Rain was beating against the window panes in her bedroom, and Serena let a sigh escape from her lips. The sound caused her sleeping cat, Luna to stir. Darien, her long-time boyfriend, had just left, and she felt her heart breaking. Three months ago, he had asked her to marry him, but her parents had said they were too young. Her father insisted that she finish high school and at least one year of college before he would approve a union between the two young lovers.

Serena knew her parents had reservations about Darien because they had seen how hurt she had been by him numerous times in the past. Most recently, she had been upset when she thought he had gone to the United States and stopped communicating with her. Her parents did not know Darien as she did; they did not see how well he watched over her as Tuxedo Mask, his alter ego.

 Darien had been very upset at her parents’ refusal of his request for her hand, so when her school project at the time had been to organize and perform a mock wedding for her personal economics class, she had thought performing the mock wedding as if it was her and Darien’s real wedding would be great idea. She thought it would let Darien know that this was just a temporary delay and give him something to look forward too. As much fun as it had been at the time, walking down the aisle with Darien, taking mock vows, and smiling for pictures with the scouts, she now realized the fake wedding had been a terrible idea.

Her parents’ continued opposition to her and Darien’s marriage had caused him to become bitter about the entire situation. When she had taken over a framed picture of the mock wedding, he had blown up at her about why she did not work harder to convince her parents that their union would not stop them from achieving their dreams instead it would cause their dreams to come true. Serena knew Darien was frustrated with the entire situation, but still, she did not appreciate her always being the brunt of his outbursts.

She glanced out the window and saw that the rain was not letting up, as it battered Tokyo. “Darien, why can’t you just be happy knowing we’ll be together one day?” She muttered.

A part of Serena was happy that her parents had made the decision for her and Darien to postpone their wedding. She felt they were rushing everything. Darien had never said anything, but she knew he was concerned about what he had first witnessed upon his return from death, after Eternal Sailor Moon’s battle with Galaxia and Chaos. Serena was Sailor Moon, the protector of this solar system.

Upon his return to life, Darien had seen some other guy confessing his feelings to Serena and calling her by a pet name that had once belonged only between the two of them. Serena had told Darien, without him asking that Seiya had been just a friend, but a voice in the back of her head taunted her saying she knew her words were a lie. She had not cheated on Darien, but Seiya had found a very special place in her heart. If she married Darien now, she would be marrying him without giving him her whole heart. Darien was so special to her. They had endured so much in two different lifetimes. She could not dishonor him by marrying him now. She knew that time would cause Seiya to become a sadly pleasant memory, or she at least hoped that her heart would eventually forget the way Seiya took her breath away, when he was near, how safe she felt when he took her hand, or held her near.

 She shook her head. These thoughts would not help resolve the problems between her and Darien. She needed to focus on their relationship.

“Come on Star Fighter, just a little further.” Star Maker urged through clenched teeth. Star Maker sighed as the large beam the two senshi had been pushing had finally fallen into place. She reached up and wiped a bead of sweat off her face. “Well, no one said putting Kinmoku back together was going to be an easy task.” Star Maker’s eyes darkened when Star Fighter’s only reply was a grunt. “Fighter, are you even listening to me?”

“What, oh, sorry,” Fighter mumbled as she turned her eyes to focus on her fellow sailor scout.

Maker snarled at her friend, “You need to get over it, Fighter. You are Seiya Kou no more; you are Star Fighter, protector of our beloved Princess Kakyuu.”

Fighter’s eyes burned brightly as she replied, “How easy that is for you to say. You’re not the one who had their heart ripped out and left on the other side of the galaxy.”

“You have no idea what I felt leaving there. You were too busy as you always are focusing only on yourself, thinking only of your feelings,” Maker accused.

Fighter tilted her head to the side, narrowing her blue eyes inquisitively. “What are you saying? That you left someone you love there as well?”

Maker simply glared at Fighter.

The argument was interrupted from escalating when Star Healer walked into the area where they had been working. Healer glanced at her two friends and realized they were fighting again. This tension marked the second time in two days she had found them nearly ready to become physically violent with one another. “Can’t I leave you two alone for more than five minutes?” She muttered.

Maker turned and shrugged her shoulders at Healer. She cleared her throat and questioned, “What made you quit working on the new shrine with the Princess?’

“Oh, no, you are not changing the subject that quickly. What the hell is going on with you two? You do nothing but glare at each other and fight. It has been that way since the majority of the rebuilding to Kinmoku has been completed.”

Maker hung her head for a moment or two. When she raised it, her eyes avoided her fellow scout’s intense gaze. “I think without major rebuilding projects to occupy her mind, Fighter is finding her thoughts drifting back to the planet we left three months ago.”

“What? She can’t still be thinking of the Moon Princess. I thought she had accepted that she gave up her form of Seiya and the life Fighter wanted with Serena as Seiya was impossible.” Healer exclaimed, surprised her fellow scout was still clinging to memories of their old schoolmate from Earth.

Maker sighed and turned her back on Healer before answering, “Maybe, after taking the form of an earthling male, she now finds herself incomplete.”

“Incomplete? This is our true form. How can she feel incomplete?” Healer whispered the last question.

Maker spun around and stared intensely at her friend. She saw a sad look in her eyes. The same distant look that she had seen in Fighter’s eyes and in her own reflection. “Perhaps you should ask yourself that question, and when you find an answer and how to resolve it, you can let the rest of us know.” Maker turned and went out the way the opposite way that Fighter had gone.

Healer watched her friend’s back as she walked away, “Us? Then, you too have your thoughts surrounding that rural planet of blue. It seems that Earth has bewitched us all. May our Princess forgive us.”

The warm sun greeted a waking Tokyo

 Serena was sitting at the breakfast table staring across the table at her little brother Sammy. Sammy was staring back at her. The two broke eye contact when their mother walked in and sat down next to Serena. Serena glanced at her mother and smiled at how lovely she looked in her pale yellow dress, with a white half apron tied neatly around her waist.

 “Good morning, you two. I just put the pancakes on the skillet. They will be ready soon. What are you both planning on doing with your first official day of summer break?” Ikuko Tsukino asked her two children with mild amusement at having caught them in another staring battle.

 Sammy yawned and stretched his arms out letting them fall behind him on the chair. He had grown quite a bit over the past year, and he was rapidly catching up to Serena in height. “I’m going to go play soccer with some of the guys from my class, and then we agreed to help Coach Ito rake the practice field for the summer training sessions that are starting tomorrow morning.”

 “Are you going to help coach the younger leagues this summer?” Ikuko asked her son.

 “Nah, coach wants me to practice with the high school guys all summer because he said since I will be captain on the junior high school varsity team next school term,” Sammy smiled lazily and winked at his sister knowing it would irritate her that he was considered a good athlete by the very respected Crossroads High School varsity soccer coach, who had won the city championship title for five years running. He was considered a legend among soccer coaches. The national team had asked Coach Ito to coach their team in the World Cup, but he had politely refused saying his passion for coaching was working with Japan’s youths, shaping them into the best.

 Serena stumbled over her own tongue, “Coach Ito thinks you have potential?”

 Sammy grinned viciously, “Of course, sis, not everyone in this family stumbles over their own feet. Some of us actually have grace and coordination, not to mention killer athletic skills.”

 “Ugh, you’re such a brat.” Serena said sticking her tongue out at her brother.

 Ikuko laughed knowing her son had succeeded in irritating Serena, which was Sammy’s favorite activity, “Okay, you two, I’ll get the pancakes. Try not to kill each other in the two minutes that I am gone.”

 Sammy noticed that his sister had hung her head and was sadly staring at her empty plate. “Sis, I’m sorry.  I was just teasing. It doesn’t matter that you aren’t great at sports. I mean, you get it right when it counts, like last year in your softball game with Seiya. You made the winning catch.” Sammy was not sure why, but he knew he had said the wrong thing when Serena raised her head and her eyes seemed about to brim over with tears. “Uh, Sis, I didn’t mean to upset you. What did I say?”

 Serena sniffed and wiped her eyes with her napkin, “Nothing Sammy, things have just been a little tense with Darien and I lately. Since, well you know… and, well, I miss Seiya too.”

 “I’m sorry, Sis. And, I don’t know if you want to hear this or not but I think Dad and Mom are right. You should wait, and if you and Darien love each other another four years is no big deal. I mean, after all, if you live to be a hundred that still gives you eighty years together.”

 Serena laughed, “How is it that my little brother manages to put everything neatly into perspective?”

 Sammy smiled back glad his sister was cheering up, “Well, I’m not so little anymore, and I’m a genius. So, what did happen to Seiya? I think Mom was hoping you’d keep the pop star around a while longer.”

 Serena’s eyes clouded over, “He had to leave. He had a family in another country that needed his help. He doesn’t think that he will return to Tokyo. Taiki and Yaten went with him as well. They gave up their idol status to take care of what matters most.”

 “Well, I’m sorry, sis. I know you like Seiya. He was a good friend to you while Darien was not around.”

 Serena was about to respond but was distracted by the large plate of delicious pancakes that her mother was carrying from the kitchen. She piled them high on her plate and began to dig into the pancakes, syrup spilling out of the corner of her mouth and dribbling down her chin. She was thinking over her conversation with Sammy. She didn’t know why she told him about missing Seiya. She had not even confided that information to her best friends. She finished her pancakes and started to rise from the table when her mother’s voice stopped her.

 “Serena, dear, you never did say what you were going to do today.”

 “Well, I think I’m meeting Molly and Melvin for lunch at the park. It has been a really long time since we’ve all hung out. I’ve missed them.”

 “That’s good, dear. We didn’t get to see Molly around here a lot last year, so I’m glad you two are going to start hanging out again.”

 Serena smiled, “Yes I am too. But don’t worry, Sammy, I’ll make sure I bring Amy around a lot this summer for you to drool over.”

Sammy blushed a deep shade of red and stammered, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Serena laughed and skipped with her dish out to the kitchen while she still had the upper hand on her brother. She cleaned off her plate and put it into the dishwasher.  She smiled at the thought of seeing her oldest friends, Molly and Melvin. She had been so wrapped up in Sailor Scout business that she had neglected her good friends. She hoped they could forgive her for her selfishness and lack of consideration. She debated telling them the truth of her alter ego. She knew she could trust them. Perhaps, Luna could give her advice. She filled a glass of water to take upstairs with her to give to her beloved companion and most trusted advisor. Luna had been with Serena since she had first found out that she was Sailor Moon, and Luna was still at her side even though she had been seriously hurt or almost died several times because of her loyalty to the Moon Princess.

“Why the sad eyes?” Luna questioned as Serena came back into her bedroom.

“I just have a lot on my mind. I am unclear about a few things.”

“I know. I have sensed your unease for the past three months. Don’t you think it’s about time that we talk about it?” Luna implored her princess as the crescent shape moon on her forehead shimmering as the morning sunlight splayed across it.

 “Yes, Luna, I think it is time that I tell someone, everything.”

Meanwhile on Kinmoku

Princess Kakyuu walked down the newly renovated street. She smiled at the citizens of the planet walking by her. They did not remember that they had lost their lives to Chaos or that she and the Starlights were responsible for restoring the planet to its previous form. She had insisted that this time the planet be reborn without her identity being known to its citizens. She wanted some anonymity for a while before she took her rightful place as ruler of Kinmoku.

The princess breathed in the air around her. She could not believe they had accomplished so much in a small amount of time, only three months. Her Starlights were currently working on some extra projects that she had given them in hopes that it would distract them from their heartache, but alas, the heart can not be distracted from what it desires most. She stopped when she saw Fighter storming out of the building they were renovating into a medical clinic for the less fortunate. “Fighter, what is wrong?” The princess called to the obviously distraught scout.

Fighter stopped upon hearing her princess’s voice, “I apologize princess. I was distracted.”

Kakyuu could see the tension in Fighter’s body, so she was guessing that her leaving the construction area meant that Fighter had been arguing with the other scouts again. “You do not have to apologize. What has you so distracted these days?”

Fighter was quiet for a minute before answering her princess. She knew that what she was distracted by would seem like a betrayal to her princess, and she would never betray her. Her fierce sense of duty was why she had left Earth. Star Fighter was sworn to protect the Fireball Princess, even at the cost of her own happiness. “I was just disagreeing with my fellow Starlights on a couple of issues.”

The princess nodded knowingly, “Well, I will let you go cool off, but tonight, I want you to meet me at the new Shrine that Healer and I have been working on all day. I will see you later, my friend.”

Fighter bowed slightly as the princess walked past her and into the building. Fighter’s eyes clouded again when she let her thoughts slip back to her confrontation with Maker. She would go get a shower and take a nap before the meeting tonight. She should feel more relaxed then; she weaved her way through the back alleys in order to avoid any human contact. She soon found herself at her small flat that she shared with her other two Starlights and was relieved to see that no one was home. She peeled off her work cloths and climbed into the shower. She washed away the dirt and sweat. Her mind flashed back to another shower she had taken on Earth, the night she had tried to tell Serena everything but Chibi Chibi had interrupted them. Fighter closed her eyes. She could not help but wonder if the golden haired princess of the moon was thinking about those days too. Fighter sighed and turned off the shower. She dried off and threw on some loose fitting clothing before slipping into bed.

 Fighter felt the darkness of sleep overtake her exhausted body, and she soon felt her mind wandering. She looked down and realized she was no longer Star Fighter- Seiya Kou had returned.

Seiya turned and looked around at the darkness surrounding him. He knew he was dreaming, but he was not sure why the form of Seiya had returned to him. He was not complaining, somehow this tall, lanky male form felt right. He began walking through the darkness towards a distant door, with light emitting from underneath it. When he arrived at the door, it opened before he could even touch the handle. Seiya gasped at who was standing there waiting for him.