Last Beautiful Girl

Dawn broke over the treescape that formed the forest-planet Kashyyyk. A million shades of green woke from their night-darkened slumber into red stroked silhouettes of themselves. The colors would move from the dawn-enhanced green to their normal shades as the day progressed, but for now, there was nothing that wasn't touched by the breaking dawn.

Mori Hoshi, Star-forest, stood on the highest tree she could find, forcing her head through the topmost layer of leaves and vines to stare at the sky that dawn was pressing itself upon. She had been there since the middle of the night. What sleep she had been able to wrest from the hands of fate was stolen from her in the shifts of the planet. The Darkness was coming. She didn't need Yuki's strong Force-sense to tell that; her own planet cried at the discordant harmonies of the Dark Side.

So she perched there on the tree. Most of her lithe body was above the leaves, save the high tree she clung to. One hand wrapped around a vine-caressed branch while the other shielded her eyes from the brightness of Kashyyyk's single sun. Mori's long blonde hair tossed about her body, not getting tangled in the boughs of the tree by some miracle.

As the colors of the sky resolved into the blue that they normally were, Mori could sense more than see the ships hanging above her. So. They had come. Just like she knew they would.

The Empire's Star Destroyers hung around her guardian planet like birds-of-prey, ready for the kill. Beyond them, there were the ships of the Trandosians. Hunters who prided themselves on catching and killing Wookies, Mori had never been able to stand them. They inspired instant distrust inside of her soul, because she was Sailor Kashyyyk before she was Senshi of Trust and Loyalty. Just thinking about them made her shudder.

At least she had gotten Suerte to safety. A smile drifted across Mori's features, making her green eyes turn sadder. Suerte, her precious little sister, was her main fear. Mori knew that her planet would come under attack and that she might not survive. Whatever happened. She wanted her little sister to be safe. Sweet Suerte. She didn't even know that her big sister was Sailor Kashyyyk, Suerte's favorite senshi. Even now, Mori missed the little spark of life that Suerte brought. But Suerte was lucky. She was on Bakura, under the care of Princess Annika, who promised to feed her and play with her and teach her stuff and dress her up...!

Mori was thankful for Annika. Even with all the troubles that the Senshi of Love had, she was still willing to help out a friend.

The wind picked up around her, tussling her hair even more. Mori gathered her long locks in her free hand, drawing them out of her face. She had thought about cutting her hair when she first found out about her duties as a senshi. She hadn't, though. The thick blonde tresses that fell down to her knees were too beautiful for her to give up easily. She'd thought about it again when Nick dropped out of her life so suddenly. She had heard that the entire Bespin Boys band had been kidnapped by the government of a small planet in order to take over the universe, but that was from Chouko and probably not very accurate.

The sun was up and tired of playing its color game, letting the greens be green instead of trying to connive them to be a shade of red. A deeper blue than usual reigned over the vast portions of the sky not completely dominated by the sun and vibrant flowers opened themselves to it.

Mori smiled again at the planet that was a part of her. It was so beautiful... she hoped she served it well in the coming Darkness. Priire had offered to stand with her against the tide, but that senshi had her own troubles. A son suddenly three times as old as he was supposed to be, his girlfriend, and trying to keep tabs on all of the senshi. She was one of the best qualified for that, as her "spy network" was still up and running.

The brought to mind another friend. More than a friend, Mori had to smile. Tashita was her very best friend. While the blonde loved all people and was friends with most of them, Tashita was closer to her than anyone else. The beautiful brunette was so easy for Mori to talk to.

The sun began to force itself on the leaves near her, making the blanket of dew steam off. Mori put her hand out, feeling it get moist with the rising steam. It was like tears, only flowing upwards. Mori got the hint. Especially since a gray dot had made itself known in the sky above her. Ducking under the canopy, she began to head back towards the tree city that housed her. There was going to be a great battle today, she could feel it in her bones. Kashyyyk, the planet, knew it as well. Reaching up from the ground far below her, around from the trees about her, and down from the sky above her, the planet offered itself to its senshi.

Mori could feel the planet around her and through her. Standing straight up, she clasped her hands around the top jewel of her henshin stick and softly spoke the phrase that transformed her from Mori Hoshi to Sailor Kashyyyk. The woman was enveloped in an embrace of darkly colored emeralds and leaves. The gold hearts that appeared on her Sailor suit shot beams of light through the other flying objects, calling the power of the planet to her. The transforming female looked straight up, her eyes closed and her mouth slightly open. Around her neck wrapped the bit of ribbon, secured with another gold heart.

The hearts were still gleaming as she looked down, her heart beating quickly with the adrenaline that coursed through her veins. Sailor Kashyyyk shivered as the cold wind blew her long hair around her body. The single layer, pleated purple miniskirt wasn't the warmest thing ever. The purple-topped white gloves the reached to her elbows helped some against the sudden wind, but not much. Kashyyyk didn't care. She'd do whatever she needed to for her planet... even die.

Moans from the trees that some would accredit to the wind made the Sailor Senshi shake right down to her purple shoes. There was evil running through the forests. The planet was conjuring up images of ghosts and spirits from long ago tales to warn the senshi. She understood.

Again clasping the henshin stick to her bow-decorated chest, Sailor Kashyyyk spoke another phrase. This time, purple flames formed a circle around her, crawling up her body. The moving fire defined her figure, from her bows to her pleated skirt to the shoes on her feet. After she was covered completely, the flames began their work of modifying her outfit. The pleated skirt lengthened and doubled, merging the pleats into a rippling skirt. The trailing ends of the bow on her back became longer, reaching down past the end of her hair. Gold hearts gleamed, not as beams of light, but as golden presence. On her forehead, the tiara was taken away by the purple flame and replaced by the circled leaf-in-heart symbol of Kashyyyk.

As the flames set her down and left her exhilarated, the henshin stick in her hands lengthened, becoming a staff. Star Sailor Kashyyyk straightened the dark purple collar over her shoulders and put her fingers to the heart-graced light purple ribbon around her neck. It was hard for her to stop straightening the light purple over dark purple double skirt and the dark purple bows that she wore. The Darkness was no longer coming, no longer a future thing that they had to hold back.

The Darkness was here.

And there was one last beautiful soldier of Light to hold it back on this planet.

One last beautiful girl...