Author's Note: There may be some delay in posting on my stories after Monday. I don't want anyone to worry, I will get to them, but my life is rather up in the air at the moment. I am trying to update as many stories as possible before then so you all have something to read until I can get more done.

Reader's Note: An updated character list will be at the end of every chapter for reference.

True Love's Kiss
Chapter Two
A Miko's Heart

Luna kept her silence. She simply watched Usagi as she went through her daily routine, keeping close to the little blonde in the hope that she could help her mission, and if the time came that she had to accept her role as Sailor Moon, she knew she would be there to help her through it.

It seemed the girl was already focused on exactly the mission Luna would have set her. She was determined to bring the missing boys home, no matter how long it took or how hard she had to work. So Luna kept her silence.

She followed Usagi wherever she went, be it school, to the Crown, home, or to the numerous places she visited when she searched. The little cat became familiar with the police station and the radio station, with youth centers and sports arenas. She found herself wandering around shrines and temples, through gardens and wooded areas, and into several different schools.

By the third day Luna wondered if the little blonde ever stopped moving. She hardly slept, and when she did, she dreamed. She went to school, did most of the household chores, and worked with a group of other teenagers to locate the missing boys. She rarely slowed her pace. Her homework was slipping, but she didn't seem to care. She could only focus on the purpose she had set for herself.

As Usagi finally lay in bed the third night after Luna had become her guardian, the cat watched until she fell asleep, then slipped out the window and hurried several blocks away to the Crown Game Center. She needed advice. Should she wake the sleeping Moon Senshi, or let her stay normal until the need arose?

Rei stumbled back from the older girl who had just smacked her. Anger and hurt filled her, but she had too much pride to show the girl she was bothered. She'd had enough. She didn't think she could take much more of the abuse. Not just from visitors to the Hikawah Jinja where she was not only in training as a miko, but lived with her grandfather. She also dealt with the stupidity of people at school, or if she was unlucky enough to be forced to attend one of her father's political get togethers.

She hated all of it. The parties that were no more than a giant popularity contest, the catholic school she was forced to attend because it was prestigious rather than close or comfortable. But mostly she hated it when people came looking for her help and then got aggressive and angry when she told them the rumors weren't true. She wasn't an all powerful witch with the ability to make someone appear out of thin air.

Rei sighed. "Don't do that again or I will be forced to have you escorted off the property."

The three women, all of whom were claiming that the Jinja was somehow responsible for a rash of missing people over the course of the past three days, only glared at her and moved closer. "You know where my daughter is," the woman who had slapped her claimed.

Rei sighed. As such as she wanted to pity the woman, it was more than likely her daughter had run away if she resorted to such violence. She pursed her lips to whistle for Phobos and Deimos, but very suddenly a bundle of blonde appeared at her side.

"How dare you!" the little spitfire yelled. "How dare you come here for help and then get abusive because someone can't give you what you want. Rei would never do anything to hurt anyone. Especially not a little girl! Now get lost before I call the police!"

She was panting heavily by the end of her speech, and had moved to place her much smaller body between Rei and the women. Shocked at the show of both kindness and trust, Rei could only watch in awe as the three women backed away looking ashamed. A few words and they had seemed to understand not only Rei's point, but her own. Amazing.

Finally the girl turned. Rei swallowed back a lump in her throat and bowed lower than normal in gratitude and respect. "Thank you Usagi-san," she said.

Rei had only met the girl a few weeks before. Usagi had come to the shrine, asking permission to post one of her fliers on the bulletin board. Grandfather had agreed instantly. Rei had even volunteered making calls once when she'd had a free afternoon and had gone down to the Crown Game Center.

"Thanks aren't really necessary," Usagi answered. "Not when I was just telling the truth." She shook her head. "I came to see your grandfather about a charm to help my parents. My mother isn't eating all that much. I wish I could just find everyone already." The blonde let out a soft sigh.

Rei wished she could too. She cleared her throat. "I did see something," she admitted. "When those women came yesterday I went to the Great Fire and asked for a vision about who had taken them." She walked as she talked, leading Usagi in the direction she wanted to go. "I was about to give up when the Fire showed me a face. It was slightly different than I remembered, but I recognized it."

The two girls reached the bulletin board. Rei reached her hand up and settled a finger just to the right of one of the pictures. "I saw him. His eyes were different. Not exactly blue anymore. More of a washed out grey. There was no smile either. His face was sort of angry looking. I think he's involved, but not by his own free will."

"Sasake Jadeite," Usagi said softly. "He and his brother Zoicite were both taken."

"I dreamed about him last night," Rei admitted. "It didn't make much sense. We were in a crowded ballroom and he was dancing with me. We were laughing about something, and he got down on his knee. It was like he was proposing to me." She smiled. The dream had been wonderful, but she had woken up feeling sad and forlorn.

Usagi bit her lip then, and her fingertips brushed over the portrait of the young man with black hair and dark blue eyes. "I dream of this one," she admitted. "And my friend Ami has dreamed of Zoicite." She let out a soft sigh. "In my dream I was in a rose garden, but the sky was wrong." Usagi shook her head. "Maybe it's silly but it felt real."

"Maybe it was. Or will be," Rei suggested. Usagi nodded absently. "Come on, I'll bring you to Grandfather."

They walked in silence for several long minutes. Her grandfather was busy in one of the rear sections of the garden, his long hoe busy in the soil. He wore a smile on his face as he talked to Phobos and Deimos. Not far away Yuuichiro was busy with a bucket and a pair of shears as he cut away deadheads from a row of flower bushes.

"Grandfather, Usagi-chan would like to speak to you," Rei said, bowing her head. She prayed the old man wouldn't start flirting.

"And what is such a beautiful girl as yourself doing at our lovely shrine?" Grandfather asked. Rei only shook her head. Her grandfather could never resist flirting with the girls. Young, old, somewhere in between. It didn't matter. He was an equal opportunity flirt, but he was never gross about it.

Usagi only giggled, not upset in the slightest by his behavior. Her big blue eyes sparkled with fun and her smile widened as she looked at the short, elderly man. "My mother and father," she said, sobering, "neither of them have been doing very well since Shingo and Haruki were kidnapped. My mother hardly leaves the bed and rarely eats. And my father throws himself into work and also hardly touches his food. It might be my cooking, but I think it's more than that. I've tried everything I can think of, but I know only bringing them home with make my parents better. Do you have any charms that would help me keep them healthy and perhaps raise their spirits?"

Grandfather quickly lapsed into seriousness. His brows came together, furrowing his forehead as he thought through the problem. Then he nodded and gave a small smile. "I might have just the thing," he said. "Stay here in the sunlight. I'll be back in a moment."

"Your parents sound like my dad," Rei said softly. "Right after my mom died he was like that. My grandfather tried to help him, but it was too much. Grandfather says my mother was more than just his wife. She was his soulmate, or something even stronger. He said half my father's soul and heart had already passed to the next world and only his duty has kept him alive."

"That's very sad," Usagi said. "But I have to think I would like a love like that. A love that completed me, that made the world whole for me."

"Me too," Rei whispered. "I only see my father once a month, or when he asks for me to go to his parties. I know he loves me, but I look so much like my mother it is physically painful for him to see me."

"That's awful. It must be hard for you too."

Rei nodded. It was so easy to talk to the little blonde. She thought in another life they could be sisters and wondered what it would be like to go to her school and have friends like she did.

She was startled when a little black cat with red eyes approached the blonde and leapt up onto her shoulder, butting her head under Usagi's chin. The girl absentmindedly began petting the feline, though she looked like she hadn't really noticed her presence. Rei however could feel there was more to the new addition than met the eye. She was no ordinary cat. No more than Phobos and Deimos were normal crows.

"I was thinking," Rei said, her eyes trained on the blonde's carefully. "Maybe I could come down and help you a few times a week after school."

"I would be grateful," Usagi said. "Why do you go to a Catholic school?" she asked abruptly. "I can't imagine you would be happy there."

"I'm not," Rei said without thinking. "I hate it and the other girls aren't exactly kind. But my father chose it, and it has a good reputation, so I just keep going."

Usagi smiled at her. "You know, I think if you told your father the school makes you unhappy, he would let you transfer"

Rei had thought of asking, but never had the courage. She always kept her conversations with him light. She smiled at Usagi and decided maybe she would ask someday.

Grandfather returned with not only a charm, but a small bowl that was covered over by a lid of woven grass. "Burn these herbs in your parents room," he said. "Just a pinch every morning. It should help them a touch. And place the charms in or on something they use daily. I will pray to the kami for them both," he added.

"Arigatou, Grandfather-sama," Usagi said, bowing low, her hand holding the cat in place as she moved.

"And who is this little one?" Grandfather asked, reaching out to stroke the cat's chin.

"Her name is Luna," Usagi said, giggling. "She wouldn't let me call her anything else. Kept shaking her head every time I tried. I helped her when she was trapped and she's been following me everywhere ever since. I can't really tell if she's seeking my protection or giving me hers. She's very special."

"Ah," Grandfather pointed to Phobos and Deimos. "We have guardian spirits here as well."

"I do have to get going," Usagi said softly. "I need to visit the high school again. One of the girls there says she thought she saw Ine Kunzite last night. I need to know if it was real or her imagination. If they are being seen again, then there is a chance we can get through to them now."

"Be careful child. We've all heard of what the Dark Kingdom does," grandfather's eyes were serious and crinkles appeared around the corners, showing how worried he was. "I know you want to get them back, but keep in mind what would happen to your parents if you disappeared. Make sure you aren't taken as well."

"I will Grandfather-sama," Usagi said, giving him another bow. "Rei-chan," she said, "don't forget to tell your father. Your happiness is important. And tell me if you have any more dreams." She suddenly reached out and grabbed Rei in a startling hug. "Be safe," she whispered, and then she was dashing away.

Usagi poured the contents of a can of tuna into a bowl after squeezing out the juices. She set it on the table next to the plate she would be carrying to her room, and frowned as she picked up the tray to carry upstair to her mother. The climb was easy, and with practice Usagi had become far less likely to trip over her own feet on the way up. She nudged the door to her parent's room with her hip and settled the tray over her mother's legs, then shook the woman awake.

The long lavender blue hair was a tangled mess. Apparently Ikuko had decided against showering and brushing the long length that morning as Usagi had suggested before leaving for school. With a soft sigh, she put the spoon into her mother's hand, and stared down at her, giving her the same look she had once been given herself.

She missed her mother. Missed the easy laugh, the way her eyes would light up with joy when she saw either of her children, and the sound of her voice singing like a lark in the mornings as she prepared her children and husband's bento boxes and their breakfast. Usagi missed the strange projects the woman would come up with that were somehow incredibly beautiful though created from broken or useless items. She missed the way her mother would ask incredibly invasive questions about boys and school and anything else she could think of.

"Please eat," Usagi whispered. "I promise you I'll bring him home Momma, but you have to eat. If you don't you'll get sick, and then who will take care of him?"

She had urged her to eat that way several times in the past weeks, and it usually worked. Ikuko's eyes shifted to hers for a long moment, then she focused on the bowl of rice and beef in front of her and ate several spoonfuls while Usagi watched. Not a word escaped her lips, but Usagi knew her mother loved her and was grateful she was there. Still, she missed her mom, and she wanted her back.

"I'll be up later for the tray," she said, then bent and kissed Ikuko's forehead. "I love you Haha."

Tears streaked Usagi's cheeks as she walked slowly back down the stairs. Her father's plate was in the refridgerator already, since she had no idea when he would be home. She grabbed her own plate, and Luna's bowl, and headed up to her own room.

"I suppose I'd better do some of my homework," she said, settling at her desk while Luna rapidly ate the food she had provided. "I wish I knew what to do," she added, looking out at the moon, which seemed to hover close in the sky. It gave her such comfort to look out at it. She could only think it was a close friend she had known all her life.

After working on her homework and eating her supper, Usagi collected the dishes, grabbed the tray from over her already sleeping mother's lap with a sigh at the mostly untouched food, and brought everything to the kitchen. She trudged back up the stairs, weary and worn, and went to shower and brush her hair. It wasn't long before she had slipped between her sheets, pulling her bunny blanket up under her chin, and turned on her side to cuddle the black cat.

"I feel like I'm failing them Luna," she whispered. "It's like they slip away a little more every day. Not just my parents, but the missing boys. I miss the sound of video games and the way Shingo would play pranks and tease me about my grades." A tear slipped out as she snuggled against the cat's soft fur. "I want him h-home."

Rei slipped to her knees in front of the Great Fire. Her mind was a wreck from another dream of the blonde-haired boy. Jadeite. They had been kissing rather more passionately than she'd ever done in real life, and it had been a bit worrysome. Had she somehow fixated on him? It seemed an odd sort of fantasy to have.

"What is he to me?" she wondered aloud.

Shaking her head, Rei cleared her mind and focused on the flames dancing and crackling in front of her. "Great Fire," she whispered, "show my the path I must take."

As Rei watched, the flames seemed to show a picture. In the image, she watched herself. She was surrounded by other young women, all wearing strange uniforms that looked oddly like a cross between an ice-skater's costume and a sailor suit. She frowned at the image. They all looked serious as they faced off against a woman with birght red hair and a purple dress that barely hid her cleavage.

The image changed. She was walking to school, her uniform different now, the light blue that Usagi wore. A blonde-haired boy was walking next to her, holding her hand. He had a grin on his face and was laughing, his bright blue eyes twinkling with mischief.

Then the last image came. The same blonde boy was standing in front of her, looking enraged. His eyes were wrong, as they had been in her dreams of him, and she saw that he had some sort of weapon in his hand, aimed at her. He seemed torn, as though part of him wanted to destroy her and the other part wanted to save her. Then he threw the weapon aside, pulled her into his arms and his mouth crashed into hers.

Rei gasped, falling backward away from the fire. Her hand went to her mouth. She could feel his kiss. The pressure of his lips on hers. Her own almost felt bruised as though they truly had been kissing. Her whole body shivered. "What was that?" she wondered aloud.

Senshi -
- Tsukino Usagi (Sailor Moon)
- Aino Minako (Sailor Venus)
- Kino Makoto (Sailor Jupiter)
- Mizuno Ami (Sailor Mercury)
- Hino Rei (Sailor Mars)
- Meiou Setsuna (Sailor Pluto)
- Tomae Hotaru (Sailor Saturn)
* Note: Ten'ou Haruka (Uranus) and Kaiou Michiru (Neptune) will be in England for the duration of this story.

Shitennou/Hogosha -
Chiba Mamoru (Tuxedo Kamen)
Ine Kunzite (North Knight)
Yoshida Nephrite (East Knight)
Sasake Zoicite (South Knight)
Sasake Jadeite (West Knight)
Kazuo Haruki (Sun Knight)
Tsukino Shingo (Blue Moon Knight)

Supporting Characters -
Luna & Artemis
Tsukino Ikuko & Kenji
Doctor Mizuno Saeko
Furuhata Motoki
Nishimura Reika
Osako Naru
Umino Guiro
Osaka Sensei
Haruna Sensei
Officer Takahashi
Officer Sato
Grandfather Hino
Yuichiro