Never Fade Away, a sailor moon fanfic

"Am I not good enough?" Seiya's words sped through Usagi's mind over and over until they were etched into her brain. Still, a year after the Starlights left, she found herself thinking about them every single day. The time she spent getting to know them was more than enough for feelings to evolve. She never understood what her feelings were; she always assumed they were friendship. But over the last year, she had plenty of time to consider what they were. As time went on, she was beginning to see that what she felt for Seiya was more than friendship. It wasn't just a platonic love she was feeling. Romantic love is what she deduced the feeling to be.

Even though I have Mamo-chan back, I can't stop thinking about you Seiya. Usagi understood perfectly that she and Mamoru were destined to be together. They were the future king and queen of Crystal Tokyo. There was a certain amount of responsibility involved and it couldn't be taken lightly. Everyone expected the destiny to be fulfilled. And even though Usagi loved Mamoru dearly, her heart also belonged to another. She had no idea who she loved more, but it didn't matter. Seiya, along with Yaten and Taiki, were gone back to Kinmoku. They were probably never returning. So, Usagi continued with her life. She would eventually marry Mamoru and all her feelings for Seiya would have to be put on the back burner of her mind.

Usagi took her odangos out and brushed her long blonde hair. She sighed into the night and put on her pajamas. She walked over to her window and looked into the night sky before she went to bed. She saw a shooting star cross the sky and decided to make a wish.

Seiya, I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, I want you to know that you are enough. I do love you too. I hope wherever you are, you are happy and free. I wish I could see you again…

Minako was sitting on her porch drinking lemonade with her mother. They rarely had time to spend with each other like this. Minako was always spending time with her friends and fighting villains. Her mother was always working and didn't get home till late in the evening. A soft and gentle breeze was blowing throughout her hair and she closed her eyes while enjoying the beautiful summer night. Peaceful evenings were hard to come by for her and she truly appreciated an evening with no chaos. The only downside to her peaceful evenings would be the amount of free time she had. This free time allowed her mind to wander to the places she kept safely tucked away and hidden.

The hidden areas of her mind included her most cherished dreams and her unfulfilled wishes. A major unfulfilled wish of hers included Yaten. In the short time she had spent with the Lights, she fell madly and deeply in love with Yaten Kou. Even though he was arrogant and rude and mostly abrupt with her, there was this spark of magic between them. When she had met him, there was an instant connection that should not and could not be denied. She felt it and she was sure that he had felt it too. But, he would never have admitted feelings if he had them because he had been concentrating on finding his princess. Minako understood this, but it didn't stop her from trying with all her might to woo him.

As the breeze settled and Minako opened her eyes, she looked to the sky and saw a shooting star. She smiled and thought of Yaten again.

I hope wherever you are at this moment in time, you are happy. It would be nice if you were thinking of me too. I know you liked to play hard to get, but I really think I was close to nabbing you, Yaten Kou. I wish it were possible for you to one day be mine.

She stood up, grabbed her empty glass of lemonade, and headed inside. She had another day of school in the morning and didn't want to stay up all night. She changed her clothes, crawled into bed, and closed her eyes to have beautiful and Yaten filled dreams.

Ami Mizuno always analyzed everything. She analyzed every possibility there was to any given situation. This is what she did best. She was very smart and always on top of her studies. She was the person her friends always turned to if they needed help with their studies. Her mind was almost like a computer; So many facts could be stored in her brain. One fact that was drilled into her brain though was the fact that the Starlights were gone. A fact on top of that is they were probably never going to return to Earth. The last fact, and this one hurt the most, was that Taiki probably didn't reciprocate her feelings for him. These facts had haunted Ami for the last year and plagued her dreams. She had developed genuine feelings for Taiki and it hurt her because she had never felt anything for a boy before.

Ami put down her pencil, deciding that she couldn't concentrate on her homework anymore. She walked over to her bed and got underneath her covers. She closed her eyes trying her hardest to bring sleep her way. After five minutes of ferocious attempts to sleep, she rolled onto her back and stared out her sky lights. The night sky was beautiful and all the glistening stars reminded her of Taiki, Yaten, Seiya, and Kakyuu. Over the last year, these people were constantly on her mind and she had no idea why her heart couldn't concede in defeat. As she was about to close her eyes and try again to achieve sleep, she saw a shooting star. She decided to talk to the star and see if her wish could come true.

Taiki, I miss you. I miss our talks and our constant competition in school. I miss your intelligence and your persona. I miss arguing with you about romance and dreams. I wonder if you know they are real now. If I could have one wish, I wish that you all could come back. I wish that I could see you again.

Rei and Makoto were having a sleep over on this evening. Rei had to cook several different items for her class at school and Makoto was over helping her. Rei hated events like this. She was a decent cook, but she much preferred the taste of Makoto's cooking. Rei had just put the last batch of cookies into the oven and walked over to join Makoto wash the dishes.

"Mako-chan, do you ever think about them?"

"Rei, I find myself missing their friendship more and more every day." She replied.

"I know I wasn't that close to them, but Usagi, Ami, and Minako were. I know they miss them very much." Rei admitted.

"Things haven't been the same since they left. We have been relatively peaceful since we defeated Galaxia, but it seems that everyone is becoming pretty depressed. It bothers me a lot and makes me feel sad for the others." Makoto stated.

"I feel the same way. It would be nice if they could come back and we could all be friends again." Rei concluded.

"Hey, look! There is a shooting star!"Makoto told her. They both looked out the window and saw the blazing beauty.

Makoto decided to make a wish on the star. I wish that Yaten, Seiya, and Taiki could return to Earth and that we could all be friends again. It makes me get sad every day seeing the others this way.

Rei wished with all her heart on this star. I feel childish wishing upon a star, but if I could only have one thing in this world, I would want all of my friends to be happy. I wish the Starlights could return and we could all be friends again.

Makoto turned to Rei and laughed. They understood that the other one probably wished for the same things as the other. Makoto leaned back over the sink and continued to wash the dishes as Rei continued to gaze into the night sky.

"Rei-chan, these dishes don't dry themselves. I want to go to sleep at some point, you know." Makoto scolded.

"Sorry. I was just enjoying the stars."Rei answered and then continued to dry the dishes. The two girls worked in silence until all the dishes were done and the last batch of cookies was coming out of the oven. Makoto placed the cookies on a cooling rack and then the two girls walked to Rei's room to get a much needed night's sleep.

Kakyuu was busy trying with all her might to restore the plants in her kingdom. Since the return from Earth, she and the Lights had been trying to replenish their planet. Before she could start to repopulate, she had to get her planet in a stabilized structure to sustain life. The plants had to be grown, animals had to be produced, and the buildings had to be rebuilt. This work was proving a much more difficult challenge for her and she didn't know what to do. If they couldn't revive the plants and animals soon, they would have to flee and try to start over on a different planet.

As she was putting all her effort into restoration, she heard wishes sent her way from Earth. She recognized the voices of the wish makers to be the friends they had made while on Earth. She heard each and every wish clearly and thought for a moment if she could help grant them.

After a moment's thought, she decided that she would keep trying to fulfill her work. If it couldn't be done in a reasonable time, she would just have to seek refuge on Earth. Hopefully the senshi from Earth would be hospitable towards her and her comrades. Surely they would since so many wishes had been sent her way.

When Kakyuu heard another three wishes, she knew that she had to give up on her efforts and return to Earth. With so many wishes being made that involved so many people she knew, how could she possibly deny them?

Seiya had called it a night. He was so tired from all the work that he had been doing since his return to Kinmoku. He hated to admit it, but his thoughts were elsewhere. He loved his people. He loved his princess. But he had found a love so much greater than anything he had ever experienced before. He had fallen in love with Usagi. He didn't mean for it to happen, but it did. She may have been clumsy, ate like a pig, talked about nonsense; but he loved her for everything. She had touched his heart in a way he would never have imagined and it killed him to walk away.

Seiya, I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, I want you to know that you are enough. I do love you too. I hope wherever you are, you are happy and free. I wish I could see you again…

He gasped as he heard the familiar voice of his Odango. She had wished for him and he heard her. His heart leapt with excitement as he heard her words of love. Finally, he heard the words he had longed to hear since he realized his love for her. But sadly, it was all in vain. They wouldn't get to return to Earth and he wouldn't get to claim his love.

If it were possible, Odango, I would be right there by your side. I wish I could see you too. I wish that you could be mine forever…

Yaten huffed in frustration. He was so ready for things to get moving with the rebuilding. He was sick of being bored out of his mind while waiting for the plant life and animal life to prosper. There was nothing to do but spend time with Seiya, Taiki, and his princess. He loved them all dearly, but it just wasn't the same. He couldn't meet new people, he couldn't bug those around him, and he couldn't get mobbed by his fans. He never admitted it to anyone, but he enjoyed his fans. He loved for them to cry out to him and claim their undying loyalty. He loved to be a jerk in return. And the thing he would admit to no one, not even to Seiya or Taiki, was that he loved when Minako would pester him the most.

He chuckled when he heard her wish. He knew exactly who the wisher at the sound of her voice was. No one said his name the way she would. It was a sound that both made his insides cringe and jump for joy at the same time.

Ah, Minako, I wish I could see you too. I would give anything to be able to hear you say my name again.

Statistics is easy if you just look at the numbers. You take a scientific guess. Probabilities can be made. And the probabilities for the restoration of his home planet weren't looking good. After many days, hours, and weeks of hard work, they just weren't getting anywhere. The destruction caused to his planet by Galaxia was just too much. It was looking like things weren't going to be revived and they would have to seek another place to start over. He knew that he should probably get another opinion about his guesses, but there was only one person that came to his mind. Ami Mizuno would be able to confirm or deny his guesses. Taiki wiped the sweat from his brow as he stood up to look at the sky.

Taiki smiled to himself when he heard the intellectual voice of Ami. Something inside him stirred as he heard her words. He didn't understand the feeling, but it felt good.

Ami, I wish I could see what this feeling is. If only we could talk again…