Chapter 2

A NEW HOME

Serena stood in the middle of the California airport a little dazed and intimidated. She was here. Now what was she supposed to do? People rushed here and there and paid no attention to her. What was she thinking? What made her think she could do this alone? She shook herself out of her dramatics and steeled her nerves. This is why you came here, to get over your weakness and become strong. She lectured herself and took a deep breath. I can do this, I can do this, I can do this...

She wandered down the stairs and retrieved her bags from the baggage claim and spotted a store. She grabbed a newspaper and tumbled through it, looking for classified. First things first, she needed a place to live. Thank the gods she did so-so in her english language class she mused as she managed to read the different ads. One caught her eye. She smiled and called a taxi when she got outside. She was low on cash since American currency was somewhat greater that the yen. She needed to get a temporary job…somehow…somewhere.

XOXO

Mina made her way to the door, and opened it to find a lovely blonde haired girl with a weird hair style smiling tensely up at her.

"Hello, I'm here to look at the room." She said shyly. She distinctly heard an accent from her. She was younger than she anticipated. She thought some working woman might answer the ad. Her parents had suggested that she get a roommate because she would be leaving soon and they needed someone to be in when she left.

Mina smiled this girl looked a little older than her, maybe her late teens early twenties, but she liked her immediately when she saw that hesitant smile. "Sure, come on it." She opened the door and let her in. The girl looked around at the huge apartment room. Mina smirked a bit, yeah her place was pretty impressive. Not that she was gloating but still...

"Wow! This place is so nice!" She gushed, just the kind of response she waited for.

"Thank you...um..." Mina looked at her.

"Oh sorry!" She said quickly with a blush. She tucked a small strand of hair that had fallen loose from her hair, behind her ear and gave a little bow. "My name is Serena. Serena Tsukino". Mina knew where she was from as soon as the girl stood up at her mistake in greeting. Laughing a little, she took her hand and jumped a little at the spark of power she felt. This girl was special.

"I'm Mina Aino. Please to meet you." She said, covering her surprise smoothly in perfect Japanese.

Serena brightened with a whoosh of relief. "Thank you. I never did so well in my classes."

There was a pause. "Come, take a look around. I'm totally up for options when it comes to interior decoration. The rent is four hundred a month, plus utilities. No parties unless discussed and we go half on food." She said walking through the pristine rooms. It was a rather low rent. Her mom said it was to attract buyers. Actually, this girl was the first person she actually liked so far.

Serena looked around at the apartment. It was pretty nice, not to mention in a good neighborhood. A perfect place. She felt comfortable here and the price was a just right for what she could afford for now. She had enough money to get her situated for the first few months.

"This seems like a really great place. But the thing is...I'm going to have a baby. Is that a problem?" She said in a rush. Mina saw the fear in her blue eyes. Mina studied the girl in front of her. She was pretty young, scared and desperate. She must have some story to tell.

"How old are you?" Mina asked in a squint.

Serena hesitated. "Old enough to get pregnant." She muttered, not really answering her question.

Mina hesitated for the briefest of seconds wondering what happened to her. She was obviously running away from something. "A baby is no problem." Mina finally said and Serena gave a bright smile.

"Then in that case, I'll take it, Thank you so much." Serena gushed. She was so bright Mina thought with a smile and took her hand.

"Hey, no problem. Call me Mina. When can you move in?"

Serena hesitated again. "Today?"

Mina had to laugh. "Well, come right on in."

XOXO

Later that week, after showing Serena around Los Angeles, Mina slumped down on her bed. Serena didn't have anything with her but clothes so they had to do some shopping. Not that she minded really, she loved shopping and shopping with Serena was a lot of fun. She wondered how much she spent today. Serena was pinching pennies until she found a job. Mina made a mental note to ask her parents for any suggestions. The girl needed as much help as she could take.

"So we have a new roommate huh Mina?" Asked a male voice. Mina turned to her cat Artemis who jumped onto her bed with feline grace.

"Do you like her?" She asked him. Artemis was her mentor, and she loved him dearly, like a second father figure. Her lips turned upwards. A cat father figure.

"She seems like a nice person. But I feel strong energy around her." He said with wise blue eyes.

"Do you think she's from the Negaverse?" Mina asked cautiously. There was no way someone like Serena could be evil.
.

He shook his head. "No. but we should keep an eye on her. We never know."

XOXO

"She's gone guys." Luna whispered, small tears dropping.

"Oh, it's all our fault!" Raye wailed and buried her face in her hands.

"We should have listened to her. She must have had a good excuse for being late." Ami sobbed. Oh why oh why did she have to be angry at her teacher on that day?

"We all went to far that night. I was just so angry. I didn't mean what I said." Lita whispered with wide-eyes holding the letter close to her. The letters had blurred not long after she had read it.

"We have to find her and make things right." Raye sniffed, but then busted into tears again. Where could she have gone? Was she hurt, dead? The thought of not seeing her had her shaking inside.

"But where? She drained the trust fund her grandmother had for her." Luna asked, wiping tears from her eyes with a slow paw.

"We have to find some way!" Lita protested, not about to give up on finding the only girl who ever befriended her with so much trust. They needed to get into action! Do some investigating! Call Serena's parents and ask Molly!

"We will. Oh I just hate myself." Raye whispered harshly to herself. I should have known that I wasn't the only one suffering sleepless nights. Damn the Negaverse and the stupid yomens. She felt her rage bubble up. She had been so selfish that night, to proud to apologize for talking to Serena so hashly.

"We all had a part in this Raye." Ami sniffed and wiped her red eyes. Soon, they heard screams coming from outside and promptly ran to see what was wrong.

"Oh no! Transform girls!" Luna yelled, temporally forgetting the problem they had on hand.

They all transformed and aimed attack at it, but it seemed to dodge each one of them. The fallen scouts looked up at the ugly thing that loomed over them like a bad curse. "We can't beat it!" Mars whimpered.

XOXO

Darien was coming home from work when he saw a group of people gathered. He went over to see what was up.

The scouts! Why wasn't he summoned? He looked around and tried to find Sailor Moon, but she was no where in sight. He sighed in frustration. Why the hell was she avoiding him? Did that night mean nothing to her? He turned around and went into the secluded shadows to transform. He made it just in time to prevent Jupiter from getting toasted. He threw a rose at the monster and then hit him with his cane. "Now scouts!" He ordered.

They all aimed their powers at it and it disintegrated into dust. From his pace, he stalked toward them.

"Where is Sailor Moon?" He demanded. The Scouts all looked away.

"She-she's busy." Mars said with a glare and a telling blush on her cheek.

Tuxedo Mask looked warily at them. "Oh really?" He asked folding his arms.

Mercury's face crumbled. "She's gone okay! She left and we don't know where she is!" She cried.

Tuxedo Mask stared at them stunned. "What happened?"

"We didn't mean anything we said!" Jupiter said in protest.

"But now she's gone and it's all our fault!" Mars said and looked down at her feet in shame. "No one knows where she's at. She just disappeared." She whispered, lost in her own thoughts.

Sailor Moon, gone? Icy rage filled his chest as he looked at the girls. But he saw how torn up they were, and held his comments. They were punishing themselves. He couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for them. But for her just to leave all if the sudden?

"You all need to rest." He said in a dead voice and leapt away.

He went back to his apartment and de-transformed. Was it just because of the scouts that she left? Or was it him too?

He buried his face in his hands and heaved a sigh. Every since that night he dreamed of her, and it killed him that she avoided coming in contact with him. She was so...cold and distant and always left right after their battles. Why?

The question plagued him all night.

The next morning Darien set off to school and rounded the corner. Serena hasn't bumped into him lately. He kind of missed that. She was so bouncy and happy and it annoyed him that she could bring in so much light when all he wanted was darkness. On top of that, she was such a big baby. Immature still, and totally naïve as to the dark side of the world. She had so much, but he didn't think she fully appreciated what she had.

Although he had to admit that she was cute. Anyone with eyes would say so, and he always laughed to himself when she would walk down the street and a million male eyes would devour her. She was so innocent to her nature!

"Hey Andrew." Darien said cheerfully. His blonde friend turned to him with a troubled expression. "What's wrong?" Darien asked.

"Serena's gone." He whispered to him.

Darien felt a small feeling of dread in his stomach. "Where did she go?"

"I don't know. She left a note for her parents. It said something about sorting out her life or something. They contacted the police, but, so far no leads. I'm worried about her Darien, its not like Serena to just up and leave. It must have been really bad for her to go."

First Sailor Moon, and then Serena? What the hell is going on?