Castle in the Sky

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

Beta By: No one

A/N: Annnd now you have some history...

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Dear Arikado,

You're supposed to be nobility right? I don't know why particularly, but I keep getting the idea from you. And you're so single you belong on the Endangered species list right? Guess what? I found, not one, not two, but FIVE potential girlfriends for you! Just, if you don't like being slapped with a talisman every second of a day avoid the fire starter. I'm leaning hard on the one who cooks, she's tall, a tomboy, I think it would be a good match.

Signed,

The reason why you're still a gainfully employed Vampire Hunter.

Soma

Usagi walked down the street enjoying the fact that she got to see her husband again in daylight after.. Well for sleeping in and not being awake in time to make him his lunch or dinner. Thus being forced to go to his job and give him his lunch and dinner... Which, while edible, lacked Chibi Usa's beautiful craftsmanship... Usagi could only wish that she could do both at the same time. Which because of her mistake, she had been unable to go and see the rest of the scouts for lunch.

She sighed as she glanced up into the sky and watched as the clouds drifted by on another beautiful day. No attacks from Youma and only the occasional strong gust of wind that hinted there 'may' be a storm coming. It tugged at her sold deep maroon colored skirt and her powder yellow blouse, but it would be a while before it hit so for now, she could just indulge in the lovely weather.

Further down the street she could see a girl on the other side of the street, as old as Chibi Usa looked when she first arrived in their time. The girl was walking towards Usagi's direction, wearing a deep blue dress with white shoes and a large straw hat that brought back more of those memories of Chibi Usa's child self. She was walking hand in hand with her mother, her free hand invested in gripping the large balloon floating above them.

A gust of wind came rushing by once more, pulling off the hat from the child and sending it dancing through the air and into the road. Usagi heard the cry of alarm and dismay from the child and even that brought back the memories of her life in middle school. A gray cat came dashing out from the side of the road, tackling the hat and the wide brim had it flip itself over onto the cat.

Said cat began walking awkwardly back towards the sidewalk where the girl stood crying for her hat. Reaching forward those tiny fingers released the balloon into the air as a large truck made the turn and began barreling down the road. The cat was zigzagging on the road as though they couldn't figure out the exact place to go. Which made sense the cat's head was covered with the hat, but the horror that the cat was about to be killed made Usagi turn her head away on reflex.

They probably just followed their chase instinct, but as Usagi turned her eyes away they fell on a distinctly recognizable pair of cats on the same side of the road as her at the crosswalk. One black and one white, both yowling in a panic and suddenly Usagi's stomach hit her feet and she felt faint.

"Diana! No there's a truck coming! Just go!" She screamed in horror ignoring all the other observers who had stopped. The growing number who averted their eyes in that same sickening realization of the fate of that poor cat.

Only it wasn't just 'a' cat, it was 'Diana' and if anything happened to her, Chibi Usa, hell Luna and Artemis would all be crushed beyond words. She rushed to the rail in alarm the world losing its colors as Diana stopped. Undoubtedly confused by what she heard and Usagi hated her aging body that stopped her from moving to save a good friend. And the rest of the people around her would only think she was reacting to an 'animal'.

Just a 'cat'.

Decades as a Scout got her senses sharp enough to see the streak of white that dashed across the road. One minute there was a bright straw hat with a cat under it in a road about to be flatten by a truck then nothing. Frantic, Usagi began scanning the only direction she could figure that blur went and saw that guy from before. His white hair and fluffy coat making him stand out instantly, and she ran straight to him in mounting worry. The other pedestrians didn't mean anything to her as she ran around them, some stepping out of her way. Some distant part of her recognized the little girl and her family going to the crosswalk. Probably to retrieve the hat.

But the only colors was the white of Soma's hair and coat and the gray of the rest of the world as her joints argued against such running. She saw the beautiful gray of Diana's fur resting on his arm and her positively confused expression. While Soma knelt on the ground so that Luna and Artemis could reach up and check on their daughter. Usagi could hear the concerned yowls from her friends and could almost hear the cats.

Only she couldn't anymore.

Ever since their crescent moons were shattered the cats lost all ability to talk to humans.

"Oh guys! Diana don't do that to me!" She broke into a sob as she sank to her knees reaching out for Diana. Soma had the decency not to ask prying questions, and he placed the gray cat into her reaching arms without objection.

Diana rubbed her face against Usagi and gave a soft purr while only at some distant part of her mind did Usagi notice the world. She could hear Soma greet the little girl and her apologetic mother before giving back the hat. He even commented that the two elderly cats were the parents of the gray cat that nearly got ran over.

"Auntie? Auntie is the kitty ok?" The little girl asked, forcing Usagi to focus on the world around her again. She opened her tear stained eyes as she nodded, swallowing in an effort to even speak to the child.

"Yes, Diana's ok," She answered while the small girl reached out with a tiny hand to pet Diana. Her balloon was gone, but losing her hat and nearly seeing a cat nearly get killed probably made it an after thought that wouldn't be around for a bit longer. Luna and Artemis struggled their way up Usagi until they were perched on her shoulders so that they could be near Diana.

"Come on Usagi, we shouldn't take up the sidewalk like this," Soma broke into Usagi's bubble and grabbed her elbow to help her rise up.

Numb to a great deal Usagi allowed herself to stand up, and only faintly realized he was trying to take Luna off her shoulder. "Come on guys, three on one is a bit unfair. I won't bite, I promise," Soma was heard saying when Luna dug her claws into Usagi's blouse. "Actually a white cat on a white coat is less fur trouble for me..." He added before giving up on Luna and moving over to take Artemis from her shoulder.

He stayed on her left side where Artemis had been and close enough that she could lean against him occasionally when her joints protested her fear.

"Thank you so much for saving Diana! She's my daughters' cat and if something had happened to her," Usagi began babbling even as she got her wits back around her slowly.

"Don't worry about it, I'm impressed you can handle all the scolding Luna is giving you," Soma answered with a faintly amused smile on his lips. Then he raised the pitch of his voice to something higher and, "Honestly Usagi, you're a Sailor Scout, we've been through way worse before get a grip!"

Usagi stopped walking and stared at Soma with her eyes wider than they could ever have thought to get. Even the cats froze and turned to look at him in pure amazement, while he shrugged and added, "Well she sounds like that, only more choked considering its her daughter who nearly became a statistic."

"Y-y-you can hear the cats?" Usagi asked, her voice on the brink of breaking all over again for a different reason.

Soma blinked and shrugged, showing a bit of concern, "you can't? I mean they talk like they expect you to understand. But Luna sounded more like she routinely scolds you."

"I haven't been able to hear them since their Crescent Moons were destroyed... I haven't..." And somehow having to admit this broke her after the near death experience with Diana.

"Um excuse me sir?" Diana raised a paw and her voice was soft, tentative as she spoke when she saw Soma look down at her. "You 'can' hear us? How is that possible?"

Soma answered with a slight smile before shrugging, his fingers idly stroking Artemis' fur as though petting something was a norm for him. "That's a secret."

"Wow... its been ages since someone has been able to hear us..." Artemis noted, his voice was older but there were still some lighthearted inflections in it.

"You heard what Rei said about him, he's a vampire!" Luna argued only to remember that he could understand them. Suddenly covering her mouth with her paw in a bid to hold in too much.

"So firestarters' name is 'Rei' huh? I think I remember Mina mentioning something about a Priestess from a shrine by that name." Soma commented only to hear a hiccuped sob from Usagi.

"Yeah, she's a dear friend of mine, and I guess you know my secret..." She confessed with the most honest smile on her face that the Cats had seen in a long while.

It was tear stained and broken, a middle age woman who was fighting a solitary war against despair. The hopelessness that had been gnawing at her was finally beginning to surface as she walked along, blindly trusting Soma. He wouldn't put her down an alley and kill her, right?

"Well, if Rei hadn't smacked me with those talismans and forced that side of me out, then not really. But now that I know what your blood smells like," he ended the sentence with a faint shrug as he dipped his fingers down to give Artemis a scratch on the chin. Earning a purr for the effort while guiding the group towards a lone tree that held a bench under it. Just a rest stop for the elderly or a bus stop, the purpose didn't matter.

Soma sat Usagi down and looked her over better, seeing the skinned knees and the make up covered bruises that probably came from the day before. Now faded from the chaos of the near death of Diana. "Maybe one of you cats can explain things for me? I mean how does a, a what? Fifty year old woman run around in a sailor suit and fight for justice? I mean, don't you guys retire after a bit?"

"Supposedly," Artemis agreed quietly.

"She's not supposed to be fighting! She's supposed to be Neo Queen Serenity! She should be ruling the world!" Diana answered, not quiet defensive as much as sounding frustrated.

"Diana! He's a 'vampire'!" Luna chided, earning the ear dipped embarrassment from her daughter.

"That's 'Lord of Darkness and the Children of the Night', so now that all us Nobles are on the same level..." Soma answered with a mildly unimpressed shrug. "Soo, 'Neo Queen Serenity' is it?"

"No... no its just 'Chiba, Usagi'... it was 'supposed' to become Neo Queen but..." Usagi looked at him, and he never saw such a broken soul until he saw her eyes. Grief and pain, patience that gave into frustration and then burned out into despair. Even shame held its place somewhere in her eyes, and he inwardly sighed and without realizing he 'could' he gently nudged her mind to make her talk this out. After all, as any proper Spaniard would tell a person, mental health of an individual was as important as physical. And he 'seriously' wished Japan would just join the rest of the world on this matter, but whatever.

"Its supposed to be 'Neo Queen Serenity', my daughter is supposed to still look like a little girl. My husband should be a Queen Consort, and my dear friends should all still physically be teenagers!" Usagi bit her knuckle as the words began pouring out of her in a pained rush. "Instead I'm just a house wife who never sees her husband because he has to work 80 hours a week for us. My daughter is in her physical 30's. My wonderful friends are all in their 50's, never been able to marry because of me and have to hold jobs to support themselves. Can't support themselves without working. Not safe to be in a relationship because they may get targeted. My husband gets targeted occasionally and has lost several jobs because he's too busy being dangled in front of me! This is supposed to be a utopia! This is supposed to be our time of 'peace'!"

"What happened to the Future we saw when Setsuna opened the Doors of Time?!"

That almost was a wail as Usagi's head dropped into her hands, Diana stepping over to sit on Soma's lap in the last second so Usagi had both hands free.

"All the scouts are Princesses of their respective worlds, and yet... Something happened to time iself." Artemis explained quietly, his gaze going to the ground itself. "I'm actually Minako's partner, but she can't afford to keep me at her place after that one incident. So I live with my family and we all live with Usagi."

"Once upon a time my parents bore crescent moons on their foreheads that allowed them to speak and be understood by you humans. But..." Diana began when an angry huffy voice cut in.

"What did you do to Usagi you vampire!"

Soma looked up at the sky that lacked the cloud coverage to validate why a vampire would be able to be out during the day. He didn't need to look behind him, he recognized Rei's voice instantly and instead gave a slight eye roll.

"Hello, Firestarter," he replied and her being related to Mars made sooooo much sense at this point.

"Oh, Rei don't be angry! He saved Diana!" Usagi replied as she wiped away her tears quickly in a desperate bit to defuse Rei's temper.

"Are you sure?" The priestess answered in a distrustful voice, as she stormed up to the group with her white and red priestess robes. "He could have tossed her into whatever just so you 'think' he saved her."

"Rei!" Usagi replied in mild disbelief with an added dose of 'really'?

"Well I can see my presence here is no longer welcomed, so I'll see myself out into the rest of the city." Soma answered gathering up Diana as he stood up, with Artemis resting on one arm and Diana on the other. But not for long as he proceeded to pass the cat over to Rei before waving his farewells to the rest of the gang.

Leaving Rei's distrustful eyes on him until he was just a speck of white in the distance.

"Seriously Usagi, you're too trusting," she began as Usagi shook her head in denial.

"Its true, Diana chased a little girls hat, and I think she was trying to return it to her when a truck nearly ran her over." Usagi explained shuddering as the memory played back in her mind. "If he hadn't ran out into the road, we would have lost her."

Rei blinked in alarm before looking down at Diana, even if the cat couldn't speak she could still nod after all. For which the cat held a shame faced expression, "oh Diana, you're not as young as you used to be... none of us all."

"I'm sorry Rei! I'm so sorry!" Usagi burst into sobs and Rei achingly wished it was one of Usagi's old cry baby sobs. "I don't know what I did wrong. I'm so sorry for messing our future up!"

Rei rushed to the bench and sat down before she got a grip on herself, shaking her head while using the same tone of voice she normally used. "Usagi you crybaby. Its ok, whatever happened to twist it, we'll untwist it! You're going to be Queen..."

"I don't care about being Queen!" Usagi shot back as she began grinding the palm of her hand into her right eye. "I care about you guys, I care about my family! We shouldn't be fighting, we're in our 50's! You saw our future! You saw the images of yourself! That wasn't the image of a 50 year old woman! You were still a teenager. All of you were! I messed up! I ruined everything!" Usagi buried her face into her hands as the dramatic waterworks of her youth became floods in adulthood.

The cats yowled their distress at the sight of their princess breaking down in tears their cries of support and encouragement lost with their crescents. While Rei had to hold back the tears as Usagi confessed this guilt and private shame. "We don't mind," she began her normally strong voice dipping into something softer. "We're fine..."

"No, you're not! You guys deserve to be married! If we can't have Crystal Tokyo then at the least you guys should have husbands! Boyfriends... SOMETHING ANYTHING!" Usagi began screaming and Artemis and Diana both wisely climbed down so Rei could grab Usagi. This wasn't something a slap could cure. And as she began to cry as well, Rei pulled her poor Crybaby best friend into a fierce embrace and the two women sat at the bench sobbing.