Konnichiwa Minna-san!
This is a sequel to my Christmas fanfic,
Jingle Bells, Usagi Sells, Mamoru a Diamond Ring!
I know it was... a bit... well... sad.... -_-
But this will make it up to you... eventually...^_^

Arigatou to Kuris-onee-chan for finding this song
for me, it gave me great inspiration! ^_^

Disclaimers:
The song in this part of the fic is called:
Just Friends, sung by John Michael Montgomery,
written by Jerry Holland.

Sailor Moon is a copyright of Naoko Takeuchi,
Kodansha Ltd., and Toei Animation.

Warning for Teary-Eyed Friends:
BEWARE OF THIS CHAPTER

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Are We Just Friends?
PART ONE OF THE SEQUEL TO JBUSMDR
By Chibi-Anon (chibianon_ymous@hotmail.com)
January 1, 2001 - hehehe....
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
*~ WARNING ~* TIME TRAVEL THROUGH PAST LIVES

Usagi Tsukino, 21 years old, now, more alone than
ever. Last Christmas, she met the man of her
dreams, Mamoru Chiba. But, he had been going out
with a red headed b**** named Quinn. Afterwards,
when he and Quinn had broken up, Mamoru attempted
suicide.

As a Christmas miracle, Mamoru lived. Usagi was
happy for this, but.... she loved him.... and he
loved someone else.

It was her birthday today, June 30. And a very sad
birthday for her too. But there were some good
points. Her friends, Makoto, Rei, and Ami were
going to take her to Mako-chan's restaurant.

Rei was going to sing there too, something that
Usagi hadn't had the chance to delight in before.
Mamoru was going to be there too. Mamoru....

~*~

It was time to bring Usagi to her birthday bash,
the restaurant was closed to the public, all for
her.

She wore the same dress she had worn for the
Christmas dinner she was supposed to have with
Mamoru last year.

Things went off without a hitch. She had looked
a little down on her birthday, and only the girls
had really noticed. Makoto shook her head, she knew
how Usagi-chan felt about Mamoru. She wanted so
badly to be able to help her. But how?

Rei began the song, Just Friends.

~*~
You say you want to be friends
That's a newly sharpened blade
That's a dagger to the heart
Of the promises we made
~*~

This song made Usagi think about her relationship
with Mamoru, how painful it was to be so near to him,
yet so far. She closed her eyes, and memories of
a thousand lives flooded her.

"I'll never forget you, Serenity... never." Prince
Endymion had said, as he kissed her fully on the lips
of their last night together.

"Oh Endy... I just wish that.... this war.... that
it didn't have to go on. Earth...the Moon....
we don't have to battle each other...." He kissed
her fingertips. She closed her eyes, dreaming of
a world in peace.

"Do you promise, that no matter what happens, we'll
always find our way to each other?" she asked him.

"Yes, my love, I'll do that and more.... if we do
not make it out here alive. I promise you that we
will find our way to each other, even if it takes
eternity." She sighed, breathing in the night air.

"I hope that it does not come to that, Endy..."
A shooting star, the brightest of all the stars that
night, shot over them, ensuring their bond.

Usagi shook her head.

"What was that?" Rei was still singing, she tried
to stay awake, but found her eyes closing again.

~*~
That's a chapter full of pain
A season full of rain
A dark and stormy night
Spent all alone
~*~

Serena Tsukino, 14 years old, had fallen in love with
one Darien Shields. She sighed. What was wrong with
her? Darien HAD loved her, but left her.

A tear slid down her cheek. He was a jerk, she knew
it, but she loved him. He had hurt her... She
remembered what he had said that day.

"Serena... I don't think we should, be going out
anymore..." She cried out, "WHY?! Darien....we're
meant to be with each other!"

"I just don't love you anymore Serena... Let's
just be friends now, ok?"

Usagi felt a few tears run down her own cheek. She
and Serena looked alike, just as Serenity had. What
was this connection between them? What was
happening? She felt herself drifting to another
scene.

~*~
Friends
Get scattered by the wind
Tossed upon the waves
Lost for years on end
~*~

"Bye Sere....I'll call you. And I'll try to write
to you every week!" Serena looked at her friend.

"I'll wait for you...." She waved him off, smiling
at him. She did wait... she called, she wrote, but
nothing ever came back to her. It was like he
had disappeared off the face of the planet or
something.

"I'm sixteen years old... I shouldn't be doing this
to myself... but I want to know that he still is my
...*sniffle* friend. I want him to be more than
that, but..." It would never be, he didn't love
her anymore. They were just friends now. Friends.

Usagi sniffled. It was an older Serena she saw,
more mature, but still in love with Darien. Just
as she was in love with Mamoru. If any of her
other friends knew, besides Makoto, she didn't know
what would happen.

~*~
Friends
Slowly drift apart
They give away their hearts
Maybe call you
Now and then
But you wanna be
Just friends
~*~

Serena sat there, 10 years later, at her friend,
Darien's wedding. She was crying for two reasons.
Her friend was getting married, enough said, she
always cried at weddings. But she still carried
a torch for him, it was as if there love, had meant
nothing.

He was marrying Beryl now. They weren't meant for
each other, both Darien and Serena knew that. But
somehow, Beryl had taken Darien away from her.

Serena remembered their past lives perfectly. She
was Princess Serenity, and he was Prince Endymion.
She was Sailor Moon, he was Tuxedo Mask.... had none
of that meant anything to him? They were supposed
to rule Crystal Tokyo together. What happened?

He had 'fallen' in love with Beryl. There was
something about this Beryl that Serena didn't like.
She had red hair and green eyes, like a cat's eyes.
Anytime Serena was close to Darien, those same eyes
would look her up and down in disapproval.

After the wedding, Mina confronted Serena, asking
her why she hadn't confronted Darien.

"I did.... he said he did love me, just not the way
he loves Beryl." she gritted her teeth, and drew
her breath in again, "I couldn't take that Mina...
I just couldn't. But I love him so much, I just want
him to be happy." Mina shook her head.

"That jerk... after all you've done for him, died for
him.... But I shouldn't talk... should I? We're all
going our separate ways, and for some reason... none
of that involves you...." Serena nodded, it hurt.
But her friends had lives of their own to live.
"I'll be here for at least one more year.... but the
others are leaving within a month... I wonder what
it's going to be like without them all now."

"But we'll still keep in touch, right?"

Mina nodded.

But Usagi knew that never happened. They all faded
away from each other, never speaking again. Serena
had grown lonely. Just as Usagi always was.... but
now wasn't as much, with Makoto and....

Rei... was Raye then! Ami, was Amy! Makoto was
Lita!!!! Mina.... now Usagi couldn't place her.
It was all falling into place now. Darien
was Mamoru in that past life. And Serena was her
past self! But Mina.... she hadn't seen her...
in this lifetime.

'Looks like nothing got better, but this time,
my friends and I have gotten back together...' There
was Andrew too.... Motoki. And Usagi was sure that
Rita was her friend Reika. The memories flooded
Usagi, in a few seconds. She wondered if these
same memories were going through her friends and
Mamoru too.

~*~
You say you love me very much
And you'll always hold me dear
Those are the sweetest words
I never want to hear

What's a love without desire
A flame without a fire
Can't warm me late at night
When I need you most
~*~

And just like Serena, Mamoru had told her that he
didn't love anyone like that. But he did love her,
as a friend, and like a sister.

"I never wanted that kind of love...." she said to
herself. But Usagi held her head high. At least
he didn't hate her!

She was fooling herself if she thought that he would
fall in love with her.

"I'm ugly... depressing, and don't even deserve his
friendship." She was so wrong... she deserved
his friendship, she deserved even more than friendship.

Makoto hated to watch her friend like this, if only
there was a way to show her... to show her that
Mamoru and her had a chance to be together. And if
only she could show Mamoru how he truly felt about
Usagi.

~*~
Friends
Get scattered by the wind
Tossed upon the waves
Lost for years on end

Friends
Slowly drift apart
They give away their hearts
Maybe call you
Now and then
But you wanna be
Just friends
~*~

Usagi sighed, left to her thoughts. Rei was a
terrific singer, but she couldn't bear to listen,
the words coincided with her very feelings and
thoughts.

"I didn't want to be, just friends....What if it
happened all over again? What if we did just fade
away from each other's minds?" She thought.

"What if we were killed, like Serenity and Endymion?
What if...." she kicked herself mentally. "It
doesn't matter anymore, does it.... It would have
been all for nothing, the promise we made back then."

She sighed, as the song ended. That was the end of
that, she and Mamoru were never meant to be together.
Serenity and Endymion, were wrong. They were dead.

~*~
Friends
Slowly drift apart
They give away their hearts
Maybe call you
Now and then
Darling can't you see
This is killing me
We could never be
Just friends
~*~

Serena and Darien were dead too. Darien died, the
night of his wedding, of mysterious causes. The
strength of their old bond was so strong, that Serena
died of grief.

Usagi didn't want to end up like her former selves.

"Rotting in our graves...." the difference was that
Serenity and Endymion loved each other, even to their
dying day. But Serena and Darien.... were apart.

She hadn't realized that she had said that aloud.

"Why did you just say, 'rotting in our graves...'?"
Mamoru asked. She looked up at him.

"I didn't say anything.... I said, 'I don't know
whose voice is better than Rei's.'" She swore
under her breath. She had almost given it away.

Mamoru held her eyes in his. She searched them for
any recognition of what she had seen. When they
looked away, she knew that there was nothing.

"Serena?" She looked at him, surprised.

"What did you say?"

"Usagi?" she sighed, 'I heard him say Serena...'

"I thought you said, Serena, sorry..." he laughed.

"I don't even know a Serena. No, I definitely called
you by your name." she smiled.

Rei came back down from the little stage. She smiled
at Usagi, and present her, her gift.

"Happy Birthday Usa-chan...." She hugged her
briefly. Usagi opened it, it was a silver crescent
moon, on a silver chain.

"Arigatou, Rei-chan... it's beautiful...."

Ami came to her, and presented her a pair of sapphire
earrings, that matched Usagi's eyes.

"Oh, Ami-chan.... arigatou...." she clipped them on.

Makoto presented her with a cookbook and a batch
of apple-cinnamon oatmeal cookies, Usagi's favourite.

"Mako-chan! Arigatou! My favourite!" she laughed,
"and you know how bad I am at cooking still..."
They looked at her surprised. What had she said?

"Usagi-chan... but you're good at cooking!" She
blanched, of course! That was a trait of Serena's.
Would she make the same mistake again?

"I didn't mean it that way..." she blushed. "I meant
cooking exotic food...." A good save, the meals
that were in the book were from Europe.

Finally, it was Mamoru's turn. He gave her a wicked
smile. What was he up to now?

"You know... Odango... I was thinking of getting
you a dinner of Spaghetti and Meatballs... but I
thought that you might hurt me..." she laughed.

"So, instead, I bought plane tickets for you and
another person to go to, Hawaii, England and then,
onto Paris. You can take these trips anytime this
year. The best place to go for my best pal,
besides Motoki, that is." her eyes turned watery.

"Arigatou....Mamo....." she bolted from her seat.
Leaving Mamoru clueless. But Ami and Rei had a
hunch, and Makoto already knew. Ami and Makoto
nodded to each other, leaving to find Usagi.

"Now.....I wonder what that was all about? Did she
hate my gift that much?" Mamoru said.

"Huh....UGH... Mamoru... you...baka.... I don't KNOW
why." But she did, she had seen some things in the
Great Fire. And memories that had come through this
evening had confirmed this. Had the others had
their memories returned to them? Obviously, Mamoru
hadn't... or she would have seen it, in his actions.
Either that, or he was hiding it well.

"I should go and talk to her."

"Iie...Mamoru, leave her be, for now. Mako-chan,
and Ami-chan will take care of her. And I know
that guys usually bungle things up."

He smiled. Not knowing why Usagi was crying right
now because of him, and his past selves.

~*~

"Ami..." Makoto said as they looked for Usagi in the
restaurant's rooms.

"Hai?"

"Did you....remember...anything..."

"Hai. We were called the Sailor Senshi in our past
lives, and although... I hate to admit it, I'm
positive that it must be true. We've all been
getting a feeling of familiarity around each other.
That's apparent." Makoto nodded.

"While Rei sang that song... all these memories...
Usagi...Serena....Serenity.... It all ended in
tragedy. They never got together. Do you think that,
Usagi-chan has remembered? Mamoru?"

"Usagi's life has not ended yet. There is still hope
for her and Mamoru. I know that Usagi must... she
gave it away when you gave her that book. But I'm
not sure about Mamoru perhaps... he has remembered.
We can arrange for him to remember his love if he
hasn't..." Makoto looked at Ami thoughtfully.

"I know the perfect person to help us.... Motoki!"
He's best friends with both Mamoru and Usagi!" Ami
nodded.

"But, Usagi might go on that trip... and I don't
think that Motoki could handle everything by
himself. Perhaps, WE should take a little vacation?"

Makoto's eyes glittered. "Maybe we should...."
she smirked at Ami, now to tell Rei of the plan.

~*~
@@;; ok... I know...confusing, right? I'm going to
go onto write part 2 now! It might end there, or
it might not! ^_^ hehehe... *looks back at readers*
WHAT?! WHAT?! I know.... I drag things out too much.
*shuffles feet* hehe.... A World of Memories...eh..
^^;; WWHHHATTT.....
ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!
Confuzzled People:
Serena is Usagi in a past life... (*giggles* because i consider the
english version the old
version... and the japanese version the better of the two....
^______^ meaning it gets
the happy ending). So...whenever I refer to Serena.... it's during a
pastlife.

Stef-chan, Thanks so much for helping me proof a bit!