III
by: MarshAngel
watsonma@hotmail.com
III

Moving On

My father lives in a beautiful house just outside San Francisco. It's all a beautiful dark natural wood, two-story house, with large windows and French doors. The house is surrounded by large oak trees, and inside it are many big beautiful plants, the kind that would have made Lita very jealous. I love waking up here in the mornings to the sound of the chirping birds in the branches. Sometimes I sit and write poetry in my bedroom window. The view always inspires me.

My dad is the successful owner of the private corporation he had inherited from his father and quite wealthy, more so than I had imagined. He is engaged to a beautiful interior designer named Celine and she lives with him. She reminds me of my mom even though she is a bit younger. They are so much alike sometimes it's unnerving. They both have that same inexhaustible vigor. The main difference is Celine applies her exuberance to business, while my mom applies it to her home and family. Although I'm no longer sure if there's much of a family left. Shingo is staying with a close friend of my mothers while she and my dad work things out.

My dad, Richard that is, also has another daughter from a short unsuccessful marriage to a fashion designer not long after my mother left. My half sister Irene lives with her Mother Anika in New York, Paris, London, wherever they happen to be at the moment. I haven't met her yet but I'm hoping to, although I'm kind of nervous about the whole idea of having another sister a few months younger than me.

Celine is really nice though. It's amazing to watch her work. She sits at her drawing table sometimes with her sleeves rolled up and her dark blue-green hair pulled back into a ponytail concentrating hard on what she's doing. When she isn't working she's shopping, always looking around for this and that for the houses of her many clients, her teal-colored eyes catching each little item of interest in the various antique stores we visit. By the time I leave here I should have an excellent knowledge of antiquities.

The first day after I arrived we went sightseeing and shopping. We went into the city and visited all the usual tourist sights. We took pictures at the famous San Francisco Zoological gardens, the Golden Gate Bridge, as well as Golden Gate Park, the Transamerica Pyramid, and we even visited China and Japan Town. She bought me so much clothing when we went to Embarcadero, San Francisco's largest shopping center that I was beginning to feel guilty. That was when she pointed out her favorite phrase, "One can never have too many clothes." I quickly learned that it was always reasonably cool in San Francisco so I bought many sweaters. She claims I have a great eye for fashion and suggested that maybe I should take up designing after I graduate.

We were walking by the many boutiques and salons and I found myself looking at my reflection in the glass. I remembered my promise to myself about the girl in the mirror. Celine put her hand on my shoulder and asked. "Thinking of changing your hair aren't you?"

"Yes," I answered, somewhat solemnly. "How did you know?"

"I've seen that same look on some of my clients faces when they want to make a change but aren't sure what to do. You have beautiful hair. I don't think I have ever seen hair that long."

"Yes. It almost touches the floor when it's all down. I guess there was just something special about this hairstyle. My friends used to call me meatball head sometimes. I think it's time for a change though," I said.

An hour later I walked out of the salon with a lighter head and a new look. CeCe, as she asked me to call her, smiled at me and took both my hands in her own. "You look beautiful," she said.

"I blushed at her compliment. "I love it."

"As well you should," she replied. My trademark meatballs were gone and my hair was layered in gently curling waves that fell all the way down my back to just below my hips. It was still very long, but it now seemed even softer and thicker and it felt lighter than before. If only my friends could see me now. I was beginning to see the old Serena Tsukino slowly disappearing and I was saying goodbye with a large smile on my face

I watched enraptured as French ice dancers Marina Anissina and Gwendal Piezarat flowed across the ice together. They moved in synchronization to the music from the movie "The Man in the Iron Mask." Their program was truly beautiful and it captured so much emotion and love. It brought so much emotion out of me.

I couldn't help the tears that came to my eyes when I thought of times long gone when Darien used to hold me that close. Times in this life as well as on the moon when we used to hang on to our love as if our lives depended on it, and maybe it had. But that was then. This of course, I reminded myself was my new life and I should never forget it. I would never depend on love the way I had before. It hurt way too much. I turned off the TV and went to bed.

It was the night before my first day at school and I wasn't sure just how I'd get to sleep. I was so nervous. What if everyone thought I was weird or something? I wouldn't understand a word they were saying. They'd probably just think I was dumb like people always did. My doubts brought tears to my eyes. This was not the time for self-doubt.

I pulled out my notebook that I decided to keep when I got here. I wanted to record every moment of this period in my life. One day I wanted to look back and see the changes that had occurred in me while I was here. It was a strange thing to do, having never really examined my life or the daily events that made it up. Eventually I would add poetry and pictures about myself, and the people I would meet. This was my way of looking into the future. Some people wrote about the past but my aim would be to forget the past and create new memories for myself. I wrote the title of the book on the first page. I entitled it: Moving On, by Serena Tsukino.

I recorded everything I had done today and the day before. I wrote about my nervousness about going to a new school and my promise to make my parents proud. When I was finished, I closed me eyes and tried to sleep knowing how impossible it would be, but I tried anyway.

I missed Japan but I really didn't miss my life there. This was my chance for a new start. I sat up in bed and stared at the darkened bedroom. I turned the covers over and walked over to the dresser and pulled out my brush. I wasn't going to be sleeping much so I sat on my bed and proceeded to brush my hair. It had always been a comforting activity for me. I closed my eyes and began to hum an old tune. I don't really remember ever hearing this song before. Scenes of a long forgotten past began to flash before by eyes.

I remembered my mother, Queen Serenity Brushing my hair, and humming that song. She stops and she begins to talk to me. "There's a prophecy that says that a great kingdom shall fall. The chosen ones shall fight an old enemy. When destiny takes a new turn, the messiah will rise and rule a world at peace with the power of the universe." She continued speaking to me and said. "No one's really sure exactly who the prophecy refers to. There's also a great chance that things may not happen exactly as declared in it. Prophecy and Destiny do not make life they prepare us for it. I'm not sure why she tells me this but as the image fades I hear her whisper, "always remember who you are."

I open my eyes to see the room all aglow. Before me stands the figure of my mother, Queen Serenity. "Hello Sweetheart." she says.

"Mother! Why are you here?"

"I'm here to inform you of your destiny. You have already fulfilled half of the prophecy. The second half will now come to pass."

"Why? I thought my destiny was to become Neo-Queen Serenity of Crystal Tokyo.

"Things have changed. The moment you left Tokyo the timeline took an unexpected shift. Well I suppose it's not quite unexpected after all it was prophesied. Crystal Tokyo was an acceptable future and had you not made the choice to come here it would have remained. The present future is however far more preferable. You will not just be the savior of earth and the ruler of Crystal Tokyo, but the savior and the bringer of peace to the universe. You will reestablish the unity between the planets as it was in the Silver Millenium. I'm here to give you your birthright. It is time for you to grow up, my child, and accept the full power that is yours alone."

"I'm not sure I understand. I thought I had already received my birthright, the silver crystal?" I questioned.

"The silver crystal is merely a family heirloom. It has been passed down to each queen of the moon and is a source of great power. The power inside you is far greater than anything the silver crystal could accomplish. You are the strongest moon queen ever born. You are the Messiah. It's time for that power to awaken within you."

She stared into my eyes and the crescent moon sigil on her forehead glowed brightly as a white beam of light reached out and touched my own crescent moon, now glowing brightly in my forehead. I closed my eyes I felt the power wash over me. Hundreds of memories flashed on the surface of my closed lids. Knowledge, once buried deep inside my mind, as well as knowledge of time, space and the universe, that I never knew, came rushing to me.

I fell to my knees as it all became too much for me. I looked over my body as every vein in me glowed with the power rushing through them. I got the sensation that I was becoming more than human. I fell forward as I felt a tingling in my back that quickly became unbearably painful. I cried out as I felt something pushing out my back and in a flurry of feathers, wings exploded around me. I felt my body rising and soon I was floating just above the floor arms out to my side and my feet pointing downwards.

The pain had long receded and I now felt the pure power wrapping itself around me. I felt completely calm and at peace. I had never felt so completely relaxed before. My nightgown faded and was replaced with a long iridescent pearl white body-hugging gown. A tall silver staff, approximately the same height as myself appeared in my hand. It had huge crescent on the end with the silver crystal in the center. It was obviously some kind of weapon. It's silver edge held a deadly gleam and yet a serene beauty.

When I looked up I could see my mother staring at me with tears in her eyes. "I am so proud of you my daughter. In time you'll meet the addition to your court and your temporary guards. You will not see me again until you take the throne. Goodbye my child. She touched my cheek and then faded away. With that, I collapsed unto my bed exhausted. My transformation disappeared and my nightgown reappeared on my body. I fell asleep immediately.