Little Raccoon's Storm

It was a rather gloomy day when the girls at the room behind the waterfall decided to have another slumber party, as was a sort of custom nowadays. Some of the Senshi were depressed because of the weather and that they couldn't go outside at all. Kyoko was worried because someone had stolen lightsaber parts from the Temple.

Mika was depressed for other reasons, but pretended it was the rain. She helped with the party, but couldn't put the meeting out of her mind.

Mika sighed as she set up the worn out Sailor Moon R tape once again. How could she have gone wrong? How had her daughter turned out like that? She would never turn out her own child.

And most important to Mika at that moment: who on Coruscant was her future husband? She had never planned on marrying....

Undetermined time in the far away future, around the same time as Truce at Bakura...

Mika, as Sailor Yavin IV, ran harder than she ever had. She had to escape the tall man chasing her.

The alternative was to become his slave.

"Stop you foolish child!" Darth Syn shouted. He huffed as he ran. "You cannot escape me!" Mika looked back. He was closer than he was about a minute ago.

She was running through the streets of Coruscant, the planet that had been her home for many years now. She had been out walking for a minute, to do some shopping, then Darth Syn appeared, planning to make her his. As to why, Mika had no clue.

Now luck was her only friend. She couldn't stop and call for help, or he'd have her in the blink of an eye. She pushed harder, then dared to look around.

He was gaining on her. His short black hair was whipping in his blue eyes. He ran fast for such a tall man.

Even though Mika's clumsiness had faded a bit over the years, it didn't escape her now. A rock came up, and she tripped over it. She skidded along the road to a stop. Darth Syn came up next to her and held her down.

"Finally, you worthless brat." His eyes gleamed in the artificial light from the lamps of Coruscant. "You're mine. Dark -"

"Stop right there!" an authoritive voice shouted. Darth Syn looked up and saw a man barely shorter than him. The mysterious man's green-blue eyes pierced into Darth Syn's. "She is but a child, and nowhere near your height. Why do you go for such a target, when even you know it is not a fair fight?"

Syn glared. "Who cares what you think! She is mine!"

"No she is not, she is no one but her own," the man said. "Yavin IV Film Slash!" Grey pieces of sharp edged film hit Syn and he was cut up badly. He got up and stepped back.

"You'll regret ever getting in my way!" he said. He jumped through a portal.

"Are you all right?" the man asked as soon as Syn was away.

Mika nodded slowly. She still hadn't recovered from the fall and the shock.

Yavin IV KNIGHT? she wondered. Is it true?

"I am Yavin IV Knight," he said, confirming her suspicions. He helped her up, and pulled together his bravery. "And you would be the most beautiful Senshi I have ever seen. Yavin IV, I am pleased to meet your acquaintance." He bowed and kissed Mika's hand. She blushed.

"Th-thank you, Knight," she said quietly. Her stomach did flip flops. She knew this person. A long time ago, in this life, she knew him...

"Please, detransform, I want to see who you really are." He let go of Mika's hand.

"You first," she said, always the stubborn one. He looked nervous for a second, then nodded.

"All right," he said. In a flash of white light he had normal clothes on. Slightly baggy black pants, a button up white shirt, and he had the most charming green-blue eyes and black hair. Those eyes... "Now you."

Mika nodded slowly, and shouted her detransformation phrase. She turned back to her normal self. The man smiled.

"You are even more beautiful than before, Miss..."

"Mika, Mika Kaipi," she said. She winced inside, maybe she shouldn't trust him. He seemed kind enough, though.

"Mika... what a wonderful name... I am Link Shinrin." He bowed down. Mika giggled. Link looked up sharply.

"What is so funny?" he asked, confused.

Mika stifled her giggles. "Where I come from, that is a character in a... an interactive video... video game... and he is from a forest." Link grinned, understanding.

"You... you must be from Earth like me." He stood up again and took Mika's hand. "That is where I got the name. I didn't remember my real one when I was accidentally transported here."

"How on Kessel?" Mika asked herself. Link shook his head.

"It doesn't matter. I've always wanted to meet you." He looked anywhere but at Mika while trying to talk. He mustered up all his strength. "So, will you at least go out on a date with me?"

Mika nearly fell over. No one, as far as she remembered, had ever asked her out! Of course, she had never felt this way either...

"Okay..." She took Link's hand. "Where to?"

"How about...."

Mika grinned. He listed the most expensive places ever. And he could afford them. She was in love with a kind, handsome, rich man named after her favorite video game character. Could her life get any better?

"Hey, want to watch some anime on the way to the restaurant?" Link asked as he walked to his ship.

Mika giggled. Apparently it could!

"Hey, Mika, snap out of your trance!" Annika shouted. Mika blinked a few times. "You look so blue. C'mon, the party is starting! We're gonna play charades and some Sabaac - Nom's not playing, to be fair -"

"Okay, I'm coming. Be right there," Mika said slowly, getting up from her chair. She grabbed her old sleeping bag, her writing notebook (which usually never left her sight) and sat down in between Yukiko and Chouko.

They began by playing charades, and Mika didn't participate at all, even though (for the most part) she knew everything they were trying to be...Sailor Moon, a bantha, a crazy Jedi, Nom (who was not happy with the impression Numako did of her), and even stars from E.M. Some of the younger Chibis began to fall asleep, so the girls then talked about boyfriends they have or want to have.

"Obi-Wan is my WAN and only! Get it, Wan?" Annika said.

The other girls groaned. Mika just sighed. Usually she appreciated puns, but she wasn't in the mood at the moment. Annika, however, was laughing hysterically.

"That was great, wasn't it?"

"Obi-Wan would not think so, I am sure of it," Nom said. Annika just grinned.

After that came the Earth born girls favorite board game, Monopoly. At least it was Mika's favorite. But she chose not to play. This concerned some of the girls.

"You can have the carrier!" Annika said, pointing to the small metal dog.

"No thanks - and its a terrier, Annika," Mika pointed out as she laid down and opened her writing binder. "A Scottish terrier, I believe."

Naoko jumped on Mika's head as the girls got into teams for Monopoly.

"Are you sure you're okay, Mika?" Naoko pawed gently at Mika's hand. "You seem quite down in the dumps." Mika stayed silent. It wasn't until late in the night that some of the girls found out what was wrong.

It was truth or dare. Mika was beginning to cheer up, as truth or dare was her favorite party game. It was Annika's turn to ask Mika.

"Truth or Dare?" she asked.

Mika was hesitant. She didn't want to yell something like "Hey lover boy!" to some guy in the street like someone else had to once. "Truth."

"Okay, why are you so unhappy tonight? You've been moping along for days now!" Annika exclaimed. Chouko shushed Annika, as most of the girls were asleep already and would not be happy if awoke.

It was then Mika began to cry. She sobbed and couldn't get any words out at all.

"Mika?" Chouko asked quietly.

"I - I have a Chibi," Mika murmured.

The other girls laughed in relief. "Oh, a Chibi? Mika, that's not that bad!" Annika said cheerfully. "It's actually quite fun -"

"Yeah, she should know, she's got three of 'em!" Chouko giggled.

"No, it's not that simple, guys. She - she hasn't introduced herself to me, even though she knows well who I am. She wanted to kill me because she - doesn't want to exist," Mika choked out. "She's practically pure evil!"

Some of the girls gasped. Xarae started to console Mika, saying there was still hope for the girl. Chouko made Pinku do tricks like "play dead" and the like (which Pinku didn't like a whole lot, of course.) But she still sobbed.

"How could I have failed that bad? My own DAUGHTER rejected me and wants to wipe out her entire existence! She's a Sith, and...she's my daughter. She said I turned her out, but I know I could never do that! Not to any child who came my way!" Mika began crying into a pillow. "And who as my husband would even allow me to do that? Who?!?" Then Mika stared blankly at the ceiling. "Who's my husband?"

This allowed a small laugh from the group including Mika. They continued cheering her and promised they'd help her find out what happened. Mika wished Ippin could go through the time gates and tell her what happened. Of course, Ippin refused.

Yukiko was the most interested of all. This girl of Mika's had seemingly lost her innocence at a young age, and became so enraged that she doesn't want to even have existed. And Mika was so kind to everybody, Yukiko was sure that Mika hadn't done anything to her daughter. Then what, Yukiko pondered as Mika began to stop crying and wipe away her tears, then WHAT was it that caused this girl to be so...lost?

Ara sat in her feline form under what equaled a cardboard box in a dank poor section of a town. The rain fell down hard, but she wasn't affected by it. She rather liked the rain and the feeling that came with it - sadness.

She curled up tightly, and watched as another poor man or creature walked or even flew by. Deep inside, she felt a sorrow for them, but as far as her immediate response was - laughter. Joy.

Then her attention turned to a small picture next to her paw. Ara's smiling mother and father, holding a small baby in their arms. Her as a child.

Despite what her adoptive uncle said, she could only remember good things about her parents. Not much, as she was too young. But one thing, one song...

"Hush a bye don't you cry go to sleepy little baby. when you wake you shall take all the pretty little horses..."

Ara fell asleep as the melody sang sweetly in her head. Her mother sang that to her... how could she be so kind then... but truly be a mean woman who would throw out her own daughter, her own blood?

About three years after Link and Mika met...

"Oh, I'm so nervous!" Mika exclaimed. She straightened her veil.

"There's no need to be! You've been engaged for about three years!" Annika said, giving Mika a bouquet of small blue flowers. "Link and you... you were supposed to be married long ago!"

"Be calm you should!" Numako said, adjusting Mika's train. "No worries you need! Be happy you should!"

"Don't worry, drive happy..." Mika mumbled. She shifted nervously. "What about if I trip going down the aisle?"

Annika sighed. "You will - it's inevitable! So don't worry! Just make sure the front of your dress stays up and you'll be fine!"

"Yeah," Mika agreed. "Fine."

Mika walked down the aisle with wonderful grace, and she didn't trip once - although the flower girl did. Mika simply helped her up and continued her way on to her husband to be. Link smiled softly.

Mika did too. Everything was going to be all right, clumsiness or not. This was the right thing to do, and she had known it since the day they met. Truly love at first sight.

Darth Syn stared on unnoticed. That girl, Mika... had gotten away. A priceless gem, unaging, and a Senshi to boot. She could do so much for him.

He slowly walked away. He wanted to get her...but maybe he could get to her without actually getting her...he smiled evilly. He had a plan. It would just take a few years. A few long years...

Present SWSS time, the morning after the party...

"Hey, Senshi gals! There's a Sith wreaking havoc in Coruscant! Her identity is unknown, and she's a major menace!" Kyoko shouted down the hall. "Hurry!"

Ippin, Annika, Numako, Nom, Yukiko, Chouko, and Kyoko went on the seemingly ordinary mission, with Mika right behind them. When they got to the scene of the crime, someone was waiting for Mika.

"Chibi Yavin IV," Yavin IV mumbled. "My girl?"

Chibi Yavin IV whirled around. "You! Mother." Chibi Yavin IV dived to tackle her mother.

Sailor Bakura blocked (although accidentally) the incoming Sith Senshi.

This infuriated Chibi Yavin IV. "No! Yavin IV Vines Entangle!" she shouted. The black vines wrapped around the Senshi except for Yavin IV. Yavin IV turned to her Chibi.

"Why do you do this? These are my friends, they are like family! As are you! Why do you do this to me? What did I do?" she cried.

Chibi Yavin IV snarled. "You gave me away. You left me in the street to die. And those 'friends' of yours convinced you to do it!" She got back up and smacked Yavin IV in the face. "You are a wretch! You..."

"I... left you? Why?"

Sailor Hoth watched closely. Yavin IV would never give away her child, and they would never make her. This girl had obviously been lied to. But by who?

Three to four years after the wedding of Mika and Link, on Earth...

"C'mon sweetie! Time for bed!" Mika called out to her little girl.

"Mmkay momma!" Little Ara, with her blond and black hair in small odango, ran to her mother happily. "Will ya sing to me?"

Mika gave her daughter a hug. "Of course Ara-san. When don't I?"

Link walked into the scene. "Are you sure you want your mom to sing?" he asked. Link tugged on Ara's pigtails. "She's always so off key..."

"Nuh-uh, momma's perfect!" Ara insisted as she ran to her room. "Come on mom!"

"Boy, do I know it," Link said, looking at Mika as he leaned against the wall. "From the day we met. I'm surprised I even got up the nerve to ask you for a date, much less marriage. If you had met me a while earlier, even a few years, I would've been to shy to ask a pretty girl like you out." He gestured for her to come over.

She walked over and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "I knew our destiny, too. Why else would I say yes to a marriage proposal on a first date?"

"Because I was rich?" Link suggested. Mika laughed.

"Yeah, there you were rich. Back here on Earth we're as poor as dirt." Mika wrapped her arms around her husband's waist. "And I'm happier than ever. I don't have to worry about those Sith and ever having to be Sailor Yavin IV again."

"Oh, I wouldn't be to sure about that. The girls miss you a lot." Link looked her in the eyes. "Besides, we agreed to come here to have a safe place to start Ara's training. Your birthday and Ara's are tomorrow, you know..."

"Trust me, I know," Mika said, exasperated. "Anyway, yes, I said she could start her training on her third birthday, but..."

"But what?"

"Maybe we're better off just not telling her. She wouldn't have to deal with all the stuff I have had to -"

"Mo-om! I wanna so-ong!" Ara whined from her bedroom.

"Hang on, Ara! I'll be right there!" Mika said. She turned back to Link. "I know she's very intelligent for her age, but I don't want to put that burden on her at this young. However, I think she also needs to be able to protect herself."

Link nodded slowly, and pulled a small, wrapped, heart shaped item from his pocket. "I thought that is what you would say. I wrapped her brooch for you."

Mika held her husband close. "Her time has come. She'll be more powerful, but I'll be even more scared." She closed her eyes. "We'll have to move back to the Star Wars galaxy..."

Link rubbed her back gently. "It's for the best, my little raccoon. It's where we belong. It's where Ara belongs."

Mika nodded sadly. It also meant her daughter would go back to the past eventually. All of the Chibis did. It also meant her daughter might change their past, their history. She hoped it wouldn't happen, but as her best gaming buddy in the past had always reminded her, "Time travel in the games makes closed loop existences. Somewhere along the way someone would run into themselves." He would then shrug. "But hey, it makes for a good game."

She smiled. She knew she had seen Link once before, when she was younger. But they hadn't met for a long time, just a fleeting moment. She had never forgotten those eyes. If only she had come there, to that shop, just a few seconds earlier...

The next day...

Mika ran to keep up with the bundle of energy known as her daughter. She dodged people along the way, shouting "Gomen nasai! 'Scuse me!", as she bumped into them.

"Ara! Come back here!" she shouted breathlessly.

She could hear Ara giggle. "Gotta catch me!"

Link jumped in front of Ara and caught her, lifting her up in the air and tickling her. "Got you, little Arashi!" She giggled up a storm. He only called her by her full name when he was extremely happy.

Mika jogged up to Link and Ara, who was back on the ground. "Thank you... hon... I haven't run that fast since... Darth Syn..."

Link met her tired gaze with a smile. "Saved you that time, too."

Ara sighed. "Mo-om, I can take care of myself... who would wanna take me anyway?" She wiggled to be put down and was set back on the ground. "It's my birthday, so can't I do what I want?"

Mika laughed. "Ara, it's my birthday too, you know." Link nudged Mika and handed her the wrapped brooch. She nodded sadly and took the brooch from Link. "And since its such a special day, you get a special present!" Mika handed Arashi the heart shaped present. Ara's face lit up.

"Ooh, can I open it now?" she asked excitedly.

Mika glanced at Link, who shook his head quickly. They didn't need a Star Wars Sailor Senshi transforming on Earth in the middle of a fair. She looked back at Ara. "Not now, honey. It is a very important present, and we will open it at home. But for now, put it in your pocket." Ara did so, being her usual obedient self.

"Now, how about some funnel cake?" Mika said. Ara jumped happily.

"Yeah -"

A crash-bang came from one of the midway games. Someone in a black cloak was on top of a tent, screaming out about - about the Sith!

Mika looked at Link. Her eyes told him that they needed to go fix this. He nodded, and as she went off, he calmly explained that he and her mommy needed to go do something, and she needed to stay right there. Ara nodded, being one of the few three year olds understanding the importance of following this rule.

Link ran off, and soon Yavin IV Knight and Sailor Yavin IV were back in action for the first time in about 3 years. As they fought, the Knight with his strength and Sailor Yavin IV with her long ago crafted lightsaber. Ara sat calmly, watching these two people fight. She felt a connection to them. Her mommy would be so disappointed to have missed this! Ara jumped as a hand came upon her small shoulder. She turned around and glanced in the piercing blue eyes of Darth Syn.

"Come, little one. Your parents have left you... they don't want you." He pulled lightly on Ara's arm.

Ara sniffled a bit. "Mom and daddy don't want me? But, they gave me a present!" she said, holding out her heart shaped present. Darth Syn hid a grin that came to his face. He knew what it was. Syn pretended to sigh sadly.

"Yet they said you could not open it, now didn't they?" he said, waving a finger at her. Ara thought. Mommy did say she couldn't open it...

"Yeah, they did, but she said I could open it when we got home!"

"But they left you. You're not going home, are you?"

Ara began to cry. This man was right. She was left alone, abandoned.

Syn put an arm around her. "Come here, little Storm, little Arashi. Come with me..." She nodded, and disappeared into thin air with the man.

After a hard fought battle, Mika and Link detransformed and went back to take Ara home. But Ara wasn't there. All they found was a small piece of the wrapping paper the brooch had been in. And a calling card - an actual "business" card.

"'Darth Syn,'" Mika read slowly. At first, she just stomped her foot, and said, "Ooh, what a creep!" It took a few seconds for her to realize what had just happened. When she did, she just stopped. Mika fell to the ground. "No, Ara... Arashi!" she sobbed. "He kidnapped Arashi! No!"

Link held her and began to cry as well. That man had gotten what he wanted. Darth Syn. That evil kidnapper...

"We'll find her, Mika-san. We will find her."

Back to SWSS present time...

"No, you and father left me," Chibi Yavin IV corrected. She stepped closer to Yavin IV. "Left me alone! Luckily, I have little memory of that time before he came and brought me and made me into what I am today. A Sith Senshi!"

"No, I - no matter what I would never leave you!" Yavin IV said, shocked.

"She wouldn't, and we wouldn't make her!" Sailor Bakura shouted.

"Oh, shut up all of you." Chibi Yavin IV shot a Force wave their way, and knocked all the Senshi down but Yavin IV. Chibi Yavin IV turned back to her mother and pulled out a blaster. "Now, I will finally have you - and get rid of myself!" She fired. The other Senshi closed their eyes, only to hear the familiar hiss of a lightsaber starting up and deflecting a blaster bolt. They slowly opened their eyes and saw Yavin IV wielding a lightsaber with a rainbow colored blade. The handle was very similar to Obi-Wan's.

"Yavin IV?" Chibi Dantooine exclaimed. "You have a lightsaber?"

"That's where the stolen Temple parts went!" Naboo said, eyes wide open.

"Yeah, I found out I had Force powers and have been honing them in my spare time," Yavin IV said slowly. She used a small Force blast to knock the blaster out of her daughter's hands and then shut down the lightsaber. "I believe the Jedi Council knows this, but they have not asked me about it yet. I will tell them if they ask me. Until then, it is secret." She turned to her Senshi friends. "Okay?" They nodded, all struggling to get up as a group.

Mika sighed, wishing they didn't know. She felt horrid about stealing the parts, but she knew she was too old to be a Padawan learner. Using all the knowledge from the Star Wars books and films, she had taught herself the Force. She knew it was against the rules and the Jedi code, but she had always wanted to be a Jedi, even back on Earth where they were fiction. Now she was going to be a rogue Jedi, but a Jedi nonetheless. Hopefully the Temple would allow her to be one.

"Enough idle chatter!" Chibi Yavin IV shouted, interrupting Mika's thoughts. She ran up to Mika and grabbed her throat. Yavin IV began to choke. Chibi Yavin IV smiled. "What do you have to say now?"

Mika began to cry slowly. She then started singing a song that had comforted her since she was a little girl.

"Hu - ush a b-bye... d-don't you cry..."

Chibi Yavin IV let go and stepped back. "No, you... no!"

"Go to sleepy little b-baby..." Yavin IV's soft, beautiful voice sang lightly through the air.

The rest of the Senshi watched in wonder as Chibi Yavin IV stepped back in fright. Was she scared of the song?

"It - I can't do it -" Chibi Yavin IV stuttered. She shook her head. "Yes I can!" She ran for Yavin IV.

"Stop! Do not harm her!" a voice shouted. The Senshi looked around for the source. A man dressed in a Tuxedo Mask type outfit (only without the top hat) stepped forward. "I am the Knight of Yavin IV, and you will not touch her!" His green-blue eyes pierced into Mika's mind. Those eyes...

"Father," Chibi Yavin IV mumbled so only she could hear. She turned about and faced Mika. "Until we meet again!" Arashi threw a small blue teardrop shaped piece of metal, which cut Yavin IV's arm through her glove. It bled a bit.

"Wait! What - what is your name?" Mika asked. Chibi Yavin IV responded without turning around.

"Arashi." She turned into a small black cat and ran away.

"Storm..." Mika said quietly. She fainted.

Back in the kidnapping timeline...

Mika sobbed uncontrollably. Not even Link could console her. Her daughter had been lost. Kidnapped. The battle in the midway was just a distraction so Syn could get her. Why?

She just sat alone for hours and hours. Until she made a decision.

She was going back to the Star Wars Galaxy. She had a destiny to fulfill as Sailor Yavin IV, and as a princess. Mika called Link into the room.

"Yes, Mika?" Link asked quietly. He too was shaken by the recent events, but somehow kept his cool better than his wife.

"It is time." Link nodded.

They called upon the Guardian of the Dimensional Gates, and she and Link were taken back to the Star Wars Galaxy. It was the first step to finding her daughter.

The Room Behind the Waterfall, after meeting Chibi Yavin IV...

Yavin IV Knight followed the Senshi back to the Temple. Mika had to be carried by him, as she was weak from the encounter and a slight loss of blood. She was taken to the Temple's Healers (without her lightsaber) to bandage the cut on her arm. Numako and Chouko then had the Knight carry Mika to her room.

"Will you stay?" Chouko asked Yavin IV Knight. "We could use more help."

The Knight set Mika on her bed, then unmorphed. He turned to Chouko and Numako, who stood in the doorway. They both looked hopeful.

"Yes. I will stay. Allow me to introduce myself - I am Link Shinrin, and the Knight of Entertainment and Computers." Numako and Chouko grinned.

"Wonderful!" They began to tug Link away from Mika. He took one last glance at her.

"I'll talk to you later, Mika," he whispered as he was whisked off for a tour, followed by a few of the unattached Senshi gals.

Mika squirmed in her bed. She had a crush, a guy she liked, for once in her life!

Ah, he's too good for me, she thought sadly, sighing as she covered up in her blankets. Besides, what idiot would marry me, especially knowing about my deranged daughter that might be his? Its not like guys are chasing after me for a date or anything.