Disclaimer : I do not own Sailor Moon, you know it and I know it.

ENJOY !!!!!!

The Lunar Princess of the Earth

Chapter 1

Troubled Days and Nights

The full moon was rising over the city of Tokyo. As it quietly made it's way across the dark, star dappled sky, it shot a beam of bright, silvery light through a gap in the curtains that covered the windows of a bedroom in the Juban district. The soft glow illuminated the room, showing light pink walls and the rest of the décor that clearly showed that this room was the haven of a young girl.

There were a few pieces of clothing thrown over the chair in front of a desk that had a few books and papers stacked near a computer that had an odd screensaver of bunnies hopping across the screen. The bookshelf next to the desk held an impressive manga collection with a few paperback books scattered in the mix. There was also a small mountain of assorted stuffed animals next to a dresser that had a couple of drawers partially open and a few random clothing items hanging out of them. The walls had framed pictures hanging on them. Some of the pictures were of a family, while some contained a group of girls, smiling and laughing as they posed for the shots.

The nightstand next to the bed held a small lamp and a battered alarm clock that looked as if had been repeatedly thrown at the wall. On this nightstand was also a slender vase holding a beautiful, long-stemmed, blood red rose next to a photograph in a silver frame. The picture was of a girl with long blonde hair that was held in two buns on top of her head before trailing down into pigtails on either side of her face. On her face was a wide, happy smile that went all the way up to her big, sky-blue eyes. Of course it was easy to see why she would be so happy. Behind the girl stood a young man who had his arms wrapped around her. Tall, with shiny, coal black hair and eyes of the deepest sapphire, it was guaranteed that he had made quite a few women swoon.

The moonlight fell across the bed, in which the blonde girl from the picture was currently laying in. Fast asleep, she appeared to be resting comfortably until the moonlight shined upon her face. She gave a small moan and grimaced as if she was dreaming something unpleasant. Suddenly a small crescent moon symbol began to glow on her forehead.

Serena was conscious of the fact that she was dreaming. This was a recurring dream that she had come to expect whenever she was stressed out or had a particularly bad day. Well, at this moment, she was stressed and had been through a day that she hoped she never had to experience again.

First, she had almost been late to school that morning. While this was not an uncommon occurrence for her, it was harder than usual for her to get up this morning because there had been a youma attack the night before that had kept her from getting to bed until 3 am. Since this was the first time that the sailor scouts had had to fight an enemy for almost two years, she wasn't used to the lack of sleep anymore. The battle had been long and hard, but in the end, she and the scouts had managed to destroy the youma. But the presence of that youma bothered her greatly. Everything had been peaceful and quiet since Galaxia's defeat two years before. She didn't want to face the possibility of a new enemy now when she was busy with so many other things.

Second, since she was only two weeks away from graduating high school, it seemed like all of her teachers had saved all of the hard work for the last minute. She felt like she had reports and projects due in every subject, and they all had to be turned in and receive passing marks in order to be presented with her diploma on graduation day. Luckily she had completely changed her study habits in the last couple of years, so now she was actually a decent student, but it was still a lot of hard work in a short amount of time. The only people not having a complete nervous breakdown at the size of their workload were Amy and Melvin. Of course, the two of them thrived on academics with what seemed to be very little effort. Thank goodness they were both close friends and willing to help her study when she was having problems with anything.

On top of all the stress she had going on in school, you would think that home would be a nice, quiet sanctuary where she could relax while working on all of those crappy assignments. Not even. Her mother was running around like an escapee from a mental institution. She had insisted on throwing a graduation party for Serena and her friends at the house following the ceremony. Serena had protested, saying that they had plans for a party of their own, including a sleepover at Raye's temple. Mrs. Tsukino had waved away her daughter's protests saying that even though the girl's were about to embark on their own lives, they should share this with their families. Serena found it too hard to disappoint her mother, so she was letting her throw the party and she and the girls would have their own celebration later that night.

So with herself and all of her friends all wrapped up with trying to finish up high school, and her mother constantly popping in and out to ask her questions like, 'What kind of cheese should we have?' or 'Which table linens would look best?' Serena was just grateful that she wasn't brain dead yet. Luckily, she still had her pillar of strength to lean on.

Darien…oh how she feel calmer just by thinking of him. Granted he was several thousands of miles away attending college at Harvard, as he had been for the last two years, but they stayed in constant contact. Unlike the first time he had left and Serena had gone several months without hearing from him, of course Galaxia had a hand in that, they both had cell phones that they could dial at any hour and hear each other's voice, unless they were in class that is. But if they missed a call, they made sure to return it as soon as possible. Another great investment that kept them close during this separation was the web cams that they each had installed on their computers. So not only could they talk to each other often, they could see each other too. It made the situation a little bit easier to bear.

But right now Serena felt anything but calm as she began to moan and thrash about in the bed, clearly in the grips of a disturbing dream. She began crying out and calling "Endymion" in her sleep. She jerked suddenly, causing her leg to collide with the body of the black cat that slept at the end of her bed.

Luna came awake sharply as she took in the sight of her mistress tossing and turning on the bed. All of a sudden she stopped moving and just lay there with tears streaming down her cheeks from under her closed eyelids. "Endy", she whispered brokenly, and then was silent.

'The poor dear.' Luna thought to herself 'She's been under so much pressure lately. I'm not surprised that she's having that nightmare again.' Luna was the only person besides Darien that Serena had ever confided in about her recurring nightmare. In it, she was forced to relive the fall of the Moon Kingdom, along with the deaths of all of her friends, Prince Endymion, and herself. It was a heart-wrenching experience that usually left Serena feeling tired and blue the next day.

Seeking to comfort her princess, Luna made her way up to the head of the bed. Just as she nuzzled up to Serena's damp cheek, Serena shot upright in the bed, eyes wide with panic and said "Melody" before dropping back onto her pillow with a small cry.

"Serena are you okay?' Luna asked, her voice heavy with concern.

Serena turned her tear filled eyes toward her feline advisor before reaching out and dragging Luna to her chest to hold her in her arms. Her body was shaking uncontrollably. "Oh Luna," she said on a sob, "it was horrible."

"Was it the old nightmare again?" Luna inquired, her heart aching for the girl.

Serena sat up. "Yes…and no. I mean it started out the same, but there was something different this time." Her brow wrinkled as she thought hard about the dream she had just experienced. "I can't remember what exactly, but something was different."

"I'll say, you just about tore the bed into pieces, and came close to kicking me across the room." Luna said with a hint of exasperation in her voice.

"I'm sorry Luna." Serena apologized as she hugged the cat tightly to her chest.

"It's quite alright." Luna said as thought about what she had witnessed as Serena had been in the throes of her nightmare. Then something struck her. "Who is Melody?"

"Who?" Serena asked, still slightly dazed.

"Melody" Luna said, "You called out that name right as you woke up."

Serena shook her head slowly. "I don't know anyone by that name, and I don't think I did in my past life either. What about you Luna, does it mean anything to you?"

Luna thought for a moment. "No, it's not ringing any bells with me either, but you said the dream was different from what you have seen in the past."

"Yeah, but I can't remember why. Everything's all fuzzy." Serena said, frowning. "Maybe I'm finally losing what little bit of sanity I've been able to hold on to for the last four years."

"Ha ha, very funny..." Luna began, but was cut short by a beeping sound coming from the watch on Serena's wrist.

"Oh no, this can't be good news." Serena groaned. She pushed a button on the watch and an image of Sailor Mars filled the small screen.

"Rise and shine Meatball Head. We've got a youma loose down by the docks. We could use some moon power, so get your ass in gear." Sailor Mars growled. Apparently she wasn't very happy about being pulled out in the middle of the night either.

"I'm on my way Raye, see ya soon." Serena answered. As she cut the transmission, she was already reaching for the broach she kept under her pillow at night.

"Moon Eternal Power" she called softly to keep from waking any of her family. A soft pink light and white feathers filled the room and surrounded her briefly before fading and revealing the Sailor Scout of love and justice, Sailor Moon.

"Oh well, I didn't feel like going back to sleep just yet anyway. Good thing tomorrow is Saturday, huh Luna. At least I don't have to worry about making it to first period English on time. See ya in a little while." And with that Sailor Moon leapt out of the bedroom window.

Luna stared sadly after the figure of Sailor Moon running off into the night. "Please be careful Serena." she whispered softly. To be honest, she had a really bad feeling about what may be waiting for them in the near future. She couldn't help but think that the emergence of these new youma and the change in Serena's nightmare spoke of trouble coming. Thank goodness Darien would be home next week. She had a feeling that the Moon Princess was going to need her prince by her side now more than ever.

"Melody" she said to herself. For some reason that name made her feel unbearably sad. Troubled, she curled up on the windowsill to wait for Serena's return.

A/N End of Chapter 1. I hope it wasn't too slow, but this is new idea for me and I am just trying to lay some ground work. I don't know how long this story will end up being, but I am intending for it to be quite long. Please R & R, constructive criticism is welcome, but flames will be extinguished.

Later,

Sere-chan