A/N: Pardon me while I bore you with a murderously long A/N. if you don't care, skip past it. On a quick note, as you know by now, RW was built up around the ideals of living in the country side, and the lifestyles and things easily compared with that. On a deeper note, I hope you have also seen that these girls have realized that life isn't perfect, and getting to their intended goals is part of the battle, but not exactly all of it. We are over 100k in the main series, and have barely dented the story. Roughly 600k to go for those who are keeping count, lol.

Anyway, now is the time when we will see other types of music (Not only country styles) come into play. The reason for that is simple. Growing up, we kids didn't listen to the radio much and what listened to was for our age group. As a result, most of us knew what our parents listened too. Singers like Judy Christy, Billy Joel, The Beatles, Indigo Girls; these are a few names we knew of when most of our peers were listening to things like Heavy Metal, Rap, and the like.

Needless to say, we were the kids who not only knew the singers of the 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's; we were also the kids that learned to love the songs. The reason that this plays into RW is kind of important. One day, look through the anime of the late 80's and early to mid 90's…then look at the anime of the 2005-now. If you think about it Sailor Moon has an old timey feel too it. When I was a teenager, I drew inspiration from other styles of music too, to help with the series. Over time it morphed and grew, and that's why you see other styles, this chapter being a great example of that.

A/N jabber off now… lol

I do not own Sailor Moon.

Song: Keeping the Faith
By: Billy Joel

Lyrics.
Story.

Arc 2: Chapter 15: Saeko's Past.

Saeko sat in her household alone, poking at her dinner plate not really hungry, and not overly enthused about the fact that nighttime was starting to come around once again. The sunlight shimmered through part of the house, allowing the small dust in the air to be seen. Her house was peaceful, something that was normally a novelty. With Ami gone, she didn't really have much to come home to anymore. A frozen dinner, some television, that was her life now, and, as a mother who had somewhat waited for days like this, she found herself at a loss.

She was happy for Ami, but Saeko couldn't deny she was lonely. Her kitchen held the music of her entire life now. Water dripping into the sink, the refrigerator turning on or ice in the maker dropping into the tray, the stove clicked as it cooled, and the pitter patter of the other residents made up her surroundings. It wasn't a very exciting time and she missed Ami's typing of her laptop and Makoto's shuffling around.

If it seems like I've been lost
In let's remember
If you think I'm feeling older
And missing my younger days
Oh, then you should have known
Me much better
Cause my past is something that never
Got in my way
Oh no

Perhaps it was because Ami wasn't around anymore, and her son was keen to live with his father. Surely Saeko knew part of her was being selfish, children couldn't stay children forever, and, while she hated to admit it, she wasn't getting any younger. Her cell phone in her left hand blipped across many numbers. Those of parents whom she had become fast friends with, Ami and her friends, restaurants she ordered out from constantly, proper authorities for emergencies, Saeko had them all. What common, logical woman, wouldn't have these things programmed into the one thing that pretty much denoted her life?

She came across Setsuna's name and sighed, shutting the phone lid. It seemed silly, but, for some reason Saeko wasn't all together sure why her mind had been on the previous night so much. They talked, shared a meal, and enjoyed the evening…and then they kissed. She left her dinner alone; not bothering to clean up, no one would be home to rant about it anyway. Putting on her jacket, she sighed walking outside in the cool breeze. There was just something about her life that hadn't added up. Yes she was a workaholic; she could admit that was an issue of hers that not many could deal with. Especially when she was in her early adulthood.

Then again, her younger years were quite the wild ride, and one that she didn't particularly want to relive. She loved it back then, but, it was back when she was young, and effectively, very stupid. There was a part of Saeko that she kept deeply too herself, and she wasn't particularly fond of some parts of who she was. Yeah, it was great when she had started out, but Saeko had seen a darker form of life, one that was pretty hard to say she was proud of admitting. Yeah, Saeko wasn't exactly an innocent woman.

In fact she would go so far as to have called herself the female playboy of the school.

She never liked to reanalyze that past. However, the kiss with Setsuna had caused her to wonder what exactly would have happened if she hadn't let that part of her life go. She was the girl with short hair slicked back with some grease, a leather jacket, and a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. She didn't care about the rest of the world, she cared about her, drugs, and banging the next sweet girl she could get her hands on. It was odd to think about, but a teenaged version of herself, was nothing more than a rebel, a girl she would now deem a cry for help.

It amazed her how the years made her reflect, and even so, she did it so rarely that most of the how's and why's of her childhood weren't exactly important in her life. Not anymore anyway. Ami had been a good child growing up, and it had pleased Saeko that the ghost of her past hadn't been relived. Well, that was until Ami had run into Makoto, who was quite easily the next best thing. It had always boggled Saeko's mind how her little girl happened to get caught up in Makoto's antics only to have everything turn out positively.

Clearly, it hadn't for Saeko. That was why she had straitened herself out into the overt workaholic that she was.

Still I would not be here now
If I never had the hunger
And I'm not ashamed to say
The wild boys were my friends
Oh
Cause I never felt the desire
'Til their music set me on fire
And then I was saved, yeah
That's why I'm keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keeping the faith

There was something about lighting up that next cigarette, sleeping with that next girl, and being the tough girl at school. She had considered her life hard for reasons now not important, her mother telling Saeko how sickly she had been as a baby, and that she was lucky. Saeko had taken the idea and ran with it, allowing herself to walk on the wild side so far down, that she actually let herself spiral out of control. One cigarette turned into two packs. One romantic heartbreak turned into countless ones, and she often wondered at the end of the day why she kept doing it.

A younger version of herself always had that answer. To be gay was a sin; to love a girl could get you killed. That was the allure. If she needed too, she could run to one of the boys, hide behind him, say she loved him, and they would do for her. They would protect her, and offer her more drugs for highs, more shameless sex, and the ideals of gangs became something that while dangerous, gave a sick amusement to the inner city kids. Who wouldn't want to act tough? Who wouldn't want respect?

That was why as an adult, and a mother, Makoto was just a small fish for Saeko. Yeah, the girl got herself bloodied up, but a few flying fists hadn't killed Saeko, and, she was fairly sure they wouldn't kill Makoto either. Oh how right she had been, that girl would have been great gang fodder, another notch in a bed, another hit man. Makoto had the abilities to be trained into that type of person, and that was also Saeko's motive at the time to get close to Zoisite and Makoto.

Teens had that way to justify their lives, and, Saeko hadn't been any different. She pulled herself out of it pretty easily; however, it hadn't been on her own. It had been with a woman that while she was very good friends with, she had been the lover of this girl. This woman hadn't been just a good lay; she had also been the first girl Saeko ever allowed herself to care for. And that was where she found herself all of these years later, looking at the front door of an old inner city home.

"Well, well, well…if it isn't Sae." A guy with his hair tinged in blood red smiled through the broken window. He smelled of pot and was one of her old friends she knew of from long ago. "Finally come back to us have you?"

"Shove it Rubeus." She answered pulling the joint from his mouth putting it out.
"That's Crimson Rubeus to you." He shot back.
"Oh did I offend little ruby?" She smiled pinching his cheek.
"Shit." He knocked her hand away. "Knock it off." He rolled his eyes, he was the youngest of her old group of friends.
"Where are the girls?" Saeko opened the door, letting herself in and sitting down on the nearest chair.
"I'll get them." He said grabbing the broom stick and beat the ceiling with it. "Get down here, uninvited guest!"

"Do I have to kick some else's ass in again?" A voice called from upstairs as she stomped around, shaking dust from the ceiling. "Mark my words, I'll kill whoever it…Sae! What are you doing here?"

We wore matador boots
Only Flagg Brothers had them with the Cuban heel
Iridescent socks with the same color shirt
And a tight pair of chinos
Oh
I put on my shark skin jacket
You know the kind with the velvet collar
And ditty-bop shades
Oh yeah
I took a fresh pack of Luckies
And a mint called Sen-Sen
My old man's Trojans
And his Old Spice after shave
Oh
Combed my hair in a pompadour
Like the rest of the Romeos wore
A permanent wave
Yeah
We were keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keeping the faith

"Well, I thought I'd drop by, you know just check in for a bit." Saeko shrugged. Out of all of her friends from the past, she was only one that had actually made something of herself. "You know Esmeraude, if you don't cut that out you'll be a goner one of these days." She sighed pulling the cigarette out of the other woman's mouth.

"Oh please, I'll be killed on a drug raid before one of those kills me." She laughed.
"Still masquerading around as a stripper too I see?" Saeko smirked, looking at the fact that the skirt was far too short. "You really should settle down."
"Yeah with who?" The girl with purple hair asked. "Most of the street trash isn't worth my time."
"Then why do you parade around in that getup all the time?" Saeko raised an eyebrow. It was sexy, but it did cause questions to be raised.
"I like it, and besides, I have a job at the local bar now. I needed a job I was good at." She winked.
"Yes, because you sure do look and act like a slut." Rubeus answered back in.

Saeko could only roll her eyes. Some things never changed and Rubeus acting like a jerk was one of those things. "So where are the others?" They had a rather big group of people they had called family, and Saeko wasn't exempt for being a part of this family. It was just that they knew she was in a different place in her life and didn't bother to question it. Saeko would come and go, just as the rest of them would, and no one would really care. They were friends through thick and thin, but all of them had their own motives, and their own lives.

Saeko's just happened to be stable.

"Oh come off it, I know who you really want to see and you won't find her here." Saphir laughed coming down the stairs. "You're looking for Petz, she's doing good, but you'll have to come by another time. She's working right now, and on the red, I'd avoid her at the moment if I were you."

"Hey!" A woman yelled from the door. "Don't talk lies behind my back! I swear I wish I could knock your block off." Then she walked up to Saeko smiling at the shorter woman. "I hope you didn't have to deal with the riffraff for too long babe." She was tall, voluptuous, and had a hell of a bite. Although she was only older than Saeko by a year, that year counted for a lot when one lived on the street. She noted Saeko's eyes go downcast and Petz sighed, knowing that look all too well. "Alright, you come with me." She flung her head in the direction leading into upstairs. "None of you eaves drop or I swear to god my heel will be up your ass so quick you'll not know its coming."

Saeko complied. This had happened so many times in her years of life she knew the drill. Petz was the woman she had once loved, however, beyond that, she was also the girl who had gotten Saeko out of the downward spiral of her life. Although Saeko had only tried and tested the theories of what being the 'tough girl' meant, Petz had walked down that road, and still to this day, she wasn't considered a prize. Back in the early days though, Saeko had given her heart to Petz.

"So, care to tell me what's got you coming here in the near darkness?" Petz never liked when Saeko went into the dangerous parts of the city, it floored her.
"To talk." Saeko shrugged, knowing that had been rather obvious.
"Well I assumed that much Saeko." Petz was also one of the few who spoke to Saeko as what she was, a woman, not a gang member.
"I really wasn't thinking, and I sort of ended up here." Saeko was truly lost for words. She normally didn't venture into this neighborhood.

Petz thought for a moment while unzipping her dress, letting it fall to the floor, striping off her underwear and walking to her closet, not caring that Saeko was with her. "Personally, I'm not one to pry, but you don't look like you were out for just a walk. In fact, I've seen that face once before, and you know me, I hate that look. So speak up and tell me exactly why it is that I'm seeing history repeat itself."

"I kissed another woman." Saeko answered in a soft voice.

You can get just so much
From a good thing
You can linger too long
In your dreams
Say goodbye to the
Oldies but goodies
Cause the good ole days weren't
Always good
And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems

"You like this woman." Petz was more amused than anything. Saeko had sworn off all girls after their little fling back in school. "What ever happened to the 'I'll never touch another woman for as long as I live' rant you used to chant?" She covered her body in an almost see through negligee not bothering to put on any panties as she walked over to the vanity, brushing her hair.

"I haven't the slightest idea." Saeko laughed. "If I knew, I wouldn't be here now." She fell backwards on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. "You had all the answers before, I figured you'd have them now."

"I had the answers as to why you shouldn't follow me. I never said anything as to why you shouldn't date other woman." Petz clarified. "Besides, you never really were one of us. You are family, yes…but Saeko, you were better than us, even when I ran into you." Then she put down her brush, looking at the woman that she still held feelings for. "However, this life wasn't for you then, and it'll never be life for you especially now."

"Don't you think I don't know that?" Saeko sounded like she was almost crying and then Petz realized what this was really about.

"You're blind you know." Petz spoke softly; going over to the woman she had known for years. "Acting like a lost puppy works for a fourteen year old, but not for a woman in her forties." She sat on the bed looking at Saeko. She was a very attractive woman, and Petz knew that Saeko had closed herself off for far too long. "Why do you come to me now? Looking so lost, when really, you aren't even lost at all."

"But I am lost Petz. I'm beyond lost. I kissed her, and it felt great, but what in the hell do I do to justify everything I've done. That would be a sick cruel joke now. You were the only woman I loved, and then you tell me the one thing I used to tell all the good girls who fell for me. Looking back it was a twisted life, I know that." She sighed trying to calm herself. "We were raised to think it was wrong, I didn't want that for Ami and now she's with a woman that she's known for years and I…"

"And you want happiness." Petz finished that sentence easily enough; then again, she could easily complete everything in Saeko's head. "Why are you holding back? Whoever you kissed, you like this chick, so why the hell…" She paused to think of a better way to word the crass question. "What would this group say if they heard this?"

"They would ask me why I haven't gotten her in the sack yet." Saeko answered all too truthfully. "I really can't expect any of them to understand this like you do."

"That's because I ran away from my pompous old windbag of a father when I was a kid. I knew what a good life was, I chose this, and really, I like it. You wouldn't…I can say that much." Petz leaned back so that she was leaning on the wall. "You know though, they're right. If you get your ass kicked in a street brawl you train harder. If you want happiness, you look a fear in the face. Life's not much different weather you live on the street, or like how you live. It's all the same really."

"That isn't comforting." Saeko glared, knowing Petz was all too correct.

Learned stickball as a formal education
Lost a lot of fights
But it taught me how to lose O.K.
Oh
I heard about sex
But not enough
I found you could dance
And still look tough anyway
Oh yes I did
I found out a man ain't just being macho
Ate an awful lot of late night drive-in food
Drank a lot of take-home pay
I thought I was the Duke of Earl
When I made it with a red-haired girl
In the Chevrolet
Oh yeah
We were keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keeping the faith

Saeko had been a good fighter back in the day. Not as good as Petz, or some of the others, but she could do pretty well for herself. Now though, she wasn't a fighter and she hadn't kept up the muscle mass either. She didn't need to look tough after she had hung up her leather jacket for good. When Petz had found her, it was in that weird interim between punk kid, and real time gang member. If Saeko had gotten worse, she would have been snatched up quick and shoved into a beat in almost instantly. Instead, Petz had done something far different.

The street was a cut throat world. That that was a literal term for any big time member of gangs. Your turf was yours and you knew better than to try to cross over lines that weren't agreed upon. Saeko had been that punk that hadn't known the rules, or how to play the game. She was a kid who could talk big, and back herself up a little, but she hadn't been hardened into what it would really take. She was still too young to have known, she wasn't forced to fast harsh realities.

You know the good ole days weren't
Always good
And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems

It was a risk, but at the time Petz hadn't really cared.

She played Saeko. Petz was a girl, much like Saeko was. Tough, strong, and the type that all the boys wanted to crush, the only difference was Petz attracted the men, Saeko attracted the women. The two of them could have been an unstoppable force, and, if had Petz been like all of the other street kids, she maybe would have allowed it. The cold facts were Saeko had a family, a very loving one, and, her teenage angst was going to get her into big trouble.

That was why Petz used that to her advantage, plummeting Saeko into the pit of street life. Hard. She showed Saeko booze, and not the cheep light beer, but harder and far harsher whiskey and vodka. She showed Saeko pot and other drugs, making sure to overload her enough the first time to make it an unpleasant experience. If the plan had failed, well Saeko would have ended up with them like she had wanted.

Either way, Petz didn't have anything to lose…it was all on Saeko.

Lucky for Saeko, it hadn't ended like that. Petz had forced Saeko into making a choice. But not before taking her in the back seat of a car, the way a rebel would. Saeko was inching her way into the big leagues, and, Petz had made it known in every way possible. It hadn't hurt their friendship at all, another amazing feat when one thought about it, and Saeko slowly went back to being the good school girl.

The price she paid for that was what brought her here today of all days. Saeko felt attached to Petz, and that wasn't surprising, however that relationship would never work out and they both knew it. The fact that Saeko had divorced from Taro only added another to the list of failed relationships. Saeko was afraid to put her heart on the line and had learned better than to do so. She hadn't done that any more than she had to; Taro and Petz were the only two she had even attempted to really love.

After losing Taro, she had locked her heart yet again. Yet, this woman who had kissed her had somehow sparked an interest and Petz would be damned for Saeko to miss this chance. Saeko wasn't a bad person, but she like everyone else in life had a track record for doing stupid things. Now her stupidity wasn't for trying to be the biggest player in middle school, or not chasing after a person like Taro. This time it was for being so afraid to be hurt that she would let it pass her by.

"You do need to get laid again I think." Petz sighed. "How long has it been since you actually had sex for love?"
"You don't even want to know." Saeko laughed.
"What about just a fling?" Petz got hit for that one.
"Last person I slept with was you after Taro left me. Remember? The night you had come get me from the bar?"
"Oh dear god…" Petz was stunned to hear that one. "Saeko…"
"Yes?" She asked back with a confused look.
"That was well over a decade ago." Petz grimaced. "You do need a lay. Badly!"
"Oh shut up." Saeko retorted sitting upright. "Not all of us are oversexed pole dancers you know."
"My point exactly." Petz nodded getting slapped in the arm again causing her to laugh.

"Now you shut up and listen to me." Petz spoke seriously and Saeko realized playtime was over. This would lead to an earful and she just knew it. "You've had a stick up your butt ever since you and Taro split up. It could have been anyone, not just you. As for feeling bad about being a stupid kid? Well I've got some news for you; we all were Saeko…every single one of us. I don't want you living my life; this kinda thing isn't for you. I can love em' and leave em' easily. You can't. Every time you fall in love, you let yourself get hurt, and yet for god only knows why, after over 13 years of being ice woman incarnate, you've got an interest in a woman again. You're opening your heart and that's a good thing, but if you're going to do it, dear sweet lord don't do it half assed."

Petz stood up, walking to her door. "You're staying here tonight. The streets are too dangerous. I'm going to go out for a smoke and then crash on the loveseat downstairs. Do what you please just don't leave the house; I'll take you home in the morning."

Now I told you my reasons
For the whole revival
Now I'm going outside to have
An ice cold beer in the shade
Oh
I'm going to listen to my 45's
Ain't it wonderful to be alive
When the rock 'n' roll plays
Yeah
When the memory stays
Yeah
I'm keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keeping the faith
I'm keeping the faith
Yes I am

Saeko knew better than to argue. Petz always looked out for her since even way back. She smiled looking outside of the dust covered window. Yeah, this life wasn't for her, but, for Petz this was the best thing ever. Petz loved it. Saeko knew she never would have though. This place, it was her home only because of the people that she had grown up with. Other than that, she had no other reason to come around these parts. She was a big time doctor now and no longer the kid from her past.

Still, when she walked over to the vanity, she saw the old photo that still sat in a half broken wooden frame. It had their entire group. There was over sixteen of them that back when she was a kid. They had influenced her life both for the worst, and the better. Still, Saeko had always been told to keep the faith even when there was none to have. That's what these people had taught her, among other things.

That's exactly what she did then, and that's what she would do now too. Funny how life works sometimes.

TBC~~~

In 9th grade a few of us had a teacher that will remain in all of our hearts. She was in her sixties and in school she was what everyone deemed the "cool teacher." I agree full heartedly. She used to always tell us kids to "Keep the faith." when times got hard for us. It didn't matter if it was the faith of god, or friends, or anything like that. She would always just say "Keep the faith." Because of that whenever I hear this song I think of her and the hard times we had as kids, and how my friends and I overcame a few of our hardships together.

I know it sounds hokey…but for me, it's the truth.

Please read and review.