College Life
Part 18: Objects in the Mirror are closer than they appear

by Greenbeans <gbeans@tyrlen.org>


Disclaimers:

Comments, thoughts, complaints, compliments, ramblings, and 
flames are all accepted.  But the latter two stand a 
serious chance of being printed out and used as packing 
material.

All characters are property of their respective holders.  I 
belong to myself, thank you, and have a nice day :)

********** Wednesday **********

Beans watched the snow drift down slowly outside.  After a 
few more minutes of quiet contemplation, she turned back to 
her guest.

"Any ideas?" She asked the woman who had her fingertips in 
Beans' fish tank.

"It says to switch back to the food you were using before 
and the fish will stop dying."  Michiru pulled her fingers 
out, accepting the towel Beans handed her with an 
appreciative smile.

"The food, huh?" Beans mused.  "I thought the fish would be 
happy that I switched from the cheap flaky stuff."

"No accounting for taste," Beans groaned at Haruka's pun.  
The tall woman was silently watching the fish tank from her 
leaning spot against the door.

"Thanks for your help, Michiru.  I had no idea," Beans 
shook her head.

"Anytime," she answered as Haruka escorted her out the 
door.

Haruka shut the door after a word of parting.  The pair 
walked several yards down the hallway before the silence 
was broken.

"Well?" Haruka asked.

"We've got a problem," Michiru confirmed.

*****

It's human, who was quite oblivious to the world as she 
played on her computer, did not notice the slight bubbling 
of the fish tank's water.  In fact, the lake god noted, if 
the person in question weren't so dense to begin with, the 
warning that the others are coming would have been passed 
onto her instead of the one aligned with the seas.

*****

Michiru considered their options very carefully.  The lake 
god hadn't been very specific in its warning other than to 
imply that something was coming.  And that wasn't 
necessarily a good thing.  From what she could gather, the 
lake god itself was a beacon for whatever was coming.  The 
lake god gave the impression that the one aligned with air 
would be able to communicate with it.

The idea of tossing the lake god back into its lake was 
quickly discarded.  It wouldn't do to have *two* unknowns 
coming after them.  Since the lake god was currently 
residing happily in a dorm room on a fairly well populated 
campus, it was in their best interest to meet whatever it 
is before it arrived and caused havoc.

She wondered what to do about Beans, considering that she 
was at ground zero.  One of them could stay with her and 
guard the lake god, but it would most likely take both of 
them to overcome this thing.

Michiru had an idea.

********** Thursday **********

A sports car sped recklessly through the parking lot.  
Parka clad freshmen scurried for their lives as the car 
slid to a stop not far away from Beans.  Beans rushed 
towards the car as the driver popped out to meet her.

"Hey Beans!" Haruka slid on the frozen pavement to skirt 
around her friend, then stopped.  "Will you come over for 
dinner tonight?"

"Dinner?! You almost ran over half the freshmen class to 
ask me about *dinner*?!"

Haruka sniffed slightly in mute acknowledgement of her 
point.  "There'll be more next year."

"You're impossible!  Yes, dinner is fine," Beans walked 
with Haruka back to her car.  "What's the occasion?"

Haruka grinned.  "Tell you tonight.  I'll be here at 6pm to 
pick you up."

*****

Several hours later, the aforementioned car pulled into the 
driveway of a small house.  The driver parked and got out.  
The passenger loosened her grip on her seat only after 
cracking her eyelids open to make sure the vehicle was no 
longer moving.  A shaky foot stepped onto the cement floor 
of the garage.  The driver sighed.

"You act like I'm a bad driver," Haruka grumbled.

A shaken Beans glared at her.  "You have little 
appreciation for snowy conditions."

"I was in perfect control the entire time," Haruka snapped.

Michiru poked her head out the door.  "Are you two going to 
spend all night in the garage bickering?"

"Quite possibly if Beans doesn't admit that I'm a good 
driver," Haruka crossed her arms and dug in.  No college 
upstart was going to tell her how to drive.

Beans snorted.  "What does it matter what I say?  You'll do 
whatever you want any ways," she brushed past the stubborn 
blonde and into the house.

Soon afterwards, the three of them were seated around the 
dinner table preparing to eat.  Beans appreciated whenever 
they invited her over for dinner.  Not only were they 
fairly good cooks, the fact that it was a home cooked meal 
made it special.  A person got tried of cafeteria food 
before too long.

With a nod to her partner, Haruka leaned forward some.  "We 
asked you here tonight because we're going to have to be 
away for a while."

"Oh?" Beans raised an eyebrow, "What's come up?"

"Work," Haruka answered briskly.  "We have reason to 
believe that something is coming after the lake god.  We 
don't know why yet, but we're going to find out."

"The lake god?  Are we in danger?" Beans thought back to 
the room she shared with her two roommates.

"Honestly, we don't know," Michiru answered.  "We don't 
know what its goal is, but as a precaution, I'd like you to 
keep this on you."  Michiru reached into her dimensional 
pocket and pulled out the Deep Aqua Mirror.

"Your Talisman-thing?" Beans asked, confused as she 
examined the hand mirror Michiru passed her.  "What will it 
do?"

"Think of it as a ward against danger, Mame-chan," Michiru 
smiled reassuringly.  "Keep it on or around you at all 
times, even take it to class with you."

"To class?  I don't want to carry a mirror around with me!"

"Trust us, Beans," Haruka's tone was light, but invited no 
argument.  "What else are backpacks for?"

*****

Haruka crawled into bed next to Michiru.  After a bit of 
snuggling, she settled down for sleep.  Her body was 
exhausted, but her mind was still going at full speed.

"Michiru?"

"Hmm?" Her lover asked sleepily.

"Are we doing enough by giving her the Mirror?"

"I can monitor her through it, don't worry.  If I sense 
anything, we can return quickly," Michiru rolled over onto 
her side to look at Haruka.  The room was dark and only a 
silhouette could be made out.

Haruka didn't answer.  Michiru extended her hand out to 
brush it through her friend's soft hair.  "I know that you 
promised yourself to watch over her.  We're doing all we 
can considering the situation."

"You're right, Michiru."

*****

Beans turned away from her computer when she heard a 
knocking on her door.  She paused her game of WORMS before 
getting up to answer it.  A young man she didn't recognize 
stood there.  He was of Latino decent, with short, dark 
hair and equally dark eyes.  A backpack was slung over one 
shoulder.

"Hello, is Beans here?" He asked.

"You're talking to her."

"Ah, you don't know me.  I'm Pedro," he stuck his hand out 
to shake with hers.  "A friend of mine told me that you 
sometimes do computer tutoring.  I could really use the 
help if you're willing."

"Well, um... yeah," Beans blinked, dumbfounded, a few times 
before stepping aside to let him in.  "I do tutor 
occasionally.  What program are you in?"

"I'm a freshman computer science major," he grimaced 
slightly, then shrugged.  "I'm afraid it's not going very 
well for me.  My parents aren't going to like my grades and 
I doubt the school will either if I don't pull them up.  
Term finals are coming up soon and I'm really worried about 
my grades."

"Why don't you have a seat and tell me about it?" Beans 
invited, closing the door behind him.

*********** Friday **********

Haruka sat stopped at a sign while she waited for Michiru 
to speak.  The other woman was in a light trance as she 
tried to trace the disturbance they were tracking.  She'd 
had little luck so far; leading them out on some rural 
roads that went on for miles.

"I feel nothing," Michiru admitted in a faint whisper.  
"I've lost it."

Haruka didn't curse.  She didn't let any of the frustration 
she was feeling show.  This was turning out to be a more 
difficult task then they'd originally estimated.

"I think we're going about this the wrong way," Michiru 
drawled slowly.

"What do you mean?" Haruka's attention snapped back to 
Michiru.

"The lake god told us that the one aligned with air would 
be able to communicate with it.  That someone certainly 
isn't me," she smiled cryptically at her partner.

Haruka's eyes widened with understanding.  "You're not 
serious!  We both know that you're more sensitive to these 
things than I am," she protested.

Michiru's smile pulled across her face as Haruka demurred.  
"In this case, you're the one with the sense to find what 
we're looking for."

"I... I don't know how to begin..."

*****

Beans took better notes in her math class then she usually 
did.  She planned on making Haruka a photocopy of them once 
she returned from where-ever she went.  It was all rather 
puzzling.  Why would they leave?  And why would they leave 
her with a mirror?  It was taking up valuable book space in 
her backpack.

Her mind wandered back to Pedro.  His situation was worse 
off then she feared.  He really should have come for help 
six weeks ago instead of waiting until the near point of no 
return.  This term's grades wouldn't be pretty, but she 
should be able to pull him through most of his classes with 
a passing grade.

"Blast it all," she muttered darkly as she realized with a 
start that she'd daydreamed during the last 10 minutes of 
class.  She quickly jotted down the final examples from the 
blackboard before it was erased for the next class.

People shuffled past her on their way out of the room.  
Beans didn't even realize her mistake until it was too 
late.  With all the feet moving through the aisle she 
really should have pulled her backpack up onto her desk.  
But she hadn't until after she heard the distinct sound of 
broken glass.

"Oh crap..."

*****

"Take a deep breath and let it out slowly," Neptune 
coached.  Uranus tried to comply, but her frustration was 
throwing off her concentration.  

They were standing off to the side of the road now.  It 
really wasn't the best place to be doing this, but the 
remote location did offer them the privacy they required.  
They stood together in their fuku on a small rise that 
over-looked the road.  The pavement seemed painfully out of 
place among its surroundings.  Like a scar across the 
landscape's flesh.

Uranus opened herself to her surroundings, asking the winds 
to guide her on their search.  Her concentration was 
shattered when Neptune gasped and fell to her knees.

"What's wrong?!  Do you feel something?" Uranus was at her 
side, offering support.

Neptune shook her head.  "I'm fine," she shook herself a 
bit more before standing again.  "The Mirror's broken," she 
explained with a grimace.

Uranus' expression reflected Neptune's.  "Will you be 
alright?"

"Don't worry.  This isn't the first time it's been broken.  
It just stings for a while right after it happens."

Her partner nodded.  She'd never had the misfortune of 
bending the Space Sword or having some other ill fate 
befall it.  She could tell by Neptune's expression (and, 
more precisely, by what it *didn't* show) how much it hurt.  
In the end, a mirror was still a mirror and there wasn't 
much they could do to repair the damage at this time.

Uranus squeezed the other's arm in assurance.  They would 
finish this up quickly so that they could get back to the 
Mirror and their lives.

*****

Beans scurried back to her room as quickly as she could 
without jarring her backpack too much.  Alex was in their 
room studying when she came in.  She set the pack onto her 
bed gently, then started opening desk drawers looking for 
the phone book.  When she couldn't find it, she turned to 
her roommate - who was now watching her with curiosity.

"Where's the phone book?"

"I lent it to one of the guys last night.  They wanted to 
order a pizza.  What's wrong?" She pushed a few strands of 
hair back behind her ear.

"I broke a mirror and I need to replace the glass," Beans 
frowned, in a state of near panic.

Alex shook her head.  "That'll be seven years of bad luck 
for you."

"It'll be more then that if I don't fix the mirror," she 
collected her thoughts on what exactly to do next.  First 
off, she needed to get the phone book back.  Then she could 
start calling around to see if anyone can fix it.  The 
intricate human details along the frame will probably make 
it a difficult (and costly) job.

"Hello..?" Pedro pushed the half-opened door the rest of 
the way while knocking lightly.

Oh no!  She had a tutoring session with Pedro this 
afternoon that she'd forgotten in her rush to get to her 
room.

"I'm sorry, Pedro.  I totally forgot about this afternoon," 
Beans apologized quickly.

He shook off her apology.  "It's alright, things come up.  
Are you available now?"

Beans looked down at the pack on her bed guiltily, then up 
to Pedro with an even more guilty feeling.  "Yes, let's go 
to one of the study lounges where it's quiet.  Alex," her 
roommate perked up at the mention of her name, "please get 
the phone book back while we're gone."

"You've got it, sister," she gave a thumbs up as they 
headed out the door.

*****

Uranus walked slowly through forestry landscape with 
Neptune in tow.  The under brush scraped against their bare 
legs, leaving shallow cuts behind.  Suddenly a strong gust 
of wind blasted against them.  It was enough to tip them 
off balance, but not knock them to the ground.

"I'd say that we found what we were looking for," Neptune's 
sharp eyes scanned around her.  They were in a small 
clearing with a canopy of tree limbs high above.

"What do you want?" Uranus growled, already in contact with 
the elemental force.

'Freeeeeeeeee!' It shrieked in her mind.  

They could see it physically now.  A trail of leaves and 
debris outlined the space it occupied.  Uranus lunged to 
her left when it darted at her in an aggressive gesture.

"Free what?!"

The ground under Neptune's feet began to shift under her.  
She leapt aside right before the ground upturned itself and 
stones propelled up like spears.

"There's two of them!" She yelled to Uranus.

Uranus nodded in acknowledgement, but kept her eyes on the 
swirl of leaves not far from her.  'What are we going to 
do?'

*****

Alex noticed the burbling coming from the fish tank when it 
managed to break through her concentration.  She'd never 
noticed it being quite *that* loud before.  Maybe Beans did 
something to the pump?  She'd ask her once she got back 
from her tutoring session.

*****

The two senshi kept moving to avoid being caught in a 
pincer attack by the two elementals.  Uranus already tried 
using her attack against the air one, but it was defused by 
the earth elemental.  Neptune was experiencing the same 
level of success as she.  They simply moved too quickly for 
her to target them and get off a clean shot.  If it came 
down to a battle of endurance, there was little chance of 
their winning.

'Free.  Our.  Brother!' The air demanded blowing down a 
tree Uranus had leapt into in hopes of escaping the earth 
elemental.

"The lake god?" Uranus flipped with practiced ease to a 
safe landing near the edge of the clearing.  "He is free!"

'Lieeeeeees!' Air continued to take the offensive, leaving 
Uranus to resort to a purely defensive posture.

"The lake god?" Neptune's mind quickly filled in the 
blanks.  "They want to free it?  The lake god is happy 
where it is.  We'll show them!"

*****

In Beans' room, in a closed backpack, shards of glass slid 
back into the frame of the Mirror.  The shards fused back 
together with little fuss into a single piece of glass.  
The Mirror then disappeared from the backpack that held it.

*****

Neptune summoned the Deep Aqua Mirror to her.  It 
materialized before her with a muted flash.  She took it in 
hand and held out before her.  The two elementals pulled 
back, uncertain of the new threat.

"This is the Deep Aqua Mirror, it reveals truth.  See the 
fate of your friend!" Neptune challenged, holding the 
Mirror outward towards them.

The clearing was unnaturally still, with not even a slight 
breeze rustling the foliage.  Uranus looked around her 
suspiciously.  The elementals had disappeared completely.  
The Mirror continued to glow faintly as it displayed a 
picture of a fish tank.

A slight breeze played with Uranus' hair.  She ran her 
fingers through it instinctively, then stopped.  A smiled 
crossed her lips slowly.  "We forgive you."

*****

Beans returned to her room after being kidnapped for 
dinner.  Pedro and her studied right up until dinnertime.  
He wanted to continue afterwards, but she had her own 
homework to attend to.

With a sigh of resignation, she opened up her backpack to 
pull the Mirror out.  It came as no small shock when she 
couldn't find it.

"Alex, did you pull the mirror that was in here out?" She 
asked her roommate, whom had just walked in the door.

"Nope, but I did get the phone book back," she held it up.

"I know it was in here.  Where is it?" Beans lamented as 
she puzzled over it.

***** 

Haruka and Michiru had returned to their house an hour 
earlier.  After a long, relaxing bath, they were lounged 
comfortably together on the couch.

"Things worked out well, didn't they?" Haruka mused to 
herself.

"I wonder how many others are wandering around out there?" 
Michiru snuggled against her partner.  They were both 
exhausted after today's little workout.  They protected 
Beans and the dorms as they had promised themselves they 
would not long ago.

"Hum... Do you think we should call Beans?" Haruka asked 
with a sudden start.

"Why?  She'll see you at school Monday."

"True, but I bet she's scratching her head wondering where 
the Talisman is right now."  Haruka had purely evil grin on 
her face.

"Ara!"

********** End part 18 **********

There are a lot of author notes for this part, so please 
hang with me.

The original story idea for Uranus and Neptune to encounter 
two new gods like the lake god came from His Lordship Chaos 
about 2 years ago.  It was such an outrageous idea, that my 
mind wouldn't let it go.  Here's the result.

I have the Deep Aqua Mirror demonstrating a variety of 
abilities which aren't shown in the anime.  I researched  
the Mirror from the manga point of view, and what I've done 
with it has all been done before.  In the SuperS season, 
Michiru gave the Mirror to Chibi-Usa for two reasons.  The 
first was as a symbol of the Outers promise to one day 
return.  The second reason (in my opinion) was to use it as 
a way to keep a discreet eye on the Inners while the Outers 
were raising Hotaru.  At one point, the Mirror is broken by 
Chibi-Usa and restored.  In book 14 (pages 81-85) the 
Mirror is returned to Neptune, who sees an image of Chibi 
Moon in it before turning to use it in an ongoing battle.

Sean Gaffney and Ophelia did the proofreading for this part.  
If there are any glaring errors; oops.  I wasn't exactly the 
most co-operative of authors during the corrections process.  
They deserve kudos for putting up with me.

Now, for a quick story.

I wrote a majority of this part in two days.  The second 
night I was working on it, a big storm came through the 
valley I live in.  I'd just written the scene in which the 
air elemental blows the tree out from under Uranus when the 
wind blew one of the trees by the house over.  It landed 
about 10 feet outside my window with a loud *CRACK!*  My dad 
and I went outside to examine the damage when two more trees 
were blown over, both hitting the house squarely.  All the 
damage was to the roof only, but the experience gave me a 
new appreciation for how terrifying the situations that 
authors put the senshi in can be.  I know that I just about 
wet my pants when the two trees fell not 15 feet away from 
me.  I wouldn't want to have been standing on a branch when 
they were going down.  It's easy to say how brave a hero is, 
but one should also remember how much fear they must feel 
while performing their brave acts.  

That was my random thought for the day.  You can all go 
back to your busy lives now.
