Star light, star bright…First star I see tonight…I wish I may, I wish I might…Have the wish I wish tonight…I wish… I wish…
As Serena choked back her tears, she finished her thought.I wish I were an ordinary girl.
Her hand unconsciously settled onto her leg, and then jerked it back quickly as she remembered, with some pain, the scrape she had there from the previous battle. A gust of cold night air blew through her open window and caused her hair, loose from its regular "meatball" hairstyle, to fly out behind her. Her chin rested sorrowfully on the windowsill as she gazed up at the moon.
The moon. It was usually such a beautiful thing to her, symbolizing love, peace and beauty… but right now she despised it. She hated everything about it. It was ugly, disgusting, and had completely taken away all her hopes and dreams and replaced them with the duties and responsibilities of Sailor Moon, of Princess Serena, and of Neo-Queen Serenity.
She was tired of being the world's protector. She was tired of the endless battles, watching her friends and loved ones die, and sometimes giving up her own life for them, and the rest of the world as well... She was tired of the fact that, if she should ever be reborn again, it would be solely for the purpose of being a Sailor Senshi. Never in any lifetime would she get to be what she wanted to be.
After all, what she wanted to be wasn't important. It was what her mother, Queen Serenity, wanted her to be. It was what the people of earth wanted her to be. If she was fighting to protect dreams, then why wasn't she allowed to have any?
For a split moment, images flashed through her head of her with a bloody knife in her chest, her hand clutched around it tightly, a look of bliss on her face… but she quickly got rid of those thoughts. She would just be reborn again as Sailor Moon, right? And besides… just because she didn't want to be Sailor Moon didn't mean she didn't want to be with Darien or her friends.
But… evil did exist because the Silver Imperium Crystal existed, and she existed because the Silver Imperium Crystal did, so if she were to… if she were to destroy it, what would happen?
Slowly, from inside the pocket of her shirt, she pulled out her transformation locket and fiddled with it, looking over its ancient carvings. It was older than she was after all, since her own mother, Queen Serenity had used it when she was a scout Millenniums and Millenniums ago… Turning it over so that she was looking at the top of it, she flipped it open to reveal the Silver Imperium Crystal.
It glowed slightly even in the darkness of the room. It was strange to think that this little thing she was holding, that could have been mistaken for a rock, had more than once saved the galaxy and all its people from dying.
What would happen if she destroyed it? Would she die? Would the rest of the scouts still be alive? Would they all finally get their wishes… would they all finally be just normal teenagers, with their own dreams, their own hopes… their own lives? Would they even remember that they used to be scouts, about being princesses… about the Silver Millennium, and all they had gone through together?
Questions swam through Serena's head, her thoughts in a jumble. She wanted to crush it. It was so fragile and easy to break; all she had to do was smash it with her fist… And then what? She would either finally have her normal life or she would die and be reborn as Sailor Moon. Again. And what about the rest of the scouts? Well, she knew they all wanted to be normal, so they would either get that wish or die along with her… a rather selfish thing to do, taking away their lives like that without their permission, but they didn't really have lives anyway, right? Either way, the evil that kept coming to earth would go away for a time… so in a way, she would be helping.
Serena slowly took the small crystal out of the locket and looked it over in curiosity. It was quite small really, and fit easily in between her thumb and index finger. So fragile… She thought to herself in amazement. All she had to do was press down and it would be no more than a pile of dust on the floor… and her and the scouts… well, she wasn't sure. But she was about to find out.
Luna, feeling a sudden sense of urgency, woke from her sleep with a start to see Serena's fingers close down on the Crystal. Just before it was crushed, she shouted out, "Serena! NO!" But then she was taken over by darkness…
~
"WAH! OH NO I'M LATE FOR SCHOOL AGAIN!" Serena sat up straight in her bed as her alarm clock went off suddenly. Her eyes were frantic as she realized she was indeed, very late. Not even bothering to turn off the alarm (she had gotten very used to it), she threw on her school uniform and pounded down the stairs, wild meatball hair flying out behind her. She nearly tripped halfway down, and trying to catch herself, waved her arms about wildly, only resulting in knocking a picture of her little brother Sammy off the wall.
"MOTHER!" She shouted accusingly as she ran past the kitchen where her mother was looking through coupons. In record time she grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste out of the bathroom, stuffed it into her mouth, and ran back past the kitchen shouting, "WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP IN TIME FOR THE FIRST BELL?" She quickly ran back to the bathroom to spit out the used toothpaste, listening to her mother's reply,
"I did Serena darling, three times, and each time you said you were getting up right away." Came her mother's exasperated voice from the kitchen. Serena was beginning to think that her mother didn't know her very well.
"And you believed me?" She replied as she ran back past the kitchen, grabbing her book bag and coat as she headed out the door. Her mother shook her head hopelessly, and, while doing this, saw Serena's small lunch sack still on the counter.
"Serena!" She called after her, in an attempt to catch her.
"I've got to go!" Her daughter yelled back, sounding slightly panicked.
"Aren't you forgetting something dear?" She asked, holding the lunch bag up.
"What?" Serena's voice yelled from the hallway. Her head suddenly poked into the kitchen, and, seeing her lunch she grinned sheepishly. "Oh yeah." Grabbing it from her mother she rushed out of the kitchen and to the entrance of her house where she quickly slid on her shoes and grabbed her book bag.
"Bye mom, see you after school!" She yelled before slamming the door.
Running down the streets on her way to school wasn't exactly Serena's favorite thing to do, and she began to get out of breath very quickly… not to mention the fact that she was extremely tired… "I'm so sleepy… why can't today be Saturday?" Serena groaned as she kept on running. She suddenly passed a parking lot to see a group of three boys playing basketball. She stopped at the lot and looked into it, the strangest sense of déjà vu taking her over. A passing car made her snap out of her daze and keep running… but afterward she couldn't shake the strange feeling she had gotten at the lot… it was like she had seen that scene before, only something had been different…
Suddenly off in the distance she heard the school bell ring. "Oh great, now I'm really late!" She screamed before plummeting off toward her school at a hundred miles per hour.
~
As the bell rang over head, Amara shut her locker and began to head off for her first class, math. She didn't particularly feel like going to class today, but the coach had said that if her grades didn't improve she wouldn't be able to be on the track team.
Slinging her book bag over her shoulder (as was the tradition for all the male students at Mugen Gauken High) she sighed and thought about how much she didn't want to go to that math class. Of course, Amara was not a male, but she dressed like them, and was often mistaken for one.
Coming from the other side of "traffic" as it was often referred to, was another girl with wavy aqua hair. She, though, was thinking about how much she was looking forward to getting to her art class. Her hair was hanging loosely down her back, and she was holding her book bag/portfolio in front of her.
As the two passed each other, they both stopped momentarily, gasping. They gave each other a quick look before being pushed on by the ongoing traffic.
Who was that? Amara wondered. She couldn't help but think that somehow they had met before… In fact, she was almost certain they had.
Almost to her art class, Michelle's mind was still on the girl whom she had just passed.
I feel like I've known her forever…
~
W-What has she done? My darling Princess Serena… The Silver Crystal…why in the world would she destroy the only thing that gave her power… Queen Serenity thought in despair. Next to her sat Luna, Artemis and Diana. Since Serena was no longer a Sailor Senshi, and therefore no longer a Princess who needed an advisor, they had no reason to be on earth and had been sent back onto the moon.
"Why in the name of Serenity would she do such a thing?" Luna wondered aloud quietly. She had thought that Serena was finally beginning to take her Sailor responsibilities with pride, and then she went and did something like this… "WHAT A SELFISH THING TO DO! SHE COULD HAVE KILLED ALL OF THE SCOUTS!" The small black cat suddenly erupted. The crescent moon on her forehead was glowing lightly, and in a small flash of light, in the place of the cat stood a woman who was looking quite exasperated with her arms crossed over her chest. She had Luna's eyes, with curly black hair and was wearing a yellow sundress.
Artemis and Diana also gave each other a quick look and then, in another flash, there stood in their places a man with silver hair and young girl with gray hair. Luna was pacing back and forth with a troubled look on her face and finally she sat down on a bench, burying her head in her hands in hopelessness. Next to her sat the Queen, who had yet to say a word and was staring blankly off into the distance. Artemis went over and put his arm around Luna's shoulders, attempting to comfort her.
"Oh Artemis…" Luna whispered, "I miss Serena already. I miss earth and… why did she do it?" She nestled her head into his shirt then, unsuccessfully trying to hold back her tears. The truth was, Artemis was already missing Mina, as well, but he knew that neither the Queen, Luna, nor Diana really needed him crying right now too, so he said nothing. Diana quite suddenly burst into tears, and in between her sobs they thought they could slightly make out the word, "Rini". Luna pulled her daughter up onto her lap and rocked her gently back and forth, waiting for her to go to sleep.
"Your majesty…" Artemis began as he looked down on his crying wife and child, "Is there not anything we can do to bring Sailor Moon back?" Her face turned to stare at him with eyes filled with such… disappointment… that it almost made Artemis feel as if he had done something wrong. Queen Serenity didn't say anything for quite some time, but when she did finally speak her voice was slow and lacked the pride and confidence it usually had.
"Unless she is willing to take on her duties, there is no way for her to become Sailor Moon, or regain her memories." The Queen replied quietly, hanging her head low.
"But what about the Silver Crystal? Doesn't she need it to transform?" Artemis asked.
"Yes… and to transform is to make a Silver Crystal." Queen Serenity stated.
"I…I'm not sure I understand, your majesty." The former cat replied, sounding slightly confused. The Queen sighed.
"You're not meant to, Artemis... it is only something that can be understood by the Senshi. It cannot easily be explained with words."
~
Darien walked down the street, his hands stuffed in his pockets. He wasn't quite sure what he was doing in front of the Osa-P jewelry store , but he just felt like being outside for some strange reason. Almost like he was supposed to be outside. Shrugging it off, he kept walking. Unfortunately, his eyes were on the ground and he didn't notice the young girl standing not too far away from him…
Quite suddenly he felt a piece of paper bounce off of his head. Annoyed at the disruption to his train of thought (though it hadn't really been going anywhere) he looked up to see who had thrown it at him. It was a girl, no older than fourteen, and she didn't seem to notice she had hit him. As he bent down to pick up the paper, he had the oddest sense of déjà vu… like this whole thing had happened before… and that hair she was wearing, the style was so strange… and yet he was sure he had seen it before…
"Watch it Meatball-head!" He yelled at her. Meatball-head? Where in the world did that come from? And why does it sound so… familiar? The girl in front of him immediately stopped in her tracks, realizing her mistake, and turned around.
"Oh! Sorry!" She apologized. Meatball-head? She thought. Where have I heard that before? Looking down at the paper he was holding, Darien saw a big red 30 written on it. 30! How could someone get a 30 on their paper?
"A thirty!" He exclaimed aloud, still pondering over it. "Are you stupid or just incredibly lazy?" Darien asked, not meaning for it to be as offensive as it sounded. Her eyes went as wide as saucers when she realized he still had her test paper and her mouth hung open.
"How dare you! Give me that!" She ordered, stomping over to him angrily. He held it out for her to take, and she seized it out of his hands quickly, stomping off and muttering to herself.
As he watched her retreat into the distance, Darien still got the feeling that he had met her once… he took off his sunglasses so he could see her better.
Something about that girl…
~
The human form of Luna and Queen Serenity sat staring into a small glass orb. In it was playing the scene that had just happened with Serena and Darien, and Luna kept shaking her head, muttering things like "amazing" and "she doesn't remember". Queen Serenity's eyes were still blank. Noticing this, Luna cleared her throat and spoke.
"Queen Serenity, I know that by destroying the Silver Crystal she has disappointed you, but you really shouldn't try to hold a grudge against her…" She began, but was cut short by the Queen's weak voice.
"Luna, I could never hold a grudge against her. But by destroying the Silver Crystal she has in a way destroyed Princess Serena and therefore Serena is… Serena is no longer my daughter in any way, shape, or form. I know that her heart remembers being Sailor Moon, and if she wished to return to it, her heart would bring back her memories, as it would with the rest of the scouts. But none of their memories have returned… that means that not one of them ever really wished to be a Sailor Senshi, and yet I bestowed that upon them… I was the one that ruined their lives. I should never have made Sailor Senshi. It's my fault that Serena destroyed the Crystal so as to get a normal life. It's my fault that the Galaxy is now vulnerable to anything that wishes to attack it. It's all my fault…" Luna watched in amazement, and sorrow as she watched the Queen begin cry.
"No Queen-Serenity, it is not your fault. If you hadn't created the Sailor Senshi, the Galaxy still would have been vulnerable for there would have been no Senshi to protect it in the first place." She reassured her.
"Perhaps you are right Luna, but I seem to recall my mother once telling me that as long as there are Sailor Senshi… even if they do not know or remember that that's what they are… there will be evil… for you know as well as I do that along with light comes darkness. They call upon each other, and unfortunately neither one can survive without the either. It's an endless battle." Luna swallowed hard at these words for she knew that they were true. She knew that everything the Queen had said was true, though she wouldn't admit it.
"If they were to somehow regain their memories, my Queen…" Luna began, "would they become scouts?" The Queen did not respond for some time, and she seemed to be thinking.
"Perhaps. But it could take the rest of their lives to even get the slightest hint of what they used to be." She replied slowly.
"If we were to speed up the process though, my Queen…" Luna was now grinning slightly, though she hadn't the faintest idea why. Perhaps it was the thought of seeing her girls as Sailor Senshi again. Perhaps it was just the thought of seeing her girls again… but a feeling of excitement was beginning to coil, low in her stomach. The Queen threw a sideways glance at her advisor, and for the first time since last night, laughed slightly.
"I know that grin. You're up to something, aren't you Luna?"
"Unfortunately my Queen, I do believe I am…"
~
Love? Hate? Mad at me for not working on my other story? Please review! For anyone reading this, I have to tell the truth, I have no idea where this is going myself, because my characters seem to have taken over and are living in their own world J For anyone following my other story… well I'm having slight writers block, but do not fear! I already have about three more parts done that I'll put up soon! Thanks! –The author