Tsuki sighed, it was too early to be awake yet she couldn't sleep. She felt horrible for taking Akemi's father away from her, even if the man was an abusive bastard.
Sighing she glanced down at her reflection in the water of the fountain, wondering how she would have felt if it was her.
"You can't sleep either?"
Turning she saw King Endymion standing in normal clothing, a watering can in hand.
"No. I keep thinking about the ceremony we had. No matter how we see it, he was Akemi's dad and Akemi did love him."
Tsuki replied, earning a sigh.
"Is she okay?" the king asked, putting an arm around the younger soldier who sighed.
"Not really…Though she is eating now. I am just really worried that she'll fall into depression or something." The shadow senshi admitted softly, earning a sigh.
"How about I take her off to train alone for a few days? I mean you all can help serenity with the baby while I'm gone." Endymion replied, earning a grin.
"Thanks, your highness." She stated, earning a chuckle.
"Tsuki….We're friends. You can call me by my name when we're not at some formal event." He reminded her.
"Sorry….I guess we just slip into a habit sometimes huh?" she retorted, earning a grin.
"Yeah. I guess so. I mean most of us don't call Serenity Usagi anymore." He pointed out though she just laughed.
"That's because when the princess gets big enough to start causing mischief that no one wants two people responding to Usagi!" Tsuki retorted
The two shared a laugh at that, glancing toward the castle.
"You know…Everything is changing. It's nothing bad but it just….well it's different. The night isn't screaming like it did before….it's rippling and calm." She said after a while then looked up at him
"I never thanked you for helping me through the drunk depressed person thing I went through. You, Menyani, Michiru and Usagi helped me more than anyone else could when I came back from Kinmoku."
The king just smiled as he replied
"You just seemed to get worse after your powers went haywire. We had to do something…. Though none of us expected you to study abroad for three years."
Akemi couldn't sleep, nightmares plaguing her as she sat in the darkness of the room she and Karunā shared, knees pulled to her chest.
"You okay?" Karunā asked softly form the other side of the room, earning a sigh.
"Not really. I...well Akuma wasn't ever nice to me, even if he was my father. But after I said I didn't feel like a girl he…..well he hurt me…in every way possible and it just got worse when I wouldn't get together with a guy he picked out. He didn't understand Karunā that I'm not sick….I….I just don't get sexuality attracted!"
Akemi began to sob then, remembering beating on top of beating she had gotten.
"Hey….it's okay. He was just an ass." Karunā stated softly, earning a sigh.
"But I loved him Karunā….I….I never stopped…..I just wanted him to be proud of me. I guess I wasn't good enough." Akemi's words startled Karunā who chose that moment to quietly slip out of the room and walked to Yaten's room.
"Kaasan?" she called in a whisper, only to almost fall on her butt when the door opened. Startling her since she hadn't heard footsteps approaching.
"Karunā? What's wrong?" the silver haired senshi asked concerned
"It's Akemi….she woke up from a dream and now she's really upset." Karunā explained earning a nod.
Akemi was still sobbing when they entered the room, causing Yaten to go over to her and sit down.
"What's wrong little one?" she asked, though the only answer she got was for the teen to lean against her all while crying harder.
"Karunā, go get Tsuki…I think she went for a walk in the gardens." Yaten ordered softly, wrapping her arms around the teen who cuddled close.
Karunā wasted no time at going to the gardens though Tsuki teleported them back into the room.
Tsuki walked in though she only found that Yaten had calmed her down slightly and was talking to her in hushed whispers.
"So don't let that worry you okay? Tsuki and I love you and so does everyone else here. You aren't replaceable…remember that, okay?" Yaten was saying, earning a sniff and nod from Akuma who looked up at Tsuki who was standing in the doorway.
"You better listen to you oba kiddo, because we sure do love you." She stated, earning a smile fro, both of them.
"Sorry I freaked everyone out…..and Auntie? Maybe….well maybe I need to talk to Menyani." Akemi stated, earning a nod.
"Okay and dot ever apologize for need us. Heck if you have a nightmare you come get one of us….if you don't want to do that and just want to not feel alone come crawl into bed with us….heck we sleep in clothes." Tsuki stated, causing Yaten to blush though the two teens giggled.
"You got that out of your system in high school." Karunā teased, earning a light slap on the back of the head by a humiliated Yaten.
"Zip it! Both of you."
That just caused more laughter though Yaten seemed to be faking annoyance just to get Akemi to laugh.
"Karunā….I don't even want to know what the past me told you or what you saw." Tsuki grumbled but didn't seem overly phased as she added "but seriously, this goes for the two of you….if you need us come get us and if you just want to climb in bed between us do so. We're not going to get angry just because one of you kids want to feel loved."
Akemi nodded then asked softly "can I…um….ask something? Will either of you ever hit us? Like if we make you mad?"
Tsuki and Yaten shared a look.
"No…not if we're angry but there may be instances that if we have to prove a point or shock you out of something that we may strike you but it'll just be enough that it will grab your attention. Nothing more and it will be the very last thing we will do." Tsuki explained.
"I don't understand….how would it not be out of anger if you struck us?" Akuma asked.
"I ran away from home once….I was rude, brash and I was losing myself completely because of the pain I was in emotionally. Setsuna came to get me and after I refused to listen she slapped me, it didn't hurt but to shocked me that she would do that and it shut me up long enough for her to explain herself to me. She wasn't angry it was just to grab my attention and it didn't leave a mark nor hurt." Tsuki explained earning a nod.
"So….What's the worse I can expect?" she asked, earning a sigh.
"A spanking. But that is if you do something completely irrational, dangerous or life threatening. And that isn't done in anger either." Yaten replied.
"Don't worry…..Akemi I was abused like you was. I would never put anyone through anything like that." Tsuki assured, earning a nod.
"I know….I saw both your reactions about what dad done to me…I was just…. Wanting to hear that I was safe." Akemi responded then enveloping both Tsuki and Yaten into a hug.
The young girl was surprised when she felt both of them kiss her hair and heard the words
"We love you."
Come from them.
So surprised in fact that she burst into fresh tears, crying hard against them bit they just held her. Continuing to whisper sweet nothings as they tried to calm her down.
Karunā quietly excused herself from the room, though she only smiled slightly. She didn't feel jealous this time around, now she just wanted the other to feel better.
Karunā was surprised when she felt herself being lifted off the couch, though when she looked up she saw gentle teal eyes.
"You made us proud tonight Karunā. Besides ignoring Akemi you chose to came to Yaten for help and that took bravery." Tsuki stated with a grin as she carried the young teen back to bed.