Thanks for your reviews! Keep doing so :)

inufan155687: I have no clue why you couldn't read the chapters. Maybe there was an problem with fanfiction.
If you are still unable to, I'll see what I can do :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the characters :) Happy Readings

Chapter 10- Undesirable Encounters

She loved it when the wind teased her hair and cooled her skin in the blistering summer. The iced coffee melted, as she paid no attention to it. California was beautiful all year around but she loved this time the most. Most people sat poolside and there were so many people on the streets. She loved the cement forest outlined in tall lush green trees. Everything was so trim and proper in the sunlight, it was ideal. The air was misted with salty ocean vapors. Freedom- that's what it felt like here. Minako was at peace having everything she ever wanted.

"Minako." A woman shook her distracted body.

Right away, Minako's eyes shot open, shattering the pleasant dream she had been living in. She wished her heart wouldn't break every conscious time. The blond glared at her assailant; it was extremely difficult to change her heart about the simple brunette. She dressed all in black as if she wanted to blend into the shadows but Minako could not look past their last encounter. Calaveras, although now on their side, Minako remembered the arrogant eyes as she handled her whip, ever ready to kill her.

This was the future now and the Black Moon Sisters had changed. Losing their eldest sister at the hands of their own clan had scarred the three of them deeply enough that now, even though they were powerless, they tried their all to help the future Endymion. Minako was not comfortable seeing the three as allies even though their loyalties reflected in their eyes.

"Is everything ready?" Minako stood up from the makeshift bed she had slept on for four days now. The image outside the window brought back the current reality painfully. This future was hard to face every time her eyes would settle on it. The red ashy skies hadn't changed in four days. A perfect description of this place was an ash desert turned to a graveyard of bones underneath a crimson sky.

In four days, she hadn't seen a single person outside. In this future, the few remaining people preferred the nomadic life choosing to remain hidden. Lots of the bones on the streets belonged to people that had once lived in Tokyo. Now the towering buildings were hallow shells, which had deteriorated beyond recognition.

"No, there's a problem. Mamoru's missing." Although this was a matter of urgency, Calaveras was calm.

Upon their arrival to the grim future, the sisters had greeted them and rushed them into their home. Shocked at their scenery, they forgot to be alarmed by the three sisters who had once fought against them. The future-Mamoru stayed with Urawa and Motoki having been warned by Sailor Pluto of the consequences of meeting his past self. It had worked out well, as the future-Mamoru was currently recovering from a serious injury after a battle with Queen Serenity.

For four days, they designed a plan to lure the Queen outside her castle. The only prominent building in the Dark Earth Kingdom was the spiral-towered castle, which Minako thought, looked like Metallia's dungeon-styled castle.

"Our Mamoru, he's not in his room?" Minako had seen the restlessness in Mamoru the second they had arrived. Honestly, she was surprised that he hadn't disappeared the same day.

"No, the girls looked everywhere. Rei thinks that he might have gone to the castle." Calaveras also knew that would be Mamoru's destination as the future-Mamoru always searched for the queen. "Urawa went back to tell future-Mamoru to stay low until we find past-Mamoru."

Urawa and Motoki came over whenever they could, staying besides Ami and Makoto. Their breaths had hitched when the girls arrived to the future and their eyes came to life again. The Senshi understood that their deaths had shattered the boys.

"Then I guess we go help him with whatever he's doing." Minako felt unconfident. As the leader of the Senshi, she had failed her most important duty. Now, she felt her second-guessing herself at every decision. She knew the girls never depended on her or pressured her to step up and make decisions but they should expect that much from her. After all, she was the first Senshi to wake up in this life. With heavy movements, she picked up her communicator and signaled to the girls.

-[[[[[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]][[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]][[[[[[[[[[[[[[][[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]-

It was one of those days where there was nothing to do. She had already scoured the castle once hoping that she would run into something interesting, but alas, everyday was the same here. Here, she was Queen of the Dark Earth Kingdom but she had almost nobody to rule over. The Black Moon Clan had trimmed quite a bit and now only a dozen of them remained within the castle walls, including the King, Prince Sapphire and herself.

The King was in his study with his brother, trying to figure out how to work around the Wiseman's magic and move away the acidic stones from the ground. They only convened like this when the silver crystal wasn't in her possession. Wiseman usually became a great risk-taker during these times so next on her list was devising a plan to retrieve her crystal from the rogue Endymion. She would give him a few days of rest though.

Wiseman's goals were still a little unclear to her. Originally, he had the King convinced that he wanted the Black Moon Clan to rule over Earth. To do this, he had to crush the silver crystal. His goals had changed quite a bit after that. Serenity could tell that he coveted the crystal, thus, didn't want it destroyed; however, he had caused a population decrease as an effect of the torrid environment. It seemed as if he wanted to destroy the Earth.

Prince Sapphire was his greatest barrier though. At every step, the Wiseman found a protester in Sapphire. He would get rid of Sapphire in an instant if it weren't for his brother, the King. Wiseman would kill the great King in an instant, if it weren't for Serenity. So it seemed, when Serenity didn't have the crystal, they had to be extra cautious.

Serenity swung opened the doors of her large bedroom. She often wondered whether this was the life she had wanted, but she did not remember what she had wanted. Her past was filled with bitter memories she had tried to forget. Now, she was just carefree.

She sat on her grand master bed, creasing the cream silk sheets her maid had fixed in the morning. However she thought her life would turn out, she was sure she imagined having more to do. Serenity missed the little things the most like walking outside under the summer sun, going to the lake side with Demando and of course, scouring the busy streets of her kingdom. When the Wiseman had started poising the Earth, she didn't know, but what she did know was that she wanted her hands on his black crystal. She imagined the power she would have with the combined powers of the black crystal and silver crystal. With it, she could probably restore Earth and destroy Wiseman.

Her eyes searched her draped covered windows, unsettling her thoughts. That wasn't right, she never closed the drapes; even if the skies were dull, she never closed those dense golden drapes. She stood up defensively. "Who's there?" She hesitantly walked towards the window. "Show yourself!"

She braced herself as the drapes slowly moved and she momentarily froze. The cape, the hat, the tuxedo, and that white mask; she hadn't seen it in such a long time. Her heart practically jumped up; things just got interesting.

"Don't be scared." He approached her with one arm out showing the limit of distance between them and took off his mask and hat with the other hand. Something was different. A flash of a man telling her he didn't love her anymore crossed her eyes. It was a complete match of this intruder. He was Endymion, but slightly different.

Serenity smirked. "Why would I ever be scared of you?" He matched the smile as if he had taken that to be positive. "Although, I didn't expect to see you so soon, Endymion."

He turned off his transformation. "Do you recognize me now?" Slowly, he approached her but she didn't move. He did look different though, almost more handsome. Endymion seemed less sleek than usual; actually, as he stood in front of her hesitantly calculating his moves, he seemed disheveled. Had he lost weight since the last time she had seen him; he looked a lot more angular.

"I'm actually surprised you made it here. What do you want now?" She challenged him as visions of his betrayal slowly crept up to attack her. It had been a long time ago and she had forgotten every detail from the past and categorized it as a bitter time but today, Endymion looked just like he did the day he pushed her out his apartment door, telling her it's over.

"I wanted to find you, Usako." He was so close to her, breaths apart. That name was so familiar. Serenity tore her eyes away from his; this was the man who had kissed Queen Beyrl in front of her. He had even tried to kill her on many accounts. She remembered as Endymion had raised his sword on her in Beyrl's lair. The images were blurred but they tore into her brain with such intensity as if trying to drill a hole into her head. Forcefully, she commanded her body to walk to the window and away from him.

"Don't call me that, I'm Queen Serenity." There was more air than words.

"Yes, you are Queen Serenity but not of this Kingdom. You're not evil, Usako. You've been tricked by Demando." His words were like fire, raising her blood level and temperature sore.

"You are the one that tricked me, Endymion. You forgot last week when you tricked me and stole the silver crystal?" Serenity's hands were closed in tight fists. "Which I will get back from you." She composed herself and coolly smiled. This was more comfortable again. This was the game Endymion and Serenity had been playing for years now.

Mamoru didn't know how much longer he'd be able to see her like this. His Usako had turned out like this because of his choices. He hadn't hugged her for so many days and he hadn't kissed her for even longer. He found himself near her again, almost cornering her to the window. From his pocket, he pulled out what was essentially rightfully hers- the silver crystal. "I have no interest in this. It's always yours. For me, I just need you."

Serenity's eyes grew wide in surprise; she hadn't expected him to easily hand it over. There was no challenge in that. She looked at him strangely and didn't understand what his motives were. He looked at her with such soft eyes. 'Why does it matter who she is? I don't have to tell you anything.' She remembered him zooming away on a red motorcycle with a girl holding him closely behind. Serenity blinked a few times and shook her head looking trying to lose the memory.

She took the crystal right out of his hands; she didn't think it would be this easy. The tricks she expected never happened. She lost her train of thought as a whirlwind of emotion hit her. This was not her crystal but yet it was very familiar. She felt as if it was still warm from the last time she used it but it was a little foreign to her. A warm hushed energy flowed through her, not as powerful as her real crystal, but all the same, it was raw pure energy.

"So this is your trick? This is not the silver crystal." She lightly pushed him back with her outstretched arm.

"It's not a trick, Usako. I'm not tricking you; it's Demando who's tricked you!" He was getting impatient.

"Demando? I won't believe that. He loves me and never has betrayed me unlike some people." A vision of Endymion hugging a raven-haired priestess clouded her eyes.

"He's brainwashed you, Usako!" He tried holding her hand but she swung it out of his grasp.

"I am not Usako, Endymion!" She clenched her teeth.

"And I'm not Endymion." Mamoru answered gently closing the distance between them again. Looking straight into her eyes, he gently caressed her cheek. "I know you can't forget me, your Mamo-chan."

She froze; this had happened before. The crystal slipped out of her fingers but she didn't notice. Tears were forming but she hadn't cried in ages and she would not let a single tear slip now.

He saw change in her cold eyes and he took full advantage of it as he leaned down and kissed her; he had wanted to for so long now. It seemed as if she had waited just as long as he had. She hadn't changed too much. The meatball hairstyle now adorned a golden crown and her slightly taller and slender body looked divine in the strapless white silk floor length gown. She looked just like his vision of Neo-Queen Serenity; only difference was that her eyes were steel cold cobalt. Her lips still felt warm though.

She pushed him as hard as she could as soon as she grasped her wits. The queen was not known for her temper but right now she saw red; she wanted to hurt him so bad. "How dare you?" Serenity literally shook with rage.

Mamoru knew he had stepped over a line but having already past it, he decided to walk tall. "You might think you love Demando but Usako, in every time and every form, you and I always find a way back to each other. You love me, not him."

"Quiet and leave my presence, Endymion!" She turned her back to him.

"Can't you see it, Serenity?" He walked around her so all she could see was his face, then he gently moved her bangs aside from her eyes. She flinched. "Aren't I a little different from Endymion?" She was breathing so hard that he doubted she was listening to his words. "Don't I look younger? I'm not from your world but I've come from the past where you were Usako."

He saw that he finally had her attention. She stared at him as if he had gone insane but at least she was hearing him out. He continued. "There was a battle and Demando took you away from me and I've come here to ask you to tell me where he kept you so I can get you out of there." She didn't speak. "He's brainwashing you against your will, turning you against us, Usako."

"Stop!" She finally spoke; clearly this was making her angrier. "He would never! Demando saved me; he loves me-" She left it hanging. Those eyes, she loathed them; they had deceived her so many times and she didn't want this to be a plus one.

"I'm not lying. Look," There was some hope in her vulnerability. "Why would I come here unarmed if I wanted to trick you? You don't even have the crystal, then why would I come to you?" Mamoru could tell that he was breaking through her defense. The steel in her eyes was beginning to melt but she stood resilient to his moves.

His question was the question she had been asking herself ever since he showed himself. Endymion had the crystal then it made it baseless for him to come to her; it was her turn. She wondered if the tousled man in front of her was indeed the man who had tormented her in the past. If he was telling the truth, she should destroy him for the solitude he left her in but it was just like before. In front of this young version of Endymion, she was defenseless; completely powerless in front of those clear un-jaded eyes.

"I want you to leave," She leveled eyes with his, the steel had returned. "Now."

"Usako, I need to know where she is, I'm not leaving without you telling me." Mamoru's royalty could not be denied by anyone. It was not because it was his birthright; it was embedded in his every cell and in every reverberation in his voice.

"I don't know what you are talking about." She was feeling rushed now as she was sure that she heard footsteps down the sheen marble corridor outside. "You have to leave now." Naturally, she pushed him towards the draped window. If Demando caught him here, Endymion would not be spared and she could not let that happen; she knew in her gut.

"I'm not leaving." Even as Serenity pushed him, Mamoru stood his ground. He knew that even though Usagi had changed sides, she could never really change her heart. She had her chance to kill him but he knew that she was no threat to him.

"If Demando sees you, he won't spare you." Her anxiety was at a maximum and even her guilt could not simmer it down. It was pathetic actually, to care so much for the enemy.

"Do you at least believe me?" Mamoru asked hoping her worry for him was due to her love for him. He knew it could never completely be masked.

She stopped nudging him and their eyes met briefly. Mamoru thought he saw sincerity and he wondered what was going through her mind right now. She finally smiled and a little chuckle escaped as she shook her head.

"I would never believe you. Now if you want to be killed by my husband, then make yourself at home here. Or else leave." Serenity sat elegantly and on the edge of her bed with the worry on her face completely removed.

Mamoru should have been shocked but he couldn't help but smile as he had never seen this side of her. She seemed so rigid and so powerful. It was as if in a moment, his Usako didn't even exist. He felt sadistic in wanting to stay and face Demando.

"If you don't believe me, then ask your husband," He hated what he was saying, "I'm sure there are bits of your life you're missing, aren't there?" Mamoru knew that a cord had struck when her smirk disappeared. "Let's find out." Now even Mamoru heard the thuds getting louder and the echo was getting closer. He transformed into Tuxedo Mask right before Serenity's shell-shocked eyes.

-[[[[[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]][[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]][[[[[[[[[[[[[[][[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]-

Don't forget to REVIEW :)

-PSparkles