Disclaimer: I own no part of Sailor Moon, I own only the characters I have created, and the bizarre situations I keep thrusting them all into...

A/N: For those of you interested in where Usagi disappeared off to, here she be! Thanks this time go out to Girl Who Writes (the Shitennou and the Starlights is going to be quite the meeting) Lysia Croft (always glad to see you, and the hardest thing is keeping all these crazy characters seperated into their different relationships, and giving them the time they deserve, so glad you love Endy and his boys) Isis Aurora Tomoe (hehehe, I love the love) Lalaitha Yamainu (I live for you guys' reviews..."le gasp", loved it, and everyone but Queen Serenity will be showing up, she really is gone) Bin82501 (I'm enjoying writing it again, so I love that you love it) Artemis-chan of Redwing (somebody has to say what we're all thinking, and those somebodies happen to be Zoi and Neph, and while it's fun to bring in all the Senshi, I hope I can do them all justice) Sabrina (everyone's reactions to Rei and Jadeite's sleepover will be coming soon, and will be...varied, I'll try to keep the updates coming as best I can) and Sin Katt (you still make me laugh! and Rei and Jade aren't the only couple who need to step things up a notch...) Everyone, enjoy!

"The moon...she calls to me. Endymion, I don't want to go!"

"I don't care what the moon wants. You are my love. You belong here, at home, with all of us. So come home, Serenity. Come home to me."

He swept down on her. Her lips touched his.

She opened her eyes, and he was gone. She was alone.

No, not alone.

"My blood."

It flitted around her, that single silver petal, tossed about by a soft breeze blowing suddenly through the Prayer Chamber. Occassionally, it touched her, caressing her cheeks like a tiny kiss. She smiled, but she turned in a slow circle, and she called out.

"Endymion? Endymion!"

"Gone. He has gone."

"No. No! I want him back! Give him back to me!"

"Blood of Earth...you cannot trust him."

"He loves me!" she cried out. "He has always loved me! I'm going to marry him!"

The breeze exploded into a fullforce gail. It buffetted her sideways, shoving her across the silver floor, and all around the shining reflection of the heavens. Above it all, the other shrieked in a voice that no longer warmed her, but frightened her.

"NO! The blood of Earth...my blood...I will NEVER allow it!"

"Stop it!" she wailed. "Stop! I can't-"

"You cannot! YOU CANNOT! Not with Earth! You are mine! YOU ARE MINE!"

"STOP IT!"

The power exploded, from her, from the silver petal, or perhaps from the moon itself. It raced across the heavens under her feet, and filled the Chamber. For a moment it felt as though the whole of creation burned.

Then it swept back in, and the wind was gone, and the Prayer Chamber still.

Except for a tiny silver petal, slowly fluttering by her face.

"You belong to the moon. Even your power...all from me. Always...always...you will be mine..."

Serenity, heir to the Silver Millennium, closed her eyes and began to weep.

Usagi opened her eyes with a tiny gasp. Automatically she looked to the side, towards her clock. She blinked blankly at the tree limb, the emerald leaves shimmering in the early morning sun just in front of her eyes. Rolling her head the other way, she saw the trunk of the tree, the bark scraping against her cheek.

Even after shaking her head slightly, nothing changed. She sat propped against a tree, hidden away from anyone passing by, in the park where she and her friends had enjoyed their ice cream, and where Mamoru and the Shitennou had returned to them. Her whole body ached, though only half as much as her heart.

She remembered the dream, and her scattered friends, and her flight into the dark, and the alley, and...

"S...Ser...Seren...ity?"

Her head slowly turned, and she raised her eyes to the other person hiding beneath the tree.

The girl knelt in front of her, wide, frightened eyes fixed on Usagi's face. She had a beautiful face, a delicate oval, her eyes shaped like almonds with thick lashes, a long but elegant nose, and a pair of full lips. Her body and face, everything about her, looked human at first glance. But now, in the light of day, Usagi took the time to truly study the stranger. Her flesh was golden, not the color of mocha like Setsuna's, but as though she had been dyed with sunlight. She blinked curiously at Usagi with eyelashes the color of deep, dark violets. Instead of merely pink, the delicately parted lips appeared to have an almost metalic shimmer to them. Hair like sunrise, somewhere between gold and pink and red, fell from elaborate braids to dance around that beautiful face. And her eyes...

One moment they were dark green, the next brilliant blue, changing to deep purple, softening into delicate pink, then darkening into red.

The girl was not human.

"Hai," Usagi managed to whispered. "Serenity. That is my name. And you are... your name is Minau?"

She nodded eagerly. "Minau! You remembered! Good! Good."

"I remember. You said you needed help. Right?"

Those lovely, shining lips trembled. "I need help. I'm so far from home. I want to go home."

"Me, too," Usagi whispered, her eyes moving away. She passed a hand briefly over her cheeks to wipe away any lingering tears, and silently ordered herself calmer. "I don't remember...how did we get here?"

"You were very tired," Minau told her slowly. For the first time, Usagi caught the slight accent to her words. "I...I came up behind you. I frightened you. I'm sorry, I just...I did not know what else to do. When I asked you to help me, you said you would. You started to lead me away from that place that smelled bad, but you were walking strangely, first one way, then the other. I took your arm, and you led me this way. To here, to the tree. Then you sat down, and you went to sleep."

Still, Usagi remembered little after asking the stranger's name. She pushed off from the tree, and tried to stand up. Minau rose in front of her, and offered her hand. Usagi took it with a grateful smile. When she found her feet, she began to twist slightly to loosen the muscles in her back.

"How long did I sleep?"

"All through the night, and yesterday, and last night. The sun came up several hours ago. Where are we going now, Serenity?"

"I...all yesterday?!? That means it's...Sunday! I...I...I know I can sleep, but I slept a whole day?!?" She looked around her, then down at herself. Her school uniformed looked exactly as it should after being slept in for over twenty-four hours, stained, wrinkled, and probably beyond saving. She still only wore socks, no shoes. "Oh, Lord. And I can't go back to them. I'm not safe."

"Not safe?" Minau echoed, her voice confused. "From who?"

"Iie, you don't understand. People aren't safe from me."

Those big eyes, now sparkling gold, blinked yet again. "Why not?"

"There's something inside of me, something...powerful. But it's dangerous."

"Do you know what it is?"

Usagi opened her mouth to voice a denial, then stopped, and slowly nodded her head. "I know...But I don't know it's name."

After a moment of silence, Minau stepped back, pursed her lips thoughtfully, and looked down. She thought, and Usagi found her eyes drawn downward, not the ground, but to Minau's dress. It reminded her forcibly of the gowns from the Silver Millennium, a froth of pale pink silk spilling from the bodice made high under her breasts. Loose sleeves, cut away to reveal her shoulders and upper arms, were pulled in tight at her wrists with buttons of some milky pink stone. Staring at those buttons, Usagi rubbed the palm of her hand, where a tiny cut still remained.

"Inanna."

Minau's head jerked up, and wide eyes the color of the rolling sea met hers. "Inanna. How do you know that name?"

"She...that's where you're from, isn't it?"

"Yes...no. Inanna is the name of our star. I am from Taraneh."

"Taraneh," Usagi echoed, remembering the beautiful pink gem in Inanna's cupped hands. "Are you...are you a Sailor Senshi?"

This made Minau draw backwards a step. "You know of the Sailor Senshi?"

"Hai. Of course. Here, the Sailor Senshi guard the Princess of the Moon. I've also met the Sailor Starlights, and they protect their Princess Kakyuu."

Minau nodded as she looked away yet again. "Yes, they do protect the Princess. My friends...I don't know where they are!"

A sob wracked her, and suddenly she raised both hands, and pressed them to her mouth. Her body shook with her weeping, and Usagi moved instinctively forward. She wrapped both arms around the other girl. Minau shook her head and tried to pull away.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"

"It's okay," Usagi whispered soothingly. "I've spent so much time crying recently, a few more tears can't hurt me."

"I don't know where I am!" Minau cried out. "What happened?!? My father said so little, and he just pushed me into the crystal capsule, and he was shouting and everyone was crying, and I saw my friends but the capsule closed, and I think there was fire...and I don't know where my Senshi are!"

With that, her knees gave out. Usagi tried desperately to hold her up, but merely slowed their fall. Both girls collapsed to the ground, Minau sobbing wildly, her hands clawing at Usagi's back in her agony, and Usagi rocking her gently back and forth, there on the ground in her filthy uniform.

Where are my friends? she wondered silently. I hurt my friends, but...I just want to see them again. I want Mamo-chan to hold me, and I want Rei to yell at me, and Mako-chan to laugh with me, and Minako to make me smile, and Ami to tell me why it's all okay, and Haruka to threaten someone, and Michiru to soothe me, and Setsuna to tell me I'm strong, and Hotaru to hold me hand...I want my friends!

"I want my Senshi!" Minau shrieked into her shoulder. "They are supposed to be with me! How could they abandon me?!? How could my father send me out alone?!? WHAT HAPPENED?!?"

Usagi shook her head mutely. How could she tell this girl seized by fears and grief, alone in a strange world, that her star had exploded, and her home was destroyed? That her Senshi might be, and probably were, dead? That everything she loved was gone?

She raced through the Moon Palace, the alarms shrieking, the guards rushing through the corridors, and looked wildly about her for her Senshi, or for her mother. She followed the flow of people out, onto the steps of the Palace, and stared in horror as she saw them, all those people, all so angry. The gates could not hold them back, and they flooded into the courtyard, and for the first time the people of the Silver Millennium were forced into battle. The people of Earth, fueled by the darkness in the sun, seemed to wash over the guards and the soldiers, leaving only blood in their wake.

Filled with panic, she closed her eyes, and felt her body slipping away, to him, to Earth, to try and make some sense of this madness, and maybe, maybe, to find the one person who could stop it...

"What happened?" Minau's voice dropped to a whisper. "Why do I feel so alone?"

"I am with you." Usagi promised Minau the same as she had promised the star that had once lit her world. "I will go with you, and I will stay with you until the end."

"But you don't even know me."

"I know...I knew someone who would want me to help you. Someone I promised to always love. Someone I lost."

Taking a deep breath, Minau pulled away. For a moment she studied the ground, wiping quickly at her eyes. Then she looked up, and stared hard into Usagi's face, and shook her head. "You are...very strange. But I think you are kind. So, where are we going together, Serenity?"

"Well, we can't stay under this tree forever," Usagi began slowly. "And I need some shoes, and different clothes, and you need different clothes because while that's a very pretty dress it might stand out a bit around here, and...and I'm hungry!"

"I am hungry, too," Minau said with a little sigh. "Where can we find all these things? Will we have to steal them? I have never had to find clothes or food before, you see, so I have no money, or anything to trade. The Princess of Taraneh has things just given to her."

"So did the Princess of the Moon," Usagi muttered. "I miss that."

With that tiny tip of the head Usagi suspected was characteristic of Minau, the other girl studied her thoughtfully. "You miss that?"

"I am...I was...you see, a long time ago...I have a head ache, and I'm hungry, and I'll explain later. Right now, I guess we'll have to go to my house. I'll have to explain everything to my mother, as best as I can, and we'll just go from there."

"Your mother," Minau said. "Yes, that sounds very good. And she will give us food?"

"And a bath," Usagi said with a rueful glance down at her clothes. "Now if we can just make it through Tokyo without being arrested..."

While the strange pair were not arrested, they did receive more than their fair share of shocked stares. As distracted as she was with everything else, Usagi managed to ignore all this, until she spotted something ahead of her that made her breath catch in her throat. She seized Minau's arm, and dove into the nearest cover, which happened to be a photo club booth. She whisked the curtain closed just as the figure outside began to walk by.

Then she gave a tiny sigh of relief, and slumped against the wall.

"Serenity?" a voice whispered in her ear. "What are we doing?"

She jumped, and looked over her shoulder into Minau's confused silver eyes. "Gomen. That was my friend. She's one of the people I'm trying to protect from myself, you see. So we had to hide from her."

They peeked cautiously through a crack in the curtain, and Usagi felt her heart falling as Ami's dark blue hair faded into the crowd.

"Okay," she said, and pretended her voice did not break, "we're safe. Let's go."

She took Minau's hand, and moved back into the flow of Tokyo.

The walk might have taken forever, or just a few minutes, Usagi could not tell. Suddenly her house was before her, and she could have wept with relief. She pulled Minau forward, and as the door opened, she broke into a run.

"Mama!"
"Usagi!"

Only when she reached her mother did she let go of Minau, to throw both arms around the startled woman. She felt the other Princess stagger into her, and all three women crashed into the house, and the nearest wall. Most importantly, she felt her mother's arms close around her, and hold her close.

"Mama," she moaned, "I'm so tired, and I'm so hungry, and I'm all dirty, and-"

"Usagi, what happened to you?!? I thought you were staying with Makoto! The girls called and said you were staying a second night!" Ikuko gasped. "And...and who is this?"

"Oh, I am so very sorry!" Minau wailed, backing quickly out of the tangle of their embrace. "I didn't mean to...you see, Serenity had my hand, and we were running, so I thought I should keep running! Perhaps we were hiding again. I'm still very confused."

"Serenity? Who...? I don't...well, isn't that a pretty dress!" Ikuko smiled kindly at the visitor, then turned her head down to the daughter still clinging to her waist. "Usagi, will you please explain what happened to your uniform? And where are your shoes?"

"Mama, I have so much to explain to you, and I will, I promise, but we're both so hungry! Can't I have something to eat? Then I'll tell you everything. I promise."

Ikuko paused, staring hard into Usagi's weary eyes. Whatever she saw there made her nod, and push back her daughter's bangs tenderly. "Alright, Usagi. Go wash your hands, and show your friend the bathroom too, and then we'll sit down and have some breakfast, and you can tell me what's wrong."

"Arigatou, Mama," Usagi sighed, and finally released her death grip on her mother. "Oh! Right, this is Minau."

"Minau?" Ikuko repeated. "That's pretty. But it's not Japanese, is it?"

"Ano...Minau isn't from Japan, Mama."

"I see."

Stepping gracefully to the center of the hallway, Minau took her dress in both hands and executed a very pretty curtsey. "I am Minau, Princess of Taraneh, daughter of King Cyrus and Queen Vashti, and heir to the system of Inanna. I am very pleased to meet you."

"Oh!" Ikuko said slowly. "Well, uh, why don't I just call you Minau? Would that be alright?"

The Princess smiled wistfully. "Oh, yes, that would be fine. It is what my...my friends call me."

"Good. Usagi, take Minau to the bathroom, dear. I'll...make pancakes."

Usagi led Minau up the stairs and down the hall, past her brother's closed door. Just as her hand landed on the knob to the bathroom door, her eye caught on the telephone. She paused, then smiled slightly.

I can't be near Mamo-chan, but I can still...

"Here, Minau, you can wash your hands in here," she said quickly, opening the door and pointing to the sink. "I need to make a call."

"A call?"

"I need to speak to someone. I'll be just a second, okay?"

After nearly pushing the other Princess into the bathroom, she closed the door, hurried forward, and seized up the phone, punching in the familiar numbers. On the other end, it rang once, twice, three times. As the fourth ring began, Usagi felt her excitement drop, then soar as the welcoming click of an answer came.

"Hai?" someone panted into the phone.

"Mamo-chan?" Usagi asked slowly.

"Iie, this is...Princess?!?"

"Nephrite?"

"Hai, it's Nephrite! Where are you?!?"

"Nephrite, let me talk to Mamo-chan! Please!"
She heard the scraping sound of a hand covering the receiver, but still she made out the words being hollered on the other end.

"Kunzite! Kunzite, stop Mamo-chan! I mean, Mamoru! Get him back in here!"

"We're late, Nephrite! The girls are going to-"

"Forget them, it's the Princess on the phone!"

Distant shouting was heard, and the sounds of running feet. A moment later, her eyes closed rapturously as she heard his breathless voice gasp her name.

"Usako?!?"

"Mamo-chan! Mamo-chan, are you alright?!?"

"Am I alright?!? What happened to you? Are you safe? Where are you?"

"Gomen, gomen, I had to run away, but I'm safe, I promise I'm safe, but you aren't, I'm dangerous and I want you safe and I love you so much!"

"Usako, Usako, I love you, too. Please tell me where you are!"

She hesitated, desperate to keep him away, and desperate to have him near. "Mamo-chan, don't ask me, please don't ask-"

"Tell me where you are!" he all but shouted into the phone. "I need to know!"

"I'm...Mamo-chan, I'm at ho-"

The screech of electronics was the only warning she had. Usagi jerked the phone away from her ear, saw the silver mist coalescing around her hand, felt the power rushing from her body, and then the receiver exploded into a million pieces.

Usagi shrieked and leapt back.

"Never...Earth and the Moon will never join...never..."

"Stop it, stop it, stop it!" Usagi shrieked, pounding the heels of her clenched hands against her temples. "Leave me alone!"

"Serenity!"

"Usagi!"

Hands grasped her, two seizing her shoulders, two more her wrists and pulling her hands away. She opened her eyes to see her mother and Minau staring at her in shock. Both looked down to the shattered pieces of metal and plastic, then turned to the wall behind it. Usagi looked as well, and nearly collapsed in dispair when she saw the black mark there, like a negative image of the sun.

"Why won't it stop?" she whispered. "Mother, mother, what's wrong with me? How could you leave me now? I need you! MOTHER!"

"USAGI!"

The sharp pain in her cheek made her gasp in shock. She focused sharply on the face in front of her, on Ikuko's frightened eyes. Her mother still held one wrist tightly, but the other had been freed to deal Usagi the surprising slap.

"Usagi," Ikuko whispered, shaking her head weakly, "what is going on?"