Author's Note: In this story I combine elements from the original Sailor Moon Anime (Japanese & English versions) as well as elements from the new Anime/Manga. Please note I use the English versions of first names for the sailor scouts. Enjoy! :-)

Chapter 1

Return to Tokyo

The skies over Tokyo had been dark for days, drenching the city and flooding the streets. Serena sat idly by the window, sadly watching the rain flood the yard of her childhood home. She had expected warmth and a sultry summer to greet her when she had arrived only a week ago. Instead she was greeted with rain drops as large as rocks, a black sky, and a very cranky Luna.

Five years. That was the last time she had been in this house. Serena emitted a sigh as she remembered why she had left Tokyo and all that had happened since.

Darien.

Her first and only true love. Her destiny.

Once all of their enemies had been defeated and life returned to normal, things between them began to unravel. She wasn't sure of when she knew something was wrong but she knew it had to do with them growing apart. Darien was studying to be a doctor. He was about to start his own practice when suddenly his demeanor towards her changed. He was about to start his career and make a new life for himself….

But Serena hadn't changed. She was still clumsy, lazy, a terrible student, and late to everything besides a meal. The two of them fought endlessly, arguing over every little aspect of their relationship. Soon it became clear that destiny alone was holding them together.

Destiny or not, Darien ended it.

Serena had gone through their last months together over and over in her mind every second once their relationship ended. They had been together for so long and they'd been through so much. Why hadn't he asked her to be his wife? They had all expected it. When Serena graduated from school she believed he would but instead he pulled away. The only conclusion that Serena could formulate was that she wasn't ideal for him anymore. When she finished school she was still the same Serena, she had no idea of what to do with her future or what would become of her.

Maybe Darien was ashamed. Maybe there was someone else. Maybe….

She had finished reliving those moments. Darien was her past now. When he left her, every memory in Tokyo became painful. She couldn't face her friends, who had moved on to their new lives. She couldn't handle Luna's agonizing lectures on how to mold herself into a proper adult so Darien would return. She couldn't stay with every memory of her failed destiny pressing against her every second of every day. Serena did the only logical thing she could: pack up her bags and fly across the ocean

She found a new future overseas, a new life she could be happy with. She went to college in America, majored in education, and found a job teaching Japanese at a high school in Chicago. She joined a gym, started a yoga class, met new people, and made new friends. She didn't think of returning to Tokyo after she graduated. Gone was the clumsy, lazy girl that Serena had been when she had first transformed into Sailor Moon. She had finally blossomed into a graceful, intelligent, serene woman.

The new Serena had friends in America, a nice house, a great job, and the perfect boyfriend, Blake. All thoughts of returning to Tokyo had left her mind. She had a home in America now with a promising future. She had no desire to return to the life she had left behind. So when Raye had called her saying she was needed back home, she hesitated. In the end she packed her suitcase with the intention of returning though she had a nasty feeling in her stomach about it.

When she'd told Blake she was going to Tokyo she said it was because her friends needed her. He merely nodded, encouraging her to spend some time with them during her summer off. He didn't know about her past. He didn't know that his girlfriend of three years had been one of the infamous Sailor Senshi, secretly fighting evil on the streets of Tokyo. He didn't know she was a reincarnated princess of the moon, destined to protect Earth. He didn't know that it was her love for Darien that had stimulated her rebirth. She couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth.

Now she was worried. It wasn't just her friends that needed her. Raye had been attacked by a mysterious stranger with dark powers. If her hunch was right, a greater evil than the sailor scouts had ever met before was looming in Tokyo. People were disappearing, the sun had vanished behind a sea of dark and heavy clouds, the rains had begun with no intention of stopping. Something was wrong. Serena knew that if Raye's vision was true, she wouldn't be able to hide her true identity from Blake much longer.

Despite her dread of coming clean with Blake, there was a greater problem due in an hour. All of the scouts would be meeting at Raye's temple for their first scout meeting in nearly seven years. While she was excited to see everyone after so much time, there was one she wasn't sure she wanted to see.

Darien.

How could he not be there? How could she face him? Would he still be the same? Would he be married now? Sighing, Serena stood and slipped into a pair of skinny jeans. She shrugged on a white tank top and a pink shrug for warmth. She also unearthed an old pair of rain boots, pulled those on, and grabbed her umbrella. Her long blond hair, now worn down loose, rippled behind her as she sped out into the rain.

Despite the heavy rain, Serena easily found her way to the Cherry Hill Temple. Five years or not, Serena couldn't have lost her way. The old stone steps greeted her as if they were old friends, scraping the bottom of her sodden boots with a crunch. Before her, the trees loomed, devoid of their leaves which lay rotting at the base of their ancient trunks. Everything looked exactly the same as she had left it. Would she find her friends the same way?

She hesitated before the sliding doors of the temple. She could hear Raye's voice, Mina's high laughter, Amy's slight giggle, and Lita's deep chuckle. The familiarity created a lump in her throat. These were her friends. They had a bond like no others before them… and she had left them…

Guilt wrenched its way around her insides. Raye had been lucky to escape her attack. More danger lay ahead of the scouts, and when Sailor Moon was needed Serena had hesitated. It had taken her two weeks to come to Tokyo. The old Serena would have been there in hours. Would she still be Sailor Moon? Could she? How much of her had really changed? Before she could reflect any more the doors slid open with a loud bang.

"SERENA!" Mina screamed and pounced on her before Serena even knew what hit her. "Oh my goodness! You look so beautiful! When did you get back? Where have you been? Oh my… you look so different!"

"It's those meatballs. She finally got rid of them." Raye muttered.

"Geez, let her breathe." Lita pulled Mina off a gasping Serena with ease and crossed her arms with a smile.

Serena returned her hug gratefully and took in the scene before her. Raye looked exactly the same, clad in her temple maiden's robe, sitting before the great fire. Amy was dressed in a light blue dress, seated against the wall with a silver laptop before her. Mina had on jeans and an orange sweater. Her usual red bow was gone. Instead her hair was back in an elaborate braid. Lita however, had on a pair of black leather pants with a green jacket. Her hair was up in its usual ponytail but she had added some highlights to it.

"Wow." Was all Serena could muster.

Lita gave her a warm hug, pulled her into the temple, and shut the doors behind her.

"Well?" Mina asked eagerly. "How are the states?"

"Great." Serena replied sheepishly as she sank beside Amy against the wall. "I teach Japanese there."

Raye snorted. "They let you?"

"It was your strongest subject." Amy replied gently. "I'm proud of you Serena. I'm sure you're a great teacher."

"Thank you Amy. What have you been doing?" Serena asked.

"I work at the hospital… pediatric wing." Amy said proudly.

"She's great." Mina affirmed. "I did a story on her last week. She saved the lives of five children that were in a school bus accident."

Amy blushed.

"You got the job?" Serena asked Mina. Before Serena had left Mina had been an intern at a local news station with the hope of becoming a reporter and eventually a TV anchor.

Mina nodded. "I am a reporter now. You can catch me on the five o'clock news. I'm not an anchor yet… but I should be soon."

"That's wonderful! And you Lita?"

"The best chef in Tokyo." Amy answered for her.

"Hardly the best…" Lita blushed. "But yes… the best. I have my own restaurant. You should come by sometime. Friends eat free. " There was a sadness in her voice, as if it pained her to talk.

"I missed you guys." Serena admitted. "I'm so sorry I didn't call…"

An awkward pause fell over the room. Though Serena hadn't called, the rest of the scouts hadn't bothered to call her either. Guilt wrenched each of them.

"Great, well, we will have time for apologies later. Right now we've got a big problem." Raye snapped. She turned from the fire to face the girls, breaking the silence.

"The Negaverse has returned." Luna announced as she strolled into the room with Artemis following closely behind.

The girls gasped.

"We defeated the Negaverse." Serena said in disbelief. "Queen Beryl is dead."

"The Negaverse has much evil within it, and stronger than Beryl." Artemis said.

"It has come to Tokyo. I sensed it last month." Raye explained. "During my search I was attacked. It was so strong. If I hadn't got away it would have no doubt drained all of my energy."

"Who was responsible?" Mina asked.

"We don't know yet." Luna stated. "But Raye needs help. We asked you girls and the outer scouts to come back. I have a bad feeling about this. We will need all the help we can get. The outer scouts will be of great assistance."

Serena shifted against the wall uncomfortably. Well, she hadn't expected this. "I have a life in America. This life… fighting evil… I can't do it."

Everyone turned to stare at her. Though everyone had spent the past several years doing their own things, Serena had been the only one to leave Tokyo. She had broken away all ties holding her to a past she no longer wanted to remember. Her only choice was to leave. She couldn't stay now, especially with her new life.

"We all lead different lives now Serena. I work at the hospital, Mina is a news reporter, Lita has her restaurant, Raye runs the temple… but fighting evil is our destiny. It is what unites us, what we were reborn to do." Amy said, almost in a whisper.

Serena fell silent. Her friends wouldn't understand. How could they? Darien hadn't hurt any of them; he hadn't changed the course of their futures. Sure they'd built their lives in Tokyo, starting new careers and making new friends, but their past was the only thing that united this group of girls now, a past that Serena didn't care to remember.

"We know why you left Serena." Mina said quickly. "And I'm so sorry we weren't there for you when it happened…"

"None of you were!" Serena cried as tears filled her eyes. "All of you were building your own futures, finding your own destiny while mine left me. He left me! After he promised he never would… after we had traveled through time bound by nothing but our love…"

Lita put an arm around Serena, pulling her close. "I'm so sorry. We weren't there for you as the friends we needed to be. I wanted to help you so badly Serena, we all did. But how could we? None of us have had anything remotely close to what you and Darien shared. We didn't know what to say or what to do or how to make it better. We couldn't. The sailor scouts, with all their power, can do nothing to mend a broken heart."

Serena cringed at the sound of his name. She understood what Lita was telling her, but that didn't chase away the feeling of betrayal and abandonment she had felt and still harbored. Time hadn't healed all wounds after all.

"You are Sailor Moon." Luna reminded her. "Your place is here."

"I thought it was. Now I'm not so sure." Serena whispered.

"I was told there'd be food—"

The girls spun around to see Amara and Michelle standing against the sliding doors. Amara was dressed in a black and yellow biking suit while Michelle wore a teal mini dress. While Amara had a snide smile on her face, Michelle appeared grim. It was unclear how much of the conversation they had heard.

"I take that as a no." Amara said.

"Sailor Moon…" Michelle inclined her head towards Serena. "Princess."

Amara did a small bow before Serena and took a seat next to Raye.

Again, Serena cringed. What was wrong with her? If these were her true feelings, why had she come? What could she do for her friends if her heart wasn't in it? How could she help the sailor scouts defeat the new threat from the Negaverse?

"The same way we all do." Trista answered for her.

Sailor Pluto, dressed in her scout uniform, approached the group from Raye's fire. The flames danced harmlessly around her form, caressing her dark skirt instead of singeing it. She stepped easily onto the wooden floor, coming to a stop before a very confused Serena.

"We all what?" Mina asked.

"I was speaking to the Princess." Trista answered. Her eyes never left Serena's.

"I don't understand you." Serena said.

"Like Amy said, we all have different lives now. But remember you are a sailor scout first. You are our princess. One day you will be Queen Serenity. You must lead." Trista said simply. "Find the strength within you."

Serena grimly nodded, knowing it was of no use to argue with the keeper of time. If anything, she wanted the attention off of herself as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, her wish came true in a form she did not desire.

Michelle left the door frame to join Amara on the floor, revealing a very wet Darien.

"Great! Everyone's here. We can get started on catching everyone up to speed." Artemis announced as Darien entered the shrine.

Serena scooted closer to Amy as Darien took a seat a little too close to her. She did her best to avert her eyes but there he was; tall, strong, and handsome, with the slightest hint of scruff along his jaw. She could feel his eyes upon her, taking her in. She was vaguely aware of Luna and Artemis yapping in the background but she could only concentrate on not looking at Darien. The heat from his body was immense. She could feel his presence so close to her. She found herself yearning for his touch but resisted the urge.

"Sailor Moon?" Luna said. "What do you believe our next move should be?"

The entire room turned to look at her. Serena struggled to keep the heat from rising in her cheeks. "We need more information before we can do anything. We should start by investigating the scene of Raye's attack. The rest of us will visit the most common areas where the missing people were last seen. Amy, will you look into the latest developments in the city? Specifically those near these locations? That may help us narrow our search."

The group stared at Serena in awe. Trista merely smiled.

"We should also stay together in groups of two or three. Raye got lucky when she escaped, we cannot count on that luck holding out for the rest of us."

"Uh… good." Artemis said, breaking the silence.

The silence that filled the room was uneasy, as if someone had just told a really bad joke.

"What?" Serena asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"You have grown up princess." Luna said.

"I'm not a child anymore." Serena answered firmly. "We have work to do."