A/N: Hey everyone! Sunlight Halation here! I need to state something important: I am not the original author of this story. BBLM originally belonged to Black Kitten Chara, but Chara-sempai chose to give her story to me (so tempted to make an "under new management" joke XD)! And I promised her that I would carry on her legacy and finish this story for you, the readers! :D Now sit back, relax, and enjoy the story! And feel free to leave a review!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of its characters!
Serena yawned on an early morning as she walked down the street heading towards Raye's temple. She was not looking forward to this Senshi meeting; She just wanted to go home and shut herself away from the world for the rest of her life. She knew Raye was going to be angry about the fact that she was late once again because of over-sleeping. But it wasn't her fault per say; she had been up all night in the park fighting leftover Lemures from the Dead Moon Circus then doing a quick check upon her lovely city to make sure nothing was going wrong. By the time she had gotten home, it was four o'clock in the morning and since it was Saturday, her parents decided to let her sleep in.
But only four hours later did Raye call Serena on her communicator. It took the blonde heroine an hour just to drag herself out of bed then thirty minutes to get ready. She had even skipped breakfast, which worried her parents, but Serena assured them that she would be back before it got cold.
In fact, Serena had been trying to cut down on eating a little to gain more strength. She has also been getting better grades, Bs and Cs, and was trying to become more lady-like. Her parents didn't understand the sudden change, but they told Serena that they loved her, even if she didn't go through what they thought was a phase for her. But this morning when she was leaving, Serena saw her whole family was quiet and had stoic looks on their faces like they just heard the worst news possible.
But Serena pushed the thoughts of her family out of her head so she could have a clear mind when she got to the temple at ten.
Serena felt anger overcome her as she was already upset about her life; It wasn't her home life that casued her to feel angry, but the fact that her own Scouts have lately been disrespecting her authority and taking orders from Raye. And Darien wasn't too much help as he broke it off, once again, with the fifteen-year-old girl and Serena was sure that he was seeing someone else now. Then Rini was just being a pain in Serena's ass, as usual. The little pink-haired girl decided that she didn't want to live with Serena anymore and wanted to live with Darien. She continually mocked her future mother, telling her how much affection and attention Darien was giving her.
But the holder of the Silver Crystal took a deep breath as she entered the temple's gates, but a sharp sound caused her to freeze as she saw movements through the slightly opened doors of the Cherry Hill Temple. She walked quietly to the doors and placed herself right next to the crack, listening to what was going on inside.
"That's it! I can't stand that crybaby anymore! She is late again to a meeting and didn't even bother telling us that she was going to be late! She can't even accept her destiny and her role as our leader! She is the same old cry baby she has always been! I'm just sick of her games! We'd all be much better off without her!" Raye shouted on the top of her lungs.
"She just isn't trying hard enough... We need to be an organized group, but she just sleeps too late and is always late. She isn't capable of being our leader..." Amy said in a worried tone, like she was unsure of what she was saying.
"She can't handle herself in a fight anymore and she's not willing to use the Silver Crystal! We need someone who can fight when we need them and will be able to use anything possible to win!" Lita rudely pointed out.
"And she is so unladylike! I mean, have you seen her eat? Princess Serenity would never act like that, no matter what! But no, we got ditzy Serena!" Mina said in a harsh tone that made Serena's skin crawl.
"Mina is right. She needs to be more elegant and refined if she is to become Neo-Queen Serenity. In fact, I don't even think she can be the queen if she continues to act like this," Michelle said in her usual cool manner.
"I agree. She needs to stand up for herself and become stronger, but she is only becoming weaker. She can't be queen if all she's ever going to do is let others take charge," Amara said in low tone.
A smug chuckle sounded from Trista as she said, "But even though she is to become Queen of Crystal Tokyo, and heaven help us when that happens, she is trying so hard to change her future—trying to become a singer one day, then trying to become a model the next, and so on. She is being a selfish little wretch who doesn't want to be responsible for the entire Earth."
Hotaru giggled along with Trista. "There is also the fact that she is not willing to kill an enemy because she believes in the goodness of people. If a person becomes evil, then they are subjected to be killed if not healed in time and she takes her sweet time with that healing process she does!"
Serena felt like crying at this point, each comment cutting her like a knife. But the worst was yet to come as she heard Rini's obnoxious laugh. The future Moon Princess spoke, "She is such a loser! My mother is ten times better than her, but I don't want that clumsy fool as my mom no matter what now!"
Serena's heart began breaking, but then Darien spoke and her whole world came crashing down. "It's a good thing I broke it off with her. I am so much happier with my new girlfriend."
That was it. Serena opened the door with one hand, revealing herself to her so-called friends and Scouts as rage filled her angelic face.
"I am late because I am fighting monsters all of the time, making no time for sleep! I can't handle myself in a fight, or I am becoming weaker as you think, because I am using so much energy from the Silver Crystal! I am not as ladylike and elegant as Princess Serenity was because while we share the same soul, we are two different people! I can't accept my destiny because I didn't sign up for it and I want to have as normal life as possible before I am queen! I can't kill others like you can, Hotaru, because I do believe in the goodness in others, otherwise you wouldn't be here!" She turned to Rini and Darien. "And I can't believe you two think I am not suited to be your mother or wife! How many times have I had to save you from yourselves?!" Serena yelled at everyone, letting her anger show.
But the Scouts didn't look impressed. Instead, Darien opened a door as Raye snapped her fingers. Before Serena could even blink, Lita and Amara had her arms behind her back and her head against the table.
Serena tasted blood in her mouth as Raye walked up to the blonde, grabbing her up by the collar of her white sailor's blouse and ripped the Crisis Moon Compact from the blouse's red bow. Then the two strong girls holding Serena slammed her head against the table but positioned her where she could see the door Darien had cracked open.
There, standing in the doorway, was a tall, slender, porcelain-skinned girl who had a face like Serena's, but it was more elegant and refined with catlike icy blue eyes that held a spark of cruelty which was obviously reserved solely for the Moon Princess. Her wavy, thigh-length honey blonde hair was tied in a low ponytail, the ends of which she curled around her pinky. She wore a long-sleeved, thigh-length, low-cut leopard-print dress that hugged her curves and accentuated her large breasts. Gold hoop earrings dangled from her ears and her red-painted nails rhythmically tapped the thick black belt around her waist.
Raye smiled evily as she handed this girl the Crisis Moon Compact. The girl took her long, red nails and grabbed the Crisis Moon Compact delicately in her hands. Then she strutted over to Darien and wrapped an arm around his waist, all while smirking triumphantly at the dumpling-headed blonde.
Raye smiled at Serena as she said, "This is the real Sailor Moon! Her name is Akuma Shizuka and she seems like a much better leader then you!"
Serena felt tears run down her face as she kicked Lita and Amara off of her. But as she got on her feet, Raye took her wrist and slammed Serena straight across the face. Then Mina jumped up and clawed at Serena's arms, but the Moon princess tore them off of her.
Darien and Akuma stood to the side and smirked at the display of violence, while Amy watched the whole thing in horror and stayed back against the wall, watching how Serena tried to get to the door, but was stopped when Michelle grabbed Serena's hair and slammed her head to the ground. Trista and Hotaru kicked Serena as she got Michelle to let go of her hair and stood up. Then Rini came and kicked Serena in the leg, where the blonde kicked her to the side as she ran out of the Cherry Hill Temple.
As soon as Serena got home, she slammed the door shut, fell to her knees, and cried. She looked at her arms and saw the cuts, brusies, and marks the Scouts had left on her. She was in so much pain, both mentally and physically, but the wounds she had gotten all over her body took over the pain she felt inside her heart.
As she sobbed, she never noticed her parents and brother coming down the stairs as her eyes were close tight to keep any more tears from flowing. Serena's family was in shock by the way she looked, wondering what happened in the last hour that caused the usually happy fifteen-year-old to look like this and cry with so much pain.
Ken and Ilene ran over to their daughter as they helped her up and sat her on the couch. As Sammy stood from the staircase, watching everything with concern for his big sister, he didn't notice Luna and Artemis going downstairs. Artemis had decided to sleep over at the Tsukino house so he could spend more time with Luna. The cats watched the scene before them with shock and concern.
Ilene stroked her daughter's hair as she said in a soft voice, "Serena, what happened?"
Serena was able to catch her breath long enough to explain everything; not just the fact that she was beaten by her so-called friends, but the fact she was Sailor Moon. Since she wasn't a Scout anymore, she didn't see the harm in telling the truth now.
She told her family about her adventures as the Champion of Justice, Sailor Moon—from the day she met Luna, to her fight with Queen Nehellenia only a few weeks ago. Now that she looked back on it, why did she save those worthless Scouts? Raye said that they would be better off without her, but if it wasn't for Serena they wouldn't know each other at all. She had been their first friend, brought them all together and accepted them when no one else would and this is how they repay her? She could have saved the world on her own, and much quicker, if she didn't care so much about the Scouts and Darien at the time.
Her family listened intently as Serena told her adventures of being Sailor Moon, and why she was so sleepy and late all of the time. Luna and Artemis were in shock that the Scouts had taken away Serena's position as Sailor Moon and stared at their princess with pity.
After what seemed like forever, the story was done and her family was silent. But her father hugged Serena as he whispered, "That is why you have been acting so strange."
The blonde teenager smiled as her mother hugged her next. Then, strangely enough, Sammy came down and placed a hand on her knee. Luna and Artemis also got up and went over to Serena, laying in her lap as the blonde started to calm down in the arms of her loved ones. "There's something else I should tell you."
"What is it?" Ilene asked.
Serena turned to Luna and Artemis. "Go ahead guys, talk. No use in hiding it anymore."
The Moon cats exchanged looks with each other and nodded. "Hello, everyone," Luna greeted.
"Nice to finally be able to talk to you!" Artemis smiled.
Ken, Ilene, and Sammy blinked multiple times before exploding. "HEEEEEEEHHHHH?!"
"They can talk?!" Ken and Ilene exclaimed in unison.
"You mean all this time we've been living with talking cats?!" Sammy stared with wide eyes. "Talking cats who could've been cleaning their own litter boxes?!" He directed a suspicious look towards Luna.
Despite her physical and emotional state, Serena couldn't help but laugh at her family's reaction. "Yes, they can talk. But they didn't say anything in front of you because they didn't want to draw suspicion and so they could keep my identity as Sailor Moon a secret."
After getting over the shock of the talking cats, Ken, Ilene, and Sammy took deep breaths and tried to look as calm as possible. Finally, with her tears all dried up, Serena looked at her mother. "Can you call Molly, Melvin, Andrew, and Elizabeth? They have every right to know as well."
Ilene smiled. "Of course sweetheart," She said, as she got up and grabbed the phone.
Serena then looked to her father and asked, "Daddy, can I ask why you guys looked so upset this morning?"
Ken sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, pushing up his glasses as he did so. Then he looked back at his daughter and said, "Well, sweetheart, the magazine company I work for has decided to promote me to a better company whose boss is friends with my boss. But the thing is that we will have to move..."
"Okay, where?" Serena asked, not saddened by the fact that they would have to leave their hometown; there was nothing left for her here, anyway. "Are we going to Hong Kong? I heard they have great shops and wonderful places to eat!"
Ken pursed his lips together as he clarified, "No. We are moving to Los Angeles."
A/N: Review, please! And I'll see you when I come back with chapter two! :D