Yoo-hoo! This chapter includes terminology! Quick explanation so things don't get confusing for you:

Jūdan- Is a 10th dan (level basically) black belt, there have only been ten official jūdan in history for example Kyuzo Mifune, hooray for badassery!

Rokudan- Is a 6th dan black belt, though funnily enough they don't wear black belts, they wear ones that remind me of Where's Wally (or Waldo, take your pick)

Anyhoo!

Chapter Twenty One: Stronger

The only sound in the apartment was that of sizzling bacon, and no matter how hard it's occupants tried to ignore it and continue to sleep, the smell was too intoxicating to ignore. Mina was the first up, her hair in such a giant knot that it seemed like it couldn't possibly have done it itself. She had moved rather quickly once noticing Lyra had left her bedroom, and stumbled into the living room, sighing out of slightly guilty relief as she spotted her in the kitchen. Darien was out a second or two later maintaining his military-neat appearance even if he was still in his pyjamas.

'Lyra? How long have you been awake?' he questioned anxiously.

It may have been a couple of days since Lyra had recovered from her breakdown, but it was all too easy to see how jumpy he was about it still. Lyra had still been rather quiet, cautious in the way she said and did things. Even when they had ventured outside yesterday to visit Andrew, her smile had seemed forced, although her quiet apology to him had been completely sincere. She just seemed like she was trying to figure out what things she'd usually do were her own idea, and what was a defence mechanism. But Lyra seemed a little brighter today, dressed, hair brushed and tied back, spatula in hand as she made breakfast.

'About an hour, the sun was up so my brain decided it was as well,' she shrugged, her smile hesitant.

Darien's response was typical of their usual relationship but it did make Mina glare at him, 'An hour and you've only got bacon done? What happened to your work ethic.'

'Lyra I think we've got a fresh pig in, should I start another pan?'

Darien made a face at her but seemed to have regretted his comment, but Lyra was still smiling, seeming slightly more comfortable, 'I've got blueberry muffins in the oven and the quiche is cooling as we speak. Gee Darien, you must have slept like a log for once, I've had the mixer on half the morning.'

'No you haven't,' Darien retorted, 'I haven't slept deeply a day in my life and you know it.'

Lyra thought about something for a long moment, tossing another bacon rind onto a nearby plate, 'Wasn't that part of my overly elaborate theory that you were a soldier in a past life?'

'Yes,' Darien encouraged.

Lyra had had a habit of going on long hypothetical rants about anything and everything. Why Lizzie found fashion interesting. How Darien could possibly be interested in something as "dull" as medicine. How many times Toby must have been dropped on his head at birth to be so stupid. The chemical imbalance in Andrew's head that must have occurred to result in him being so cheerful. The opposite imbalance that must have occurred in Darien to make him such a grouch. What Toby must have stuck up his ass to make him such a self-obsessed jerk. And what mythological creature must be possessing Mina to be so engrossed in romance films. Plenty of rants, each extending for up to an hour a piece, where she would debate both sides of an argument, weighting pros and cons of various theories and if she liked a theory, she'd go on a huge tangent which Darien would occasionally make into a chart so that he could point out when she was repeating herself and eventually get her to shut up.

'Mmm! This is so good!'

Lyra turned to see Mina barely two centimetres from her elbow, chowing down on some of the already cooked bacon until the oil popped and strike her in the face making her slide back. Lyra smiled a little more certainly, before turning down the stove and going to retrieve the muffins without a word.

'Is this turnip bacon?' Mina asked.

'No, it's regular bacon,' Lyra shrugged before turning back to Mina, eyebrow raised, 'What's turnip bacon?'

'I don't know, I hear about it on American TV shows a lot,' she shrugged.

Darien and Lyra exchanged a look, both of them catching on to her mistake, 'Should you tell her or should I?' Darien offered.

'Together sounds good,' Lyra shrugged before both of them stated in sync, 'Mina, turkey bacon.'

'Like that's any less clear on what it is!'

Mina's retort was so fast that it got a short laugh out of Darien, and a sincere smile out of Lyra who looked away and fanned the steam away from the muffins, 'Now, who wants eggs?'

…

'Luna? Excuse me… Can I please talk to you for a minute?'

From where she was resting on Serena's window sill, the cat couldn't help but be surprised when she heard the girl approach her. She gave her as kind of a look as possible, she had been far from ignorant from what she'd been going through in the past few days. The burns from the fire were still healing, discolouring the skin of her arms and legs and even the left side of her face. Fragments of her hair were cut disjointedly after the burnt sections had to be removed. But the physical change didn't amount to half of the emotional backlash. Serena had become quieter and more withdrawn, she seemed worried at all times and there were few moments when Luna couldn't spot some sort of trace of tears.

'Is something wrong Serena?' Luna asked gently.

'I...' Serena began sitting on the bed hesitantly, 'I can't do this anymore. The fighting, the death, the misery… I can't do it.'

'Serena, only you can do this. You are Sailor Moon, I can't just pick someone else to do it. It can only be you, the transformation pen won't work for anyone else,' she said calmly, but firmly, she couldn't let Serena give up on this no matter how understandable her reasons were.

'Why?'she asked quietly.

'It's locked to your DNA, it chose you and now it won't work for anyone else,' she explained carefully.

'Can't you just make another one?'

Luna shook her head making her ears flop, 'The method for creating Henshin devices has been lost for millennia. Even in the Silver Millennium the method was unknown to us… This pen is yours until your death, or until someone else is selected by the gods. And given how the other devices work, it would be tied to your bloodline, now more than ever.'

Serena looked particularly distressed at the last comment, 'Why?' she asked her eyes opening.

'From what I recall, if a Senshi died, a sister would take their place and if the line of the Senshi ended unexpectedly in the past life, distant cousins could be traced and tested until we found who had been selected. But now that the Silver Millennium has come to close that's no longer an option. Whole races were destroyed. For example if the Sailor Senshi of Jupiter were to die, the Henshin could not be passed to anyone else as she would be the last of the Jovian's. Do you understand Serena? It can only be you.'

'Can't you find someone else? Another Senshi? You said there were four of us.'

'We're looking, but you can rely on us finding someone else. After we found Mina it took us over a year to find you, you have to fight Serena. You can't just give up. This is your destiny, and I know it's hard, believe me, I know. But you are far more capable than you believe. You were chosen for a reason. Do you understand?'

Part of Luna believed she'd pushed this a little far especially with Serena in such a fragile state. She half expected the young girl to dissolve into tears or run away, or both. But she got the surprise of a lifetime when with only a single tear running down her cheek she nodded. Her muscles were tensed and her body was rigid but she nodded all the same. Her expression seemed to imply that she had expected such an answer, that she had expected there wasn't a way out of this.

'Okay… okay… I can try… I...' she took a second to calm herself down, breathing deeply for a long moment, 'But I can't just go back to how I've been so far. I won't let anyone else get hurt. I need to get better at this. I need to be better. Luna, can you help me? Will your train me?'

Luna was still surprised by her words but she smiled without hesitance, 'Of course I will Serena. That's why I'm here. You're not alone in this, we're a team Serena.'

…

Darien observed Lyra nervously, knowing how afraid she was right now, about how awkward she felt about what could be about to happen. It was a strange sight to see that was for sure. Usually the dojo was a place she never felt awkward, she'd never feel like she was being victimised in anyway when she was here. He was used to seeing this behaviour when she was at her school, but never here. To see how different she was acting was scary to say the least.

'Takashi will understand,' he told her soothingly, gripping her hand, 'Didn't you say he's a walking buddha? He won't blame you for what's been going on. He'll probably just sprout some sagely advice and forgive you.'

Her head thunked into his stomach with a slight groan, telling him that she wasn't convinced by his assurances in the slightest. Then again comforting wasn't his strong suit so that wasn't much of a surprise. They were still in the foyer of the dojo, Takashi was yet to come out of his office to see them even if the receptionist had informed they were there. He couldn't help but wonder if Takashi was taking his time on purpose, to get Lyra back for blowing him off. Though the second Darien started to think he was definitely right, Takashi exited his office and approached them.

'Lyrana,' he said briskly.

She didn't respond, she just couldn't even as she slid off her chair and got to her feet, looking at Takashi with burning eyes. Something unspoken passed between the two and he circled her calmly but awkwardly on his crutches. Lyra didn't seem unnerved by this for the same reason Darien was. While he didn't understand what was going on, Lyra clearly did but seemed more like she was worried she wouldn't pass some sort of test.

'You look better. Better than I assume you were when we last spoke.'

Lyra nodded gently, but had averted eye contact for a long moment before she began to speak, 'I wouldn't classify myself one hundred percent or anything like that… But I haven't been the entire time I've known you so I guess that's nothing new.'

'Quite a transition it seems if you truly have accepted such a thing,' Takashi commented lightly.

There was a long pause and with a deep breath to stabilise herself, she looked up at Takashi, 'I came here to apologise, I was needlessly rude and I betrayed the trust you instilled in me when you asked me take over your classes in the first place.'

He didn't seem to find it necessary to try to correct her or even try to reframe it in a kinder light, he just observed her before after a long minute he said, 'You have a habit of backsliding around this time of year. I assumed that you might, but I had hoped it wouldn't have been necessary for me to take such precautions.'

'...You knew in advance that I would disappoint you like this?'

Lyra's voice trembled slightly as she questioned this, clearly put off. She thought Takeshi had faith in her, that he thought she could pull this off. To hear that he had his doubts about her was disheartening, even if she had done nothing but prove him right.

'I was simply being cautious Lyrana, but I am relieved to see that there are no new marks on you.'

Lyra glanced at the scars along her wrists, her jaw tightening at her hands clamping into fists as she tried to keep it together. Takashi had known about the scars for a long time, as did a surprisingly large amount of people at the dojo. Sparring in white uniforms tended to make it clear who had makeup on their arms. But it was one thing to have someone know about them, it was another to have them pointed out even if not done in a callous manner.

Darien reached for her, he didn't know entirely what he could do to help, but he should have known taking Lyra to see Takashi so soon was a bad idea. But she'd insisted she could handle it. She'd had that stubborn look on her face that he knew all too well, the look of "I'm not breaking." He'd been so glad to see it he'd caved and it could have gone horribly. But much to his relief Lyra relaxed slightly as he gripped her hand and she said firmly and without a single tremor.

'I would like to resume teaching if you will have me.'

The look on Takashi's face readily implied that approaching the issue so boldly might have been a mistake. He looked fairly unimpressed with it quite frankly. The look of someone who had expected this, but had hoped for a different reaction. One less indicative of someone simply continuing their destructive cycle.

'How do I know you won't do this again Lyrana?'

Lyra flinched slightly, 'I... ' she took a deep breath once again before swallowing, 'I guess you can't. I'm unstable, and I have been since before you met me. But I want to work on it. I even think that coming back and being taught again would be beneficial. To re-learn the spiritual aspects of martial arts that I've forgotten over the years.'

This is what seemed to surprise Takashi. Not only just for how quickly she had rectified her mistake and admitted she'd needed help, but also because this resolved an old argument the two had been having. Well Takeshi hadn't necessarily been going out of his way to argue, he clearly didn't know how, he simply attempted to reason with Lyra only to be insulted repeatedly.

Lyra had stopped showing up to classes around a year ago, giving a range of pathetic excuses each time and hadn't enrolled in any others in the following terms. She used to train about thirty hours a week when she was living with her dad, but even if she was dropping the number considerably when she was living with Darien, she did train as often as their budget would allow. And then for her to stop out of no where? It was unheard of for someone so committed in the past. Her taking classes again might be what pushed it over the line and had him accept her.

Takashi was observing her near suspiciously but the look Lyra was giving him seemed to convince him. It was a look that seemed to say "I want you to help me" most importantly it said "I will let you help me." And when Takeshi finally relented and nodded softly, a breath Darien hadn't realised he'd been holding came rushing out of his lungs, and it sounded like Lyra was doing the same thing.

'Aina,' Takeshi said turning to his receptionist, 'Can you please help Lyrana book into a few classes? Make sure you give her the employee discount before you take the bill up with her brother. Also, you can call Ichiro and let him know he doesn't need to come in.'

The plump women nodded and beckoned to Lyra, who sighed in relief and went to move towards the desk when Darien gripped her arm and told her, 'Slot me into a few of your taekwondo classes if you can. Do you remember my work schedule?'

Lyra was actually happy enough to smile properly and she nodded with actual enthusiasm before moving towards the desk, this was when Darien noticed Takashi staring at him, 'What?'

'I didn't realise this was an interest you and Lyrana shared.'

He noticed it wasn't a question but he answered anyway, 'Well you get invested in it when a nine year old brat is kicking your ass in sparring matches,' he shrugged, nodding towards Lyra, 'But I… moved around, a lot as a kid. So… it was kind of hard to find a decent dojo everywhere I went and keep it up.'

He didn't need to say it explicitly for Takeshi to get this knowing look in his eye, like he understood the thinly veiled reference to his time in the foster system. For the first time he wondered how much Takeshi really knew about Lyra, about her history, about his own. He knew Takeshi was some sort of mentor to her, someone she genuinely held respect for which as a hard earned thing. But if Takeshi knew all of it, her coma, Cal's suicide, her own attempts, there was no way he could have made her fight for her position here. He wouldn't dare. He couldn't possibly know Darien tried to assure himself.

'How is she? Really.'

The question snapped Darien out of his thoughts and he admitted carefully, 'She's a little more open then she was before,' Darien said testing his response, 'She's still recovering though, there's a lot of things going on in her brain. Maybe if she has something else to work towards it'll help her sort everything out. Besides, you're the closest thing to a psychologist she'll go to so…'

He merely shrugged to finish his sentence and Takashi seemed to smile a touch, 'Lyrana was a brilliant student, far above what should be expected of her age, especially in Judo.'

'I remember she was always going on and on about how she was going to be the first female jūdan in history. Little Lyra knew how to dream big.'

Darien was still curious, trying to test Takeshi's response but the man gave nothing away, 'Given she was the youngest rokudan that we've recorded such ambitions seem it only natural. Not even fifteen yet when she made it… You know what? Come with me, I want to show you something.

He began leading him through the foyer, and Darien couldn't help but question a few things as he followed hesitantly, 'You know I thought growing up that they made you wait a certain amount of time before you ascend levels like that.'

'Mostly, but not always, Kyuzo Mifune did it in nine years. She did it in twelve, it's not unheard of, though her instructor in Yokohama couldn't quite understand how she seemed to know things she shouldn't have heard of.'

'Lyra does that.'

Takashi raised an eyebrow at how easily Darien shrugged it off before he lead him through a few training rooms filled with kids following combinations, 'Does she know you're only joining these classes to keep an eye on her?'

Darien laughed shortly at the question unable to help it, knowing that she undoubtedly knew, 'Of course she does. Just like she knows why all the knives and razors in our apartment have mysteriously disappeared.'

'Well we both know what she does at her lowest, but I want to see what she can do at her high point. Because it could be something incredible.'

With this he turned on a light switch and a small room filled with trophies was illuminated. Cabinet after cabinet filled with trophies, medals and certificates. Each trophy had a picture with it of the person who'd won it, particularly advanced students had whole shelves dedicated to them. But even as Darien looked around, he all too easily spotted the ones Lyra had won, because she had a small cabinet to herself.

'... I knew she competed pretty often… but, I never figured she'd won this many... '

'As soon as she got here she started asking about competitions, was determined to enter as many as possible.'

'And whatever cash bonus she'd won she'd put into my wallet, or between the couch cushions or into the pockets of my jackets in dribs and drabs, thinking I didn't notice her doing it. Trying to make up for the money she thought she was costing me.'

Darien at this point had moved to the cabinet staring at the trophies inscribed with her name. More first places, age champions, division wins than he could count. She still had a couple in her room, the ones she was proudest of, and he knew there were many more she'd won when she was still living with her father that were in storage somewhere.

'She did say something at one stage about putting up her half of the rent.'

Darien sighed as he looked at the photo Takeshi had of her in a small battered photo frame. Lyra had given him a shot of her as a kid, probably no older than eight, in a backbend looking at the camera with a gap toothed grin, a black belt looped around her waist. She looked so light and happy, her ringlets stuck out at all angles.

'Darien, you've got an extraordinary girl on your hands. Before I even met her, I knew that, I laughed when her old coach tried to explain what I was getting myself into training her. But I'm not laughing now, Lyrana's going to great things one of these days.'

'Yeah...' Darien murmured to himself, feeling strangely out of it as he stared through the glass, there was something prophetic in the air.

'Well, she will if she makes it that far. Which means she needs our support,' Takeshi said in the most informal tone Darien had ever heard him use, 'Anything you need to help her out. You let me know. And I'll do everything in my power to make it happen.'

...

Mina stared dreamily upwards as she trudged home, breathing in the summer air. Japanese summers were something she'd definitely missed while she was abroad. Here summer was properly celebrated with plenty of festivals and so many firework displays that the night sky seemed to be permanently filled with colour. Plus there was always an excuse to buy green tea ice cream so what else could a girl want? But there was one thing she couldn't help but realise she had forgotten. The humidity. It did nothing but make her body sweat and her hair spazz out with virtually uncontrollable frizz. Hopefully the sunlight made the blonde look good enough that it balanced these other factors out, because otherwise she was fairly certain she looked pretty gross.

She was on her way back from Lyra's where she'd been for nearly three days straight, only running home to grab her toothbrush and a couple other necessities. She was even wearing some of Lyra's clothes she'd been so unprepared for this. She was part way through making a mental note to take Lyra shopping for a proper wardrobe upgrade when she remembered that Lyra and Darien tended to scrape by fund wise… Maybe when Lyra had sorted out everything with the dojo, but she was unable to help pouting at the thought of having to wait. Lyra was the best friend she'd ever had but she never shopped idly, she only went with a mission in mind, it would be impossible to convince her if the funds weren't there.

Sighing, she hiked her bag up on her shoulder and started to skip paving stones as she continued along the sidewalk. But she almost tripped when she heard a voice call to her:

'Mina.'

She swung her rucksack around violently like it was a weapon before noticing the bright white cat standing on the wall beside her and she cursed hastily, 'Artemis do that one more time and I swear to you I will shave you like a poodle!'

Artemis looked mortified at the suggestion before he leapt down and arranged himself around her shoulders, purring falsely, 'Oh come on, you wouldn't do that to me would you?'

'Sure would and don't you forget it!' she insisted stubbornly, 'what do you want Artie?'

'I was just checking in, I haven't had a chance to talk to you for more than a since the fire, I was making sure you were okay with how it turned out?' he said rubbing his cheek against her pathetically, trying to placate her temper.

'Okay is definitely the wrong word for it, but I'm coping,' Mina told him bluntly, 'I'm just annoyed that I didn't have time to pray earlier, because no one else died after I did.'

'Has that happened before?' Artemis asked, he knew that Mina praying to Aphrodite had worked wonders in the past, but it had never been that effective before

'Not really… But I'm glad it worked out,' she sighed, 'But there's one thing I'm near positive of because of all this, Serena's definitely Lunarian.'

At this Artemis fell off Mina's shoulder before straightening up midair and landing on his feet, 'Wait a minute? You're sure of this? How do you know?'

'I called her earlier, she was a little out of it, but she kept asking me what something meant, she mentioned prayer and searching for something out there that was larger than her-'

'That's what prayer is Mina, there is no reason to assume she's Lunarian-'

'There wasn't until she mentioned Selene.'

Artemis blinked rapidly, before seeming to take a deep breath to stop him panicking whispering as he exhaled, 'Selene...'

'She said the word slipped out, but she said it felt like it meant more than it ever has before,' Mina told Artemis as she scooped him off the ground and continued walking, 'That's the same reaction I had when I accidentally connected to Aphrodite the first time.'

'...Your symbol appears on your forehead when you do that, I'm sure Luna would have noticed something like that happening,' he said more to assure himself rather than her.

'She couldn't if she wasn't there, she and Luna aren't that close yet, she'd never do something that personal in front of her. Hell, I'm still not entirely comfortable praying in front of you.'

'We always knew there was a strong likelihood she was Lunarian,' Artemis muttered to himself.

'Artie, can you stop pretending that's what you're worried about? She's got a hundred and five moon insignias on that scout uniform. Is there a possibility she is my Princess Artemis? You need to tell me the truth.'

At this she put Artemis down, crouching in front of him as they habitually stared each other down, before the lunar cat shook his head sadly, 'She isn't Mina. I know that. I'm sure I would recognise the Princess when I saw her. And she would know who she was-'

'Artemis!' she began impatiently, 'I don't even remember her name, I didn't remember my own name for months and I still slip up whenever I'm trying to say my formal title. What makes you think she's different-?'

'I know she is,' Artemis interrupted gently, 'Mina, it's not just a matter of her memory. The Princess can only be found when the Guardian Senshi are assembled, that has been foretold. Furthermore I'm positive she would not be placed in the firing line like this, especially with only you around to protect her. And Serena even fought on her own for some time, the Princess would never be risked in such a standard attack, especially without the crystal.'

Hesitantly Mina nodded before bitterly scooping the little cat up once more, 'Whatever you say Artie… whatever you say...'

'Come on Mina, let's get you home.'

'Hey Artie… the other Senshi… Are you close to finding them?'

He nodded lightly, 'Of course Mina, you know we're always looking for them. I'm sure we'll find someone soon.'

Mina nodded lightly, content with his answer but still in a bit of a daze, lost in thoughts of the missing Moon Princess and the illusive Guardian Senshi. Perhaps if she hadn't been, she would have noticed that he was lying to her. She might have noticed how much he tensed in her arms or how fast his heart began to beat. Because Artemis had no idea if there were any other Senshi nearby, that wasn't his job. He had no control over where or even when they were found.

So as usual, I have an excuse to why this isn't up earlier... it's a dodgy one admittedly, but all excuses are. This chapter was intended to have a section of them all going to see Andrew at the Crown... that section refused to cooperate and I re-wrote it and got stuck like three times before I said screw it and chucked the breakfast scene in.

I'm happy to thank my amazing reviewers! Jesi Ki Kage, it is pretty funny what Serena does out of pure instinct, guess there are some elements of her past life she can connect with without a trace of her memories to be found. If anything the prayer is more powerful with both of them doing it! Best of luck with school, I know all too well how much it sucks! 1TitanGirl Thank you so much for your lovely review, it really made my day, welcome to the family! I'm glad to hear how excited you are and I'm glad that you're invested, I aim to please so let's see how this goes! And as for your question, I like to think that truth, no matter how frequently it is lied about will come to the surface eventually, so it will come out one day. But how long it takes and what the reaction to it is, that's something you'll have to stick around to find out! Godloverk I hope part of this chapter has addressed a little bit of your question, it's really up to Lyra. They'll come soon though, I promise, which senshi do you think it'll be? Natashasurgurl already talked to you about your review, but I'd like to thank you again anyway! I'd also like to thank Hexist as well for the follow!

So what do you think will happen next chapter? What do you think the Negaverse will be up to next? What Senshi do you want Lyra to find? What do you think of Sailor Moon Crystal's transition into the Black Moon Arc? Let me know lovelies, reviews are music to my ears!

Review, Favourite and Follow!

xxo

Princess Selina