{Hey hon! Bring the kids--it's Ninx's world!} Hey, Sailor fans, going my way? All right, that was an unabashed rip-off of a badly voiced Tux mask line, but...well, it seemed the best way to start this off. Especially when ya'll are going to be with me for a LONG time. Yep, this story is big. That's kinda how it got its name--from "Air for a G String" by Bach (I believe)--and from the fact that the pieces need to move like a symphony, apparently dissonant but then suddenly harmonious, and... Well, everyone needs a goal. *g* DISCLAIMERS: 1) Sailor Moon, all the other Sailor Senshi and other names and terms associated with the series are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi,Kodansha, Bandai, DIC and all the other companies (which I can't remember right at this moment). DON'T SUE ME! cause there's no infringement intended. 2) This is a SERIES. If you intend to start this story, ya'd better check back with STRANDED, Dith, HiaP, and INTERIM. Gracias. 3) I don't own any of the song lyrics that appear in these stories. Titles, but not authors, will be provided, because I know the titles but not the authors. 4) I've TRIED to stress how dark this story is going to be. It will be, and I won't back down. Even though this part is not necessarily bad, this story should be PG-13, R for violence, sexual suggestions, and bad writing (sorry, couldn't resist). 5) I own the villians in this story. Thanks to everyone. Check for notes at the end of this part. THE FOUR LOVERS: AIR ON A COSMIC STRING Pre: A Dream But sometimes when the day is through And all my work is done And Scarlettown seems far away Beyond the setting sun I've lived my new adventures I've had my chance to roam I'd never thought I'd ever miss home I wish that we were travelling...home. --A Song Whose Name I Forget, But Its Surely Not Mine It came without warning, unprovoked, and struck. No, that wasn't quite true. There'd been warnings, but they weren't the normal kinds of warnings. They were slim, exist for a seconds type warnings, the type that sensitives are trained to understand and respond to. Serena was a sensitive, but untrained. Despite her four years with just the crystal--no Luna, no Senshi, no Tuxedo Mask to guide her hands and feed her words--she still did most of the things by instinct. The Serenity side of her that she'd come closer to in these last years was just as baffled sometimes; it was the blood of the White Moon that sung to the crystal, and that same instinct that sometimes propelled her. So the discomfort she felt on a beautiful spring day was chalked up to just a mood swing, and not to the subtle pressings of the crytal on her mind. It was trying to tell her, trying to warn her in its unique, unobtrusive way that she was about to get slammed by Destiny, and she WASN'T going to like it. She didn't know how to listen, and so couldn't. Which is why awakening from the dream sprang upon her unwary mind was both pleasing and painful. Pleasing because it brought her back to reality, away from what she'd seen--painful because she knew what she had to do. It started when she'd returned home from work. The boys, she knew, had gone out for the night; they were 21 to her 19, and occasionally enjoyed a Friday night plastering. She, on the other hand, had a headache, and didn't care for drinking anyways. she humorously reminded herself. she thought with a near out loud sigh. her mind quickly stepped in. The thought caught her so briskly, so swiftly, that she nearly stumbled, and her slim hand touched her forehead. To her surprise, it was slightly warm, and with that, she decided that going to bed was the best possible thing for her to do. Before, though, she stopped in front of her picture of Tuxedo Mask. The boys had never asked, and she'd never said, appreciatingly their rein on their curiosity. she thought to herself as she ran a finger over the shockingly clean glass. she thought. Her eyes knew every precise detail, even if it was a little blurred; Tux in his tux, top hat, opaque mask, rose in his hand. Instinctively, she hugged it to her chest, the glass cold through her blouse. Setting it down, she ran her finger over it once more. she thought sadly as she walked into her bedroom, letting her hair down. she quickly amended as she began to slip out of her clothes. As a gag, she and the guys had rented it one Saturday, months before. None of them knew that three girls who'd once been her best friends, her Senshi, had been extras in the movie. And that one named Mina had a rather large cameo. She showed up as a model walking down a runway, walk perfect, mood perfect, hair swinging just right, stopping to give the "V for Victory!" sign to the camera. Serena had nearly died right there. She couldn't bring herself to tell the guys, but Zach had approached her later after checking out the credits. And Jade had pried a confession of out her as well. Yet Nathan and Kevin...she couldn't tell them. Confront them with their beauties and say she wouldn't go back? They'd fight it, but they'd always stay with here. They were her Generals now, her Guardians, and they weren't going to leave her for anything but death. Kevin had told her that. She sighed, mentally and physically, as she rummaged through the drawers to find something comfortable for bed. It felt warm in the room, so she chose something thin and got herself a glass of water before letting her hair down. It was what she did every night before she went to bed, to relax before her head hit the pillow. This night she stared at the moon, the white, large moon, not completely full, that hung outside her small window. And she addressed it. "I miss them all," she whispered as her fingers skillfully undid the bindings of hair upon hair. "Even Raye. I miss them like CRAZY! but there's nothing I can do. I can't go back." She took a breath, but it sounded like a choked sob, and she cringed. "Even him. Oh, I miss him the most. Why can't I stop...loving him?" "But I can't stop loving him...ever. I wish I could see him...just once. My love, my Darien...but I can't go back. I'm dead to them, I have a new life here, and I'm happy." Her voice turned low and fragile, and one more whisper escaped her lips before her hair fell completely free. "I miss them so MUCH..." Then she leaned back, head hitting the pillow as she smoothly covered herself with the lumpy quilt. And fell into a deep, deep, sleep... /"NONONONO DON'T HURT HIM!"/ /What...what was...she was somewhere, somewhere dark, and it seemed like her eyes were glued to a television set as sound and picture blared at her from them....no escape, no escape...can't escape../ /All she could do was watch./ /Venus...Mercury...Jupiter?..yes, Lita it had to be! and Mars...all four Senshi, her friends...and all terrified, skin liked bleached cotten, eyes so wide and bright and teared it killed...it swooped down on her soul and wrenched it../ /Green eyes, glittering emerald gems set into feminine skulls...two different women, same emerald eyes, same laugh...terrifying laugh on their lips.../ /oh no...Darien? Not Darien! No, 'twas Tux, only it wasn't Tux...he had no hat, and no jacket, but the mask was there...as the whip savagely curled in the air and flicked downwards, snapping in unison with his cry of pain...pain!/ /blond hair...clear, no NOT clear blue eyes! Jade it was, but his eyes were so...clouded, so painful...to Kunz, to Kevin, the strong one, whose face was so contorted and eyes so weak with pain...with anguish...that she nearly burst into tears/ /Tried anyway, but couldn't.../ /What..it seemed like she'd just seen the last frame of a...something...the word was gone...as a woman's green hair whipped around, thin strands of green laced with purple...purple eyes?/ /Not Darien again! No, Tux, completely together, but maskless...face such a rage, so much anger and..HATRED? LOATHING? that she nearly lost her breath gazing at him...a few fine aqua hairs flirted with the edge of the picture, and strong, gloved hands teased Tux in the frames, eluding his guard...but no face...only Darien's hate.../ /The pictures vanished, and she was in the dark, totally in the dark, and alone...always alone...until the faint stirring of speaker beside her caused her to lean closer and listen to someone speak what sounded like their last, dying words.../ /"I love you, Serena."/ She leaped upwards from her bed, screaming her heart out, tears running down her cheeks. Immediately she fell back downwards; the room was ice cold, so much that there was no condensation on her glass. She sobbed into her pillow and her long, blond hair for a few minutes, utter anguish over the tormented pictures she'd seen, her soul heaving the sorrow up like emotional puke. Her sobbing cut off abruptly, and she rose slowly from her bed. Again the white moon was in view, though not quite as much as before--the world had turned as she slept. She wiped her eyes of some of the tears, and then, with soft, harsh spoken words that had to be peeled away from her throat, she whispered, "Home."