Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any part of the lyrics from the song "Graduation/Friends Forever"...so...em...please don't sue me?? yepyep! THANKS!

Hey everyone! this is my first fanfic ever! ...meant to be a one-shot...yeps...just testing everything out to see how it'll work. It's meant to be a Usagi/Seiya pairing.

Also, you can always listen to the Vitamin C song to get a better taste behind this story =DD.

please review too =D i'd love to hear something about my first fanfic =DDD

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"Let me bravely say, on behalf of every smiling face sitting in this room today, that these three years have been the greatest of our lives. They have prepared us well for our life-long journey, our brilliant futures, ahead of us. We've been through tedious homework, strenuous exams, and long classes to come to where we are today. We've been happy; we've been sad. We made new friends, and we made memories…"

Those were the last words Usagi heard from Ami's speech before she exited the school's assembly hall with the excuse of needing to go to the bathroom. She knew though…she should've stayed through the graduation ceremony. It was their big day after all, wasn't it? Finally finishing the twelve long head-aching years of schooling. Besides, it's Ami's valedictorian speech. She should at least sit in to support her friend. It's perfectly fine to cry on the last day of school. Everyone does! It's supposed to be an emotional day! She could perfectly excuse herself as shedding tears of joy.

But no…out of all the times that she could successfully curtain her agonizing sensations with that signature smile, this was a day that she wanted to be alone.

Usagi rested her hand on top of her folded arms. She was leaning on the railing on the rooftop of her highschool, gazing at the beautiful sunset. The colourful hues of orange and red danced across the sky, silhouetting the tall buildings against its background. A soft breeze blew gently across the city, lifting her two golden pigtails as they floated gracefully in the evening wind.

The sunset was beautiful…

…but…it brought back memories…

They all stood there, on the same rooftop witnessing the same sunset. They've succeeded in defeating Galaxia and releasing everybody's star seed, saving earth, saving the galaxy.

"You guys have decided to leave earth?" Rei asked.

"Yes," Princess Kakyuu smiled, "Our relatives are waiting for us back home."

"Come back to visit anytime!" Minako stated cheerfully.

Then…he spoke.

"I'm glad your boyfriend is back!"

"It's only because of you Seiya. I couldn't have made it without you."

"Odango…" Seiya's cheeks turned a tainted shade of pink, "I won't forget you!"

That was two years ago. They haven't seen the Starlights since.

These two years, she's tried hard, tried so hard to live on, to present to everyone her cheerful self, to curve her lips up to that brilliant smile of hers every time someone's around.

These two years, she's joined a lot of school clubs. She's helped out with chores around the house. She's spent countless hours reading manga. She's been keeping every second of her life busy doing something…just so that she wouldn't have time to slow down and think. Just so that every night, she would get so tired that she wouldn't have to dream.

These two years, she's been somewhat successful in telling herself that she is a happy girl, that she should be grateful for her future as queen of earth.

But no…the dam that holds back her emotions just has to break on her graduation day.

Ami's speech was hard to listen to. "We've made new friends; we've made memories…"

Those words rang inside her head, reminding her of her junior year in high school. The ongoing battle with Galaxia was hard, but that year meant the world to her. That year, she cried, but laughed. She was teased, but she liked it. She had to fight the phages, but someone was always there to protect her…

Shoving it out of her mind, Usagi attempted to shift her thoughts to other topics. She tried thinking of days in middle school, before the battle with Galaxia started. She thought of Mamoru, and of the future they were to share. She thought of Luna, Artemis, Diana, Chibi-usa, Minako, Ami, Rei, Haruka. She thought of the battles she's had before Chaos. Right now, she just needed to occupy her mind with anything other than memories during that year when he stepped into her life and turned everything upside down.

The sun was almost set now…meaning that the ceremony should almost be over, meaning that she should put on her cheery front once more. She started to walk towards the door to the rooftop. Then, something echoed from the stairway below, and it made her stop her footsteps abruptly. She stood there in the middle of the rooftop listening to the familiar melody of the graduation song, the one played not so long ago at the beginning of the ceremony while the several hundred graduating students neatly filed into the assembly hall to their appropriate seats. The song was part of the reason she wanted to be away from the ceremony. They say it's from an album from the United States… "Vitamin C"? What a weird name, she thought, but the lyrics were nice. She wouldn't have minded it if it were played during her middle school graduation ceremony. But now…it's just like Ami's speech…bringing back those memories that she fought so hard to keep inside…

[lyrics are italicized and in bold]


And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives
Where we're gonna be when we turn 25

She knows where she'll be when she's 25. She'll be Neo Queen Serenity, ruling Crystal Tokyo in a happily-ever-after fairytale with her husband King Endymion and her daughter Chibi-usa.


I keep thinking times will never change
Keep on thinking things will always be the same
But when we leave this year we won't be coming back
No more hanging out cause we're on a different track

Yes…they are on a different track. It just so happens that their paths crossed at an intersection in the middle of their journey. Their shoulders brushed gently against one another when they crossed. They stopped to look at each other in the eyes, midnight against ocean. They may have said hi. They may even have stopped long enough to exchange a short "how are you today?" But after that, they're off to different directions, their tracks bringing them farther and farther away from each other.


And if you got something that you need to say
You better say it right now cause you don't have another day
Cause we're moving on and we can't slow down
These memories are playing like a film without sound

Will the past be a shadow that will follow us 'round?
Will these memories fade when I leave this town

The sky was dimming. It was almost night. Usagi let her gaze drop down to the park below. The gravel field was surrounded by a wired fence. Foot prints were seen here and there from the school team's baseball training that afternoon. She shut her eyes tightly and shook her head twice, refusing to let those flashbacks creep into her minds. The baseball practice, that vacation at the camping site, that day at the amusement park, that day at her house when he offered to be her bodyguard, that night on the plane, that battle with Galaxia…those were memories that she sooo wanted to lock away. But, they always seemed to defeat her every attempt to prevent them from surfacing.

Yes! The past is a shadow that follows her around. They won't fade, they won't leave.

A small sigh escaped from her mouth as another bead of tear splashed onto her uniform.

One phrase in that song stood out to her though. Amongst all of the other touching words in the lyrics, Usagi heard, understood, and held onto only one phrase that seemed to scream for her attention.

And as our lives change
From whatever
We will still be
Friends Forever

She remembers. Even after two long years, she still remembers the promise she's once made to him, that they won't keep secrets from one another. For her entire life, she's never failed to keep a promise (well, at least not important ones that meant the happiness of her friends).

But two years ago…on that same rooftop she's standing on right now…

That day…it was the first time she's failed to keep her words.

She lied.

"Of course! We'll be friends forever!" She said cheerfully to him.

It was hard. No, she wasn't as naïve as her friends thought. And it was hard. That's why she never liked being pretentious. Putting on a brilliant smile while holding onto an aching heart was…unbearable. It felt as if her heart was lodged in her throat, pounding hard against the insides of her neck, craning her muscles and making the pain from every single heart beat beyond toleration.

Yet, that day, she somehow managed to hold onto her composure extremely well.

Maybe it's because she didn't want him to know.

'It's better that way,' she'd often remind herself, 'that's the only way he could move on. It's the only way that…one day…he'll be able to forget about his feelings…put down his burden…and live a life without me haunting his dreams.'

Another drop fell from her stinging, red-rimmed eyes. Then another. Her face was soon streaked with streams of glistening tears. They slid uncontrollably down her cheeks, flowing past her lips. Some managed to seep into her mouth, reminding her the taste of bitterness.

Usagi titled her head upwards, looking up into the sky at the round silver moon, at the brilliant stars that hung around it against the midnight blue. That's the color of his eyes, she thought.

"I'm sorry Seiya," she whispered, "I lied."

00--------------------------------00

On a planet on the other side of the galaxy, a young man leaned quietly on his window sill. His long raven-black hair shone a beautify hue of blue under the light of the stars.

In his hands was a picture frame. A cheerful girl with golden hair smiled happily at him from the photo. He ran his thumb across the picture, gliding it ever so gently over the surface, fearing that his finger would smudge any part of it.

A smile gently spread across his face as he gazed lovingly at the token in his hands. He thought back to the time when they said farewell on the roof.

She had on that brilliant smile of hers. She chided happily among her friends. But…her eyes had given her away. He didn't know if anyone else noticed. But he knew. He gazed at the beautiful ocean-blue orbs, looking past the veil and into her heart.

But he said nothing…did nothing to unveil her feelings.

He could hear her apologies. He could see in her eyes the answer she was giving, "Yes, Seiya, you're good enough."

He felt her pain.

But he knew she wouldn't.

For the sake of her friends, she wouldn't. That's what he loved about her, wasn't it? Her selflessness…

He lifted his deep blue eyes to look at the midnight sky.

"It's alright Odango," he whispered, "I've always understood."

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please review? yea, i know...it's my first online post ever...hope you liked it though.