Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ I'll Be There For You - Sailor Moon ❯ The Beginning ( Chapter 1 )

Title: "I'll Be There For You"

A Sailor Moon Fanfiction
By Andrea Readwolf [andrea_readwolf @hotmail.com]
Chapter: 0/9
Rating: Mature
Pairings/Characters: Usagi/Serenity + Mamoru/Edymion; the Inner Senshi and Earth Generals, the Outer Senshi and Moon Generals (original characters)
Genre: Romance, AU
Warnings: Underage sex; homosexuality; original characters.
Spoilers: Contains possible spoilers for SM Seasons 1-5
Summary:

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and its characters and settings have been used without permission of the original creator. This story is a work of fiction created for entertainment purposes only. No money is being made from this story.

Originally Written: 1999
Revised: January-February 2005
Word Count: 6406

 

 

Author's Notes: Thanks to the people have read this fic and those who have emailed me to let me know about the missing parts on ASMR. I am working with some other people to find and recover those missing parts, and as I do, I am also taking the opportunity to revise this story.

 

It has been over five years since I wrote "I'll Be There For You", so this endeavor is quite nostalgic for me. "I'll Be There For You" was also my very first fanfiction, and I love receiving an occasional email from someone who has stumbled across it and felt generous enough to drop me an email to let me know what they liked about it.

 

When I originally wrote this story, I was writing based on DIC's dubbed Sailor Moon version. I also had absolutely no knowledge of the Japanese school system or the Japanese culture. Having long since enjoyed the opportunity to watch the show in its original Japanese/English subtitled format as I revise the story, I am also attempting to tie this story back to the original culture. I will be revising to fill in the gaps left by this cultural oversight, and will be returning to the original Japanese names as well as using more Japanese honorifics, such as:

 

'-san'-- a term of respect used for adults and females

'-sensei'--the proper address form for a teacher or doctor.

'-chan'--an endearment used for children or between girl-friends

'-ko'-- an endearment used to express affection, as in "Usa-ko"

 

If there are any others that I've used and haven't explained here, please alert me so that I can make the proper edits.

 

It should be noted that the Inner Senshi are seventeen/eighteen years old and are in their final year of high school

 

"I'll Be There For You" -- Part One -- The Beginning

 

 

She sat before the large, blazing fire, deep in meditation. Her raven black hair looked almost alive in the flickering dance of the red and orange shadows cast upon the walls. Sight, sound, scent, taste, touch shut tight to the world outside, her hands clasped in concentrated pReir as the fire danced and spat at the cool night air.

 

Her mind was cleared from unnecessary clutter, focused on the thoughts of inner peace and harmony, of unconditional love for the planet and its--

 

An image forced its entrance into her calm being: a beautiful young woman with long sun-kissed blonde hair spilling from her head in two shining, golden rivers. A familiar face and voice crying out in an unheard shout of pain.

 

Rei's eyes snapped open with panicked shock.

 

~~~***~~~

 

"Usagi~!"

 

The teenager groaned with heavy boredom as she fell back onto the bed, her long blonde pigtails spilling out to either side and pooling on the floor.

 

"Ami," she whined. "Do we *have* to do homework right now? I understand it; really, I do!" she professed, punching the pillow beneath her head and muttering, "I just can't prove it on the tests."

 

"Usagi," Ami began in her calm, intelligent way, not even bothering to look up from her book. "You ask for my help," the blueberry-haired girl reminded her friend.

 

"I know, I know," Usagi sighed, closing her eyes and rolling over onto her flat stomach. "I really hate school," she mumbled into her pillow. "It's not like I'm going to use any of this stuff in my future anyway."

 

The young woman who held dominion over the elements of water looked up, her blue eyes snapping with electricity as she frowned disapprovingly. "Even a queen must be knowledgeable."

 

Usagi shot her friend a dirty look and was about to comment when her cell phone shrilled into life with a popular theme song. She glanced at the Caller ID as she flipped the device open.

 

"Hi, Rei, what's up?" she sang-sung, kicking her legs up in the air behind her. "Huh? Oh, no, it's okay. Although, Math might succeed in killing me with boredom yet--Hmm? A meeting? Not tonight, though, right? No, no, tomorrow after school sounds okay. As long as it's not something too important. Okay, well, Ami's here with me, and Mina and Makoto are--okay, thanks. See you tomorrow!"

 

Usagi rolled over and tossed her cell phone onto her purse bag. "Rei wants to meet tomorrow," she announced, sliding back onto the floor next to Ami and the open text books. "Okay, one more time...."

 

~~~****~~~

 

"So what did you wanna talk to us about, Rei?" Minako asked as she plopped down onto a cushion and popped a fresh-baked chocolate mini-muffin into her mouth.

 

"Where's Usagi," Rei countered, indigo eyes narrowing accusingly.

 

"Where else," Makoto replied with a negligent shrug. "Still at the arcade."

 

Rei and Luna slumped and exhaled loudly.

 

"That girl!" Luna began, warming up for one of her chastisements. "One of these days she'd going to have to--"

 

And at that moment, the girl in question came flying up the stairs to the shrine gates, panting and sweating and grinning apologetically as she announced, "Lost, again."

 

"You know," Mina teased, "I'm going to have to make you stop pretty soon if you don't stop killing me every time you play!"

 

Artemis snickered as he hopped into Mina's lap and reached out to retrieve one of the mini-muffins for himself. "That'll be the day," he retorted.

 

Usagi replied in the very mature fashion of sticking her tongue out at the two and snatching up a muffin or three for herself.

 

"Good, we're all here," Rei interrupted before anyone could get in a friendly argument or further distracted from the fact that she had called them all here for a purpose. With a practiced flick of her head, she sent her black raven hair cascading back behind her shoulders and down her back, and effectively out of the way.

 

"You wanted to tell us something," Ami spoke up, effectively helping to focus the other girls' attention.

 

"Yes," Rei nodded solemnly. "Last night, I was visited upon by a vision." She paused, looking at each of the girls in turn. "It was Usagi... screaming out in pain."

 

"But, why?" Usagi frowned, the first to speak while the others looked worriedly from one face to another. "I mean, what does it mean? Was I hurt? Was I--was I dying?" she asked faintly, lip trembling with fearfilled uncertainty.

 

"Is it a new monster?" Makoto asked, better at focusing on concrete bad guys that she could hit and take out physically.

 

Rei shook her head apologetically. "I don't know, I'm sorry," she said, clearly upset by her ability to tell them more. "The vision was gone as soon as it came and... and I couldn't trace it. I'm sorry. I don't know if it's a new monster or something else, but, Usagi, I think you should be careful."

 

"But, Rei," Ami spoke up, looking mildly puzzled. "Is it possible it could be something as simple as Usagi falling down or--"

 

But Rei was shaking her head again. "No," she said. "This was much more serious that something like that. There was... there was an urgency and a sense of panic," Rei continued, trailing off in a whisper of thought.

 

Gooseflesh prickled Usagi's arms and she shivered in the ominous feeling that suddenly permeated the room. "Is... Do you think someone will try to hurt me?" she asked with a shaky voice. It certainly wouldn't be the first time, after all, but somehow, knowing that there were bad people out there in the universe who would like nothing better than to see you dead wasn't a thing one grew accustomed to, no matter how much time passed.

 

Makoto slammed her fist down onto the tea table, causing the dish of muffins and the cups to dance and rattle jarringly. "We won't let them," she shouted forcibly, her green eyes like hard chips of malachite shining with fierce determination and wrath towards some unseen foe.

 

"So what do we do?" Minako asked, tilting her head to one side thoughtfully and fingering her hair.

 

"Sailor Mars's visions have never led us astray before," Luna reminded them all, looking at each of the girls in turn.

 

"You'll do what you've always done," Artemis added, jumping over to join Luna. "You protect the princess."

 

"Don't worry, Usagi," Makoto said fiercely. "We'll be right here with you."

 

"No matter what," Minako added positively.

 

"We won't let anyone hurt you," Ami nodded, and Rei nodded, despite the fact that she was still frowning.

 

In no time at all, the conversation flowed to more interesting topics for the teenage girls--Minako mentioned a new transfer student, Makoto commented that he looked like one of her old boyfriends. Ami was fretting about a recent test, and how she was sure she must have missed one of the answers. It was Rei, who was flipping through one of Minako's fashion magazines, who suggested they all go over to one of the local shopping plazas, and they all eagerly jumped on the idea, anxious to believe that there was nothing to worry about.

 

All except for Usagi, who hadn't said much since Rei's prediction. In fact, she even bailed out on the idea of going shopping, saying she was actually feeling a little tired after all that studying the night before and she felt like a nap. The girls watched her and Luna leave, feeling bad, but not knowing what to say...

 

And, in the end, no one ended up going to the shopping center at all. Ami pleaded out, wanting to finish some more work for one of her advance lab classes; Makoto mentioned something about a new recipe she was working on for cooking class. Mina had no good excuse, but she smiled apologetically at Rei as she and Artemis headed down the shrine steps.

 

Rei watched them all leave one by one, waiting until Mina's golden head disappeared over the crest of the steps before whirling around and heading straight back to the fire room to see if she could learn anything new.

 

~~~****~~~

 

A hand traced lazy circles over the bared skin of her back, teasing her back to wakefulness. With a sleepy smile, Usagi blinked the sleep from her eyes and stared up into Mamoru's amused, intent gaze as he leaved forward to taste the smile directly from her lips.

 

"Hello," she murmured when he drew away. "How was your night?" She hooked an arm around his neck, holding him closer to her as their foreheads touched.

 

"It just got better," he answered, rubbing his nose against hers.

 

"Good answer," she sighed and then yawned. "Mmm... what time is it?"

 

"Almost eleven already," he admitted apologetically, trailing kisses over her cheek and down her throat.

 

"Mmm... good," Usagi grinned, leaning back into the pillows and pulling him down onto the bed with her. "We have at least a half an hour..."

 

"Usa-ko," Mamoru breathed, loving her with his body and soul.

 

Later, Usagi laid stretched against his body, head pillowed on his chest as he held her close to him in the tangled sheet of his bed. Mamoru brushed the petals of a rose over her back as she ran her fingers along invisible patterns on his arms, her mind busy churning away at what Rei had warned them about this afternoon.

 

After a while, she said, "We had a meeting today."

 

There was no need to specify who 'we' were. That was the privilege of shared histories and destinies. Of course, there had used to be a time, not so long ago, when the sailor senshi would have meetings on nearly a daily basis. But it hadn't been like that in over a year, not since the Starlights had returned to their own galaxy proper with their princess. And mamoru had returned to Japan to continue his medical studies shortly after.

 

Then, when no evil appeared to fight, the senshi had gone from holding meetings once a day to one a week... and then once a month... until, finally, they stopped holding official meetings. It never much anyway since the girls all attended the same high school and were friends who ate lunch together most everyday anyway. But...

 

"Hmmm? What about now?" Mamoru asked with sleepy amusement. "Mina and Makoto have found a new love-interest?" he teased.

 

"No," she answered on a whisper, not sharing his amusement, and Mamoru amusement faded into concern. "Rei had a vision."

 

His arms tensed around her, the rose stem snapping. "What about?" he asked with a forced air of nonchalance.

 

"Me."

 

He moved to look at her, and she could see the questions swimming in his eyes, knew she was going to have to tell him everything she knew--which wasn't very much at all. She had wanted to tell him immediately after leaving Rei's this afternoon, that was why she had come to his apartment instead of going home, but she had forgotten that Mamoru had a late afternoon practicum today, and eventually, she had fallen asleep on the bed waiting for him.

 

But now her insides where churning with the uncertainty of the vision Rei had. What did it mean? What could it mean? "She said I was screaming, in pain," she told him in a little whispered, resting her head back against his chest and using his arms to chase away the shivers that threatened again.

 

He waited for her to continue, but there was nothing else for her to say, and when she remained silent he finally asked, "Well, what else did she say? Was it a monster? Why were you screaming? How were you hurt? Where were you? Where--"

 

"I don't know!" she cried, pushing away from him, away from the bed. She padded on bare feet to the large sliding glass door. The full moon hanging high in the sky bathed her naked body in pale light, and she looked up at the moon, as if asking the white sphere for guidance.

 

Finding none, she turned back to the bed and Mamoru, who sat, sitting up on the bed with the sheets draped across his lap.

 

She was trembling, and she couldn't seem to stop; not even when he stood and went to her, kissing her lips and pulling her back into his warm embrace.

 

"I'm sorry," he soothed. "I'm sorry. It'll be all right, Usa-ko. Don't worry. We've faced the odds before, right," he added, pressing a kiss against her forehead. "We can handle anything they throw at us. As long as we're together."

 

Her arms threaded around his waist, and she held tightly onto him as though he was her sole connection to safety and sanity. "I'm scared," she confessed, pulling back up into his face. "I'm scared, Mamoru."

 

"Don't be," he told her, kissing her and trying to forcibly push the thoughts of fear from her mind with his mind and body. "I'll be there for you, no matter what."

 

~~~****~~~

 

Usagi was silent as Mamoru drove her home. He didn't try to force her to talk; he, himself, was deeply in though. It upset him to think that Usagi might be in trouble, and he couldn't help about worry, despite his earlier attempts at reassurance. What was this trouble that was supposed to happen, he wondered, and when was it going to strike?

 

He pulled the car over to the curb a block away from Usagi's house, switching the hazards on with practiced ease. They sat there saying nothing, neither one moving for a period, and then Mamoru forced himself out of the car.

 

"Usako," he whispered, cupping her cheek as he helped her out of the car, and she rushed into his arms, wrapping around him, under his light jacket. "It will be all right, my Usako," he murmured, leaning down to press a gentle kiss to the top of her head.

 

She looked up at him, and it broke his heart to see the tears shimmering in her lovely blue eyes. "I'm scared, Mamoru," she confessed, voice quivering with weight. "Everything... everything has been so quiet lately." She shook her head, pressing her face against his chest and murmured, "I don't want it to stop."

 

Adoringly, he tilted her face up to his and touched his forehead to hers. "Whatever happens, Usako, you know, I will always be there for you. Always, right here," he promised, his hands enfolding hers as he pressed his lips to hers in a chaste promise of a kiss.

 

"I love you, Mamo-chan," she whispered against his lips.

 

"And I love you, Usako... my little moon bunny," he whispered back, voice full of affection.

 

~~~****~~~

 

The front door was opened and shut again softly, but it wasn't quiet enough to escape a worried parent's ears.

 

"Usako?" her mother called softly from the kitchen.

 

Usagi turned in mid-step from the stairs to the kitchen, silently praying that her father wasn't up as well. But it was only her mother sitting over a steaming cup of green tea sitting at the table that greeted her.

 

"Mama? I'm home."

 

Ikuko smiled at her daughter. "Welcome home. Did you have a good day today?" she questioned, sipping gently from her tea.

 

"Ah. It was a good day," Usagi answered carefully.

 

"Was that Mamoru's car I saw driving away just now?"

 

Usagi nodded, and she went to pour herself a cup of tea as well. "I forgot he was supposed to work late tonight and fell asleep, so he drove me home."

 

Ikuko thought on this as she continued to watch her daughter, and together they sipped their tea in silence for several minutes. "I like him," she said suddenly, nodding. "He seems like a nice young man, and he works very hard."

 

Usagi blushed. "I, I like him, too," she shared, but Ikuko's pleasant expression began to fade.

 

"My dear, cute little bunny," her mother said sadly. "How much you've grown. You're already a young woman, in your last year of high school. And Mamoru still has several years of medical school yet ahead of him. Have you thought yet about what you plan to do once you graduate next Spring?"

 

Marry Mamoru and rule Crystal Tokyo and live happily ever after and--Usagi rattled off in her thoughts.

 

"Usako--" her mother began hesitantly, breaking into Usagi's mental checklist. "Usako, you are a very beautiful young woman, but you're very young yet. I know you don't think so, but you still have your whole life ahead of you. I--I don't want you to be hurt, Usako. So, please... please be careful and think well on your choices, ne?"

 

She reached over and touched Usagi's hand gently, giving it a little squeeze before standing, dumping the rest of her tea in the sink, and heading upstairs.

 

Upstairs in her own room, Usagi chased Luna off her pillow before climbing into bed.

 

The black cat yawned widely and stretched before resettling elsewhere on the bed. "Really, Usagi," Luna protested, glaring reproachfully at her princess. "Do you have to come in this late every night?"

 

"As Sailor Moon I would come back even later," the girl retorted, stretching out under the blankets.

 

"But Sailor Moon wasn't out defending the world tonight," Luna replied.

 

"No, usagi was out spending some quality time with her boyfriend," she returned, yawning. "Maybe you've heard of me? Prince Endymion? Future King of the Earth, and my soon-to-be, one-day husband?" Usage added sleepily.

 

"Hmphf! Just don't blame me if you oversleep again tomorrow and are late to school."

 

"I haven't been late to school in years," Usagi murmured in protest.

 

"More like weeks, you should say," Luna quipped, curling into a ball, large red eyes drifting closed.

 

"That's still a long time..."

 

"For you, it is...."

 

~~~****~~~

 

The jingle of a several bike bells woke Usagi the next morning.

 

She had forgotten to set her alarm the night before, but years of being late had made her an expert at getting dressed and getting out of the house in less than fifteen minutes. Ami, Makoto, and Minako straddled their bikes and were teasing each other when Usagi came flying out of her front door, school satchel bouncing behind her.

 

"Here," Makoto called, tossing her a pink and white pastry bag. "I made breakfast. Cherry pastries!"

 

"Artemis suggested that we should all start working out again," Minako piped up as they kicked off and started biking towards school.

 

"I agree," Ami added. "All this quiet recently has been misleading. We should have never stopped."

 

"Yeah. It'll be great to really get some practices going again," Makoto put in. "I feel like I've gone rusty or something!"

 

But Usagi cried out in dismay. "I *hate* working out!" she whined.

 

"Look at it this way," Mina replied, winked at Makoto. "You can start working off all those calories you've been shoving into your mouth!"

 

~~~****~~~

 

They gathered at Rei's shrine that afternoon, dressed in their gym uniforms and sweats. The shrine grounds with the surrounding woods was really the best location for their purposes during the day, and one they had used often in the past. The basic warm-ups were easy enough to accomplish, but less than half an hour of a more intensive workout, and the girls were ready to scream for a break.

 

Groans and moans rose from their steaming bodies as they panted and sweated and check their pulses.

 

"This is terrible," Ami dismayed, and Makoto looked grim.

 

"I didn't realize I'd let myself go that bad," the tall senshi grimaced.

 

"It's a... good thing... I'm not... on the track... team," Mina panted, slumping. "Oh, stars! That was horrible!"

 

"No.... more......" Usagi pleaded, falling down and hiding her face.

 

"That was a good warm up," Luna announced as she and Artemis returned from wherever it was they were.

 

"Wow," Artemis chimed in. "I didn't realize you girls were that out of shape!"

 

"Shut. Up. Artemis." Mina glared, before slumping on to her backside.

 

"Well, we'll just have to work harder to make up for lost time!" Makoto insisted.

 

"We should have never stopped," Rei commented, staring off in the direction of the tori gate. "Just because everything was peaceful for a time didn't mean it would last.... We knew it wouldn't..." she added softly, reproachfully, looking down at the ground at her feet, struggling with some inner conflict she chose not to share with the others.

 

The girls and cats lapsed into a heavy-filled silence.

 

"We'll just have to work harder," Usagi announced suddenly, standing up and brushing off.

 

Startled gazes flew to the young woman who stood proudly, defiantly, in the face of what was to come. And then Mina climbed to her feet as well, looking over to Makoto, Ami, and Rei. They nodded in silent agreement.

 

~~~****~~~

 

She sat near the window, gazing out into the night sky of Tokyo suburbia. The book she'd been reading lay slack in her lap, forgotten for the moment under the weight of other thoughts. There was a sad tilt to her angelic face as she sat, bathed in soft moonlight. A for that moment, one seeing her did not see the clumsy teenager she was in this incarnation, but the lovely, lonely princess she had been on the moon... and perhaps a glimmer of the woman who would be the future queen.

 

That is what Luna saw when she padded softly into the bedroom that night. She stopped for a moment to study the beautiful young woman her charge had become. In the years since they had met, Usagi had matured into the woman sitting before her, and Luna felt a strong sense of love and pride wash over her.

 

"Usagi?" the feline called.

 

The angel's face turned away from the window, and the silver glow of the moonlight illuminated her face, glancing over soft blue eyes, sliding across pale golden hair, glistening rosy lips that trembled slightly, and shimmering off the weaving trails that slid down her cheeks--

 

Usagi stared at her guardian, unwilling to speak least he betray herself more than her tears already did. Afraid to hear the quiver in her own voice.

 

"Usage, what's wrong?" Luna asked, concern pushing her farther into the room.

 

"Nothing," the woman-child whispered, turning back to the window hastily and reaching up to smooth her cheeks.

 

'Nothing'? "Did you and Mamoru have another fight?" Luna suggested, but Usagi shook her head, and the black cat jumped up into the girl's lap to try and better look at her.

 

"Please, Luna," Usagi pleaded breathily. "I don't want to talk about it...."

 

Luna frowned, a little hurt, but a slim hand stroked stroking her ruffled fur and she finally curled up into Usagi's lap. "Fine," she murmured, "but maybe you should discuss it with Sailor Pluto."

 

The feline drifted off into a little catnap, but her words hung in the air, and, even more, they stuck like crazy glue against the walls of Usagi's mind.

 

~~~****~~~

 

The bell above the door danced and jingled as the door opened, and a voice carried up from the back. "Welcome!"

 

She waited, and a moment later, she was rewarded with the presence of one of the most beautiful women it was her pleasure to meet and know.

 

"Welcome," the woman called again. And the greeting melted into a genuine affection when she saw her guest. "Usagi," she greeted pleasantly. "What brings you here? Not another special date with Mamoru so soon?"

 

Usagi smiled in return, shaking her golden head at her friend and her deepest confident next to her mother, her moon mother, that was... "No, Puu," she answered, walking farther into the sewing and alterations shop. "I came for another reason today."

 

Setsuna looked around, as though to make sure the empty store housed no walls with listening ears, and then asked with hushed concern, "Senshi business?"

 

Again, Usagi shook her head. "No, personal." And Setsuna frowned. "Can we talk," Usagi asked.

 

Setsuna studied her face for a moment--she looked tired, she knew, as though even her dreams were keeping her from a restful sleep. Even her hair felt limp and lackluster today. Finally, the green-haired woman motioned her into the back of the store where she mixed a quick cup of tea. "What's troubling you," she asked, taking the seat across from her.

 

"Rei had a vision the other day," Usagi began, staring at her tea. "Of me. Screaming out in pain." She look up into Setsuna's calmly arranged expression. "As Sailor Pluto, you have possession of the key to the Time Gate. As the Sailor Senshi of Time, surely you must know what is to come. Setsuna, please, even if you can't tell me everything, can you not just tell me something to alleviate this fear?

 

Setsuna stared across the table sadly. "Serenity..." she began and then closed her eyes and pressed her lips together tightly. After a deep breath, they opened again and she nodded. "Your trials have already begun," she told the younger woman. "But they will not come to fruition for neigh a year's turn. I--

 

"I'm sorry. I can't say anything more than that," she said, truly apologetic.

 

Usagi wanted to cry out in frustration, but she knew that was useless. The Senshi of Past, Present, and Future could not reveal her knowledge. It was a prison of solitude she was forced to endure with only herself for company.

 

Usage stood hurriedly and gave her friend a quick hug, thanking her for her help. And then she left.

 

Setsuna stared after her from inside the shop. "Good day, my princess... May... may the gods protect you from the pain that lies ahead."

 

~~~****~~~

 

Setsuna's mysterious words followed Usagi as she trudge towards the shrine where the other girls were already gathered for their daily workouts. Halfway there, her feet turned off the path and headed to the park instead. The crystal blue waters glittered off the quiet lake and seemed to soothe her sore emotions, infusing her with a calm sense of focused drive.

 

Usagi remained under the tree she and Mamoru had shared on many occasions for another fifteen minutes before turning towards the shrine.

 

She thought she knew what needed to be done.

 

"Hey, meatball-head! You're late!" Rei shouted as she kicked out at Makoto, who easily pushed the attack aside in favor of one of her own.

 

"Extra pushups for you!" Mina called out teasingly from where she and Ami were paired off and sparing a space away from Rei and Makoto.

 

Usagi didn't answer their taunts; instead she watched her friends. These girls who she had known for four years; these four women who had sworn their lives to protect her... and had died several times because of it.

 

Usagi's heart gave a funny little tug, as those someone was trying to tear it from her breast.

 

These four women were four of the most powerful creatures on this planet--in the entire universe. And now they were out of breath after a simple sparing exercise. Something that was much easier than fighting monsters and evil, insane creatures from different galaxies. She had become weak herself.... feeble from lack of practice. What would the starlight senshi say now if they saw her? The great Messiah.

 

Her decision was made within a blink of an eye--she wasn't going to risk all of their lives needlessly because she had gotten lazy--and she grabbed the brooch from her school uniform, raising it towards the sky, calling out the incantation that invoked the power of the silver crystal.

 

The four girls stopped their exercises to stare at her in amazement.

 

"Power up, girls," Sailor Moon called. "It's time to play hard."

 

The four young women hesitated for the briefest of moments, and then four hands shot into the air as each invoked her star power, bathing the shrine grounds in blinding bursts of power-filled light.

 

"Each girl for herself!" Sailor Moon directed, darting towards the trees. And then she added over her shoulder, "Let's have some fun!"

 

A heavy cloud of fog drifted among their feet, growing thicker and fuller until it encaged the entire Shrine grounds in its concealing mists. Thunder crackled dangerously and the trees thrashed about threateningly.

 

And the games had begun.

 

Over an hour later as the sky over head was beginning to darken, the girls collapsed onto the steps leading up into the fire house, grinning and teasing each other as they scrumptiously checked their clothing and bodies for 'battle' wounds.

 

"Good work, guys," Sailor Moon announced, releasing the power that held her transformation. "I'll see you all tomorrow morning, here, at five," Usagi added before heading off.

 

The others stared after here with wide eyes.

 

"Did she just say..."

 

"Five o'clock?"

 

"Meaning five in the morning, five o'clock?"

 

"Oh, dear...."

 

~~~****~~~

 

Usagi used the key mamoru had given her a when he moved into this apartment to get inside. She felt grimy and gritty from the afternoon's activities and knew just what needed to be done. She headed towards the bedroom, stopping to start the water running in the shower, letting it heat up as she striped her school uniform off and tied her hair up.

 

Breathing in deep the steamy air in the bathroom, Usagi stepped under the scalding spray and allowed the water to wash away the stress of the day.

 

Mamoru came home tired and hungry, but the second he opened his apartment door he noticed the second pair of shoes in the doorway and the sound of the shower running. He grinned, removing his already loosened tie and peeling off the rest of his school uniform. He knocked on the shower door before sliding it open.

 

"I'm home," he called into the steamy air.

 

"Welcome home," Usagi turned on the bathing stool and smiled up at him. She waited until he'd closed the door behind him to spray him with the shower hose, laughing when he sputtered indignantly.

 

And then he was there next to her, his mouth on hers, and his arms and hands on hers and she had something better to do than laugh at him.

 

~~~****~~~

 

Usagi slid the rose Mamoru had given her that evening into a vase and set it on her windowsill before falling back onto her bed and sighing as she stared at the walls surround her.

 

Staring and thinking.

 

Over the window hung two, old, dried-out, red roses. The first rose Tuxedo Mask had ever given her, and the first rose Mamoru had given her when his memory returned after the Ali and An incident. On the nightstand was a copy of the same picture that was on Mamoru's nightstand: Mamoru holding Usagi, both looking very much in love. On her desk was a scrapbook filled with clippings and news articles about Sailor Moon and the other Sailor Senshi and a picture frame with the five girls in their high school uniforms grinning and giggling. On the floor next to her bed was a stack of Sailor V manga. On her vanity was a picture of Mamoru, taken from during his modeling career back in high school.

 

Her room looked like that of any normal teenage girl. No one, upon seeing the room would guess that the Senshi of Love and Justice lived here. No one would guess that it was Sailor Moon who laid her head down on this bunny pillowcase. That she was the one who had saved the world several times over, night after night....

 

Usagi sighed and turned, shoving her face into her pillow.

 

In a treasure box under her bed were several pictures and other trinkets. A photo of Tuxedo Mask holding up a rose in salute. A photo of the Inner Senshi posing proudly. Another photo of all her Senshi--proud, serious, loving faces. Several more with Chibi-Usa in them. Some communicators and a magic pen. And... at the bottom, a large panorama photo, taken before the Sailor Starlights had left to return to their own galaxy...

 

Other than those few little things, hidden away in a hidden treasure box, she was a normal teenaged girl...

 

How many times had she wished she really was normal?

 

How many times had she sat at her windowsill, looking up at the moon, asking herself if this was a joke?

 

How many times had she wished she was someone else?

 

How many times had she thanked the gods that Mamoru loved her?

 

She shook her head, as if to shake the thoughts form her mind. As if by magic, other thoughts took their place. Trouble was coming, and they were going to be ready for it. No matter what.

 

She looked at the clock on her nightstand. 10:40 pm. In six hours she planned on being at the shring. Not matter what, the senshi were going to be ready.

 

~~~****~~~

 

Usagi fell back down onto the bed, willing her rolling stomach to calm down. It felt like she had picked up some sort of stomach cold or something, and she took several breaths to will down the rolling pitch feeling of her insides as she sat back up again. A quick glance at the alarm clock told her it was already a quarter to five and if she didn't get up right now and *leave*, then she was going to be late to her own practice.

 

She hadn't been late for practice in the last eight weeks. And she definitely didn't intend to start now!

 

What was even more annoying, in her opinion, ws the fact that she seemed to be getting weaker as the days passed, while the girls were all getting stronger. But the extra practices were working--that's what was important, she thought. Not only were they in fine shape and top form, but due to the lack of monsters to fight every night, they were all actually getting full nights' rest.

 

Usagi, though, wasn't sure how long it would last.

 

She padded into the bathroom and stared at her reflection. She looked unhealthily pale and slapped her cheeks to try and bring some color into them. Despite the afternoons spent running around in the sun, she looked like she'd never set foot off the moon!

 

It was easy to set up a routine, and the girls had done so by the end of the first week, when it proved that Usagi was honestly serious about five am practices. They began with stretches and then a run around the shrine grounds before falling into one-on-one spare matches. After school, they returned for more punishment, but added an extra time for "play time", used to hone their skills and powers as senshi.

 

In a burst of creative spirit, all the girls got into it. Minako made up special bags for each of the girls to store their toiletries, each bag designed especially for their intended user. Ami put together charts and spreadsheets that spewed information about target heart zone and fitness and body mass. Makoto made sure the extra fridge at Rei's was packed with food for breakfasts and after school power snacks. Even Rei went to the trouble to set up several relay courses and challenges to make the practices seem more like fun and games.

 

And Usagi showed up on time, all the time, and praised them, and thanked then, and told them they were wonderful. And for some strange reason, that made them all want to work that much harder.

 

When she told Mamoru what they were doing, he agreed that it was a good idea and decided to pick up his own regime that he'd let slide thanks to studies and work and misleading illusions of an extended peace. Occasionally, just to prove to everyone that he could still do it, he was able to switch a day of work to allow him to mysteriously appear during one of the girls' practice sessions. Always during 'play time'.

 

Always in time to swoop in and scoop Sailor Moon out of a would-be dangerous spot. They didn't have to worry about seriously hurting each other, though. They had discovered a while ago that their attacks on Sailor Moon had the power to stun her, but no serious damage was ever inflicted. Senshi also tended to heal that much faster. But that didn't mean it wasn't possible to incur cuts or scrapes or bruises from the attacks or the terrain.

 

Sailor Moon turned around in time to see the shining golden attack hurtling through the air, aimed directly at her, but her reaction time was too slow, the attack too quick, and she knew it was going to hit. But just before it could, arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her away.

 

"You made it," she said breathlessly as they landed on a nearby tree limb.

 

Lips brushed against her throat as Tuxedo Mask murmured an affirmative.

 

She turned to look at him reprimanding. "We're practicing," she reminded him.

 

"So am I," he told her, giving her another little kiss.

 

She tried to keep a straight face. "Oh yeah? What for?"

 

"For tonight," he answered, a mischievous grin playing on his lips.

 

"And what are you doing tonight?" she returned, grinning back.

 

"Oh, you know. A little bit of this," he said, moving to kiss her lips, "and a little bit of that," he added, ghosting his hands down her back.

 

"Mmm... sounds like a lucky girl. Anyone I know?

 

"May~be," he continued, rubbing his nose against her. "So I'll see you tonight, then?"

 

She pretened to think about it. "Dinner included?"

 

"And a rose," he promised, pulling a rose from the air and handing it to her.

 

"Then I guess it's a date," she said, taking the rose he handed her, smiling broadly.

 

"Good." He gave her another quick kiss and then vanished.

 

With a huff of slight annoyance but more amusement, she continued to watch the others at work, a smile still playing along her lips and happiness bubbling up inside her. They were magnificent to watch: beautiful but deadly warriors. She moved to jump off the tree limb and rejoin them, but before she could land, her eyes unfocused, the world tilted, and the ground rushed up to greet her.

 

/End Part One - The Beginning

 

On to Part Two - The Awakening