This piece was begun in April 2000, and not finished until December of
2000. I am most proud of this work over any other. Only author's
notes have been altered to remove outdated deications and mentions.
The story itself is represented, as originally written, to a new
audience.

Please enjoy.

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Well, here I am, back in the world of fanfiction, on the writing side.
Normally I'm on the reviwing end, but every once in a while, I like to
get right in on everything and write out those few gems of ideas that I
get. Either way, I'm here. If you really didn't like the whole thing
going behind The Die Is Cast, you may not want to read this one. I kind
of like to rock the boat when I write, so if that isn't your thing, you
should just hit back, and find another story to read.

Sailor Moon, its characters, and their images yadda yadda yadda yadda
yadda you've heard it all before.



Emerald Eyes - Prologue
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by The Legendary Redhawke


Journal Entry - January 17, 1999


All my dreams have come true, all at once, in one swift blow to my
heart. I could have never imagined it any better. I was walking
along to the arcade, and I tripped, and fell on my face. He was
right there beside me to help me up off of the ground. He ran
across the street, just for me, just to help me out, just to show
that he cared, for me. Nobody else, just me, just stubborn,
independent, irrational, somewhat clutzy me.

As he helped me to my feet, he gave me a soft tender smile, and I
blushed at him, like I never had before. I started to get my head
straight, saying to myself, "Come on girl, it's just some guy who
was nice enough to help you up." I started to let my head control
my heart, "He's just a good samaritan, and you don't mean anything
to him."

I couldn't let this one go. I'd always talked myself out of things
before, always saying, "Oh he's not that charming" or "He's not that
caring." I had always managed to talk myself out of every guy that
I seemed to be interested in. I'd always protected myself from a
lot of possible pain too though. But when I saw his face, smiling
gently at me as he helped me off of the sidewalk, I knew.

I knew that I had to talk to him. I knew that I had to find out his
name. I knew that no matter what, I could not let him walk out of
my life. If I did, I would regret it for the rest of my life. So,
I spoke up, and I said the first thing that came to my mind. I
desperately had to let him know how I felt about him in that moment,
in that little blip of time, that could be gone if I didn't seize my
opportunity immediately, so I said it.

"Thanks"

"Not a problem," he said. It just kept ringing in my head, over and
over again. It seemed like an eternity before I could bring myself
to speak, but it must only have been a few seconds. I couldn't get
over it though. He had run across the street, duing rush hour I
might add, to help me up, even though I could have easily done it
myself, and it was no problem? He had to care about me. He just
had to! "Calm down" I thought to myself, "You can't go on jumping to
such conclusions."

I smiled at his response, well before I spoke again, even though I was
never quite sure of what I should say next. It's as if the
butterflies that were in my stomach had flown up and blocked my throat
so that I couldn't speak. I had to though. I saw the way he was
looking at me, and I just had to get some words out, regardless of what
they were.

"Uh...What's your name?"

Stupid I know, but it was all that came to me at the time. I would have
loved to say, "I love you" or some other thing that had flown through
my mind, but I knew that I just couldn't, no matter what odds were
against me. If he had walked off, I would have found him somehow. Like
I said, I couldn't bear to have let him just walk away. I almost fell
down again when he said it, what I had hoped he would say.

"I'm Richard."

I could hardly believe that he had said it. Then my logical mind kicked
itself into gear. "He's only being polite," it said, "You asked him his
name, so he had to tell you." I could hardly stand for my logical mind,
and dreaming mind to exist in the same place. Damn this doubt!

My blush seemed to encompass the whole of my body, though I wasn't about
to check that it was. He saw it, and it made me blush even more, though
I could start to see a slight hint of rose come across his cheek. He
smiled gently as if he knew exactly what to do, what to say, and what it
all did to me. I'd only just met him, but my whole world was changing,
and I could feel everything that I had known become something unknown.

I had always hated that eerie feeling of uncertainty that sometimes
crosses our mortal minds, but I just had to deal with it, and say to
myself, "I don't care, because I know the truth of what will happen."
But as I got closer and closer to one of those times where everything
would fly so smoothly and swiftly if that doubt would just go on its way,
the doubt all just got bigger and bigger, and it didn't matter how good
I was, or how well I could handle myself, because that doubt always kept
me from whatever I had wanted.

Now that I was in one of those dire situations, it seemed so hopeless for
me, for us. I was already thinking about Richard and I being a...a...
couple? I'd been overly insightful before, but this was well beyond the
limits of normality. This was right out there. But, then, I thought of
something. What if all this supposed 'false prediction' was actually me
seeing into my future. It seemed like an odd thought, but it could have
been the truth. All that there was to overcome was getting beyond the
state we were currently moored in.

I knew that it would have taken me a thousand lifetimes to get up the
nerve to say what he did. It would have taken a thousand lifetimes of a
thousand years each. Those butterflies were all in my mouth, and my
throat, and my stomach, and my heart, and my mind, and everywhere
throughout my enitre body. I was so nervous that I thought I would pass
out in a minute.

My heart suddenly fluttered as he said those few words that it took to
get me off the ground, off the planet, off whatever plane of existence
we knew. Simple, easy words that anyone could have said in retrospect,
but only a few could have ever said it in the moment. He was one of
those few, the only one that I sought, the one that had rushed across
the busy street for me, the one that had smiled at me, and the on that
had said those wrenching words to me, and me alone.

"Do you want to get a cup of coffee with me?"

There were neither the epitomes of Ovid nor the masterpieces of
Shakespeare, but they served their valiant purpose, and they struck
every single chord deep within my heart. I simply nodded my head to
agree, and off we went down the street.

He stopped for a moment to ask me my name, and I responded simply and
softly, "My name is Lita."
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Well, I hope you liked the prologue. There is much more to come, but I
won't go and give it away like I did last time.

As always C&C is very welcome.

http://www.geocities.com/redhawke4 - Redhawke FR

The Legendary Redhawke - redhawkeanime@hotmail.com