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It's the dead of night during Halloween that the tiny infant dabbled a bit. The night staff on the maternity ward was a little more sparse than usual, but nothing that they couldn't handle if an emergency truly happened. One such nurse did her rounds with a friend, checking the children in the baby room as they usually did, and nodded at a fellow nurse who mumbled a greeting they didn't quite catch.
Which was fine. A lot of them felt like zombies themselves after a twelve hour shift or even more back to back. They simply assumed that nurse was doing their last rounds before they clocked up. A lot of them like looking in on the infants before they went. It cheered them up. Reminded them why they did this.
The newest member of the bunch hadn't been the least bit fussy during the day and they expected that one of the other nurses would walk her around if she woke. Besides, it's safe there. There wasn't anything to worry about. The pair went on their break to watch some of the silly horror movies that their co-workers had rented from the video store and set up the spare tv and vcr in the break room.
Except, they probably should've been more on alert.
The stranger gazed at all the infants, searching for the right one when it landed on the smallest new member of the bunch. The nurse smiled an oddly gentle smile when the baby woke, crying for her mother.
"Hush now." The stranger, dressed as a nurse, cooed at the baby. "Is that anyway to greet your Mama?"
Contrary to what the stranger said, she was, in fact, not the child's mother. With the skin tone color of an aged beige couch that's seen much use, her hair that had been wrangled into a sloppy bun sat crooked at the base of her neck. Almost bruised deep circles under her eyelids that made her already unfocused eyes seem even more haunted. By what, was anyone's guess.
She cooed to the baby, walking around as she furtively looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching. No one was. Keeping her head tilted downward so no one could see her face clearly, she walked out of the hospital. Her heart beating so loudly in her ears, she's certain everyone that passed her could hear it.
Once outside in the brisk autumn air, she felt she could breathe. The jittery feeling of elation filled her as she hurried to the car. It didn't matter what this child was called- Niji something- this child was going to be her baby. Her child. Her little Colette. This time she was going to do it right. This time she won't get so tired as to not hear her. This time-!
"It's here." A gravely voice snaked its' way through the parking lot. "The shining energy of a new star! I must bring it back!"
The stranger's eyes widen with fright as she fumbled to get the keys in the car. Whatever that was, it didn't sound normal! She tried to convince herself that it must be a prank. Yes. That's right, it has to be a prank. It's Halloween, after all. All that crazy mischief had people doing silly things like this. There's nothing there. There's nothing behind her. She's just scaring herself.
The baby in her arms cried harder, louder. As if the child sensed something more terrifying was coming.
"It's ok, Colette." The stranger tried to soothe the infant. "It's ok. There's nothing be worried about." Once the door was open, she set the baby in the car seat. Securing it. That's right. Nothing is happening.
She's not doing anything wrong. That couple's young. They can have another baby. She can't. She messed up her one shot. They seemed kind. They'll forgive her if she takes this one. This one that looked so much like her little Colette. No. She is Colette.
Her Colette that came back to her.
Relaxing, she gets in the car and drove through the maze like parking lot to the exist. As she stopped at the stop light, she thought about all the things she and Colette were going to do together. She could see it. Her little Colette with pigtails and pretty blue eyes staring up at her. All teeth in her smiles. Sure, this new Colette had purple eyes and not blue but that's about the same thing, isn't it?
She was so caught up in her fantasy, she didn't see the shadow that fell over the car until it was too late. It smashed down, scaring her and the child who began to scream in earnest.
"What the hell?" The stranger's body shuddered with fear. She took off, not even caring about the light, nearly running into another car as she sped down the semi-empty street towards the main road. Above her, she could hear something moving. Something that began pounding on the roof with a horrible scream that sounded like static tv given voice.
Behind her, she could see in her rear view mirror a glow coming from the back seat.
"Colette?" She could barely breathe. What was that light? Where was it coming from? It became brighter, becoming harder to look at.
"This power!" She heard from above again as claws dug into the metal finally and began ripping it off.
"Shit!" She swerved, trying to shake it off. "Get the hell away from my daughter!"
The creature didn't pay her any attention as wind whipped around in the car. Making sure her seat belt was on, she floored the gas, her dark eyes focused on the huge tree near a ditch.
"Son of a bitch, I'm not going to let anyone take her from me!" She roared, and crashed into the tree.
Everything went dark.
She woke, uncertain how much time had passed, hearing strange noises in the background. What was that? Unconcerned about her injury, she pushed the car door open, and stumbled out. Before her was one of the strangest sights she's ever seen. Two women dressed in strange clothes were fighting a demon of some kind. It was hard to make out. The cut above her left brow had leaked blood down into her eye, blurring her vision. She could see the lights, though. The light that came from the women damaged the demon so much it screamed.
"They must be... Colette's guardian angels!" She whispered. Yes. She'd chosen right. This baby was her Colette. Colette was so special. Of course, she'd have guardian angels!
Speaking of, she heard the baby still crying from the back seat.
"Colette! I'm coming, honey!" She said, hurrying over on her unsteady feet to the baby. Looking down at the dark haired child, she saw a strange golden symbol on the baby's forehead. Her brows wrinkled. She knew it must mean something. Her baby was anointed. But what did the symbol mean?
"Excuse me." This time it was a melodic voice that called her, "But I believe you should give us the child."
She turned, "You ...you want my Colette?"
The pale haired angel looked to the one with aqua-green hair, almost as if she'd said something strange.
"I thought they named her Nijiko?"
"They did." The other replied, " I think this woman's extremely mistaken."
She shook her head, " No, this is my baby!" Her voice rose to a higher pitch.
"We don't have time for this." the pale haired one said with a sigh. Then drew a sword that looked like it was made of light itself. "That baby is under our protection. We will take her by force if necessary!"
"Y-you can't have her!" She grabbed the baby, who's face was still red from crying so hard. "She's mine! Mine! You hear me?"
"Clearly, you are having some problems." The other said with another soft sigh before she approached, " How about this? You give us the child, and we'll make sure she's fine? After all, you were attacked by a horrible monster we saved you both from." This angel glanced at the other one. Something passed between them before she went on, "We're not here to hurt anyone else."
Her eyes darted back and forth, clutching the bundle to her chest. Terror still lived in her even though the monster was dead. Could she trust them? Could she even win against them?
The baby squirmed against her again. Coughing. A new fear took over her.
"Colette?" She looked at the baby. Another baby's image replaced the one she was holding. This baby with curly hazel colored hair and bright blue eyes gazed up at her. Those eyes she won't see anymore. Because someone...someone had taken her away from her. She's sick. What if that crazy monster made her sick?
"What's the matter with her?" She looked up at the angels, "Why's she coughing?"
"I don't know." The one talking to her said. The other pale haired one lowered the sword. "Let us see her, please?"
With great reluctance, she gave her baby to the angel. Once the child was securely in the angel's arms, they turned to leave.
"Wait! Where are you going with my baby? Where are you taking Colette?" She cried chasing after them. "Give her back! Give me my baby!"
But they didn't listen. Instead, they vanished into the night, leaving the woman by her wrecked car with police sirens in the distance coming towards her.
Her eyes, however, were only on the two angels that had taken her Colette back.
"I suppose it's a good thing we cut that party short." Sailor Uranus said as they landed on top of the hospital. "Who knows what would've happened otherwise."
"I know." Sailor Neptune looked at the child in her arms, " Oh, look! She still has the symbol on her forehead!"
"We better wait for a few minutes then." Sailor Uranus couldn't help but smile a little. "A little Earth Princess. Remember when Hotaru was this small?"
"Yes. We were all glad when she started growing out of diapers." Sailor Neptune laughed softly, "I think Setsuna more so than the rest of us."
On impulse, Sailor Uranus moved to take her from Neptune, who let her go with a small smile. "Even with all the diapers we had to deal with, they're just so cute at this age. So small." She glanced over to Sailor Neptune, " Do you think we should adopt another one later? I know.. it's not likely, but..."
"Of course." She smiled more then leaned up to kiss her lightly.
After a while, they released their transformations and headed into the hospital. Haruka held the tiny princess, who snuggled up to her comfortably. " You know, " She said as she eased the baby back into it's crib, " It weirdly feels like she knows we're not a danger. She hasn't cried once since we had her."
"Maybe she recognizes us as protectors in some way." Michiru observed, " Well, we'll see her properly later." She reached for Haruka's hand, "Let's go while they're on break."
Haruka cast one last glance at the sleeping princess. "Yeah, we'll see you later, little rainbow."
Nijiko only settled down into a long sleep. The world was rather too exciting for this baby.