The Story Of Luna
The Story Of Luna

Part 3: During Which Luna encounters a pink-haired princess, a floating cathead, a lamp collector, & the time guardian.

Minako winked at Luna before scooping up Artemis.

"Come on, Artemis," Minako urged, "Say "sayonara" to your girlfriend."

Artemis perched himself on Minako's shoulder as he blushed slightly and said,

"See you around, pussycat!"

Luna waved back, feeling giddy and a little embarrassed.

"Sayonara Luna," Minako waved, "Don't worry, I'll make sure Artemis will see you again!"

Luna nodded and meowed back to the princess. Once Artemis and Minako were departing down the hallway, Luna decided to follow Artemis' prior instructions to get to the guardian registration and 'try-outs'.

Finally, Luna stopped in front of a tall door. It was a beautiful silver color, with a pretty light blue outlining it. Two light blue crescent moons each decorated one of the middle of the two doors. Two silver knobs allowed a person to enter, but not a small cat like Luna. Luckily, the doors were cracked open slightly, as if someone had gone in and carelessly shut the door, not worried about privacy. She was sure this was the guardian auditioning room, so it obviously would have been open to the public. Luna slowly popped her head in the crack, and even more slowly opened them enough for her slim feline figure to slip through.

As soon as she took her first step on the soft carpenting that covered the cool crystal floor tiles, something about her height, maybe bigger, rammed her into the hard marble door.

She tried looking at whatever had abused her body, but she couldn't. Her whole head hurt badly, as well as the rest of her body. 'Two injuries in one day,' she thought grimly. Feeling very frightened, confused and in pain, she slowly began to black out.

When she recovered from the black out, her head still ached badly, and her vision was a bit blurred. Luna was unsure of her location. She was no longer near the door, yet somewhere in the palace. She had been resting between two pink pillows, which felt extremely soft and fluffy. She purred lightly as she rubbed against them. The bed was fairly large, but not like a queen or king sized bed. She guessed it belongs to a child, mainly because it was all pink, and the room had white rabbits jumping over moons as the repeated wall pattern. The walls themselves were either purple or pink; then again, Luna didn't really care about the walls. She just wanted to know if anyone was in the room with her.

Her question was answered as an energetic child with bubblegum pink hair in an unusual style strode over to the bed. She was dragging behind her a girl who looked only a few years older than the pink haired princess, and had purple-black shoulder-length hair, and a gentle smile on her face. The pink haired girl, whom Luna had already predicted was a princess, carefully ran her hand over the black cat's side. Luna weakly smiled (as much as a cat can to a human), and purred once again. The young girl with dark hair giggled softly.

"See, Hotaru?" the princess smiled, "I told you I found another pretty kitty. She's perfect!"

'Hotaru' smiled back and nodded, "She's very cute, Chibi-Usa, I like her a lot."

She examined the cat as Chibi-Usa drew back. "How did she get these injuries? They look serious…"

Chibi-Usa sighed, and revealed what looked from Luna's perspective a cathead with a large smile and an antenna on its head.

'Ack!' Luna thought, 'what did that cat do to deserve that punishment? Someone cut off its poor head! Where's its body?! The princess must be a vicious girl that torments animals…'

She meowed nervously, making both Hotaru and Chibi-Usa turn to look at her again.

"I guess she recognizes the thing that rammed her," Chibi-Usa commented with a shrug.

"I'll heal her now," Hotaru nodded, "It shouldn't take long."

Chibi-Usa agreed, "Yeah, she seems like she's in a lot of pain…"

'You bet,' Luna thought, 'Thanks to your obviously abused cat friend there.'

Luna felt Hotaru's cold yet gentle hands touch her on her revealed side. A brief purple light glowed over Luna, and as Hotaru lifted her hands, Luna's pains and aches had disappeared. Her head cleared, bruises disappeared, and eyes no longer strained as she tried to see. Luna meowed cheerfully as thanks to Hotaru.

"Oh? You can't speak, kitty?" Hotaru asked, looking disappointed.

Luna wished she could speak the human language, but she couldn't. She could only speak to other cats, and understood only most of what humans said. When she tried speaking, only 'meows' came out of her mouth.

Chibi-Usa glanced at Hotaru. "She's the wrong cat? I thought they could all talk."

Hotaru replied, "Maybe she isn't one of the guardians. But we haven't seen any other cats today. She seems like a good guardian anyway. Give her the speech spell. We can decide later."

Chibi-Usa nodded and took out a small, fragile looking crystal. It glimmered pink, and cast light prisms on the walls of the room. Concentrating hard, Chibi-Usa guided her powers of the crystal to the bewildered feline. She mumbled a short phrase under her breath as a small glittering light flowed into Luna.

Various phrases and languages flooded her mind, making her feel a bit overwhelmed. She sat there awing her new power.

"I'm Hotaru," Hotaru greeted, "What's your name, kitty?"

Luna slowly pronounced her name, "Luna."

"That's pretty," Chibi-Usa commented, "Like the moon. How coincidental!"

"That's a sign, right?" Chibi-Usa asked Hotaru, "Puu said there'd be a way to tell if they're a destined guardian."

"Yes, their name ends up being a moon, or something linking to 'moon'." Hotaru responded.

After a brief 'interview' with Luna, the girls were becoming fond of her and stroked her lean back often, resulting in a content purr or two from Luna. They both agreed that Luna was guardian material, and that they definitely wanted her around.

"Can she be guardian now?" Chibi-Usa asked, "Mark her and everything? I think I can do it…"

"We need permission first," Hotaru considered, "From one of the older senshi. Like the queen maybe? We can't just announce her guardian, we must be completely sure this is the right decision."

"She's busy, I bet," Chibi-Usa commented, scooping up Luna in her arms, "Let's visit Puu."

"Puu?" Hotaru asked, dumbfounded.

"Pluto!" Chibi-Usa giggled before running down the halls, Luna-P & Hotaru trailing after her, towards Setsuna's chambers.

Setsuna was Sailor Pluto, ruler of Pluto, who guarded the gates of time. There were times, however, when she would temporarily leave her post for meetings and other important duties that she had to attend to. She was a close friend of Chibi-Usa, and therefore she calls Chibi-Usa "Small Lady", and Chibi-Usa calls Setsuna "Puu".

~~~Later~~~

The girls walked down the long corridors, the muffled sound of their princess slippers echoing among the crystal walls. Luna was being pampered. The girl Hotaru was surrounding me the cat in her arms comfortably, and gently smoothing her fur.

"There!" Chibi-Usa suddenly exclaimed with a giggle, making Luna's ears twitch.

A large, dark silver door stood in their path. There was a design of moons on it; Luna realized they must be the phases of the moon. Chibi-Usa pushed against the heavy door as it slowly gave way.

The door was suddenly opened as a dark figure stepped in the doorway.

"Small Lady…Hotaru…" the figure greeted, smiling.

"Hello, Setsuna!" Hotaru smiled.

"Puu!" Chibi-Usa cried, hugging Setsuna.

Setsuna's eyes drifted towards the cat.

"And who is this?" she asked as she scratched Luna gently under the chin.

Luna was at a loss of words, so Chibi-Usa exclaimed,

"Guardian to-be, Luna!"

"Really?" Setsuna asked. She winked at Luna, which made the cat jump.

"Have you consulted with the king and queen?"

"No…" Hotaru replied, "We decided that you could nominate her. We know your decision will be correct."

Setsuna blushed slightly.

"You can see into the future, so it has to be correct!" Chibi-Usa agreed.

"Alright then, come with me…" Setsuna backed away from the girls and cat, in order for them to walk through the door.

Inside the door was a type of portal, with a slight layer of fog surrounding the area.

Hotaru set Luna down carefully, allowing the cat to explore the new surroundings.

"This is amazing…" Luna murmured, "So dark and quiet…solitary and vivid. I've never even thought of the time portal. It didn't seem real."

"Oh, but it is," Setsuna replied, a small hint of sorrow in her voice, "And I guard this place, for it is my duty."

On a lighter note, she said, "But when it gets lonely, Small Lady and Hotaru cheer me up."

"That's right!" Chibi-Usa exclaimed, smiling, "Puu is one of my best friends!"

Hotaru nodded, and then began, "About Luna…"

"Of course," Pluto said, kneeling so she could look at Luna. "Just close your eyes…I'll need to search through your mind." She held up what reminded Luna of a giant key. Towards the top, it was adorned with a large garnet orb. Luna tried to relax as the time guardian built of her power to look into the future…

Meanwhile…

"Minako…" a muffled whine came from under Princess Venus' chair. "Please…?"

The whole court of Serenity had stopped to draw their attention to Princess Venus and her guardian.

"No! Artemis…!" came the reply.

Minako bent down to look under the table at her white cat guardian, Artemis.

"Artemis! This meet is important! You're my guardian, you're supposed to back me up on stuff like this!" Minako scolded in a harsh whisper.

"But Minako, I have to leave! She needs me…"

"AND I NEED YOU TO STAY HERE!!!!"

The court suddenly got quiet, excluding the few coughs of the other members in the room.

"Eh," Minako said nervously as she sat up to face the other princesses, "Excuse me for that little interruption," she slammed her foot into Artemis, and a 'yowl!' was heard, "And I assure you it WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN."

Artemis groaned.

How could he stay stuck under a bratty princess' chair when he could be rescuing that hot little kitty that he was so attracted to? He couldn't let this one get away. Not because of his job. Love is more important than that, he thought, and lil' miss goddess o' love should understand that. But, then again, he could see why Minako was doing this. After him bugging her about his various "attractions"…(special ones came to mind, such as Cupcake, the longhair, Beauty, the Siamese, Diane, the pink cat…meooow *Artemis suddenly realizes he is drooling*) and always getting turned down for one reason or another, it must have driven her crazy trying to play matchmaker 24/7. Still, that black kitty with the huge innocent eyes looked like a steal. She could fall for him. Easily, he thought, cleansing his snow white paws, 'cause she's a beginner. She's never experienced the touch of a god cat, a handsome cat like me. "She will fall under the spell of Artemis, the irresistible, godly cat! Oh yes, she will be MINE! Muwahahaha!"

As more diabolical kitty laughs where heard from under Minako's chair, the court stared blankly at her. Sweatdrops appeared on many heads.

"Another interruption then, eh, Minako?" Rei asked, sipping her hot ginseng tea.

"Huh?" Makoto asked, "Why's he laughing like that?"

"Oh," Minako said, rolling her eyes, "Poor Artemis has a problem, eh,"

More diabolical laughter…

"He, uh, just had brain surgery, see, and I just gave him his antibiotic…see, it causes…dizziness, and um, stuff."

More sweatdrops appear on the princesses' heads.

"Maybe he needs to go…?" Makoto asked, clueless. Plants were her thing, not pets.

"Oh, yes, good idea!" Minako said nervously, before dismissing herself under the table.

"Artemis! What the hell is wrong with you?! You're making me look like a clueless ditz!"

"Eh?" Artemis asked, "Minako, can I leave now, and follow my love ambitions?"

"FINE!" Minako yelled, and gave the guardian a cold shoulder, "I see you don't care about me anymore…after all I've done for you…you heartless cat!"

"Um, Minako, who are you talking to?!" came Usagi's voice from the other side of the huge table.

"Nani?!" Minako asked, looking around, to see that her cat was missing.

"That little-!" Minako cried, fists clenched, "I'll make sure this is his worst relationship ever! Matchbreaker Minako goes to work to make sure he never gets a date!"

"And Mamochan said I had problems…" Usagi mumbled, watching and listening a Minako who seemed to be talking to no one in particular.

~**~~***~~~****~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~****~~~***~~**~

A relieved Artemis carelessly strolled through the crystal halls, which seemed to go on forever, as each hall looked exactly like another. He hoped desperately to see Luna again, and use his charming personality to 'guide' her, while he actually would flirt with her. He passed the various chambers he had memorized and studied in training for his important job as guardian. He was practicing how he would approach his newest love when he spotted some powerful energy coming from the door to the time passage.

"What the-" he breathed as he began to enter the room.

He paused suddenly, and the whole world seemed to have been muted as quickly as a television is. He had been instructed never to go into the passage unless a noble ordered him, or chaos was loose. But he was curious about the power, and wondering if in fact it was urgent…

~~~~~**~~~~~

To be continued in part 4 of The Story Of Luna!

Author's Notes: ^_^ so how did you like that? I am SO SORRY I haven't written in so long! ^^; I know, I really suck at keeping this up… T_T But now that summer vacation is on its way, I'll be writing more often. You can expect the other parts of my other fanfics soon, but a kinda hit a writer's block in "strongest of the senshi". Okay, well please review! I like to know what you think! Cya ppl! ^_-