This is based on a completely NON-Sailor Moon story I wrote a few months ago about a girl (Dair Allan) whose twin brother (that would be David) was killed in a car accident (my stories are usually pretty sad). This is a sequel to that, obviously, but it certainly isn't necessary to read the first one to understand what the hell's going on here.
The title comes from a song by Amy Ray of Indigo Girls which is techincally about Los Angeles. However, I think it's a really beautiful song and the title is very appropriate.
I've taken the whole Sailor Moon mythology and kinda twisted and turned it... this is completely my own version of what "could be." It takes place after Sailor Stars. I've never seen the anime that far (yes, DiC is my only source for Sailor Moon anime), but I have read the translated manga all the way through. Point being: if some details about the attacks/transformations, etc, is a little off, please don't shoot me. Thanks. :)
This doesn't have anything at all to do with the other story I'm working on, "Cycle of Our Souls". But, ya know, if you want to read that one and tell me what you think about it, I certainly won't object.
Write me!
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"Welcome me to the city of angels;
Devil prophets still hold my hand.
I walked your streets for hours,
Ethnic ehoes spitting out their trials."
-from "Welcome Me" by Amy Ray
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"You're American?" he asked in English, surprising her.
She looked up at him and smiled, then did a double take. He was so good looking! And so exotic... he didn't look Japanese, that was for sure. His hair was a strange silvery-mint green color, his dark skin a sharp contrast to this, and his eyes were gray-violet. He was amazingly handsome, and she found herself speaking English almost as badly as she normally spoke Japanese. "I... um, yeah... I'm American," Dair finally managed to spit out. "I'm Dair Allan." She held out a hand. "You are?"
After a moment of hesitation, he took her hand in his own and shook it. "Benton Mallory, but call me 'Mal.' It's nice to meet you, Miss Allan. And please, don't worry about this little mishap... it's my fault. I knew I houldn't have been carrying all these things at once, but sometimes I don't listen to myself." He handed her the book she had been trying to get through. "Japanese phrases?" he asked. "Your Japanese seems fine to me."
"Dair," she said hastily, "not 'Miss Allan.' And you'd be surprised at how bad my grasp of the Japanese language truly is," she said, her bright smile catching him off guard.
Just then his thoughts were similar to what hers had just been: she was beautiful, with long, thick, silky black hair and smoky blue eyes that lit up like sapphires when she flashed that dazzling smile. People didn't often surprise him, but he felt sure that this friendly American was more than just a pretty face. "I hope you don't think me rude, Dair," he said, trying out her name, "but may I ask you some questions about America?"
They stood and she tossed the strap of her oversized bag over her shoulder. "Whatever for? America is a dull place if you ask me. I'm glad as hell to be away from it, even if only for a few years."
A trace of a smile crossed his features. "I'm doing a bit of a research project about it, actually. I was going to interview some fellow students, but I..." he paused, "I don't know many of them, and those I do know certainly aren't American."
"You're a student? So am I! That's why I'm here in Tokyo, actually." She frowned. "You want to know about America, huh? Sure, I'll help you out."
"Subarashi! Perhaps we could discuss it over coffee tomorrow?"
"Or caramels?" she asked with a tiny smile, hoping he would catch her reference.
He did. "Or caramels. Good Will Hunting was a marvelous film."
Dair smiled. "I agree. Um... I'm living on campus, in G753. Come by some time tomorrow: I'll be around pretty much all day." She said, hoping this guy wasn't a psy-chotic stalker or anything.
"Certainly. Until tomorrow, Dair," he said with an elegant bow.
He put a hand on the small of her back, a gesture she found strangely comforting, and they walked to a small coffee house not far from her dorm. "Where in America are you from?" he asked her, opening the door to allow her to enter ahead of him.
"Just a little town in Oregon. It really was terribly boring. And you, Benton, where are you from?"
He grimaced at the sound of his name and she frowned in confusion. "Please, I would prefer it if you would call me 'Mal.' Benton... well, it's not my real name."
Her frown deepened. "You told me it was," she stated simply.
"Well, it is... legally... but 'Benton Mallory' is a name I made up because..." he trailed off, wondering if it was too soon to tell this girl about himself. "I made it up because the only name I could remember for myself was so odd."
"You... don't know your real name?" she asked, thinking that she'd found a real nutcase this time.
"I know that people used to call me 'Malachite.' I don't know when, I don't know who..." he shook his head ruefully. "There is much I cannot remember about my past, Dair. I made up the name so that I would have one, but when I meet someone who seems... honest, true, real... I tell that someone to call me 'Mal.' That name is real to me."
"I feel honored then. So I guess this means you don't know where you're from?" she asked, her voice lightly teasing.
He smiled one of his rare smiles and nodded. "Nai, I don't know where I'm from other than here. Naturally I never knew my parents. But enough about me... I asked you here to talk about you. Tell me about your family and your life in Oregon."
Dair sighed, wondering how much to tell him. He had trusted her, she decided, so she might as well trust him. She leaned across the table toward him and said, "I lived with my mom and my dad. I used to have a brother, a twin, but he was killed a little less than a year ago in a car accident. We lived in a house, not an apartment, and David - my brother, obviously - and I used to play baseball for our high school."
"I'm sorry to hear about your brother. It must be difficult to lose someone close to you," he said in the manner of one who never has.
"I guess you wouldn't know about that, huh?" she asked, but not in an unkind way.
"I don't let people close to me. That way I don't risk losing them," he said after a moment, leaning in across the table as well.
"'Well that's a wonderful philosophy... that way you can go through life without ever really knowing anyone at all,'" she quoted with a smile.
"You really did enjoy Good Will Hunting, didn't you?" he asked, amused.
"I thought it was better than Titanic, and I liked Titanic quite a lot until it became so incredibly hyped: then I just got sick of it. And anyway, the statement is true enough."
He nodded. "Hai, I suppose it is. I should tell you that I've never found anyone who I wanted to get close to... or who was worth the time it took. Until now, I think."
She blushed. "I do hope you're referring to me, Mr. Malachite, because I believe I would like to get to know you better. You're one of the most intriguing people I've ever met," she said, surprised at her own boldness.
Dair was delighted to hear him laugh. "Yes, of course I meant you. Now tell me, what is your Major at our fine University?"
"Pre-med. What's this project of yours for?"
"My Master's thesis."
Her eyes widened. "You called your Master's thesis a 'bit of a research project'?!?" she demanded.
"I don't like to hyperbolize, and I didn't want you nervous and thinking this was an interview. I asked you here with an ulterior motive, I must admit."
She raised her eyebrows, amused. "Oh? What kind of an ulterior motive?"
"I wanted to see your smile again," he told her, something in his voice causing her breath to catch in her throat.
Dair tried to pull herself together, but the look in his gray-violet eyes was so intense that she felt her heart racing. She sat back against the chair and smiled, her cheeks bright red. "I do believe you're flirting with me, Mal," she said as brightly and casually as possible.
He smiled, knowing his words had had just the effect he'd been hoping for. "I do believe I am, though 'flirting' is not something I'm often accused of doing."
"Ah, yes... cold as ice you are, no?" she asked teasingly, sitting forward again.
"Dair!" a bright, cheerful voice cried before he could answer.
She looked around, trying to find the source, and soon laid eyes on a girl standing in the doorway, her long blond hair divided into two ponytails topped off by round buns that sat on either side of her head like... well, like meatballs. Dair smiled fondly and glanced at Mal. "That's Serena. She's a little flaky, but she's been really friendly to me since I got to Tokyo - very tolerant of my terrible Japanese. Serena, Kon'nichi wa!" she called to her new friend.
Serena, followed by a group of girls Dair didn't know, hurried over to the table. "Kon'nichi wa, Dair, let me introduce you to my friends. This is Raye, Mina, Amy and Lita," she said, pointing to each girl in turn. "Minna, this is Dair Allan. She's from America," Serena told them importantly.
"Nice to meet all of you. This is my friend Benton Mallory." She gestured to the young man sitting across from her and he nodded politely.
Strange, he thought, those girls look somehow familiar... He shook his head slightly, figuring his spotty memory was just playing tricks on him. "Dair, I'll let you be for now. Perhaps we can finish this later? Another ulterior motive, you see."
She smiled. "If you want to see me smile, Mal, all you have to is ask. But, yes, come by sometime and I'll tell you so much about America that you'll be sick of it - and of me."
He returned her smile and bowed slightly. "Highly doubtful, Dair." With that, and another bow to Serena and her friends, he left quickly.
Lita, the tallest one, her brown hair up in a ponytail as always, let out a breath. "*Who* was *that*?" she asked. "He was so kawaii!"
Serena frowned. "He looked... I don't know, kinda familiar. But... no, I guess not. Oh well," she said thoughtfully. "Hey, Dair, where'd you meet such a hunk?" she demanded, her good cheer and boisterous manner returning quickly.
Dair smiled. "I ran into him on my way to the library yesterday, actually. He speaks English, which is nice. My Japanese has not improved... obviously."
The other blond, hair held back with a large red bow, smiled kindly. "I think it's pretty good, Dair. I used to live in England, so if you ever need anything translated, just ask."
"Thanks... Mina, is it? That's nice of you."
"Amy, you didn't tell us such hunky guys hang out at the library," Lita was saying to the shy-looking girl with short blue hair.
Amy blushed slightly. "Well I don't go there to pick up guys, Lita, I go there to study. I don't really notice the guys, hunky or not."
"I didn't notice him until we smacked into each other," Dair said with a smile.
"Muffin! Oh, Darien!" Serena suddenly called out in her sing-song voice.
Dair looked up to see a tall, dark-haired young man walking toward them, a huge smile on his face. Her eyes widened and she almost fainted. He looked so much like David! He could almost be... "Hey, meatball head," he said to Serena, giving her a kiss and breaking the spell his sudden appearance had cast on Dair.
"Ohhh, Darien, you just have to meet my new friend! This is Dair Allan, and she's from America! Dair, this is my boyfriend Darien... Dair and Darien, they sound almost exactly alike! Ohhh... and look, you both have black hair and blue eyes! I guess it really is a small world!" she cried, delighted with this observation.
Dair smiled at him and held out a hand. "Nice to meet you, Darien... Serena has talked about you nearly non-stop since I met her."
"Hai, I've heard a lot about you too. Serena is very... enthusiastic sometimes," he said fondly.
Dair laughed and stood up from the table. "It was nice meeting all of you," she said, "but I have a big chemistry test tomorrow and I should probably study."
"Hey, we were all thinking about going to the movies on Saturday, Dair... wanna come?" Mina invited.
"Um... hai, I'd like that. Gomen, Mina."
"And you can bring your friend Benton if you want!" Lita said with a laugh.
"I'm sure you'd like that, Lita," Raye teased good-naturedly as she tossed a lock of velvety-black hair over her shoulder, "but I think Dair has dibs on Benton."
"I don't have 'dibs' on anyone. We're just friends... actually, not even that much yet. I just met him! If Lita wants to go after him, then by all means... but unless he asks you to call him 'Mal,' you might as well give up," she advised. "Anyway, minna, see you Saturday."
"Sayonara, Dair! It was nice meeting you!" they chorused cheerfully.
"Did you see that look on her face when she saw Darien coming?" Raye asked of the group in general once the new girl was gone. "She looked like she'd seen a ghost!"
"She mentioned something to me about having a brother... and she and Darien do look an awful lot alike..." Serena said with a thoughtful glance at her boyfriend.
Darien was staring at the door as though he could still see the pretty American girl who so resembled him, and he didn't hear a word Serena was saying. Her eyes... he thought, remembering their sad, far away look, they were like... like mine before I remembered Serena... He had been lost then, knowing only to search for the mysterious Silver Imperium Crystal, hoping it would lead him to his princess and his past. What demons was Dair Allan wrestling with? He officially made it his own responsibility to find out.
End part 1/?