What Becomes Of Us
Chapter 8
Tokyo, Japan - Juban District – Outers residence
The next day after Darien's surprising announcement about his engagement found Rini sitting on Hotaru's windowsill. It was 6 am but she couldn't sleep anymore, memories of the past haunted her like a caged bird. The minute her eyes close, an image of a tearful Serena on her bed would bounce before her eyes. Tears rolled down her face as she thought of the things she had put her mother through. not to mention that when they returned from the Cherry Hill Temple last night, Hotaru had ignored her totally and it hurt her so much. She suspected the reason why Hotaru was being cold to her but she silently wished that Hotaru would have no idea about what really happened. She looked up at the moon, the moon that used to fill her with a sense of peace now glared back at her with cold disdain. She knew the silver crystal had deserted her, as she had deserted poor Serena for her own selfish reasons.
"I'm so sorry. What a fool I was!" she cried.
"We were all fools." Hotaru said from besides her and she jumped nearly out of her skin.
"Ho…otaru, don't scare me like that." her voice wavered and she watched Hotaru sit opposite of her. For a while they didn't speak. Hotaru staring at the moon with longing and Rini staring at her with longing.
"Hotaru?"
The short haired girl did not answer for a little while before she finally turned emotionless face to Rini.
"Rini, tell me what happened 8 years ago. I know you were not totally innocent of what happened and this time don't lie to me!" Hotaru demanded, all those time Rini had lied to her and those lies had caused her to betray her princess. After Rini disappeared, some comments Rei had careless said had made her suspect that Rini had played a part in Rei's little scheme to break Darien and Serena up and now she wanted answers.
"Hotaru please not now." Rini begged.
"No …tell me now. I think you owe me an explanation!" Hotaru was unrelenting.
"Yes, I will explain later." Rini said with a tired sigh.
"No Rini. You tell me now or never speak to me again do I make myself clear? I will not be lied to again." She shot back, her anger barely concealed. Rini then knew how serious Hotaru was, and after hearing Darien's news, she felt she had lost him completely and she didn't want to loose the only friend she had left.
"You're right. There is so much to tell but I don't even know where to begin."
"Did you approach Rei or did she approach you?" Rini looked up startled; she realized then that there was no way she could lie to Hotaru again.
"We both did." She said and the memories finally broke free of the wall she had constructed to keep it at bay.
Flashback
School ended and Rini headed to the crown arcade. Hotaru had been left at school because Setsuna, who had been their teacher at the time, had needed Hatoru's help so the two best friends parted ways. They had been given a very interesting assignment and she hoped to talk about it to her favorite person; Darien.
She arrived at the crown arcade to find Serena sitting in between Darien's legs with her head resting on his chest as his arm surrounded her waist. They seemed to be in some argument with Rei and Lita but the atmosphere was not hostile or anything. Seeing Darien and Serena's position, Rini had scowled with furious. She rushed to Darien and "accidentally" pushed Serena out of Darien's arms which ended in Serena slamming her jaw on the table in front of her and having a nose bleed.
"Oh I'm so sorry. I was just so happy to see Darien, I wasn't thinking." She filled her voice with remorse though a little part of her was sorry for what had happened to Serena. Darien as a medical practitioner immediately tilted Serena's head back to administer the jaw while keeping the blood from flowing. And Rini fretted about them and faked remorse though seeing Darien so attentive to Serena pushed any guilt she had felt. After Serena was taken care of and the blood wiped away, she returned to her previous position on Darien's chest and Rini had to sit opposite of them. She hid her disappointment behind a façade of worry.
"I am so sorry Serena." She had said so quietly, expecting the normal, "It's ok Rini, you didn't do it on purpose." But what she got was Serena's challenging gaze and a "Are you really?" The silence that followed was filled with tension as Rini battled to keep from screaming "No I'm not and I hope you die." But instead tears filled her eyes and as she had expected, Rei jumped in.
"Lighten up Serena, Rini hadn't done it on purpose!" inwardly she had smirked but on the outside the tears overflowed. But Serena did not reply to Rei's comment as her steady gaze pierced into Rini. Darien cleared his throat lightly and sort to change the subject.
"So Rini how was school?"
"Oh, it was good. We have a big assignment we have to do and I need your help!" she said as she started digging in her book bag, forgetting completely that she was supposed to look sorry.
"Oh? What kind of an assignment?" Amy had asked.
"Well it is a show and tell, or a talent completion. We are to display things and tell the audience about it or our special talents. Just about anything really and the winner gets a gift card to the mall, a ticket to spend all day in the amusement park, is voted class representative and will not have to take the coming up talent exam. The one who comes in second will get a ticket to spend half a day at the amusement park, and become vice class representative and the third person just gets to spend two hours at the amusement park and a helper of the class reps. if they should need a helper." Rini said as she pulled out the paper with the directions and handed it over to Darien who looked at it with Serena.
"It also says you need an adult supervision or to create something with the adult." Serena said out loud.
"So what do you want to do? Any ideas Rini?" Darien asked.
"No, I haven't been able to come up with anything!" she sighed.
"Well one thing, let me be your supervisor and I have tons of ideas we can do!" Serena offered, hoping that Rini would say yes. She really wanted to help her future daughter and she thought this would give them a chance to really talk and figure out why they don't get along so well.
"No thank you. I don't want a klutzes involve in this. What if on stage you trip and everything goes chaotic?!" Rini rejected coldly and the others snickered except for Serena who pouted to hide the hurt she felt.
"But I have a really good idea and I don't have to appear in your show. You can do it all by yourself." She tried again.
"No!" Rini flat out refused. "I was thinking to ask Darien."
"Sorry Rini, I won't be much help to you. I will be working none stop this coming two weeks and exams also start tomorrow so let Serena help you. She really has good ideas." Darien had said and Rini had looked down in her hands. She could never refused Darien but she didn't want Serena to work with her or Darien will only come see them work together only to be with Serena and not her. 'This sucks' she thoughts.
"I can help you Rini." Rei offered, insensitive to how the others were not offering because they wanted Rini to spend time with Serena.
"No, as her mother I should be the one helping!" Serena stood up to challenge Rei. She was upset Rei would but in like that.
"Obviously she doesn't want you in her project, how many times do you want to be told before it gets into your thick brain?" Rei shot back and Serena glared at her. Rini turned her eyes quickly to Rei and smiled broadly.
"Yes. You can help me since I want to sing." Rini said enthusiastically.
"I can still help you in that Rini." Serena attempted one more time but this time it earned her various looks of disbelief.
"You screech not sing." Rini retorted.
"I am a known singer, who better to help her than me. And your voice is annoying as it is. I don't want to cover my ears through Rini's presentation!" Rei also chimed in but Serena didn't faze at all.
"I can help you Rini. Just trust me." Serena had said again.
"No!" Rini said.
"You can help me if you don't mind." Hotaru walking besides Setsuna said as they approached their table.
"You want Serena to help you?" Rini asked in disbelief.
"Of course. I wanted to ask her but I thought you might be asking her but since you have chosen Rei, if Hime-sama doesn't mind I would be really happy if she helps me." Hotaru turned puppy dog eyes on Serena and she smiled.
"Of course Hotaru. I will help you to the best of my ability. Have you any ideas yet?" Serena asked and the two move to sit near the window and chat on several ideas. Rini was highly upset about this. 'First you take Darien and now you want Hotaru? I won't allow it!' she thought and plotted to beat Hotaru in the talent show so that she can blame the loss on Serena being a bad person for Hotaru to have picked.
And so the two weeks before the talent show was filled with activities, practice and so on. Rini and Rei showed off their progress while Serena and Hotaru mostly spent the time getting to really know each other, going on picnics and just plain having a blast. Rini watched them from the sidelines and growled at them because while Hotaru was having fun, Rei was pushing practice, practice, and more practice on her that she was very tired and bored. Because of this, she always tried to discourage Hotaru but even though seemed to be making no progress, Hotaru continued to trust Serena.
Halfway through the project when they were to present it to their teacher, Hotaru had nothing to show and though the others made fun of her, she treasured the time she spent with Serena because in that time they did a lot together and she felt more whole than had ever felt. Finally the day of the talent show arrived and that evening, families and children gathered for the presentations. The high school gym was where the show would be held and so that night they all gathered and the lights were dimmed and the show began. Hotaru had asked to go last so Rini was second to last. When it was finally her turn, she walked on stage in a shimmering pink summer dress and took the microphone with an air of confidence that bordered on arrogance.
"Hello everyone, my name is Rini Tsukino, I will be performing "Oh Starry night" by Rei Hino my supervisor. Please come on up." Rei marched up the dais in a beautiful Chinese red dress with a phoenix drawn on it. The two talked about their practice and the fun they had together. And they began. Rei started the song beautifully and Rini performed a dancing to it, imagining her true love coming to her as the song went on. The acting she had taken help from Mina who gloated in the audience. Then the second half she started singing, though not as good as Rei, it was the best voice so far. At the end, Amy used her compute to create an illusion of Rini's imaginary prince, coming to her and turning into a Pegasus and taking her into a paradise of gold. The performance was beautiful and the whole audience thundered applauses more for her than anyone who had gone before her. So confident that she had won, she wished Hotaru a good luck and snickered. Hotaru took the stage.
"Konnichiwa. My name is Hotaru and I had a very kind and beautiful sempai who allowed me to explore all that I am and can be and will be in other to find something to share with you. Please give a hand for my sempai!" Hotaru said and the applauses came in waves as Serena walked on the stage in a beautiful shimmering gown of white to stand by Hotaru. Their design was identical, a cut on the chest area and wounded around their necks. From under the breast it shimmered down unrestricted and the front had a parted soft cape like that seemed to blow backwards though there was no wind. The only difference was the color, while Serena's was white, Hotaru's was black, her should length hair had been altered so now her hair flew down in waves behind her back up to her ankle. Serena's normal hairstyle was also replaced and fixed like Hotaru's. A mass of golden halo flowing down her makes in thick curly waves with just an inch of space from touching the floor. Her lips so smoothly red that contrasted her beautiful alabaster skin and her eyes filled with light and laughter.
The two standing side by side captured the attention of their audience, Hotaru's stunning beauty sending kids into early puberty and Serena's radiant goddess appearance earning her fans and admirers and love sick men. Darien's eyes widened in disbelief as he watched her, his eyes trailing her up and down as if this was the first time seeing her. Even Rei and Rini were impressed with the duo.
"Good evening Ladies and gentlemen. Now we shall put our show on for you, I hope you enjoy it." Serena said and the lights were turned off and their show began. Their show was simple but splendid, while Hotaru told the story of the silver millennium, about a prince and princess destine to love for eternity but haunted by destruction, Serena sang a slow song called "My Only Love." Their two voices creating images of love and betrayal, destruction and creation, despair and hope, death and rebirth in the minds of their audience.
By the end of their performance the audience were stuck in awe and deep emotions for thirty minute before anyone could even say a word and then the applauses began. Tears flowed down the face of almost all of them, the love tragedy in that moment had made them realize how much for granted they took love and what they really wanted in life. Of course it was very easy to determine the winner after that and so Hotaru and Serena took home the trophy of best performance amidst applauses.
End of Flashback
"I was very jealous of you then Hotaru. And very angry at Serena, I felt she had chosen you over me though it had been me who choose Rei over her. I was angry, why would she hide such a talent from all of us and so from there on I became suspicious of her. You two grew close together and I was left at a distant. It was then I realized that Serena will always have someone by her side but I would have to struggle to keep people by my side. After your performance, Darien became even more in love with her. He didn't pay attention to me anymore and where he had never corrected me even when I do something wrong, he started to and also started to tell me how different I was from Serena though before he used to talk about how alike we were." Rini sighed here and turned back to the full moon and let the tears fall.
"I thought that Serena's sudden interest in you would fade and she would be back to wanting to do things with me but all that change when I found her dairy. Inside I read what she had to say about you." Rini stopped.
"What did the diary say?" Hotaru asked quietly while holding her breath. Rini buried her face in her raised legs and cried hard.
"She talked about how much she wished I was like you and that you were her daughter because she was the one who gave rebirth to you. She said that ever since you were reborn as a child she had wanted to be your mother, have you call her mom and play together but she feared that you didn't love her as such and that the outer scouts wouldn't even let you come live with her. She praised you so much and even said she was going to talk to Setsuna about having you live with her and me with the outers because I never listen to her and obviously I hated her and she couldn't handle the torment I put her through anymore." At this point the two girls were crying. Rini because she knew that Serena had been right and she had deliberately push Serena into one pain after another, and Hotaru because she now realized the chance she had lost to make her dreams come true.
"So what happened after that?" Hotaru asked.
"At some point in her dairy, I came to learn that I was already born though she didn't right down how I was already born. I went to Setsuna and asked her to take me home back into the future but she said that the door to the future was closed, as if it didn't really exist. Afterwards I started experiencing some dreams showing how I was born and raised by Serena and died or was locked in the silver crystal and though I didn't and still don't understand, one thing I knew with all my heart was that I was really born. I didn't fear not being born anymore and decided that if Serena was going to give me away to Setsuna, then I might as well torture her even more. So I met up with Rei who had a big crush on Darien. We had been sitting on her stairs and we both said "I need to speak to you about Serena" at the same time. We knew exactly what we wanted to talk about so we came up with the plot to turn everyone against Serena and to win Darien for ourselves. I was confident that once Serena was out of the way, I could easily take Darien away from Rei." Rini said, her face filled with so much pain.
"And so you lied to me. Started telling me that Serena said I had been a brat and said so many horrible things about me. you even made a copy identical of Serena's diary talking about how stupid I was and that she pitied me and that I would never be as good as you and so on." Hotaru said quietly and Rini hid her face more. "And I stupidly believed you, and started to hate Serena. Even when she asked me out to play and other things I would refuse her and distanced myself and one by one all the others bought into the lies you and Rei created until Serena had no one by her side."
"I am so sorry." Rini cried out and Hotaru roused to her feet and left the room. Rini just sat there and cried until she fell asleep when the sun finally took its place in the sky. Setsuna and the other outers who had listen to Rini's revelations each went off to their own place to think and to come into terms that they had betrayed their princess and perhaps had lost her for all eternity. Setsuna came and picked Rini up, putting her into bed and left her side to go and mourn on her own.
Ok...I know I have poured a lot of information on you but things will pick up soon...I hope
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And special thank you to my constant reviews...thanks to you I push myself to find time to keep writing^^
