New Moon Rising
Perhaps this time...we'll find...happiness...
Disclaimer: I really do wish I owned Sailor Moon, but it's Naoko Takeuchi's. And Kodansha's. And Toei Animation's.
Author's Notes: Based around the manga. Essentially a prose version of the suicide scene in the first arc. Originally written for a contest, but for some reason, I never submitted it. Uses the English manga dialog because I thought it was so beautifully written.
-x-x-x-
The first steps were the most difficult. Of course.
The point of the sword scraped against the marble floor. Usagi—Sailor Moon—tried her best to walk as steadily as possible as her mother's words rang in her ears.
Be proud of the fact that you are a princess!
Usagi couldn't stop the tears as she stared dully at Endymion...no-
Mamoru...
He was attacking them. Brutally, unbelievably, attacking them.
Usagi's thoughts were progressing backwards, to the past life...the magnificent Silver Millennium...
-x-x-x-
She was sneaking out again. Unbelievable.
Slinking quietly around a pillar. Glancing back furtively. Elegant white gown rustling.
Sailor Venus rolled her eyes.
"Found you! Princess!" she cried, aggravated, as she popped out from behind her own pillar.
Princess Serenity jumped, then winced. She had been caught in the act.
Slowly, she turned around to face her angry guardian, clothed in orange. Venus looked furious.
"Are you running off to see the Prince again?" she demanded to know. "It's dangerous to meet him just for fun!"
The Princess was shocked. "It's not just for fun!" she replied, sounding scandalized.
"You don't get it, Venus!" she accused. Sailor Venus jumped.
"Because you've never fallen in love with anyone before!" Serenity continued, sticking out her tongue and making a funny face. "You don't understand my feelings!"
And with that, the Princess of the Silver Millennium turned tail and ran off, while Venus ground her teeth, muttering, "Princess!"
Then she smiled slightly. "You don't know anything..." the Guardian said softly, own thoughts traveling back.
-x-x-x-
"Princess! You're here again? We have to go home!" Sailor Venus grabbed Serenity by the shoulder.
Then, "It must be hard, having a bundle of curiosity for a Princess," the silver-haired Shitennou, Kunzite, commented, while Prince Endymion, shocked, said "Kunzite!"
Venus could only blush at the sight of this handsome man. Then she promptly spun around and began swatting herself on the head, while Sailor Mercury, surprised, questioned, "Venus?"
And later, Venus was talking quietly to herself.
"I'm worried about her..."
"One day, she will be the Queen, her duty to watch over the Earth and protect the Silver Imperium Crystal..."
"She won't get hurt by falling in love...will she?"
-x-x-x-
And Usagi also recalled being with Endymion...
-x-x-x-
The breeze stirred the sand softly, and the sun sparkled on the sea. She nuzzled closer to the Prince, liking his warmth and the strength of his embrace.
"I feel safe here, watching the sea and feeling the breeze," Serenity sighed, picking at the sand around her bare feet.
Endymion smiled at his beloved. "How does our planet look from the Moon?" he asked, stroking her hair.
Serenity smiled at him, too. "Like a beautiful blue crystal ball," she murmured, laying her head on his shoulder.
And later, kissing each other under the arch of the palace.
"So warm..." Serenity sighed happily as Endymion wrapped his arms around her.
When I'm with you...I feel like my heart is transparent...
I feel my power growing...
"I wish...I could stay like this forever."
-x-x-x-
But it couldn't stay that way...
-x-x-x-
"Endymion...what's that dark cloud?" Serenity questioned, clinging to him fearfully.
The Prince sighed. "I don't know..."
"Some time ago, that darkness, and a crowd of large stones appeared there."
Serenity stared up at him, afraid, as Endymion continued.
"They keep spreading over our planet."
-x-x-x-
"Stop!" Endymion shouted, brandishing his sword. "Hate and war will get us nowhere!"
But Beryl, strengthened by Queen Metallia's power, raised her sword and brought it down Endymion's back as he swirled to stand in front of Serenity.
She screamed as he fell to the ground. "Endymion!" But he didn't respond.
"Endymion! Endymion!" she shrieked, clenching her fists.
-x-x-x-
Her fingers, clammy and cold grasped the sword. She held it against her chest; closed her eyes.
And she knew nothing more.
-x-x-x-
Queen Serenity feel to the ground, weeping, as she gazed upon her daughter, the Prince of Earth, and the four Guardians of the Silver Millennium all fallen on the steps to the Moon Palace.
Looking past them, the Queen could see the dark shadow of Queen Metallia. Her hand tightened around the Silver Crystal.
I'll seal it away...
That demon...
And this Moon as well...
I'll seal you away...
And give you to the future!
-x-x-x-
Tears pricked at Usagi's eyes, but she understood now. Watching him...
I can't stand...to see him like this...anymore...
Her grip tightened around the hilt of the sword she held.
"Sailor Moon!" Venus cried, but Usagi couldn't be stopped. Wouldn't.
Is this the only way?
Is this...the reason we were reborn?
The thoughts echoed through Sailor Moon's mind as she leaped at Endymion, swinging the sword in an arc towards his chest.
Usagi could only weep when his surprised eyes met hers.
Mamoru...
She kissed him.
Then balanced the point of the sword against her chest.
As the gasps of the other soldiers rang through the room, Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion,
reborn on the same planet so they could love each other, fell side by side.
The sword clanged to the ground.
Sailor Venus stared. Then began to scream in horrible pain, her words echoing as they only registered
dimly on Usagi's ears.
"Princess! This...this can't be what we were reborn for! This can't be our destiny!"
"NOOO! We're only repeating our former lives!"
But Usagi drifted in thoughts of her own.
Endymion...
You were my first love...
My only love...
Even if we're reborn in another life, we'll find each other...and then...
We'll fall in love again...
Endymion...
We'll transcend time...to live again...perhaps this time...
We'll find happiness...
Endymion...
We'll find...
Happiness...