Author's notes:

Here we are, chapter nine! Thank you for your support and your patience—it is tough to get chapters up weekly as I would like, but hopefully I make up for this somewhat with some lengthy content! Like always, make sure to check out the important notes from the Prologue if you haven't already. Enjoy!

Chapter Nine

It didn't seem to matter that she'd grown up, Usagi decided; Rini was still the brat she had always been.

The instant they raced through the front door of the Tsukino household, Usagi's parents had flocked to Rini and she had lapped up the attention without qualm, poking her tongue out smugly when Usagi's mother and father weren't looking, and giving them angelic, beaming smiles when they were.

"Look how you've grown!" Kenji said, as he examined her at arms length. "It's been quite some time since you've come to visit!"

Usagi's mother enveloped the young teenager in a warm hug, pressing her cheek into her hair with a smile. "You look so lovely, darling Rini," she said. She stepped back to look at her. "And tall for your age, my! It won't be long and you'll be taller than Usagi!"

Rini smirked at Usagi and Usagi scowled back at her, awaiting her taunt. "Oh, I've still got a bit more growing to do yet," she said innocently.

Ikuko scooped up Chibi Chibi from where she had been held tight at Usagi's side, as though she had never lost sight of her. "Come, you must tell us all about what you've been up to—"

"No time for that, Mama!" Usagi told her, snatching Rini's wrist and dragging her toward up stairs. "Rini and I have lots to catch up on!"

They passed Shingo, who grunted a hello to the duo from his spot sprawled across his bed, and Usagi pulled Rini up into her former bedroom. Once they were tucked away in the space of the attic, Usagi rounded on her. "Alright, Rini—the truth, now," she said sternly, folding her arms over her bust. "Tell me everything."

Rini let out a loud sigh and threw herself onto her old bed with a bounce. "Do I have to, I'm so tired…"

She didn't budge, instead simply raising her brows at the teen. "Rini…"

"Okay, okay," she grumbled. "Do I even get five minutes to settle in, jeez…"

Rini sat upright and scooted up to the headboard, looping her slender arms around her knees. Suddenly she looked far smaller—much more like the little girl Usagi recalled—and Usagi softened, making her way over to the bed. "Well, I guess you don't have to tell me right now—it is late…"

"No, it's okay," Rini said, her eye cast out the window toward the full moon. "There's so much to tell…"

Alongside her fire, the young girl had always been pensive and emotional, but Usagi couldn't help but feel concerned about the vulnerability that was suddenly weaved in to her persona. "Just start wherever you feel comfortable," she told her, folding herself up on the bed next to her.

She nodded, wriggling her feet beneath the covers. "After I returned home from the twentieth century, everything was fine—it was all just as I remembered," she started. "I went back to my normal life; back to being home-schooled, living in the palace, with my only friends being the scouts and Diana." She frowned, as though she had said too much, and Usagi instantly felt sad for her—she sounded lonely, even in her recollection of the future. "But things never felt right once I got back, and then one day, everything changed."

"What happened?" Usagi asked.

"Like I told you guys, I don't really know," she said honestly. "I started to have really bad dreams, and that's all they were at first—just dreams." She pulled her knees closer and rested her chin against them. "But then it started to happen when I was awake—everything around me became fuzzy, I could never tell if it were day or night, or where I was. Crystal Tokyo kept bending and changing into a place I didn't recognise, but no one could see it but me." She shook her head, the memory unpleasant to her. "It was like I was being thrown around and I couldn't control it. I don't know how long it went on for…it could have been minutes, it could have been years, for all I know."

"Oh, Rini," Usagi said, her chest clenched as she watched the young girl tell her wild tale, "that sounds awful."

"And there were new faces I'd never seen before, like—" She cut herself short, as though she were rethinking her words. "Like Chibi Chibi—she just suddenly appeared, and because she looks so much like me, I kind of thought…"

Usagi nodded, understanding completely. "That she was your sister?"

"Yeah," Rini said. She was quiet for a moment before she spoke again. "Seiya said she was the 'Light of Hope'—what does that mean?"

"Well," Usagi began, "our last enemy, Chaos, was the most powerful evil in our universe, and it had been around for a very long time. Many years ago, the strongest Sailor soldier locked Chaos within herself to stop its destruction, but as time went on, Chaos fought back, and eventually overcame her." She thought back to the glorious guardian with sunset locks, trapped within herself and consumed by the evil energy. "To make sure she had something left to defeat Chaos, she released her starseed—all the good energy and beautiful dreams we possess as beings—into the universe, and that energy appeared in the form of Chibi Chibi."

"Wow," Rini said, taking in the story. "So, she found you, and then…?"

Usagi smiled. "She found me, somehow convinced Mama that she was her own child," she gave Rini a sideward look, "and in the end, she disappeared. We assumed that once we defeated Chaos, Sailor Galaxia's starseed would be returned to her and she would be at peace…but now Chibi Chibi is here." She shook her head. "It's very strange…"

"No kidding," Rini agreed. "Especially because she looks so much like you…are you sure she's not your daughter? From the future, like me?"

Usagi shook her head. "Setsuna said she had no knowledge of her—that she didn't exist in Crystal Tokyo," she said.

"But can't Puu just go to the future and find out what's going on?" Rini asked. "If we're going to get me back to Crystal Tokyo, find out who Chibi Chibi really is, and sort out this mess, we're going to need her help."

"She can't, Rini," Usagi told her gently. "The night after our last battle, Setsuna was stripped of her time-travelling powers. She lives here now, with us."

Rini stared at her. "That's horrible," she murmured. "That's why she wasn't at the Space-Time door…"

"She's doing okay, considering," Usagi said. "But it means we've lost our window into the future."

Rini let out a shaky breath. "So now there's no way back," she whispered. "There's no way to know what happened, why everything was changing, or how we even got here…"

Usagi shifted to cross her legs beneath her, collecting the blankets and wrapping them around herself as she did so. "I'm sure we'll find a way to figure out what happened," she said softly. "So, you met Chibi Chibi, and then…?"

The girl furrowed her brow as she recalled their jumbled journey. "We were in the palace, and everything was falling apart—the crystal was crumbling and shattering all around us, and it was so dark," she trailed off, lacing her hand beneath the covers to rub at her legs subconsciously. "I took Chibi and we tried to run, but I got trapped and I…" She squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head, as though she were angry with herself. "Suddenly, Helios appeared and helped us escape—we were sucked into this burst of red light, and the next thing we know, we were on Kinmoku."

Usagi was listening to her intently, but her eye was trained on the movement of Rini's hands beneath the bedspread. She inched it down over her knees and saw the rainbow swell of a bruise blotted over the backs of her thighs, high enough that her skirt had hidden the injury. "Is it sore?" Usagi asked tightly as she ran her fingertips over its yellowed edges. "I'm sure Ami will take a look at it—she's good with that kind of thing—"

"It's okay," Rini said. She caught her eye. "I'm okay, Usagi."

Usagi bit her lip and nodded, pulling the covers back up. "When you arrived on Kinmoku, you met the Starlights and Princess Kakyuu, and decided not to tell them your true identity, right?"

"Yeah," Rini confirmed. "Helios warned me against telling them who I really was…we weren't sure whether we could trust them." She shrugged. "Though I suppose I could tell them the truth now."

Usagi's stomach twisted uncomfortably at the thought of explaining everything to Seiya. "I don't think that's the best idea," she said.

"Why not?" Rini asked sharply. "Don't you trust them?"

"With my life," Usagi replied automatically. She hesitated before she added: "There's just a lot they don't know, and I need to be ready to explain it all to them properly."

Rini's crimson eyes studied her closely. "Okay," she said finally. She let out a sigh. "I guess I'm going to have to enrol in junior high now, given that I don't really look like I'm a kidanymore." She glanced down at her own body and shook her head. "I just don't understand why I look this way…"

Usagi looked over her dainty figure, her striking facial features, her unruly, thick hair, and wondered the very same thing. "Neither do I, Rini," she said. "I guess, with everything that happened in Crystal Tokyo, you came back to the twentieth century from a later future." She shrugged, uncertain of her own deduction. "One you don't know or even remember."

"I guess so," Rini said. "I mean, I'm not really complaining—I always wanted to be older—it's just…" She chewed at her lip. "Something feels weird. Different, you know?"

"It's a lot to get used to," Usagi said, and then grinned. "Suddenly being almost as pretty as your mother…"

"Almost?" Rini tutted, rolling her eyes. "I'm way prettier than you, Usa—besides, it probably all comes from Mamo's side anyway." She tossed her hair over her shoulder, poking out her tongue, and Usagi glared at her in response. "He wasn't with you guys at the shrine today—will we go visit him tomorrow?"

Usagi looked away. She hadn't thought about Mamoru for one single second since their visitors had arrived, and suddenly contacting him felt immensely daunting. "Mamo's not in Tokyo at the moment," she said after a moment. "He's away in American, studying at college."

Rini's eyes widened. "Oh," she said, and then frowned. "So, he's not here to protect you, as Tuxedo Mask?"

Protect her. The words echoed in her mind, a request that had been spiked with a hint of warning. "I don't need protecting," she retorted quickly. "I can look after myself!"

"Oh, come on, Usagi," Rini scoffed. "You're always getting yourself into trouble!"

"I did just fine the last time he was away," Usagi argued.

Rini tilted her head. "The last time he was away?" She asked, and then thought about it for a moment. "Was that when you met the Starlights?"

"Yes," Usagi said, surprised. "How did you know that?"

Something crossed Rini's features, too fast to process. "Just a hunch," she said. She scooted down the mattress, shuffling further beneath the covers. "Well, maybe when you call Mamo to tell him I'm here, I can speak to him then."

"Sure," Usagi said, giving her a half-smile. There was a creak on the stairwell, and Chibi Chibi's tired eyes peeked up from the ledge. "You can come in, Chibi Chibi, it's okay!"

The toddler raced over, stretching out her tiny arms, and Usagi scooped her up and placed her onto her lap amongst the mess of sheets that had wound around them. She brushed her hand over the child's hair absently as she settled in against her chest, and when she looked up again, Rini was staring at her intently. "What?"

Rini blinked, shaking her head. "Nothing," she said.

"Tell me," Usagi demanded.

"It's nothing!" Rini cried defensively. Chibi Chibi murmured softly as she began to fall asleep, disrupted by the volume of Rini's voice. Rini ducked her head. "You just seem…different, with Chibi."

Usagi frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

"I dunno," Rini said, shrugging. She eyed Usagi's hand as her nails traced lightly over Chibi Chibi's head. "Like that," she nodded toward the action, and Usagi immediately stopped. "Picking her up, holding her…that kind of stuff."

"She's just a little girl," Usagi said, confused. "She needs help with those kind of things."

Rini knitted the bedspread between her fingers, avoiding Usagi's eye. "Well, maybe I did, too," she murmured.

Usagi stared at her. "Are you…jealous?"

"No! Ugh, Usagi, you're so stupid," she growled. "Of course you would think I was jealous…"

"Well, if it's not that, what is it, then?" Usagi said, ignoring the sting of Rini's words, just like she did everyone else's.

"It just seems so natural with Chibi, and you don't even know who she is," Rini said. "You knew exactly who I was, and all we ever did was fight."

Usagi narrowed her eyes. "That still sounds like jealously to me, Rini—"

"Whatever!" She huffed, falling back into the pillows. There was a moment where they both teemed with frustration, like old times, before Rini softly spoke. "It's just that you were never like that…with me."

Usagi was quiet a moment, uncertain of quite what to say. She quickly decided on the truth. "That's because I never felt that way with you before, Rini."

Rini snapped her gaze to her. "Well that doesn't make me feel any better now, does it—"

"But," Usagi continued, "I could always feel that you were my own, and that I had to look after you—no matter how annoying you were."

Rini chewed her lip. "Really?"

Usagi nodded. "When I met Chibi Chibi, I kind of felt the same way," she said, curling the sleeping little one closer. "But I was a little older, and there was a part of me that knew she needed taking care of, in more ways than one." She looked up at Rini. "So that's what I did."

She could have sworn she saw Rini's eyes go glassy, but she looked away instead. "Aw, Usagi's all grown up," she teased.

"Oh, shut it," she scowled in reply.

They sat for a moment in the quiet of the attic, surrounded by all the small things Rini had left behind: the china trinkets, her oversized backpack, her tiny school shoes. It was an eerie, dusty footprint in time that had gone unmoved; a place that held perhaps the most unwavering memory of the young girl beside her. Usagi tentatively reached over to neaten the thick bundle of Rini's pigtail, splayed across the linen. "If that's what you need from me, right now," she said, "then that's what I will do."

Rini's beautifully winged eyes—once far rounder, like her own—looked back at her. "Thank you," she said. "But I think what I need right now is just a friend."

"Well, that I can do," Usagi replied with a smile, and rose up off the bed, Chibi Chibi a heavy weight in her arms. "And as your friend, I'm telling you that you need to get a good night's rest."

Rini quirked a brow at her. "Shouldn't friends suggest staying up all night, watching movies and eating midnight snacks?"

"Nice try," Usagi said, tugging on the blanket with her free hand to cover the adolescent up. She gave her a wink. "But maybe tomorrow night."

Rini giggled, settling into the bed comfortably. "Okay."

The sound of her laugh, and the sight of her wound up warm and safe, brought Usagi more happiness than she could put into words. She headed for the stairs, content to leave her on her own for the night. "Goodnight, Rini."

"Hey, Usagi?"

She stopped, peering back to look at her. "Yeah?"

Rini rolled onto her side. "I'm sorry I called you stupid," she said quietly. "I don't think you are—not at all."

"That's okay," Usagi replied with a smile, and then winked at her. "I know you're just jealous!"

Rini didn't take the bait; she simply laughed. "Sure," she said. "Goodnight, Usagi."

Seiya yawned and stretched his limbs out long as he settled back into the soft sheets, letting his worn body finally rest. He drew in a deep breath and let it out with a contented sigh, and from behind his closed eyes he saw the silhouette of a captivating moon princess, waiting for him to succumb to sleep. He had to bite back the smile that broke across his lips as he thought of her—warm and electric in his arms, looking back at him with those round cerulean eyes and the tinge of a blush on her cheekbones.

A blush you put there.

It was surreal, and suddenly everything from their time together was playing out at the forefront of his mind: everything they had done, everything he had said; the softness of her cheek beneath his lips, the way her face would flush at his flirtatious words.

The way she'd never said no, I don't love you, too; no, I don't feel it, too.

The deluge of memories was quickly warping his ability to think clearly and blissfully tarnishing his choices, and he couldn't help but wonder: what would it take, Odango?

"Oi, Seiya," Yaten's voice rang through the sliding door, "are you decent?"

"Depends how you define 'decent'," Seiya replied lightly. Yaten let herself in nonetheless. "You know the novelty of sleepovers kind of wore off when we were kids, Yaten."

She let out a growl. "We need to talk," she said. "Consider this an impromptu senshi meeting." She stuck her neck back out the door. "Psst, Taiki! Get in here!"

"Would you shut up," Seiya hissed at her as she strode over to the mattress and plopped down onto it, shoving his legs out of the way. "You're going to wake up the whole shrine…"

Taiki appeared in the doorway and pulled the slider closed. "What is it?"

"Sleepover," Seiya said, tucking his hands behind his head. "Thinly masked as an impromptu senshi meeting."

Yaten ignored him, her eye instead on Taiki, assessing the tall guardian's appearance carefully. "So you're taking that form now, are you?"

"Yaten, so help me, if you start—"

"It's fine, Seiya," Taiki said as he took a seat on the edge of the bed. He looked at Yaten coolly. "I take this form often when we're home on Kinmoku—you just chose not to notice."

She looked away, her vibrant eyes moody. "We need to decide what we're going to do about the Three Lights," she said. "Especially if the two of you are planning on walking around in male form—you're going to get recognised, sooner or later."

"So?" Seiya shrugged. "Does it matter if we're recognised?"

"Well that depends," Yaten replied. "Do you really want this entire trip to be spent dodging crazed fans and signing albums?"

Seiya cocked a brow at her. "This 'entire trip'?" He parroted. "I thought you wanted spend as little time here as possible and get back to Kinmoku."

"I never said that," Yaten said. She let out a frustrated breath and shook her head. "Once we know for sure whether or not the Sol senshi need us to stay, we can make a decision, but for now, we need a game-plan."

Taiki folded his arms over his chest. "If we are to stay for a prolonged period, I see no reason why we couldn't complete our final year of schooling here on Earth."

"School?" Yaten groaned.

Seiya said nothing. While the thought of completing schoolwork was tedious, he knew it only meant more time with Usagi—and he would take whatever he could get, just to be with her.

Taiki nodded. "The additional knowledge can only help to better us as soldiers of our own planet," he said.

"Then we definitely need to decide whether we're going to reform the Three Lights," Yaten said. She shifted uncomfortably, avoiding both of their gazes. "You know…we wouldn't have to, if the two of you just remained female while we're here."

Seiya stared at her, feeling anger coil in the pit of his stomach—she knew better than to ask that of them. "I'm sorry, Yaten," he said, narrowly keeping his temper under control. "But I won't agree to that."

"Why not? What difference does it make, Seiya?" She burst. "You can be whoever you want on your own time—"

"This is my own time—just like it is yours," Seiya said. He shook his head, genuinely concerned for the senshi. "What are you so afraid of, Yaten?

He watched her jawline clench as she stared at the doorway. "I'm not afraid of anything," she lied. She shifted her eye to Taiki. "And what about you, Taiki? What do you think?"

Taiki looked like he was choosing his words with the utmost care as he stared back at her. "I would like the opportunity to be myself," he said finally. "If that means being recognised as a member of the Three Lights, so be it."

"That doesn't mean you have to, though," Seiya told her. "It's your choice."

She tipped her head back against the wall, closing her eyes. Her mood simmered between them thickly, and Seiya shrugged at Taiki, at a loss for how to settle her.

Taiki finally moved to join them on the bed, sitting on the edge. "I think perhaps there was more to Kakyuu's decision to send us to Earth than meets the eye; a hidden agenda, if you will," he said slowly. "I think she wants us to use this opportunity to its full potential."

Seiya nodded. "I think so, too."

"Music forms such a large part of who we are, together, and apart," Taiki continued. "It is a gift, much like the one you are grappling with now, Yaten."

Yaten let out a long sigh, her eyes still closed and her arms folded defiantly under her bust. Taiki touched her lightly on the arm. "You and I may struggle more than Seiya, but it's time to accept it, wholly, as a part of who we are."

Seiya sat forward, wrapping his arms around his knees, and grinned. "And if that means we've got to reform our super successful boy band, then I guess that's just what we'll have to do."

He had her—the smallest smile twitched on her lips and she cracked her eyes open. "I do kind of miss playing bass," she said. "And our cool apartment."

"We can probably arrange to get our apartment back," Seiya said. He smirked at her. "But we probably should find you something else to play—you never were very good on bass."

She scowled at him, her storminess replaced by her fiery attitude at lightning speed. "At least I was good at playing something, unlike someone who spent all of their time chasing around a certain blonde girl—"

"Oh, I was the one chasing a certain blonde girl, huh?" Seiya taunted, glad that his teasing had her back to her regular, egotistical self. "Because that's not what I remember—"

"I'll have you know that I was avoiding Minako, not chasing her," Yaten quipped, her cheeks pink.

Seiya grinned. "Who ever said anything about Minako?"

Yaten's face went from pink to deep crimson and she sprung off the bed in a huff. "You're such a jerk!" She said and marched out the door, mumbling as she went. "Don't know why I ever agree to anythingyou say…"

Seiya chuckled and shook his head as she disappeared. "That's more like it."

"We need to keep an eye on her," Taiki said seriously. "She may have said that she will join us as part of the Three Lights, but we need to support whatever choices she makes in order to feel comfortable."

Seiya nodded. "You're right," he agreed. "If only she would see that what we can do is a gift, then maybe—"

"Seiya," Taiki cautioned, "that may be your conclusion, but you have to respect that it may not be Yaten's."

He understood; of course he did—it was only that he wished he could share with them both the freedom that stemmed from letting yourself just be, no matter what that meant.

But maybe that's what you're missing, Seiya, something told him gently, maybe this is her, just being.

All over again, Usagi was enduring this dream.

She was poised at the moon's rounded edge, standing in the crumbling crater that marred its surface like a puckered scar. The granite dust of a fallen empire floated all around her, shimmering as it hung in suspense, torn from the ruins to which it belonged. All over again, the silence was like a crippling pressure in her ears, and the azure glow of Earth teased her in the starred sky. She scrunched her fingers at her sides until it hurt. "I am not."

As it always did, the pearly ground broke open beneath her feet, and sharp crystal grew high into the eternal night. Fresh air returned, the sun's rays hot once again on her skin, and the blackness gave way to vivid blue sky. She could hear, and she could breath, yet she felt smothered and deafened in this perfect world. "I am not."

She stared to the tower above, where the crystal shone gloriously, but no silhouettes greeted her this time. No Rini, no Mamoru—just cold crystal, like shiny one-way glass. She curled up onto the grass, plucking a blade from the ground and running it through her fingers. When she turned onto her back to gaze at the clouds, her tears blurred her vision and she sobbed, the sound loud to her own ears. "I am not," she whispered.

"That's right, Odango," a voice whispered back, "you're not."

Suddenly she was pinioned by him, shielded from this flawless world as he hovered above her. He looked down at her with a cheeky smirk, his cobalt eyes grazing over her and his long ponytail wisping against the flesh of her chest. He brought with him a calm auburn sky and a warmth she had craved so desperately, and when he bent his lips to hers, she drank in his oxygen as though she had never breathed before.

"Seiya."

Rini rushed up the stairs of the shrine, hot on Usagi's tail as she dragged her heavy schoolbag over her shoulder and tugged at her ill-fitting uniform. She glared at Usagi's whirling pigtails, puffing as she went. "It's your fault we're late to begin with, Usagi!"

"It is not!" Usagi shouted over her shoulder "You're the one who spent almost an hour in the bathroom—"

"Because someone is too fat and their stupid uniform is way too big on me so I had to spend forever pinning it back!"

Usagi scoffed. "You're just jealous that I have more curves than you do, Rini—"

"Hey, I'm catching up pretty quick, you know!"

Their light-hearted squabbling continued as they flew through the door and went screeching down the hall, hollering a greeting to Rei as they passed by her bedroom. Without warning, Rini crashed into Usagi's back as she came to a grinding halt outside the kitchen, sending her toppling backward onto the floor.

"Ow…" She grumbled, fully expecting an apology from the clumsy blonde as she pulled herself up and rubbed the base of her spine. When she received no response, she followed Usagi's eye to where Seiya was leaning against the kitchen counter, entirely shirtless and hiding a smug smirk behind a cup of steaming tea.

"Morning," he said brightly, giving them a grin. "Late, are we?"

Rini scrunched her nose. "Not to see you," she told him. "I'm going to see Helios."

Seiya laughed at her audacity. "Of course you are," he said, giving her a look.

She huffed and turned to march off down the hallway toward Helios' room, but was stopped by the sound of Seiya's voice addressing Usagi directly. "So, still late as always, Odango?"

She wasn't quite sure why, but curiosity got the better of her and she snuck back to peek around the doorframe. From the moment she had seen the two interact the day before, she knew she had to find out more; she'd never seen anything quite like it. It was like watching a lightning bolt strike—charged and bright and dangerous, but spectacular all the same.

She wasn't sure quite how she felt about it.

Rini watched as Usagi's flushed face soured slightly and she folded her arms beneath her bust, sticking her nose in the air. "Well, I did come here to see you, but now that I'm late—just like I always am—I might as well go—"

She turned dramatically to leave and Seiya reached forward, grasping her wrist and stopping her. He looked at her, amused by her reaction. "Don't be like that," he said cheekily. "Besides, we were late for a lot of things together—classes, fun parks, saving the planet…"

Usagi blinked down at his grip on her wrist, her gaze trailing up the length of his arm to his chest. Rini rolled her eyes as the blonde's blush deepened and Usagi cleared her throat. "That was you that was late to Ichinohashi Park that day, not me."

He nodded slowly, releasing her arm and placing his cup into the sink. "That's right," he said. "Perhaps I can make it up to you by making sure I'm punctual next time."

Usagi drew her eyebrows up at him. "Seiya…"

"I'm just kidding," he said with a smile. He settled back against the bench. "You could have just come by after school, you know."

"I know," Usagi replied. "But I wanted to come see you." She hesitated, fumbling somewhat. "And the other Starlights, and Helios, too."

Seiya grinned. "But mostly me," he added.

"Oh, you are so—"

"Amazing? I know," he said, swishing his ponytail over his shoulder playfully. "Speaking of which—I'm going to go put on a shirt so you can concentrate on what you're saying." He laughed at Usagi's scowl. "And then we should start that catch-up you promised."

Usagi seemed to let go of his teasing comments and nodded. "Okay."

Rini tilted her head, fascinated by their interaction. Seiya was unabashedly flirting with her—which wasn't surprising to Rini in the slightest—but his advances were leaving Usagi flustered and at a loss for words. Rini frowned, beginning to feel uneasy. What is this, going on between the two of you?

Seiya came toward the hall and Rini scurried off madly, wary of getting caught. She dashed down the hall and into Helios' room, where the white-haired boy looked up at her from the book he was reading. "It's rude to eavesdrop, Rini," he said.

She blinked at him, her back flat against the slider, and felt her cheeks redden—she probably should have knocked, or at least announced herself. And how did he know she had been eavesdropping, anyway? "Says you."

He smiled and closed the book, setting it down on the mattress beside him. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"I'm fine," she said. In a heartbeat, the small space of his room seemed even more confined, with just the two of them in it—no Chibi Chibi, no sailor senshi, just them. "How about you?"

"I am well," he replied. He looked over her attire. "You're going to school, I take it?"

"Yeah," she said sheepishly, her cheeks flushing. Her handy pinwork had perhaps deliberately accentuated her newly found waistline. "These are Usagi's, they were a bit big…"

"They look just fine to me," he said. "Will you be in the same grade as Hotaru, in junior high school?"

Rini shook her head. "Hotaru is home-schooled—hopefully I can convince Haruka and the others that she can come to school with me," she said, and then chewed her lip. "But I was hoping that maybe you would come, too…"

He considered about it for a moment, and then smiled sadly. "I don't know if school is the right place for me, Rini," he said, and drew his eye up toward his horn. "People are often afraid of what they don't understand."

She hadn't thought of his striking golden horn, because, in all honesty, she barely even noticed it there—it was hidden by the other magnificent features he possessed. "Oh," she murmured. "Alright, then."

"Please don't be disappointed," he said. "I'll greet you every day after, if you would like, and help you learn." He gave her an impish smile. "I may not have any formal education, but I have many years of knowledge gained through experience."

She moved toward him and gingerly sat on edge of the bed alongside him. "How old are you, Helios?" She asked, and then caught herself. "If you don't mind me asking…"

"Not at all," he said. "To be honest, I don't know exactly how old I am—but I have memories dating back to the Silver Millennium."

"Wow," she said breathlessly. "So do you remember Princess Serenity, and Prince Endymion?"

"I was a close friend to Endymion—an advisor, if you will," he told her. "I remember their tragic story well."

Rini stared at him in awe. "No wonder you're so wise!"

He laughed. "Not really," he said, and then looked thoughtful. "My memories are fading, however, and I'm not quite sure why."

Rini frowned. "That's weird," she said. If Helios had lived for so very long, as the sole guardian of Earth's golden crystal, why would he suddenly be losing everything he remembered? "Maybe that's just what happens when you get old," she teased.

"You are a cheeky one," he said lightly, giving her a look. "I'm sure it will all fall into place eventually."

Rini shuffled, crossing her legs beneath her on the hard mattress. "This isn't very comfortable," she said. "Did you sleep okay?"

He chuckled. "I did, actually."

She looked at him oddly. "What is it?"

"When I was in Elysion, I never slept," he said. A smile crept onto his face. "Last night was the first night I have ever fallen into sleep."

"Really?" Rini asked, wide-eyed. "You've never slept? Not even when you were here before?"

"That's right," he said. "It was quite a strange experience."

She tilted her head at him. "So, you guard the beautiful dreams of Earth's people, but you've never had a dream of your own?"

His amber eyes locked on hers, and she felt like he could see right into her own dream. "Well," he said softly, "I have had one now."

Suddenly she felt like she were back in her bedroom, flat on her tummy as she spoke to Pegasus through the glow of the Stallion Rêve—but she wasn't; she was next to the boy she had wanted so desperately to share a friendship with. "Will you tell me your dream, Helios?" She asked shyly.

He closed the distance between them and fluttered a kiss on her cheek, before pulling back to give her a gentle smile. "I think that perhaps you already know."

Seiya tugged a loose t-shirt over his head and made his way out into the cool morning air, smiling as he spotted Usagi's petite figure sitting on the steps waiting for him. Her long pigtails pooled around her on the hardwood and she was staring up at the pale sky, arms propping her up and legs out long in front of her. Like always, Seiya was taken by the angelic aura that so casually surrounded the moon princess—one she hardly even knew existed.

He flicked one of her buns playfully as he sat down beside her. "Day dreaming, Odango?"

She sighed, a smile on her lips. "Yeah," she said. "Though there's not a lot to daydream about, now that you're all here and safe."

The selflessness of her words struck something deep within him, but he stole the opportunity to tease her instead. "You really did miss me, didn't you?"

"Shut up."

He chuckled. "So, you have to tell me," he started. "What's happened since I've been gone? You haven't gone and eloped, have you?"

She threw him an unimpressed glance. "No," she said. "Things have been just fine since you went home—no new enemies, nothing, until just recently…"

He tensed, recalling the recent disturbances he had sensed in her energy. "What happened?"

"This new evil," she said, shaking her head. "Seiya, it's awful—we've never encountered anything like it before. It doesn't just steal energy, it destroys its victim." She cringed, concern across her lovely features. "Haruka might have said we're doing okay, but that's not really true—we're not, and I can't..."

She trailed off, chewing at her lip. Seiya felt his stomach grip anxiously—perhaps what he had felt was true; perhaps she had suffered, to become the fierce power he now felt. "Odango?"

"During our last fight, I tried to help—I tried to transform, but I couldn't," she said, her eyes glassy. "I can't become Sailor Moon, not anymore." She looked at him. "I'm weak."

He nearly told her I know—I know everything, because I can feel it, too, but told her another truth instead. "No," he said, sweeping his eye over the radiant strength that emanated from her, "you're stronger than you've ever been."

She stared back at him. "What?"

"I know how it may sound to you," he said gently, "but you are. There will be a reason why you can't transform—you have to have faith."

She looked away. "That's what Hotaru believes, too," she said. "But I can't help—I can't do anything."

"That's okay," he said with a smile. He gave her a wink. "It just means you need more protection for the time being, and luckily for you, three additional senshi have just arrived."

Her lips curved into a small smile. "Isn't that convenient," she said.

"It is," he replied. "As well as one strange unicorn boy, a toddler-senshi, and a pink-haired kid who could pass as your twin." Usagi laughed in earnest, and the sound was music to his ears. "I think we've got you covered."

"But I don't need protecting," she said. "There are far more important things to protect than me."

"You're right—you don't need protecting, I've seen it myself," he told her confidently. "But I don't think I'm alone in saying that you're the most important thing that needs protecting, Odango."

She blushed and wrapped her arms around her knees. "Thank you," she said, and then narrowed her eyes. "But don't think saying those kind of things will get you a date!"

"Who said anything about a date?" He said, cocking an eyebrow at her. "Besides, I don't think Mamoru would think too highly of that, now that he's back in town." The mention of her boyfriend felt a little like a dam breaking, and he studied her face closely as he asked: "How is he?"

"He's…fine," she replied, her eyes tracking off into the distance. She gave him a tight smile, and he knew somethingwas amiss. "Busy, with university work."

It was a far cry from the besotted girl he had known nearly two years ago, who praised their relationship and trusted him resolutely: just six words and a false smile. Seiya clenched his jaw—she should have been happy, always.

"That's enough about me," she said. "How have you been? Missing your days of fame, Mr Idol?"

He stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed them at the ankle. "Not for much longer," he replied. "We've agreed to reform the Three Lights."

"Really?" Usagi gasped. "So you're going to stay for a while?"

He nodded. "Now that I know you need us here, there's no reason why not," he said. He smiled, thinking about how good it would feel to pluck the strings of an electric guitar and thump a beat against a drum kit. To sing again. "I haven't played in so long…"

Usagi swivelled to face him, inching closer. "So, music was a part of your life, back on Kinmoku?"

"Very much," he said. "It was something we grew up with—I couldn't imagine living without it." He leant back lazily, excitement coursing through his veins at the thought. "There hasn't been a lot of time to play—our energy has been put solely toward the restoration of our kingdom."

Usagi smiled at him brightly. "And now you can take a break and focus on what you love."

"Yeah," he replied, and then winked at her. "I can organise VIP access, if you'd like—a private room, for the two of us…"

She smacked him on the arm. "Seiya!"

"Okay, okay, front row seats as well, I know," he teased. "Sorry…"

She huffed and shook her head, smiling all the same. "If you're reforming the band, does that mean you'll go back to school?"

"According to Taiki, yes," he said, faking disinterest in the suggestion. "We'll enrol as soon as possible. It'll be just like old times—you, fighting for my attention, constantly disrupting my learning—"

"Hey!"

He laughed, soaking up the blissful feeling that hung in the space between them—light and spirited, yet deep and connected. They remained silent for a moment in the quiet morning air, filled with nothing but the trickle of the creek and the jingle of wind chimes. He looked over at her. "So, are you going to tell me what the deal is with the kid?"

She looked amused. "Why do you keep calling her that?"

"Because it drives her nuts," he said with a smirk. "I did suggest Chibi Odango, but that seemed to upset her…"

"It upsets me, you know!"

"No, it doesn't." He grinned. "Now stop changing the subject. She's your cousin, but she knows all about your identity and somehow wound up in Space-Time." He paused. "Is she a senshi, too?"

Usagi chewed at her lip, as though she were closely considering her answer. "Yes, she is," she said finally, meeting his eye. "There's really not a lot more to it, Seiya."

The explanation made sense, but his gut told him there was more to it than what she was telling him. He opened his mouth to press for more information, but thought better of it. Weren't there secrets he was keeping from her? Wasn't he withholding every detail about the intense connection he held to her from across the galaxy? How could he expect her to be entirely honest, if he wasn't willing to do so as well?

"Tell me about Kinmoku," she said suddenly, breaking him from his thoughts. "What's it like?"

He considered her question. "Well, on Kinmoku it's never really day—not like it is here." He looked up at the brilliant sky above. "There's no blue sky, just a constant, burnt sunset—or sunrise, depending on your outlook," he said with a grin. "You're always in this…twilight—it's beautiful, but somehow unsettling…like the day never truly begins or ends, you know?"

When he looked back from where he had been gazing up to the wispy white clouds, he found her staring at him intently. "Yeah," she said. "I do know."

"One day," he said softly, "I would really like to take you there."

She smiled, her eyes alight, but there was something oddly sad in her expression—and Seiya wanted to know why. "Maybe one day," she said. She looked at her watch, startled. "Crap—we've got to go, we're going to be so late! Rini, come on!"

The adolescent came racing out the door in a blaze of pink, and the two bounded down the stairs and through the archway. Usagi spun back to wave to Seiya. "I'll see you after school, Seiya!"

He chuckled as they disappeared down the street. "Can't wait, Odango."