Sidestory:
Love's Awakening
by Legend
The door slammed shut with a heavy thud and the sound of two heavy boots clunking on the wood floors could be heard echoing through the hallway. A short girl, whose chocolate brown hair had purple streaks, walked through the hall towards the main room right in front of her.
"Lalasa?" she asked. She had a sweet, soft little voice that most would consider rather timid if they knew nothing about her. Maya Jilal was anything but shy, though. She was introverted, yes -- but not timid. There was no answer, but this didn't deter her any. She dropped her white backpack on the ground, letting it fall on the blue dragon decorating the front, and continued her walk into the main room.
She was by no means an impressive figure. No, she was more odd than anything else. Her hair was pulled up on top of her head with tufts sticking out on either side, and she had one green and one blue eye. This, of course, was only the beginning. Her boots weren't normal either; they were tall, to her knees, and one had a thin silver chain on it that hooked to a strap around her thigh. This day she wore jean shorts that came to just above that strap, and a white peasant blouse with a pair of piloting goggles that sat over its collar.
She finally entered the room and just off to the side a bit there stood a little girl, staring off into space. Maya sighed softly, a small smile met her thin lips as she moved towards the child, embracing her.
"There you are," she said gently, taking the small girl's long white blonde ponytails in her hands and gently re-tying a few of the delicate pink ribbons that decorated them. "I take it you've had a nice day?"
There was still no response, and the girl's vacant stare was enough to convince Maya that there was little point in furthering her attempts. She guided her to a chair by the window, which she knew the little girl loved to sit by, and raised her voice, shouting, "Mother I'm home! I've got Lalasa here with me, so you can keep cleaning."
She knew that was what her mother would be doing. The woman was obsessive about some things. The small Hindu slid open the door to the backyard then -- having no word back from her mother and not expecting any -- and stepped out, heading straight for the small pond in the yard. The pond was the only distraction from the bright green grass, which seemed to take over the entire lawn. There were no flowers there, or any trees, just grass.
"Hello, Jason," she said, kneeling down by the pond to scratch the furry brown creature on the top of his head. "Have fun while I was gone?"
The creature seemed to smile at her, it's duck-like bill turning up minutely. "Yeh, mate," he drawled in that heavy Australian accent of his, "Lots of fun. Look, luv, there's somethin' Ah've been meanin' t'tell yah . . ."
Maya's tiny brow furrowed in confusion. Something more? Hadn't he told her enough? In the past few years, she'd been informed that she was the reincarnation of the Greek goddess Psyche, and now a sort of soldier brought back to protect the earth from the evil Romanus senshi. She'd been informed that she had the ability to manipulate the minds of her opponents, and she had met a few others in a similar predicament to herself. Normal people living their lives who were suddenly told that they were also the reincarnations of Greek gods, and had to protect the earth.
"What is it, Jase?" she asked. Jason had become, over these years, her closest friend and confidante, not to mention a joy for her when she was feeling down. She didn't like the fact that he seemed to be unsure whether or not it was safe for him to tell her what he seemed about to say.
"Well you see, Maya-luv," he started uncertainly, looking around a bit, presumably to make sure no one else was watching. "Your sister was out here this afternoon -- she was drawin' and all -- and it suddenly hit me.� Jason paused. �Maya, she's a senshi."
If he had just told her there was a Romanus with a huge gun standing over her shoulder he could not have scared her more than he had by saying those few words. She managed to squeak out a laugh, shaking her head. "Jase, that's not something to joke about," she warned him softly, but he shook his head vehemently.
"I'm not joking, Maya, she really is. I didn't notice it before because you're always out here with her, and I always figured it was just you, mate, but -- she's a Senshi too."
Maya's eyes flickered fiercely, and she bit her lip hard, trying not to snap at Jason. It wasn't his fault. Maybe he was mistaken. He had to be mistaken. Lalasa couldn't be a Senshi; she just couldn't. She was only a little girl, only a baby... and she was autistic to boot.
"Jason," she protested, "She's just a baby, she can't be a Senshi. Maybe you were just catching Maya vibes off her or something. We do spend a lot of time together."
The platypus shook his head again. "No, Maya, Lalasa is definitely a Senshi." For now he was going to leave it at that. He wasn't about to tell her what the little girl was the Senshi of. It was enough just getting her to handle the truth that she was also a soldier for peace.
"NO!" Maya shouted. "She can't be! She's only seven! She's just a little girl, and half the time the lights aren't all on! How's she supposed to help defend the earth when she can hardly keep her mind �on- earth?"
Jason would have winced, had his duckbilled face been able to form that sort of expression. It wasn't, but he was pretty sure the idea came across just fine. He could see tears in his little Maya's eyes, and sighed heavily.
"I know this is hard for you, luv," he said gently. He cared for Maya. Felt like she was the little sister he never had. She was a good kid, and she tried hard. He hated having to be the one to tell her, but she had to know. They needed all the help they could get, and this particular Senshi was likely to be a very useful one.
Maya sniffled, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "She... she can't be," Maya whimpered, staring at the ground. "I can't let her. She'll get hurt. She's too young."
Jason sighed again. "Maya, luv, will you at least try it? Let her come here and say the phrase and everything? If it doesn't work... well, then you'll know I was wrong." Of course, he wasn't wrong, but maybe if she had proof she'd be a bit better able to accept the truth.
"All right," she conceded, wiping away the rest of her tears. She stood up slowly and walked solemnly back into the house, for all the world seeming as though she had just lost her best friend. Jason watched her disappear into the house, and stared at his pond for a moment. Why did things always have to be so complicated? Why couldn't he have been reborn into someone else's body? Why Maya's sister? Maya was so overprotective of that girl. Every patrol would be a battle between them, and he knew it.
And why this particular god? Why couldn't it have been one of the less key players? No, instead it had to be one that would be too useful for him to let her go unnoticed. Poor Maya.
The girl emerged from the house a few minutes later with her little sister in tow, and Jason was surprised to notice that Maya had managed to get her to concentrate on the real world again for a while. Lalasa was animated, her big blue eyes bright and sparkling happily as she recounted to her sister the ballet she had watched on PBS earlier that day.
Maya smiled, motioning for the little blonde to sit down. "Go on," she said to Jason, her eyes daring him to be right, a fierce, protective aura to her stance, "Tell her."
Lalasa gave her sister a puzzled look, but that quickly changed to childish delight as Jason began.
"Lalasa," he drawled softly, and the little girl's eyes widened happily, "He can talk!" she cried out, scooping him up into her arms. "Maya, Jason can talk!"
Maya nodded, smiling gently. "Yes, Lalasa," she said quietly, "Jason can talk. Now please listen to what he has to say."
The girl turned from her sister back to the platypus, her eyes still sparkling merrily. "Okay!" she cried, watching him carefully. He supposed she wanted to see if his bill moved when he spoke or something.
"Lalasa, you are a very special little girl," he began again. He could see the delight in her eyes again, but ignored it. "You're the reincarnation of the Greek God Eros."
He -knew- she understood reincarnation. Being a Hindu, that was a part of their beliefs. He also knew that Maya was familiar with Greek myths enough to know who Eros was. The older girl's mouth dropped open in shock, her eyes wide as saucers, her lips moving, but not a sound issuing forth.
Of course it would be a shock. It was a given. She knew that Eros had been Psyche's beloved husband. She knew that her sister was the reincarnation of her own reincarnate self's lover. Who -wouldn't- be surprised to find out that they had been married to their own sister in a past life?
Lalasa squealed in delight. "That sounds important!" she cried. Maya nodded, still in shock from the discovery.
"Yes, Lalasa," she barely managed to squeak out. "It's very important.� She paused. �You're a Senshi. You -- you're supposed to help me and the rest of the Graikos save the world."
The girl bounced happily, her blonde pigtails bobbing as she did so. "Fun!" she cried, "I wanna save the world!"
Maya sighed heavily, giving Jason what was probably the most hurt and betrayed look he could imagine, and motioned to him. "Tell her what to do. Show her the fuku... but she's not patrolling without me and the others. Not even with just me. I don't want to risk her at all."
Jason decided it was really best not to protest, and produced a necklace with an obsidian, arrow-shaped charm from nowhere. "Here," he said, sticking his bill, which held the necklace, over Lalasa's hand in hopes that she would grab it. "You take this, then you say, 'Eros Deus Power, Make up!' and then... well, you'll know what to do."
The little girl took the necklace from him gently, still flushed with excitement, and held it up like the Holy Grail. "Eros Deus Power... What was it again?" she whispered hastily.
"Make up," Jason whispered back.
"Make up!" she finished triumphantly. The girl then lifted her hand to her mouth, blowing her sister a kiss, which turned into a heart shape that came and wrapped around her. Slowly the magenta heart melded to her little body, until finally its job was finished and it flew off of her and out, disappearing. She stood there before them in an outfit that made her sister groan.
"It's so... "
Lalasa giggled, "Pretty!" she supplied, twirling around. She wore now a magenta skirt, a dark magenta coat, and white tights with magenta buckle shoes. Her long blonde hair was no longer in the ponytails she almost always kept it in, but fell down to her waist with only a cotton padded magenta headband to keep it back out of her eyes.
Maya shook her head. "Not exactly the word I was looking for, but it'll do." She put a hand on her sister's shoulder, bending down to look the little girl in the eyes. "Lalasa, you need to understand that under no circumstances are you to tell -anyone- about Jason being able to talk. Or about you being a Senshi. And you most certainly are not allowed to use your transformation without my permission."
The little girl pouted a bit, but nodded. "Oh, all right," she said, still sulking. "But... you'll let me do it lots, right? I -like- it!"
Maya sighed, nodding, "Sure, we'll do it sometimes... and eventually I'll show you my fuku. But for now... you need to de-transform. Just imagine yourself the way you used to be."
The girl closed her eyes tightly, and, as Maya watched, she became rather hazy. Then the fuku was gone and she was back in the light pink sari her mother had put her in, with the two pigtails in her hair once again. Maya shuffled the girl back into the house -- after reminding her again about the restrictions on her newfound abilities � and then turned back to Jason. "She's the Senshi of Love, right?" she asked. Jason shook his furry brown head. "Lust," he corrected her, "She's the Senshi of Lust."