AN: This is my fanfiction for Sailor Moon, and though it could be categorized as 'AU', I would like to think that it strikes closer to the original canon than most do. For as long as I've known about Sailor Moon, I have been in love with it. No other anime, manga, whatever has made me cry and laugh to... this extent. Naoko Takeuchi's vision was beautiful, and I hope she has even an idea of... how many hearts she has touched. How much she has touched my heart with her characters.
For this reason, it is my aim to keep the characters as their original personalities as much as I can. The story is roughly a mesh of anime, manga, seiryuus, and live action. Hopefully everything will be presented in a unique manner, but if a scenario should seem familiar, it is quite possible you've read or seen it before in one of the aforementioned.
I've decided to start with the beginning. I want this story to grow with Usagi.
Yoroshiku.
A thick fog had taken predominance of the street that night and left the residential district of Azabu-Juban desolate of night walkers. Indeed, even the stray wildlife had the good sense to keep off the roads, excepting two well-fed cats, whom had arranged a midnight meeting at an intersection bordered by two red mail boxes.
The white cat did not recognize the black cat as it appeared, and they both stared at each other until the white feline sat on its haunches and asked its acquaintance, "It's not like you to be late; I was almost worried." The words were voiced in such a natural manner that the other feline seemed not to notice that there was anything strange with a talking cat.
"I seem to recall that last time you failed to show altogether," she conversed back. Cats have often been criticized for not having distinctive eyebrows that allow for human emotion, but Luna managed an expression that seemed exasperated (which is an emotion that is quite human itself).She turned the intersection's curve after checking to see if Artemis had begun plodding behind her. They continued together a few feet in silence until Luna murmured out loud, "I should apologize."
Artemis allowed the other the cat to muse, and once it was clear that she had nothing else to add, he quipped, "Well I'm glad you did apologize; I'm lucky to be here at all. Minako has not been a fan of going to bed at a reasonable time." He perked his left ear forward as Luna considered a small, green hedge of a medium width. As she squeezed herself onto the small corporate owned lawn beyond, Artemis had little choice but to follow. "I never feel right. Not telling her, I mean. The sneaking out."
"Don't," Luna started as soon as the white cat's head poked through the shrubbery. "Feel guilty, that is. You should be more concerned for her physical well being. How about reminding her that young, school-aged girls need eight hours of sleep, hm?" She could not control the motion of her tail; it whipped back and forth shrewdly over her head.
The corporate lawn tapered into a parking lot with sparsely placed markings for parked cars, yet without the vehicles, the cats seemed to be consumed by the pavement until they reached a dumpster, a dumpster adjacent to a low rising complex. "Do you think I haven't?" Artemis assured Luna, after they had stopped in front of the condo. Inevitably, as he had done nearly every meeting in the past, he remarked with tangible pride, "She is a wonderful girl. Mature and brilliant. And..."
Artemis trailed quiet because Luna had proceeded. The complex they had approached remained dark and unlit, save for the dim street light that kept its backside illuminated. The outer walls were pale-faced and stood out well from the dark-themed roofing. It was surrounded by a fence that played along the hedge they crawled beneath earlier.
The black cat used the fence as a perch to reach the second story window, where she waited for her companion to reach her. She replied to him calmly and without much enthusiasm herself, "Oh yes, I too have been impressed by her. I'm surprised, really, with all of the publicity that she receives that she can keep so level-headed. And more surprised with the lack of concern for her physical well-being."
"I get it, Luna..."
"Good," she concluded and placed her paw on the window that she sat by. "Things should get easier real soon, though. I have high hopes."
Even her overall tone elevated as she said this, and it was enough to make Artemis excited by proxy. "Oh?"
"Yes. 'Oh'." Her paw firmed in its position. She waited until he looked into the window himself; the window revealed a dark room with furniture carelessly arranged, and one blonde-headed occupant tucked beneath thick blankets decorated in moons and stars. "I believe I've found someone else who is ready. If I am correct, Minako will have a companion to work with. A human companion," she adds, seeing Artemis's initial reaction. "Really, you don't have to look so indignant about it."
Artemis kissed his nose to the glass, but he could not see what Luna saw. Where she saw hope and promise, he saw a young girl roughly the same age as own charge, sleeping and unaware. Artemis felt sure that even if Minako had been caught asleep that she would not have been so easy to read as he found the tucked girl. "How can you be sure?" he asked doubtfully.
"I've been watching her. It's not been the easiest thing," she added, her ears drooped by some unspoken memory of hers, "and at first you may have your doubts (I certainly did), but there is something there." She met Artemis's gaze and she needled further, "Can't you feel it?"
The white cat shook his head. Cats are notoriously good at sensing things, which is why you might notice, Dear Reader, that your own cats know when it is time to go to the vet. When it is time to get ready for supper. When it is relaxation time. Oh yes, cats are very adequate surveyors of the ordinary and otherwise. Unfortunately in this instance, Artemis could only see what his blue eyes told him, and the night air would not lend an opinion. "No. But people are not always ready one-hundred percent of the time. Not even Minako."
"I see." Luna did not like that answer, but she couldn't fault Artemis for not being able to see what she had seen during the past two months.
"But I believe you!" he asserted. "If Luna thinks that this girl is special, then I support her opinion."
His support slightly mollified the black cat. She curled her tail against her seated haunch contently. "I am waiting for the right moment to contact her, and it will be tricky. She is..." The cat hesitates. "Well, that is to say, any young girl might feel slightly put off by the things they are unaware of. But the unfortunate 'accidents' that have been occurring around town may help convince her..."
"What if Minako...?" Artemis seated himself as well, the left side of his back smooshed against the window plane.
"Not yet. Minako's publicity..." The small crescent on Luna's forehead seemed to pale. "Usagi—the girl in there—is not the most level-headed. She would be star-struck and not take things seriously; no, no, she must be handled specially."
"I trust your judgement," Artemis said again, softly.
"Thank you, Artemis." The black cat flicked her gaze back at Artemis and studied his front. Her eyes, unlike his, maintained a dull shade of brick red. They shared a moment of harmonic silence until Luna's eyes veered toward the sky with an alien passiveness. She communicated with the night sky, its stars and the moon above some deep longing, a slice of wisdom and serenity until she found herself capable of speech again.
There was a rustle somewhere to their right. The hair on Luna's back became stiff and wiry as she glared at something over her companion's head, but the source of the noise proved to be nothing more than a dormouse making its way back home.
"So tense, Luna." Artemis seemed to be grinning at her.
"What a very illuminating observation." Luna gave him a look and lingered there for seconds more before making her way back to ground level. The gravel surrounding the condo crackled beneath her feet as she landed. "You should get back to Minako. I have a bad feeling about tonight... and the head of the household rises at an early hour. I should be surprised if the lights within were to be flicked on at any instant."
"But we just-" The white cat peered down, dismayed.
Luna crooked a gaze up at the second window. "I'm quite aware of what we just did, and the time spent doing it Artemis, but something is off tonight. I think I'm too tense for a reason."
Two, or three minutes passed where they only stared at each other.
"Luna," Artemis called from above, "Three months is too long. We should meet more often."
"I'm afraid it might not be wise," her voice trailed gloomily. "But perhaps we can catch an early morning meal before you return? I know of a small bakery down the street that leaves a small pail of milk out for the morning strays."
"Shameless!" Artemis criticized her while feeling considerably perked up.
The both left together, disappearing beneath the small yew hedge. They turned right onto the street and followed the hedge as it curved into an imposing wrought-iron gate and other such walling architectural tools.
The conversation had been particularly refreshing to both of them, because they had purposely skipped what the rest of the world found news-worthy. Wars have stopped and peace negotiations have popped into existence where never previously thought, underground shelters were becoming the 'it' thing to have where homeowners were concerned, and the price of survival gear has sky-rocketed thanks to a small emergence in the sky.
In the month of July the previous year, a red object pierced into the range of visibility for commercial telescopes., and in the months to follow it has become easy to spot with the naked eye. Scientists had already tracked its forward progression as it rounded in orbit toward the Earth, but most Earthlings never keep up to date with science journals. Those who did study the journals were slightly more educated on the matter, but not by much, because aside from a few stark physical details, a thick veil of dust obscured any remarkable detail that could be made. Some popular conspiracy theorists have concluded that it is a planet, come to fulfill an ancient prophecy, and several religions have made the object a focus of their worship.
No, the cats had purposely chosen not to discuss any of that, even when they shared a pail of lukewarm milk together. What they did discuss I will not write here, because friends as good and old as these deserve their privacy from time to time.
That's all she wrote! This is probably going to be the general length for most chapters. I have a short attention span. If you liked my writing, if you want to see more, then I am glad. If you have a criticism for Luna and Artemis, please let me know; it is my desire to get them as close to Takeuchi's vision as possible. Thank you for reading!