So...random cliches abound. Sort of. And, there are a couple of really common pairings. So...yeah, sorry. However, there will not be betrayal, major OOC or anything really ridiculous. So...yeah. In GW, it's after Endless Waltz, and the pilots are all 17-18. (Quatre and Duo are 17, the rest are 18). In SM, it's after Stars, and the senshi are in their second year of high school, age 16-17. (Usagi and Rei are 17, the rest are 16). Mamoru is 20, Haruka and Michiru are 18, and Hotaru is 14-ish. Puu is old. I know that the dates won't line up exactly, but the story will start in early summer of 1996, except the prologue and the bits that take place in the GW time. If the prologue confuses you…well, good. You'll have to read more to get un-confused. Warnings: Maybe AU, depending on your definition. I don't really think so. Some shonen-ai. A love-triangle, for good measure. Complicated themes, some violence. Maybe a little sex and language if I feel naughty. Nothing will be explicit. Okay, story time!

PROLOGUE

The first child was the easiest to take. Its mother did not know that she was pregnant, even at three months along. It was a simple task, slipping into her room while she slept alone. Her husband was visiting one of his other wives, leaving her vulnerable. He gently coaxed the child from her body and cast a protective shield over it, one that would keep it alive long enough to be implanted in another womb. Oh yes, so easy.

Before a child was born, the Web of its Destiny contained only the barest strands. Normally, it would still be shaped by its mother and environment. Such a small Web made replacing it simple. As the child grew, the Web grew, adding strands with each action, each thought. Large Webs, adult Webs, were much more difficult to replace or alter. At a certain point, the Web became such an integral part of the person that removing it would cause instant death. But, children were malleable. Once he replaced this child's Web with a new one, he could make the jump into the future and return it to the safety of a womb.

Yes, the first child was the easiest.

The next two were not particularly difficult, either. Two years later, one child's mother left him locked in the car while she ran into the grocery store to buy milk. Within a month, the third child was taken in the night from his bedroom. The next two children, however, proved frustrating.

The fourth child he found was never alone, even for a second. He had good parents, observant parents. Even at night, he slept in a room with his elder brother. The risk was too great to take the child and be noticed, so he settled down to observe. Days turned to weeks, weeks to months. The child grew, his Web grew. Still his parents watched, his brother watched. Finally tired of waiting, he made an opportunity.

The family drove through the mountains, laughing and singing on their way to their first official vacation. He reached out, tugged at a few strings on the father's Web, and the car veered off the road, over the cliff. Before the child could die, he wrapped him in a protective shield, and pulled him from the wreckage. The parents were dead. The elder brother lived, if barely. He tugged at one of the Web strands, just hard enough to ensure that the boy would not remember anything. With a head injury like that, no one would know the difference.

The only difficulty with the fifth and final child was his elusiveness. He searched and searched for the fifth, but it took almost two more years. He even took to prowling the streets in human guise, simply hoping he would run across the child. Eventually, he did. Big green eyes stared up at him hopefully.

"Finger puppet, two soles." The boy shoved his hand, each finger covered with llamas or pumas, in his face. Glancing around, he decided to take a chance. He reached out and touched the boy's head, and the two of them disappeared.


Sailor Pluto watched the events unfold from her post at the Gates of Time. For the time being, she would have to wait. Interfering now would undo everything her Queen had done to ensure the princess's safety. Now, she could do nothing. But, in time, she could fix it. She had only to wait. Thirteen years. In thirteen years, she would undo the mess that had been made.


In the year AC 180, Catherine Winner gave birth to a little boy, a child full of Destiny. Her death was only the first in a long line of deaths the child would cause. Two years later, a little boy called Duo began brightening up an orphanage. He would remain there for four years before his Destiny tugged him along on a great adventure. Around the same time, a child was secretly adopted by the powerful Dragon Clan. The adoption was never revealed to him, and he was loved well enough as a true member of his family. Some time later, Odin Lowe and the child who would become Heero Yuy met, setting Heero on his path. And, No-Name, later called Trowa Barton, was taken in by soldiers.

The Webs crafted for each boy were specifically designed. No matter where their early life dragged them, they would find their way together and they would fulfil their new Destinies.


In the year AC 198, Quatre wanted to cry. He wanted to pound his fists into something, wanted to scream out his frustrations for all to hear. He wanted Trowa to hold him. But he dared not. Throwing a tantrum like a child would achieve nothing, and asking Trowa to hold him would probably scare his friend off. Instead, he paced, he wrung his hands. The tears still threatened, but he held them fiercely at bay.

After the war, he had plenty to occupy himself with. His father's company was still strong and needed his care. He had many new sisters to meet and develop relationships with. Trowa visited whenever the circus was nearby. But, then the quiet times came. Before bed or early in the morning, sometimes in a lull during the day. No one spoke to him, and his thoughts were not consumed with business or other people. During the quiet times, he remembered the war and its all-consuming thrill. At the time, he had not particularly liked the killing or the pain. Now, it was worse. Empty. Quiet.

"Are you all right?" Trowa asked. Quatre stopped pacing and looked at him.

"Yeah. Sorry. Sometimes I just…" He trailed off, unsure of how to describe the feeling.

"I know."

For Trowa, the two words said everything. Before Quatre could stop himself, the tears came and he threw himself at his friend. For a terrifying second, he thought Trowa would pull away, would run. But Trowa only wrapped his arms around the small, shaking body pressed against him, offering whatever comfort he could give.


Heero watched Relena. Her hair was short again, falling loosely to her shoulders. The cream pantsuit was perfectly tailored, elegant and flattering. She wore no jewelry, only the faintest hint of makeup. She was beautiful, engaging. He watched as the other politicians watched, enthralled. She was brilliant. She was his only purpose, now that the war was over. He watched because there was nothing else.


Zechs and Noin were getting married, and Wufei tried his hardest to be happy for them. They were in love, and now, after a long and painful war, they could finally be together. He congratulated them, planned to attend both the bachelor party and the wedding, and all the while mourned. His experience with marriage was less than stellar. Still, it wasn't his own dead wife that was really the problem. Nor was it the sting of Sally Po, the new man in her life who would probably end up her husband in a few years. No, something else was nagging at the back of his mind.

It had been there ever since the war ended, growing with each passing day. He joined the Preventers to stave off the feeling of uselessness, and at times it worked. He could keep busy, not think about it. But that didn't stop it.


Duo found he could still laugh with Hilde…sometimes. He could still function, still work. It just…wasn't the same. His all-consuming purpose for years had been Deathscythe, his title as God of Death. War. It was gone now, and he waited. Waited for a reason, an objective. He only hoped it would present itself soon.


The thirteen years passed as Sailor Pluto expected them to. Her princess grew up, grew strong. She had her moments, terrifying Pluto with her amazing ineptness, but she always pulled through. Her friends protected her as expected, her prince loved her. Things fell into place as Destiny dictated.

Meanwhile, in the future, a war raged. People who were Destined to die died. Five boys lived, fought, grew. Then, their Destiny ran out with the war. They had served a purpose, and were now cast aside like so much garbage. The mess had run its course, and now, Sailor Pluto would fix it.


Future chapters will be significantly longer and less…disjointed. And less stylistically weird. And hopefully easier to comprehend. As I said, don't worry about being confused. Things will get explained eventually. Telling everything now would ruin the fun, now wouldn't it?

Anyway, some grammar is wrong intentionally. So, before you go yelling about fragments and bad commas, thing a bit. True, I probably made some mistakes. But not everything.

If you review this story, don't leave a stupid little "write more" or "malecharacter/femalecharachter." Comment a bit on what you liked or didn't like. I know it's short, and I'm not expecting huge reviews. Just…smart reviews. You guys aren't dumb. I have faith that you can do it if you just try. I'm totally open to even really harsh constructive criticism. "You suck" isn't con crit, by the way.

Okay, that's all for now. Until next time.

Phèdre nó Delaunay, Comtesse de Montrève