bottled up emotions she wants to let out, but can't or won't. She has to be strong. To finish this.

"...How do always have so much hope in you?" She asks.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Hannah-chan, I'm never prepared for anything," in any other circumstance, it would be a glib, careless remark. In this moment though, her eyes are sincere and kind. "But you've told me what to expect. Your uncle is dangerous and cruel and he has awful taste in minions. It's more preparation than I ever have before a battle."

Maybe that says something about Usagi. Maybe it says something about the battles she's been in, the fights she's survived and the ones's she missed.

"Even if I didn't know anything at all though, I'd fight with you. You're my friend, and you need help, and I want to give it. What else matters, you know?"

When it comes down to it, her friends are what matter. Her friends give life joy and shape and meaning, and without them - well, without them, none of it would be worth it! And Hannah-chan has helped her, meaningfully, has made her stronger and helped her keep those closest to her safe, and Hannah-chan is living in a nightmare, and of course Usagi will help. Of course she will.

Which is why she punches Hannah's shoulder, very lightly, with absolutely no real strength behind it.

"None of that! I don't want to lose you anymore than you want to lose me. We're coming out of this alive; your uncle doesn't get to take anything else!"

Maybe that will help Hannah fight through the dark fog around her - if she can think of this as not just a one and done battle, but a war, to live a life her uncle tried to steal away. And Usagi is so focused on these thoughts, on Hannah, that she's totally unprepared for the compliment Hannah offers, which has her cheeks flush and her eyes widen.

"Ahhhh? I'm not all that, really! Hannah-chan - I just, I want everything to end well. I want it to be well. All of this is so scary you know? But if it has to be scary, at least we can come through it together, that's all," she glances to the floor, sheepish, and then - lifts her eyes. Frowns. "I promise. I won't die. I won't let myself, and I won't let you either."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
It's hard to remain dour and introspective around Usagi. She really is that light in the darkness, and by the Sankt, it warms her chilled skin. Knowing that all her attempts to inform and variably gather allies while trying to run them off has actually borne fruit? Is heartening. She wants to smile, but the mere thought hurts, a rare thing for a girl so loud and gregarious. When the mask drops, it can be hard to put back on, it seems.

"My my, Usagi, to know that I am professional enough to give proper intelligenz about one's military objective is flattering! We should see about gathering such about your foes, mein freund, rather than seeing you constantly thrown into utter madness!" Comes the young woman a bit cheekily, a little smirk on her face. She's trying to tease a bit here!

And then she sighs. Bop! She rubs her arm, and a brow rises. "...Well that much I can agree to, mein dear kaninchen. It /would/ be rather rude to mein subjects to die on some Unadministered rock lacking even the most basic of modern conveniences! It would be /embarrassing/. How do you all live without interstellar gravity-inverting convergence eng..." Pause. Pauuuuse.

"Right. Technological proliferation. Herr Harlaown would toss me in a brig. Pretend you heard naught mein dear odango'd engel!" There's that politician's smile! It's something at least.

Brows squint. She /considers/, clearly taking Usagi's words to heart. She works through it, slowly. "Of...Of course. I am a fool. There...yes, I must live. To do otherwise would mean he wins, no matter what end he comes to. This is no vacation. I must live, find a way to return home before I lose mein spark. Such is mein Duty as Countess, for House und Tharkad und Holy Sankt Olivie." She rubs her chest briefly, feeling her Linker Core beating inside of her.

And finally, that embarrassment and honesty from the sheepish Usagi manages to get her to properly laugh. "Good. Good! I shall hold you to that, mein dear, otherwise I shall personally ensure you are brought back such that I can suplex you into the dirt!" She 'threatens'! That's a joke, right? A joke. Certainly. Why is she smiling so much?

And then, with tears threatening to fall, she stands and wanders over to her dear friend. Arms wrap about her flustered friend, and holds her firmly, cheek against the top of her head. Hannah's a tall girl. Squeeze.

"Mein freund, I am jealous of you. Your family sounds lovely. I...have led a life where I have wanted for few things. A little sister is one of them."

Shiver. This feels so /right/. "I want it all to end well too. Never did I wish to bring pain upon this world, but nor could I leave a threat to hurt innocent people. I was reckless und vengeful. Thank you, Usagi. Freund. Compatriot. We shall fight through the fear together. In another life, I should have proudly called you mein dear schwester. By the Sankt, Mother und Father would have /loved/ you!" She chokes up, and Usagi can feel the tears as she finally lets herself feel something, unable to be strong in front of her beloved friend, and would-be sister of another's blood.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Luna would probably love that," Usagi admits with no shame. "She's my friend, and my advisor, and she's always looking for information about our enemy but... they're kinda tricky."

And hidden, very well. And also, Usagi sorta kept hiding things from her... there are obstacles in Luna's path, as one can see!

Hannah's mutterings about the state of Earth technology, for the most part it goes entirely over Usagi's head, leaves her smiling just a little, her heart warmed, her worst fears and anxieties temporarily suppressed. Hannah's teasing, her effort to pull it together - it's obviously a mask, but she doesn't want to discourage her. And also - it helps, a little. "I don't know who that is, or what that all means, so I'll zip my lips, okay? No one will know you said anything from me.

And then. And then. Is Hannah... actually considering her words? Is she thinking about what Usagi has said, considering her point? She's afraid to touch the subject of killing, again, not when they stand on a precipice, and not when, much more important, is Usagi's own growing understanding that her friend has not considered it, the life that comes after, the life that awaits them. It sounds like, unlike Usagi, she'll have this life, this power, for all the time that awaits her. There won't be a fade, a loss of responsibility, her duty done and her power taken. Usagi, who can't wait for the day where the responsibility and duty is lifted from her shoulders, can imagine worse things... but she doesn't want to.

If Hannah's life will always include this power, this responsibility, this fight - after all, she's a ruler, even without magic! - then the least Usagi can do is make her struggles easier.

And then, she's threatened, and it's a joke but also, it's not a joke. Usagi knows this, and were the mood lighter she would sweat, but instead she says - "Then I definitely won't die, because you'd put me right in the dirt."

And shee is swept into a hug, her small, compact bug gathered up Tall Space German arms. There is no resistance - she hugs back, with all the strength in her body. Her own eyes are wet, as Hannah hugs her, and she doesn't know what to say. She has a family and sometimes they drive her crazy, but she can't imagine the world without them. "Hannah-chan."

She doesn't know how to continue, at first, and then, "Hannah-chan, you're the best kind of sister, you know? Bossy in the good way, encouraging, always bullying me into doing what's best for me... I'm sorry, for everything you lost. I wish I could have met them. I'm glad you're here, but I'm so sorry it's like all of this."

She can't replace a family and she'd never try. But she is sorry.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Siiiigh. "Enemies with good...acht, what is the local term...???" Her lessons have been helpful, but sometimes she still struggles with Japanese. It's a complex, nuanced language, and while Belkan can be beautiful, it's often blunt and tends to read as 'angry all the time' to those not fluent.

"'OpSec' are irritating. Very /Mid-Childan/ of them." Huffs the Belkan Noble, letting her arrogance out quite a bit. She's also smiling at the same time. Clearly whoever these people are, there's a history. But tonight's a night for feelings, not history lessons.

BOOP! That promise to not talk has Hannah poking Usagi's nose warmly, and nodding. She's gonna hold you to that, Bunny-chan!

"Full glad am I to hear such a thing, mein dear fellow of flaxen hair, or so Blauer Greif informs me. ...I rather hate funerals. Mein grandfather's was glorious, but I still miss the old bag of wind und Barret wounds." That hurt is less pronounced, actually accepted. She was somewhat young when she lost her frankly ancient Grandfather, even with all the space science.

Usagi apologizes, and only after quite some time in that smaller embrace, does she let go. A squeeze of the other girl's shoulder. "It has been an honor und a great pleasure to know you, und everyone else. Such kind people. Hah! Und you are the best sort of little sisters! You wield your empathy as a scalpel, und your ignorance as a club to batter down the gates of one's feelings! Usagi-chan. You've a gift. The magic is secondary. You love people as well as yourself, so very, very much. You seek to understand. Never lose that. I...thank you. I hope that I shall do mein best to help guide you properly. Und that you keep me honest und thinking of the future when it seems far away." Finally, she smiles. A proper one. She can't help but love her would-be foster-sister. Suddenly, she stretches, and then offers an arm.

"...I shall consider your words on mein Uncle's fate, Usagi. I wish I could say that it gives me no pleasure to imagine him dead. But you deserve truth. I have lived out such a moment in mein head in the void between stars und in restless nights. Part of me, perhaps that which mein ancestors, the conquering scourge of galaxies beyond this one so easily tapped into wants nothing less than to taste his blood in righteous fury." Admits the Belkan noble, blunt and direct and serious.

Then, her face falls from that brief dance with darkness. She unclenches her fist, nails dug into her palms. "...But mein heart aches from knowing doing so would hurt you, und meinself in the process. I...your counsel is wise. Und shall not be so easily discarded." It's not quite an /agreement/ to spare him. But at least the idea she would deign consider it? Progress, of sorts.

Then, an arm is offered. "Usagi. I should like to meet your parents, when time allows. If such wouldst not drive you to madness." A simple request, but so full of meaning for someone clearly starved of familial connections. This beautiful, messy little family that Usagi fights for? She wants to hear their hearts with her own ears.

Smirk. "Even your little gor of a little brother." Griiiiin.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"The middle children are the ones who fight from a distance, right?" Usagi knows she's butchering the name - but she also thinks it might make Hannah smile a little to hear her do it, so she's more than willing to look silly.

She hasn't been to many funerals. Her grandmother on her father's side, when she was very little - before Shingo was even born! But Hannah-chan.... she's been to more. She's been through a lot, and the fact that she'd even consider hearing Usagi out, paying heed to her concerns, treating her words as if they were important - well, it means a lot. "That's all I can ask for. I can't make you do anything you don't want to - and I can't stop you, if you want to do what you want to do. But if you'll think about it... that all I can ask, you know? Hating someone... I've never hated anyone."

She might hate Sunbreaker, she might, she might, but she won't burden Hannah with that -

"But you have plenty of good reason too, and I don't - I wouldn't say you shouldn't. I wouldn't even say you should help him or save him, he doesn't deserve that. It's you who deserves best, Hannah-chan." She can't pity Hannah's uncle, not when he's hurt her friend so. If he died, she wouldn't shed a tear. If it weren't her friend at stake -

But then an arm is offered, and taken. Usagi tugs Hannah back into an embrace, a tight squeeze. "Mama and Papa would love to meet more of my friends. Especially one like you, who wants me to keep improving. Mama would love to hear all about that."

Oh she'd love that Usagi had met good influences, even if she wouldn't care for any fighting... "Shingo will probably think you're sooo much cooler than me."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
"Ever the resourceful pack of cowards, indeed! Never meeting one honorably upon the field of battle! Hah! Good that you know already the superiority of Belkan magical theory und combat tactics!" She sounds /so darn pleased with herself and Usa/! Punching the enemy in the face until they stop acting stupid is clearly the right answer to all of life's problems!

"...Und may you leave such dark things to me, mein dear engel of moonlight. Your 'Older Sister' knows well the tragedy of death und vile acts caused by the greed of Mankind. Such a burden is beneath you, und mein shoulders are well used to weight both unasked und unavoidable." An affectionate brush of a hand against one of those long odangos Usagi's so famous for! The idea that Usagi could /hate/ someone is clearly not a thing Hannah intends to entertain.

And then Usagi really lays home her argument. She isn't /telling/ her what to do. That path is largely futile when walked beside a Noble such as her. No, she makes it clear. Usagi proposes an /alternative/. That truly well gets her to pause. Hannah might be arrogant and young and foolhardy, but it's been drilled into her that listening to her advisors is crucial. After all, one can't know everything. And a merchant-capitalist society enjoys naught if other than stability. The wisdom of those born outside the Nobility on Tharkad often forms the /unofficial/ inner counsel, and though she doesn't know it, Usagi is suddenly thrust into said position.

Hannah's smiling grimly. What that means is anyone's guess on this planet.

"Und then may all of us receive what the Sankt deems us worthy of, Uncle und meinself und you as well." She says, noncomitally as a good politician, but clearly dep in thought.

The Decision isn't made. And Usagi has left her mark.

She, too, squeezes back.

"It shall be a pleasure. Shall we? I promise, I shall embellish you for dear herr Shingo, nevermind your parents! ....Luckily for you, mein dear, a politician is adept at obfuscation. Your grades shall be...politely deflected in favor of your earnest athleticism und desire to better yourself." Grin. Griiiiin. Leeeeean.

"Und perhaps a few stock tips for the more budget minded of your dear parents! A promise of hold your flaxen locks to proverbial fire over mein personal talents, math und macroeconomics, may well stave them off a touch, hm?" That. Sounds entirely like a threat. It is. Sorry, Usagi, Hannah's going to drill you like a proper big sis would! But for now, it's time to make new connections. The Belkan pauses, and kneels to offer one last prayer to God and Sankt both, lamenting her fellow Broken Blades of lost Empire, and those that survived. Then, the quartet walk out, Hannah feeling lighter in soul than she has in ages.

If just a little nervous to meet Usagi's parents!