A/N:

Enjoy as I come out of my fanfiction retirement. From 7 years ago, finally edited a little, here is chapter one.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of its characters! But you know that already. ;)

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Reigning Roses

Prologue

It was the day before the reign of the roses…

…and all I could clearly think about as Usagi walked weeping from the hospital room, was that I had a plan.

It was a cold, rainy day in September. I had been walking Usagi from school as I did most days, watching the black umbrellas of others bob up and down as they scurried to find shelter from the downpour. At that point in time, nothing was wrong. Usagi was her usual happy self, and at my side, she chattered idly about sweets. For a long time we walked under the overcast, grey sky, our bodies close and warm beneath our own red umbrella of fate. We were enjoying the day that we felt so privileged to live.

But with no warning at all, our day—our lives—were altered forever.

At first, I had not realized something was wrong, but when I noticed that Usagi's footsteps had quieted beside me, I stopped. I expected to glance over and see that Usagi had tripped or had found something shiny to pick up off the ground. I expected Usagi to be herself: her usual, bubbly, clutzy, air-headed self. When I turned my head, though, it was not what I had expected. As if in slow motion, I saw her: she was bent over with her elbows resting on her thighs and her pale little hands clasped over her face. From between her fingers, crimson red blood was dribbling down her hands and forearms, dripping down to the wet pavement below her. The drops spider-webbed across the pavement, spreading like cancer.

"Seiya!" Usagi had yelped as her frightened eyes searched for mine. I would never forget those unfamiliar, terrified eyes. I was afraid because she was afraid. The woman I had watched defeat Galaxia bravely and alone, now seemed so meek and Earthly. Her next words removed me from my shock: "It's not stopping!"

Tears were running down Usagi's face. They had mixed with the blood and trailed down her neck as her sobs threatened to break her frail body. I dropped the umbrella and moved to Usagi's side, holding her shoulders as I urged her to stay with me. Her frame trembled beneath my hands; my mind raced for ways to help her. I had started to crack a joke when she stumbled suddenly, and her knees gave out beneath her. I choked out a short "oh" as I barely caught her, unprepared for the sudden turn of her being. Her body laid still in my arms, pale as a porcelain doll, blood still dripping from her cheeks.

I could no longer remain calm, and I screamed for help at the top of my lungs. Usagi hung lifeless in my arms, but I was too afraid to let her go. I was afraid that she would leave my world if she left my arms.

In a blur of worry and helplessness, the ambulance ride to the hospital and the first hour I waited in the hospital felt like years. As I look back, most of the time was just a hazy jumble of thoughts and pictures that did not go together. The future I had imagined seemed impossible. There had been a point while I was sitting in the waiting room, where I looked down at my red hands, stained and reeking of Usagi's blood, and I felt my stomach tie into knots. It wasn't because I was sickened by the blood, but it was the impending doom I just could not shake. Like rocks sitting on my chest, the weight of my fear made it hard to breathe. I wanted to have faith that Usagi would be okay. After all, she was to become Neo Queen Serenity. Earth's future depended on her. Still, I could not sake the ominous shadow that loomed over my thoughts.

Usagi emerged from the hospital room in a little white gown, her palms pressed against her forehead as she held back sobs that came out as gargled sounds from being strangled in her throat. She took two uneasy steps before I was at her side again stroking her face, her arms, her back. I could feel the fear boiling over again as it began to transform into a reality. I swallowed hard, a measly attempt to push the fear into a quieter place in my brain. Usagi's small hands grasped fists full of my shirt, preparing herself for the news she was about to reveal to me. Her body leaned heavily against my chest.

"Seiya," her voice was hoarse from her sobs, "I'm dying."

I stared numbly into Usagi's blue eyes, unsure of what emotion my face was showing. In my mind I knew there was complete disbelief, utter shock…and a jumble of so many emotions I wasn't sure what to feel, but Usagi couldn't be dying. Everyone was dying. But not her. Not us or any of the sailor senshi. It was impossible. She had to live; she had a duty to this world. I hoped the anger that began to well inside me was not showing. I was not angry at her, but at the future that was no longer true.

I opened my mouth to ask all the questions I'm sure she had already asked herself, but I couldn't get the sounds to come out. I fought back my own tears of so many emotions, knowing that if I spoke I would fall apart. So instead, I just exhaled. With my breath it felt like a bit of my spirit had left me.

"They think I have two weeks at most, bu-but they don't even know what's wrong."

In my arms, Usagi had continued to tell me what they knew, what was coming, what was unknown. There was a lot of the unknown. Each dismal piece of information numbed me even more. The doctors knew that her blood was thinning; important cells and proteins were dying. If her body continued to destroy the cells at the same rate, she wouldn't last even the two weeks they had given her. They had prescribed her medications that would make her nauseous and tired, and even with those, the doctors weren't sure they would work. In the meantime, Usagi would be put through tests. Lab results would give them more information so that they could determine what would work best, but for now she was basically their guinea pig.

As we waited for Usagi's parents and Mamoru to arrive that day in that cold, unwelcoming hospital room, Usagi asleep in my arms, I could remember thinking, 'I can't let this happen. I can't lose her.' And though my thoughts didn't mean a thing, I began to form a plan. It wasn't a plan to save her—no, I wasn't in so much denial that I still believed that was a possibility—but I loved her with all my heart. I needed her to know it in her last days. No longer would I live as just her friend in her last days. For everyday she lived, I was going to give her a rose. And with every rose, I would give her a note to tell her how much she meant to me.

…and then the day before the reign of the roses ended.