TRUE DESTINY IN THE STARS

CHAPTER 1: REVELATION

Earth

' "Nee Mamo-chan… Do you love me?"

"Yes"

"Really?"

"Yes"

"Like how?"

"Why so suddenly?"

"Please… like how?"

"Let´s see… it feels wonderful to be with you" '

Usagi´s life after that moment had been pretty much the same as before, only completely calm and peaceful. They had all continued studying and being normal 17-year-old girls. Sometimes the senshi and her talked about this new state of peace that the Earth appeared to be through, and thought that maybe by defeating Chaos all the evil had ended. That would mean that the utopic future which was waiting for them was soon to be happening. The era of Crystal Tokyo should not be far from starting.

These thoughts were in Usagi´s head more often than she admitted, but something had changed since the end of their last battle… she no longer felt that hysterical anxiety to marry Mamoru and be her princess, she did not long for the moment when she was to become queen of Earth in her crystal palace to share her life with him for eternity. No, she longed for something else… for someone else… but she had forbidden herself to let her heart think about it.

She had known Mamoru, her Mamo-chan, for what it appeared to be more than a lifetime… she knew he had a disciplined, formal and serious nature, he always acted correctly in all situations, and he was smart and elegant. The perfect definition of a king. He was nevertheless so different to her… she had matured indeed, especially after the last battle and all that they had been through, but she still considered herself as a joyful teen who loved eating, sleeping, who was a little clumsy and a crybaby. But that was the way she was, and that was the way she enjoyed life.

She loved going to the amusement park, hanging out with friends, eating all sorts of candy, joking and acting spontaneously. Most of all, she loved being loved, being attended and taken care of, as all boyfriends should treat her girlfriends, she thought. But Mamoru was not like that. 'He´s just so correct and well-educated' Usagi thought to herself. 'He loves me as much as I love him, he just shows it differently… I cannot expect him to act as effusively as I always do, it will not be like him'.

These thoughts had always been with her, right from the start of her relationship with Mamoru. His way to love her had always been enough for her, because she loved him so much and she knew he was the quiet, educated and elegant type of guy. But mainly, because she had not known anything else. It had been like this until last year… until the Starlights came into her life and literally lightened it up.

She experienced so many things with them… hardship, indeed, but as the always optimistic Usagi, she only remembered the good parts: they had shown her loyalty, confidence in one another, the value of friendship, the power to never give up and have faith, but most of all… they had shown her true love.

"Seiya…" Usagi mumbled after switching off the light in her room before going to bed, when she was caught, another night, by the sparkling of the stars through her window. She always slept with her window uncovered now, because she loved so much watching the stars. She watched them until she fell asleep every night since he left. And she couldn´t help thinking about him. She felt really bad, because she loved her boyfriend and knew it was wrong, but her heart just went its own way when she was alone.

Seiya had opened her eyes. She had seen now what true love meant when it was shared with the correct person. He was so much fun, teasing her around, sharing with her the activities she loved most, in fact, being herself around him, enjoying it so much and most importantly not feeling ashamed of it. Life with him had the sparkle of a star. He had loved her so much, she knew now. Always the best friend, the most loyal, being there for her every time she needed him, without asking why, risking even his life, giving it all for her, for her happiness. Always showing and telling her how he felt for her.

And now that she had tasted that, something in her relationship with Mamoru had changed. First thing after the battle, that conversation under the moon, which she had repeated in her head tons of times. She had needed reassurance. For the first time, she needed to hear from him that he loved her, and ask him how much. She was disappointed by the answer, she expected so much after all the time they had been apart from one another, after he had been dead and she had fought so hard. And the only thing she got was a weak conversation which she felt he was uncomfortable at having, where he just nodded to all she said. There were no true feelings there. Any of the previous days with Seiya had been more intense and romantic than this moment. And then the kiss. Why were the butterflies missing? Why was it all correct, what it was supposed to be, a perfect couple from the outside, but she was feeling like this?

Usagi shook her head and leaned back in her bed. She had to forget these thoughts, she had to stop thinking about him. She was to be the new queen of Earth, and she had her king which she loved more than anything. All was perfect between them, and their perfect future was around the corner to be accomplished. It was her destiny, and it was all in her hands! A shy tear slid from her eye and wetted the pillow, while she fell asleep looking at the stars and murmured once more: "Seiya, I miss you".

Kinmoku

Seiya was not himself anymore after they had all returned from Earth a year ago. A lot had been going on in Kinmoku since, because they had left a devastated planet and now that the menace was gone and the queen had returned, it all needed to be rebuilt and the three Starlights were a key part in doing this, what had kept them really busy. Now that everything was running smoothly and he had more time for himself, his mood had been going lower and lower.

As much as he had tried, he had not been able to stop thinking about her, about her Odango. He loved her so much… he knew deep inside that this was his love of a life, that he would not love any other than her for all time. But because he loved her that way, he had had to leave. Leave her with her boyfriend, her life and her overwhelming future.

If only he had met her earlier… before that other guy had appeared in her life… no, but that was not possible, she is the princess of the Moon, she always had been and she will always be. There is no changing that. Her fate is written in stone. Why is love so cruel? He just loved the girl, the sweet, caring, happy little Odango. And the time and space that had separated them had only made his love for her grow. His heart only longed to return and see her again but his loyalty to his queen and his duty as senshi held him back from rushing back to Earth, even if it was only to see her once more.

Kakuuyu knew how Seiya felt. She had known from the moment she saw how he acted around Sailor Moon, the way he looked at her, how much he cared. They even talked a little about it after their return, but Seiya had convinced her that he was going to get over it and continue with his flawless duty, and that those feelings will not in any way interfere. This never came true, she could feel how heartbroken and miserable he was, and how it was getting worse every day instead of healing. This current situation had made her think a lot for the last few weeks, and she came to the conclusion that it was about time to tell her Starlights all about them and the decision that with so much effort she had made, which was going to change their future.

"Seiya…. Oi, Seiya!" Yaten yelled. Seiya was in his room lost in his thoughts, which was quite usual lately and was starting to piss off Yaten very much.

"Huh?" he answered.

"Seiya, the queen has called us three for a meeting in about an hour" Yaten answered. "Taiki will be joining us there in a while, get ready"

"What for?" Seiya asked.

"I don´t know, but it looks strange. She never calls us this official and this sudden. I am a little bit worried that something is happening, I would not be able to cope with all of this over again." Yaten was really stricken by the battle with Chaos. Being the most unexperienced in battle of the three of them, that episode of their lives had taken him way over his limit. He was a calm spirit who just loved peace and quiet; battles were not like him at all.

"Oh ok. Give me ten minutes and I´ll join you there."

"Seiya… since it´s so official, would you mind transforming for the meeting? I think that it should be more appropriate to attend it as senshi" Yaten suggested.

Seiya hardly ever transformed now. He was more unconfortable every day with changing into a woman. At first, when he became a Starlight, he did not mind. He understood that senshis can only be women, and for some reason that no one had been able to explain, the three Starlights had been awakened in men, and therefore that meant that transformation implied changing sex for fighting. Since it was his duty to defend his planet and his princess, he gladly accepted this fact for everyone´s sake. But his feelings now had changed. His love for Usagi grew in his body, making feel uneasy with himself when he had to transform into a woman, as if his soul was living in a mistaken body, like if that was not really him.

"Yes, I will. Don´t worry, Yaten. Just give me a few minutes" he answered.

"Ok, I´ll wait for you there, but don´t be late…"

Seiya glanced once more through the window and into the stars, thinking about her, sending her a message "Odango, I miss you. I love you." After that, he transformed into Sailor Star Fighter, frowned at now her image in the mirror and left the room heading to the meeting.

A while later, Sailor Star Fighter, Healer and Maker presented themselves to princes Kakuuyu in her meeting room. They were quite nervous about what they were going to hear. The worst thing about not knowing what the meeting was going to be about was that they had been making up stories in their heads, which were not necessarily pleasant. None of them were ready yet for another fight.

"My dear Starlights, please sit. And relax, nothing is wrong" Kakuuyu said with a soothing voice.

"Then why do you want to meet us this formally?" Maker asked, as curious as always.

"Well, I… I am not sure how to start with this. I have so many important things I need to explain to you that maybe I should have explained earlier… it is just that the way things happened so fast, we did not have any other choice but to do it like this. And now I am afraid that you may change your opinion about me, and feel I have somewhat betrayed you." Kakuuyu was now trembling slightly, and tears were forming in her crimson eyes, which she was trying to hold back.

"Princess!" Yaten said with worry "Anything you could tell us will make us love you any less, please don´t suffer anymore, we just want your wellbeing and will protect you and help you with anything as we always have"

Kakuuyu smiled slightly at her always so faithful Star Healer. "Yes, Healer, I know, thank you so much. The issue is that this that I have to tell you is going to change a lot of things, parts of your life you supposed were one way which really are not, and perhaps also your future. It was meant to happen sooner or later, it is just that I wish nothing would have never changed… I miss so much the good days in Kinmoku with you, before the war started…"

All three Starlights remained silent, waiting for what she had to tell them. Seiya was starting to feel a strange sensation inside him. Something like excitement, anticipation, will.

"As you know, it has not been that long since the new era of Crimson Kinmoku started, when I was made queen and ruler of this planet and our whole solar system" Kakuuyu continued "Shortly after that, the menace of Chaos was detected coming to take us down, leaving us with hardly any time to react, or for me to develop my powers and become capable of defending our people. As you know, for each solar system in our galaxy there is a main planet with a ruler, and a senshi for each of the other planets that belong to it, which are due to fight beside the queen to protect their kingdom. In our case, our system is made of 5 planets, being Kinmoku the only one inhabited now, where me, the princess, is to form the system´s kingdom. The other four planets: Karinei, Sinkara, Monokii and Aekania are inhabited now but were previously beautiful realms ruled by the senshi families. When the war started, I should have been helped by the senshi of each of these planets, but since I had awakened as queen so shortly before Chaos attacked, I did not have the power yet to awaken them. That is why when I desperately requested help from outside, you three were sent to me from the stars, to temporarily act as my senshi."

By this moment of the speech, the three Starlights were totally in shock. Eyes wide and even mouths half open, they did not know what to think. Everything they had known was not exactly true, they didn´t even know what to say.

"So… are you saying that we are not really Your senshi? Crimson Kinmoku´s warriors? Our solar system´s defenders? Maker found her words.

"Yes, that could be a very brief summary, Maker." Kakuuyu said, looking down. "I am really sorry for not telling you from the start… everything was such a rush, and war started so soon, that I never found the occasion. I was feeling so good with you three around… I felt loved, cared for, protected…"

"But, what are we then?" Fighter said, speaking for the first time "Where do we belong?"

"You belong to the stars, my dear Star Fighter, you always have". Kakuuyu said, almost crying. Then she got a hold of herself and continued "I do not know that much myself, but I can tell you that there is a Kingdom of Stars that rules over all the other kingdoms of the solar systems in this galaxy, which watches over them and keeps peace. They have their own senshi to protect the entire galaxy, and you are three of them. This kingdom is also awakening now, as all of them are, and you three were sent here by them, to help us and try to stop Chaos when he started his plans of conquering the galaxy, since we did not have any other means of protection. I am a very weak queen. I will never forgive myself for not being able to defend my own planet as…" she hesitated for a moment "as Sailor Moon did".

Seiya trembled at the mention of her name. So many memories…

"Now I am stronger. Thanks to you I am now the queen I should have been a year ago. I can defend my people and also, I am now ready to awake my planet senshis. They will help me with my duty of protecting our solar system." Kakuuyu looked them into the eyes, gratitude filling them. "What I am trying to tell you with this, is that you are free now. You do not have anything that binds you here anymore. Your mission is more than fulfilled; you have given me more than I ever dreamed of. I only wish my senshi to be just as incredible as you have been. You even crossed the entire galaxy to look for me! You are senshis of the galaxy and your duty is to protect it, but you can do this from any point of the galaxy you desire". She said this last sentence looking directly to Seiya, and she added "Seiya, I know your heart is no longer here. You left it back at Earth when we returned… don´t feel guilty anymore for your feelings, just go and return to her". It was the first time that Kakuuyu had called him Seiya, his name on Earth.

Kakuuyu´s tears were now freely falling from her eyes and covering all her face. Fighter was so stunned, her head was spinning like crazy with all the new information, and an overwhelming heat was growing inside her body, starting in her chest, so strong that she thought she was going to burst into a thousand fireworks. She was crying silently and she hadn´t even noticed when it had started. It was the greatest joy of all just to think that she could get to see Usagi again, but it was also the most painful of sorrows to feel the suffering of the lady which had been her princess for as long as she had known…

"Princess!" Healer yelled, stood up and ran to Kakuuyu, embracing her in a tight hug. "No matter what anyone says, you will always be our princess!" She cried.

Kakuuyu smiled slightly, while she enjoyed Healer´s warm hug. She had a knot in her throat and she couldn´t even answer.

Maker was so serious, her face so plain that it was impossible to tell what was going through her mind. Suddenly she just said "That was very revealing, it changes many things. I need to think about it." And with this, she stood up and she turned to leave.

Healer heard this, and quickly broke the embrace with the princes and shouted at Maker. "Maker! What are you saying? This is our princess we have here in front of us! We will always be her loyal senshi, we will devote our lives to her!"

"That is not exactly true, as it appears to be now, is it?" Maker responded calmly, her back still to them. She started walking to the door. Fighter was still in shock, watching her sisters, unable to move or say anything.

"Maker I don´t believe what I´m hearing! You are denying your princess? Stop! Where are you going?" Healer was shouting more and more.

"I said I needed to think about it". And with this, she left.

Kakuuyu, which was standing in the middle of the room, sobbing slightly while her two former senshi argued so hard, said in a very low voice "Actually I think that is a very good idea. You should all think calmly about it. I shall leave you alone now, so you can see things clearly. If you need anything, or want to ask me something else, I will be in my rooms, really glad to attend you and answer to all the issues I can." She turned and left the opposite direction.

"Princess…" Healer extended her hand as if trying to reach her and did not move until she saw her leave the room and close the door behind her. She was red with anger and all the crying. She turned to Fighter and said "See?! This is all your fault, you know?! If you were not your selfish-self and had acted more like a senshi and less like a heartbroken teenager all the time, this wouldn´t have happened! We could have lived all our lives happily with her, as always!"

This was the last thing Fighter needed to hear, she was already feeling terribly guilty, as if somehow her acts had triggered all this. She was so confused she just wanted to disappear.

Suddenly, she stood up and ran out of the room, leaving Healer alone, crying and yelling.