Lady's notes: First thing is first - I want to thank the people who have been giving me constructive criticism. :3 Really it's only been two people, but it has been a kind help nonetheless, and I'm trying to make use of it. It means a lot to me when people will take the time to both constructively critique kindly and tell me what they liked, too. So I'm trying to do the same and pass my constructive criticism along. If anyone would like critique from me, catch my attention in a review or send me an FF pm and I will see what I can do!

Right now my main concern is character development, so if you review this time around (which I'm hoping you do, hehe), please tell me which character you like and why, and which character might need a little work. I'm guessing Capella needs a little bit of work since right now she doesn't have much background introduced. So, in the name of the sun, on with the ficcy!

Supernova in the Sky

Ch. 6

A distant sun rose into the honey-colored morning sky, illuminating the clouds as though they were streams of orange in a land of tangy lemon sherbet looming above. The white orb peeked into Kotori's window, a warm patch of light hanging over her and the sleeping form of Rufus curled at her side. It had been a long night, and the both of them hadn't stirred one bit in their sleep. The redhead's gold-green eyes opened first, comforted by the cat's presence. They inspected his dirty fur, which wasn't so much black as a very dark gray, with very faint lighter gray tabby markings that wouldn't have been visible from any farther away. His mother must've been a white and gray tabby. She smiled, thinking about his family.

Then, his gold-green eyes opened, thrilled to see a patch of sunlight. Stretching as far as he could without having to actually get to his feet, Rufus yawned and sighed in delight. The sun was so nice.

"So it really was real," Kotori murmured, looking at him. Startled by her voice, he turned to her, looking at a face that was slightly puffy as though she had been crying in her sleep. Great… that was the last thing he wanted to do. Make her cry.

"Yeah. It's real. How are you feeling?" he asked. Kotori didn't look ready to answer, and she yearned for the right words to use. How could she describe the way she was feeling? Calm? Enlightened kinda? Understanding? Tired? Blah? Blah! Blah was the word.

"Blah."

Suddenly, the sound of the door handle rattled, and Rufus dove into a pile of clothes as Capella entered the room. Needless to say, she was quite shocked to see her friend was awake.

"Good morning, Kotori," she said quietly. There was something in the redhead's aura that didn't feel normal. Capella made a point to keep her distance. The girl almost looked sad, but… she couldn't put her finger on it. "I wanted to thank you for cleaning up last night."

"It wasn't a problem. I'm sorry I came home late," Kotori answered, stretching and yawning. "The sun looks nice this morning." For a moment, Capella was silent, and then stared into the sky.

"It does."

"It's just a shame that the sky will only stay that way for a few moments… the colors in the morning are so pretty…"

"Kotori," the blonde began, biting her lip, "is there something wrong?"

Before answering, she thought about all the excuses she could make. She thought about all of the things Capella would and wouldn't believe, and then she thought of what really happened last night. ChibiUsa and her family and her past and future ordeals, and Rufus and her own past and future ordeals, and all the secrets…

"No, not at all." She smiled, buying Capella's reassurance. "I feel very well, actually. Well rested. I slept great."

"Well, alright then. It's just past nine, and I made the kids some breakfast. Just some toast and cereal. There's a little bit left if you want some."

With that, Capella left, going back to the orphanage playroom where she'd be for the majority of the day. Breakfast. What did Kotori want with that? The day felt like it would be very dull. She didn't feel like doing a damn thing.

"You should start the day with breakfast, you know," came Rufus's voice as he found his way out of Kotori's clean and or dirty laundry. "You've had a lot to think about. It isn't good for you to not have any brain food. You'll get sick!"

"I think getting sick is just what I need," Kotori said, making way to the bathroom. "Someone to pamper me and take care of me, and nurse me back to health… oh Rufus, that's all I want…" He would give her the sympathy she needed, but he didn't know how. Sighing, he listened to the bathroom door close, the shower curtain's rungs slide down the rail, the water start for a shower, and the shower curtain's rungs sliding back down again.

Ah hah! He knew what would make her feel better! After what happened last night, she'd be taking a long shower to relax and think, so he had plenty of time. Well, if he could get his fat ass where he wanted to be in time.

Wasting as little time as he could, Rufus pawed open the window and bounded outside, barely landing on a dew-covered rooftop nearby. Hopefully he would lose some weight while on Earth. His gold-green eyes scoured the small cul-de-sac that Ichiban Taiyou and a few other buildings shared, looking for an alley that was close, but far away enough from the orphanage where he could talk to a very important someone without other important someones seeing. On one side of the orphanage was a second-rate telephone company that seemed to be going out of business, and on the other was a used book store, which also didn't see many customers. Between the phone company and the orphanage was the alley in which the feline woke the day before, and then another street opened up, and a building for lease was on the corner. There had to be a nice empty place by there somewhere.

Rufus made a beeline for it, his large stomach wobbling to and fro as he sprinted across the slightly damp asphalt, his white-socked paws feeling the roughness of the old street. When he got to the alley behind the empty building, he could see right away that everything was closed shut. But… he wasn't just any cat, he had come to realize. He had to be able to do something cool to get in.

"Okay Queen Mau," he mumbled, closing his eyes, "please tell me that I can do something cool…"

From the thin gold circle on his forehead, a beam of light projected into the air, forming a single key in its ray. It was gold, and the handle was shaped like that of a feline head, with ears and whiskers, and two emeralds for the eyes.

"Hey, hey! Alright! I really am getting the hang of this thing, I guess!"

He held the key in his mouth, and scoured the area for a backdoor of some sort. There were a few, but only one suited his liking. It was very plain, just a white door with a simple lock on it. He needed something simple to test this key out, anyway. Using his large frame, Rufus moved a few crates together to get some more height, and clenching his jaw tightly on the key's handle, he jammed it in the door's lock.

With a faint, magical yellow aura, the key's grooves fit perfectly to push all the lock's pins the right way, and the door opened. Rufus was nearly bathing in success as he pawed at the door handle and walked inside the complex.

About the complex. There was something… eerie about it, and Rufus wasn't sure if it was supposed to be that way. White curtains hung absolutely everywhere, and when he entered, a faint breeze danced with them, fluttering them in the air. Rufus didn't like things that looked ghost-like. He didn't like them at all. Something was off about this building.

"Oh well… better get on with the plan," he said. "Kikeno Shigeo, Kikeno Shigeo, Kikeno Shigeo!"

In a flash of light, as if there hadn't been enough of those already, the cloaked man appeared, his earthy brown eyes cynical as usual. In black, he was a dangerous contrast to the white curtains lashing out on the walls. Scowling, he surveyed the setting.

"Why did you call?" he asked, clenching his fists pensively. It was almost as if… he was nervous. Perhaps the building wasn't the best of meeting places, Rufus thought.

"Well I was wondering if you could play the part of a civilian for me today!" the cat said brightly. "There were a few things that I wanted to do, but most people wouldn't take too kindly to a talking cat going shopping."

"You want me to go shopping?"

"Well, it's for Kotori! Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Rufus asked. Shigeo sighed, defeated by the feline. His usual demeanor was being ruined, and pretty soon, his reputation as dark and mysterious would be, too. He pulled off his black hood, revealing very nicely styled brown hair that was short and spiky, but nicely spiked. He didn't look like some teenage hoodlum punk-wannabe. He almost looked professional, and without the hood, his goatee no longer looked scruffy. Then, his cloak flashed a golden yellow color for just a moment, and then turned into yet another surprise.

Shigeo was standing before Rufus in nice civilian clothes - a black, long sleeved button up shirt, and dark blue jeans. Nothing otherworldly except his good looks about him, now.

"If I weren't a male, I'd say you were beautiful." Shigeo smirked, pulling down on his shirt a bit.

"I always get the feeling that this thing is too small for me…"

"Well you are like eight feet tall. I'd feel the same way!" Rolling his eyes, Shigeo sighed, putting his hand to his forehead. He couldn't believe he was doing this.

"I'm not quite eight feet tall."

"Sarcasm, Shigeo. You seem like you should know the game pretty well."

Their banter went on for a little while, the man giving out his actual height with insecurities, Rufus laughing about how no man four inches past six feet should feel insecure, Shigeo complaining about how husky he was, Rufus reassuring him that if he were human, it'd be much more embarrassing, and the like. In fact, it wasn't until ten minutes later when Rufus had realized how much time he wasted in silly talk. Kotori would be out of the shower soon, and he had a surprise he wanted to give her.

"Well let's knock this off," he said. "I need you to go to this high-end dessert store and get Kotori a box of mochi. Then we're going to wrap it up nicely and put it in a gift basket with a stuffed animal and… how about a necklace! Yeah!"

"With what? Money?"

Rufus's eager smile fell into a prominent frown. So much for his plan. And then, realizing he had had enough fun being a smartass, Shigeo pulled a credit card from his back pocket.

"I was lucky to acquire this, you know. It's for emergencies, and I'm not counting this as one of those, so you owe me one, cat."

A lot of questions were going to be asked later, Rufus thought. If he had a credit card, he must already have a civilian disguise. He had no idea the man already had a seemingly established life on Earth. But what he learned today was nothing. Tomorrow was going to be a real information field day.

o ... .O. ... o

"Kotori! Kotori, you've got to hear this!"

Capella's voice coming through the bathroom door made the redhead grumble. It was her peace time in the shower, and no one had the right to bother her!

"… What…?"

"The news! There's something on the news and I think you should know about it!" Kotori glowered at the thought. Looked like her shower was coming to an end. Quickly, she rinsed off the honeysuckle scented suds on her body and the conditioner in her hair. Within a few minutes she was giving Capella a cranky stare in the bathroom hallway.

"What's so special about the news that I had to get out of the shower for?" she asked, folding her arms. Capella tried not to bark back. Her friend was in a bad mood, and she'd perhaps ask later.

"There are these people around the city that the authorities are after… they say that the charges aren't being released to the public, but one of those people looks just like the orphanage master!" At this news, Kotori raised an eyebrow. The anchorwoman's report about the strange lights from last night's news also came to mind.

"Hm. Peculiar."

"That's all you've got to say?"

"Well," the redhead began, crudely cleaning out her ears with her pinkies, "what do you expect me to do about it? We could report Fudaya-san to the authorities, and mess up everything for this orphanage and the children in it, or we could shut up about it and act like nothing ever happened, and be happy with our lives just the way they are!" This time, Capella folded her arms, leaning back on her hip a bit. Her frown didn't budge Kotori one bit.

"You know, you really disappoint me. I expected a little more sincerity out of you." Her words didn't budge the girl, either.

"Don't you talk to me about sincerity, Capella. I suggest you analyze yourself before you start judging another's personality and opinions." With that, Kotori turned away into her bedroom and slammed the door. Who did Capella think she was, anyway? Was she the only one who cared about the well being of the children, as cheesy as it sounded? She was having a hard enough time embracing every other change around her, the last thing she needed was her only home being uprooted and thrown into investigation by nosy, know-it-all authorities! How dare--

Sitting on her desk by the window was a little white wicker gift basket, with lacy yellow tissue paper sticking up around all of the gifts that were stuffed inside. Beside it was Rufus, beaming proudly. However, to his dismay, Kotori broke down into tears at that very second, falling to her knees.

"Aw Kotori! What is it? What did I do?" he asked, jumping off the desk. Suddenly, she picked him up and squeezed him close to her, sobbing and sniffling.

"Thankyousomuch," she blurted. "Whyarethingsso SUCKY? You're the only onewhocares!"

"Aaaakk!"

It took a while, but getting a quick grip of herself, Kotori set her feline companion down and hiccupped. He appeared quite shaken.

"I'm sorry," she said, wiping away a tear. "I just… this is kind of hard to swallow, you know? I'm not very good with changes."

"Well that's why I wanted to cheer you up!" Rufus said, hopping up on the desk again, nudging the gift basket closer. "The Sun Princess can't be all tears and frowns, now can she?" Sniffling, Kotori reached for the basket, but what happened sort of shocked the cat. Rather than reach for one of the goodies inside, she took out a handful of the tissue paper, and rather unceremoniously blew her nose. Loudly.

Moving on, she pulled out a stuffed cat that slightly resembled Rufus, and a weak smile appeared on her face.

"It's for when I'm not here… you know, in case I have to go somewhere. I, uh… don't know why that might be, but you never know," he explained. At last, a chuckle from Kotori. She placed the stuffed animal on her mattress, and then went for the box of mochi, which really put a smile on her face.

"Oh my God! I've never seen so many flavors! This is awesome!" she cried, examining the package from every angle possible. "You have no idea how cool this is… I've always wanted to be pampered! And this is definitely going in the right direction! Peanut butter mochi? That's so cool!" It was nice to see her happy. He had only seen the laconic and surly sides of her. "Tell you what! Tonight when everyone's asleep, I'll open these and we can pig out on them! Just you and me!"

"Really? You mean you aren't going to share with the children?"

"Naah, I'll make it up to them later!"

Suddenly, Kotori lost her breath. Her eyes had set themselves upon the last gift in Rufus's basket, and it laid in a clear ring-box in the center of a tuft of lace tissue paper. It took her a few moments to take it out of the box, her awe getting the best of her.

It was a necklace. A small locket, to be exact. Made out of gold, shaped like a circle, rimmed in a glittering golden opalescent material. Delicately, Kotori's fingers pried the locket open, to see a picture of a tall tower made out of light shining in the foreground, with a black, star-clustered backdrop behind it. There was something in the back of her mind - a memory, perhaps - that wanted desperately to come to the surface as she gazed into the picture, but something kept it locked away.

"This is beautiful… are you sure it's for me?" Kotori asked in disbelief.

"Of course it's for you!" Rufus laughed. "I didn't get it for myself, that's for sure!" Careful with the clasps, the redhead fastened the necklace so that it dangled a few inches below her collarbone. She had never dreamed of having such a nice piece of jewelry.

Rufus was glad that the girl was pleased. Shigeo had done a good job picking out the necklace. He seemed to know exactly what Kotori would like.

"Is this my home?" she asked, referring to the picture in the locket. She had returned to staring at it.

"Yup. It's the Hyperion Tower. That's where your mother resides," Rufus answered. "Waiting for you."

"What's my mother's name?"

The cat wracked his brain for the answers Shigeo had given him yesterday. He couldn't let him down by not knowing Kotori, and he couldn't let Kotori down by not having the answers she needed. But Queen Mau would be the most disappointed in him if he couldn't do this one simple task. The name… it was sun… sol… sol…

"I think her name is Solennia. You'll love it there, I heard the sun is a very pretty place!"

Kotori smiled, a warmth inside of her. At last, she knew who her mother was. Kinda. A name was something, wasn't it?

Then, suddenly, there came a scream from Capella.

I know, cheesy scene-breaker, but Qantas was right when she said that the simple line wasn't good enough. xD I'm still working on something that's... suitable.