I will just assume you understand Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon. Meaning
you should be able to tell which characters I've made up, and which ones
I haven't. I'm hoping you can handle that you'll have to recognize some
just by what Yuhi, the main character here (it's her POV), thinks about
them. If you can't figure out who Momma and Pappa are before one of their
names are said near the end of the chapter, then perhaps you should find
a different story to read.
I peeked through the door of my room. I had heard footsteps coming closer. In the distance, back to me, I saw just a girl. I knew it was a female. Her hair was long, she was wearing a nightgown, plus the only male in the palace was our King, and he was certainly not so short. She must have heard me open the door, because she looked back at me.
"Yuhi." It was a statement, not a question or an exclamation. I knew who it was by her voice. "Kori, where are you going?" I asked. Where would she be wanting to go at this time of night? "It's not any of your business. It's nowhere bad, but don't you dare tell Momma and Pappa." I gritted my teeth. Should I go along with keeping it from them?
I was silent, and she looked at me, expecting me to say something. "Well, are you going to tell or not?" I sighed, and shook my head. "Not even the other girls? Not even Hoshi?" I shook my head. Inside, I didn't want to lie. But I had done it anyway. Of course I would tell Hoshi. What was she thinking? I tell Hoshi everything. If I kept even the smallest thing from Hoshi, she would know anyway. "Good. You never saw me out here at this time of night."
With that, she walked away. The dim glow of the Moon cast a small amount of light on her long, dark green hair.
Kori was younger than me. She was 12, I was 15. The youngest of the girls here in the palace.
I walked back into my room, and sat up in bed, staring at the door on the right side of the room. The one on the left didn't seem as likely to open. All of our rooms are connected by doors. On my right side is Hoshi's room. She's my twin, and that door is always open during the day, and only shut at night so we actually get sleep. The lock on it has never been used. On the other side is Wakai. She visits me during the day, and is probably my best friend besides my sister.
Strangely enough, opposite of my thinking, Wakai peeks in through the left door just as I glance over at it. "Are you okay, Yuhi? I heard you get up a few minutes ago." She looks at me worriedly, waiting for an answer. Her hair, normally in braids, is wavy and blonde, and falls down to the middle of her back. Her glasses reflect the light from my lamp. "I'm... I'm okay, Akai." She smiles. She likes it better when people call her Akai instead of Wakai, with the acception of Momma.
"Now that we're alone, can we talk?" she asked. "Well, of course," I reply. Did she think I'd say no? She, as well as the other girls, is like a sister to me. Maybe not as strong as my connection with Hoshi, but even that's much different, and they know it.
We sat down on my bed. I took a quick glance at my clock. 1:43 AM. We had plenty of time before anyone was awake. "I'm sorry... It's just... I have to get this off my back. The only way to do it is ask someone's opinion..." she trailed off. "Okay, go ahead. If it's about your sister..." "No, for once it isn't Chibi-Usa. It's just that... Serenity and Endymion... Ugh! I mean, listen to me! I call them by their formal names! I don't feel like they're my parents at all! I mean, really... Chibi-Usa is the important one, I know that and I know she feels guilty about it. As much as I say I hate her for being better than me, I still love her like a sister, same as you and the other girls. Maybe a bit closer. She's really not that bad. But that's not the thing... Why don't I feel as if they're my parents anymore?" she asked.
I could see the confusion in her eyes. I couldn't say I've ever felt the same, but I said the only thing that seemed reasonable. "Truthfully, you know they weren't the ones to raise you. You were raised with myself and Hoshi. As well as Kori and..." I stopped before I said any more. Not only because I felt bad saying it, but because I knew I would cry. "And Kin?" I nodded, not trusting myself to say anything. I remembered the little girl well. Always happy and cheerful. Her gold hair in the same style as her mother's had been. I'd seen pictures of her mother. She'd died, and was raised by my parents. Kin was as close to me as Hoshi, and the same age too. Little Kin only lived to be nine, and Wakai was seven at that time.
I swallowed, and continued. "Anyway, Akai... In your mind, as would be in mine, your parents are not only who you are born to, but who raise you. Serenity and Endymion do love you, yes, and they consider you their daughter. But our parents, the ones we both call Mamma and Pappa, love you too. You're a daughter to them. And you're a sister to me." Wakai sighed. "A daughter? But I'm not theirs. They may love me, but you're their real daughter. The one who looks like them. I'm just someone they take care of, it's not the same," she said. "But... Well... Nevermind. I think you should talk to them about this," I said, getting up and pulling on my robe over my nightgown.
Wakai looked at me in shock. "You're not seriously going to go and wake them up, are you?" she asked, her eyes wide. "Of course I am, what does it look like I'm doing?" I ask her, rolling my eyes. "Yuhi! What if..." she trailed off again, and blushed. "Akai, it's just about 2 AM! I assure you they are SLEEPING. If not, it wouldn't be the first time I've walked in on anything," I said, shrugging. "Yuhi!" she exclaimed, in a mother-scolding-child type tone, "You walk in on them?" I faked a sigh. "Come on, it's not like it was on purpose. Now are you going to let me go get them or not?" I asked. She didn't say anything. "Okay then, I'll be back. Just wait here."
I'd been in the hallway at night before. It was nothing new, almost normal. With all my illnesses and such I'd had when I was younger, I could find my way to their room blindfolded and dizzy. Getting there was easy.
The door was unlocked and open. They were sleeping. I sighed inwardly at Wakai. Like a sister or not, she could think up the worst scenario for everything. In her mind right then, she was probably thinking on my way down there I was going to get lost, fall in a hole in the floor, and get eaten by a dragon or something. Well, it would probably be something more like I'd be attacked by a youma, and all of a sudden I'd be that "Sailor Neptune" person we've read about since we graduated from picture books and started reading chapter books. I loved the books, yes. I've always imagined what the senshi may look like.
But anyway, there was no time to think about fictional people at the moment. I was wondering what to say. I was 15 now, I hadn't had to come down here in the middle of the night since I was 11. But duh, I told myself. It's still the same.
"Momma? Pappa?" I ask timidly. I'm not expecting Pappa to wake up, but hoping Momma will.
"Yuhi? Yuhi, is something wrong?!" I knew Momma would wake up. I felt sorry for making her worried, she sounded tired but aware that I hadn't come to wake them up in quite a few years.
"Yes and no... Momma, I need you and Pappa to come in my room by Wakai-chan."
"What? Is she sick?"
"No, but she's upset, Momma, and won't believe what I tell her. Can you and Pappa come help me?"
"Of course, Hime! Well, I can't assure you your pappa is coming, but I will go," she said, smiling at me, yet giving me the look in her eyes that she wanted to know what was up.
"Don't worry, I'll explain on the way back down,
it's a good four minutes or so."