On a Raven Wind

Author: Abigail aka Moonchild aka Drive Me Mercury

Email: abigail@makenai.org

Rating: PG-13

Chapter started: 5-29-03 Chapter ended: 6-21-03

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all characters and settings belong to the one-and-only Naoko Takeuchi. All created characters and plots within this story are my own.

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*Chapter 9*

- Getting to Know You-

Her fingers froze on the buttons at the realization that she wasn't alone in the room. Wide blue eyes silently blinked back at Seiya from where Miya sat exactly in the middle of the bed.

Seiya hadn't expected to face her until tomorrow, so she was caught quite off guard. "Eh… oh, gomen. I thought… I thought Yaten would show you your own room..."

"She did, but I didn't want to be alone in the dark."

"Oh…You're afraid of the dark?"

The girl shook her head so her pigtails swung back and forth. "I'm not afraid," she stated. "I just don't like big rooms by myself."

"Ah… right. That's okay, I guess." She won't even admit she's afraid. She acts like such an adult. Not sure what else to say, she finally turned away toward the bathroom to finish dressing.

"You don't like me, do you?" The child's matter-of-fact voice pierced straight through Seiya's heart. She stopped dead still on the carpet. Inwardly, Seiya winced. Why was she saying and doing all the wrong things in the short time since she'd met Miya? Did the girl really think she hated her? It had all been such a shock, she still didn't know what to say or think.

Seiya moved back to the bed and sat on the edge, pulling in a slow breath and releasing it softly. "Gomen ne, Miya-chan," she looked at the girl seated on her mattress. "You'll have to forgive me. I've… never been a parent before, so I don't really know what I'm doing. So… if I act weird or something, that's probably why. To tell the truth, I like you quite a bit." She felt a small smile creep across her features. I just might get to like this parenting thing yet.

Miya looked down at her hands pressed into the sheet, nervous and happy at the same time. "Ano… I like you too."

Seiya felt her mind relax at the girl's hesitant words. "Um… then are you really alright with me being female?"

"It's okay." She looked up nodding. "And now that I think about it, the Princess Saturn always calls the Princess Uranus her papa. So it's not like I'm the only one. I wouldn't mind anyway."

The Princess Uranus? Of course. Haruka. How could she ever forget Haruka? But she never thought the day would come when she'd be able to find common ground with the stubborn senshi of sky. Seiya chuckled at the irony. "Then it looks like we have nothing to worry about."

"So may I stay in your room?"

"Certainly you may."

"Arigatou!"

Seiya couldn't help but laugh at the girl's bright smile. "You know, you're actually pretty cute."

"Hey!" Miya protested having her nose tweaked.

"Of course I wouldn't expect anything less from a child of mine." She smirked, standing up again. "Did you bring pajamas?" Miya shook her head negative. Seiya tossed the nightshirt that was still in her hands. It landed on Miya's head, cloaking her eyes for a second until she pulled it off. "Go ahead and wear that. It might be a bit big."

"Hai!"

Seiya retreated into the bathroom while Miya dressed. She splashed water on her face and dried it with a towel, then reached for a toothbrush, all the while thoughts were still running through her head. Even though it still a little strange, Miya shined so bright, Seiya couldn't help but love her already. Just like her mother. But Miya had never met Usagi. Isn't that what she'd said?

She continued brushing her teeth. Then suddenly it struck Seiya hard in the stomach. The reason Miya didn't know Usagi.

She straightened immediately and walked back toward the door, mind roaring with possibilities. Miya had changed into the baggy nightshirt and was now working at unraveling her braids, sitting cross-legged on the bed. "Miya-chan." The girl looked up at Seiya's reappearance in the doorway and smiled.

Seiya didn't smile back. "You said you had never met your real mother ... Is that because she is dead?"

Miya blinked as the smile faded, finally shaking her head. "Mm-mm. Setsuna promised I could meet her. So I know she's still alive."

Seiya wasn't sure whether to melt from relief or trans-galaxy telephone Usagi right that second and demand to know where she was and what had happened in the past ten years. So she did neither and simply stuck the toothbrush back in her mouth and walked back into the bathroom. She decided to push the confusing thoughts from her mind for tonight and emerged several seconds later in T-shirt and boxers. She stopped at the foot of the bed and laughed.

"Nani?" Miya wondered what she'd done.

"You're swimming in that." Seiya referred to the oversized nightshirt that had engulfed the young girl from the neck down. She had just noticed how large it actually was.

"Eh?" she looked down at herself. Miya plucked at the fabric and then burst into giggles. "It's kinda big…"

"Let me see if I can find you something else." After a minute or so Miya was re-dressed in another shirt of Seiya's, still slightly big but a little more comfortable. "Ready for bed now?"

"Yep!" she bounced to the head of the bed.

"Umm… you don't wet the bed, do you?"

Miya had the grace to look offended. "Of course I don't. I'm NINE years old, you know!"

"Right, sorry." Seiya didn't know the first thing about children. How was she to know a nine-year-old wouldn't wet the bed? Miya slid under the sheets while Seiya shut off the lights, leaving the nightstand lamp on dim in case Miya really was afraid of the dark. Besides, she wasn't ready to sleep just yet. She settled into the other side of the bed, letting her head fall against the soft support of the pillow as her eyes met the ceiling. For a while neither person spoke.

"Is my mom's name really Usagi?" Miya's voice finally replaced the silence.

"Yep, it is."

"That's a funny name."

Seiya laughed a little. "You think so? It suited her, in its own way."

"I have an usagi. His name is George."

The mattress jiggled when Seiya laughed yet again. Not at Miya, but simply because she was in a good mood, and Miya's word connection struck her as funny. "Is that so?"

"Yep. He's all white. But Setsuna said I couldn't bring him here because the trip might over-stress him."

"That's probably true. I'm sure he's happy at home. I'd like to meet George someday. He sounds like an interesting guy."

"I'll introduce you!"

"Then I'll definitely look forward to it. Now this George guy, is he going to like me?"

Miya propped her head on her arm against the pillow as she pondered it for a second. "I think he will. The only person he doesn't like is Tomozawa-san, and that's because she yells at him," she said, wrinkling her nose. "But he always likes people who I like."

Seiya turned her head to face Miya's, shifting her position so their bodies faced and propping her head up with her elbow. Father and daughter contemplated each other for a few moments in the lamplight. "You said you were nine, right? When is your birthday?"

"July twenty-second, 1998," the girl recited.

 If Seiya had any doubt at all, it was gone. She took a moment to figure it and, the dates added up perfectly. "Ne, tell me about yourself," Seiya spoke. There were so many things she wanted to know. Suddenly she wanted Miya to tell her everything.

"Like what?"

"Anything."

"Okay, well…" Miya shifted, plucking a piece of lint off the pillow. "Um… I live with my mama – my adopted mom, you know – in the apartments connected to the palace. I've lived there since I was really little, I think. We live there 'cause my mom's one of the palace staff… she's in charge of the housekeeping and stuff like that. So I always get to play in the palace while she's working… me and George, of course. And then there's Setsuna… "

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A pair of birds twittered loudly on the sun-touched windowsill, blissfully unaware that it was far too early to be up and making such cheerful noise when people preferred to be sleeping. Seiya half-opened her eyes nonetheless, squinting at the light of dawn that was leaking into the bedroom. Then she tugged at the blankets to pull them back over her head and plunge herself back into darkness. The only thing she got when she did that was something that hit her hard against the head.

Suddenly wide awake with the idea that an intruder had entered her room, Seiya snapped by reflex into defensive mode, flipping over to confront him with a surprise attack. She stopped short when her eyes fell on the 'intruder', sleeping peacefully curled around a pillow. Somehow Miya had managed to turn upside down in bed and had kicked Seiya in the head when someone had tried to steal her blanket. Seiya felt her muscles melt into relaxation when she saw the girl and remembered the events of last night. They had stayed up for the better half of the night, just talking and getting to know each other. Her hand reached out to brush the loose raven tresses from the sleeping girl's face. She looked so grown up, but so small and vulnerable at the same time. Seiya could hardly believe she was her own flesh and blood. Now that they had finally met, there were still so many things she wanted to know. For now, though, she found herself content to have her here, an emotion which surprised her. For as long as I can, Miya-chan, I want to protect you.

Reaching around, she jerked the curtains shut, banning the morning sunlight from the room. She fell back on the pillow, closing her eyes once again and welcoming a few more minutes in the soft comfort of the bed. Until something soft flattened her nose against her face. Seiya opened her eyes to a size 3 foot. This wasn't going to work. She gathered her pillow and flipped upside down, parallel to Miya. In that position she fell back asleep, one hand resting on her daughter's shoulder for security.

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Sorry for the short chapter. It's harder to write as much as I'd like to now that I'm working 40-hour weeks this summer. -_-; So thanks for being patient.

Love you all,

Abigail