souna no miko
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.
Chapter 12Realities of Life
Haruko didn't come home that night and for the first time in his life, Haruka didn't worry where in the world his sister is......at least for the first half-hour after midnight that is, but he didn't let Michiru, Hotaru or Setsuna notice that.
The next day, Setsuna called a meeting at the Hikawa shrine. Everybody was already there except for Haruko and her four guardians.
"What's the meeting for Setsuna?" Makoto asked after seeing that they're already complete.
"Let's wait a little longer, ne?" Setsuna said with a smile.
Soon the people that the outer soldiers were waiting for had finally come.
"Sorry we're late." Seiya said.
"We kinda had a problem...." Taiki added as he glanced at Haruko who was standing beside Yaten.
"That's fine, I understand. Go ahead, take your seat." Setsuna replied with a smile.
Haruko sat beside Mamoru and so the other four sat beside her. Usagi cringed when she saw Mamoru wrap an arm around Haruko and kiss her on the forehead.
"Mamo-chan...." Usagi whined as she tried to tug Mamoru's arm away from Haruko.
"Yamero Usa-ko. (Stop it Usa-ko)" Mamoru warned.
"Mou....(1)"
"Yamero. (Stop it.)" Mamoru said sternly.
Usagi pouted and scooted over to Makoto's side.
"Mamoru-san what's with you? You know Usagi gets jealous when you're dotting too much on other girls." Makoto said.
"She need not to. She's being jealous at the wrong time, place and person." Mamoru said with an annoyed tone.
"And when, where and to who do you want me to be jealous of? When you're getting married at a chapel with her?!" Usagi blurted out.
The three lights looked at one another and started laughing their hearts out, while Calliope just heaved out a heavy sigh.
"Yare, yare (2). We should just start with this meeting before this conversation gets out of hand." Setsuna declared.
"Setsuna...etou..Calliope and Haruko are here...don't you think we should just start later?" Rei asked.
"Iiye, this is the perfect time to start it."
"Demou!" Rei protested.
"Rei-chan calm down,ne?" Haruko butted in with a smile. She looked at Setsuna and continued, "Setsuna-donou(3) it's not everybody's problem anyway and this meeting is unnecessary. It's my battle and I believe I should be the one to handle this alone, well, together with my starlights ofcourse."
"And me." Mamoru added.
"We're a team and therefore we should work and fight together." Hotaru commented.
"Wait, wait, wait! What are we talking about here again? Sorry 'cause I think I got lost back there." Usagi suddenly butted in.
"We all did." Amy added.
Everyone, with the exception of the inner soldiers sighed,
"Haruko is...how should I say this..." Setsuna started.
"She is a soldier of the white moon, like us." Hotaru continued.
"Sworn to protect the moon kingdom and the royal family." Mamoru added.
"Haruko is our Princess that we once lost, our dear Princess Persephone. Sister of our young Prince Endymion." Calliope ended.
"NANI?!" everybody exclaimed.
"But that's impossible! Luna told us that there's no way that you could be reincarnated!" Minako exclaimed.
"We can't find your celestial crystal that's why we've given up all our hopes of ever having you back." Luna explained.
"Same reason why we didn't bother to look for you when we were gathering the soldiers." Artemis added.
Haruko smiled weakly and started to explain,
"Long before Sailor Neptune, Pluto and Saturn arrived to help Sailor Venus and Mercury; I have sealed my celestial crystal in a small magic ball and had it disappear into the galaxy. In addition to that, I was in the states when you were gathering the soldiers. I came back here because I kept on having these weird dreams and I also felt a strong power calling me back to Japan."
"It was me." Mamoru butted in. He looked at the girls and continued, "As a matter of fact, the real reason I left last year for America was to look for her there."
"However Galaxia came and got the Prince killed by taking his golden crystal. After all the Galaxia fiasco was over, Helios and I decided not to let him out of the country, besides he has already promised Usagi-sama that he won't leave her again." Calliope suddenly butted in, which earned her the attention of the whole group.
"So who are you and what's your part in this big picture?" Rei asked.
"She is Casseopeia, twin sister of Caleb, she's also known as Sailor Star Protector." Haruko answered.
"And these are Caleb, Soul and Draco, known to all of you as Seiya, Taiki and Yaten respectively." Calliope added.
"No way,...so basically you're Seiya's twin sister?!" Usagi asked in amazement.
Calliope held her hair in a ponytail and exclaimed,
"The one and only!"
"So, whatever happened to you guys? How did you end up with Kakyuu?" Makoto asked.
"Well...." Calliope looked at Mamoru who nodded at her in response. Calliope nodded back and continued, "Three months after the Princess's death, the evil Queen was able to escape from the magic ball. She attacked the Celestial Palace and Prince Endymion had no choice but to send us out of the planet in order to keep us alive. I insisted on staying behind because I have promised Princess Persephone that I will protect the Prince and the kingdom no matter what. I was reincarnated here and with the help of Helios I was able to regain my identity."
"Thanks to Calliope, I mean, to Casseopeia's magic, we lost our memories and our lights died. We were re-born when Princess Kakyuu was able to break her spell." Taiki added.
"Spoken like the Soul we know and remember!" Minako exclaimed.
"So...what's up?" Rei asked.
"Akashtra has returned and as usual she is after our Princess and the Celestial Crystal yet again." Seiya answered.
"So you have the celestial crystal with you now Haruko?" Usagi asked.
Haruko nodded and shifted her attention back to Setsuna.
"I don't want any of you getting into anymore trouble. As I've told you this is our battle and our battle alone."
Haruka suddenly huffed and said,
"Stubborn and stupid as ever."
Everybody turned to him.
"What has gotten into you Hauka? She's still your sister after all!" Makoto exclaimed.
"Whatever." Haruka replied as he started to walk towards the door.
"Where are you going Haruka? We're not done yet." Setsuna warned.
"I'm not needed here. Besides, you heard the Earth Princess, it's their battle so don't count me in."
Haruka grabbed the temple's door and slid it open but before stepping out Hotaru asked,
"Are you going to abandon us again like you did in the past?"
Haruka was shocked to hear Hotaru's question. He lowered his head and replied,
"Leave me alone."
With that he left the temple, riding his silver jaguar convertible.
Chapter 13
Confessions
Haruka drove off into the mountains getting as far as he could with his car. Stopping at the cliff over viewing the city, he sat on top of his car's hood and silently looked at the glittering lights of the city below.
After the meeting, Yaten asked Mamoru if he could talk to him privately and the latter agreed. Sitting at one of Crown's booths, Mamoru and Yaten talked while wating for their order.
"What is it that you wanted Yaten?"
Yaten heaved out a heavy sigh and started,
"First of all I think I would appreciate it if all of you would start calling me Draco again, it is my given name after all."
"Okay I'll remember that but I don't think the girls would. Leave the name-calling to me, would that be okay?"
"Fair enough, but I will still ask them to do the same." Draco replied.
"Whatever suits you. So what is it that you really wanted to tell me, Draco?"
Draco looked at him seriously and replied,
"I want to let you know that I am in love with our sister and that I would want to court her. As her real brother I just wanted you to know that and if as Prince Endymion you would decide to punish me, then I'll accept it, but I'll continue my courtship anyway."
Mamoru was stunned to see and hear Draco's honesty and determination. He merely sighed and looked at Draco's eyes with the same amount of seriousness and replied,
"I have nothing against what you have just said and besides I've already known about your feelings for my sister a long time ago."
"What do you mean..?" Draco asked in surprise.
Mamoru smiled as he rested his chin on his right hand and explained,
"I usually catch you hiding behind the bushes of the palace gardens, watching her, admiring her from afar."
Feeling embarrassed that his prince had caught him before, Draco blushed furiously. Mamoru laughed when he saw Draco's flushed face and added,
"Don't be embarrassed Draco, I used to hide behind the moon palace's gardens as well just to spy on Princess Serenity. It's quite normal I guess."
Draco smiled and nodded as he said,
"I better get going. Haruko's probably waiting for me."
"I bet. Ja ne (4)."
"Ja.(5)"
As soon as Draco left, Mamoru pulled out his cellphone and called up Haruka. After an hour and a half Haruka arrived,
"What do you want?"
"Why don't you sit down and we'll talk over a cup of coffee." Mamoru replied as he placed his book on the table.
Haruka sat across Mamoru leisurely and ordered Irish coffee from the waitress.
"Come on Mamoru I don't have time, I need to get home." Haruka finally said the moment their orders arrived.
Mamoru sighed and replied,
"A while ago Yaten, I mean Draco asked for my blessings. He finally told me that he's in love with my sister and that he would court her no matter the consequences may be. Haruka I know for a fact that ever since you first met my sister you already loved her and I can no longer decide who my sister will choose, unlike before. All I can do is to talk her out of it if I feel like she's making a wrong decision."
Haruka smirked and asked,
"What are you trying to get at Mamoru?"
"Listen to me Haruka. If you still love my sister and you still care for her then go ahead and be her prince in shining armor and whisk her away from anybody else who would want to take her. I never really had anything against you, well of course except for that one time you let her die but then again..." Mamoru sighs and continues, "I guess what I'm trying to say Haruka is that Perephone loves you so much and I know you feel the same. Forget the past and be with the woman who loves you more than anything else. Make her happy Haruka, I know you can."
Haruka raised an eyebrow and laughed out loud.
"Are you serious?! You must be joking! Have you forgotten that in this world she is my biological sister?! You can make the funniest jokes Mamoru. Besides, even if she weren't my sister I would never love someone as annoying as her. I'd never...."
"Haruka..."
"Whatever Mamoru, this conversation is over."
Haruka stood up and prepared to leave but Mamoru held him by the wrist and said,
"Mark my words Haruka, you will regret it."
"Tch."
Haruka shrugged it off and pulled his wrist from Mamoru's grip. As Mamoru watched Haruka's convertible drive off into the night Mamoru can't help but say to himself,
'How could I ever make a stone listen to the soft voice of the wind?'
Tsuzuku…
A/N:
From this point on forward Yaten will be referred to as Draco…with the exception of some characters.
(1)
Mou = could be a variation of 'Demou' but also usually used by a
person who want
to beg or compel someone else to do what
they ask of them.
(2)
yare yare = could mean "okay okay"; usually used to dismiss a
previous
conversation.
(3)
donou = affixed to the name of someone that is highly respected by
the person
speaking.
(4) Ja ne. = informal way of saying "see you later"; "later!"
(5) Ja = common response to Ja ne. "Later.