Title: Welcome To Reality
Chapter Title: Another Dream
Summary: Serena Warren, now fifteen, graduates the tenth grade with honours and is offered a chance to go to Japan on a student exchange program. Here, she realizes that the reason her dreams seemed so real is that they were.
Author: Silver Sparklze
Reason For Writing: This story was written as a challenge set by Sage: The Dark Dryad.
Author's Notes: I have tried to translate the Japanese next to the words, but even so, anything written in bold will be translated at the end of the chapter if not already translated. This chapter is dedicated to Sage: The Dark Dryad for inspiring me, and helping me write better stories.
Serena sighed and crawled into bed. She really didn't want to go to sleep. Every night for two years now she'd had the same dream. Over and over she saw the Moon Princess die. It was like her thirteenth year had never happened. Dreams of another's life had been replaced by nightmares of the destruction of a kingdom. ((Must thank the inspirer of this story, Sage: The Dark Dryad for this particular line, as she told me how I could fix what I originally had. She's brilliant.))
~Dream Sequence, Selene's Castle ~
She was in a nothing-place, a place outside of Time. A grey mist surrounded her as she walked, and she couldn't see an inch in front of her face. She looked down and saw that she was wearing a plain white dress with puffed sleeves and a flowing skirt, like Princess Serenity's but without the golden embroidery. The mist swirled around her, seeming to whisper. It pushed her towards a long stone slab, upon which lay a man that Serena knew well.
"Darien?" She whispered.
'Endymion.' The mist seemed to sigh, and Serena fancied that fingers formed and caressed the side of the man's face. 'Endymionlove.' The mist pushed Serena on further, and she found herself in front of a mirror that seemed to grow out of the very ground she walked on. Made of grey polished stone, its silver surface reflected nothing but her. Serena saw that there were words on the outside; in no language she could understand.
ßehoòĺ! Miron brĩnght-siļř Selene,
Werse she misğht seąv hur love 'fėre nid.
Swëít Endymion love wôis she dear hon,
Moert por Man she misğht nai ner sathn,
Bưt rof inst nid acht cysc o' hur Moon.
Wēnş she gaż in hur miron,
"Bein patint Love, Un shatrn thaihn soin be."
Serena touched the words, wishing she knew what they meant. Suddenly, they rearranged themselves.
Behold! Selene's mirror silver-bright,
Where she might view her love 'fore night.
Sweet Endymion, whose love she holds dear,
Poor mortal man she might never stay near,
But for one night of the cycle of her moon.
Whence she gazes in her mirror,
"Be patient love, I shall be there soon."
"Selene's mirror." A voice behind her said. Startled, Serena turned around, and came face to face with…herself. The girl before her had the same blonde hair, done in Serena's signature hairstyle, two buns atop her head with hair streaming down on either side. The same blue eyes, reflecting the same sadness. Her dress was the same too, but she had the golden embroidery that Serena didn't. And on her forehead clearly shown was a golden crescent.
"Princess Serenity." She said softly. The girl smiled.
"Yes, but not for much longer, I hope."
"Pardon?" Serena was confused. Princess Serenity laughed quietly.
"You want to be Sailor Moon, am I right?" Serena blushed.
"Yes…" She said faintly.
"Well, all I have ever wanted is to be a normal girl. And you want to be Sailor Moon. Swap?" Serena blinked. Suddenly the regal tone was gone.
"Are you sure you want to give up your friends?" She asked.
"I won't be giving them up." Princess Serenity said, "I will be gaining something precious. I will be gaining normality. That's all I ever wanted."
"Are you sure?" Serena questioned.
"Do you want to?" Princess Serenity countered.
"Yes…" The answer was no more than a whisper, but Princess Serenity heard her, and smiled. Suddenly, Serena saw the mirror glow, and a blinding light came out of Princess Serenity's crescent mark. Serena shielded her face against the light, and when she could see again, she noticed that Princess Serenity's gown was now plain, and hers had the embroidery. "Princess?" She questioned.
"You're the Princess now." Serena Tsukino said joyfully. "I'll see you next week." The former-princess hugged Serena, and kissed her on the cheek. "Ja, Sere-hime."
Ja, Sere-hime: see you, Princess Serenity.
More Author's Notes: here're the answers to the reviews from chapters 11 and 12 of The Thirteenth Year.
Shimmering Angel: Thanks ^_^. I'm glad you like it. No, I'm not Japanese, nor do I speak fluent Japanese. I'm in yr 11, and so I've basically used what I know, and used my English-Japanese dictionary to do the rest ;-)
Silver Moonlight-81: Well, here's the sequel, sorry for the wait, it's that damned ff.net, kicking me off. Grrr…
Ellen: As you can see, no, I'm not going to add another chapter. Here's the sequel
Sage: The Dark Dryad: I'm glad you like the quotes, they will most definitely be continuing.
Quote of the day: If there is a nonessential phrase, you stick it in commas. Commas are the garbage bags of grammar. - My high school English teacher