Jade Blossom: Sailor Jade's first mission
by Rozi


The rain fell heavily on the circular clearing in the park gardens. They were richly kept with all manners of roses, pansies and other flowers. The lawn was freshly cut and left a pleasant smell in the heavy, summer stormy air. The line garden was lined with heavy firs where the dark figure was leaning. He was waiting for her.

His waiting was over.

Another figure approached the clearing accompanied by a tiny figure, no more than eight inches high. The tall figure was Sailor Jade and her companion was a rat, a glossy white rat with shining black eyes. It glared at the figure along with Sailor Jade who spoke first; "What's this about?" She asked with arms folded on her chest.

This is Sailor Jade's first mission, she has barley been a scout for a week. How did she become a scout in the first place? She lived in Britain since she was born and moved with her adopted parents to Japan (her adoptive parents are American, but they moved to Japan with their new daughter because her dad had a new job). Before she moved they told her that she was adopted.

It had been the first Monday at her new Japanese school when Ursula was awakened as Sailor Jade. It came about in rather unpleasant circumstances involving Hatsue the school bully and popular girl and her gang. It didn't surprise Ursula that much. After all, she was used to being called "Four eyes" and "Geek" at her old school in Britain, but today it was different. They had some how found out about the fact she was adopted and they were having a field day. "No wonder your mom dumped you outside a hospital when you were a screaming brat!" She yelled, "Who'd want a loser like you!"

It had hurt, a lot. She hated the fact that not only was she adopted, but also she was reminded every day by the fact her parents were such different people from her. She was a day dreaming artist who likes nothing better than to play her saxophone along to her old jazz records. Her parents were out going sporting types. They often had their clashes. It hurt even more when she thought about the fact that she was left outside a hospital with her piece of paper with a few details stating her name and date of birth. There was also a message "I love this girl with all my soul, but I cannot look after her for I will put her in great danger. Danger beyond my control, but one day she will find herself and I will meet her then. Love her like your own." How could they love her? They abandoned her! They left her by a hospital! Who ever they were.

She had felt so hurt that she went to a nearby garden in a park. It was a beautiful garden and she felt so much at home in gardens, with plants and flowers. She dreamed of an amazing garden, but it seemed more…of a memory than a dream. She sat in the garden crying and crying. She cried until her heart was near bursting, no one cared about her. No one, it hurt beyond comprehension and thought. She remembered hot tears streaking down her cheeks and dropping into her long chocolate brown hair.

Then her thoughts were broken by an animal scream; it was the scream that a cat made when it was in distress. She ran towards it, it was coming from behind a nearby tree. She looked and couldn't believe her eyes, a cat was being swung round and round in the air by it's tail. At first Ursula thought she was seeing things, but then when she looked down, she saw a rat holding on to the cat's tail by it's teeth and by amazing strength had lifted it off the ground and was swinging it round like an angry sling shot. It finally let the cat go when Ursula cried out "What the-?!" The cat hurtled into a tree where it got up and staggered away groaning. The rat appeared to be regaining its bearings and turned its head to the astonished Ursula.

"Well?" It asked in the kind of voice that you would normally be hearing at the most select dinner parties. Ursula promptly forgot that she was crying, well wouldn't you if you saw a rat beat a cat up in a fight?

"I am guessing that you are..er..Ursula?" It asked snottily.

"Whu? Err, yes, but-" She started.

"My name is Lady Grace de la Lune, honoured servant of and ambassador with The Moon Kingdom and your Auntie. Now I understand this might not be apparent in my predicament as a rodent-"

"What are you talking about? Why are you talking? WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!" Ursula was on the point of exploding.

The rat smiled, or at least tried to. "I am your auntie my dear. This story starts a long time ago, well a thousand years ago in fact-"

"I must be dreaming!"

Ursula listened to the Grace's story; Ursula was a reincarnation of Doctor Ursula Jade of the Jade gardens in a small dimensional rip in space. This garden was huge and housed every plant, flower and herb known to the universe. Dr Jade who used her plants to make medicines and cures kept it in order.

This was all a thousand years in the time of The Silver Millennium when Queen Serenity was in reign. Grace was a respected aristocrat in the kingdom; one of The Queens' trusted advisers. "Not as trusted as the likes of Luna and Artimis who were the PERSONAL advisors of course," she said with a slight sniff "But I was also your mother's sister-"

"MY MOTHER?!" Ursula cried before she could stop her self.

"Yes, I don't know about her now. She was the carer of the garden before you, she was a great woman, lived to serve others in the garden."

"How come she-I mean- how did I- what happened?"

"The moon kingdom was destroyed by Queen Beryl and her Dark Kingdom. The Queen loved her people so much she sent them to be reborn in the future, or our present."

"What happened to me?"

"You were killed by an agent of the Dark Kingdom; Mantissa Dark-thorn. An evil sorceress who had a personal vendetta against you and your family, I think you charged in to defend your garden and she killed you."

"Why did she have a vendetta?"

Grace shook her head. "I don't know dear. Other soldiers of the moon kingdom later killed her, but not before she captured you and then killed you. Your mother was no where to be seen when the Moon Kingdom fell, so I assume she was reborn like everyone else."

"What about you? How come you are a rat?"

"I am a sorceress like Mantissa and when I fought her she turned me into a rat, I was sent by Queen Serenity to be your guardian and teacher."

"Kinda like Giles in Buffy? So does that mean I have special powers?"

"Yes, you are Sailor Jade, a member of a group of girls and boys chosen to defend love and justice called Sailor Senshi-"

Something in Ursula's head went bing "I am A SAILOR SCOUT?!" She cried "I AM JUST LIKE SAILOR MOON?! SHE'S MY HERO!!"

"Ssshhush!!" Cried Grace "Do you want everyone to hear?"

"Sorry, I can't believe it! I am a Sailor scout! Wow! Ohmygod! I can't believe it!"

"You need this," said Grace "It will transform you into Sailor Jade, I will guide you as to what your new powers are." She handed Ursula a rather plain looking gold ring with a Jade gem set into it. And so it began.

From then on, Ursula was Sailor Jade. She had dreamed about fighting along side her heroes the Sailor Scouts since she first heard about them on the news. The outfits, the danger and the excitement! It was amazing!

Or at least it would be when she finally gets some monsters to fight.

She finally got her chance to prove herself, her first mission. Which was to lead her to her past, not just her mother, but her enemy Mantissa. A few questions did remain, why did she capture her and then kill her? Why did she want her in particular? Why did her name stand out from others in her mind so much? Grace had mentioned other names such as Princess Rei and a Princess Ami. But none stuck out so much as Mantissa Dark-thorn. It was odd, too odd. She had a feeling that she wasn't dead, she felt too much alive. Some where, she was hiding some where.

When she expressed these fears to Grace, she laughed "I think a ton of soldier power and rubble would have got anyone my dear."

"Yeah, I suppose. Any way, a thousand years has to have killed her if that hasn't," said Ursula.

Yet, this didn't feel right.

They were in Ursula's room and she was staring out of her window with Aretha Franklin's soft melodies singing into the air. She watched the rainfall outside in the hot summer air; the sky was an ink wash of grey clouds and heavy thunder rumbled. Grace was on her lap grooming her whiskers. Ursula watched more rain tumble outside lost in her thoughts when a piece of paper blew in and hit her square in the face. She cursed and pulled the piece of paper off her face and saw it had writing on it:

Sailor Jade,

Your help is desperately needed. Meet me ALONE at the park gardens in five minutes and I will explain.

Yours Sincerely

A Friend

"It could be a trap," said Grace over her shoulder. Ursula nodded, "Even if it is, I have to answer some how. Maybe if I turn up with recruits?"

"They want us to come alone."

"Why would that be do you think?"

Grace shrugged, "Why don't we find out?"

Ursula held up her hand with the ring on the finger "JADE CRYSILIS POWER MAKE UP!!!!!" She cried.

In a flash of brilliance she transformed. First her jeans melded away into a green pleated skirt and her vest top morphed into a blue bodice with a green bow on the chest and a green dickey around her shoulders completed the sailor look. On her back another green bow morphed. Petals strapped themselves around her arms and feet into a pair of blue gloves and knee high green platform boots. Her hair was tied up in a green silk scarf in a high pony tail and large gold ring earring morphed around her ears. Her glasses fizzled away and on her forehead a green stone tiara formed on her forehead and so did a green neck choker around her neck.

She opened her eyes and looked down at herself, then in the mirror. It was still hard to believe it was her, she looked so different with her hair tied up and no glasses. The skirt was a little too short for her liking, but she lived with that, after all, where else would she get such a cool outfit?

And now "Well," she said to Grace "Here goes nothing."

To be continued…