Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Chasing the Moon ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 7 )

Chasing the Moon

By Kuroi Koneko

 

AN - I'm sorry for taking so long everyone! Thank you to everyone who still review and waits patiently. I had this written out and then the program closed on me (with some weird reason why I couldn't use it anymore) and lost all that I had written! GAH! So this isn't quite what I had wanted but it works.

 

I had also updated my user profile, but that seems to have been a bust… Anyway, I'm revising my story outline since this story decided it wants to head in a slightly different direction than I intended, but that's okay `cause … well, I don't have much choice, do I?

 

Everyone who reviewed, your reviews mean a LOT to me, `cause they make me want to write. Review or email, it gets me writing! If you can't see my email and would like it, leave a note in a review and I'll put it up next chapter.

 

Now on to the chapter, before this gets any longer. More at the end.

 

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Chapter Seven: The Promise

 

The next morning, Bunny and Lana found out, much to their happy surprise, that they rode the same bus to school despite living a ways apart from one another. Bunny was most grateful for knowing a friendly face on the bus - despite having said-friendly face jump up and down in her seat, waving her hands and yelling like a madman - because the majority of seats were already occupied with chatting children. Lana had fortunately been sitting in an empty three-seater, and with Bunny's stop being the last on the route, the duo had room to spare and sprawl out in.

 

“Oh! Oh! This is so great! I'm so glad we've got the same bus!” Lana bounced up and down in her seat. “We can talk in the morning, and go to each other's house in the afternoon, and we might even have the same class! That would be SOOO cool!” she squealed excitedly.

 

Bunny laughed at her friend's antics, but couldn't refrain from bouncing up and down herself in the presence of Lana's infectious excitement.

 

“That would be even better `cause then I'll already know someone in class too! You know, I wasn't really looking forward to a new school, but now I can't wait!”

 

“Oh me too! Me too! I hope we do have the same class! That would be perfect!”

 

The bus pulled up to the elementary school and the girls' conversation was cut short as the two wrestled to get in line to exit the bus and enter the school. (And because I'm a lazy bitch and don't want to recreate elementary school-life, I'm skipping most of the day.)

 

Lunchtime rolled around sooner than expected, although their stomachs complained about getting food some time after making their demands. Standing in line for their food they chatted about classes and the misery of not sharing the same classes, their teachers and fellow students, and - as they came upon it - the cafeteria food. After buying what seemed like the most appetizing - not to mention edible - food they could find and afford, the two began searching for an empty seat in the largely crowded lunchroom, still talking about anything that came to mind. It seemed as though they had just sat down and barely taken a bite of their food before the bell rang again, signaling the end of lunch, but their trays were empty and their stomachs full.

 

The end of the first day of school ended sooner than either of the girls anticipated, but they eagerly boarded their bus.

 

They made plans to play after their gymnastics class, so they had time to plead with and beg their parents before practice.

 

Their first day of school set the precedent for what just about every day afterwards would be like: school, home, gymnastics, playing at one of the houses, home and dinner, then bed.

 

Well, that's what their parents knew about anyway.

 

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Bunny woke up to the odd sensation of her pillow rumbling and shaking. Groggily, she stuck her hand under her pillow and turned off her secondary alarm clock and pulled herself out of bed. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned, then shook her head and carefully wobbled out the door and to the bathroom.

 

She was more awake after splashing some cold water on her face, and stood for a moment just looking at her reflection. She held up her locket and just looked at it, the different gems flashing in the bathroom light, and lightly traced the crescent moon outline. Her eyes tearing as she remembered doing the same to Luna's, she chokingly whispered,

 

“For you, Lunakins. I promise.”

 

She wiped her eyes dry, flushed the toilet, flicked off the light, and quietly slipped back into her room.

 

After waiting to make sure all was safe to go, Bunny carefully slipped down from her windowsill, grateful that she managed to get the room with a convenient tree outside and within reach. She grasped onto the sturdy branch next to her, crouched down on the limb, and slowly made her way around the tree until she had the house on one side and the road on the other before continuing downward.

 

She landed lightly on her feet, took a furtive glance around to check she hadn't been spotted, and quickly dashed out of the dark yard and across the street with more speed than a 9 year old should possess. She continued running until she reached the park/playground that she had spotted on her way home from her first gymnastics class. She was gratefully it was reasonably close by, although wary about the relatively small size - and therefore lacking the necessary privacy - of it.

 

Shrugging to no one, she told herself she'd make do with what she could get. She carefully wandered around the park, searching for areas that were less traveled and more out-of-the-way before coming across a clearing much like the one back home. To one side of the park was a dense line of trees, lacking any of the installed night-lights the majority of the park contained, while the other side of the park appeared to be more used for large groups. Bunny quickly headed in the direction of the trees. She walked as quietly as she could, attempting to train her feet to be light and silent, when she stepped into an abandoned animal hole (den?) and tripped right into a tree.

 

Or rather, right through a tree.

 

And into a previously undisturbed clearing completely hidden from sight on the other side. Serena was so startled that she just sat back and stared around blankly before snapping back to look behind her. And there, gaping from the back of the tree, was a large dark hole. And in what appeared to be the center of it was a small gray light. Scampering back to the tree for a better look, Serena hesitantly put her hand up and into the inky shadow. Her hand slid right through, but still remained visible, and so she crawled in. And found herself stuck in the hole in the tree. She crawled backwards instead only to have her head roughly yanked to the side. She brought her hands up and, suppressing her whimpers of discomfort, followed her hair to what kept it captive - the rough interior of the tree-hole. Carefully detaching her hair with as little damage as possible (although sorely tempted to just yank the stubborn strands free) she slid back into clearing and came to a decision.

 

“This is perfect.” She nodded once. “Alright, here we go! Moon Prism Power!

 

Ribbons of light danced around as her transformation began and tightened into her senshi fuku as it finished. She tapped the toe of her boots into the ground, tried to pull her skirt down an inch or two, and then walked from one side of the clearing to the other.

 

Her sight less-hindered by the dark now that she was transformed, she noticed that the clearing was larger than she had thought. It looked to be about the same size as her gymnastics building! Serena was surprised that a clearing this large was completely untouched, especially in such a small park, but the large ring of tightly packed trees must have influenced the solitude of the area.

 

Shrugging off the questions she didn't know how to begin to answer, Serena quickly launched into a replica of a routine she saw one of the older girls perform a few days ago. Her timing was off, however, because she had nothing to help with the changing beat that the routing required.

 

Which is why she landed on her butt a minute into it.

 

She didn't have time to rub the ache out of her bruising-bottom, though, because a dual laugh rang out into the clearing.

 

Serena quickly jumped to her feet and scanned the area around her but could see nothing unusual. An unfamiliar voice rang out to her.

 

“Not bad, child, but who are you and why are you trespassing in our territory?”

 

Serena scowled. “Why don't you show yourself instead of cowering in the shadows?”

 

“My my, isn't she a brave one?” A smile in the dark. “Very well then, come dear, lets introduce ourselves.”

 

A sleek cat bounded out of the shadows of the tree-hole (1) and stopped a few yards away from Serena, daintily sitting on her hind legs and raising a paw towards her.

 

“Hello.”

 

A second figure, about the same size as Serena herself, walked out of the shadows and stopped by the feline. She too wore a sailor fuku. Her colors and gloves were different though; her gloves extended only a few inches up her arm instead of reaching her elbows, but the dim moonlight bleached what little colors could be discerned among the shadows. Her boots, her skirt and bows, even her tiara were identical in all but color. Her hair was pulled back into two ponytails, which had been braided and looped back around in a circle, although the circles were small because of the short length of her hair.

 

There's something… familiar about them… Serena thought, confused and wary.

 

The other girl - senshi? - seemed to bounce in place and kept suppressing, what Serena assumed to be, a grin the way her mouth kept twitching, as the feline walked forward.

 

“Don't be alarmed, Serena, we're friends.”

 

Serena immediately leaped back, demanding to know who they were and how they knew her.

 

The cat sighed, sat on its haunches, and beckoned the girl behind it forward.

 

“I suppose it would be best to start this way then.” The cat motioned towards the girl. “This is Sailor Sun, but you know her,” the girl dropped her transformation, “as Lana.”

 

Serena gaped as her friend stood before her in her pajamas. Lana bounced up and down on her feet a few times, hands clasped together as she lost the battle against her grin. She stopped bouncing for a moment, her grin widening, before she launched herself at the still immobile Serena. Her speed knocked Serena off her feet and the two fell to the ground with an oomph, Lana's arms still locked around Serena in an enthusiastic hug.

 

“This is so great! This is so cool! We can train together, and now I'll have someone to talk to about this, and isn't is so weird? But it's so cool too, isn't it! And-”

 

“Lana that's enough!” the cat exclaimed. “And got off the poor girl before you flatten her even more. Let her breathe!”

 

Lana rubbed the back of her head sheepishly as she sat up and crawled off of her stunned friend. Serena coughed a few times, her lungs grasping at the air now available to her after that stunning flying-glomp.

 

“I'm sorry!”

 

“That's... okay...” Serena got out between gasps. “Um... how...?”

 

“How did we know? Or how did she become a senshi?” the cat filled in for Serena. Serena only nodded. “I'll start at the beginning then. I found Lana here in the States, much like I'm sure your Companion (2) had found you. I managed to get adopted by the family,” Serena nodded at the similar circumstances, “and gave Lana her wand one night. I've been training her for several months now. This is our practice field--”

 

“Wait, wand?” Serena questioned.

 

“Well, yeah. What do you use?” Lana broke into the converstation.

 

“My locket,” Serena motioned to the locket attached to her front bow. She hesitantly reached a hand to it, before taking a deep breath and taking it off, therefore canceling out her transformation. Now dressed only in her pajamas also, Serena held the locket in a tight grip as she reached out to show it to the feline. “Um, who are you anyway?”

 

The cat smiled a secretive grin. “Why Serena, I'm hurt! You met me only a few days ago, exclaimed how pretty I was, and now you've forgotten me already? I'm crushed!”

 

Serena titled her head, puzzled, before gasping and sitting upright. “Ozzy?!”

 

Lana giggled. “Yup! That's my li'l Oz-Oz!”

 

`Ozzy' looked very disgruntled at the name. “Please stop calling my `Oz-Oz'! It's enough you called me Ozzy after that ... musician,” she shuddered and covered her ears for a moment, “but Oz-Oz is even more degrading.” Turning to Serena, she continued. “My name is Eos, but since that is a highly unusual name for a child to have come up with, she decided to shorten it to Ozzy to seem more normal.” Eos rolled her eyes. “But, Serena... where is your Companion? The one who found you and gave you the locket?”

 

Serena bowed her head as her eyes filled with tears.

 

“Oh!” Lana gasped, “it was your cat, wasn't it? The one who...”

 

Serena nodded and sniffled. Lana leaned over and hugged the girl as she tried to prevent the sobs from taking over. Eos looked confused as she glanced from one girl to the other. Lana noticed the looks and told her what Serena said to her.

 

“Her cat, who must've been the one to find her, was killed the day she moved from Japan.” Serena gave a sharp sniff and a hic. Lana rubbed her back. “She had been missing so Serena and her dad went looking for her, and... well, she was crossing a street, and...”

 

Eos nodded her head to show she understood. She padded over to the sniffling girl and gently rubbed against her limp arm.

 

“I can never replace her, and I wouldn't want to try, but I would like to train you as one of my own with Lana. Would you accept me as your Companion?”

 

“Um... what do you mean, a Companion?” Serena asked as she lifted her head from Lana's shoulder.

 

“You weren't...? Well, nevermind that. A Companion is what you call the one who finds and trains you as a Sailor Senshi. And ... I'd like to be your friend too, Serena.”

 

Serena looked away, silent except for a few sniffles, but even those eventually fell silent. Finally, she looked back at Eos.

 

“I'd like that too.”

 

Lana had a grin wide enough to split her face she was so happy. “YES!!”

 

“Now, it's time for you two to start training as a pair. Let's get to work now, shall we? There's still school in the morning and gymnastics after it. You both need to get some sleep tonight... after we start.”

 

“Oh... Eos!” the two groaned.

 

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And so ends chapter seven! Hope it was somewhat worth the wait. I had planned to update the first of the month, but uh... well my dad was going through my computer for me (I was trying to make space on it and whatnot) and it turns out I had SIX viruses!! So that took time away from my beloved computer. Sorry!

 

It's summer though, and since i'm still jobless, I hope to have more time to devote to writing. Reviews are great motivaters, by the way. And emails!

 

But I have something I need every reader's opinion on since it concerns the next (and possibly future) chapters:

 

Should the next chapter include how Lana and Sere meet Haruka or should I jump forward the next ten years, where most of the action will pick up, and leave “meeting Haruka” as a side story which I'll write (and that might take up a few chapters as a side story)? PLEASE tell me which you'd prefer, `cause I'm planning on just jumping forward otherwise.

 

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REVIEWERS:

 

Neonlights: LOL, thank you so much. Personally, I don't think this is very original, but i'm extremely glad that you do. And thanks for the suggestion about my fight scene.

songoku778

MoonBunny777

Starlit Warrior

jaz7

Deadly Aura: Careful when mentioning chocolate to me, I'm known to be a choco-holic among my friends and family. Best way to get me to do something is to bribe me with chocolate. Or books. Books are good too.

Sailor Phoenix

IssaLee: This help answer your questions? I hope I created new ones though! ^_~

momocolady

ChibiRikku1: I'm working on it, I'm working on it!

sky unicorn: First question - that would spoil the fun! Second - yes, she will end up with Endy. I'm a die-hard Sere/Endy (or Usa/Mamo, Serena/Darien) fan. Of course, it's not going to be such a simple get-together for them... after all, where's the fun in that?

Didaskaleinophobia

SerenityChild: ^_^ I don't quite know what to say... I'm glad you're attached to the story though. Hope you keep enjoying it!

Miyoko5800: Yup, I remember senior of high school... ugh. Let me know how your applications turned out? Good luck in college!

Elementalmoon

Jennyroseangel

Sorro's Angel: O_o So many questions! LOL, can't answer them I'm afraid, they're for future readings. If you do leave your email, next time I write out a fight scene as a preview I'll give you a few more hints (or inside info, whichever you'd like to call it) in an email for any questions you have.

SJ

Silver Moonlight-81

Nazi Hater: Thank you! I wasn't so sure about the fight scene, which is why I put it up as a preiew.

 

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(1) tree-hole - um... couldn't really think of anything better to call it, since it's basically just a hole in the tree-trunk. Well, more like a little tunnel, since it's supposed to be a large tree, but you get the idea, right??

 

(2) Companion - explained by Eos. I can't exactly call Luna an Advisor, since she wasn't really and advisor until after the Princess was `found' (even though she didn't do much advising...) so I'm instead going to call them Companions, since that's a more accurate description of what I see Luna and Artemis (and Eos) as being to the girls and Senshi.