Chapter 2

With its tears shedded, everything will begin anew

A slumbering figure let out a sigh, completely unaware of what perilous danger lied ahead of her. The similar looking blonde sat by her bed side, staring blankly at the blonde hair with pink streaks that covered Elidi's face. Usagi had walked into the room to see Elidi snuggled up peacefully with Luna under her arm. She coughed, trying to awake the sleeping girl. Elidi rolled over with a snore, oblivious. Luna stirred, giving her queen a dirty look. Usagi let out a huff, but coughed louder. Still she didn't wake.

Luna gave a harsh whisper, "Is that really necessary?"

"We're having a welcoming party for her over at Makoto's house. I need her to wake up sometime," Usagi explained with a shrug. Sighing, something caught the corner of her eye. A guitar, almost as if it was put on a pedestal, sat in the corner of the room.

"Usagi-chan, I wouldn't even think about going near it. When I walked in here, she acted very sad putting it there. I'm positive it's very important to her," Luna chastised in the same whisper.

"No matter what, we gotta protect her, okay Luna?"Usagi looked back at her slumbering cousin in understanding. She too knew so well how something could be so precious. Luna was very tempted to tell her what she had suspected, but before she could speak again, the slumbering girl stirred.

"Usagi? Huh? What's going on?" Elidi mumbled groggily. "Gomenasia Usagi-chan, I must have been asleep for a long time," she apologized sheepishly. "Where's Ikuko-sama?"

Usagi seemed confused at the mention of her mother. "She's been in the kitchen the whole time making us snacks, why?"

"But wasn't she just in here talking to you? I thought I heard two voices," Elidi pondered her memory. Luna stiffened at the mention of hearing her speak. "I guess I was just dreaming it. Or Luna here was talking, but I highly doubt that one."

Usagi nearly fell over at the guess her cousin had just made. Pulling herself together, she waved her off, "Of course not, I mean, that would be silly right? Cat's talking," she prattled. Luna gave a short glare, but let out a 'meow' to throw off any trail of doubt. "So Elidi-chan, ready to go explore?"

Smiling at her enthusiasm, Elidi replied, "Sure, just let me change real quick okay?"

Happy with her results, Usagi pranced down the stairs toward the kitchen. "Mama, do you have the picnic basket ready?" she asked happily.

"Yup, there's plenty of food in there for Elidi's surprise welcome party," Ikuko replied. "I'm glad you're doing all you can to make her feel welcome Usagi, I'm very proud of you. Now remember, just say you have to deliver it to a friend of mine for me so she doesn't get suspicious," she added taking precautions.

"Elidi-chan? Are you ready to go?" Usagi asked in her happy demeanor. If all went well, Elidi would also get to meet Usagi's Mamo-chan. "Mamo-chan said he would meet us in the park on the way over so you can meet my boyfriend too," she added with a smile.

"What's he like?" Elidi asked curiously as they walked out the door. She could tell he meant a lot to her cousin once she saw her face light up at the subject.

"Mamo-chan is the best," she said quietly a gentle smile playing amongst her lips. "He's always been there for me, even when I didn't know he was. When we first met he was mean, and bullied me, but I don't know, I guess it all changed into love over time," she reminisced starry eyed. "When he went to America for the longest time, that was the hardest. He was going to college there, and I hadn't heard from him for a long time. It turns out something had happened to him," Usagi stated sadly, recalling the past tragic events.

"You sound like you really love him Usagi-chan," Elidi commented with envy.

"What about you Elidi-chan? Have any boyfriends back at home?" Usagi asked with a mischievous grin on her face.

Elidi was taken aback momentarily at the brashness of her cousin's comment, but quickly recovered. "There were one or two, nothing as serious as what you have though," she commented, throwing her hands behind her head as they continued to walk.

Usagi debated in her head, and finally gave in to her thoughts. "Elidi-chan, I kind of told Mamoru and Makoto about what happened… with your parents." Usagi regretted it almost instantly when her cousin stopped dead in her tracks. "But I only told them because they both lost their parents too! And out of everyone here, they'll understand you most. I haven't told anyone else because I thought if you wanted to tell someone you will."

Elidi looked back at her cousin warmly. "Thank you Usagi-chan," she breathed out. "I… I guess… I just don't want anyone to pity me. I think if I turned around every corner and everyone gave me sad looks with pity in their eyes, I'd probably lose it. You know?"

Usagi looked at her cousin in a new light, glad she got her to open up to her. Coming upon a park, they found a looming figure standing in the distance staring their way. Elidi stiffened, not knowing if it was friend or foe, all she knew was it started their way.

"Usako!" Mamoru called out to the girls. They quickly made their way over, Usagi smiling widely. "You must be Udango's cousin Elidi. It's very nice to meet you," he stated friendly enough, extending his hand.

"Meatballs?"Elidi looked at him curiously. "Since when is my cousin in any shape a meatball?"

"I apologize, it was an old nickname I've had for her for a while," he stated, starting to sweat.

"You mean back when you bullied her?"Elidi asked incredulously.

"Well, I mean- it's not that it's… I don't mean it in a mean way, it just kind of stuck and well," Mamoru stuttered nervously. "I'm not making a very good impression am I?" Usagi stood worriedly off to the side. Did Elidi not like her boyfriend?

"Nah, you're fine, I had to give you a hard time since Usagi told me about how you used to be mean to her when you two first met. So where does this basket go to again?" Elidi asked with a smile, trying to make sure they delivered it on time.

"Deliver?" Usagi asked confused for a moment, forgetting her own con. Realizing, she started to panic. "Oh! Right, the food… we have to deliver… the food… HAHA!"She snorted obnoxiously at her own mistake.

Elidi eyed her curiously, not sure what was going on. "Yea, I mean it's not like this basket of food is for us you know! There's a lot in here, we don't want anything getting cold!" Usagi sweat dropped again, wondering how her cousin guessed everything so quickly and still didn't know what was going on. *I hope they're all ready for us.*

"Actually, this basket is for Makoto, Mom wanted to make some food for her," Usagi laid on the fib thickly.

"Oh the girl I met earlier? She seemed really nice, I like her," Elidi smiled happily that they were going to see someone she had already met. While they wandered forward toward their destination, there were conversations happening that made Elidi's ears ring.

"Luna, I presume you are here to talk about the presences?" Setsuna asked, all too aware of the dangers ahead.

"Yes, you of all people will know what I speak of. Usagi's cousin has come to stay at the Tsukino residence. If she is who I believe she is, then I do believe that she's the reason the new evil is on the horizon. I'm surprised they haven't revealed themselves or tried anything yet. I do know for certain, that if it's so big the star lights are back, then we could have a serious problem," Luna confides.

"You believe it's her then? Are you positive?" Setsuna pushed further, wanting to be sure. "We don't know how this could turn out Luna, what if those events changed her? And not for the better?"

"You knew her as well as I did. What she went through was a terrible thing, but she did it of her own free will, she knew that. And you know as well as I do that Queen Serenity found a loop hole to save her too. The little time I've spent with Elidi, the more I see her in her old life," Luna pressed, letting her opinion of the situation be known.

"I see… Very well, I will do my best to keep Haruka from… well you know how she is with strangers around our princess," Setsuna smiled at the thought of one of her closest friends.

Luna nodded in agreement. Thinking deeply about the matter, she added, "If it is at all possible, I would like Elidi to live as normal a life as possible. It's what she deserves." Setsuna granted whole heartedly.

"That is… if it can be helped," Setsuna added before disappearing as quickly as the two had met.

The three carrying the picnic basket, thanks to Usagi, had gone in circles more than once, causing Elidi to become very confused. The sun had gotten higher, and it was becoming warmer by the second. Being like her cousin, Elidi fought the urge to whine.

"Uuuusaaagi-chaaaan," she let loose the whine waiting to come out. "We've passed that same building twice now! I thought you knew where she lived?"

Usagi was getting desperate. She had gotten a call from Makoto telling her that she still needed another thirty minutes to finish one of the desserts. Looking around hurriedly, Usagi looked for a way out of her cousin's impatient pestering. Finally she spotted something, or more, someone that she never expected to see again.

"Seiya?" she exclaimed, excitement shinning in her eyes. "Elidi-chan! It's Seiya!"

Elidi came out of her whining stupor with a confused look upon her face. "Seiya?" she asked not knowing. Mamoru stiffened slightly next to her. Elidi couldn't help but notice the slight change in demeanor. Usagi ran up to the figure ahead, leaving Elidi and Mamoru alone together. So her cousin didn't know what she was talking about, Elidi reverted back to English.

"I take it you don't like him?" she asked outright.

"It's not that, Elidi-san, I guess you could say I'm almost jealous. In a way I'm very grateful to him. He was there for Usako when I could not be," Mamoru explained. "I guess I'm jealous because of that."

Elidi let a smile slide back into place, then added back in Japanese, "Don't worry Mamoru-chan, he's got nothing on you."

Usagi at that moment had brought the tall man with his equally tall friends back with her, all too excited. "Elidi-chan! These are the Three-Lights! My good friends have returned," she smiled brightly.

"What are the three-lights?" Elidi asked dumbfounded. Usagi's jaw dropped to the floor, as well as the three guys before her.

"Is this girl serious?" the silver haired and shorter guy stated.

"You really don't know who we are?" The one Usagi dubbed as Seiya asked incredulously.

"What's so hard to believe? I mean I have lived in America until recently," Elidi stated back.

"But we did a tour in America as well, surely you know who we are," Seiya pressed.

"Well what do the 'three-lights' do?" Elidi asked back, still unaware of the can of worms she was about to open.

"We're an idol group," the brunette stated, ready to lose his cool manner.

Elidi thought to herself for a moment, thinking back to what 'idol's' were in Japan. The light bulb clicked in her head when she remembered. "Oh, so you guys are like a boy band then?"

All three managed to fall in disbelief. Seiya came back up swinging. "NO WE'RE NOT A BOY BAND!"

Elidi not missing a beat stated, "You know it's totally okay if you are, whatever floats your boat. I just haven't listen to boy band music since I was five and that was the backstreet boys. So that's probably why I've never heard of you guys. I usually like all music, I'm just not so much into boy bands and rap… rap is horribly pointless in my opinion, unless it means something, then it's okay."

"Have you heard our music?" the silver haired guy asked, an anime vein nearly popping out of his head.

"Nope, like I said before I've never heard of you. I mean, I guess I can listen to it sometime, but till then, Hi, I'm Tsukino Elidi, nice to meet you," she added with a giant smile on her face extending her hand. Usagi stood shell shocked from the conversation that just happened. Of course, she finally recovered and smiled at the gesture her cousin put forward.

Everyone letting another sweat drop, gave in. Taiki gave in first with a bow. "Kou Taiki."

Yaten came next, but not giving the same respects as Taiki did. "Kou Yaten."

Seiya stood still reluctantly, not wanting to budge. Taiki elbowed him in the ribs, making him let out a sound 'Oumph' of air. Finally, he caved, but not all too happily. "Kou Seiya…."

"Nice to meet all of you!" Elidi stated smiling brightly. "Oh, Usagi-chan! What about Makoto's basket?" Elidi remembered once again frantically.

Looking at her watch, she happily saw their conversations had wasted plenty of time. "Oh right, we can't keep her waiting can we? Guys? Do you want to come too? If you aren't too busy that is. I'm sure everyone would love to see you."

"Our schedule is free today, I don't see why not Udango," Seiya smiled at his female companion.

Elidi made a face at the nickname. "Why does everyone call her that? Seriously, I don't get it," Elidi asked exasperated.

Taiki rubbed his forehead at the uncanny resemblance between the girls. "Oblivious like her too. This is going to be interesting."

(A/N) Hey guys sorry for the late update. Had to get a new battery and charger for my computer. I know It might seem like I'm rushing into the starlights with them being in chapter two, but this gives everyone more time to get to know each other and I don't have to do the mary sue thing of making everyone love her all in one chapter. Cookies go to my awesome reviewers, and for all of my lovely readers out there, if you want to get a message every time I update so you know right away, add me to your alert list.

Thank you again sangoscourage for all of your help, it definitely helped me write this chapter a lot faster Thank you also to Morgan, my awesome friend and fellow reviewer (she has some awesome stories too if you want to check them out)

And Well, tell me what you think! I'm always up for constructive criticism so I can become a better writer. I love feed back. You love it? You hate it? Want to see it burn to the ground? Let me know! More coming soon.