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Clearing the Air, Again “Celeste, are you okay?”
Celeste turned her eyes from the magnificent, fiery sunset and glanced down at Selene with a slight smile. “Just thinking, that’s all.” “You seem to be doing a lot of that lately,” the cat stated with a frown. Celeste laughed quietly. “You make that sound like a bad thing.” The cat smiled and jumped on a chair near Celeste. Things had been strained between them lately, but for the moment, their situation was almost friendly. “It depends on what you are thinking about.” There was a pause before Celeste gave a sigh. “Do you ever have doubts, Selene?” “About what?” “About what we are doing,” Celeste said, turning her eyes once again to the window. “Are we doing the right thing? Are we making the right decisions? Should we even be bringing more people into this mess?” The cat gave a somewhat bitter laugh. “All the time. I wonder constantly why I was even chosen for this mission. Do you even know how old I am?” Celeste shook her head. “I’m sixteen years old, Celeste,” Selene stated. “I was floored when both Neo-Queen Serenity and Sailor Pluto asked me to come here. Diana would have been the better choice.” “Perhaps they thought that that Chibi-Usa still needs her or you may have some talents that Diana lacked,” Celeste offered. “I don’t know what those could be,” Selene said. “I haven’t been succeeding well with my mission.” Celeste stood before Selene, concerned by her sudden self-reproach. “What makes you say that?” “Well, we haven’t exactly hit off, have we? So, other than telling you that there are new enemies and new Sailors to be found, I haven’t begun to fulfill my mission objectives.” “That’s not exactly your fault,” Celeste said quietly, “about us not hitting it off.” “Celeste, you were right about me keeping secrets.” The redhead smiled slightly. “After a while, I realized that your circumstances would involve some secrecy.” “Not all of my secrets involve withholding information about the future, though,” Selene added. “There are some things I know about the present and parts of the past that I can’t reveal to you.” Celeste watched the sunset fade into twilight, letting the conversation sink in. Selene hadn’t dropped any real bombshells, other than her true age and her believed failure in her mission. They had some much in common that she wondered why she hadn’t seen it sooner. “I’ve told you I know something about keeping secrets, Selene,” Celeste stated gently. “I carry the memories of several lifetimes. I have the memories of a love so deep with someone almost exactly like Jonathan that it hurts to be near him sometimes.” “He reminds you of Charon.” Celeste nodded. “But not all of the time. Sometimes he will just do some little thing enough like him to awakening the remaining parts of Shinsei Tennyo in me.” “But he’s not Charon, and you’re not Tennyo.” “I try to tell myself that.” Celeste sighed. “Maybe someday this will all end. Maybe one day I won't have to be Sailor Sol anymore.” Selene followed her gaze to the deepening night. “When do you think that will be?” “I don’t know. Maybe when Sailor Cosmos comes into being. Maybe her existence will mean that Sailor Sol will no longer be needed.” There was a lengthy pause before Selene asked, “What happens then?” “Who knows,” Celeste replied with a shrug. “Maybe I will be reborn as a normal person or maybe I’ll just die. Either way would offer some peace, some freedom from the memories.” “How many lifetimes do you remember?” “More than I care to count.” They watched the indigo sky fade to black and the moon begin its slow dance across the sky. With a yawn, Celeste stretched, wincing as various joints popped. Without glancing at a clock, she knew that she was head to bed soon. “Maybe we can work on things being different between us,” she offered. The cat nodded. “Yes, tonight was a good start.” “Good night, Selene.” “Good night, Celeste.” With smiles, they each went to bed. Despite the darkness around them, things suddenly seemed much brighter. |
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