Chapter 22
Romance Under the Moon: Usagi's First Kiss
Most mornings in Juban almost always started with Usagi always running late for school, but sometimes Sora and his friends would be helping other people with odd jobs in her hometown. Today, Usagi and Sora, noticed a checkpoint on the street on the way to Juban Middle School.
"I wonder if there's some special event happening today," said Usagi, as Naru walked past with a solemn look on her face.
"Hey Naru," Sora said to the red-head.
"Morning, you guys," she replied.
"What's wrong Naru? you sound depressed," Usagi said as she glanced at her friend.
Sora was still sore about the time Nephrite had attacked her, when he sensed the conflict resonating within Naru's heart, about whether Nephrite, under the guise of Masato Sanjouin, at least until Usagi dragged her to school, with Sora tailing behind them. They had arrived just in time as the first bell began to ring, when Umino arrived, with important news.
"Hey you guys, I've got a really big news flash. Apparently at this very moment the princess from the kingdom of Diamonds is arriving in Japan," said Umino.
"Kingdom of Diamonds?" asked Sora and Usagi.
"Most of the world's gemstones come from there. And tonight they're going to be hosting some big embassy reception," explained Umino.
"That must explain the checkpoints Usagi and I saw on our way to school," replied Sora.
"They say that the princess will inherit the royal family's heirloom, which is known as the legendary secret treasure. They're going to be unveiling this secret treasure for the first time at the reception," said Umino.
"Secret treasure. What do you think it could be?" asked Usagi.
"I don't know, Usagi. But, we'll let our friends know about this secret treasure right after school," said Sora, making her smile at him.
"Thanks Sora," she said.
"I'll go and take a look for you, and tell you all about it," Naru said in a somber tone.
Sora, Usagi and Umino glanced at Naru who was still conflicted about Nephrite.
"As you know my family runs a jewelry store. But because of that my family has been given a special invitation to attend tonight's reception," she continued.
"Yeah, well, both Usagi and I wish we could go with you, Naru. Especially since you're the daughter of the owner of OSA-P Jewelers," said Sora.
Inside Usagi's house, Luna was looking at a newspaper, when she noticed an article containing a report about the unveiling of the mysterious item that would be unveiled by the Princess Diamond, and decided to inform the others about it. In the throne room of the palace of darkness, within the Dark Kingdom, Queen Beryl had summoned Zoisite, Sephiroth, Pete, and Maleficent to her side.
"The kingdom of Diamond's legendary secret treasure. I wonder if it could possibly be the legendary Silver Crystal," said Beryl.
"I'll check on it for you immediately," remarked Zoisite.
"Don't bother, I'll check on it myself, " interjected Nephrite, who emerged from the corridor of darkness.
"Nephrite, stop butting in! Finding the legendary Silver Crystal is my job! I'll do it!" snapped the blonde warlord.
"Enough! If Nephrite says that he will find this Silver Crystal, then we must acknowledge his decision. Either way, the Princess Diamond could have this crystal..." piped in Maleficent.
"But Maleficent!" cried Zoisite.
"Shaddup, Zoisite!" barked Pete.
"Thank you, Pete. I'll be sure to deal with it of my own accord, if you'll allow it, Queen Beryl," said Nephrite, who bowed respectfully to her.
"Very well then. If this legendary secret treasure is indeed the Silver Crystal, then we must acquire it immediately. With its immense power, we can finally be able to restore our great ruler! And the Dark Kingdom would become the rightful masters of Kingdom Hearts!" replied Beryl.
"But my queen!" protested Zoisite.
"Shall I give you despair, or will you allow Nephrite to speak his mind, Zoisite?" asked Sephiroth.
"I'd prefer that you all watch, rather than explain my entire agenda," scoffed Nephrite, who disappeared into the dark corridor.
"Nephrite has failed every single assignment! Why are you giving him another chance?" whined Zoisite.
"Because, he must succeed in his task. Or else, he'll be branded as a traitor. Which is what Queen Beryl will do if you continue to whine, Zoisite," replied Sephiroth.
"In other words, he's up against the wall," Beryl chuckled.
In his frustration, Zoisite stormed off to the final member of Queen Beryl's commanders, who had the same hair color as Sephiroth, but wore the same uniform with a silver cape.
"Have patience my dear Zoisite, the impatient one always loses," he said.
"But I can't Kunzite," replied Zoisite.
"For now, let's watch him carefully, and see exactly what he's got planned. We can get rid of Nephrite, when it's safest to do so," explained Kunzite.
"Oh, I see you guys are plotting against Nephrite, I see? Oh that's so horrible, I'm liking it already!" snickered Pete.
At Hikawa Shrine, Usagi, Sora, and their friends had all gathered around the entrance and explained everything that Umino told them.
"Huh, a princess?" asked Rei.
"That's right, and it occurred to me as I was thinking about it, maybe this princess Diamond is the Princess we're looking for. You never know, it could be possible," replied Luna.
"Can't be," said Usagi.
"Any cosmic thoughts, Ami?" asked Roxas.
"Seems to me that we can't just dismiss Luna's hunch out of hand. I think we need to at least look into it," said Ami.
"That sounds like a fair assessment, Ami," piped in Riku.
"Yeah, but how? I'm sure that Princess Diamond has lots of bodyguards around her," said Usagi.
"And the worst part is that none of us can go into the reception, because we don't have any invitations to go there," added Axel.
"Don't you think we're all aware of that fact? Quit your complaining and let's put our heads together and let's put up a plan to get us in!" barked Rei.
"Look Rei, I don't know what's gotten into you, but the more you let yourself be motivated by anger, the more likely you're gonna be taken over by the darkness," said Sora.
"Who asked you to butt in, Sora!?" she snapped.
"If I might interject! We should all rally at the Embassy tonight, and plan out our next course of action there," said Aqua, making Usagi, Rei, Sora and the others look at her.
"That actually sounds like a good idea, Aqua. Maybe, at the very least, we'll be able to tell, if the Princess Diamond is the princess we're trying to find, just by looking at her," replied Ami.
Everyone nodded in agreement with Ami and Aqua's suggestion. Then Sora, Usagi, and Luna soon returned home after their little meeting.
"You guys, I've been feeling a little left out. I need to be more involved in the mission," said the dark colored cat.
They arrived back at Usagi's house, and stepped in, when Kenji saw them.
"Glad you're back, sweetie," said her father.
"Hey Mr. Tsukino. Why are you dressed up all fancy in that outfit?" asked Sora.
"I'm heading out right now to the Diamond Embassy reception," replied Kenji.
"What, you got an invitation!? That's so unfair! Can't I come with you!? please?" cried Usagi.
"This is work, the magazine wants me to write a story about it. I'll look at everything, and take notes for the both of us," Kenji said, as he walked out the door.
"We need to find a way to get to the reception," Sora said to Usagi once they were alone.
"Wait, I've got it!" gasped Usagi.
"What are you gonna do?" asked Luna.
"The one thing that Usagi knows best, Luna. use her trusty disguise pen to create a party dress," replied Sora.
"That's right, Sora," said Usagi.
She carefully pulled out her pen and held it before her.
"Moon Power, transform me into a beautiful princess!" she said.
Then in a flash of light, she now had a convincing party dress.
"You guys, check out this dress. Isn't it lovely?" she said.
"That's an awesome disguise, Usagi! Especially considering the fact that we're going undercover on this mission to see if Princess Diamond is the Princess we're searching for, and if she has the Legendary Silver Crystal in her possession!" cheered Sora.
"I see," replied Luna.
"Oh yeah, do you have a disguise as well Sora?" asked Usagi.
Sora nodded, then pulled out what looked like a pinstriped suit with black buttons, a black dress shirt, black dress shoes, and a black tie, with silver stripes. He quickly went upstairs, got out of his clothes, and came back down in his best suit.
"Wow, you look very much like a prince, Sora," she said.
Sora rubbed his head sheepishly as he laughed.
"Well, time to go," he said.
In a misty courtyard, Mamoru Chiba, dressed as Tuxedo Mask stood before what looked like a palace as a voice told him to locate the legendary Silver Crystal. He awoke with a start as the wind blew through his window, causing the drapes to flow outwards.
"That same dream again," he said.
At the Embassy of the Kingdom of Diamonds, Sora and Usagi stood in a large crowd of people that were also going into the building.
"I guess this must be where we go to check in," said Usagi.
"Yeah, let's go," replied Sora.
They soon passed Rei and Ami who were also dressed formally for the reception, and were shocked to see them.
That's Sora and Usagi," they said.
"You two, may I see your invitations?" asked the receptionist.
"I'm known as Prince Noctis, and this is my companion, Princess Stella, from the Kingdom of Quadratum," Sora said in a different voice.
"What I've never even heard of such a place," said the receptionist.
They had managed to enter the building where they saw people dressed in different formal outfits, as Sora noticed Riku and the other Guardians of Kingdom Hearts, dressed in formal attire as well. It looked more like a masquerade ball, as they walked inside, feeling as if they had been thrown into a foreign movie. Unknown to them, they had noticed Naru looking sad, who was approached by Nephrite in a rather unique outfit.
"Pardon me, miss, but would you do me the honor of having this dance?" he asked.
Naru was confused until he saw him remove his mask, making her see that it was "Masato Sanjouin."
"Did you come here alone?" he asked.
"In my mother's place," replied Naru.
"I never in my wildest dreams expected to see you. This is turning out to be the best night ever," said Nephrite as he pulled Naru towards her and began to dance.
"That's so romantic," sighed Naru, as she danced with Nephrite.
Usagi was surprised to see Naru was dancing with Nephrite, but she knew that Sora was with her, when her father saw them and took a few photos of them. But the moment didn't last long when two women accidentally spilled wine on Usagi's dress, making her walk off, with Sora at her side.
"Sorry about your dress, Usagi," he said.
"It's no big deal. You said that you liked it, so you chose to come dressed up in a royal raiment, Sora," replied Usagi.
Upstairs, Mamoru, dressed as Tuxedo Mask, was wondering if the Kingdom of Diamonds' secret treasure was the Silver Crystal, he wondered if it would tell him of what he was from back then. Suddenly, his gaze fell on Usagi and Sora, who were looking around the embassy for a napkin to dry off the stain.
"I know those guys," he said.
Mamoru suddenly believed that Usagi was the princess, but he had know Idea that Sora was dressed in his Regis' clothes. He was certain that he met this girl before, and decided to follow them. On the balcony, Nephrite and Naru stood alone looking into the night sky above them. Naru didn't realize that Nephrite was actually toying with her heart as he did before,
"You sparkle like a star, gleaming in the sky. Please, look upon me Naru," said Nephrite.
"All right," replied Naru.
Then suddenly, Nephrite transferred his darkness into Naru turning her into his puppet.
"You will now do everything I say now, Naru Osaka," he chuckled.
"Yes," replied Naru, in a dark voice.
Back in the ballroom, Sora and Usagi were now watching the dancers, but she was disappointed that Sora wouldn't dance with her, until Tuxedo Mask arrived, asking if she'd like to dance with him. Usagi nodded, as Sora motioned for her to dance with him, as he decided to look around.
"Oh wow, am I really awake? Is this really happening to me? It's like a dream come true," said Usagi as she and Mamoru danced in front of a crowd of people.
She suddenly felt something deep within her heart, that made her feel strange. It was as if it was a distant memory from the past calling out to her. Upstairs, Naru had managed to reach the Princess's chambers when her guards stopped, asking who she was.
"My name's Naru. I've come to see the Princess. We're good friends," she said.
The two men seemed confused, but decided to alert Princess Diamond who was still nervous about inheriting the treasure. She wore the royal raiments of a princess, but wore a pair of glasses that looked very much like Umino's. She heard a knock on the door, and the guards and Naru walked in.
"It's me, your pal, Naru. May I come in to see you Princess?" she asked.
"Of course," replied Diamond.
The bodyguards left them alone, unaware that Naru was going to possess her with Nephrite's darkness.
"You look like fun, what did you want to see me about?" she asked.
"The legendary secret treasure. It's leaving here, now," replied Naru.
Then Nephrite's darkness left her body, and fused with Diamond's. Naru collapsed onto the floor, as the possessed Diamond grabbed the box, just as her guards asked if everything was all right. Princess Diamond laughed, and barged past them with the box containing the treasure within it. Unsure of what was going on, the guards decided to raise an alarm, making Usagi and Mamoru confused, as Luna appeared.
"Usagi, we have a situation. Princess Diamond took the secret treasure and ran off to the balcony!" whispered Luna.
Quickly Usagi raced after her, informed Sora of what Luna had said, and together they followed diamond to the balcony.
"Nephrite!" they gasped.
Usagi quickly rushed towards Princess Diamond, trying to stop her, but she quickly swatted her aside, and over the railing.
"Usagi!" cried Luna.
"Luna, get the others! We gotta fight!" called Sora.
Luckily for Usagi, Mamoru had managed to catch her, and stop her from falling.
"It's time for both of you to take a fall!" snickered the possessed Princess, and she shoved them over the railing.
Unwilling to let Usagi get hurt, Luna lunged at her, causing her to drop the box.
"Good work, Luna!" cheered Sora, as he readied his keyblade.
as Ami and Rei knew that there was trouble brewing inside. But then they saw Usagi and Tuxedo Mask dangling over the balcony.
"Tuxedo Mask, you pest. Consider it your lucky day to perish with a beautiful girl who looks like the princess," scowled Nephrite.
Before he could strike, Sailor Mars' Fire Soul attack had managed to stop him, forcing him back.
"How dare you! There's no way I'll let you harm my friends!" she said fiercely.
As Nephrite prepared to fight, Usagi's hand slipped out of her glove and began to fall, but Luna quickly tossed her umbrella and she gently floated down to the ground as Sora leaped after her and swung down at Nephrite with his Keyblade with a mighty downward slash, which he barely evaded, and made a hasty retreat.
"Hold it Nephrite!" called Tuxedo Mask.
But he was stopped by Sailors Mercury and Mars.
"Answer me! Just who are you!?" demanded Ami.
"I wish I could answer that question, but I can't. That's the reason I need to solve the mystery behind the Legendary Silver Crystal," replied Mamoru.
"Are you an enemy? Or are you on our side?" asked Sailor Mercury.
"If we are after the same thing, maybe I am an enemy," said Tuxedo Mask.
He jumped away, just as Sora stepped forward, while Usagi was still star struck about him.
"Let him go, guys. We need to save Princess Diamond first," he said.
"He's right, Usagi," agreed Ami.
"Right, the mission!" Usagi said in realization.
In a flash of light, she had now transformed into Sailor Moon, just as Riku and the others joined her. Inside the ballroom, everyone gathered around the unconscious Princess Diamond, including Usagi's father.
"Wow this was unexpected," he said, as he began taking snapshots.
But then Nephrite was able to rouse Diamond back to consciousness, and began blasting them back with the power of darkness.
"Guess again!" Sora's voice said from nearby.
"In an instant, he along with Sailor Moon and their friends arrived in the ballroom, ready for battle.
"I'm the pretty guardian who fights for love and justice, Sailor Moon!" she said.
"I'm Sailor Mercury!" added Ami.
"And I'm Sailor Mars!" finished Rei.
"It's time for you to pay for possessing the heart of a beautiful princess you heartless monster!" Sailor Moon said.
"I'm taking the legendary Silver Crystal! It's mine!" snickered Diamond.
Luna was surprised, but she saw Princess Diamond float out of the embassy, and onto the grounds below, as the others followed her. Quickly Rei channeled her power into an exorcism talisman, and placed it on Diamond's back, causing the darkness within to burst free.
"I knew it. It's Nephrite's darkness," said Sora.
"Nephrite's spirit?" everyone asked.
The dark spirit blasted them with the power of darkness, as it cackled at them.
"Dark Shield!" shouted Riku.
A powerful barrier soon appeared before them.
"All right, Sailor Mercury, use Bubble Spray!" said Sora.
Sailor Mercury nodded, and was able to use her attack to dispel the darkness, giving Sailor Moon the opportunity to deal the final blow.
"You're up Sailor Moon!" Mickey said.
"To pull such a mean trick on Princess Diamond is shameless! So on behalf of the moon, I'm ending you!" declared Usagi.
Then she removed her Tiara and transformed it into the golden discus, for her Moon Tiara Action attack.
"My friends are my power!" she cried out, sending it at Nephrite's spectral form.
At long last, it was finally over, as Princess Diamond awoke while everyone celebrated their victory. But then Sora noticed her glasses fall off her face, as Usagi approached her.
"Princess, are you alright?" she asked.
"Thank you, but what have I been doing?" wondered Diamond.
"You don't wanna know," replied Sora.
"But, uh, we were wondering if you're the princess we've been looking for," said Goofy.
Princess Diamond fumbled around for her glasses, until she had managed to find them and place them back on. Luna was about to speak, when Sora gently shook his head at her, telling her that talking animals would sound strange to them, which made Luna nod at him.
"Anyway, Princess Diamond, are you the princess we've been searching for?" he asked in Luna's stead.
"Uh, no of course not. But, you do look handsome in that outfit," she replied.
"Oh uh, thanks Princess. But when you didn't have your glasses on, you looked kind of cute," said Sora.
Princess Diamond giggled at him, as Riku stepped up to Luna.
"Sorry to say this, Luna. but she's not the princess we're looking for," he said, which made everyone nod in agreement
At the same time, everyone slowly awoke from unconsciousness, but the film in Kenji's camera was now ruined beyond his belief, when one of Princess Diamond's guards arrived.
"Pardon me. May I have your attention? Thank you all for waiting. It is my pleasure to announce that Princess Diamond will now unveil the last wonder of the world," he said.
As he stood aside, there stood Sora and Princess Diamond, revealing the mysterious treasure within her box.
"I present for you a two-thousand kerit diamond, cut in the shape of the first Princess Diamond," she said.
"What a waste of my time and energy," huffed Nephrite who disappeared into the corridor of darkness.
"Well this certainly was a bust. Looks like the search for our princess is back to square one," sighed Luna.
"Well, speaking of which. Where'd that Usagi run off to?" quacked Donald.
"I think I have a pretty good idea," replied Namine.
"All this activity was exhausting, I'm thirsty. This punch looks great," said Usagi.
But when she drank it, it didn't taste like fruit punch at all, but a different drink.
"Wow, this punch is really refreshing," Usagi said as she stumbled back into Tuxedo Mask's waiting arms.
"Oh, snap," mused Sora, as he watched Tuxedo Mask carry her to safety.
Once they were alone, Tuxedo Mask gently laid Usagi down, then gently pressed his lips against Usagi's, feeling as if he had kissed her once, in a time, long ago.
"I believe my memory might be coming back," he said softly.
Even Usagi felt this strange feeling of nostalgia in the back of her mind, as she felt Mamoru's lips against hers, as they stood with each other under the moonlit night sky.