Reality Benders Note:

This story will be a classic 'Reality Benders' work. If you haven read the warning, read it. If you have read it and accepted the terms, you may move forth.

Disclaimer: The Reality Benders own nothing of Sailormoon, only this unusual storyline.



Prologue:

1 The Decision

"Yaten!! Ya-ten!!" The cries were followed by a series of very hard knocks.

Yaten Kou's eyes popped open. Then he groaned. He knew that Taiki was pounding on his door at this ungodly hour, and he certainly was not about to go and get up just yet. As he rolled over on his four-poster bed, his mind idly ran on what had happened for the past month or two.

After the final battle with Metallia, the Lights had returned with Kakyuu back to Kinmoku. They were greeted with a huge celebration, and they had been all made much of these following months so much that they were astounded. He noticed that quite a lot of ladies at court were just thrilled when they found out that the Three Lights were only girls when they transformed, which will surely not happen a lot now.

Oh man, I think I have a hangover…I knew I shouldn't have gone with Seiya and Kakyuu to that other ball just yesterday…

"YATEN!!!"

"What?!" he yelled, thoroughly annoyed by the disruption of his sleep.

"Open this door now!!" Taiki yelled back.

"Why?"

"Just open the damn thing, okay?" Taiki hollered through the closed door. "Get up and open the door!"

Mumbling vaguely to himself in words even he didn't understand, Yaten pushed himself up on his elbows and turned to the crystal clock that hung on the wall just across his bed. Ten forty-five.

Ten forty-five?!

"What the—?" he jumped up. "It's this late already?!" He rarely slept in.

He ran to the door and flung it open. Taiki Kou came marching in, looking thoroughly annoyed. "It's about time you let me in!" he snapped. "I've been pounding out there for fifteen minutes. Why won't you get up?"

"Sorry, Taiki," Yaten mumbled. "I was—" Then he stopped and his eyes widened when he saw what Taiki was wearing. At first it was snicker, then a giggle, and finally he burst into peals of laughter. He collapsed into fits of hysterical laughter, doubling over and practically rolling on the floor, clutching his stomach and laughing so hard that he couldn't breathe.

Taiki's face had gone a brilliant shade of magenta when he saw that how Yaten was laughing. His best friend was pounding on the floor already, trying to gasp breaths between fits of loud guffaws. The reason?

"You're—you're in a dress!!" Yaten screamed, collapsing into total laughter again and began to pound on his bedpost.

Taiki went brick red and said, "Oh shut up!"

But of course, Yaten couldn't. It was too funny. Taiki was in a pink and yellow dress with ribbons and lace piled on it and he looked like an absolute idiot in it. He would've looked horrible enough if he was a girl, but right now he was a boy. He didn't look like he was happy about it either. But he was calm (and mature) enough not to start pitching things at Yaten to make him shut up.

When Yaten had more or less controlled himself, he got up and gasped, "Why are you wearing that…that horrible vesture of pink lace and yellow ribbons for goodnessakes? We were given mountains of boy clothing now!"

"Look, I just wanted to see how it'd feel like wearing a dress again around Kinmoku like before!" Taiki snapped, still red-faced. "I mean, I managed to dodge everyone coming my way when I wanted to take refuge in your door—I actually went around in it but I wasn't caught—but you of all people shouldn't have reacted like that. "

"Has—has Seiya seen you yet?" Yaten choked, still giggling uncontrollably.

"No," replied Taiki. "I'm not sure how he'd take—"

But before the words were out of his mouth, Seiya came waltzing in (his dressing like a boy was already taken for ages) with Kakyuu and said, "Hey guys, what's going on?"

"Why was Yaten laughing so hard—" Kakyuu stopped when she saw Taiki.

Seiya exploded into laughter and Kakyuu dissolved into tinkling giggles, and finally all of them were laughing hysterically.

It took Seiya Kou and Princess Kakyuu a couple of minutes to control themselves, and Taiki and Yaten followed. "Taiki!" exclaimed Kakyuu. "You wore it!"

"What is that—that thing?!" Seiya said in disgust, pulling at the lace edge of Taiki's 'dress', which looked more like a bouquet of frills and ribbons than anything.

"It's the dress that I got him when before we all got separated and all," replied Kakyuu, giggling. "He was still a girl then, of course, but when he saw it, he swore he'd never wear it. He was absolutely horrified!"

"Who wouldn't be?" asked Yaten. "It's awful."

"You'd have to drag me over thorns with my wrists tied to stallions before you could get me to wear that," Seiya said, then glanced at the dress again and considered. "No, maybe not even after that."

"Well I was just trying it out," said Taiki, still red. "It was the only thing left in my closet after they filled it with boy clothes." He tore off the dress and they saw that he was wearing his boy clothes beneath. He gave it to Kakyuu, who giggled and said, "I'll give it to one of the chambermaids."

She left the room, and the boys were left to themselves for a moment.

"We are boys now," said Yaten. He went to his closet and opened the doors. It was filled with boy clothes as well. As he pulled some on, he asked, "By the way, Taiki, why were you pounding at my door?"

"Well, part of the reason was for you to let me in before anyone'd remember that we're boys now and laugh me out of the castle in that terrible gown," Taiki said with a hollow laugh. "And you were sleeping in. Kakyoku-mama wanted to see us."

"Huh?" even Seiya turned to look at him. "Why?"

"No idea," replied Taiki, shrugging. "She just said she wanted to see us."

Kakyuu entered just as Yaten finished dressing and said, "Kakyoku-mama wants to see us. She'll be in the garden."

They all got up and they began walking down the hallway and heading for the gardens. Seiya asked as they went, "Kakyuu-hime, did she say why she wanted to see us?"

"Not really," replied Kakyuu. "She just said something about a welcoming party for some guests from another star system."

"Oh," said Yaten. It was nothing but routine, he guessed. Everytime there were visitors from other planets or stars, there was always a welcoming party. And of course, being the princesses (make that princes and a princess), they were obliged to come around. Perhaps Queen Kakyoku just wanted to remind them on what to do.

They found the queen sitting in a table set among the flowerbeds on a raised marble platform. She smiled when she saw them approaching. "Oh, here are my darlings. Come here now, I wanted to talk to you about some things."

They looked at each other and went to her and sat around the small table with her. Queen Kakyoku smiled at them and laughed. "Well! Here are my children. It doesn't take very much getting used to in seeing you as boys, Seiya, Taiki, Yaten. You always have looked the part."

The Lights laughed, and Kakyoku asked, "Taiki, why did you take off your dress? I thought it looked nice of you."

"Kakyoku-mama!" Taiki exclaimed amidst Yaten, Seiya and Kakyuu's tittering, "I'm a boy. I can't wear that…that…whatever it is."

The queen laughed and said, "Well, all right then. Now about that welcoming ball that we are holding tonight. You know the usual procedures and decorum you must follow—"

"PLEASE don't say that we'll have to wear dresses!" Seiya exclaimed. Kakyuu exploded into giggles and shook her head. "Oh, Seiya…"

And Kakyoku laughingly replied, "Of course not, Seiya. You are boys now. You will wear boy clothes."

All the Lights looked relieved. If anything, seeing that awful outfit just awhile ago made them decide not to wear a dress as much as possible.

"By the way," said Kakyoku. "I wanted to say something about that." They all turned to her and she continued, "About your being boys. It appears that you have a great choice ahead of you."

"A choice on what?" asked Taiki.

"Well, since you've turned into boys when you're not in fighter mode, there's a little complication in your gender," said the queen. " but you can't be boys and girls in that way. You're going to have to pick one and make it permanent."

The Lights stared at her in absolute shock. Yaten wasn't sure if it was because of amazement or of horror.

"But…what if we choose to be a boy?" asked Seiya. "What will become of our being Sailors?"

"Oh, of course you'll still remain as Sailors," said Kakyoku. "Only when you transform, you will remain a boy, and that means that there'll be changes in your Sailor Suit. You'll still remain as you are anyway."

Seiya glanced at Taiki and Yaten, but immediately said, "Well, I'm going to stay as a boy."

Kakyuu looked at him and they smiled at each other, and Taiki snorted. "No surprises there."

"I expected that from you, Seiya," smiled the queen. "But what I'm really wondering on is the answer of Taiki and Yaten."

Taiki and Yaten looked at each other. Yaten asked, "Why do we have to pick, anyway?"

"Well…after some time, it will lead to certain…conflicts and complications," said Kakyoku thoughtfully. "There will be some difficulties later on if you remain that way. I don't want that to happen, and neither does anyone else, so to avoid it as soon as possible, you must pick one."

Taiki glanced at Yaten and said, "…we've had more practice being girls…"

"No, duh," Yaten rolled his eyes. "But…I kind of like being a guy."

They stared at him, completely flabbergasted at this unusual remark. Seiya asked, "You do? You, who whined, ranted and raved on having to become a boy when we were looking for Kakyuu-hime?"

"Well, yeah," Yaten shrugged. "Sure, I mean, I didn't like being a boy at first…but that was until we got used to everything. I think I like being a boy better now."

Seiya actually grinned at this. "See what I mean? I told you it wasn't going to be so bad."

"So I'm the only one who'll remain as a girl?" Taiki demanded. "Yaten! I thought you were going to turn back to being a girl!"

"Well…" Yaten began, and Queen Kakyoku cleared her throat. They looked at her, and she said, "Taiki, Yaten, I am not forcing you to any decision at this moment. I will give you enough time to think. However, I want your answers by the day after tomorrow's evening, for at midnight then, we will make your genders permanent."

They looked at each other and nodded. "All right, Kakyoku-mama."

Kakyoku smiled and clapped her hands. "Now! Let's talk over what you will do at that ball."

"Um, Kakyoku-mama, don't we know what to do already?" asked Kakyuu. "I mean, we've been to things like that before."

The others agreed, and the Queen suddenly smiled. "Well, this ball will be rather…different."

"Huh?" the Lights asked. "What do you mean?"

2 ~~*~~

After about thirty minutes of total uproar, arguing and hysterical fits of anger, the four were returning to the palace for lunch. Seiya looked pretty all right about the thing, but Taiki and Yaten weren't so much so.

"I cannot believe that they're coming here!" Taiki cried.

"What possessed them to?" Yaten gasped.

"Well, it's not their decision, really," said Kakyuu. "Don't you remember? Queen Selenity wanted them to have—"

"I don't care if they want to have a stupid vacation!" yelled Taiki. "Let them have it in the core of the sun for all I care!! But why here of all places?"

"Heaven knows," Seiya shook his head. "Look guys, I thought the entire conflict between our two groups was over!"

"That was only a 'more or less'," snapped Yaten, looking irritated.

"Look, are you going to argue about what Kakyoku-mama says?" asked Seiya, raising and eyebrow.

Taiki and Yaten looked at each other and groaned. "Of course not."

"It's settled them," smiled Kakyuu. "I really do want to meet Serenity and the Outers."

"Oh, princess, don't say that!" Taiki gasped, and even Seiya looked startled. "Trust us, you don't want to get…acquainted."

"Why not?" Kakyuu asked, wide-eyed.

The Lights groaned again. "Forget it. Wait until the ball. You'll see."