Title: The Thirteenth Year

Summary: When All-American girl Serena Warren turns thirteen, weird things start happening. Every night she dreams of the life of a Moon Princess and as time progresses, her dreams become more and more real, so that finally, she cannot distinguish between the life she leads in her dreams and the one she is trying to live during the day.

Author: Silver Sparklze

Reason for Writing: A challenge, issued by Sage: The Dark Dryad

Author's Notes: Words written in bold will be translated at the end of the chapter.

~Galaxy Dorm, Planet Orphanage, New York~

"Serena, time to wake up." Slowly, Serena opened her eyes.

"Go 'way, Mina-chan." She muttered, "'M still sleepy."

"Sorry, incorrect, you are the weakest link." The girl said. "I'm Matty, you dingbat."

"No! I don't wanna get up! You can't make me!" Serena whined.

"Serena I can and I will!" Matty snapped.

"Hidoi, hidoi, hidoi yo!! Watashi no atama kizu desu!!" Serena wailed, burrowing even further into her pillows.

 "Shizuka ni shiro, and get up!" Was all Matty said in return before flouncing out.

Ever since Matty had found out that Serena was having the Soul-Dreams two weeks ago, she and Serena had gotten a lot closer. They spoke in Japanese all the time, Matty claiming that Serena was helping her study for her exams by helping her with her pronunciation and sentence structure. If was odd, but ever since Serena had told Matty her big secret she hadn't had a single Soul-Dream. She kind of missed them…and she wanted to see what happened to her other half.

Sighing, Serena jammed her pillow over her head, and went back to sleep…

~Dream Sequence, Starlight Tower, Tokyo~

Zoisite attacked Princess Serenity, but Princess Serenity wasn't even slightly bothered. Dreamily, she held up the Moon Sceptre, noticing that the Silver Crystal had set itself on the inside of the crescent moon.

"Moon Scepter Elimination." She said softly.

"No!!!!! Aiiiiiieeeeeee!" Zoisite shrieked, disappearing. Princess Serenity returned her attention to her love.

"Prince Darien." She whispered. She half listened as Luna and Artemis explained their history to the other princesses. She knew it already. Why listen again? Instead, she concentrated on helping Prince Darien. Suddenly, everything went black…

When Sailor Moon awoke, she was slightly disorientated.

"Serena may be a princess but she's no lightweight." Sailor Moon heard Sailor Jupiter say.

"I heard that." She mumbled. "What happened, where am I?"

"You fainted." Ami said, "The power surge must have overloaded you."

"Wh-where's Darien? What happened to Darien? Did he die?"

"He's alive," Sailor Mars said slowly, "But the Nega-Verse took him." Sailor Moon's lip trembled, and Artemis obviously recognised the signs, because he began talking at once.

"I've gotten my memory back," He said, "So Luna and I will now tell you the story of the Silver Millennium."

"A long time ago, we used to live on the moon, in a very peaceful time called the Silver Millennium. Queen Selenity ruled the Moon Kingdom, and everyone was very happy. Queen Selenity had one child, a girl named Princess Serenity.

"Princess Serenity was as sweet and beautiful as her mother, and they were very close. The Princess had four bodyguards, who were also members of her court, the princesses of Mercury, Jupiter, Mars, and Venus. The only other member of Princess Serenity's court was Prince Darien of Earth, the Princess' one true love.

"But one day, something terribly happened. The Nega-Verse and Earth attacked the Moon Kingdom, killing everyone who lived there, and who fought. Princess Serenity and Prince Darien also died. With the last of her strength, Queen Selenity sent the souls of the princesses and Prince Darien to Earth, where they could be born again, and hopefully live out a more peaceful existence. You were awoken when Queen Beryl and the Nega-Verse became a threat once more, you were awoken to fight."

"I don't want to fight!" Sailor Moon cried, tears running down her face, "I don't want to be a princess. I don't care about my destiny. I don't want to fight anymore, to see everyone get hurt. I just want to be normal." Sailor Mars slapped her.

"Weakling!" She snarled, "Wimp!"

"I am weak. I'm not strong like you. I can't just ignore how I feel!"

"Tuxedo Mask almost died protecting you!" Sailor Mars said, bursting into tears.

"Sailor Moon isn't ready yet, Mars. Don't torment her." Artemis said sternly.

"Sugoi!" Sailor Mercury cried then, looking up from her palm-pilot, "I found the exit!"

Suddenly, Malachite appeared. Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter immediately stood in front of the other three scouts.

"Jupiter Thunder Crash!" Jupiter bellowed.

"Crescent Beam Smash!" Venus said at the same time. Their attacks combined, the gold light surrounding the green lightning, and hitting Malachite together. But Malachite easily caught the energy, and sent it back at them, causing them to fall to the ground.

"I'll leave the rest to you, Sailor Mercury." Sailor Mars said, before turning to Sailor Moon. "Be strong, Serena. You can do it; I know you can. Don't let Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter's sacrifices be in vain."

"I can't." Sailor Moon sobbed.

"Yes you can! I know I haven't always been nice to you, but I've always recognised your potential. You're very strong, Sailor Moon. All you have to do is to focus that energy." Sailor Mars stood in front of Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury, taking up the place that had been vacated by Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter.

"Mars Fire Ignite!" But Malachite blocked this attack too, and hit Mars with her own energy. Sailor Moon was vaguely aware that this was what one called a Cruel Irony, but she was too busy worrying about her friends to investigate further. Sailor Mercury pushed Sailor Moon back so that she could protect her.

"Protect the Princess above all else," The blue-haired girl mumbled, "Protect the princess above all else." She seemed to be almost in a dream. Malachite blasted her as well, and she fell to the ground, leaving only Sailor Moon standing. Suddenly, she heard voices.

'Fight, Sailor Moon.' Sailor Mars said.

'We know you can do it.' Agreed Sailor Jupiter and Venus.

'Use the Silver Crystal.' Sailor Mercury counselled.

'I love you, Sailor Moon…' Tuxedo Mask added.

"This is for Zoisite!" Malachite yelled, gathering up a huge mass of Dark Energy, before sending it towards her. Sailor Moon held up her Crescent Moon Wand, and deflected the energy easily.

This action had the rather unfortunate effect of blowing up the entire tower, and sending Sailor Moon's mind hurtling through time and space. She saw things she'd never thought she'd see, and even spent a few moments in the ruins of the Moon Kingdom. Finally, she came back into herself, and found that she was watching the sunrise over the water.

The rest of the Sailor Scouts walked up to her, and, without turning around, Sailor Moon said the words she felt they needed to hear, and that she needed to say.

"I'll fight." She said softly, "I promise."

~Galaxy Dorm, Planet Orphanage, New York.~

Slowly, Serena woke up, her heart aching with sadness. Poor, poor Serena. She lost the one person who meant the most to her. She thought sadly, finally getting up, and taking a look at the clock. 10.30 am. She shrugged idly. No use in heading to school now. Might as well stay at home, and begin that story. It was time.

She grinned as she grabbed a notebook, thinking for a moment. Finally, biting her lip, she put pen to paper.

'My name is Seraphina Tsuno, and I'm an ordinary girl. At least; I used to be…'

Finite

Hidoi, hidoi, hidoi yo!! Watashi no atama kizu desu!!: You're cruel, you're cruel, you're cruel!! My head hurts!!

Shizuka ni shiro: shut up.

Sugoi: cool

Did you know? In the manga (this follows directly on from the last did you know) Kunzite attacked the Senshi and Sailor Moon wanted to protect Sailor V, the Moon Princess. She cast Sailor V and the other Senshi away with her Crescent Wand. Then, Kunzite attacked Sailor Moon with large bolt of energy. Sailor V called out, "Oh, no! Protect Sailor Moon!"

Tuxedo Mask, who blamed himself for not being able to protect Sailor Moon from Zoisite when he was caught in a force field in the last act (read; episode), said to himself, "This time...I'll protect her...for once." He jumped in front of Sailor Moon and was blast by the bolt. Sailor Moon cried over him and the trauma brought back her memory of Prince Endymion dying in her arms. When he opened his eyes slightly and saw Sailor Moon crying, he too remembered the past when he was dying and remembered that his name was Endymion.

"I was reborn as Mamoru to find you, Serenity," he said and then died.

"Nooooo!!" Sailor Moon cried. The crest that hid her forehead shattered, revealing a glowing moon mark. The moon on Sailor V's forehead suddenly faded and a normal tiara appeared in its place. Sometime between the Moon Kingdom and present day Tokyo, Luna and Artemis had created the moon mark on Sailor V's forehead so she would act as a decoy princess while Luna could train Usagi to be a Sailor Senshi and keep her safe from Queen Beryl. Sailor V was actually Sailor Venus, the leader of the other three Sailor Senshi. Luna and Artemis themselves did not remember that they had done this or that Usagi was actually the Moon Princess until now.

Author's Notes (again): Stay tuned for the epilogue of The Thirteenth Year, up soon.

Thanks to these reviewers;

Shimmering Angel: Thanks *blush*. Yes, she dreams of things exactly at the time they are happening. Except for in the first chapter, when she dreams about Princess Serenity. But that's no matter. What do you think of my little bookish passage? I liked it, but I wasn't sure if anyone else would. There's only this chapter and the epilogue to go now…sigh…'tis sad. Ah well, ce'est la vie.

Sage: The Dark Dryad: Thanks ^.^. Unfortunately, this is the second last chapter. The next one will be the epilogue. *Sigh* 'tis sad, very sad.

Silver Moonlight-81: Yeah, the episode when Princess Serenity appears is one of my favourites too. My sister was reading this the other day, and complaining about the fact that I had episodes in every chapter, but when she got up to this one, she read it, because it's her favourite chapter too.

And the quote for the day is; After they make Styrofoam, what do they ship it in?