Title: What's the Difference?
Author: Kamaria31
Series: Sailor Moon
Rating: G
Summary: A teenage senshi from Michigan moves to Japan with her family and finds the Sol senshi and Sailor Starlights.
Author's Note: Anything spoken in Japanese is italicized; Meira switches back and forth between English and Japanese often--especially if she needs to say something she doesn't want understood.
.................
"No."
"Sorry, Meira…" Meira's mother said, a bit worried about how Meira was taking the news.
"We aren't going."
"Meira…"
"JAPAN??" Meira exploded, continuing with forced calm, "You know perfectly well I hate traveling! What—Is it torture Meira… insert period of time here??"
"No, Meira, your dad got transferred, there's nothing we can do."
"HALFWAY ACROSS THE FRICKING WORLD!!"
Normally, Leanne would have grounded Meira for screaming at her, but since Meira was clinically proven to have mild Hodophobia (fear of travel), she let it go, and tried to continue the discussion, "You have about six months to learn basic Japanese, and the Company gave Dad a few computer programs, including that one… the one on TV… Rosalie Marble?"
"Rosetta Stone?"
"Yes, THAT! Thank you," Leanne tapped on her own forehead, "Why didn't you think of that?"
"The first symptom of Senility, talking to your own head," Meira said in a snide voice, smirking because she knew perfectly well she wasn't snide… Sarcastic, maybe… but not snide… "I still don't want to move."
"We have to… but we have 6 months, so you don't have to pack yet."
"Aough!" Meira ran up to her room, spotting the sleek raccoon on her bed "Gaea. Let's go find a Taiju, I need some serious stress relief!"
"Are you sure that's a good reason to go Taiju hunting?" Gaea asked as Meira grabbed her pendant and ran downstairs and outside, only pausing to shout through her open window, "Well? Are you coming or not?"
"Meira… Oh, it's hopeless," The raccoon shook her head as she heard Meira transform.
As time went on over the next 6 months, Meira (surprisingly) had the best learning speed with Japanese, already reaching her age level by 5.5 months in. When asked, she'd always respond with a sagely "Know thine enemy," needless to say, she was only asked once. Meira and Kit's friends had taken it surprisingly well, and with technology, they could WebCam, IM and E-mail to their heart's content.
As the Asimas filed into the airport, tickets in hand (Pete's hand if you want to be specific), Meira kept up a steady mantra of "Happy place, happy place, happy place…" Thinking all the while, 'Hodophobia SUCKS.'
"Meira, Stop, do you even KNOW how annoying that is?" Kit whined, in true 12-year-old fashion.
"Kit, shut up or I'll kill you in your sleep," Meira hissed, before resuming her mantra.
"Kit, shut up or I'll help," came a muffled voice from Meira's duffel bag, Kit knew all about Meira's … Senshi-ness, so Gaea talking (or even existing in the first place, since her parents had no idea) came as no surprise.
Kit decided to change the subject, "I heard you can keep the weirdestpets in Japan."
"Really?" Meira knew this act all too well, and started playing along.
"Nothing too big, and if you prove your ability to control them, there's no ban."
"I'm sure any companion of mine would have a few words to say if I tried to control them."
The plane had just landed in Japan, Meira was glad to be finished with her mantra, and sent Gaea off to the tree line behind their gift-of-the-company house. Suddenly, her pendant burned twice as hot as at usually did, it didn't hut her but she definitely noticed. Gaea had once said that it could burn for two reasons, someone was in danger from a taiju, or another senshi was around. If it burned twice as hot… did that mean that both were happening? Meira thought all of this within a split second, the adrenaline rush helping her think faster.
"Meridiana Star Power, MAKE UP!" Meira transformed into her ice-blue-silver-and-gold outfit, started running, and stopped—suddenly remembering the incident when Gaea had told her about the other senshi.
"There are other senshi??" Meira had asked incredulously.
"Yup, you honestly thought you were the only one?"
"That's how you made it sound."
"Oh, sorry," Gaea chuckled nervously…
"How many are there?"
"Counting you? On Earth, there are at least ten. Other then that, I'm not sure, there could be any number of them."
"TEN? Wait… what d'you mean 'any number'?"
"Just that, and there's so many legends about one, it's criminal."
"Which one?"
"Sailor Moon."
When Meira asked where they all were, Gaea replied that aside from the 10 she knew about, they were probably spread the world over… The entire set she knew about was in Japan. Meira returned to reality in time for the burning in her pendant to intensify slightly, 'Whoops, can't dawdle.' She ran toward the reason her pendant was yelling at her (The closer she is to the object in question, the hotter the pendant burns), she heard a roaring Taiju and people shouting, 'Oh it's that stupid tiger again,' she thought, thinking of the large brown and gray tiger that had been tracking her, 'it probably isn't too hard to track me since I actively seek taiju out.'
"Longitude Cage!" Meira shouted, running into the (thankfully) empty parking lot where the battle was underway.
"Sailor Meridiana…" the tiger rumbled ominously, creeping away from the other Senshi who were standing, stunned at Meira's appearance.
"Freaky, discolored, moldy… tiger-thing," Meira replied, clearly not in a creative phase.
"Who are you?" A senshi asked, she was wearing a costume like Meira's but it was colored differently, she had long black hair and a red skirt, the entire team before her (save three in leather and one with huge fake wings) had almost identical fuku, the only real differences being their hair, shoe style, and outfit coloring.
"You just heard my name, genius. I'm Sailor Meridiana."
"Meridiana?" asked the senshi with the fake wings.
Meira caught sight of a crescent moon on this one's forehead, "Yes, and you're Sailor Moon… as for the rest of you…Heck if I know."
"How did you--?"
Meira tapped the center of her forehead, the spot where Moon's crescent would be, "Ever think that symbol smack in the middle of your forehead might be the least bit obvious?"
"Um, no."
"Well it is... so--"
"What are you doing here?" Interrupted one of the leather-clad senshi, she had silvery hair and green eyes.
Meira shrugged and held out her pendant, "It starts burning whenever a taiju's around... or if I'm looking for an ally, as in another senshi."
"Are you sure the allies are us?" asked a similar-to-Meira senshi, with short blonde hair, a deep blue skirt and brooch, and yellow bows, 'hmm,' Meira thought, 'like Michigan Wolverine colors…' 'This is so the moment, Meira,' said a cynical little voice that sounded suspiciously like a mixture of her mother and Gaea, 'well I should KNOW,' Meira responded hotly, 'I'm from Michigan!'
Meira's stomach lurched when she finally processed the other girl's words, and her voice shook, "What do you me-mean?" She looked around at the ten senshi arrayed in front of her, "You are against them… right?"
"The question isn't whether or not we're against them, it's whether or not you are," continued the same one, Meira only noticed the sword when the girl's hand tightened on it.
"Are you determined to prove that I'm an enemy?" Meira asked, already pretty sure of the answer.
"That depends on your definition of prove," said another, a brunette leather-uniformed one.
"And yours would be?"
"Revealing your true nature."
That was too much, Meira snarl-screamed in frustration ("AOUGH!") and ranted, "What EXACTLY made you think I was an enemy, I understand what Galaxia may have done, but I have ONE question! …DO YOU SEE ANY FREAKY BRACELET THINGIES??"
"She has a point there. As for why we'd think you're an enemy, we're all going to be a bit leery of other senshi," Reasoned another, one with short, dark blue hair.
"You see, I get that part, you have every right to be cautious, but I don't see what has you so convinced!"
The Michigan senshi answered, "The weird outfit… You seem used to being a senshi, and you arrived right when we started fighting."
"Yeah, because their outfits aren't weird at aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall, now are they?" Meira asked, gesturing at the three leather senshi.
"But we know them," She retorted.
"Not knowing me," Meira said, "Doesn't make me an enemy."
"You're used to being a senshi."
"Have you been clinically diagnosed with paranoia yet?" I asked, groaning and cursing Gaea for not warning me about this, it was ridiculous! "I have been a senshi for two years, people, count them! If you want to know why, look in that tree."
The entire group tensed, looking at the tree warily, Gaea revealed herself by walking down a branch, and chastising someone Meira had never heard of, "Luna never did think about subtlety did she Ah, well, I guess it wasn't much needed when you were all protecting the Moon Kingdom."
"Who are you?" asked… somebody, Meira looked around and spotted a black cat, suddenly giving her STRONG flashbacks to Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Meira then thought that she shouldn't have been surprised, since she was friends with a talking raccoon… but still.
"My name is Gaea and this is a really awkward moment… You should remember me."
"I don't, now explain."
"I am Meridiana's guardian. We lived on a planet outside, but protected by, the Sol System and Moon Kingdom… in exchange, we protected the prime Meridian of Earth."
"But Endymion, and his Shittenou…?"
"Well, they couldn't be everywhere now could they? We— uh, I thought to take my charge traveling, I don't remember why… but the Moon Kingdom fell while we were gone."
"Hmm… yes! I remember, Meridiana… Will you tell me who she is?"
"Not yet Luna, but you seem to have a clever group, you'll figure it out eventually."