Chapter Twenty

Setsuna went. She didn't know why, or what she hoped to accomplish, but her heart burned fiercely with the desire to go and at least see Taiki's world. She'd told Haruka and Michiru she wouldn't go if they objected, and she'd meant it. They'd been abandoned enough by her, and she didn't want to do it to them again.

But of course they didn't object. Haruka even went so far as to lecture Setsuna on why she had no reason to feel she was being selfish by going – After all, this mission was at the behest of the Princess. Setsuna wasn't going for herself.

Flimsy reasoning at its best. Not that it mattered, perhaps. Because it was technically true, and even Setsuna, with all her restrictions, had to be allowed to serve her Princess as the Princess desired.

Kinmoku was as Setsuna remembered it on that brief journey she'd taken here in that other timeline. A fragrant planet with a warm climate, and lush fields and forests everywhere she looked.

Kakyuu received Setsuna warmly. Seiya and Yaten were polite in front of their Princess but made no attempt to hide their dislike and suspicion of Setsuna when Kakyuu wasn't around. Taiki she barely saw the first couple of weeks. Whether by chance or design, it transpired she was involved in some kind of training role with newly awakened senshi, and it occupied most of her time.

Just as Taiki had told Setsuna, the people of Kinmoku tended not to travel very far from their home planet, and generally preferred their own kind, going so far as to often regard outsiders as inferior by virtue of not being from Kinmoku. Setsuna experienced a few slights because of it, but probably fewer than was normal for a visitor.

Being Kakyuu's guest, she was mostly protected. Insulting the Princess's guest was the same as insulting the Princess herself, so not many were willing to venture the risk, and certainly not at a time when Kakyuu was likely to hear of it.

Finding the behaviour more curious than offensive, Setsuna wondered whether this distrust of outsiders had started because Kinmoku had the distinction of being an all-female planet – Perhaps they'd had trouble with other planets in the past because of it, and of necessity learned to be suspicious of anyone who wasn't of their own people.

Perhaps that was part of Kakyuu's reason for bringing Setsuna here. Maybe the narrowly avoided disaster with the Crystal had made her think it would be better to build up relationships with other planets so that there was more chance her people might have somewhere to go if another situation like that ever arose.

It was only a vague speculation, however. Setsuna really didn't have much idea at all of why Kakyuu had brought her here. Some kind of ulterior matchmaking motive was, she supposed, an outside possibility, but it seemed unlikely. Why would Kakyuu want Setsuna to have another chance with Taiki when she'd acted so badly the first time?

So Setsuna's speculations went on, and in the meantime, she met a lot of senshi, a lot of dignitaries, a lot of scholars of various kinds. She was taken on tours of the capital and its surrounds. She talked about Earth, and learned more of Kinmoku's history.

Even when Setsuna went so far as to ask directly, Kakyuu never gave her a solid answer about what she was supposed to be doing.

Apparently, though, whatever her purpose here was, it didn't include senshi duties.

Setsuna had been given a generous suite in a guest wing of the palace, and she started awake one night when she heard scuffing footsteps and a muffled groan in the corridor outside her room. Inching her door open, she saw Seiya and Taiki in their sailor uniforms. Seiya was sitting propped up against the wall, her face contorted with pain, while Taiki crouched beside her. One of Seiya's legs was stretched out in front of her, bent at an odd angle and clearly broken.

What on Earth were they doing here, of all places? If they were heading back to their own part of the palace, coming through the guest quarters was by no means a logical route to take. Setsuna didn't know where exactly Taiki and Seiya and Yaten were quartered, but she knew it was somewhere in the central part of the palace near Princess Kakyuu's chambers. Of course, Setsuna hadn't seen those parts of the palace and she hadn't tried, since she didn't think it would be looked upon kindly. But she did know that in order for Seiya and Taiki to be here, they must have come in through the separate entrance to the guest wing from wherever they'd been outside, and would have a very long walk to get to the inner entrance that would take them through to the main pubic section of the palace.

As Setsuna pushed her door open further, Seiya and Taiki caught sight of her.

"Oh great," Seiya muttered. "Just what we need. I knew we shouldn't have come this way."

"If there's an enemy, I can help," said Setsuna, ignoring Seiya's snark.

Before either of the Starlights could respond, they all heard footsteps running lightly up the corridor towards them, and Yaten soon came into view, transformed like the others.

She frowned when she saw Setsuna. "I don't know what you think you're doing, but we don't need you," she said bluntly, passing by her with deliberate flounce.

"What happened?" Seiya asked, obviously talking to Yaten.

"It's taken care of," said Yaten, kneeling down next to Seiya, on the side of her broken leg.

There was an awkward pause, that was obviously meant to be Setsuna's cue to leave. Remembering what Haruka and Michiru had told her, Setsuna guessed Yaten was planning to heal Seiya, but didn't want to do it in front of her.

She gave the Starlights a small formal bow. "I'm sorry for disturbing you," she murmured, deciding the only polite thing she could do was retreat to her room, since her presence was so clearly unwanted.

"Setsuna," said Taiki, rising to her feet.

Setsuna paused in her doorway.

Taiki's expression was stern, though not hostile. "It would cause trouble for our Princess if you were to transform and start fighting. Please don't."

"Okay. I won't."

"And please don't mention this to anyone. This was something that had to be dealt with…Discreetly."

"I won't speak of it," Setsuna assured her. "Goodnight."

After closing her bedroom door, Setsuna stood leaning against it for a long time, frowning in the dark.

Perhaps Taiki wouldn't welcome it, but Setsuna determined to try and speak to her after that strange incident in the corridor. Not about that night; Setsuna knew it wasn't her business and Taiki wouldn't want to talk to her about it, but about what had happened between them in the past.

Taiki was around the palace more frequently now, and Setsuna gathered from odd comments overheard that much of Taiki's time off-duty was spent not far from the palace in a large, unruly garden that was more akin to a forest. On this particular day, if indeed Taiki had gone there, Setsuna knew Seiya and Yaten wouldn't be with her – Apparently much of the court was quite horrified that they hadn't even bothered to leave their room.

Another thing Setsuna had learned along the way was that, though it wasn't forbidden, it was somewhat frowned upon for members of the same senshi team to get into relationships with each other. Setsuna hadn't been able to figure out the reason for it, but she assumed it might have something to do with the fact that most Senshi teams seemed to be comprised of three members. Perhaps the thinking was that having a couple within a team of three would mess up the working dynamic too much. And who knew? Maybe there had been those kinds of problems on occasion in the past, which was why it was discouraged now.

But as far as Seiya and Yaten and their not-leaving-the-bedroom went, Setsuna couldn't work out whether it was simply their being together that was the problem, or the lack of discretion they were showing in their relationship. She suspected the latter, and she also suspected that neither Seiya nor Yaten cared.

Either way, at least it meant that Setsuna had a chance of finding Taiki by herself this afternoon.

Setsuna did find her, eventually. Even on a planet with this many senshi, Taiki's energy was unique, and Setsuna could always feel the pull of her if she tried.

Taiki was in a grove of sweet olive trees, her back against a tree trunk, a book open on her knees. The grass beneath the trees was green and lush; before her was a perfect lake spanned by a small arched wooden bridge.

She looked up at the disturbance of Setsuna's approach, and Setsuna wished she could read what her emotions were.

"Setsuna," said Taiki, marking the page on her book and momentarily placing it down beside her on the grass without closing it. "I'm surprised you found me here. I make it a point to not let people know this particular location is somewhere I like to come."

"I followed your energy," Setsuna admitted. "I didn't know how else I could get the chance to talk to you."

"You should know that's considered an impolite way to find someone here on Kinmoku, unless it's in a battle situation."

"In that case, I'm sorry." Setsuna fidgeted, wishing she had something to do with her hands. "I'll leave if I'm disturbing you."

Taiki blinked at her, eyes cool. "You can stay for a bit. I'll listen if you have something you want to say."

Setsuna crossed the small space between them and sat down next to Taiki, not too close, cross legged on the grass.

"I know it's late, but I owe you an apology," Setsuna began. "Back on Earth when we were…" She struggled to find an appropriate word. "When we were seeing each other, the way I treated you wasn't okay. Lying to you. Hurting you. Pursuing you when I'd already decided I couldn't stay on Earth. Disregarding your feelings for me. Acting like you didn't matter. The truth is, you did matter to me – So much that I didn't know how to handle it. I was struggling already with changes that were happening inside me, changes that meant I didn't want to give up my life on Earth to do my duty as I always had before. That was my problem, but you got caught up in it, and you got hurt because of it. I wish…I'd acted differently now, but I know it's not much good saying that. It doesn't change anything."

Taiki's hair was loose, and Setsuna wished she could reach out to tuck it behind her ear as she had that night at Usagi's party; the first night they'd spent together.

Catching Setsuna's look, Taiki's cheeks heated and she looked away. "Look Setsuna," she said, "I already know you're sorry. You already did what you could to make up for things back then. Showing me how to find the Crystal. Giving me knowledge of what happened in those other realities. Coming back to tell me how you felt. All of that meant a lot to me, and I'm not still angry at you. But looking back, I feel like we bonded over our loss and our sadness. I'm not sure there can be a future, with a start like that."

"What if I said I wanted to start again? To find out what else there can be?"

Taiki gave her a brief, sceptical smile. "And what about the Doors, Setsuna? Have they magically melted away?"

"No. It's still my duty to guard them. But I'm not going to remove myself from the world again. That…Doesn't work any more."

"I don't trust you," Taiki said, pain flickering in her lavender eyes and as she looked out over the lake. "I have no reason to believe you."

What Setsuna would have given to be able to reach out and comfort her, but there was nothing she could do, when she'd been the cause of Taiki's pain.

"That's okay," said Setsuna, though her throat was aching with unshed tears. "I didn't really expect anything else. But I wanted to give these back to you. It means…It means something you'll probably never know, Taiki, that you took these to the Doors, that when I went back there I could feel the warmth of something living in that place. That the air was full of the scent of flowers. It was a beautiful gift."

Taiki's eyes widened as she looked at the pro-offered flowers Setsuna was holding out to her. "Are those the sweet olive blossoms I left at the Doors? They were still there?"

"No time passes at the Doors," Setsuna reminded her softly. "The flowers were exactly as you left them."

"Why did you bring them back?" Almost like she was in a trance, Taiki was reaching out to the flowers. Her fingers brushed against Setsuna's as she wrapped her hand around the stems.

"They'll die now that they're back in the world, but at least…They'll be connected to their planet again. Their essence will feed new life, and they'll be reborn, in their own way." Setsuna touched the soft petals. "Not even flowers deserve the fate of the Doors. I couldn't leave them there, even if they made it a more pleasant place."

She gave Taiki a tentative smile. "I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time. I appreciate that…It was more than I could even expect to have you listen to me like this. This really is a lovely place." Setsuna tipped her face up to catch the dappled rays of the sun shifting with the dancing leaves. "I can understand why you like to come here."

Taiki didn't reply. She seemed discomforted by the sudden return of the flowers, and equally unsettled by Setsuna's continuing presence. Sadly, Setsuna had to admit to herself that the awkward silence was probably her cue to leave.

"Setsuna!"

Setsuna was already halfway to the lake by the time Taiki spoke. When she turned back, she was surprised to see how disturbed Taiki looked.

"I don't want us to be enemies, Setsuna."

"Of course we're not enemies," said Setsuna, somewhat confused by the statement. "I would never want that."

It seemed all Taiki had to say; at least, she didn't add anything else when Setsuna started walking again. She skirted the lake until she found the path again that had brought her here. She didn't look back, though she wanted to.

The sweet olive blossoms rested beside Taiki on the grass, her fingers still touching the blossoms. The air was full of the scent of sweet olives already, but still Taiki was sure she could smell these ones, spending their perfume in riotous carelessness in the face of their own oncoming death.

"Fuck it all," Taiki cursed under her breath. "Why did Setsuna have to bring them back?"

After another few months…

The buzzing of her phone started Haruka awake. She found it after a moment of blind groping and brought it to her ear, staring at the 'number withheld' message for a moment before deciding she'd better answer it anyway.

"Hello?"

"They're kissing, Tenoh."

"What? Who is this?"

"Right now. They're kissing and it's your goddamn fault."

"Seiya? Where the hell are you calling from? How did you get my number?"

She felt Michiru stir beside her. "Haruka?" she said sleepily. "What's going on?"

"God damn it. Now you've woken Michiru up. It's four in the morning here. Do you realise that?"

"I'm calling from Kinmoku. How would I know what stupid time it is there? Anyway, that's not important. Don't think I don't know that you and Usagi were behind sending Setsuna out here – that lame plan has your greasy fingerprints all over it, Haruka 'love is everything' Tenoh. I've already watched Taiki go through heartbreak once because of that woman, and I'm certainly not going to—"

"Oh shut up," Haruka groaned. "It was your Princess who asked Usagi to send one of us to Kinmoku. Go and whine to her."

"You didn't have to send Setsuna."

"Who else was going to go? Kakyuu was very specific about only asking for one senshi. None of the Inners would ever leave Usagi. Obviously I wasn't going without Michiru or vice versa. Hotaru is still in the thirtieth century. Who does that leave? Kakyuu can work that one out as well as anyone, so if you're looking for a culprit, look closer to home. And anyway, Setsuna's not going to disappear again. She's realised that doesn't actually solve anything."

There was a short silence on the other end of the line. Michiru snuggled into Haruka's back and kissed the nape of her neck while stealing an arm around her waist.

"Do you actually trust Setsuna to do the right thing this time?"

Seiya's voice had lost its belligerence. Against all likelihood, she actually sounded as if she genuinely wanted to know Haruka's opinion.

"Setsuna didn't think Taiki was going to give her a second chance. She was well aware she had no right to expect one. So if Taiki has decided to trust her again, she's not going to screw it up. Now piss off and let me get back to sleep, you freak. And stop meddling and let Taiki make her own choices."

Seiya started to say something else, but Haruka had already hung up the phone.

"So," said Michiru, who'd caught the gist of the conversation. "Taiki's decided to give Setsuna another chance?"

"Who knows? All Seiya said was that they were making out."

"But that's a pretty good indication, don't you think?"

"I guess. Maybe Setsuna will tell us more next time she calls."

"Hmm." Michiru snuggled closer to Haruka. "Well…I hope it works out this time."

"Yeah," said Haruka sleepily. "Me too."

"She hung up!" said Seiya in an incensed voice, staring at her beeping communicator.

"Well didn't she say it was four in the morning there? I'm surprised she talked to you for as long as she did. If someone woke me up needlessly at four in the morning I'd kill them."

"It wasn't needless. And most people are not as obsessive about sleep as you are."

"Most people have their priorities wrong."

"Obviously," said Seiya, amused.

Yaten had already gotten into bed as they were talking. After switching off the lamps, Seiya joined her, and it was something that had already happened enough that it was no longer unexpected, but it was still nice to feel Yaten reaching out for her; to not be the only one doing that anymore.

"As much as I hate to admit sharing any opinion with that blonde beanpole," Yaten said, "I do think she's right. Taiki has to make her own choices, even if they're ones we don't like."

Seiya replied with an indistinct grumble.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. I guess you're right. I just…Don't understand why she had to fall for Setsuna. Again. An Outer Senshi. From another planet. I mean, it's not like Taiki had any lack of choice here. We live on a planet that only has women, the vast majority of whom are interested in other women."

"But when you love someone, that doesn't matter. No one else will do."

"Yaten." Seiya sighed. "Stop saying reasonable things. You're ruining this for me and I want to sulk."

"Fine. Whatever. But can you sulk quietly so I can get to sleep, or do you want to talk more?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep you from your favourite activity. By all means go to sleep."

"Don't be snarky about it," Yaten murmured, though she seemed to take Seiya at her word, dropping silent and, Seiya assumed, falling into sleep.

But she found she was wrong after a short while, when Yaten said, "anyway, if I really had to say, sleeping with you…Is something I like more than sleeping in general. Even if you are a pain sometimes."

Seiya's eyes shot open in the dark. "Yaten, that was very nearly romantic."

"Shut up," Yaten said.

Taiki and Setsuna, it has to be said, hadn't even noticed when Seiya and Yaten went by, and the crack in the door was closed now anyway, having been blown shut by the breeze coming in through the windows.

Setsuna couldn't seem to get enough of Taiki into her arms; she was grasping at her, pressing closer, moaning into her mouth as they kissed, a joyful fire roaring in her belly as she felt Taiki run her hands down her body.

"Setsuna," said Taiki, her voice soft and urgent, "I want you. God, I want you, but for tonight…For tonight…" There was a raw vulnerability in her eyes as she admitted, "Will you just stay here and sleep with me? I don't think I'm ready for anything else yet."

"Of course. That's completely fine," whispered Setsuna, brushing her fingertips over Taiki's cheek.

"But…I'd like it…" Taiki's eyes shimmered. "I'd like it if you kissed me again."

Setsuna shifted her fingers to trace Taiki's swollen bottom lip, making her gasp, and then with a smile she leaned in to kiss her again as the scent of sweet olive drifted in through the open windows.