The Other Moon Princess

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Two: Making New Friends

Anna was headed out into the courtyard for lunch when a loud voice called, "Anna! HEY, ANNA!"

Looking around, she saw Serena waving towards her, along with two girls that she had seen at the arcade the day before with her. With a smile towards the blonde, Anna headed over to the girls, carrying her lunch and schoolbag. "Hi, Serena," she said.

"Hey, why don't you eat lunch with us?" she asked, instantly making room for the other girl.

"Are you sure?" Anna asked cautiously, glancing towards the other two girls. "I don't want to intrude . . ."

"Don't be ridiculous," the brunette said, waving her rejection aside. "Besides, Serena won't give up until you say yes, anyway. She's really stubborn. But a good friend," she added. "I'm Lita Kino, by the way. This is Amy Mizuno."

"Anna Ryder," she said politely as she took a seat with the other girls. "So who were the other two girls that I saw you guys with yesterday."

"Those were our friends Raye Hino and Mina Aino," Amy answered as they started eating lunch. "They both go to other schools."

"Yeah, I though so," Anna mused. "I mean, I've got a habit of remembering people and I was sure that I hadn't seen them at school earlier when I saw them yesterday."

"So how come you moved to Crossroads?" Lita asked. "Your mom and dad get transferred or something?" Instantly, the mention of her father made Anna flinch slightly. "Did I say something wrong?" she asked, wincing slightly. "Sorry . . ."

"Don't worry about it, it's okay," Anna said gruffly. "My dad left about five years ago, when I was nine. I don't remember too much about him, to be honest. What I do remember is his back as he walked out the door. And my mom moved us here because she was fired from her old job and had moved out here because she's got a friend who offered her a job at her office." She shrugged. "Mom's been a real case ever since Dad left."

"That's awful," Amy sympathised. "My parents got divorced when I was really young. I can relate."

"Thanks, but I'm over it." Anna shook her head. In truth, she didn't really care about her father that much anymore or even gave him much thought. Her father didn't care about her enough to stay around, so why should she care about him?

"Well, how's Crossroads been treating you?" Serena asked, seeming to sense the need to change the subject.

"It's all right. You guys are the first people to make an effort to know me, though," Anna said as she popped a piece of fruit into her mouth. "Everyone else has been keeping their distance."

"Yeah, that's because reputations get around fast in this place," Serena said, shaking her head. "You want to hang out after school today? Rini's dragging us to this planetarium with her friend Hotaru for this astronomy show. We'd like for you to come, if you want."

Anna hesitated. It was the first time that she had ever been invited to spend any time with somebody, not to mention it did sound really cool, but . . . "I don't know, I'll have to call my brothers and ask permission, but I'm pretty sure it'll be okay. Let me give them a quick call after school, okay?"

"Sure, no problem," Lita said. "You got brothers?" she added, raising her eyebrows in interest. "How old are they?"

"Ben's eighteen and Will's sixteen," Anna said, shaking her head. "And trust me, you do not want to get involved with either one of them. Ben's okay, I guess, but he's . . . well, he practically had to sacrifice his own childhood to help raise us after Dad left."

"You're biased, though," Lita said cheerfully. "Sisters always have a lower opinion of their brothers than other people."

Anna couldn't help but chuckle at that remark, but shook her head, grinning slightly. She had the feeling that these girls were going to make some pretty good friends.

--

Walking with the other girls after school after getting permission from Ben to go to the show, Anna was greeted with a surprisingly big hug from Rini when she saw her. Anna was surprised, but not displeased by the gesture. "Good to see you, too, Rini," she said, smiling as the little girl let her go. "How you been?"

"Okay," she answered. "Come on, let's go, we have to go meet Hotaru! Hurry up, Serena!" she complained as she skipped down the path.

"That cousin of yours sure has a lot of energy," Anna commented as she walked with Serena. "How come she stays with you, anyway? Where are her parents at?"

Serena seemed to tense at the question. "Oh, well . . . uh . . . they live really far away and they wanted Rini to come here so that she could have a nice and normal childhood," she explained. "She couldn't exactly get that where she's from."

"Why? Are her parents spies or something?"

"No," Rini said as she hurried back and overheard them talking. "They're the King and Queen of the Earth in the 30th century of Crystal Tokyo." She was grinning as Anna chuckled, her mind marvelling at the little girl's wild imagination. It was amazing that Rini was able to come up with something like that on the spot. Most girls her age wouldn't be able to come up with something like that without thinking twice about it.

"There's Hotaru!" Rini shouted, racing ahead to a dark haired girl was walking down the street. She was wearing if Anna wasn't mistaken, a Mugan School uniform. "Hotaru!"

"Hey, there, Rini," Hotaru said with a smile at her younger friend. "I got your letter."

As the two girls chattered, Anna glanced up towards the sky, which was a bright blue today, with almost no clouds. It was the perfect day to be out with friends, enjoying themselves.

Just as the girls were about to head off to the planetarium, Anna bumped into someone. "Oh, excuse me," she said politely to the young man who had run into her.

"No problem," he answered as he moved out of the way to let her by. She glanced back at him just as he looked back towards her, frowning slightly.

He was much taller than Anna was, towering over her 4'11" height considerably, but lanky. He had dark brown hair that fell casually into his emerald green eyes, sparkling as the sun hit them as he watched Anna. There was something about him that . . . Anna wasn't sure, but she felt her heart quicken slightly as she stared straight into his green eyes. It just felt so . . . right. As though she knew him, from another time and place.

"Yo! Chris! Hurry it up, man!" another voice yelled. The young man—Chris—broke the trance that the two were in and hurried away, glancing back once at Anna, who had frozen when she heard the name.

"Chris?" she mumbled, her mind flashing back to the dream. As she was thrust back into the dream, she once again saw the young man dying in her arms, telling her that he loved her. And as she looked towards him, she realised that this Chris and the Chris that had been in her dream were identical. Even their names were the same.

Could it be possible? she wondered.

"Hey, Anna?" Serena appeared beside her, startling her out of her musings. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," she said, forcing a smile. "Nothing, I'm fine." She shook her head to clear it. "Come on, let's go, we'll be late for the show." With one last glance back towards Chris, only to discover that he had vanished, Anna followed Serena and her friends as they hurried towards the planetarium.

It was remarkable they were able to get seats, Anna thought as they bought tickets and got inside. Every seat was packed as they squeezed into their places.

Anna listened to the stories that the narrator was telling as he projected the celestials across the screen. It had been a very long time since she had done this with anybody, she mused. Ever since their parents had split up, Ben and Will hadn't exactly done anything to hang out with her and their mother was working too much to even so much as think about hanging out with any of her children.

Suddenly, Serena glanced around behind them. Anna turned to see what she was looking at and saw a dark green haired young woman standing in the back, looking straight at the girls. "Trista," Serena muttered. She glanced at Anna. "We'll be right back."

Anna nodded, considering following them to see what was going on, but something stopped her. She let them pass before she sat down besides Rini and Hotaru again, but she kept stealing glances behind her to see what the girls were talking with this Trista about, but they were out of sight.

Just as she was about to go find them, a woman with blonde hair stood up and opened up a suitcase. Although she couldn't say how, she shouted, "Get down!" and yanked Rini and Hotaru down beneath the seats.

She glanced up as another woman appeared and attacked the narrator while the first one sent the audience to sleep with stars coming out a wand. Anna covered her ears to prevent her eardrums from exploding and shouted, "Rini, Hotaru, follow me!"

She hurried towards the back of the stadium, attempting to get the girls out to safety, but the door was locked. "Bats!" she shouted, borrowing Ben's favourite swearword as she pushed the girls behind her just as the first woman—if that's what she was because Anna was seriously doubting that.

"Stay away from them!" a voice shouted. Anna glanced up and her heart jumped into her throat as she stared at the new arrivals.

Because as she looked up, the five arrivals that had appeared were none other than the Sailor Scouts!