A new story! And it's Sailor Moon! I haven't done one of these in years! I feel so nostalgic! *sniff*

Anyway, I don't own Sailor Moon. Never have, never will. I'm just using these characters for my own enjoyment and hopefully yours as well.

Warning: Angst and hurt/comfort lie ahead. I don't know about romantic relationships yet.

Also, this little gem came from watching Sera Myu. Nuff said…

Author's Note: This story focuses more on the manga story of Sailor Cosmos instead of the anime. In the manga, to those who haven't read it, Chibi-Chibi turns out to be Sailor Cosmos, who is Sailor Moon's ultimate form from the future. But it's a future where everyone Cosmos loves is dead. That is why she became Chibi-Chibi and journeyed to the past; to stop that future from happening. Usagi wasn't supposed to become Sailor Cosmos for a while…

I wanted a story with a mature, quiet Usagi. And this is what I got…

Now, on with the story!

The Waning Light of the Moon

The sun slowly crept up, its light sweeping over buildings and trees with radiance that would dazzle anyone awake to see it. Of course, over half the city was still asleep. Except for one particular person, who was just getting home.

The front door slowly opened and a blonde pigtailed young lady shuffled into the two bedroom house. "I'm home," she muttered as she locked the door behind her.

Her clothes were rumpled and her hair a mess. The fact that her pigtails were still up was a miracle in itself. Her bloodshot blue eyes were half closed and her face was a little paler than it should be.

"Where have you been?"

She looked over at the cat standing on the back of the sofa. "Youma attack earlier this morning."

"Usagi," the cat said as she jumped to the floor. "You've been gone for two hours! It doesn't take that long to kill a single youma."

Usagi yawned and pulled off her jacket. "It does when it's across the city and looked like a huge body builder. I've got bruises in places I didn't know existed." She yawned again and shuffled to her bedroom. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Luna, I'm going to fall into my bed and sleep for as long as I can."

Luna watched with concerned eyes as the girl she had known for 6 years did just that.

The past two years had been hard on the reincarnated princess. And it was starting to show.

Chaos had been gone for four years now. And Usagi and the rest of the senshi had gotten through high school without any more attacks. Sure, there was the stray youma that popped out from nowhere, intent on destroying the Sailor Senshi but they were easily taken care of. But it was after high school that things started to change.

The senshi started leaving to pursue their dreams. And Usagi didn't stop them. Luna argued with her until she was blue in the face but the kind hearted girl wouldn't budge.

"They have every right to chase after their dreams, Luna! They've stayed with me for so long. I can't stand in their way."

So, in the end Ami had finally gotten to go to Germany, Makoto was in France studying under the finest chefs around, Rei was in Tibet for miko training, and Minako was traveling around modeling. The outers were all in England, Haruka and Michiru touring, and Setsuna just being there for Hotaru when she wasn't at the Gates of Time. And Mamoru…

Luna scowled at the thought of the Prince of Earth. He had left as well. His desire to study in America hadn't left after his star seed was returned. He told Usagi and she just nodded, handed him the ring he had given her, kissed him on the cheek, and smiled a small smile. No words were said. He had just looked into her sad eyes, nodded, and left.

Luna jumped up onto Usagi's bed and looked at the sleeping fighter of justice. The poor girl was exhausted and it made Luna's heart break. But it wasn't only exhaustion that was hurting the girl. She was lonely. All of her friends were gone. She had no one but Luna and her family. Sure letters came and phone calls were made but not as frequently as they used to. Usagi was a social person and not having people around her was slowly making her wilt.

The black cat sighed and curled up next to her charge, who in turn muttered something and laid a hand on her soft fur.

'What about your dreams, Hime? Do they not matter?' Luna thought as she closed her red eyes.


Usagi's eyes didn't open again until after noon and that was only because her stomach was growling loud enough to wake the dead.

She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her body ached. But thankfully nothing worse than a few bruises adorned her body. And that was way better than the horribly nasty cut that she had gotten last month from an equally horribly nasty youma.

The sound of the TV motivated her to leave her bed and pad into the den. Luna was sitting on the couch watching the afternoon news, her red eyes riveted to the screen.

"Hey, Luna," Usagi muttered, sitting beside the black cat.

"Hello, Usagi-chan. Are you feeling better?"

The blonde nodded and absently mindedly stroked Luna's back. "I feel much better." She turned to the TV. "So anything interesting happening in the world today?"

"Minako-chan was seen coming out of a café in Paris today. That's about the most exciting thing."

Usagi gave a small smile. "She's probably visiting Mako-chan."

Luna glanced up at her charge. Usagi looked fine with the fact that Minako would visit Makoto so often and not visit her but Luna could see the hurt deep in the blonde's eyes.

"She'll probably drop by here next," Luna said weakly, knowing it wasn't true.

Usagi nodded and stood up. "I'm hungry," she stated. "Let's cook something. You up for it?"

They had just finished eating and were cleaning up the kitchen when Usagi suddenly stopped what she was doing and stared off into space.

"Nani?" Luna asked from her spot on the counter top. "Is it a youma?"

The tingling feeling in Usagi's stomach continued to grow. The blonde head nodded as she closed her blue eyes. "It's close to Juuban High School." She sat the plate she was washing back in the sink and looked over at Luna. "I'll be back in a bit." She took off the apron she was wearing and patted the cat's head. "If my boss calls, tell him I'm gonna mail the next part to him by Express Mail this evening."

Luna just nodded as Usagi ran out the door, transforming into Sailor Cosmos before she even hit the street.

"Be careful," the cat muttered.

The phone rang just ten minutes later. Luna quickly jumped up on the table beside the couch and hit the speaker phone button.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Usagi! Where the hell is the rest of your shit?" A loud voice blared through the phone, making Luna wince.

"Hello, Sanchi-san," she said politely. "Usagi's not here at the moment."

"Luna?" the voice said in a softer tone. "Is that you?"

"Hai, as I said Usagi is out. But she did tell me to let you know that she is mailing you everything by Express Mail tonight."

"Oh." Silence reigned for a second. "Arigatou, Luna. It's good to know that Usagi has such a responsible roommate."

Luna stifled a laugh. "Usagi has finished everything, Sanchi-san. She just needed the stamps."

Sanchi cleared his throat, embarrassed by his earlier outburst. "Of course. Of course. That's fine. She never fails to get it to me on time and in perfect condition." Another second of silence. "Well, I must be going. It's good to talk to you, Luna. We really should meet face to face someday."

"We'll see, Sanchi-san. Good day to you."

"Right. Ja ne."

A dial tone told Luna that Usagi's boss hadn't waited for her farewell.

"Baka," Luna muttered as she curled up on the couch to take a catnap.


Sailor Cosmos grunted in pain as her back connected with a brick wall. The youma she was fighting smirked and let out a laugh, which actually sounded like a gurgle of some kind.

"So, the pretty girl in the short skirt can't really fight? This is going to be easier than I thought!"

Cosmos cracked her eyes open and watched as the ugly thing stomped towards her. But before it got any closer she just held up her scepter and closed her eyes. A bright light covered the area and when she opened her eyes again, the youma was gone.

A sigh escaped the now silver haired fighter of justice and she slowly stood up, wincing as bruises from the night before along with what felt like a cracked rib screamed their protests.

It was getting to be too much. Sure, since she was now Sailor Cosmos she was stronger but it seemed that these so called "rogue youma" were stronger as well.

With another sigh and a quick glance around, Sailor Cosmos jumped up to the roof of the building she had hit just moments ago. And she started home, the tears running down her cheeks such a common occurrence that she didn't even acknowledge them.

As Cosmos leapt from rooftop to rooftop, she imagined what Luna would say when she got home. The same thing she said after every youma fight.

"You need help, Usagi! Call the others! They will help you!"

And she would argue back with the same thing. "I don't need help, Luna! I'm Sailor Cosmos now. I'll be fine."

"You shouldn't have become Cosmos so soon, Usagi-chan! You know that!"

"I was needed. That's all."

"The others are needed."

"Iie! Luna, they have their own lives now. They don't need to protect me anymore. I'm fine."

"What if you get killed?"

"Then I die. At least they would have led a normal life."

That same conversation played out every day at some point. Cosmos shook her head and landed in an alleyway close to her house. After de-transforming, she left the alley and continued home, trying to ignore the pain in her body and her heart. She may want her friends to live normal lives, but she was horribly lonely.

Her blue eyes hardened. But it was just the way it had to be. If her friends weren't involved in fighting then they wouldn't be in danger of dying. And the future that Sailor Cosmos told her of when she was 16 wouldn't come true.

But what Usagi didn't realize is that as she was trying to avoid one horrible future, another future was forming. One that had Sailor Cosmos just as lonely, cold, and heartbroken.

Luna watched as Usagi entered the house. Something needed to be done. But what?

To be continued…