Reading Time: 122 Minutes

Title: Moonlight Destiny
Author: Lalaith Quetzalli
Fandom: Sailor Moon, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: Angst, Drama, Established Relationship, Het, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Relationship(s): Usagi Tsukino/Mamoru Chiba, Naru Osaka/Kunzite, other minor pairings.
Content Rating: R
Warnings: Past Major Character Death, Referenced/Implied Past Rape/Non-Con, Violence-Domestic (Implied), Violence-Against Children (Implied), Past Minor Character Death, Reincarnation, Implied Suicide, Violence-Canon Level.
Author Note: This fic is centered on the PGSM show (the live-action version of Sailor Moon), though it can be read without having watched that. Disclaimer: I swear by the Moon I don’t own Sailor Moon, in any of its versions. I just own this idea…I think, in any case I haven’t seen it done before. Hope you like it. Please see further notes about what you really need to know of that, and the liberties I’ve taken with canon in the story master post.
Glossary & Translations: See story master post.
Beta: Junos Cauldron
Word Count: 93,378
Summary: Being Sailor Moon isn’t easy, that should be obvious; being a warrior, being alone even while surrounded by people, is never easy. But what if she weren’t, alone? What if she had her soulmate by her side? How different would her life be then?
Artist: Silver Dragonfly

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Moonlight Destiny

Destiny is a very capricious mistress, one moment she brings war, the next she chooses to delay it; one instant she’s the cause of chaos and mayhem and the other of peace and joy; yet there is one sole thing Destiny can’t rule upon, one thing that comes whether she wishes for it or not: Love…

Being Sailor Moon isn’t easy, that should be obvious; being a warrior, being alone even while surrounded by people, is never easy. But what if she weren’t, alone? What if she had her soulmate by her side? How different would her life be then?

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Prologue.

It’s a dark night, illuminated almost solely by the golden sparks left over from her Moon-Twilight Flash attack, which she used to defeat the youma sent by Nephrite to attack the Moon Princess, who just revealed herself to them…Princess Sailor Venus…Right…

Are her senshi really foolish or is it because of their missing memories? In any case she cannot understand how it doesn’t seem odd to them that the princess of the moon uses the senshi name of Sailor Venus… Not very logical right? At least not to her, but to be fair, she does have an unfair advantage on them, or more than one: memories and power.

There ‘s a reason she’s referring to them as her senshi, and it isn’t the temporary-leadership she’s been given due to being the first senshi to awaken in this life; no, she knows perfectly well that there are two others with higher right to lead the senshi than her: Sailor Mars, and Sailor Venus. Which is why Venus just cannot be the princess.

Because the princess isn’t meant to be a senshi? Not really. It was known, back in the Silver Millennium, that it could happen. It was the Legend of Sailor Moon, a senshi who only appeared during the direst of circumstances, who hadn’t appeared in so long that even by the time of the Millennium few were left who remembered who exactly could take the mantle. She knew of course, it was both her favorite legend and part of her education.

Back during the Silver Millennium it seemed like a thing of the past; after all, there were all the Sailor Senshi of the Solar System, whatever would they need another senshi for, even one as powerful as the legends made Sailor Moon to be? She was always protected, there was no way she would ever have to fight.

And then the war came…and the Silver Millennium was destroyed.

At times she wonders how different things might be if she’d stepped up to the challenge back then, if she’d made the gamble and summoned the powers of Sailor Moon. Would she have been able to change the tide of war? Would she have been able to save her senshi, her sisters in all but blood? Would she have been able to save her soulmate? Or would she just have end up dying with them? Maybe even that would have been better…better than the catastrophe that she unwittingly unleashed after losing everyone and everything in that war…

On the other hand, if any of the past were to change, maybe she wouldn’t have the life she does now. True, it isn’t easy, and no matter what the past life may have been like she has to fight now; and yet it isn’t so bad, because she isn’t alone, she has the other senshi fighting alongside her, and she has him…

She’s the Moon Princess, the real one, Venus is really just a decoy. And yet she’s also more than that, she’s the pretty sailor-suited guardian, fighter for love and justice with the blessing of the Moon, Sailor Moon; and a human-girl, seventeen years old, studying first year of high-school, with a housewife mother, a photographer father, a younger brother, and a boyfriend who she knows is the love of her existence (after all, two lifetimes together show that not even death can keep them apart). Her name: Tsukino Usagi…

The two senshi with her: Mercury and Mars, turn around to face the ‘princess’, totally ignoring Sailor Moon; the currently-blonde girl knows they’re angry at her for what had happened in the previous battle, but how is she supposed to explain that Zoisite’s requiem (the powerful enchantment meant to target all princesses, especially their own) affected her so? As far as they’re concerned it shouldn’t have, as far as they’re concerned the princess is someone else. Usagi was actually lucky that her beloved’s connection to the Earth was enough to half-shield her, keeping the worst of the enemy’s intended attack from her, allowing her to arrive at the very end of the battle, vanquish the youma, and save everyone else.

But still they’re angry, especially Mars, which isn’t really anything new, the fire-blessed senshi always seems to get angry at Usagi about something: if it isn’t that she isn’t a good enough student, it’s her tardiness, or her laziness, or her insistence on the others accepting Tuxedo Kamen… or her relationship with Mamoru… if Usagi didn’t know better she would think the issue to be that Mars herself has a crush on her boyfriend, but Usagi does know better.

She knows the senshi don’t trust Tuxedo Kamen, and at least on this part she can’t really blame them, it’s not like he’s given them many reasons to trust him, they don’t know him like she does. And yet again she has an advantage there, she’s dating him after all. Though no one knows that, no one knows that the once-thief, sometimes-hero, mysterious-masked-man is really Chiba Mamoru, Usagi’s long-term boyfriend.

Mamoru himself the senshi distrust because they believe he keeps her from her senshi duties; and they don’t even know he knows already that she’s a senshi! They would blow a gasket if they knew. Which is exactly why Usagi hasn’t told them just yet. Oh she will, eventually, when the time is right. It’s not like she would ever hide anything from the man she loves; he has after all been honest with her about being Tuxedo Kamen, months before she first became Sailor Moon.

How easy things seemed back then…true, there was the issue of him wanting to find an ancient magical jewel in hopes of learning of his own past; and she those strange powers she couldn’t seem to understand or fully control. But they were together, and together they’re strong enough to fight anything and anyone.

Now…now there are actual enemies after them, and while she finds great delight in being able to fight alongside him, it hurts that the senshi refuse to acknowledge his help. And they underestimate her! They see her joyful attitude and immediately mistake her for a bubbly, careless, airhead, blonde… even though her hair is only that color when transformed in Sailor Moon. It’s frustrating.

She knows they only listen to her because she’s technically their leader (at least for now), that they only follow her because Luna said they should. And even that may not be enough one of these days, Usagi wouldn’t really be surprised if any day now Mars decided she ought to be leader instead; and while the fire-senshi was once the second in command, she isn’t ready just yet. Not that Usagi believes herself to be the right choice for a leader of the senshi, she knows she wasn’t, but that’s not because she isn’t actually capable, like so many people seem to believe, but simply because she doesn’t like it. She doesn’t like fighting, she’s a pacifist by Selene’s Grace!!! It’s so stressful…

And then, how’s she supposed to trust her senshi enough to reveal she’s their princess? When none of them trust her enough? Would they respect her out of duty? Or would they think Usagi a crazy girl and push her away for good? The reincarnated princess doesn’t know the answer to that, and it bothers her more than she dares admit to anyone other than her beloved…he’s the only one who understands her, who believes in her, trusts her…loves her…she doesn’t know what she would do without him.

“Master…Endymion…”

Zoisite’s last whispered words bring the senshi of the moon back to reality harshly. While deep in thought she was half aware of the sudden appearance of the man and his half-attempt at attacking the ‘princess’ from behind; Tuxedo Kamen arrived in the precise moment to step in between them. While Sailor Moon can see in his eyes he wants nothing more than to be by her side, they have to be careful of their actions while transformed, otherwise they would be giving away his identity. Still, she could have never expected those words to come out of the mouth of the Dark Shitennou. Does he remember? Does anyone else?

Moon can see Kamen’s eyes through the mask, Mamoru’s eyes, he’s deeply troubled by those words; for months now they’ve been dealing with the fact that his Shitennou, his comrades, men that were like his brothers just like the senshi were like her sisters, were lost forever to them, lost in Beryl’s web of dark-magic, lies and deceit. And now…now the candle of hope has been lit again, now they’re starting to believe that there might be a chance to get them back…Moon just hopes this belief to be true, and not something that will end up destroying them, but especially destroying her beloved. It was hard enough to deal after Jadeite attacked them the first time, and then Nephrite, even Zoisite did something that could have ended with her killed just a few days before…and yet, if there’s any hope, any hope at all…she’ll do anything that’s needed to give her beloved a part of his family back, anything.

Still, Zoisite dissolves into light before Moon, or Kamen or anyone else can do or say anything; the eyes of the two heroes meet and Moon can see the pain he’s trying very hard to keep hidden, she’s probably the only one he’ll allow to see it, the only one he trusts enough to allow himself to be vulnerable with. She needs to get away, from that place and from the senshi, as fast as she can, her beloved needs her, nothing else matters in that moment.

“…Moon!”

Her senshi name being called snaps her back into attention instantly, though she can guess by everyone’s looks that she’s been called several times.

“Yes, S…princess?” She barely manages to catch herself and lower her head the bare minimum to pass it as a bow.

“I thought we’d talked about this before.” The other blonde senshi admonishes her.

“Eh?” For a moment Moon honestly doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

“I’ve told you time and time again, to distance yourself from Tuxedo Kamen.” Venus speaks in a tone dripping heavily with condescension, with lack of trust and respect.

Usagi sighs internally, she’s like everyone else, stereotyping Usagi due to her happy attitude; she doesn’t even know her and has already decided she isn’t worthy of being Sailor Moon, and most likely of being Serenity either. Because for her to be acting as a decoy, she has to know the truth right? Venus has to know she isn’t really the princess, Moon is, and her duty is to protect the princess, even if that means pretending to be the princess herself. So there can be no doubt about Venus’s memories, but Usagi wonders if memories are enough, she thought maybe that was what the other senshi were missing before they could understand, could really trust her; but now Venus is proving that theory wrong, because she knows, she’s supposed to be able to understand yet she’s still just as blind…

“He’s to be treated as an enemy.”

Venus finished her lecture like Moon knew she would, just like she had when they first met; but this time Moon won’t allow herself to be blindsided, won’t allow Venus to have the last word; even if that means letting go of her facade, she’ll do what’s needed for the senshi leader to know there’s a limit to her authority where Moon is concerned.

“Why?”

No one is expecting that question, that much is obvious, especially not Venus. Mercury and Mars certainly look like they cannot believe Moon dares question the ‘princess’s’ orders, Artemis and Luna the same, but Moon won’t allow their disapproving looks to stop her this time, it’s not like it’s the first time, or will be the last time, they look at her that way. Usagi is tired of allowing them to step all over her. Just because she doesn’t particularly like exercising her authority doesn’t meant she doesn’t possess it, or knows how to use it.

“What do you mean why?” Venus’s voice is cold.

It’s obvious in her voice Venus wasn’t been prepared to deal with insubordination, she’s used to her orders being obeyed to the letter. Well, too bad.

Kamen, realizing the situation has turned very delicate, and yet refusing to leave his beloved alone goes to stand to the side and a step behind her, showing he considers her to have a certain authority over him, regarding their situation; he would have preferred to stand by her side, like he’s supposed to, but that would give too much away, too much neither of the two are willing to make known just yet.

“Moon!” Mars snaps at her. “You should simply obey the Princess’s orders!”

“Mars is right, it isn’t our place to question them, or her.” Mercury adds.

At the same moment that Kamen moved to her side, the two senshi aligned themselves with their ‘princess’, as did the cats. Usagi feels a pang inside at the moves that could be interpreted as a betrayal, but refuses to allow it to show.

“It’s not my desire to question anyone’s authority.” Moon is very careful when choosing her words, not wanting to let too much be known. “I just want to know the truth. The truth of why after he’s done so much to help us, to protect us, myself in particular, you still insist on seeing Tuxedo Kamen as an enemy! He’s anything but!”

“You should satisfy yourself by knowing I know better.” Venus tries to insist.

“No.” Moon refuses to take that. “That’s no reason at all. That’s an imposition of authority. Tuxedo Kamen doesn’t deserve to be treated so poorly without justification!”

“Sailor Moon!” Mercury, Mars and Luna cry out in shock at the moon senshi’s words.

“Who do you think you are to speak that way to the princess?!” Mars demands in a heated tone. “Apologize immediately.”

Mercury, on the other hand, notices something the others don’t seem to: Sailor Moon’s attitude, it is so serious, so focused, the senshi of water and wisdom has never seen her like that, not while being Sailor Moon, and most certainly not as Usagi, and yet right now it all looks so natural on her; she seems like a completely different person! Then there’s the situation with Tuxedo Kamen, while they all knew Moon holds the masked hero in high regard, to go as far as defying their princess to defend him, that’s something Mercury never expected. There’s something else going on, something beneath all their words and attitudes, she just doesn’t know what it is.

“I won’t.” Moon’s refusal makes the atmosphere even heavier. “I won’t apologize when I know I’m right; not until I’m given a reason, a valid reason, to believe that the man that has done nothing but help me for the last several months is our enemy.”

“U…Sailor Moon…” Kamen is beginning to fear where it’s all going, if they don’t wrap things up soon, secrets will end up being revealed too soon.

“It’s alright.” She whispers at him, without turning, she knows he’s worried, but it’s about time she stands up for herself, and for him. “I promise, everything will be alright.”

He can do nothing but believe her, and in her. He trusts her, with his life, and heart, and everything he is, he always will.

“He isn’t one of our allies.” Venus states after what seems like forever. “He wasn’t a part of the Moon Kingdom or the Silver Alliance.”

Moon could have grimaced, with her wording, what Venus just said is technically true, the Earth wasn’t part of the Silver Alliance, they were still in negotiations, part of the reason Serenity and Endymion met in the first place. Moon cannot turn those words against Venus without showing she knows way more than she should at this point in time.

“What does that matter?” She handles the situation the best way she can. “I mean I know we have a mission that began in our past lives, but does that mean we cannot accept any new allies? Any outside help? What kind of guardians are we if we cannot fight alongside those who desire the same thing we do”

Venus almost takes a step back, Moon catches her at it. Even if she managed to stop herself before anyone else did. Moon is coming dangerously close to the line, her replies becoming more and more complex and layered; too different from what anyone would have expected her to say just hours earlier. But she just cannot let it rest, for too long she’s had to hear Venus belittle her regard for Tuxedo Kamen, it ends tonight, one way or the other, she’ll make sure of that.

“He’s not any ally of ours.” Venus insists. “I know that much!”

“Why?” Moon replies. “What makes you so sure?”

“I just do.” Venus presses.

She’s running out of patience, and of ideas, both Kamen and Moon can see that, and it seems Artemis too, considering how he steps in.

“Sailor Moon.” He speaks formally. “As current leader of the Sailor Senshi it is your duty to follow the princess’s orders, which are to lead the senshi in the fight against the Dark Kingdom, protect the earth and distance yourself from Tuxedo Kamen.”

“No problem with the first and second, we were doing that already, but I refuse the third.” Sailor Moon declares stubbornly.

“Moon!” Mercury, Mars and Luna cry out.

Venus sighs, Moon can see she’s about to do something rash, something that could potentially alter the path of destiny they’re all on, and yet the reincarnated princess cannot bring herself to care, she’s made her choice already, and she’ll stand by it.

“I really didn’t want to do this.” Venus begins in a very solemn tone. “If you aren’t capable of following orders…”

A flash of light coming from Sailor Moon interrupts her speech.

They are all left gaping in astonishment, never having expected what she’s just done, because standing there now isn’t Sailor Moon, but Tsukino Usagi, in the same casual clothes she was wearing during her impromptu outing with Aino Minako. In her hands are her transformation locket, the Teletia S and the Moon Scepter, all which she promptly deposits at the ‘Moon Princess’s’ feet.

“You have no need to say anything at all.” She tells her softly yet solemnly. “I know I cannot be expected to lead the senshi when I refuse to follow your direct orders, but at the same time, I refuse to follow anyone else’s orders on that topic, something we all know would come.”

“Usagi…” Mercury is in shock.

“We all know this needs to be done, Mercury.” Usagi whispers. “Whether leadership is given to you, or Mars or Jupiter, you would still try to uphold the princess’s orders, and I would continue refusing them, we all know that. With this I’m just making it easier on everyone. After all, a princess can’t have a senshi being insubordinate, can she?”

This time Venus visible flinches, but thankfully very few notice that, Mercury and Mars still too shocked at the sudden developments.

Usagi is losing energy fast and she knows it, while her senshi attacks are mostly fueled by the energy in her transformation locket, the same cannot be said of her other powers, healing like she did not a week earlier, after Zoisite’s requiem affected practically every princess ‘real or imaginary’ in existence, was not an easy thing to recover from.

The senshi have never understood that she isn’t late and ‘lazy’ out of choice, she’s just tired, every time she has to heal someone after their energy is forcefully taken, it takes a lot out of her. The most recent situation being even more taxing than usual, and it was a miracle in itself she was even been capable of doing it when she herself was affected.

“Usagi-chan…” Luna moans, she cannot believe what her charge is doing.

“I’m sorry Luna.” Usagi kneels down to talk better to the feline. “It seems like you will have to go live with someone else.”

“Usagi…” Luna almost whines.

“I have to do this Luna.” Usagi whispers. “I know you don’t understand it right now, but some day you will.”

“So this is your final decision?” Venus questions.

“It is.” Usagi stands straight, not backing down from her choice.

Mars is just fuming, obviously too livid to say anything about the situation Usagi has just placed herself in.

“My mind’s made up, and nothing any of you does or says will change it.” Usagi declares.

“You, you would choose him, a total stranger, over your own comrades, your own princess?” Artemis cannot help but demand.

“I know it seems insane…” Usagi cannot help but smile sadly. “But this is my choice.”

“Usagi…”

She hears her name being called from behind and doesn’t need to turn to know what her beloved is doing, as his arm wounds around her waist, all the while holding onto the domino mask he’s just taken off his face, showing himself to her now-former comrades, giving them a reason for her rash actions.

“I’m choosing the man I love.” She whispers as she allows her weight to lay against his chest, she turns one last time to Venus. “Good luck, princess…”

Deciding this is the perfect moment for the meeting to end Tuxedo Kamen moves to cover the both of them with his cape, before jumping away with her.

 

Moonlight destiny
Itsu made mo dare yori mo soba ni itai no (Forever, more than anyone, I want to be with you)
Kono hiroi sora no shita de meguriaeta anata (Below this spacious sky above, you who I met by chance)

Chapter 1. For Duty and For Love

Chiba Mamoru, wearing everything except the mask that marks him as Tuxedo Kamen stops his rush when reaching a roof several miles away from where the most recent battle took place, barely a block away from his companion’s home. The moment both of her feet touch the ground Usagi sighs and steps out of her beloved’s arms, her intention being to step closer to the edge, from where she can watch the city in the direction they just came from and take a moment to ponder, and brood, over what she’s just done. However, her plan doesn’t work exactly the way she planned when before she manages to even give three steps she falters and nearly drops to the ground in a heap.

“Usako!” Kamen immediately envelopes her in his arms again, holding her whole weight.

“I’m alright.” She replies almost automatically.

“No, you’re not.” He refuses to believe her. “You don’t have to hide your vulnerabilities from me, you know? You were still much too weak after undoing all that damage caused by Zoisite, you shouldn’t have been in that battle today.”

“I know.” Usagi speaks, as an answer to his question and an agreement to his statement. “But you know what they would have said if I had missed another battle, especially after how late I was in getting to the last one.”

“It wasn’t your fault!” He insists. “It was Zoisite’s!”

“I know that, and you know that, but how were we supposed to explain that to the rest of them?” Usagi replies, tired. “The direct truth, that I was affected by that requiem because I am the true moon princess, wouldn’t have gone down very well with them.”

“It would have still been the truth.”

“Not one they wanted to hear. And you know, as well as I, that when someone doesn’t want to hear something, whether a lie or the truth, they just won’t hear it, no matter how many times it is said. They would have never believed me to be the princess…and even now…right now I just don’t know if they’ll ever be ready to accept the truth.”

“What about Venus? Is she acting as your decoy or does she truly believe she’s…well, you?”

“I’m not sure, but I believe she knows the truth. It would explain so much actually. Like why she keeps moving from place to place, why she refuses to work directly with us…and well, pretty everything else.”

“She’s taken her duty up a notch; acting not just as a decoy, but also as bait.”

“Exactly, I don’t like it. I never liked the fact that she had to take my place when it was believed I might be in danger. And now…now she doesn’t even have the others to know the truth and support her.”

“There you go again, always worrying about others. What about yourself? They aren’t there for you either.”

“But I still have you, and that’s enough. She has no one except Artemis, and while I’m sure he does his best, it’s just not the same; you’re not my advisor, not even just my friend, you’re my soulmate, the love of my existence, and with you by my side I need no one else.”

“Even then, you cannot hide the truth from me, precisely because we are soulmates I know the truth. You still wish you could have everyone, that you all could be together again, like the almost-sisters you were once.”

“I know. But I also know I can live without them, in the same way I cannot live without you.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll never have to.”

“You know,” she suddenly seems to remember something. “You didn’t have to reveal your civilian identity to them. Now they’ll harass you even more.”

“It was the right thing to do, it was my duty, and my pleasure, to be there to support you, it’ll always be, in any shape and form.” He smiles as he holds her tightly. “And about the harassing, I think it would have happened sooner or later. Especially if Venus has all her memories, and she does seem to, considering the insistence she has on keeping us apart…anyway, if she has her memories she must have her gifts, which would have allowed her to discover my civilian identity sooner rather than later, I just saved her the trouble.”

Usagi sighed, she knows he’s right, yet that doesn’t stop her from wishing it weren’t so.

“She does seem to be adamant on separating us, doesn’t she?” She sighs as she turns her head to the side, hiding her face in his cape. “Guess I can’t blame her for wanting this world to remain as it is and not be destroyed but still…some faith in me, in us, would be appreciated.”

“She just doesn’t know us.” He reminds her.

“I guess none of them do, not really.” She admits. “I haven’t given them the chance…”

“Do you really think it would have made a difference?” He has his doubts.

“I honestly don’t know. As hard-headed as Mars and Venus can be at times, I can’t fully blame them for taking that attitude, after all, as far as they’re concerned I’m nothing but a naive, happy-go-lucky, careless little girl.”

“You’re nothing of the sort, my love.”

“You know that, and I know that… but they don’t.”

“It was necessary, for your own safety, and theirs…” He kisses her hair. “One day they’ll see the truth, one day they’ll see us and realize everything you’ve done, everything you’ve sacrificed for them, and for this planet. One day they’ll understand… and then you’ll get them back.” Still holding her in his arms, he spins her around to face him. “Until then, I’ll always be with you.”

“And afterwards, never forget that.” She reminds him with a soft smile. “No matter what happens, I’ll always want you by my side.”

“Just how it’s supposed to be, my love.”

“We’ll fight, live and love, together, always together…” She declares passionately.

“We won’t repeat the same mistakes of the past…” They both speak together.

“This time we’ll truly defeat Metalia and the Dark Kingdom…” He adds.

“And this time…we swear the world won’t be destroyed.” They finish once again in unison.

xXx

Mercury, Mars, Venus, Luna and Artemis are left frozen in shock for a while after Tuxedo Kamen and Usagi depart. They stay there long enough for Jupiter to arrive, henshined already and surprised when she sees the battle is over and yet no one seems to be moving.

“What…exactly just happened?” Artemis finally voices the question in all of their minds.

“Was that…?” Mars is also shocked for another reason.

“Yes.” Mercury nods, knowing what’s in her comrade’s mind.

“What are you talking about?” Artemis asks turning to those two.

“That was Chiba Mamoru, he’s a pre-med student in college, and also Usagi’s boyfriend.” Mercury elaborates.

“Gals?” Jupiter calls approaching them. “What’s going on? Where’s Moon?”

She’s especially concerned since she can see the three objects still at Venus’s feet.

In as few words as possible Luna explains to Jupiter what just happened; putting special emphasis on the fact that Usagi chose her boyfriend, a man the princess ordered her not to trust, over the princess herself.

“I knew she was going to end up doing something crazy because of him one of these days.” Jupiter grumbles, more to herself than to the others.

“What do you mean?” Luna wasn’t expecting that.

“Did you know about Mamoru-san being Tuxedo Kamen?” Mercury is curious.

“Yes.” Jupiter admits. “I discovered it weeks ago, during one of the fights, it was quite obvious if you ask me, considering how devotedly he protected Sailor Moon, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t realized it before.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Mars demands.

“It wasn’t my secret to tell.” Jupiter answers simply.

“What if he were trying to hurt Usagi?” Luna is very worried.

“Please!” Jupiter is shocked at their apparent blindness. “Have you no eyes on your faces? Have you not seen the way those two look at each other, act around each other? It’s so obvious they’re in love, they would do anything for the other, they would never hurt the one they love. That’s stupid.” She sighs. “That’s why I knew there would be trouble eventually, Usagi-chan told me what Sailor V had said about not trusting Tuxedo Kamen, and that she refused to even consider the possibility of him being an enemy.”

“She’s betraying her duty!” Artemis snaps.

“I think that Usagi-chan feels she would have betrayed something in the end, one way or the other.” Jupiter declares thoughtfully. “Either her past duty, or her present heart, it’s not hard to see what her priorities are.”

“She doesn’t understand, the two of them aren’t supposed to be together.” Venus mumbles under her breath. “For the good of the world, they must be separated.”

“Excuse me.” Jupiter doesn’t like that. “I understand you may have something against Usagi-chan dating Mamoru-san, though to be honest I can’t see what the problem is really. But in the end it’s her personal life, and she has a right to it. We serve you, that’s true, and a great honor; but that doesn’t mean we’ll stop existing as human girls of this time. Usagi-chan’s relationship hadn’t affected her senshi duties until you made it a problem in itself.”

“She’s been late to battles before.” Mars pointed out, frustrated.

“And what makes you think that was Mamoru-san’s fault?” Jupiter inquired. “True, she may have been with him, but isn’t it the same kind of situation as when you’re called to fight while working at the shrine or when Ami-chan’s called out of cram school? The only one that doesn’t really have that kind of excuse is me, but the rest of you do have lives besides the existence of your duty.” She sighed.

“I know it sounds harsh, and I can’t give you any actual reasons right now, but you must understand this, those two shouldn’t be together, it isn’t right.” Venus insists, almost too intensely for everyone’s like.

“I still don’t get it, but in any case that was your mistake, trying to force Usagi-chan.” Jupiter points out calmly. “You say those two shouldn’t be together, and yet they are, they have been for a year and a half now; and if an arranged-marriage, old friendships, a crazy family and a bitter businessman couldn’t separate them I don’t know what makes you believe an order, no matter who it came from, would.”

“Precisely because the order comes from the princess!” Mars hissed. “Usagi should know to obey it and shut up!”

Jupiter shakes her head sadly, she should have realized Mars and the others wouldn’t understand; it may be because they don’t have that kind of relationship with anyone, or because they honestly believe their past duty to be more important than anything of their present life, Jupiter doesn’t know, and in the end, she knows it won’t change anything.

“Will you take the same path, Jupiter?” Artemis asks in a very solemn tone.

“I won’t.” Jupiter bows deeply to the princess. “I am, before and above anything else, a loyal Sailor senshi and guardian of the Moon Princess.” She exhales “Still, the fact that I’m willing to fulfill my duty doesn’t mean I think you were right in your dealing with Usagi-chan, she’s different than me.”

Very much so, because while Makoto really likes Motoki, and has even gone on a few dates with him, in the end it isn’t something too serious; not like Usagi’s and Mamoru’s relationship, who she’s sure will be getting married any moment, probably once Usagi’s turned 18. Makoto truly believes the only reason they haven’t yet is so as not to upset Tsukino Kenji, Usagi’s father, who has a hard enough time accepting his daughter is in a serious relationship. That her first boyfriend might one day (soon) become her husband. Makoto is still at the point where she’s willing to sacrifice a future relationship with Motoki; but there’s just no way Usagi would ever sacrifice her relationship with Mamoru, she just loves him too much.

“How long did you say they’ve been together?” Venus inquires.

“They had their first year anniversary sometime last summer, shortly before vacation, I think.” Jupiter answers, surprised by the sudden question. “Why?”

“So long, they’ve been together so long, and I hadn’t noticed, why hadn’t I noticed?” Venus starts grumbling to herself.

“She began dating him a little less than a year before any of us, even she, became a senshi.” Jupiter insists. “That relationship has nothing to do with h… our duty.”

“Don’t you find it the slightest bit suspicious that her boyfriend just happens to be the one other fighter besides the senshi, this Tuxedo Kamen?” Artemis questions.

“Well, considering that, from what little I know, he became Tuxedo Kamen at least several months before Usagi-chan even met Luna… I still don’t see what his alter ego has to do with anything.” Jupiter admits.

“What were you saying before about an arranged marriage, friends, family and something else?” Mercury’s curiosity finally gets the better of her.

Jupiter frowns slightly, she knows it’s her fault for having mentioned it in the first place; but she isn’t really sure how much she should mention, since it isn’t really her story to tell. Still, perhaps knowing just how much those two love each other will help her comrades realize how wrong they were condemning their love just because.

“From what I know, and this I know only because Motoki-kun told me once,” Jupiter clarified. “Usagi-chan and Mamoru-san met when she was still in middle-school, he in his last year of high-school, and there was someone else back then, Kusaka Hina-san, Mamoru-san’s fiancee.”

“So she stole someone else’s fiance!” Mars practically screeches.

“Shut up Mars.” Jupiter snaps, finally running out of patience. “You wanted to know the truth, now you’ll keep quiet and listen. It wasn’t like that. Usagi-chan was doing volunteer work at the same kindergarten Hina-san did her practices in, since she wanted to become a teacher; and Mamoru had agreed to tutor a couple of lower-level students for extra-credit in some subject. I’m not sure which happened first but soon the three of them had met, Hina-san and Usagi-chan were great friends, I know because I got to see them together, for Hina-san, Usagi-chan’s like a little sister, they went everywhere together: shopping, the movies, karaoke, etc.; and sometimes Mamoru-san would tag along. According to Motoki-kun, knowing Usagi-chan changed Mamoru-san, he was livelier, happier, than he’d ever been before. Motoki-kun thinks he might have begun falling in love with Usagi-chan from the very beginning, he’s not sure. What he does know is that by the end of the summer Usagi-chan had developed a crush on him, and though she tried to fight it, by Christmas she just couldn’t. So she distanced herself from them, or at least she tried. Motoki-kun says that’s why Usagi-chan is so attached to him, because he would hide her in one of the backrooms of the Crown karaoke so Mamoru-san and Hina-san wouldn’t find her, until eventually they realized what she was doing. I’m not sure what happened then, though I do know both Mamoru-san and Hina-san were supposed to leave for England after his graduation that spring, but he didn’t, he stayed, and Hina-san left, after breaking off her engagement with Mamoru-san.” She sighed. “Even then Usagi-chan did nothing except continue avoiding him, maybe she felt guilty, I don’t really know, I had just gotten to know her a few months before, and we weren’t too close yet. It was then that I was changed to a different homeroom and I got to know her better, still, she never spoke of why she was suddenly avoiding Mamoru-san so completely. Until Hina-san came back during summer-break; I don’t know what she did, I just know that somehow she’s the reason those two finally went on a date together, and after that one came another, and another, and by the time the Fall Semester started it was practically impossible to see one without the other anywhere out of school. Everyone began talking about them, about how good they looked together. The only time I knew of them to fight at all was before summer break last year, Usagi-chan distanced herself from him for almost a week. Not sure what the problem might have been, but at least whatever it was, it didn’t last long; everything was back to normal soon enough.” She smiles softly. “You know, I’ve always found it particularly interesting how different she looks when she’s with him, it’s like being with him makes her stand straighter, be gentler, more mature, she almost looks older. But in a good way. It’s almost like they were born just to be together…”

Venus is shaking her head in what can easily be called denial, and Jupiter cannot help but wonder if her whole speech has been worth anything to their princess, or if she will ignore her and keep her belief on the ‘wrongness’ of Usagi and Mamoru being together. Jupiter honestly doesn’t know, what she does know is that she’s done what she could, whatever else happens no longer depends on her.

The brunette isn’t stupid, and she has done her math, she knows that the time Usagi distanced herself from Mamoru has to be more-or-less around the same time she first became Sailor Moon. The thunder-blessed senshi doesn’t know if it happened because of her being a senshi, or something else entirely, but in the end they moved past that. They supported each other and moved on. Just like she knows they’re capable of doing now that she’s no longer a senshi…That thought brings another far more pressing to the tallest senshi’s mind: if Sailor Moon is no longer around, does that mean Tuxedo Kamen won’t be either? After all, he’s had his alter ego for longer than any of them, except maybe Sailor V…the princess…and yet he didn’t join in the fight against the Dark Kingdom until Moon appeared. Did he only join because of her or was the timing entirely coincidental? Would he abandon the rest of them now that his girlfriend is no longer in the line of fire? To be honest Jupiter wouldn’t blame him, it’s not like any of them other than Moon have ever shown him any gratitude or trust. Do her comrades realize it? Do they understand that by pushing Usagi too far they have lost not one but two warriors in their war against the Dark Kingdom? One of which was probably the most powerful of them all? Are they so blind not to see that despite her apparent weaknesses, Sailor Moon has always been the strongest of them all? Jupiter doesn’t know, still, she just hopes the planet won’t end up paying the price for their stubbornness and blindness…

xXx

The following day is a great surprise for many of the students at Crossroads Public High-School, when Mizuno Ami and Kino Makoto seem to downright ignore Tsukino Usagi, when for more than half a year they have been almost inseparable. It’s shocking. Still, when anyone questions either of them, trying to understand their reasons, Usagi is the only one to answer, and only to say that things have changed.

“I really don’t understand, Usagi-chan.” Osaka Naru, Tsukino Usagi’s closest friend besides her former-comrades, comments as the two sit together for lunch.

“There’s nothing to understand Naru-chan.” Usagi replies simple. “Things change, people change. Sometimes too much for friendship to survive.”

“Is this…something like what happened last summer?” Naru questions suddenly.

The question is so unexpected that Usagi almost chokes on the bite of onigiri she just took, she wasn’t expecting that.

“Last summer?” Is all she manages to croak out.

“Yes, well it was before the summer break actually.” Naru elaborates. “You began being late for school again, something that hadn’t happened since halfway through middle-school, and then you avoided Mamoru-san for a few days, I know because he went as far as asking me about you the third day. I was so worried, I thought maybe you two had broken up, and yet I found it so hard to believe, you like him so much…”

Actually it’s more than like, though Naru still has a hard time handling the fact that her best-friend loves someone so much she has even considered settling down with him; while Naru herself is dating a guy, has been for almost half a year now, she still finds the idea of being with one person for the rest of her life hard to wrap her head around.

“No, we never broke up.” Usagi says after minutes in awkward silence. “What happened then…it was complicated, but we sorted it out, and everything was fine. What happened now, it’s complicated too, but in a different way, and we cannot seem to be able to put it behind us. In the end, there’s nothing more I can do, I’ve made my choice, and they’ve made theirs…”

Naru still has no idea what’s going on, but she knows that if she presses further she will only manage to make Usagi uncomfortable and her friend might even push her away, again; it isn’t the first time it happens, and Naru isn’t willing to give up on their friendship, not after they have been through thick and thin for so long…

“Are you happy?” she asks finally.

“Eh?” Once against Usagi is caught off guard, though at least this question is a bit easier to answer. “Yes, yes I am.”

“I guess that’s all I can ask for.” Naru sighs, then turns serious. “I still have no idea what’s going on, and while I wish you would trust me enough to confide in me, I’m not going to push you, you’ll decide if and when you want me to know the truth; all that I can really ask is for you to make sure you’re happy whatever it is you do.”

“Thank you Naru-chan.” Usagi cannot hold back the bright smile. “You’re such a wonderful friend, I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you…”

“Right back at you Usagi-chan…”

The two friends embrace, both feeling truly lucky to have a friend like the other.

Usagi in particular, even having to keep so many and such big a secrets from Naru, feels great joy in knowing that the girl still remains her friend. Maybe someday she won’t have to keep things a secret from her, maybe…

 

Moonlight destiny
Hohoemi mo kanashimi mo wakeaeru ne to (Through all the joy and the pain, we will share it together)
Mune de sou kanjite iru anata to nara (In my heart that’s how I feel, when I am with you)

Chapter 2. Healing Moonlight

It’s once again past midnight and two figures land on the roof of a two-story house in a nice neighborhood of the Juuban district. One of the figures, a young man, opens his arms and from the cocoon formed by his body and the black cape he wears emerges a second figure, this one a young woman dressed in contrasting attire and colors.

“I just can’t believe it.” She practically hisses as she begins pacing the length of the roof, cloth shoes making no noise whatsoever, though the moonlight does cast multi color-hued reflections on her attire.

“Love…” He calls her.

He’s been trying to get her to calm down for ten minutes straight now, ever since they left the site of the senshi’s most recent battle and he took the long route to her house to give her time to unwind; it’s no use, she’s upset, very upset. And while he can understand it, he’s upset himself after the battle they just witnessed, he knows she’ll have trouble if either of her parents find her so wound up this late at night, again.

She doesn’t stop until he manages to hold onto her shoulders tightly, forcing her to stop, she tries to free herself from his grip for a few seconds before letting out a loud sigh and sagging against his chest.

“It’s just…I just…” she cannot seem to find the words to express her frustration. “I just can’t believe it’s gotten this bad. You know what I mean?”

“I do.” He agrees. “I understand it must be frustrating for you, to see them like that, to see them be hurt, and not be able to do anything about it.”

“That’s just it.” She replies. “I know I could do something, I could help and yet…it wouldn’t be right. Because it would mean taking back what I said four weeks ago, and I cannot do that.”

“Are you sure, my love?” He asks, honestly. “You know I’ll never stop you if you wish to go back to them. I love you so much, and I know how much it hurts you to see them like that, I can feel it…”

“I know, and while I hate allowing them to be hurt, and seeing you be hurt because of my reactions to my own actions…you know as well as I that I just cannot back down now.” She sighs in what’s almost a sob. “I just hope…I hope this will all be worth it in the end.”

“It will be, if they just open their eyes and accept to learn their lesson.”

“I still cannot believe they have such trouble fighting. It didn’t use to be this way! It’s not supposed to be this way!”

“You used to be with them.” He reminds her gently.

“Still, they are strong enough to take down these youma, I know they are, they have defeated creatures as strong as these ones before. And yet now, it’s almost as if they didn’t even have half the power they should.” She shakes her head. “It can’t be just my absence, something’s wrong, it has to, my senshi aren’t this weak!”

“I told you, you weren’t with them.” He insists. “And it isn’t just about your power, it’s your presence, or lack thereof. I’m sure you must have noticed it, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, even Venus, they may have all been there, but they weren’t fighting together. They were practically taking turns attacking the enemy, while at the same time Venus and Mars seemed to be competing to see who could vanquish the youma first.” He shakes his head. “They weren’t fighting like they were supposed to, they weren’t acting as a team.”

“What can I do?”

“Nothing, I’m afraid this is something they have to sort out for themselves.”

And as much as it pains the black-haired girl, she knows he’s right.

xXx

The atmosphere is so tense it’s likely even a normal human would notice if they were to enter the room where four teen-aged girls and two cats are meeting right now. They chose for that particular reunion Rei’s temple, since they no longer feel comfortable at Crown Karaoke; while Motoki stopped asking after Usagi a week after the group broke apart, they can almost feel his disapproval still, and for some reason it bothers them.

Rei doesn’t care much of course, except for the fact that Motoki seems to take great pains to ignore them as much as possible, it’s a good thing that with their ‘annual pass’ they don’t need to actually wait for him to set a room for them, or they would never get through.

Ami feels bad, especially because of the looks many of her classmates at school have started directing at her since the group split; even when she heard Usagi ask them not to act like that, it’s obvious that too many people like Usagi, and dislike Ami and Makoto for refusing the happy and caring girl’s friendship. Still, Ami is convinced that’s the way things should be, because her princess ordered it so.

Makoto just closes her eyes and ignores Rei’s rant, it’s not like it’s anything new. They’ve had another fight, which once again took too long, they are tired, grumpy, with a few minor scratches and bruises, and no way to actually help the people who’ve been drained. And still Rei keeps snapping as if it were everyone’s fault but hers.

Actually, Makoto knows it is everyone’s fault. Are her comrades really so blind they haven’t noticed the truth yet? Haven’t noticed that without Sailor Moon things aren’t the same? There isn’t that joy, optimism, happiness, caring and…well, light, that just seems to follow their former comrade everywhere. It’s because of that aura of hers that Makoto has never doubted that someone who’s a college student, older, more mature and with such great aspirations as Chiba Mamoru could fall in love with a middle-school girl, because it is Usagi, and that just seems to make everything possible.

In school Makoto has noticed the looks so many of her classmates direct at her, but she ignores them, she’s well-versed in doing so; besides, Usagi’s happy, she still has other friends, and she still has Mamoru, that was all that matters to Makoto. While she may not fully agree, she knows she still has a duty to her princess, the thunder blessed senshi just hopes that her princess, as well as the others, will see reason, eventually.

“I just don’t understand why it didn’t work!” Rei keeps complaining. “I’ve destroyed youma with one of my attacks, on my own, before.”

“The youma are stronger, stronger than the ones we used to fight during our first few months of being senshi.” Ami points out.

“But no stronger than the ones that have been attacking in the last couple of months, right?” Luna is suddenly nervous. “The enemy cannot be that powerful.”

“It isn’t.” Artemis interferes. “It isn’t the enemy that’s becoming stronger, but you who are becoming weaker.”

“What?!” Rei practically blows a gasket.

“It’s true.” Artemis nods. “The princess and I noticed it yesterday.”

“Talking about the princess, any reason why she isn’t here today?” Makoto cannot help but ask, even knowing from the start she won’t get a satisfactory answer.

“Like we told you before, she has an individual mission to complete before she can fully join the team.” Artemis answers almost automatically.

Still, Makoto doesn’t like it, their main mission is supposed to be to protect the princess, and yet she insists on being on her own…that doesn’t sound very logical to her. Makoto also knows that if Rei weren’t so busy moaning and whining about being unable to defeat youma by herself she would have noticed this too. It’s sad to see how petty her comrade can be, to the point of being blind to what’s truly important, just because her ego won’t be satisfied…truly sad indeed.

“Why are we becoming weaker?” Ami chooses to focus on their previous topic of conversation. “And is there any way to regain our previous level, or even improve?”

“Training could never hurt.” Artemis declares, directing a quick luck at Luna. “However, in regards to your decreasing power…we cannot help but believe it might be related to Sailor Moon quitting…”

“What?!” Rei snaps, again. “How? Why do our powers depend on a crybaby?!”

Artemis sighs, he knew this wouldn’t be a pleasant conversation, it might have been better if Venus were the one to explain things to them, but she already missed several work-appointments due to battling youma, as her assistance keeps becoming more and more necessary as the weeks pass and couldn’t miss this particular one; so it’s up to Artemis to try and give a credible explanation for their situation.

“There’s a reason why Sailor Moon is your leader…” He begins his explanation. “Each of you possess powers according to your respective planet, the energy reaching you through the transformation-bracelets Luna gave you…however, it isn’t that easy for your planet’s energy to reach Earth, because they’re too far away from it. For you to depend entirely on your planet’s direct energy you would need extensive training and a superior level of power than what you possess now; if you were to regain your memories of your past lives it could help, but still might not be enough.”

“Okay, but what has Sailor Moon got to do with any of that?” Makoto asks.

“Like I said, there’s a reason why she’s your leader, just like there’s a reason why the Moon was once the center of the Silver Alliance; and that’s the Moon’s reflective qualities…” Artemis elaborates. “Just like the moon reflects the light of the sun to illuminate the earth…”

“Sailor Moon reflected the power of each of our planets, helping it reach us.” Ami finishes for him, being the only one to fully understand his explanation.

“Exactly.” Artemis nods.

“But we’ve fought as senshi without Sailor Moon before.” Rei points out, still not convinced.

“Without her transformed yes, but she was still Sailor Moon; even if she was in her civilian identity, she was still a senshi at the time, and that was enough.” Luna adds.

“Then why not make her Sailor Moon again and get it over with?” Makoto asks, not fully believing what they’re being told, something’s missing.

“It’s not that easy.” Luna says, tired. “She has renounced her rights and responsibilities as a senshi. For her to become Sailor Moon again she would have to take certain oaths, to the princess and the Moon Kingdom…”

“Oaths she won’t take because surely there will be something in there about Tuxedo Kamen, and that’s why she left in the first place.” Makoto grumbles, understanding what the problem is, and frustrated they can’t give up already and let Usagi live her life.

“Yes.” Artemis lowers his head.

He cannot really explain that it’s a bit harder than that, Usagi couldn’t take any oaths in regards to the princess, because no matter how good Venus may be at pretending, she isn’t the true princess. And if his suspicions are true… and a part of him truly wishes to be wrong this time… then the one they practically pushed into quitting is none other than their princess. If she is… if they did… then things are even more serious, because the ones betraying their oaths are them, which would mean that the senshi will continue to grow weaker and weaker until their powers are lost forever… Artemis really wishes to be wrong, yet, somehow, he has a feeling that he isn’t, not this time. Which only leaves him the option to pray that the princess is more merciful than she was at the time of the Fall of the Silver Millennium, otherwise the world might as well be destroyed already.

xXx

Several nights later the same couple from before can be found as they leave Tokyo’s General Hospital through the rooftop, this time with smiles on their faces. Next morning quite a few doctors will be surprised when finding their patients, victims of one of the most recent youma attack, are now fully recovered, after days of no change at all. Still smiling, the couple stops to catch their breath and enjoy a moment together in a nearby empty park.

“So, that was the last group?” He asks, though he knows it to be so.

“Yeah.” Her smile seems to him as bright as all the stars. “This was the only hospital we hadn’t come to… though I wish we’d come earlier.”

“You were tired after all the others, it would have been reckless to overexert yourself that way.” He points out, softly yet firmly.

“I know, I know it’s just… I just… I wanted to help them you know?” She can’t really express herself right.

And yet she doesn’t need to, for he knows her completely, and understands without any need for words to be spoken.

“I know, you hate for people to be hurt, you want to save everyone.” He says, half-mocking, half-complimenting her. “It’s just like you, my love. But you must understand and accept that as much as your heart may want to help, there’s only so much your body can take. I don’t think you want to give your mother another scare like the one last year.”

She shakes her head emphatically.

Last year…it was about a month after he became Tuxedo Kamen, and at least several weeks before she met Luna and first became Sailor Moon. The day she discovered she had a special power: she could heal. While Mamoru healed faster than any normal human (and back then they still didn’t know the reason) that time the injury was particularly bad. He happened to run into serious bodyguards in the Embassy, while he was there to check if any of the jewels the visiting ambassador’s wife showed off so much was the Ginzuishou. He was disappointed, but on his way out he ran into what was probably the couple’s security. Whatever they might have been never before had he run into men who fired their guns with so little regard towards others, and they weren’t blanks either!

Usagi was pacing from one corner to the other of his small balcony when he arrived, it was something he knew she did every time he went on one of his ‘incursions’; she hated it, she worried so much, and yet he’d explained to her why he was doing it, he had to find that crystal so the woman in his visions would leave him alone, and maybe he would also understand his past and himself better then.

Usagi loved him enough not to try to stop him. Though she at the same time insisted on knowing when he was going to go after some clue and wait in his apartment until he returned. It was just as well that both Ikuko and Shingo seemed to like him, otherwise he would have been murdered already considering how late a couple of his ‘outings’ had ran.

That night in particular he both loved and hated the fact that she was there, waiting for him; while he despised seeing her panic the moment she noticed he was hurt, he couldn’t stop the joy of having her there, of feeling her as she held him. Especially when, for just an instant, he considered the possibility of not healing in time, that his healing, however magical, might not be fast enough to save him before he bled to death; then at least he would have seen her one last time…she would be the last thing he saw. And yet he hated himself so much for even thinking about it, knowing the pain she would be in if he were really to die.

She was in a near-blind panic from the moment she saw his white-shirt half-drenched in the red of his blood; it certainly didn’t help the wound any that he had to run and jump through rooftops for several blocks before reaching his apartment building.

“Mamoru!” She practically screamed when he stumbled into his room through the balcony she was standing in.

His knees buckled right then and she had to focus her whole strength to help him take the few steps needed to reach his bed.

As soon as he managed to lay there she unbuttoned his shirt and pulled his undershirt up, only to gasp and almost hyperventilate when seeing just how bad the wound was.

“Oh my god…oh my god…” she sobbed.

“Usa…” He called her in a low tone, he was so tired…

His voice seemed to make her snap into motion, as she took a deep breath, brushed her tears away and rushed to his bathroom. She knew where the first aid kit was, before she’d helped bandage scratches and minor wounds he’d get; but it had never been so bad.

“It’s going to be alright, you’re going to be alright.” She repeated like a mantra as she went through the materials in the kit.

She immediately used some gauze to put pressure on the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, hoping that would be enough while his healing kicked in. It wasn’t, he could feel as he kept losing more blood. Suddenly he didn’t want her there, he didn’t want her to have to watch this.

“Usa…ko…you need t…you need to leave…” He managed in a broken, tired voice.

“What?!” She almost screamed her denial. “No! No way! There’s just no way I’m leaving you here, alone, bleeding to death! I won’t do it. I won’t abandon you. Never…never…I swear it…I’ll never abandon you…never…”

“Usa…Usako…Usagi!” He interrupted her tirade.

“Never!” she insisted, tears falling down her cheeks, though she still seemed stubborn.

“You need to go Usako…I don’t want you…to see me like this…I don’t want you to suffer like this.” He insisted, it was taking all his strength to keep talking.

“And you think my leaving will change anything?” She demanded through her sobs. “That I won’t still know you’re dying, that I won’t still cry and scream and…?! No, I’m staying with you. I’ll always be with you, always…”

“Usako…”

He didn’t know what else to say, he didn’t want her to leave, not really. If this was really to be his end, he couldn’t help but want her by his side, for her to be the last thing he saw; but it wasn’t fair to her, she was hurting, and he knew she would hurt even more once he was gone.

“I love you…” He whispered, with what seemed to be his last sliver of strength.

He didn’t know why he’d waited so long to say it. They’d been together for about ten months by then, and he knew he’d been in love with her even longer. But for some reason, while he kept hearing himself saying those words in his mind, he could never bring himself to say them out loud. Maybe he was afraid they would break some kind of spell. He never loved anyone before Usagi, at least not as far as he could remember; and even after dating so many months he was still afraid that at any moment she would decide he wasn’t what she wanted after all. And then she would leave him, and he would be all alone, again. True, he had Hina once, but he never loved her like he should have, like he loved Usagi. Hina to him was like a sister, she was family, but not his soulmate, Usagi was that.

In that moment Mamoru wished he’d said those words before, that he’d had the chance to say them more; though, at least she knew now, even if it was the last thing he ever said to her, at least she knew that he loved her.

“Oh Mamoru!” She cried as she flung herself over him, having given up on the gauze long ago. “I love you too! I love you…I love you…I love you…”

She kept repeating the same words over and over again; he managed to smile, his sweet Usagi, his beautiful girl, so full of caring, and joy, and light…he felt as if he’d loved her forever…

Suddenly, Mamoru was conscious of something changing, and it wasn’t the coldness of death he’d been feeling the last few minutes, no, it was the complete opposite actually. It was warmth, and light, the same thing he (figuratively) always believed Usagi brought into his life, now he could almost swear he was feeling it physically.

A gasp called his attention and he found Usagi half-straightening herself again, but her eyes weren’t on him anywhere, instead they were on her own hands…her own glowing hands.

“Usako…” Mamoru called, shocked and confused at the same time.

Usagi didn’t know how she knew it, but she was sure she was somehow helping Mamoru, healing him, so she kept mentally praying for that to continue, for whatever it was in her that allowed her to help him to keep doing it. As the minutes passed she felt weakness overcoming her, she was growing very tired, as if she’d run several marathons consecutively and without resting or drinking any water; she was so tired…and yet she knew she couldn’t stop, not yet, she hadn’t done enough just yet, so she kept pushing mentally at that glittering light to heal Mamoru, to undo the damage that bullet had done.

It took almost five full minutes, but finally Usagi knew she was done, she could feel it inside her, just like with the energy; yet before she could say anything, even turn to smile at her boyfriend, everything went black.

Mamoru panicked when his girlfriend collapsed on him; but that panic gave way to surprise and confusion when he found himself able to hold her and move her; and then when he sat up in bed and the gauze fell from his stomach he could see that his wound had disappeared, not even a scar was left. Even with his healing, if he hadn’t bled to death, he expected it would have taken him at least a week to recover, and there would have been an ugly scar as a reminder. Instead, he was fully healed now, tired, but healed, and with no scar whatsoever.

However, the problem now was that Usagi wouldn’t wake up. No matter what he did, how much he called her, nothing seemed to be enough to make her react.

Mamoru had been forced to call Ikuko and tell her her daughter fainted for some unknown reason. Since all of Mamoru’s wounds completely vanished he couldn’t even make up a story about an accident, an attempted mugging, or anything of the sort. All he could say was that his girlfriend fainted. He was lucky Kenji had been away on a business trip, he would have never forgiven Mamoru for his daughter being hurt while in her boyfriend’s care. Even then, Mamoru was sure he wouldn’t forgive himself if she didn’t wake up, after all, she was like that because of him, because of helping him.

In the end she woke up, though it took three days, and still she had to remain the rest of the week in bed due to weakness. No one ever understood what caused her ‘episode’, Mamoru honestly didn’t believe they would react too well to knowing she was drained after healing him, if they didn’t throw them both into the psychiatric ward after that, they might end up being subjects of experiment for the doctors to be find out how exactly they could do such things; he wasn’t actually sure which outcome he hated more.

But it didn’t really matter anymore, because she woke, and she was alright.

After that for a while he was so afraid of anything happening to her he absolutely refused to let her experiment with her newly discovered gift. He didn’t believe he could take it if she went unconscious again and this time didn’t wake up.

It took two whole weeks and him having an accident while cooking for the situation to change. She was cooking dinner for the both of them, with him helping her chop vegetables, when he got distracted for a second and ended cutting himself with the knife. She acted before he could think to stop her, holding his hand in hers as she closed her eyes and concentrated, there was a brief silver glow and his wound was gone.

He of course panicked immediately, while she was absolutely ecstatic, very satisfied with herself. After a couple of minutes to recover his bearings he was able to accept that she had a very powerful and useful gift, and agree that she should practice it and use it discreetly to help people, as long as she didn’t drain herself like she did saving him.

She promised.

Which was why, months later, she didn’t insist too much when she grew tired after helping the victims that were being kept in two other hospitals and agreed to wait a few days to recover her energy before going to heal the last group.

Mamoru knew how much she loved to help, how happy it made her when she was able to heal someone, that was her nature: nurturing, caring; a healer not a warrior. That’s why giving up her identity as Sailor Moon didn’t affect her that much. While she was sad to lose some of her friends, she could still help, and that made her happy.

“You’re worried.” He states suddenly.

He noticed her shift in stance right away, one moment they’re melancholic, reminiscing on their past, and the next she’s tense again.

“I felt something earlier…” she begins. “I wasn’t sure then, but now…”

“What did you feel?” Mamoru interrupts her softly.

“Another youma is at work already.” Usagi answers. “Only it doesn’t seem to be acting like all of those before, it seems to be acting slowly…almost carefully.”

“That’s something new indeed.” He focuses on the earth, listening to what it has to say to him, and he frowns when he doesn’t like the answer.

“What did you find out?” Usagi inquires, even more worried now.

“Have you heard of the people disappearing the last few days?” He asks.

“Yes.” She gasps suddenly, realizing what he means. “The youma is taking them away.”

“Seems that way, I still don’t know what the whole plan is, but whatever it is it can’t be good.”

“We need to find the youma, and those people…” Usagi suddenly looks very stressed.

“Usako?”

“We need to find them Mamoru-kun!”

“We will love, we will. But why the sudden urgency?”

“Because I fear something’s happened to Naru-chan! I think the youma has taken her Mamoru-kun. We need to find her, soon, she’s my best friend…”

“We will find her, my love, her and everyone else, I promise you.”

And he’s never been one to break a promise to her.

 

Moonlight destiny
Itsu made mo dare yori mo soba ni itai no (Forever, more than anyone, I want to be with you)
Kono hiroi sora no shita de meguriaeta anata (Below this spacious sky above, you who I met by chance)

Chapter 3. Past, Present… and Love

Usagi emerges from High-School even more depressed than she was that morning. While on a conscious level she knew Naru wouldn’t be there. After all, she called her friend’s mom to give an excuse for the girl’s absence. Still, not seeing her in the classroom brought the fact home, and it hurt. Usagi barely has the presence of mind to go to her boyfriend, who’s waiting for her beside his motorcycle.

“Oh Mamoru-kun…” She almost sobs as she throws herself into his arms, hiding her face in his chest so others won’t see her crying.

“Sh…shh my love.” He whispers into her ear. “Everything will be alright, I promise you, we’ll find her.”

He of course needs no explanation on what has his girlfriend so stressed out. He knows they have to find Naru, as well as the rest of the victims and rescue them soon. Even if that means having to deal with the youma personally.

As they stand there for a couple of minutes, until Usagi can recover enough not to be in danger on his bike, Mamoru cannot help but think back on their relationship. He knows how other people see them. Like the ‘perfect couple’, almost a fairy-tale… if only they knew the truth…While much of their love-story does seem as if it were taken out of a fairy-tale, there are some parts that resembled more a horror-story. He shakes his head at his outrageous thought. In the end he’s thankful, thankful that they’re together, that Usagi loves him as much as he loves her, that they have been able to move through the consecutive disasters that came so close to breaking them for good more than half a year ago…

Mamoru had hoped things would settle down after Usagi began practicing her newly discovered gift in controlled situations; that nothing would threaten them like that again, at least not in a very long time…he should have known he was asking for too much.

It wasn’t until a week after their little ‘cooking accident’ that he was honest with his girlfriend about something: his dreams had changed since the night he almost died. Oh, he still saw the girl asking him for the Ginzuishou, but now he understood more: she was a princess, one he held in very high regard, one he’d do anything for, even find some mystical crystal he’d never before even heard of.

He should have known Usagi would take it badly, she began avoiding him the very next day. At first he was confused, not sure what was going on. He gave her space, while trying to recall if he did something wrong. But after the third day he had enough, he went to her in her own home.

Not even Ikuko complained at his sudden and unannounced arrival. The older woman simply gave him directions to Usagi’s bedroom and asked him to take care of her while she went to buy some groceries, adding as an afterthought an invitation to dinner. Wondering if the woman left the two of them alone on purpose Mamoru went to find his girlfriend; whom he found laying face-down on her bed, pillow over her head, body shaking in silent sobs.

“Usako?” He called her softly.

Her whole body froze instantly.

It took a few seconds, but suddenly she jumped out of bed, rushing to the window farthest away from him. Her back was to him, but he could still see how she harshly brushed her face with the back of her hands, brushing away tears most likely, all the while taking deep breaths, trying to get herself under control. When she finally turned to him her eyes were red and puffy, but her face was totally expressionless.

He hated that immediately, and hated himself for somehow making her do that. He wanted to rush to her, take her into his arms, and make any vows needed so she would smile again; he wanted to know what he did wrong, beg for forgiveness, and swear to never do something so awful again. But he was unable to do any of that, for the moment he tried to approach her she took a step back; an action that broke his heart into pieces in an instant.

It had finally happened. That was all his mind could reason. She’d finally seen the truth, that she was too good for him… she was going to leave him. Just for an instant, for a fraction a second, he wished to have died that night, a little over three weeks earlier… it would have saved him from the pain. Her voice brought him back to reality suddenly; but while he was expecting her words to be an order to leave her alone, they were something very different instead:

“…I’m really, really sorry…” She whispered.

“What?” He was shocked.

He didn’t understand, what could an angel like her be sorry for? He made her cry, he did something bad enough that she was hiding her emotions from him, and refused to let him touch her; and now she apologized?! It didn’t make any sense…

“Usako?” He asked, confused. “What are you sorry for?”

“Everything.” She answered, pain flashing through her eyes, if only for a second. “I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with a whiny, immature, stupid crybaby like me for the last eleven months. You won’t need to do that anymore.”

“Whiny, imma…?” What was she talking about? “Usagi?”

“I’m letting you go.” She explained, it was taking her whole concentration not to break down crying and beg him to stay. “I’m setting you free, so you can go find your princess.”

“Wha…?!” He really didn’t know how to react anymore, Usagi had completely thrown him for a loop. “I never said…”

“You didn’t need to.” She replied simply. “Even for an idiot like me it was quite obvious.”

“You’re not an idiot!” It was one thing when he teased her playfully, but another very different for her to put herself down like that, he couldn’t accept that.

“It doesn’t matter.” She pushed that aside. “I’ve been thinking about it, and I know I’m right, the reason why you’ve been dreaming of that princess, why you feel you would do anything for her, is because she’s meant to be yours, and you hers. She’s your princess, your soulmate.”

It sounded so right… and yet so wrong at the same time, Mamoru didn’t know what to say, or do, how to answer to that.

“You don’t need to say anything.” She continued. “My mind’s made up. Do you know how rare it is for anyone to find their soulmate? And yours is out there, waiting for you! You’re so lucky…” she faked a smile. “That’s why you should go, find her, I’m sure she’s waiting for you, and she’ll love you, just like you deserve to be loved…”

“What about you?” He couldn’t help but ask.

“Don’t worry about me.” She shrugged, giving herself little importance. “I’ll be just fine. Go…”

But he couldn’t, even if what she was saying was right, and a part of him knew she was; he just couldn’t leave her; he knew that would be wrong.

“Fool!” He almost screamed at her.

He pushed her arm aside and enveloped her in his arms tightly before she could move away from him again, he was holding her so tightly there might even be bruises on her body afterwards, but it that moment he just didn’t care, he wasn’t going to let her go.

“Mamoru…” She whispered.

She was trying, so hard, to keep a hold on herself, on her emotions, but having him there, holding her, was making it extremely difficult.

“I don’t care about any princess.” He hissed, and it was true enough. “I have you, and you’re all I’ll ever want. I love you.”

And before she could say anything else to try and change his mind he’d captured her mouth in a bruising kiss.

And if that hadn’t been complicated enough, what had happened just two weeks later definitely took the cake.

He had only recently begun going on ‘incursions’ again, though he didn’t take them as seriously as he once did. He kept repeating himself that the only reason he was still looking for that crystal was to find out about his past. He didn’t really care about the princess, he couldn’t, he already had Usagi. And yet a part of him knew that wasn’t completely true… Could he really love two women at the same time?

That day in particular, he wouldn’t consider it an incursion, a famous jewelry designer would be presenting some of her new products and he found a way to get in and take a look; he somehow doubted he would find the Ginzuishou there, but still, it was worth a try. Besides, he was pretty sure his girlfriend would be somewhere around there, after all, if he remembered correctly her best friend Osaka Naru was the jewel designer’s daughter.

Just like expected he found her there, looking at some dresses the models were wearing. He couldn’t help himself and teased her about modeling, which turned against him when she joked about how mad he would be if she were to actually do it, and she was right.

The two of them went in together, and at first things seemed great, almost like an unplanned date… until that horrible monster appeared. He and Usagi had split in the chaos that followed. He even tried to use his sixth sense to find her, but instead he found something else, or rather someone: Sailor Moon.

Since the moment he first saw her he knew she was special, and in a sense she reminded him of Usagi. Though the moment he saw her in danger, speared into place by fear and about to be hit by what looked like a piece of crystal, he really hoped his girlfriend would never find herself in such a situation, he might not be able to be there to save her like he did the young blonde heroine… he really should have known better.

Since he was forced into his Tuxedo Kamen persona he left the place, turning back as soon as he could change back; he couldn’t find Usagi. Worried she might have been hurt by the monster he searched for her for hours, until eventually going to her home; where Ikuko let him know Usagi arrived an hour before, looking like hell and going straight to bed. He believed that maybe if not hurt, at least she must have been badly scared, that was why she didn’t think to search for him, or at least call him when she got home… once again, he should have known better.

When he just couldn’t seem to find his girlfriend anywhere for the rest of the week he knew something was definitely wrong. He went as far as asking Naru, to which the mahogany haired girl revealed that Usagi had missed school for a couple of days but was back already. Still, she seemed different, quieter, almost haunted, and was pushing Naru away. Clearly the pig-tailed girl was hiding something, but neither of them knew what.

After that Mamoru focused all his power into sensing her. It took a while but he was able to do it, he found her in an abandoned part of her favorite park, amid several badly-cared for rosebushes.

“Usako?” He called.

The way she flinched immediately reminded him of what had happened weeks prior; he just hoped she hadn’t gotten any more crazy ideas into her mind… As with so many other things during that time, he should have known better.

“Usako, what’s wrong?” He asked, approaching her. “Is this about my dreams again? I already told you I don’t care about any princess…”

Somehow, instead of reassuring her, his words brought out a strangled sob, which worried him even more.

Before she could move from her position, standing near a red rosebush, he went to stand behind her, laying both hands on her arms: the effect was instantaneous. He was suddenly back in the scene of his dream, except this time he was living it instead of just seeing it from an external perspective, and this time he could see the princess better: her long, ebony black hair, silky white dress, porcelain skin…just as he was about to meet her eyes, it was gone. He opened his eyes to find Usagi turned around to face him, and suddenly it hit him: the same skin, and hair… he could just imagine her in a white dress and a different hairdo. As if knowing what he was thinking she brought her hands to her head, undoing the pigtails and letting her hair fall down her back, it still didn’t look exactly the same, but it was enough, a confirmation he didn’t really need.

“You are…” He just couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“Yes…” She admitted, lowering her eyes.

“That is…” wonderful, incredible, amazing, magnificent…

He couldn’t choose one word to describe everything he was feeling in that moment. The two women he loved, weren’t two women at all, they were one in the same: his magnificent princess, his beautiful Usako…

“Awful!” Her scream shocked him still.

“What?!” What was she talking about?

“You haven’t really remembered yet, have you?” She asked in a very low voice.

“Remembered?” He repeated, still confused.

“The past.” She elaborated. “The reason why we’re now here.”

“Well, I imagine we died at some point, and were reincarnated, it’s only natural.” He said with a shrug, he had honestly never given it much thought, not even now.

“Have you any idea what killed us, you?” She insisted.

She was, in fact, being too insistent, he didn’t like it.

“You remember.” He guessed.

“Yes.” She admitted.

“And it is bad…” then seeing her face he revised. “More than just bad.”

“I remembered almost a week ago…” She began babbling. “After that fight, I felt so strange, almost dizzy, but not exactly, and that night I had dreams, of a time long ago. At first I was so happy… you wouldn’t be losing your chance with your soulmate, because I was her! I was so happy… and then, then I saw It… the end… it was awful… so much destruction, and death and pain and… and it was all my fault!!!”

Through her tirade he kept holding her, trying to calm her down, still not understanding what was going on, until her last line. He was about to deny even the ghost of a possibility of something like that, when suddenly it all hit him:

He’d seen it all inside his own mind then: the United Kingdom of the Earth, and the Moon Kingdom, the Silver Millennium. He’d seen the heiress of the Moon: his Princess Serenity, and himself, the Prince of Earth: Endymion. Had seen their love, forbidden due to the fact that the Earth wasn’t a part of the Silver Alliance, and the Terrans didn’t accept those from other planets. But Serenity and he hadn’t cared, they just loved each other too much. Then he’d seen someone else: Beryl, a peasant infatuated with him, like so many… Except she found a way to make her desires known: Metalia. He managed to get glimpses of the war Metalia and Beryl caused, the chaos and dissent in the Earth, the Last Stand on the Moon. And then, as a figure came upon him and his beloved on the balcony, his instincts were to protect her, even at the cost of his own life… and that was the end of it all, for him. And for everything and everyone else as well, for his beloved had lost control over her power and unleashed it, destroying what little was left in both the Moon and Earth…

He came back to reality to find Usagi kneeling before him, head bowed in shame and whispering apologies over and over again.

“Usako!” He cried out.

He didn’t like what he was seeing; she was a princess, not a criminal, yet she was acting as if she were a monster, as if she expected to be executed at any moment. Instantly he was on his knees, and pulled her body to his, holding her tightly, refusing to let go.

“Let me go, let me go, let me go…” She babbled, distressed. “You shouldn’t have to touch me, I’m a disgrace, a murderer… a monster!”

“Shut up!” He yelled, not wanting to hear her insulting herself anymore. “You’re none of those things, nor will you ever be.”

“Let me go Ma… Endymion-sama… please…” She whispered, her voice almost breaking.

He was so utterly shocked by her sudden change that he couldn’t help but let her go. She took this chance, stumbling onto her feet and rushing to the limits of the clearing; thankfully, he managed to regain his bearings just in time to get a hold of her arms before she could leave.

“Don’t leave… don’t leave me.” He was the one almost pleading this time.

“But I have to.” She answered in an almost fully broken voice. “Don’t you see? This is wrong!” She took a breath, trying to talk better. “I was wrong, this princess… I, I am not your soulmate, I cannot be, I’m a monster… you… you deserve someone better.”

“Don’t talk like that.” He shook his head. “You are my soulmate, I know that to be true. And even if it wasn’t, even if you weren’t, I wouldn’t want anyone else. I l…”

“Don’t say that, please.”

“It is still true, whether I say the words out loud or not.”

“You deserve better. Someone who is sweet, and caring, and true, someone who won’t be as selfish as to destroy two kingdoms during a tantrum…”

“It was more than a tantrum, and you weren’t selfish, you were distressed; you’d lost so much… not only I… Endymion, but your senshi, your family, and so much more… And about the kingdoms, I don’t think you destroyed them, not really, it’s more like you allowed them to be cleansed. It needed to happen, hard as it may be to admit, but Metalia had already corrupted so many people, destroyed both places so thoroughly, the only right thing left to do was to allow things to begin again from scratch; to have both Earth and the Moon be…purified, so to speak. You allowed that to happen, and now we’ve all been given a second chance.”

Usagi shook her head, refusing to believe that the tragedy she, or her past self had caused, could ever be seen in a good light.

“I don’t care, whatever may have happened all those years ago.” He announced suddenly. “The past is the past, it cannot be changed. However, we can change the present, and make a better future…”

“That’s why you have to let me go.” She insisted. “So the future will be safe…”

“So you are telling me you would destroy the planet?” He questioned suddenly.

“Never!!!” Was her passionate answer. “I… I could never do anything like that, so many people, so many innocents and…”

“That’s what I was talking about.” He interrupted her softly. “No matter what y… Serenity may have done millennia ago, no matter if it was a tragedy or a mercy; you won’t do it. I know you Usako, you could never destroy the world, even if I were to die.”

“I… I wouldn’t do it.” While still distressed, she also sounded a bit confident. “I… I don’t think I would be able to keep living, but I wouldn’t destroy the world.”

“I still wish you would move on, if such a thing were to happen.” He sighed, having to admit he understood her point. “But I know what you’re talking about.”

He was sure if he were ever to lose her, he wouldn’t stop to consider it, he would just take his own life, never would he live in a world where she didn’t exist.

“In the past, the Earth and the Moon were destroyed.” He declared. “But the Earth’s healed, and we’re here, we have a second chance, to do things right. We can be together and protect this planet, better than we did before; we can make sure such a tragedy never repeats…”

Because he wasn’t blind, just at times a little slow on the uptake, he realized something else had changed in her, she was no longer an innocent girl, she was now both a princess and a warrior; the very warrior he’d saved five days before during that jewelry-show. She was Sailor Moon…and from that day on, he swore he would always protect her.

“Endymion loved Serenity.” He spoke, carefully pronouncing each name. “They lived their life, had their chance at love… and they died. I know Endymion died for Serenity, and I’m sure that even if he knew what we both do now, he wouldn’t have changed a thing, he loved her that much. As much as I love you, Usako, you, not Serenity’s remains.”

“But…” This made her react, as she spun around to face him.

“We may be their reincarnations, but we are also ourselves, we have our own lives.” He stated what was in his mind. “We could have lead different lives, with different people; yet we met again, and we decided we wanted to be together. That was by our own choice, not Endymion and Serenity’s, ours. There is a part inside of me that knows we belong together, because of a past life; but the rest of me knows we belong together, simply because of who we are now.”

It was as if her eyes were opening for the first time, as Usagi’s mind carefully analyzed everything he was saying. It was a revelation. But still he knew he had to drive the point home, less this kind of misunderstanding happen again.

“Do you love me Usako?” He questioned, and before she could say anything he clarified. “I’m not asking about Serenity’s feelings for Endymion. I want you to be honest, do you, as Tsukino Usagi, love me, Chiba Mamoru?”

She knew what he was implying, and knowing how serious the situation was she made him let go of her wrist, quickly dried her tears and, standing as straight as she could, she pronounced an answer in as serious a tone as his question had come.

“I, Tsukino Usagi, do love you, Chiba Mamoru.” She smiled, the light shining in her eyes somehow brighter than ever before.

That was enough for him, as he could hold himself in check no more, pulling her lithe body flush against his, as he devoured her mouth in a passionate, yet loving kiss.

xXx

As the sun sets Mamoru stands on the terrace of his penthouse, where he moved after graduating from High-School, almost two years before. He’s in full Tuxedo-Kamen attire, except for the domino mask, which for the time being is in his inner pocket.

A very soft brush of cloth announces the moment his companion joins him, in an ivory-white ankle-length empire-cut halter-dress, there’s a cream-colored design embroidered right beneath her bosom, where the dress hugs her curves, falling loosely from there, equally cream-colored ballerinas cover her feet; her hair is held in a very loose ponytail at the base of her neck, and most of it is covered by a semi-translucent long scarf, in her hand she holds a thin butterfly mask in the same color as the embroidery of her dress and her shoes.

“As beautiful as always, my love.” He whispers as he covers her with both his arms and the black cape he’s wearing.

They arrive to the place they managed to track dark energy to a few hours earlier, masks already in place, and are able to see three of the senshi standing in what looks like the lobby of some modern building, their eyes fixed on what seems like a transparent wall before them, blocking them from the several dozen or so people randomly walking around on the other side, among which Naru can be seen.

“A kekkai…” Mamoru realizes when he contemplates the scene.

Both can see how the senshi send their attacks at the transparent barrier for what seems like the umpteenth time, with no result whatsoever. They then remain in their spots for a few seconds longer before finally shaking their heads and turning around, slowly making their way back to the building’s entrance.

“They’re leaving.” Usagi gasps, her hands covering the half of her face that the mask left free. “They can see the innocent people trapped inside that thing, should know what’s happening to them, and they’ll do nothing.”

“I don’t think they can really do anything, Usako.” He whispers in a sad tone. “They’ve grown even weaker since the last time we saw them, and still have no teamwork, a kekkai such as this, is an unbreakable obstacle for them.”

“We can’t leave things like this.” Usagi announces. “We have to save those people. Even if…especially if the senshi aren’t able to.”

“We will.” Mamoru reassures her.

He holds her by the waist as he jumps from the roof of a nearby building. Neither his boots nor his ballerinas make a sound as they touch the ground and then rush into the building the senshi just abandoned. Stopping right before the kekkai, Usagi extends her hand, holding it just a half inch away from the invisible barrier, sensing its power. It’s strong, very much so, the kind of spell that cannot be broken physically; but with her own magic it should be possible. Focusing her power carefully, so as not to call unneeded attention she holds both hands before her, her fingers pointing straight at the barrier and then calls one single word in an ancient language:

“Break…”

With her command, like nothing more than glass, the kekkai falls.

 

Moonlight destiny
Hohoemi mo kanashimi mo wakeaeru ne to (Through all the joy and the pain, we will share it together)
Mune de sou kanjite iru anata to nara (In my heart that’s how I feel, when I am with you)

Chapter 4. Lunarian Magic

Several blocks away from the cursed building one young woman freezes in her tracks at what her sixth sense is suddenly screaming to her.

“Rei?” Two voices call her attention.

“Are you hurt?” Makoto is confused by the miko’s expression.

“What is it? Ami asks in turn, guessing she must be feeling something supernatural. “What do you sense?”

“A very powerful magic.” Rei answers. “It appeared all of a sudden. It wasn’t there a minute ago, then it appeared…and even now it’s already fading.”

“Where?” Makoto wants to know.

It’s confusing for all three of them, they want to know where, and then will come the who. They didn’t think too many people are able to call on magics powerful enough to leave Rei so thoroughly shocked.

“The direction we came from.” Rei replies. “I don’t know how far away, the power…it seems to have rippled; I don’t think the origin is too far, as strong as I felt it, it couldn’t have come from too far…”

“Very well, lets go then.” Makoto decides. “We have to investigate this, just in case.”

“It could have been the princess.” Ami offers. “She could be in trouble.”

The others nod in agreement and the three begin making their way back where they came from, too tired to bother to henshin again into senshi.

xXx

On the other side of town a young idol practically jumps out of bed and rushes to the balcony in the hotel room she’s staying at, a white plush-like cat with a golden moon at her heels. The attention of both fixed in the distance, where for the last few days they’ve been feeling the Dark Kingdom working on something, waiting to see if the other senshi will be able to sort it out; however, they weren’t expecting this.

“That cannot have been the other senshi.” Artemis states, eyes wide at what he’s sensing. “It’s…it’s just…”

“Way too powerful.” His human companion finishes for him. “Do you think…the princess?”

“It’s possible.” Artemis acquiesces. “If she’s awake she must have felt the Dark Kingdom at work there, just like we did.”

“But why would she choose to act now?” Aino Minako inquires. “If, like you say, she’s awake, it’s not recent, I would have felt it had it happened after I got here, and if she’s been awake for a while now…”

“Why didn’t she contact you, or the other senshi?” This time it’s the cat who finished his human companion’s line of thought.

“Exactly.” She nods.

“We need to investigate this.” Minako decides.

And before Artemis can say anything, she’s transformed. She scoops him in her arms, and is on her way in seconds.

xXx

In the very building they are all soon going to converge at Usagi’s knees wobble and she comes close to falling until Mamoru holds her in his arms.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” He asks.

“Yes, only a bit dizzy.” She answers immediately.

“I think you might have used too much power…” he begins.

At her sheepish look his eyes narrow; she has done something they didn’t plan…

“What did you do?” He demands, suddenly even more worried about her than before.

“I broke the spell?” She offers, though it sounds more like a question.

“No.” He shakes his head. “You did more than that. If it had been just the kekkai the backlash wouldn’t have been this bad and…” suddenly he understands. “You broke the spell? The spell, not the kekkai?”

She nods, suddenly looking very self-conscious.

“Are you insane?!” He almost screams at her. “No wonder you got that kind of backlash, and you gave an output of energy that anyone with the slightest degree of a magical sense in a ten mile radius must have been able to feel.” He starts ranting while shaking his head. “What did we talk about this morning? About you being careful or your own power, and the risks you take?”

“That I would be careful and not take any unnecessary risks?” She guesses.

“Exactly.” He nods emphatically. “And here you went and did it anyway.” He runs a hand through his thick hair, only then noticing that his top-hat fell off at some point. “You realize that if you weren’t who you are, if you didn’t have such power at your disposal…this would have killed you?”

“But I am who I am, and I do have that kind of power at my disposal.” She reminds him softly, then, taking a deep breath she adds. “And I’m fine, just tired.”

“Very well.” He acquiesces.

He doesn’t fully believe her, and she knows that, she expects him to practically force her into bed as soon as they are back at the apartment, and he’ll probably fuss over her for the rest of the weekend… thank the goddess there’s no school the next day! But in the end, she knows it was worth it.

“Lets go see Naru-san.” Mamoru declares.

He knows very well she will absolutely refuse to go home and get some rest until she’s sure her friend’s safe.

The difference between the spell they agreed on beforehand that she would use, and the one she ended up using is that the first consisted of bringing down the kekkai, freeing the innocents trapped inside; yet it didn’t undo the damage. The spell she used fully countered what the enemy did to create the kekkai in the first place, which also means that any damage done to the innocents trapped inside has been unmade. Obviously it’s way more powerful and trickier to achieve, but Usagi was confident in her capabilities. Of course she didn’t count on the huge echo of power that even then is probably calling out to everyone with a sliver of power in town, the senshi included… they will need to get out of there quickly.

With Mamoru never letting go of her in case she gets dizzy or weak again, Usagi makes her way to where she can see her best friend.

“Naru…” She calls to her. “Naru-chan…”

It takes several seconds, but finally a pair of cinnamon colored eyes begin opening slowly; its owner blinks several times before fixing them on the young couple kneeling next to her.

“Usagi-chan?” She questions.

Usagi freezes, Naru is alright, that’s great, and now she seems to have recognized her; the reincarnated princess didn’t really plan that far ahead.

“Usagi-chan?” Naru repeats, tilting her head sideways, as if trying to see through the mask. “Is that you?”

“I…” Usagi begins, while really not knowing what to say.

“I’m sure it’s you, I can feel it.” Naru pushes.

“It’s alright Usako, tell her.” Mamoru murmurs.

“Mamoru-san!” Naru exclaims, immediately turning to the second figure beside her.

Mamoru cannot help but chuckle, trust one lone girl, Usagi’s best friend, to uncover the secret, or two secrets rather, the whole of Tokyo wishes to know and no one seems to be able to discover, in just a second…

“Yes Naru-chan, it’s us.” Usagi admits, without taking off her mask. “Are you alright?”

“A bit disoriented.” Naru answers, flexing her muscles a bit. “And I’m all stiff… I feel as if I had been sleeping for a day or two straight… which might explain the stiffness…”

“Do you remember how you got here?” Mamoru questions.

“Not really.” Naru admits, then closes her eyes, trying to concentrate. “I think I was on my way home… maybe? And then… I couldn’t feel the ground beneath my feet… ah… there were screams… someone calling my name… it’s all very confusing…”

“Don’t worry.” Mamoru comforts her with a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure it’ll come back to you, and if not… it wasn’t that important.”

Naru nods, truly feeling better.

Usagi is smiling tiredly, the spell took more out of her than she first thought.

“We need to get out of here.” Mamoru declares suddenly.

“Yes, Usagi-chan must be quite tired.” Naru has noticed how she looks. “I imagine it was she who broke us out of here…”

Mamoru raises his brow, almost unnoticed with the mask.

“Look, I’ve known for months that something really bizarre is going on.” Naru defends herself. “I mean, first you two are inseparable, like, the perfect couple; then something happens and you seem to fight, twice in the same month! Then you’re all love and roses again. Then all these senshi start appearing, and Tuxedo Kamen…” in this part her eyes suddenly widen as she turns sharply to look at him again. “You…” then she turns to Usagi. “But then…then why?”

Imagining what’s going through her mind Mamoru shakes his head, she’s really breaking all their secrets in one night…still, it might be for the best, Usagi needs someone to be there for her, and while he always will, it isn’t a bad idea for her to have a girl-friend as well.

“Naru.” He says seriously. “I really, really need to get Usako out of here. And I don’t think you should stay either. If my calculations are correct the senshi must have felt what Usako did, and will be here to investigate any moment now. We need to leave before that happens…”

Naru cocks her head to a side again, obviously confused on why Usagi is running away when her deductions told her she’s a senshi, Sailor Moon herself; but still, she trusts both Usagi and Mamoru completely, and if he says they have to leave then that’s what they’ll do, right away.

It’s a bit hard, her legs are still shaking when she stands, but Naru still pushes her body to move, like Mamoru said, the senshi will arrive at any moment.

Mamoru is about to try and make a plan on how to get on the move when suddenly he feels a new rise in power coming from Usagi, he doesn’t even have time to say a thing before, with a quick flash of silver light, they’re gone.

xXx

Ami, Rei and Makoto stop their half-awkward run a few yards from the building they left just minutes before, after failing to bring down the barrier keeping innocents trapped inside by the Dark Kingdom. The very same building from which several dozen people are slowly emerging, some walking, others practically tripping, they all look a bit lost and confused, but otherwise fine.

“What just happened here?” Ami questions, thoroughly confused.

“That’s what we would like to know.” Another voice declares from the side.

There, in the shadow of a tree, stand Princess Sailor Venus and Artemis, and it’s the white cat who just spoke.

“So, it wasn’t you?” Makoto inquires.

“It wasn’t me, what?” Venus inquires, though she has a pretty good idea what the thunder-blessed senshi is talking about.

“That magic, that power I felt.” Rei explains. “It didn’t come from you?”

“No, it wasn’t I, though I too could feel it.” Venus admits.

“Then who?” Ami wants to know.

Who could have that much power if not their princess? It cannot be an enemy, if it were then the innocents who were trapped in that building wouldn’t be free and able to actually move by themselves… or would they? Is this whole situation a very elaborate act set by one of their enemies? And if so, with what purpose? There are just too many questions without answers… and she’s still feeling very tired.

xXx

Several miles away, about halfway the distance from the building to Mamoru’s apartment, a brief flash of silver light precedes the appearance of three individuals: the first a man dressed in a black tuxedo, the second a girl in an off-white dress, and the last a girl in a school-uniform; the first girl in particular only remains standing thanks to the young man holding her up, otherwise she’d have already collapsed.

“You shouldn’t have done another spell in your condition.” He chastises her.

“We… had to get… out of there…” She explains in a half-sleepy voice. “T-the… the senshi w…they were just outside…”

Mamoru just shakes his head, while being found by the senshi in that very moment would have certainly complicated things, he still would have preferred for his girlfriend not to overexert herself… again. Still, there’s nothing to be done now, except make sure she rests.

“Come on, lets get moving.” Mamoru tells Naru. “You can walk, right?”

“Yes, though I’m afraid it’ll be a bit slow.” Naru admits.

“That’s alright.” Mamoru reassures her. “My apartment isn’t far from here.”

“Your apartment…” Naru repeats, suddenly realizing something. “What about my home? My mom? How am I supposed to explain my absence?”

“Usako already did.” Mamoru informs her. “You’re all covered until Sunday afternoon.”

“And what am I supposed to be doing until then?” Naru questions, a brow raised.

“Giving, with Usako, the last check to the apartment you just rented to move in together.” Mamoru replies.

Naru almost trips at that, thankfully managing to catch herself on the wall of a nearby building; Mamoru wouldn’t have been able to help since his hands were occupied holding a now-fully-unconscious Usagi.

Naru is left speechless for a minute or so. While she still remembers the plans she and Usagi made during their last year of middle-school, about finding a nice apartment and moving in together once they were in high-school; those plans seemed to fall through shortly after they started high-school, when she began pushing Naru away and instead spent more and more time around Ami and Makoto… And it’s then that Naru understands; if her suspicions are correct it was around that time that Usagi became a senshi. That also explains why she pushed her one ‘normal’ friend away and began spending more time with others, others who Naru suspects are most likely senshi as well. Really, once you have one of them it isn’t that hard to guess who the others are. Something she should probably point out to them, for their own safety.

Anyway, she’d long since given up on the idea of living with her best-friend in their own apartment; and now suddenly it isn’t just an idea but a reality? Usagi really owes her quite a few explanations.

xXx

It takes 24 hours for Usagi to wake up, and Mamoru is sure that it’s only thanks to his previous experience that he manages to survive them with his sanity more-or-less intact.

Naru has been dying with so many questions to ask, though still, she managed to mostly control herself until her friend woke.

“Endy… mion…”

Mamoru barely hears Usagi, though the tenor of her voice is a bit higher than his girlfriend’s usually is; it’s when his tired mind processes what she just said that he understands why.

“I’m here, Serenity…” He speaks in a very deep voice.

Then, like a breeze the moment passes, the light in the black-haired girl’s eyes seems to change just slightly and she blinks.

“Mamo-chan?” She asks in a soft tone.

“Yes, Usako, I’m here.” He says, this time in a softer voice, smiling.

The episode a moment before, he’s been through it a few times, it happens whenever she uses too much power and losses consciousness. When she first wakes up she’ll act more like Serenity; however, it’s just for an instant, the minute he replies to her question she relaxes and goes back to being Usagi. Mamoru isn’t sure why that happens, it’s not like Serenity is a split personality of his girlfriend, the two are one and the same. He can only guess that because she uses so much of her lunarian power, a part of her shifts to be more like she used to be in the past, making her talk in that tone and call him Endymion. In the end it doesn’t matter, it’s something that lasts only for a second, and never dangerous. Besides, it’s not like she’s calling to anyone else, he is, after all, Endymion.

“How are you love?” He inquires as he caresses her cheek softly.

“Tired, and hungry.” She admits, the second part not until her stomach growls. “But otherwise fine, love.”

“Wait a minute.” He tells her.

Quickly he makes his way to the kitchen, while dinner was takeout, for lunch Naru cooked some ramen, insisting on doing something to pay for his generosity in allowing her to stay there, Mamoru reheated it before taking a bowl to Usagi, he knows how much she likes ramen, and it is a good food to be able to keep down after not eating for a full day.

“Is Naru alright?” Usagi asks, halfway through her food.

“Fine, she’s currently taking a shower, I think.” Mamoru answers her.

They spend the next several minutes in silence as Usagi eats her ramen and drinks some tea Mamoru made for her. It takes two bowls of ramen and the full cup of tea for her to be satisfied; but that too is par for the course; sometimes she’ll even eat more, she needs to replenish energy fast after all.

Mamoru has just placed the empty dishes on his night-table when there’s a soft-knock on the door, followed by a head with mahogany damp hair peaking in.

“Is Usagi…” She begins, but doesn’t have to finish, as she can see the answer herself. “Oh Usagi-chan, you’re awake!”

In an instant Naru is upon Usagi, hugging her tightly.

The black-haired girl gasps a couple of times, trying to get her breath back, after having it knocked out of her; but she recovers easily enough, and soon she’s hugging Naru back.

They stay like that for what could have either been forever or just a minute, in the end it doesn’t matter. What matters more, is what happens when they finally separate: Naru stumbles just slightly as she pulls back and Usagi quickly holds her arm, suddenly worried.

“Are you alright, Naru-chan?” She asks.

“Fine, just got a bit dizzy for no reason at all.” Naru answers, dismissing any problem. “Maybe I didn’t sleep too well? My dreams were just too bizarre…”

“Bizarre dreams?” Usagi questions, suddenly getting a foreboding feeling. “What of?”

“Not sure, I don’t remember everything, mostly disjointed images and thoughts.” Naru answers, not understanding why her friend’s sudden interest. “Kingdoms, royals, warriors, a witch, a war, darkness, Earth… the Moon…”

Usagi’s eyes keep widening more and more with each word that is said, suddenly fearing that in the process of freeing her friend the previous night she might have somehow affected her in a worse way.

Worried too that Naru might have been affected by the lunarian magic he goes to take her arm, however, the moment he touches her something unexpected happens: it was like a flash, or a hundred of them, dozens of images pass behind all three of their eyes, but one stands out: a young woman with reddish-brown hair, in a sand-colored ancient-styled tunic…

“Naru?” Usagi gasps, disbelieving.

The reincarnated princess is having trouble connecting the new images with her assimilated memories; though she does know, without a doubt, that most of those landscapes don’t belong to the Moon, but to Earth, the ancient Earth…

“Lady Molly…” Mamoru is surprised at himself as he speaks a name that sounds so familiar, even when he has never heard or said it before, in this life at least.

Naru’s reaction is almost instantaneous, and it seems more like a deeply ingrained instinct than a conscious thought, as she turns in the direction of the voice that just called that name and drops in a deep curtsy, ankles crossed, the voice that comes from her mouth suddenly much softer and musical than anyone has heard from her before:

“Prince Endymion…”

Usagi blinks, what’s going on? How does Naru know who Mamoru is, or was in a previous life? Why is she suddenly acting so differently? And who’s Molly?

“Naru-chan?” She finally calls, slowly, hesitantly.

Naru blinks, and it’s as if a veil suddenly falls over her eyes, a veil that had been taken off briefly, for less than a minute, but now’s back.

“What is it Usagi-chan?” The mahogany haired girl asks, smiling.

“No, nothing.” Usagi replies, after a moment.

Something has changed in her best-friend, that much Usagi is sure of; what she doesn’t know is how much that change might end up affecting them all in the times to come.

xXx

The weekend ends and both girls return to their homes for what will be their last week there. After all, they must act according to the excuse they gave their mothers for being away from their homes for several days.

The apartment where they will be living is in fact Mamoru’s old apartment, a floor below his penthouse, it’s a quite roomy two-bedroom apartment, the bedrooms are connected by a balcony, and share a full-bathroom, there’s also a half-bathroom closer to the sitting room and the dinning-room/kitchen; aside from that there’s a study and a laundry-room. All in all a pretty luxurious apartment for two girls that, when beginning their plans a year before, were hoping for something small, but nice, and cheap. Still, Mamoru insisted, and while Naru at first thought it was like accepting charity, in the end she relented. The girls won’t have to pay rent, since the apartment belongs to Mamoru, and he insists on letting them use it for free, but they still have to pay the cleaning maid that works in the building, and anything they might need like food, toiletries and other essentials.

Usagi finds this new arrangement especially convenient, since it’ll allow her both to be closer to her boyfriend and to come and go when her desire to protect the innocent make it necessary. Naru already knows the truth, or at least the basics of it, it was explained to her on Sunday morning. She knows about Usagi having been Sailor Moon at some point, and that she quit to prove a point, sort of; also about Tuxedo Kamen, their powers, and that Usagi and Mamoru are soulmates (even if they didn’t go into much detail on that).

In the end Naru thinks it all extremely romantic and declared that, one day, their story was going to be a best-selling novel; Usagi and Mamoru both think she’s crazy.

On Monday Usagi can feel the eyes of both Ami and Makoto on the back of her neck. She can guess the reason: they want to ask if she knows anything about the energy that was felt on Friday night; yet at the same time they know they shouldn’t involve her, since she’s no longer part of the team. As much as the reincarnated lunarian hates protocol, at this point she knows to be grateful for it; she isn’t a very good liar, skirting around a subject is one thing, but flat-out lying is something she doesn’t seem to be able to do… both her mother and Mamoru can attest to that.

Naru too seems to be very popular with the senshi for a few days, and Usagi knows the reason for that too, as Naru managed to remember most of what happened the day she was taken, how the ground vanished from beneath her feet and she was dragged to some hole in the earth. She’d seen Ami, called to her for help; the genius apparently hesitated long enough that, by the time she did try anything, it was too late.

Usagi shakes her head in a mix of disbelief and dislike; knowing that, had she been in Ami’s place and Ami in Naru’s she wouldn’t have hesitated even for a moment, would have done anything she could to save a friend. Have her former comrades really fallen that low? Or have they always been like that and Usagi was just too blind to see the truth before?

xXx

By Friday things have gone pretty much back to normal, Usagi is at the Tsukino place, having just finished sealing the last of her boxes of things. Everything’s ready to be moved to her new apartment in the morning. She’s contemplating what to do to pass the time when suddenly her cellphone rings (a new one she bought with the money she won’t be using to pay rent, since the one she had before had to be returned to the senshi).

“Moshi moshi?” She answers. “Naru?… Calm down a moment, please. I can’t understand what you’re saying…”

It takes a few seconds but finally her friend seems to calm down enough to pronounce at least one phrase coherently:

“Usagi-chan… I need your help… please… it’s urgent.”

 

Moonlight destiny
Itsu made mo dare yori mo soba ni itai no (Forever, more than anyone, I want to be with you)
Kono hiroi sora no shita de meguriaeta anata (Below this spacious sky above, you who I met by chance)

Chapter 5. Lost and Found

Usagi is laying against a tree in what has to be one of the biggest backyards she’s ever seen, at least in this lifetime. She’s watching Naru seemingly absentmindedly tend to a few rosebushes that are directly beneath the house’s main window. Still, she knows her best friend is anything but absent-minded; just like Usagi herself, whose mind kept repeating over and over again the events that have taken place since the previous afternoon as they wait for Mamoru to confirm what they both know already:

Very confused and concerned over the phone call, Usagi hurried to Naru’s house, but before she could go in said girl instead dragged her to another house several blocks away. It was very big, in the very center of the property, surrounded by trees and a beautiful garden; while the trees were obviously old the flowers seemed to be relatively new; still, it was obvious the owner of the place took great care of them.

“Why are we here?” Usagi asked, curious.

Her curiosity doubled when she saw Naru bring out a key and use it to open the gate to the property, and then guide her friend in the direction of the house. Her hazel eyes widened considerably when Naru pulled out yet another key out and used this one to open the front door.

“Naru-chan, who lives here?” Usagi asked.

“My boyfriend.” Was Naru’s simple answer.

“Boyfriend?” Usagi was shocked into stillness.

While she did know her best friend went out on dates, she had no idea that she had a serious relationship. The last time they talked about such things Naru had laughed at how serious Usagi was about her relationship with Mamoru, told her they were still too young, that it was time to joke around, date a few guys, enjoy life… and that conversation happened many months prior, before all the senshi mess began…

“I know what you must be thinking.” Naru said, seeing her face. “I remember very well what I told you last spring but… well, Shin is different, I don’t really know how else to explain it…”

“Shin, that’s his name?” Usagi inquired, very interested.

“Ichirou Shin.” Naru replied, then giggled, as if having said an inside joke. “At least that’s the name he calls himself. You see, he’s amnesic, something happened to him around two years ago, or so, that he lost all of his memories, twenty-something years worth of memories.”

“Just how old is he?” Usagi asked, even more wide-eyed.

Thing is, she would have never pegged Naru as the kind of girl to date an older man; at the beginning of their relationship she’d bothered Usagi enough about Mamoru being four years older than her! And it was obvious that Shin was still a few years even older than Naru.

“He’s twenty-four…or at least that’s what we think.” Naru answered, pensively. “As I told you, he lost all of his memories, so we can’t be sure of anything definite.”

“How did you meet him?” Usagi wanted to know everything, now.

“This house, until last year, was said to be haunted.” Naru began her explanation. “It was during a sleep-over you couldn’t go to that Momoko dared me to come and find out if there was really a ghost here. There was just no way I would back out of a dare, so I came. I found the house all dark, and began taking pictures with my phone to use as proof. Everything was going fine until, as I took a picture of one of the upstairs windows, I saw someone standing there, looking directly at me. I couldn’t help it, I screamed and ran away. On the way home I deleted that last picture and then showed the others to let them know I went through with the dare. It wasn’t until the next morning that I realized I lost my favorite bracelet. I knew I’d to have lost it there so I went back to find it. I looked around the yard for hours, it was awful let me tell you, it was obvious no one took care of the place, with the grass so overgrown and weeds everywhere… finally, when I was about to give up I heard a voice calling. I practically jumped in fright, but there, standing by the house’s main window, stood a man, and in his hands he had my bracelet, apparently it had gotten caught on a branch close to that window when I climbed the tree to get a better angle for some of my pictures and then ended up falling to the window-sill. He knew I’d return for it and was waiting for me. It was strange, because the moment I saw into his eyes I knew I’d been stupid to fear him the night before, he was no monster, only a man; a very tired and sad-looking man. I knew from the very beginning I felt something for him, which is why I didn’t refuse his invitation for some tea. I spent hours talking to him. When he told me he had no memories of his past I couldn’t help but feel for him, I wanted to help. Then he confessed something else to me, he never went out. For some strange reason he was afraid of the outside-world and chose to stay in his house all day.” She sighed. “When I left that day I couldn’t help but wonder when was the last time he’d had any human contact… I tried to keep my mind away, I really did, and I managed, for about a week. Finally the next weekend I went back to visit him, this time I even took a few pastries with me to share over tea. He was so delighted to see me Usagi-chan! It was obvious in his eyes he hadn’t been expecting to ever see me again, so obvious that he’d grown so used to his solitude that he no longer expected any kind of human contact. I felt so sad for him. So I kept visiting, every-week, around noon, I would tell him about all the places I’d visited, and we would share any pastries or cake I brought with some tea he made. After I realized how badly his diet was I even went grocery-shopping for him. I tried to convince him to go with me, but it seemed impossible. I also began taking pictures of everything to later show them to him…”

“Your passion for photography!” Usagi cried out suddenly. “But that was over a year ago Naru-chan, how come you never told me about Shin?”

“I don’t know.” Naru was honest. “I think that, at first, I never expected anything to come out of it, I mean, he was so many years older than me, and seemed to live inside a bubble; all I wanted was to show him there wasn’t a reason to be afraid of this world, that there was so much beauty in it to be enjoyed. And also, a part of me felt like this was something I needed to do, on my own, that Shin was like my mission… I’m not sure if I’m expressing myself right. Anyway, it took me almost six months from the day I met him, to the day he finally agreed to go out with me. It was summer, and the perfect day to go to the beach, he loved it, had since I showed him a few pictures from an old family-outing. It took two weeks straight for me to convince him, and I just think I was lucky it didn’t take longer! It was… so beautiful! He looked like a little-kid Usagi-chan, like someone discovering the world for the very first time which, I sense, in a way he was. We spent the whole day in the beach, mostly just walking around, allowing him to take in everything. When we went back to his home that evening he hugged me, told me he was very happy, for everything I’d done for him. And that made me happy too. When I visited him again I was shocked, the whole yard had been fully cleaned, it was like a whole new place. As soon as I stepped into the house he hugged me again, he told me he felt like a new man, and all because of me… and then he kissed me.”

Usagi could hardly believe what she was hearing, it was almost like a fairy-tale, granted, there were no princesses and knights and such; but in their current society she guessed Naru’s story was as close to a fairy-tale as it could be.

“I never really considered our difference in ages.” Naru continued, more serious this time. “Having lost his memories made him most of the time act so much younger than he looked, that after a while I no longer saw his age, not really. True, at times he could be very serious too, mostly around once a month, when he began brooding over his lack of past. I did everything I could, took him to places to see if he would remember something, anything. But he never did. We also went other places together, like museums, parks, we went to several nurseries and together decided on what flowers to plant in his property, his favorite are the white-roses, while I simply love orchids.”

“That’s why those two are the most common.” Usagi realized.

“Yeah.” Naru nodded. “Anyway, we began dating after that day to the beach, and began going out somewhere, anywhere, at least twice a month. I wanted so much to share what was going on with me, but we both know Kanami and Momoko would have never understood…”

“And I had pushed you away so much you weren’t sure if you could trust me.” Usagi finished with a sad sigh, it wasn’t the first time she realized how much she’d hurt her best friend.

“It was never a matter of trust, Usagi-chan.” Naru reassured her. “More like I wasn’t sure if I should bother you with my problems when it was so obvious you had something big going on already. Of course I didn’t know about you being a senshi back then, but I somehow did know something was happening.”

“You’ll never be a bother to me Naru-chan, never ever, senshi or not you’ll always be my best friend.” Usagi reassured her.

“That’s why I called you now.” Naru explained, going back to the crux of the matter.

“That’s right, you said it was urgent.” Usagi remembered.

“Shin’s gone missing.” Naru answered, suddenly very somber. “I don’t know what happened to him, I don’t even know how long he’s been missing! This week has been so hectic, what with your ‘former comrades’ following me everywhere trying to find anything suspicious, my mom going all emotional at random of times due to my moving out, and all the homework the teachers seem to insist on piling on us just because we’re about to finish the school year…”

Usagi nodded, it was the end of February, two more weeks and they would be done with their first year of high-school, and while two weeks off before the next year wasn’t exactly her idea of a vacation, it would definitely be a rest after all the work she’d had to deal with lately! She just hoped the Dark Kingdom didn’t decide to up their ante right during that time.

“So, Shin’s missing…” Usagi went back to the matter at hand. “Any possibility he got lost? I mean, seeing as he has no memory of so many things?”

“If he were lost he could easily hail a cab back home, or even phone me, he’s done it before, though not in many months.” Naru answered. “And really, he very rarely goes out on his own, he says it’s because it’s better when he’s with me, maybe a part of him is still afraid of venturing outside without me, but whichever it is, he rarely leaves his house without me!”

“Okay, okay, so no getting lost then.” Usagi raised her hands in a gesture of surrender.

It was obvious Naru felt very strongly for this young man, perhaps more so than even she herself realized; regardless, Usagi knew they must find him.

“Any clues?” She inquired.

She was willing to use any powers needed to help, after all, this was her best friend suffering.

“Only this.” Naru answered, as she signaled to the ground in the main sitting room.

The furniture was against the walls, but not as if it had been moved to make space, but as if it had been viciously and randomly pushed aside, several things were turned over or damaged; but strangest of all was the black pieces of something laying around. Usagi knelt close enough to take one in her hand, it felt like an old dry cloth, but she knew it was not, it was…

“Petals…” She gasped.

In an instant she was fishing her cellphone out of her pocket, dialing her boyfriend’s number and praying she wouldn’t be interrupting anything particularly important on his end; she suddenly had a very bad feeling…

In the end, while she didn’t interrupt anything, Mamoru was about to enter a lecture, which made it necessary for Naru and Usagi to wait until the following morning to confirm the blonde’s first impression.

That confirmation comes easily enough: Shin’s disappearance is somehow related to the Dark Kingdom, what they’re trying to make out is who took him and why. Usagi’s playing in her mind with the possibility of Shin being the reincarnation of someone from the Silver Millennium. That would explain why Beryl wants him. She’ll probably try to make him her follower before he wakes on his own and retakes his old loyalties (which hopefully are for their own side…) in any case, what is obvious was that they need to find him, soon.

Finally, after what seems like forever, Mamoru steps out of the house, in his hand he’s still carrying a fist of the black petals. Just by his expression Usagi knows the situation is worse than even she imagined. And from the pale look on her own face, Naru knows it too.

“What did you find?” Naru asks, rubbing her hands together nervously.

“Like Usako could guess initially, the Dark Kingdom is involved.” Mamoru begins, then frowns as he adds. “However, what I don’t like is that there’s no signal of how whoever it was came into the home, just of their leaving, and it’s just one signal.”

“You think that the Dark Kingdom killed Shin!” Naru can’t help her cry.

Mamoru shakes his head; Usagi sighs as she closes her eyes, it’s even worse than her ‘worst-case-scenario’ then.

“No, Naru-san…” Mamoru tries to be as gentle as possible, though he well knows there’s no good way of saying this: “I think Shin himself has joined the Dark Kingdom…”

“What?!” Naru practically screeches at that.

The pained look in Mamoru’s face, somewhat similar yet different from the expression in Naru’s own, pushes Usagi to embrace her boyfriend tightly.

“Who?” Is all she asks, and really, all she needs to.

“One of the four.” He admits in a whisper, as he embraces her tightly as well. “Kunzite…”

Usagi gasps at this and holds tighter onto Mamoru, knowing how much it must pain him to know that one of his generals, an almost brother, was around for years and he didn’t known until he was taken away, again.

And yet, it’s another gasp that surprises her even more, it’s then that both she and Mamoru remember they aren’t alone; they turn to find Naru on her knees, holding onto a white rose she probably just cut from one of the bushes that were beginning to overflow. She’s crying, but not the cry of a girl who’s lost her chance to go to a party she’s been looking forward to, or who just lost a friend; it’s the cry of a woman who just learned the love of life is gone, probably forever; it’s a cry of agony…

“No…” She gasps, amid heart-breaking sobs. “Shinichi…”

Mamoru does a double-take at that, as his eyes seem to burn into Naru.

“You know Kunzite’s real name…” He practically hisses. “How?”

He hates not knowing things; and really, the general’s true names are such a secret only each other and their master know them. According to all of them they’re part of an existence they left behind when swearing themselves to the service of their Master and of Earth. Still, for Naru to know the name of at least one of them…

“It’s been a very long time, Your Highness…” Naru says as she bows her head in respect, never getting up from her kneeling position.

The timber of her voice, it’s the same she adopted briefly the week before, right after Usagi recovered from the huge spell she used to break down that kekkai…

“Lady Molly…” He murmurs, he too adopting the deeper tone of voice of his past life, as he nods his head in acknowledgment. “It wasn’t known to me that you’d woken…”

“I haven’t yet, not fully at least.” She answers. “Right now I’m more Naru than Molly, but everyday I get closer to being both; it’s hard, the memories come at random times, so many things cause new ones, or strengthen old ones. It is my belief, and my hope, that in a week, two at the most I’ll be able to call on my old gifts once more.”

“I would be very thankful to have an ally such as you in these hard times.” Mamoru nods.

“It’ll be an honor to help in any way I can, My Prince…” She rises to her feet gracefully, before turning to acknowledge Usagi. “Princess…”

Usagi nods her head, more instinctively than consciously, her mind still trying to finish putting the puzzle pieces together and understand what’s going on.

“Lady Molly was once an Elysian priestess.” Mamoru clears out for her. “One of very few to still exist at the time of the Fall, if I remember correctly.”

“We were an ancient order, which fell in decadence long before the Silver Alliance and Earth both fell.” Molly admits. “My mistress and I, we both took oaths that had been long forgotten, when others refused us out of fear and spite…”

Mamoru nods, he doesn’t remember all the details very clearly, but he does know what the young woman before him says to be true.

“If you have enough memories to know this, and Kunzite’s true name, then you must know enough to realize what’s going on here.” Mamoru declares somberly.

“Yes, Your Highness.” She bows her head, trying to hide her grief. “That witch Beryl has taken him from us, again…” she sighs sadly as she raises her face to the sun, its golden rays reflecting on her falling tears. “Only this time it’s not death keeping him from us, but the darkness of her power.” She shakes her head. “I wonder which is worse…”

Still only half understanding what’s going on, as even in her previous life she was never that close to Endymion’s court, the black-haired reincarnated Lunarian knows she must do something to up their spirits.

“For as long as there is life, there shall be hope.” She murmurs in the soft, melodic voice of her previous incarnation, trying to infuse it with power without fully transforming into who she once was. “I promise you, we’ll get him back, we’ll get them all back… somehow.”

A smile lights her delicate features at the nod that answer her words; it isn’t definite, of course not, the war isn’t yet won, it has yet to even begin. But win it they will, not just for themselves, but for those who didn’t get the chance to choose what side to fight for. Then, before another word can be said, a heavy feeling reaches the senses of all three.

“I’m guessing you all felt that.” Mamoru says, though it’s a rhetorical question.

Even as he speaks, his casual clothes fade away, leaving in their place the formal tuxedo, cape and mask of his Tuxedo Kamen persona. Without a word being said Usagi’s clothes too shift into her ivory-white dress, scarf, ballerinas and butterfly mask.

“Serena?” Naru’s eyes widen as she watches the image.

It takes an instant for the black-haired girl to realize what the other girl’s referring to.

“In a sense, I guess.” She admits.

“It’s a good name to use, in case we’re seen.” Tuxedo Kamen points out.

Usagi, now named Serena while in that attire, agrees.

“Why Serena and not Serenity?” Naru questions.

“Some truths aren’t meant to be known just yet.” Serena answers evenly.

“More like some people aren’t ready to face the truth just yet.” Mamoru corrects.

“It’s the same in the end.” Serena shrugs.

“Not really.” Mamoru disagrees. “Because the time for the truth to be known will come eventually, but will they ever be ready to face it?”

“They’ll have to be.” Is Serena’s firm answer.

“Then I guess you’ll be Darien?” Naru changes the topic as she faces Kamen.

Her brow is furrowed, showing how strange it is for her to see the one she knew to be the Prince of Earth in such an attire. While she may have seen him as Tuxedo Kamen before, back then she didn’t know who he was, who she herself was. Now she does, and the mix of images and impressions from her memories and what she’s witnessing is going to give her a migraine at some point in the near future.

“We should get going now.” Tuxedo Kamen declares as he takes his beloved’s hand.

“Wait for me.” Naru calls right as they’re about to rush off.

Before the other two can say anything she clasps her hands together and whispers a prayer in the ancient language, then her clothes switch into what looks very similar to an ancient Greek tunic: it’s a beige color, with an empire-waist, and a low neckline, the straps are triple, looking almost like woven copper and they’re so loose it looks as if they’re barely holding the tunic up; also, she has two slits, one going up each leg, almost reaching to her hips, giving a very provocative look; her feet are bandaged, though she has no sandals at all, there are several bronze, silver and gold loose bracelets on her wrists, her hair has acquired reddish highlights and looks wavy now, she keeps it back with a white rose.

“I’m going with you.” Is all she says once her transformation is over.

Serena doesn’t seem to like the idea. The last thing she wants is for her best friend to be in danger; but she knows it’s not her place to stop her. Naru, or Molly now, isn’t a part of her court, but Endymion’s; who seems to finally nod in acceptance after pondering the matter for a while. Without a single word more said all three are off.

xXx

They arrive to the local concert hall in time to see people running everywhere.

“The dark feeling originates from here.” Tuxedo Kamen, now called Darien by the girls, states the obvious to his two companions.

“But do you feel it?” Serena asks in turn. “The light mixed with that darkness?”

“It’s so faint, I can barely grasp it.” Molly drops in her two cents. “It feels like a human essence, but so very weak…”

“It is a human essence.” Serena deadpans. “Of a human about to be swallowed by the darkness enveloping it.”

“A human about to be…” Molly’s eyes widen in panic. “You mean a human is being possessed by the darkness!”

Darien nods seriously, he was able to make out that much as well.

“We need to hurry.” He orders the other two. “Together we might be able to stop this from becoming a tragedy.”

“We must try and be discreet as well.” Serena adds. “I can feel at least two of the senshi are on their way.”

“Then lets go and finish this before they get here.” Molly decides.

They arrive to one of the foyers of the building, right in time to find a young woman standing on the second level terrace, a dark mist swirling dangerously around her, her whole body is tense and she looks like she would be screaming if she could.

“Oh Spirits…” Molly gasps, hands covering her mouth.

“This is bad, very bad.” Serena declares as her mind tries to come up with some kind of plan, there don’t seem to be many options.

“Her life-force is getting dangerously low.” Molly informs the others in a very low voice. “If we’re going to do anything to save her it has to be now.”

“Serena?” Darien inquires of his beloved. “Your powers, you’ve done this kind of thing before, healing a possessed human I mean.”

“That was with the Moon Wand.” Serena reminds him, she’s obviously upset. “I had to surrender it when I quit being Sailor Moon.”

It’s the first time in over a month since she quit that she regrets no longer being a senshi, while she’s sure she could have used the wand even without her transformation, that doesn’t change the fact that she doesn’t have it; and she has no idea how to summon it without flat out transforming into Serenity.

“But being a healer is part of your power.” Darien reminds her.

“I know.” Serena replies. “And theoretically I should be able to do it, doesn’t change the fact that I don’t know how to.”

Molly, deciding they’ve stalled long enough, gets on the move.

She rushes to the girl, summoning her power to try and force a purification. It’s the basis of any priestess’s power: purifying; but still, it isn’t enough, especially when she’s just woken into her powers less than an hour ago!

Eventually the human-turned-youma overpowers her physically and throws her over the railing and to the foyer below.

“Molly!” Serena cried out.

It’s only thanks to her heightened endurance that the girl survives the fall without a broken bone, though the side she fell on definitely hurts.

“Oh Selene, goddess of the moon, ancestor-mine, hear my plea, I call upon thee, I beg for thy help, in this place and at this hour, guide me with thine everlasting grace!” Serena prays as she drops to her knees where she stands.

Darien has no idea what’s going on, he just hopes that whatever his beloved’s doing will work; he would hate to have to kill an innocent human just to destroy the youma that’s taken possession of her and he well knows his beloved will never forgive herself if things get that far, she’s just too gentle, too caring…

Right in that moment Serena’s eyes open again, he can barely make out the silver ring in the edges of her iris, her aura has also changed, getting as close as possible to that of the lunarian princess she was in her previous life, without actually turning into her. She turns to look at Darien for a fraction of a second, and they don’t even need words; he just knows she’s about to do something, something powerful and risky, and he’ll need to cover her, like he always does. And he’s right, she rushes to her feet and in the youma’s direction, for the way her dress and long scarf trailed behind she looks almost as if she were flying.

The youma attacks the two when they begin approaching but Serena totally ignores it, trusting her beloved implicitly to keep her safe. She doesn’t stop her run until she’s standing less than a foot away from the youma, and then before it can move to attack her again she palms the palms of both hands on it and is hurriedly chanting in an ancient language. There’s a brief, bright flash of light and Serena’s blown away, thankfully being caught by Darien before she hits the ground or one of the walls.

Once the flash has passed all three heroes turn to see in relief as the young girl collapses to the ground unconscious, as the youma dissolves into mist which then vanishes as well.

“Are you alright?” Darien asks his girlfriend, worried.

“Fine, just a little tired.” Serena answers honestly. “Doing a spell of that magnitude, without a focusing tool, isn’t exactly the easiest thing I’ve done.”

Darien nods, he knows that’s why even women as powerful as Serenity’s mother: Queen Selenity was, still used tools like the Moon Wand. It wasn’t because they lacked power, more the opposite, they had too much power, they needed tools to focus it, to make sure they wouldn’t lose control of it. He’s about to lecture her on being more careful when suddenly another presence calls both of their attentions, at the same time that from a shadow, on the level below, a figure emerges. Dressed in elegant, ancient-styled clothes, with long black hair and shadowed eyes, no one really needs to think too hard on who the new arrival is.

“Kunzite…” Darien whispers under his breath.

“You’ve taken a subject of mine, Tuxedo Kamen, you and your little girl.” He snaps harshly. “And for that I’ll take one of yours.”

Before anyone could call a warning he throws what looks like a lock of his own hair at Molly. Serena identifies it as the same thing that emerged from the girl right as the youma dissipated. It’s how he got possessed in the first place…

“Molly!!” Serena screams in a panic.

Darien’s the only one to notice how the Shitennou’s eyes widen just fractionally as that name is pronounced; the reincarnated prince wonders if that means his once dearest friend and sword-trainer remembers anything, at least on a subconscious level.

On the level below Molly is so shocked by his arrival that she’s unable to move until the choking feeling as the lock of hair wraps around her neck brings her back to reality rather painfully. Her eyes water, why is he doing this? Why is he trying to hurt her? Doesn’t he remember her? Doesn’t he remember the woman he put his honor at stake for? The woman he gave so much up for once upon a time? The woman he swore to love for all eternity? As Molly or as Naru, she knows she loves him, and there doesn’t seem to be even the slightest bit of recognition in his dark orbs; that breaks her heart. A single word leaves her lips, half-broken from both her physical and emotional pain, yet no one could have ever expected what that sole word would bring:

“Shin…Ichi…”

This time it’s pretty obvious for the three friends the moment the Shitennou freezes in place, his hand still extended from when he threw the spelled lock of hair at the priestess. His expression showing absolute shock as he mouths one word, one name… And suddenly a copper-colored aura envelopes Molly, just for an instant, but it’s enough to dissolve the spelled lock of hair. In the same instant, Kunzite’s gone.

“We better get out of here, now.” Serena declares, uncomfortable.

It’s obvious there’s much they needed to discuss, but she rather they do that in a more private place, before they’re found…And yet it’s too late, for the senshi are already there.

 

Moonlight destiny
Hohoemi mo kanashimi mo wakeaeru ne to (Through all the joy and the pain, we will share it together)
Mune de sou kanjite iru anata to nara (In my heart that’s how I feel, when I am with you)

Chapter 6. Ancient Priestesses and a Shadow…

Holding Serena tightly in his arms Darien has barely managed to jump onto the lower level when suddenly the two of them and Molly find themselves surrounded by four senshi and two cats, all who look at the trio with evident suspicion.

“Tuxedo Kamen!” Most of the girls call at once.

“Sailor Moon!” Mercury and Jupiter add.

At this Serena cocks her head to a side, as if puzzled.

“There’s no Sailor Moon here.” Darien points out, still holding onto his girlfriend.

“Of course she is, you’re holding her in your arms!” Mars snaps.

“Ah, but she’s not really Sailor Moon now, is she?” Darien questions in turn.

It’s until he opens his arms the barest minimum for the smaller girl to be seen that the senshi realize their former comrade isn’t in a senshi attire, and it’s also then that they seem to remember the reason for this.

“What does this new transformation mean?” Mercury asks.

Truth be told not only she, but all of them, are quite surprised to see Usagi still participating in battles even when no longer being a senshi. As expected, she’s with her boyfriend, what isn’t as expected is the red-haired girl standing with them.

“Usagi!” Mars snaps.

She’s never been very patient, in this life or the last, but the fact that their black-haired former comrade hasn’t so much as uttered a word since their arrival seems to really bother her.

“Don’t talk to her in that tone!” Molly demands. “You have no right.”

“And what right do you have to talk to us in that tone?” Jupiter asks with a brow arched.

“The right of someone who knows how to stand up for her friends, unlike you.” Molly retorts with a sneer.

“I don’t understand what’s going on here.” Venus says in a tone that seemed to indicate she speaks more for herself than for the others; her eyes fixed on Darien. “I thought that you, that you were… Endymion…”

Darien’s eyes narrow, he was hoping to be able to avoid this confrontation. For if Venus remembers as much as he and his beloved guessed, once such information is confirmed, his soulmate’s true identity will be forfeited as well; and that’s one secret he wishes to protect for as long as possible. The chance to do just that comes right then, and in the most unexpected way.

“You thought… him… Master…” Molly seems to go into a laughing fit, though it sounds really fake. “You thought he was Prince Endymion?”

Molly knows what she’s doing is risky. Even if the ruse works as she hopes she’ll have a hell of an explanation to give to her Prince and the princess. But if it does work… then they’ll be safer, at least for a while.

“Who are you girl?” Artemis demands. “What do you know about the Terran Prince?”

“I know a lot, Advisor to the White Moon Crown, Lord Artemis.” Molly speaks in a very cold tone, as she turns to each of those present. “Lady Luna, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, S… Princess Sailor Venus.”

Venus almost visibly staggers, she doesn’t know if it was just a slip, due to her clothes, or entirely intentional, but either way, she doesn’t like it.

“I am Lady Molly, Daughter of the Earth, Servant of the Spirits.” She introduces herself in a very formal manner as she steps before her friends. “I’m a priestess of the ancient Elysian Order, as well as a loyal subject of Prince Endymion, son of Prometheus and Azar, blessed by the Earth. I served in the Terran Court during the time of the Silver Millennium, and I remember… the Fall.”

“The Fall?” For a moment Jupiter doesn’t understand.

“Of the Silver Millennium.” Luna does understand. “You were there?”

“I was, I was one of two people to make it out of the Golden Palace before it fell, along with the rest of our ancient kingdom.” Molly declares somberly.

“You made it to the Moon?” Artemis’s eyes widen.

“With His Highness.” Molly nods.

The other three senshi are looking at everyone over and over again, puzzled by what’s going on there, they have no idea who the girl is, or what she’s talking about, only that it has to do with the time they died in their previous lives.

“When the Silver Millennium fell under the Negaverse, Earth was the first to be attacked.” Artemis clarifies for the others, seeing their confusion. “Only two people managed to make it out of their planet and to the Moon, in an attempt to warn us of what was coming; one was the Crown Prince of Earth. Endymion, and the other…”

“Me.” Molly confirms. “I made it to the Moon with the Prince, and I was one of the last ones left standing once war broke out there.”

Serena cannot help her gasp, though it’s half-drowned in her beloved’s cape. She could have cried at what she’s just heard, Molly, Naru, she was there, in the end, when she…

“Not that it did much good.” Mars sneers. “The Moon fell anyway.”

“You think I don’t know that?!” Molly almost screams at Mars, infuriated. “I was there. And unlike you, I do remember!!”

That seems to shut the fire-blessed senshi, while at times she wishes she could have those memories; seeing the tortured look in the copper eyes of the priestess in front of her, and even the half-lidded eyes of her own princess, makes her reconsider.

“If he’s not Endymion, who is he?” Venus still wants to know, signaling to Tuxedo Kamen. “Why did Zoisite call him Endymion?”

“Tuxedo Kamen, as you’ve known him thus far, he too belongs to the Silver Millennium, his name’s Darien Shields, Shadow and Shield of our Honorable Prince Endymion…”

Unnoticed by any but his own girlfriend, Darien’s eyes flash; Molly has just given him the perfect cover, he’ll have to thank her at some point.

“Shadow and Shield?” Mercury is confused about what that means.

“Yes.” Darien finally speaks up. “It means that, in ancient times, it was my sworn duty to follow the Prince like a shadow, and be his shield if the need ever arose; my life was solely meant to protect him, nothing else.”

“Like the Sailor Senshi with the Princess.” Luna guesses.

“No.” The last thing Darien wants is to be compared to them. “You are warriors, meant to fight against the evils that threaten what you represent, whether the princess is with you or not; as a Shield I existed solely for my Prince, I was never to leave his shadow.”

“And yet now you’re here, and he’s not.” Artemis points out, suspiciously.

“The time hasn’t yet come for our Prince to come forward.” Molly steps in again. “He’s still in the process of awakening… and yet, his connection to the Earth was enough for him to know the great danger we’re all in, and it was his will that we step up and protect the planet until the day he can do it for himself.”

“But that’s what we’re here for!” Mars is really testy.

“Well, you obviously haven’t been doing a very good job have you?” Molly hisses back. “Judging by how long it took you to get here, especially when the dark aura was obvious to us an hour ago… and lets not forget how you failed to free the people that were being kept prisoner in that cursed building several days ago.”

“The building…” Mercury realizes something right then. “You were there!”

“I was.” Molly admits simply.

“You’re the one who broke down the barrier.” Artemis guesses.

Molly simply shrugs, she isn’t going to lie outright, it wouldn’t be fair for her to take on credit for something she could never have done; but still, she’ll let them believe what they want, for as long as it suits her purposes.

“So you’re an ancient Terran priestess, and Tuxedo Kamen, Darien, is the Prince’s personal bodyguard.” Luna summarizes.

“What do you want with Usagi-chan!” Jupiter demands.

Usagi, who’s so tired she can barely remain fully alert, almost flinches, burying herself deeper into her beloved’s embrace.

“Serena…” Molly points out her name, at least in her current identity. “She’s an untrained priestess, and a very talented healer. It was she who healed the girl the Dark Kingdom agent was trying to possess…”

‘Trying’ being the keyword, since the senshi will most likely assume this means he failed in actually getting their dark power into the girl. While Molly and her friends know perfectly well that the only reason the situation ended at ‘tried’ is because Serena managed to undo the damage before the girl’s soul could be fully consumed.

“What?!” Mars nearly screeches.

Serena flinches, this time more visibly.

“Pull yourself together!” Molly demands. “All of you! Can’t you see you’re hurting her?!”

They all turn to see Serena then, who’s already mostly invisible beneath Darien’s cape, she’s almost visibly trembling.

“U… Serena?” Mercury calls, then turns to Molly. “What’s wrong with her?”

“I told you she’s an untrained priestess, emphasis on the ‘un’.” Molly retorted. “Your auras are so out of control right now you’re hurting her! Get a grip already!! All of you!!!”

Molly then turns a particularly cold look at the pseudo-princess, whose confusion has turned into stress, and it’s reflecting in her aura, more so than in everyone else’s.

“Don’t talk that way to the princess!” Mars demands. “You owe her respect!”

“I owe nothing to your… ‘princess’.” Molly is very cold. “I have no loyalty for her, or anyone of the Silver Alliance; only for My Prince Endymion, and those he deems worthy.”

It’s a ruse, really, for she knows that Endymion would ask those who follow him to also be loyal to his princess, and Molly will do it; she’ll follow Serenity, Serena, Usagi, whatever her form is. But she’ll never follow that false princess or the senshi who so easily betrayed one that was more than just a leader, their friend.

Mars is obviously furious at that reply, but Luna manages to shush her.

“If all you’ve said is true, you’ve yet to explain, why Zoisite called him Endymion.” Venus reminds the group.

“I thought it would be obvious for someone like you, Princess Sailor Venus.” Darien cannot help but express his own frustration at the senshi as he speaks. “I live to serve the Prince, I exist to be his Shadow and Shield…”

“You’re acting as his decoy…” Artemis realizes.

Darien doesn’t answer, it isn’t fully a lie, really. Darien Shields is the identity he used to take back in ancient times, when he wanted some time away from his duties as Prince and Royal Heir. Also, since he needed to be able to come and go from the palace he arranged papers that made Darien Shields the Prince’s personal guard, the legend of Shadow and Shield came later, formed by his own Shitennou, to explain why both Endymion and Darien were never seen together.

For the umpteenth time Venus flinches almost visibly, wondering just how much this ‘Darien Shields’ knows, and how liable he’s to keep her secret. He’s known her civilian identity for a long time, since her Sailor V days, just like she knows his. But these new developments, both in regards to his own past life, and the two priestesses; those are things she wasn’t expecting.

“Lady Molly, we need to leave.” Darien calls to the redhead. “Serena is exhausted, and we’re beginning to call the attention of the civilians.”

Molly nods, she knows he’s right.

“We shall meet again.” Darien tells those before him.

And before any of the senshi, or the two cats, can voice a complaint Molly, and Darien with Serena in his arms, once again jump onto the second level of the hall and rush away.

xXx

The following morning Naru enters Mamoru’s loft in time for breakfast, and to see Usagi as she steps away from Mamoru and into the master-bedroom and its adjoining bathroom for a bath. It was just for a second, but Naru was able to make out her friend’s puffy eyes and the tear marks running down her cheeks.

“What made Usagi-chan cry?” Naru wants to know.

She swears to herself that whoever has hurt her is going to pay dearly; and that oath she doesn’t make as Molly, but simply as Naru.

“What else?” Mamoru answers sardonically as he returns to minding the stove where he’s cooking breakfast. “The senshi’s blindness.”

“I thought we’d already established before that they are, effectively, blind to anything not directly in front of their eyes, and sometimes even then.” Naru replies in the same tone. “What could have happened to make Usagi-chan cry again?”

“Yesterday, I don’t know if it occurred to you, but Usagi was the only one to use any power whatsoever.” Mamoru reminds her. “Even when your aura flared to free you from Kunzite’s attack, Usagi’s power was already in the atmosphere, and pretty strongly considering that she did such a powerful spell without any real control…”

Naru’s starting to see where the whole thing is going, she sighs.

“The whole place was practically glowing with her aura, and neither of them noticed.” Mamoru finishes, knowing she’s already understood. “Even if none of them have enough of their memories or the common sense to realize to whom that aura belongs, they should have been able to sense just how strong she is, that there’s no way she could be just a… how did you put it? Ah yes, an ‘untrained priestess’, not with that level of power.”

Naru hunches slightly at the reminder of the liberties she took the previous day, but still, chooses to return to the matter at hand.

“That’s right.” Naru nods. “Even if the others are just using their attacks under instructions and have no ‘real senses’ just yet, at least to Mars and the ‘princess’ it should be obvious; the Advisors too should have at least noticed something! I mean, they’re supposed to serve the White Moon Crown right? Which means they served Queen Selenity in the Silver Millennium and would have served Serenity had she ever taken the throne. Don’t they remember what her aura feels like at all?!”

“I don’t think Luna remembers much of anything.” Mamoru points out. “Otherwise she’d have realized the truth about Usagi from the very first day.”

“And probably would have never even considered the possibility of making her a senshi.” Naru adds, knowing how overprotective some people can be.

“I don’t think it was ever really her choice.” Mamoru murmurs thoughtfully, and when seeing Naru’s confusion elaborates. “Usako told me once about the ‘Legend’ of Sailor Moon, it was always a position meant to be filled by a Royal Lunarian; a senshi that only emerged when the danger was too big to be stopped by the Planetary Senshi, or when they weren’t able to get where they were needed in time. According to her memories the last time there was need for a Sailor Moon was shortly after the foundation of the Silver Millennium…”

“But that’s… thousands of years before the Fall ever happened!” Naru gasps at the prospect.

Mamoru simply nods.

“But then, more likely than not Luna and the senshi didn’t even know a Sailor Moon existed, why don’t any of them find it odd that she does now, or she did for a while?” Naru’s really confused about that part.

“Because no one except Venus even remembers the slightest of the Silver Millennium; and if she’s acting as a decoy then Venus knows the truth about Sailor Moon.” Mamoru explains. “Luna… well, either her memories were scrambled somehow in the last several millennia, or she wasn’t as close to Queen Selenity as we believed at first.”

“Artemis at least must have been, if he’s the ‘decoy princess’s’ companion.” Naru offers.

Mamoru simply nods.

“Do you think Venus will cause trouble?” Naru questions as she helps him plate the breakfast.

“That’s a harder question to answer.” Mamoru admits. “Until yesterday afternoon I would have said yes. After all, for her to be able to act as a decoy she needed to know enough of Serenity to imitate her correctly… but considering how confused she seemed yesterday, how she didn’t call us on any of our bluffs. I think that maybe her memories aren’t as clear as I feared they were. Most likely she does know who she is meant to be, and who the other senshi are, but she doesn’t know enough of Serenity and Sailor Moon to be sure that they’re both supposed to be the same.”

“Or that Serena’s aura is evidently that of a lunarian and not a terran.” Naru adds.

“That too.” Mamoru nods.

Naru sighs as she drops onto her seat and waits for Usagi. The previous evening, before retiring to her new apartment she apologized to the reincarnated royal couple for the liberties she took during their impromptu meeting with the senshi; in the end she was praised for her quick thinking and Mamoru even thanked her for helping him keep their identities secret even if just for a little while longer.

“So, are you gonna share with us why you have been crying?” Mamoru asks.

The question is so sudden that Naru nearly spills the orange juice as she pours herself a glass.

“How…” She cannot even form a question.

“You may have only had your powers back for less than 48 hours, but you’re still an Elysian priestess, and you know very well that that Order has always been directly tied to the Earth, just as I.” Mamoru reminds her softly.

“But… but… I was never actually inducted into that Order.” Naru mumbles, shocked.

“Neither were any of the priestesses of old.” Mamoru points out. “The Elysian Order was the original Order, back in the times when being part of it was seen as one of the greatest honors possible, not a duty or a punishment. Through time other Orders came to be, each creating more and more protocols to be followed; until many seemed to forget what the purpose of the Orders was supposed to be in the first place. Also, many came to believe the Elysian Order had vanished eventually, but it never did. Helios knew about you, he heard your claim, and he backed it up; that’s why…”

“That’s why I’m more powerful now than I used to be in my previous life!” Naru realizes.

“My guess is actually that you were already as powerful in your previous life, at least from the moment you first claimed to be a part of the Elysian Order, you just never tested your levels during that time.” Mamoru explains his theory.

“I never knew something like that was possible.” Naru admits. “After I was kicked out of the Aurora Order, just being able to still be a priestess was enough of an honor to me…”

“I know. There were so few Elysian priestesses left by then, and most never left the Golden Temple.” Mamoru says thoughtfully. “No one could have expected any changes to take place.” He shakes his head. “The important thing is that you know now.”

Naru nods emphatically.

“So, are you gonna tell me, us, why you were crying?” Mamoru rephrases his question.

And it’s that Usagi is now standing at the entrance of the kitchen, damp hair pulled back and wearing casual clothes, Naru didn’t notice when the shower was shut.

The reincarnated priestess just sighs, she should have known she wouldn’t get away with hiding anything from those two. And while she wants to be upset at them and consider them nosy, she knows they acted that way because they care about her, and that makes her happy.

“I remember.” She begins. “I’m sure you know that since you rescued me from that spirits-forsaken building I’ve been having flashes of who I was during the Millennium. Until yesterday they were just that, flashes, fragments of a lifetime; barely anything more than impressions. They were enough that in the back of my mind I knew Molly loved Kunzite, like I love Shin. The fact was there, but it was little more than that. Now I know Molly loves Shinichi more than my teen-aged mind could have ever hoped to comprehend; as much as I now know I love him too. Whether he’s Shin, Kunzite, Shinichi… nothing, not the fact that he’s being controlled, that right now he has no idea I exist, that he went as far as attacking me just yesterday… Nothing could ever change the fact that I love him with everything that I am…”

Usagi doesn’t speak, she just goes to hug her friend as tightly as she can; she knows how that kind of love feels, for it’s the same kind of love she herself feels for her soulmate; but at least she doesn’t have to suffer through the fact of having her beloved as an enemy, unlike Naru… Usagi promises herself right then and there that if there’s a way, any way, to get Kunzite back to their side, they’ll do it, she’ll do it. She’ll give her beloved his brother back, she’ll give her best friend her soulmate back…

Breakfast goes by silently, as they all try to come up with a strategy for what to do next, yet none of them really are sure what they can do besides wait and try to stop Beryl’s plans as much as they possibly can. They aren’t powerful enough to face her in her own territory; not even with all the senshi would they be able to do that. So they’ll train, they’ll stop any advances from the Dark Kingdom and wait for the right time to strike back.

Once breakfast is over Naru offers to wash the dishes, her way of thanking Mamoru for his help; and then Usagi insists on helping too. They work in complete silence, Naru knows there’s something her best-friend wants to say, but still waits patiently until she’s ready to say it.

“Naru-chan…” Usagi finally begins after they’re done.

“Yes, Usagi-chan?” Naru nods with an encouraging smile.

“You say you remember everything…” Usagi murmurs, doubtful.

“Yes, I do, the good things, and the bad…” And it’s then that Naru realizes where Usagi is heading, and why she seems so afraid. “Yes, Usagi-chan, I remember the end…”

“Oh goddess!” Usagi moans.

She tries to step back and ends up tripping over her own feet, so nervous she is, she crashes against the nearest wall, pushing a glass from the closest counter to the floor, the glass breaking upon contact with the dark-wood panels; while the black-haired just stands there, eyes wide and mouth open in a mix of shock and panic.

Mamoru rushes into the kitchen when he hears the crash. When he sees his beloved in such a condition he nearly goes into a panic himself.

Still, before he can do or say anything at all Naru steps past him and is holding her frozen best-friend tightly in her arms.

“I remember Usagi-chan, I remember everything.” She whispers to the black-haired in the ancient-language of the Golden Kingdom. “And that’s why I know nothing was your fault. You were distressed, so much had happened in such a short time, we both lost everyone we loved, we lost everything we ever had. Both our Kingdoms were in ruins, our families and friends gone, and even the men we loved… we had nothing left to live for.”

“I killed you…” Usagi manages to whisper hoarsely after what feels like an eternity.

Mamoru exhales as he understands what’s going on; he should have expected something like it since Molly snapped at Mars the previous day about remembering the Fall and having been there at the very end. Though, to be fair, so much happened in the last few weeks he seriously doubts he’s the only one having trouble keeping up with everything.

For the next minutes the reincarnated prince just stands there, watching the girl he loves with all his mind, body and soul be embraced and comforted by a girl he can still remember he once saw as so frail, yet she was strong enough to survive for the most part a war, a siege, loosing everyone she ever saw as family and the man she promised her future to, just after agreeing to marry him; the same girl that even in this new life has already survived several attacks from the Dark Kingdom, having almost lost her best friend, finding out she isn’t a normal human, and that there is more in store for her than she could have ever dreamed of… yes, Molly, Naru, whichever her name, whichever her life, she’s very strong indeed.

xXx

Meanwhile, in a hotel-room in a different part of town, an auburn-haired idol is pacing from one side of her room to the other, all the while being closely observed by her advisor, trainer and best-friend: Artemis.

“Minako… you need to calm down.” Artemis tells her for the umpteenth time that day. “You help no one by stressing yourself, in fact, you could end up affecting your health…”

“I know Artemis, I know, and believe me, I don’t mean to worry you, not anymore than usual anyway.” She half-smiles. “It’s just that I can’t get this thing out of my head…” she exhales before facing the white cat straight on. “Were we really so badly mistaken? About everything?”

“It’s a possibility.” Artemis doesn’t like admitting this. “One I never contemplated I admit, but it is possible.”

“But then…” Minako drops onto the closest couch, stress beginning to get the better of her. “If Sailor Moon isn’t the true Princess, where is she?”

Artemis has no answer to that.

 

Moonlight destiny
Itsu made mo dare yori mo soba ni itai no (Forever, more than anyone, I want to be with you)
Kono hiroi sora no shita de meguriaeta anata (Below this spacious sky above, you who I met by chance)

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