*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
REAWAKENING
Book One of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon CosmicStars
by Nashie (aka ShadowSamurai)
December 1999 - April 2000
Revised - Summer/Fall 2002
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
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.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~~~Episode 208: DreamStar appears! Chibiusa-chan is missing!~~~
Chibiusa walked sullenly around the marketplace. The night had turned to a velvet blue color and stars were hazily appearing the sky. The sun sent a glowing pink and orange tint to the western horizon. There was a crescent moon hanging low in the eastern sky. It was gorgeous. Diana looked up at the stars and groaned beneath her breath.
"Small Lady," she whispered. "We are lost. Admit it." Chibiusa grabbed Diana off her head and gave her a dirty look.
"I'm not lost," Chibiusa growled. She smiled suddenly. "I'm going to find Pu." Diana sighed. As stubborn as her mother.
The two friends walked along the market place of Juuban District. They didn't say anything for awhile. Chibiusa walked past one of those classic shops. It was still opened, oddly. Most of the stores closed around five this time of year. Chibiusa realized that it was a flower shop. Her eyes went wide. A flower shop? Mako would love this!
Chibiusa slowly pushed the door open. A bell tingled on the door overhead. She looked around and saw nothing but green plants and blooming colorful flowers. A clerk saw her and smiled.
"I'm sorry little girl, but we're about to close in five minutes," he said. "Would you like to buy something?" Chibiusa shook her head, but when she shook it the left, she saw a beautiful flower. It was a lush green with gorgeous crimson flowers. It was so beautiful.
"Wow," Chibiusa whispered, approaching the flower. She stared at it with huge red eyes. "It's...beautiful. What's it called?" The clerk shrugged.
"It doesn't have a name," he said. "It just came in today, but only one person bought it today. Umm...Meioh Setsuna-san." Chibiusa stared at the clerk. Pu had been in here earlier?
"Pu...I mean, Setsuna-chan...was in here today?" she asked. The clerk nodded. "Do you know where she went?" The clerk tried to remember what his customer had done earlier.
"Well, she came in with a rather mysterious young girl with black hair," he said slowly, his memory coming back. "When they were leaving, two others came in…a blonde guy and a girl with aqua colored hair...and they all left together." Chibiusa smiled.
"How long ago?" she asked. The clerk shrugged again then looked at a clock.
"Hmm, maybe fifteen minutes ago?"
"'Kay. Thanks." She ran toward the door.
"Hey!" Chibiusa stopped. She turned back to the clerk. He was staring at her, as if he was trying to place where she came from. "Are you related to Tsukino Reverie? You two look alike." Chibiusa stared at the guy. Tsukino Reverie? Wasn't that the girl who had come to the Hikawa Shrine earlier?
"No. I'm related to Tsukino Usagi," Chibiusa retorted. She wondered about the clerk. Why would he care who she was related to? She slowly opened the door and stepped outside. The night was even darker. The sun was completely gone now. Brilliant stars lit up the night sky. The moon hung high overhead. Diana sighed.
"Small Lady, we need to go home now before Usagi-sama, Mommy, and Daddy start to worry," she said in her shrill voice. Chibiusa sighed. She was right, but she could still try couldn't she? If Pu had been her fifteen minutes ago with the others, why couldn't she be around the area now? But, then again, fifteen minutes was a long time...
"Small Lady!"
"What!?" Chibiusa asked in an irritated voice. She loved Diana very much, but sometimes she could be a worry kitty.
"Luna-P is trying to tell you something!" Chibiusa saw that her toy cat was blinking. She grabbed it from mid-air and stared at it. Its eyes were glowing.
"I think it's a message," Chibiusa said aloud. She tapped Luna-P's nose. A holographic shape began emitting from Luna-P's eyes. Chibiusa looked around quickly. No one was around, but still...she didn't want to take any chances. She ran into a back alley and prayed that there were no rats back there.
"What is it?" Diana asked, staring at the hologram. Chibiusa stared.
"C-Crystal Tokyo," she gasped in surprise. "I think it's a message from mom. Or dad. Or one of the inner soldiers. I can't tell." The image wavered for a second before there was some static coming from the robotic cat.
Hi, Usagi Small Lady Serenity the voice said after awhile.
"Mom!"
How is it going in the past? Dad and I miss you. I hope you're fighting well. Mercury told me to send you a new brooch. I've decided to give you my old Eternal brooch. But something is wrong with the time gate here. Mars says that there's a distortion in space. But, they'll take care of it. I'll send you my eternal brooch as soon as possible, my dear daughter. Now, don't pester my past self and watch how many sweets you eat.
"Mooom. You're the one to talk."
We had four surprise visitors yesterday. I'd like to tell you all about it, but you wouldn't believe me. Plus, Mars says that my time to speak through Luna-P is up. She is so strict. I love you, my Small Lady. Hurry back soon. Bye! The hologram disappeared. Chibiusa giggled.
"Oh, Mommy!" she said in between little bursts of laughter. "You are so much like the Usagi of now. You always send funny messages." Diana giggled too.
"Maybe you should send her one back," Diana suggested. Chibiusa nodded and pressed Luna-P's nose again. It began recording. There was no static.
"Hi everyone in 30th century!" she started out. "I'm having a blast here in the past. It's about eight thirty now and I should be in bed. But I have to find Pu first. Don't worry Mom! I won't stay up past my bedtime. I miss everyone so much. I'll come back soon. Who were the visitors? I guess you can't tell me because you're so good at keeping secrets. Can Dad send me a message too? Say something for Usagi-chan and Mamo-chan, 'kay. Everyone says hi."
"Hi, Mommy and Daddy!" Diana said.
"Diana too. Mamo-chan can't say anything because he's over in America in college. He was finally able to go after the battle with Sailor Galaxia! He'll be back in a year or so. I miss him and so does Usagi-chan. I wish I came back when he was here. Then he'd be able to make me chocolate chip pancakes. Ami-chan, Rei-chan, Mako-chan, and Minako-chan say hi too. I miss everyone. I wish I had more to say, but there've been no enemies. I'll be coming home soon. Bye-bye for now!" Chibiusa took her finger off Luna-P's nose.
"I guess we can go home now," she said as her toy floated back up into the air. Diana sat patiently on Chibiusa's head.
"Okay. Let's go." Suddenly, a tall figure appeared in the alley in front of Chibiusa, blocking her passage.
"What's a little girl like you doing out in a back alley?" a voice asked. Chibiusa's eyes widened in fear as she took a step backwards. "You're not going anywhere tonight." Then she laughed. Chibiusa began to run, but was immediately stunned. It felt like her whole body was struck by lightning and paralyzed. She fell to the ground. Diana fell off her head and further into the darkness.
"Run, Diana! Go get help!" Chibiusa screamed as she felt herself being pulled back to the monster. She tried to be strong and not cry out in fear. It would only scare Diana.
"Small Lady!"
"Go, I'll be fine! Go get help!"
Diana saw the sailor suited figure come closer. She couldn't save Chibiusa like this. There were sometimes that she wished she were human and could be a sailor soldier. She turned and heard Chibiusa struggling. She had to go!
Diana took off down the alley. She had to find help. And quickly.
************************************************************
Usagi looked around frantically. Where was Chibiusa? She was supposed to be here. Where was the bothersome brat?
"Chibiusa-chan!" Usagi yelled down the stairs. She peeked around the corner. "Where are you?" Luna and Artemis came running from Usagi's room.
"Usagi-chan, you haven't found them yet?"
"You mean Diana's gone too?"
"Where could they have gone?" Just as they began to panic, the doorbell rang. Usagi sighed with relief. The others were finally here. Or maybe it was Chibiusa. She ran down the stairs, tripped on the first step and went colliding into the front door. Her face smashed into the ground.
"Owwwwwww!" Usagi howled. She meekly touched her face as she opened the door. She looked outside and saw Minako and Rei already waiting outside.
"Usagi-chan!" Minako yelped. She hurried inside. "What's wrong? What happened?" Usagi stared at them and got a worried look on her face. No time to worry about her own mistakes. They had to find that brat.
"Chibiusa and Diana are missing," Usagi quickly said. She got to her feet. Rei's eyes got wide.
"Missing?" she asked. "Like, ran away?" Usagi shrugged.
"It's not like her to just run off for no reason," Usagi whispered. Her eyes got teary. "She didn't even leave a note. What if she's in trouble?"
"There has to be some logical explanation," Rei said, comforting Usagi. "Maybe she just wanted to be alone for awhile. She'll be back."
"But, I can't help but worry. She's too young to be out at this time of night."
"She'll be all right. She has Diana with her," Minako reminded her. Usagi took a deep breath and nodded. She wiped her eyes and sniffed. Chibiusa. Where was she?
"What's wrong?" Ami asked. She and Mako stepped through the door. "What happened?" Usagi told them and her eyes got teary again.
"Maybe she just needed to get out of the house for awhile," Mako suggested. Ami thought about it. It was late. If Chibiusa wanted to get out, it would have been smart just to go out on the balcony out front. Why would Chibiusa and Diana go out so late? It didn't make sense unless…
"That's not it Mako-chan," Ami said quietly.
"Maybe she wanted to go out and get some fast food," Minako suggested as well. Usagi argued that suggestions: Chibiusa didn't have any money.
"That's not it either."
"Well, maybe she went to go and see the moon. It is a crescent tonight. It's in the waning stages," Rei said. Usagi thought about that, but argued that suggestion too: Chibiusa could just stay on the porch and watch the moon.
"That's not it!" Ami shouted. The others turned to her surprised. Ami blushed before she continued. "Chibiusa-chan went out look for Setsuna-san. Diana probably went with her to keep her company."
"Why did she go look for her?" Usagi asked. But the answer was obvious. Chibiusa was going to find out why Setsuna had treated her so coldly before.
"Call Setsuna-chan and the others," Mako said. "See if Chibiusa-chan's with them." Usagi nodded and ran up the stairs. She came back down holding her pink phone.
"Please Chibiusa, be with them," Usagi murmured to herself as she quickly dialed. Six expectant faces turned to her. The phone rang once... twice...
"Moshi, moshi?"
"Um…hello?"
"Usagi-chan, is that you?" Usagi nodded, but then realized that Michiru couldn't see her.
"Yeah," Usagi said slowly.
"What do you want?" Michiru asked impatiently. Usagi swallowed. Michiru didn't sound too happy.
"I was just wondering...have you guys seen Chibiusa-chan?" Usagi asked. Where was her usual happy tone? Try again. "I mean, within the past hour or so."
"Why?" What kind of question was that?
"Because she's missing!" Usagi cried. She tried to hold back her sobs as she waited for a reaction. Five seconds passed.
"Missing? Since when?" The voice was more urgent this time. Usagi held back another sob.
"An hour or two ago," she said. "And she didn't leave a note. I'm getting worried. It's dark out there." She waited for another response. There was a very long pause. Usagi strained to hear voices speaking on the other side. But there was only silence. She could only hear Michiru's slight breathing on the other line.
"Well," Michiru finally replied. "I'm sure she'll show up. Don't worry." Usagi's eyes widened in disbelief. Then they narrowed in anger.
"How can you be so heartless?" she cried, her voice heavy with sobs. "You know Chibiusa-chan is our future princess and yet you acted so cruel to her and all of us today. If you're scared, big deal. We've all been scared before." Then her voice softened. She hated yelling like that. "Please." It was plead.
Michiru sighed heavily on the other line. "Listen, Usagi-chan. I don't really care at the moment."
"But..."
"Call me back when you find her."
"Where's Setsuna-san?" There was a pause.
"Why?"
"Where is she?" Usagi asked. Her grip on the phone was becoming tighter. This was no way to speak to any person.
"Not here. She and Haruka left around ten minutes ago. Now Usagi-chan, it's late. Good night." With that, Michiru hung up the phone. Usagi listened to the ever constant beep in shock. She carefully set the phone down.
"Well?" Minako asked. "Is she with them?" Usagi shook her head. What was wrong with Michiru?
"Um, Michiru-san answered the phone," Usagi said quietly. "She didn't seem all that willing to help. Haruka-san and Setsuna-san weren't there. I didn't hear Hotaru-chan."
"They're hiding something," Rei whispered. "It's about my vision. I know it." But she really did know it. Should she tell the others about it? Yes, it seemed the only way. "I know what they're worried about."
"Rei-chan?"
"In my vision, if you remember, at the end. The four bodies lying on the ground. The outer soldiers are upset because…"
"HEEELP!" someone screamed from outside.
************************************************************
Author's Note: Diana has perfect timing, doesn't she? Chibiusa's gone! YEE-HAW!!! Actually, I like the little pipsqueak…she's kinda cool to pick on. At least she has more character than Usagi in this fanfiction. Oi vay!
Next chapter is right around the corner! Let's go!