A.N. I am reposting this in a re-edited format. I wrote this…quite awhile ago (11-6-04) and coming back to it… I'm not sure if I'm a good enough writer to continue it. I mean, I reread it and actually thought, "Hey this is pretty decent, I wonder who wrote it?" I guess that's what I get for putting it with all the other fanfics I've got archived on my hard drive without an author's name attached… I am so dumb…

The Dancing Dream

By Magawa

A soft sniffling was heard in the dark bedroom before a piercing scream rent the air and woke the screaming girl from her troubled slumber. Sitting bolt upright, the girl's wide blue eyes scanned the room without really seeing anything. Her breath came in unsteady gasps and sweat rolled off her trembling body, soaking her tangled sheets. A sleek black cat leapt up onto the bed and curled herself around her mistress soothingly.

"Bad dreams again?" the cat asked quietly, coaxing the girl to switch her focus from the dream to reality. The girl remained unresponsive for a few dead seconds. The girl's beautiful blue eyes were shadowed and unfocused as though replaying the nightmare in all it's horror. Tears continued to course down her cheeks as she gently placed a hand on the black cat, shakily stroking her smooth fur.

"Yes Luna," the girl replied, her voice breaking with unsuppressed emotion, "very bad dreams."

Luna tilted her face upwards towards the quietly sobbing girl revealing the perfect crescent moon on her forehead and concerned feline eyes.

"Usagi please don't cry like that, it breaks my heart too, you know." Placing her front paws gently against the girl's chest, Luna eased the girl back into a more comfortable reclining position. The cat settled herself comfortably on the girl's chest before asking, "Will you tell me about it?"

"Yes," Usagi answered timidly as Luna began to purr in gentle approval. The girl's anguished tears began to subside as she related her dream. The first part wasn't sad at all really. It was the same familiar old dream she'd had off and on since for almost as long as she could remember... It was only the last few moments of tonight's dream that struck terror though her very soul. But that terror, however momentary, was enough to taint the entire vision and ruin the beauty of it.

Heaving a huge sigh, Usagi began to tell her dream. I will not cry, she thought, It hurts Luna when I cry…I cannot cry…

"It started off just as it always does… the dancing dream…I've had it for a long time now…In the dream, I am always paired with the same man. He's tall and commanding with black hair and thundercloud eyes," her eyes closed briefly in recollection, savoring the man's remembered presence. "He's strong and when we're dancing it feels like I'm not even moving my feet. It's more like floating… It's wonderful…

"Sometimes in the dream we'd be in street clothes and dancing in some kind of gym or classroom or something like that. Other times we're both dressed for a masque or a ball or something because I'm wearing this gorgeous dress that 'swishes' as we dance around. We're in a huge, ballroom with towering white pillars and beautiful open air balconies. When we get near the balconies, I can see the stars, but I can't see the moon anywhere. Or well, it doesn't look like the moon as we know it, you know? It's not yellow and it doesn't have craters or anything like the moon is supposed to. Instead this big and beautiful blue and green moon is in its place… its strange thinking about it now, but it didn't seem strange in the dream…. Anyway, I think it might be a masque because he's wearing this little white mask that covers the upper part of his face. It's definitely the same man though because his eyes are the same stormy blue…

"Lately the dream's been changing," Usagi said, tone dropping as if dismissing the beauty amidst the despair. "It doesn't matter whether I am in plain clothes or the ball gown… I just get the feeling that I'm deeply in love with this guy, and that he's in love with me too…" Luna could feel the girl's heartbeat accelerate under her as the story became more intense and consuming. Luna just purred louder, hoping the rumbling sensation against the girl's chest would be enough to counterbalance the raw emotion tearing at the fragile girl.

Usagi continued, absentmindedly stoking the cat as she became lost in the dream world yet again..

"So we love each other, and we both know it, but there's something wrong and I'm frightened for him, but I don't really know why… I didn't know why, "she corrected, choking back a sob.

"There was a battle, some kind of civil war or something," Usagi stated with fresh determination. A regal bitterness crept into the young girl's voice that Luna had never heard before. An unintentional shudder swept through the cat's body and with it came a flash of remembrance too brief and fleeting to grasp onto.

"He told me to stay where it was safe… but I couldn't leave him! I watched from the balcony where he had given me the locket…"

"What locket?" Luna interrupted, memories quickly resurfacing as events of the past began to take their rightful place within her circle of consciousness.

"Oh I forgot!" she exclaimed, all girlish joy for a second before plummeting back into despair. "Endymion gave me a beautiful star locket that lights up and plays music. He gave it to me so that I would remember him…right before the battle, right before he… right before he kissed me… Oh Luna! Why couldn't things have stayed as they were?" she wailed covering her eyes with her hands as though that alone would stop the dreams, her inner vision.

"Hush now," Luna commanded, "it's only a dream. Nothing worth getting worked up over…"

"Oh, but Luna it was so vivid! It certainly felt real… the pain is real… And when he died, when he was torn from my grasp, the pain was too much to bear. I threw myself off the balcony to be with him, to just hold his hand for a second longer… If I hadn't woken up I think I would have died too."

Oh my precious princess, you did die… Your memories are finally resurfacing and the remembrance will be painful… I wonder how long it will take for us to find Endymion again.

"Who is Endymion?" Luna asked, gently probing the girl's memories.

"Endymion?" the girl asked, forgetting her own previous use of the name. "I don't know. It sounds familiar, but I don't remember… I don't remember…."

"That's okay," Luna whispered soothingly. "It's all over now. Go back to sleep little one. I'll keep watch over you." Luna's purring seemed to reverberate throughout Usagi's entire body, relaxing and comforting her so that sleep could claim her once again. Even in repose, silent tears slipped from beneath her lids, dampening her hair and pillow with their crystal moisture.

With morning came the sun and the banishment of her fears. The telltale signs were still there though in the red of her eyes and the dark circles underneath. Her face was dry and tear encrusted, the salt making her skin feel rough and heavy. Looking into the bathroom mirror at her haggard appearance only made her feel worse.

I want to see him again. I want to be with him, but I don't want to see him die again. It's too painful… even if it is just a dream… She continued to wash her face, following her daily routine. I will not let this affect me. No one needs to know and I don't think Luna will tell the girls if I ask her not to…

Usagi glanced upward from cleaning her teeth to gaze thoughtfully in the mirror. Her eyes were still red-rimmed and tired but she looked much fresher than when she'd entered. After rinsing her mouth and gathering her pajamas, Usagi exited the bathroom, determined not to let her nightmares haunt her daydreams…