When I Was A Little Girl

Chapter 5

By: Chibi J

Rated: G

Disclaimer: It's Saturday night. I'm typing on my computer. My husband and his brother are playing on the Playstation. I am listening to my Sailor Moon Best Song Collection. Reminder, it is Saturday night. If I owned Sailor Moon would I be in this situation. I think not.

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

~Waking up this morning has been very difficult for me. I don't understand why though. I'm usually very good about going to bed at a reasonable hour and it has been years since I have needed an alarm clock to get up before sunrise. Yet, here I lay. The clock is telling me that I only have about a half an hour to get to school, so I really need to get ready, but it's like someone has bound all my limbs and forbidden me from getting up. My ceiling could use a new coat of paint.~

"AAAHHHHHH!!!!!"

~Hmm. That sounded a lot like Rei. That's weird. Why would she be screaming.~

I cut off my internal debate and finally brought myself to a sitting position. I swung my legs around to the floor and heard a thunk as something fell off the bed. Looking down, I noticed something squiggling on the floor under my blanket. I rubbed my eyes and again looked down to the pile of bedding that seemed to no longer have a case of the wiggles. Shrugging my shoulders I rose and walked over to the dresser. I picked up my brush. Put it to my head. Looked into the mirror. And screamed.

"AAAHHHHHH!!!!"

Behind me, on my bed, sat a black cat. My memories of the day before quickly passed through my brain. It was the black cat that I had saved from the boys. The black cat that could talk. The black cat that told me that I was to become a Sailor Senshi. The black cat that could only be one thing, evil.

As the thought of finding a sacred scroll to paralyze the feline entered my brain, my relatives entered my room. Grandfather was looking rather entertained, Shingo was laughing, and Rei looked like she fried herself with a fork in a wall socket. Funny, cause that's how I felt as well.

"Ohayo Usagi. Glad to see you join the living. You and Rei both seem to be having difficulty greeting the world this morning." Grandfather said as he tried to restrain his laughter. I use to think that the older man stayed so young because of the joy Rei, Shingo, and I brought him. Now I know it is because he is always laughing at us.

I just continued to stare at my family. I felt like I needed to say something. Or perhaps I had something that I needed to ask. Either way, my mouth would only open and close with no words forthcoming.

"You look like a fish! Usagi-baka, you better get ready for school or you'll be late again!" Shingo said. He then threw a raspberry my direction and took off down the hall.

"Rei?" I finally managed to choke out in a low whisper.

"Usagi?" She answered back in a similar tone.

"Oh, for goodness sakes. You to act like a bomb just blew up in your hands. You really ought to pull yourself together already." A voice said from behind me. Truly, I was afraid to look. I knew that I really didn't want to see a voice coming from the black cat on my bed.

Rei slowly walked to me. When she got to my side, I turned around and looked at the black cat. Rei also seemed transfixed on her. We both kneeled simultaneously next to the bed so that we were at eye level with the animal.

"I'm not a circus exhibit you know." She said with a slight growl.

'But you could be Luna. Your back flips are really quite impressive.' The voice that I knew I only heard in my head and not through my ears came from the window. There sat the two birds that had decided to make the shrine their home.

In the background I heard a bell chiming.

"Kami-sama! We're late!" I yelled.

Surprise was mirrored on Grandfather's, Luna's, and the birds' faces as Rei and I jumped up and began to rush around to get ready. In less than three minutes, we were running out the door. After a short distance, Rei and I had to split up to get to our separate schools, I headed to the right and Rei to the left. I knew without doubt that we would both end up with detention, but felt that Grandfather would forgive us this one time.

*~*

Years of hard work, discipline, and training just couldn't seem to get me to school fast enough this morning. I could sense Rei trying to hurry to school as well with just as much difficulty as I was having. After all, it's not everyday that you have to absorb the information that we had and then rush off to school before anyone can explain it to you.

So, here I am, lost deeply in thought of the mysterious black cat, the ravens and their connection to the cat, and the idea that I have even more power in myself that I will have to learn to use and control. Thus my predicament. You see, many people can do two things at once, rub their tummy and pat their head, chew gum and walk, etc. But if you add a third task, things become complicated. So, while in profound thought and running, I forgot to concentrate on obstacles in my pathway.

*Crash* (AN: You saw that one coming right?!)

I felt myself flying through the air, tripped by a child's scooter lying in the middle of the sidewalk, and landed softly on the ground. Confused? So am I. First, I would like to know what kind of irresponsible child left out the scooter and second, why was my landing on the sidewalk not marked with scrapes, bruises, and pain.

Standing up, I looked down to the cushion below me. It was a body, human, and slightly irate. I brushed off my skirt as the body turned over to look up at me. I had hit this person square in the back, totally off-guard. My eyes met blue and I shuddered in fear at the look of upset in the eyes.

"Odango Atama, you need to be more careful." The voice said gruffly.

"Huh?" I was confused to say the least as I began to feel around my head in concern that something had gotten stuck in my hair. The body got up from the ground and was now standing tall in front of me. Just then, my hand reached one of my buns and everything made sense."

"Hey, that's not nice!" I would have gone into a longer debate but found my words caught in my throat at the sound of the bell. "I'm late!!" I yelled and took off down the sidewalk, leaving the stranger in my wake.

*~*

Rei and I spent most of the day talking, paying very little attention to our classes. We continued to try to figure out the puzzle that was our lives and what this new addition would mean. In the end, we decided that we simply needed to accept fate and talk to the cat. Ignoring it wouldn't make her go away and we needed more information. After all, she told us we had power, but not what or how to access it.

We both had gotten detention, but mine lasted longer. It was my second day of school and my second day late. I was making a poor impression and Haruna wanted to make sure that I was never late again. Her discipline was strict, which I admired, but I was just not in the mood for lessons. Needless to say that I was grateful to leave the room and enter the fresh air of freedom.

I was very surprised to find that Ami had waited for me after school. She was sitting on the front stairs of the school with a book in her lap.

"Ami? What are you still doing here?"

"Konnichi wa Usagi. I was waiting to talk to you. You seemed very distracted today. Is anything the matter?" Ami asked in a very quiet voice.

"Iie, Ami, I'm okay, just a little out of it. I kind of, um, received a surprise yesterday at home and I just haven't had the time to get over it yet." I'm sure that if my voice would have cracked or stuttered once more that it would be a world record. Ami's face seemed to agree. I could tell that she didn't believe me.

"Oh, okay Usagi. Well, I have to get to cram school. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

I sighed to myself as Ami walked away from me. I felt terrible lying to her, but what was I suppose to do. It's not like I can just tell her that I have all these powers, some that I don't even know yet, and expect her not to question my sanity.

I began to travel home when I noticed a very familiar head of black hair sitting on a bench in the park across the street from my school. Not that I expected to be successful, I attempted to sneak up and scare my dear cousin. I was about two feet from the bench when I noticed that Luna was sitting on Rei's lap. I tiptoed closer...

"Don't even bother Usagi."

...when I was caught. It's hard to scare someone who can easily sense another's presence.

"Rei, you take the fun out of everything." I sighed as I sat next to her. "What's up? What are you two doing here?"

"Luna thought that we should come meet you so that we could all talk. I told her that we had calmed ourselves and that we were now willing to listen." Rei said while petting the cat that was curled up on her lap.

"Okay then. Well, Luna, talk." I said simply. However, silence was my answer. I looked up to see Rei smiling down at the black neko in her lap.

'She fell asleep while I was petting her. While we were waiting for you, she seemed a little stressed, so I invited her onto my lap and she fell asleep shortly after.'

'Poor thing. She's probably had a hard journey. I wonder how long she was looking for us, er, for the Sailor Senshi?' I asked Rei who simply shrugged her shoulders in reply. We sat silently on the bench for a while, just enjoying the pleasant weather when a scream sounded from the park.

"What was that?!" I yelled as I stood up. The scream had woken up Luna who jumped from Rei's lap to the ground with a fierce growl on her face.

"It's evil." Rei stated in flat, unemotional tone.

"Yes, it is the Dark Moon Kingdom." Luna agreed with a fierce growl.

"The Dark Moon?" I asked, confused.

"Yes, they are your enemy. You two are Sailor Senshi. You are sworn to protect the solar system from evil and the Dark Moon Kingdom is that evil."

"Okay," Rei started, but still didn't seem too sure, "But what do we do? I can sense they are evil and read their thoughts. Usa can do that and perhaps fly them through the air a little, but what good will that do?"

"Gomen, I can't explain more, but..." Luna stopped talking before doing a flip in the air. When she landed, three sticks laid on the ground. One was red, the second was a pale blue that was almost white, and the third was a royal blue.

Rei and I leaned down and each picked up a stick. She grabbed the red and I took the light blue. I immediately felt energy course through my body and a sense of security that I have never had before. Rei looked to me and I knew that she had felt the same.

"These are your henshin wands. Usagi, you need to say 'Moon Power Make-up' and Rei, 'Mars Power Make-up' to transform into your Senshi forms. You are Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars." Luna stated with a sense of pride and power in her voice.

Rei nodded at me and we both did as she commanded. The energy I felt when I picked up the wand was ten times as strong when I transformed. It was as if all of my powers until now had been as uncomplicated as breathing.

I looked down at myself and groaned. "Blue skirt. What is it with me and the blasted blue skirt! At least it isn't as long as my new school uniform." I said with a slight frown. I was dressed in a white body suit with a short blue skirt and two red bows. Gloves stretched up to my elbows and boots to my knees. I felt my head to find a small tiara.

"Oh, red, I like that." Rei said with a giggle. Then she looked down to her feet with a puzzled look. "High heels? What's the deal with that?" She asked looking between Luna and I.

"Girls, really, you can ask questions about you uniforms later. We need to get to battle." Luna stated with annoyance. However, one word stuck in my mind, battle. Rei and I were trained in various martial arts, had energy rippling through our bodies, and were dressed to kill. But the idea of having a real battle made me slightly nauseous.

Rei and I nodded our understanding and took off towards the direction of the screams with Luna racing behind us with the third wand in her mouth. I took notice of the third wand again, but stored it away with my other questions.

Nothing in life, however, could have prepared me for the sight that we came upon. The ground was littered with bodies and a strange looking beast was floating midair above them. It was cackling as it threw out small bolts of lightening, which appeared to paralyze people. There was no blood and it appeared that everyone was still breathing. I was relieved to know that the people were alive, but concerned for how long that would remain fact.

Rei turned to me with a questioning look. Unfortunately for her, my face was asking her the same question, what now? Thankfully, Luna stepped up, her mouth temporarily cleared of the third wand, and began to give directions.

"Sailor Mars, you need to distract the youma so that Sailor Moon can release an attack to destroy it."

"What do you want me to do? Dress in drag and do the hula?!" Mars asked with thick sarcasm. (AN: I love the Lion King.)

"Gomen, I suppose you would like to know what powers you posses."

"Might help." I replied sarcastically. Was it just me or were we all getting a little edgy?

"Sailor Mars. Look deep within yourself. You are a source of fire. You can feel it burning in your soul, you have always felt it. Listen to the fire. She will tell you what to do."

Rei closed her eyes as Luna began to speak. I could feel energy radiating off of her in waves. She was deep in concentration and her hands were coming together in front of her.

"Sailor Moon, you must do the same. Look into yourself. You can only find your powers within yourself."

I closed my eyes. I could feel Rei's heat next to me for a moment before I became lost in myself. Everything surrounding me was white and I felt a breeze blow through my long hair. A silent whisper was coming from behind me. The voice was very familiar and peaceful. I listened intently to the words and knew what I must do.

I opened my eyes to see Rei walking beside the youma. I could sense no fear from her. She brought her hands in front of her and yelled, "Fire Soul!"

The fire flew from her fingers and broadsided the evil creature. It was obviously stunned and turned to face her. I knew that it was my turn.

I reached up and grabbed the tiara that had been resting weightlessly on my forehead. Winding up as if playing softball, I let all of my energy into the tiara. "Moon Tiara Action!" And the tiara became a glowing orb of energy, racing towards the youma. It struck dead center and the creature let out a horrendous scream as it faded into dust.

Once again, the urge to pass out came again, but I fought it back the best I could. Rei walked over to me and we leaned on each other for support. I looked around the battle scene for Luna while making one last check that everyone was indeed alive. Unfortunately, what I saw made my blood run cold. Among the scattering of bodies was a girl with short blue hair.

Rei immediately centered in on my focal point and immediately gasped. Poor Ami had been caught in the attack and was lying of the ground with her books pooled around her. We both felt the urge to run to her when Luna cleared her throat.

"She is alright. They all are. But you must depart now. The authorities will be coming and you do not wish to be caught."

Giving Ami a last look, Rei and I transformed and ran towards home with Luna trailing behind us.

*~*

Grandfather, Rei, Shingo, and I sat around the kitchen table listening to Luna talk about our past lives. She explained about the Silver Millennium, the warriors known as the Sailor Senshi, the planets of the solar system and how they were in alliance with the Moon, except for Earth, and what our duties were.

Next came an explanation of the Dark Kingdom. Although Luna seemed to be missing some of her memories, she was able to give us a fairly understandable description.

"They are evil, plain and simple, although they weren't always that way. Beryl rules over them all, but once she was a normal, sweet girl. She became jealous of someone, who and why I am unsure, and her jealousy became rage. Metallia was an evil source that needed a pawn to release her power through. Beryl became that pawn.

"Her warriors use to have pure hearts, but were manipulated by Beryl. She hypnotized them into thinking that they were doing what was right. Together, the four men, led by Beryl, attacked all of the planets of the Silver Millennium alliance, ending with the Moon Kingdom. As the Moon Kingdom fell to Beryl, Queen Serenity sent as many people as she could to the future, to Earth. This included her daughter and fiancé, the Sailor Senshi, and the royal advisors, myself included. Unfortunately, the Dark Moon warriors managed to place themselves in the path of magic and were also sent to the future.

"You will find that you, the other Sailor Senshi, Beryl, and her warriors are not far from your own age. Your spirits were sent to be born to capable parents. Some found their matches sooner than others. However, it is believed that all have been born; the youngest would now be seven, the oldest, nineteen. At this time, that is the most I can tell you. I am having difficulties remembering everything."

We continued staring at the cat, waiting for more information, even though she said she had no more. Confusion was evident in all of our eyes and Luna seemed to quickly pick up on that.

"You have questions, please ask." She stated in a simple voice. Not wanting to speak first, but with an important question, I raised my hand in the air.

"Usagi, this isn't school, you can just ask." Luna said with hint of humor. I lowered my hand and searched for my voice.

"Um, break starts in two weeks. Then we start eighth grade. Will we be able to enjoy our break?"

Luna looked at me strangely. I gave a weak smile. After all, it was a very serious question. The rest of my family stared at me briefly before breaking out into laughter.

"What! I'm serious!"

The laughter died down, but everyone seemed in a much lighter mood. Luna told me to hope for the best. Although that didn't sound like the answer I really wanted, I accepted it.

We continued to ask questions about our uniforms, our powers, the enemy, and so on. Grandfather seemed to be beaming with pride that his girls meant so much to the world. Shingo seemed a little dismayed that his only sister would be fighting evil when he shot his hand into the air.

"Shingo, you are too much like your sister." Luna laughed.

"Luna," Shingo started slowly and quietly, as if he was uncertain about his question. "Well, um, I'm seven. You said the youngest born was seven. Is that me?"

"Hai." Luna said quietly. "You are also a reincarnation from the Moon Kingdom. My senses indicate that you were a member of the royal family, although I am unsure of whom you were exactly. However, you are not a warrior. The royal family was never meant to fight."

Shingo's face dropped at the news that he would not be able to fight beside his sister like Rei. I felt sorry for him and spoke up.

"Gomen, Luna, but isn't there someway that Shingo can be of help?"

"Hai! He can help me with the strategical aspects of fighting. It would help me greatly." Luna answered enthusiastically, causing Shingo to grin from ear-to-ear.

"It is getting late and you all have school in the morning. If you have any final questions, ask them now." Grandfather said with an air of authority. It was then that a thought from earlier crossed my mind.

"Luna, when you produced the henshin wands, there were three. Where is the third one and who is it for?"

"After I found you, I continued to search the area for more Senshi. It is believed that most of you would be found in the same area. I think I found another and the wand is for her. I have given it to her, although she does not know it came from me or what it is for."

"Who?" I asked simply.

"You will find out soon enough."

*~*

School was uneventful for the most part and for the last two weeks, I made it on time daily. Ami and I would eat lunch and meet Rei at the arcade after school. We became the best of friends in no time. Our month long summer break started and we were having lots of fun.

The Dark Moon had not attacked since our first battle and I was grateful for that. Luna hypothesized that the appearance of Sailor Senshi may have caused uproar in the Dark Moon Kingdom. She told us that their first attacks in England had been thwarted by a Sailor Senshi and now their first attack in Tokyo was equally unsuccessful. I asked about this other Senshi, but she said she didn't have any information other than what was printed in the papers.

Although we were always on alert, Rei and I decided to live the life of normal kids. Well, at least we tried. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Never let your life fall into normal. That's when it all goes wrong!

*~*

*Knock Knock*

I ran to the door, sliding somewhat on the floor, and opened it to find Ami with a duffel bag. Rei and I decided to have a sleep over with Ami so that we could 'girl-talk,' which really meant to get Ami to confess her feelings about a boy in our class.

We were having a great time vegging out, eating popcorn, and looking through mangas. Shingo had been instructed that he was to stay out and not to spy or face a fate worse than death. He agreed, but Rei would occasionally scan for his thought waves, just to be certain.

Around midnight, we were all starting to tire out when Ami excused herself to the bathroom to remove her contacts.

"Usagi, I forgot my saline solution, it's in my bag, could you get it for me?" Ami asked while peeking out from the bathroom.

I nodded my head in agreement and started into her bag. I pushed aside her clothes and found the bottle at the bottom of the bag. I took it to her and then returned to her bag, neatly folding her clothes and placing them beside the bag. Ami came out of the bathroom moments later with her glasses on.

"Usagi, you don't need to refold them, I'm sure they didn't get that messed up." Ami said with a laugh.

"Well, I couldn't find your bottle, so I had to rummage all the way to the bottom. Some got really messed up." I said with a smile. As I picked up the last shirt from the bag, something caught my eye.

"What's this?" I asked as I reached into her bag. Shock ran through me as I recognized the blue henshin wand that Luna said she gave away.

"I don't know. Remember how I told you that I passed out in the park? Well, I found it later that day. I don't know where it came from, but I always keep it with me." Ami answered, looking puzzled. It was as if it was the first time she didn't know the answer to something.

"Um, I think I know what it is. Hold on." I said as I gave Ami the wand and walked to the doorway. "Luna, Rei, come here please." Rei had gone to her room to get her pajamas and Luna was in my room. Both came out and proceeded into the small sitting room we were planning on sleeping in. I had a funny feeling that we wouldn't sleep much though.

"What is it Usagi?" Rei asked impatiently.

"Um, lets wait for Luna." I said and Rei looked at me strangely. As it was, Ami hadn't removed her eyes from me since I said I knew what the wand was. Luna strolled in, looking like a normal housecat that had heard her name. She stopped mid-step when she saw Ami in the room.

"Ami, show Rei what you have. I'm sure Luna already knows what it is." I said with a hint of sarcasm. Although Luna had heard a lot about Ami, she had never met her. Or at least she thought she hadn't.

Ami showed Rei the royal blue henshin wand and Rei dropped to the ground. I sat next to her and reached a hand over to shut her mouth. Luna walked up and sat between the cushions we were sitting on.

"I guess I have some explaining to do." Luna stated in a very even tone. I think she did this as to not shock Ami.

Unfortunately, it didn't work. Ami fell back onto her sleeping bag muttering something about too much studying and becoming delusional. Rei and I were both trying to suppress our giggles, now knowing what we looked like and while Shingo had found the whole situation so amusing the first time.

"Here we go again." Luna sighed as laughter sounded from the hallway. Distinctly male laughing. Distinctly young male laughing.

"Shingo!" Rei and I yelled in unison as we ran out the door to chase him down the hall, leaving Luna to guard over the stunned Ami.

*~*

Rei and I had managed to capture Shingo and were about to hog-tie him when Grandfather stepped in and made us stop. We once again went over the house rules of privacy and excess force. With a smile, Grandfather gave us each a kiss on the head and sent us on our ways. Shingo apologized and promised to go to bed immediately. Rei and I returned to the sitting room.

I was surprised, to say the least, to find Ami up and conversing with Luna. It had taken Rei and I an entire night to recover from the shock Luna gave us. But here was Ami, alert and questioning, trying to gain as much information as possible.

"Ami, are you alright?" Rei asked in a quiet voice.

"Hai, Rei, I am. Luna and I were just discussing the Silver Millennium. It is very interesting."

I looked at Rei and then back to Ami to make sure that I was hearing correctly. Rei was wearing an exasperated look, mirroring my own face, and Ami was looking as if she had just stated an everyday fact.

"Um, Luna, have you told her everything?" I asked with obvious concern.

"Hai. She came to right after you left. So I told her everything while we waited for you two to return. Why?" Luna stated.

"Just wondering. Ami, are you okay with all of this?" I asked with concern in my voice.

"Hai, Usagi. Since I can remember, I have always felt different, often knowing things that I had yet to learn. It scared me to learn no one else in the world had this ability, so I often kept to myself. This kind of explains a lot." Ami said with a smile.

For some reason, it seemed natural for Ami to be so open and understanding of the entire situation. After all, she enjoyed following scientific processes to explain everything. Having an unsolved mystery, especially in her own life, drove her crazy. She wanted an answer to everything. Luna's explanation helped to answer several of those questions.

We stayed up talking about what our lives would mean now that we were all Sailor Senshi. Luna had Ami transform, but instructed her to wait to try her power out. She wore a white body suit, like Rei and I, but had a royal blue skirt with light blue bows. She also wore boots, again making Rei question her high heels.

We welcomed Sailor Mercury into our group. We were Sailor Senshi. We were thirteen years old and going into eighth grade. I have heard adolescence is a rough time, but this was a little extreme.

Around three in the morning we all began to drift into sleep. I was grateful to feel Luna snuggle up to my side, her soft purring like a lullaby. Before I fell completely asleep, one last thought crossed my mind. It was nice to have another ally. It was better to have another friend. But what was best was the feeling that I had gained another sister.

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

Oh, I want to keep going. But who can argue with ending a chapter with such a sweet thought? Anyhow, any of you wondering whom Usagi crashed into on the way to school? I bet you think you know, but you don't!! Mwhahahahah! Opps, sorry about that :)!

ChibiJ77@yahoo.com