Note: for those wondering, I've seen "-ouhi" used as a term seemingly in place of "-hime." While none of my dictionaries seem to be able to define it, I am using it under the assumption that they are synonymous. Just in case there was confusion. ^_^ (For those who don't know, "-hime" means "princess," which is what the Starlights use to refer to Kakyuu.)

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Land of Confusion
Chapter 9: Something About the Way You Look Tonight

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Taiki's legs pumped as fast as she could make them. She barely managed a collision with the heads of the Transportation Ministry, and Neon had to make a hasty apology before trying to catch up.

"Taiki, where are we going?" she shouted. Finally giving up on the running, she fluttered her wings rapidly. In moments she was hovering over Taiki's head, following all of her turns and abrupt stops.

"I felt it," Taiki said, flinging open the door of the infirmary.

"Well, thank you," Neon said sarcastically. "That explains -- oh."

Fighter was wringing her hands, muttering to herself. She was standing next to an examining table draped in white.

"Seiya?" Taiki ventured.

Kakyuu was laying on the table. Her face had been cleaned, but she was still staring into the distance. Her ruby eyes were strangely empty. She turned to see the visitor...and screamed.

"Ouhi, it's just me!" Taiki shouted, coming in.

"That's not going to be much help," Fighter shouted in reply, rubbing her princess' leg. "C'mon, Ouhi, it's really just Taiki. Believe me."

Kakyuu suddenly stopped screaming. "It's back...her corpse..."

She could see it clearly; it was standing at the door, clutching the bloody mess that had been its chest. Taiki...what could have happened to her?

Taiki blinked. "I'm not a corpse."

"If you don't count early in the morningOW!" Neon winced. "Don't do that."

Taiki let go of her wing. "Sorry," she said, though she really wasn't very sorry about it.

She entered the room further. "I promise I'm not dead, Ouhi. I'd know."

Kakyuu stared at Taiki. Taiki came up to the bed. She exaggerated her breathing, flailed her arms up and down.

"See? I'm alive."

Kakyuu suddenly leapt off the bed and began to strangle Taiki with a hug. "Thank Dios, I thought...I thought..."

Tears filled her eyes, which were no longer glassy and distant.

"Ouhi, what happened?" The tall woman asked, rubbing Kakyuu's back.

"I was giving my speech..." She swallowed. She didn't want the image to come back to her. Quickly, she made something up. "I think it might be food poisoning; that leg of lamb we had for dinner a night or two ago seemed a little foul."

Fighter bit her lip. Food poisoning wouldn't make her hallucinate. Throw up blood perhaps, if it was serious enough, but not to see corpses that certainly weren't there.

Yaten came flying into the room, not stopping before she crashed into Neon. They both tumbled comically to the floor.

"What's the matter with Ouhi?!" Yaten's demand was muffled from underneath Neon's small body.

Taiki cooed softly to Kakyuu, continuing to hold her. "I'm not sure -- shh, it's okay, Ouhi, it's just Yaten -- but I want to find out."

Kakyuu continued to cry. Another lie? Even after Fighter had seen it all...she had lied again. What was wrong with her? She had to tell Taiki about what she saw, it would be a crime to keep it secret, but she could not repeat it in front of the others and the little Ailejin girl.

She could still feel the cold fingers brushing blood on her cheeks. The corpse had warned her to have a mourning dress ready. The thought of losing Taiki, when everything was looking up, created an empty cavern in her heart.

Lydia wheezed, coming to a stop outside the door. She was noticed by no one except Sawagasu, who came right behind her.

"Dammit, I thought he'd be here!" She slammed her fist on the wall. "Why is he running from us?"

Sawagasu just shrugged. "He's probably got a very good reason."

Lydia seemed to be waiting for it.

"Well, I don't know what it is!" He threw his hands in the air. "I'm a fire-wielder, not an empath!"

Yaten had finally extracted herself from the pink-haired girl and mumbled an apology. There was a cold chill down her spine.

"Fate..." she whispered. "It's here."

She had said it so quietly that no one else heard it.

-------

Rufus sat on the balcony, swinging his legs in the air. He had a perfect view of the city from here. It would be nice to have this view every day, when he was in charge.

He would be the first to admit that in his position, he shouldn't be aspiring to rule a planet. He had an operation to run, after all. He shouldn't have been wandering the darker side of the capital's nightlife either, but it never stopped him.

He was just tired of being in charge of the whole thing. He wanted this thing for himself. Falcon was perfectly capable of running the operation without him, he'd done it countless times before.

He wanted this perfect little planet. It embodied all the beauty of the universe.

Rufus sighed. "I don't want to kill those pretty girls, I really don't. I might not even have to, if the princess will give herself up. She doesn't know how deep she's in."

He stopped to think about it. If the Kakyuu-princess was gone, the Senshi would belong to him. He smirked; that could be fun. They wouldn't go down without a fight, which would be quite an experience, but a little Veil and Redemption and they'd be kneeling at his feet without second thoughts.

There was a red-haired man wandering the gardens below him. He paused to finger the beautiful, delicate blossoms of an olive tree somehow untouched by the brutal storm that had run through.

Rufus saw him and smiled. "The one the white-haired pixie loves. I can work with that."

He pulled a small pistol from his pocket. It was molded out of some strange, pearly green metal, with a very small barrel. He aimed, and shot the red haired man. The bullet impaled him in the back, and he sunk to his feet.

"He doesn't know it now, but that's going to be his undoing. How perfectly...sadistic of me."

------

Taiki was rummaging through her closet. Neon had already gone home for the day; she had been hijacked from her daily duties at the Royal Library, and it was only fair to let her friend go home.

Finally, she found it. A beautiful dress made of clingy purple fabric, with a neckline that left nothing to the imagination. It positively sparkled in the dimming light of sunset. She wasn't sure what had possessed her to search for it, but there it was.

Something about that night that still lingered on this dress. It had been their first real date, when Lucas had realized that he didn't want to be betrothed to Kakyuu after all.

She had to admit, she had looked particularly nice that night. He had told her for months afterward that she looked like an angel fallen straight into his arms. All she was missing was the wings.

Taiki snorted. She was never meant for wings anyway.

"Lucas-ouji, why are you staring at me like that?"

"I'm not entirely sure, Taiki-san---"

"Please, you don't have to be formal. If anyone should be formal, it is me. You are royalty, after all."

"And you're a Sailor Senshi. I don't want to act disrespectful. Especially not when you look...like this."

"Like what?"

"Like the most gorgeous thing I've ever had the privilege of laying my eyes on."

"Do you say that to all the girls?"

"I've never said it to any girl before. None of them ever deserved it like you do. Um...would you mind terribly if I kissed you?"

"...Not terribly, no."

"Your first kiss?"

Taiki quickly tossed the dress into her closet and got to one knee. "Ouhi! You're feeling better?"

Kakyuu seemed to ignore her question. "That must have been a magical night."

Taiki realized that there was no escaping it now. "It was the most magical night of my life."

"I have a confession to make," Kakyuu whispered, looking out Taiki's window.

Taiki got to her feet. "What about?"

"It wasn't food poisoning."

"I figured as much."

"But I don't know what it was."

Taiki sighed. "There's been a lot of that going around."

Kakyuu nodded. "I heard about the greenhouse. An occurence most odd."

There was silence.

"Ouhi...is there something wrong?"

"You're wondering why I screamed at you. Why I said you were a corpse."

"Well..." Taiki would have to admit, she had been curious. "I had been wondering. You seemed to be quite lost in a hallucination of some sort. Have you been stressed?"

"You have to promise me you won't repeat this to the others," Kakyuu sat down on Taiki's bed, looked in her lap.

Taiki didn't like the sound of that. "So long as you're not in grave danger...I promise."

Kakyuu swallowed; she wasn't the one in grave danger, for certain. "I saw a corpse in the crowd."

"Mm?" Taiki sat down next to her princess, looked into her ashamed and scared face.

"It was you."

Something cold settled into the tall girl's stomach. "It was...me."

"You looked like a recently exhumed body," Kakyuu continued softly. "You were soaked with blood, with pale skin that didn't even cover your bones. Your hair was falling out...and your left shoulder was a terrible bloody mess."

Taiki's brain wrapped around the repulsive image and didn't like it one bit.

"You demanded why I ask sacrifices of you." Kakyuu began to cry. "You told me to have a black mourning dress ready; you didn't have much time left.

Taiki inhaled sharply. She didn't have much time left? That didn't sit all that well.

"I-I...I am sorry. I shouldn't have shared this with you," Kakyuu added hastily.

"Ouhi..." Taiki put her hand upon Kakyuu's. "I'm glad you did. I don't want you carrying this burden upon yourself."

"You must think I've gone loony," Kakyuu sniffled miserably. "Saying I saw you dead in a crowd of reporters when you are very clearly sitting at my side. I must sound like a fool."

"I think no such thing, Kakyuu."

The princess was startled; Taiki was always adamant about using titles when refering to her, even talking to her. It was comforting to hear her own name.

"You held me in the greenhouse when I cried," Taiki said softly, a few bits of her long brown hair falling into her face. "Not many people have seen me weep like that. I trust you with my feelings, and you can always trust yours in me. So if you say this is what you saw, then I believe you."

Kakyuu sniffled. "I never asked you to place absolute trust in me."

Taiki nodded. "You're right. You didn't have to ask, for you have always deserved it. Want to know a secret? I have always prayed for you, Ouhi. I have sat in the pews at Seichi Cathedral with my head in my hands and prayed for you. I even sat in churches on Earth and prayed for you. You never told me to. I did it because I love you."

There was something ethereal about Kakyuu as she sat on Taiki's bed, wearing her ceremonial robe but not her crown. Her hair had long come out of its normal loops, hanging prettily around her face. There was a golden glow around her as the sun set in the horizon, setting the whole land aglow in firey colors.

"And I can't explain, but there's something about the way you look tonight / takes my breath away..." Taiki sung softly in Kakyuu's ear, closing her eyes. The princess smiled; it had been so long since she'd heard the girl sing.

"And I can't describe, but there's something about the way you look tonight..."

Somewhere in the palace, Vail cried out in pain as red hot fire scortched through his soul.

----

"How's Kakyuu-hime doing?"

"Much better." Seiya let her unruly hair free of its terrible elastic captor. It hovered about her face like a strange halo. "But I'm still worried. The doctors can't explain why she threw up all that blood. She claims food poisoning..."

"...but the rest of us eat the same meals and we're just fine," Rhys finished. He massaged Seiya's tense shoulders gently. "It's a puzzle alright. Like the mystery man in the greenhouse."

Seiya sighed so contentedly, Rhys was certain she was going to start purring. She hadn't recieved a massage like this in years. She'd given a few in her time, to Odango once or twice, especially when she'd given such a cute pouty face.

Odango. Seiya's hand flew to her mouth.

"Seiya?" Rhys questioned, stopping his attempt at sensuality when he felt his lover tense more. "What is it?"

How could she ever explain her feelings for that beautiful blonde? How could she ever find an excuse for the ultimate betrayal she'd committed?

Her heart still ached for Usagi. Had his vows and sweet words really meant nothing to her, that she could throw them all away for an alien princess? Could he ever forgive her if he knew?

She realized that this would be quite a problem.

"Seiya?" Rhys repeated. He kissed her on the cheek. "Is something the matter?"

"N-no. Nothing." Seiya shook her head. "I was just...thinking about something I'd forgotten."

Rhys chuckled. "You're getting more senile every day. Now come on, dear. We've got unfinished buisness to take care of."

Every self-loathing thought seemed to trickle out of Seiya's head. "Oh yes. We were having the nicest little conversation this morning."

Rhys was sure to stick a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door before he and Seiya finished their "conversation."

Rufus passed through the door, and stopped in the room only long enough to leave something on Seiya's desk. He was gone in the air as quickly as he'd come. Upon closer inspection, he'd left her a bouquet of white roses with the following note: "The moon's light will always reveal even the most sinful and hated of lies."