For American readers:
1. When talking of money a note can mean a bill: a fifty dollar note
2. Pokies ~ slot machines (I think that's what you call them.)
The Law Keeper – Chapter one
First in the Book of the Renewal
By Draegyn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andrew yawned again as he prodded at the stubborn game machine. It was accepting coins but not allowing the customers to play the games they had paid for. The blonde man jiggled a couple of wires and then whacked the side of the consol. The beeping started again and Andrew gave a sigh of relief that quickly turned into another yawn. He shut the back of the machine and moved it back to its original position before turning to the two boys waiting for him.
"There you go kids, give that a try for me," he requested giving them some coins to replace the ones they had lost.
The boys grinned at him and were soon completely involved in the game. Andrew stretched and headed back to the counter near the door of the arcade. A brief trip through the door behind the counter, into the back room provided him with a cup of coffee and it was with extreme gratitude that he fell back into his chair. It had been a very long night and a very busy day, filled with malfunctioning game machines, typical Saturday madness, noisy kids, a new delivery of games and a request for change from a very large note.
Andrew paused for a moment as he thought of the last customer and by reflex he looked over to where a black haired girl was stubbornly trying to play the Sailor V game. She had been there ever since the arcade had opened this morning and had spent a fortune. Andrew was beginning to wonder if he needed to put up signs warning that games could be addictive. There really wasn't that much difference between arcade games and the pokies in casinos, only the age brackets that they appealed to. He shrugged. It was something he could discuss with either his life mate or twin when he had the time.
His twin was the reason his night had been so long. It wasn't that he was not glad to see her, he was. It had been nearly two solar decades since they had last spoken face to face. It was the necessity of her visit that bothered him. He would have been a lot more relaxed if Serenity's presence on Earth was not caused by several worrisome disruptions in the local energy fields. He shrugged and dismissed the thought. His sister was more than capable of taking care of the problem and it did mean that he got to see her again. Being his mother's scout on Earth meant that he only rarely got to see his family. The only other representative of his people on Earth was his soul-mate Reika and their duties meant that they were forced to reside on opposite sides of the planet... not that that was an insurmountable difficulty for the son of Selene. Between teleportation and telepathy he and his lady were never far apart.
His thoughts distracted by pleasant musings of his ladylove, it was several moments before Andrew noticed the sullen young man approaching him. When he did, he was surprised to note that not only was the man in an extremely bad mood but that his black hair and turtleneck were damp. A quick inspection revealed the rest of the man to be in the same condition.
"What on Earth happened to you Darien?" he exclaimed.
Dark blue eyes that reminded Andrew of the colour Earth appeared from the moon, stared at him stonily. Andrew silently handed his untouched cup of coffee to his friend, along with the spare chair, and waited until the caffeine fix had worked its way into the other man's bloodstream. It was about five minutes later when Darien sighed and finally answered the question.
"Do you really want to know?" he asked wearily. Andrew nodded and Darien sighed as he leaned back in the chair. "I was just minding my own business out on that little wooden bridge over the stream in the park. You know the one I go to think on?" Andrew nodded and Darien continued, "Well this girl bumps into me and knocks us both into the water."
"That can't be all," Andrew remarked after a moment.
Darien sighed again and closed his eyes, "Not if you count the argument that happened after we pulled ourselves out of the water. I swear it's a miracle I'm not deaf, that girl's voice was unbelievable!"
Andrew stared at his friend for a moment. He knew that there was more to this than Darien was telling him and the last time Darien had edited a story this heavily was when he was fighting against the Negaverse. Andrew debated his next course of action for a moment. He was assigned to watch the souls Selene had reincarnated and yet Darien was also his friend and deserved his privacy. Recalling the current condition of Tokyo's energy fields, Andrew decided reaching over to lightly place his hand on Darien's shoulder as if in sympathy. In reality the touch provided a conduit through which he could touch the man's mind.
Andrew received several jumbled impressions: a very young girl with pink hair, a black balloon-like object that looked like a cat's head, an image of a palace made out of crystal and the face of a teenage blonde girl with a strange hairdo. As soon as he saw the last image, Andrew withdrew from Darien's mind unnoticed. He recognised the face as the one his sister was hiding behind during her stay on Earth and knew that he'd be able to get the whole story from her.
As if his thoughts had summoned her, Andrew heard his sister's mental voice call out to him.
*What's the matter Usa?* he called back.
Her mental grumbling replied, *Listen Toki, I know that overblown frog-faced jerk is not only a very strong warrior but a hero as well but if you want him to live then find a way to warn him about the consequences of insulting me!*
*Be careful about calling me Motoki or Tranquillity here sis... and what the hell happened between you two?*
A soft mental groan, *I'll tell you tonight, you'd better console Frog-boy there. We can't afford to dent his tender ego!*
*Such a compassionate sister-*
*Shut up Bro! You deal with Frog-boy and I'm gonna have a bath. I reek of fish!*
The connection between the two of them was cut before Andrew could reply. The mental conversation had occurred in less than a second and Andrew sat back in his chair as if nothing had happened. He looked at Darien for a moment and shook his head. His best friend on Earth and his sister had not hit it off. It was going to be very difficult around the pair of them since he couldn't just side with one. He was going to have to be the peacemaker between Princess Serenity of the moon and the man who was Tuxedo Mask, the two most stubborn people he had ever met.
***
Andrew tickled Rita's feet as she squirmed in his grip. "You're going to have to stop that if you want a proper massage," he scolded her as he tickled her yet again.
"You're going to have to stop that if you don't want my foot in your eye," she warned back. Andrew merely laughed as he stopped his tickling and began to squeeze his life-mate's feet gently. She leaned back into the couch and sighed. Andrew felt a touch of pride at the bliss contained in that sigh and continued in his efforts to reduce the ache from her feet. Andrew's thoughts were moving off in a tangent when a slight touch of power warned him of his sister's arrival.
"Door's open!" he yelled.
He looked up just as the door closed and the appearance of his visitor changed from that of a fourteen-year-old human girl to a young woman in a brief flash of light. For an instant, it seemed as if the light obscured a winged form but when it faded all that remained was a woman, even if she only superficially resembled a human. Her features were subtly different from even the most exotic of humans, too delicate and fine for any earthly creature. She was pale yet with a sheen that likened her skin to pearls rather than cream and, on anyone else, her limbs would have seemed disproportionately slender and long. Above two inhumanly bright sapphire blue eyes, a golden crescent glittered from where it marked her forehead. To humans, her beauty would have been offset by her alienness, to her current companions, she was a perfect example of their people. She trudged across to an easy chair and threw herself into it.
"Remind me again why I have to live with a family," she moaned.
"Because your disguise makes you look only about fourteen," Rita said helpfully.
Another groan. "And why did I have to look so young?"
"I don't know," Andrew answered, "That was your idea."
"Well the next time I get a bright idea kick me!" Andrew grinned and his sister scowled at him.
"Bad choice of foster family Usagi?" Rita asked.
"Yes and no Reika- sorry, Rita. By the way I'm going by the name Bunny Tsukino now. Back to the point, the family's great, my 'little brother' is a pest but I'm used to annoying brothers..."
Andrew picked up a cushion and threw it at her. Bunny merely knocked it aside and grinned at him before continuing, "No the thing that's thrown me is that I've suddenly got a cousin as well. With pink hair no less!" Bunny saw her brother's sudden start of recollection and her eyes gleamed when she realised she had his undivided attention. "And that's not all," she drawled, "Would you like to know the interesting bit?"
Rita nodded but Andrew held up his hand. "Does it have anything to do with you and Darien?" he quizzed. Bunny nodded and Andrew pursed his lips, "Then start from the beginning if you don't mind."
Bunny nodded again and closed her eyes in thought. They remained closed even after she began her story. "I was only half paying attention to my surroundings. I'm sure they were beautiful and all, and I want to see them at some point when I'm not in the middle of something but I was too busy mapping energy currents to worry about them at the time. I'd found a couple of nodes in a place where the energy field was slightly warped and had created a few effects on physical objects. I was trying to get closer to one of the nodes when I bumped into someone and knocked the both of us into a railing. It was at that time that I discovered that not only had I wandered onto a bridge but also that abnormalities in energy fields rot wood. So I and the poor innocent ended up in the drink.
"My perception of him as a poor innocent was quickly ended when he surfaced from the stream with a frog on his face and mouthing some of the vilest obscenities I've ever heard. He quickly changed from railing at fate to cursing me, something which I did not appreciate and which killed my apology before I'd even opened my mouth."
"'You complete and utter moron,' he bellowed at me, 'Are you blind or just brain dead?'"
"Of course I was not about to stand for that. Nothing I had done deserved that kind of abuse and I replied in kind, 'Look who's talking, Frog-face!'"
"At that he threw the poor frog away. Luckily, the unfortunate creature landed in the stream. I started to feel a bit ashamed of myself at this point. 'Look I'm sorry,' I said, 'I didn't mean to knock you over and you can't blame me for the fact that the railings were rotten.' I did try to apologise. I bit down on my temper and managed to keep it remarkably well considering my mood was just as foul as his. I waded over to the bridge and hauled myself out before turning and offering Mr. Gracious a hand. He spurned it and pulled himself out."
"I think I must have topped off a really bad day for him because as soon as he regained his feet he turned on me again. 'Have you got meatball brains to go with that meatball head of yours?' he sneered at me. I am so very tired of people's comments on my hairstyle that I was about to let him have it! Forget keeping my temper, forget keeping a low profile and forget trying to make friends. Just as I opened my mouth, there was a thunderclap." Bunny started to blush and Andrew grinned, feeling her embarrassment.
She glared at him before continuing, "Laugh it up Bro. Unlike you I had never heard Earth's thunder before!"
"So what happened?" Rita asked.
Bunny scrunched her eyes tightly shut, "I kinda jumped straight into Frog-face's arms."
There was silence and then Andrew choked, "You jumped into Darien's arms?!"
"I didn't mean to," Bunny wailed, "And I didn't know that it was Darien at the time either." Her brother just stared at her and she sighed. "It really was an accident," she said softly.
"Oh I believe you Sis," Andrew replied, shaking his head, "It's just if a girl looking like you jumped into my arms, I would not have been anywhere as near as angered by it as Darien seemed to be- ouch!" Andrew rubbed his ear and looked reproachfully at an innocent looking Rita.
Bunny broke in before a domestic squabble could break out. "Remember I looked like this at the time," she advised him. Her features blurred and the exotic woman was replaced by a small blonde teenager with huge blue eyes.
"Shouldn't have made much difference," Rita told her and Bunny shrugged, returning her appearance to that of the barely human blonde woman.
"Darien doesn't really strike me as a ladies' man anyway," she told them. Both of her companions looked at her incredulously and Bunny frowned, "Maybe I have my slang mixed up. What I mean is that the girls might go for him but he couldn't give a hoot for them." Andrew's expression showed his agreement and Bunny continued.
"So there we are, he's holding me and it sounds like the mother of all thunderstorms is going on above us. Thing is, the sky was completely clear, except, of course, for right above the two of us. There was a ring of really dark clouds right above the pair of us and before we knew what was happening, WHAM! Something small, soft and heavy landed on us. We were lucky that we didn't end up back in the stream."
"It took me a couple of minutes to gather my wits and after I did, I found myself in the middle of a pile of bodies. I was on top of the Frog-face and a little pink-haired spore was on top of me. I was trying to find a way to dislodge the girl when Frog-face solved my problem for me by dumping the both us off of him. By that point I was no longer angry, just tired. I wanted to go back to bed. I haven't had much sleep ever since I was informed that I'd be coming to Earth and none at all last night, add the equivalent of a zillion time zones worth of jetlag and I was starting to feel really down. I ignored the indignity of what had been done to me, I even tried to help the kid who was in the same position as I was.
"That was when Frog-face started up again. 'Watch it Meatball Head,' he snapped. Not even that comment made me flare up again, instead I just replied calmly as I picked both myself and the girl up and said 'My name is Bunny.' Then, before either myself or the Frog-face could say anything more, the spore has a gun pointed at my head. 'Give me the Imperium Silver Crystal,' she said. I had no idea of what she was talking about but Frog-face did and his energy flared, leading me to the realisation that he was one Darien Chiba, the reborn soul of a dead Terran prince, occasionally the hero Tuxedo Mask and currently the best friend of my undercover brother. Well he got his act together and pulled the kid off of me before we discovered what kind of ammunition she was using." Bunny looked at her brother and rolled her eyes, "In case you're wondering it was loaded with pink and yellow roses."
Andrew's round eyes widened further and he began to shake his head in disbelief.
"After that, Darien and I stared at each other for a couple of minutes before just walking away from each other," Bunny finished.
Andrew and Rita were silent for a moment before Andrew mused, "Well that explains why Darien was in such a bad mood but not you Usa. What had you so upset that you were about to blow up at a total stranger? And I know it wasn't him teasing your hair."
Bunny smiled sourly at her twin, "Oh let me enlighten you. My little pink-haired cousin is the spore that landed on me if you hadn't guessed. Before she turned up I was beginning to suspect that something had gotten through my guard, gotten to Earth and was currently mucking about with the energy fields. That of course upset me a little. How did they get past me? Where did I fail? Do you get it?" Both Andrew and Rita nodded both understanding that the thought that she might have been careless was frustrating her. Bunny looked them both in the eye and added, "The little spore, by the way her name is Rini, confirms it."
Andrew looked confused. "How?"
Bunny sat upright and ran her hands through her fringe. "She's only half human, if that."
"What?!" Andrew blurted and Rita just stared in shock.
Bunny shrugged. "You heard me."
Rita shook her head. "But how?"
Bunny adopted the posture of someone about to give a lecture. "Well," she said in a patronising tone, "A man and a woman love each other very-"
"Serenity!" Andrew snapped.
Bunny sighed, "Sorry guys it's just... Someone's broken the Law of Selene, gotten through my guard, set up house down here and I have no idea who, what, where or when. Scratch that. I think what it is, it's one of us, from the Silver Keep."
Andrew stared at his sister for a moment before asking, "Have you tried to search who ever it is out?"
Bunny nodded, "Uh huh, first I looked for the mental signature of a non-human. But other than us, there are none and haven't been any since Frog-boy and co defeated the Negaverse. After that, I looked for soul-bonds and zip. The only such bond on Earth at the moment is yours, I guess humans still aren't evolved enough to form them."
"So someone came down for a joyride, had an affair and then took off, leaving a human to deal with the consequences?" Andrew drawled in disgust.
Bunny shrugged and Rita gasped, "It couldn't be!"
"And that's the best case scenario Sis," Bunny sighed, "If that's not the way it happened then the only other way for a cross between one of us and one of them to happen is…"
"In the future," Andrew whispered.
Rita finished, "After the interdiction has been lifted."
Bunny nodded. "Uh huh! Which means that it's the Law of Chronos that has been broken. Of the two, which would you rather?"
The life mates didn't even look at each other as they replied simultaneously, "The interdiction!"
Bunny smiled wryly. "I'll inform Mother of what I've found. With what we know, she can look for a male who can't account for his whereabouts six to seven years ago. When she's got a list, I can compare them for Rini's paternity but..." she trailed of miserably.
"Hope for the best, plan for the worst," Andrew said.
Bunny nodded, "Uh huh. Now let's look at our worst case scenario: Rini has been sent from the future."
"The immediate question is why," Andrew added.
"Something you should also consider is that if the Law of Selene has been rescinded in her time, then her parents are most likely soul-bonded and she's part of a very happy family. What could be so important that it would be necessary for them to allow their very young daughter to go into such danger?" questioned Rita.
"And will whatever it is follow her back?" Bunny finished the thought for all of them.
Andrew paled, "If they can't handle it in the future then there's nothing and no one not even... Frog-face," Bunny smiled at her brother's use of the term, "who could deal with it."
"Which is why I'll be sticking around for longer than we'd hoped," Bunny informed them. She saw the unsure expressions her brother and heart-sister were wearing and explained, "Of the two alpha level warriors currently cleared for Earth, I'm the only one that has the option of retreat. Tranq-" Andrew opened his mouth and Bunny forestalled him, "I know, I know, call you Andrew but that's the point Motoki, we can't risk blowing your cover. Your position on Earth and as a confidante of several of the reincarnates is irreplaceable. If I need to make a quick getaway then the loss of Bunny Tsukino is no big deal but the recall or reassignment of Andrew Furuhata, and by default, Rita as well, would be a serious set back for us."
Andrew and Rita stared at her silently for a couple of minutes before Andrew nodded reluctantly. "So what're you going to do?"
Bunny bit her lip and thought a moment. "Get Luna and Artemis to do the border patrol while I'm here and see what I can find out from Rini. I'm also going to need a proper brief from you Bro."
"Hasn't Mother kept you up to date?"
Bunny looked slightly chagrined. "She's tried... I think."
"You think?" Rita asked, amused.
Bunny shrugged and replied, "I've been preoccupied with Jupiter." She suddenly became a lot more animated and her mood brightened to one her brother and his mate were accustomed to seeing her in. "I've been working on the atmospheric conditions there and I think that after a little bit more work, it'll be able to sustain life. I've also found some residues of the ecosystems that used to exist there. After the atmosphere is amenable to life I hope to be able to foster some of those residues and catalyse the development of new ecosystems using the old ones."
Andrew laughed, delighted by both his twin's accomplishments and her enthusiasm. "I guess we can excuse you then. So what do you need to know?"
Bunny began to count points off on her fingers, "Current organization of the reincarnates as well as individual profiles and maybe introductions, any abnormal occurrences in the area, complete background info on your cover identities, why Frog-face was so upset by our encounter with Rini and what an Imperium Silver Crystal is."
Andrew leaned back against Rita's chair and ordered his thoughts. "OK," he finally said, "Let's start with the reincarnates. There are five of them active at the moment, one from each the inner planets. You know Darien. In his past life he was the crown prince of Earth and now fights as Tuxedo Mask. It's easy enough to recognise him, black tuxedo, black top hat, black cane, and a black cape lined in red. He's had a hard time in this lifetime and he's very difficult to get close to. The thing to remember about him is that his power is almost beta level."
Bunny whistled and Andrew nodded in agreement; that was powerful, especially for a human in this era. "Then we have the scouts. They're four cute girls who dress in parodies of a sailor suit. You know, one of those weird collar things, with a bow in front, and there's another on their back at the top of their really short skirts. First is Mina Aino. She was a professional performer from Venus who used her position to gather information and rally her planet to fight. In this lifetime, she began as the crime fighter Sailor V but when the Negaverse attacked she became Sailor Venus. She's blonde, blue eyed and very bubbly. Her scout uniform has an orange skirt and collar with blue bows."
"Raye Hino was a Martian warrior-bard who became a messiah for her people. Now she's a Shinto priestess who fights under the name of Sailor Mars. She's very prickly, and rather quick tempered. She is a fire mage whose colours are, of course, red and purple. Then there's Amy Mizuno who is Sailor Mercury. She was one of the most brilliant tacticians any of the planets ever produced and her intelligence has only increased in her new life. She's living with her mother at the moment and is widely hailed as the smartest girl in Tokyo. Her scout colours are blue as befits a water adept. Last is Lita Kino, a.k.a. Sailor Jupiter. She was second in command of the Jovian ground forces. She led the guerrilla campaign when Jupiter was invaded and now serves as the powerhouse of the reincarnates. Her specialities include storm summoning and a basic affinity for nature, particularly plants. Her colours are green and, surprisingly, pink."
"When Beryl and the Negaverse were revived, only Sailor V and Tuxedo Mask were active. I don't know how but both Darien and Mina remember portions of their previous life, enough so that they possess the skills and knowledge of that lifetime. Darien fought the Negaverse alone. Mina, however, went on to gather three other reincarnates and form the Sailor Scouts. Knowing a little of their origin, she changed her code name to Sailor Venus and the others took names according to their origins. They formed a loose alliance with Darien over the duration of their conflict with the Negaverse which has grown tighter over time. Venus leads the scouts except when they are working in collaboration with Tuxedo Mask, then it is he who leads. Now the five are close friends as well as allies."
"As for abnormal occurrences, the anomalies in the E-fields are the first such. If it weren't for the fact that Reika and I as well as several of Mother's seers on the moon have been having disturbing flashes then I'd have said everything was great. What else was there?"
"Darien and the crystal," Rita reminded her lover.
Andrew nodded in recollection. "Right. Darien and the Imperium Silver Crystal go together hand in hand. That Rini even knew of the crystal's existence would have upset Darien. The crystal is the sole surviving relic from before the Fall. It was the talisman bonded to the Royal bloodline of Earth. It was their duty to guard it until the woman it was meant for was born."
Bunny frowned. "I don't get it," she said in confusion, "I thought the Terran bloodline only spawned males."
"It did," Rita replied, "But before the Fall, humans were capable of forming soulbonds and that bond allowed a prince or king's wife to use the crystal. The thing is, nothing ever said that the crystal's true owner would be in anyway related to the keeper. For all Darien knows, he might have to give it up to someone he detests."
"Darien is the last scion of the prime bloodline of Earth and somehow the crystal found it's way into his possession in his current life time," Andrew informed his twin calmly.
Bunny looked thoughtful for a moment before asking, "So what's so important about the crystal other than it's historical value?"
"It allows the user to meld the powers of others and then direct them herself."
Andrew's answer stunned his sister. All three of them knew that, while it was possible to combine individual spells to generate a specific effect or increase the strength of the spell, it was not possible to combine the intrinsic power of any two or more individuals without some form of soul-bond existing between them. Bunny, Andrew, Rita - rather Serenity, Tranquillity and Reika - along with Queen Serenity could combine their magic in such a way utilising both the kin-bond between the twins and their mother as well as the life-bond between Tranquillity and his mate yet they were only able to do so with Tranquillity as the focus and not with anyone other than each other. Whoever would be able to imitate such a technique without the necessity of a soul-bond would have access to almost unlimited power.
"It's owner would not be one to trifle with," Bunny whispered in awe and both Andrew and Rita nodded in agreement.
"So now can you understand why Darien was so unnerved by Rini?" Andrew asked.
Bunny nodded thoughtfully. "OK, and finally, what is your story down here? What should I know about who you're pretending to be?"
Andrew cocked his head in thought, "Officially I'm the same age as Darien, both of us are twenty years old-"
"Standard years?" Bunny asked incredulously, "I was under the impression that a human's entire lifespan was about twenty standard."
"I mean solar years. Human's keep track of things in solar years," Andrew said wryly, suddenly realising just how difficult it was going to be for his sister to adjust to the mindset of humans. No matter what the impression she often gave people, Serenity possessed the infinite patience of their mother as could be seen by her endeavours on Jupiter which would take centuries to complete. Andrew was the opposite, appearing to be a patient soul when, internally, he was only barely restraining himself from forcibly hastening matters. Sometimes he wondered if their mother had chosen the right twin when she had decided that one of her children would be her eyes on Earth.
Even compared with him though, humans were an impatient people, living more for the now rather than planning for the future and they showed it in such strange ways. Many of his friends, for example Darien, were so focused on what they were doing that they lost track of everything else. No matter how important a matter was to any of his people, Andrew knew that they would always savour the world around them while they continued with their business. Humans were so impatient for events to happen now that they tended to ignore other occurrences whereas his people-
"Are more open and observant," Bunny said out loud, "We see the larger picture." Andrew raised an eyebrow at her and she shrugged. "I'm not eavesdropping on your thoughts, I can read them on your face."
Andrew turned to Rita for confirmation and she nodded. He turned back to his sister. "It's not that I don't think you're capable," he explained, "But are you sure you can handle this? I mean can you pull off this kind of masquerade? We can always operate from the command room under the arcade if you'd prefer."
Bunny looked at him thoughtfully. "I think so. I mean I think I've already got the manner of speaking down-"
"I'd noticed that," Rita said admiringly.
Bunny smiled and continued, "I'm pretty sure I can pass for a teenager for a moderate period of time. My... 'Lunarian' perspective will make me seem a little strange but I think I can camouflage that by giving people the impression that I'm..."
"A meatball head?" Andrew suggested.
Bunny frowned at him but nodded. "Pretty much, that should cover any trips on my part." Suddenly she grinned, "Besides I think it'd annoy Frog-face no end if I have to spend an extended length of time associating with him as a ditz."
Andrew sighed. "By the way," he muttered, "Just how will you explain your presence to the scouts if you have to fight."
Bunny shrugged. "I'm one of the undiscovered reincarnates and my dreams brought me here so that I can help. I'll only be staying until whatever it is has finished and then I have to go home to return to my duties. If necessary I'll reinforce that with a memory spell before I leave."
"That should work," Andrew said thoughtfully.
Rita grinned, "She can be Sailor Moon!" Brother and sister stared at her and she smiled. "Think about it. She can't fight in her normal form, the reincarnates wouldn't believe that she was one of them, let alone human. Look at her love," and Rita gestured to Bunny who was now sitting straight in her chair. "That's only a mild version of what she really looks like. How's she going to pass for human when she fights in her true form?"
Andrew examined his sister as she currently appeared and recalled the form she fought in. At the moment her hair was the same silver-gold as his was in his natural form. It was done up in her buns and pigtails which reached the ground yet it wasn't the wealth of soft and silky strands which marked her apart nor the crescent moon that he himself would sport on his brow in his lunarian shape. It was the way light seemed to shine from her eyes and her skin, the exquisite delicacy of her features and the aura of peace that surrounded her. They were all traits that were only enhanced when she appeared in her natural form, the form that she normally fought in.
"Reika's right, Usa," Andrew said eventually, "You can't revert to yourself when you fight, can you hold an illusion at the same time?"
"Probably," Bunny answered, "It'd restrict the battle spells I could use and limit the strength of them but not too badly."
"Illusion it is then," Andrew decided, "But what as?"
"The scouts have a uniform don't they?" Bunny questioned.
Rita nodded, "That's right and I can design one for you if you want."
Bunny nodded. "Yeah, we'll make Bunny Tsukino Sailor Moon rather than Serenity. That way I'll be about the same age, etc as the other reincarnates."
"That's all sorted out then?" Andrew asked.
"Uh huh," Bunny murmured, "Now what else should I know about you two on Earth?"
"My name is Andrew Furuhata, my family owns the both the Crown Arcade and Fruit Parlour. I run the arcade and my little sister, Lizzie, works at the fruit parlour."
"Little sister?" Bunny interrupted.
Andrew mock frowned at her and continued as if she hadn't interrupted, "I'm attending university with Darien-"
"Poor you!" his twin muttered.
"And should get into medicine in a couple of years. Reika is my girlfriend Rita-"
"Who Darien believes has totally bewitched Andrew!" Rita interrupted.
"Bewitched?" Bunny asked while Andrew shrugged uncomfortably.
"He doesn't know that when I zone out around her I'm really sharing my heart, mind and soul so he thinks I'm lovesick," he defended himself.
"You are," Bunny quipped with surety, knowing her brother's emotions as well as her own.
Rita grinned and after a moment so did Andrew. Andrew knew the loneliness his sister often felt as she awaited her soulmate's appearance and he cherished the completion he possessed with Reika. "Of course," he laughed and looked at Rita, "How could I be anything else?"
***
Bunny shifted uncomfortably, the small form next to her restricting her movements. "Divine Stars," the teen whispered to herself, "How can anyone so little take up so much room?" She looked at Rini fondly, mentally shaking her head at herself for being such a soft touch. "She's a brat, a total spore... yet..." With a gentle hand Bunny brushed some hair away from the little girl's face. "She's a perfect little angel- oof!" The child in question chose that moment to kick out in her sleep and knock the breath out of Bunny. Bunny frowned wryly at the girl, "On the other hand maybe spore is more apt..."
Bunny yawned; her brother was not the only one who had had both a long day and night before. In truth, she could easily go on for several days without sleep but in the past twenty-four hours she had not only travelled from the moon to Earth but had also begun her investigations and arranged a cover identity. She smiled sleepily at the thought of her 'family'. She regretted the necessity of manipulating the Tsukinos' minds yet already adored them, even her younger brother Sammy. She yawned again and hugged Rini closer to her.
***
She stood in the centre of a hurricane, winds whipping around her yet leaving her untouched. She hugged herself as she saw the slender rings in the sky that encircled the planet. Other arms wrapped themselves around her and she automatically leaned back into the embrace of the man behind her. She felt his skin against hers, realising but not caring that they were both naked.
"Do you like it?" she asked about the world while savouring the feel of his hands stroking her stomach.
His breath was warm against her ear. "It's beautiful, but wild."
"Always has been and always will be no matter what happens. Aeons ago the people who lived here were renowned for their strength and their endurance." She paused, thinking of the past and what she hoped for in the future. "One day I hope Jupiter will once again have children to do him proud," she murmured dreamily.
"He still has a daughter who does," the man replied as he nibbled at her neck.
"And I shall ensure her planet will one day welcome her home," she declared.
His hands began to wander further and she turned in his arms. Her own moved up to enwrap his neck and her breath caught at the sensations caused by the feel of his body sliding against hers. His deep blue gaze caught her eyes and she drowned in them. Her heart reached out, aching to join with his in a glorious merger. Heedless of the raging storms of Jupiter around them, their souls began to connect-
***
Bunny started and then murmured sleepily. Rini kicked out again and Bunny absently soothed the girl with the magic that was ingrained in her. When Rini breathed easily, Bunny dived back into slumber, hoping to rediscover the dreams that had evoked such peace in her yet were already fading from her memory.