"Tales of the Stars"
Book 1: Homecoming
Chapter 7
Meeting Yuzuha Hitachiin wasn't as bad as Staria had feared it would be. She was a very overwhelming woman, but nice none the less. They chatted about the show for a bit before she took Staria away from the boys to get her measurements.
"You are a very lucky young lady." Yuzuha commented getting out her measuring tape. "That fine skin tone let's you wear pretty much any color you could ever want, and you're quite pretty too."
"Thank you, but really I'm just average. I'm lucky to have someone as amazing as you letting me wear your work. I seriously was blown away by the show. I loved that red and black plaid dress, with the white pleated accents. It was gorgeous."
"You like that one huh? Raise you arms please. I'll know in second, but I'm pretty sure you could fit in it with a couple minor adjustments."
As Yuzuha measured the girl before her, her hands lightly brushing Staria's skin, images of classic balls and galas filled the woman's head. Gowns as clear as day revealed themselves to her. She'd had instant inspiration before, but this was more like photographs of past events being presented to her. It was obviously Staria she was seeing, but somehow the girl seemed more confident and regal. She shook her head and finished getting the numbers she needed. This girl was indeed interesting.
"Alright Staria my dear we're done for now. This will let me pick a few things out for you to try tomorrow." She smiled, but in her mind she was already planning to recreate one of those dresses that filled her mind. It was rather Disney princess like, but she loved it. Dark rich greens with sea foam chiffon accents and little touches of gold on the trims.
"Ok. I'm looking forward to it." Staria smiled brightly and headed back to where the boys had been chatting. Yuzuha watched the girl leave and sent a text message to one of her assistants. She'd need a few things to make this dress happen.
"Now we'll have to wait till Monday for any developments." Kaoru sighed.
"So much for some amusing chaos today." Hikaru agreed.
"Now don't just toss it all away. They did meet each other if only briefly. But it seemed like a small connection was made." Kyoya the ever observant explained. "When he helped her up they both got that 'do I know you?' sort of look on their faces. Not to mention after he left Staria kept looking after him with a very confused, but pondering expression. I'm sure something will happen soon. One way or another."
The twins shared a glance and shrugged. They were getting bored and wanted results. Before they could comment further on the matter Straia walked up.
"Your mom is awesome. Hands down." Staria all but gushed.
"We know." the red heads smirked as they spoke.
"You ready for tomorrow?" Hikaru asked, doing his best to sound mischievous.
"Oh don't get me wrong, Kyoya's been doing his best to get me to worry about you two, but after meeting your mom I think I can handle it." Staria smirked back. "I just have to keep you two entertained, correct?"
"We'll see." Kaoru shared a look with his brother.
"If you three are done sizing each other up might I suggest we go eat." Kyoya was tired of their little game at the moment.
"Yes please, food sounds good." Staria's stomach growled on cue. "See my stomach agrees." She tried to play it off by laughing, but knew darn well her face was pink again. She'd been doing so well about that whole blushing thing too.
Tamaki was waiting outside when Kyoya dropped Staria off later that day.
"Have fun?" the blond prince beamed, giving Staria a seemingly possessive hug, to see if Kyoya would react. He didn't, but Staria squeaked from surprise.
"Yes. The show was amazing!" She recovered quickly, after giving him a hug back, so he wouldn't be hurt. " We went back stage after it all and I talked to the Twin's mom. She's….different, but I love her work. I can't wait to see what I get to try on tomorrow. I'm actually really excited about it now."
"And I believe these are new." Tamaki ran his finger through the strands of her earrings looking at his dark haired friend as he did.
"They were part of the gift bags from the show." Kyoya explained giving Tamaki a 'no I didn't buy them for her' look.
"Very fitting." Tamaki smiled, but was disappointed. He thought some ground might have been made.
"Well, I'm kinda tired…so I'm gonna go get off my feet for a while. Kyoya thank you again for taking me along. I really did enjoy myself."
He gave her a smile in return. "You're welcome. Go relax, I have a few things still to talk to Tamaki about. See you at school on Monday." Once she was inside he turned his attention to his friend. Tamaki knew the look and it wasn't a friendly one.
"Just stop your little game Tamaki. I know what you've been trying to do."
"Oh? So I've been right?" the host king grinned.
"Get rid of that smile. You don't know what you're talking about." Kyoya put a hand over Tamaki's face, pushing him aside, and took a seat on the front steps. "I'm pretty sure we ran into her brother at the show. Quite literally actually."
"What? Seriously?" Tamaki recovered and plopped down by his best friend.
"He was one of the models in the show. The Twins are convinced it's him, though we don't have any solid evidence. Seems he's meeting with your father on Monday on our campus."
"That I actually already knew. Turns out my father knew their parents, was old friends with them even. He's been keeping their trust funds in line all these years."
"So he really is he brother. Small world." Kyoya wondered what else Tamaki had learned on his family lunch.
"Wanna know something even crazier?" Tamaki had shifted to his serious, sincere voice. The one that was always just a little quieter than the usual Tamaki.
"Do tell." Kyoya knew that voice always meant interesting things. Not always good, but interesting none the less.
"Father wanted to adopt Staria and Mamoru when it all happened. Naturally though my grandmother and his wife at the time wanted nothing to do with it. It just wouldn't be right to have 'new money' let alone adopted children in the family." Tamaki let out a slightly bitter laugh. "They have me though. The illegitimate, half breed, love child. If they weren't so cold I'd have siblings. Not by blood, but siblings none the less." He ran his hands through his hair, as if not sure what to do with them. "Is it weird for me to be thinking like this? I mean ever since he told me I just can't help but think that Staria could just as easily be my sister right now, and that would be awesome. "
"If it had happened though you would be just as likely to still be in France." Kyoya offered and sighed. His friend was on the verge of beating himself up emotionally, and he needed to ease that pain for him. "Let me ask you this. Since you're now feeling this, would be brotherly love, do you want to just tell her about everything?"
"I don't know." Tamaki leaned on Kyoya's shoulder. "I do, but at the same time I don't want to force her past on her. She's been doing so well at coming out of that shell she's built around herself."
"She's going to find out sooner or later any ways." It was time to spill the beans, or at least a few. "Our little twins have been up to no good. I wasn't going to tell you, but they've arranged for Staria to be her brother's guide to your father's office."
Tamaki paused and looked at Kyoya. He blinked a few times letting it sink in. "Are you kidding me?"
"Not at all. I'm pretty sure the run in was there doing as well, but he was in a rush and it didn't turn out like they wanted."
"And from the way father talked today I can't promise that he'll keep his mouth shut when he sees them. What a fine mess we have."
"We still have till Monday. Take tonight and tomorrow while she's at the Hitachiin's to think about it. We can either just let things run it's coarse, or we can work our host club magic, that you so love, and make things work out the way we want it to."
"Thanks Kyoya. I will."
"Good." Kyoya stretched and stood back up. "Call me when you make a decision. In the mean time I'll look into Mamoru some more. I'm sure the twins have a contact number for him."
"Alright, I'll call you tomorrow."
"Good night Tamaki." Kyoya got back into the waiting car. Things had taken another interesting turn. Their world seemed to be getting smaller by the day.
She wasn't even sure what the gala that night was for, but one thing was clear to the princess. Her brother was not happy. He and his guards were in an out of the way corner, on the other side of the room, trying to have a private conversation. She knew that there had been talk of him marrying a priestess of some sort. Something about it being for the good of the planet. Endymion, however, wanted nothing to do with it. She knew her brother had his own secret love. Well maybe not so secret since she and his guards knew about her. The princess of the Moon Kingdom captured his heart not six months ago. They had been having rendezvous with the help of their respective guards and the occasional distraction on the Earth princess's part.
"Don't frown like that. Someone will start to question you on it." Sapphrite, her own personal guard, said handing her a drink. He was a little over six feet tall with long blond hair. Most of it was tied back in a pony tail that started at the base of his neck and trailed down about half of his back. The exceptions being, two shorter tails on either side of his face, that ended at his collar bone, and his bangs that usually shadowed one side of his face. The eye that was still visible from the hair was a piercing violet. For the princess they were always gentle eyes, but they could be extremely intense and cold to the rest of the world.
"I can't help it." the princess whispered back to him. "Endy isn't usually this withdrawn. He's never had a problem standing up to father when it comes to his beliefs."
"Tranquility, you know your brother has duties to this world that have a higher demand on him than the rest of us. We don't like this any more than you do. Trust me, Zoicite complained about it for three hours last night. But we can't do anything about it. He's just going to have a make a choice. You know that."
"Well if your big brother's so smart he should stop complaining about it and help mine figure out a way that he can be happy and still keep our world from falling apart." She knew she was just up set and didn't mean to sound so venomous. "It doesn't make sense to me. Why does just one person have to suffer to keep our world balanced. It should be a burden on all of us who live here."
Sapphrite sighed, "You know the answer to that all too well. Don't start acting like it's new. Every planet and star has a pillar. Endymion just happens to be ours, just as Serenity is the pillar of the Moon, and the senshi have their respective planets as well."
Tranquility frowned again at the mention of the senshi. Technically it was just a warrior title for the pillar, she just wasn't sure yet if it was by coincidence that they were all female. Had Endymion been born a girl Earth would have had one as well. She'd asked as a child why she wasn't one since she was Earth's princess. Her mother gently explained that the planet's powers always transferred to the first born be they male or female and left it at that.
"So Sapph…what do we do when my brother decides to abandon his kingdom for love?" She swirled her drink in it's glass as she asked.
"Do you mean we as in the kingdom or we as in you and I?" his question made her smile. He always was careful with his choice of words.
"Both."
"As a kingdom, we pray that we aren't swallowed up by chaos and keep our world in one piece. As for ourselves, if you wish to follow him to the Moon Kingdom, escaping the path they have planned for you as well, you know I will follow you. I'm not a fan of hiding or running but I also know what power I have in things, and it's not much."
"Always the honest one." she clinked glasses with him and polished off her drink. "Alright I'll quit fretting for now, and let Endy play his hand. If he chooses Beryl we can focus on my choices. If he chooses Serenity, we'll help him off and deal with our destinies as the time arrives" She let Sapphrite take the empty glass and place it with his on a near by table.
"Sometimes taking things as they come is for the best. So shall we pass the rest of the night the way the public expects you too?" he offered his hand to her, and tilted his head toward the dance floor.
"Indeed. I'm counting on you to keep my dance card full so I'm not forced to make small talk with any more lords. Besides you're a better dancer than most of them any ways." the princess gave him a playful wink as she placed her hand in his.
"Don't lie to make me feel better." He laughed.
Staria woke up feeling uneasy. The realness of her dream messing with her mind. She knew she'd been asleep but the whole thing felt more like a memory. She couldn't put names to them, but so many of the faces seemed familiar. She knew that she had been the one being called Tranquility, for some ungodly reason. She wouldn't call anything about herself tranquil. Stranger yet, Endymion was a dead ringer for the model that ran into her the day before. As she got up she felt light headed. She made her way down stairs, for breakfast, in a daze. She was tired and confused but she had things to get done that day. A plate of toast, eggs and bacon was waiting for her. It smelled good but she couldn't seem to get the focus to eat any of it.
"Star you ok?" Tamaki asked as he sat down. The girl had been staring at the plate when he walked in, and hadn't budged at all when he entered. She still wasn't responding either. "Staria?" He waved a hand in front of her face.
She finally blinked and looked up at him.
"You ok?" he asked again. She looked tired. "Did you not sleep?"
"I slept….I dreamed…so strange…" she couldn't seem to form a complete sentence at all. Tamaki frowned and leaned his forehead to hers. She was burning up. He'd thought she was getting sick the other day, but had seemed fine yesterday.
"You have a fever." He stated flatly. "Come on, you're going back to bed. I'll have them bring you something to eat after you've slept some more."
Staria stared at him as he started lifting her out of the chair. "No, I have stuff….the twins…..dress…."
"They will understand you being sick. I'll call them and work something out. You need to sleep and get better."
"Don't wanna sleep…" She protested griping his shirt as he carried her up stairs. "weird dream…."
"Star you can't even talk normally right now. Just get some sleep. At least try. You can tell me about any bad dreams you have later. I'll even stay in the room with you if you want." She frowned as he carried her into her room, and set her down on the bed. He tucked her under the covers, as she gave in and started cuddling up to her teddy bear.
"That's a good princess. Get some rest. I'll take care of everything." He stroked her hair for a moment as she fell back asleep. He took his cell phone out of his pocket as he left the room and called Hikaru.
"What's up boss?" the older of the two boys answered his phone after the second ring.
"Bad news. Star won't make it today. I just made her go back to bed. She's got a fever, bad enough that she can't even talk straight. She'll have to reschedule a fitting before Saturday."
"No good. Mom's leaving for a trip to Paris tomorrow night. Though Staria's dress is done, I guess we could just bring it to school. Kaoru and I can do any adjustments that she'd need." the mischievous boy paused before adding, "We had a fun day planed out. You gonna make it up to us boss?" Hikaru enjoyed teasing him. They'd get Staria her dress but who could blame him for wanting to pick on the older boy some.
"What do you have in mind?" Tamaki knew better than to ask, but he did any way.
"Let us fill out her dance card for the event."
Tamaki was silent for a moment but smiled, "I can't do that, but I'll let you two in on my own plan for it."
"This is all a mess…" Tranquility grumbled under her breath as she was violently tossing cloths out of her closet. "Why is it that Endy's plans can work for him but mine never do?"
"I wouldn't really say his worked either Princess." Sapphrite was leaning against the far wall, arms folded in front of him, staying out of the way. He made no effort to keep the defeated tone out of his voice. "We just don't have a choice right now. We're on the brink of a civil war, if not a flat out revolution. The people only see that Endymion abandoned them, and Beryl is feeding their rage. Her followers are getting dangerously close to numbering our armies, and I've been hearing more guards starting to agree with her ideals. I don't like this any more than you do, but I'll feel better knowing your safely away from all of it."
Tranqulity stopped and turned around. She'd been trying to play tough but the forming tears were obvious in her stormy eyes. "Even if it means I'm being forced to marry a man I don't love. Hell that I hardly know?"
"Don't curse, it's unbecoming of you." He pushed away from the wall as he spoke and walked over to her. "I'd rather you be alive, belonging to another, than only mine and dead." He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. "We both knew this would happen eventually. You may belong to him, but in the end I know it will only be in name and body. You're heart and soul will always be mine. As I will forever be yours. I can survive knowing you are safe and alive. In the next world, for sure, we will be able to find one another and finally be as we wish." He stroked her hair gently as she quietly cried into his chest.
They had practically grown up together, were best friends, and over time that friendship had grown into love. They knew it had been hopeless from the start. No one would allow a princess and her personal guard to wind up together. It was unheard of. She was being sent to another planet to marry their crown prince. In turn she would also be gaining that planet's pillar status from his older sister, who despite the help of countless doctors, was dieing. Normally the powers would be transferred to the last pillar's first born. Princess Lyra never married and was too ill to bare children. In cases such as this there was a ceremony that would allow the power to be transferred to another who was chosen worthy. Timing of this ceremony was crucial so Tranquility's departure to Estarilana was being rushed. Prince Lusion had been asking for Tranquility's hand for several years. Endymoin's betrayal, and the failing health of Lyra just helped to seal the deal between the two kingdoms. Lusion, however, was a bit of the jealous type so it had yet to be decided if Sapphrite would be the one attending to the princess on her trip. She was fighting for it, but that alone seemed to be making it even more impossible.
Tranquility wanted to hate her brother. If he had done as told then she wouldn't be getting forced into this. She couldn't hate him. Not for just wanting his love. He would never purposely do anything to hurt her. She knew that. But she wanted someone to blame. Someone to scream at. She wasn't as strong or as skilled as her brother. She couldn't fight her way to what she wanted. All she could do was to try her best to talk her way out of things. Her tears started to slow, the rational side trying to take back over.
"We need to find away for you to come along. I know it's selfish, but if I can just have you by my side, even if we can't be anything, I can manage. You've always been my rock. I need you with me," She looked up at Sapphrite as she spoke.
"If it is what my princess wishes, we shall find a way." He leaned down, as if to kiss her but stopped just short.
Tamaki was sitting in a chair, by her bed, when Staria woke up. She was thinking a little clearer, though the new dream fresh in her head. She couldn't help but blush a bit thinking about the would be kiss. Her imagination sure was acting up lately.
"Feel any better?" Tamaki asked, reaching a hand out to feel her head.
"Yeah, I think…" Staria replied quietly not really putting up any fight.
"You still feel a little warm, you should stay in bed. Hungry?"
"I could eat." She propped herself up. "What time is it?"
"Almost six. You've been out cold most of the day. I was right, you needed rest." He paused when he noticed she was staring. "What?"
"Are your eyes violet or just a dark blue?" she crawled to the edge of the bed to get a closer look. It took Tamaki a little off guard at the randomness.
"Violet. Why do you ask?"
"Curious." she reached out and moved his hair out of his face. They were indeed violet, but she didn't think they could hold the intimidation and cold air that Sapphrite's were capable of in her dream. No Tamaki was more of a warm passionate soul. There was no way the dream was reflecting him. That would have been too weird any ways. She was really starting to see Tamaki as an over protective big brother, besides a friend. She sat back, giving him his space again.
"Does this have anything to do with your 'weird' dream from earlier?" he guessed.
"Had another one. Seemed to be like a continuation really. It's like my brain's trying to write a science fiction-fantasy soap opera. It's all archaic monarchy stuff but throughout the galaxy with magical warriors and such. It's really weird. I keep seeing faces I swear I know but the only ones I can place are myself and one of the models from yesterday's show."
"Actually it sounds cool. Care to share in details?" Tamaki smiled, truly interested.