Chapter Sixteen – Blossoms at Sunrise

December 2

It has been a cold winter this year. But today iss unusually warm and all of us decided to spend the day at the park. Everybody is here. Haruka and Michiru are dressed so beautifully and are, as always, the most beautiful couple here. They just glide over the ground – they don't seem to walk at all! Setsuna is here too, though she doesn't seem to want to talk much. She just smiles and watches us all, but I think her mind is in another place. So many questions, but we all know better than to ask her. I'm sure she'll tell us only what she wants to and leave the rest to our imaginations. I don't think she knows just how badly all of us want to know!

Usa and Mamoru have been a breeze of warm air today, mostly because they seem so close again. For a while, I was a little worried. But now she just glows when she's with him, and that makes me happy. If there's one thing I believe in, it's that those two belong together and that their destiny will rewrite the world. But they're not the only ones that have someone now!

Minako and Ami both brought their new boyfriends with them and what cute couples they make! Minako is so funny when she's with Hitoshi, but only because they always seem to be laughing. I haven't seen a moment where those two didn't pulse with the love in their hearts, so I think Mina-chan's greatest desire has been filled. Besides, they're both so perverted! Ami and her boyfriend are exactly the opposite. They're quiet, reserved and usually just read together, but they look so cute when they're snuggled close with their noses in the same book! They're even doing it now. We like to tease them about it, but all she does is blush and bury her face in his shoulder. It's just so sweet!

Although I know I should feel sorry for Makoto, for some reason, I don't. She comes with us every time, bringing huge spreads of food, but she's always alone. With all of us having someone special now, I just want to cry when I see the look in her eyes, but there's something different about her. I can't explain it. Even though she comes alone, she's always smiling and never seems sad. I heard that a certain someone just disappeared, but even after a week, Makoto seems content. Although I don't understand it, I get the feeling that Makoto really isn't alone, but just waiting. In any case, she has all of us!

I don't know what to say about myself. I'm sitting here writing, but really all I'm doing is thinking about him. It seems I can't do much of anything without his face creeping into my mind, his voice filling my ears. I think I might be a little too obsessed with him! But it's okay. I want to be obsessed with him. I want my every thought to be of him. As long as I can be with him, nothing else matters.

Yamito…

I don't know exactly why he chose me, but I'm glad he did. Every moment I'm with him makes me just a little more in love with him and there's nothing more I can ask than that. When the cold nights make me shiver and my room feels so alone, it's his touch that makes everything all right and all of the darkness to fade. Yamito's touch is just so…

"His touch is just so what?" said a startling voice over her shoulder, sending a chilling quiver down her back. Rei's body instantly froze and she blushed furiously, looking slowly over her shoulder to a kitty-faced Usagi. The perfectly shaped calligraphy in the small book had been violated and soon Rei's blood was boiling quickly, though Usagi jumped back with a nervous look and nervous laugh. Being caught peeking, she waved her hands in front of her vigorously while trying to defend herself from the malicious glare of the soul-spelling girl. "Anou, Rei-chan?"

Slamming the book closed with a deafening roar, Rei whirled around and began to stalk Usagi, clutching the precious thoughts in her hand with white-knuckled ferocity and pure and utter embarrassment. "You odango atama!" Rei roared and lunged, though an unusually nimble Usagi was already turning and running. Reading a girl's most intimate thoughts, even when she was writing them in public, was an unforgivable transgression and Rei was going to punish her for it in the name of justice. Soon the two girls were weaving all around, through frosted trees and wilted bushes, hollering and shrieking as only best friends could. Usagi's cries for mercy offered little restitution to her frenzied pursuer, but it did offer a bit of amusement to the two figures standing close by and watching.

Mamoru ran his hand through his hair casually, watching the two girls making a spectacle but still holding a slight smile for it all. "Those two…" he said casting a glance down to the figure standing next to him.Yamito watched for a moment as well, his eyes alight with the site of friendship, but he also smiled in his amusement and even offered a bemused chuckle. It was a sight that made his soul sing, so being slightly embarrassed was well worth it all.

The two were silent for a while, the sounds of their bickering soulmates causing stir and attention from all of those around. It was the kind of silence that centered on a question, for questions were often best bred in silence. When too much time had passed for Mamoru's courtesy, he glanced back at the singularly fascinating person beside him. After all that had happened, seeing him watch this display with such adoration made Mamoru smile as well. "Can I ask you a question, Yamito-kun?"

"If you wish…"

Putting aside all of the banter of their past, including Yamito's threats and tragedy of his own beloved of the Moon, Mamoru watched the two girls intently and focused his brow in the purpose of answering the greatest question of all. "Why did you choose this? Even if you had chosen to keep your powers, you would have still been able to be with her – been here. So why?"

Yamito thought upon that for a long time, his eyes not moving from the sight he had sacrificed so much to see. The laughter of love was something that had eluded him for many years, and even in the revelation of his own love story, he had never been able to allow that tone of laughter. But now, seeing pure, unaltered love in the form of friend and lover, Yamito's smile broke his posture, his eyes moving to the side and up to Mamoru. "This is all I've ever wanted. I'm human now, able only to live my life. I have a girl that I love more than anything and…" He trailed away for a moment, his eyes coming to term with a face of his past. Mamoru blinked slightly as he did, but Yamito's continuation would bring a very powerful smile over his face as well, as if their plight had been a dream. "I have friends that I care for and that care for me." Mamoru seemed satisfied by the answer and looked back, watching Rei and Usagi grappling over the sacred notes Rei had been writing. It was a strange, tender scene but both enjoyed it.

Yamito's eyes wandered a bit, looking to the others of his dream. To see Suteki and Minako romping about in a bit of snow on the ground; to see Kurai and Ami nestled in a blanket on the bench and reading a thick book, it made his heart sore. Even as his eyes wandered to Makoto, who was busy orchestrating over her blanket of food in preparation for lunch and the fare she received from a laughing Setsuna, he felt at ease – at home. He knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, his great rival was not simply a memory, but the recalling of the tide – soon to return. He could see it in the smile on her face.

Even in absence, that man was with her even now, speaking in her ear and blowing warmth across her neck. And with every gesture and laughing smile, Makoto exposed her heart-gone devotion to her absent, adored Kage.

"There is one more reason," Yamito said abruptly, causing Mamoru to look back to him. Yamito didn't return the glance, but instead kept his eyes on Usagi and Rei. With a smile completely devoid of doubt, he fixed his eyes and revealed the great, underlying motive to his choice of love – of life. "Jikan offered me the chance to be everywhere at once, to scour the skies and still share her in one single moment. But, truly…this is the only place I want to be." Mamoru found a sense of nobility in that sentiment and nodded, expressing his approval that he had chosen to stay as well.

After all, this was the new love story and it was beginning now.

The traffic of the train station was maddening. Thousands of people were moving to and fro, passing from one moment of their lives to the next. It was a sea of people, a flash of colors and blur of lines. No one had a moment to linger, to see the person standing next to them or even notice the diversity of life. But in the sea stood a solitary figure, standing strong against the undertow of movement.

Kage's entire appearance has altered. There wasn't as much change in his outward presentation as there was in his posture, his presence. His very aura had changed. He was smiling slightly. The world was a completely new thing through his new eyes and what he saw went beyond measure. With little more than the clothes on his back, he looked down to the train ticket in his hand and looked over each character as if reading his future. Place, time and area all became like symbols, for Kage was now an anchored oak pressing for the heavens. His destination was unimportant. In fact, he knew exactly where he would end up. However, the reflection of the ticket in the dark sunglasses he wore soon fell away as he looked back over the city of Tokyo, the city that had once been his womb and tomb. Someday, he would come back.

Someday, he would comeback for her.

A small girl had been standing next to him for some time now, staring up at the tall person in wonder, if only for the strange aura she felt from him. Kage tilted his head slightly, looking down at the girl from behind the dark lenses. Her brown hair and green eyes reminded him – reminded him the past and the future. Her innocent expression finally reminded him that his life was not a petulant pursuit of death, but the justification of other's freedom. It was a lesson taught to him by many people, but forgotten. But now, he would try to remember.

"You want to see something amazing?" he asked, startling her slightly as he crouched down in front of her. She didn't speak, clutching the stuffed rabbit in her arms, but nodded slowly in awe of this perfect stranger. Kage smiled slightly, reaching up to his face and sliding the glasses down his nose slightly. When he opened his eyes, the green and gold terror of his Ryuugan imposed itself over the soft expression on his face. At first, the girl was frightened, but then she slowly began to smile and stare into the beautiful eyes, awed by the sheer softness in them. Then, an older woman calling broke her attention, making her look around and then bow to Kage with a quick and simple goodbye. Watching her leave, Kage's smile lingered until he pushed the glasses back over his eyes, standing up tall with a glance over the city once more.

"I will come back for you, Makoto. When I find out the purpose of these eyes, I will come back. And then…" he said but trailed away, imagining his life with the love of his dreams. But his dreams were not yet possible and he had much to do, so he would sacrifice just a bit more in order to completely give himself up, to give himself over to the one girl in the entire world that cherished his heart.

As his hands moved up the hood of his jacket, the right hand lingered over his ear, feeling the earring that had taken residence there. It looked silly for certain, a young man like him wearing an earring shaped as a rose, but he was not about to take it off. The other resided at his home, and he would use the ornate rose to remind him of the girl that had given it to him – the girl with its companion in her ear. Flipping the hood of his jacket over his head and pulling the gloves on his hands tight, Kage turned from Tokyo and walked towards his train, and like the warriors of his legends, now set upon his own quest. He weaved through masses, moving against the flow of people, but never faltered – never looked back. Some sins had been too great for penance, but he would try as hard as he could to be able to earn the heart that beat for him. There was one thing that his eyes did see, for they were the cult oracles of a legendary god. Time was something not potent against love, and every moment he was away from that girl was only a memory's duty to convalesce.

And when he returned, the whole world would change.

Sailor Moon Odeum: Rapture

By LeGrande Grover

TheEnd