Time Trip

By Bellaluna

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or its characters. Sorry! Please do not copy or steal this fic!

Author's Notes: Soooo I've been on a Sailor Moon buzz as of late while I rewatch the series on crunchyroll. The idea behind this story is one I've head since I watched the series back in elementary school, but I've tweaked it a lot and made it not…as lame as it would have been if I'd written it back then. Thanks for checking the fic out!

Oh! And if any of you are reading my XS fic, "The Art of Courtship", don't worry, I should have the next chapter out soon!

Chapter One: The Trip

Chibi-Usa stood motionless on the all too familiar dock. The late spring breeze blowing through her hair and rustling the nearby tree's leaves seemed to be the only thing moving. With moistened, red eyes, she stared down at the object in the palm of her hand. It was the time key. The very key she had clung to so dearly when she had first arrived in the Tokyo of her parents' past. Now that very same key only tortured her. She loved her family and her life in Crystal Tokyo, but it simply was not the same as her life with Usagi and Mamo-chan. She deeply wanted a way to have both worlds forever, but she always knew that one day she would have to give one up.

Now sixteen years old, Chibi-Usa knew that today was that day.

Usagi and Mamoru had finally been wed. It had been a beautiful spring wedding. Everything had gone perfectly, despite Usagi's habit of making a disaster out of anything she could get her hands on. Usagi had looked beautiful and so much like the mother Chibi-Usa knew and loved that it made her heart stop momentarily. Of course Mamoru was always handsome in Chibi-Usa's eyes; ever the hero, the prince charming, and on that day even more so. Of course, everyone was in tears, including all nine bridesmaids (the senshi of course) and Naru, the maid of honor. Chibi-Usa even thought she had caught Shingo sniffling a bit.

The ceremony was beautiful, but of course after that came the reception, which couldn't very well be described as 'beautiful', but it was still spectacular. All in all it had been one of the most fun memories that she had made in the 20th century. There was fantastic food with a menu provided by Makoto of course and plenty of great music to dance to. Chibi-Usa, along with Setsuna, Hotaru and Ami had all come to the wedding without dates, so while the rest of the girls were enjoying the slow dances with their dates the four young women found themselves playing an exciting game of 'what's the story with so-and-so's date'. Mostly it was Hotaru and Chibi-Usa playing, with Ami noting it wasn't a very thoughtful thing to do and Setsuna smiling and making an interjection here and there.

Rei was the first to be analyzed, for she had brought Yuuichiro along as a date. Technically he had been invited anyways, but since he hadn't been able to find anyone else she had reluctantly agreed to be his date. Through the entire reception she only allowed for one slow dance with him and stubbornly sat the rest out. Chibi-Usa had recently questioned Rei on the status of her relationship with Yuuichiro and the priestess had explained rather plainly that she cared about Yuuichiro, but she didn't care for in the way which he wanted her to. She assured Chibi-Usa that she had told him of this many times, but his spirit never seemed to break. Over all Yuuichiro looked pretty happy just to spend the night with Rei as he tailed behind her with a goofy grin on his face.

As for Minako and Makoto, it seemed that they had both been able to snag a guy from their classes to be their dates. Both young men were very handsome and the girls seemed to be enjoying their time with them, but it seemed very obvious to both Chibi-Usa and Hotaru that this would most likely be their first and only dates with them.

That left Haruka and Michiru, who had of course come with each other. Elegant as always, the two outer senshi almost outshined the bride. Somehow Haruka had been coerced into wearing a dress for the occasion as she was one of the bridesmaids. Her dress was a deep, navy blue, and Michiru's was sea foam green. As Usagi had insisted, each of the senshi wore a dress similar to that of their princess gowns. Guests were stunned by the rainbow lined up beside the bride during the ceremony. Of course Mamoru had had quite the task searching out for enough groomsmen to match all of Usagi's bridesmaids.

Hotaru sighed and rested her chin on the back of her chair.

"It must be nice to be in love," she said dreamily.

Chibi-Usa nodded in agreement, though there was a frown on her face. Hotaru spotted this and turned to face her best friend.

"What's the matter Chibi-Usa-chan?" she asked.

"Mmm," Chibi-Usa pursed her lips, not knowing quite what she wanted to say. "It's the girls," she finally said. "Not Haruka-san and Michiru-san, but Minako-chan and the rest."

"What about them?" Ami piped up, curious by Chibi-Usa's statement.

"Well, they look happy with their dates, but they don't look like they're in love," Chibi-Usa explained. "I don't think I've ever seen them in love like Usagi and Mamo-chan are."

"Love is a very complicated matter Small Lady," Pluto responded wisely. "Even more so when one has the duty of a senshi on their shoulders."

"Usagi-chan was lucky enough to be in love with Mamoru-kun, a man who she could share her destiny with," Ami added. "It is not so easy to balance a senshi's life with love for someone who could potentially be hurt by that life."

The conversation left a sense of gloom about the table. Chibi-Usa frowned even more, feeling guilty for having brought the subject up. Hotaru seemed to be pouting slightly as she continued to watch the couples on the dance floor while Setsuna looked as calm and collected as she always did. If Ami had brought a book with her, Chibi-Usa was sure she'd have her nose buried in once more, trying to hide the disappointment on her face.

Fortunately the sudden halt of the blasting music caused the entire hall to go silent as the DJ announced it was time for the cutting of the wedding cake. The silent table gratefully took the opportunity to move on to a much happier subject.

After the cake cutting Chibi-Usa and Hotaru decided to stop moping around the table watching people and joined everyone on the dance floor. Haruka and Michiru managed to drag Setsuna out for a couple dances, and Minako and Usagi did the same for Ami. The music played loudly around them and everyone danced and laughed harder than they ever had before. To put it simply, it was an amazing night that they would all remember fondly.

But alas, all good things must come to an end, and so as the party died down, Usagi and Mamoru started making rounds, saying goodbye to everyone before the left to catch their flight for their honeymoon. They made sure to say goodbye to everyone else before coming to Chibi-Usa. Usagi already had a quivering lip and tears in her eyes as they approached. Chibi-Usa had been dreading this moment all night, trying to push it away with the fun of the party, but now the time had come. She watched as her future parents crossed the dance floor making their way to her. As soon as she spotted Usagi crying, a stinging sensation came to her eyes, her own tears threatening to pour out. Her eyes met Usagi's and the two pig-tailed girls hurried to each other and embraced in a tight hug for quite some time. They both knew what this goodbye meant. It was a final farewell.

"Take care of yourself okay you brat?" Usagi sniffled, so Chibi-Usa could just barely make out the words.

"You're one to talk," Chibi-Usa replied teasingly. She could feel her throat constricting and her cheeks were wet already.

"Why you," Usagi growled and hugged Chibi-Usa even tighter. "I'm going to miss you, you know."

"Hey, I'll be here before you know it," Chibi-Usa replied with a laugh as she poked Usagi in the stomach.

"Don't remind me," Usagi groaned and put a hand to her stomach. "You better not give me stretch marks you hear me?"

Chibi-Usa laughed and pulled away from Usagi's hug. She looked up at Mamoru who seemed to be very amused by the girls' conversation. Chibi-Usa sniffed and held back a sob before throwing herself into his arms. She buried her head in his shoulder and didn't move a muscle. Mamoru smiled gently and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Be safe," he whispered to her and she silently nodded. "You'll be fine," he assured her.

Biting her lip to prevent any further sobs Chibi-Usa stepped away from her future father and attempted to give both of them a smile. They smiled back at her and after one last hug they left to get ready for their flight.

And then it was time for Chibi-Usa to say her goodbyes to everyone. She made her rounds rather quickly. She didn't want to linger too long or she might never leave. There were tears and laughs and before she knew it, Chibi-Usa was leaving the wedding hall and making her way to the dock.

Diana who had been avoiding the noise of the party with Luna and Artimus by waiting out in the hallway bounded to her mistress and hopped up on to her shoulder.

"Are we leaving now Small Lady?" the kitten asked.

"Yes Diana we are."

"Take care Chibi-Usa-chan, Diana!" Luna called to them both.

"We will!" both the princess and the kitten replied before disappearing out the door.

And so there they were on the dock, in the stale silence that surrounded them. Chibi-Usa had not said a word since they had said goodbye to Luna, and Diana had taken the cue not to say anything either.

Finally Chibi-Usa gripped the time key tightly in her fist and raised it high above her head.

"Oh guardian of time, doors of time, break open the skies, and release them for me! I call out your true name, oh almighty lord of time. Father of guardians, Chronos! Guide me! Protect me! Show me the path of light!"

Chibi-Usa recited the chant perfectly and in the sky above her the familiar swirl of pink clouds appeared. All around her the air moved about in unnatural directions, thrown off by the tear in time. Her feet lifted off of the wooden planks of the dock and together she and Diana ascended into the portal of time that had been opened for them. Chibi-Usa gave the world of the 20th century one last look before it all disappeared from sight.

Her feet settled back on the ground of the corridor of space and time. Almost without thought she began to follow the path home, to Crystal Tokyo. Diana followed behind her, the only sound she made being to ringing of the bell on her collar. She had known that her mistress would be upset about leaving the 20th century, but she knew once the princess had settled back into her life with her parents, things would be better once more.

"Diana?" Chibi-Usa finally spoke.

"Yes Small Lady?"

"Are you going to miss the 20th century?"

"…yes, but Crystal Tokyo is our home after all," the kitten replied with a nod.

"You're right," Chibi-Usa said, turning to smile at her guardian. "Let's go home Diana."

Chibi-Usa took a step forward, not looking where she was going and accidentally stepped on the length of her pink bridesmaid gown. With a yelp she went crashing to the ground. She braced herself for the impact with the floor, but found that no immediate crash came. Instead she seemed to continue falling. A harsh wind blustered all about her, causing her hair and dress to flutter all about. Opening her eyes, the princess saw that she was no longer with Diana in the corridor of space and time, but instead was falling through the air, and about to make impact with the ground below.

She let out a frightened scream as she hurtled towards the ground; her eyes clenched shut in fear once more. She hadn't landed like this since she had first arrived in the 20th century. With her heart pounding in her chest Chibi-Usa finally crash landed on to something. It certainly hadn't been ground as it hadn't been nearly hard enough, and she distinctly thought she had heard a deep voice letting out a painful grunt. Dreading what she might find when she opened her eyes Chibi-Usa slowly opened one eye and then another and found herself face to face with…

"Papa…?" No, that wasn't it.

"Mamo-chan…?" No, still not right.

"Your highness!" a series of male voices shouted urgently. Before Chibi-Usa had a chance to orient herself, let alone apologize for landing on the man, two strong arms gripped her own and lifted her up into the air, her feet dangling just above the ground.

The man she had crash landed on dusted himself off and slowly began to rise to his feet. He stood before her in black armor and a flowing cape. The outfit was different, but the face, with his dark black hair and his deep blue eyes, there was no mistaking who this man was.

"Prince Endymion! Are you alright?"

Prince Endymion???