by WSJ
WSJ: *grins* Actually, I've only just finished writing YoTU:F chapter 8. Of course, you won't see this for a long, long time, but the recent balmy weather in my area has put me in the mood to start this, even though YoTU:F isn't even close to being done. ^^v
Bakura: >.> SJ.... You scare me....
WSJ: :p I scare a lot of people Bakura-chan! On to the fic!
Disclaimer: YuuGiOh belongs to Kazuki Takahashi-sama. Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko... I dunno how to spell her last name. ^^; But it ain't me. Lisa, Amoura, Yunet, and Amoura's family belongs to Brood Mayran. However, Gwen, Hiro, Scott, and various others are mine. Raiden-san is mine too, although his parents, only briefly mentioned, are not.
This is the fifth story in my series Tales of the Child of Fate, and takes place after my previous fics, Visions of the Heart, All Saints Night, Sacrifice of Shadows, and The Yamis of Tokyo U: Freshmen.
This is also a crossover with Sailor Moon, but if you aren't familiar with it then don't worry, because I'll be doing my best to explain everything about them as we go along. No SM knowledge whatsoever is needed. ^~ If you are familiar with Sailor Moon, then I'll let you know that the timeline for this is the beginning of the Sailor MoonS season, just as the Death Busters come into power.
It also contains trace elements of Ranma 1/2, especially where Bandit Keith and Ryou are concerned, and Fushigi Yuugi where Serenity, Scott, and Joey are concerned, but not enough to consider it a crossover. ^~ Again, no prior knowledge is needed. There are also going to be many, many, many guest appearances by other misc. anime. Way too many to name. ^~ Suffice to say I own none of them, and none of them except SM will be major. ;p
~"...."~ speech in English
^"...."^ speech in French
"...." speech in Japanese
~...~ ^...^ "..." written words in the various languages
/..../ hikari to yami
//....// yami to hikari
()()()()()
Home, Sweet Home
Chapter 1: To the Far Corners of the Earth
"How many times do I have to tell you? DON'T SMOKE AROUND THE FIREWORKS!"
~(Recca, Flame of Recca)
"What's this do?"
Gwen blinked and looked over toward where Malik was delightedly fiddling with the switch that turned the overhead reading light on and off. She sighed, and shared a quiet chuckle with Hiro. The three of them were on a plane, well on their way to Gwen's home in California, where they'd be spending the summer. Ishtar was currently in his soulroom, making just one less plane ticket for them to buy.
Ever since arriving at Tokyo International Airport, Malik had been acting rather like a little kid. He'd been wide-eyed most of the way, and was continually poking things to see what they did. He was the flight attendant's worse nightmare. So far he'd inflated his emergency life vest (and Gwen's), caused all the oxygen masks in the cabin to come down, creating a mild panic, and had tried to hit on the stewardess. When Gwen had gotten up to go to the bathroom, she'd heard a couple of the flight attendants talking to the captain, calling Malik the "passenger from Hell".
"Haven't you ever been on a plane before?" Hiro finally asked, leaning over Gwen to look at Malik.
The Egyptian bishonen chuckled. "Nope. When Isis and Rashid and I came over from Egypt, it was by boat. Hey, what's this button do?"
An hour later, the stewardess that Malik had been tormenting the most was glomped onto Hiro and Gwen, crying her eyes out. "Thank you thank you thank you!"
The two exchanged glances and sweatdropped. The plane had landed, and they'd just begun to lead Malik off the plane when the stewardess had glomped them. "Thank you for what?" Gwen asked hesitantly, looking at Hiro, who shrugged.
"Thank you for taking that devil-man off our plane!!!"
Malik heard this and grinned, his yami cackling in his soulroom. //Devil man? What next?//
/Well, I suppose it is true, eh yami?/
//Hmph, speak for yourself hikari...//
Gwen and Hiro had finally managed to pry themselves loose from the stewardess's embrace and had headed off the plane, Malik just ahead of them. Malik was carrying a large duffle bag, and Gwen and Hiro had a backpack each. The rest of their luggage would be waiting at baggage claim, and they were counting on Gwen's large family to help them carry it all.
"None of my family speaks Japanese." Gwen cautioned them. "Although my younger brother Josh was studying it when I left last fall, so he may have a passing grip on it by now if he's kept up his studies. Either way, you'll have to be letting us translate a lot. I'll start tudoring you two in English tonight, but it won't come fast." She paused. "Actually, maybe it will. Japanese sure was hard to learn, anything seems like it'd be easier, especially English..."
"I know a little bit." Malik piped up. "Just not a whole lot."
"I know a few phrases." Hiro agreed, sweatdropping.
They went through customs with few problems, although the guard had to be given Gwen's entire supply of pocky to let the Millenium Rod through without getting confinscated. She pouted about that for a while, but Malik's many thanks soon made up for it.
((WSJ: Ah yes, if I can stick a note in here... I'm American, so don't take any jokes on Americans as an offence, okay? ^^; It's all out of fun, I don't mean any insults. I'm not trying to imply that American officials are stupid, or that they take bribes. But really, how else is Malik supposed to get the Rod through customs?))
Seemingly without warning, Gwen tossed her bag to a surprised Hiro, who caught it with a slight 'umph', and ran toward a group of about ten people standing in the terminal. The group, which consisted of only about four adults and seemingly innumerable children, were wearing expressions that ranged from bored to frazzled. Seeing Gwen, several of the children left off whatever they were doing and ran toward her, squealing in English. Hiro, whose sister had gone to college in America, caught the words 'big sister' and Gwen's name several times.
In no time at all Gwen was engulfed in a group hug of manic proportions, all her many half-siblings climbing over her like monkies. Hiro and Malik stood back a little ways and sweatdropped, watching as Gwen picked up a little girl about five and a boy a little older and swung them around in a circle. Next she moved on to the older ones, and finally the adults, the whole time jabbering on in rapid-paced English.
Suddenly Hiro 'eeped' and was glad that no one was paying attention to them at the moment. He poked Malik in the side and drew him over to a reletively shadowy corner. "Get Ishtar out here! Gwen was supposed to be bringing three friends along, not two." Malik's eyes widened as he realised the mistake he'd almost made, and nodded. He placed one hand over where the Rod was now hidden under his jacket, and Hiro caught the brief glow. A moment later Ishtar was standing between them, and they moved back out to where Gwen's family was waiting.
Finally Gwen seemed to remember them, and beconed her whole family over. She pointed at each of them, and they were able to catch their names as she introduced them to their reletives. ~"Thank you us let stay."~ Malik said in broken English, and the three bowed. The four adults and two older children bowed back, and Gwen seemed delighted. She switched fluidly back to Japanese and inserted a private comment of her own before beginning to introduce her family.
"Nice thinking bringing Ishtar out. I'd forgotten all about him. ^^; That's my dad, and his girlfriend Marie. My Uncle Matt and Aunt Sarah, and their daughter, my cousin Rose, who's eleven. That's my brother and only full-blooded sib, Josh, who's sixteen. There's my half-sister Kristen, or Kris, who's 15, my half-brother Andy, who's 13, and my half-sister Molly, who's 10. There's Micah, 7, Shayla, 4, and the baby that my dad's holding is Jake, who's about six months old. Got it?"
The boys' heads were spinning, but they managed to nod. Gwen dragged them off to collect their baggage and her family followed. All the way the bouncy blond was chattering away, switching back and forth from English to Japanese as she saw need. At one point her brother Josh, who was really the only one who looked anything like Gwen and therefore made him easily identifiable in the crowd of Kennadys, leaned over and said in slightly accented Japanese "She always like this."
"We know." Hiro whispered back. "Hyper."
Josh laughed and nodded, slapping Hiro on the back. "Yes, hyper!"
A little girl with light blue hair ran up and pulled on Malik's jacket, squealing something in English. Malik looked to Gwen and Josh for any help of translation, but before anything could be said Gwen had picked up Molly and deposited her on the surprised Egyptian's back. "She wanted a ride." the American explained, as if that solved everything. A moment later Micah and Shayla had gotten into the act, and Ishtar and Hiro found themselves with passengers as well.
The three unwilling carriers exchanged long-suffering looks. Oh yes, this was most definately Gwen's family...
Duke Devlin climbed off the bus, a suitcase in each hand and a backpack stuffed to bulging slung over his shoulders. Turning around he waved to the driver, and then looked at the massive set of stone steps in front of him and sighed. He checked the address his cousin had given him one more time, even though he already knew he was at the right place. Hiking his bag farther up on his shoulders, he started up the stairs.
When he reached the top, what seemed like an eternity later, he passed under the bright red torii and was suddenly filled with a sense of peace. He sighed happily and sat down his bags, rotating his tired shoulders and stretching his arms over his head. Birds sang in the trees, but the only ones he could see were a pair of crows eyeing him from on top of the torii. From what his grandfather had told him, those two birds were his cousin's pets.
Leaving his bags by the stairs, Duke wandered around the courtyard for a minute or so, then went up to knock on the shrine's door. "Hello?"
There was the sound of running footsteps from inside, and then it was opened by a young woman with long blond hair tied back with a red bow. She was wearing a sailor-style school uniform, the kind that was typical in this part of Tokyo. "Oh," she said, blinking. "Sorry, is no one out there? I wonder where Jii-san went... Did you want to buy a charm?"
Duke just stared at her. She didn't look anything like what he remembered of his cousin. "Are you Hino Rei?"
She looked startled. "What? No! I'm a friend of hers. My name's Aino Minako."
Duke bowed politely. "I'm Duke Devlin, Aino-san. Rei-chan's my cousin."
"Ah!" Enlightenment dawned on Minako's face. "Call me Mina-chan. Rei said you'd be coming. Come on in." As Duke pulled off his boots and sent them next to five or six other pairs of shoes already by the door, Minako skipped into a door down the hall. "Duke's here," Duke could hear her words floating down the hall to him as he followed her voice to Rei's room. "And man, he's hot! Why didn't you tell us your cousin was so cute Rei-chan?!"
Duke paused outside the door, trying to smother a laugh as he waited for Rei's answer. "What? Minako, I haven't seen him since I was five! How would I know what he looks like now? Grampa just hired him for the summer because Yuuchiro's going to be gone and Duke-kun was desperate to get away from Domino."
"Well believe me," Minako again. "He is fine."
Duke chuckled again and deemed in a good time to make his entrance. He slid aside the rice paper screen and stepped into his cousin's room. Immediately he had the undivided attention of the five girls and two cats that were sitting or laying around various places. He recognised his cousin right away, dispite not having seen her in a good ten or eleven years. She was kneeling next to a low table set in the middle of the room, wearing the white and red robes of a miko [shrine maiden]. Her long raven hair was similar to Duke's own, and her eyes held the same glint, save that they were violet, not green.
Four other girls were in the room too, and Duke studied them intently. Minako he'd met at the door. She was now sitting cross-legged on the floor, and the white cat had curled up in her lap. Duke noticed absently that both cats had a funny cresnt moon shaped tattoo on their foreheads.
The girl who looked the oldest out of the group was laying on her stomach on the bed. She'd tried to hide the magazine she'd been looking at, but Duke could see it was some sort of a male model magizine. She was wearing a sailor-uniform too, only done in shades of tan instead of blue and red. Her long brown hair was up in a ponytail, and she had green eyes several shades darker then Duke's own.
There was quite a spread of goodies on the table, and one girl had apparently been pigging out right before Duke walked in. She still had a cookie suspended half-way to her mouth, and she was watching Duke intently out of the corners of her blue eyes. She had the strangest hairstyle Duke had seen on anyone, except maybe Yami or Yugi. Her blond hair was long, and pulled up into two pigtails on either side of her head. Then, strangely, they'd been twisted into two buns, and the tails hung down from there.
The last girl was sitting on Rei's desk chair with her nose in a book, although she was peeping at Duke over the top. She had blue-black hair cut short, and while Minako and Rei could definately be described as pretty or even beautiful, this girl was more of in the cute catagory.
While he was studying the girls, they were studying him just as intensely. What they saw was a tall young man of roughly eighteen, maybe nineteen years with peircing green eyes and thick, glossy black hair held up by a ponytail and a red and black headband. His graceful figure betrayed that he was in some sort of sport. He was dressed in tight black pants and a white tanktop with some sort of a resturant logo on the front. His wrists and upper arms were adorned with armbands, and he had a six-sided die on a short chain hanging from his left ear. Some sort of a scar or birthmark tracked a sharp path down his left cheek, beginning just under his eye and ending right above his jawline. Somehow, this just made him look even more sexy.
It was easy to see his relation to Rei in everything from his hair to the shape of his eyes to his figure, which seemed compact and ready to spring at any time.
"Duke!" Rei jumped up from her seat and ran to hug her cousin. "It's been too long."
"It has Rei-chan. Really pathetic when we only live a couple hours from each other. Who're your friends?"
"Oh! I'm sorry. That's Minako, whom I assume you've already met, and her cat Artemis. That's Luna, Artemis's mate. She belongs to Tsukino Usagi," Usagi was the one with the strange hairstyle, and Duke grinned at her, interrupting his cousin's introductions.
"You know, your hair looks like a pair of dumplings. Odango atama! [dumpling head]"
Usagi looked indignant, and for some reason the rest of the girls all burst out laughing. "Yup, you're definately related to Rei!" the brown-haired girl said. "I'm Kino Makoto, nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too Kino-san. Sorry if I offended you Tsukino-san."
The use of the honorific seemed to calm Usagi down somewhat. "Aw, don't call me that! You've got to be at least three years older then us. Just call me Usagi."
"And me Makoto." Makoto said. "Or Mako-chan."
Minako leaned over and whispered "Ha! Wishful thinking." to her brunette friend.
"I'm Mizuno Ami, call me Ami." That was the blue-haired bookworm.
Duke smiled and bowed to them. "I'm honored. Ore wa Duke Devlin. I'm eighteen years old and come from Domino City, Japan. I'm glad to be helping out at the shrine this summer."
Makoto poked Minako in the side and leaned over to whisper "So am I!" without Duke noticing.
"Hey!" Minako whispered back. "I saw him first!"
"Only because you answered the door." Makoto pointed out, then sighed dreamily. "He looks just like my old sempai..."
On Minako's lap, Artemus the moon cat, guardian of the Sailor Senshi along with Luna, intellegent, talking feline, stared at Makoto for a minute before facefaulting massively.
"Sensei?" Ryou poked his head around the door of the dojo, wondering where his martial arts sensei was. He had arrived early Monday morning, just as sensei had requested, dressed in his gi and ready to help out wherever he could. He'd tied his hair back into a long ponytail, and over his shoulder he carried a duffle bag with street clothes and a towel. Shrugging, the telepath wandered into the locker room and stashed his stuff in a locker, slipping off his black slippers and the light coat he'd been wearing over his sleeveless gi. Usually, gi's were long sleeved and rather resembled a set of pajamas. Ryou's, however, was sleeveless.
Ryou slipped a pair of sweatbands onto his wrists, and another, larger one to keep his long bangs out of his face. Now he was ready. White gi, black belt, and hunter green sweatbands contrasted nicely with his silver-white hair. Not that he could see whether the colour scheme was pleasing or not.
Moving out into the dojo proper, he began to move easily through a warm-up kata, practicing his punches and kicks in a slow, graceful manner that looked rather like a dance. He was about halfway through when a loud voice from behind him yelled "Hya!!" Ryou wasn't startled. He was never startled. He just moved out of the kata, dodged the kick that the sensei sent his way, and fell into a defensive stance.
Saotome-sensei nodded approvingly and then came in to attack Ryou again. The spar was short and sweet, Ryou gaining the upper hand almost immediately. Saotome-sensei was a bit surprised, to say the least.
"But I couldn't have expected any less from my star student." He told Ryou, getting up from where he'd been tossed to the floor. "Ryou, I'd like you to teach the intermediate course for me, so I'll have more time to practice with the beginners and those more advanced."
Ryou's eyes widened, and it was only years of practice that kept his jaw from dropping as well. He'd thought he'd be spending the summer doing odd jobs, not teaching an entire class! "Sensei, I - I'm honoured..."
"Ah," Raiden Saotome, son of the famous Ranma and Akane Saotome, held up a finger. "I am not your sensei anymore, Ryou-san. You are sensei now. That," he lowered the finger to point at Ryou's black belt. "And your defeat of me are proof. I must say though, I didn't expect you to win quite so easily. I must be getting old..."
"Never Saotome-san!" Ryou said, slightly shocked that his mentor would suggest such a thing.
Raiden-san chuckled. "Right. Now, the students for your first class should be arriving any time. Here's what I want you to go over today..."
Their planning session was interrupted twenty minutes later with the arrival of the first three students for Ryou. He knew all three of them, although one only in passing and through second-hand accounts.
Mokuba Kaiba was arguing fiercely with Lisa O'Kelley, and Rebecca Hawkins was doing her best to break them up. "Come on guys, you're acting like kids! And - Oh! Hello Ryou-san." That brought Kaiba and Lisa up short, although they continued to glare at each other as the three bowed to Ryou and Raiden-san.
Raiden-san chuckled. "Ryou is your sensei for this class. I expect that you treat him with the same respect you do me."
"Hai Saotome-sensei." they piped up. Then Kaiba yelped, standing up from his bow with a jerk, jumping at least a foot forward. "Lisa pinched me!"
"I did not!"
Raiden-san looked at Ryou with pity in his eyes. "Good luck." he murmered quietly before going to greet his other students. Ryou sighed and massaged his temples. He could feel a headache coming on already. It was going to be a loooong summer...
"How in hell's name do I get myself into these things..."
"What did you say Mr Tour Guide man?"
Bandit Keith winced and ground his teeth at the name, turning back around to glare at the group of fourteen and fifteen year olds he was leading around China for the summer. Peachy. He ground his teeth again and forced himself to think of the money he'd be making on this tour. "If you'll look out to your left, we're passing Beijing's 'Golden Mile'."
"Oooh! Aaah!"
"Bakhura, vake up."
Bakura mumbled something in his sleep and tried to roll over. He found that he couldn't, and sat up with a sigh as memory kicked him in the head. He was on a plane, bound for France. How had he ever let Ryou talk him into this...?
Amoura was sitting next to him, looking excitedly out the window. In the seat in front of them, Yami and Yugi were doing the same. Across the isle, Tea would have been too, except she was stuck in the isle seat while the person next to the window was roughly the same size and weight as one of Kaiba's Blue Eyes. "What's up Amoura?" he asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"Look," she said, sitting back in her seat so Bakura could lean past her and see the skyline. The white-haired man couldn't help but notice the way that her brown eyes were sparkling in happiness as she grinned, reminding him a little bit of Ryou. Looking past her, he caught his breath. It was the middle of the night in Paris, and the Eiffel Tower was completely lit up. There were really no words to express how magnificint it looked.
"Velcome to Paris." Amoura said quietly in the hush that followed. "Velcome to my 'ome."
A moment later Bakura realised that he was still leaning over Amoura, and that they were incredably close together. For a moment he froze, listening to Amoura's breath beside his ear as she looked out the window with him. He also realised that in the process of leaning over her to look out the window, one of his hands was resting rather companionably on her leg. Blushing he pulled back and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "How stupid..." he muttered, his face lowered so she wouldn't see him blush. "We get on the plane in Japan in the middle of the night, fly through the middle of the night, and land in Paris in the middle of the night..."
Amoura, who had apparently just realised the same things Bakura had, stared at him as her face turned as red as his. "Oui..." she said weakly, nodding at him. She turned back to the window, and Bakura busied himself with rummaging for something in his backpack. Across the isle Tea, who had witnessed the exchange, slowly began to grin.
Within twenty minutes they'd landed and were beginning to gather up their things. Unknowingly, Amoura almost exactly echoed Gwen's words from earlier. "Only Grandmama and I zpeak Japaneze, zo ve vill 'ave to translate for you."
"Is she the one who taught you?" Yugi asked, and Amoura nodded. Having finished gathering their carry-on belongings, they left the plane and headed for the terminal where Amoura's grandmother had sais she would be waiting. Since it was so late, almost midnight Paris time, only she and the chaufer, Franz, would be there to greet them. Yami, Yugi, Bakura, and Tea would meet the rest of the family and servents in the morning.
"Amoura!"
As one person, Amoura-tachi swiveled their heads to see a woman and a man coming toward them. The woman was tall and thin, and had long grey hair swept up into a bun at the back of her head. She was wearing a long purple dress of the old-fashioned sort, and had her arms out to receive Amoura in a hug. She looked about sixty, obviously Amoura's grandmother.
The man was a bit younger, maybe fifty, and had jet black hair with streaks of white running through it. He was dressed in a suit, and Bakura recognised him immediately as a butler sort. He kept himself refined and aloof after that first time he'd shouted Amoura's name, but everyone could see he was obviously glad to see her.
After Amoura finished hugging her Grandmama, she gave Franz a hug as well, and then said something to the butler in French. He smiled at her and tipped his hat, then turned and walked away. "He iz going to bring zee car around, zo ve do not 'ave to carry our bagz zo far." she explained to her friends. "Everyone, ziz iz Madame Amanda Mari Letazaut, my grandmozzer."
To the surprise of the group from Japan, Madame Amanda smiled, bowed, and then spoke in near-perfect Japanese, with only a hint of the accent that Amoura carried. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Amoura's written and told us so much about you."
"She's told us a lot about you too, Madame Leatzaut," said Tea, the first to recover her voice.
Madame waved her away. "Just call me Madame. Now, you are...?"
"I'm Tea Gardener," Tea said, bowing to the French mistress. "I'm Tea's roommate. Well, one of them. Gwen went back to California for the summer, so she couldn't come."
"I'm Yami Bakura," Bakura said, bowing formally to her. "But please, call me Bakura. You have a lovely granddaughter." Madame looked at him with a strage expression in her eye, then glanced once at Amoura before continuing on to Yugi. "Yes, I do..."
"My name is Yugi Moto." Yugi said, bowing to her as well. "And this is my older brother, Yami."
With a shreik that would have rivaled Rebecca Hawkins any day, Madame jumped behind Amoura as if to hide. "Good gracious child, what does that boy have on his head?!"
Yami looked indignant and gave her his best pharoah-glare. "That, Madame, is my hair."
"Oh no, that's not hair, it's too big. Do you know, sir, that you have something living on your head?"
Yami growled, trying not to spit bullets at her. Holding back his laughter as best he could, Yugi laid a hand on his arm. "Yami, be nice."
"Why?" Yami asked hautily, drawing himself up to his full four feet, six inches of height. "She isn't being nice to me!"
It should probably be said here that while Yami still possessed the full head of hair and outrageous style that he'd held during Duelist Kingdom, Yugi's hair had long been cut short. That was why Yami was the target of Madame's rantings, and not the short hikari.
Madame came out from behind Amoura, and the two stood glaring at each other with every bit of fire as their regal breeding could allow them. Madame was a high-born lady of France and was not used to having anyone contradict her. Equally, Yami was ex-pharoah of Egypt, and everyone had worshipped his every step. Now, both sences of pride and royal airs were put into use in this high-society staring contest.
Off to one side, Yugi, Bakura, Amoura, and Tea stood watching them. "Watch out," Tea muttered quietly so only they could hear. "Train wreck ahead."
Amoura nodded in agreement, sweatdropping slightly. "Ego clazzh."
"The pharoah rises again..." Yugi sighed.
Bakura groaned and nodded, echoing his aibou's earlier thoughts. "This is going to be a looooong summer..."
"Scott. You. Are. In. My. Bubble."
Scott made a face at Serenity. "Well sorr-ry!"
"Hey, don't talk to my sister like that." Joey snapped, shooting a glare at his older cousin.
Scott's mother, Kimeko Anius, turned around and eyed the three grumpy teens crammed together in the back seat. "Do I have to seperate you three?"
"No ma'am..."
It had been a long day. Joey, Scott, and Serenity had been woken at the crack of day and squeezed into the back seat of Scott's parents' old station wagon, their luggage piled around them. They'd been on the road for five plus hours, crammed together in a hot and sweaty car with a broken air conditioner. None of them were in a good mood.
They were on their way to a giant Wheeler family reunion in Kyoto, and were actually looking forward to it. The Wheeler clan was spread out all over Japan and most of China, and this was the one time of year that they were all able to get together. Actually, the reunion was held once every five years, so they hadn't seen some of their reletives in half a decade.
By far the biggest group of those reletives was the humungous amount of cousins, second cousins, and step cousins. The Wheeler family had cousins up to their eyeballs and armpits. You'd be surprised at some of the people Joey, Serenity, and Scott were related to...
"So who are we staying in the hotel with?"
"Well, Joey and Scott will be sharing a room with Duo, and Serenity, you'll be sharing with Miaka and Sakura."
....Or maybe not.
"Man... Sakura and I have never gotten along." Serenity grumbled. "I wonder if she still has that stupid stuffed bear."
"Now now, don't tease her. We're almost there you three, just sit tight." Scott's father, Daisuke Anius said from his place in the driver's seat. "Just a few more minutes to go."
"Good.." all three teens sighed in relief. Indeed, in a few more minutes they were out of the car and stretching their tired, cramped, sore muscles. They were at a huge hotel, which was near the park that the clan had rented out for their reunion. Tents were already being set up, and people were milling around and greeting their reletives. Scott saw one of his nieces and dashed off, and Joey followed. Serenity shrugged and pulled a duffel bag down off the top of the car. She headed toward the hotel to find out which room she'd be sharing with her cousin and step-cousin, when someone called her name.
She turned around to see a young woman with red-brown hair a little darker then her own, tied up in two buns on either side of her head. She was wearing jeans and a purple t-shirt, and a man was following along behind her, looking bored. The man had hair so dark that it almost looked green, pulled back into a thin ponytail that trailed down his back.
"Miaka!" Serenity ran over and hugged her cousin. Besides Scott, Miaka was probably the one cousin she was closest to. "It's been too long!" Miaka was a little older then Serenity. While Serenity was only sixteen (seventeen next month), Miaka was almost nineteen.
"It has," Miaka agreed, her grin threatening to split her face. "This is my fiance, Tamahome."
"Konnichiwa." Serenity said, bowing to him. "I'm Serenity Wheeler."
Tamahome smiled at her. "Miaka's told me so much about you. I look forward to getting to know you better." He ran an eye over her slender frame and then remarked absently to Miaka, "Too bad Tasuki isn't here. He'd have a fit."
Miaka snickered. "That he would. Tasuki's a friend of ours." she explained to Serenity as the three of them began to walk toward the hotel. "He claims to hate women, but he's always had a soft spot for pretty girls."
"For you, you mean." Tamahome said, poking her in the side. Miaka laughed and nodded, leaning into him as he put an arm around her waist. "But you're the only one for me."
"Good," Tamahome grinned, leaning down to kiss her.
Miaka giggled and pushed him away. "Not in front of Serenity-chan! Have you no manners Tama'?"
"Well that depends, do you like me with manners?"
Miaka laughed again. "Of course not, you know that. If I liked someone with manners I would have chosen Hotohori instead of you." Tamahome's face twisted, and Miaka gasped, putting a hand over her mouth. "Oh jeez Tama, I'm sorry!"
"It's okay," he assured her after a moment. "You didn't choose Hotohori, you chose me. That's all that matters." He grinned at her, and Miaka smiled back. Bending down slightly, Tamahome wrapped his arms around her and placed his broad tan cheek against Miaka's smooth alabaster one.
Watching from nearby, Serenity sighed in longing. There would be plenty of time for kisses and love when she and Ryou were older of course, but she missed her boyfriend already. Leaning back against the brick wall of the hotel and watching her cousin and soon-to-be cousin-in-law, she let herself daydream about someday when she and Ryou would be just as close as that.
()()()()()
WSJ: ^-^ Wow... That is one long chapter, dudes.
Tamahome: >> Why'd you have to drag me into this...?
WSJ: ^__^ 'Cuz I felt like it!
Ryou: *pokes Tamahome* Be thankful you're not her favorite. You don't want to know the awful things she does to het favorites... *he, Bakura, and Pegasus shudder slightly*
Tamahome: .....So which of us is your fav SJ? From Fushigi Yuugi, I mean?
WSJ: ^o^ Chichiri, no da!
Tamahome: ~_~; Of course...
WSJ: Anyway, not all of the chapters should be this long, but most of them will probably be close, since I have so many different groups of people in so many different places. ^~ See ya' next time!
Chapter 2: The California team hits the beach, and Malik takes to surfing like, well, a duck to water. Gwen and Hiro do a little cuddling at the beach, and Ishtar tries to get used to the fact that while every American girl within miles seems to flock to Malik, the only one who notices him is Gwen's 15-year-old sister Kris.
The French group settles into Amoura's house, which is really more like a mansion, and meet the rest of Amoura's family. Bakura discovers something intresting in the kitchens, and yet another love triangle develops. However, this one is intresting in the fact that no one is trying to keep them apart. In fact, every single person in the house seems to be rooting for them to get together. What's going on?
Ryou copes with teaching a bunch of teenagers martial arts. Not the least of his problems, of course, is the love triangle going on between Lisa, Mokuba, and Rebecca. Seto's just plain disgusted with the whole thing, and Ryou thinks it's amusing. Eh, you live you learn, and then get loves. ^~
Bandit Keith stops by an Amazon village (yup, in China. Bet you didn't see that coming) and finds out that maybe girl power does have a nice ring to it after all.
Serenity and Miaka have it out with Sakura, while Tamahome, Scott, and Joey go out for a little partying on the town. Can anyone say "uh oh"? And what's up with the woman who seems to be following them around?
Duke and his new found friends spend a little time touring Juuban, but when a Daimon attacks the girls have to rush off and leave Duke in the reletive safety of the Crown Arcade. While waiting out the Daimon attack, Motoki (the arcade owner) and Naru (Usagi's best friend) let something slip that could spell trouble for the Sailor Senshi. Duke, however, has no idea what to do with this information.
Meanwhile, Luna and Artemus contact Fate, hoping for help, information, and anything else that could be useful.
Can anyone here say "What a summer!" Good, I knew you could. ^^ Now if you'll excuse me, I'm hungry. *wanders off in search of food*
God bless minna-san!