Memory

This is a beautiful night,she thought, looking out the window at the aurora twisting and shimmering above her. Beautiful. She sighed, then turned away from the window. The aurora would have to wait. Although none of her friends knew it, she really did enjoy learning, just not what she was learning in school at the moment. Right now, for example, she was reading a book on the true nature of black holes, one of the small library of such books that Lauren had given her.

Thinking of that, she laughed. If ever Rei found out, she thought. She'd probably need to be hospitalized; the shock'd kill her.

Still chuckling to herself, Serena flipped another page in her book.

As the memory wound to a close, Andrallia placed the delicate crystalline bubble back into its container. Still chuckling softly, she took out another one.

This should be interesting,she thought, opening the memory.

She lay on the roof, looking at the aurora that graced the darkness above her. To her active imagination, the ephemeral bands looked for all the world like rainbow ripples of water flowing across the celestial arc. She smiled.

If any of the others had known how active her imagination was, they'd have been shocked out of their minds. They'd have been even more shocked if they'd known just how bad her memory was. There was a reason she studied as much as she did.

Inside the house, the phone rang. Knowing her mother was working the late shift tonight, Ami climbed back inside and headed for the phone.

Andrallia sighed. How strange that people who "hung out" together 24/7 should know so little about each other.

As she replaced the bubble, Andrallia began to think. She had known very little of what she was discovering through the memory bubbles. She wondered how surprised they would have been to see some of her memories.

She thought back to that night. Her daughter, Corinn, was asleep on the couch, having stayed up late to read. The other Senshi were at their homes mostly, all of them most likely asleep by now.

She opened the curtain and looked out. Above the city was what appeared to be an aurora, but something deep within her gut told her otherwise. She wanted to wake Corinn and return to the Nexus, where they'd be safe, but something else urged her to stay. She'd never know why, but she did stay. And watched.

She watched the "aurora" shift colors suddenly, becoming a nearly invisible band across the sky. She watched as a spark of color flared at the zenith, then faded. She watched as the sky seemed to fragment into a multitude of brightly edged segments. And she watched as the city was bombarded with a flurry of seemingly harmless particles.

Oddly enough, the particles seemed to separate into two clusters: one that proceeded to saturate the Earth, and another that sent out beams of particles to specific locations.

It wasn't until she began to glow a faint silver, and saw Corinn glowing silver-blue that she realized that those last beams were targeting the Senshi.