Live, Once More

Nobody expected this.

Chikane was severely damaged to the point she threw up blood. She also lost her form, revealing what she really was...an ordinary girl in a striped shirt under a black dress, socks and mary janes. Helios frantically took her in his arms.

'Chikane, are you alright?!' Helios was frantic in getting to her as did Mukuro as he suffered spiritually as well, being her Guardian when she was nearly dying. He felt pain in his being when she was damaged even though he wasn't hurt.

'Haaah...haahh...this is to be expected...a mere human, using celestial powers...' Chikane smiled painfully while shaking from pain. 'I'm not like you guys...who are stars in human form who can handle all that power.' she was not a sailor soldier like them, they thought. The fact that she's a normal girl who wields borrowed powers that had THIS much of a side effect shocked them.

'Hang on Chikane, I'll take care of this...' Helios cried as he healed her body. Doing so also healed Mukuro.

'Chikane...is that your real name?' Chibiusa asked Chikane who nodded.

'Yes...just an ordinary, orphan girl.' Chikane chuckled as she closed her eyes as she was being healed. 'I accepted being Somnio Kori knowing what's coming...and because Helios was my first and only friend, until Mukuro came in my life as well. I never felt whole until then. But it was all fun. Helios taught me how to live again when I was bitter with life before.'

She was just a kid and bitter with life at a young age, was worrying. What kind of life did she live before becoming their helper?

'Chikane-chan...'

'Get some rest Chikane.' Reborn told his future student gently. 'And return the crystal to Helios before you get worse.' Chikane shakily and weakly raised her left hand that Helios gently held, and his hand glowed gold, followed by his horn. He found out what she used it for, that caused her a world of hurt. Had she used it for solely dreams, she would just be as exhausted as Sailormoon. Buuut she went as far as doing what should have been, the King's job. She got rid of the Greenhouse Gases and smog worldwide and cleaned all forms of Water and Land Pollution, and restored fertility levels of the soil destroyed by pollution as well as that of endangered species. Not only that, since it will be winter soon, she caused massive amounts of water to evaporate...to cause one heck of a winter to restore the icy places and caps of the world, while preventing another increase in sea level rising as well as restoring soon-to-be-gone bodies of water by rain and nourish dried-up lands.

That was supposed to be Endymion's job when he becomes King. No wonder she was severely hurt. This caused him to sigh.

'...let's take her to the temple.' Sailor Mars offered. 'My grandfather's out on a trip, it'll be just us there.' Helios made a quick trip there, teleporting them all instantly.

xxx

'As you all know, I came to this side of the world when Nehellenia attacked Elysion and held me captive, but my soul escaped. But as I was fading without a body, I found Chikane who has currently the most beautiful dream, powerful enough for me to recover my spirit in.' said Helios. 'She can also use the Golden Crystal as only one with beautiful dreams can use it incase I was...indisposed. Prince Endymion, myself, and the current holder of the most beautiful dream can wield its power with my support.' he explained to them. He hid the fact that one other can too. 'However, Chikane is a good example of what happens if I wasn't nearby. She always has my spirit in her body so the crystal never hurt her when she used too much power. Small tricks without me around are harmless.'

'I barely made it in time when Nehellenia made her move...and I relied on Chikane too much.' he said morosely. 'But I had no choice. I was weak and nearly faded. I used the energy of Chikane's dreams to heal.'

'But Elysion is restored, right?' Ami asked him.

'Yes. The spirit horses have communicated with me but the lives lost cannot return...there are few of us left...but we will rebuild as long as humans keep dreaming.' Helios smiled. 'Its all we can do and it's a start.'

'But what about Chikane-chan?' Makoto asked him. 'She's an orphan...where does she go?'

'She will keep a small bit of power from Elysion for her survival.' said Helios. 'So she can do magic enough to live. She used to be a self-inflicted runaway and then beggar on the streets.' jaws dropped at that. 'With magic, her life was a bit easier somehow. I will return to Elysion when she wakes.'

'For a final goodbye, is it?' Reborn asked Helios who nodded. 'I will take in Chikane, you need not worry about her anymore.'

'I just don't like what her future will bring her...she doesn't deserve such a future. She should fight for a life of happiness, not what's coming for her. Those behind you.' Helios was against her living the life of mafia. Chikane's sole misfortune, was her blood as Mukuro hated and feared the idea.

'I know. But I have no choice either...all I can do is prepare her for that shitstorm and protect her.' Reborn told him. 'That much, I can promise you.'

'Er...Chikane-chan ran away from home from that, right?' said Ami. 'Why bring her back when she doesn't want to?'

'Family issues...but she's the last legitimate heir. Without her, the damages will be big, and widespread.' he said grimly. 'And her parents are morons she ran away from.' Reborn sighed wearily, pinching his nose. 'She can't trust anyone from the family at all, but thanks to dream magic, she knows she can trust me and rely on me to do right by her. It's still shaky ground though.' he said, shaking his head.

'Her broken trust in adults isn't something magic can wish away quick as one's heart doesn't work that way. She can however, sense adults she can rely on using her innate powers she recently awakened but she approaches the idea like how you would a dead mouse and poking it with a flagpole within distance.' the women sweatdropped at that. 'This is all their fault and as her tutor, I have my work cut out for me.' Reborn groaned. 'She has the mentality of a child years younger to boot and an emotionally hurt-slash-crippled innocent who's also a capable fighter. And I have to make her mentally 13 somehow by education being a young lady...I'm charging her predecessor by the nose for this.'

The effect his words had on them painted a not-good picture on the sailors.

'And she's the heir to some big conglomerate.' Haruka deadpanned. 'So the previous head isn't her father?'

'No, her uncle.' Reborn quipped. 'We don't choose heirs by father to his child. We choose by suitability...and power. Successor must always be stronger than predecessor and Chikane is the strongest in this generation. The family trait is psychic in nature. That's all I can say before my ass is grass.'

xxx

In a room, Mukuro watched over Chikane, sleeping off her pain. Her body may be healed, but her spirit will take time to recover for using the Golden Crystal without Helios to protect her from damages. Helios had gone back to his body before it died without him when she utlized all that power with Sailormoon. She says she's OK and Earth itselfwill heal her over time. Until then she can't use even her own flames, and magic gained from Elysion. She's a literal helpless duck.

That didn't help his mellow.

He knows how the mafia and flames works, as well as relationships between Sky to Guardians. He was effectively her Mist and her nearly dying gave him a world of pain called 'loss' he could not imagine not put into words, he feared losing her, the girl who saved them all and gave them their homes back.

Soon, he heard a voice. Another sorrowful voice.

'Follow that voice.' Chikane spoke to him in a weak whisper. 'That voice needs us. Go.'

'Chikane...' Mukuro was against leaving her even with the Sailor Soldiers around.

'It'll be alright...she needs us. Moreso you, than anyone else.' Chikane smiled, placing her right hand on his left. 'She has worse than idiot parents...and a pain worse than mine. She was a girl so broken, her Dream Mirror dimmed and later vanished as she lost hope. Her mother never showed her a scrap of love, since she's an illegitimate to a single mother who got drunk during a mixer. And she's also a famous actress she barely weathered media scandal...and blamed her daughter when it's her own darn fault she got pregnant in the first place.'

'So neglected she doesn't even know how to function properly as a human and a girl, but longing for things she has no idea about, things she can't put into words. Her nanny growing up merely fed and cleaned her with bare minimum care. She was homeschooled by tutors who failed to see the horrible truth and merely thinks she's a quiet girl. Her mother married a high-ranking company employee recently, but he could care less about his stepdaughter either. Her heart cries until soon, she no longer bothered. Her Dream Mirror vanished before I got to her...she was one of my failures I failed to save...and I regret it to this day.'

'Is that so...' Mukuro looked thoughtful. His Sky gave him a task. 'I'll look into this when things are officially over.' he promised her. 'Sleep.'

'Alright.'

He physically stayed with her, and his spirit followed the voice of a girl.

He found her.

Nice house...but a house so devoid of that loving family atmosphere he had tasted.

No love, no care. Its a beautiful...but cold, dollhouse.

The voice that feebly called was the doll, a neglected doll.

Her name was Katagiri Nagi. A very cute, sweet-looking girl with light purple hair and dark purple eyes. She was a petite, slender girl who clearly needs to know what sunlight even is. But due to her neglected and isolated life, even painfully aware nobody wanted her around, only being kept to protect her mother's reputation and her career, she has basically no hope in life, just merely living and doing as told.

Like a puppet.

Chikane regretted failing in saving her. Thus Nagi remains in her gilded cage.

Mukuro went to see her parents' minds...but when he did, he was pissed. So he set up things as revenge for the poor girl, while ensuring he systematically erased Nagi's existence both physically and memory, but he also did file editing...before he makes them pay. It'll take days, but soon, he would ensure she's with Chikane soon enough.

xxx

That night, Chikane was well enough to move around.

The only people left in the shrine, was Rei, Reborn, Helios and Mukuro.

It was finally time for Helios to go back, and return to Elysion he did, as he has to rebuild Elysion. The mirror world that barely survived. Chikane was fine with him leaving as long as she knows she could still reach him, thus she was never lonely with her first friend being in another dimension. His work was never done.

'He's gone.' Chikane sounded like a sulky child.

'What will you do now, Chikane-chan?' Rei asked her worriedly.

'Well, back to work. I'm a beggar who's lucky with money after all...before I met Helios, I was sleeping in an abandoned building.' Chikane explained. Rei was horrified at the idea. 'I sleep where I can, until I had enough money to rent an apartment.'

'You're a wealthy heiress Chikane.' Reborn scolded her with a light dope slap. 'You don't have to do that anymore. Not to mention your idiot of an uncle and father has a lot to pay for, for your situation so let's milk them dry, shall we?' the teenagers sweatdropped at his words. 'We'll move to a decent apartment, not that hovel you had to call an apartment. It's the size of three shoe storage cabinets for crying out loud!'

'Spacing in Japan is hard you know.' said Rei. 'Only places like temples and ancestral lands can get away with having big properties before neighborhoods are built around them.'

'And I'm a beggar, you seriously expect I'll live in a swanky penthouse with 30000 yen a day?' Chikane gave Reborn the flattest look she could muster. 'I'm a growing healthy kid, my money goes to food and hospital emergency if I ever had any!'

'And what the heck do you eat for 30000 yen a day?!' Rei sputtered out wide-eyed. The highest jobs can do a day, was slightly over 10000 yen due to hourly wage by day...and this girl earns 30k a day. Wow.

'Uhm, before I started living in an apartment when I began being Somnio Kori, I buy sushi packs worth about almost 600 yen, some reheatable bentos around 1200 yen with lots to spare but I make sure I'm balanced or I'll get unsightly weight. That was after all my foster grandmothers died a couple months back.' Chikane explained. 'When my grandmothers were around, we could keep cooking tools, and make rice and hotpots...and since living on my own, I stuck to hotpots and stuff that wasn't frying...I'm afraid of hot oil. Apartment rent...75000 yen, but still kinda small but at least I have aircon...'

For a beggar, Rei thought, that's luxurious when most beggars in the street aren't as well off as her. Heck, she earns more than most parents do in a month...30k x 31? She earns 930.000 in a month! That's one rich beggar!

xxx

It took quite a while...that Reborn scored a house using Vongola's money. For rent of course, as Chikane doesn't want to leave Tokyo just yet. Her first guardian lives in Tokyo, and Mukuro opened up an idea. That they would take in a girl Chikane was too late to save as Somnio Kori. Mukuro had given him the deets.

It was December...that Mukuro brought home girl in question. Winter had begun. And what a winter! Blizzard nearly every day! The government is hard-pressed to keep roads clean and clear, and people shoveling snow off their walkways! He never had a winter like this, ever...that was, until Chikane told him she had a hand in it using the Golden Crystal. It was to the point that the news thinks the weather patterns were bizarre.

Clouds all over the world got so thick and sea levels drastically went down...and it's one hell of a snowstorm in winter. Particularly in the icy caps where the snowstorms were at their worst. She effing restored the Artic and Antartica while effectively troubling northern countries above the equator with snow, while the middle and south parts of the world put up with heavy rains. Even in places where it never rained for ages!

Chikane poured all her efforts on the girl out of guilt, that being too late to reach her(among many others) caused her Dream Mirror to disappear, the least she could do, was grant her wish that she would have people who cares for her.

Reborn had to be legal guardian of the girls. One to a 14 years old girl and now, a girl who just turned 13 as of her adoption day.

He had to heel his charge as Nagi was as good as a newborn baby in regards to experiences. He was stuck with raising them first, BEFORE he can teach. All the while dealing with the cold, by teaching the girls how to awaken their flames as Heaters here are worth shit. Being a flame active means you don't DIE of heat in the summer and freeze in winter. You remain comfortable no matter the weather, even if you're rain-soaked.

xxx

Italy...

Timoteo picked up his phone.

Its been a long while since Reborn called...only to charge him by the nose, tripling his rates.

Reason? He found Chikane in Tokyo, living life as a rather successful beggar, earning 30k a day, but spends money on food and sleeping in abandoned buildings, and was crippled psychologically and emotionally. Mental-wise, behaves like a little girl despite learning street survival. Education? Read library books, up to College Knowledge but unable to self-learn Math. Her Mist Guardian took care of that, tutoring her in Math to catch up.

Problem was, Chikane is oh-so-damaged he has to raise her properly first before he can tell her about the Mafia, no thanks to them. He cannot in good conscience, 'throw a mental child' to the sharks just yet. He estimated that before she learns of it, she must be a functional human being first, not a feral child on the streets. Chikane also adopted another orphan girl, also damaged goods. By Japanese Law for now, he was their legal guardian but for all the trouble, he would triple his rates for the first two years as punishment, considering he got dreams from Primo Vongola in how he got his current predicament in the first place, and trusting him to do right by Chikane.

Chikane also refuses to go back to Namimori but by high school, when she's 'somewhat healed', he'll ease her in moving back home before she deals with her idiot parents. By then she can attend school but until then, home-tutored. Her mental and emotional age, must catch up to her body's before he can toss her to a school. Then the second girl was so neglected by her parents she barely functioned as a human being! But Chikane adopted her anyway and her Mist was all too happy making the parents' lives hell after a little information editing.

Timoteo can only sigh.

'Alright, I'll wire the money.' said Timoteo.

By night, Timoteo dreamed again.

He dreamed how Chikane became Somnio Kori and her work as one, when not assisting the Sailor Soldiers in Tokyo.

He also learned how Chikane got her Mist Guardian...and how things ended as of recently that Reborn even got his old body back. Hell, they even have a future King and Queen in the near future...900 years from now!

(But the dreams were edited to make sure he never finds out the civilian identities of the Sailors)

She had a hand in restoring the world using borrowed powers. Quite an accomplishment.

Now if only they're not buried in snow...thank goodness for Storm-Types, but the blizzard never stops...