Part 12: Past and present
Aiko felt the cold rain hit her face, mingling with the warm tears that were falling. She took a deep breath and set down the flowers next to the grave marker. "I miss you mother," she sobbed. Aiko remained kneeling in the damp grass as she was lost in the memories of happier times. After an immeasurable amount of time passed by she spoke again. "Grandmother and Grandfather have taken good care of me. I have new friends in my new home as well. It is nice to be living in the same place and going to the same school." Aiko paused, thinking about what she had said. "I did enjoy traveling with you Mother. I miss our times together"
Misu wiped a tear away from her own eye as she watched her friend from a short distance away. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at Naiya, the birth mother she had so recently met. Misu was suddenly glad that they had brought Naiya with them; it was nice to be with someone as she waited for Aiko.
Aiko remained silent thinking about one of the more interesting trips she had taken with her Mother. Her father had come along with them on a mission to the colony on Mars. The recently formed community of Aries was having trouble governing themselves, and Kitoko Hikari was assigned to the negotiations. Hikari had worked hard to bring the two feuding factions to agree, and decided afterwards to spend a little vacation time with her family before they returned to Japan. Even though Aiko had only been six at the time she never forgot looking out at the deep red Martian skies with her parents. That had been before her Father's promotion that kept him in Tokyo.
A presence beside her brought her back to the present time. Thinking it was Misu Aiko stared at the grave longer, wanting to think about pleasant times for a bit longer. She had just started to think about another trip when she realized that the presence beside her was not her friend and carefully stood up before turning around at looking at the person next to her.
"Father!" She gasped, seeing Kitoko Shiro in front of her.
"I miss her too you know." His quiet words gave no indication of how he was feeling. He simply gazed at the daughter he hadn't seen in over a year. After the death of Hikari, Aiko had been sent to stay with a distant cousin until permanent arrangements could be made.
"More then you miss me?" Aiko's biting words had an effect on her father as he lost his mask of nonchalance.
"I miss you too Aiko." The pain was now evident on Shiro's face as he spoke to Aiko. "Here is not the place to talk of such matters." He offered his hand to Aiko who slowly took it as they walked towards the entrance of the cemetery. Aiko stopped as they came closer to Misu.
"I have to talk with my Father," Aiko quietly stated to Misu and Naiya. Naiya nodded in understanding and Misu promised to meet her at Toki's later.
Aiko and Shiro walked in silence as they made their way through the city, neither looking at the other. Aiko was trying to figure out her father's actions so she wasn't paying attention to the direction they were heading. When they walked up to a gate and Shiro opened it, she realized that it was a different house then the one their family had lived in.
Aiko looked around as they entered the house, she barley noticed her father hanging up her soaked coat as she handed it to him. The décor of the house was much darker then that of the old house. Hikari had favored bright colors, and the house had often given off the feeling of warm sunlight. This house was dark, Aiko noted, but it wasn't depressing. 'Whoever Father hired to decorate must have been good to tastefully use this many dark colors.' Aiko thought.
***
"Do you think she will be all right?" Misu asked Naiya as the two of them sat in the small living room where they had had tea with Aiko before. Each had a cup now as they chased away the damp chill the rain had left in them.
"She should be fine." Naiya assured her daughter. "It's always a good thing to talk through your feelings, remember that Misu. And Aiko sounded like she needed to talk to him."
"Thanks Naiya." Misu smiled feeling a little relived. "I just hope everything works out for her."
"I'm sure it will." Naiya stated. "After all she has friends that care about her to help her through these tough times."
"I think I need to talk to my mother when I get home." Misu said. "She told me about being adopted, but I never told her that I wanted to find my birth mother."
"Did you think that she might feel that you wanted your real family?" Naiya looked Misu square in the eyes as she asked that question, and the look on the girl's face confirmed her suspicions. "Misu you have nothing to worry about. I'm sure she would understand your curiosity to find out about your roots." Naiya paused after seeing the doubtful look on Misu's face. "Do you love her?"
"Yes, I do love her." Misu answered. "I love her as my own mother and I know she loves me, I just don't want to hurt her."
"Families are more then blood." Naiya responded. "Love is more important, and I know she loves you. She also knows that you love her, wanting to find me does not diminish your feelings for her. It's natural for someone to want to know where they come from."
"Thank you Naiya." Misu reached over and hugged her as she spoke. "I think I just needed to hear someone say that. I promise that I will tell her about meeting you when I get home."
"I'm glad." Naiya pulled Misu closer, happy to help her through her own tough times.
***
Aiko looked up at her father, waiting for him to start talking. After leaving their coats in the front closet Shiro had taken Aiko into his sitting room, and they were now on a sofa next to each other.
Gathering her courage, Aiko spoke up. "What did you want to talk about?"
Shiro looked at his daughter and started to speak. "I have missed you Aiko. I want you to know that."
"Then why did you get rid of me after mother died?" Aiko furiously wiped the tears off her face before continuing. "You never even came to visit me before I left for Virgo. The only one to say goodbye to me was Kanako."
"I couldn't say goodbye to you." Shiro wrung his hands together as he spoke. "I didn't want to watch you leave."
"Then why did you let me?" Aiko asked. "Why didn't you let me live with you?"
"I wanted to Ai, I wanted to." Shiro was now wiping tears from his own face. "I was devastated when your mother died so suddenly like that. It hurt to look at you."
"Why?" Aiko cut in.
"You look just like her, Ai." He said between sobs. "Every time I looked at you I saw her and went through the pain of her death. I should have been there for her but I failed. She died because I wasn't there. I couldn't let the same thing happen to you too."
"I promise you it wasn't your fault." Aiko cried as she threw her arms around her father. "There was nothing you could have done Papa, there was no way you could have known what was going to happen."
"You understand?" Shiro asked as he continued sobbing.
"Hai, I forgive you Papa." Aiko slightly smiled as she felt her father return her hug.
"My little girl is growing up." Shiro pulled away just enough to look at Aiko as he spoke to her.
"Yes I am." Aiko replied with a grin. "I'm old enough to understand what you are going through, and I'm here for you if you need me."
"I thought I was the parent here." Shiro laughed.
"I never said you weren't." Aiko's grin turned into a big smile as she replied.
"Would you ever consider moving back to Tokyo?" Shiro asked.
"I don't know." Aiko replied. "I love Grandma and Grandpa and I have many more friends in New Hope then I have ever had before. They need me right now." After seeing the smile fade from Shiro's face Aiko quickly continued, "I love you too Papa."
"I know you do Ai." He pulled her back into the hug for a few moments before continuing. "I understand that you are settled into your new home. I'll always be here if you need me."
"I know." Aiko replied. "I'll make sure I visit often. One of my friend's has a family in the shuttle business so I can get tickets for cheap."
***
"It's been quiet since we fought Sauda." Lirit looked over at Noelani as she spoke."
"Too quiet," Noelani agreed. "It would be nice to know their plans. Are they after Earth or Virgo, or both?"
Lirit nodded before speaking. "Even though our strength is split at the moment at least both planets have some protection."
"And Toki can get them back here quick if we need them, or get us over there." Noelani paused and ran a hand through her short hair. "Shall we go see what the little ones are up too?"
"Lani!" Lirit shot her a reproaching glare. "You shouldn't call them that, and Ardiana gets upset when you call her 'firebug'."
"Fine I'll be careful." Noelani shrugged. "At least Mika doesn't say anything when I call her 'Rabbit'."
Lirit just sighed and moved closer to Noelani as they left.
***
"MARS SNAKE FIRE!" the flames shot out towards their target. "MOON TWILGIHT FLASH!" the bright light hit the oncoming flames and the two attacks exploded halfway to Guardian Moon.
"Not bad Moon," Mars congratulated her teammate. "Your power is increasing."
"Now if you to could get those attacks to combine and explode by an enemy." Jupiter thought of the possibilities, then had to ready her own attack as Mars and Moon aimed directly in front of her and attacked again. "JUPITER COCUNUT CYCLONE!" the electricity met the fire and the light at the moment the two attacks had merged. However there was no explosion this time, only a bright flash of light as the three attacks merged. When the three guardians were able to see again, Jupiter was behind Mars holding the fire warriors arms behind her back. Jupiter grinned as Mars glared at her then released her arms.
"Why didn't the attacks explode?" Moon asked Mars and Jupiter.
"The angle they hit at was wrong." Neptune said as she and Uranus walked into the secluded area behind the shrine. "Moon used her attack the first time to counter Mars's fire, but the second time it was closer to a combined attack."
"Oh." Moon looked at the new arrivals. "Come to train too?"
"If you want us to." Uranus grinned.
"Want to spar Uranus?" Jupiter asked hopefully. She was itching to try out hand to hand combat with another guardian.
"You're on." Uranus rushed at Jupiter, going for a throw, but Jupiter dodged and did a high kick. Uranus grabbed Jupiter's leg and caused her to loose her balance. Jupiter twisted her leg free from Uranus's grasp before she hit the ground and managed to roll and jumped back up to her feet.
"Not bad." Jupiter grinned as she faced Uranus again.
"Not bad yourself." Uranus replied as she stood in a defensive position waiting for Jupiter to come at her.
"You don't think Jupiter wants revenge for that Mortal Kombat loss do you?" Moon whispered to Mars and Neptune.
"She probably wants a good chance to practice her fighting skills." Mars replied. "You know she surpasses us in that regard. Good thing Uranus is here."
"I know. We get a break." Moon laughed. "I want to try some of my other powers." She started concentrating and as she did, Moon started to glow sliver. "MOON ROSE SURPRISE!" The flower was twice as big as the one her attack produced in the fight with Sauda, and when it hit the target it left a large hole. "Yes!" Moon cried happily then sat down, beads of sweat evident on her face.
Mars and Neptune both congratulated Moon before readying attacks of their own. Luckily there were plenty more targets to aim at.
***
"Sauda!" Kali summed her warrior who appeared in the command room.
"Hai, Kali-sama." Sauda bowed before standing up and waiting for her instructions.
"I want you to keep sending yoma down to Virgo, but do not fight those pests yourself." Kali ordered.
Sauda hid her disappointment at not getting a chance to take the guardians on again. "As you wish Kali-sama." Sauda waited for Kali's wave of dismissal then returned to her own quarters. 'I can still use the yoma to my advantage.' She thought to herself. 'Even before my "lessons" I was still better at planning then Morrisa.' Sauda grinned and started to formulate a plan.
***
"I have something for you," Shiro informed his daughter as he stood up. He walked out of the room only to return a few minutes later with a small package wrapped in orange paper. "I got it for you for your last birthday." He told Aiko as he handed the package too her.
"Thanks," she replied as she tore open the paper, reminding Shiro of the way she always opened presents. "The entire Sailor V manga disk!" Aiko exclaimed. "How did you get this? The version I have is only part of the manga, I thought the last volume was destroyed before it could be scanned onto disk."
"You had already left when there was an announcement from Manga Disk. I guess there had been another volume in a storage facility that the company recently purchased. I thought it would come in handy. Sailor V is your favorite character isn't she?"
"Hai." Aiko replied happily. 'More then you know' she thought. "Thank you for the manga disk Papa. I really must be going now; my friends will be waiting for me."
"Make sure you stop by before you return to Virgo."
"I will." Aiko promised. The two of them walked down the front door and Shiro helped Aiko with her coat before giving her a good-bye hug and warning her to be careful.
"Where is she staying?" He wondered out loud after Aiko had left.
***
"I'm back," Aiko announced as she walked through the door of Toki's Apartment.
"Welcome back Aiko," Misu greeted, followed by Toki and Tacy. Aiko sat down next to Misu and put her new disk into the new manga reader she had purchased. She skipped to missing volume and read as Misu continued to program the Mercury computer.
"I wonder if the enemy we are fighting now is set up like the dark kingdom in the manga." Aiko said idly as she finished the last part.
"This is a different enemy though," Tacy replied.
"There has to be somebody or something besides Devi and Sauda though," Misu said. "Nariko saw a dark mass take Sauda after their fight."
"I agree with Misu." Toki stated. "Sauda and Devi are not our only concerns. They must have a superior giving them orders."
Misu's computer started to beep at that moment causing her to look at the screen. "We have to go to Tokyo tower." Misu stood up as she spoke. "Something is causing massive power fluctuations."
"Hai." Aiko started out the door followed by Misu, Toki, and Tacy.
***
Devi grinned as she floated above Tokyo tower. She had selected just the right place to watch the progress of her energy drain without being seen. The yoma she had picked blended in well with the humans as it stood in the center of the top floor of the tower. The mobs of people went about their business not noticing the slight drain of their power.
'Soon the Earth will be devoid of all living energy and we will have it for ourselves.' Devi thought. She pushed her hands forward and they started to glow as energy started coming from the Earth itself.
***
"Over there, Venus." Mercury pointed at the human with the abnormal power signature that her visor picked up. Venus winked and stepped out from around the corner as Mercury let loose a blanket of fog.
"VENUS WINK CHAIN SWORD!" Venus unleashed her attack at the unsuspecting yoma. It screamed as it was hit and dropped its human appearance. It now had dark grey skin and stood a foot taller then it had before.
"This way, hurry!" Saturn led another group of people to the stair well and watched them start their decent. 'I hope Pluto found the rest of them.' She thought as she gathered up the last few people near her and guided them to the stairs.
"MERCURY SHINE SNOW ILUSSION!" Snow started to form around Mercury's hands before shooting out at the yoma. Its red eyes flashed as it moved to step out of the way. Mercury had been ready for that and part of the snow blast headed towards the yoma and hit it square in the chest area. The now visibly weakened yoma started to power up and glared at Mercury. Before it could release the bit of energy into an attack, the silence glaive sliced it strait through the middle causing it to be no more.
"Thanks Saturn." Mercury grinned and Venus gave them a V sign. In the time it had taken to defeat the yoma all of Mercury's fog had dissipated.
"DARK BOLTS!" The attack hit Mercury strait in the back knocking her to the ground. Saturn and Venus quickly turned to see Devi walking through the wall into the area where they were. "So you think you won simply because you defeated an energy gathering yoma who had no fighting skills?" Devi mocked them.
"CHRONOS TYPHOON!" The dark red energy of the attack left the time staff and hit the back of Devi's shields, causing her to turn. Pluto took another step so that she was out of the stair well. "No one said anything about winning, yet." Pluto had a slight grin on her face as she held her staff in front of her.
"And do you think that one more of you are going to be enough to defeat me?" Devi laughed at that idea.
"No one said anything about only one more of us either." Pluto moved away from the entrance to the stair well. As she did so, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Neptune, and Uranus walked out and into the main area.
"So there are a few more pests for me to deal with." Devi hid her surprise about the other guardians showing up. Last time she spoke to Kali they had still been on Virgo. 'Isn't Sauda keeping them occupied with her yoma?' she wondered as she glared at her foes.
"We will not be defeated so easily," Mercury countered Devi as Saturn helped her stand. In the time it took Pluto and the others to walk in, Saturn had healed some of her injuries.
"We are the Guardians, protectors of the human race." Venus picked up where Mercury had left off. "We will defeat all evil."
"And that means you!" Moon finished off the little speech.
"DARK BOLTS!" Devi grew tiered of hearing the guardians so she attacked. She aimed at the group in the center of the area, hoping to take the weakened Mercury out.
"SILENT WALL!" Saturn was quick to react, throwing up a purple barrier before Devi's dark energy could hit any of them.
"So you think you can defend yourselves now do you?" Devi mocked them again, and grinned as she thought of her next move. "DARK MISTS!" The dark energy oozed away from Devi and soon filled most of the area. "DARK BOLTS!" Devi fired at the spot where Mercury and Saturn were after appearing on the other side of the main area.
"MOON TWIGLHT FLASH!" Moon let loose her light attack, and in the matter of a few seconds the darkness had vanished leaving the area visible again. When Devi opened her eyes after the bright flash she saw the guardians had scattered and that she had only managed to damage a wall.
"Now!" Venus yelled out. On her command the guardians powered up and sent their attacks out at Devi. Her shields stopped most of the attacks, but some of Mars' fire got through and Devi cursed them.
"You think you won, you only just managed to hit me." Devi spat out as she stood back up to her full height.
"No one said anything about winning, you monster!" Moon yelled. "I'm sick of you." Moon paused a moment as a new bit of knowledge came to her. "Moon guardian power!" She started glowing silver and gold as her power level increased.
"We can do it." Venus called out. "Venus guardian power!"
The others quickly followed Moon and Venus. "Mars guardian power!" "Mercury guardian power!" "Jupiter guardian power!" "Neptune guardian power!" "Uranus guardian power!" "Pluto guardian power!" "Saturn guardian power!"
Devi watched the guardians power up and started to power up as well. She had a swirling dark mass around her, but the guardians were ready before her.
"GUARDIAN POWER UNLEASH!" All nine of them shouted at the same time, causing energy to fly away from them and turn into a bright white as it combined. "DARK BOLTS!" Devi fired her own attack, but the bright energy met the dark energy right in front of Devi and exploded, throwing Devi back several feet and slamming her into a wall.
"Did we win?" Moon asked in a quiet voice. Her question was answered as Devi started to fade away. "You may have won this battle, but you shall parish with the rest of humanity," were Devi's last words as she faded out of existence.
***
"So Devi has failed." Kali stated as she felt Devi's energy disappear. "Sauda!"
Sauda appeared in the room in front of Kali and bowed. "Hai, Kali-sama."
"Devi has failed, and all nine guardians are on earth. I want you to go there next and finish the energy gathering that Devi started." Kali thought a moment and decided to give one more order. "Do not fight them yourself. Use only yoma."
"As you wish, Kali-sama." Sauda disappeared from the command room.
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Yay, chapter 12 is finished. It had only been sitting on my work PC for at least a few weeks. I didn't like how it started, but it turned out ok. I may or may not re-write certain parts, but I think I will wait until the story is finished first so as not to keep people waiting.
Lioness Blackfire =} thanks for the review. If you get a chance, could you let me know what parts you think need to be expanded?