Amarissa had managed to make it home, albeit at the very late hour of 9 pm. A small part of her was worried that her mom was going to be mad, but most of her was still just depressed. She had cried the whole walk home, getting some odd looks from passerbys and a few concerned 'are you okays?'. Since Luna didn't have a place to stay, she had grabbed the cat before she left and brought her home. In short, Amarissa was a total mess and looked it too. Her hair was completely disheveled, her eyes and nose were red and swollen from crying, her clothes were covered in dirt, paint, and blood. She had broken a heel on her way home and was barefoot, though the cold seemed not to affect her at all.

Not bothering to be quiet, Amarissa unlocked the door and made her way inside. She felt empty and it showed on her face. Making her way slowly further into the house and to the kitchen, she put Luna on the floor and sat in chair. "Mom, I'm home," she said, not sure if her mother would hear her or where she was. Likely in her room, or maybe not home at all. She checked her phone but there were no messages or missed calls. Obviously, her mom was wrapped up in work somewhere. "I'm just waiting to talk to mom before we go upstairs," she whispered to Luna.

Some footsteps later, Amariss'a mother Mai appears from a hallway, approaching her. Upon seeing Amarissa, she approaches her quickly and looks her over, a frown deeply inscribed on her face. "Ama, what happened to you? You look terrible! Are you hurt?!" she says, worry in her voice until the black mass of cat in the chair catches her attention

"...Why is there a cat here?" she asks. A sweat drop just goes down the side of Luna's head, the urge to claw the woman who saw her as 'just a cat' having to be resisted.

Amarissa looked up at her mom slowly, her eyes still empty. "Yes, mom. I'm alright. I am unhurt. Just a little messy," a flicker of worry passed over her face. What would she tell her mother? What about Kousuke's parents? His name echoed in her head and fresh tears ran down her face.Thinking quickly, she decided to give her mother half truths. "Turn on the t.v. There was an attack at the art exhibit, the one I went to show my work at, remember? I got caught in the middle, you could say. One of my friends, that boy that was here the other night, he was there too. But he won't be making it home tonight," she said, her voice breaking at the end as fresh sobs caught in her throat. A few moments passed before she calmed down.

Catching her mom's comment on the cat, she sniffles. "Um, this is Luna. She's been staying with Kousuke and she was at the exhibit. I brought her home, since she needs a new one. We're not allergic, so I didn't think it would matter. I can pay for her food and stuff," she muttered, momentarily distracted as she looked at Luna.

"...Thank god you're alright..." Mai says, hugging her daughter tightly. Amarissa had such an independent streak, but if the city was getting more dangerous, then something had to be done to protect the only person that really means anything to her anymore. Her father would be disappointed up in heaven if his daughter joined him. "...Just go to bed okay? I want you to stay home from now on, I can't let anything happen to you." she says, then looking at the cat again and sighing. If Amarissa had been through that, being anti-cat wasn't a fight she wanted to push for now.

"...It's..fine. I'll get food for the cat at the store tomorrow...just spread out some newspaper for it." Mai says, causing Luna to give her a death-filled kitty glare. Cat food...newspaper...the cat life was overrated. She hops up and begins to move in the direction of Amarissa's room, aware of it's general direction from the previous visit.

Amarissa shakes her head, a sudden spark of defiance in her eyes. "No mom. I can't just stay home forever. I have school and friends. I'll be 18 soon and out of school. Just trust me that I can handle myself," she says calmly, despite the attitude in her face. She stands and begins to make her way to her room, following Luna. Amarissa wasn't going to listen to her mom about the newspaper either, but she didn't need to know that. Luna wasn't an average cat after all.

"Goodnight mom. I love you and I'll see you in the morning," she says, yawning more for effect than anything. Once upstairs, she opened her door and let the cat in then closed it behind them. Flicking on a lamp beside her bed, she sat down on her chair and looked at the dark cat. "Make yourself at home. She's gone most of the time anyway, so not much to worry about it. It's been such a long day," she says quietly, not wanting her mom to hear. "What now, Luna? Kousuke's gone...." she said, her voice breaking.

Mai just nods and acknowledges it for the moment. She needed some time, and Mai did as well to think about what happened and how to go forward from there. It was alright...though the cat acted like she knew her way around here was kind of strange. Regardless, the older woman didn't get in the way of Amarissa's retreat to her room.

Luna meanwhile looks at Ama with great sympathy and then hops on the desk next to Ama and looks her in the eyes.

"I question that...if he died, then he wouldn't have turned into a tree. You have to be strong for everyone, including him. I think eventually he will return." Luna says firmly, patting Amarissa's arm with her paw to try to reassure her.

Amarissa just looks at the cat for a moment, trying to wrap her head around that last statement. She then grabs a tissue of her desk and tries to clean her face up a bit."He's....not dead? Why did he turn into a tree then? And what about his parents?" she asks, a confused look on her face. She gets up and begins to rummage in her drawers, pulling out a set of blue pajamas. Then she moved to her closet and found an old throw blanket, it had a plaid pattern of blues, purples and white. "Here, you can sleep on this if you want. Um, sorry for dragging you over here..." she offered, looking a bit embarrassed at the last admission.

"Most likely his bond with the Earth saved him from what could have been a fatal attack. At least there's hope...something he embodies. As far as his parents are concerned, well maybe a friend can say he is sleeping over or something" Luna says, a bubble of sweat going down her head. Her parents were fairly levelheaded and trusting, maybe they would buy it. The least they could do is come up with a cover story to make it a little easier for him when he came back.

Luna shakes her head when Amarissa apologizes for 'dragging' her.

"I am grateful to at least have a place to stay. Plus it lets me get to know you better and help you feel a little better when I can." the black cat says, then looking at her calmly. "Is there anything I can do to help you right now?

Amarissa thinks about that for a moment before a small smile crosses her face. "I like that idea. Perhaps he will come back. I can have hope, for him," she says quietly. A thoughtful look crosses her face as she considers her own question, and Luna's suggestion, concerning his parents. "We don't know how long he'll be gone though. I don't think a simple 'sleep over' is going to cut it. Is there any way we could make them believe he went to a basketball retreat or something?" she offers, thinking that sounded lame.

The Moon senshi smiles gently at the black cat's offer to help, before taking a moment to seriously consider the question. "It's the least I can offer, a place to stay. I'll be glad for the company. My mom is away from home a lot because of her job. My dad, well.... he was in the military and one day he just never came home," she said sadly. It was lonely here sometimes, better lately with the senshi. Unlike some of the others, Amarissa was actually beginning to enjoy the action and camaraderie that came from being a team working against evil. "Right now? Not really. Just make yourself at home," she answers in response to the question about help. "You've helped quite a bit already, just by being here and reasonable." She smiled a little, the expression not quite reaching her eyes and falling a little flat.

"That...certainly is a small issue. I wonder if he has any friends they can say he's staying with for some kind of session, or a college tour, or anything for the sort. The parents will likely be suspicious after a few days so...I don't know what the best way to handle that is." Luna says with a small sigh, the problem that Amarissa had raised a substantial one and definitely one that needs some addressing. Dealing with the families of Earth Knights who disappear wasn't in the Mau Handbook.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Luna says in response to the fact her father was missing. It was a sad thing living a life with a busy mom at work and no father. It made her shyish nature make a little more sense to the black mau. Perhaps she should stay here longer term, even after Kousuke comes back. She then nods and then allows Amarissa a moment's quiet to gather her thoughts. Luna didn't want to speak and make her worry any more tonight, but if Amarissa asked then she would certainly answer.

Amarissa considers Luna's suggestion, a thoughtful look on her face as having a problem to solve momentarily distracted her. " That would solve the problem for a few days. But long term? There's no telling how long he'll be gone. Maybe it would be better just to tell them he went missing. Be somewhat honest about it. But I'm not sure where he'll tell them he went missing to, if that makes sense," she says as she fidgets with a strand of silver hair.

She nods at the black cat's sympathy. "He was pronounced dead, of course, after a while. He was infantry. It hasn't been all bad, I guess. I was forced to grow up a little fast but I learned how to defend myself better and I'm more self sufficient," she says, a little pride filtering through.

"...There's only so much you can do. It might come to be that he is classified as missing or run away. You can't really do much more than that, certainly not revealing yourself to try to cover for him." Luna says, looking at Amarissa with a small sigh of trying to think. When Amarissa mentioned and explained the situation revolving around her father, she nodded a little.

"He would be proud of you, I'm sure. I only am just now getting to know you, but I can see how your life has guided you into a calm, inner strength that serves you well as a senshi." the black mau says. A few moments of silence would pass.

The Crescent Wand that Amarissa had picked up before begins to glow wherever it's resting. It begins to shimmer an intense, silver light and seemingly, it almost 'called' out to Amarissa.

"That's true.." Amarissa agreed, recognizing that the black cat had a valid point. Eventually Kousuke would be declared missing and of course she'd have to tell anyone that asked the truth: that she last saw him at the art exhibit. She sighed then smiled a little at Luna's compliment. "Thank you. Too many people don't appreciate that," she said.

A strange glow distracted any further conversation, coming from her desk drawer. Reaching in, Amarissa pulled out the Crescent Wand that Luna had given her at the farmhouse and it was glowing with a strange silver light. "Luna, what's it doing?"she asked.

As Amarissa touche the wand a voice begins to resonate in her ears, though not audible to Luna. The faint image of a beautiful woman in a gray gown manifests, long silver hair flowing down her head. The image is ghostly, but again only for the eyes of Amarissa. The woman blinks in surprise, but then smiles more gently toward Amarissa as she sees the platinum blonde clutching onto the wand.

"You've developed so nicely my beautiful daughter..." the ghostly image whispers to her, possibly leaving the blonde entirely clueless as to what was going on here. The apparition's expression was one of calm love and acceptance.

Amarissa's eyes widen as a sort of ghost appears. It was a woman, beautiful with silver hair like Ama's and the expression of love and acceptance that with which she looked at the senshi had Amarissa feeling calmer despite the situation. The woman seems surprised at first to see her and then whispers to Ama, calling her daughter which shocks her. "Who are you? I think you've mistaken me for someone else, ma'am. My name is Amarissa," she says politely.

Luna seems not to notice anything and worried that she'll look crazy talking to a ghost, Amarissa tells the cat about the woman.