Yūgen (幽玄) – (n) "means to have a deep awareness of the universe around you, which triggers an emotional response too deep and powerful for words ".

It is an important concept in traditional Japanese aesthetics. The exact translation of the word depends on the context. In the Chinese philosophical texts the term was taken from, yūgen meant "dim", "deep" or "mysterious". It can mean to be aware of your small placement in this vast mysterious world, or to have an inkling of how full of potential and life this universe is that you can never fully grasp, the transcendence and dark beauty in it, the way the world is at once eternal and ephermal, fleeting.

Disclaimer: Yeah. I don't own Sailor Moon. Or any of those other pop culture references I frequently make. Sadly.

This story is a sequel to my first story "Ikigai" – I guess you could read it as a Canon Divergence S&Stars AU fic all on its own, but if you get confused, you know where to look for the first one ;)

oOo

AN: There we go guys… I said I'd come back with a sequel in around ninety days. Well, it's been 54 days and here we are, with the Prologue and First chapter of Yugen, the sequel to Ikigai.

SO…

I know lots of you guys have been hoping I'd let them find the Outers (i.e. let the Outers find themselves) in much the same way as I did with Ikigai.

Ikigai was about finding themselves, choosing this life, instead of being forced into it. That story is finished. I won't be doing the same with the Outers, I'm very sorry. I did that only with the Inners particularly because in canon 90s this already happened with at least Haruka and Michiru (AMAZING AMAZING Episode 17, Sailor Moon S, anyone? If that's not about figuring this shit out together and making a conscious, life-changing decision about this all on their own, I don't know what is! And I wouldn't change a thing about it. This is how they happened.) – they DID awake on their own, choose this life and destiny, and in my head this also would have happened here, so I had no need to twist this up. Canon already gave those two free choice, and working this shit out on their own, and it was beautiful, and I'm good with that. Those two didn't need Ikigai, the Inners did.

Yugen is a new storyline now, set after the origin story of sorts that was Ikigai – they have all found themselves, now they go out into this baffling, endless world that is our universe.

I'm gonna let you dive right in, and talk to you again soon in a different note ;)

L

Prologue

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"Look, Usagi-chan, snow!"

Usagi blinked and looked up from her task – weaving reddish pink streaks of hair into pigtailed buns – and out the window. She blinked. She was right, it was snowing. In November already? Usagi frowned. She was slightly alarmed, thinking maybe some of Kaguya's Snow Dancers had resurfaced, but shook her head, clearing it. Impossible.

Also, the little bundle of energy whose pink hair Usagi was currently putting up (in heartshaped buns this time. Sometimes she made them cone-shaped, too, she could never quite decide on one.) was far too excited and infectious in her joy to be thinking of any gloomy thoughts right now.

She was practically bouncing on the chair of Usagi's vanity, large almond shaped red eyes beaming with so more happiness and excitement than Usagi had ever seen on the child's face. It made her throat constrict a bit, after all, the poor thing had seen and witnessed so much horror in her world.

Usagi twisted one last strand of hair around the second bun and fastened it with bobby pins. The little heart shaped buns looking so ridiculously cute on the girl that Usagi couldn't help but beam with pride at her handiwork, and then proceeded to put little bows in them for good measure that matched the black bows on her dress. "There you go, all done," Usagi said proudly.

Bright red eyes beamed into the mirror and she hopped from the chair, giving a little twirl in her adorable little yellow dress that Ikuko had bought for her the other day. It had cute puff sleeves and three horizontal black stripes on it that were decorated with bows, and in her black tights that she wore with it, she looked like a doll. A very excited doll.

"All ready?" Usagi asked.

She received a big happy nod, and Usagi had to chuckle. She grabbed her purse and together they made their way downstairs and into matching red shoes, the both of them, and thick coats to keep them warm in what looked like it might become a snow storm.

Ikuko poked her head into the hallway, concerned. "Will you be alright in that weather? Do you have your mittens? Both of you?"

Both girls held up mittened hands for Ikuko to see who had to chuckle a bit. Ikuko did tell her time and time again how alike they sometimes were….

"We're fine, Ikuko-Mama!"

"But you have your phone?"

"Yes, Mama, don't worry."

And with that they were off, tiny hand clutching hers, bouncing happily through the snow. And for a moment, it really did feel as if this was her little sister whom she was bringing to see her favorite idol, who promised Usagi that he was going to sing a song just for her little sister.

She exclaimed happily when she saw that the parked cars already had a film of snow on their windshields, and slipped her hand out of Usagi's to bounce up to the nearest car and drew a big smiley face in the snow, standing on her very tippy toes.

And from behind as well, the little odangoed child could pass as her sister so easily… They put up her hair like that on purpose, of course, she was passing for a Tsukino child after all, and nobody in her family had red eyes and pink hair, so they had to make her look as similar to Usagi as possible, to hide her from the people that were after her, and also, to just make no one question who she was, of course.

They couldn't very well tell the truth about her, after all; that she fell from the sky one day, this quixotic and unworldly child, traumatized from a war she had witnessed in her world, with no idea who she was, not even her own name.

Usagi had felt an instant connection to this child, deeply. There had been no question on whom would take her in, and Ikuko had immediately suggested that they hide and protect her as Usagi's sister, in their home, Ikuko's heart going out to the small kid right alongside Usagi's.

Usagi had given her the nickname 'Chibi-Kijo' – Small Lady – because it had felt right to her, and the child felt so important, so royal somehow.

And Chibi-Kijo had an idol. Which just happened to be Seiya. So, after the disaster last time, when she'd brought the girl to a Three Lights concert that just happened to get attacked and they had to scurry her away to safety before she could meet Seiya backstage, and afterwards, when they'd stopped talking to them….

But now, now they were finally on their way for her to meet Seiya, and Chibi-Kijo was so, so happy.

They got there fairly quickly, to that little studio loft apartment meets practice room that somehow always felt so very unfitting for the idols that they were in Usagi's opinion. Usagi had barely pushed the bell button before they were buzzed in and walked up the flight of stairs to their loft.

And where Chibi-Kijo had practically bounced all the way here, she was suddenly very shy going up, as children sometimes were, and practically hid behind Usagi.

"Oi, Odango." Seiya appeared in his doorway, tone as flirty as always, and Usagi rolled her eyes, yet skipped a beat as she always did when Seiya addressed her in exactly the same way that Mamoru used to do. "So where's your little sister?" He winked, obviously seeing the pink haired head protruding behind Usagi's coat.

Usagi stopped in front of Seiya, smiling gratefully, and tapped her mittens against her coat repeatedly to beat the snow off of it before they entered, while trying to hip-check Chibi-Kijo to come forward. "C'mooon," she said. "Don't be shy now, you were so excited! Be polite and say hello!"

Tiny feet scuffled forward, face flushed crimson, and Chibi-Kijo managed a meek and high-pitched, very shy, "Hello."

Seiya was about to be his always charming self, Usagi could see that in his playful smile, but for whatever reason, Seiya froze when he looked at the girl, and drew a shaky breath.

"Odango…" he said, eyes not straying from Chibi-Kijo, his voice laced with some strange emotion Usagi couldn't place. "This isn't really your sister, is it?"

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More of a teaser, really, I know ;)

But let me know what you think!

Chapter 1 is coming right up