"When Dawn Comes"

By Kimra

Part VIII

Serena watched the blinking light of her clock as the seconds ticked by, her body was numb and sore. Her breaths came out even and regular, like someone in deep slumber which is how she wanted to appear. She could feel Luna, sitting on her desk watching her with alert eyes. As if, Serena mused, I'm going to do it again. She felt a tiny stab of resentment for the cat thinking so little of her. But then again. It's entirely your own fault. She resisted the need to sigh at the thought, counting the seconds as they continued to tick. An hour till dawn. And then what? Another one or two before you can wake up? Serena girl, give it up. She let a sigh escape her lips that time, and felt the tensing of the air as Luna too heard it. Sleep was eluding her.

She had arrived home the day before, climbed into her window, managed to take a quick shower and brush her teeth without her mother noticing. She had thrown herself into bed, exhausted and sore, the clock hadn't even read seven. Luna had taken her guarding post at that very time, and had barely moved since then.

There had been a call from the scouts, asking where they where, but Luna had defused the conversation quickly and easily with her superior manner and stated bluntly neither of them where going. Serena had even heard Raye's snide "She's not still in the arcade toilets, is she." But it was beyond Serena's care. She had merely rolled over and tried for another comfortable position to sleep in.

But sleep it seemed had a personal vendetta against her that day, because no matter which way she rolled, no matter which angle she lay in, it didn't want anything to do with her. Somewhere as the hours had ticked by she had managed to doze, she couldn't be certain of that, and all that betrayed it was the sudden fluctuations of the clocks numbers, gaps of ten and fifteen minutes had managed to be strewn through her waking night.

At about midnight she had prayed for a Youma, anything to give her an excuse to stop trying to sleep. Nothing. The one night she wanted them the enemy had to take off.

Now she was waiting, somewhere close to ten hours of watching the clock, praying it would go faster, deeming how she had never known time could travel so slowly, and wishing her guardian a hundred miles away so she didn't have to pretend she was asleep. One hour to sun rise, another before she could get up and just pretend she was awake early.

Having spent the entire time awake she had had time to think a lot through, though she had no answers to any of her problems, nor did she know exactly what she was going to do, she knew one thing: She still needed time. And time she was going to give herself, this morning at least she could avoid the daily collision she had become oddly accustomed to. She planned, since her body refused to sleep to take advantage of it and be at school disgustingly early. What she would do there, she had no idea, but then she would even brave the boredom of school over a possible meeting with him.

Another minute ticked by 5:28, she was counting the second to keep her mind occupied, almost like counting sheep but a lot less hassle on her brains part.

Her eyes fluttered shut.

Someone was there. Warm air brushed across her face. A tense alertness humming through her flesh and bones.

Startled Serena's eyeshot open, her body jolting into an upright position. There was no one there. Nothing. Her eyes scanned the room to be certain, but there was nothing there. No cause for her minds oddity's. Luna's eyes had fixed on her, the expression blank but for the tiniest tinge of curiosity. Serena shook her head a little then lay back down, her eyes shifting to the clock blaring a bright 5:51 at her. You where asleep. She chided herself sternly as she closed her eyes and pretending to be asleep once more.

It felt like years before the light in her room shifted into something brighter. The sun peering in on her blanket covered body and making her shift in hot discomfort. How do I sleep through this every other day? She demanded as she tried to find a cooler patch on her bed. It occurred to her after some time that Luna wasn't entirely stupid, bossy yes, but not entirely stupid. When that finally occurred to her she sat up and found the cat had made herself comfortable on the table but was still watching her.

"Giving up?" Luna asked, her voice strained with exhaustion. Serena nodded numbly, wondering how long the cat had been aware that she was awake.

"I need a shower." Serena mumbled and gathered her uniform, stumbling with it down the silent hallway and into the bathroom. She could hear the gentle snores of her brother, and wondered if a practical joke was beyond her physical capabilities at that moment. Deciding rather to just have the shower and let the opportunity slip by, she locked the bathroom door behind her.

The shower did little but remove the sticky sweet she had accumulated trying to fight the suns pull that morning. She was forced to be extremely careful as she washed herself down, being extremely tender in places she would rather not think about, with several bruises that left her questioning if she had been entirely willing when he had taken her. The thought sent tremors of disgusted uncertainty through her, and she refused to acknowledge them.

Stepping out of the shower, she dried herself down and stared into the full length mirror as she had the night before, pinning every abrasion bruise and hickey. The hickey's though some of them had been very impressive the day before where much less noticeable now, the bruises already beyond the blue stage and settling into black's and yellows, in less then two days she knew all but one or two of them would be gone. One of the many benefits to being Sailor Moon. She told herself with false cheer. The most likely bruise to last was on her back, just above her hip to the left and if she stretched her fingers out and rested her hand above it she would only just cover it.

That bruise worried her, it took a lot to bruise her, and she desperately wanted to know what had happened. But it was the dot bruises on her right wrist and left shoulder that worried her the most. She had been puzzled by them until she had run trembling fingers over them in a vain attempt figure out what had been there cause. The way her fingertips had rested on them perfectly had been all the explanation she had wanted.

Pushing thoughts away she pulled on her uniform, hating it excessively when she realised exactly how much of her flesh was visible. The hickey's, faded perhaps, where still quite obviously hickeys, and a multitude of them where visible down her neck and on her chest where the v of her of shirt was open. Besides that though, she was glad nothing was visible, the long sleaves concealing the marks on wrist and shoulder. The bruise on her back… I'll just have to make sure I don't reach for anything. She growled knowing how high the school shirt had a tendency to roam when not being careful.

She then began the painful process of trying to cover the marks up with makeup. She prayed her mother wouldn't notice for the millionth time. It took her time, and many layers of the stuff before she was certain nothing could be seen. For good measure she let her hair down, hoping it would, if nothing else, distract from her throat.

When she got back to her room, Serena found Luna curled up on her bed contentedly asleep. Jealousy bloomed for the cat. She makes it look so simple. Serena scolded angry that a task she had been attempting all night came to the cat so easily. She repressed the urge to throw something at the cat and instead completed her ensemble. Her red bow was tied and pinned down with her moon broach, and her communicator was strapped on.

With a final glance at her bedside clock Serena left her guardian and the safety of her room.