Hey everyone! I'm so flattered that you guys love my story so far! I can't tell you how happy I am that my story is liked by so many of you! Imagine! People thinking that lil' ol' me is a Professional Writer! Everyone, I am definitely not a professional writer, I'm just a young adult with a highly active imagination and a want to share my ideas with all of you.
Oh, and I'm sorry I'm a little late with chapter 2, Year 12 is kickin' my butt!
Anyway, enough chit-chat, on with the story!
Disclaimer: However much I weep and whine,
Sailor Moon rights shall never be mine. (sob...)
Melina smiled happily on the bus ride home, thinking about how wonderful the party had been. Sunshine, the brooch, Makoto and Usagi, David... But as Melina thought of all the wonderful things that had happened, one thing kept floating through her mind: her Mum had not said "Happy Birthday". Melina clung to the hope that either her Mum was making the surprise from the class better, or she had a surprise of her own. The bus pulled up at Melina's house, and she gathered up the presents scattered over the seat beside her. Quickly shoving them back in her bag, she grabbed Sunshine's cat carrier and jumped off the bus. Running up the path to her house, she burst through the door to find her mum and little brother Michael waiting for her.
"Happy Birthday, Melina!" they chorused, smiling.
"Thanks, Mum. Thanks, Michael. I thought you guys had forgotten my birthday, 'cause you didn't say happy birthday this morning. I figured there must be a reason why you didn't," said Melina, smiling and putting down her bags and Sunshine's cat carrier.
"Haha, that'd be impossible with you going on about it the way you have for the last two weeks," smiled Michael, holding out an envelope and a present.
"There's actually two reasons why I didn't say Happy Birthday to you this morning. The first was that you were late, and I didn't want you to miss the bus," Smiled Mrs Pattini. Melina took the envelope from Michael and opened it to find a white, hand-made card with gold glitter and a big gold "Happy Birthday" on it. Inside, her mother had written, "Dear Melina, Happy 13th Birthday to my special girl. Love from Mum and Michael." The present contained a pretty red cat collar with a bell.
"What's the second reason?" Melina asked, placing the card on top of her bag and getting Sunshine out of the cat carrier to put the collar on.
"Go put your things away. We're going to go get your present!" said Mrs Pattini, smiling and petting Sunshine.
"Going to get my present? What, you didn't have time to get one before today?" Melina asked, passing Sunshine to Michael, who was begging silently to hold the kitten.
"No, we known what we're going to give you, we just thought that you might like to-" Mrs Pattini began
"What's her name?" Michael cut in. Melina smiled and fastened the collar in place.
"Her name's Sunshine, and we don't have to worry about buying her any toys. My class gave me enough toys to last her a lifetime!" Melina giggled. She turned to her mum. "You thought I might like to... What?" Melina asked, taking Sunshine back and putting her on the floor.
"We thought you might like to choose your present from a few different designs," Mrs Pattini said, pulling her keys out of her pocket. "So let's hustle! Get your school clothes off, lock Sunshine in your room, and we'll go get your present!" Melina smiled, swung her bag over her shoulder, picked Sunshine up and raced up the stairs. After dumping her bag on the floor and Sunshine on her bed, she quickly threw on her favourite white and gold t-shirt, matching shorts and a pair of white runners, she dashed out of her bedroom and slammed the door before Sunshine could escape.
Sunshine sat back on the floor, rubbing her nose with a paw. Great, she thought, as she heard the front door slam from downstairs. Now how am I going to follow Melina and make sure my suspicions about her are correct? Sunshine turned around and jumped up onto the window ledge just in time to see Mrs Pattini driving out of the driveway with Melina and Michael sitting in the back seat of the car. Sunshine watched carefully as the car drove up the street and disappeared round a corner, before looking up at the window frame's latch. A smile crept across her face, and with three leaps and a swish of her tail, Sunshine was running up the street in the direction that the Pattinis had gone.
"Golf?" Melina asked as they pulled up in front of Tees and Things, a small golf store.
"No, silly, that's where we're going," laughed Mrs Pattini, pointing at the store next door.
"'Instrumentals'? ...OH! You heard me talking about how I wanted to learn flute, didn't you?" Melina asked, her stomach bubbling with excitement. Mrs Pattini smiled and nodded. Melina grappled for the doorhandle, before bursting out of the car and running eagerly into the music store, with Mrs Pattini and Michael following close behind.
Where has she got to? Sunshine wondered, running down the street and trying to sense Melina's location. She slowed down as she felt a tingle of energy from a music store, and glanced in the window to see Melina wearing an excited expression and examining a silver flute with a gold spot on one end. Sunshine sighed with relief at having found Melina, then her silver eyes widened as she became aware that someone was watching her from across the street. She looked around to see a midnight blue cat standing on top of a car. Sunshine wasn't sure what was stranger about the cat: the colour of its fur, the fact that it had its bright orange eyes narrowed and its head to one side as it stared at her, or the perfect crescent moon shape on its forehead. Sunshine stared back at the cat, who, for some reason, looked strangely familiar. Sunshine felt a tingle creep up her spine, and turned to see Melina's family about to exit the shop. Sunshine dashed under a nearby car just as Melina opened the door, carrying the silver flute with the gold spot on the end. From her position under the car, Sunshine overheard some of the conversation that Melina was having with the boy called Michael who looked so much like Melina.
"...don't know why you had to get that weird one," Michael said. "I mean, there were so many really awesome ones. Like that black one with the skulls on the finger pads, that looked really cool."
"I don't really know why I picked this one, all right? If you must know, i-it was like it was calling to me or something," said Melina, hugging her flute to her chest. Michael looked at Melina like she was crazy, before they climbed into their car and drove away. Sunshine suddenly remembered that she was supposed to be in Melina's bedroom, and dashed out after the car, not noticing that the other cat had vanished.
Sunshine arrived home just seconds after the front door closed. She jumped up into the tree and back into Melina's room to hear Melina climbing the stairs. Sunshine quickly and quietly shut the window after her, before leaping onto Melina's white and gold dresser and staring at her reflection, as if she could disentangle the thoughts running through her head.
"I'm coming to tea, Mum, I'm just putting my flute in my room and letting Sunshine out!" Melina called, opening her bedroom door, flute in hand. She stopped dead when she saw Sunshine sitting bolt upright in front of the mirror, looking strangely human with a thoughtful expression on her face. Sunshine felt a familiar tingle of energy run along her spine, and, tugging herself from her tumultuous thoughts, turned to find Melina staring at her wide-eyed. The two stood still, staring at each other, one with thoughtful consideration of what (she suspected) could be one of the Silver Millennium Senshi, the other with shock at finding a cat staring in a mirror.
"Melina!" her mother shouted, snapping both Melina and Sunshine out of their trance-like thoughts, "It can't take you this long to put a flute down and let out a cat!"
"Yeah, hurry up, Buttercup!" her brother quipped before bursting into a fit of giggles. Melina snorted and shook her head. Her silly little brother cracked the worst jokes. She placed her flute on the bed, threw a curious glance at Sunshine and then turned and hurried downstairs.
Sunshine listened to the quiet conversation and squabbling from downstairs for a moment, then she leapt over next the flute and nudged it with a paw, examining its intricate gold design. She continued examining it all the way down the length of the flute, where she found the gold spot that she had noticed from earlier. Sunshine looked closer and found it to be an intricate golden sun shape. As this realization hit her, the sun shape flared on her forehead as it had earlier in the day, only this time, it did not fade. Sunshine gasped again as she caught sight of herself in the mirror, and knew that she had finally fully awakened. Now if only she could awaken her Senshi! My Senshi, Sunshine thought, her mind drifting back to the Silver Millennium. My Princess. Dear little Amaterasu...
"MARS!!!! Would you STOP tormenting poor Amaterasu?!?! You know how much she hates fire!!!" Princess Serenity shouted at the dark-haired princess who was holding a dancing flame in the palm of her gloved hand. Sailor Mars pouted playfully and extinguished the flame, throwing a scornful look at the young brunette princess and her ragged, half-burnt princess dress before retreating into the palace. Princess Serenity stood with her arms crossed, watching her go, while Sailor Venus helped shakily her to her feet. Sailor Mercury immediately began examining Amaterasu's smoking shoulder, causing Amaterasu to flinch away in pain.
"No, don't, I'm fine, it's nothing-" Mercury ignored all of Amaterasu's protests and gently cleaned and bandaged the red-raw shoulder. Amaterasu continued to protest until she passed out from exhaustion and pain: exhaustion because she had had to dodge and weave away from the flames that Mars threw playfully at her, and pain because of the number of flames that she had not been able to dodge. Sunshine had watched the whole thing from the balcony above, rather embarrassed that this pitiful, whimpering girl was supposed to become the most powerful Senshi of the universe, even more powerful that Serenity or Galaxia... Or so Sailor Pluto said. Right now, it didn't seem like the girl was ever going to become even a reasonably good Senshi, let alone the most powerful one. So much for training her to be prepared for anything. Sunshine shook her head and retreated into the palace. She needed to think of a better way to train Amaterasu. For if Pluto was right, if Amaterasu didn't get control of her Senshi powers soon... the universe could be destroyed.
The universe could be destroyed. That was the thought that drifted through Sunshine's head as she sat staring at the flute on the bed in front of her. The universe could be destroyed.
Well, I'll just have to make sure that that doesn't happen, thought Sunshine determinedly. I will help Amaterasu control her Senshi powers. I WILL. Sunshine was startled out of her thoughts by Melina, who picked up the flute and began experimenting with the instrument. Sunshine gritted her teeth several times as Melina hit harsh, screechy notes. Finally she couldn't stand it any longer.
"No offence, Miss Melina, but you're really not very good at playing the flute," Sunshine said, her beautiful silky voice making the flute fall from Melina's fingers in shock. Melina stared at Sunshine for what seemed like an eternity, before letting out an ear-piercing shriek. Sunshine covered her ears with her paws to block out the sound. Melina's shrieking was quickly replaced by the sound of feet running up the stairs.
"Melina! What's wrong, honey?" asked Mrs Pattini, busrting into Melina's room, followed closely by Michael.
"Huh? Oh- Uh, n-nothing, Mum. There was a spider in here, but Sunshine killed it and threw it out the window," lied Melina. Michael looked disappointed and left as Mrs Pattini smiled and ruffled her daughter's hair.
"Oh, Melina, you're such a scaredy cat sometimes," said Mrs Pattini, giving Sunshine a pat before leaving and closing the door gently behind her. Melina turned and stared at Sunshine apprehensively. When Sunshine finally noticed her staring, she blinked at Melina.
"What?" Melina could only stare back.
"Hey, Luna, what's up?" asked Usagi, flicking on her communicator.
"I just saw a strange ginger cat," the midnight blue cat replied curtly.
"So? What's wrong with cats being strange? You are! You're one of the only two cats that can actually talk!" said Usagi, giggling. Luna glared at her.
"This isn't funny! That cat had a very strange aura. I've never sensed one like it before! It was almost like it was half developed, and the cat doesn't know who it is!" Luna snapped.
"So... What, you think that cat could be another Negaverse Creep in disguise?" Usagi asked, suddenly concerned.
"I don't know. I've never seen a youma or a general disguising their aura before, but we should keep an eye on it anyway. Tell the others, would you?" said Luna, before the screen went blank. Usagi sighed before pressing the Mars, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter buttons on her communicator.
"What's up, Usagi?" asked Makoto. The three other girls, one with blue hair, one with purple hair and one blonde, nodded in agreement to Makoto's question and looked expectantly at Usagi.
"Luna just called. She says she saw a strange ginger cat, and that it's aura was different to any that she'd sensed before. She wasn't sure if it's from the Negaverse or not, but she said to keep an eye out, just in case," Usagi said into the communicator. The four girls nodded silently, then the images disappeared. Usagi sighed again and slipped her communicator into her bag. She'd better get to the temple for the scout meeting. She knew that Luna would skitz at her if she was late again, not to mention Mars. Mars would probably fry half my hair off if I'm late again, Usagi thought. She stood up from the park bench where she was sitting and gutsed the rest of her icecream, before throwing the wrapper in the bin and walking towards the park gates. She just got there when her communicator beeped again.
"Usagi! There's a Youma at the arcade!" Makoto said, turning the communicator to display an image of Motoki, one of Usagi and Makoto's friends, holding a broom and swatting furiously at a huge, blog-like youma that didn't appear to be feeling the hits, as it was too busy using one of the Sailor V games to drain the energy of a young blonde boy playing furiously on the game. Usagi nodded, switched off her communicator and leapt up into a nearby tree to transform. There was a shout of "Moon Prism Power!" and a flash of pink and white, and then Sailor Moon jumped out of the tree and sprinted down the street faster that a racing car.
"So, how long have you been able to talk?" Melina asked Sunshine in a low voice, spinning around in her desk chair to face Sunshine. Sunshine smiled, glad that Melina had finally accepted that she could talk after an hour of spinning around in her desk chair and staring into space.
"I only just learnt how," said Sunshine, turning from staring out the window to look at Melina.
"And is that when you got that sun shape on your head?" Melina asked. Sunshine looked at herself in the mirror again, smiling at the solarian symbol that she had not had since the end of the Silver Millennium.
"You're a smart one to notice that. Yes, I did get my sun back when I regained my voice," said Sunshine, her smile as bright as her name. Melina looked a little confused.
"Got it back? What do you mean? You had it before?" Melina asked. Sunshine nodded, her smile fading as she thought about the memory that she had regained. I'm sure Melina is my little Amaterasu, Sunshine thought, studying Melina's face carefully. She looks so much like her!
"What's the matter? Do you want to talk about it?" Melina asked, noticing that she had heard practically the same words from Makoto earlier.
"Yes, I will tell you about it. Someday. It's too early to tell you about it yet. But don't worry," added Sunshine, as Melina opened her mouth to protest, "I have a very strong feeling that that day is not far off. Just be patient." Melina shut her mouth again and sighed, accepting that when the time came for Sunshine to tell Melina what had happened, she would tell her everything. She got out of her seat and opened the window, staring into the darkening night. Sunshine sat silently on the bed watching her, when she suddenly felt a surge of energy flow down her spine, something she had not felt since that fateful day at the end of the Silver Millennium. Youma! That was youma energy she was sensing, and from the feel of it, it was a very, very strong youma. Sunshine looked in the direction that the feeling was coming from, then, as she looked back at Melina, her insides turned cold. Melina was still staring out the window, but her eyes were glazed, almost as if her mind had disconnected from her body. She pulled her flute, almost automatically, from the pocket that she had jammed it in, but this time, instead of the screechy notes from before, Melina began to play a beautiful, hauntingly sad melody. And as she played, golden sun shapes began shooting out of the end like a firework. The shapes enveloped Melina, and with a flash of golden light, she vanished. Sunshine could only stare blankly at the spot where she had been, in shock at both Melina's disappearance and at the tune she had been playing. Amaterasu's lullaby...
Author's Notes: Find out what's happened to Melina in the next chapter!