Like I promised in the Teaser I've posted in A Second Chance, this fic is going to be a sequel/spin-off, focusing on what happens to Seiya, in the light of the direction I set in the Epilogue for ASC. Back then I knew I wanted to write, at some point, a happy-end for Seiya as well and, in the mean time, I realized how I want that happy end to be like. This chapter has the most elements linking to A Second Chance, but the next ones will be totally independent from the first story.
I hope it is enjoyed and I'm looking forward for any type of criticism.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, nor am I planning to make any profit out of this.
Chapter 1 – Alone at Midnight
The full moon was shining brightly above the city of Tokyo, probably brighter than it ever had during the past four years. Alone in the balcony of their apartment, her elbows leaning on the railing, Seiya observed this particular detail, a hushed sigh escaping her lips. She was dressed in her familiar red stage suit, having merely returned for a couple of hours from what had truly been the last performance of the Three Lights.
Seiya attentively observed all the details of the sleeping city as she meditated on everything that had happened during the four years since she had returned to Earth again. It was odd to realize how truthful two observations made back then had turned out to be in the end: she would never be good enough for her Odango and they would be friends forever, even though the blonde-haired angel was no longer bound by the destiny which she could not even remember. What surprised Seiya the most was that she didn't even feel so sorry about it any more.
The first few months of her return had seemed to be quite promising. First of all, Mamoru had done the most unexpected and love-proving gesture someone could ever do and had given up on his destiny with Usagi, just to let her follow her heart and chose freely. Second, her two best friends, Taiki and Yaten, had also come to Earth to be by her side for as long as it took. This made Seiya happy and secure, as she had doubted she would be able to stand being separated from them for too long. Third, it seemed that all of the arguments between them and the sol senshi had been left aside and they were all brought together by Usagi's tragedy. It was somehow strange for the Starlights when even the outer sol senshi had begun treating them like friends, although Seiya had only expected them to hate her even more for altering the path of Usagi's destiny.
Slowly, though, everything started turning into a nightmare for Seiya. Following Taiki's advice, the three of them had joined school again, so they could recreate a more familiar setting for Usagi, in hope that the girl could remember something, and to allow Seiya to have a reason to enter her life again and be by her side as much as possible. Seiya found it odd to be back in school, to find everyone look at the three of them like fallen idols for a while, before their career had completely been forgotten in favor of the newest boy band sensation. Besides, she wasn't all that happy that she had to play the charade of being a man all over again and she knew for sure that Taiki and Yaten, specially Yaten, disliked this just as much as her, if not even more. Seiya had wished that if she ever had a chance to be with Usagi it would be for who she really was, not for being just an illusion. It was painful to think that her Odango would fall in love with a male Seiya Kou and would want him by her side forever. True, the personality was the same, Seiya tried to console herself, but still, she wanted to be loved for what she really was.
Thankfully, if such a word could apply to the situation, Seiya never got to know how it would be like to deal with having Usagi falling in love with her male form. Despite the attention, consideration, tenderness, friendship and love she always treated het with, Odango never saw her as more than a good friend, not even now that she didn't remember Mamoru and their destiny. At first it was hurtful for Seiya to realize that she had been given a second chance for nothing, but eventually the pain in her heart subsided as her feelings for the moon senshi turned from love into a deep friendship. The Tsukino Usagi she now saw daily was not her Odango any more, the bright, cheerful person who could melt the coldest of hearts with a smile. She was now more sad and insecure, scared. Her eyes no longer shone with the same light. Her tragedy had changed her, had made her grow up into a person which Seiya no longer recognized, one which she loved as friend, just like she loved Taiki and Yaten.
Seiya sighed and clasped her hands tightly on the railing. She was mad at herself for having been an awful friend for Taiki and Yaten, for having put them through pain for nearly four years because of her love for Usagi. Although they had never directly said anything to her, she knew as much as to realize that they disliked their stay more and more by the day.
As far as Taiki was concerned, Seiya imagined that she would be happy to be back on Earth and be close to Ami again, as she was fairly convinced that her amethyst-eyed friend had developed some feelings for the senshi of Mercury. Instead, the more she observed Taiki each day, the more she realized that she was not happy with their return. Taiki had always been the most quiet of the trio, enjoying the company of a book better than that of other people, but now it seemed she was isolating herself more than ever and refused any social interaction beside the one strictly necessary for school. Seiya had managed the courage to confront her about it one day, to ask her what was bothering her but she was met with a sorrowful look and with a one-worded reply: "Homesickness". It was an answer that really intrigued Seiya. Taiki had been homesick during their first stay on Earth as well, but she didn't act like that. There was definitely something else bothering her and Seiya quickly realized, remembering her own behaviour when they returned on Kinmokusei, that Taiki was more lovesick than she was homesick. Seiya chose not to ask anything about it, as she was feeling guilty for being the cause of Taiki's sadness, but she couldn't help wondering herself whom had stolen Taiki's heart back on Kinmokusei.
As for Yaten, well Yaten was Yaten. How she acted defied any logic for Seiya. Some days they would argue over the smallest of things and their arguments would escalate to the point where they insulted each other so badly that they wouldn't speak to one another for days afterwards. But other times Yaten was so different. Whenever Seiya felt too sad and needed someone to talk to, Yaten would be there for her, listening to her sorrows, offering a comforting word. Seiya found it odd how in those moments it felt like Yaten was the only one who truly understood what she was going through, as if she was going through, or had gone through, an unrequited love as well. She always ended up shrugging the thought away with a smile, it seemed impossible for her to believe that her silver-haired friend could be in love and she thought that Yaten deserved better than sharing her same fate. But all in all, sometimes, when she looked at the little shrimp, as she liked to call her, whenever she looked into her eyes, Seiya could spot the same sadness which was present in Taiki's, the same mixture of homesickness and lovesickness, albeit at a smaller, or probably more concealed, scale.
What a horrible person she felt like when she thought about Taiki and Yaten. How lucky she was to have friends like them, who had accepted to put their happiness aside just to stay with her. Fortunately the nightmare of their stay had all ended with a phone-call she got from Mamoru, two months ago. With great sorrow in his voice, the man was letting her know that Usagi had recovered her memories, but that it seemed he had lost her forever because she thought he had left her. Seiya had assured him that things would work out in the end and time proved that she was right: Usagi had found out why Mamoru acted as he did, she forgave him and Mamoru proposed to her.
Seiya had wished to return to Kinmokusei as soon as things sorted themselves out, but Usagi had insisted that they remain for the wedding. Seiya could not refuse her new best friend, so the three of them remained to Earth for a couple of months to be by her side for the happy event. It had been a beautiful ceremony and Seiya was surprised how well she took it. It seemed that her heart had healed and had let go of Odango, although a new painful truth was now slowly consuming her, the feeling that she would never be loved, that she was cursed to love and never have her feeling returned.
At the beginning of the reception that followed the wedding, the Starlights bid their farewells to the newlyweds and to the rest of the sol senshi, then they've offered their modest gift for them, a final performance of "Nagareboshi he". It had been a performance that surprised both Seiya and the audience. The passion they had put into the song had been new and incredible. Seiya allowed her sorrow of being unfortunate in her love to flow through the song, to mix itself with the messages the other Lights were singing. Taiki was singing for her love as well, for the love she was far away from. Too focused on her own emotions, Seiya didn't even realize that it was in absolutely no way different from the way the amethyst-eyed senshi had always sang that song. However Seiya's focus on her own message was interrupted and she took a few moments before realizing it was because of Yaten's singing. It had something completely different, it conveyed so much sadness and sorrow and, at the same time, so much love, that Seiya couldn't believe her senses. She glanced at the smaller woman with a corner of her eye, but she couldn't see anything different in her expression. How perfectly she was hiding all of that inside of her, she for whom other people's feelings were not a mistery. "Who are you singing for, shrimp?", Seiya wondered, not even bothering to wonder why did she feel Yaten's message so clearly. By the time they had finished the song, nearly every person present at the party was in tears. As the sol senshi explained to them before they left, their shine had been brighter and more special than they had ever seen it before, their song had been special, sad, overwhelming.
Seiya snapped out of her thoughts when she felt a light touch on her shoulder. She turned her head slightly, her blue eyes meeting a pair of yellow-green ones, looking at her with concern. Gently, Seiya took Yaten's hand into her own and smiled, taking one last glance at the bright moon and at the city, before answering an unasked question:
"I'm fine. Let's go, shrimp!" Much to Seiya's surprise, Yaten didn't answer back at the small and innocent insult and merely faked a smile. They walked out of the apartment and locked the door, heading for the rooftop, where Taiki was already waiting.
After a slight nod from Seiya, the three of them were surrounded by a flash of light, as their disguises vanished, revealing Sailor Star Fighter, Sailor Star Maker and Sailor Star Healer. Three voices pierced through the silence of the night, calling on their power, before the three senshi turned into three rays of light ascending towards the sky in their long travel home. That night, a vigilant eye, would have noticed three shooting stars rising off Earth, instead of falling down towards it.