A/N: I'm alive. No, really. And yes, I'm trying to finish up the stories I've started over the past decade or so. I miss writing, and this is what I can do to get my creative muscles working again.


Astria was walking through a dimly lit corridor, but she couldn't understand how she knew it was a corridor when the walls couldn't be seen. Stumbling along while looking this way and that, she noted how unbelievably gray everything was. The place wasn't without some depth, however, as lighter clouds of mist rolled over the ground and through the air at certain points. Astria took a moment to stop robotically walking in a general direction and wiped her clammy palms over the skirt of her uniform.

"Seriously… what is this place?" She voiced aloud, half expecting to get an echo with how desolate the area seemed to be. Instead, her voice faded out into nothingness and produced a shred of panic in her chest. Her next step was to breathe slowly and control her worry before it got out of hand and landed her into something worse. I don't even remember getting here… I wonder if this is a dream.

As soon as she thought it, Astria felt the beginnings of a slight shift in consciousness that allowed her to be more confident in her surroundings, but didn't get her anywhere new. Well, I'll take what I can get, I suppose. Training her eyes up, she squinted at what she thought should be the sky. Instead, the shifting grey seemed endless above her and gave her a slight sense of vertigo. She blew out a puff of air and looked back down just to nearly scream and scramble backwards at the person that appeared in front of her.

Her brain stopped working and whatever voice she was beginning to find seemed to run back down into her throat.

"Astria." The girl in front of her spoke, tilting her head slightly. "I suppose I should introduce myself."

"You don't need to." Astria croaked out, her eyes still wide as she took in everything. "I know who you are… Celeste."

Princess Celeste Epouran Asteri gave a faint smile in response. "Is it obvious?"

"I'd say so. There's nobody else I can really think of that would be in my dreamscape, wearing my face and using my voice to talk to me. This doesn't really count as Disassociate Personality Disorder, does it? I can't really figure out how to break it to my parents that I'm both a magical soldier and messed up in the head, ya know."

The Princess laughed aloud then, genuinely amused at Astria's response. "I wish I had your way of addressing the world. I am a bit too serious, perhaps to a fault… but it is how we all were back then." Slowly, her smile faded and she sighed, a shadow of sadness creeping upon her features. "We must talk."

Astria swallowed and simply nodded. She wished she had a chair to sit in, as she anticipated a long talk… or at least, learn some things that might make her legs unable to hold her body up correctly. My dream is not obeying me right now, I totally should be able to conjure up a chair or something.

"You've accepted your mantle of being a sailor soldier, but you have not accepted me."

"Baby steps."

"We do not have time for baby steps, Astria, not anymore."

"Well, then I don't know what to tell you."

"Astria-"

"No, I'm not done." Astria cut her off, a surge of anger fueled by a mountain of frustration, fear, and a fair bit of helplessness that she didn't realize she had been holding back for awhile. "You are a complete stranger to me, yet I had to deal with a cat - which, may I add, in my world DO NOT TALK - implying to me that my only worth as a human being is in a past life that is now appearing to me to lecture me. Have you ever known what it feels like to have your life destroyed and have no choice but to accept another one that someone has told you? Even though you don't understand it, don't want it, never asked for it, and have trouble coping with it? And knowing that the only people who know can't even help you through it and expect so much of you at the same time? Fearing that you're going to be a disappointment no matter how much you want to be better but don't know how?!" She clenched her hands into fists at her sides, a cold sweat breaking out upon her brow.

"As a matter of fact… I know that feeling all too well." The clipped voice of Celeste responded, staring plainly back at the harrowed schoolgirl with the stony look of a displeased royal. "Do not presume to know someone you have already said you do not."

Knowing that she crossed a line, Astria diverted her gaze, trying to get a leash on her volatile emotions. "I don't… I mean, I…"

"You are young. In the short life that you have lived, you have experienced nothing but the most minimal amount of troubles." Celeste took a few steps to the right, eyeing Astria as she continued. "You may not know me, but I can read you so very well. Going to school away from your friends was the largest thing your mind could comprehend before Twilight informed you of your birthright. The most you have done as a soldier are minuscule training exercises, and instead of your worry being placed on the mission at hand, it is instead focused on where you stand with your friends. That is not becoming of a warrior."

"Maybe I don't want to be a warrior. Maybe I just want to be the girl I've known for my entire life."

"Maybe life doesn't give you a choice, and you must adapt or die." The Princess bluntly stated, coming to a stop. She waited for a response from Astria, but there was none this time. Realizing that she too was harboring certain pent up emotions, she closed her emerald eyes for a moment. I did not come here to cause more of a rift. I came here to help. "My apologies, Astria. Perhaps… perhaps, I am jealous."

Astria snapped her head up in shock. "What?"

Celeste placed her hands gracefully at her sides, letting them disappear into the silky layers of whatever material her gown was made of. "You have a fresh start. That is not something that I can ever have. I am irrevocably chained to the past and the horrors that cannot be erased, while you have the ability to be free of it. Even facing everything now, you are not connected to what makes this journey so crucial. I wanted to speak to you to convince you to understand me, because if not… then you may not be strong enough to survive what comes. You may not have the drive that I myself have to find Serenity. And that would make your struggles, as well as my sacrifices, vain."

Astria paused before deciding to speak, making sure that this time her anger did not creep up and make her say things she'd kick herself for later. "You stole the Star Crystal for her, right? Serenity?"

Celeste winced. "I would like to tell myself that it was. I was telling myself that when I did it. But… it wasn't. It was selfishness, hurt, and an overwhelming inability to cope that drove me to make the biggest and last regret of my life."

"You regret everything?"

The princess sighed, pain still etched upon her face. "I… do not know. Yes and no, for many reasons that I do not have the time to explain to you like this. If we properly merged, then you would know as I know. But that is your choice." She looked up at Astria then. "What is not your choice is the completion of your mission at hand, which is to find Serenity and her court. You have come too far for that."

"I know." Astria gave a sigh of her own. "But I don't even know where to start. Are they even alive?"

"Yes. That I was able to ascertain, at least. My advice would be to return to the source."

"The source?"

"Japan. Birthplace of Tsukino Usagi. If there are no other leads here, then you must find a way to go there."

"Oh, boy." Astria massaged her forehead. "How the heck do you expect me to do that?"

Celeste's lips upturned, just slightly. "I am sure a champion of justice won't let the obstacle of distance stand in her way."

Silence lapsed between the two girls, one that was neither comfortable or uncomfortable. The fog that surrounded them and the entire area continued drifting around them, licking at their ankles as it passed aimlessly and calmly.

"I thank you for trying to get through to me." Astria finally said. "I am taking everything into consideration, even though I insulted you and… yeah. I am taking my mission seriously. I will do what I can to complete it. But… I want to be myself when I do. I know that I was you way back when, but now I'm just me. And if anything can make me grow up fast, it's probably going and saving my childhood idols." She sighed and looked off into the distance. "It's probably pride that's making me hold you back, along with a healthy amount of fear. I just… hope you forgive me for it, and trust me to take care of things on my own."

The Starian princess took a moment to assess Astria's words, and after a few blinks, she nodded. "I understand. Thank you, Astria Benton, for being honest with me. I will not be able to leave your mindspace, as we share a soul, and the more you dabble in being a sailor soldier might lead you closer to me than you might anticipate. But I will not force myself on you, that I can promise."

"It's enough."


"Do you think she'll ever wake up?"

"Don't be ridiculous, of course she'll wake up. It wasn't like she got knocked in the head by a freight train or anything."

"Yeah, but we don't really know what kind of… consciousness shift thing she's got going on and what it's even supposed to mean."

"What will we tell her folks?

"Umm…"

Voices filtered into Astria's ears, softly as if she was underwater, and then settling into normalcy. She cracked one eye open, dazzled by the bright light overhead, and wondered why it seemed to be high noon. "Ow… I'm not dead, guys. But I do feel a bit of a headache coming on from the sun over here."

Gasps resounded throughout the group, and then Dawn's face abruptly appeared in Astria's vision. "OH MY GOD, YOU'RE AWAKE! Wait…" She squinted. "Astria?"

The brunette blinked twice and attempted to sit up. "Yeah. Who else would it be?"

Dawn looked relieved, and Nicole spoke up from her seat off to the side. "We're in your room, by the way. It's way past sun down at this point. So… how much do you remember?"

Moving her hazel eyes to all of her friends in confusion, Astria started feeling apprehensive. "I… were we training? No…" She furrowed her brow. "New senshi? Autumnstar was…"

Sabrina uncrossed her legs from a spot on the floor, moving so that she sat on the edge of the bed. "We got into what was probably our first real fight as a group hours ago. Some bitch showed up talking shit, tried mowing down Autumnstar… and I guess made quick work of the rest of us as well… but then you owned her."

Astria just looked at the redhead with her mouth slightly agape before Twilight primly cleared her throat. "Astria, there was an altercation at the park earlier today that almost cost us Lady Fthinoporo. Celeste, realizing the severity of the situation, temporarily took control of your body to prevent casualties."

"Celeste…" Images of what she thought was a dream drifted across her mind's eye. "Is… is she okay? Lady Fthin- thingo-"

"Allison," Sabrina offered. "Her other name is way too complicated for me to even attempt. Hell, I'm about to shorten her name to Allie at this point."

"She is alright. A tad shaken and has a lot to fathom, I would think. She did not feel comfortable lingering around the house while you were unconscious, and left us a telephone number in which to contact her."

Well. What a way to start a friendship. And I thought my start with Nicole was bad. At least I was myself through all of that. Sighing, she scratched her head, disrupting the errant brown strands. "Ok, well… do my folks know that I was knocked out? I guess not, since I'm sure at least my mom would be up here hovering over me by now."

"No, Twilight kept us invisible the whole way home, and then Nicole figured out which key unlocked your door, and we snuck in. Not like we had to sneak in much, since your folks were out when we came in. They're back now, but I think they figure that we're still out or something since nobody went downstairs to say anything." Dawn paused, then grinned sheepishly. "We were in the middle of trying to figure out how to explain to them why you were in such a deep sleep, what we were doing, and hoping they didn't blame us for anything."

Glancing at her nightstand, Astria checked out the time. "Well, it's 9:00 now, and if another half hour goes by without a peep, they're going to start making some phone calls reminding me of a curfew. So, let me just go downstairs and make an appearance. I'll say we decided to see an impromptu movie or something." She stood up slowly and brushed out any wrinkles she could see on her clothes, ran her fingers through her hair to make it seem less unkempt, and exited her room.

As the door closed quietly behind her, Dawn turned towards the other girls. "She seems to be taking things rather well."

"Her hands were shaking," Nicole quietly said. "She's doing good at hiding it, but I noticed. She's putting up a front."

"Can you blame the poor girl? She barely understands what's going on, and we pretty much told her that her alternate reality self possessed her and caused her to pass out. It's probably taking everything within her to not start screaming." Sabrina mused. "I admit guys, I'm at a loss of how to go on from here. Shit got real pretty fast today, and I don't know about you, but I don't think we're ready. We got CREAMED out there."

The Asian girl couldn't help a patronizing snort escaping from her nose. "What happened to your "balls to the walls" attitude? Did it get a reality check?"

"Actually, yeah, it did," Sabrina met her gaze head on, unfazed. "Doesn't mean that I'm not gonna give it all I've got, but it puts into perspective how seriously out-classed we are. The anime makes this moonlight pretty sailor soldier thing look easy, and I figured that, but … that bitch was toying with us. We were going at her hard. What happens when she decides to get serious?"

Dawn bit her lip and turned her blue eyes towards Twilight. "You think we should train more?"

The guardian cat looked off to the side, out towards the window. "As much as I would like for that to happen, it seems as though-"

"-it's not gonna happen." Astria finished, causing everyone to sharply look up at the doorway. She closed the door behind her and took a couple of steps in, sighing. "We don't have the luxury of time. We either move, or be mowed over."

"But we don't have a plan of action," Nicole pointed out. "What do you expect us to do?"

Astria turned towards Twilight. "We go to Japan."

Silence.

Dawn blinked at Sabrina. "Did she just say Japan?"

The redhead just opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, shaking her head in disbelief. Meanwhile, Twilight studied Astria carefully. "And what might we find there?"

"Oh, I'm sure you know better than I do on that. It's where the senshi originated… well, not including Sailor V, but you get my point. We all want answers, right? We're not getting them here in Georgia, and I don't like us being sitting ducks." She took a deep breath. "So… do you think we can teleport there? Like, Sailor Teleport?"

"Astria," Nicole started.

"What? Do you have a passport and plane fare to get there on hand? I barely had enough money to buy you guys rings, so that's just where I stand on that front. The only way we can get there… without parental permission and supervision, I might add… is by teleporting. Right, Twilight?"

The cat paused for a moment before giving a curt nod.

Astria stiffly nodded back, then clasped her hands together and tried at a smile that came out just a tad wobbly. "Guess that's settled. You guys ready?"

"Yes. No. Wait, girl, you're serious?" Dawn sputtered. "You want to go NOW? Don't you wanna, like, rest? I mean, we just got out of a major scuffle, and…"

"No. We do it now, get it over with, and start making progress," Astria said firmly. "I don't want any more late night park adventures, squabbles that end up with power battles that only leave us slightly beat up, and talking about what we're going to do. We're going to just DO it. We found Autumnstar, and unless there are more seasons that I'm not aware of, we don't have anyone we're missing. Hey, you guys said you had her number? Call her up, say we're having a sleepover. I slipped that in an excuse for my folks downstairs so it's not like they'll think anything of it, and she'll have an alibi."

Sabrina exchanged a glance with Twilight. "Uh, she just met us. Today. And now a sleepover? I mean, my parents are pretty laid back, but I don't know how Allie's are going to take it."

"She'll have to figure it out. We need her here, and this is important. She's seen how real it gets out there, so I'm sure she'll be able to come up with something."

"And what if we don't come back before sunrise?" Nicole evenly asked, her face betraying nothing.

Something in Astria's eyes flickered, but then it was gone. "We have a mission. That comes before making it back in time for breakfast, don't you think?"

"Yeah, but…" The blonde like she was on the verge of a panic attack. "Our parents…"

"We're soldiers, right?" Astria interrupted, folding her arms. "What do soldiers prioritize?"

Nicole's response of "Carrying out the mission" was delivered at the same time as Sabrina's incredulous answer of "Staying alive". Dawn just sat, staring wide-eyed in confusion and fear at her friend and leader, wondering if this was Celeste doing the talking. But it seemed to be all Astria's doing, but she was worried about how abrupt her decision making seemed to be. This isn't like her at all.

Twilight took another moment to survey the room before speaking. "We know the senshi are alive, if Princess Celeste's declarations were correct. It is highly unlikely that they would be on this continent, and I must admit that extensive travel would indeed become a necessity… I just did not expect it to be upon us so soon." She turned her green eyes towards Astria. "Are you certain?"

Astria swallowed. She knew that as the leader, she had control over her friend's lives, and it terrified her more than she was trying to let on. She also really wished Twilight wasn't giving her a subtle out of everything she had been trying to push through up until that point, as she really didn't need another reason to give into the urge to run away screaming. "I'm sure."

"Then it is settled."


Looking up at the late night summer sky, Astria wrung her fingers in her lap as she sat outside in her mother's garden waiting for everyone to gather themselves in order to head out. Her parents had already turned in for the night, with a quick peek in her room to make sure that the girls had everything they needed. Sabrina had retreated with the phone to ring Allison and fill her in on what was going to happen, and Astria had took that opportunity to leave her room and get some fresh air. Possibly also to look upon things that she wasn't entirely sure that she'd be seeing ever again.

She refused to think about it too much, or at least give into all of the worst case scenarios that were threatening to spill over. She supposed she should get an E for effort, as her heart rate fluctuated constantly and she couldn't stop the cold sweat from materializing on her palms. Wiping them off on her jeans for what seemed like the upteenth time, Astria resorted to a breathing exercise she read about in a magazine once. Okay… four seconds inhale, two seconds holding it, and four seconds slow exhale. She closed her eyes and started inhaling, carefully keeping count with a single-minded determination. One… two… three…

"You're trying too hard, you know."

Coughing and sputtering on the saliva that went down the wrong tube the moment she was startled, Astria whipped her head around and stared accusingly at the culprit. "Trying just fine, thanks," she retorted in a raspy voice, trying to clear her throat. "What's it to you, anyway?"

Shrugging in a non-committal fashion, Nicole folded her arms. "I don't know, Dawn's currently trying to fight what seems like the only panic attack she's ever had in her life, Sabrina is in negotiations with Allison to try and convince her to magically travel with a group of strangers to a far away land, and you're out here doing a poor excuse for yoga to try and avoid all of this you started. What's all that to you?"

Finally getting control of her basic bodily functions, Astria mirrored Nicole's shrug and turned away from her. "Thought you'd be happy. I'm finally putting my big girl pants on."

"Well, your big girl pants are suffocating the group."

"Then maybe they should find their own big girl pants."

"Being a hard bitch doesn't suit you. It's painful to watch, really."

Astria's eye twitched. "Yeah, I suppose I should have learned from you first, huh?"

A pause, then slight movement. She supposed Nicole was either making herself comfortable or getting in a better position to pop her in the face for that last comment. Astria figured it was safer to stare forward and not find out either way.

"I'd rather nobody learn from me. It's not a good way to go about living life."

Astria blinked in surprise at the lack of vitriol in that statement, but kept her eyes on the stars in the sky. "I don't know about that. Living requires surviving, and you've definitely got that down pat. I'm sure you were disappointed that Celeste didn't permanently stick around."

"… I didn't say that."

"Then what ARE you trying to say? Enlighten me please, because we're running out of bushes to run around."

"I'm sorry."

Unable to help herself this time, Astria slowly turned around and looked down at Nicole, who was seated on the edge of the small patio. A corner of her lips upturned in a self-depreciating glimpse of a half-smile, then disappeared as soon as it was formed. "It seems that I have to spell it out for you all the time, Astria. I'm not good at that, because I don't have the patience for it. Sabrina would probably be better suited for this."

Astria opened her mouth to reply that Sabrina probably had the least patience out of all of them, but just in a different way, but Nicole continued. "I don't… come off the way I should, as you can probably see. I know what they call me behind my back at school, and it's strangely ironic that I end up being a warrior that controls ice. I've stopped caring… as much. I think I just got good at hiding it." Tucking a few strands of jet black hair behind her ear, she sighed. "Princess Celeste was a surprise to all of us, today. If you want to talk about out of our league, she would definitely be it. She was more of a wake up call than our battle with the mystery woman. She's self-assured, probably takes no crap, but also seems to be understanding to those around her. I've never met royalty before this, and I know we're all technically sworn to her… that was intimidating."

"She's everything I'm not. She's everything I need to be."

"No. You don't need to be her. You just need to be yourself."

Astria couldn't help but let out an incredulously bitter bark of laughter. "Are you kidding me right now? This is the girl you reamed out for not reacting to an unexpected attack just a few days ago. I was also so useless earlier today that my past self had to push me out of the way and do my job for me. Astria Benton doesn't belong on a battlefield. Princess Celeste does."

Nicole winced. "Maybe. But there's Sailor Star, and I think she's more you right now than Celeste. And I'm talking about the girl who freaks out over Sailor Moon anime more than I think any person should. The girl who worries more about her dynamic with friends than a late-night training exercise in a park. The girl who thinks about everyone before herself."

"That girl isn't a leader."

"On the contrary, she's more of a leader than you give her credit for." Nicole looked her straight in the eyes. "Do you honestly think that all of us would even be able to stay in the same room together if it wasn't for you? Do you think that doesn't count for anything?"

Astria just looked at her.

"I know you're scared. I know you think that this is what a leader is supposed to be. And for what it's worth, I think you could tell us to all go jump in a fiery pit of hell right now, and we'd go and do it because you said so. Do you know who inspired that in us? It wasn't Celeste. It was you."

She felt like she was going to start crying now, and that was bad, because if she let one tear fall, then a never-ending river would start, she just knew it. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I need you to understand how far you're pushing yourself and how much you don't need to be. You may not be allowed to curl up under your blankets and ignore the world and what's going on in it, but that doesn't mean you have to break yourself in order to get things done. You don't have to break everyone else, either." Standing up, Nicole placed a hand on Astria's arm. "Sailor Star can save the world, but Astria Benton is the only one who can save us."

A breeze filtered through the trees then, rustling the leaves and making loose strands of hair tickle their faces. She bit the inside of her mouth hard enough to hurt, just to keep her emotions in check enough to reply to someone who turned out to be the most unlikely friend in the bunch. "That was corny, Nikki."

"Don't call me that," Nicole replied tersely, but her eyes held a twinkle of mirth. "I swear, I'm gonna kill Sabrina for coining that nickname."

"Hey, why's everything MY fault all the time?" The girl in question slid open the door and stepped out fully to join the two. Dawn was behind her, peeking over her shoulder.

"It seems to fit most situations," Nicole replied cooly, stepping back from Astria. "Do you deny it?"

Sabrina pretended to think about it for a moment, and then broke into her trademark grin. "Nah. Most things I totally want at least some credit for, anyway. Like sweet talking Allie's folks to let her come over."

Astria gaped. "What? Really?"

"Yes, really. She must have the gift of persuasion, because I don't think my parents would have ever come around if it was just me fighting my case." Allison spoke up, edging around everyone after closing the door. "So, is this really happening? Japan, I mean."

Everyone looked towards Astria then, and she nodded. After Nicole talked to her, she felt better about what they had to do, like an invisible weight was lifted off her shoulders. She was still uncertain, scared, and wary of the future, but it didn't feel so forced to move forward anymore. "Yeah. Let's just say that Celeste and I had a little conference call while I was knocked out. I figure any hints she provides are better than what we could come up with running around in circles."

Allison took a moment to soak it in, then shook her head. "I really can't believe anything I'm doing in the past few hours. I think I've stopped myself from analyzing it too much… and just going with the flow like I would when I'm doing Tai Chi. But I'm sure most would just figure me to be crazy."

"Well, if you're crazy, then the rest of us are right along with you," Sabrina patted her shoulder. "I can't even speak Japanese. Hey, Nikki, can-"

"Nope." She cut her off. "Don't even ask. I'm not everyone's personal Babelfish. We're all going in this blind and mute. Which is just wonderful."

"Not entirely. I am capable of speaking the native tongue." Twilight stepped in between them all.

"Oh, never mind, we'll just have our cat order food for us and give taxis directions to where we need to go. Nobody will blink an eye at that."

Astria just chuckled, then reached out to grasp Dawn's hand. "Hey girl… are you okay? I'm sorry that I dropped this bomb on everyone. I don't mean to scare you."

Dawn smiled appreciatively at her friend. "I know. It's just… everything's moving so fast. I kinda got overwhelmed, and I don't want anything bad to happen to us. And I was worried about you."

"Yeah… I know. It's fine though, girl. Really. Somebody has to worry about me. But I just want to let you know that no matter what, we're all in this together." She pulled the blonde in for a hug. "That goes for everyone. All we have is each other." Looking down at Twilight, she tilted her head. "So, how do we do this teleport thing?"

"There are multiple ways to make sure a journey, but since this is your initial travel, it seems as thought the best way to proceed would be to use your transformation energy to fuel the trip." Twilight sat on her haunches and wrapped her tail delicately around herself. "I have been to the location in which we will disembark, so I shall focus the intent to make this easier. All you girls have to do is transform at the same time in a circle around me."

"This won't cause my mom's garden to implode in on itself, right? She just planted those radishes over there."

The guardian cat just deadpanned Astria in response.

"Okay, fine, whatever. Let's just do this. Everyone ready?" She placed her hand on the locket that was fastened around her throat.

"On the count of three?" Sabrina grasped her transformational stick in anticipation, her brows furrowed.

"One…" Dawn lifted her own pen.

"Two," Nicole's hand began to glow a slight blue.

"Three." Allison thrust her hand to the sky.

From the neighboring yards, an unintelligible shout resounded, quickly followed by a bright flash of light that shot like a laser up into the sky. By the time the residents pulled back their drapes in confusion, the night was still once again. Only what seemed to be a shooting star was leaving a trail amongst the heavens was the only evidence that there was anything special happening at all.