Stasis (Natsume thread with others)

[Anastasia]

Ah, waiting. Really, for now, that's all you can do. After an hour, it seems that Ami is going to be unconcious for quite awhile. ON seeing this, "There are some rooms if you want to rest, Natsume," Artemis offers, as you blink away. You were staring up at the Earth, visible through the plant canopy clearly on request of Tellu. Far bigger and brighter than the Moon on Earth, it gives everything a blue luminesence when it strikes just right. So pretty.

[Midnight Sun]

"No, I'm fine," Natsume respectfully declines. "I don't think I could get to sleep even if I wanted to."

[Anastasia]

He nods, rising. "Alright, but I'm going to sleep myself," he notes. With a shimmer, a cat is where the human just was. Curling up on the ground, "If you can, do rest while we can."

[Midnight Sun]

After Artemis drifts off to dreamworld Natsume gets up from her spot on the ground. She slowly walks over to Ami's unconscious form, or at least as close as she can get with the forcefield blocking her off from the rest of the world.

"I...can't imagine what's going through your head right now," she whispers as she stares at her. "But I wish I could, though it seems I'm still too far outside the box for something like that."

She stared back up at the planet Earth, hanging in the sky, larger than anything she'd ever seen before.

"Here I am, standing on the moon of all places, and here you are, battling something in subconscious that I can't see, hear or feel," she says. "Not too long ago...my fondest wish was to one day be a sailor senshi like you. Fighting evils, righting wrongs...be the hero I'd always wanted to be."

She took a moment to stare at her hands. Yes, that had been what all her training was for. To be a warrior for justice. Sword in hand, cutting down evil wherever it reared its head.

"Now...my fondest wish is...to always be there when you need me, to always be the person you can count on...to protect you," she whispers. She clenched her hands fiercely, so much so that her nails were cutting into the flesh of her palms. Her vision slowly blurred, though it was not from any physical pain. "But I can't DO that can I? All I can do is stand on the outside looking in while everyone else tries desperately to do what I can't."

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she gnashed her teeth together.

"I...I..I hate this...I hate being weak like this....I," she said, the frustration mounting. "I...I...just...I just hope you can hear me, wherever you are. I hope you know...how much...how much I..."

She breathed a deep sigh. This was not going anywhere fast. All she was doing was ranting to herself. She took a brief moment to stare at her hands. Her palms were slightly bloody...

"Maybe I do need to get some sleep...."

[Halbarad]

"Did you want to get some rest?" Usagi asks, having been seated a few feet away. "I can take you up to one of the guest rooms if you'd like -  it's a little chilly to be sleeping out here for most of the rest of us."

[Midnight Sun]

Natsume jumps at hearing the sound of Usagi's voice behind her. For some reason she had forgotten there were other people in the room with her...

"Ah..uhh...yes, I think that would be a good idea," she says nervously. Just how much of her personal tirade had she heard? "Just standing here worrying myself to death won't do me or Ami any good."

[Halbarad]

The blonde nods, rising from her seated position. "Follow me, then."

Nodding to Tellu, she leads the way out of the enclosed space in the garden, quickly making her way inside the marbled halls of the palace. As she walks, she glances back at the dark-haired girl behind her. "You seem to care for Ami a lot," she comments. "Did you know her before all this happened?"

[Midnight Sun]

"Um...yes, we met not too long ago. During that incident at the mall, where Ami originally sealed Celcia inside of her," Natsume says. "We've...been keeping in close contact ever since."

[Halbarad]

"Just that long?" Usagi asks, sounding a bit surprised. "That was only a couple of days ago. From the way you were talking in there, I figured you'd known her for longer than that."

[Midnight Sun]

"Has it only been a few days? Huh..it feels like I've known her for alot longer...," Natsume says quietly. "She's had...a very strong impact on my life. I can't explain why...but she makes me want to be a stronger person."

[Halbarad]

Usagi nods a bit, understanding to an extent.

The pair make their way through the palace, ascending a broad marble staircase. The princess' path takes the two into an enormous hall, along a second-floor balcony overlooking a broad, polished expanse. The far side of the hall is open, revealing a lovely - if rather sterile - view of the Lunar plains, with the azure Earth visible in the sky above the horizon.

Usagi seems not to notice the spectacle, her footsteps making little noise on the stone floors. "I don't know how long Ami will be up here, so if you need to go back down to take care of things on Earth just let someone know - we can get you back to Tokyo fairly quickly."

[Midnight Sun]

"Yeah, I'll have to do that soon. What time is it now on Tokyo? When I left it was 4am," Natsume asks. "Its kind of hard to tell time from this perspective."

As she says that she looks out over the plains to the planet Earth, surrounded by the void of space.

[Halbarad]

"I'm not sure off the top of my head, but most of the rooms have clocks in them - we use Tokyo time here for now," Usagi explains. "It was probably 2 or 3 am when I brought Ami up here, so I'd guess it's early morning there right now - maybe 7 or 8, somewhere in there."

[Midnight Sun]

"Aiya...well I have a few more hours before grandfather realizes I'm not in my room," Natsume says with a sigh. "I suppose using the excuse that I was visiting a sick friend on the moon wouldn't be all that believeable, would it?"

[Halbarad]

"Probably not, no," Usagi says with a wry smile. "But I'll leave what you want to say back up to you." The two exit the hallway, entering a long hallway that, unlike most of the palace aside from the great hall you just left, seems very clean and polished.

Serenity makes her way down the hallway, stopping with a start and backtracking to a side passage that the two walked past just a few minutes before. "Ooops... sorry, we don't have real guests here very often," she says apologetically. "The guest rooms are all cleaned up, and I'll leave a light in your room. Any one in particular you'd like to stay in?" she asks, gesturing along the hallway.