(Just a heads up, I'm giving the characters some past life names to distinguish themselves a bit. It'll make sense as you read and if not, PM me for clarification. Anyways, note at the end. Read, Review, Enjoy)

Disclaimer: I do not, and never will own Sailor Moon. That is the blessed creation of Takeuchi-sama.

Disclaimer: Cover art is not mine

[dream]

["mental conversation"]

["dream attack"]

The sky had turned an ugly shade of black over the last few hours, and the winds were all but begging to rip the trees from their roots. Thunder and lightning had gradually begun to play out in the background, but every now and then a single loud boom would seem to shake the temple to its foundations. A symphony of chaos playing out above their heads, the complements of a typical storm here.

"Stay away from me!" Lightning punctuated the appearance and scream of the raven-haired girl, who stumbled out into the pouring rain.

Banging his shoulder on the door jam, he quickly gave chase. "Rei, wait! Please just stop!"

"STAY AWAY!" The air suddenly became more humid, as though the storm was about to produce something even worse. "TRAITOR!"

The words stung more than he expected them to, but the tears in her eyes forced him to stop in his tracks. No matter how hard the rain fell, he could tell exactly which were products of the monsoon and which were those of her own heart.

"I never wanted to! I had no choice – we had no choice! She-!"

"SHUT UP!" She darted her hand across her body, and a familiar object appeared in her hands. He froze as she glared balefully at him, but it was one mixed with fear and confusion, "You fell once. How am I to know you won't do it again? That you won't doom everything like you did before!"

"You can trust me!" Power swelled in the air, enough to make his insides curl and his eyes burn. This storm was unnatural, just like her behavior. None of it made sense!

"I did," she answered, and her eyes narrowed to slits, adding, "and it cost me everything. I will not make that mistake twice, Vasileos," She raised the pen high, lips parting to shout the words that would escalate the chaos…

An ear-shattering boom shook the heavens, followed by a blood-curdling scream that seemed to echo for miles and miles. Two voices intertwined with the awful sound, mixing into a chorus from hell.

And Rei screamed, her eyes rolling into the back of her head just as a bright red light burst out from her body and consumed him.

His eyes shot open with a guttural growl, darting back and forth as she shot up to sit in his bed, breathing like he'd just run the shrine for the entire day. Ryuuji breathed slowly, in and out as his body trembled. He reached a hand up into view, watching as it shook sporadically under his gaze.

"Damn it," he growled under his breath, his face sweaty and pale. He swallowed hard and finally had to acknowledge the sun's existence. As he did, his hand slowly fell from his face a cold realization formed in his gut. "She didn't wake me again…"

Over a week since that bloody storm that had swept in and out without warning. Over a week since his firebird had come away from it a changed person. Over a week of her doing all she could to avoid him.

"TRAITOR!"

Her words came back to haunt him with a fierceness, and threatened to drive him back into that hell. And the worst part was that it was all true.

Ryuuji forced himself to calm down and began to stretch out with his senses, desperately searching for that familiar flicker that always served to relieve him, even when it was usually flaring hostilely at him.

One the edge of his senses, a single flicker of fire burned slowly, undisturbed by his sudden awakening. Rei was still resting, then.

Sighing, he rose to his feet and got himself dressed enough to move around, sliding open the door to his room. The sound echoed in the suspiciously quiet temple, to an almost painful degree. The temple had never been this quiet, not since he had started living here with Rei and her grandfather.

And Rei was usually the one making the racket, after all she was the one that kept this place from falling in on itself. But none of that was playing out this morning.

And if it wasn't happening now, it wouldn't be happening today either.

He didn't know whether to be disappointed or relived about that. On one hand, it meant that the temple wouldn't look the way it always had, with splendor that attracted people for miles around. But on the other, it also meant that she wouldn't be aiming to tear his head off for even the slightest of matters, as she had been prone to doing as of late.

It all seemed wrong to him; out of nowhere, since that storm, she had come to foster a certain dislike for him in general, magnitudes greater than her initial unease and suspicion when they'd first met in this life.

And he was still no closer to figuring it out.

"Forget it," he decided and made his way to the kitchen to prepare some tea. If Rei was resting today, then that meant he'd just have to pick up the slack. Regardless of her current mindset towards him, he loved her too much to simply let her take the fall.

It took only an hour or so to get the yard swept, but his work was sloppy compared to his love's. It would have to do for now, until he got the other chores done.

He'd just been about to move to the next set of tasks when the sound of footsteps halted him in place, glancing behind to find a man wearing a crisp black suit and tie climbing into view. Ryuuji's brow furrowed briefly before he called out, "Sorry pal, temple's not open to the public right now. Come back in a few hours, ne?"

The man seemed surprised to find him here but it was quickly replaced by a smarmy smirk, "Oh don't worry, I didn't come for offerings or prayers. My boss sent me to speak with Hino-san."

"I'm afraid you're out of luck then; Master is currently out of the area at a-"

"I was referring to the other Hino-san, actually," the man corrected, and there was something in the man's smile that made his insides twist. "My boss wanted me to give her a message. Mind running along to get her, sport?"

"Hino-san is currently abed right now, and won't be up for a bit. Mind if I take a message?" Ryuuji asked, clenching the broom in his hands tightly.

"Sorry kid, the boss wanted me to tell her in person and only her."

"And just who is your boss, exactly? And how does he know Rei?"

"Heh, you really got some nerve speaking about Hino-san that way," the man sneered, smirking disdainfully at Ryuuji. "All you need to know is my boss has got the power to make things happen, and that should be enough for you. Now run along and go tell the girl that her daddy wants to see her soon."

All the bite that was in Ryuuji's next words were funneled out at that admission. Rei's father? Why was he only hearing about him now, and from this prick of all people? Why hadn't she mentioned him, or either of her parents before now?

"Then why didn't he come himself?" Ryuuji found himself asking.

"None of my business. Now get the girl. I was ordered to make sure she got the message."

"She's exhausted, so I'm letting her rest. I'll relay it when she's up and moving."

"Thoughtful. Now go get her, broom boy."

Ryuuji felt his ire rise at the mockery, and felt the urge to kick the punk's sorry ass if not for the fact it would wake Rei up. Then there'd be hell to pay. "I think you need to leave."

"Yeah? And I think you outta scuttle on outta here and get that spoiled little princess before something unsightly happens."

Before he could act on anything, something else beat him to it. Two shrill caws from the two crows that were usually perched atop the tori gate leading to the shrine swooped down and starting attacking the man.

"Agh, damned birds! Piss off!" His cries were ignored by Ryuuji as he watched with an odd mixture of disbelief and satisfaction that the two crows that Rei favored were sticking up for her. "Screw this, I'm outta here!" And with that, he beat a hasty retreat, the two crows pursued him until he was halfway down the steps before breaking off.

Ryuuji walked to the edge of the steps, watching as the man aimed one last glare up at him before storming off. A slow smirk spread across his face just as he heard the birds land back in their usual roosting spot. He spared a quick, grateful glance up at the birds before heading back to the temple.

Rei's dad wants to meet her… I don't know what that's all about, but I shouldn't keep this from her. Here's to hoping she doesn't tear me another asshole for it. But it's her dad, isn't it? It's not like she hates him…

"Usagi, that's got to be your third chocolate shake already. Don't you think you should stop?"

"No," the blonde replied glumly, slurping at her drink.

Beside her, Minako had a far away look in her eye, her lips pursed and her fists balled in her lap. She hadn't even touched the burger she and Usagi had ordered, and the identical shake had been swiped by Usagi a while ago.

Ami sighed and ran a hand over her face briefly, nursing a single glass of water as opposed to her friends. Things had been tense ever since the night of the storm, and Makoto's disappearance hadn't been helping things. Plus there was the issue with her dreams as of late, but those took a backseat to what was happening to her friends.

Usagi aside, Minako was starting to worry her. The blonde rarely smiled these days, and always seemed on edge, like a battle was going to happen at any moment. Her personality had also become more strict, leaning more into that of the soldier she was clearly trained to be. But what Ami really feared was that Minako blamed herself for what was happening to all of them – to Makoto disappearing, and Rei and Ryuuji's sudden turmoil.

"Minako-chan," Ami called.

"Yes, Merc – gah, no. Ami…sorry, Ami-chan," Minako nearly blurted out, only to correct herself last second and give a pained grimace.

"It's ok," Ami assured, even though it wasn't the first time. And she doubted it would be the last, either. "I've done a bit of research the last few days and have come up with some new developments."

"Do you know where Mako-chan is?" Usagi all but demanded, the grief, panic and rabid hope clear in her friend's eyes.

It pained Ami volumes to shake her head.

Usagi deflated instantly while Minako rubbed her friend's shoulder gently. "What have you found out?"

There were a few things, but she'd start with the easiest first. "It's in regards to those tests I ran the night after we fight that youma." The two girls sat up at the mention of that mess, "According to the data that I collected, it's clear that when the youma attacked us, it…did something to us – specifically myself, Minako-chan, Rei-chan and," she winced, "Mako-chan."

"Do you know what it was?" Minako questioned, staring at her with a hard expression that looked out of place on her face.

"Not exactly. All I can tell is that our bodies carried lingering traces of dark energy from the attacks we took. It is difficult to determine what it was meant to do, but I did notice something strange. During the tests, that the energy was concentrated around our hearts."

"Poison, maybe?" Minako guessed, as Usagi shuddered.

"Of a sort, perhaps, but I can't figure out what the effect has been on us. I'd have to run the tests again to be sure."

Ami of course had her own theories, ones that she didn't feel comfortable sharing just yet. But the feeling in her gut told her that whatever that youma did to them, it was only now starting to affect them. And that was a terrifying notion.

"If you think it will help, I'll talk to Rei-chan about it," Minako said, though she still looked skeptical. "But even if I do, we still need to find Mako-chan."

"We have to!" Usagi declared, fiercely.

"Usagi-chan, I promise you, we'll find her," Ami told her friend, wanting to believe it herself but the reality was harsh. Tokyo was huge. If Makoto didn't want to be found, then at worst they might have to wait for her to come out on her own. "In the meantime, we should get together and figure out our plans for the Moon."

"I completely forgot about it! Is it already time?" Usagi exclaimed.

Minako nodded, her eyes full of steel. "This weekend, I think. I'd have to check the calendar again to be sure but I think that's it. Hard to believe we're really going back after all this time…" Minako trailed off, her gaze faraway again.

"Do you really think we can find a way to beat Beryl up there, Ami-chan?" Usagi asked, unsure.

Ami wanted to say yes, but there were still too many unknowns. If what Artemis and Luna said was true, then perhaps they'd really learn exactly what happened that brought about the end of the Silver Millennium. But it was all guesswork until they actually got up there. The only question now was: would they be able to go while missing a member of their team?

"We won't know until we try," she settled on saying. And she put all her effort into making herself believe it.

The door to the Herikawa Market slid open with a jingle from the bells perched atop the threshold, drawing the attention of an elderly woman from behind one of the registers. Her eyes weren't what they used to be, but she could still spot the figure of someone who had rapidly become one of her new favorite people.

"Kino-san! Ohayo!" she called out enthusiastically, or as well as one of her 68 years of age could anyways.

The brunette offered a pleasant smile in return, walking over to Miyuki, "Ohayo, Herikawa-san. Sorry I'm late, the streets were really crowded today."

Miyuki scoffed, "Nonsense child. You're right on time. A little earlier actually, if I had to be honest. Looks like you've finally gotten some proper rest."

Kino-san turned a bit red at the playful jab, a sight that only endeared her further to Miyuki, "Hai, finally," she all but whispered.

Miyuki studied the young girl carefully, as she found herself doing ever since she had first met the girl. Poor dear had looked as though death itself had been close on her heels when she had first trudged through into her shop. Her late husband, bless his soul, would've scolded her for making herself too familiar with strangers but something about Kino-san called out to Miyuki.

Thus she had gone out of her way to approach the girl, who had actually flinched when she had been spoken to. That alone set off warning bells in Miyuki's head.

Was she running from something – or someone? Her eyes had been blaring red and puffy, as though she had been crying nonstop, plus there was an intensity to her that spoke of being adversely vigilant.

Still, she had held out her hand to the girl and offered to make the girl some tea. Kino-san had given her this blank, deserted stare but didn't refuse or resist as she was led into the small office that Miyuki had in the back. The store hadn't been busy that day so she could afford a few minutes to help the girl relax.

Her mother's remedies came through once more and allowed her to get the girl's name, or at least her family name anyways: Kino. She hadn't told Miyuki her given name yet but that was fine. At least she could put a name to a face now.

Kino-san had left after she had finished her tea, thanking Miyuki of course before leaving and Miyuki had expected that would be the end of that. But it wasn't. The next day, and the next, and the next after that, Kino-san had come in and started to peruse the store like a customer.

Miyuki still kept an eye on her though. The palor of Kino-san's skin had been alarming at first, but over time it had darkened back to a healthy shade. Her emerald eyes which had seemed so dull and empty before had gradually regained a bit of life, though they seemed pained about something.

She didn't even know where the girl was staying, and that, of all things, Miyuki couldn't pry out of her. But everything else: her family, her friends, even what she liked to do came out naturally like rain during a storm.

"What needs doing, Herikawa-san?" Kino-san asked, drawing Miyuki from her musings.

That was another thing to note. On the fourth consecutive day of coming here, Kino-san had blatantly asked if there was anything she could do to help out around the store. Miyuki's first thought was to politely refuse the offer from someone who shouldn't even be thinking about working. But there was a certain intensity to Kino-san, a drive that burned above all else in her eyes. The pain was still there, but it had been replaced by something that even someone as modest as Miyuki couldn't consciously turn down.

That, however, didn't mean she'd let the girl who she'd rapidly come to view as a surrogate daughter work herself into the ground. "No need to be in a rush, dearie," Miyuki smiled indulgently. "The store's quiet today, which is a bit of a relief and a disappointment. Though I suppose if you'd like, you can check and see if anything has expired in the freezers. I'd do it myself, but the cold and I broke up long ago," she chuckled a bit at her little joke.

Kino-san giggled too. "I'm on it, boss," she said with a playful salute.

Miyuki couldn't help but smile at the girl's enthusiasm, "Be careful what you wish for, my dear."

As the girl walked away, Miyuki secretly watched the girl, taking little notes about the differences in her demeanor. It had been only a week, but Miyuki had felt she knew the girl her entire life already. And seeing her recovering so rapidly only caused her heart to warm. Part of her hoped that Kino-san would stick around longer, that she would choose to remain and help out on a more long-term basis. Miyuki certainly missed having someone she could talk to aside from the odd customer here and there.

But even she knew that someone like Kino-san had somewhere to be, perhaps the same place she had run from to begin with. It wasn't to last, sadly, but Miyuki was still grateful to know the girl as she had.

I only wish I knew her proper name, she thought wistfully before returning to her morning tasks.

Makoto stepped into the small room she had rented nearby with a sigh, letting the door slide closed behind her as she tossed her bag onto the chair, flopping onto the bed. Volunteering at Herikawa Market had been a spur of the moment decision, a way of thanking the elderly store keep for all she had done for her thus far. The work itself wasn't difficult, by any means.

But the real cause of her fatigue came from within; from both her heart, and her mind.

This would be the longest she had gone without seeing her friends, her family. It had been over a week since that chaos with-

"Don't even think his name!" a voice suddenly hissed in her thoughts.

Don't tell me what to think and what not, Makoto shot back venomously, for what felt like for the millionth time.

Chaos that had come with a price, it seemed. She still had no idea what had happened that night with Daichi – she winced as she felt her inner voice hiss at her in protest. But aside from her forced exodus to this side of town, now she had another passenger along for the ride, one that seemed intent to drive her to the very brink of insanity.

She knew what the source of it was, of course. It was hard not to what with the voice ranting and raving unholy hell upon those who had dared harm her baby. But she had been unprepared for the sheer hatred towards someone who hadn't done anything in this life.

It didn't matter to her past life's spirit after all. She was stubborn with a capital S. As a result, there had been many sleepless nights due to their bickering.

It wasn't all bad, however. Whenever Makoto wasn't thinking about her boyfriend and how madly she missed being with him, her spirit, who called herself Elyza, was somewhat pleasant to converse with when she had the time and the patience for it.

So far she had learned much about what her past life had been like, if not directly remembering it herself. Elyza filled in the blanks, such as how she had become a senshi in the first place as well as that she and Rei's past incarnation, Aria, were childhood rivals of a sort.

And with that knowledge came a better understanding of her own abilities. She hadn't been able to test her newfound powers yet, but she was confident that the Dark Kingdom would be in for a nasty surprise when they did.

But thoughts of that inevitably returned to that of her friends...of Daichi.

"He betrayed us once, he will do it again," Elyza reminded her, vehemently.

He betrayed you, not me. He nearly died for me.

"Death is too light of a punishment for what he did!"

"SHUT UP!" Makoto shouted, followed by what sounded like glass exploding, likely another lightbulb. She winced briefly before rolling over to glare up at the ceiling, imagining it was Elyza's face. "You're so set on what he did to you that you are just forcing me to go along with you. Do you even care how I feel about all this?"

"I am trying to protect you, brat."

"No. You're just running away from it all. One slight and you're ready to write off someone you claimed was your soulmate. Or did Nephrite never matter you?"

"Watch your words," Elyza warned. "You cannot fathom the kind of loss I have experienced from losing my child to someone who I gave my soul to."

Makoto's lip curled in a sneer, "Actually, I can – since you made me experience it, and nearly killed MY boyfriend because of it! Hell, you could've blown up not just him, but his family too! Or was getting back at him all you cared about?"

For the first time since she had been saddled with her, Elyza spoke softly, as though it pained her, "You do not understand, but perhaps that is for the best. And for what it is worth, I am sorry for taking control like I did."

"Then why won't you let me go back?"

Elyza, for once, was silent.

Makoto scoffed, "That's what I thought. Like it or not, your time is over. This is my life and I will decide how I live it, not you. And I am going back."

"Doing so, you will submit yourself to horrors your mind will never be prepared for."

"Then that's my cross to bear. I have no problem with letting you help and tag along, if that's how things will be going forward. But don't you dare try and use me like a puppet to settle your conscience."

And with that, she muted the link to Elyza, something she had only figured out how to do on accident during one of their earlier spats regarding Daichi.

Rolling over, she tried to let herself fall to rest and bid welcome to any kind of memories she could be consumed by. Daichi was where she belonged, with him, her friends, with her family. And no one, not even the powers that be was going to keep that from her. Too much had been take already; she would not stand for anything else being ripped away.

"Shine Aqua Illusion!"

A wave of freezing water splashed against one of the erected dummies the senshi used for training in the Lunar Palace. She was alone for once, which suited her fine. Solitude was her best friend in this case since she didn't get along with much of the other senshi.

Though perhaps that was too strong of a sentiment. She didn't hate Sailor Mars, Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter by any means. If anything, she respected them for what they could do; Mars was quite intelligent in her own right and kept Mercury on her toe with many philosophical discussions, whereas Venus and Jupiter taught her the importance of good health, both physically and mentally.

She did find it somewhat amusing that Venus would claim to be a pillar of mental strength, but perhaps there was a certain truth there given how the senshi operated in a crowd.

She also stressed training to an almost obscene extent. One would've thought that Jupiter would be the training maniac, but even she had her limits unlike their blonde team leader. Where Mars, Jupiter and Mercury would be faltering in a session, Venus would be bright-eyed and encouraging them to "keep up" with that bloody grin on her face.

Sometimes Mercury really wished she could get away with freezing her for an hour or two, but alas.

But at least this was beter than being home, where her mother was. She had spotted her a few times in passing but had never gotten her attention. And the Queen of Mercury had been nothing but a stranger to her, only ever visiting the Palace when the rest of the Kings and Queens had been called.

There were whispers of a certain arrangement that was being drawn up that would admit another world into the Silver Alliance. If that were the case, then there could only be one, if her Princess was to believed: Earth.

Mercury knew next to nothing about the green and blue world that hung in the sky, glimmering like an unblemished jewel in the stars. Not for a lack of effort, of course. All she had managed to dig up was the great war that had been held, however briefly, between the Alliance and the Earth. Nothing else, however: what it's climate was like, how many people lived upon it, what societies were established, ect.

It was a great mystery to her and one that she couldn't help but feel compelled to solve. But Earth was banned to the Alliance, for fear of igniting another war, so she had been told.

Not that that ever concerns Serenity, she thought with equal parts irritation and amusement. Indeed, for all her Princess shirked her responsibilities and studies, Earth was like an obsession to her, one that could get out of hand if not properly checked.

But Serenity would have to know better...

What a fool she was for thinking so.

"Mercury... Hey, Mercury!"

Mercury had just powered up another attack when she heard heels come running towards her, turning to find Jupiter and Mars racing toward her. "What's wrong?"

"We'll tell you on the way, but hurry!" Jupiter insisted, and that alone raised concerns with Mercury. Jupiter was usually the more laid-back of their team; to see her fretting like this meant something was very, very wrong.

Only one reason for that: Serenity.

It was a short run to the transporter room that connected all of the main bodies of the Alliance to the Moon, each transporter glowing dimly in the spacious chamber save for one.

At the far end of the room, flashing brightly with a vision of blue and green was one that was labeled in a language she wasn't familiar with, but could deduce which it led to.

"She didn't-" Mercury started to say, swallowing a bit.

"So I'd like to believe, but that transporter isn't supposed to be active yet," Venus snapped. "All these talks about admitting the Earth won't mean anything if they see a Lunarian roaming around on their planet like this."

"Then we go get her," Jupiter decided.

Mars whirled around on her, "If we go, it'll be war, don't you get it?!"

"We can't just leave her down there! Who knows where she could end up!"

"We're not," Venus said, with a tone of finality. "We're her guardians, and that means we are to protect her no matter the cost – even if our actions are deemed forbidden."

"We'll bear the consequences," Mercury added, stepping forward. "She's our Princess."

"And we swore ourselves to her," Venus finished, giving her a nod of respect. "If you two wish to stay here, fine. I won't make this an order. Perhaps it might be best if we did this on our own. That way at least some of you could come out of this in one piece."

Jupiter stepped forward alongside Mercury, "And who said you were going to face it alone?"

"We are a team, and we stick together," Mars added, taking her place on Mecury's other side. "Besides, this way we can search a wider area instead of being limited. I can hone in on her aura better than any of you can."

"That sounds like a challenge, Pyro," Jupiter sneered, though there wasn't much venom to it like usual.

"Just try and keep up, amazon," Mars returned, smirking.

Venus looked them over for a long tense moment before she too grinned, "United we stand, eh? Alright then, no time like the present. Hopefully we can find her before anyone else does."

"And if we don't?" Mercury asked, for the first time wishing she wasn't the logical one of the group.

Venus sighed, "Her safety above all else. Everythign else is second – understood?"

"Hai."

Each of them stepped through, Mercury being the last as she felt the energies of the transporter surge through her being. The sensation was like being dipped in freezing water then shot out of a cannon, but it soon passed.

When she opened her eyes she found herself unprepared for the vast swathe of colors that bloomed before her eyes. Trees, rivers, and a sky more blue than the waters she commanded opened up before her and left her breathless.

Earth. This was the mystery she had longed to solve, to experience it for herself, however close to the chest she kept that desire.

But none of that mattered now. Her charge was somewhere down here, and unless she had been gone for hours, Serenity wouldn't be too far from here.

"Well then, time to go find a rabbit."

I'm not sure this makes up for the long update drought, but hopefully it's a start. This semester was a nightmare and a half, and I seriously thought that because of what happened in October, I was going to end up failing. But I pulled through and now my future looks a lot rosier. So again, I'm sorry for the delay and also apologize that this isn't finished like I said it would be last year. But this story is not dead yet, and there are parts to play still. The show is merely beginning, dear readers, so strap in. Interesting times await on the Moon, and before then as well.

Also, as a special notice to some of you guys, you know who you are, I want to say that I was out of line asking for you to make accounts to review just so I want to apologize for that. Simply leaving whatever name you'd like at the end of your reviews would help me give proper credence to those who enjoy the story. If not, I'm just glad you read and enjoy it.

I'll try and get another chapter out here within the next month or two, since I'll be taking a leave of absence from school. Look forward to more of this, because things are just getting started. We still gotta get Ami and Zoi's romance going, yeah?