Disclaimer: Sailormoon and any characters/concepts/whatever belong to Takeuchi Naoko-dono. ^_~
Notes: Hey! It only took me over a year, but I'm actually writing the sequel to Umbroso Estrella! O.O;; I think in all honesty, what surprises me the most is that there are actually people out there who are still anxiously awaiting this! ^^;; Believe me, if I'm writing this for anyone, it's you! Anyway, U.E. still needs to be edited properly, but that will happen eventually... for now, here's the first chapter of the sequel, Dance In The Shadows, which is being written in the hope that I actually get off my duff and finish it like I said I would! ^.~ lol.
And in an only semi-related note, U.E. was finished as of December 3rd, 2002, and was the second chaptered work (in fanfiction or original fiction) that I'd ever finished! *happy Sena* I'm still infinitely proud of it...
Dance In The Shadows
Visions Of The Past? Usagi's Dreamscapes
Fire burned in the streets, raging out of control, but no one seemed to care or even notice. From her bedroom window, she could see it all with perfect clarity—homes and businesses crumbling away around people, flames eating away at the very foundation of Tokyo city. And yet... people moved onward, seemingly unaware of the destruction...
"Usagi!"
Rei's voice grated against her nerves, and she spun away from the thin pane of glass that separated her from the carnage below to face her friend—no, friends—who had appeared from nowhere.
Ami was seated calmly at her unused desk, glasses perched on her nose, which was buried in a thick novel. Minako had flopped on her bed and taken up reading the manga she had left on her pillow, and was cackling hysterically about something in it. Makoto was leaning against the wall of her room, next to the door, with her eyes closed and her arms crossed. And Rei herself stood just behind her, one slender eyebrow raised, staring past her shoulder out at the streets beyond.
"Why are you just standing here?" The raven-haired senshi demanded of her, "there are people out there dying! They need you, Odango-brain! I mean, are you the Champion of Justice or not?"
"But—"
Usagi hesitated, cringing against the harsh tone to Rei's words.
"No buts!" Rei snapped, and thrust out her hand. Seated firmly in her palm was Usagi's transformation brooch, complete with the Silver Crystal in the center of it. "Get out there and do your job already!"
"Rei-chan, I can't—"
"I can't, I can't!" She echoed sarcastically; "can't or won't, Usagi?"
Tears stung at her eyes as she reached for her brooch—and in the space of a blink, it clattered to the floor, the sound echoing loudly in the confines of her bedroom, and Rei herself faded out of existence—
Gasping, Usagi stepped backward, jerking her hands back to her sides, and crystal tears trailed down her cheeks, a sense of immense loss tearing at her heart and soul—but what had she lost? There had been something... hadn't there? Something... someone... there had been, she was sure of it...
"Pick up your brooch, Usagi." Luna commanded, "transform and go help put out the fires! Can't you hear the screaming? There are people dying out there, and they need your help!"
Slowly, she bent and retrieved the brooch. Pale fingers brushed across the Crystal in it as her mind grasped at—something—something important—"Luna... there was... someone else here... before..." with confusion evident in her voice, she finished vaguely; "...wasn't there?"
"What are you talking about, Usagi-chan?" Makoto laughed.
And Ami added; "there was only the three of us, and Luna and Artemis..."
"Three?" Usagi repeated, "but there are—" blue eyes flicked toward the door, where Makoto was standing—and she was gone. And just as quickly as she herself had vanished, the blonde's memories disappeared in a haze of nothingness, leaving her grasping at the tattered remnants of a friendship that had never existed. "There... there are..."
Minako peered past the manga she was reading and tipped her head worriedly. "Are you feeling okay, Usagi? You sound like you might be sick..."
Usagi shook her head, but Ami set her book aside and rose from her seat, pacing over to lay a gentle hand across her forehead. "You seem a little feverish." She said softly, "maybe you should lay down for a bit? You could probably use a nap, ne?"
"Which means that Minako and I have to vacate your bed," Artemis agreed, prodding at his charge with one paw. Minako sat up, dropping the manga back onto the pillow where she'd found it, and swung her legs over the edge of the bed to stand, even as Artemis was jumping toward the ground—
Silently, both of them disappeared before their feet could even touch the floor.
Usagi stared at the spot where they had been, brows furrowed and trying to remember...
What?
There was something...
"Lay down, Usagi-chan," Ami said.
The blonde shook her head vaguely, holding her brooch tight against her chest. "But... the people..."
"What people?" Luna asked, looking around the empty room. "There's only you and me." Leaping gracefully up onto the windowsill, she gestured to the streets outside with one paw; "you see? There's no one but ourselves."
Confused, Usagi turned her eyes back out to the city—
Empty streets stared back, and a cold wind blew through them, rustling the dying tree branches and blowing loose papers around the deserted sidewalks and roads. Luna flicked her tail and tilted her head toward the outside world.
"You see?"
"Yes..."
"Get some sleep, Usagi-chan. You're tired."
She was. She was so tired...
Nodding, she quietly moved to her bed and slipped under the covers, which were adorned with golden moons and white rabbits, the same as they had always been. Luna jumped from the window to curl up at her feet, and she reached and set her brooch on the bedside table before closing her eyes...
"Usagi?"
She sighed and buried her face in her pillow.
"Usagi?"
There was...
"Usagi!"
Something...
"Usagi! Wake up!"
Something poked her in the side, and she jerked awake, sitting bolt upright and at the same time shouting "fifty seven!" at the top of her lungs. The words echoed hollowly through the empty classroom, and Minako, who had done the original poking, giggled.
"You slept right through mathematics and English," Ami sighed.
Her face colored and she stuck her tongue out at Minako. "You guys should have woken me up sooner!"
"We tried," Makoto informed her, "but you just mumbled something about shortcake and kept right on sleeping."
She couldn't recall dreaming about shortcake. In fact, she couldn't recall much of anything from her dream—except that it had been... unnerving. Frowning, she tried to grab at the tail end of the images, but they outmaneuvered her and faded away before she could place the strange feeling of emptiness that had invaded her thoughts...
"C'mon!" Grabbing at her arm, Minako hauled her out of her chair and practically shoved her books at her. "Let's go! We're supposed to meet the others at the arcade, remember?"
Usagi had almost forgotten: as the Starlights were on Earth visiting, they had made plans to spend time with them. Plans which, of course, included the hanging out at video arcade, and spending time at the Crown parlor that they all knew and loved.
"Move it, Usagi-chan!"
"Hai, hai!" Usagi allowed Minako to push her out of the classroom and into the hallway, and Makoto and Ami followed them at a more sedate pace. Her thoughts continued to trail after the remnants of her dream, but the chase seemed to be futile. There was something... something...
She was forgetting something important... but she just couldn't remember what...
~*~*~*~*~
Sena: Yay! There you go! There's the beginning! It's not all that exciting, but it... um... exists, which is more than I could say about it before. ^^;; Eheh... also, no guarantees as to when this will be updated. *sweatdropping Sena* Because I have so many projects on the go right now, it might take a while before the next chapter gets put out...