Teach Me
-Heya! Please R&R!!

So will you teach me how to fight this war
Teach me how to stay alive
Cuz I'm so afraid to die
Since I've only just learned to cry

Chibi-Usa looked at her mother sadly. The lovely face that looked down at her held disapproval and disappointment.
"Chibi-Usa-chan," her mother's voice was controlled. "You must never touch the crystal. I shall teach you how to use it when necessary. Demo, for now, you are too young and I forbid you from ever going near it again."
Chibi-Usa's eyes held tears. "Gomen nasai, Mama. I didn't know!"
Usagi stared at her daughter carefully. She loved the little pink rabbit, but at times she drew her to wonder if she had done something wrong in parenting. The Imperial Silver Crystal was not a toy. She tried to recount all of the times Chibi-Usa had managed to sneak away from school or play and come to this room recently. She would reach for the heirloom as if in a trance and Usagi would feel the crystal cry out to her, as if it was in danger. Rushing to the scene, Usagi would proceed to chastise the young princess until she felt she could no longer bear to chastise her more. Since the start of the month the pink-haired moon child had been acting rather oddly. She had been doing things that did not become a princess and to Usagi, she seemed to be a completely different person. Chibi-Usa broke things all over the castle, she went wandering off, and she tried to do whatever she could possibly do to get into trouble. Usagi just didn't understand it. She gave her all the loving attention a parent could offer. She was the happiest ten-year-old Usagi knew of. What could she be doing wrong?

It's hard to grow up this way
Having to pain over each day
I'd like you to teach me all you know
So I can learn to survive alone

Chibi-Usa sighed. "Dianna-chan! Why won't she just let my try it?"
The small grey kitten smiled at her mistress. "Ne Chibi-Usa-chan, the crystal is not something that you can just pick up and handle. It takes a lot of time and preparation for you to handle it well. It requires a state of mind that you, at such a young age, have yet to reach." She purred wisely.
Chibi-Usa frowned at her reflection. "I'm not that young." She said quietly.
Dianna glanced sideways at her. "Could it be that traces of the wicked one are yet to be purged from her mind?" she wondered, recalling the story of Wise Man and Wicked Lady. "Could this desire for power have sprung from something so diabolical as hatred and wickedness?" she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind as Chibi-Usa turned to her.
"I'm going to try again." She said simply. At this Dianna felt a cold chill run down her spine.
"Nani? What do you mean?" It was a rhetorical question and Dianna felt stupid just knowing it had left her mouth.
Chibi-Usa smiled slightly. "I don't know why Dianna-chan, demo, I need to prove that I can do it."
Dianna cried after her disappearing form. "But you don't know how!" she growled.
"Serenity!" she began to search for the queen.

It's something like fear that makes me wanna fight
To struggle with this reality
Against the pain I feel inside
I'm hoping to breathe in the end
But I have to keep my head above the water

Queen Serenity stared at her daughter for the final time. "Chibi-Usa," she said in a careful tone. "Are you aware of the fact that what you have been doing for the past several months is in fact a form of treason that, were you to be another, would result in exile?"
Chibi-Usa stared at her shoes. "I know." She said softly.
Usagi let a pained expression blanket her features for a brief moment before it was concealed beneath the formal visage of duty. "It has come to be realized by the citizens of Earth and our allied planets that your discrepancies cannot go unpunished."
Chibi-Usa knew what was coming next. And she knew that her mother was not to be blamed. She loved her mother with all her heart. And she held no grudge or ill will against the most important person in her life. She knew that her mother was having to do the hardest thing in her lifetime. And it was all her fault.
Serenity continued. "It is therefore the rule of this court, which has sworn to give no distinction regarding age and status of the offender, that you, Princess Usagi Serenity, must be sent into exile. Your formal title shall be renounced and your links to family and friends shall be severed. You are now a stranger to the Neo-Kingdom and you are to live out the rest of your natural life on the planet Tenjo. You're family is charged with providing sufficient clothing and necessities and you are to be moved at noon tomorrow. Please take this time to worry about saying goodbye. Once you have been moved to Tenjo, all memory of your existence will be wiped from the minds of all but myself."

And I need your help to try
So can I count on you this time?
To help me train to fight
Share my view of this world
And help me grow stronger
So I can stand on my own
This time

Usagi and Chibi-Usa embraced for the final time. Their bodies quaked with sobs.
"My Chibi-Usa-chan! You be a good little girl alright? The people on planet Tenjo are very kind so don't you worry ok?"
"I love you Mommy!"
"I love you my dear one…I love you with all my heart."
The guards allowed the queen and her daughter to weep for a moment longer before one of them stepped forward.
"My Queen," he began. "It is time."
Queen Serenity pressed a gentle kiss to her daughter's forehead one last time, she brushed the pink bangs from her eyes. The royal hairstyle had been removed and now the pink locks were bound in a braided pony tail. Chibi-Usa kissed her mother.
"I will return some day." She promised herself. "Some day I'll make my mommy proud."
As the space craft disappeared into the endless ocean of stars, Usagi clasped her hands over her heart and finalized the command. Memories of her pink haired child were wiped from the minds of the populous. She alone remembered the bubbly child of light doomed to an eternity of banishment.
"I should have taught her better." She thought to herself as she allowed a guard to lead her away. Since Mamoru had died she had decided to make sure her daughter would be raised without the influence of the crystal. She shook her head.
"Next time we meet," she whispered to the stars. "Next time I'll do it right."

An on the distant planet Tenjo a young girl smiled into the night. She wore a black robe and beside her there stood several other robed figures.
"Mama, don't worry. I love you. And this time things will be different."
She turned and allowed them to lead her away. Just as her mother had predicted, they were kind to her and welcomed her with smiles and warmth. They spoke only fondly of her mother and she enjoyed their company. And best of all, they assured her that some day she could return to her dearest mother. Some day, some day things would be different.

The End