Usagi, after Rei's proclamation, sat down in her seat again. She bit her lip nervously, wiggling herself into her boyfriend's side, trying to hide from the miko's ire.
Hotaru nodded her head in agreement with the temperamental miko. She looked away from the braided man and, with silent permission from Minako, hid behind the blonde so that she could gather her nerves and set them straight. She had no reason to be acting like a little girl, scared and frightened of the braided man. All he had done so far was scare the hell out of her by appearing out of nowhere and stealing her first kiss. She snorted. Yeah, she had no reason to be scared of a pervert. The worst thing about all this was that he was just grinning at her and kept giving her some perverted or creepy remarks. Some of them were, she frowned, oddly familiar. It sounded more and more like something Haruka-papa would say but she didn't think Haruka-papa had said anything remotely like that to Michiru-mama. Ok, maybe she had, Hotaru rolled her eyes. She peeked around blonde strands. He was still grinning in her direction. She snapped back into her hiding place.
Minako covered her mouth and giggled. Hotaru was just too cute. She was actually hiding from the Duo guy. Of course, she closed one eye and looked in the guy's direction; the whole grinning lecherously was pretty scary after a while. She glanced in Makoto's direction, seeing the brunette just staring down at the floor with a thoughtful frown on her pretty face. Minako stared at her friend in puzzlement. Makoto was unusually silent. But then again, Minako glanced skeptically at the man with cool blue eyes, she had just found out she had a possible relation from way back in the Silver Millennium. This could be a good thing for Makoto or bad thing, depending on how she wanted to go about this. Makoto had been on her own since her parents died in the plane crash when she was eight years old. She had lived with her grandma up until she died, but some of that was fraught with fighting that Makoto often regretted. She had been old enough to live on her own then, but she knew the taller girl was often lonely. They had plans to move into together and were going to set that in motion once this little trip was finished. But a new brother? This could change a lot for Makoto in the long run.
Minako's gaze landed on Ami who sat with her legs crossed, waiting patiently as if she was just getting an annual checkup. Ami was no doubt calculating the possibilities of her own relation to the blonde man or coming up with possible reasons he could be lying about it. Minako's gaze flickered between the two Mercurians. The only thing they had in common was the blue eyes. Other than that nothing else gave any indication that they were siblings. With Makoto, they had the brown hair and the tough looking exteriors. But then, she thought again, quiet and gentle looks were also the things the blonde and blunette had in common. Minako sighed, running a hand through her hair more for comfort than anything else. She would just have to wait and see when someone finally came out and explained a few things.
Rei was tapping her foot impatiently, arms crossed over her chest and glaring at the men. Why did it have to be men? Why? She was clearly irritated with this new development. She could have lived with the babies. At least that would have been one man that would have been decent in this world. She inhaled slowly, trying to calm her stressed nerves. Too much. Once again. It was all too much to take in.
"Stupid men, stupid destiny, stupid fate." Rei grumbled, not caring if anyone in the room heard her. They just had to keep messing with her life. Wasn't it enough she had to live with meatball head? Rei mentally scolded herself, at once contrite after having the thought. She loved the princess and all her friends. It wasn't their fault that the man with the cold blue eyes had accosted her. No, they had been in the same predicament with the other various men in the room. Kami knew she needed someone to blame right now. She glared at the men, standing there and seemed to be waiting for something. What she didn't know or care right now. She was blaming them. Her eye twitched. Every last one of them.
Heero watched both the women whom were very important to him, his gaze going from the raven haired girl to the tall brunette. Makoto, his sister, seemed so torn. She would was hugging her torso, glancing up at him and then back down again. Her gaze would stray to Quatre now and again, but that was even rarer then when she directed her gaze on him. Heero watched her expressive eyes. It was like she was on the verge of happiness and yet indecisive and scared the next. He frowned. What had happened to Makoto in this life and every other life time they had been apart? Were the girls really that different? His gaze switched to Rei, who constantly glared at him and the others as if they were a thorn in her side, the bane of her existence. His scowl got deeper. Rei might have always had a temper, was full of fire and untamed emotion. He had never seen her this way though. The heat of her eyes was burning with what looked like pure hatred. She was acting different as well. What was going on? What had Queen Serenity put them through? Heero did not turn to his fellow soldiers, but returned his gaze to Makoto, whom was finally coming out whatever deep huddle she had put herself in.
Makoto shook her head before lifting her chin determinedly. Her deep green eyes were set on the man, Heero, who was watching her. She let her eyes travel over him, trying to assess whether or not the man's word of them being siblings was true or not. She really didn't know what she thought of this new development. He claimed to be the Prince of Jupiter, which made him her brother. Or could it?
"Wait a second," She shook her head and waved her hands as if to still everything, "you're my brother?" Heero, stunned by the question, blinked and slowly nodded, "Ok," Makoto held her hands up to show she was satisfied, "just checking."
"Why?" Duo chuckled, glad to see his usually stoic friend at a loss. Though, he was curious too. Makoto looked like she had believed Heero was her brother until that last second.
"He just said he was a prince," Makoto pointed out, "not that he was a brother. He could have been married to me or something and been sleeping around with, Rei." Earning a few coughs in the room and giggles from the girls, "Hey, many royals in the past have done it." She shrugged helplessly, smirking at Rei whom shook her head, fighting a smirk.
"Understandable," Quatre allowed gently, his eyes traveling over the tallest girl's form. Makoto narrowed her gaze on the man, unsure how she felt about his roaming eyes. She had thought he would fidget, divert his gaze and blush. Instead, he just lifted his chin and met her gaze, which she was surprised at…but felt this deep warmth begin to bud in her chest. She quickly dismissed the perverted man and turned her attention back to the man before her. Quatre wasn't finished, "but none of us were like that." Silence, sort of awkward, followed. The image of indecent Kings and Queens floating amongst them all.
"So why are you showing up now?" Makoto asked calmly, dispelling the last though and thinking over the fact that she had a brother.
"Makoto," Ami stood, unsure if she should intervene and stop a possibly dramatic moment. Makoto shook her head, stilling the blue haired girl in her place.
"No, Ames," She gave the shorter girl a determinedly pointed look. Ami sighed, her soft icy blue eyes softening on the tall girl. Makoto had been pretty much alone most of her life. Now, knowing she had a brother must be somewhat hard on her. Minako, Ami saw, was frowning worriedly, hands somewhat in a sort of reach toward the taller girl. But then the blonde quickly clutched her stomach instead. Minako was probably feeling what Makoto's emotions were and was wondering where the brunette might swayed.
Ami sighed soundlessly; her own thoughts churned as she turned to the blonde man that was watching her brunette friend with a look, Ami tilted her head sideways curiously, that she couldn't define. His face was especially soft and tender, eyes darkening with something she had never quite seen.
"If you are wondering," Ami was somewhat startled when he suddenly spoke, glancing in her direction, meeting and holding her gaze, "yes, I am you're brother."
"Then I would have to agree with Makoto." Ami responded, falling back into a business tone, squaring her shoulders as if she were leading a boardroom meeting, "Why are you suddenly here and how come I don't remember you?"
"You see," Duo began with a laborious sigh, plopping down on the couch by Mamoru, "when Queen Serenity sent the people on the moon to be reborn we," He motioned to him and the guys, "were sent to another dimension."
"Another dimension?" Luna raised both brows incredulously. She had wondered where the boys had come from if they had never been raised in the same time and place as Usagi and the girls. Even if some of them had never really been reborn as siblings, the memories would have resurfaced and so the bond would have been there. Overtime as they group grew more into their powers there would have been a subtle shift. The girls would have been able to harness their powers without the pens and the blood would have righted itself to resemble that of siblings. The boys, with the aid of Serenity once they had died, were closer to their past selves mentally. The girls were closer to their past selves in power. An influx of mixed paths if there ever had been one.
"Yes," Trowa answered, "we were sent to the dimension we like to call the Gundam Wing/AC because there the galaxy was fighting using giant robots they like to call Gundams."
"We were the pilots of these Gundams." Quatre interjected softly, "Each of us trained to kill and fight for our lives since we were very young."
"How bad are we talking?" Hotaru asked, sharing a look with the others. Giant robots sounded suspicious, but then they were all alien power wielding girls. They couldn't possibly judge the story until they had heard it all.
All the boys looked at each other, as if willing or commanding an answer amongst themselves. They didn't want to reveal the life they had lived. They, the boys, didn't want to recount the hours, the suffering of Hell Camp. Nor did they want to discuss their personal lives all at once.
'We'll tell them the general part of the story.' Quatre sent out to his fellow soldiers. He waited until each of the others had nodded in agreement of the decision before he started off on the general outline of their times in war.
"One of the major wars started while we were in the process of building space colonies, artificial habitats that were strategically placed in gravitationally possible areas. After the war Middle Eastern companies stepped up to help with the further progression of building these colonies and, in the process, began mining asteroids," Quatre looked around the room pensively, hands clasped in front of him. Now, he looked like the head of some corporate company, "where a Gundanium alloy was founded. Scientist studied the material and found that it was a highly strong metal, technologically advanced designed were made to use this."
"Those Gudnams you were all trained to pilot?" Ami interjected curiously, sitting back down as she listened to the blonde boy eagerly. Her brain soaking up the information like a sponge, her blue eyes alight with the spark of intellectual wonder. Quatre nodded at her inquiry and then Dup took up the rest of the explanation.
Duo was apt in describing the ensuing wars, the top scientist and their plans for five of the ultimate Gundams for each colony. They all were commissioned or picked out to pilot these Gundams, all enduring many hours of simulation, survival and Hell Camp. The braided Prince of Pluto left nothing about their training out. He grinned through it all and the girls knew, without doubt, that this was his way of detaching himself from the memories. His smile was huge across that boyishly handsome face. If the girls hadn't already been pros at acting as if things didn't bother them they might have missed the small details. His smile looked easy and inviting, but the ends were stiff from force. His eyes crinkled, almost closed. Someone would have thought he was just overly happy and his face twisted that way, but strain was there and he really was closing his eyes to hide the negative emotions he would not want the casual observer to see.
The tale, though, the story and the things that the girls could tell was left unsaid, hit home. Sure, none of the girls had ever been trained from childhood to kill a man. Never had either of them ever thought of jumping in Giant Robot and unleashing rays of fire on populations. No, they didn't have the same life as the boys had. But the heartache, the duty to carry out and that responsibility on shoulders so young. Oh, that they got. They might have fought different wars, but sacrifices were there. And the girls could more than emphasize. They fucking got it.
Most of the boys took some turn in telling the tale, regaling the girls with their own version of how things went down. None of the previous story tellers showed it, but the girls somehow knew that each boy carried on when they knew the story would grow too close to home or too much for the previous speaker.
The story was filled with so much anguish, sadness and hopelessness. Hints of happiness or peace barely peeking through the darkness that had made up most of the boys' lives.
Minako was smothered by the emotions of sadness and anger. The boys never showed their emotions in regards to the telling of the story, but she could feel it. Her body was like a filter that sucked in those emotions. She didn't know if she was doing it purposefully or out of instinct, but they certainly had needed to lighten their emotional load.
Hotaru was much like those boys. She listened with silent purpose. Since she was young, she had been strained and pulled to her very ends. She found herself enthralled to hear that there were others that had suffered from a young age. They were chosen to be pilots. She was chosen to house a demon. Many of them at conflict or odds with others because they were pilots. She was the Senshi of Destruction. Despite herself, Hotaru found herself warming towards the men slightly. Yes, they were still strangers and had not earned her trust. But in them she felt she could add them as fellow soldiers and compatriots. Maybe with time.
Makoto had to bite back her whimpers, feeling as if she was in their shoes. She had lost so much in life that their story made her want to reach out to them. No, she wasn't totally swayed to believe they were lovers from the past or siblings, but it was hard to not feel some sort of sadness. They had attempted to die, on purpose. What life had they lived where they had been compelled to end it? Oh, she knew what life. She was hearing about it now.
Ami listened; somewhat horrified by the graphic imagery they set of their actions. She was even more scandalized by the very people that had set these boys life on the path they had lived. Scientist? Weren't there laws to not endanger the lives of children or humans in science? Ami shook her head. She knew that some military personnel over stepped the bounds of decency, especially in the pursuit of warfare.
Rei was silent as well. Her arms were crossed over her chest, still maintaining her usual irate stance. Her head was bowed, her bangs covering her eyes and the upper part of her face. Her violet orbs were narrowed as she stared aimlessly at the floor. The boys words painting a sad picture. One she found herself highly uncomfortable with. In that moment she forgot last night. She forgot her anger, the possible past and what would happen after they had finished their tale. For now, she was human. She felt and hurt for another human being that had lived through a hell of its own.
Usagi hugged Mamoru, unable to believe the horrible life that these men, her friends, had endured. She looked up at the somber Prince of Earth, catching his gaze. Mamoru could only shake his head. He and Usagi could do nothing about the past. They could only help the boys with the future, letting them heal from the lifetime they had lived and helping them find their happy ending. Artemis and Luna shared looks, the black cat leaning into the white one. How had Serenity let things get this way?
"Then we all died." Heero finished bluntly, "Saving the newfound peace and we suddenly remember you all." His gaze sweeping across the room, "Remember our old life, our friends and our family." His gaze landed on Makoto, his harsh features softening as he gazed at her. Makoto smiled timidly in return.
"We understand, and have been told, that you do not remember us," Quatre went on, "and we understand. We don't expect you all to remember off the bat and welcome us with open arms and such but we," He gave each girl and imploring look. He needed them to understand. "would like to be a part of your lives once more." Usagi whimpered, hand quickly covering her own mouth to silence herself. She hoped the girls could give in that easily. But like the guys, the girls had seen and endured so much on their own. It would take time.
"Thank you," Minako stood, the first to talk in such a long time after Quatre's words, "I, personally," She gave them sad smiles, "don't know how I feel. I can't just…"Her words trailed off. What did she say? That she didn't feel like she could just do that? Strangers. They were still strangers to her and everyone she had met from the past had either been evil or was connected to the bad guys. She didn't trust them. Not yet. Not with the safety of her friends and princess. Usagi trusted them. Minako mentally shook her head. She felt for these guys, really felt for them from the life they had come from. But any more than her sympathy? She couldn't just do that.
"We understand." Trowa answered, knowing exactly what was going on in her head. He mentally scoffed at himself bitterly. He had nearly let himself hope that Minako could accept everything so easily. He should have known better. Course, he had a lot of hope riding on this. He had thought the general story would sway the girls, but now knew better. He and the others should have listened to Luna more. The girls had lived through their own trials. If the roles were reversed…he didn't think he and the others would have been as accepting as the girls had been thus far.
"I have to agree." Rei stated coolly, pulling herself away from the tender emotions she had been feeling for the men. She could be kind as a human being, but when it involved her life, the safety of her friends and royal leaders, she couldn't be as soft. The raven haired girl's eyes were cold as she gazed at the group of men, "I don't trust you. I don't know you. The past me had, but I am me now." She shook her head, softening towards the end, "I can't." She breathed out tiredly, turning and walking out of the living room briskly.
"Sorry," Makoto muttered, "she just needs time. You're not the only past faces we've encountered." Makoto explained with a sad smile, "We need time." She stated, looked away as she hugged herself. Her gaze averted from the boys as she retreated back into her thoughts.
"It's fine." Heero bit out gruffly. The emotional sting of the rejection of old lover and sister hard on him. But what did he expect? Things, many things, had happened from then to now. He didn't know what had been happening in their lives to know who they were anymore. He was a stranger to them as much as they were now a stranger to him.
"What about you, firefly?' Duo put Hotaru on the spot. Hotaru fidgeted, gaze on the carpet.
"I don't know." She whispered before turning away and heading down the hallway, the sound of a door way signaling that she had escaped into her room. Duo stared after her before closing his eyes from the pain that washed over him at her dismissal. Luna was right. Things were different.
"I have no recollection or memory of you," Ami announced, her tone open and honest, "but I would like to ask why you kissed us?" Ami stared at them openly, waiting. Her gaze, subconsciously, went to the Chinese man.
"We were lovers." Wufei answered her softly, staring into those chilly blue eyes. Ami blinked, surprise written clearly on her features.
"How original." Minako muttered brusquely, feeling trepidation. Ace, Kunzite and who now? Her eyes landed on the man with the green eyes. Trowa. She closed her eyes and sighed. She didn't have the best luck with past lovers of any sort. Trowa watched her and felt the constricting feeling of his heart breaking. She was afraid of love all over again; he could see it in the way her eyes clouded over.
"Lovers?" Makoto sighed, playing with strands of her hair as she returned her attention back to the group of men. Her bottom lip stuck between her teeth as she eyed them with disquiet.
"Wait till Rei hears this." Ami muttered, finally voicing part of why the girls were growing uneasy.
"Why do you say that?" Heero snapped. He hadn't meant to. His deep voice sounding sharp in the silence of the room.
"Cause," Minako smiled sadly, knowing that the explanation wouldn't entirely cover all of Rei's feelings on the subject, but it was apt enough to give the boys a clue, "she hates men." If they were curious, they would have to ask Rei themselves.
"Great." Heero growled. Duo chuckled, though it was humorless.
"Hell camp will be nothing compared to this." Wufei groused as Ami turned away from him and followed after the Senshi of Mars.