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
Chapter One: Meetings

Luna sat perched in a tree watching her target as she sat on a bench in the school courtyard eating lunch. She was a girl of average height, had short dark blue hair that reached to about her shoulders, and blue eyes.

She had come across her one day after she had manage to escape from a couple of little kids attempting to do something to her. She hadn't wanted to stick around and find out what.

She had passed the girl as she was walking, her nose in a book, and got the distinct feeling she was one of the girls she was looking for, so she followed her, intent on learning as much as she could.

She learned obvious things at first. That the girl was a school student at Juuban Municipal Junior High School, was an avid reader, was quiet, went to after school programs, and lived in an apartment building.

As the days passed she learned her target's name was Mizuno Ami. She was fourteen and incredibly intelligent seeing as how she frequently attended after school programs for more advanced students. She was new at the school and had yet to make friends, her mother was a doctor and frequently away from home at the largest hospital in the city, and her father wasn't in the picture as far as she had seen.

After watching Ami for a few days, and from all she had sensed and learned, she was positive she had found Sailor Mercury, one of the guardians she was searching for. The senshi that fit her characteristics the best.

Luna continued to watch her for the rest of the school day, perching in trees outside her classroom. She nodded to herself as she watched the girl, deciding it was time to meet Ami and tell her of her destiny.

Once the last bell rang she waited for Ami to appear and stealthily followed her from the school grounds, skirting around a small group of girls from the same school that were talking and laughing.

She glanced at the girls, seeing one with incredibly long golden hair in two streams. The only reason she noticed was because the hair was near her eye line, but when Luna glanced up her face was turned so Luna refocused on her target. Not wanting to lose her among the many other girls wearing the same uniform.

N&F

Mamoru walked down the sidewalk wearing his high school uniform, his thoughts centered on the reoccurring dreams he kept having.

He had had the same dream, at first sporadically during his early teens, but recently they had begun to come nightly.

There was a young woman who he got the clear sense was a princess. He could see her silhouette in a foggy rose garden, he could see that she had a unique hair style, long hair down to the ground, and was wearing a dress that went just pass her knees. She always begged him to find her; that he was the only one who could. It was very important that she be found.

Who is she? Is she actually real? He wondered once again, but was distracted by the sight that met his eyes.

Up ahead of him he saw a girl walk out of a store and stand in the middle of the sidewalk. She had long golden hair parted down the center streaming down just pass her knees from two buns on top of her head.

She had a slim figure and pale skin and wore a blue and white school uniform and carried a black school bag in her hand. The closer he got the more obvious it was that she was on the short side, only coming up to his shoulder if at that.

As he walked up behind her his observations were cut off as he was suddenly hit in the face with a ball of paper.

"Hey! Watch where you're throwing stuff Odango Atama!" He said before he leaned down and grabbed the ball of paper. He smoothed it out curiously, and saw that it was an English test with a low score.

"Instead of walking around throwing paper balls at people you should be studying to bring up your atrocious score." He said as he looked up from the paper.

"Hey!" She said indignantly before she stepped toward him and snatched the paper from his hand. "Mind your own business! And you shouldn't insult random people on the street!"

Mamoru frowned at her words but saw the tears in her eyes and decided his reaction was uncalled for. He stepped forward and lightly putting his hand on her shoulder, stopping her as she began to walk away.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. There's no excuse for what I said. Can I make it up to you?" He asked sincerely.

She looked at him skeptically for a moment before she smiled lightly.

"Thanks for that, and I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have thrown my paper, especially without knowing if anyone was behind me." She said as she turned to face him. "How do you plan on making it up to me?" She asked curiously.

"I can help you with your English so you'll get a higher score next time." He suggested kindly.

It's the least I can do for hurting her feelings for no reason like I did. He thought as he waited for her response. She looks similar to the silhouette of the princess. He decided as he watched her, and he didn't have the feeling that she wasn't the right one like he had felt the last time he saw a girl that looked similar to the silhouette.

He had seen a girl a few days before with her light blonde hair half up in similar odango pigtails and the rest loose down her back, the length ending just pass her bottom, as if she hadn't wanted all of her hair up in the odango style.

From the distance he had saw her from she looked to be the same age as the girl in front of him, but the longer he had looked at her the more he had begun to feel that she wasn't the one from his dreams; something was off about her.

Mamoru was glad he hadn't approached her, but here he was now with a girl that looked similar to the princess in his dreams.

It's possible she's the one. He thought quietly, but besides that, now that he was really looking at her, he found that she was very pretty. Aside from her long golden hair she had big sky blue eyes, a soft voice, and a nice smile.

"Okay, but let me check and see if I have my textbook first." She said after thinking it over, and he watched as she looked into her bag. "I've got it. Now what?" She asked as she looked back to him.

"Follow me." He said before he moved forward, continuing along the sidewalk with her following at his side. "It's nice out so we can go to the closest park and find a place to sit." He said, and she hummed in agreement.

"I'm Chiba Mamoru." He said as he looked over to her.

"I'm Tsukino Usagi." She said with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you." He said as he returned her smile. "So, what school do you go to?" He asked.

"Juuban Municipal Junior High School. I'm in my second year." Usagi answered.

"How old are?" He asked curiously.

"Fourteen." She answered. "What about you?"

"I'm seventeen. I'm in my second year at Moto Azabu High School." Mamoru answered.

"I've never heard of it." Usagi said.

"It's an all boy's school that has both junior and high school students." He informed her.

"There's no girls?!" She said in surprise. "What do you do when you want a girlfriend?"

"It's not a big deal." He said with a shrug. "I had no problem meeting you." He added cheekily.

Usagi blushed and looked away. "So what do you do in your free time?" She asked, trying to distract herself.

They discovered that they both went to the same arcade, Game Center Crown, in their free time. Usagi for the games and Mamoru because his friend, Furuhata Motoki, worked there and he liked the cafe located in the same building.

The mention of the cafe had them talking about foods they liked and didn't like until they reached the park. They found a picnic table and got started on studying the English language.

N&F

Luna carefully followed Ami, not wanting people to see her following a girl and alert her, until she saw her enter a building in a quiet area of the city.

She moved to sit at the base of a tree on the sidewalk and looked the building over. From the buzzers on the wall by the door the building only housed four tenants. She saw that it was a nice clean looking four story apartment building with three balconies in the front of the building.

She moved away from the tree and made her way around the building and saw that there were windows on the sides of the building and three fire escapes in the back. As she sat on the ground looking up at the fire escapes she wondered how she was going to figure out which one Ami lived in. She guessed she would have to check the fire escapes first to see if she could spot her.

The first floor window was on the ground floor and had curtains over it so she couldn't tell if that was the right apartment. She jumped up to the lowest fire escape, which was the second floor, and peered through the window. There was an older man in the rather large room, and she knew that wasn't the right apartment since Ami and her mother lived alone.

She carefully made her way up to the next one on the third floor and saw a masculine looking room. That was not it as neither Ami nor her mother looked as if they liked masculine decor.

She climbed up to the top floor balcony and as soon as she looked into the window she knew she had found the right apartment. Ami was sitting in the large room at a desk in front of a computer with her back to the window.

The room itself was painted a soothing water blue with cream colored floor and ceiling moldings. All the furniture was light brown wood and her bed was covered in various shades of blue from the pillows to the comforter to the throw blanket at the end of the bed.

Luna turned her attention to the window and saw that it was the kind that slid open from right to left. She reached out with a paw and tried to open it but it wouldn't budge so she called on her power and focused on opening the window.

It slowly slid open and she slipped inside and jumped to the carpet floor and willed her power to snap the window shut.

Ami jumped slightly in her seat and turned her head sharply toward the noise. Her eyes flickered around but she didn't see anything or anyone. She got up and moved to the window, skirting around the end of her bed, and glanced to the space on the far side of her bed and saw nothing.

She checked the window and saw that it was firmly closed and locked. There was nothing on that side of the room that could've made the noise.

Could I have imagined that noise? She wondered as she turned, but froze as she spotted a black cat sitting in the middle of her bed looking at her. That cat wasn't there when I walked over here, so where did it come from? She thought as she looked at the cat.

Mom couldn't have brought it since she isn't home, and it certainly wasn't here when I first got home. She thought as she gazed at the golden crescent moon on its forehead.

"Hello Ami. I'm glad to finally meet you." Luna said.

"You can talk." Ami said blankly. "How can you talk?"

"The same way you can. I was born and learned the ability." Luna answered.

Ami shook her head slightly and went back to her seat at her desk, keeping her eyes on the cat the entire time.

"Why are you here? Why did you want to meet me?" She asked, curious and wary.

"You, Mizuno Ami, have been chosen to be a senshi. After watching you for a few days I believe you are Sailor Mercury." Luna stated seriously.

"What's a senshi?" Ami asked with a frown.

"A senshi is a soldier, one of a group of female soldiers known as Sailor Senshi, whose duty is to protect the Moon Princess." Luna answered. "At present there are dark beings attacking the citizens of this city, and they are a threat to the princess. Your duty is to find your fellow senshi and the princess, and to protect the moon heir."

"How many senshi are there?" Ami asked.

"There are five Guardian Senshi, so you have four more to find." Luna answered. "I'll be helping you of course."

"Do you know who they are?" Ami asked.

"No, but I will know when I see them just as I did with you." Luna said and Ami nodded.

"Who are you exactly? How do you fit into the mix?" She asked.

"I am guardian, advisor, and confidant to the Moon Princess, however until the Sailor Senshi no longer need it I will also act as their advisor as well." Luna explained.

"You had the same duty in the past." Luna said after a few silent minutes of allowing Ami time to think. "Will you accept your role once again?"

Ami shifted her eyes away from the cat as she considered her question. She still had questions but she suspected they would be there a long time answering them all. With the information she had she thought it sounded honorable and exciting, but putting her mind aside, as unusual as that was, she felt like accepting was the right thing to do.

"I accept." She said as she nodded. "Although, I don't understand how I'm supposed to be this senshi since I'm just a regular person."

"You're not just a 'regular person'." Luna said before she leapt up and flipped in the air, and landed back on the bed just as a pen landed right in front of her. "This is for you; your transformation pen." She said as she pushed it forward with her paw.

Ami stood and walked to her bed and picked up the item. It was blue on the bottom half and the top half was gold with the Mercury planetary symbol engraved at the top within a circle.

"How am I supposed to use this?" She asked as she looked to the cat.

"Hold it up and say Mercury Power, Make Up." Luna stated clearly.

Ami frowned, slightly skeptical, because really although she had accepted it was still unbelievable. Here she was speaking to a talking cat that was telling her she had been chosen to be one of five female soldiers to protect a princess from the Moon from, at the very least, dark beings.

I won't believe any of this until I actually become this senshi, and able to fight some strange dark being. She thought before she raised the pen above her head.

"Mercury Power, Make Up!" She said as Luna had instructed her to do.

Luna watched the symbol for Mercury appear on her forehead as soon as she spoke the words and her eyes flashed in success. One down; four to go. She thought as she watched the newly awakened senshi.

A stream of blue water streamed out of the top of the transformation pen and swirled widely around Ami before tightening around her upper body, lower arms, and her lower legs. Blue light flashed from her body and suddenly she was dressed differently.

Ami looked at her hands and down at her body in shock before she opened her closet door and looked in the full length mirror on the inside of the door.

She wore a sleeveless white sailor fuku with a short blue skirt, a blue collar with three white stripes, and a light blue bow on her lower back and chest. White gloves with blue elbow fittings covered her forearms and blue knee high boots with white edges bordering the pointed top sat on her feet. She also wore a blue choker around her neck, three blue stood earrings in each ear, and a gold tiara with a blue gem on her forehead.

She suddenly heard a soft beeping sound and turned to look at Luna in confusion.

"What's that sound?" She asked.

"Focus on the sound and gesture with your hand." Luna instructed.

Sailor Mercury did just that and was surprised when a small thin rectangular object appeared in her hand. She opened it and was surprised to find that it was actually a miniature computer that looked like a hand held laptop.

"It's a super computer, which you also had in the past. It will allow you to scan various surroundings and people, and analyze data, which will prove very useful in battle." Luna explained.

Mercury listened to the feline as she typed in the minicomputer in fascination. It was a great item to have access to, constant access since Luna said it was hers, and she could see herself using it for a variety of things.

She suddenly frowned as she discovered why the beeping sound had occurred. The screen showed a map of the city and she zoomed down to the spot that had a red pulsing circle over it. Words appeared off to the side indicating the exact location, the number of people present, and an unknown signature.

"There's an unknown signature that's apparently emitting dark energy at a jewelry store at this very moment." She said as she stared at the small screen.

"Then you're about to experience your first fight." Luna stated seriously. "Lead the way Sailor Mercury."

Mercury glanced to her bedroom door, but she shook her head knowing she couldn't go out through the building to leave. She looked to her bedroom window and the fire escape beyond and nodded.

She snapped her computer closed and instinctively put her minicomputer back into what she somehow knew was her subspace pocket. She went to the window, slid it open and stepped out onto the balcony.

"Any last minute advice?" She asked.

"Trust your instincts. You've done this before; you just need to remember." Luna said.

Mercury nodded before she followed her instincts and actually leapt off the fire escape and plummet the four stories to the ground. She landed surprisingly lightly, but she didn't allow herself to think on it, she just took off running in the direction of the jewelry store. Idly aware that Luna was following her.

Sailor Mercury stood outside the glass doors of the jewelry store her minicomputer had indicated. She instinctively lifted her hand and pressed the largest blue stud earring on her right ear, and a blue transparent visor appeared over her eyes.

The appearance of the visor surprised her, but another part of knew that it was another useful item. It was her Virtual Reality Visor that could scan and make analyses of enemies and phenomena in battle, as well as make calculations.

What's the condition of the people inside? She wondered, and suddenly she began to see through the building with her visor, and she realized it was responding to her thoughts. That's convenient.

She saw that all but two of the people inside were down. They were alive but appeared to be unconscious with low levels of energy. As for the two; one signature was just like the others, but the remaining signature was the unknown one she had been informed of earlier. The two signatures were together and she didn't like the way the regular signature was fluctuating around.

Mercury pressed the stud earring on her right ear again and her visor disappeared. She took a breath and stepped forward and pulled the glass door open and stepped inside. She waited for her eyes to adjust to the different shade of darkness, and blinked in surprise as she saw a humanoid creature holding a girl that she knew went to her school; was in the same class as her.

"Hey! Let her go right now!" She said as she stepped forward, and the creature looked her way.

"Who are you?" It asked in a rough feminine voice.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that you let the girl go!" Sailor Mercury stated firmly.

The creature did let the girl go but then the people that were lying around unconscious began to get up, their eyes glowing, before they all began to head toward her.

Mercury stepped back in surprise and fear, as it suddenly struck her that she needed to fight these people, but once again instinct kicked in sharply. Suddenly she was swinging her fists and feet, her movements orderly and flowing like water, in a way that incapacitated each person but without seriously hurting or killing them.

I need to get these people out of the way so I can deal with this creature. Hopefully destroying this creature will free them, but until then I need some way to incapacitate them; but how? She thought.

Then suddenly it came to her like a memory she had briefly blanked on, but had come back to her at the right time. She continued to fight the people around her until she had cleared a space around her then jumped back.

"Mercury Aqua Mist!" She said to provide herself some cover from the constant attacks. Blue liquid looking energy formed in her hands before it spread out into the air to create a misty fog.

She quickly activated her visor so she could see where everyone was. She saw that she was loosely surrounded, so she decided to use an attack to keep them at bay and hopefully out of the way.

"Double Aqua Pressure!" She called, which caused a high pressure stream of blue water to shoot out from each of her hands toward the people surrounding her.

Thankfully as the water hit them they were knocked away and went down, so she continued, turning slowly with her arms stretched out, until they all collapsed to the floor. Suddenly information began to stream on her visor and a red warning blinked repeatedly. She frowned in confusion but understood as a clawed hand came speeding toward her.

She jumped back and off to the side but the clawed hand followed her. She continued to dodge and jump over the unconscious people on the floor until she managed to get some room.

"Sabão Spray Freezing!" Mercury yelled and watched as a fog formed quickly. She aimed it at the clawed hand heading for her, and watched as it slowed and lowered until it crashed to the ground breaking into frozen pieces.

She jumped away quickly and dodged as the creatures other hand came speeding her way.

"Double Aqua Pressure!" She called and shot a stream of water at the approaching clawed hand and one at the creature itself.

The hand flew away and so did the creature with a cry. She ran forward toward the creature and shouted another attack that came to her.

"Freezing Aqua Pressure!" She called and aimed her two high pressure streams of water at the creature.

It screamed as it began to freeze; first its movements slowed to a stop and then ice began to form around it. Once it was fully encased she stopped her attack, and kicked the frozen creature with her boot, shattering it.

Sailor Mercury took a deep breath and looked around as the people began to groan and move. She ran outside, knowing she didn't want to be questioned, and stood with Luna at her feet.

"Are you okay?" Luna asked.

"Yes. It's just a lot to take in." Mercury said as she looked down at her upturned furry face and watched her nod.

"Why don't we return to your home so you can relax and we can talk more." Luna suggested.

Mercury nodded and they began to walk back toward her apartment building.