Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Knight for Uranus ❯ Chapter 1

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Disclaimer: What? You thought I owned Sailor Moon? Ha! I didn't think
so... Yes, this is just a fanfic. The original characters and story
all belong to Naoko Takeuchi, with the exception of any new
characters inserted by yours truly.

Rating/Warnings: Somewhere between PG and PG-13 for Haruka/Michiru
references. Nothing big, but I thought I'd give a warning anyway. If
the idea of Haruka showing interest in a guy makes you see red, you
probably won't like the story.

Summary: Long ago during Silver Millennium, each of the Sailor
Princesses ruled over her own planet, protecting Queen Serenity and
her young daughter from danger. And protecting each princess was a
knight: one sworn to guard and protect her no matter what. Though the
two of them were never required to marry each other, it seemed like
destiny as the princesses fell more in love with their protectors
each day.

So Artemis tells the story. But if it is true, then each of the girls
should also have a person they are destined for in the present time.
As spring blooms and romance is in the air, this seems to be coming
true for everyone... except Haruka.

---------------------
A Knight for Uranus: Chapter 1
by Katrina Kadabra

It was a beautiful afternoon as Haruka and Michiru walked through the
city park. Butterflies danced from one plant to another, pausing only
a moment to flash their brilliantly colored wings to passers-by. The
sweet aroma of budding apple blossoms filled the air. Michiru clung
tightly to Haruka's arm. Haruka glanced down at her skeptically as
Michiru gently laid her head on Haruka's shoulder.

"MUST you do that?" Haruka mumbled. Michiru looked up, disappointment
hanging in her aquamarine eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Haruka sighed. Michiru knew perfectly well
what was wrong.

"You're calling attention to us again," she mumbled.

"Am I?" Michiru asked, tightening her grip all the more. Frustrated,
Haruka pulled her arm out of Michiru's grasp.

"Yes, and you can stop it now," she said firmly, and probably more
loudly than was necessary. A few people turned around to glance at
her.

"Who's calling attention to us now?" Michiru laughed. Haruka sighed
and glanced down at her wristwatch. It was 4:30.

"We'd better get going," she told Michiru. "Don't forget we promised
the kittens we'd grace them with our presence at their study group
today." Michiru nodded.

"You're right. Let's get going."

* * * * *

"Guess what! Guess what!" Usagi ran screaming like a small child at a
toy store into the room where her friends sat studying.

"What is it, buns-hair?" Rei asked, looking up skeptically from her
textbook. They may have passed the high school exams, but that still
didn't mean that studying wasn't important.

"Today is the day!" Usagi announced happily. "My two year anniversary
with Mamoru!"

"Two years?" Rei asked. She thought for a moment, counting the months
out on her fingers. "Wow... to think all that time, and Mamoru still
hasn't gotten tired of you."

"What's THAT mean?" Usagi wanted to know.

Ami sighed. "Has it been two years already? My how time flies..." She
looked dreamily off into distance. Perplexed, Rei reached her hand
over in front of Ami's face and snapped her fingers.

"Hello? Ami?" she asked. Ami shook her head.

"What? Oh, I'm sorry..." she said, her cheeks turning a bit pink. "I
was just thinking..."

"About Greg?" Rei finished. Ami's face went from pink to red, and
Usagi cocked her head, wondering what the reaction could mean.

"What's going on with Greg, Ami?" she asked.

"Didn't you hear?" Rei asked. "Greg has moved back here! He's
transferred into our high school, and he and Ami are in the same
class." Usagi glanced over at her scarlet-faced friend.

"Really?" she asked. "That's so wonderful, Ami! Congrats!"

"That's not all," said Rei, holding up her pointer finger like a TV
announcer. "Ami and Greg are also going out tonight to celebrate."
Usagi's eyes widened as she listened to Rei's words and kept her eyes
locked on Ami's face.

"Is that true?" she asked.

"Well, yes..." Ami answered hesitantly. "I mean, it's not a big deal
or anything. We're nothing like you and Mamoru." Usagi beamed and
grasped her arms together.

"No one's like me and Mamoru," she said. Just then, there was a light
tapping on the door and Chad entered the room, walking directly over
to Rei.

"Are you ready for tonight?" he asked, stepping up behind her and
massaging her shoulders.

"I suppose so," Rei answered. She glanced over at Usagi, who was
eyeing her mischievously.

"What's tonight, Chad?" she asked. To that, Chad beamed.

"The celebration of three wonderful months Rei and I have spent
together," he announced proudly. "I'm taking Rei out to Satoshi's
Sushi House for a special dinner." Rei blushed. Talk about time
flying. Had it really been three months since Chad first asked her to
be his girlfriend? Since she accepted? Rei at first had not told
anyone about it. She worried Usagi would tease her. Rei had always
pushed Chad aside, why let the feelings suddenly show? But as Rei
observed, her relationship with Chad was last on Usagi's mind.

"Sushi House!?" Usagi exclaimed. "You said you're going to Satoshi's
Sushi House?"

Chad stared at her. "Um, yes we are. Something wrong?"

"Something wrong?" Serena pouted. "That's where Mamoru and I are
going tonight." She let out a tragic sigh. "I was hoping to spend a
romantic evening alone, just the two of us together."

"There's nothing the matter with it," Ami said. "We can all go and
enjoy ourselves. After all..." she reached into her purse and pulled
out a reservation ticket, holding it out for everyone to see. "That's
where Greg and I are going tonight." A sweatdrop formed on the back
of Usagi's head. But before she had a chance to respond, there was
another knock at the door.

As Usagi got up to answer it, Chad kissed Rei on the cheek. "I've got
to go and finish my work now," he said. "But I'll see tonight you,
okay?" Rei nodded, and Chad left just as Usagi slid open the door.
Makoto and Minako stood in the doorway, Makoto giving a peace sign
and Minako with a small broad as a canyon.

"Hello there, Usagi!" she said in a singsong voice. "How are you on
this marvelous day?"

"Fine," Usagi answered, letting the girls in. They both sat down at
the table next to Rei and Ami.

"What's up, Minako?" Rei asked. "You're so happy. Did you win the
lottery or something?" Minako shook her head.

"Nope. Better!" she said. Everyone stared at her, waiting for her to
finish, and Minako paused just a moment to enjoy the
suspense. "Okay," she said. "Get this - Jamie and I are going out!"

"Jamie?" Usagi asked. "The boy on your old volleyball team? But I
thought he had a girlfriend."

"HAD is the keyword, Usagi," Minako said. "They broke up a few weeks
ago. And today, Jamie asked me if I was interested, and I said yes!"
Minako was bouncing up and down with every word she spoke. "He should
have known he could not resist the goddess of love!" she called out
triumphantly.

"Hey, goddess of love!" Makoto teased. "Don't brag so much. You're
not the only one who has a new romance blooming in her life."
Everyone stared at Makoto.

"You?" Rei asked.

"Well, nothing's official yet," she said, playing anxiously with her
fingers. "But Ken's back in town this week, and he wanted to know if
I could go out and do something."

"Oh, that's so cute!" Minako squealed. "Do you know what you're going
to do?" Makoto just shrugged in response to Minako's question.

"I... don't know exactly. This was a kind of a last second thing. I
guess we'll just get together and my apartment and I'll make some
dinner or something."

"Oh no," Minako said, her face falling. "You two haven't seen each
other for so long, Makoto! You should do something special."

"Like what?" Makoto asked. Usagi looked innocently around the room.
She had a suggestion, but was hoping it would not be made.

"I know!" said Ami, snapping her fingers. "Rei, Usagi, and I are
going out tonight for dinner. Why don't you and Minako come with us?"
Usagi fell chibi-style down on the floor. So much for her romantic
evening alone. Rei just shrugged off Usagi's childish reaction and
turned her attention to Makoto and Minako.

"I think that would be a great idea," she said. Makoto pondered over
the possibility.

"Sounds good," she said. "But do you think we can still get
reservations?"

Ami nodded. "If you hurry, I don't see why not."

Usagi sat back up, rubbing her head. "Well," she said. "I guess all
of you will have the honor of watching a true couple tonight. If
you're nice, I'll give you some tips."

"Hey, you're not the only couple now," Makoto pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess that's right," she said. She began counting the pairs
on her fingers. "Let's see, there's me and Mamoru, Rei and Chad, Ami
and Greg, Makoto and Ken, Minako and Jamie..."

"Haruka and Michiru," Minako finished. Everyone turned around and
stared at her. The room had fallen suddenly quiet.

"Well..." said Makoto, sweatdropping. "I guess it wouldn't be fair
not to call them a couple, would it?"

"Maybe," said Rei. "But I still don't know about those two. I mean,
they ARE two girls after all."

"Before we start jumping to conclusions," said Ami. "Did either of
them actually say they were dating each other?"

"Come on, it's kinda obvious," said Usagi. "I mean, they did enter
the true affection contest at the park, remember?"

"But then they dropped out because they entered as a joke," Makoto
reminded her. "Haruka said, 'We weren't taking this seriously to
begin with, and it looks like at this rate we'd win. True love is
what needs to win!" Makoto lowered her voice to try and sound more
like Haruka when she imitated her, but it didn't turn out as well as
she had hoped.

"Since when do you memorize Haruka's speeches?" Usagi wanted to know.

"Maybe..." Minako speculated. "Haruka was too shy to admit her love
for Michiru in front of everyone and that's why she dropped out." Ami
sweatdropped.

"Now you ARE jumping to conclusions," she said. "If you want to know
so bad, why don't you ask them yourselves?"

"No way!" Usagi squealed. "We can't ask Haruka and Michiru something
like that!"

"Ask us something like what?" The five girls turned around to see
Haruka standing in the doorway, with Michiru at her side. Though the
scene explained itself, the aqua-haired girl took no notice of
Usagi's exclamation or the girls' embarrassed looks. But with a
cheerful smile, she walked into the room and took a seat next to Rei.
Haruka followed her.

"So how is the studying going for today?" Michiru asked.

"Oh, fine. Fine. It's going fine," the girls all answered
simultaneously, nodding their heads and sticking their faces into
whatever textbook was right in front of them. Michiru smiled at their
childishness, but the awkward silence in the room couldn't help but
make her feel out of place. Perhaps she and Haruka should not have
come today.

At that moment, Usagi's familiar black cat walked into the room
through the ajar door, her white mate behind her.

"Hi Luna! Hi Artemis!" said Usagi enthusiastically, hoping it would
stir some conversation.

"Hello, Usagi," Luna answered. How's the studying going?"

"Good," everyone except Michiru and Haruka answered in unison.
Michiru giggled.

"It seems they're working on their verbal synchronization for today,"
she said. Haruka nodded.

"It looks that way. So Rei," she said, turning to the girl at her
side. "I hear you and Chad finally started dating. Is that right?"

"Oh, yes," Rei answered nervously. "Three months now." She tried to
answer in as few words as possible as she thought of a way to steer
the conversation away from its romantic context. It was bad enough
she and the girls had been talking about Haruka and Michiru behind
their backs. The last thing she wanted to do was embarrass them in
front of everyone. Of course, Usagi did not take the hint.

"It's been two years for me and Mamoru," she said proudly. "We're
going out tonight too. Oh..." she stopped, only realizing her mistake
after she made it.

"Ah, young love," Luna sighed. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Artemis
nodded in agreement.

"It reminds me of all those happy times we spent on the moon during
Silver Millennium." He turned to the girls. "You girls each had your
own knight of your planet. One sworn to guard and protect you. It's
funny... though you were never given in marriage to anyone, each of
you girls seemed to fall more in love with your protectors each day.
It was so beautiful." Artemis' eyes were dancing with stars as he
told the passionate story.

"Hey Ami!" Minako said suddenly. "Do you think you can help me with
this math problem? I can never figure this kind of problem out." She
held the book over for Ami to see. With any luck, the conversation
would drop there.

"Tell me Luna," said Haruka quietly, her eyes were shadowed by her
long bangs. "Did all the senshi have a knight that protected them?
That they fell in love with?"

"I..." Luna hesitated. "I don't know anything about the princesses of
the outer solar systems. The four of you... were always soaked in
mystery to us. Solitary soldiers, each guarding our kingdom from her
own planet. What you family was like, your kingdom, all of it was
known in detail only to Queen Serenity."

"I see," Uranus answered quietly. She stood up, taking Michiru's
hand. "I think Michiru and I should get going. You girls have your
dates tonight and all."

"You and Michiru can come too," Minako offered.

"No thanks," Haruka answered and walked out the door with Michiru
behind her.