Title: The Songs That We Sing

Author: Werewriter

Author's note: Don't ask me what's gonna happen in this thing. I write it because I get twitchy if I don't. The storyline usually has an end or at least a next chapter in my head. All reviews are appreciated. Any inconsistencies in the story are wholly my fault. This thing was written when I got about halfway Sailor Moon R, so count in some serious evolution of attacks without anything causing them. The Outers should appear someday, too. Patience, please.

Disclaimer: The writer of this text does not claim ownership of any used copyrighted material, nor is any money made thereof.

Warnings: Incest-theories, sex, homosexuality, general confusion, a little racism, some mild violence, language and probably a few others.

Chapter 1: Second Chances

In your darkest hour
Hold out your hand for me
Something will guide you
I'll be beside you
And when it's rough out there
I'm with you everywhere
I will be right behind you if you should fall.
-Phil Collins 'You touch my heart'
::::::::::
The new girl smiled hesitantly to Minako.
"O--Ohayo."

It had been a stupid idea to come to the party, or start a game of truth or dare. People were older than her and though there were no drugs, no alcohol or sex, she felt threatened somehow.

The girl kneeling in front of Minako seemed to be trembling a little; a blush painting her cheeks a delicate pink. She gently pressed her lips to Minako's, pulled away quickly, but she'd stayed a little longer than she'd have had to. Rumor went that the gaijin liked girls, too. Her lip gloss smelled of artificial cherries.

Minako smiled as she pulled back.
"Just a stupid game, Saan-san...san...san."
"Only Saan is well--no, that's not the word, is it?"
"Okay?"
Saan nodded.
"Hai."
"Your turn, Saan," Minako smiled radiantly.

Saan looked at her challenger, and her face changed. She was more than aware, apparently, that she was disliked because of her origins and bad Japanese and sexual orientation and odd, foreign habits and manners.
"Truth or dare, Yuuji?" she asked.
"Truth," Yuuji said confidently.
"Who do you fantasize about when you..."
Her smile was pure sadism.
"...auto-fornicate?"
"Big word for a gaijin," Yuuji spat.
"Answer the question, or it's dare-time for YOU."
Saan's eyes were filled with the most humiliating possibilities for that. Yuuji tried to stare her down.

"Yuuji's a cheater," Minako remarked. The calls filled the air soon enough.
"Cheater!"
"Coward!"
"Scaredy cat!"

"Arigato," Saan mouthed to Minako, who winked back.

But when the crowd started fighting, they quickly got up and left. Minako took Saan's hand and led her out onto the streets.
"That was a mean thing Yuuji did," Minako said. Saan shrugged.
"It's... No one likes me. I mind, but I adjust."
"Because--well--I heard you preferred girls."
"I like girls and I like boys. People are frightened because I do," Saan said.
"I'm not," Minako remarked.
"And you're the alone one. My Japanese is pretty foul, too. I hate the international school! I don't learn anything there. They just let me skip grades but don't teach me how to talk."
"Sounds unfair."

Saan looked at her and shrugged listlessly.
"I'd best go home, before I fault up again. Ja ne."

Minako watched her walk away.
"She seems so lonely."
::::::::::
It had taken Minako a lot of time to find out where Saan lived. A tall, handsome boy opened the door.
"What do you want?" he asked in English.
"Uhm... Is Saan home?" Minako asked back, wincing at her accent.
"Saan?"
The boy seemed surprised, then nodded.
"Yeah, but she usually... I mean... I didn't know she..."
He looked her up and down.
"Damn," he sighed.
"Come on in, love, I'll try to drag my sister away from her studying."

Minako blushed. That boy was...

Saan came down. She looked drained.
"Minako?" she frowned.
"Konnichiwa, Saan," Minako bowed.

Saan's brother said something in a language Minako didn't recognize. Saan scowled and hissed a reply, dragging Minako outside again.
"What are you doing here? Ruby thinks you're my girlfriend, now!" Saan said.
"I--I wanted to ask if you wanted to come to the arcade with me and some friends. Why would your brother think--"
"I went out late, remember? I didn't tell him, because he'd get angry. He doesn't like me being out among people who refer to his sister as 'gaijin' instead of 'ningen'," Saan explained.
"I got you into trouble," Minako realized. Saan nodded sort of sadly.
"Let's make the best of it, if I am. You mentioned an arcade?" Saan asked hopefully. Minako laughed.
"Hai. Come, follow me."
Minako led Saan to the bus stop, chatting amicably during the ride.
"Here we are. Next stop, Crown Arcade," Minako smiled.

They got off the bus and started walking.

"Ne, Saan? Does your brother really think I'm your girlfriend now?" Minako asked.
"Aa," Saan nodded.
"Why?"
"I don't have friends. Someone takes pity on me, tries to change me, we break up, I'm alone."
"You seem to be a nice girl."

Saan laughed mirthlessly.

"Oh, yeah, that'll score me points," she shook her head.
"I don't see why not," Minako said.
"Not where I go to school. International school is full of kids from ambassadors, hotshots from big companies. You're a friend by being cool, rich, social and popular. By having the most important parents or by--by--If the papers print lots of pictures of you. Nice isn't going to score me points, Minako-san. I am smart, I'm not poor, but I'm the lowest you can get in the food-chain of my school. I'm a nobody. I'm the... underdog? Hai, underdog. An easy target."
"So come to a normal school. You said you learned quickly," Minako smiled.
"I've got no opportunity to learn Japanese. I just get theory in my school. It's hopeless."
Minako frowned, then smiled.
"I know! Come!"
She motioned for Saan to follow her into the arcade.

Motoki held up his hand in greeting as they entered. Minako waved back and guided Saan towards her friends, making quick introductions.

"...And this is Tsukino Usagi. Usagi-san, this is Saan," Minako beamed. Usagi smiled at Saan.
"Pleasure to meet you."
"Entirely mine, Tsukino-san."

"What about us?" a voice called out. They all looked.
"Seiya-chan! Yaten-kun! Taiki-chan! What are you doing here?" Makoto called out.
"Call it a comeback of the Three Lights," Seiya winked.
"We were too restless, so we got sent back to kick butt once mo--Who's this?"
"Kou Seiya, this is Saan. Saan, Seiya."

Saan was giving the three a searching stare. She stopped at Seiya. Her eyes seemed different somehow.
"You're a dead creature. This isn't when you feel alive. You're not like thi--"
Her eyes cleared and a hand flew to her mouth.
"Go-Gomen! Gomen nasai!"
She bowed deeply, and stayed bowed. Seiya touched her shoulder, raised her up. She was crying, tears streaming down her face, but she wasn't making a sound.
"Daijibou ka?"
"Nani?"
"Daijibou ka, Saan-san?"
Saan shook her head in confusion, tears flowing anew.
"How are you feeling?" Ami asked clumsily in English, bright enough to realize accents as heavy as Saan's weren't bred natively to Japan.
"Like a screw-up." Saan replied in English.
"This happens a lot?" Ami asked.
"Every time I try to make friends. I'll leave."

She turned away from Seiya, already moving towards the door as Ami translated. Seiya grabbed Saan's arm and pulled her back.
"You have magic?" he asked in Japanese.
"'Mutations' were my previous friends' description, mostly. It's not magic," Saan shrugged.
"Intuition. A gift no one else has. Like Rei-san, and Hotaru-san," Seiya nodded.
"I... I don't understand," Saan said, looking around in confusion.
"Rei can sense evil. She can tell the future and the present from fire, when it's needed. Hotaru can heal people with her hands. Hotaru's got little friends, also. Rei gets by by being a shrine maiden," Taiki offered.
"Lucky. Did I start talking about impending doom, again?" Saan asked, not quite sure who or what Hotaru was.
"Iie. You said Seiya was dead. In a way, he is. What did you see?" Yaten asked.
"I don't see. I... feel, though that's not the word I'm looking for. I feel life. I sometimes predict a death, a coma, vegetable state, depression. I feel life, but love and hatred and anger and joy are the same for what I feel. I don't know if passion is passionate love or violence. It gets me in trouble."
"If we try to keep you from getting into it," Taiki spoke up, "will you be our friend?"
Saan looked at him as though he was speaking Chinese.
"You don't think I'm a freak?" she asked in a soft, breakable voice.
"We're all freaks," Makoto said.
"Safety is always in numbers, Saan-san." Ami smiled.
"When's your school out tomorrow? I'll give you a ride home," Seiya smiled. Saan laughed, and it was an amused, cultured sound. Something you expected from someone attending a school for the rich and exotic.
"My brother will maul you if he sees. He thinks I choose my friends with my... crotch, I believe is the word," Saan said.
"Hai. He thought I was her girlfriend when I picked her up before," Minako nodded.
"Then we'll just have to be sneaky, won't we?" Yaten grinned.
::::::::::
The Kou brothers made a habit of picking up Andreas-san every day after, though sometimes it was just one or two of them. It took a while for them to discover Saan's last name was a first name. Saan's classmates however, turned jealous. A few had been around long enough to recognize the infamous singers picking up the nobody everyone else had been ignoring.

When Saan didn't reply to their questions, or replied that it was none of their business, a few girls ambushed her after school, pushing her around, tearing at her uniform, scratching and slapping her in the face.

"Oi!"

Taiki and Yaten tore through, shaking their two girls each.
"What's going on here?" Yaten demanded as Seiya pulled Saan away from the mob and into his arms. The girls retreated; confused by the language they didn't speak. Few paid attention to the Japanese classes they got.

"Daijibou?" Seiya asked Saan.
"Hai." Saan nodded, carefully touching her thigh and wincing.
"Iie." Seiya said disapprovingly, shaking his head and lifting her up in his arms. She squeaked in surprise.
"Seiya! Put me down!"
"Let them abuse you this way. I'll sue their parents' heads off," Seiya smirked. Yaten and Taiki had put their catches down, and they'd fled with the last of the gawkers. Saan got carried to the car, face buried in her hands.
"Iemand geef mij een koord," she mumbled as Seiya carefully placed her on the limousine's back seat. Taiki got into the driver's seat, Yaten slipped into the back with Seiya.
"Her house is the closest. She needs to get that looked after," Taiki said, turning the engine on.

Seiya was quiet. Yaten was not.
"How long has that been going on for it to come to this, Saan?" he demanded.
"Since someone recognized the three of you as three lights, though I don't know what that means. They kept on asking if you were back," Saan said quietly.
"What'd you say?" Taiki asked.
"That it was none of their business. Admitting ignorance would have gotten even more hostile response."
"You're priceless, doll." Yaten grinned.
"We're here. Seiya, help Saan out. I'll go and face Saan's brother," Taiki said.

Saan's brother proved to be quite hostile, shouting in their own language at Saan and in English at the Kous. It was quite obvious he didn't speak Japanese. Taiki had to go on relentlessly with his explanations in broken English to get the tall youth to listen to him. Grimly, he tended to his sister's wounds, agreed to speak to their parents to have Saan transferred and saw them out with the cheerful message that he would have their guts etched into his pc's motherboard if they hurt his sister in any way.

Ten minutes later, Saan called them on their cell phone with the request for someone fluent in Japanese to help her get entered in Juuban Municipal High School and take her shopping for school supplies.

Getting in wasn't easy. The fact that Saan's Japanese writing was practically nonexistent didn't help. She read it; spoke it with precious little help since meeting her new friends.
"She could use a spell-checker. Or type. She can read which character she needs," Taiki suggested.
"We do not have the funds for such extravagances, otherwise we would allow it."
"I have. If you tell me where to get the software and the software requirements, I could buy it myself, if that would be acceptable," Saan said. The woman looked at her.
"I could do a whole lot to keep from going back to having no one to laugh with, miss."
The woman nodded.
"Very well. Welcome to Juuban Municipal High School. Fill in these forms and lend me your passport and visa to copy."

Taiki filled out the forms for Saan and then took her shopping.
The book was easy, and so was the uniform, but the laptop was harder. In the end, Saan got off with a horrid golden affair, a leftover from the last world cup soccer. Saan however, took it to her brother.
"Help me?" she'd asked sweetly, and he'd laughed and taken it from her. An hour later, the entire thing had been dismantled and the casing spray-painted over.
"It'll be ready tomorrow. You go nick one of my bags, empty it. I'll go see what I can give you."

Taiki watched as he'd opened several boxes, which were filled with bubble wrap. After a bit of rumbling, he got out an optical mouse. Another box came up with a USB memory stick and a flat card for wireless internet, another still gave her a USB hub and a set of earphones. The bottom of his closet was covered in bags for laptops.
"Kipling, you still have the Kipling bag?" Saan asked.
"Want it back?" her brother smirked.
"Yes."
He threw a dark red bag to his sister, who caught it handily.
"Thank you."

Taiki didn't understand a word of the chattering. It was nothing like Japanese.
"Why did you ask him to put stars on it? And in purple, blue and green... Does it have any symbolism in your culture, perhaps?"
"Not hardly. It's just that, when a scientist discovers a star, it's the most wondrous colors. When I look up, they're just white on black. I like them better when they're colors, I think."
"Why these colors?" Taiki asked.
"My favorite flower. I do not know the name in Japanese. Forest honor-prize? Blue or purple, small plant, found in forests. Veronica Montana."
"...Wood speedwell, I believe. Why call it an honor-prize? What is that?"
"Ruby's, oniichan's old teacher once told me it used to be given to the people who had participated in a game, a competition, and not won, but done well, to wear, to show they were worth something even without the first prize. A prize to soothe the honor of the talented. A sort of honorable mention avant la lettre," Saan smiled.
"You use a lot of foreign languages in your speech."
"Gomen."

"Zegt nooit 'sorry' tenzij je iets hebt misdaan, Saan," Ruby said. Taiki looked up in confusion.
"Nani?"
"It's not important," Saan said.
"He upset you."
"He's just scared I'll make friends and they end up hurting me. People hate him, here, more so than me. He's sick of having to say goodbye, of having to fight to make friends, so he doesn't even try any more. He thinks I shouldn't, either. He knows how to apologize, how to say yes and no, thank you, basic phrases, really," Saan said as she carefully packed the bag, sliding cd-roms into a case her brother has conjured up from somewhere.
"He plays the keyboard?" Taiki pointed.
"Aa."
Saan nodded and looked up with a frown.
"Why?"
"Go to the music store someday; ask for a cd of the Three Lights. Seiya is trying to arrange a comeback. Should Yaten fall sick... It'd be nice if someone could help."
"I'll ask when times are truly desperate," Saan laughed.
"Isn't he good?"
"He had a cd, a single. When people started demanding more music, he quit. Band fell apart, we moved again... He plays, but not for people who ask because he's Red of Basic Colors."
"Can I see the keyboard?"

Saan looked at her brother.
"Taiki vraagt of hij je keyboard even mag inpluggen."
"Dat hij doet wat hij niet laten kan!" Ruby shouted, fiddling with the uncased laptop, which he'd apparently wired up to his own pc. Taiki looked at Saan in discomfort.
"He's pissed we're talking in Japanese. C'mon, help me with this."

The board was set up on the bed, Taiki being very careful with it.
"The casing is--"
"I know. Ruby likes to do things that come down to self-done improvement. It's his third board this year. He wrecks 'em every so often, but until he does, they're actually quite decent. Don't try and push it together," Saan smiled. Taiki tried to switch it on. It beeped.

"In God's naam! Ruby!"

Taiki could see the boy smirk. Saan stuck out her tongue.
"Grieg. Gewoon Grieg."
"Laten we het hopen, ettertje."
Saan kneeled in front of the keyboard and started playing.
"The Morning Suite," Taiki said in surprise,
"You play very well, too."
"Only Ruby's passwords. Here you are. All yours until he's finished chewing out that pc."

Taiki smiled and started playing. After a few songs, Saan touched a few keys and sat down besides Taiki and played along next to him.
"How do you know this song?" Taiki asked, looking a bit shocked.
"Don't know. It doesn't matter."
"It--"

Ruby was looking at them. It appeared that he'd been put on hold by the pc a while back. Only, now, those muddy green eyes weren't hostile, just vaguely interested, willing to agree on a truce.

"Laat mij eens, Saan."

Saan got up and let her brother sit down. He gave Taiki a sidelong look.
"Let's dance, you and I."

Taiki was sweating by the time Ruby finished. They'd played internationally known songs at rhythms three times faster than they should be played.

"You two are so childish," Saan chastised in English.
"Nog erger of je vindt het erg. Komaan, laat me eens naar dat computertje van je kijken, zussielief."
Ruby was smiling when he started typing away on the pc again.
"Dat was leuk. Wa's die gast zijn naam, trouwens?"
"Taiki Kou."
Ruby frowned and was quiet for a while.
"Taiki is zijn voornaam," Saan supplied helpfully.
"Dank u."

Saan smiled and looked up.
"I'll go make something to eat for you boys. Don't kill each other while I'm gone."
She danced out of the room, and seemed happy.

The boys were quiet for a while.
"I used to be like you," Taiki said, in English. "It hurts, doesn't it?"
Ruby froze.
"How do you know how I feel?"
"I am guessing. You are away from home, as I once was, and no one acts like they do in your home, and no one understands you and how dare life go on when you're so miserable. It hurts, doesn't it?" Taiki repeated. Ruby gave him a long look, then nodded.
"It probably hurts even more that you can't help your little sister. That she can take better care of herself than you can."
"That isn't true! Evelyn--" Ruby said, coming from his chair. Upstairs, a baby started crying.
"Shuck. Ik kom, Eefje! Just a sec, mate."

Ruby came back with a tiny baby in his arms.
"...Your... Your... I can't remember the word. Your imoutochan? Like Saan." Taiki asked. Ruby frowned.
"Evelyn's my little sister, if that's what you mean."
"Has she ever seen her homeland?"
"Only a hospital. Mom just happened to be in Brussels. One week leave and I get paid to do au pair work for my own sibling. She only hears Flemish here. Mom and dad speak either French or English, and Saan... She seems to speak everything," Ruby shrugged.
"Doesn't she try to--"
"She sings to Eefje in Dutch. Silly songs I don't remember. She's two months old in a few weeks. Born on the twenty-fifth of February," Ruby said, gently rocking the girl in his arms.
"She's young. Where are your parents?" Taiki frowned.
"At work. They'd probably have paid until Saan could enter the school if she hadn't been accepted."
"Saan was lucky to change classes so early in the school year," Taiki said. Ruby seemed confused.
"How so?"
"Well, classes have only been going on for two weeks. In Japan, they start on the first of April. She won't be able to participate in some contest and most exchange programs, I'm afraid."
"What kind of contests?" Ruby asked.
"Contests in foreign languages, both speech and written. If she were to look Japanese, this would not be the case," Taiki explained. Ruby laughed.
"Doubt that's gonna be a problem. Saan doesn't believe in school-taught language. She believes in being able to shout back at the jerk across the street, something worse if possible."
Ruby lifted Evelyn up, who giggled cheerfully.
"Ons zusje is een echte straatloper, hé?"
"Muuuh," replied the child.

"I wish I could speak your language."

Ruby looked up in surprise.
"Why?" he asked.
"Perhaps I'm interested."
"You're--" Ruby frowned.

"Chocolate cake's ready!" Saan called from the kitchen. Ruby looked from the door to Taiki and back. Then he smiled at Taiki.
"I'll never get you Japanese guys. You hurt my sister, I hurt you, got that?" Ruby asked. Taiki laughed and nodded.
::::::::::
"Saan..." Yaten squirmed, trying to get loose from the frightened embrace he'd gotten caught in. The gaijin girl was hanging onto his neck desperately, not wanting to come out of the limo. She was whimpering slightly, her eyes unfocused, pupils dilated with fear. A bruise was still blooming on her upper arm in greens and purples and blues, the scratch on her face was covered with a band-aid. Seiya had gotten out already and disappeared from sight.
"Saan, onegai."
Saan's arms tightened.

The door opened and a familiar set of odangos came in.
"Saan-san? Come on out, we're waiting," Usagi smiled. Saan looked up in confusion.
"We met them here. Afraid we'd throw you to the sharks, Saan?" Seiya grinned. Saan had the decency to look sheepish. Usagi giggled and held out her hand. Saan took it and allowed herself to be pulled out.
"So silly of you to lose your bracelet in the car, Saan-chan," Yaten lied smoothly, holding out a slender chain. Saan quickly clipped it onto her wrist, not paying attention to the trinket.
"Gomen. Thanks for the ride, guys," Saan said softly.
"We'll pick you up later, okay?" Yaten smiled.
"Aa."
Saan waved as they drove off.

A tall, sandy haired boy was laughing across the street. Makoto stepped up behind Saan.
"Don't you have a life to get back to, Haruka?"
The boy walked away.
"Don't mind her. Haruka can be just stupid sometimes. Pretty bracelet, though," Makoto pointed out. Saan lifted it up to eye-height to look at it.
"Not min--"

Minako nearly yanked Saan's arm out of its socket when she pulled it closer to see.
"You have the ::single::, elite fan club-member-only Three Lights bracelet? That is so unfair! You weren't even around back then!" she cried out.
"I'll give it back after school, promise," Saan hissed.
"Why'd they give it to you?" Minako pouted.
"You want to wear it? Fine, here."
Saan tried to undo the bracelet. It wouldn't come off.
"Nani?" Ami frowned, carefully looking at it.
"It's not the First Member Bracelet, Minako-san. It's moonstone and opal. The Member Bracelet's got onyx instead of opals."
Minako seemed disappointed.
"It ::is:: pretty, though."
Saan looked away.
"Gomen, honestly," she said softly.
"Don't be sorry. She's being rude and jealous. It'll pass in a minute," Usagi smiled.

"Demo... It won't come off. You try," Saan said, holding out her wrist. Ami carefully brought her hand over it. Muted white energy crackled along the chain and sparked over to Ami, who yanked her hand back.
"Itai," she frowned, rubbing her fingertips carefully. Saan frowned angrily at the bracelet.
"Oooh, wat zijn we grappig, Yaten. Echt. Giller."
"Nani?" Makoto asked.
"I think I'm going to discuss Yaten's sense of humor with him some time soon," Saan said calmly. The girls exchanged looks.
"You do that."
::::::::::
Saan was lost in the rubble that had been a classroom. The Mathematics class had turned into a battlefield. A creature that had been her teacher had grown extra limbs, changed skin color and begun to spit acid.

There had been girls in brightly colored uniforms, two groups, and a man in a tuxedo with a mask, then three young women in outfits that reminded her of the night she'd accidentally wandered into the Ostend red light district, into 'one of those' clubs. Now, they were all out cold. The air was filled with smoke, smelling of... sulfur.

She was so scared, so cold, so alone, everything hurt.

"Zeg het tover... woord... en je hebt de... macht,
Houd de maansteen vast... en voel... de kracht..." she chanted hesitantly,
"Wie kan het doen?
Oh, Sailor Moon."
(A/n: Dutch opening song. Translation: Say the magic word and you have the might
Hold the moonstone tight and feel the power
Who can do it?
Oh, Sailor Moon.)

::Help me. He didn't understand, and I don't, but help me, whoever gave him this,:: Saan thought feverishly.

"Strijd voor overwinning van de duisternis;
Jij weet hoe slecht soms deze wereld is.
Je moet het doen,
Oh, Sailor Moon."
(A/N: translation: Fight for victory over the darkness;
You know how bad this world is sometimes.
You have to do it,
Oh, Sailor Moon.)
Her voice was trembling.

"Use your bracelet, Terra-chan."

A tall, stately woman with a key-like staff was standing in front of her. Saan could see the rubble through the hazy image.

"Wa--Nani?"
"Use the bracelet."

Saan was frowning.
"How?"
The woman flickered and disappeared.

Saan looked at the innocuous links of gold.

"Tasukete," she whispered, "I'm all alone. Tasukete."

The stones started to flicker, strobe, one by one, faster and faster, until Saan had the feeling she was staring into a revolving star that had gotten stuck on her wrist somehow. The strange, creamy white light exploded into four balls of color.

Saan, trying to look beyond the glare of her bracelet, only saw four shadowy figures throw themselves at the monster, heard primal sounds that reminded her of little puppies whose mother had just died, battle so fierce it made her tremble, so much blood she could almost taste it, felt so very cold, so very alone and so very trapped under all the ice.
::::::::::
"Look! You like?" the smallest boy beamed as he and his friend searched under the snow for pebbles to finish their snowman.

She giggled and tottered over the strange white substance. The entire garden was covered in it, and it had even magicked the lake's water away and filled up the hole.

And then she saw his black hair, his black cloak whipping behind him. She laughed and cried out, waving frantically at her brother. He didn't look up, couldn't hear her.

She stuck out her lip in a pout and decided to go over to him. Straight on was the shortest way. You didn't sink deeply in this stuff, and if she fell, the four boys or her brother would see and help her up. She smiled at how smart she was and waddled over to the edge of the no-longer-lake and looked at the snow. It had more glitters here, as though the hole hadn't been filled by the whiteness, but by the glass that kept the wind out in her room. She carefully took a step onto it. The glass under her groaned crackled. She liked the sound. It sounded so... alive! She took another step, and another, and another. Crack, crack, crack, crack.

She giggled and looked back. Her four protectors were standing behind her, eyes wide. The little blonde boy was disrobing. He'd always been the silly one. She turned, back, stepping and--

Crash--

She cried out in shock, cut short as the cold water hit her chest and knocked the wind out of her tiny body.

--splash.

The water carried her down, pulled at her clothes which were turning heavier by the moment. She tried to scream, but there was no air. She kicked her chubby legs, like the blonde boy had taught her, when the water had been warm and welcoming instead of cold and stinging. She wanted to cry. Where were her protectors, her playmates, her friends? She felt so tired, she was getting trapped in her heavy, loose clothing, she couldn't move. Couldn't see them. So alone. So cold.

Then everything went dark and cold and she was lonely forever.
::::::::::
She woke up in the warm lap of a man with long, blonde curls that looked vaguely like...

"Princess?" he asked hopefully, eyes so scared she could almost see them tremble in time with his body.

...She couldn't remember. She'd seen him before, hadn't she? He looked like--

--snow--glass--lake--alone--so cold--

He gently cradled her close to his chest.
"Praise the Planets," he whispered into her hair. She looked down at herself and frowned.
"Why do my clothes look like a reject Sailor V Halloween costume?" she mumbled.
"Sailor V?" the man frowned, a gloved hand slipping over her forehead. His clear blue eyes clouded over with worry.

"Burning Mandala!!!"
"Mars! Don't!" shouted the girl in the blue uniform. She was wearing a blue visor, holding a tiny, tiny computer. A ball of fire was coming at them. The other blonde man, the one not holding her, jumped up in front of them, sword drawn. He held it out in front of him, straight up, hand steadying it at the tip. The fire roared past them. The taller blonde went tense.

Her apparent caretaker helped her up as the flames subsided. The other man was trembling. Another took his place as he dropped down, this one pale as snow, hair shimmering and pristinely white, as if it was spun from diamonds.

"Crescent Beam Shower!!!"
"Iie!!"
The blue-haired girl seemed shocked beyond belief.

Saan gently untangled herself from the arms of the small man as the energy hit the sword. She put the weakened blonde well into the circle of protection, catching the pale man as he fell. The last man took his place.

The brown haired girl's hands were already glowing with energy, but she looked at the blue one.
"What is it, Mercury?"
"It's not them! The reading's completely different! Look at them, Jupiter!"

The tall girl looked at the man in front of them.
"You've grown a lot stronger," he said.
"You've got five seconds to explain this mess before I blast you back to wherever you popped up from," the girl replied.

"Our Princess Called us. We came."

"Your what?" 'Jupiter' frowned.
"Our Princess," the man said, gesturing to Saan. "Prince Endymion's imoutochan, ne?"
A girl with hair that reminded Saan of Usagi's somehow frowned.
"But... Mamo-chan's an only child, yes? Ami-chan?"

'Mercury' was typing on her pc.
"Of course he is. Their DNA's are totally different. But..." Tap. Tap tap. Taptaptap. "This doesn't make sense at all," Mercury frowned.
"Try calling upon the Silver Millennium family tree," the man in front of Saan suggested. Mercury glanced at him, a flash of doubt, but apparently entered it, because she frowned again.
"This can't be. She ::died:: before the war," she insisted.
"Your Queen bade all Senshi reborn. She even made her own daughter one, gave the Inners the same kind of leader as the Outers had," Saan's caretaker said.
"You mean Pluto?" asked the girl who had shot the energy bolt.
"I mean Terra," the blonde frowned.
"Terra?" the blonde not-Usagi asked in utter confusion, turning to Mercury for help. The trusty computer seemed to have all the answers.
"Terra," Mercury pointed at Saan,
"Sailor Senshi of Life and Passion, Soul."
"Excuse me?" Mars asked.

And suddenly, Saan had the words.

"I am the tornado caused by the beat of a butterfly's wings, I am the stream that will never go the same way again because a lover moved a stone to be remembered by, I am the flooding wave caused by the movement of the smallest of sea-creature ever discovered, I am what makes Death reality and causes time to flow. I am the beauty and emotion of your lover, your songs and your favorite things. I am Outer and insubstantial, as you are Inner and touchable. I am Terra, the true shape of the Earth," she said.
"By Earth meaning your human form," Mercury said.
"Indeed."
"Can we trust you?" Mars asked.
"If the plan's to kick some icky-thing-butt, then yeah, you can. The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Saan smiled. The girls that had gotten up looked sheepish.
"Your guards saved us. Doumo arigato," the not-Usagi said.
::::::::::
"Saan-san! Saan-san!"

Yaten stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Saan in the park, apparently trying to teach the four guys (who Ami had identified and researched thoroughly) something apparently concerning string with balls on them. Saan looked up, noticed him and smiled, waved at him.

"Yaten-kun!"

He walked over to them. The four men didn't give off the aura of evil. Usagi had talked about several cases of friend-turned-enemy-to-lower-their-resolve, and they'd decided to give the men a chance. Saan seemed to be safe, and happy.

"You want to learn, too?" she asked, just as the smallest one of them, with flax-colored curls that brushed his shoulder blades, hit himself in the face and winced.
"It seems to be a rather painful hobby," Yaten commented. Saan laughed and took a pair of... socks from the bag next to her.
"Sock poi. If you think their butterflies are painful in practice, imagine this one."

Saan spun the bright green fabric around and over her, wove them in what looked like one, smooth movement around her waist, her legs and--
"Groin wrap," Saan grinned.
"I think I'll watch," Yaten said. Saan smiled and went back to rummaging in her bag. She came up with a frisbee.
"It's prettier in the dark, but do you want to play, Yaten-kun?" she smiled. Yaten noticed that the four men were apparently too preoccupied with dodging their own toys to care what Saan did. He nodded.

Their game seemed to last forever, the disc going from one to the other, sometimes being missed, sometimes not. Yaten was surprised to see he liked this girl's presence. She didn't ask annoying questions, seemed content to just amuse them both. And as it turned dark, Saan fiddled with the disc, turning it into a circle of blue light, flying over the grass. The four men had stopped practicing to watch, and Yaten felt himself frown.

They were not evil, didn't feel evil, just as Rei had grudgingly admitted. They felt good to him.

"Won't you join us?" he asked. The men shook their heads.
"Iie. We think we'll watch," the tallest, palest one, Kunzite, said.
"You five seem to have grown close. Forgotten about us, Saan?" Yaten asked. Saan seemed shocked.
"Of course not! I just--they--"
She motioned helplessly.
"They just asked, we--we got talking and--"
Yaten nodded.
"Okay."
"Are you angrily in me?" Saan asked. Yaten chuckled.
"Iie. I am not angry with you," he shook his head.

"Saan-san, are we getting you in trouble?" Nepherite asked. Saan looked at him.
"Iie. You guys seem worried about getting other people into trouble, though."
"We once screwed up monumentally. It was ages ago, but..." Jadeite said.
"Regret's a sharp and patient blade. It cuts slowly and painfully, and the pain doesn't dull until you get forgiveness, ne?" Saan smiled. They nodded.
"Wise beyond your years," Kunzite remarked.
"You're not the only screw-ups in town, boys," Saan laughed. Yaten grinned.
"Seiya can be quite forgiving for a pretty girl near tears, Saan," he said.
"I know. It's kind of him."
"You were right. Seiya might seem lively, but he is not alive, not really. He lives for three, perhaps four things in this universe. His music, his duties, his ruler and love. He only has three out of that, and the ruler cut him loose. Two out of three can be quite..."
"...Not enough," Zoisite said softly. Yaten nodded.
"Aa. We cannot play music for entire days, we cannot perform our duties unless there is need and he cannot flirt with every girl in Tokyo without crushing a few hearts under his heel, and so he is..."
"...All alone."
Saan was looking out into the park.

"Tokyo feels alive tonight," she said.
"I'd agree, but you're being literal, ne? What does it mean, that Tokyo is alive?" Yaten asked. Saan shrugged.
"I never felt it so clearly. It's been like this for a few days now, since the attack on the school, I think. I can feel the slightest nuance, detail. Like I could only see light and dark before, and now I have full sight. Sometimes I see things, too. Colors, shapes, around things."
Yaten put a hand on her shoulder.
"So you are finally getting the true power befitting all the shunning you've received. I am glad for you, Saan-san," he said.
"Tokyo feels alive tonight," Saan repeated, looking behind her, at the men. She smiled.
"I want to dance. Can we?"
"We could."

Yaten didn't remember the last time he'd danced in trousers since leaving Earth. Just skirts, layers of them, and only power-hungry lechs to dance with. He grinned as he remembered how he'd made sure those particular characteristics wouldn't breed through in any royal houses. He laughed as people shamelessly rubbed up to him, bodies suggesting, teasing, miming.
'You want me, take me, show me'. Only Earth had this utter lack of inhibition that they called night life. Only this tiny blue planet had these wondrously beautiful girls who believed in more than survival or embroidery and being a good wife. Only Terra had this freedom.

He stopped in shock as he saw Saan... glitter?

She danced not to the beat of the music, but to something else, eyes closed, body swaying, arms high above her head. She wasn't glittering. There were images shifting over her, flickering on briefly before becoming something else. Yaten blinked at her.

A girl with long brown curls and a white gown and a crown of oak leaves--blink--A man in a toga, bloodied hands raised in prayer--blink--A naked man, floating in midair, chest cut open, his heart three inches above his chest, torn out--blink--A ring of small children, dancing around her, laughing--blink--A two year old girl with a bluish hue around her, hair black under the frost, cradled in the arms of a young boy with eyes like twin sapphires...

A thousand happy and less happy moments that reeked of energy strobed around her, and she danced to the beat of their appearance. He carefully reached out to her and touched her shoulder.

Saan opened her eyes, and the images disappeared. He started to open his mouth to say something that would explain his touch, but it turned out to be unnecessary as Saan dropped down to the floor, saved only from a nasty fall by Nepherite catching her in time.
"We best get her out! It's probably the heat in here!" Yaten shouted over the music. The men nodded and got Saan from the middle of the dance floor, into the air conditioned hallway. Saan's eyes opened almost immediately.
"You're burning up," Nepherite informed her.
"I feel so tired," Saan mumbled. The four men exchanged worried glances.
"I'll bring you home," Yaten said. Saan nodded.
"Alright."
::::::::::
The next day, after school, at the arcade, Saan looked revitalized, a lot happier than they'd ever seen her. Even Motoki noticed.

"What did you feed her last night, Yaten-kun?" Minako smiled as Saan sipped her pineapple bubble tea while filling out her homework on her laptop.
"Noting all that spec--Saan, did you invite them?"
Yaten motioned to the four men who had just entered the arcade. Saan looked up and shook her head.
"Iie. They told me they'd be looking for a job today, when I asked."

Saan didn't notice how Makoto balled a fist, or how Rei readied a ward, and smiled.
"Kunzite-san! Zoisite-san! Nepherite-san! Jadeite-san! Over here!" she waved. The four seemed a bit hesitant to come over, but did, slowly, like a set of dogs expecting a blow.
"Konnichiwa, Saan-san," came the mumbled greeting in unison.
"I thought the four of you went job-hunting today. What happened?" Saan asked.
"We, uh, got one."
"That's good," Saan smiled,
"Something you like?"
"We don't know. We've never done it."
"What is it, then?"
"Modeling."

Saan frowned.
"I didn't know you guys had portfolios."
"We didn't. There was a man coming out of the office, shouting that the other man didn't have what he needed and it was an outrage, and then he saw us and told him that that was what he needed. Apparently, he was the Japanese boss of some kind of international clothing brand," Nepherite said softly.
"What were you doing there, in the first place?"
Rei's voice held a hint of fine, burning anger.
"The man was looking for a secretary," Jadeite offered.

Seiya grinned.
"Well, sounds like reason to celebrate. What do you guys want to drink?" he asked jovially. The look Makoto sent him was downright murderous. The four quickly shook their heads.
"We did not mean to trouble anyone. We just..." Zoisite stuttered.
"We meant to inform Saan that we had found employment," Kunzite said stonily.
"We will leave. We're not wanted," Jadeite nodded.
"That's not true." Ami said softly. Zoisite smiled wanly.
"You're still the worst of liars, Amini," he shook his head, and left with his friends.

"I'm missing something here," Saan commented.
"Zoisite-san is right, though, Ami-san. My sister's a better liar than you are."
"Your sister's an infant, Saan-san," Taiki remarked.
"She can lie, most effectively to my brother." the girl countered.
"How do you know?" Ami asked, glad for the change of subject. Saan looked down and started typing again.
"Lies, whether by words or actions, are very dead things," she said, voice carefully neutral. An uncomfortable silence fell over the table.

"So..." Minako urged.
"I know you lied about where you were during the attack. And that time when we were supposed to meet in the gym. And those thousand-and-one times you said you were talking about something unimportant. But I don't own you, and everybody lies more than once a day, so it's not important. It's none of my business--"

Saan gasped, eyes wide. She whipped her head up.
"Don't do that, for God's sake!"
She was trembling. Seiya carefully touched her.
"Saan-san..." he said.
"Gomen. We should have--"
"Matte!"
Saan slapped at his hand, voice high and shrill. Seiya grabbed her more firmly, twisting her towards him. Saan started shrieking, sharp, piteous sounds that made Motoki rush over to their table. It didn't help.

And then Kunzite rushed inside, pulling both Motoki and Seiya off. He picked Saan up as though she weighed nothing and held her closely, protectively against his chest. Nepherite, Zoisite and Jadeite crowded around her.

They whispered to her, and they could understand it, and sense nothing magical about it. It just didn't make sense. Apparently, they were providing her with either happy or terrifying thoughts. When she'd calmed down, Yaten spoke up.
"You left out the little drowned girl."
Jadeite turned his head.
"She was upset. You were upset. Us being upset, too, wouldn't help, it would worsen it."

"Can someone tell me what just happened?" Motoki asked angrily. Kunzite was carefully stroking Saan's hair. She was crying softly.
"Some psychological traumas leave mental scars," he said evenly. Motoki looked from Saan to the imposing, tall man, standing over her the way mountains stand around tiny villages, sheltering them from the harshest weather.
"...Oh. Gomen nasai."
Taiki jumped up, already opening his mouth, but something in Nepherite's warmly green eyes was hard and angry and keeping him from offering to bring Saan home.
"We will escort her home."
::::::::::
Seiya had planned to pick her up the next morning, alone, without the others. Her brother had already told him she wouldn't be coming to school that day. All her previous good cheer had been drained away to leave a hollow look and sickly face. He put the bag with the computer on her desk.

"Ohayo."

Saan's voice was barely louder than a whisper, hoarse.

"We didn't mean to hurt you."

Seiya's was hurt, an attempted apology. He reached out to... something. She'd scared them the day before.

"Don't touch me right now. I was stuck between you guys. You touched me. I--"

Saan shook her head weakly.
"It's bad, when I'm like that. I don't understand how Ite-kun got me back."
"I think I do, but I'm not sure I can tell," Seiya replied. He kneeled down next to her bed.
"It's better than lies, when I'm honest."
"Your Japanese is still... funny."
"I'm missing classes," Saan said softly.
"You mind?" Seiya asked.
"I feel weak. I tried getting up, but fell down. My oniichan had to bring up breakfast," she whispered. Seiya looked behind him and saw tears in her eyes.
"You must really hate your gift," he said softly.
"Aa."

Seiya's cell phone going off with a musical jingle made them both jump a little.
"Evelyn will wake up if you don't take that."

Saan watched Seiya's whispered side of the conversation, amused that he was actually worried about a girl he'd never seen before.

"I have to go."
Saan shook her head weakly, smiling a little.
"You're a cowboy, Seiya Kou."
Seiya blinked.
"Nani?"
"Like the song? 'Cowboy Guarantee'?" she asked.
"I still don't understand."
"You come in, cheer me up, convince me there's hope for me yet, somehow, then leave. And I don't really mind."
Saan was smiling. Seiya reached down and squeezed her shoulder lightly.
"I'll look around for a horse," he joked.
"I'll get you a hat," Saan replied, yawning.
"Sleep a little. If you're feeling better tomorrow night... Here."
He held out a plastic card on a lanyard.
"First concert of the Three Lights, Back from the Dark Tour. The others have one, too."
"Ite-kun, too?" Saan asked hopefully.
"If I find them, they'll get them, too. The girls can be pissy if they want. They never did me wrong and they aren't evil for as far as I can tell."
"They're not evil! Who said they were?" Saan asked.
"Minako-chan, but she can be a bit... extreme. Five hundred yen says she'll be the first to make a pass at one of them," Seiya offered.
"I'll raise you another five hundred and say Kunzite-kun will be even quicker to make a pass on them," Saan said.
"You're on."
::::::::::

Afterthought: One of the reasons this thing first appeared on was because it's simply a less demanding archive. This story might contain some minor differences to the one on