Author's Note: Hello! Andromeda Star reporting back for active duty! So, this is Chapter One, Version 2. I like this one a lot better.

General Story Info:

Title: Memories of Serenity
Setting: Crystal Tokyo, AD 5162
Main Characters: Ginno Yuzuki, Chikamatsu Haruki, Hirasawa Akio, Hydrus, Phoebe, Solar Princess Solara XXV
Minor Characters: Ishiyama Juri, Konoe Mai, Yamanouchi Kaida, Komatsu Chikuma & Namika, Capella, Cygnus, Corvus, Cetus
Plot Summary: Ginno Yuzuki is your average high school track star living with just her mother. When she starts having dreams about people she's never met because they just happen to be long deceased, she thinks she's gone insane with stress. But the appearance of a talking cat and some unlikely companions compel her to believe the impossible: she is a reincarnated Lunar Noble, the last of the line, and the only hope against the evil which is set to take over not only Crystal Tokyo and the Lunar Ruins, but also the legendary Solar Kingdoms as well. Can Yuzuki stand up to the enormous task set before her?

Chapter One
Strange Dreams! Introducing Ginno Yuzuki

A castle, more beautiful than anything a living person has ever seen, even a living person who has been raised in the very heart of Crystal Tokyo. It is built with stone that shines like platinum, and contains quite a few towers and floors. It has been said that even Golden Queen Minako looked upon this castle with fondness, though it was a rival to her own beautiful home. She has been quoted as saying, "What, the Moon Castle? Why should it be a rival? It is no more rival to me than a mother is rival to her daughter."

The castle is gorgeous on the inside as well, with solid stone walls and richly carpeted floors in the halls. A various amount of people roam these halls, all dressed in silver and white, with the occasional nobleman or –woman in other colors. The largest hallway holds a grand door which leads to a small hall and spiral staircase, leading all the way to the top floor of the grandiose home, where the Royal Family lives. The first door on the right on the top floor of the castle is the bedchambers of the heir to the throne, Serenity X, and her older twin sister, Selene. They have been called "the Moon Flowers," referring to the only two native flowering plants on the Moon: Arterose and Ellunelli, two plants that are usually in proximity to each other because they cannot survive without each other, but put them two close and they die, choking the very life out of each other.

Just down the hall live the Family's feline advisors, Phoebe and Phoebus, as well as the four Lunar Guardians: Lady Chiron, Lady Kashmira, Lady Elette, and Lady Natara. Phoebe and Phoebus are different from other sentient felines, but no one really knows why. The Guardians are of varying ages and temperaments, but work well as a team.

Inside the Princess' rooms, Serenity sits peacefully on her windowsill, Phoebe on her lap, a gentle Lunar breeze blowing through the open window, lifting her hair and her silver gown. She hums a lullaby to herself, watching the young children at play in the courtyard below.

A servant boy, in the meantime, carries a tray out of the kitchen, intending to head to the Lady Kashmira's room, where she takes her meals. He has been entrusted this very important task for the first time, and is determined not to get it wrong. He opens a door and calls softly, "Lady Kashmira, your meal has arrived."

A soft voice answers him, "Oh, dear, you seem to have got into the wrong room. Kashmira-san's room is across the hall."

The boy sees nothing but shadow. "My name is Tsukioka Hikahiro. May I ask your name?"

"Oh, and you speak like a nobleman!" The owner of the voice slips down from her sill and steps into the light. "I am Princess Serenity, Tsukioka-san," she says with a small curtsy.

The boy is stunned and nearly drops the tray from his arms. "S-Serenity…"

"Serenity…" the voice whispered to the almost-empty room. The girl shot up immediately, certain that she had just heard the voice in her dream.

But instead, she heard a very different voice, much more solid than a whisper, "Yuu-chan! Your breakfast will get cold!"

"Oh, crap!" Yuzuki cried as she tumbled out of bed, her arm automatically reaching for the brush on her nightstand and running it through her ankle-length burgundy tresses. Bright green eyes peered out from under the mass of hair as she worked, hurriedly throwing her hair into its usual high ponytail. "Mom, it was supposed to be my day to cook breakfast!" She said as she bolted out of her room, dressed in her high school uniform: traditional navy pleated skirt, navy knee socks, white short-sleeved shirt with a tan-and-gold sailor collar, and black school bag in hand.

"I know, dear, but you came home so late from track last night that I thought I'd let you sleep in and cook myself." Ginno Keiko smiled at her only child. "It wasn't that difficult to cook this along with your bento."

Yuzuki groaned. "Mom, you're going to get fired if you keep arriving late to work because of me."

"Oh, don't be such a grump. I made you special andango, but I'll take it out if you're going to be like this, Yuu-chan."

"Fine, fine!" Yuzuki grabbed the wrapped bento and headed for the door, slipping on her white shoes. "I'm going now!"

"Be careful on your way!"

Yuzuki bolted down the sidewalk not because she was late, but because she enjoyed the adrenaline rush running gave her. She smiled happily and ran faster, weighed down on both ends with her school bag and her bento, and her thoughts began to drift toward the dream she'd had last night. It was the fourth time in a month she'd had that dream, and still Yuzuki could make no sense of it. There was a girl…a girl with a weird hairstyle and archaic clothing, and a boy with a tray…

Abruptly, Yuzuki's foot kicked something and she went sprawling across the sidewalk, her bag crashing down and spilling out her books and her knee scraping the ground painfully. She shrieked a bit as she went down, but not loud enough for anyone to hear. When she sat up and looked angrily around at the thing she'd tripped over, a pair of luminous yellow eyes locked with her own.

It was a cat, the markings on its fur identifying it as a calico. It didn't seem perturbed that Yuzuki had just kicked it hard and almost fell on top of it. Instead, the cat simply stared at Yuzuki, as if it were studying her.

"What's your deal?" Yuzuki muttered as she leaned over and inspected her knee. The skin had split and it was bleeding freely now. She swore softly. She didn't normally carry first aid items with her, because she was usually careful about her footing. Four years of track had at least taught her that. She'd have to try to get to the school without staining her socks and get the nurse to clean her up.

"Ginno-san!" A voice called through the din of the early-morning travelers. Yuzuki sighed. Now she'd have to answer questions and questions…

"Ginno-san, are you alright? I saw you trip…" Male hands reached for her. "Oh, your knee is bleeding! Do you need me to take you to the nurse?"

"No, I'm…" Yuzuki stopped and looked up at her helper. "Chikamatsu-senpai?"

He smiled. "Who else would it be?" And indeed it was he: Chikamatsu Haruki, the star player on Juuban High School's American football team, the valuable quarterback who led his team to strings of victories, the attractive senior that every girl in her right mind desired.

Yuzuki despised Chikamatsu Haruki, and everything he stood for.

"I'm fine, Chikamatsu-senpai." Yuzuki stood carefully. "I just tripped over a cat, that's all. I'll be alright."

"Let me help you so you don't get your socks dirty." And he easily reached down and scooped her up, as if she was a child. Immediately she fought him.

"No! I told you, I'm fine! Put me down, now!"

Haruki smiled. "Stubborn, aren't you? Just let me carry you. You'll bleed everywhere if I don't."

"You'll bleed everywhere if you do," Yuzuki threatened. "I mean it, Chikamatsu-senpai, put me down or I'll kick you square in the face."

Haruki was almost to the school by now, his and Yuzuki's bags in one hand, the bento in the other, and Yuzuki cradled in his arms. "Excuse me!" he cried, and the crowd of students milling about in front of the school parted easily to allow the king of the school through, the girls sighing with envy at Yuzuki's position. Yuzuki, on the other hand, was fairly disgruntled. She didn't ask to be carried like and invalid, especially by idiotic Haruki. She didn't even want him near her.

The nurse smiled sympathetically at Yuzuki's expression when Haruki carried her into the office. "Chikamatsu-kun, I'm sure Yuzuki-chan is fine by herself now. She's had worse injuries, you know."

Smiling, Haruki departed, but gave Yuzuki one last glance. She didn't see, though, because she was too busy heading for the low tub where she could properly scrub her wound. "What happened, Yuzuki-chan?" Nurse Natsuko asked.

Yuzuki grunted as the antiseptic cream soaked into her scrape and stung. "Wasn't watching where I was going. Tripped over a cat."

"Is the cat alright?" the nurse smiled.

"Yeah, seemed to be fine. Just stared at me."

Just then, the door swung open loudly and an annoyingly chipper voice cried, "Yuzuki-chan!"

"Juri-chan…" Yuzuki sighed, this time in relief. Her very best friend scampered through the door and smiled engagingly.

But all she had to say was, "So how was it? Being so close to Haruki-senpai? Ohhh, I wish I could have taken your place!"

"I wish you could have too," Yuzuki muttered, grabbing her bag and bento and nodding thanks to the nurse, who smiled and waved as the girls exited.

"Oh, Yuzuki-chan, don't be so grumpy. You were in Chikamatsu Haruki's arms!" Juri sighed happily. "It's the beginning of love, I know it!"

Yuzuki groaned. "Juri-chan, I hate him. I hate him and everything that he is. I wouldn't have been in his arms if I had a choice, but that stupid cat—" Yuzuki suddenly shrieked, for at that moment, something brushed against her leg. She looked down and locked eyes again with the calico cat. She bent down and looked straight at it.

"Okay, kitty, listen to me. You can not follow me around now. I tripped over you. I'm sorry. Now leave me alone. I'm going to get in trouble if Tamada-sensei sees a cat here…"

"Oh, is this the cat you tripped over?" Juri said, just catching on to the conversation. "She's so cute!" Juri reached down and picked up the cat who purred but kept her eyes on Yuzuki. Juri petted the cat happily for a moment before remarking, "Oh, but she's got the strangest bald mark on her forehead. Poor kitty! Look, Yuzuki-chan," Juri commanded, holding the cat up to Yuzuki's taller frame.

The cat did have an unusual mark on its forehead, right where a patch of white hair should be: a silver crescent-moon, pointing upwards like a smile. It was so light one could barely discern it unless one was inspecting carefully. Yuzuki frowned at the cat, who continued to stare at her.

"Ishiyama-kun, Ginno-kun," Tamada-sensei's voice called sharply from within the classroom. "Stop wandering the halls and get in here this instant!"

"I had no idea…" the boy says, hands still trembling but holding on to the tray in his hands.

"No idea what, Tsukioka-san?"

"No idea that the heir would possess such beauty. They call you and your sister Arterose and Ellunelli, but the names do you no justice."

The princess smiles. "Deliver Kashmira-san's lunch, please, Tsukioka-san. She'll be waiting for it."

"May I return to you, Princess?"

"You are bold indeed!" the princess gasps, but she laughs right after. "Alright, then. I was feeling the need to speak anyway. Phoebe is not very good company when she is sound asleep."

"Now, listen here, Serenity-hime!" Phoebe yowls from the floor. "As your Guardian, I'll not take this abuse!" But she is giving a very strange cat-smile.

"Oh, pah!" the girl says as the boy departs. "I love you Phoebe, even though you are a most chatty Guardian."

"Yuzuki-chan…" Juri's voice floated from out of Yuzuki's dream. She shook her head and looked at her diminutive friend. Juri smiled. "It's lunch break. Kaida-chan said she'd meet us outside, she needs to return a library book."

"Yeah…" Yuzuki got up and slowly followed the black-topped head of Juri, reflecting on the last sentence of her daydream. In her memory, she'd never heard a voice like that. She was hearing and seeing things in dreams that didn't make sense, and it bugged her in a way she could not express, even to herself.

"Yuzuki-chan, hurry up!" Juri called behind her before speeding on ahead, but Yuzuki didn't hear her, and instead continued gently meandering down the hall, lost in thought. It was such that for the second time that day, she found herself tripping over the calico cat. This time, however, someone caught her before she hit the ground.

"Ginno-san, you really need to watch where you're going," said none other than Chikamatsu Haruki.