Is it really your fate, to destroy the ones you love?

I'll predict your final love fortune.

You will be hopeless when it comes to love, for all eternity.

I woke up with a start, sweat coating my forehead. It was that same dream again. The last time I saw Ace...

I didn't notice at the time that I was crying and so I fell back to sleep with tears in my eyes.

This was about a month after I had graduated high school and everyone was very busy. Usagi and Mamoru were planning their wedding (mainly Usagi, since Mamoru was busy at university). Rei was also busy juggling university work and taking care of the shrine. Setsuna, Michiru, Haruka and Hotaru were preparing to travel the world. Ami had just left for medical school and Mako was still trying to get her shop into reality.

For this reason I didn't mention it to anyone at the time. Anyway, I pretty busy too, trying to find my way to stardom. I had got work in as an actress in my final year of high school and with the help of the three lights was trying to get work as an idol. I had attended what seemed like hundreds of auditions but hadn't gotten much back.

It was the day after the nightmare that I auditioned for the role of Linda Evangeligeli from Marie Buraidaru's masterpeice Aurora Wedding. I wasn't really expecting to get it but the manga was one of my favorites when I was young so I figured I'd give it a shot.

Linda's situation in the story was similar to my own. She was one of ten sisters who fought the forces of darkness while living as an ordianary girl at the same time. By the end of the story all of the sisters had found true love and Linda was left alone. Unlike myself, Linda was never bitter about her predicament and her perseverance was rewarded by a touching romance between herself and the mysterious Coattail Mask. I of course would never be so lucky. My fate was sealled from the moment I became Sailor V.

So anyway, I was at the audition. I hadn't spent much time learning my lines but I still felt confident, I knew the scene by heart anyway. It's a monologue where Linda admits to her loneliness. There were a lot of girls there, some as young as junior high students while some seemed to be housewives. A lot of them were gathered in little groups and were chatting animatedly. They probably knew each other from previous auditions. I scanned the room for a familiar face and finding none, moved to the edge of the room and went over the scene in my head.

My audition number was 224 so I was in for a long wait. I watched the girls leaving the audition room some with smug expressions on their faces, others less so. Some of the younger girls started crying. I felt a pang of empathy for them. I remember crying for hours after forgetting the words to the song at an audition. Rei resorted to buying me a huge cake to make me stop.

I started to get nervous when number 222 left the audition room. I was never one for stage fright but I couldn't help but feel a little sick before an audition especially one for a role as close to my heart as this one.

Minutes passed and finally I was called to the audition room. The I introduced myself and began the monologue.

"I've got to keep smiling, not just for my sake but for the others too. If I lose myself, who will protect this city?

There comes a point where you have to make choice between your emotions and your duty and I have made that choice.

It's true that I hate the fact that I have to be the one to take on this duty. It's not my decision. I am the one who destiny has chosen to be eternally alone..

I just need to lift my eyes, stare straight ahead and walk away. The future looms ahead and I mustn't loose my way. I can't keep myself from falling in love but I can turn my back and walk away with a forced smile..."

I think I delivered the lines pretty well. I don't really remember the judges reactions but for whatever reason, I joined the ranks of girls who left that room with tears in my eyes. I laughed at my silliness and was given strange looks from the remaining auditionees. I got ice cream on the way home to cheer myself up.

I was strangly quiet when Artemis asked me how things had gone. He was always supportive of my career choice (which I can't say for some people) but I could tell he was worried. I had moved out of my parents house just after graduating high school and had a cheap apartment in dodgy area of Tokyo. Artemis didn't like it there and spent most of his time at Usagi's place to be with his family.

For this reason, I was alone when I got the letter from the Aurora Wdding people. Getting a letter is always a good sign but I still didn't expect to get the part. My fingers shook as I tore open the envelope. I gave out an earpiercing scream that the neighbours would later complain about. I was going to be in Aurora Wedding! I could hardly contain my excitment. I called up all my friends and told them the good news.- Usagi, Rei, Mako, Ami, Setsuna (who told the rest of her family). I even called my mother and she seemed genuinly impressed. I was attacked with a barrage of questions about what the adaption of Aurora Wedding would be like and who would be playing who. I got a little annoyed at explaining to her thet I didn't know anything yet and we got into a fight.