Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Alternate Destiny ❯ Time Marches On ( Chapter 9 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Part 9-Time Marches On

*~*~*~*~*

Time passed. There was no other way. Michelle, and Amara graduated, and Vicki, Serena, and Harmony all managed to skip a grade due to the knowledge that they had in the Silver Millennium had returned.

They also grew closer to the Generals and the Admirals, discovering their quirks and personalities.

Kunzite, now known as Kevin Injos, was the strong and silent type. He worked for a security organization that used bodyguards for important officials. Kevin had even claimed to have once been assigned to a European Prince during his visit to America. Most of what he did was classified, but he told them what he could.

Zoisite, or Zach Tehyos, was a quiet young man. He loved science and math, and was working to be a Physics Professor at UCLA. He had grown up as the third child of divorced parents, shuttling back and forth with his two older sisters between his parent's homes. The divorce had obviously caused him to clam up slightly.

Nathaniel Velada, or Nephlite, was well on his way to becoming an astronomer. His love of the stars came from when he was a young boy. He said that his older sister, who later died when he was eleven, would often take them out onto a small hill behind their home in Indiana. There they would stare up at the stars and the Moon and she would make up stories just for him. Ever since then, Nathaniel had decided to make the study of the stars his mission in life.

Jed Nacom, once known as Jeadite, was, to put it simply, a dreamer. He loved to think up stories to entertain. He was working at a publishing company and was writing a book in his spare time. He refused to tell any of them of what it was about, but promised that they could read it when he thought that it was finished.

The Admirals were quite a group. Caladan had definite leadership abilities. He was able to muster a loyalty from within the others that Serena once felt that she had been able to bring out in the Inner Guard. He was now in college working on getting a degree in computer development.

Kennedy was a bit of a prankster to match his outgoing personality. He'd grown up as the youngest of five children, three of them brothers. He claimed that you had to have extensive knowledge on that sort of thing to survive in his home. He was now entering his second year of college, majoring in law, and his minor, according to the others, was in stand-up comedy.

Lucas was practically the exact opposite of Ken, and yet they were still the best of friends. He was quiet, slightly shy, but sweet as pie young man. Ever since junior high, he had wanted to be a band director and was working on his Music Degree. Being the older of two children of parents who could play just about any instrument, it was a dream come true.

Anthony, despite his warm, robust greeting, wasn't all warm hugs and twirling girls around. He seemed to carry something dark with him. Serena thought that it might have been the fact of what had happened in the Silver Millennium. He was working on a culinary degree and seemed to love cooking, but she knew that something bothered him and he refused to speak of it. Even with her.

Standing here on her graduation day, Serena felt almost complete. Her parents, Sammy, Aunt Melody, Uncle Byron, the Generals, the Admirals, Susan, Amara, and Michelle had all come to see her, Vicki, and Harmony graduate a year early.

As Serena was handed her diploma, she glanced down at her family and friends. They were all smiling brilliantly at her, causing her to grin back. She loved them all so much, but deep inside, her heart knew that there were five faces that were missing.

Five faces that should have been here for this.

'Or is it six,' Serena wondered as she took her seat. Christopher, the Second Lunar Admiral, still had not been found.

"Class of 1999, please rise."

Doing as they were asked, the class rose. Serena effectively put such thoughts out of her head and enjoyed the rest of the day.

*~*~*~*~*

That night, the Generals, the Admirals, the Outer Guard, Harmony, and Serena all gathered at Susan's home. Serena and Harmony had been allowed to stay there for the night to spend time celebrating alone with their friends, thus leaving more room at Serenity Vineyards for Serena's family.

Sipping her drink, Serena rested her head on the back of her chair and sighed, "It's so hard to believe. I've actually passed high school and I'm heading for college. Just a few short years ago, I thought I wouldn't even make it into high school."

"You've earned it. Very few people could actually pull their grades high enough to skip a grade, and all three of you did it," Zach commented.

The group nodded and Susan spoke up, "I think we'd all better get some sleep. Isn't 'Mony's parents taking us all to the new water park tomorrow?"

Everyone agreed and started to head up to their rooms. Just as Serena was about to walk out the door, she noticed that Kevin hadn't followed. He was staring out the window, an unidentifiable expression on his face. Slowly, she made her way back over to him.

"Kev," she asked softly, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You all right?"

Kevin glanced down at her. Though his face was expressionless, his pale eyes were filled with worry. As his eyes returned to the window, he answered quietly, "Something's wrong, Princess. I don't know what it is, but something's wrong with my Sunshine."

Serena's eyebrow went up. She remembered Kunzite calling Venus 'Sunshine' back in the Silver Millennium, of course, but he rarely used it in front of others. Turning to look out the window for herself, she found her gaze traveling up to the stars. She could remember that time when she had first come here, when she and Susan had stood on her balcony, and how the planets Venus, Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter had seemed to fade from the sky. Even now, they were not as bright in the sky as they should have been.

Dread filled Serena's heart. She knew the sense of peace that she had found here would not last forever. She knew something was wrong.

Reaching out through the remains of the bonds that she had held with the Inner Guard and she could feel pain coming from all of them, especially Venus.

"You're right," she whispered, "Something is wrong over there. I..."

Neither of them said anything else, just stood there and stared out. Soon, Anthony popped his head in the doorway and asked airily, "Hey, are you two going to get some sleep, or are you gonna stare out the window all night?"

Kevin nodded to him and started for the door. Serena stared after him worriedly for a moment but followed.

*~*~*~*~*

Across the vast Pacific Ocean, in the large city of Tokyo, in a hospital called Tokyo General, a girl with beautiful sun-kissed hair lay in the intensive care wing. It was obvious that she had been gorgeous. Though her eyes were closed, many of the doctors had seen them when she had awakened briefly over the past few hours.

And yet, it was also obvious that she seemed to have been through a war. Along with numerous cuts up and down her arms and legs, bruises marred her beautiful face. And through her closed lids, a single tear was shed.

Standing at an observation window were three young women and a young man. Tears were trailing down their faces as well.

*~*~*~*~*

End Part 9-Time Marches On