A.N. Something I wanted to try out. To warn you there is some adult content in here so be prepared for future chapters. This story takes place as all the senshi are 16 years old. It has been two years and things have progressed slowly with the Negaverse. Very few of the Rainbow Crystals have been found and the princess has not been discovered yet….if you continue to read, things will unfold to what has all happened in the past two years.
PIECES OF A DEAM
Chapter One: Once Upon A Dream
The late hours of the night brought only silence in the Tsukino house as each member of the family found themselves in a deep slumber. Crickets were playing a midnight melody that only they understood and could communicate towards. A low hum of traffic sounds from the city could be heard, but only faintly as people drove home from work. The night seemed at peace for once and Tokyo's blonde haired hero found herself resting in complete tranquility as her dreams soared with visions of Tuxedo Mask.
"Sailor Moon, I love you. I need you. I want to be with you for the rest of our lives…" spoke in a passionate tone as he grabbed the gloved hands of Usagi's transformed personality, Sailor Moon. He held them tenderly and pulled her closer to him, looking down her with a serious expression, but series of emotions in his deep sapphire eyes.
"Oh, Tuxedo Kamen. You don't know how long I have waited for you to say something like that to me…" Usagi gushed out as she looked into the masked man's eyes with sparkles in her own. Tuxedo Mask began to lean down towards the blonde teenager's face as she tip toed her way to meet his. Her eyes closed as she welcomed the thought of what was about to happen.
"Sailor Moon…"The tall man whispered
"Tuxedo Mask…" Usagi whispered back and as she felt his face get closer she heard a loud shrieking noise. Scrunching her eyes even more closed, the blonde tried to keep holding onto that moment, but felt it slowly fade.
"USAGI WAKE UP!" the voice of an older sounding British woman.
The teenager's grip on the pink covered pillow over her face became tighter. Usagi groaned as she slipped away from the dream world and back into reality. Taking in a deep breath, the blonde slowly began to remove the pillow when she noticed it was still dark outside. Narrowing her eyes in confusion and then in anger, Usagi completely took off the pillow and faced where the woman's voice was coming from.
On the edge of the space themed comforter stood a pure black cat that blended well with the shadows that took of the pink painted teenager's room. If Usagi hadn't been expecting her to be there, she probably wouldn't have even seen her. However it was the crescent moon's light that made the symbol on the feline's forehead glow at a certain angle and so the cat was more visible. Through sleepy, yet angry, eyes glared at the female animal as it took everything in Usagi's mind not to toss the pillow at the cat.
"Couldn't this have waited until the morning? I was having a really good dream!" Usagi whined as she wiped some of the drool from the corner of her lips. It was always when she was so close to kissing the man of her dreams that she would be suddenly awoke. Growling under her breath, Usagi came close to actually tossing the pillow. Though, the cat's voice rang out again.
"There is an attack about a block from here. You must go now. I will contact the others on your way out." She said with a bit of urgency.
Usagi realized that Luna was being serious and jumped out of bed. Now fully awake, the teenager grabbed for her wand. She gave Luna a nod as she said the magic words and filled the room with a bright light as Tsukino Usagi became Sailor Moon. After the transformation, the blonde climbed onto the window ledge and leapt for the tree branch outside her window. From there, she climbed down the tree and headed towards the attack.
Normally it would have taken the promise of some sort of sweet to get the teenager out of bed and to the battlefield. However, Usagi had a new determination. She wanted this Negascum dead and gone so that she could slip back into the comfort of her sheets once more and finish a dream kiss that seemed to never get to the end. Gripping her wand closer to her chest, Sailor Moon rushed towards the growing sound of a fight already going on. The blonde was quite confused by this and rounded the corner to see that Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus were already there. It was then that Sailor Moon realized that the spot was closer to where the two girls lived so that the moment that Luna contacted them, they could have been right there.
Sailor Moon stopped running and lined herself up with Jupiter and Venus. They looked to the side and were shocked to find their leader to be so early, though relieved. Calculating from where all the girls lived, Sailor Moon decided that Sailor Mars would be next and then finally Sailor Mercury. If the three of them could hold off for another ten minutes, then the team would be united as one and it would be easier to weaken the youma and destroy it. As this plan played out in the blonde's head, she wondered how her friends would react if they knew that Sailor Moon was slowly easing out of her childhood stages and thinking more like the leader they needed.
In the beginning it was hard, as she was only fourteen when destiny had smacked her straight off her normal routine and told her that she was fated to fight evil. Usagi still didn't understand how Luna or any of the others expected anything out of her. For goodness sakes she was only a teenager. Their lives were complicated enough and to tell them they are destined to fight for the lives of Earth was the cherry on top. Did they not realize that each time the transformed and went into battle that one of them could die? Usagi constantly thought about the idea and after a few close calls with her friends decided that it was time to snap to. Usagi refused to be the one reason why her best friends and team mates got hurt.
Snapping back into reality, Sailor Moon saw that the youma was charging another attack. Tonight the Negaverse decided to bring them a silent electric eel looking thing to steal energy. The blonde noticed out of the corner of her eye a woman and man lying on the sidewalk to the right. They must have been going home from a date when they were caught in the path of this youma. Curling her white gloved hands into fists, Sailor Moon snarled and took a fighting stance. Following her lead, Jupiter and Venus did the same.
"How dare you disturb innocents as they try to enjoy this serene night? Your reign of terror ends tonight." Sailor Moon declared. She moved to her usual stance as she made some sort of speech and held up her wand. "In the name of the moon, I will punish you!"
As she finished her speech, Sailor Mercury and Mars showed up on the other side of the youma. They mimicked Jupiter and Venus and prepared for an attack. The youma stood there in silence which made a shiver run up and down Sailor Moon's back and caused goose bumps on the surface of her ivory colored skin. Something felt strange in the air and for some odd reason the blonde meatball head teenager knew that after tonight; things would never really be the same again for her.
"Watch out!" Jupiter shouted as chestnut brown haired Amazon pushed Sailor Moon and Venus out of the way from an energy ball. The three senshi fell on the concrete ground, one right after the other. The energy ball hit a car behind them and made the alarm go off. Sailor Venus groaned and placed her white gloved hand to her forehead. She lay upon one of her elbows as Sailor Moon landed on her hip. With a grunt, Sailor Moon rolled off in front of her but let her hands catch her complete fall. The last thing she needed was more cuts and bruises. Sailor Jupiter landed on her butt on the other side of Venus, twisting her left ankle. She hissed in pain and quickly recovered. Standing up, Jupiter held out both of her hands to Venus and Moon. Sailor Venus growled straightening her large red bow in her golden blonde hair. Sailor Moon dusted off her navy blue fuku.
"Why? Why do we have to wear skirts? Shouldn't we be getting an upgrade on our suits or something?" She argued and then turned her attention to Sailor Mercury and Mars as they kept the silent youma distracted as the other three recovered.
"At least you have boots instead of heels!" Sailor Mars shouted from the other side and then added onto another fire attack. Sailor Moon was about to make another retort but remembered that they had to finish the battle first. When the youma got a hold of Sailor Mercury's neck and began electrifying her, the others prepared to attack, but Sailor Moon stopped them.
"If we attack, we'll hurt Mercury in the process." She shouted and held up her hands as reinforcement to what she was saying. Sailor Jupiter nudged her side and motioned for her to use the tiara trick. It worked every time to piss off a youma enough to switch out one of the senshi.
Sailor Moon took a hold of her tiara and tossed it towards the youma's back. It must have gotten the thing's attention because he dropped Mercury like an old rag doll and started walking towards the other three. Sailor Mars dropped to her knees and tended to Mercury's wounds and made sure that she was able to get up. At that moment, Sailor Moon's tiara twirled back towards her and she held her arm in the air to catch it. With a sly grin, Moon prepared to throw it again.
"Didn't like that too well, now did you? I warn you, hurt my friends again and your death will be more painful." She spoke out. Sailor Venus and Jupiter turned their heads towards her, as did Mars and Mercury. An eye brow from each lifted as they were wondering what had made Sailor Moon so cocky.
"On the count of three, we'll use our powers together girls. Get this thing out of here once and for all." She said in a leading voice with every confident bone in her body. The girls were surprised by the sudden take-charge personality, but decided to follow what she had in mind. It sounded reasonable enough. If they knew the real motivation for Sailor Moon's sudden personality change, they would all be rolling their eyes and tell her to get a life. The thought of reuniting with her dream Tuxedo Mask was more important than anything at the moment. She wanted that damn kiss!
Sailor Mars lifted Sailor Mercury, and as she stood, she still leaned against Mars for support. They each held up their wands and took a fighting stance. In the midst of the battle, hidden within the shadows of the leaves and branches, a tall male figure stood watching. His main focus was on the long blonde leader who seemed to be different tonight. Intrigued by this, he watched her closely. A smile curled up on his lips as he saw his beautiful blonde hero take charge. Within one hand he clenched a red rose and waited for an opportunity to rise so that he could once again step in and take hold of the long legged blonde. There was nothing he enjoyed more than to whisk her away from danger and steal a moment out of time to smell the vanilla and strawberry aroma that surrounded her entire body.
However, it seemed as if his assistance would not be required. Though, the masked man still stood by from a distance just in case a window of opportunity opened itself up to him. Tuxedo Masked watched as all the girls held up their wands and said their specific sayings and witnessed the youma glow and then burst. The explosion made all the girls fall back a couple of inches and land on their butts. The man tensed up and waited for a sign to see if any of them were truly hurt. As they began to stand up one by one, he nodded to himself and was about to leave. On the other hand, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Sailor Moon stood their and waited until all her companions had left. Narrowing his sapphire eyes, he stood on a tree branch and watched as walked over to the pile of dust.
Sailor Moon had an ongoing odd feeling that would not leave her. She couldn't escape the shivers and goose bumps. What was going to happen tonight that would change her life forever? The blonde had to inspect every part of the scene and anything else around her that might give her a hand. What was this feeling? The teenage heroine also didn't like the fact that she knew she was being spied on. Her muscles tensed, but let whoever watch her. Sailor Moon knelt beside the pile of ash and picked a small amount up. She brought the handful closer to her face and studied it. The youma was obviously not strong like the others. Beryl couldn't have possibly sent it to gather energy. Her minions usually caused a lot more trouble for the senshi and she should have been exhausted.
A light breeze surrounded the city's hero and as far as Sailor Moon was concerned, it was just wind passing by. What she didn't notice was pieces of the ashes gathering on her skin and sinking in, nor did notice that the victims of this youma had disappeared. For some odd reason she had the sudden urge just to go back to bed and forget the battle. The thought didn't feel forced or unnatural to the girl as she was constantly thinking about it all night. She wanted to return to her dreams and get that freaking kiss. Shaking her head, Sailor Moon stood back up and made her way back home.
Once out of sight, Tuxedo Mask jumped out of the tree and made his way to the pile of ashes as well. He wanted to see what Sailor Moon found so fascinating. Though, he should probably be following the blonde home. This would have been the perfect time to see who she really was and release that gut feeling that he knew her from somewhere. As the blonde did before, the man knelt before and picked up the pile with one hand. He examined it closely and found nothing out of the ordinary. He swept his cotton white gloves free of the ashes and stood up. The same sudden chill wrapped around his body and Tuxedo Mask rubbed his face as the need for sleep started to take its toll on him. Maybe if he got home in time he could fall back to his previous slumbering state he was in before the battle. The vision of his princess haunted his mind, but then so did the image of Sailor Moon. Even after two year, he still did not know anything about those two women he longed for.
Letting out a loud sigh, Tuxedo Mask started to make his way back to his apartment on the other side of the city. Unknowingly, a pair of soft grey eyes watched from afar. Thin, pink lips curled up and then the shadowy figure disappeared within the night.