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REAWAKENING Book One of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon CosmicStars by Nashie (aka ShadowSamurai) December 1999 - April 2000 Revised - Summer/Fall 2002
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Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and her friends belong to Naoko Takeuchi. The author takes no credit for any of the original storyline. However, all the new characters belong to me and I'd appreciate it if you didn't take any without requesting permission.
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As many farewells as be stars in heaven, With distinct breath and consigned kisses to them, [Time] fumbles up into a loose adieu And scants us with a single famished kiss Distasted with the salt of broken tears.
- Troilus and Cressida 4.4.43-7
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~~~Episode 201: Wake up call! The little moon soldier returns~~~
The peaceful, content couple stood over the railing, staring down at the placid steam, the water turned silvery by the moonlight reflected in their eyes. They had just defeated a possessed Sailor Galaxia and everything was peaceful, just as it should be for any normal schoolgirl. Chaos was banished, buried forever, and her friends and guardians and fiancé had come back to life.
A dull ache spread through her heart. Such a hectic night! She had to say good-bye to four very good friends after seeing her soldiers revived. She was emotionally, physically, and mentally drained. Rei would have made a comment about being mentally drained, but Usagi, too thrilled to see her best friend alive, wouldn't have cared less.
She closed her eyes and then turned to Mamoru. Where would she be without him...it had broken her soul when she learned he had died at Galaxia's hand. She paused. Where would she be without her friends at all? They had all trusted her enough with their lives and died protecting her because they believed in her.
Now, thanks to that hope, there wouldn't be any more battles. They could all live in peace.
Usagi turned to look at the engagement ring on her left hand. It glimmered in the moonlight and she smiled before turning up to Mamoru. "Mamo-chan...do you like me?" Mamoru looked surprised.
"Of course." Usagi frowned, tugging on his arm. The answer was insubstantial.
"How much?" Mamoru still appeared confused.
"Why so suddenly?" he asked. Usagi shook her head and tugged his arm even harder.
"Really. How much?" Mamoru seemed to consider this question and then a soft smile appeared on his face and in his eyes.
"Let's see...when I'm with you, I'm filled with energy," he finally replied. Usagi blushed and smiled at this answer as she turned to look straight up at Mamoru. Her love now, and for the rest of eternity.
"I'm Tsukino Usagi, sixteen years old, in first year of high school. I'm a little clumsy, and a little bit of a crybaby. But actually, I'm the pretty sailor-suited fighter for love and justice, Sailor Moon." Feeling content with this, she leaned up and kissed her eternal love under the moonlight.
It was the end.
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A few days later, a certain blonde was running to her designated meeting area, already knowing she was an hour late. Sometimes, she thought bitterly, teachers must give out detentions for the sake of giving out detentions...
Usagi rushed down the pathway, and paused when she saw her four closest friends up ahead. "Minna!" she yelled, feeling carefree. She rushed ahead and clung onto Rei tightly. "Hi, everyone!" The four girls laughed happily as the shortest of their group bounded upon them.
"You're happy today, Usagi-chan," Makoto noted. Usagi nodded.
"I am!" she exclaimed. "Today is a good day! We finally have peace now that Chaos has been defeated! We can be normal!" Rei snorted at this, but she was smiling also.
"You were never normal, odango-atama," she teased, using Usagi's affectionate pet name. Usagi gave her a glare, but she was too happy to care about the insult. She just kept remembering Rei...Sailor Mars...dying in her arms at the result of Galaxia's hand. What she had told her. Usagi would never forget.
*You're...too...sweet...be strong...*
"I will," Usagi murmured, but then shook her head. She had to get such depressing thoughts out of her head. Instead, she giggled and pulled Rei's arm. "Come on! We're going to be late! The lunar eclipse is tonight! It's already sunset! We promised to meet Mamo-chan and the others there!" Without that, she ran ahead. Minako grinned.
"You were the one who was late!" she called, running after Usagi, followed by a smiling Ami, Rei, and Makoto.
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"You're late, Usa-ko!" Mamoru called. It was dark now and the park was full of people. Usagi flinched and laughed nervously.
"I had detention!" she said, running up with the four other inner girls. She hugged Mamoru. "I promise I won't be late again! Okay?" Mamoru raised an eyebrow at this, but gave Usagi a kiss anyway. Minako giggled while Rei blushed furiously and turned to look up at the sky.
Mamoru had already set out a large blanket and the six young people sat down at it and turned their heads toward the sky. Ami had brought binoculars and was giving the others a complete lesson of a lunar eclipse. Usagi yawned and sat back in Mamoru's lap, her long blonde pigtails spilling onto the blue and white-checkered blanket.
"Has it started yet?" Minako asked, looking through a magazine. She was lying on her stomach, her legs crossed. She turned to stare up at the moon. "This..."
"...is so boring!" another voice finished nearby. Everyone spun around and saw a small dark-haired girl craning her neck up the sky. She sniffled. "At least when a solar eclipse occurs, you can see something happening." A taller young woman, with hair so dark it was nearly black, sighed.
"I remember a certain little girl complaining that no one ever took her anywhere," she said, staring pointedly at her. Usagi jumped to her feet and ran over to them, wrapping them both in a tight hug, surprising not only the tallest, but the rest of her friends as well. These girls were not particularly close to Tsukino Usagi.
"Setsuna-san! Hotaru-chan!" she exclaimed as she pulled away, ignoring the baffled expressions on her friends' faces. To her, all the senshi were her friends and even more so now that Galaxia and Chaos were gone. "Where are Haruka-san and Michiru-san?" Setsuna smiled gently, a rare form of emotion coming from the usual enigmatic mask she wore as the guardian of time.
"Around here somewhere," she said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Hotaru seemed uncomfortable at this and, to solve her dilemma, ran over to say her hellos to everyone else. Usagi frowned when she suddenly realized what Setsuna was talking about. She blushed and then nodded.
"Okay," she murmured, though secretly she was relieved. If the battle had been tough on any of her soldiers, it had to be even worse for Michiru and Haruka. For both of them had turned "traitor" during the very heat of the battle, breaking Usagi's already grieving heart. The heart shattered almost beyond repair when the two soldiers' alliance really came through, dying in the face of impossible circumstances.
"Usagi-chan!" Makoto called. "Ami-chan says it's starting!" Usagi turned to look back at the sky and saw that, indeed, the moon seemed to have changed appearance since its last position. She grinned and sat back down next to Mamoru.
"The lunar eclipse..." she murmured, but her concentration was broken when she was two bright lights flash in the growing shadow of the silver satellite. One was electric blue while the other was hot pink. But before she could open her mouth to say anything, the lights were gone, flashing before her eyes for a quick second. Usagi frowned. "Did you guys see that?" Ami turned to look at her.
"See what?" Usagi blinked and then shook her head. If Ami, the sharpest and most insightful of the inner senshi, had not seen a thing, then it must have been her imagination.
"Nothing...I must have just been seeing things," she murmured. She shook her head and then leaned back against Mamoru. *My mind isn't playing tricks on me. Those lights were so bright...could it be...a new enemy? No...Chaos is gone...there are no more enemies!* She shook her head again, confused. *I must just be seeing things. I am tired.*
Mamoru stared down at his blonde fiancé. He knew he would have to tell her soon. He hoped she wouldn't be angry with him. Especially since what happened last time...he frowned before turning back up at the solar eclipse.
No one noticed prying red eyes watching them.
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Meanwhile...
"Did you see that?" a soft voice asked. She looked up at the moon and frowned. "Those two lights..." The other person with her shrugged and then shivered.
"Wonder why it's been getting so cold lately," she murmured. "And during the summer too?" The first speaker giggled and then placed her mirror in alignment with the moon.
"You're overreacting," she said, blue eyes sparkling. Her smile seemed a bit tense, though. "I could've sworn I saw two lights appear in the shadow of the moon." Her smile now completely disappeared. "Near Mare Serenitatis...the Sea of Serenity." The other girl next to her frowned, running a hand through her sleek blonde hair.
"Is that a premonition of good fortune or disaster?"
"I don't know..."
There was movement behind them, which neither young women noticed. A bright pair of red eyes peered through the bushes at them. Another pair, closer to the ground, also watched. The owners of the eyes were both silent.
Michiru sighed, placing her mirror back in her purse. "Maybe I shouldn't worry. All the enemies have been defeated. Sailor Galaxia and Chaos should be the last obstacle before Crystal Tokyo. I'm just being paranoid." Haruka nodded.
"Or maybe your will was weakened by the moonlight," she said with an evil look in her eye. Michiru smiled at her partner and rested her head on her should.
"No...I don't think that was it," she said, but kissed Haruka anyway. Still, her mind was wondering back to the events just a few days before. Going up against Galaxia...pretending to be her slaves...and in the end, for nothing. Hotaru-chan...Setsuna...they had trusted them, even though it had been shocking to both. After the battle, they both insisted that they forgave their friends, knowing that they were protecting Usagi in some way.
*That's no excuse,* Michiru thought, sighing. *How could we have done something like that?* Even if it _was_ to protect their princess, who swore that she would forgive them and then made them promise to forget the experience. It was over, they had won. But, no one could really win against evil. There was a darkness in each of the senshi, darkness that covered a person's heart if it was allowed to.
They had allowed it.
"You're still thinking about it again" Haruka suddenly asked, pulling away. It was a statement, not a question. Michiru nodded, her eyes struggling not to show the pain piercing her heart.
"I'm still scared of that darkness..." the violinist whispered. "What if it comes back one day? The blood of betrayal will always be on our hands. Once stained, it can never be removed." The blonde tomboy nodded, her own teal eyes speaking of the same pain Michiru struggled not to show.
"It was foolish," she replied her voice heavy with emotion. "And in the end...it accomplished nothing, except resulting in our deaths. We promised to defeat Galaxia, but we did no such thing. We just caused the princess more pain."
"I don't want to remember. It hurts still. We're her protectors, yet over the past year, we've treated her like a nuisance."
"She's still young," Haruka argued. "Why should she be fighting and making decisions like these? She may be a queen one day, but she's barely sixteen. She shouldn't have to suffer because of the darkness." Michiru looked up at the pearl-like moon in the sky that cast down unadulterated, pure light.
"Our princess is very trusting," she murmured. "She sees goodness in the hearts of demons." A smile played on her lips. "She saw the goodness in us. It's impossible to think that she would want to be killed by the darkness. Someone so innocent and sweet..."
"The light attracts dark, just as the dark attracts the light," her partner replied, shaking her head. "Everything we do may be for naught, but she sees the world differently. She sees it as possibilities."
"As a young girl should," Michiru smiled, remembering seeing their princess the first moment after their deaths and resurrection. Only she could make an angel of light out of the possessed golden senshi. Michiru felt a vague since of maternal pride swell up within her. As much as she and Haruka would like to hide it, they trusted Usagi with their lives and future, if it came down to it. They didn't want her involved in what they did because she was young. Too young to face the often harsh reality of the world.
"Only a day since the final battle," Haruka suddenly mused thoughtfully. "It seems like forever. Peace is finally. Hopefully...no more battles." Michiru smiled gently.
"Hopefully," she agreed, and returned to the kiss that had been stopped a few moments before.
Both pairs of eyes widened in shock and turned to look at each other.
"Maybe we should say something before they get too...involved..." a tiny voice whispered. "There are some things about the senshi I just don't want to know."
The taller of the two shook her head. "No...Mama said that we'd have to wait until the lunar eclipse is over," she replied. She peered back out at the couple and sighed. "Besides, it's not every day you get to see this." The smaller figure sighed.
"You're starting to sound like Shinkai-chan." The taller one flinched. That wasn't a real insult, but sometimes Shinkai was a little...weird.
"You should wipe that off..." the smaller figure suddenly said. The taller one turned towards her.
"What?"
"That big spider on your shirt."
One second passed.
"EEEEEEIIHH!" the girl screamed, running from behind the bushes, interrupting the intimate couple. Haruka and Michiru broke away as a pink- haired child bounced from the bushes, screaming as if the hounds of hell were after her. A small gray kitten leaped after her, her bell jingling wildly.
"Small Lady!" she screamed. Haruka and Michiru shared a disbelieving look and then they both sighed. Haruka grabbed Chibiusa before she ran into something and picked her up off the ground. The pink-haired child was still screaming loudly. Michiru stared at her with a quizzical expression.
"Chibiusa-chan?" she asked. Chibiusa paused and then realized that not only had her cover been blown, but the spider had jumped off in her shrieking. Diana looked up at her, a cross look on her petite features.
"Small Lady..." she grumbled. Chibiusa laughed nervously and then turned to the two outer senshi.
"Um...hi, guys," she said. Then she took a deep breath. "I'm back from the future to stay with you guys for awhile. It was my mama and papa's decision and the world is not in danger this time. Neither is the future." Haruka raised an eyebrow.
"Chibi-odango-atama..." she started, but Michiru stopped her with a look. Instead, the violinist turned towards her.
"Chibiusa-chan, could you have been a little more discreet when spying on us?" she asked. The pink-haired girl giggled slightly as Haruka put her down onto the ground.
"Gomen," she apologized. "But I need to speak with Usagi-chan! Let's go!" Without waiting for a reaction, she bounded off down the path, Diana at her ankles. The couple turned to each other, shared a look, and then sighed.
So much like her mother.
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Usagi sighed as the lunar eclipse continued. She was struggling to stay awake, but it had been an hour and so far, this was boring. Hotaru was already sleeping in Setsuna's arms. Ami, Mamoru, Rei, and Setsuna were alert and continuing to stare at the lunar eclipse. Makoto was reading a magazine and Minako was doing the same thing. She herself was struggling to stay awake.
Yawning, she stared up at the night sky and struggled to pick out constellations. "That one looks like a rabbit..." she murmured softly. "And that one looks like...that one looks the sign of Jupiter...that one looks like a cake I made the other day..." Then she noticed something shoot across the sky. "Look, everyone! A shooting star!" The girls turned from their observation of the moon and turned towards the falling star.
"So many shooting stars lately," Setsuna murmured to the sleeping girl. She then turned back towards the sky. "Shooting stars seem to be omen for the alpha and the omega...these are real, though." She remembered the last four shooting stars they had seen, but they had not really been shooting stars. She shook her head.
"A shooting star!" Usagi murmured and then closed her eyes. *I wish to have happiness. Eternal happiness. It doesn't matter when, but when it comes, please let it last forever!* She saw her other friends making wishes and then she turned to Mamoru.
"What did you wish for, Mamo-chan?" she asked. Mamoru grinned sadly.
"I wished that I could be with you forever without going back to America," he whispered. Usagi gasped.
"You're going back?"
"Yes. The university wants me start next semester, which is in a few weeks. I won't go if you don't want me to leave." Instead of tears, he saw shocked when Usagi grinned and threw her arms around his neck.
"Mamo-chan!" she yelled enthusiastically. "That's great! Now you can go and I don't have to worry about anyone taking your star seed!" Mamoru chuckled and hugged his girlfriend back, glad not to see tears stream down her pretty face.
"Mamo-chan!" a new voice called and before anyone could say anything, Chibiusa rushed at her future father and into his arms. "I'm back!" Haruka and Michiru walked up at that moment and Setsuna smiled at them, ignoring the raised eyebrows she got from both of them. After all, Setsuna _was_ in charge of the gate that allowed people to time travel.
Michiru smiled sweetly at Usagi when she realized Setsuna had put on that mask of hers again.
"Look who we found," she giggled as the blonde turned red from anger and grabbed her future daughter.
"Get off of my boyfriend!"
"He's my boyfriend!"
"Chibiusa-chan!!!!!!!!"
Usagi had been wrong. It wasn't the end.
It was the very beginning...of everything.
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SAILOR SAYS:
Usagi: And that is beginning of CosmicStars!
Minako: *poking her head in from the side* I didn't know a person could write a 'Sailor Says' for so short of a chapter.
Makoto: *also sliding in* Yeah! This thing is for morals anyway! There is absolutely NO moral in so short of an episode.
Ami: *from off-screen* The author just likes experimenting with new ideas.
Usagi: That's right! Which is why we don't do morals unless there is one!
Rei: *pushing Usagi over* Then tell us exactly _why_ we're here if there is _no_ moral.
Usagi: *getting up from the ground* _Because!_ We're getting paid!
Ami: Actually...
Chibiusa: *jumping in out of the sky and landing on Usagi* Yee-haw! I'm back for another season!!!
Usagi: WHY CAN'T YOU FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO LAND ON WHEN YOU TIME TRAVEL, YOU BRAT!?
Chibiusa: Because no one wants to hear you talk when they can talk to me!
Usagi: Get _out_ of here, you little monster.
*Usagi and Chibiusa get into a little dust-up fight with Xs and swirly marks coming from the cloud. Someone takes hold of the camera and spins it around. Saturn is standing there, with her glaive*
Saturn: Somehow, I don't think these are what the 'Sailor Says' sections are for.
Hypothetical Bob-Dude: YES THEY ARE!!!! DEATH TO MORALS! THEY MAKE YOU EAT FRUIT LOOPS!!!!!!! *Saturn calmly hits Hypothetical Bob-Dude and turns him into dust*
Saturn: Ahem. As I was saying, before I was so _rudely_ interrupted, we need to cut this little episode right now before Nashie-chan comes in and realizes we're not following the script.
*Cut to Nashie-chan sitting in her living room, watching the 'Sailor Says' part of the episode. Flames start to appear around her.*
Saturn: *winking at the screen* Good night, everybody!
REVISED 03/12/02
12/29/03 - Author's Note: This is the only completed revised chapter of "Reawakening". It included a Sailor Says and was accompanied by more details. The fact is, BSSMCosmicStars is on a permanent hiatus – I do intend to finish it someday when I have more time, more likely when I'm out of school. But right now, I have too much stuff to worry about – especially concerning the fact that I'm now a high school junior and preparing to go to college or something along those lines.
Also, I'm currently working on FOUR other fanfictions. I hope the poor storyline and messy telling of CosmicStars won't prevent you the reader from venturing over to read those stories. I won't be posting them until I have updated the current chapters of CosmicStars, and even then, I can only post "Aeternum Vale", "Cinderella – A Fushigi Yuugi Parody", and "Terra Incognito" – "Ad Astra Per Aspera" has a few characters in it that would break FFNet's policies.
If you the reader are expecting this story to be updated anytime soon, I won't encourage you to keep checking back for updates. As mentioned before, CosmicStars is no longer primary on my list to be completed. It will get done eventually, just not soon. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the other three books that ARE done, and the part of the forth that is.
Until the next episode, this is Nashie, signing off.
REAWAKENING Book One of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon CosmicStars by Nashie (aka ShadowSamurai) December 1999 - April 2000 Revised - Summer/Fall 2002
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Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and her friends belong to Naoko Takeuchi. The author takes no credit for any of the original storyline. However, all the new characters belong to me and I'd appreciate it if you didn't take any without requesting permission.
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As many farewells as be stars in heaven, With distinct breath and consigned kisses to them, [Time] fumbles up into a loose adieu And scants us with a single famished kiss Distasted with the salt of broken tears.
- Troilus and Cressida 4.4.43-7
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~~~Episode 201: Wake up call! The little moon soldier returns~~~
The peaceful, content couple stood over the railing, staring down at the placid steam, the water turned silvery by the moonlight reflected in their eyes. They had just defeated a possessed Sailor Galaxia and everything was peaceful, just as it should be for any normal schoolgirl. Chaos was banished, buried forever, and her friends and guardians and fiancé had come back to life.
A dull ache spread through her heart. Such a hectic night! She had to say good-bye to four very good friends after seeing her soldiers revived. She was emotionally, physically, and mentally drained. Rei would have made a comment about being mentally drained, but Usagi, too thrilled to see her best friend alive, wouldn't have cared less.
She closed her eyes and then turned to Mamoru. Where would she be without him...it had broken her soul when she learned he had died at Galaxia's hand. She paused. Where would she be without her friends at all? They had all trusted her enough with their lives and died protecting her because they believed in her.
Now, thanks to that hope, there wouldn't be any more battles. They could all live in peace.
Usagi turned to look at the engagement ring on her left hand. It glimmered in the moonlight and she smiled before turning up to Mamoru. "Mamo-chan...do you like me?" Mamoru looked surprised.
"Of course." Usagi frowned, tugging on his arm. The answer was insubstantial.
"How much?" Mamoru still appeared confused.
"Why so suddenly?" he asked. Usagi shook her head and tugged his arm even harder.
"Really. How much?" Mamoru seemed to consider this question and then a soft smile appeared on his face and in his eyes.
"Let's see...when I'm with you, I'm filled with energy," he finally replied. Usagi blushed and smiled at this answer as she turned to look straight up at Mamoru. Her love now, and for the rest of eternity.
"I'm Tsukino Usagi, sixteen years old, in first year of high school. I'm a little clumsy, and a little bit of a crybaby. But actually, I'm the pretty sailor-suited fighter for love and justice, Sailor Moon." Feeling content with this, she leaned up and kissed her eternal love under the moonlight.
It was the end.
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A few days later, a certain blonde was running to her designated meeting area, already knowing she was an hour late. Sometimes, she thought bitterly, teachers must give out detentions for the sake of giving out detentions...
Usagi rushed down the pathway, and paused when she saw her four closest friends up ahead. "Minna!" she yelled, feeling carefree. She rushed ahead and clung onto Rei tightly. "Hi, everyone!" The four girls laughed happily as the shortest of their group bounded upon them.
"You're happy today, Usagi-chan," Makoto noted. Usagi nodded.
"I am!" she exclaimed. "Today is a good day! We finally have peace now that Chaos has been defeated! We can be normal!" Rei snorted at this, but she was smiling also.
"You were never normal, odango-atama," she teased, using Usagi's affectionate pet name. Usagi gave her a glare, but she was too happy to care about the insult. She just kept remembering Rei...Sailor Mars...dying in her arms at the result of Galaxia's hand. What she had told her. Usagi would never forget.
*You're...too...sweet...be strong...*
"I will," Usagi murmured, but then shook her head. She had to get such depressing thoughts out of her head. Instead, she giggled and pulled Rei's arm. "Come on! We're going to be late! The lunar eclipse is tonight! It's already sunset! We promised to meet Mamo-chan and the others there!" Without that, she ran ahead. Minako grinned.
"You were the one who was late!" she called, running after Usagi, followed by a smiling Ami, Rei, and Makoto.
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"You're late, Usa-ko!" Mamoru called. It was dark now and the park was full of people. Usagi flinched and laughed nervously.
"I had detention!" she said, running up with the four other inner girls. She hugged Mamoru. "I promise I won't be late again! Okay?" Mamoru raised an eyebrow at this, but gave Usagi a kiss anyway. Minako giggled while Rei blushed furiously and turned to look up at the sky.
Mamoru had already set out a large blanket and the six young people sat down at it and turned their heads toward the sky. Ami had brought binoculars and was giving the others a complete lesson of a lunar eclipse. Usagi yawned and sat back in Mamoru's lap, her long blonde pigtails spilling onto the blue and white-checkered blanket.
"Has it started yet?" Minako asked, looking through a magazine. She was lying on her stomach, her legs crossed. She turned to stare up at the moon. "This..."
"...is so boring!" another voice finished nearby. Everyone spun around and saw a small dark-haired girl craning her neck up the sky. She sniffled. "At least when a solar eclipse occurs, you can see something happening." A taller young woman, with hair so dark it was nearly black, sighed.
"I remember a certain little girl complaining that no one ever took her anywhere," she said, staring pointedly at her. Usagi jumped to her feet and ran over to them, wrapping them both in a tight hug, surprising not only the tallest, but the rest of her friends as well. These girls were not particularly close to Tsukino Usagi.
"Setsuna-san! Hotaru-chan!" she exclaimed as she pulled away, ignoring the baffled expressions on her friends' faces. To her, all the senshi were her friends and even more so now that Galaxia and Chaos were gone. "Where are Haruka-san and Michiru-san?" Setsuna smiled gently, a rare form of emotion coming from the usual enigmatic mask she wore as the guardian of time.
"Around here somewhere," she said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Hotaru seemed uncomfortable at this and, to solve her dilemma, ran over to say her hellos to everyone else. Usagi frowned when she suddenly realized what Setsuna was talking about. She blushed and then nodded.
"Okay," she murmured, though secretly she was relieved. If the battle had been tough on any of her soldiers, it had to be even worse for Michiru and Haruka. For both of them had turned "traitor" during the very heat of the battle, breaking Usagi's already grieving heart. The heart shattered almost beyond repair when the two soldiers' alliance really came through, dying in the face of impossible circumstances.
"Usagi-chan!" Makoto called. "Ami-chan says it's starting!" Usagi turned to look back at the sky and saw that, indeed, the moon seemed to have changed appearance since its last position. She grinned and sat back down next to Mamoru.
"The lunar eclipse..." she murmured, but her concentration was broken when she was two bright lights flash in the growing shadow of the silver satellite. One was electric blue while the other was hot pink. But before she could open her mouth to say anything, the lights were gone, flashing before her eyes for a quick second. Usagi frowned. "Did you guys see that?" Ami turned to look at her.
"See what?" Usagi blinked and then shook her head. If Ami, the sharpest and most insightful of the inner senshi, had not seen a thing, then it must have been her imagination.
"Nothing...I must have just been seeing things," she murmured. She shook her head and then leaned back against Mamoru. *My mind isn't playing tricks on me. Those lights were so bright...could it be...a new enemy? No...Chaos is gone...there are no more enemies!* She shook her head again, confused. *I must just be seeing things. I am tired.*
Mamoru stared down at his blonde fiancé. He knew he would have to tell her soon. He hoped she wouldn't be angry with him. Especially since what happened last time...he frowned before turning back up at the solar eclipse.
No one noticed prying red eyes watching them.
************************************************************
Meanwhile...
"Did you see that?" a soft voice asked. She looked up at the moon and frowned. "Those two lights..." The other person with her shrugged and then shivered.
"Wonder why it's been getting so cold lately," she murmured. "And during the summer too?" The first speaker giggled and then placed her mirror in alignment with the moon.
"You're overreacting," she said, blue eyes sparkling. Her smile seemed a bit tense, though. "I could've sworn I saw two lights appear in the shadow of the moon." Her smile now completely disappeared. "Near Mare Serenitatis...the Sea of Serenity." The other girl next to her frowned, running a hand through her sleek blonde hair.
"Is that a premonition of good fortune or disaster?"
"I don't know..."
There was movement behind them, which neither young women noticed. A bright pair of red eyes peered through the bushes at them. Another pair, closer to the ground, also watched. The owners of the eyes were both silent.
Michiru sighed, placing her mirror back in her purse. "Maybe I shouldn't worry. All the enemies have been defeated. Sailor Galaxia and Chaos should be the last obstacle before Crystal Tokyo. I'm just being paranoid." Haruka nodded.
"Or maybe your will was weakened by the moonlight," she said with an evil look in her eye. Michiru smiled at her partner and rested her head on her should.
"No...I don't think that was it," she said, but kissed Haruka anyway. Still, her mind was wondering back to the events just a few days before. Going up against Galaxia...pretending to be her slaves...and in the end, for nothing. Hotaru-chan...Setsuna...they had trusted them, even though it had been shocking to both. After the battle, they both insisted that they forgave their friends, knowing that they were protecting Usagi in some way.
*That's no excuse,* Michiru thought, sighing. *How could we have done something like that?* Even if it _was_ to protect their princess, who swore that she would forgive them and then made them promise to forget the experience. It was over, they had won. But, no one could really win against evil. There was a darkness in each of the senshi, darkness that covered a person's heart if it was allowed to.
They had allowed it.
"You're still thinking about it again" Haruka suddenly asked, pulling away. It was a statement, not a question. Michiru nodded, her eyes struggling not to show the pain piercing her heart.
"I'm still scared of that darkness..." the violinist whispered. "What if it comes back one day? The blood of betrayal will always be on our hands. Once stained, it can never be removed." The blonde tomboy nodded, her own teal eyes speaking of the same pain Michiru struggled not to show.
"It was foolish," she replied her voice heavy with emotion. "And in the end...it accomplished nothing, except resulting in our deaths. We promised to defeat Galaxia, but we did no such thing. We just caused the princess more pain."
"I don't want to remember. It hurts still. We're her protectors, yet over the past year, we've treated her like a nuisance."
"She's still young," Haruka argued. "Why should she be fighting and making decisions like these? She may be a queen one day, but she's barely sixteen. She shouldn't have to suffer because of the darkness." Michiru looked up at the pearl-like moon in the sky that cast down unadulterated, pure light.
"Our princess is very trusting," she murmured. "She sees goodness in the hearts of demons." A smile played on her lips. "She saw the goodness in us. It's impossible to think that she would want to be killed by the darkness. Someone so innocent and sweet..."
"The light attracts dark, just as the dark attracts the light," her partner replied, shaking her head. "Everything we do may be for naught, but she sees the world differently. She sees it as possibilities."
"As a young girl should," Michiru smiled, remembering seeing their princess the first moment after their deaths and resurrection. Only she could make an angel of light out of the possessed golden senshi. Michiru felt a vague since of maternal pride swell up within her. As much as she and Haruka would like to hide it, they trusted Usagi with their lives and future, if it came down to it. They didn't want her involved in what they did because she was young. Too young to face the often harsh reality of the world.
"Only a day since the final battle," Haruka suddenly mused thoughtfully. "It seems like forever. Peace is finally. Hopefully...no more battles." Michiru smiled gently.
"Hopefully," she agreed, and returned to the kiss that had been stopped a few moments before.
Both pairs of eyes widened in shock and turned to look at each other.
"Maybe we should say something before they get too...involved..." a tiny voice whispered. "There are some things about the senshi I just don't want to know."
The taller of the two shook her head. "No...Mama said that we'd have to wait until the lunar eclipse is over," she replied. She peered back out at the couple and sighed. "Besides, it's not every day you get to see this." The smaller figure sighed.
"You're starting to sound like Shinkai-chan." The taller one flinched. That wasn't a real insult, but sometimes Shinkai was a little...weird.
"You should wipe that off..." the smaller figure suddenly said. The taller one turned towards her.
"What?"
"That big spider on your shirt."
One second passed.
"EEEEEEIIHH!" the girl screamed, running from behind the bushes, interrupting the intimate couple. Haruka and Michiru broke away as a pink- haired child bounced from the bushes, screaming as if the hounds of hell were after her. A small gray kitten leaped after her, her bell jingling wildly.
"Small Lady!" she screamed. Haruka and Michiru shared a disbelieving look and then they both sighed. Haruka grabbed Chibiusa before she ran into something and picked her up off the ground. The pink-haired child was still screaming loudly. Michiru stared at her with a quizzical expression.
"Chibiusa-chan?" she asked. Chibiusa paused and then realized that not only had her cover been blown, but the spider had jumped off in her shrieking. Diana looked up at her, a cross look on her petite features.
"Small Lady..." she grumbled. Chibiusa laughed nervously and then turned to the two outer senshi.
"Um...hi, guys," she said. Then she took a deep breath. "I'm back from the future to stay with you guys for awhile. It was my mama and papa's decision and the world is not in danger this time. Neither is the future." Haruka raised an eyebrow.
"Chibi-odango-atama..." she started, but Michiru stopped her with a look. Instead, the violinist turned towards her.
"Chibiusa-chan, could you have been a little more discreet when spying on us?" she asked. The pink-haired girl giggled slightly as Haruka put her down onto the ground.
"Gomen," she apologized. "But I need to speak with Usagi-chan! Let's go!" Without waiting for a reaction, she bounded off down the path, Diana at her ankles. The couple turned to each other, shared a look, and then sighed.
So much like her mother.
************************************************************
Usagi sighed as the lunar eclipse continued. She was struggling to stay awake, but it had been an hour and so far, this was boring. Hotaru was already sleeping in Setsuna's arms. Ami, Mamoru, Rei, and Setsuna were alert and continuing to stare at the lunar eclipse. Makoto was reading a magazine and Minako was doing the same thing. She herself was struggling to stay awake.
Yawning, she stared up at the night sky and struggled to pick out constellations. "That one looks like a rabbit..." she murmured softly. "And that one looks like...that one looks the sign of Jupiter...that one looks like a cake I made the other day..." Then she noticed something shoot across the sky. "Look, everyone! A shooting star!" The girls turned from their observation of the moon and turned towards the falling star.
"So many shooting stars lately," Setsuna murmured to the sleeping girl. She then turned back towards the sky. "Shooting stars seem to be omen for the alpha and the omega...these are real, though." She remembered the last four shooting stars they had seen, but they had not really been shooting stars. She shook her head.
"A shooting star!" Usagi murmured and then closed her eyes. *I wish to have happiness. Eternal happiness. It doesn't matter when, but when it comes, please let it last forever!* She saw her other friends making wishes and then she turned to Mamoru.
"What did you wish for, Mamo-chan?" she asked. Mamoru grinned sadly.
"I wished that I could be with you forever without going back to America," he whispered. Usagi gasped.
"You're going back?"
"Yes. The university wants me start next semester, which is in a few weeks. I won't go if you don't want me to leave." Instead of tears, he saw shocked when Usagi grinned and threw her arms around his neck.
"Mamo-chan!" she yelled enthusiastically. "That's great! Now you can go and I don't have to worry about anyone taking your star seed!" Mamoru chuckled and hugged his girlfriend back, glad not to see tears stream down her pretty face.
"Mamo-chan!" a new voice called and before anyone could say anything, Chibiusa rushed at her future father and into his arms. "I'm back!" Haruka and Michiru walked up at that moment and Setsuna smiled at them, ignoring the raised eyebrows she got from both of them. After all, Setsuna _was_ in charge of the gate that allowed people to time travel.
Michiru smiled sweetly at Usagi when she realized Setsuna had put on that mask of hers again.
"Look who we found," she giggled as the blonde turned red from anger and grabbed her future daughter.
"Get off of my boyfriend!"
"He's my boyfriend!"
"Chibiusa-chan!!!!!!!!"
Usagi had been wrong. It wasn't the end.
It was the very beginning...of everything.
************************************************************
SAILOR SAYS:
Usagi: And that is beginning of CosmicStars!
Minako: *poking her head in from the side* I didn't know a person could write a 'Sailor Says' for so short of a chapter.
Makoto: *also sliding in* Yeah! This thing is for morals anyway! There is absolutely NO moral in so short of an episode.
Ami: *from off-screen* The author just likes experimenting with new ideas.
Usagi: That's right! Which is why we don't do morals unless there is one!
Rei: *pushing Usagi over* Then tell us exactly _why_ we're here if there is _no_ moral.
Usagi: *getting up from the ground* _Because!_ We're getting paid!
Ami: Actually...
Chibiusa: *jumping in out of the sky and landing on Usagi* Yee-haw! I'm back for another season!!!
Usagi: WHY CAN'T YOU FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO LAND ON WHEN YOU TIME TRAVEL, YOU BRAT!?
Chibiusa: Because no one wants to hear you talk when they can talk to me!
Usagi: Get _out_ of here, you little monster.
*Usagi and Chibiusa get into a little dust-up fight with Xs and swirly marks coming from the cloud. Someone takes hold of the camera and spins it around. Saturn is standing there, with her glaive*
Saturn: Somehow, I don't think these are what the 'Sailor Says' sections are for.
Hypothetical Bob-Dude: YES THEY ARE!!!! DEATH TO MORALS! THEY MAKE YOU EAT FRUIT LOOPS!!!!!!! *Saturn calmly hits Hypothetical Bob-Dude and turns him into dust*
Saturn: Ahem. As I was saying, before I was so _rudely_ interrupted, we need to cut this little episode right now before Nashie-chan comes in and realizes we're not following the script.
*Cut to Nashie-chan sitting in her living room, watching the 'Sailor Says' part of the episode. Flames start to appear around her.*
Saturn: *winking at the screen* Good night, everybody!
REVISED 03/12/02
12/29/03 - Author's Note: This is the only completed revised chapter of "Reawakening". It included a Sailor Says and was accompanied by more details. The fact is, BSSMCosmicStars is on a permanent hiatus – I do intend to finish it someday when I have more time, more likely when I'm out of school. But right now, I have too much stuff to worry about – especially concerning the fact that I'm now a high school junior and preparing to go to college or something along those lines.
Also, I'm currently working on FOUR other fanfictions. I hope the poor storyline and messy telling of CosmicStars won't prevent you the reader from venturing over to read those stories. I won't be posting them until I have updated the current chapters of CosmicStars, and even then, I can only post "Aeternum Vale", "Cinderella – A Fushigi Yuugi Parody", and "Terra Incognito" – "Ad Astra Per Aspera" has a few characters in it that would break FFNet's policies.
If you the reader are expecting this story to be updated anytime soon, I won't encourage you to keep checking back for updates. As mentioned before, CosmicStars is no longer primary on my list to be completed. It will get done eventually, just not soon. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the other three books that ARE done, and the part of the forth that is.
Until the next episode, this is Nashie, signing off.