Thank you Morgan, (my real roommate) for my new toaster!!! You're the greatest!!!

Part X

The concert had been a huge success. The Three Lights were back with all of their former glory and then some. The fans crowded around their dressing room door waiting for just a glimpse of their favorite Light. The noise level was almost unbearable outside their door but inside you could have heard a pin drop.

"She went home with Usagi." Taiki said flatly while leaning against the wall on the other side of the room.

He had his elbows resting on his knees with his head hung low. Seiya looked up from his seated position. "Do you think I didn't notice?" He asked almost sarcastically. "I don't know… I don't know if I can trust her."

"Seiya, what are you talking about." Yaten looked at him with a bit of surprise. "She obviously knows about Kakyuu and therefore I wouldn't be at all surprised if she knows about the senshi. Morgan could be a new enemy, and we just let her walk out of here with Usagi."

"I know, but for some reason she also seems to be trying to help me be able to spend time with Usagi." Seiya continued to voice his thoughts.

Taiki pushed himself from his position and looked at the two before him. "Well there's only one way to find out. We have to confront her."

Seiya looked at him and Yaten nodded. "We'll find her tonight."

Seiya had an ache creep into his mind, were they going to find Kakyuu soon? Did he even want to any more?

~@~@~@~

It was a bit of a walk to the bus station, but it was a nice night. Usagi was silent and I had no intentions of starting a conversation with her about anything that had happened. Why did I feel so bad? It was just Helios. Why had such a little confrontation made me react that way?

I looked up into the sky and noticed the moon hanging high above. It seemed a little smaller and a little less magnificent than it had the day before. I thought nothing of it and passed it off as just being a result of my bad mood. I had really screwed myself this time. Was I really that much of a slacker? Did I really neglect the mission? Did I really feel this bad for yelling at Helios? Why does it keep coming back to him?

The bus pulled up and we climbed on. I looked over at Usagi who also seemed to be thinking about something. "What's on your mind?" I asked trying to take the focus off of my apparent problem.

"Nothing really." She answered almost shyly.

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" I asked with a smile and noticed that there was only one other person on the bus with us.

She looked over at me with a smile. "I broke up with Mamoru yesterday." She said it as if she was proud of herself.

My eyes went wide. "Really?" I choked out but then regained my composure. "Well good for you, he seemed like a jerk!" I said and crossed my legs.

Usagi apparently found this amusing because she let a light giggle escape her lips. "You barely know him."

"And that was enough!" I huffed. "Did you have some one else in mind?" I asked raising my eyebrows up and down, I wanted to see just how good of a job I had done in getting these two together.

I must have given her the wrong signal because she looked at me like I was crazy. "Yeah… it's a boy."

I realized what she was thinking and backed away a bit. "I think you misunderstood."

She let out what seemed like a sigh of relief. "Gomen…" She laughed nervously with her hand behind her head.

"It's Seiya isn't it?" I asked with a curious tone. Usagi got a very bright blush in her cheeks. "I knew it!!" I stood up and did a little victory dance. The old woman at the front of the bus turned around to give me a strange look but that didn't stop me!

Usagi pulled me down next to her. "Will you stop?" She asked looking around to see if there was anyone else on the bus to look at my show. "I still don't know yet."

I stopped joking around and got serious. "What do you mean?"

Usagi seemed no longer embarrassed. "I know I'll probably end up getting back together with Mamoru down the line."

"Why?" She was ripping down my mission with every word.

She seemed to grow sad. "There's something ahead in my future that's just too important to sacrifice over matters of the heart."

I knew she was talking about Chibi-Usa but couldn't tell her that. "How do you know they will get sacrificed? How do you know you're not missing something else important by not being with some one you really want to be with?"

"Oh you wouldn't understand." She said in a little more than a whisper. How wrong she was. "What was that all about back there?"

"What?"

"You and Helios. Are you two not on good terms?" I could tell she was trying to get the conversation off of her problems.

"Don't worry about it."

Usagi turned and looked at me with so much compassion in her eyes. "I am worried about it. You're my friend and I don't like to see my friends upset."

I smiled at her gesture. "I'll be gone soon anyway." I didn't look at her but instead at the windshield of the bus that was so many seats ahead. "Have you ever just felt like you don't belong somewhere? That you really don't know where you're going?"

Usagi smiled. "I know exactly what you mean." The bus pulled to a stop just down the street from Usagi's house. "I'm sure you guys will be on good terms again, it seems like you two are really good friends."

~@~@~@~

"You just left her there?" Kakyuu said calmly. "What did you say to her?"

Helios just threw his body down on the couch. "She'll be fine, she's a big girl."

"Did you tell her?"

"No, and I don't plan on it." He put a pillow over his face but Kakyuu walked over and removed it. "What?" He questioned looking at her. "We don't need her to do this, let's just finish it ourselves."

Kakyuu just stared at him blankly for a moment trying to imagine what events had taken place earlier that night. "Would you come outside with me?" She asked changing the subject.

"Why?"

"Because I asked you to. I'm so sick of being stuffed in here, I need some fresh air." She said opening the door. Helios got off of the couch and did as she requested.

~@~@~@~

We made our way into Usagi's house. I sat down and started watching TV in the living room while she made us snacks in the kitchen, her parents must have been out. "Do you like chocolate?" She called from the kitchen.

"I'll eat anything." I answered back. Usagi had always looked like she was chowing down on great food. I flipped through the channels but nothing seemed appealing. "I wonder if Sailor Moon is on?" I joked to myself as Usagi came into the room.

"What?"

"Oh nothing, I was just complaining that there was nothing on TV." I said setting the remote down.

Usagi picked up the remote and punched in two numbers not wasting any time. "Your show is on, how can you say nothing is on?" She smiled and shoved some popcorn in her mouth.

"My show?" I was confused. If I even watched TV enough to have a show how would she know about it.

"Yeah, your show, the one you came from."

I watched the screen in front of me and I saw it, my life. There I was in my living room with my roommate Morgan having a conversation that I had had with her a while ago.

"This one's a rerun." She said as she continued to shove handfuls of popcorn in her mouth.

"What?" I was confused to say the least. I stood up and couldn't take my eyes off the screen. I was the fictional character. My entire reality came crashing down around me.

"Are you alright?" Usagi asked concerned, she must have noticed how pale I had gotten.

This was the real world? I was just a cartoon? The show was still on and my life was replaying for the entire world to see right there on the TV. "I have to go…" I said and ran out the door.

I had to get to Kakyuu, I had to tell her everything that happened. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. Tears were blinding my vision but I didn't really care if I ran into anything, my life was all a dream sequence so far I had just now woken up. Rage, fury, confusion and passion all flooded my senses and I was having a hard time concentrating on where I was going until I heard the snaps.

I stopped running and looked around. There were halos around the streetlights as my vision had become so clouded with my salty tears. "Come out I know you're there!" I called in a frustrated tone.

"So you did know about us." Healer stepped from the shadows.

"Leave me alone." I muttered and started to walk away until Maker blocked my path.

"You're not going any where until you answer a few questions for us." She had a look of determination in her eyes that sent a chill straight to my bones.

"It doesn't matter now, nothing does!" I yelled and started crying again. I turned from her to go the other way but was blocked by Fighter who had come up behind me during my mini fit with Maker.

"We're not going to hurt you, we just want to get things straight with you." She said as she put a firm hand on my arm.

"Piss off!" I said as I threw her hand off of me. Wait, what was I doing? Did I really just tell a sailor senshi to piss off? And not just any senshi but Fighter? Was I really this upset? Yes, my whole life was gone, what did it matter what I did now?

Healer noticed people driving by and realized that this was not the place to take care of such matters. "We have to go." She said eyeing Maker who seemed to know what she was talking about.

Maker grabbed me and I realized that they were trying to bring me with them. I struggled against her hold and this only brought Fighter's arms onto me too. They had me but I wasn't going anywhere with them without a fight. "Let go!" I screamed as I kicked about.

Kakyuu and Helios rounded the corner not too far from the town house and saw the commotion on the street. "What the…" Helios said before he knew what was going on. "Odango!" He said as he realized who the Starlight's prey was.

"Don't." Kakyuu warned. "You can't take on three senshi."

Helios stopped immediately understanding the truth in her words. It was true he couldn't take on three senshi, especially not three Starlights. "We can't just let them beat on her."

Kakyuu stood as observed the scene.

"Kakyuu! You have to stop them!" By now Odango was almost subdued and didn't look like she could put up much more of a fight. "They'll listen to you! Show yourself!"

"I can't."

Helios started to storm off in the direction of the fight the girl had stopped struggling and the Starlights were about to take off with her when she started to glow. Helios looked back at Kakyuu who was standing with her hands in front of her.

~@~@~@~

I had given up and given in. Let them take me, what difference did it make now? Suddenly I felt this enormous amount of power fill my body and then I felt them release me. I stood there in the center of the three of them just staring at me, I was changing. I was becoming some one else.

"What? Impossible!" Maker exclaimed as she looked upon me.

When the light faded I looked down at myself and noticed I was clad in a black leather fuku with grey straps. "Masaka…" I breathed but also saw my opportunity to get away. In a blink of the eye I was gone. Such incredible power and speed I felt running through my body, what was happening, why was I a Starlight?

I had to show Kakyuu so within seconds I was at the town house. No one was there. I went into my room and closed the door and slumped down on the other side of it. The tears came and it looked as though there were no end to them. My body was convulsing with sobs, it was a strange feeling since I couldn't remember the last time I had cried.

A knock from the other side of the door brought me back to my senses. "Odango, it's me, Kakyuu."

I stood up and opened the door doing the best I could to dry my tears on the back of my glov. Kakyuu came in and left the door open. "ummm.."

"I know, I'm the one who did it." She smiled at me. "Just touch this and concentrate on detransforming." She said putting my hand on the star between my breasts.

In a second I was back to my civilian form but the questions still remained. My cheeks felt hot and wet.

"You are now a Starlight." Kakyuu sat on my bed and motioned for me to sit beside her. "You are Sailor Star Traveler. It was the only way I could think of to get them to release you without showing myself."

"You saw?" I asked trying not to cry in front of her. She nodded in response. "I found out where I was from today." I said trying to joke about it, it was my defense mechanism and it was all I could do to keep from breaking down. "I'm a cartoon character. Isn't that funny? I'm not real! My whole life has been a figment of some one else's imagination. Everyone I knew and loved are gone and I can only watch them on TV!"

Helios came to the open doorway. I looked up at him with my sore eyes and couldn't stand the pitiful look he had on his face. Helios walked the room and came to sit on the other side of me. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

I looked at him while Kakyuu got up and took up the place he had been in at the door. "You knew didn't you." I asked him afraid of the answer.

"Yes, I didn't want to tell you. I didn't want to hurt you. That's why I got so aggravated when you asked me about getting home all of the time." He just looked at me.

"Didn't want to hurt me? You were just going to keep lying to me?" I was still upset. "I'm stuck here with no one! I know everything about all of you and them and no one knows me. No one knows me at all!" I was whining and becoming frantic.

Helios took me in his arms and I buried my head in his chest. "That's not true." He put his head on mine. "You're not alone… I know you… I know you very well."

I pulled back and just looked at him in awe. All this time he was right in front of me and we were forging our friendship. He was important to me and that is why I felt so bad about our confrontation earlier. He leaned in and I closed my eyes as I let myself slip in to the sweet kiss that he bestowed upon me.

Kakyuu stood in the doorway and frowned because she knew he would have to leave, he would return to his time.

~@~@~@~

The window was open to let the breeze of the night air in, but it also allowed a spy to listen in on their conversation.

She was surprised to see Mamoru at the outer's house at such a time of night, and alone with Setsuna. She had important matters to discuss with them, a matter of life in death in her eyes. She was about the age of the inners and could see in the window easily without the use of tip toes.

Chibi-Usa was on a mission.