Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or her characters, and have no right to it except as a long time fan.

Near and Far
Prologue: The Beginning of the End

The room was silent save the sounds of infant cries. All in the room were extremely surprised at the turn of events. The Queen had given birth to twin girls. Only one had been expected, but now there were two. If one had been a boy then all would be fine, but two girls presented a serious problem.

There could be only one heir, and since the throne passed through the female line a choice needed to be made.

Queen Serenity was distraught as she held her baby girls. Nothing like this had ever happened in the history of the Moon. There was always only daughters born into the royal Moon line, but never two at once. If there was more than one girl she usually came a few years later, which meant there would be no fighting over succession. How was she to make such a choice, knowing one of her daughters would be denied her birthright?

She wanted to keep them both, wanted to raise them both, and watch them grow and form a sisterly bond. However, she knew it was not meant to be, and that she must choose.

Queen Serenity gazed at her girls, seeing absolutely no difference and nothing to help her choose, and ultimately decided to choose her first born since she came into the world first.

Now that her decision had been made action needed to be taken. Everyone in the room agreed to have their memory of witnessing two babies being born altered to having seen only one born.

One of the witnesses was asked, and agreed, to raise the second baby girl and have her memory altered to believe that the baby's parents died. That way there would be no knowledge that twins had ever been born, and that the Queen had only had one daughter.

Queen Serenity used the silver crystal to suppress her second born daughter's royal insignia, and watched, heartbroken, as the tiny nearly transparent golden crescent moon faded from her forehead.

The tired Queen then insisted on naming both her daughters even though one was leaving her. They were thus named Selene and Serenity.

N&F

Queen Serenity visited her banished daughter often, always disguised as the same kind stranger. She watched her grow healthy and strong, her beautiful hair growing longer and longer as time passed. She was surprised that her hair was a different color than her other daughter, but that difference began to give her an idea.

By the time her daughters were five she had finally thought of a way to bring her daughter back home and introduce her to her sister while explaining their near identical appearance.

She visited as the kind stranger one last time and introduced herself as the Moon Queen. She told her little girl that she wanted to take her to her home because she had a very important task for her that only she could do.

In no time at all she had brought her daughter to the Moon Palace and introduced her to four other little girls who had been brought there to see her. She informed all five girls that they had been brought before her because they had been chosen to be the guardians of her heir, the Moon Princess. They would learn exactly what that meant in the years to come so they needn't worry.

Queen Serenity then informed her daughter in front of the other four girls that since she looked so very similar to her heir she had the added task of being her stand in double. She would learn more about that in time, so she should not worry about that either.

From there she encouraged the girls to get to know each other, and they spent the rest of the day playing together and talking as children do. At the end of the day the five girls said their goodbyes and were separated.

The four girls went back to their homes of Venus, Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter, and the Queen's newly returned daughter remained at the Moon Palace to begin their studies and train to fight in the ways of their people.

N&F

Five years passed as the Queen's daughter worked to learn all that was presented to her. She was a very hard worker, eager to learn, but was also happy and cheerful.

Instead of the dresses and gowns women and girls wore she wore breeches and a tunic, so she could be comfortable and have the ability to move as she must as she learned how to fight. In addition to physical training she studied as other children did as they were educated, but in this she was different as well.

As the double to the Queen's heir she was required to study and learn everything the princess was required to learn. From etiquette to knowledge of royal families to learning how to rule and govern to learning about the legendary Silver Crystal.

Of course the Queen gave her and everyone else the excuse that as her heir's double she needed to know these things, but she really wanted her to have the education she was supposed to have as her daughter. Still, she made sure her heir knew nothing of those lessons, and that her daughter knew that they were to be secret from her heir and fellow guardians.

After the other four chosen guardians left to return to their homes the Queen introduced her daughter and her heir to each other. The two little girls were surprised that they looked exactly alike, but the Queen explained to them both that that was the reason they were brought together. One would be the guardian protector of the other, and because they looked so much alike it would make that task easier should the protection be truly required.

The two girls accepted that explanation and began to understand its meaning better as the years passed.

That knowledge didn't suddenly bring them closer together. They saw each other occasionally in between studying. Not just because there were no other children living in the palace, but in order to establish a relationship for when the role of guardian began.

They got along fine but as they grew older the childhood friendship faded. They were spending less time together as their studies intensified. The guardian daughter was especially busy between learning more complex fighting techniques, and gaining the same education as the heir to the throne.

N&F

When the guardian daughter turned ten years old the other chosen guardians returned to the Moon to stay. They were reunited and spent time reconnecting before they met with the Queen.

"Do you all understand your duty?" The Queen questioned seriously.

"We are to protect the Moon Princess, with our lives if necessary." The five girls replied as they knelt before the Queen.

The Queen then presented them with items to transform themselves into the Warrior Guardians they would become. They transformed and became the Guardian Senshi of the Moon Princess: Sailor Moon, Sailor Venus, Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Jupiter.

"You are to always be transformed unless you are asleep or given special free time." The Queen informed them. "Sailor Moon is to be your leader, and Sailor Venus is second in command as she is closest in appearance to both Sailor Moon and my heir, and can act as a stand in if something should happen to Sailor Moon."

The Senshi all voiced their understanding before they were dismissed. Sailor Moon then escorted her fellow guardians to meet the princess they were to spend the rest of their lives protecting. The girls were surprised that Sailor Moon and the princess looked identical except for the color of their hair despite having been informed that they looked alike.

For the next five years the girls spent nearly all their time together. They trained as a group to get used to each other's fighting style and learn how to fight together, and trained in the use of their new powers.

They talked and got to know each other very well and were soon the best of friends. When they weren't training the Guardians spent time with the princess when she wasn't busy with her studies to get to know her so they could be comfortable in their role as her protectors.

During this time Sailor Moon and the Moon Princess were presented with cat guardians from the planet Mau. They had been with the Queen for years and she hoped they would act as advisers, guardians, and confidants to the girls as they grew older.

Luna, with her black coat of fur, went to the princess, and Artemis, with his white coat, went to Sailor Moon.

N&F

When all the girls were fifteen the royal guards pulled back from watching over the princess and officially handed the duty over to her Guardian Senshi, just in time for her to officially begin to step out into royal society.

The five senshi accompanied her nearly everywhere. Sometimes joining her in her activities, but mostly to guard her from the sidelines.

When the girls were sixteen there was a gathering of Princes, Princess', and important courtiers on the Moon. It was a normal routine day. Everyone was out in the garden when the Earth Prince and his guardians arrived.

The prince's eyes took in the scene, the decoration, and the people milling about casually. His gaze landed on the Moon Princess, whom he only identified by the crescent on her brow having never met her before, then slid beyond her and landed on one who was clearly one of her guardians but looked exactly like her, aside from her hair color.

She was approached numerous times and he watched her speak kindly and cheerfully to them, clearly enjoying their conversation and the general atmosphere of the gathering, but her eyes would occasionally shift around the gathering, then settle on her princess, before focusing back on her conversation companion.

She was obviously kind and happy, but also observant and serious. The combination, along with her beauty and golden hair, attracted him instantly.

When she was alone he approached her and introduced himself, and she smiled at him with such an open kind smile as she introduced herself that he knew he was lost.

This would mark the day that everything changed.