hi, folks here's my intial first scene. I have tried to copy amanda's format she used for the text arrangement of distant... a scene in the present that sort of sets up the events in the past. *** It was a day that should have been filled with happiness, with joy on my part. We stood together on top of a building with our disguises removed, as who we really were, and not as the shells we had been. A ray of sunlight pierced the gray clouds off to the west, offering the rest of the people of Tokyo a tiny fraction of the hope that was now in my heart. For them, the ordinary people, all they could wish for was an end to the unseasonal cold and a return to clear skies and warmth. For me, I now had allies... no, not just allies, they were closer than that. Friends, confidantes... ones who knew the truths I could tell no other. Neptune, her firm resolve seemingly hidden behind the cool exterior that she held in front of the more caring side. I had seen her in battle recently and in the past, and knew the truth. There was steel deep inside of her, deep under the surface, something that her refined and gentle look did not hint at. Blue eyes, a blue that matched the patch of sky visible to the west through the rift in the clouds carefully watched me, measuring both me and my words. Uranus, hiding her strengths behind her wall of cool disdain, still reluctant to trust so quickly despite knowing the truth. Her eyes, in the dark green of a troubled sea, told me of her reluctance to believe me, the newcomer. She was the one I only remembered from long ago, not having seen her in battle in this time but still I trusted her, even if she did not trust herself. One, an unstoppable force, like a wind howling unchecked across a thousand miles of open plains. The other, like the oceans themselves, powerful and implacable in her resolve. Together they would go to beard the lion in his den while I prowled unseen in the night, looking for clues on my own. It was enough of a truth to make them trust me. In time, they would come to believe what I had said. This truly was the only way it could be, and there was no other. Later, long after they had left, the patch of sunlight had worked its' way over to me. It should have been a happy day with reasons for me to rejoice. I should have been happy, joyful. The Garnet Rod slipped from my grasp, landing with a ringing clang. I tried, but I was unable to keep myself from slumping to the ground as the tears came, the first time I had cried since I was small enough to have been easily picked up by my mother. Many long years of frustration finally came out as I wept and hugged myself in a vain attempt to try and stop it, to hold it all in. They knew of our common past. They accepted me as one of them, accepted me for who I was. They were more than just allies or even friends. They were my sisters, each of us bound together by common cause and ancient oaths. And I sent them to die.