Sakara Ten'ou
Author- Serenity-Hermione Angel
Genre- General, I guess.
Rating- K, until I start to swear.
Summary- Haruka suddenly leaves Japan without a single word to anyone, not even Michiru. Fourteen years later she returns with a secret.
Authors Note: Yes, my dear friends, this story has hopped onto the 'What I'm editing now' train. It's in desperate need! ALSO, THIS WAS EDITED AS OF 9/7/2013 TO UPDATE SAKARA'S SENSHI FUKU! Please refer to my dA page to see the actual art of her fuku!
Chapter 1: Powers
Haruka took one last look at her beloved Michiru sleeping peacefully in their bed before turning her heel, walking as silently as possible from their apartment. She locked the door and slid her key under it, knowing that she'd never need it again. She picked up her small suitcases and walked down the hall to the elevator, not allowing a single tear to fall until she exited the complex. She hailed a cab and ordered the driver to go to the airport.
"One way flight or round trip?" a woman asked Haruka as she stood in the quiet airport, hardly anyone occupying it at the late hour of three in the morning.
"One way," Haruka replied simply. The woman handed her her ticket and pointed out her gate. Haruka made her way there silently, waiting in that same silence for an hour until the flight was bordered and left. As the plane took off, Haruka wiped a single tear from her cheek. "I'm so sorry, Michiru," she whispered, closing the shade and turning her head away from the window that reminded her of what she was leaving behind.
But Haruka knew that there was no other choice.
14 Years Later
"Momma, I'm home!" the voice of fourteen-year-old Sarah Taylor called out as she opened the door to her home. She kicked her shoes off and laid her backpack and purse on the floor by the door. "Hey Mom."
"Hey sweetie. How was school?" Haruka Ten'ou, or rather Amara Taylor asked.
"Torture. How can they except us to pay attention when it's this nice outside?" Sarah asked, gesturing to the window. It was indeed a beautiful day in sunny Orlando, Florida.
"You need to focus, Sarah," Amara said.
"I know, Mom, I know," Sarah replied with a roll of her sapphire eyes. It was then that she noticed the papers spread across her kitchen table. "What are you working on?"
"Oh, I'm researching. Ever since I left those jerks, I need someone else to sponsor me," Amara replied, gesturing to the mess.
When Haruka had arrived in America, she instantly changed her name to something more American and less like that of her old name so that it wouldn't be possible for the senshi, or Michiru, to track her down. She had decided to let her hair grow past her shoulders and tried the whole working in an office thing after Sarah was born but soon realized that nothing made her happier than racing. So when Sarah was four, she left her boring office job and went off to become a champion racer. She excelled in cars, bikes, and running, alternating them when she started to become too well known in fear that the senshi might see this, even across the world. Recently, she had left the sponsor of her racecar career, sick of them always hitting on her.
"Oh, Mom, I need you to sign this," Sarah said. She hesitantly held out the white piece of paper and chewed her lip as she watched her mother read it.
"Detention? Again?" Amara sighed. "For being disruptive in class. Sarah, what did you do?"
"Nothing! Melissa and I were just talking quietly and Mr. Prince got all pissy with us. It's so unfair, too, because Greg and Tommy were talking and they didn't get in trouble! I swear that evil man is sexist or something," Sarah huffed.
Amara nodded. This was the third time Sarah had been handed a detention when a boy had been talking or misbehaving and he had not gotten in any trouble. "I'll call Melissa's mom and we will go in and talk to him for you, okay?"
"Thank Mom," Sarah responded. She gave a little wave before making her way up the stairs to her bedroom.
Sarah had never thought herself to be spoiled, but that was because all of her friends were just as privileged as she. Her bed was a loft with a queen sized bed, a rather impressive stereo system under it. There was also a desk under her bed, her laptop sitting on it. Across from her bed was a navy love seat, a short but fat bookcase next to that. A window separated the bookcase from a walk-in closet that was filled with everything from short skirts and halters to baggy jeans and band tees. The closet door was covered with overlapping posters dating as far back as seven years ago. She then had a whole area dedicated to her art which was located by the corner that was dedicated to her two cats, Stella and Comet.
"Hey babies," Sarah greeted when she entered. Black and white Stella merely blinked at her from her cat bed while the white Comet with a yellow tail got up to greet her. "Sleep all day?" Sarah asked with a smile as the cat rubbed against her leg. He meowed in reply and Sarah laughed. "I wish I could." It was then that she heard her cell phone ringing from downstairs.
"Sarah, phone!" Amara shouted up to her daughter.
"I'm coming!" Sarah responded as she sprinted down the stairs at the pace that could only come from running cross country and track. "Hello?" Sarah asked breathlessly when she finally reached her phone.
"Hey Sarah! Wanna ride bikes? It's perfect out for that!" Sarah's cheery friend Melissa asked.
"Umm…sure. Sounds like fun. I'll meet you at the park, okay?" Sarah asked.
"Sure. See you then," Melissa responded. They bid each other goodbye and hung up.
"Hey Mom, can I go riding with Melissa?" Sarah called.
"Sure thing, baby. Just make sure you're home in time for dinner," Amara replied.
"Thanks!" Sarah called before stuffing her phone in her pocket and heading out the door. As she approached her mountain bike, she pulled her long gold hair into a ponytail. She put her helmet on and mounted her navy bike. She checked the street before speeding out of the garage, feeling the usual thrill as her legs pumped her faster and faster. It took her mere minutes to reach the park and she was unsurprised that Melissa wasn't there yet. "I've got to get that girl in shape," Sarah muttered.
"How not surprising. You always get here first," Melissa said when she arrived. "How long?"
"Only five minutes," Sarah replied with a shrug.
"Eh. It's been worse," Melissa replied. They laughed and Sarah got back on her bike. They followed the bike trail through the park before veering off it and venturing down the dirt paths that had been worn down by years of kids exploring. They stopped after a good half hour, Melissa proclaiming that she was too exhausted to ride further.
"Seriously Melissa, you need to get more exercise," Sarah said. She was panting but otherwise alright.
"I do! I just don't do as much cardio as you do. Sorry that we all can't be born with freakish speed," Melissa replied with a roll of her eyes. She took a swig of her water and offered it to her friend.
"It's not freakish," Sarah muttered, stung by the words.
"Don't be like that, Sarah. You're way faster than anyone I've ever met. It's a gift, not a curse," Melissa said. "Here, drink this. Even you need to keep hydrated."
"Thanks," Sarah said. She had tipped her head back when they heard a scream.
"What the heck was that?" Melissa asked.
"Probably some stupid kids," Sarah replied. She shrugged the manner off and went to take another drink. Once more, there was a scream. But this time, it was not alone.
"There's no way that's just a bunch of kids," Melissa said. She gripped her handlebars nervously. "What do you think is going on?"
"It's probably nothing," Sarah said. "You need to stop watching so many movies."
"Let's head back a different way. I don't trust going that way," Melissa insisted.
"Stop being such a chicken." Sarah rolled her eyes and took off in the way that they had come.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Melissa cried out, scrambling to get back onto her bike and turn it around. She sped after her friend, her calves burning in the effort to match the pace of her naturally faster friend. She had almost caught up when she heard more screams. "Sarah, I think something is going on!"
"Stop that," Sarah called back, annoyed. As she came to the clearing, she skidded to a halt. There, in front of her disbelieving face, was a humongous monster-type thing, attacking people.
"Oh. My. God," Melissa gasped when she caught up.
"This—I can't believe this," Sarah whispered.
Melissa whimpered in fear. "What should we do?"
"Here, I have an idea," Sarah said. She took off her helmet and dismounted her bike.
"Are you psycho?" Melissa nearly screamed.
"No. Now stop whining and hold my bike," Sarah insisted.
"No way! I'm not letting you walk up to that thing. We don't even know what it is," Melissa replied.
"Who cares? It's attacking innocent people! It has to be stopped," Sarah said. She held her chin high and ran up to the monster.
"Sarah!" Melissa cried out desperately.
But Sarah didn't hear her. She didn't understand why, but she was driven to stop this hideous beast. When she approached the monster, she bound up and high kicked it in its face. The monster growled at the contact and dropped the victims that it had just been terrorizing. Sarah landed with ease and held her fists up, ready for a fight. "Come and get me, ugly," Sarah challenged. It dogged her, but she jumped backwards just in time, watching with delight as it fell. "Is that all you got? Oh please!" She said, jumping up and kicking it once more.
"What—what is that on her forehead?" Melissa wondered out loud as she noticed something glowing through her friend's gold bangs. When Sarah turned her head, Melissa noticed with a gasp that it resembled the sign of Uranus and that it was navy blue. Suddenly, there was a flash of blue and Sarah no longer stood there wearing jean shorts and a green tank top. Instead she was dressed in a most peculiar fashion.
Sarah was dressed in a white leotard with sailor flaps on it the color of a lemon yellow, teal striping through it twice. Where the flaps met was a bow that teal with a little lemon yellow brooch in the middle with a curious symbol in it, like an M with a little circle on the bottom. The leotard v-ed into a short lemon yellow skirt with a teal skirt underneath and a teal bow at her back with a similar bow in the back and a layer of white under the skirt. On her feet were lemon yellow boots that reached mid-calf with a stripe of gold crossing around it and around her neck was a lemon yellow chocker. She had gloves on that went to her elbow, the colors alternating lemon yellow then teal then lemon yellow. Her hair went from messy low ponytail to a neat high ponytail, tied with a gold ribbon and gold hoop earrings. Through her bangs a tiara peeked through, gold with a lemon yellow jem.
"Sarah?" Melissa whispered in her amazement. Sarah held out her hands and in it appeared a large sword with a gold and jeweled hilt.
"Space Sword Blaster!" Sarah cried out. In an instant, the monster was gone and Sarah stood there, sword at her side, looking at the place where the monster had once been. The victims all stared in amazement at their savoir, confused but nevertheless grateful. Sarah merely looked around, confused. She had no idea what had just happened, or where her clothes had gone.
"Sarah! What was that?" Melissa cried out, running to her best friend.
Sarah shook her head. "I—I have no idea. I felt this sudden warmth and the next thing I knew I was wearing this and knew exactly what to say to defeat that thing."
"We'd better get going. Looks like people are going to investigate and I don't think we're very well equipped to answer any questions," Melissa suggested.
"Good point. Let's move," Sarah replied. She mounted her bike and sped off, this time much faster than ever. Melissa struggled to keep up, although it wasn't her lack of leg muscles that kept her back: it was her amazement at her best friend. She was riding faster than ever in heels, a skirt, and holding a mysterious sword. It was simply baffling.
"Sarah, do you have any idea what happened?" Melissa asked as they lay on Sarah's front lawn. When Melissa had finally caught up, Sarah looked at her so confused and frightened that they simply set their bikes down and lay in the grass. Sarah had taken to examining the sword while Melissa tried to digest what she had just seen. It still seemed too surreal. They had been silent for nearly ten minutes when Melissa spoke.
"I really don't know. It was the weirdest thing I've ever felt," Sarah insisted.
"It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen," Melissa added.
"What should I tell my mom when I walk in wearing this?" Sarah asked, gesturing to the strange outfit.
"I don't know what to say," Melissa replied.
Sarah rolled to her side and looked at her best friend. "Lissa, promise me that you'll never tell anyone about this, okay?"
"Why?" Melissa asked, turned her head to look at her friend.
"I don't think this is the type of thing that one goes around talking about," Sarah replied.
"Oh. Well, you know you can count of me to keep this a secret. But what about everyone else who saw you?" Melissa asked.
"I didn't recognize any of them and I doubt they would recognize me. I'm just another blonde in Florida named Sarah. There has to be hundreds of girls just like me in our city," Sarah replied.
"Good point." Melissa stood up. She pulled some grass from her raven hair and then smiled uneasily. "I should probably head home. It's getting late."
"Yeah, it is," Sarah agreed. She stood and hugged Melissa. "No one?"
"Never," Melissa replied.
"Okay. Love ya," Sarah said as Melissa went to her bike.
"Love ya too. And be careful with that sword. It looks a bit dangerous," Melissa said before riding off.
"Hey honey. Have fun?" Amara called from the kitchen.
"Umm…I guess," Sarah replied cautiously. She made her way into the kitchen and looked nervously to her mother. "Mom, what happened to me?"
Amara nearly dropped the plate she had been holding when she took in the sight of her daughter. "Oh Kami-san," she muttered, unconsciously slipping into Japanese.
"What?" Sarah asked.
"I—it's just—Sarah, what happened?" Amara asked.
Sarah gave her mother a quick version of the story, although she spared no details about the fight with the monster and her mysterious transformation. When she finished, she scanned her mother's face for a sign of something. But Amara had gone stoic and abruptly hard to read. They stood in silence before Amara took a deep breath and spoke.
"Sarah, there's something I need to tell you. You'd better go sit in the living room," Amara said. It was when Sarah turned that Amara caught sight of what she had been clutching. "Wait, what is that?"
"The sword I told you about," Sarah replied. She held it out for her mother to take.
When Amara touched it, she felt a surge of emotions attack her. It was brief but strong. She clutched the familiar hilt and held it to her chest. "My friend," she whispered.
"Mom?" Sarah asked, raising her eyebrow in confusion.
"Go sit down," Amara said softly.
Sarah made her way into their living room and sat down on the couch, tucking her booted feet under her. She had tried to take the shoes off when she got into the house but was frustrated when she noticed that they wouldn't budge. She watched as her mother came to sit on the opposite side of the couch and waited for what she assumed was going to be a long story.
"Now I want you to remain calm and not interrupt me, no matter how crazy this sounds. I promise you that everything will become clearer once I'm done," Amara said.
"Alright," Sarah agreed.
"For starters, I should confess one thing to you: my name is not Amara Taylor, and your name is not Sarah Taylor. My name is truly Haruka Ten'ou and I was born and raised in Japan. But that is also not my origin. You see, I was originally born on Uranus thousands of year ago during an era known as the Silver Millennium. Each planet had a kingdom; yes, dear, life was possible on all planets in these very beautiful and wondrous contained atmospheres. I was actually born the princess of Uranus, believe it or not. And I was born with special powers, powers very much like the ones you demonstrated tonight. During my life as the princess of Uranus, my main focus was protecting the queen of the universe, Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom, and her family. There was a senshi, which is what you are now, from each planet. There were the inner senshi, the closet protectors of the moon and Serenity's closet friends. They consisted of Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter. Then there were the outer senshi, which included Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, and my very own Uranus, and we were protectors for our galaxy and our queen. Life was wonderful for all of us until an evil force named Queen Matellia invaded the Milky Way and threatened our peace. She corrupted the soldiers on Earth and there was this horrible battle that ended in the death of Serenity's own daughter and our future queen.
"It was decided that we would all be sent into the future to live out better lives, lives in which the princess would not die and would able to live a full and happy life. I was reincarnated as the woman you see before you, your mother. I grew up lonely until I met a wonderful woman named Michiru. She was my soul mate and little did I know that our love ran farther than what we realized. It wasn't until after our first transformation that we learned of our true origins. We had been lovers before, when we were princesses. Anyways, after our first transformation, we began to fight monsters much like the one you fought today together. Soon we found Sailor Pluto and she led us to the rest of the senshi, our long-lost friends. We were undefeatable and quite the sight to see. We led secret lives, posing as ordinary school girls when we were all really quite capable of so much more.
"Now, we had just defeated our largest enemy, a horrible woman named Galaxia, when something happened to me. I became pregnant with you and I knew I had to leave my friends. There was no way I could be a senshi if I was pregnant and I wasn't about to stand around and watch my friends and loved ones fight when I was useless, so I left. I came here and gave birth to you, and you pretty much know the story from there."
Sarah's voice was toneless as she asked what her birth name was.
"Sakara Ten'ou," Amara replied simply.
Sarah let that register before speaking. "So, let me get this straight: you're the reincarnation of a princess from a couple thousand years ago who fought monsters in Japan?"
"That sounds about right," Amara replied cautiously.
Sarah shook her head. "You're too stressed, Mom. You need some rest."
"Sarah, you can't possibly tell me that you don't believe me?" Amara asked. She was shocked. How could her daughter doubt her when the evidence of her story was on her own body?
"What do you expect me to believe?" Sarah asked. "You just told me the craziest story I've ever heard, and that's pretty hard because I've been using the Internet for years."
"How can you not believe me? Do you have any other explanation for what happened to you today?" Amara asked.
"Hallucination? Maybe I'm dreaming. Who knows! All I know is that what you just said is nothing short of crazy," Sarah responded heatedly.
"Sarah! I told you the whole truth. I swear!" Amara said.
"Oh yeah? Prove it. I want you to prove to me that what you said wasn't just some cock-and-bull story meant to mask something else," Sarah challenged.
"Fine," Amara snapped. She got up and left the room. Moments later, she returned holding her old henshin stick in her hand. "Uranus Power, Make Up!"
Sarah watched, amazed, as her mother transformed right before her eyes. Her hair even shortened itself to its old length, giving Sarah the proper look at who her mother had once been. When the transformation was finished, Amara looked at her daughter pointedly, as if daring her to challenge her.
"Okay, now I know I'm hallucinating," Sarah insisted in a whisper.
"Sarah, come here," Amara demanded. "If you don't believe what I told you, maybe you'll believe what you can see for yourself."
Slowly, Sarah rose from the couch and went to stand in front of her mother. Amara reached forward and touched her gloved hand to Sarah's mark. Suddenly, Sarah was flooded with images. They were fast yet slow, blurry yet clear, loud yet quiet. She saw everything that her mother had described, from her senshi training as a young princess to the day she left her lover. When Sarah had seen it all, Amara took a step back and looked down at her daughter with worry.
"You need to give me time to digest this, you know. This is a bit overwhelming for a fourteen-year-old girl," Sarah said.
Amara smiled at that. "If it makes you feel any better, five fourteen-year-old girls knew your exact feelings not too long ago, themselves. Sailor Venus, the blonde with the bow you saw, found out about her powers before all of the other girls and fought alone in London with only her cat guardian to help her out. At least you have me, a veteran senshi, to help you."
"I suppose that's a plus," Sarah said cautiously.
"Oh, that's the timer," Amara closed her eyes and was once again a less-than-ordinary housewife.
"Wait, Mom! How do I get out of this?" Sarah asked.
"Just will yourself to be back into your normal clothes. It's get easier the more you do it," Amara instructed.
Sarah closed her eyes and felt her body sink back into her own familiar clothes. She sighed with relief that she could finally take off her shoes and she did such with haste. When she was done, she went back into the kitchen.
"Mom?" Sarah asked.
"Yes?" Amara replied, focusing on dinner.
"Why didn't you tell me any of this before?" Sarah asked.
Amara paused in her work. "I suppose I didn't think it was necessary. I never dreamed that you would show signs of being a senshi and I figured that we would never go back to Japan, so what was the point?"
"Then why did you give me a Japanese name?" Sarah asked.
Amara shrugged. "I was still very new to this country when I had you. I didn't even start calling you Sarah until you were two."
"Oh." Sarah chewed on her lip before asking another question. "Is my father in Japan?"
"Yes, he is," Amara replied.
"Who is he?"
"It doesn't matter," Amara replied.
"Oh."
Amara chopped up some vegetables with a vengeance as she thought of Sarah's father: the man that had ruined her perfect life in Japan, her wonderful life with Michiru, and her budding career. 'On the other hand I did have my daughter. And I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world,' Amara thought, instantly feeling guilty for her previous thoughts. She loved Sarah with all her heart and never once regretted her decision to keep her. Her only regret was that she chickened out and left the girls and Michiru without any explanation. And even more so that she didn't return when she realized how silly it was that she left in the first place. Michiru wouldn't have loved her any less for what happened, but she couldn't help feeling how she did at the time. Leaving had been the only rational choice she could see in her mind and, looking back at it now, it was the stupidest. 'Oh well, it doesn't matter now. What happened, happened,' Amara consoled herself.
"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"Do you still love her?"
"Very much."
"Then why did you leave her? Why did you stay away?"
"One day, Sarah, you'll understand. Not today, because I think you've had too much information as it is, but one day," Amara promised. She tossed the veggies into the steamer and continued to cook her curry. "Could you set the table, sweetie?"
"Sure."
-End of chapter.
I don't know why I ended it that way, but I did. Also, I had no idea how this turned out. Frankly, it's 3AM and I decided that writing this would be fun, and little did I know how late I would be up doing this. I know this is the third time I've written this chapter, and it may have been a bit strong for a chapter, but I don't really mind. I'm glad that I finally gave Haruka a good story to tell her daughter and I didn't make them so angsty and bitchy this time. That's always a plus! Please review!
-Serenity