Hi there fanfic readers! I must say, sadly enough, that Sailor Moon does
not
belong to me. I wish! This is a Rei fic. Its something I've always wondered
about. *** means the beginning and end of a dream. * signifies the beginning
and end of a thought. Send any comments, flames, notes to say hi, whatever
to
Marsfire01@aol.com. . And I'd like to say Hi to LunaP, just for being cool!
Well, I've rambled long enough, hope you like it!
A Brother's Love
by
Phoenix
"Hello?"
"Hey there Firebird, how's life?"
Rei smiled to herself. Darien, as usual, was referring to her with that
little
nickname he had made up.
"Could be worse, I guess." Rei replied, thinking of the day she'd had. But
Darien always found a way to cheer her up.
"Do I sense a note of sadness in your voice? What's wrong?"
"Just little things. Gramps isn't feeling too well and I'm worried about
him,
my schoolwork is piling up, Chad's on vacation to see his parents, Usa's
phone
line has been busy for hours, and Lita is mad at me for some reason or
another."
"Wow, sounds awful. When did Chad leave?"
"Last night, he was supposed to call me today, but he hasn't yet. He won't
be
back for four more days."
"Well, it sounds like you could use some company. Mind if I come over?"
"Not at all, but weren't you and Usa-chan supposed to have dinner tonight?"
"Oh, she canceled on me. Something about her dad, and Luna forcing her to
study."
"Oh, well, sure then, come on over. Just be quiet on your way in, Gramps is
asleep."
"Be there in ten minutes." Click.
Rei wandered into the kitchen and put a pot of water on to boil for tea.
She
put a bag of popcorn in the brand new microwave. The kernels began to pop,
and the bag puffed out. A few minutes later, she heard a car door shut and
footsteps on the steps. She had left the door open, so Darien simply walked
in and slid the door closed. He stepped into the kitchen as she was pouring
the tea. They embraced and pecked each other on the cheek.
Rei emptied the popcorn into a bowl, and they went into the sitting room.
"So tell me about your troubles"
"It's silly really. Highschool is so much different than gradeschool.
Grade
school was strange. The girls practically worshipped me, but they were all
afraid of me. But at least they left me alone. I can deal with loneliness,
I
have you guys. But people in highschool go out of their way to make my life
miserable. I just don't get it, and my father won't let me transfer to
another school. As if he should have a say in my life! Then Gramps had
some
weird fainting spell, and I'm kind of worried. I called Lita and she
apparently doesn't feel like speaking to me, she just said that and hung up!
Then I called Usagi to talk about it and her line was busy! It just seems
like everything is piling up today." She had a few tears running down her
cheek. Darien brushed them away. "Oh, my poor little Rei-chan. You have
had
quite a day." For a while she just lay her head on his shoulder while he
stroked her hair. He tried to toss the popcorn kernels into her open mouth,
but kept missing and falling into her lap. She popped up at the sound of her
grandfather stirring in his room, and popcorn flung all over the room. Rei
jumped up to pour her grandpa some tea. Darien glanced at his watch and
realized he had a lot of work ahead of him, which his boss wanted tomorrow.
He pecked Rei on the cheek again, telling her that he had to leave anyway.
She smiled and hugged him. "Call me later if you get the chance, ok?" she
said.
"You know I will. See you later; tell Gramps I said hi!"
She walked him to his car, then watched him speed away. Her grandpa was
waiting in the sitting room when she returned.
"Good evening Rei"
"Good evening Grandpa, did you have a nice nap?"
"Yes, very restful. Who was that young man? One of your suitors?" He winked
at her.
"No Grandpa, that's Darien, Usagi's boyfriend. You've met him before."
"Oh yes, him. Every time I meet that boy, I get the distinct feeling we've
met
before, a long time ago perhaps."
"Well, maybe he just has one of those faces, I felt the same way when we
met."
Rei smiled to herself, because in her case, it had been true.
"Are you sure he isn't a suitor?"
"Of course not Gramps, not Darien!" She laughed to herself, remembering the
time when she liked him so much. That had been several years ago, she was
still in junior high then. Just a silly schoolgirl, confusing friendship for
something else. Rei was glad nothing had really happened between them, as
that might make things a bit awkward between them now. At that moment, the
phone rang. It was too soon to be Darien. She picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Rei!" a shill voice squealed in her ear.
"Hello Usa-chan"
"Ooo, Rei, I am so mad. Luna is positively forcing me to study for my
geometry
test tomorrow and my dad wouldn't let me go to dinner with Darien!"
"I know"
"Oh, right, I forgot, I guess you heard. You know, it's hard to have a best
friend whose other best friend is your boyfriend!"
"Well, it's hard to have two best friends who are dating!" Rei retorted.
"Ok, you win, I don't feel like arguing anymore. So what did you do today?"
Rei went on to tell her about the day she'd had, and about Darien coming
over.
Usagi then went on about her day, Miss Haruna (who, unfortunately for Usagi,
had moved up to the highschool and was now teaching Usa's English class),
Melvin and Molly's breakup and reconciliation, and the fight she'd had with
her father. She then complained about Lita, who was in an all out bad mood.
"She just totally flipped on me! All I did was say how much homework I had,
and she spazzed out! Apparently she's not speaking to Mina for some reason
or
another, she was telling me all about it before she freaked, but I wasn't
listening very well. Now she's mad at me, I wonder who's next?"
"Well, she's already not speaking to me, for who knows why. I guess Ami's
the
only one who she's actually talking to. I wonder what's wrong, she isn't
usually like this. Can you hold on, that's my other line, I just got call
waiting, Gramps finally caved!"
Click
""Hello?"
"Rei (sniff) it's Ami (sniff). Lita (sniff) just yelled at me (sniff). I
think
she's really mad (sniffle), and I (sniff, sniff) don't know Why (Sob)!"
"Ames, can you hold on?"
"Uh, ok"
Click
"Hey, Usagi, I think maybe you Ami, and Mina should come over. Something is
up with Lita, and there shouldn't be this kind of dissention in the team.
Maybe we can figure out what's wrong and talk to her about it. I might even
call the outers, see if they know anything, okay?"
"Sounds like a plan! Be there in fifteen minutes."
Click
"Ames?"
"(Sniff) Yeah"
"Come over, we're having a little informal meeting."
"Okay, be there in twenty minutes."
Rei called the outer scouts. Haruka was racing, but Michuru would be there,
as would Hotoru. Rei had to use the communicator to contact Setsuna, since
she wasn't answering the phone. It turned out she wasn't currently in the
right time to come right away, she happened to be listening to a lecture by
Socrates. She promised to try and stop by a bit later. Rei shook her head
and shrugged. "Whatever"
She found herself making tea and popcorn again.
"Helloooooo? Rei, I'm here" Usagi popped her head in.
"Oh, hello Usa! My oh, my, you're on time!"
"It is possible you know, but… don't get too used to it!" she laughed, and
Rei
joined her.
Soon, everyone coming was there. Even Setsuna had come on time, not
difficult
for the keeper of the gate.
"Well, I've told everyone here what's going on. One of our own is being
pretty difficult. I feel awful meeting behind her back like this, but we
really need to figure out what's wrong, or what's bothering her, and what we
can do. "
"Okay, so what are we supposed to do?" Mina asked. "Why don't we just ask
her?"
"Because…" Ami began.
"Because Lita isn't the type of person you ask when she's in a mood like
this.
I know, that's one of the things we have in common." Rei answered for her.
"Okay, so everybody think really hard about how we can make Lita-chan feel
better!" chimed in Chibi-Usa, who had tagged along with Setsuna.
Strangely, they actually followed the little girl's command. Rei stared at
the wall, looking over the colorful calendar adorning her wall. Her eyes
fell
on tomorrow's date. She gasped.
"What's wrong Rei?" Ami inquired.
"How could we be so stupid?" Rei muttered.
"What? What are you talking about Rei?" Usagi asked.
"Tomorrow. It's the anniversary of her parent's death. Nine years. That's
why she's been in such a bad mood lately."
"I don't get it, we've known her for four years, and she's never acted this
way before. I mean, I understand how she could get like this, it's just
that
she never has before." Ami reasoned.
"Yeah, but every year since she was nine she's gone to her grandmother's at
this time of year. Her grandma passed away in the fall, don't you
remember?"
Rei retorted.
"Oh, right, I remember that, she was really torn up. That's the first time
I've ever seen Lita cry." Mina added.
Rei looked over at Usagi, who nodded back at her, both remembering the times
when Lita and Usa had slept over Rei's house, and how those few times, Lita
had ended up crying herself to sleep after finally talking about the crash.
True, not many had seen Lita cry, but it happened, she had enough to cry
about.
"Well, should we ask her about it? We're her friends, she should know we
are
there for her." Ami said.
"I think she knows we're there for her. She should anyway. I would've
thought she'd come to us first." Mina said, rather bitterly.
"Mina, you know she's not like that. She doesn't 'burden' people with her
problems. She just keeps them to herself until she can't take it anymore.
We
have to take the first step here!" Usagi answered. The group looked at
her,
not used to her speaking so eloquently.
Suddenly Darien popped his head in the doorway.
"Hi there guys."
"Darien, what are you doing here. We didn't call you or anything. How'd
you
know we were here?"
"Well, I sorta had a feeling. Plus, I called Usa and her parents said she
was
at 'some little club meeting' so I figured she was here. I mean, where else
would she be?"
"Oh" they all said in almost perfect unison.
They explained the situation to Darien, and he was interested. He too no
longer had his parents, but under completely different circumstances.
"Sorry
I'm not much help you guys, but I don't even remember my parents, or how
they
died, I don't remember what they looked like, acted like or anything. I
remember nothing of my past, so I don't feel quite so sad, I don't know what
I'm missing, so that sorta makes it easier." They all were silent then.
Once
again, Rei and Usagi shared a look of understanding; they both knew all
this.
The girls all decided to let Lita grieve in peace, since she
wouldn't talk to
any of them anyway. The meeting sort of disbanded after the decision was
reached, all except for Usagi and Darien, who were chatting with Rei, and
Setsuna, Chibi-Usa, and Hotoru, who were just getting ready to leave.
Darien
was preparing to drive Usagi home, and they were saying their good-byes. He
kissed Rei one the cheek, and Usagi mock-glared at him. "I should be
jealous
you know." Darien tugged on her pigtails, "don't be silly Usa-chan, you
know
I kiss the very ground you walk on" "I didn't see my feet touch Rei's
face."
She huffed jokingly. Rei giggled at this little pretend miff they were
having. If she for a second thought that her relationship with Darien was
causing friction between he and Usagi, she would have stopped it there, but
deep down, Usagi thought the idea of Rei and Darien being friends was cute.
Everything was cute to Usagi when she had her Darien.
Rei went through her nightly routine of brushing her teeth, washing
her face,
combing her hair, and then saying good night to grandpa. She missed
slightly
the goodnight she usually received from Chad, but she would deal without it.
She curled under her blankets and closed her eyes. Her breathing slowed and
she drifted to sleep.
*** A pair of big blue eyes looked down at her. The little boy mouthed
words she couldn't hear and reached down to pick her up, but a woman with
black hair tied in a loose ponytail gently stopped him. The woman then
picked
her up and placed her on the floor. The little boy tickled her and cooed as
she rolled on the floor. He laughed as the baby crawled into his lap.
She ran after him into the huge throne room. "Tag! You're it" they
chased
each other until he ran headfirst into a woman with black hair braided down
to
the floor. She gathered him into her arms and hugged him closely. The
little
girl climbed into the man's lap and reached for the crown resting on his
brow.
He dodged her tiny hands but produced and much smaller version, more like
the
one the woman was wearing. He placed it on the girl's head, as the woman
did
to the boy.
Two coffins sat next to each other. One held a beautiful woman, who
looked
like she was simply sleeping, and the other, a much smaller one, was empty,
but symbolic. Tears spilled down her tiny cheeks, not really knowing why,
but
she just sensed these things.***
Rei's eyes shot open, and she drew a quick breath. Her visions were
usually
confusing, but not like this. There was such a sense of familiarity to what
she had seen, but she couldn't place it. She went to the kitchen for some
tea.
***The baby in the playpen was smiling at him, giggling. He made faces at
her, causing the child to laugh even more. They got into a game of
peekaboo.
The little girl was holding a woman's hand, crying, and waving
across the
room. He reached for her, but the man holding his hand stopped him, hugging
him, and whispering something. The last thing he saw before the magic
surrounded him was her short black hair whipping around as she ran out of
the
courtroom.
The car was moving at a steady speed, making the sharp turn around
the cliff.
Suddenly, it hit an oil slick on the road from an accident the night before.
The car flew over the guardrail. The woman next to him covered him with her
body, and the world went black.***
Darien woke up out of breath. He was used to strange dreams, but
this one
made no sense, the scenes changed without warning. Best to just forget it.
The next morning Rei sat in front of the fire trying to gain
knowledge to the
meaning of her dream. She was concentrating on the problem and asking for
an
answer, and she was rewarded, sort of. The fire showed a woman in a
hospital
bed holding a small baby girl. A little boy was clambering onto the bed,
watched carefully by a man whose face she couldn't see. Frustrated, Rei
gave
up. Several hours later, she tried again. This time the fire gave an even
more cryptic answer. All it would show was Darien's face.
Darien was having lunch with Andrew, who quickly noticed that his friend was
troubled. "Hey Darien, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost!"
"Oh, it's nothing Andrew, just didn't sleep too well last night. I had a
really strange dream."
"Well, tell me about it, maybe I can help you analyze it!"
Darien shrugged; there would be no harm in telling his friend the dream.
"So let me get this straight, in the first two, there is this little girl,
right?"
"Yup."
"Is she the same girl both times?"
"Might be."
"Hmm…. You're a lot of help. I honestly don't know. You have the weirdest
dreams Darien! Do you think this has something to do with being Tuxedo
Mask?"
Andrew smiled as he said this.
Darien sputtered. "Wha-what are you talking about? "
"C'mon Darien, I've known for quite a while now. I always suspected, but I
wasn't sure until that day when Lizzy wanted to try out that new nail polish
shade, and you let her put it on you, then you rushed out. That night on
the
news, they showed you and the Sailor Scouts in battle; but what most people
didn't notice was the purple/pink nail polish on your right pinky finger.
That's when I knew."
Darien gaped at his friend. For once, the great Tuxedo Mask, the man who
always had a speech, was without words.
"Don't worry, I haven't told a soul, not even Rita. I bet I can guess the
identities if the scouts, too. But that would probably throw you into
shock."
"Wow, Andrew, congratulations on having such a quick mind, I should've known
you'd figure it out." Darien said, still amazed that his friend had known
all
this time. His watch beeped.
"Scout business?" Andrew asked eagerly.
"No, much worse, time to go to work. Bye Andrew, see you later."
Rei went to school the next day with the images still on her mind.
Six times
her teacher had to shake her out of her own world. She sat alone at her
lunch
table, except for the three girls who had come from her grade school and
were
sitting several feet down the table, too awed to talk to her. She had tried
to talk to them a few times, but they just went silent. The other girls at
the school jus thought she was weird and barely noticed her existence. Rei
nibbled on a cold piece of vegetarian pizza. These dreams had appeared out
of
no where and even the sacred fire offered no answer. And Lita, she still
wouldn't talk to anyone. This was a problem that needed to be solved.
Rei changed into her robes and went to use the telephone. Gramps
was on it,
he was saying, "No, I don't think she's home yet. Can she call you back?
Oh,
well ok Chad. B.."
"Don't hang up! Is that Chad?"
"Yes it is would you like to talk to him?"
"Yes!" she snatched the phone from his hands and chatted with Chad for a
while, which made her feel better. The reason he hadn't called her back is
that his father was dragging him sightseeing or to the office everyday. He
had just returned from climbing Mt. Fuji two thirds of the way up. That had
been quite a hike. He would be back in two days. Now to call Lita.
"Hi, Lita? This is Rei. Haven't heard from you in a while."
"Listen Rei, I'm not in the mood to talk."
"Lita, I know you're going through a rough time right now, but if you can't
go
to your friends, who can you go to. We may not all understand, but we can
at
least listen."
"What do you know?!! Talking is not going to help! I need to work this out
on my own! You are of no help to me!"
"Lita, don't shut us out of your life. We can help. I've lost a parent
too!"
"But you still have your father!"
"If you can call him a father! He IS able to be here for me, but he CHOOSES
not to be!"
"Don't pretend to know what I'm going through. You will never know what it
is
like. Just leave me alone! I don't want to speak to any of you! Just stay
out of my life!" click.
*Well that went well. Sometimes I don't get that girl. She puts such
distance between her and her friends! I wish she would talk to someone.*
Rei sat in front of the fire to try and gain some insight on these
mysterious
dreams and visions she was having; but fatigue took over and she dozed off.
***She was looking down on Earth from quite a distance. The little girl,
perhaps nine, sighed discontentedly. Suddenly, her vision went black. The
girl reached for the hands covering her eyes and pried them off. She turned
around and the older boy behind her picked her up and swung her around. They
embraced. She took the boy by the hand and led him into a huge throne room.
There, a man and woman were embracing. When they noticed the children, the
woman ran to the little boy and held him close. The man swept the girl into
his arms and squeezed her. He placed her on his shoulders.***
Rei woke, once again confused as to the meaning of the dreams. Each time
she
shut her eyes practically, they were back. There was nothing disconcerting
about them, except for the fact that she had no idea what they meant; in
truth, the dreams were pleasant and cheery, familiar even. But she couldn't
place her finger on it, and that concerned her.
***He stared up at the red planet that seemed so familiar to him. It was so
far! He ran into the throne room and tugged at the sleeve of the man in the
throne. The man looked down at him and shook his head. The little boy ran
into a huge library and pulled out a large book and flipped through the
paged
till he found what he was looking for. The boy began to recite an
incantation, and a fine white mist swirled around him, but something went
awry
and he ended up back in the throne room looking sheepish. The man gazed at
him exasperatingly and finally nodded. Together they went into the man's
chamber where the man said the incantation, correctly, and they disappeared
in
a silvery mist***
Darien shook himself awake at his desk. These dreams were starting to get
to
him. They weren't threatening, but simply confounding. There was a feeling
of familiarity to them though.
Once again, she sat before the fire. Rei was determined to decipher
the
meaning of these strange dreams.
***There was a knock at the door. The tall man answered it. A police
officer
stood on the steps. The officer began to speak and the man crumpled. He
leaned against the door frame to support himself. The police officer patted
him on the shoulder, shook his head and walked away. The man turned around
to
face the girl, with tears coming down his face. It was Rei's father.
She sat alone and watched him dance with HER friend. At events like
these
they would usually sneak away and find some mischief to get in. But now he
was
all grown up. In truth, she was too, but she missed being young, all this
formality was stifling. A young man came and offered his hand to dance.
She
thought she recognized him from the Earth guard. He had striking blue eyes
and golden tresses; perhaps this evening wasn't going to be so bad.
The funeral again, with the beautiful woman and the empty casket.
There were
two pictures, one by each casket. The one picture was of the woman, smiling
and laughing, as she would always be remembered. The other was of a little
boy, who was very familiar. His body had never been found.***
Rei came out of the trance a bit more enlightened. *That little girl is me.
I'm sure of it. I've never really seen many pictures of myself as a child,
so
I can't be sure, but it has to be me. I can feel what she's feeling now.
But
the settings are so different. And who is that little boy?* Rei left the
fire room. She slid her grandfather's door open to check on him. He was
still asleep. On his night-table lay a photo album. Curiosity grabbed her
and she picked up the album and crept back out of his room. She sat down in
her room and flipped the cover open. On the first page was her grandfather,
much younger, with a teenage girl. Rei gasped. That girl could be her if
the
picture wasn't so faded, and Gramps wasn't so young. She turned the page.
More shots of the girl. On the next page was a wedding picture. In it was
the girl, well, woman now, and a man at a Shinto temple. There was another
of
the two at a Catholic church having a western style wedding. The man in the
picture was her father, and the woman was the one she kept seeing in her
dreams. Rei put two and two together. The woman she kept dreaming of was
her
mother. *Why hasn't Gramps ever shown me this?* On the next page was her
mother and father in a hospital room, her mother holding a baby wrapped in a
blue blanket. There were quite a few pictures of her parents and this
strange
baby. Then she turned the next page. Once again in a hospital room. Her
mother was holding another bundle, pink this time, and a little boy sat on
her
lap. Her father leaned in the picture beaming. Rei recognized that the
pink
bundle was herself. More pictures. There were lots of pictures of the
little
boy holding her and playing with her. One of her when she was no more than
two playing peek-a-boo with the boy. There was a picture of her father with
her on his shoulders, beaming for the camera. Then she turned the page once
more. On the next page was the picture of her mother smiling and laughing,
the same picture in her dream. And the same picture of the little boy. And
then the pages were blank.
Rei was startled at the revelations the album had shown her. Her mother was
beautiful. Rei had never seen a picture of her mother. Gramps had always
said he didn't have any. *Why would Gramps lie to me? the little boy was a
mystery. From all signs, it looked like the boy was her brother. But Rei
was
an only child. Her father hadn't always been so cold from the appearance of
the pictures. Her thoughts went back to the boy. *They would tell me if I
had a brother. And if I did, were is he now?*
Darien sat with his head in his hands. These dreams could be the key to the
past, but some of the memories didn't fit in; they had an antiquity to them
that couldn't be his recent past. But the little girl was a constant. In
both his modern and his older dreams, she was there. He felt a strong
connection to the unknown girl. His eyelids were heavy again and he
surrendered to the oncoming slumber.
*** He unlocked his eyes from the beauty he was with to look around
for the
other woman in his life. He found her dancing with HIS friend. A surge of
anger ripped through him. For a minute he wanted to throttle his friend for
touching her; but he realized how incredibly overprotective he was being.
He
had in fact left her alone to dance with the lunar. Most times at these
events they would sneak away to find something more entertaining to do, but
this time, someone had caught his interest; it was only fair that she had
the
same. He smiled at her fortune, made a mental note to severely threaten his
friend on punishment of death if he hurt her, and returned his attention to
the goddess he was dancing with.***
The beeping of his communicator startled him out of his respite.
Rei dashed out of the temple toward the alley where Ami said the disturbance
was coming from. When she arrived, the alley was quiet. "Have you beaten
it
already?"
"No, it's disappeared. We didn't kill it, but it's gone into hiding, my
computer can't get a signal on it. It's nothing we've seen before, it seems
to be simply a disturbance in the temporal shift between dark and light.
Strange but true. And we're a bit short handed today. Michuru and Hotoru
are
sick, and…um…Lita refused to come." Ami said quietly.
"What! She REFUSED to come?!"
"Well. Yes, she said 'she had more important issues to deal with than a
silly
little youma'. But honestly, this shouldn't really be a problem."
Just then the monster reappeared and shot a blast of green energy at the
blue
haired girl. Rei sweep kicked the girl to take her out of the line of fire.
Ami landed hard, but was thankful none the less, seeing the damage the blast
had done to the wall behind her.
Usagi was silent, and Haruka was fuming at Lita's self-imposed absence.
Mina
had just arrived in time to see the near destruction of the genius scout.
The
creature had disappeared again. Darien came a few moments after Venus.
Rei spoke again " Damnit, we could really use Jupiter's help right now!
That
girl needs to wake up. I feel really awful, but we need her right…" In the
middle of her soliloquy Rei was cut off by a huge blast of green coming out
of
nowhere. In slow motion, she and the others screamed. Darien's mouth
dropped
and he dove to catch her. He pulled her out of the puddle she had fallen in
and cradled her in his lap; rocking her back and forth and whispering her
name. Just then a new flash of green appeared on the scene, along with a new
attitude and a guilty conscience. She was about to apologize for her late
arrival when she saw the prone figure of the red scout. Her mouth dropped
and
she paled noticeably. Usagi was weeping by Darien's side. Lita dropped to
her knees, mumbling over and over "if I had only been here.." Suddenly,
everything froze and Setsuna stepped gracefully from a small rift in space.
She waved her hand at Darien, Rei and Usagi. Translucent figures stepped
from
their bodies and gazed down at themselves. "Welcome to the space between
time." Setsuna greeted everyone. Usagi was still trying to get over the
fact
that there were two of her. Rei wanted answers. Darien was kneeling next
to
himself and Rei. "Am I going to die?" Rei asked bluntly. "We shall see."
Setsuna said with a knowing smile "I have brought you two (pointing to
Darien
and Rei) here to learn things about yourselves that it is about time you
know.
Princess, I have brought you here to learn about your protectors and loved
ones; what I am about to say, you should know." She had caught their
attention. She waved a hand and the portal she had come through re-opened.
Setsuna motioned for them to follow her. Rei gazed at the majesty of the
gate
of time. Darien and Usagi were in awe of their surroundings. Setsuna
brought
them to her viewing globe. "In this globe, you can see al events, past,
present, and the current future. I want to show you things of the past, the
recent and the very distant."
Scenes from Rei's and Darien's dreams flashed upon the screen. The picture
finally settled on a man and a woman in regal attire, not much older than
Darien. The woman had jet-black hair in a braid that almost reached her
knees
and the man had similar black hair and striking blue eyes. They resembled
present company. "Rei, this is your father and mother from the Silver
Millennium. Darien, this will come as a surprise I'm sure, they are also
your
father and mother." Rei raised her eyebrows, not sure what to say. Darien,
on the other hand, was far from speechless. "What do you mean? I don't see
how that's possible! Rei was the princess of Mars, I was Prince of Earth;
how
is it that we are related? And…" "Hush, Prince! You do not let me finish.
Can you honestly tell me you never suspected? Look at the resemblance! Do
you not feel a bond with her? And you, Lady Mars, do you not feel the same
bond? Your memories fail you but your blood cannot lie."
Rei nodded, her feelings for Darien were like that of a sister towards her
brother. "But Pluto, of the memories I do have, I remember the planet of
Mars, and I remember that Darien lived on Earth. To be together, would not
one of our parents have to denounce the throne?"
Rei shook herself. She didn't really remember that! And she certainly
didn't speak like that. Pluto had many answers to give. "I know what you
are
thinking Princess." Usagi glanced up, but realized that she was not the one
being addressed, "For one who has not been to the gate often, such as
yourself, the lines of time blur a bit. Bits of your old self are coming
back. That is why I chose to talk to you here, so that you would recall
some
of your past on your own. To answer your question, in most cases, one of
your
parents would have to denounce the throne. You see, both planets were in
dire
need of their destined rulers. Princess Hino, your mother, was the sole
heir
to the throne, and if Prince Darius gave up his throne, it would be handed
to
his half-sister, Princess Beryl, a name you surely recognize! The rulers of
the Silver Millennium, your grandparents, had a council to consider the
marriage. Mars needed a future Empress, and to hand the throne to Beryl was
suicidal. But the situation was touchy. No one was interested in having
Mars
and Earth as one kingdom, so as to keep the balance of power; and having a
ruler delegating commands from another planet could damage the integrity of
the dynasty. And children were another problem. The crown princess of each
planet was born with special powers of a senshi, and Earth had a proud
tradition of a strong patriarchy. So the council, headed by Queen
Tranquility, decided this: 'Each regent will rule from their respective
planet, with frequent visits. Each would be taught the art of teleportation
by the mages of their planets. Concerning children, the firstborn boy would
live on Earth and prepare to be the heir to the crown, and the firstborn
girl
would live on Mars and train as the heir to the crown until the time she
must
complete her time as a senshi of the moon princess. Her time as a senshi
will
be until the moon princess is twenty-one years old, or until the Princess of
Mars must assume her throne. Any other boys will be associates of the crown
prince, training as he does, and to serve in his court. Any other girls
will
be associates of the crown princess until her departure to the moon, when
they
will train as ladies in her court.' That is the story of what your parents
went through to be together. They made many sacrifices, sometimes not
seeing
each other for weeks or months. You two were the only children they had,
but
both planets were relieved that there would be an heir to each throne.
Since
you had no other siblings, Darien, four boys were chosen to train as your
guardians. They were four very powerful boys, royalty from the four corners
of the Earth. Guardians were never chosen for you Rei, because your powers
were surfacing from early childhood and no guard could defend you better
than
yourself. The two of you were very close and it was hard on you as it was
on
your parents to be apart for so long. Once you were both skilled mages and
could teleport on your own, you were rarely seen apart, until of course, you
found significant others." Usagi glanced up and smiled at her handsome
"Significant other". Rei was processing the new information. But something
still didn't fit. "That explains quite a few of the dreams I've had, but
there were dreams that couldn't have been in the Silver Millennium. I saw
my
father in them, the father I have now, not King Darius!" Setsuna smiled.
"I
knew this would come. You're right, those dreams were of the very recent
past. Now, here comes the shocker, the two of you are siblings in this life
as well!" Rei gasped and Darien gaped at Pluto. "What do you mean? That's
impossible!" "No, if you'd listen, you'd realize that what I say is very
possible. Rei, once, your father was a passionate, caring man. He fell in
love with a very beautiful woman." Pictures of Rei's father, much younger,
and a young woman with long black hair and deep violet eyes flashed on the
globe. "He was a young politician and she was living at her father's temple
training as a priestess. You and your mother have a lot in common, Rei.
They
dated and he asked her to marry him. They had a traditional Shinto wedding,
obviously, and then they had an extravagant western style wedding. Your
father paraded his new wife proudly to all his friends, glowing with
happiness. Soon, they had a beautiful baby boy. He was the pride and joy
of
his parents. He had his father's striking blue eyes and his mother's jet
black hair. He was smart and playful, and his parents couldn't get enough
of
him. They were a happy trio for four years, and then another addition came
along, a lovely baby girl, the spitting image of her beautiful mother. She
was daddy's princess, and mommy's gem, and her brother adored her. She was
quick and could sense things about people, sometimes uncanny for an infant.
There was an unspoken bond between the siblings, he would play with her for
hours on end. They were inseparable." The three were wide-eyed and
attentive. The story was enrapturing. "One day, the lovely woman had to run
an errand for her father to a distant temple. She took her son on the trip
far into the country-side and up the steep mountain to the peaceful place on
top. But the road was slippery and she lost control of the car. She was
killed instantly, but the little boy was never found. He was assumed dead.
The police came to the poor man's house to tell him the tragic news of his
wife and son. He crumpled. When he glanced up, he stared into his beloved
wife's enchanting eyes. But, no, they were his daughter's eyes. They
funeral
was somber and dismal. One casket with an image of beauty and one tiny
empty
casket. The little girl wept with her father and grandfather, though she
didn't know what had happened. But the empty casket was not necessary,
because the boy was not dead. He had tumbled out of the car when it
impacted,
and after being unconscious for an hour or so, he woke up with no memory of
his past, or what had happened. He wandered into the tiny village on the
side
of the mountain, where there happened to be a doctor who knew of a wonderful
orphanage in Tokyo. Things were not quite right, but they were falling into
place. The man continued to mourn for his lost love, but when he glanced at
his daughter's melancholy eyes, the ache only deepened. So he buried
himself
in work and eventually asked the woman's father to care for his daughter
until
he had stopped grieving, but he never did. He asked the man not to tell his
daughter much of her past, to spare her the pain he felt. He also asked to
see her as little as possible, telling the man he was busy, but really, it
was
that she reminded him so much of his wife. The boy grew up in an orphanage.
The orphanage recognized his talent and intelligence so they sent him to a
top
boarding school for junior high and highschool. He went on full scholarship
to a top university and is in Medical School now. Sound familiar, anyone?"
Darien had just listened to a summary of his own life, as had Rei. They
looked at each other, seeing similarities in themselves that they had never
noticed before. Rei saw her father in Darien's eyes. Memories flooded back
to Darien. He ran to Rei and embraced her. "My…sister. It feels so
strange
to say that. But I am incredibly grateful to have you in my life!"
"I've always felt that there was something missing in my life. The feelings
subsided a bit when I became a scout and when I met you for the first time
but
now they are gone. I finally have a part of my life back that I never
really
knew existed. I have some knowledge of my mother, a new understanding of my
father and a long lost brother who has been under my nose for years!" Usagi
was open mouthed during the entire ordeal. She kept looking from Darien to
Rei, then back again. Darien shook himself from his rapture and looked at
their frozen selves through the slightly open portal they had come through.
He looked forlornly at Rei's crumpled form, cradled in his arms. He
realized
that once time was reset, she would surely die. He realized he could lose
his
sister, so soon after finding her. Pluto laid a hand on his shoulder. "Can
I
do anything for her?" Rei walked over to where Darien was standing. She
leaned her head against his shoulder and gazed at herself on the ground.
"It's alright Darien, at least I found you. I can't say I really have any
regrets now." "Rei, don't be stupid. We're going to get you through this!"
"Darien, there is nothing you can do."
Usagi piped up. "I could use the crystal!" "No, princess, you can't,"
Setsuna said, "Your crystal has its limits. You've used it twice already to
bring them back and you are still drained from that, to use it now for such
a
purpose would kill you." Rei was composed through the conversation.
"You're
right Pluto. Usa-chan, you've done me too much good, and now it will hurt
you
to help me again. I won't allow it." "Isn't there something we can do?"
Darien said urgently. Setsuna thought for a moment. "Well, there is one
thing, but it's dangerous and I can't guarantee that it will work, but…"
"Tell me!" "YOU could use the crystal." Usagi looked at her like she had
two
heads. "I thought only I could use the crystal." "Ordinarily that would be
true, but most things that are laws of the universe don't apply here.
Technically this place doesn't exist. We are in between the folds of time
and
space and so the laws of the crystal don't really pertain in this realm.
Together, you and Rei could possibly wield the crystal. But there is the
chance that I'm wrong and you could both perish. I can't make this decision
for you. I can't see the outcome of any of these scenarios. I think the
presence of the crystal and yourselves in the time gate is disturbing the
time
flow a bit. Even if you were to succeed, I can't tell what the long term
effects would be. I won't try to stop you, but, I will advise against it."
"Setsuna is right Darien, we shouldn't. If I die, not much will change, but
if you die, the entire future of the world is at stake. Crystal Tokyo may
never be and Chibi-Usa will never exist. Let me go. I can't let you
sacrifice your's and Usagi's happiness for a glimmer of a chance that I
might
survive. Setsuna, send us back. Thank you for what you've told us." "No,
Rei!" Usagi uttered. She put the crystal in Rei's hand. Rei questioned her
with her eyes. Darien put his hand on her shoulder. "Rei, I am willing to
take a chance. I believe we can do it. We have to." "No, it's too much of
a
risk!"
"Rei, please! Use my crystal! I trust in its power. I have to. We can't
lose you!"
Rei looked at her friend and her brother. She opened her hand. Darien
cupped
his hand under hers. "Moon cosmic healing!" A brilliant light shot out of
the crystal and wrapped itself around Rei and Darien. It twined it's way
through the portal and enveloped Rei's body. Her tattered uniform mended
and
her wounds closed. Slowly the brilliance faded and the siblings trembled.
Setsuna hurriedly herded them through the portal and reconnected them with
their bodies. Usagi's essence hovered around them for a minute though. She
looked at Setsuna. "Will they be alright?" "Yes, but things have changed.
If my suspicions anre correct, they may be able to use the crystal in real
time and space now. For most of the scouts, even using the crystal between
time would have been deadly, but those two have immense power, because they
have power from both planets. Plus, this generation of scouts are the
chosen
ones." Usagi looked at her strangely. "What do you mean by 'chosen'?"
"That is a story for another time!" "Setsuna, will things change for them,
with Rei's father, will they be close, will they even remember?" "They are
an
immense support to each other. Rei's father has grown distant, but the
return
of his son could change him. They will most likely remember. They would've
anyway in time, but I had to make sure they knew now. Their love for each
other rivals the love you and Darien have, but it is so different. Their
happiness is so important. Princess, protect them as they protect you.
Don't
let them lose each other again!" "Is that a foreshadowing?" "No, just a
precaution. They have been separated for so long and for so many reasons.
It's time they be happy."
"Thank you Pluto. Thank you for caring, and thank you for helping them,.
And
most of all, thank you for letting them risk the power of the crystal to
save
her. I couldn't have watched her die, or lived without her. I don't think
he
could have either. I know it was dangerous to the crystal and the future."
"How do you know about the crystal?" "What? That if the wrong person uses
it,
it could collapse upon itself? I'm not as dumb as I look Pluto, but I think
I'll keep that a secret a bit longer. Shhh. When you use the crystal daily,
you learn things about it. But I think their connection to me made it
alright. And the fact that they had perfect love in their hearts. Thank
you
Setsuna, thank you for trusting us and our decision." Setsuna disliked the
attention on her, and the sudden praise. So she changed the subject. "Well,
princess, I think it's about time to restore you to your body and put time
as
it should be. Goodbye for now." They embraced and Usagi returned to
herself.
Setsuna watched the scene for a moment, how peaceful it was. She saw the
green scout in anguish and felt a pain of sorrow for her. Lita would berate
herself for centuries for this, no matter how many times the others forgave
her, she may never forgive herself. Setsuna snapped her fingers and time
unfroze. Lita looked up in anguish, in time to see Rei stand up seemingly
unharmed. The monster reappeared behind Mars and Lita screamed "Duck". She
shot a blast of lightning at it, which caught it off guard. She got a
direct
hit. The monster was stunned and couldn't seem to disappear again. Mars
powered up, as did Jupiter, for her most powerful attack. Lightning and
fire
mixed together and the creature fizzled and seemed to melt. Rei held her
hand
out to help Darien up. They grinned at each other. She strode over to
Lita,
who gaped at her. "How?" "Later, Pluto helped." "Oh." "I'm glad to have
you
with us J." "mars, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take my anger out on you,
but
it just happened." "I understand, just know we're always here for you. And
boy do I have a story to tell!" Rei, Darien, and sometimes Usagi (by force
of
interruption) told the story of their past lives and their new family on the
way home. No one was overly surprised. They had never suspected it, but
when
presented as fact, it wasn't very shocking. Not much shocked this group
anymore.
Rei and Darien sat in the waiting room in a large office building.
Rei held
Darien's hand, because it was shaking. Their name was called. She hugged
him
tightly for support and they opened the double doors to an impressive
office.
Rei's father jumped at the sight of his dead wife standing in his office
with
a man who looked awfully familiar. He recognized his daughter, but still
couldn't place the man. "Hi daddy, this is Darien. We have a lot to talk
about." He studied the jaw, the nose , the hair, and the eyes. They were
his
own eyes. He began to sob as he realized who he was looking at.
"Hi…Dad"
******************************************************************************
********************
Well, that was it. This is one of my favorite stories, but not my best
writing. But oh well. I was thinking of writing a little follow up, just
some background history (Beryl's origins, the 'chosen generation', life in
the
silver millennium, etc.), and some stories of their life as brother and
sister. I'm only gonna do it if anyone is interested. If anyone is, email
me
at Marsfire01@aol.com.
(
geocities.com/tokyo/gulf/4463) (
geocities.com/tokyo/gulf) (
geocities.com/tokyo)