A/N: This needed a revamp so badly. Every time I glance back over it, it makes me cringe. The typos, the quick pace. All if it kind of drives me insane so I'm going to give it a much needed, and deserved overhaul.

Just a forewarning...I never watched anything beyond the English version of Sailor Moon so I don't follow the Japanese version or the language and refuse to pretend to do so. I don't know enough of the language and customs and feel that using them in a piece of fanfiction would be untrue to my aesthetic as a writer and disrespectful to the Japanese culture. So if me using the English names bothers you and taking liberties with the characters that don't follow the anime to a "T" bothers you...very simply put, don't read. If you won't enjoy writing for that reason, then by all means, move on to something that's more in line with what you like to see.
If you're okay with English names, a little OOC'ness here and there and eventual smut...then read on darlings. ;)

Prologue:

The petite blonde sat at her desk working by the dim light of her bedside lamp. It was late - approaching midnight. But sleep wasn't something she felt she would be getting any time soon. Not after the events of the day.

So instead,she wrote, sometimes stopping to brush away tears that streamed over her flushed cheeks. She did not want her letter stained with tears. Why give them the satisfaction of knowing that they had hurt her?

She wrote, words pouring from her. Words that came from her heart and yet, meant nothing to her. Maybe they would have meant something to who she used to be, but she had steadily started to vehemently rejected everything she once was after graduating from high school, adjusting to the woman she wanted so desperately to find.

Not to be.

To find.

She had known for quite some time now that she was destined to be more than a superhero who relied heavily on the support of her friends and guardians to protect those around her. She was meant to lead, to be looked up to. She was meant to be Queen.

How she would achieve that without a King by her side, however, was questionable. And after today, without a King she certainly was and that future was now cloudy, unknown and terrifying. It was a future she knew she needed to face, however.

Her hand stilled in her writing and the words blurred as fresh tears of anger filled her eyes. The betrayal from earlier that morning played over in her head, taking advantage of her weakened state.

She'd been early for her meeting with her Inner Scouts. Ten minutes early, which was unheard of for her. She was always fashionably late. And she'd been so happy - optimistic in the goal she had set out to achieve - the goal to let her Inner Scouts and her best friends know that she was taking a several month-long hiatus to find who she knew she needed to be.
The Outters - Hotaru, Amara, Michelle and Trista had known and understood for a while. They had albeit encouraged her to go out on her own, especially Amara. Their faith in her had strengthened her resolve over time and she had finally been ready to address the Inner Scouts.

She had been secretly training with all of the Outters for her venture. They had taught her several skills, refining her grace, enhancing her dignity - under their tutelage, Serena had blossomed and the clumsy adolescent had slowly started to disappear.

What she hadn't counted on was running into Chad as he stormed away from Raye's temple, his face red with anger and tears dampening his stubble. And what followed from that cataclysmic moment was nothing short of a nightmare.

Raye with Damien. Raye with her Prince and destined King of the Lunarians. Chad had clearly caught them in the middle of their sexual intimacy and they were quickly pulling their clothes back on when Serena had rounded the corner, stumbling to a stop with a painful gasp.

"You're early."

That was all Darien had said. No emotion, no apology - just a bland statement that tore her heart to ribbons. Clearly, catching him intimately involved with Raye was nothing more than a passing inconvenience for him.

Raye had at least had the dignity to look truly horrified. She'd stared at Serena - her mouth working but no words making their way past her lips. Any sound that had managed to escape her was quickly cut off by Serena shaking her head.

Whatever doubts or reservations Serena had over leaving her Inner Scouts to find herself were quickly swept away.

All that was left to do was pen her final words...and disappear.

Serena stared down at the six-pages with her writing scrawled over the lined paper. Two pages were for her parents, three for the scouts and one for Luna and Artimus. She placed the two pages for her family on her bed, smoothing the covers over. Then she tucked the remaining pages into the side pocket of a large duffle bag.

Looking in the full-length mirror attached to her closet door, Serena picked up the scissors she had left on the desk earlier. She was leaving and where ever she went she wanted to make damn sure that no one would recognize her. And simply put, she was over the buns. She'd been wearing her hair the same way for years and though she knew it was a defining look for Lunairan royalty...she needed the change so so desperately.

She pulled the buns free and watched her glorious blonde hair fall in waves around her. "Don't wuss out now, Sere" she muttered to herself as she nervously held the scissors open beside the hunk of hair clenched in her fist. She positioned it, closed her eyes and snipped. She expected instant regret when she opened her eyes but the sight of so much of her hair dangling from her hand and no longer attached to her caused a potent rush of euphoria. She grinned and started in on the rest.

It took a while, but after a grueling forty minutes, Serena was finally satisfied with the outcome. Her blonde tresses hung short, curling in gently an inch below her shoulders. She pushed her bangs to the side so that they no longer hung over her forehead, arranged her part to the side and nodded approvingly at her reflection.

Her clothes still needed a vast improvement.

She viciously yanked off the frilly pink skirt, bunny shirt and white tennis shoes she wore, replacing them with a pair of slim jeans, deep brown suede boots and a simple gray stone washed t-shirt with a plunging v-neck. Grabbing the hooded sweatshirt hanging from a hook on the back of her closet door, she tugged it on and pulled the zipper halfway up. The last thing she did was grab her duffle bag, swing it over her shoulder, then with one last sad look around her room Serena crawled out the window and left.

She met the Outers on the bridge overlooking the small pond in the park she and Darien used to come to. Her thought turned bitter as she walked across the wet grass to where her friends waited.

Darien had been to surprise. Not entirely. He always ran hot and cold, had a habit of gaslighting her in a way that would continually make her question herself and whether she meant as much to him as he had once meant to her.

But Raye-.

She had trusted her life to her Scouts. To know one would betray her in such a manner hurt so deeply.

When she reached the bridge, lights from the lamp overhead exposed her to three women who gasped in unison. Michelle stepped forward and pulled Serena into her arms. "Oh Princess, what happened?"

The concern in Michelle's voice brought forth new tears and Serena dropped her duffle bag to cling to the older woman. "I found Raye and Darien together. They were-," her voice died away. She didn't want to rehash the details for her friends. They understood.

Amara stepped forward, her eyes narrowed to thin slits. "That little shit. I'll find him and beat the god damn-."

"No, Amara. There's no need to go that far," Serena said. She stepped away from Michelle and pulled her duffle bag up over her shoulder again before moving to stand in front of Setsuna, defiance lighting her vibrant blue eyes. "I have leave."

"Serena, no. We need you here." Michelle pleaded, her hand unconsciously reaching for Amara's.

Serena shook her head. "You wanted me to take a few months to myself. That's what I'm going to do. And I am no longer needed here. There has been peace for quite some time now. I can sense that the Inner's faith in me is wavering and my future without Darien in it is...I don't know what it is. But I'm not going to figure that out if I stay here."

The Outers regarded their Princess sadly. "Is there anything we can do to change your mind?" Amara asked.

"No. I just...don't want to be here right now. And I'm not running away. I have this feeling that I belong somewhere else." She turned to Trista. "You know what I'm talking about. I don't know how I know that...but I do."

Trista nodded. She was the only one who knew where her Princess belonged, the greatness that she was destined for. "Yes, Princess. I know."

"Then get me the hell out of here. I love you all so much. And you will know where to find me. But I need to be somewhere else now. Please understand that," she pleaded.

The Outers nodded then stepped forward to hug their Princess one last time.

"Setsuna?" Serena prompted.

The green haired beauty nodded, then held up her staff. "Find happiness where you go, Serena. My Princess." She whispered, then placed her Princess into the hands of fate.