mbfanfic9
Episode 10:
Introductions of the Past (Part 1)

Yukari kicked the ground with her foot, seeming to find something about the crevices extremely interesting. It was about 9 o'clock in the morning, and the sun was already shining on the glorious June day. The wind blew across the land, causing Allen's hair to swirl about with it.
Allen was wearing his white Caeli top with some jeans. "I've grown quite accustomed to this attire," he had explained to Hitomi and Yukari when asked why he no longer decided to wear his Gaian clothing. He ran a hand through his hair, a weak attempt to stop the knots that were most likely being formed by the weather.
Hitomi was wearing a longsleeved top, with a blue design on the front and white sleeves. She was in a knee-length purple skirt. Resting on her arm impatiently was Naria.
The three had arrived early at the temple, they were quite excited about meeting the new addition to the 'good guys' team. Naria, however, was becoming aggitated.
"Suppose she doesn't show up.." she began. "Suppose we're left here, feeling like idiots after waiting for her for hours. Suppose she's a NegaWorld minion in disguise. Hell, for all we know she could be a guy!" Allen shot the cat a menacing glance.
Hitomi stroked the feline's head. "Hush, now, Naria. Don't be so pessimistic!"
Yukari eyed her watch. "You know, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. If she doesn'tshow up, we're going to get it for missing school!"
The sandy-haired brunette rolled her eyes. "Allen, please tell me you're not thinking negatively as well."
The blond thought about it for a moment. "No," he decided. "I'm curious as to who this person is. Have we met her? She could be anyone... she could be that cute waitress at the--" Hitomi raised a brow at him so he quickly backtracked. "She couldbe anyone... then, how do we know it's a she in the first place? For all we know, it's a he. Actually, I wouldn't mind if it was a he. This organization could use more males, if you ask me..." his eyes lit up. "Heyyy! Maybe it's Amano!"
"I doubt it," Yukari added her 2 cents. "Amano is incapable of keeping things from me. If he was a Sailor Senshi, we would already know."
They all nodded, and continued to wait.

Leina sat in the park a few blocks from the temple. It was her favorite place to just sit and think things through. The truth be told, she was procrastinating. She was almost scared to meet the Sailor Senshi as the people who they really were.
Closing her eyes, the young woman with the long black hair remembered the time she had first seen the Senshi...
~Flashback~
It was late at night. Leina sat on the small porch of her temple residence, just gazing at the stars, wondering what was up there in the great beyond. However, her stargazing had been interrupted by a strange sound.
A prowler? she had wondered. She had taken some self-defense classes upon her arrival in Kamakura, and she was dying to test them out. So she went to investigate. But what she found was not a prowler, but a hideous creature unlike anything she had seen before. It was all she could do to keep from screaming.
"Come on, you little brat!" the creature had hissed. "Show yourself!"
"I'm right here!" a young woman of about 16 jumped out from some nearby bushes. Her long brown hair was tied up into a ponytail, and she was wearing a green outfit with the shortest skirt that Leina had ever seen.
Suddenly, two other figures jumped from the bush, wearing the same outfit with their respective colors. The blond one wasn't wearing a skirt, however. They wore pants instead. She used the term 'they' because the blond looked male, even though he or she had 'female attributes'.
"Venus love chain encircle!" the blond cried, and sent a golden chain which roped itself around the monster.
"Jupiter Thunder CRASH!" shouted the brunette, sending a blast of electricity which seemed to appear around her head.
"Now, Sailor Mystic Moon!" the two shouted in unison at the 3rd figure. She touched her tiara and it turned into a disc.
"Moon Tiara Magic!" she shouted, launching the glowing object at the monster. The creature made a strange strangling sound before dissolving entirely. All that was left of it was a dark tarot card, smoke protruding from it.
Before leaving, the one who had launched the tiara had turned to her left.
"Thank you, Tuxedo Mask." she said, and for the first time, Leina noticed the masked man standing near the saviors.
"It was nothing," modestly assured the man in the tux.
"Tuxedo mask, who are you?" asked the sandy-haired girl.
"My true identity must remain a secret, but I'll tell you this: I am a friend of the Sailor Senshi. So long!" giving a two-fingered salute, he vanished. It wasn't long before the 3 others did the same.
Curiousity striking her, Leina approached the card and touched it. She was struck with a thousand visions, all flipping past her in a crazy sped-up and jostled movie in her mind. Images of cloaked figures, the Sailor Senshi, creatures more horrible than imaginable. Then there was darkness.
When she awoke, she was in her bed.
"How did I get here?" she wondered aloud. That's when she noticed the cat.
It was an yellowy-orange cat, with dark ears and a few stripes running down its arms and back. It was curled up, sleepy soundly. Instinctively, Leina reached over and stroked the cat's back. Immediately, it woke up, its eyes wide. Its eyes were dark pink.
Carefully, its eyes never leaving Leina, it stood up and stretched, yawning. Then it lowered its rear, sitting and staring straight at the girl.
"So, you're awake." the cat said.
Leina's eyes widened. "You can talk?" she barely whispered.
"Indeed."
Leina nearly fainted, but she decided that it must be some sort of prank (probably that annoying kid at the grocery store, she decided) so she decided to play along. "So, Miss Kitty, what are you doing in my room?"
"I've come to tell you about your destiny. And by the way, I have a name."
"Oh?"
"Yes." and she told her her name.
Still playing along, Leina asked what her destiny was.
"You are Sailor Mars, of the Sailor Senshi." the cat said simply.
Leina smirked. "Like those people who were fighting that... thing?"
"Yes, like those people who were fighting that 'thing'."
"Who are they, anyway?"
"They are the Sailor Senshi, and you are destined to join them in their fight against the NegaWorld."
"No no, I mean, who are they when they're not fighting monsters?"
A huge sweatdrop appeared on the cat's head. "I... I don't remember. I took a pretty nasty fall and lost that part of my memory."
"How convenient." sneered Leina.
"You don't believe me." it was a statement, not a question, that came from the feline.
"Come on you little spore, I know you're trying to play a prank on me. I can see the radio!" the comment was directed at the boy who had deliberately run into her at the grocer's, and who was most likely to be playing this prank on her.
"There's no radio here, Leina." the cat spoke softly.
"How do you know my name???" Leina demanded.
"Oh, I know a lot more than that."
"Such as???"
"Your real name."
Leina gasped. No one knew that.
"I also know about where you came from, your home. Why you were sent here."
The girl shook her head violently.
"You still don't believe me?" then, in a voice so quiet that even Leina could barely understand, the cat added Leina's true name to the end of her question.
The raven-haired girl turned white. "So it's true, then. You do know all that about me." she braced herself, and said, "Tell me about my destiny."

So the next 3 hours was spent with the cat (who Leina quickly learned the name of) explaining Leina's destiny as a Sailor Senshi, and about the Tarot Card Creations and the NegaWorld. At the end of her talking, the cat gave Leina her very own Mars transformation pen.
So, it became that during the day, the young woman was known as Leina, a quiet girl sent to Japan on business, working away at keeping the temple beautiful.
But at night, she became Sailor Mars, the independant warrior. She had defeated monsters swiftly and accurately with a technique she had learned from the feline's teaching. She had never encountered Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus, Sailor Mystic Moon, or even Tuxedo Mask. She was too afraid to, for some reason. Sure, it would have made her late-night run-ins a lot easier, but she just couldn't bring herself to fight with them. When there was a monster attack, Leina would hide nearby, watching. If the Sailor Senshi were not upon the scene in 5 minutes, it was thought that they were unable to "sense" the monster's presence and thus, were not coming. Leina would then transform and destroy the monster. If the Senshi did arrive within the first 5 minutes of the monster's appearance, Leina would watch them, observe their techniques. The truth was, she admired them from afar.
~
And now I'm going to meet them. Leina sighed. She had longed for this day, to discover the hidden identities of the senshi. But she had cold feet.
"We should probably get going towards the temple now," the marmalade cat suggested gently. "I know you're frightened, but think of all the doors this will open for us!"
"I guess you're right. We shouldn't keep them any longer."

Hitomi glanced at her wrist.
"9:45." she read aloud.
Yukari groaned.
"Perhaps she missed the train." offered the blond.

This is it, don't blow it. Leina told herself as slowly, step by step, she and her cat made their way up to the temple.

The 3 entered a dispute about why the 4th senshi could be late. They didn't see the raven-haired girl finally reaching the top step leading to the temple, her eyes widening at the sight of the true identities of the Sailor Scouts only a few metres away.
Finding her voice, she spoke, her one word breaking the discussion between the other senshi.
"Allen?"


A/N: Ooh! I am so very eeeevil! >: ) A cliffhanger, with many questions left unanswered! Bwah ha ha ha! Want to know what happens next? Read and REVIEW (hint hint) to find out!