Konnichiha, minna! Here's more to this little side-story. Sorry for all the delays, but as you know, this site has been a real stubborn pain the last week or so. It's given me time to write a REAL epic-the story of my own new senshi, Sailor Alpha-Omega, the Senshi of the Beginning and the End. It's a story that has been in my head for at least two years. I promise it will be good, and my Japanese is getting better all the time with practice (and a handy dictionary!). And I must say, I am a little "miffed" that my idea was borrowed(?) here recently. Oh well, be it a honest mistake or...whatever, nevermind. I'm all for a little competition! ^_^ Ja ne!
Fever Dream: Interlude to the Dream
By Houkanno Yuuhou (my name in Japanese!), Yuu-chan for short ~_^
(formerly known as Sailor SteelKat!)
"Aaaahhhh."
In bed with eyes closed firmly against the protruding sunlight, Usagi stretched and yawned Heaven-blue peeked from behind a half-lidded eye. Stretching yet again, she sat up.
How long had she slept? Had Rei let her spend the night? Or had it only been a couple of hours? It seemed like she had spent Eternity in bed, but the sun was still shining, high in the sky.
High in the sky?
What in the world?!
Head darting around the room, her brain, still heavy with sleep, slowly began to focus, and she realized she was in her room, though she was somewhat surprised.
Well...that was an "understatement".
Her door opened slowly, creaking from ages without a good oiling and constant slamming. Her mother's sweet, smiling face peered through the opening. "I'm glad to see you up, Usagi!"
"Nani?" Usagi shook the last bit of sleep from her head and beamed at her mother. "Oh, Mama-san, konnichiha!" She stifled a yawn with her hand and glanced at the alarm clock. Almost eleven o'clock. She scratched her head, trying to find words to form a sentence. "Um...did the girls bring me home last night?" To herself, she mumbled, "Why don't I remember?"
Looking a bit confused, Ikuko opened the door all the way and walked into the room. An eyebrow raised in concern, she asked, "Girls? What girls? Are you still feverish?" She continued to the bed and felt Usagi's forehead. "Hm...ie, are you talking about Naru-chan?"
Usagi pulled Ikuko's hand away. "What girls?? Mama-san, do I need to feel 'your' forehead?" she laughed. "You know; Ami, Rei, Makato, Minako-'those' girls??"
Puzzled, Ikuko started to shake her head, but an idea slowly dawned on her, and she nodded to herself, as if she was suddenly confident what the matter was. "Oh, Usa, what a dream you must have had to believe that these girls are real! What an imagination!" she praised. "You should write this down!"
Nani?! What was she talking about??
"Mama-san! My friends are not make-believe! You just saw Ami-chan yesterday! Remember, at the hospital with her mother? When I got the shot?"
Ikuko nodded. "Hai, that nice girl with her mother. You know her?"
"Onegai, Mama-san! What is wrong with you?? I've know her for a long time now!" Usagi cried hysterically. "We went to Hino Shrine after the shot, remember??"
Ikuko shook her head nervously. "We came here after the shot, Usagi."
How could that be?? Had Mama-san bumped her head lately? Maybe another youma…she needed to talk to Rei about this.
Ikuko closed her eyes and sighed. When she opened them, she focused on the floor, unable to look at Usagi. "Maybe I need to speak with the doctor about this. She never mentioned...this...this loss of reality. Maybe you're still fuzzy from the shot." She sighed again, slowly nodding. "Hai, it's the shot. That sounds reasonable."
Suddenly, Usagi's head hurt like hell. What was Mama-san babbling about? Doctors, craziness, fever...huh? Oh, forget it. Mama-san was the "crazy" one! "Mama-san!" she snapped.
"Nani!" came the harsh reply.
Hm. Maybe pissing off Mama-san was not "the" best idea in the world, ne? "Mama-san, forgive me," she pleaded, her body trembling with fear-the fear that one feels when one's world has been turned upside-down, no longer sane. "Onegai, I don't understand what has happened." Did that tiny voice belong to her? She slumped forward, hands cradling her head. Her soul felt weak and disgusted, willing her to cry, to scream, to do "something" to release the tension filling every fiber of her being.
But no voice would come. No tears would come.
"It can't be a dream, Mama-san. It just can't!" Her voice sounded so hoarse. "Oh, it all seemed too real to be just a dream."
Ikuko sat next to Usagi and patted her shoulder reassuringly. "Oh, Usagi, sometimes things seem so real to us because, perhaps, we really want them to be."
Usagi shook her head, unwilling to believe her. "But I dreamed several years worth of dreams then, Mama-san!" she whined.
Ikuko chuckled, amused at what she believed was just Usagi's hyperactive imagination. "Well, dear, you 'were' asleep for a long while." She took Usagi's hand in hers and pulled her daughter close. "What was this dream like?"
So Usagi began to tell her mother about the past two years worth of…dreams. She told everything; becoming Sailor Moon, meeting Luna, the Senshi, Mamo-chan, the Moon Kingdom, the Outers, the Starlights, even the blasted future with Chibi-Usa, and when she was finished, she buried her head in Ikuko's chest and let the tears that had been yearning for release flow freely.
Two years worth.
Usagi walked the streets, gazing through shop windows, not really heading anywhere in particular; just letting her emotions lead her. They led her the Arcade and Motoki.
Motoki was there, like always, sweeping the sidewalk. When he noticed her approaching, he waved and called out a very happy, "Konnichiha, Usagi-chan!" She didn't reply-didn't even look up-which caused him to worry, and he propped his broom against the shop door. "Something wrong?"
"Is Mamo-er...the baka here, Motoki-kun?" she muttered, still focused on the ground.
"Ie, not yet, but there 'is' a new Sailor V game," he said enthusiastically, clearly trying to cheer her up.
It didn't work. "Don't care," she mumbled, but she did finally look him in the eye. Her body felt as if it was made from lead because she had walked for so long, and her stomach growled angrily. "Can I get something to eat, Motoki-kun? I suppose I haven't eaten in a long time."
"Sure." He smiled and opened the door for her.
She took a seat at the bar and ordered a banana split which he brought her promptly. She took her shoes off and placed them on the stool next to her. "Feet hurt," she explained.
"What have you been doing?" he asked as he wiped the counter.
"Walking everywhere. Going neither here nor there." He paused to look at her, letting her strange unUsagi-like comment sink in. She blushed and looked away, scanning the Arcade which was quite dead at the moment. "Where is everyone? There's usually quite a pack here after school."
He shrugged. "Who knows? It's Tuesday. Maybe they all have cram school." He watched her gulp down the last bit of syrup from the glass dish and grinned when she wiped a trickle of chocolate off her chin and onto her sleeve.
Usagi was in her own private world at the moment, remembering her conversation with Mama-san. Apparently, Mama-san knew of "Mamoru-baka", and Luna was their pet, but there was no long lost love with Mamo-chan, and Luna was just an ordinary black cat with no crescent moon birthmark.
She sighed. Everything was pointless now. What use was life without her lover and her friends? What could thrill her now, after she had seen many things as Sailor Moon? She even missed the brat, Chibi-Usa!
Motoki let out a small moan and tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to jerk her head up rather sharply. "Ow! What was that for, Motoki-baka??" she yelled, rubbing her sore neck.
"Don't look now," he whispered, "but 'someone's' coming in the door."
She turned just in time to see Mamo-chan, and suddenly, everything seemed all right in the world again. She beamed at him, and he gave her a curious look.
But, alas, nothing was all right because he wasn't her Mamo-chan, and perhaps, he had never been.
That wiped the smile from her face, and she returned her gaze to the counter in front of her.
A hand touched her shoulder, and that smooth, sexy baritone whispered into her ear. "What in the world could make you so happy that you grin like a bakamono?"
For a minute, she forgot herself, and she smiled as she replied, "You."
Opps.
She groaned and hid her blushing face from him with her hands. "Um...I mean...that is…." The words died on her tongue, and she slowly, painfully, forced herself to look into his eyes, searching for some sort of sign that he was still hers. All she saw was confusion and maybe some happy curiosity at the reply.
He smirked. "Really, Odango Atama?"
She bit her lower lip in frustration. Part of her wanted to pull him close and kiss the smirk off his face. The other part wanted to pull him close and just slap him silly. Sighing sadly, she shook her head and got up from the stool. "Just leave me alone, Mamoru-san. Just today, onegai," she pleaded. "I'm not at all myself today." With that said, she walked toward the Sailor V game, mentally yelling at herself for wanting to cry.
"Odango-"
"You heard her," Motoki interrupted. "Drop it." In a lower voice, but not so low that she couldn't make out the words, he said, "She doesn't look well, my friend. She says some things that even I don't understand."
"Well, I can't even understand half of what she says, Motoki, but really, she's 'not herself'?" he whispered. "What's that about?"
"Well, look at her. Have you ever seen 'that' girl so confused?"
"Motoki-"
"Well?" Motoki snapped. "Have you ever seen her so depressed then?"
She glanced over her shoulder at them, waiting for Mamo-chan's reply.
Shimatta! Not Mamo-chan! Mamoru!
"I have to stop it," she told herself firmly.
"Stop what, Usagi-chan?" Motoki shouted.
"Nothing," she sighed, and went back to the game.
"See?" Motoki said to Mamoru.
Their conversation continued even though she eventually tuned them out. No matter how much her heart wanted to hear 'his' voice, her brain told her it would be wiser to let it go for now because it was giving her nothing but grief and emotional overload-which she "clearly" did not need at the moment.
She sighed again. Her brain was starting to make sense, and she wasn't even able to let the girls know about it.
Her mind couldn't stay focused on Sailor V, and after many doomed sessions, she gave up and returned to the counter to tell Motoki she was leaving, even though her mind screamed at her because it was really another half-assed attempt to see Mamo-chan.
Why did her mind have to sound exactly like Luna??
"Motoki-kun," she said as he poured cola over ice cream, "I have to go now. My mother is expecting me for dinner. For the ice cream, domuoarigatou. Sayonara." She looked over to the booth where Mamoru was sipping his drink and reading a magazine. "Sayonara, Mamoru-san."
He looked up from his magazine and nodded. "Sayonara, Odango."
"I wish you could really call me that, Mamo-chan," she whispered to herself as she stepped out the door.
She never saw the puzzled look Mamoru gave her in response.
Cursing herself for lying to them, she strolled through the park, looking for a bench that wasn't occupied by couples in love. She just had to get out of there, she reasoned. The emotions were just too much. She really did feel crazy.
She walked with her head down, unwilling to look at the smiling couples who couldn't go at least two seconds with giving each other a peck on the cheek. After she passed them all, she looked up again, and found herself face-to-face with familiar short blue hair. "Ami-chan!"
The girl peered up from her text book and glared harshly at Usagi. "Gomennasai?"
"Oh!" Usagi could have slapped herself; she was so stupid! Not "her" Ami-chan. "Ojamashimasu, Mizuno-san!" Ami returned to her Chemistry book, and Usagi shyly looked at the ground. "We are in the same class. I thought you might…." Might remember me, she had meant to say, but couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Might what?" Ami snapped. "Can't you see that I'm busy?" She roughly closed the book and tossed it aside. "I am sick of all people who think that they can get a free tutoring session out of me if they become 'friendly'." She wrinkled her nose at the word, "friendly". "Just go away."
A lonely tear escaped Usagi's eye, traveling quickly down her cheek and then hitting the pavement. Ami-chan was the sweet one, the loyal friend whom she could always trust to defend her!
Not Ami-chan, baka. Not our Ami-chan.
Suddenly, shy little Ami wasn't so shy and sweet anymore. Usagi felt more tears on their way. "Gomen, I'll be on my way." She turned away and sighed. "You just looked like you could use a break, that's all. I just wanted to be friends!" The last sentence came out in a tiny, anguished cry. She needed Ami to be her friend, she really did. She swore to Kami-sama that she would never bug Ami about school work again if the girl would just be her friend.
She ran, just trying to get as far away as possible from that harsh version of Ami. Her feet took her to the park's little fountain where she finally stopped and plopped down on a bench. "What am I going to do?!" she screamed at the wind. "This 'has' to be a dream! It has to! Why would I dream about being a Senshi? Why would I dream about these girls?? Why would I dream about Mamo-chan???" She tugged at her ponytails. "I am real! I am real! Tell me why!"
The only answer came from a sparrow singing in a cherry blossom tree.
Later in her bedroom, Usagi sighed and cuddled Luna closer. "I wish you could talk, Luna. I wish you could tell me what's going on."
"Meow," came the reply.
She laughed, at the cat and herself. "That's not a good enough answer, Luna. What am I doing?" she scolded herself. "I'm talking to a silly old cat!"
Luna stretched and yawned, but she didn't talk back. She only had a questioning look in her eye for her owner.
"Hai, Luna," Usagi answered, "I am crazy." She took down her odangos and sighed. "Maybe Mama-san is right. Maybe I did dream all of that. But why is everyone acting so strange? It's like I'm talking to opposites!" Luna gazed at Usagi intently, and for a moment, she thought Luna could understand her and began talking like old times again. "I don't get it, Luna. This is all too confusing. Why does everyone seem so different?" An idea popped in her head, suddenly, and she brightened, throwing her arms in the air and scaring Luna away. "What if this is the dream? What if I am sleeping right now? All I have to do is wake up then, right?" She could have sworn Luna frowned just then. "All right, Luna," she said dejectedly, "you win. I'm speaking nonsense."
She turned off the light and stared at the moon, its bluish beams making everything appear ghostly and fake. "Maybe so," she sighed, "but I need to speak to Rei-chan." She closed her eyes.
She never noticed that the little black cat shook her head before she stretched and also went to sleep.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
There's Part Two, minna! Part Three is on its way! I hope you liked this! Ja ne! -Yuu-chan ^.^
Fever Dream: Interlude to the Dream
By Houkanno Yuuhou (my name in Japanese!), Yuu-chan for short ~_^
(formerly known as Sailor SteelKat!)
"Aaaahhhh."
In bed with eyes closed firmly against the protruding sunlight, Usagi stretched and yawned Heaven-blue peeked from behind a half-lidded eye. Stretching yet again, she sat up.
How long had she slept? Had Rei let her spend the night? Or had it only been a couple of hours? It seemed like she had spent Eternity in bed, but the sun was still shining, high in the sky.
High in the sky?
What in the world?!
Head darting around the room, her brain, still heavy with sleep, slowly began to focus, and she realized she was in her room, though she was somewhat surprised.
Well...that was an "understatement".
Her door opened slowly, creaking from ages without a good oiling and constant slamming. Her mother's sweet, smiling face peered through the opening. "I'm glad to see you up, Usagi!"
"Nani?" Usagi shook the last bit of sleep from her head and beamed at her mother. "Oh, Mama-san, konnichiha!" She stifled a yawn with her hand and glanced at the alarm clock. Almost eleven o'clock. She scratched her head, trying to find words to form a sentence. "Um...did the girls bring me home last night?" To herself, she mumbled, "Why don't I remember?"
Looking a bit confused, Ikuko opened the door all the way and walked into the room. An eyebrow raised in concern, she asked, "Girls? What girls? Are you still feverish?" She continued to the bed and felt Usagi's forehead. "Hm...ie, are you talking about Naru-chan?"
Usagi pulled Ikuko's hand away. "What girls?? Mama-san, do I need to feel 'your' forehead?" she laughed. "You know; Ami, Rei, Makato, Minako-'those' girls??"
Puzzled, Ikuko started to shake her head, but an idea slowly dawned on her, and she nodded to herself, as if she was suddenly confident what the matter was. "Oh, Usa, what a dream you must have had to believe that these girls are real! What an imagination!" she praised. "You should write this down!"
Nani?! What was she talking about??
"Mama-san! My friends are not make-believe! You just saw Ami-chan yesterday! Remember, at the hospital with her mother? When I got the shot?"
Ikuko nodded. "Hai, that nice girl with her mother. You know her?"
"Onegai, Mama-san! What is wrong with you?? I've know her for a long time now!" Usagi cried hysterically. "We went to Hino Shrine after the shot, remember??"
Ikuko shook her head nervously. "We came here after the shot, Usagi."
How could that be?? Had Mama-san bumped her head lately? Maybe another youma…she needed to talk to Rei about this.
Ikuko closed her eyes and sighed. When she opened them, she focused on the floor, unable to look at Usagi. "Maybe I need to speak with the doctor about this. She never mentioned...this...this loss of reality. Maybe you're still fuzzy from the shot." She sighed again, slowly nodding. "Hai, it's the shot. That sounds reasonable."
Suddenly, Usagi's head hurt like hell. What was Mama-san babbling about? Doctors, craziness, fever...huh? Oh, forget it. Mama-san was the "crazy" one! "Mama-san!" she snapped.
"Nani!" came the harsh reply.
Hm. Maybe pissing off Mama-san was not "the" best idea in the world, ne? "Mama-san, forgive me," she pleaded, her body trembling with fear-the fear that one feels when one's world has been turned upside-down, no longer sane. "Onegai, I don't understand what has happened." Did that tiny voice belong to her? She slumped forward, hands cradling her head. Her soul felt weak and disgusted, willing her to cry, to scream, to do "something" to release the tension filling every fiber of her being.
But no voice would come. No tears would come.
"It can't be a dream, Mama-san. It just can't!" Her voice sounded so hoarse. "Oh, it all seemed too real to be just a dream."
Ikuko sat next to Usagi and patted her shoulder reassuringly. "Oh, Usagi, sometimes things seem so real to us because, perhaps, we really want them to be."
Usagi shook her head, unwilling to believe her. "But I dreamed several years worth of dreams then, Mama-san!" she whined.
Ikuko chuckled, amused at what she believed was just Usagi's hyperactive imagination. "Well, dear, you 'were' asleep for a long while." She took Usagi's hand in hers and pulled her daughter close. "What was this dream like?"
So Usagi began to tell her mother about the past two years worth of…dreams. She told everything; becoming Sailor Moon, meeting Luna, the Senshi, Mamo-chan, the Moon Kingdom, the Outers, the Starlights, even the blasted future with Chibi-Usa, and when she was finished, she buried her head in Ikuko's chest and let the tears that had been yearning for release flow freely.
Two years worth.
Usagi walked the streets, gazing through shop windows, not really heading anywhere in particular; just letting her emotions lead her. They led her the Arcade and Motoki.
Motoki was there, like always, sweeping the sidewalk. When he noticed her approaching, he waved and called out a very happy, "Konnichiha, Usagi-chan!" She didn't reply-didn't even look up-which caused him to worry, and he propped his broom against the shop door. "Something wrong?"
"Is Mamo-er...the baka here, Motoki-kun?" she muttered, still focused on the ground.
"Ie, not yet, but there 'is' a new Sailor V game," he said enthusiastically, clearly trying to cheer her up.
It didn't work. "Don't care," she mumbled, but she did finally look him in the eye. Her body felt as if it was made from lead because she had walked for so long, and her stomach growled angrily. "Can I get something to eat, Motoki-kun? I suppose I haven't eaten in a long time."
"Sure." He smiled and opened the door for her.
She took a seat at the bar and ordered a banana split which he brought her promptly. She took her shoes off and placed them on the stool next to her. "Feet hurt," she explained.
"What have you been doing?" he asked as he wiped the counter.
"Walking everywhere. Going neither here nor there." He paused to look at her, letting her strange unUsagi-like comment sink in. She blushed and looked away, scanning the Arcade which was quite dead at the moment. "Where is everyone? There's usually quite a pack here after school."
He shrugged. "Who knows? It's Tuesday. Maybe they all have cram school." He watched her gulp down the last bit of syrup from the glass dish and grinned when she wiped a trickle of chocolate off her chin and onto her sleeve.
Usagi was in her own private world at the moment, remembering her conversation with Mama-san. Apparently, Mama-san knew of "Mamoru-baka", and Luna was their pet, but there was no long lost love with Mamo-chan, and Luna was just an ordinary black cat with no crescent moon birthmark.
She sighed. Everything was pointless now. What use was life without her lover and her friends? What could thrill her now, after she had seen many things as Sailor Moon? She even missed the brat, Chibi-Usa!
Motoki let out a small moan and tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to jerk her head up rather sharply. "Ow! What was that for, Motoki-baka??" she yelled, rubbing her sore neck.
"Don't look now," he whispered, "but 'someone's' coming in the door."
She turned just in time to see Mamo-chan, and suddenly, everything seemed all right in the world again. She beamed at him, and he gave her a curious look.
But, alas, nothing was all right because he wasn't her Mamo-chan, and perhaps, he had never been.
That wiped the smile from her face, and she returned her gaze to the counter in front of her.
A hand touched her shoulder, and that smooth, sexy baritone whispered into her ear. "What in the world could make you so happy that you grin like a bakamono?"
For a minute, she forgot herself, and she smiled as she replied, "You."
Opps.
She groaned and hid her blushing face from him with her hands. "Um...I mean...that is…." The words died on her tongue, and she slowly, painfully, forced herself to look into his eyes, searching for some sort of sign that he was still hers. All she saw was confusion and maybe some happy curiosity at the reply.
He smirked. "Really, Odango Atama?"
She bit her lower lip in frustration. Part of her wanted to pull him close and kiss the smirk off his face. The other part wanted to pull him close and just slap him silly. Sighing sadly, she shook her head and got up from the stool. "Just leave me alone, Mamoru-san. Just today, onegai," she pleaded. "I'm not at all myself today." With that said, she walked toward the Sailor V game, mentally yelling at herself for wanting to cry.
"Odango-"
"You heard her," Motoki interrupted. "Drop it." In a lower voice, but not so low that she couldn't make out the words, he said, "She doesn't look well, my friend. She says some things that even I don't understand."
"Well, I can't even understand half of what she says, Motoki, but really, she's 'not herself'?" he whispered. "What's that about?"
"Well, look at her. Have you ever seen 'that' girl so confused?"
"Motoki-"
"Well?" Motoki snapped. "Have you ever seen her so depressed then?"
She glanced over her shoulder at them, waiting for Mamo-chan's reply.
Shimatta! Not Mamo-chan! Mamoru!
"I have to stop it," she told herself firmly.
"Stop what, Usagi-chan?" Motoki shouted.
"Nothing," she sighed, and went back to the game.
"See?" Motoki said to Mamoru.
Their conversation continued even though she eventually tuned them out. No matter how much her heart wanted to hear 'his' voice, her brain told her it would be wiser to let it go for now because it was giving her nothing but grief and emotional overload-which she "clearly" did not need at the moment.
She sighed again. Her brain was starting to make sense, and she wasn't even able to let the girls know about it.
Her mind couldn't stay focused on Sailor V, and after many doomed sessions, she gave up and returned to the counter to tell Motoki she was leaving, even though her mind screamed at her because it was really another half-assed attempt to see Mamo-chan.
Why did her mind have to sound exactly like Luna??
"Motoki-kun," she said as he poured cola over ice cream, "I have to go now. My mother is expecting me for dinner. For the ice cream, domuoarigatou. Sayonara." She looked over to the booth where Mamoru was sipping his drink and reading a magazine. "Sayonara, Mamoru-san."
He looked up from his magazine and nodded. "Sayonara, Odango."
"I wish you could really call me that, Mamo-chan," she whispered to herself as she stepped out the door.
She never saw the puzzled look Mamoru gave her in response.
Cursing herself for lying to them, she strolled through the park, looking for a bench that wasn't occupied by couples in love. She just had to get out of there, she reasoned. The emotions were just too much. She really did feel crazy.
She walked with her head down, unwilling to look at the smiling couples who couldn't go at least two seconds with giving each other a peck on the cheek. After she passed them all, she looked up again, and found herself face-to-face with familiar short blue hair. "Ami-chan!"
The girl peered up from her text book and glared harshly at Usagi. "Gomennasai?"
"Oh!" Usagi could have slapped herself; she was so stupid! Not "her" Ami-chan. "Ojamashimasu, Mizuno-san!" Ami returned to her Chemistry book, and Usagi shyly looked at the ground. "We are in the same class. I thought you might…." Might remember me, she had meant to say, but couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Might what?" Ami snapped. "Can't you see that I'm busy?" She roughly closed the book and tossed it aside. "I am sick of all people who think that they can get a free tutoring session out of me if they become 'friendly'." She wrinkled her nose at the word, "friendly". "Just go away."
A lonely tear escaped Usagi's eye, traveling quickly down her cheek and then hitting the pavement. Ami-chan was the sweet one, the loyal friend whom she could always trust to defend her!
Not Ami-chan, baka. Not our Ami-chan.
Suddenly, shy little Ami wasn't so shy and sweet anymore. Usagi felt more tears on their way. "Gomen, I'll be on my way." She turned away and sighed. "You just looked like you could use a break, that's all. I just wanted to be friends!" The last sentence came out in a tiny, anguished cry. She needed Ami to be her friend, she really did. She swore to Kami-sama that she would never bug Ami about school work again if the girl would just be her friend.
She ran, just trying to get as far away as possible from that harsh version of Ami. Her feet took her to the park's little fountain where she finally stopped and plopped down on a bench. "What am I going to do?!" she screamed at the wind. "This 'has' to be a dream! It has to! Why would I dream about being a Senshi? Why would I dream about these girls?? Why would I dream about Mamo-chan???" She tugged at her ponytails. "I am real! I am real! Tell me why!"
The only answer came from a sparrow singing in a cherry blossom tree.
Later in her bedroom, Usagi sighed and cuddled Luna closer. "I wish you could talk, Luna. I wish you could tell me what's going on."
"Meow," came the reply.
She laughed, at the cat and herself. "That's not a good enough answer, Luna. What am I doing?" she scolded herself. "I'm talking to a silly old cat!"
Luna stretched and yawned, but she didn't talk back. She only had a questioning look in her eye for her owner.
"Hai, Luna," Usagi answered, "I am crazy." She took down her odangos and sighed. "Maybe Mama-san is right. Maybe I did dream all of that. But why is everyone acting so strange? It's like I'm talking to opposites!" Luna gazed at Usagi intently, and for a moment, she thought Luna could understand her and began talking like old times again. "I don't get it, Luna. This is all too confusing. Why does everyone seem so different?" An idea popped in her head, suddenly, and she brightened, throwing her arms in the air and scaring Luna away. "What if this is the dream? What if I am sleeping right now? All I have to do is wake up then, right?" She could have sworn Luna frowned just then. "All right, Luna," she said dejectedly, "you win. I'm speaking nonsense."
She turned off the light and stared at the moon, its bluish beams making everything appear ghostly and fake. "Maybe so," she sighed, "but I need to speak to Rei-chan." She closed her eyes.
She never noticed that the little black cat shook her head before she stretched and also went to sleep.
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There's Part Two, minna! Part Three is on its way! I hope you liked this! Ja ne! -Yuu-chan ^.^
