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Xarae opened her eyes slowly, her deep, ocean blue orbs getting used to the lights.
"Khameir? Khameir, are you here?" She spoke the words loud enough to echo through the high-domed room she was in.
"Khameir isn't here," a beautifully feminine voice whispered. Xarae sat up abruptly, clutching one of the abundant sheets to her bare chest.
"Who's there?" She ran a hand down her leg, feeling for her hidden blaster she always had. Unfortunately, she was totally and completely naked.
"Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." Xarae whirled around to find herself facing a beautiful woman. She had long silvery hair pulled up in an elaborate style and wore an ice blue gown that flowed around her tall, towering form. Xarae gasped.
"Who are you?" The woman smiled gently at Xarae's question.
"You can call me Master19."
"Why am I here? And where is Khameir?"
"Xarae, I am sure you have many many questions. I am going to tell you why you are here, your story, and hopefully answer all these questions." Master19 sat down, and her gown billowed out around her.
"All I want to do is see Khameir again," Xarae pressed.
"My child, just listen to what I have to say. All your questions will me answered." Xarae visibly relaxed and nodded at the silvery woman. "Let's start at the beginning. You are dead, Xarae. Your soul ascended here to Destiny's realm when Khameir died, for he no longer had the need for a guardian angel." Xarae shifted, obviously uncomfortable with the thought of being dead.
"If I'm finally dead, why isn't Khameir or Xianen or any of our children here?"
"They are here, but you cannot be reunited with them." Master19 watched Xarae's face contort in frustration and anger. She reached out and touched Xarae's shoulder. Xarae jumped at the feel of her long, cold fingers grasping her shoulder. Xarae boldly looked up into Master19's pale blue eyes. Their chilly color was so sad... Xarae stared into the cold, seemingly emotionless eyes until Master19 turned away, her beautiful face twisted into an expression of sadness. Master19 cleared her throat and stood up. Something so sad about her... Xarae thought.
"You have been chosen to be a warrior, a senshi, a sailor, for the planet of Iridonia."
"Khameir's home..." Xarae whispered.
"Have you ever heard of the 'senshi'?" She hadn't, so Xarae shook her head. "They are specially chosen young men and women who possess incredible bravery, intelligence, and grace. They use their special powers and fight alongside the Jedi to protect their guardian planets."
"I will NOT fight with Jedi," Xarae spat.
"You must. Destiny wishes it." She put a harsh emphasis on the word.
"I..." She was about to protest more when she thought about Khameir. "I will, if it means being reunited with Khameir." Master19 watched Xarae suddenly break down into tears. Her soft sobs echoed through the empty room. A few minutes of her hopeless weeping was broken by Master19.
"Stop it. You will be with him soon enough." She clenched her fist. "Repeat after me: Iridonia Force Power, Make Up!" Xarae looked up at her and daintily wiped her eyes. Reluctantly, she yelled the words into the emptiness around her.
Suddenly, magically, everything around Xarae faded to black, and she drifted off of the ground. Suspended in the air, a warm energy emanated from her hand. She lifted her arms from her sides gracefully, as if she knew exactly what she needed to do. A bright light shone from her hand, sparking a glittering warmth on her forehead. As she stared on in disbelief, a bright light exploded from Xarae's forehead, bathing her. As suddenly as it passed over her, it ended, and she was floating in a darkened sky, lightning flashing all around her. Slowly, she felt strong wings unfold from her back. The glittering black wings stiffened, arching the feathers into the sky. Xarae closed her eyes as a ring of lightning encircled her. She could feel the crackling heat around herself. And then, something truly magical happened -- slowly, shimmering cloth materialized on her body. First, elbow length gloves and thigh high black boots. Then, a short, pleated black shirt, a black garter, a white uniform leotard, and black bow appeared. She posed gracefully, and the dark faded away. Xarae opened her eyes to find Master19 grinning.
"What happened to me?" Xarae asked in awe, looking down at herself.
"You transformed into Sailor Iridonia. This is the form you take to fight the evil Sailor Sith." Xarae smoothed out her skirt.
"I want to you teach me. About being a senshi."
The days passed quickly, even though Xarae had no way of telling day from night. She learned. She learned about her attacks, her enemies, the planet she was defending. She learned about Master19. Xarae saw how sad she really was. Such a strong figure outside, but it was obvious she had a soft, tender soul on the inside. Yet, she still refused to tell Xarae anything about her past.
Xarae learned about her allies. They were out there: one for each planet. Some weren't even born yet. Eventually she would meet up with them, Master19 told her.
She told Xarae of the abandoned castle she would be living in on Iridonia. She showed her the tricks of the trade. And then, she had to leave.
"I'm going to miss training you Xarae." Master19 held out a package for Xarae on the day she was to leave.
"What is this?"
"Open it." Slowly, carefully, Xarae lifted the top off of the box. Black cloth stared out at her.
"Oh! A pretty dress!" She took it out of the box, but the heavy cloth fell only to her waist, and more pieces of it fell to the floor. She stared at it, silent. "Oh god..." Xarae gasped when she realized what it was. "Khameir..." She ran a hand gently over the singed edge of the tunic. She fingered the heavy cloth and fell to her knees. Slowly, Xarae picked up each piece of clothing and pressed it to her chest. His tunic, leg wraps, gauntlets....
"He wouldn't give me his pants," Master19 said in an effort to lighten the moment.
"Oh gods, it smells like him...." Xarae pressed the cloth to her face now and took a deep breath. She stood up, clutching Maul's tunic to her chest.
"Xarae..." the woman looked up at Master19. The taller woman reached out and took Xarae's sobbing body against hers. "Don't cry." Master19 stroked Xarae's long hair and gently soothed her.
"I love him so much..." She trailed off into tears.
"I know." Master19 sighed. "Be strong Xarae, be strong. I know you can do this."
"You're such a pig! Give me some!" The small odangoed girl lunged for the bag of sweet candies the older white haired girl was holding.
"Stop it you two. Something serious has come up." The blue-haired leader, Kyoko, walked into the cockpit from below deck.
"What's wrong?" The small girl - Kairiku - asked, suddenly serious.
"Something's wrong with the ship. Priire, I think you better come have a look." The blonde pilot stood up, handing the controls to the girl with the flame-red hair sitting not far away.
"Don't do anything to her, okay?" Priire said. Kyoko and the pilot headed down to the inner workings of the ship.
"Ippin, I'm worried. Kyoko sounded so serious! What's happening?" Annika - the white haired one - asked nervously to the temporary pilot.
"I'm not sure... I hope it's nothing too serious... I was really looking forward to going to returning home to Coruscant!" The teenage girls sat and waited until the two returned from the bowels of the ship.
"What's wrong?" Ippin asked.
"Somehow the acceleration compensator got a leak in it..... We're going to have to make an emergency landing for repairs." Priire took the controls back into her gloved hands.
"We're going to have to find somewhere to land - and fast," Kyoko pressed. Before the words even escaped her mouth, the small genius girl Kairiku was already on it, fast at work on the Black Fire Dreamer's computers.
"Here, minna! Iridonia. It's only a short distance away from our present location."
"Iridonia it is, then." Priire punched the numbers into the ship as Kairiku read them off. Soon, the ship was coming in on the small, harsh planet.
"This place is so spooky..." Annika said as she stepped onto the barren land of Iridonia. She wrapped her arms around herself as a strong wind swept across the empty plains.
"Look!" Yukiko exclaimed, pointing across the horizon. The other girls whirled around.
"I am really beginning to dislike this planet..." Kairiku whispered as she stared at the dark castle looming in the distance.
"This is just too much like an old scary movie," Zyta said as a violet bolt of lightning flashed across the cloud-covered sky.
"I say some of us go and check that place out. Maybe we can seek shelter from the storm there," Priire said, stepping out of the ship.
"No way!" Annika crossed her arms.
"Come on Ippin, you and I could go," Yukiko offered.
"I'll go!" Kairiku shouted excitedly.
"I guess I'll go with them." Mara said.
"Good! Come back if it's safe. I'll be working on the ship."
Xarae stared out at the empty Iridonian horizon. Another bright flash of hot pink lightning cast her shadow across the stone floor. Xarae sighed and turned around to gaze out the other tall window behind her. Looking down at the landscape from the tall pillars of the castle, something caught her eye. She leaned out of the window and looked down at the people standing at her door. Quickly she transformed to Sailor Iridonia and walked down the stairs to the large wooden entrance doors.
"Should we knock?" Kairiku asked.
"No one lives here. Come on." Ippin walked to the doors and put her weight against them, pushing them open.
"I'm beginning to think this wasn't such a good idea..." Yukiko said worriedly.
"Anyone home??" Ippin yelled into the empty main entrance of the castle. She stepped inside as her voice echoed through the massive stone structure. "See? No one's home." She turned to the other senshi. A bolt of lightning flashed. Ippin's smile faded as she watched the senshi's jaws drop. The orange-haired girl whirled around. Another flash of lightning revealed the silhouette of a winged woman on the far side of the room.
"How dare you trespass on this sacred ground? I am Sailor Iridonia, defender of children, warrior of death, purity, emptiness. infinity." The woman pelt in the air and landed gracefully before Ippin. "The winged warrior of the Nineteenth Gate, I will punish you in the name of Iridonia and Destiny!" Mara stepped forward.
"No! Don't hurt her! We're..." The mysterious senshi cut her off.
"Dark Wind Rising!!" Sailor Iridonia launched the powerful attack at Mara, who was flung to the wall like a doll.
"Transform!!" Yukiko shouted. The three girls stills standing transformed into their senshi forms, Sailors Yavin, Chibi Naboo, and Hoth. As the three soldiers ended their transformations, Sailor Iridonia breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, her comrades had arrived.
"Stop!" She yelled, her voice echoing through the castle. "You are Sailor Jedi also?"
"What do you mean, 'also'? Are you another one of us?" Sailor Hoth said. Sailor Iridonia smiled.
"I'm sorry for the confusion. Yes, I'm Sailor Iridonia, a Sailor Jedi." She powered down, as did the others, who rushed to Mara's side. Xarae watched as their faces turned solemn. Ippin whirled around, glaring at Xarae.
"You killed her!!! You..." She lunged at Xarae, but Yukiko already had ahold of her. Xarae frowned sadly and walked up to Mara's still body. She knelt down and put her hands on the sides of her head.
"Don't let her touch Mara!!" Ippin shouted to Kairiku; she was pale and shaking with fright.
Closing her eyes, a gentle light began to flow out of Xarae's palms. The three girls gasped as the light flooded around Mara. They shielded her eyes, and as soon as they opened them, the light was gone, and Mara was coughing convulsively, gasping for air. Yukiko stared at the beautiful new senshi in both fear and awe.
"What did you do to her??" The icy-blue haired teen whispered as her companions helped Mara sit up. Xarae didn't answer her but stared sadly at the cold stone floor.
A week later, in the Room Behind the Waterfall...
"Well, that's the end of our little 'tour'. Welcome to the team, Xarae!" Priire said to the mysterious woman. Xarae nodded.
"Thank you for your hospitality, everyone." She looked around at all the senshi. "But I really cannot stay at the Jedi Temple."
"Why not?" Zyta asked. Xarae smiled a little.
"Personal reasons." She paused to frown a bit. "Don't worry about my accommodations. I have everything worked out." Kairiku have her a sad look.
"Are you sure you can't stay with us?"
"I'm sorry, but this place just... hold too many sad memories for me." The group of senshi each gave each other worried glances. Xarae felt the uneasiness and could even hear some of their thoughts.
"In fact, I really must be going." She picked her small bag up off of the floor. "I'll be back later, maybe." Xarae smiled at the chibis and turned to leave, her tall boots clicking sharply on the floor. Why can't I just tell them the truth about Khameir and my past? she thought as the doors to the Room of a Thousand Waterfalls hissed closed behind her. She tightened her grip on the bag of Khameir's belongings.
"She's so strange..." Kyoko said calmly.
"I wonder why she never talks?" Yukiko asked to no one in particular.
"Very, very strong in the Force, she is," Numako said wisely.
"I saw two lightsabers in her bag. Maybe she's a Jedi!" Kairiku added.
"She has a strange tattoo of a rose on her back," Mara said.
"And an earring in her nose!!" Annika giggled. The senshi fell quiet.
"There is something very strange about this Sailor Iridonia." Kyoko broke the silence.
"I wish we could find out more about her... I still haven't decided whether I want to trust her or not," Kousotsu said in response. A sigh escaped them, and again they were quiet.
"So, you want to know about Xarae?" The girls turned at once to see a tall, beautiful woman standing behind them.
"Who are you? How did you get here?" Kyoko asked loudly, gripping her henshin jewel.
"My name is Master19. I am the angel responsible for bringing Xarae back to life."
"Back to life? Was she dead?" Priire questioned. Master19 nodded.
"You see, this is why I have come before you today. Xarae won't talk about, for it is very painful for her." Master19 paused. " Xarae had a past life, before you met her, before she became a senshi, before I revived her. She was born almost thirty years ago, on the small moon of Akirion. She has incredible Force abilities, and because of this she was abused and neglected as a child. When she was nineteen, she met someone who changed her life. He brought her back to Coruscant with him, so she could become his apprentice."
"Who was he? Do we know him? Was it a Jedi?" Annika pressed.
"You know him as the man that killed Qui-Gon Jinn. The Sith Lord, Darth Maul." The whole room seemed to gasp. Kousotsu put his head in his hands. Priire bowed her head.
"Xarae trained to become a Sith, honing her Force abilities and becoming skilled in the Jedi arts of defence. Darth Maul was a good master, and Xarae quickly surpassed him in skill. But the two were more than just master and apprentice. About a year after her arrival on Coruscant, Xarae became pregnant with their first child. She later gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Xianen." Master19 glanced around at the fascinated faces of the senshi. "Xarae's love for the child took its toll on the father, and his true self, Khameir Sarin, began to replace his horrible Sith counterpart. But their happiness was not long-lived. Darth Sidious killed Xianen in jealousy."
"No wonder she never talks.." Kairiku whispered.
"Xarae gave birth to two other children, both of which died in infancy. But Xarae and Khameir's love did not falter, even after these tragic events. They even married in secret."
"That's what that ring is from," Kyoko sad.
"How did she die?" Annika whispered.
"Sidious ordered her and Khameir to have a lightsaber duel to the death. Instead of having her love die, Xarae killed herself." Master19 stood silent for a moment, letting it all sink into the young girls.
"Xarae, instead of ascending to Death, became Khameir's Guardian Angel. But not soon after her death, Sidious brainwashed Khameir, turning him back to the Dark Side, into Darth Maul, and erasing all his memories of Xarae."
"That's not right!!" exclaimed the angry Kairiku.
"When he finally died in the lightsaber duel with Obi-Wan, both of them finally were able to ascend to Death. But they cannot be together, for it is Destiny's will for Xarae to be Sailor Iridonia here in life. That is why I revived her. When she archives her goal of defeating Sidious in battle, she can return to her love."
"How sad..." Priire said.
"In the meantime, she is invincible. The only people who can kill her are myself and Sidious."
"Let me get this straight. She was a Sith, and she's married to one now?" Kousotsu asked. Master19 nodded.
"But Maul is not the same person that you know." The room was quiet. "Now you know about Xarae. Try not to mention these things around her; she is still very depressed about being separated from Khameir. All she really wants is to be with him."
"Excuse me." Mara stood up and walked out of the room, sniffling. Master19 cleared her throat again.
"Please, be kind to Xarae." And with that, the silvery image of the beautiful woman faded away.
"I had no idea..." Annika whispered.
"Everyone, let's do our best to help Xarae fit in," the quiet girl, Audra, said. The senshi nodded.
Xarae gently ran her hand over the cold metal of Maul's sliced lightsaber.
"Khameir... I don't understand any of this... Why do we have to be separated for any longer? I don't even want to believe any of this..." Xarae turned over on the bed and pulled Maul's loose tunic up to her nose. She took a deep breath of the musky smelling cloth. Sighing, she sat up and walked to the window. Xarae put her forehead to the window and gazed at the Coruscant sunset. She took a deep breath and put her hand to the cold glass.
"Don't worry, Nightingale," she whispered to herself her lover's comforting words. "Don't worry, Nightingale."
