Disclaimer- Sailor Moon doesn't belong to me in any shape or fashion.
Seiya Kou has always existed inside of Sailor Star Fighter. Just like Usagi Tsukino existed before Sailor Moon, Seiya had existed before Sailor Star Fighter.
Seiya Kou was the person before Sailor Star Fighter awoken. She was the girl who would casually flirt with other girls, someone who tried to have as much fun as possible. She was someone who took pride in being labeled as a girl who happened to like girls.
"I don't like popular men" was a sentence that slipped out more than once when a guy tried to flirt with her.
When Sailor Star Fighter had woken up, her civilian self was put on hold. There were more important things to do instead of going to school, hanging out with friends, and watching pretty girls at the beach. She, along with her sisters, had to protect their princess, so Fighter shoved Seiya deep inside her and did her duty as a soldier.
"Being this," Seiya's mother looks at her, then at her fuku, "changed you. You used to be a different person. I don't understand how this happened."
"M'sorry." The words slip out of Fighter's mouth. She looks at her mother, before she heads towards the palace.
Fighter knows she has changed, but there was no changing fate. She was a soldier now; she had to protect her princess and their planet. The girl she used to be couldn't be a soldier, so she will be instead. Seiya Kou had to stay deep inside, because she wasn't the kind of person who could do this job. Seiya may constantly whine to come back out, but Fighter wasn't going to allow it. Her Princess couldn't be protected by a girl constantly got distracted by attractive women and would sing whenever there was a microphone shaped object near her, so Fighter took over. Fighter wouldn't get distracted by those things, she would prove herself in the eyes of her Princess.
"Are you ever tired of wearing that all day? Do you ever want to go back to who you were?" They were simple questions from an old friend who stood before her. Her friend- Seiya's friend- looks tired, as if she's been awake for days.
"No." Fighter didn't get tired of wearing her fuku, she wore it proud. She was damn glad she was one of the people who would protect her Princess.
Seiya did miss being a civilian, though. That was something Fighter kept inside, ignoring the whispers of her other self, begging to be let out just once. She wasn't going to allow her to come out, so she shoved Seiya back into the farthest corner of her mind.
"Well… do you miss me?"
Fighter kept her eyes on Seiya's friend, studying how she kept glancing everywhere but at Fighter's eyes, how she chewed on her lip, and that she was looking more uncomfortable as the seconds went by.
"Sorry."
Seiya's friend quickly left after that. No words were exchanged. Seiya Kou cried, while Fighter pinched her side to stop any tears that threatened to slip over.
"Are you two ready to do this?" Maker asks quietly, as she looks at her two sisters.
They were on Earth, standing inside an empty building. The three had followed after their Princess after mayhem came to their planet. Fighter ignored the feeling of guilt in her stomach, and thought about her Princess.
"No, but if it's for the Princess…" Healer's words drifted off, the two other girls knowing what she means. None of them are ready to release their transformations, and they aren't ready to have to pose as men, but it's for their Princess.
They'll do whatever they have to for their Princess.
"Okay, let's do this!" Fighter says as she swallows a lump in her throat. She imagines it's a physical representation of her fear. After a moment, the girls look at each other, then nod. A silent agreement in their eyes: This is for our Princess.
Then there was a flash of light.
Maker and Healer no longer stood in front of Fighter. Taiki and Yaten did, both of the girls in their civilian forms, still in their female bodies. Fighter swallows again, the lump in her throat growing. She didn't realize they had to transform from their civilian bodies first.
She can feel Seiya taking over. Seiya quickly grabs at her breasts, and then feels her sides, trying to remember the last time she had control over her body. She feels a small smile growing on her face, her body has no leather on it, nothing to remind her of the fuku Fighter has been wearing for so long. Before she can say anything, she feels Fighter shove her back. Fighter takes control of her mind again, and takes a deep breath before she raises her arm up in the air.
There's flash of light, light blue surrounding her.
Seiya regains control, and feels immediate changes in her body. There was no longer the weight of large breasts in her front, her backside seemed a smaller. Her curves were gone, and she could feel something in-between her legs, something that wasn't there a few moments earlier.
"Wow…" Seiya breathes out. Her voice also seems deeper.
"My God!" Yaten looks like she's going to have a panic attack. She's putting her hands all over herself, as if she's trying to find parts of her old body. She seems only a little bit more masculine, her breasts gone, her hips no longer out. Her voice is a tad bit deeper, but her face doesn't seem to have changed much.
"Calm down," Taiki sounds like she can't decide whether to be fearful or excited. She grabs her youngest sister by the shoulder and pulls her close. "Deep breaths, okay? Take deep breaths, it's going to be alright."
Seiya watches her sisters hold onto each other, her younger sister sobbing onto her older sister's shirt. Her insides clench, her throat swells up, and tears gather in her eyes. She quietly joins into the hug, wrapping her arms around both of them.
"It's going to be alright." She hears Taiki repeat, and she's not sure if Taiki is talking to her, Yaten, or herself. It doesn't seem to matter.
Seiya stands naked in front of her mirror. It's the first time she's seen her new body right in front of her, in a well lit room, with nothing hidden. Her body has most definitely changed; it is no longer the female body she once had. Seiya runs her hands over her chest, her hard stomach, and stops right above her penis.
"This is so strange," she whispers to herself, her stomach clenching with a feeling of anxiousness.
But it's freedom, whispers Fighter from the back of her mind.
"I know."
You can be who you were before I awoken.
"You don't get it yet, do you?"
Silence.
"We have always been the same person. You have always been Seiya Kou, and Seiya Kou has always been Sailor Star Fighter." Seiya laughs a broken laugh, as if she's just understanding the words she's saying.
Silence again, but there's a feeling of uneasiness coming from the back of her mind. She knows Fighter is listening.
"You… I just pushed my civilian self away, I wanted to be the best soldier, so I pressed who I was back and separated our beings. We are the same person. We always have been, we always will be."
Seiya can feel a part of herself crack. Tears gather at her eyes, her throat feels like it's getting tighter, and she lets out a sob, covering her face with her hands.
"This can't be right," Fighter says. Fighter can feel herself link back together with Seiya, can feel every want Seiya has wanted, and Seiya can feel every want Fighter has wanted. "I'm not you, I-I want to be a soldier!"
But no one answers her.
She falls to the floor to sob, trying to sort of her feelings, her thoughts. She's desperately trying to separate Fighter and Seiya into two beings again.
"Why isn't it working?" Fighter, Seiya, both of them, scream. The once separate girls rejoin as one, the new male body holding them together.
From behind the door of her room, Yaten and Taiki stand there, watching.
"Looks like it's her turn," Taiki whispers, recalling her own melt down.
"It's so hard, being one person and not having an excuse anymore," Yaten smiles a bitter smile as she listens and watches her sister have her very late melt down. "Not being able to blame Yaten for things that Star Healer didn't want to accept, not being able to keep ourselves separate."
"It is." Taiki says in agreement.
The girls go into the bedroom and join their sister. They cover her with a blanket while they whisper soothing things. They listen to Seiya have to accept that she and Fighter are the same person, explaining quietly how they did the same thing.
Seiya is Fighter and Fighter is Seiya; there are no more excuses. Every selfish wish Seiya had were the same wishes Fighter had. Fighter can't blame Seiya for wanting to not be a soldier, nor can Seiya blame Fighter for shoving her back. She did it to herself.
"Oi, oi." Seiya's loud voice fills the once quiet room, "With me being in this body, does it mean I'm not a lesbian anymore?"
She ducks as two pillows are thrown at her, looking at her two sisters.
After a moment, laughter fills up the room. Seiya holds onto her stomach as she laughs, Taiki covers her mouth as she giggles, and Yaten lays on the couch as laughter escapes her body.
"You damn idiot!" Yaten says between her fits of laughter.
"Y-yes, you're still a lesbian!" Taiki giggles, feeling the laughter flow throughout her body.
"G-good!" Seiya laughs, "I c-could never be straight!"
Seiya felt comfortable in her new body. No matter how long she stays in it, she knows she'll never be a guy, but that doesn't mean she can't enjoy it. Realizing that she has always been the same person as Fighter helped her a lot. She's one with herself, and there's no more fighting it. She can enjoy being a soldier, and being a civilian- or as of lately, a celebrity.
Freedom did come, it wasn't the kind she was expecting, but she is enjoying it. They may not have found their Princess yet, but the girls aren't in a constant state of distress like they used to be. Freedom was gained, and it tastes so, so sweet.
Please let me know what you think!
