Tenshi Kinryoku

Tenshi woke up at dawn and greeted the day with a smile. She sat up in bed and undid her braided hair, running her fingers through the soft golden-brown waves. She looked over at the other side of the bed...

And her happiness melted away. Souru wasn't there. The Souru she'd loved. He hadn't been there for almost what, seven, eight months? Tenshi's hand instinctively caressed her stomach, the prominent bulge of which was she and Souru's creation. Tenshi worked hard not to let Souru's somewhat-absence destroy what she held dear, but she was slowly losing her fighting strength and her will to go on. She only hoped her baby would not be harmed by her depression.

Tenshi reluctantly slid out of bed and in twenty minutes was showered, dressed, and ready to leave the room. She sighed, wiped the tears from her eyes, and slapped the doorpanel, exiting and walking down the hall to the Room Behind the Waterfall.

She was greeted by almost total silence. The only people inhabiting the room were Annika, who'd obviously fallen asleep on the couch the night before and intended to stay there; Yukiko; and Nom. Tenshi went into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of hot tea, which Nom had made that morning. She sat down in a chair by herself and sipped her tea, wondering if anyone else was up at five o'clock standard.

Just then a tall man entered the room, his hair red as fire, eyes bright as the sky. His name was Souru as well, but he'd appeared shortly after the original Souru's death, the pure form of his predecessor. Tenshi had to re-learn to love him, even though they now lived in separate quarters. And although it'd been about six months since the new Souru had appeared, she wasn't comfortable with his new appearance. Yet.

Souru saw Tenshi off in a corner by herself, drinking a steaming mug of tea. He almost went to say hello, but saw the sad look in her eyes and decided against it. He knew she wasn't the most reasonable person when her depression sank in. Instead he found a chair in an opposite corner and sat down, studying Tenshi from a distance.

Souru didn't remember much from before he met Tenshi. After his own funeral. He knew that they had been married at one point, and technically still were, due to the rings on her finger. He also knew that it was his child she bore, even though it was a bit confusing to say that Souru wasn't the real Souru, so the kid wasn't his but the old Souru's. Souru had met his own daughters, son, and granddaughter from far in the future, as well, and all said that their father had been blonde. Souru had told himself that he was a fire-headed man, so this family must not be his, even though he vaguely recognized them. The only person he really remembered from his past wasn't a person at all, but his cat Apollo. Apollo had been his only friend before, and after, his memory went blank.

Souru noticed Tenshi's gaze fixed on him and quickly looked away, but it was too late. She knew he'd been staring at her, and she was not pleased. Soon she had pulled a chair over and sat down beside him, staring at him with her strangely-toned eyes.

"Why were you staring at me, Souru-kun?" she asked, her voice not giving any hint to her grief. Impatiently she awaited his reply.

Souru scratched the back of his head. "Well... I was thinking and just happened to be looking at you?"

"Well stop it. It's not like you can go around staring at people all the time..." She favored him with a lopsided grin, the trademark of her family. Souru noticed her facial expression soften, and her sadness expressed in her eyes. "You know... I still don't understand what happened. I mean, I felt you disappear... and then you came back... and I'm still so confused..." She turned her head away to hide her tears.

Souru sighed a little and touched her cheek. "I don't know either, Tenshi, but I'll be here if you need me, I'll never leave again. I promise." He smiled as she looked up at him with those big, bluish-brown eyes he'd fallen in love with from the beginning.

"Domo arigato," she said plainly and, to Souru's complete surprise, kissed him. She then broke the kiss and got up. "I'd better go see if Sutaru's up yet. It's her turn to get lightsaber lessons from Ben." She turned and left the room, leaving Souru to his thoughts.

Souru shook his head, bringing himself to the here and now. Tenshi had finally accepted him as the Souru she loved. He smiled. Thank you, stars!

Tenshi peeked her head into Sutaru's room. "Suta?" she whispered into the dark room. Tenshi shrugged and entered the room, careful not to awaken Nijihoshi. Neburaa had long since gotten her own room near the other younger senshi. Tenshi looked around the room but only saw the gentle rise-and-fall motion of Nijihoshi sleeping soundly in her little bed by the window. She shrugged and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Back in the Room Behind the Waterfall, Tenshi sat down on the couch, now that Annika had deserted it. She sighed, resting a hand on her stomach. She smiled as she felt the familiar squirm of her baby. What are you up to, little guy? she asked herself wistfully.

Suddenly she sensed turmoil in her unborn son's mind. She forced herself not to panic. She was going into labor! Tenshi stood up and started off in a hurry to the Healers' Hall of the Jedi Temple. On the way she bumped into Souru, who immediately asked what was wrong and offered to help. She explained, and he helped her to the Healers' Hall.

Three stressful hours later, Tenshi lay in an infirmary bed with her newborn son in her arms. Her hair was disheveled and her face red, but she was fine, and so was the baby. Souru sat on the edge of the bed, one arm around Tenshi's shoulders, the other hand on his son's fuzzy head. The child had been born with thick, blue hair about two inches long all over, but, unlike his teenage counterpart, had a thick red shock of hair by his right temple. He slept soundly in his mother's arms. So far neither Souru nor Tenshi knew what color the boy's eyes were.

Tenshi finally tore her gaze from the baby's sleeping form and looked into Souru's eyes. Those aqua eyes that she'd fallen in love with. Again. She leaned forward and kissed him for the second time that day. Finally she had her family back in one piece.

A few months later, Tenshi and Souru shared an apartment again, with little Luke. Luke was a bright light in the middle of galactic war and struggles. This made him a perfect target for Sith, so Tenshi never let him out of her sight. She had fashioned a carrier for him to strap to her front, which kept him safe and comfortable through the long hours of the day. If she had to leave him for extended periods of time, she left him in the care of... himself?

Seventeen-year-old Lucas, who had come to the past for safety, was left in charge of his younger self on various occasions and was usually paid to babysit anyway. Luke almost enjoyed baby-sitting the little guy, who seemed to enjoy the time as well. Tenshi knew she could trust the teenager with the baby.

Tenshi decided it would be a good day to stroll in the gardens. She had little Luke with her, in his carrier. She wore a blue vest and knee-length skirt over a long-sleeved black shirt and tights, and saiya-jin boots she'd found with help from Mara. She wore her hair in a thick braid. Smiling, she pointed out different kinds of flowers to her son, if only to make the child smile and flash his bright green eyes up at her. She found eight-year-old Sukiesu and six-year-old Asellus chasing each other through the flowers, each with wreaths of flowers on their heads. Tenshi asked them where the got the flowers, and they said that Xarae made them.

Tenshi smiled and shook her head, strolling over to her daughter Sutaru's garlic blossom patch. The tiny white flowers seemed to reach up toward Tenshi and Luke, and as the former sat on a heavy stone bench the latter's eyes sparkled with wonder at them.

"Find something interesting, Lucky?" Tenshi smiled as she undid the carrier and slid the child out. She lay the cloth-and-plastic thing on the ground and sat Luke in her lap. He reached out toward the garlic blossoms, his chubby fingers just barely brushing the biggest flower. "Oh! That's what you're after? Here, I'll get it." She plucked the flower carefully from its stem with one hand, keeping Luke balanced on her lap with the other. She held it close to his face, and he giggled, his toothless smile giving Tenshi that fleeting feeling in her heart.

Suddenly, a dark shadow seemed to pass overhead, a feeling she was very familiar with and feared beyond comparison. A Sith was near.

Tenshi gathered Luke into her arms and ran back into the Jedi Temple. She found the nursery quickly, where all the very young Jedi candidates were kept, and left Luke in the care of the Jedi Healers there. Then she ran for all she was worth toward the source of her inner torment, outside and down into the lower parts of Coruscant, where light rarely penetrated. Souru was already there, transformed into the Corellian Knight. He was accompanied by Sailors Chibi Bakura and Centrali.

"Oh Sith..." she muttered, ducking behind some rubble. A tall man stood a few feet away from the Corellian Knight, with black, rough-cut hair and eyes, and pale skin. At first, Tenshi thought it was Kai and almost exploded, but quickly noticed that this was definitely not Kai. For one, he was older than Kai, who had only looked about seventeen. He also nearly glowed with dark energy, floating as he was. "Who is that?" she asked herself, fingering her rings. "Better transform..."

"Yavin VI Crystal Power, Make UP!"

Nothing happened.

"WAII! Why doesn't it work?" She tried multiple times to transform, with the three senshi fighting in the background, getting the crud knocked out of them. She then had an inspiration. "What if..."

"Yavin VI Power, Make Up!"

Tenshi transformed into her original uniform, similar in design to Sailor V's. Her hair stayed long, with a pair of blue goggles across her face. Her skirt reached to just above her knees, yellow with a blue waistband and green stripe along the bottom; her shoes were tall green boots with inverted tops, little leaves in the middle. She had wrist-length gloves, a normal tiara and choker, and a leaf-shaped brooch on her shirt-tie. There wasn't a stripe on her bib at all, and her hair was tied back with two tiny red ribbon bows. Looped about her waist was a leather belt, with a black-hilted sword hanging at her right flank. When she kicked over a metal drum to get the Sith's attention, her friends' eyes nearly feel from their skulls.

"Bestowed upon me by the angels above, my power exceeds a mere mortal's understanding. I and the soldier of Feathers, Leaves and the Force, I am the Guardian Angel of all that is Good! On behalf of heaven, I will rid the world of your evil!" She pointed one gloved hand at the black-haired man before her, who snickered and asked who she was. "Who am I?" she mimicked. "I am Sailor Yavin VI! Who are you, who shatters the peace of this world?"

He laughed. "Well you should know, Ariel-sama. But since you obviously don't remember, I'm Kuja."

Tenshi shrugged off the obviously-wrong name and held two hands out in front of her, palms facing each other with about two inches between. She pulled one arm back, like she was holding a bow and arrow, and yelled the words "Feathered Arrow Penetrate!" An arrow of golden light flew at Kuja, with hundreds of white feathers following in its wake. The sith man dodged the arrow but was blinded by all the feathers. He snarled at Tenshi and flickered out of sight, reappearing behind her.

"Why should I bother with the likes of you, anyway? I'll see you again, Ariel-sama." With that, he vanished, not even opening a bolthole for his escape. Tenshi yelled a curse and detransformed, then ran over to Souru, brushing his crimson hair from his face.

"Are you okay?" she asked as he coughed and sat up. He nodded and stood up, detransforming and flexing a bleeding shoulder. Tenshi knew he wasn't all right, but he was stubborn and still hadn't completely regained his memories. She checked each of the other senshi in turn, then returned to the Jedi Temple and retrieved her son from the nursery, still thinking about the strange new Sith that she'd fought.