Fandom: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (anime)
Date Finished:
Classification: Romance, Angst, Humor, Alternate Universe
Pairing: Helios/Yaten, Taiki/Ami, Seiya/Kakyuu  
Rating: NC-17

Take My Hand
By Elsewhere
elsewherecw@shaw.ca

All other information in Part One.

Part Two:

Glossary:
odango - dumpling
ouhi - queen/majesty
senshi - soldier/warrior

*****
On a different day
If I was safe in my own skin
Then I wouldn’t feel lost and so frightened
But this is today and I’m lost in my own skin
*****

"Let’s see…pajamas, shirts, socks…lots of socks…boxers…exactly how many changes of boxers do you think I’m going to need?"

Seiya turned inquiringly towards his queen, who had been standing in his bedroom doorway, watching him moving around tossing clothing onto his bed, the expression on her face amused, her arms folded over her chest.

"If you’re inquiring as to how long you’ll be on Earth, that will depend on how skillful you have become at negotiation, won’t it, Fighter?" Kakyuu said a bit cheekily as she strolled slowly into the room and delicately snatched the pair of boxers he was holding out of his hands. She made a funny face at the large neon orange hearts on the garment, then sighed as she fiddled with the cloth, smoothing the wrinkles out of it with her hands. "Fighter, if you want my honest opinion on how many pairs of human masculine undergarments you should take, the answer is ‘none’."

"Eh?" Seiya said, lifting an eyebrow before offering her a lopsided grin. "Ouhi-sama, frankly speaking, as kinky as that sounds, I don’t know if…"

"Oh hush," Kakyuu said, pretending to frown as she dropped the boxers on the bed and folded her arms again, but she was unable to hide her smile. "What I mean is that this will be your first journey as far as Earth in ten years, and I think you should think about conserving your energy by not taking unnecessary items along with you. You can buy clothing once you arrive. Maker tells me that the three of you still have some Earth money that you’ve been safe-keeping here on Kinmoku."

Seiya paused, considering her words.

"Yes, that’s true…" he said, chewing on his thumbnail for a moment as he considered. "I suppose we have enough. Thank you for the suggestion, ouhi."

Kakyuu merely nodded.

"I have only one more piece of advice for you then, Fighter…or rather, Seiya-san," Kakyuu said, moving around the bed and focusing her gaze firmly on Seiya’s eyes as she reached up to touch his shoulders. Seiya blinked, surprised by her actions. "Seiya-san…please…*do* try not to cause any intergalactic incidents. *Please.*"

Seiya blinked again, then frowned, finally noticing the hint of humor in her brilliant red eyes.

"Honestly, ouhi-sama, have you no faith in me? You sound just like the other two," Seiya complained, rolling his eyes when she simply laughed.

"Promise me, Seiya-san…promise me you will be *careful*," she insisted, trying to catch his eyes again, and when he was stubborn and refused to meet her gaze, she lifted her hand to run it gently through the curly raven locks at the top of his head. He grumbled a bit, but finally turned to hold her eyes. She looked at him for a moment, and when she saw no sign of him backing down, she finally pushed out her lower lip in the barest sign of a pout, and then laughed again when she heard his exasperated sigh.

"Oh, not that look…all right, all right, I promise. Anything to avoid that look," he said, grinning now as she went back to fixing his messy bangs. "You’re just too perfect at pouting, ouhi."

"It’s a queen’s privilege," she said seriously before winking and turning away, finally satisfied with the state of his hair, even though she knew he’d mess it up again within moments. "Above all, Seiya, have *fun* on this trip, please."

"I’m not sure if I can promise you *that*, ouhi-sama…" Seiya confessed as he slowly dropped to sit on the edge of his bed and leaned forward against his knees. "After all, things may be very different."

"Everything changes," Kakyuu agreed before offering him a warm smile. "But true friendships endure, Seiya. Have faith."

With those final words, she left the room, the usual soothing scent of olive blossoms following her movements and accompanied by a wonderful feeling of relaxation that slowly settled over Seiya as he sat on his bed, staring at his hands, contemplating how he was going to handle the new Earth. Would the friendships he had made on Earth have endured this long, and even if they had, would he be able to handle the changes that would surely have been made in the relationships among the people he’d met on Earth?

He heard a knock on his door and glanced up, about to call out that it was open and whoever it was could come in when he spotted Taiki leaning against the door frame, arms crossed, peering at Seiya curiously with a strange little smile on his face. That expression…it was so similar to the one on Kakyuu’s face just a few moments before. Seiya wondered if everyone else knew something he didn’t.

"You looked completely out of it," Taiki said, answering Seiya’s unspoken question of ‘What are you looking at?’ "You looked like you were thinking about something very serious."

Seiya smiled lopsidedly again, mainly for lack of anything better to do, and shrugged.

"You’re nervous, aren’t you? About going back there…about seeing her," Taiki said after a moment of silence, and Seiya didn’t bother to deny it. He just nodded, his eyes on the floor, his thumbs twiddling. He heard Taiki take in a deep breath; heard the taller man shift slightly in place, perhaps putting his hands in his pockets.

"Me too," Taiki said after a moment, his voice soft like the whisper of a quill against paper and almost as raspy, and Seiya’s head lifted, curiosity instantly stamping out the expression of barren confusion on his face.

"You’re nervous about seeing Odango too?" Seiya said, the sound of his voice just as startled as the look on his face.

Taiki laughed, closing his eyes and bringing up a hand to rub his face.

"No…I didn’t mean Tsukino-san…I meant…" Here Taiki paused and shifted again, putting his hand back in his pocket and glancing off to one side and then back towards Seiya, a movement that he obviously intended to be casual which only made him appear more nervous. "I meant…Mizuno-kun."

"Oh…I see," Seiya said, chuckling quietly as he dropped his head. "Sorry for misunderstanding."

"It’s all right," Taiki said, shaking his head and offering another slight smile. "In any case, I came to tell you that lunch is ready and, as you know, we’ll be heading out about two hours after we finish eating."

"Ah, great…thanks," Seiya said, nodding and getting to his feet. "Did you let Yaten know?"

"No…I can’t seem to find her," Taiki said, brow furrowing for a moment. "That’s the other thing I intended to bring up. I presume you haven’t seen her either?"

"No…not since last night, actually," Seiya said, his own frown joining Taiki’s now. "She can’t still be sleeping…she knew we were leaving today…"

"No…I checked her room," Taiki said, shaking his head.

"Huh…no idea, then," Seiya said, lifting his hands. "I guess we’d better go and look for her. She’ll be mad as hell if she misses lunch, after all."

Taiki nodded his agreement, and the two of them took off down the hallway to search for Yaten, asking every servant or resident they ran into whether they had seen the wayward senshi. They were already half an hour late for lunch when they finally went out to the gardens. On a whim, Seiya decided to try the orchards, and that was where they found her.

She was wandering between the olive trees, walking barefoot through brilliant green grass that was warm to the touch due to the hot afternoon sun, her light white and green dress trailing behind her in the light breeze, its pastel colors and the soft silvery-white of her hair---left loose of its usual ponytail for once---as it shifted lazily around her shoulders while she walked creating the ethereal image of some kind of fey fairy creature. With each tree she passed, she would pause to draw her fingers lightly through the leaves, closing her eyes as though she was privately communicating with the tree---and her companions knew full well that it was quite possible she was.

Finally, when she’d come to the last tree, and opened her eyes after whatever private rite she was doing, she turned and acknowledged her two silent companions, who had respected her privacy and left her to complete whatever she was doing.

"Did you want something?" she asked simply as she walked at a leisurely pace back through the grass towards where she’d left her sandals.

Seiya glanced at Taiki, saw that the older man didn’t seem likely to speak up, and cleared his throat, stepping forward.

"It’s lunch time," Seiya said quietly, and then he squinted briefly towards the sun. "Or at least it was nearly an hour ago. We’ve probably missed it. Yaten…what were you…?"

"Connecting," Yaten said in the same calm, silken soft tone of voice as she bent to slip her sandals back on, then stood to meet Seiya’s eyes. "Saying farewell."

"Farewell…?" Seiya repeated, blinking in surprise.

"Who knows when we’ll be home again," Yaten said, and although her expression and tone didn’t change, for the first time Seiya and Taiki became aware of a tension in her that suggested that she wasn’t feeling quite as peaceful as she appeared. "To make sure that I will not forget my home, I have taken the time to connect with the planet one last time."

Seiya stared at Yaten in blank incomprehension, and he was fairly certain Taiki was equally stunned.

"Yaten…it’s not like last time…we’re just going for a visit. We’ll be home sooner than you know it, most likely," Seiya said, lifting his eyebrows a bit. "I don’t think there’s any chance of you forgetting…"

"I don’t expect you to understand," Yaten said abruptly, glancing at both of them rather sharply before she started walking towards the palace. "Either of you."

Seiya’s mouth hung open, the unfinished sentence still on his lips as he turned to stare at Taiki, who looked equally shocked. As one, they both turned to stare at their older companion, who was now well on her way up to the palace.

They didn’t catch up to her until she was in the dining room, where Kakyuu was busy serving a multitude of dishes to Yaten, as though her mission was to feed a starving person rather than to feed someone who was about to leave on a journey.

"You’re extremely late, however, all of you," Kakyuu scolded them lightly as Seiya and Taiki arrived and Kakyuu walked around behind them, spooning great heaps of various foodstuffs onto their plates. "What kept you?"

"We’re not entirely sure, ouhi-sama," Seiya said honestly, glancing at Yaten, who frowned slightly as she stared at her plate.

"Healer? Is something the matter?" Kakyuu asked, instantly sensing the tension between her senshi and locating its point of origin.

"No…it’s nothing, ouhi-sama," Yaten replied, but as her frown didn’t relax, Kakyuu persisted, moving around to Yaten’s side of the table and lightly stroking the top of Yaten’s head.

"I can tell that something is wrong, Healer," Kakyuu said gently, and Yaten sighed quietly, putting down her chopsticks. "Are you worried about this trip to Earth? Perhaps you’re feeling prematurely homesick?"

Yaten frowned at her plate in silence for another moment before taking a breath and then, suddenly, everything came spilling out.

"Yes…frankly, I am. Not just homesick, but *sick*, sick to my stomach. I don’t want to go; I never did. I hated that planet, like I said, and the last thing I want to do is go back. While we were there, it was nearly impossible, especially for some of us in particular, not to be distracted from our mission. That planet and its people are too insidious, and I don’t want to go back there and risk being tainted by them again."

Yaten’s words were cut off abruptly by the sound of Seiya slamming his napkin down against the table.

"Excuse me, but did you really just say ‘tainted’?" Seiya said, irritation and disbelief warring for dominance in his voice. The combination made him sound particularly rough and masculine, which only seemed to make Yaten wince. "And I assume when you say ‘especially for some of us in particular’, you’re talking about me…is that right?"

"Fighter…" Kakyuu began, holding up a hand, but Seiya shook his head.

"No, ouhi-sama…I want to hear it from her," Seiya said, frowning deeply.

"Of course I was talking about you," Yaten said, turning burning green eyes to meet Seiya’s. "You never did stop thinking about that girl; you haven’t stopped thinking about her to this day. To the cost of all else, you would think of her…"

"And because of that, arguably, I was the first one to see her potential," Seiya said, gritting his teeth as he leaned forward, his cobalt eyes glinting like steel as he glared into Yaten’s eyes. "Let’s not forget, Yaten, that ‘that girl’ is the one who saved the ENTIRE UNIVERSE from destruction. She saved all of us."

"That doesn’t change the fact that *we had a mission* and…"

"BullSHIT to your mission," Seiya said, this time slamming his hand against the table, causing all three of the others present to jump. "Do you honestly think we did the wrong thing…that *I* did the wrong thing? We took part in saving the universe, Yaten!"

Yaten shook his head, turning to look at Kakyuu, who was frowning slightly, obviously contemplating what to say or do.

"You see, ouhi-sama…I knew I couldn’t speak about this with him…he has no intention of listening to my point of view…"

"Because you’re full of shit!" Seiya shouted, shoving his chair back and getting to his feet.

"Fighter!" Kakyuu said, holding out a hand, about to ask him to stay, but he simply shook his head and turned to storm out of the room, his lunch unfinished. The tears pooling in his eyes were clearly visible to everyone in the room, despite the way he brought up a hand to rub at his eyes as he shoved the door open and left.

After a moment of silence, Taiki finally pushed his plate forward, evidently no longer interested in eating, and turned to address Yaten.

"Yaten…all that you said…are those your true opinions?" Taiki asked quietly, folding his hands in his lap as he asked, one eyebrow arching mildly.

"Of course they are," Yaten said, frowning irritably as she met Taiki’s gaze. "You agree with me, right, Taiki?"

Taiki’s eyebrow fell and he pushed his chair back, getting slowly to his feet.

"To be perfectly frank, Yaten…the answer is a firm ‘no’. I agree with Seiya…one hundred percent," Taiki said, and he turned and left the room before he could even see the shock move over Yaten’s face, or the way she sat with her mouth hanging open for several seconds after his words had first washed over her.

She and Taiki rarely disagreed on anything, and she was sure she could remember that back on Earth, she and Taiki had agreed on this issue…so what the hell…?

Yaten’s confidence had suffered a severe blow because of this, and so she kept her eyes hooded, cautious, as she turned to glance at Kakyuu. She still hadn’t been prepared for the look of disappointment on Kakyuu’s face; that, perhaps, was the greatest blow yet, and she felt a new wave of nausea wash through her, seeing that sympathy and sadness in Kakyuu’s eyes.

"Healer," Kakyuu said quietly after a few moments’ deliberation. She was sitting at the head of the table as usual, her hands folded on the table in front of herself, her gaze focused on Yaten’s face, that horrible, gentle look of pity in her eyes. "Regardless of what I said two days ago about ordering the three of you to go to Earth, I have no intention of forcing you to go if you truly feel this strongly about it. But to be honest, with your attitude the way it is now, I feel even more strongly that it would be to your benefit to pay another visit to Earth, particularly now. If you allow the other two to go on ahead without you, the consequences to your relationship with the other two due to your separation could be dire. Please consider these factors carefully before coming to your final decision."

Such a formal tone…hardly like the usual almost joking, friendly tone Kakyuu used with her Starlights. Suddenly, Yaten realized that the nauseous feeling in her stomach was shame…terrible, terrible shame. Kakyuu was disappointed in her; she could see that easily. Very, very disappointed, perhaps more disappointed than she had ever been.

"Th…thank you, ouhi-sama," Yaten said, now trying to hold back her own tears as she slowly got to her feet, her lunch forgotten. "How long do I have?"

"I will delay the take-off by one hour; I’ll inform the others," Kakyuu said quietly. "You have one hour and fifteen minutes to decide, Healer."

"Thank you, ouhi-sama," Yaten whispered before turning and starting out of the room, stopping only when she felt the queen’s familiar gentle touch against her shoulders.

"Healer…" Kakyuu murmured, her hands conveying a message of gentle coaxing, and it took less than a second before Yaten spun around and threw herself into Kakyuu’s arms. Even though Yaten was the shortest of the Starlights, she was still a few inches taller than Kakyuu, but she was well used to bending to fit easily into the queen’s soothing embrace.

"There, there," Kakyuu said softly as she stroked Yaten’s hair and back, listening to the quiet sound of Yaten’s sobs. "All of us have a tendency to say things we don’t mean---even to think or feel things we don’t mean---as you well know, Healer. This is fairly easily fixed."

Even though Yaten knew Kakyuu’s words were true, she still wasted the first ten minutes of her hour and fifteen minutes there, safe in Kakyuu’s embrace, hiding from the concept of responsibility.

*****

She spent the next five minutes searching out the usual nooks and crannies within the palace that Seiya tended to haunt. It didn’t occur to her to check Seiya’s room until she had already wasted valuable time; in the end, she did only check the room as a last resort, but she was surprised, when she slid the room’s door open, to hear the familiar sound of her companion’s voice---low, raspy and somewhat rough with emotion, but unmistakably the voice of a woman---from out on the balcony. Yaten instantly paused, not moving any farther, when Seiya’s words clearly floated back to her.

"…really makes me wonder if they’ve felt, all this time, that I’m a failure as a leader…hell, a failure as a senshi, even."

"Fighter…that isn’t true…" Kakyuu’s soft voice broke in, only to be interrupted again.

"You heard what Yaten said, ouhi. She and Taiki used to say the same sorts of things back on Earth…we were out of sync back then, we were confused…I felt guilty, I *hated* it that they’d lost faith in me, that we’d lost our connection…but I thought everything was made right again when we helped Sailor Moon to defeat Chaos. But now, with the way Yaten is talking…maybe I was being stupid, ignoring the situation as it was growing worse…has Yaten felt this way all along? And what about Taiki? Maybe they never regained their faith in me and they’ve just never said…"

"That’s enough," Kakyuu said, her voice becoming firm, and Yaten heard the sound of the queen’s skirts swishing as she moved across the balcony. Yaten closed the door behind herself as quietly as she could and moved farther into the room, trying to get closer without revealing her presence, even though she felt vaguely guilty about eavesdropping.

"Fighter, surely you must realize how ridiculous and hypocritical what you’re saying is. Your words imply a lack of faith in your companions, just the type of loss of faith you believe they have experienced."

"Huh?" Seiya exclaimed, seeming shocked by Kakyuu’s words, but Kakyuu pressed on, evidently aware that her words were somewhat harsh.

"Do you really think that if Maker and Healer felt you were an incompetent leader or, worse, an incompetent senshi, that they would have remained quiet as you suggest? Regardless of whether they had come to you with such accusations, it would be essential for them to bring such important accusations to *my* attention. May I remind you that as my personal senshi, it is the duty of the Sailor Starlights to protect me, at the cost of all else?"

"Of course!" Seiya exclaimed somewhat passionately.

"And you are saying that you believe your two fellow Starlights so incompetent in their basic duty of protecting me to the cost of all else that they would *not* do such an important thing as report the fact that their leader had become incompetent?" Kakyuu said, bringing Seiya’s hypocrisy full circle.

Yaten had hidden herself behind the curtains of the balcony doors now and finally had a view of the two occupants outside. Seiya was standing in the middle of the balcony, hands loosely fisted by her sides, shaking slightly as she stood in front of Kakyuu, who had her eyebrows raised as she finished her speech. After a moment, Seiya dropped her chin and shook her head, a lopsided smirk coming to her lips.

"…No…of course not, Kakyuu-ouhi-sama. ‘Incompetent’ is absolutely the furthest thing from my mind when I think of Healer and Maker. I’m sure one could find no finer senshi anywhere in the galaxy."

Seiya lifted her head, eyes sparkling a bit as she met Kakyuu’s gaze. Kakyuu too was smiling softly now.

"Of course," Kakyuu said, patting her crown a bit as she continued to say, "they are *my* senshi after all."

Seiya laughed, turning to lean back against the balcony rail.

"That we are, ouhi-sama. That we are."

Kakyuu nodded once, smiling warmly, and turned to leave, but paused in the doorwary. Yaten cringed, wondering if she’d been spotted, but Kakyuu turned back towards Seiya.

"Fighter…I do not think your companions ever lost faith in you, even on Earth. But as you said, perhaps the issue has been ignored for too long if it can still cause such pain. Perhaps it’s time to ask them yourself…?"

"You think so…?" Seiya said, tilting her head before offering Kakyuu a gentle grin. "Thank you, ouhi. And…"

"And…?" Kakyuu questioned, lifting her eyebrows once more,
ruby red eyes twinkling in the sunlight.

"And…I love you," Seiya said, her own eyes sparkling as she winked.

Kakyuu laughed softly, her smile gentle as she closed her eyes to offer a beautiful grin.

"Thank you," she murmured, and then she turned and glided out of the room, her skirts whispering against the floor.

Yaten waited a moment after Kakyuu had left and her heart had stopped pounding from the tension of hearing such a private, important conversation when she certainly wasn’t supposed to, then finally got to her feet and walked out onto the balcony.

"Yo," she greeted casually, her voice coming out as a coarse whisper as she moved immediately to lean forward against the balcony rail, looking out over the palace’s expansive gardens. She felt Seiya’s surprise wash over her, felt the shock in the other woman’s eyes as Seiya turned to look at her.

"Yo…" Seiya replied, hesitantly.

A moment of silence passed, and then:

"I’m sorry!" Seiya stuttered at the same moment Yaten burst out a quick, "Sorry!"

Both of them stood in silence for another few seconds, surprised by the collision of their two apologies, and then they finally turned and met each other’s eyes for the first time. Yaten could instantly see the genuine fear and sorrow in Seiya’s eyes, and she hoped that Seiya could just as easily see the true regret and guilt in her own.

"I didn’t expect to hear you say that," Yaten said frankly, when she finally couldn’t take the silence any longer. She was frowning again, this time out of confusion. "What are you sorry for?"

"I…" Seiya swallowed, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before meeting Yaten’s gaze more firmly, taking a step forward. "I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. Maybe you were right about a few things…I know I was pretty focused on Odango back when we were on Earth. But I need to make you understand that I never forgot about Kakyuu-sama…I never forgot about Kinmoku…I never forgot about the mission. Odango was just something *else* that I needed at the time."

Seiya sighed, bringing up a hand to rub across her eyes as she pondered what to say next.

"It’s…it’s hard to explain to someone who’s never fallen in love like that," she confessed, smiling a bit. "I know to you and Taiki it must have looked like I’d gone crazy…sometimes *I* felt like I’d gone crazy…but I wasn’t…I was just in love, and I just needed to be around her sometimes…it doesn’t mean I had to neglect everything else, and I don’t think I did. But maybe you’re right…maybe I didn’t have that extra time…maybe I should have just left her alone…hell, I’m sure Mamoru-san would say that, at least…"

Seiya gave a bitter little laugh as she said this, turning to lean back against the rail again.

"I know," Yaten said quietly, and Seiya glanced up, lifting an eyebrow slightly in incomprehension. Yaten cleared her throat, trying to offer a smile and for the most part failing. "I know all of that, Seiya…I do. It was the two of us who were unfair. You never did neglect your duty…I know you never forgot; you displayed that well enough later. Certainly, neither of us ever lost faith in you."

The expression on Seiya’s face froze for a moment before the fear in her eyes grew in force.

"Were you listening, just now…?" she asked, trying to sound casual, but her voice shook.

"Yes," Yaten confessed, dropping her eyes. "I was hiding behind the curtains. I’m sorry. But…I’m glad I heard it. Seiya…we never lost faith in you…we were afraid, we were losing faith in ourselves, we were confused…but we followed you to the very end, didn’t we?"

Seiya was silent, staring at her feet, shaking again.

"Those things I said today were because I’m afraid again, and I say stupid and horrible things that I don’t mean when I’m afraid," Yaten continued, sighing and bringing up both hands to rub her face. "Please, Seiya…for your sake and for mine, don’t let what I said today affect you. Don’t let a few stupid words change anything."

The silence continued on for one minute, then two, and then three, long enough that Yaten had become aware of the pattern of her own breathing, something that she hated to do because it always sounded rather strange to her for some reason. So that was when she decided she’d had enough.

"Seiya…this is when you’re supposed to give me a hug even though you know I don’t really like invasions of personal space, and say, ‘Hey, Yaten…let’s go to Earth.’"

Before she’d even finished the sentence, she was wrapped in that familiar warm embrace from behind, pulled up firmly against the taller woman’s chest until she felt warmth bleeding into her entire body, a sensation so unexpectedly pleasant it almost made her squirm. She could feel Seiya’s breath against the back of her head, and then against her ear before Seiya dropped her chin to rest against Yaten’s shoulder.

"Hey, Yaten…let’s go to Earth," Seiya murmured, smiling warmly, her eyes sparkling with bright tears as she held Yaten tightly, arms folded just beneath Yaten’s breasts. Yaten clasped Seiya’s arms there firmly with her own hands, almost as though she was unwilling to let her friend go. "We’ll have fun…I promise."

"Yeah," Yaten whispered, fighting against her own tears as she pressed back against Seiya, determined to hold this embrace for as long as possible and to remember this warmth even as they traveled the cold expanse of space.

*****

Half an hour later, the two of them walked slowly towards the place where they were scheduled to take off. Seiya had insisted on being clingy, much to Yaten’s---mostly feigned---disgruntlement, attempting first to drape her arm around Yaten’s shoulders and then to lace her arm with Yaten’s, finally settling for taking Yaten’s hand, which the older woman decided she preferred to anything which involved more body contact. She was starting to get even more nervous as the time to take off grew closer, and she didn’t want it to be any more obvious to Seiya than it already was; she didn’t want Seiya close enough to hear her pounding heart.

"Whew! I’m kind of nervous, aren’t you?" Seiya said suddenly, and Yaten felt her eye twitch. Seiya grinned. "Actually I’m kind of terrified. No idea what to expect and all that…"

"I’m trying not to think about it much, actually," Yaten said quietly.

Seiya responded to that with a soft, reassuring smile and a squeeze of Yaten’s hand that Yaten found made her stomach lurch even more strongly. She kept her gaze firmly ahead as they walked.

"Yo," Seiya called as they spotted Maker just ahead, leaning against one of the trees in the particular garden they’d chosen to take off from.

Maker nodded, standing up straight as her two companions approached. She was the only one who had already transformed.

Yaten hesitated a bit as they approached Maker, reluctant to meet the taller senshi’s eyes for a moment.

"Taiki…" she began quietly.

"I know," Maker said simply, and Yaten lifted her eyes, surprised. Maker smiled slightly, tilting her head.

Yaten stared into Maker’s lightly twinkling eyes for a moment before she finally nodded, offering a smile of her own.

"Shall we?" Seiya asked, tilting her head forwards, towards their destination.

The other two nodded and stepped back, ready to follow her lead, Yaten gently retrieving her hand. Seiya grinned, wiped her hand off on her pants, and turned to lead the way. Even as they walked, she and Yaten both focused briefly on transforming themselves into their senshi forms, and within seconds the three Starlights were striding towards the designated take-off point together.

"Ahh, good…you’re early, for once," Kakyuu said a bit archly as the three of them strode into the clearing she’d specified.

"Now what kind of a thing is that to say to the three finest senshi in the universe?" Fighter demanded with a wry grin, to which Kakyuu raised a flame-red eyebrow.

"An honest kind of thing, I would have said," Kakyuu said, with her usual amount of cheek, as she walked over to them. She appeared to give them each an inspection, checking their already flawless fuku and brushing away a few nonexistent specks of dust before looking each of them carefully in the face. "Now, listen to me carefully, my Starlights. As always when visiting another planet, you are to behave with the utmost care and discretion, and represent your planet and your queen to the best of your ability."

"Of course, ouhi-sama," the three of them responded militarily, eyes facing straight forward.

"And what is the most important thing to do while visiting another planet, particularly *this* other planet?" Kakyuu asked, holding up her pointer finger.

"That would be to never forget to allow ourselves to have a good time as well, ouhi-sama," Fighter said, fighting against a grin.

"Precisely, Fighter," Kakyuu said, patting her on the arm, her eyes twinkling. "I think you’re ready. Without further ado…go on."

The three Starlights glanced at each other, and slowly, each of them grinned mischievously.

"Go on, she says," Healer said a bit smugly.

"Without further ado, she says," Maker said, arching an eyebrow and smirking.

"We’re ready, she says," Fighter said, clucking her tongue and shaking her head. "Not even close, ouhi-sama…not even close."

"Now what in the name of Kinmoku’s olive trees could you be…ah!!" Kakyuu exclaimed as she was suddenly gathered into a group bear-hug courtesy of her three senshi. She laughed, closing her eyes and giggling like she had when she was much younger, as the three younger women’s hands tickled her. "Put me down at once, all of you!!"

"What’s the punishment if we don’t?" Fighter asked, grinning as she met Kakyuu’s eyes, noting with some pleasure the pretty pink blush that was spreading over Kakyuu’s cheeks.

"The punishment will be that I will not give you the hugs I was intending to give you before you misbehaved yourselves," Kakyuu said with a smile that was almost a smirk, if she had been capable of such an expression.

"Hmm…I don’t think we can say no to that, can we?" Fighter said, turning to glance at Healer and Maker, who both grinned as, as one, the three of them put Kakyuu down.

"That’s better," Kakyuu said, brushing her skirts and chuckling. "Honestly, I don’t know what I’m going to do with you three. Now, come here, all of you. Maker, you first."

She had to lean up quite a ways, even with Maker bending a considerable amount, to give Maker a satisfactory hug, but she managed in the end, and Maker closed her eyes as she wished her queen well during their absence.

"I’m sure I’ll be fine, although I’ll miss you all terribly, of course," Kakyuu said softly before letting Maker go and turning to Healer.

Healer blushed a bit as Kakyuu drew her into her arms just as confidently as she had just over an hour before.

"It will be all right," Kakyuu whispered in Healer’s ear. "Stay close to your companions, *talk* to them, don’t be afraid of them…and it will be all right."

"Yes ouhi-sama. I’ll miss you, ouhi-sama," Healer murmured, hearing the tears layered thick in her throat as she buried her face in Kakyuu’s neck.

"Of course you will. But you’ll see me again soon enough," Kakyuu reassured her, patting her back gently. "And I am always with you, Healer, as you well know."

"Yes ouhi-sama," Healer said, feeling a bit like a child as she pulled back and rubbed at her nose. A laughing Fighter hugged Healer quickly against her side, surprising her, before Fighter turned to receive her own embrace from her queen.

"Fighter. You know of course that I’m entrusting you to take care of your companions, as always," Kakyuu said, smiling slightly as she gave Fighter a clear look of confident trust to which Fighter responded with a grateful smile.

"Roger," Fighter said with a nod, the grin firming into her trademark smirk. "We’ll be fine, ouhi-sama."

"I know you will be," Kakyuu said, her smile softening. "I have absolute faith in you, Fighter."

"Thank you, ouhi," Fighter murmured as she stepped forward into Kakyuu’s embrace, only to be surprised by the way Kakyuu held her tightly. She didn’t remember noticing Kakyuu clinging to the other two this way, her fingers tightening against the muscles of Fighter’s back as though she didn’t want to let go.

"Ouhi?" Fighter whispered, turning her head so her voice was no more than a breath against Kakyuu’s ear, unlikely to be heard by the others.

Kakyuu let out a soft chuckle, turning her own head until her lips were lightly against Fighter’s cheek.

"The truth is, now that the time has come, I don’t want to let you go," Kakyuu whispered, her words likewise little more than a breath against Fighter’s skin, the warmth of that breath giving Fighter the urge to shiver.

She felt Kakyuu’s smile against her skin and her own brow furrowed in confusion as Kakyuu drew back, hands against Fighter’s arms, just above the blue bands around Fighter’s biceps.

"Hurry back to me," Kakyuu murmured, her eyes still sparkling and that beautiful soft pink blush back on her cheeks. Fighter blinked, startled, and opened her mouth to speak, to ask, but before she could, Kakyuu had turned away, to the others.

"Are you ready?" Kakyuu asked, her voice perfectly steady as she spoke, and when she turned back towards Fighter, the blush was gone. Fighter blinked again, wondering if she’d imagined the whole thing.

"Yes, ouhi-sama," Maker and Healer said, turning to their leader for the final say.

"Yeah…let’s go," Fighter said, nodding to Kakyuu a bit awkwardly before she turned and moved to the centre of the clearing, waiting until her two companions had taken their places on either side of her before she focused on calling up her power.

/I hope Taiki remembers the way to Earth…/ she suddenly thought, her heart pounding a few beats faster just as Kakyuu called her final goodbye and the three of them disappeared into the sky, human bodies disappearing and replaced by three pinpoints of light in the sky.

Throughout the palace and the surrounding city, many people that night commented on the three beautiful shooting stars. Very few among them ventured to guess that those stars were actually the planet’s great protectors and those who some called the saviors of the universe, the Sailor Starlights.

*****

END PART TWO