Previously on Sailor Moon: Shooting Starlights
"Have any of you guys heard anything from Usagi-chan?"
"You were my friend. I had faith in you and in our friendship, but you just abandon me as if I were nothing to you. Was I truly nothing to you? Do you hate me? Am I not good enough? Why won't you get out of my head?!"
" … I refuse to abandon Odango while knowing that she might be at risk because of me …"
"Odango … I miss you, do you miss me?"
"You can start by staying away from Koneko-chan …"
"What do you mean?" questioned Seiya, her eyes narrowing on the formula racer.
The nerve of her to demand such a thing from me!
Haruka stared her down evenly and spoke to her as if she were talking to a child, "I want you to distance yourself from Koneko-chan; she doesn't need you confusing her during a crucial moment of her life."
"Confusing her? How am I confusing her? She and I are only friends; nothing more than that …"
Even though I wish that she and I were more than that …
"But she seems to be much more confused since you came into her life, so do everyone a favor and leave her be. She's going through a very stressful time right now in her life and she doesn't need you distracting her with your flamboyant tendencies. She's already happily dating a future doctor, so leave her be, " lectured the Senshi of wind and sky, inching closer to the other girl.
Seiya snorted and stood up from her spot. "Look here, Ten'ou-san, you may be able to bully other people away from Usagi-chan, but you're not going to bully me away from her at all. It's her decision and her decision alone, not yours, " she snapped at the older girl, standing face-to-face with her without backing away.
"You really have some nerve, Aomori. I ought to knock you back into your mother's womb, so that you'd leave Koneko-chan alone."
"Hmm … Sounds like you're jealous of my friendship with Usagi-chan. Maybe you want to have her all to yourself and can't handle that she actually enjoys my company more than -."
Haruka swung on the indigo-haired youth, trying to catch her in the face but was shocked when the other girl caught her fist mid-swing. Then her shock faded briefly when her senses perked up from the slight crackle of electricity between her and the other female.
The power of a shooting star … But there's only 3 people who possess that kind of power and those are the Starlights! There's no way that she could be freaking …
"Haruka-papa! Look at what I – Oh! Hello, Shina-san!" bellowed Hotaru, a brilliant smile across her face as she, Michiru, and Setsuna approached the two rivals.
Seiya smirked up at Haruka and jeered, "I still see that you have a nice handshake there, huh, Ten'ou-san?" That earned her a funny look from the other female as she let go of her fist, giving the lavender-eyed youth a wave.
"Hello, Hotaru-chan, Kaiou-san, Meioh-san. What a nice evening to take a walk, huh?" she greeted the other females present, giving them a wink.
"Yes it is, Aomori-san. It's quite lovely indeed, " agreed Setsuna, giving her a polite nod and rubbed her thumb over her daughter's tiny hand tenderly.
"What brings you out so late, Aomori-san?" prodded Michiru, sensing her lover's agitation. A nicely plucked, teal eyebrow rose to make her curiosity well known to the younger girl.
Seiya shrugged, tucking her hands inside her pockets. "I needed fresh air to clear my mind; I had a lot of things to run over my brain that just been troubling me lately, " she stated, giving another shrug as she used one of her hands to brush a few strands of loose hair from her face.
Nodding her head, the violinist replied, "Our thoughts could be quite troublesome sometimes, especially when they revolve around something that we hold a deep longing for."
Seiya held back a scowl when their eyes met after that statement.
Does she recognize me or something?
Brushing that feeling off, she offered them a smile and one last shrug. "Either way, I feel so much better than before so I shall leave. I hope that you all enjoy the rest of your evening, " she tossed over her shoulder, giving a smiling Hotaru a wink before taking her leave.
"Did you sense it as well?" was Haruka's question after the former Starlight was out of earshot.
Michiru mused, "The power of a wandering star? I did, but it was quite faint for it to be considered a Sailor Senshi's power. What about you two?"
Setsuna perished off the rest of her drink before answering, "I felt it as well and it felt so much like the …"
"… Sailor Starlights, but there's no way that Kou would be stupid enough to show her face around here again after how she left Earth. Koneko-chan doesn't need her anywhere near her to cause trouble again."
"But she believes in our princess more than anyone else we know! That must mean something at least, especially since they helped save our planet from Galaxia, " protested Hotaru, her violet eyes shining brilliantly up at her parents.
But I could probably already guess what their response is going to be, especially Haruka-papa. She's never liked Seiya-san.
A sigh was heard from the pianist as she moved over to her lover, wrapping an arm around her waist. "It isn't that simple, my little firefly. It'll never be that simple and I'll be damned if I allow Kou or Aomori to torment her during her most vulnerable time, " declared Haruka, her eyes like a stormy sky.
Hotaru gave a sigh and bowed her head, disappointment filling her at her pseudo-father's unchangeable behavior.
Looks like they'll never change …
Halfway to Usagi's House
"Please let her be open to speaking to me after my stupid behavior from a few days ago, " Seiya prayed out loud, carrying a bouquet of gardenias. Then her steps began to falter when a thought came to mind.
What if she hates me now? What if she doesn't want to talk to me ever again?
"Goddamnit! I've really fucked up this time!" she exclaimed to herself, frantically running her fingers through her hair. "I'm so stupid!"
Minutes passed as the former singer hopped up and down, cursing at herself for her callous behavior that might have cost her the only person who's ever truly touched her heart.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid …" was her repeated mantra as she gave a nearly by wall a kick when she heard a scream.
Looking down at the bouquet of flowers in her hand, Seiya's fist clenched around them tightly. "I'm so sorry, Odango … Forgive me …" She reached inside her pocket, dropping the bouquet in the process as she made a mad dash towards the direction of the scream.
Meanwhile, a few feet away from her, Makoto and Ami were making their way out from the bluenette's house when the indigo-haired girl caught their attention as she sprinted pass them.
A frown grew across the tomboy's face afterwards as a thought came to her at the faint smell of lilacs that suddenly filled the air.
There's only one person we know who smells like that and there's no way that it could've been him. He's supposed to be with his princess … But from how that person was moving … it's exactly like …
"Is that who I think that is, Ami-chan?" She voiced her concerns to the equally bewildered genius girl.
There was a slight pause between them before Ami responded with a shake of her head, "No way; it's not possible because Seiya-kun's supposed to be back on Kinmoku. It's been months since the Starlights left our planet. I doubt that they'd come back so soon, especially when they -."
"AAAHHHHHHHHH!" Then a roar followed after the scream, causing the two friends to stop contemplating over the Starlights and to run for some place to henshin.
Somewhere Close By
"Ugh … Not even an hour and she's done gotten into trouble! Can't we ever get a break when it comes to her?!" complained Yaten from beneath the emerald green mask covering the lower half of her face.
Taiki continued leading them to the location that Seiya gave them, not sparing her other sister a look. "We're almost there. Hopefully, Seiya hasn't decided to take matters into her own hands because we haven't used these outfits in forever."
"Knowing her, she's probably already bitten off more than she can chew. She never does things from a distance – why do you think she's Fighter?" snorted the silver-haired girl, irritation shoning within her eyes at the perspiration starting to cost her skin.
"True, but you forget that we were Ryuu, Kichiro, and Nobu before we've officially became the Starlights 9 years ago, " pointed out the brunette, making a sharp turn before she and Yaten flipped over a fence and into a tree.
Yaten sighed, "It's not too hard to forget with how Seiya used to be so …"
"… I know, but now is not the time to bring up bad memories. Now is the time for us to do what we do best: Fight youmas, " stated the amazon, landing on top of a picnic table with Yaten.
"Whatever you say, but you know that we have to have this conversation eventually with Seiya again."
"I know …" was the last thing Taiki said before they disappeared into the night.
Another Part of the Park
"Ew! Could these youmas not be disgusting?!" screeched a disgusted Venus, her face crinkled up in a scowl after dodging another slime attack from the horny youma.
"I don't think so, but we must stop it before it wrecks more havoc!" called back Mars and took aim at the youma.
"Mars Flame Sniper!"
"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"
Each attack hit the youma, sending it flying a few feet.
Venus let out a laugh, "Thank God that you guys showed up! I thought that we'd die from being touched by that nasty ass shit that it keeps spewing out at us!"
"We're sorry! We had to find someplace to transform before we could get here; it wasn't an easy thing to do with so many people wanting to be out tonight!" explained Mercury, arms raised for another attack.
"Either way – you guys made it here and that's all that matters, but where the fuck is Usagi?!"
"RIGHT HERE!" was the response to the irritated senshi of Passion and Fire's question. Sailor Moon stopped between Venus and Jupiter, bent over with her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.
Giving an eye roll, Mars opened her mouth to tear into her panting friend for her tardiness when Venus's voice cut in.
"FINALLY! Now we can get this over with and – AAHHHH!"
Venus found herself being blasted by the youma with some kind of ray, sending her flying into the air.
"VENUS!" cried the remaining Inner Senshi, watching helplessly as their teammate was flung into the air.
"I've got her!" called Jupiter, pushing herself to run quickly to catch her airborne friend.
"Not on my watch!" snarled the youma with a sickening laugh, flinging the same attack at the brunette.
"LOOK OUT!" screamed Moon in horror as the attack neared the sprinting senshi of Lightning and Strength.
"Mars Flame Sniper!"
Mars's attack collided with the youma's, but to everyone's horror – it increased the intensity of the attack and split it in to two power balls. One of them flew in to Jupiter while the remaining one crashed into a surprised Mars.
"MARS! JUPITER!" cried Moon, watching in horror as the two warriors crashed down to the ground.
"We must find its weakness, Sailor Moon! That's all that we can do!" called Mercury to her leader, her goggles appearing on her face and her computer in her hands as she tried to pinpoint the youma's weakness.
Sailor Moon dodged an attack that nearly hit her and broke out into a sprint when more flew after her. "Please hurry, Mercury!"
"I'm trying! Just a few more – LOOK OUT!"
Moon twisted around in an attempt to move out of the attack's way, but tripped over a branch and fell onto the ground.
"SAILOR MOON!"
The Senshi of Love & Justice watched with horrified eyes as the attack came closer to her, until a figure in black jumped in front of her and a familiar sounding voice shouted …
"Supernova Blitz!"
A discs flew from the figure's weapons and collided with the youma's attack, distinguishing it.
Moon gaped at her hero when they turned to face her, midnight blue eyes meeting hers as words uttered a long time ago echoed within her ears.
"I told you I would protect you if something happened …"
"Seiya …?" whispered the golden beauty, registering the look upon the other girl's face that she gave her so long ago.
The two stared at each other for a couple of minutes, until the youma's shrill voice cut in to their moment.
"YOU WILL PAY FOR GETTING IN THE WAY OF ME DESTROYING THE INFAMOUS SAILOR MOON!"
"Oh dear, I'm trembling in fear … What shall I do? Oh, I know … Celestial Combustion!"
"Astral Illusion!"
The youma cried out as a amethyst fan skimmed its front, followed by emerald discs that made it explode into a billion pieces.
Two more women appeared beside the first one, clad in amethyst and emerald green uniforms with their lower faces covered.
Movement could be heard from behind Sailor Moon as the Inners joined them.
"That voice …"
"Those movements …"
"That fighting style …"
"You're the Starlights, aren't you?"
Moon moved to her feet and reached out to the one clad in crimson. "Seiya?" she uttered out, her eyes searching the other girl's.
"We're no longer the Sailor Starlights …" started Taiki, her eyes burning with such intensity that had Mercury slightly taken aback.
"We're Ryuu, Kichiro, and Nobu …" continued Yaten, ignoring the looks that the other Inners were giving.
There was a brief pause before Seiya added one last thing, "Don't try to find us; we'll come to you when we're ready. Other than that, stay away from us …"
The Inners and Sailor Moon gaped at the trio, trying to wrap their heads around what they just said.
"But aren't we friends?" protested Jupiter, holding up an equally injured Mars.
The trio looked at each other before Taiki answered, "It's much more complicated than that now, but we shall be taking our leave right now."
"'Complicated'?! What do you mean by 'complicated'?!" shrieked Mars, then cringed.
"You can't leave yet! We just got you guys back!" cried Venus, glaring at Yaten.
"Seiya …" tried Moon once more, trying to communicate with the other girl.
"It was nice seeing you all. Goodbye …" stated Seiya blankly before the three disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"WAIT! YOU DIDN'T ANSWER OUR QUESTION!" hollered the Senshi of Nature and Strength.
"We must give them time before they'd open up to us, " said Mercury with a sigh.
"What do you mean by that? They owe us an explanation!" screeched Mars, trying to move.
"That's just how they work, OK? Now, let's go home …"
The Inners turned to part their separate ways, but noticed their leader's lack of enthusiasm in following their lead.
"Usagi?"
The moon princess stared off into the distance, her mind racing with all that happened that night.
Seiya … what happened to you?
Meanwhile, in a tree, the trio watched their friends from a distance.
"Do you think we should tell them?" mused the silver-haired girl, crouched down beside her taller companion.
"Not yet … It could be too risky to do that, especially with the Outers. We need to wait it out first, " replied the amazon, feeling weird as she turned her attention onto her leader. "What about you, Seiya?"
The bluenette bit at her bottom lip. "Maybe we should tell them tomorrow instead of procrastinating it."
"Seiya, you know that we - , " started an irate Yaten, but trailed off when Taiki grasped onto her shoulder and shook her head.
The two watched in silence as their leader lost herself within her mind amidst focusing her attentions on the moon princess yet again.
I'll come to you soon, Odango … just be patient … I'm coming …
Next Time On Sailor Moon: Shooting Starlights:
"What are we going to do now?"
"Meet me at this location and I shall tell you everything …"
"Why haven't they reached out to us yet?"
"I can't wait to see you!"
"Are we sure that it's them?"
"I think I've found them, m'lady."
"Mother, please listen to reason!"
Next Episode: The Truth Comes Out?! A Daughter's Plea!