Chapter 4- The Intertwining Golden Threads of Fate & Love

As the divine aura of Amaterasu bathed the skyline of Tokyo, Dark had already risen from his bed and was found outside in the roof of a tall Tokyo building. He sighed:

“Today is the day…that perhaps another shred of my past life will unveil itself before me.”

Taking another glance at the faint red glow in the horizon, Dark returned to his apartment. Unbuttoning his shirt and taking off the rest of his clothes; he turned the faucet of the shower on. Slowly, a light mist began to shroud the bathroom, upon entering inside warm water ran through his body.

Within a few minutes he had finished drying himself and dressing, quickly grabbing his wallet and keys. Dark walked toward the elevator, pressing the button for the sub-ground floor. As the sliding doors of the elevator opened, he clicked on a button which automatically gave a start on the engine of his bike.

Quickly speeding off into the streets of Tokyo, Dark headed towards Tokyo Tower. His loose clothing whipped around as the air grinded against him. He looked at the small card that the girl he had met in the middle of the night gave to him; it read “Please meet me at Tokyo Tower at 12:30 pm”. Arriving early he parked in front of Tokyo’s most famous landmark. Dark looked around, the street as always seemed to be filled with people, busily walking around under the warmth of a Saturday afternoon. Putting the keys inside his pockets he walked around:

“I guess I should buy her some flowers…”

Dark entered a small flower shop, as he walked in the small shop he gave a gentle smile. The small delicate flowers reminded him very much of the times he wandered around the fields of the virgin Earth, as he took a quick survey of the flowers in display he picked a simple white rose. Handing the rose to the shop keeper, Dark took out a 1000 yen bill and took the rose. In one hand he held the rose while the other he tucked inside his pocket, As Dark, walked back to his bike he spotted Hotaru walking down the sidewalk looking for him, Dark smirked and leaned against his motorcycle.

He raised one hand and casually waved towards Hotaru. In a husky voice he greeted the Saturnian girl.

“Yo”

Hotaru looked at Dark, still with that awkward sensation that lingered inside her from last night. She gave him a awkward smile while at the same time trying to shake off the effect of Dark’s husky and mysterious voice, but Hotaru was not very successful in hiding that almost burning quirky feeling. Dark laughed and walked toward her and boldly giving her a kiss on the cheek. Hotaru was taken by aback with the sudden kiss, but before she had any time to react, Dark had given her the white rose he had bought earlier. Her cheeks became a light pink as Hotaru looked at the single white flower. Slightly smiling to himself, Dark asked Hotaru:

“Where are we going for today beautiful?”

Although most of the time she did not take a great liking to men with such confidence for some reason, this time Hotaru simply could not resist Dark’s over confident self. Looking at the floor and with a small , flattered voice Hotaru spoke:

“Erm…uh…we…well there is this really good restaurant near by…”

Dark nodded and mounted on to his bike and motioned Hotaru to take the back part of the seat. Hesitant Hotaru slowly sat herself, and shyly held herself to the side of Dark’s body. By then her heart was beating at a hundred miles per hour. He chuckled and looked back to Hotaru taking her hands and putting around his body.

Soon after Dark gave a start to the bike’s powerful engine, which it quickly responded with a small roar. He could feel the engine’s full throttle…at once Dark sped away in high speeds, not giving much attention to the speed limits. Noticing it Hotaru yelled, as the wind blasted against her face:

“DARK! Aren’t you going too fast?!”

He smiled and replied.

“Don’t worry! It will all be fine just tell me which way to go!”

After a few wild spins and turns they both finally arrived at the restaurant- in one piece. Dark parked his motorcycle right next to the restaurant in a dark alley. Hotaru somewhat dizzy slowly descended from the bike and fixed her wind blown hair. Meanwhile Dark took a look at the entrance of the restaurant. The entrance of the restaurant had a very modern facade; countless futuristic like architectures and adornments could be seen in the building and mainly embellished with lights, metals particularly stainless steel, and glass with several different textures. With a warm smile Dark looked at Hotaru and spoke:

“Hm, not a bad choice you made there Hoto-chan. I am sure I will be quite fond of this place now…”

Murmuring to herself Hotaru spoke in a barely audible tone.

“Hoto-chan? Since when did I give that doodoo head the right to call me that?”

Standing there for a few seconds, Hotaru seemed to be momentarily dazed.

“And since when did he know my nickname?”

Noticing that Hotaru was talking, but not quite understand exactly what she was saying Dark looked at Hotaru puzzled.

Without another word Hotaru walked toward the entrance of the restaurant, Dark following behind her. A host opened the door for her; she gave him a small bow in gratitude. At the grand entrance both Hotaru and Dark were greeted by an extremely exquisite entrance hall, all decorated with famous collections of modern architectures from around the world. Soon enough they both arrived into the main room, a young hostess greeted them.

“How many people is in your party madam?”

“Just two…”

“Would you please follow me…”

They followed the hostess whom guided through a maze of seats, tables and halls to their seats. Soon after a waitress arrived taking out a small block of paper and pen.

“May I take your order ma’am?”

Hotaru looked at the menu which was filled with endless choices of food, anywhere from everyday foods to fine and exotic delicacies. This time Hotaru decided to stay with something simple and delicious.

“I would like to order a garden salad, grilled salmon and a passion and mango juice please.”

The waitress quickly wrote down the order and looked at Dark to take the next order.

“And for you sir?”

“I would like to order a beef and chicken stew and a side order of potatoes, and also I would like a glass of your finest red wine.”

The waitress nodded and took their menus before disappearing. In a short moment the same waitress arrived with their drinks. She handed Hotaru a simple round glass of juice which had been garnished with a slice of star fruit and to Dark she placed an elegant and refined wine glass of an Italian red wine named “The First Apostle”, which its vintage year was 1987. Dark took the glass and gently swirled the wine inside, letting the full flavor and aroma of the wine blossom inside. Revealing a wonderful fragrance, smiling Dark took a sip of the wine savoring it; the wine exposed its graceful complexity through the taste of red fruits and flowers. As he put down the glass he looked at Hotaru, once again Dark defiantly reached with both hands and took Hotaru’s hands.

“Now what is it that you wanted to tell me sweetie?”

Taking a moment to think Hotaru slowly spoke, she wanted to know who he was and yet not totally reveal who she was herself.

“Um, well first off I wanted to apologize for my rude remarks last time…I didn’t really mean to be that snappy with you. And the second thing is…”

But, before Hotaru could finish the sentence a sinister feeling suddenly crept up her spine. Quickly noticing something was not right she looked around, although no one around them seemed to have sensed the unearthly disturbance. Without speaking another word Hotaru got up and left the table quickly. Though, Hotaru was not the only one who had noticed the malicious energy dangerously floating around in the air. Even though the food had not arrived Dark paid the bill and left. Once outside, he called upon his powers, and once again he transformed into his true self. He spread his black wings behind him…Meanwhile Hotaru quickly ran into a small dark alley and whispered:

“Saturn Planet Power! Make-up!”

Saturn’s transformation within a few seconds was complete; her fuku was a bit differently composed than the other senshis, for out of all the senshis with the exception of Sailor Moon, Saturn wielded the strongest powers. Her shoulders were decorated with a white petal shaped pattern, her brooch was a transparent star seed which sat upon a black bow, and laced up purple high heeled boots. While her jewelry contained a choker which in the middle another smaller version of her star seed was placed, her silver earrings on each side had a small sized replica of a silvery Saturn with the ends being complimented with a pointed shaped bead and her tiara contained a white opal colored jewel. Sailor Saturn’s iconic Silence Glaive accompanied her in her hands. Firmly griping her Silence Glaive, Saturn set out to search for the source of the dark energy she had sensed inside the restaurant.

Closing her eyes she tried to tune into the stream of the foreign energy once more, like a wave of bitterly cold air the energy almost devoured her. Saturn briskly opened her eyes…she was in disbelief. It had been many millenniums since she had felt such powerful and malignant force. She shook her head; the thought of that energy once more roaming the Earth was petrifying.
Dark who was also searching for that vicious and yet familiar energy, hoping to see some clue to his past stumbled upon Hotaru. He had not yet connected that she was also Sailor Saturn, the Soldier of Silence, Death, and Rebirth. Dark’s eyes widened…

“That woman…she could not be…what is this strange feeling? She couldn‘t be…”

But before he could put anything together, his head began throbbing with pain and flashes of his past played inside his mind, although to him nothing made sense except one thing. For a certain reason Hotaru’s image remained in his mind avidly. By the time Dark had come to his senses Hotaru had disappeared and was no where to be seen.

At the top of one of the highest building in Tokyo a demon laid leisurely in his back, his demonic wings closed behind him.

“Once more…once more our paths cross…”

As Saturn flew above the skyline of Tokyo, she spotted Sephiroth, the source of every chaos. She stood in front of him floating in midair; Saturn thought to herself: “I guess times of peace is over…” Although, Saturn had also been reborn like the Inner senshis…she was one of the few who retained bits and pieces of the past. But, as time allowed her, Hotaru was bit by bit regaining the memories of her past life in the Silver Millennium. Holding onto her Glaive, Sailor Saturn took a stance and took a deep breath.

Sephiroth coolly walked to her and with his right hand Sephiroth lightly touched her chin and kissed her. Utterly disgusted by the act, Saturn punched him away and began her assault. But, at her current level of strength none of the attacks were effective on Sephiroth making no damage at all to him.

Raising one finger, he began to assemble huge amounts of energy, which in a matter of no time he released in Saturn’s direction. Realizing this was something that she could not over power with her own offensive attack. Saturn tried counter attacking by blocking his attack.

“Silence Wall!!!”

Tightly holding the Silence Glaive in front of her with all her might Saturn tried deflecting the attack, but unfortunately not only did she not have enough strength to overpower the attack but she did not have enough power to prevent herself from being launched forcefully to the ground. Finally being forced to give in, Saturn smashed against the floor, causing serious damage to herself. After a short moment as the dust settled down, Saturn rose from the ground grimacing in pain and held her side trying to cope with the intense pain; she used her Glaive to aid herself up. A ribbon of blood slowly slithered its way down the side of her head and into the floor. Saturn screamed ignoring the pain and once more charged forward towards Sephiroth. But, before Sailor Saturn had a chance to attack for a second time, Dark had swiftly intervened.

Now in his real form, raw power seemed to overflow into the air; making the atmosphere feel three times heavier than usual. Looking right into the eyes of his enemy, Dark raised his arm into the air- the skies began to shroud darkness. The same sinister aura that she had felt in Sephiroth began to concentrate around Dark’s body. After what it seemed that he could not gather anymore of that menacing energy Dark launched at Sephiroth, who now realized that he had to take the fight seriously. Sephiroth blocked Dark’s attack with two hands, but being overpowered he began to slide across the skies. Suddenly a giant explosion occurred but as the smoke cleared it was obvious that Sephiroth’s aura could not be felt anymore, for he had fled back to his lair.

Dark turned around to face Hotaru who was leaning against a building. Slowly descending from the skies he landed softly in front of her. Saturn looked in his direction, that sinister aura that she had felt in Dark made her feel very insecure as to whether she should trust him again. Saturn did not want to take any chance for she forcefully pressed her Silence Glaive against his throat.

“Don’t come near me!”

She knew that this feeling was identical to the feeling she had felt before the Moon Kingdom was attacked millenniums ago.

Dark raised both hands in surrender, for he did not want to cause her any harm. Because Hotaru was sustaining such heavy wounds, her fuku had become faint. With a last glance Saturn walked away from Dark, gradually making her way back to her home.

Arriving home, Hotaru back in her human form dragged her body inside. No longer having any energy left, she slowly saw everything becoming quite fuzzy and blurred, falling unconscious in her own door steps.

For some time the house remained motionless, till a pair of glowing garnet colored eyes slowly materialized itself in midair, and here after a body. Silently, Dark tenderly picked up Hotaru who laid in the floor, gently placing her bed and went to search for the medicine box; although, Dark had the option of healing her wounds by magic he had decided to take the long way. Within a few minutes Dark had returned and sat down next to Hotaru. Taking out the bandages and antiseptic medicine, Dark carefully began to treat Hotaru’s wound in the head first. He efficiently wiped and cleaned the blood and dirt off from her head, within a few minutes he was putting the bandages around Hotaru’s head and laying her down gently.

Hotaru who was beginning to regain her energy and consciousness, moved slightly and groaned in pain. Dark, who was watching over her, looked at her with kind and warm eyes, something that hasn’t been revealed too many times neither in the past nor in the present. The dark red eyes which most of the time displayed only distant and cold emotions seemed to be completely nonexistent before Hotaru.

Before Dark could realize he found himself moving towards Hotaru, who was still lying in the bed asleep, he reached for her face and tenderly touched her. Her skin felt warm and soft, giving a blissful, comforting and nostalgic sensation. Yet, his consciousness did not tell him why such wonderful feelings for such a person were being emitted from the depths of his soul, which had long been turned into a cold dormant stone. From someone whom he had just met last night by chance or is it by fate? But whichever way it was, it seemed that these puzzling emotions were also being corresponded by Hotaru, who although was not awake slightly smiled warmly at the touch of Dark’s hand. That internal ember of love proved to be still burning inside in the depths of Dark and Hotaru’s souls, and has withstood the test of time. Despite that both still cannot remember each others presence in the past, those loving moments, the bonds they shared in their previous life.