Chapter Four: The Strongest Person is…
Sailor Moon stood carefully with her tiara charged. Luna looked on from her post on one of the garden benches. They had set up several rings at odd angles and Sailor Moon would have to use her powers and skills to guide the tiara. Both of them had noticed that most of the time Sailor Moon was only hitting the youma when they were distracted, it was pointless having a weapon that you couldn't use fully. There was no doubt that Sailor Moon's diskette skills were top notch, but her enemies didn't always stand still. Frowning with concentration she let her tiara fly. It flew through the first three rings fine but missed the fourth and fifth one by a mile.
"Sailor Moon!" Luna sighed, "You are trying to hard, the harder you try the harder it gets. You never had to try this hard before. Stop concentrating and just let it go. You can do this."
She's right, Serena frowned. Even that first time I wasn't trying this hard. It's always just… been there. Ok, breathe. You can do this Serena.
Without moving or thinking about it she summoned the Tiara to her from where it had fallen in the dirt. Before she could second guess herself, she let it loose once again. This time it went through all the rings without a hitch and returned to her.
"I did it Luna!" Serena grinned and de-henshined.
"Yes you did," Luna grinned. "I'm sorry. I've been a terrible guardian."
"Huh?" Serena blinked and stared at her guardian in confusion.
"I should have realized why you were struggling so much all this time." Luna bowed her head and sighed. "You never wanted to be a senshi and the others were never easy on you because of it. I wasn't easy on you. So you would try too hard to do something you never wanted to. You wanted our approval and it has cost you. I'm sorry I didn't see it before. Listen Serena, you don't need to impress us! You're fine just the way you are. When you try to be something your not nothing works."
"Luna? Why am I a senshi? Why me?" Serena asked looking up at the full moon. "What's so special about me?"
"…" Luna looked at her stunned. Don't you know?
"Goodnight Luna." Serena gave her guardian a wan small before running back toward the house.
Luna watched as she inevitably tripped and fell, she smiled as she watched the girl stand back up and laugh before running the rest of the way back to the house. Only a month ago if that had happened Serena would have begun wailing, but now she didn't. Instead she brushed it off like it was nothing. Watching her young charge, Luna frowned, her eyes filled with concern. She knew that Serena needed to get away and heal, but she worried that perhaps Serena wasn't healing so much as hiding. She was doing so well with all of her lessons and was maturing beautifully.
But she's only fourteen. She shouldn't have to have this responsibility. Why was she chosen? Why were any of them chosen? In this life and the last? Luna wondered, her eyes filled with sadness and regret. I know the girl's never wanted this, but they accepted it, and even came to enjoy it because of the friendship it brought. But Serena's never been like that; she always had friends and was loved dearly by everyone. So, why her?
It had been a month in total since they had come to France and the girls had finally started to demand where Serena and she had gone, but only because the Youma were attacking regularly and they were struggling to keep up with the recent negaverse activity. They had asked everyone they could and were stunned to find out what had happened that night. Not all of it of course, they still didn't know about the guys in the alley. They only knew that Serena had gotten kicked out of her house and disowned. Sammy had told them everything he could not knowing about what the girls had done. Artemis had called regularly to keep both of them updated. Soon now they would have to go back.
The Negaverse knew Serena wasn't in Tokyo anymore and were taking advantage of it. They had been working hard to increase and control her Senshi abilities but they still weren't far along. The truth of it was that Serena was brimming with untapped power, but there was very little they could do to channel it. She could do neat tricks with her Tiara but that was about it. Anything else would risk anyone around her. The only thing that she had learned to do with her power was to focus it into an attack point on her body. If she had to get into close combat with a Youma she could focus her powers into a kick or punch and dust the creature, but it was still not reliable.
"Why her?" Luna asked looking up at the moon. "She's so beautiful; she shouldn't have to hurt like this."
There was no reply, just a glowing moon.
With a sigh the black cat leapt from the bench and followed after her charge. Curling up beside the girl on the large bed she looked down at her charge lovingly. It seemed like an eternity ago that the fourteen year old girl had saved her from those rotten kids, back then she hadn't expected Serena to do so well. Even two months ago she hadn't been proud of Serena. She had hurt the girl just as much as the scouts, and it was only when she heard the girl crying quietly in the middle of the night that she realized what they were doing. Ever since that night she had started to encourage the girl. It had started to pay off even though the rest of the scouts hadn't understood.
(The Next Day: Tokyo)
"Look I told you no!" Andrew snapped. "She left for a good reason and I'm not going to tell you where she's gone! You fools betrayed her! You don't deserve to be within two inches of her!"
"But she has responsibilities here! We need her!" Ami cried out.
"The stupid meatball head shouldn't have bailed on us! You got it backwards she's betrayed us!" Rei snarled.
"Did she Hino-san?" Darien asked as he entered the arcade. "It seems to me that she had every reason to leave. You hurt her. She needed you and you left her alone in the park for me to find. Don't say she betrayed you, you are the ones who ridiculed her at every chance."
"What?" Lita blinked startled. "Hey, what do mean by that!? We never hurt Serena."
"Are you so sure of that?" Molly asked from behind them. "I was her best friend but you never let her hang out with me or invite me along to your study sessions or whatever. You were always saying she was lazy for not being on time and not getting good grades. You called her meatball head and meant it."
"Don't say a word Hino-san," Darien growled angrily. "Yes I teased her but it was with the understanding that we never really hurt each other. It was a game for us, and Serena always knew not to take me too seriously."
"…" Mina was frowning slightly and watching as the others argued. Something's not right. What did we miss?
"You made her cry!" Rei snarled. "And you thought up the name!"
"Your right I did, and I'm sorry for every tear I ever made her cry. You don't get it do you Hino! She was YOUR friend; you're the ones who are supposed to help her! You are the ones who shouldn't make her cry!" Darien growled darkly. "Do you know that when she really needed all of you, you left her to fend for herself. She could have died if her cat hadn't found me! You stupid little fools… get out of here. Don't bother asking anymore, we won't tell you."
"He's right I no longer want you in my arcade. If you make me I will get a restraining order against the lot of you." Andrew snapped angrily. "Serena was my friend, and I watched her grow up. She's family. My father would have done the same and I know my mother will be more then happy to back me on this. Get out."
(It never says whether or not Andrew has parents in either the Manga or the anime, so this is my embellishment.)
"What happened?" Mina finally spoke up. "What happened that we don't know about? We already know about her parents kicking her out but you acting like its worse then that."
"Huh Mina are you feeling all right?" Lita asked frowning.
"Shut up Lita," Mina stated coolly. "I want to know what happened."
"Why do you think you should know?" Molly demanded. "You're the newest member of your little 'club' but you were just as horrible as the others."
"Because, I'm alone." Mina stated softly. "Never mind… bye!"
Everyone stared after the girl as she raced from the arcade.
"Actually I would say that applies to all of us." Ami commented tiredly. "I promise not to come here anymore. Thank you, good bye."
"I don't need to come here anyways!" Rei snarled and charged out of the arcade.
Lita hesitate and looked back at Andrew before slumping and leaving the arcade without a word.
"Their right you know," Molly commented. "Each of them is alone despite having each other. I think it's why Serena tried so hard to befriend them."
"No they aren't, there so self-absorbed that they can't see or accept what's right there in front of them." Darien shook his head. "I know because I was the same way. Serena only tried to open their eyes like she did mine."
"She'll be back soon, don't worry." Andrew smiled at them. "She just needs to heal a bit. There's one thing I know about Serena, she would never run out on a friend."
(Same Day: France)
Serena sat to the side of the room and watched and listened intently as the board meeting got underway. She had stunned all of the men by showing a little of her intelligence and saving the company a large amount of money. They had been planning on marketing a product that was still in the testing stages, and they way they had planned to market it had been all wrong. She had given them some input on how to market to capture a larger audience, including kids her age, and it had gone well. After that they didn't mind her listening in and often asked her input.
"The shares in the MNA have gone down considerably, but the product is selling rapidly." One man stated calmly. "To sell the rights to the product might prove disastrous and would put thousands of employees at risk of unemployment."
"Serena what do you think?" The oldest man there and the CEO of the company asked calmly.
"We're known for keeping our employees employed and giving them reliable jobs… but the risk is high. We can take the hit if MNA fails but we would have to lay off benefits. We could consider the employees in a selling contract and that would ensure their employment but I think since the product is selling that's all moot. Mostly the shares have dropped because of the economy not because of lack of backing. I think we should keep MNA."
"Well said Serena." The CEO chuckled. "And I agree. We all know that the stocks and shares fluctuate regularly and since the product is selling we should keep it. Any in disagreement?"
No one spoke up.
"All in favor?"
The room agreed.
"Very well then this meeting is adjourned." The CEO stood and nodded to the others. "Good day everyone."
Serena stood and followed the others out. Her day in the office was over with and she wanted to go see the new Sailor V movie that Gabriella had gotten for her.
"Serena?" The CEO asked calmly.
"Yes Frank?" Serena turned and stared at the older man.
"You've done well here and I'm sure your father would be proud, but you have your whole life ahead of you. Don't let yourself get tied up in this while your still so young. I don't know why exactly you came here, but I do know that you can't move foreword anymore while here. You're running away now." The CEO Stated gently. "I think perhaps that you should go back. You need to be there with your friends. I'm sure that despite whatever happened or happens you can face it. Your stronger then you look."
"But I'm scared." Serena stated sadly.
"I know, but remember the only thing that can hurt you is what you let hurt you. You have nothing to fear." Frank smiled warmly. "And running away has never solved anything but running away."
"Thank you." Serena smiled and ran out the door. He's right, I've been hiding from them. I didn't want to face them and have them be sorry. I'm not ready to forgive them completely yet and… I'm scared that if I accept them again that I'll get hurt.
"Luna," Serena called as she entered the house.
Her black cat immediately appeared and meowed a greeting.
"Its time to go home, I can't run forever." Serena grinned but her eyes were sad.
Luna purred and rubbed her face against her cheek, she couldn't say anything because Gabriella was watching but she was proud of her charge. She was growing up to be a wonderful young woman.
Well I'm not sure if its up to par with the other chapters but it is very necessary. This chapter is linked to the next one so don't worry the first half will be figured out soon. I hope you enjoyed! REVIEW!