Disclaimer (Sailor Moon) goes here!
Chapter 2
Wake Up, Wake Up
Queen Serenity awoke slowly. Even after 1500 years, she couldn't find
her way to being a morning person, not that it really mattered. When
royalty wanted to sleep in, everyone else usually decided that a late
morning to early evening schedule suited them just as well. Thus, most
of her personal responsibilities could be taken care of in the
afternoon, and the few that couldn't, her daughter was more than capable
of handling.
That meant that most mornings she was able to gently rise from her
slumber and greet the day gracefully and happily. It was amazing how
much easier life was if one actually got adequate sleep at reasonable
hours. After all, dawn was something best experienced only from the
other side.
This morning was different, however. For one thing, someone was shaking
her quite violently and yelling. After a couple seconds of foggy
confusion, her mind reached out for the Silver Crystal, readying herself
to draw upon its awesome power if this was an emergency, which it almost
certainly was. In shock she realized that she could not find it and her
eyes snapped open, a deep sense of foreboding filled her, but she was
ready for anything.
Well, anything but the face that gazed down on her. It was a ghost.
Dead for hundreds of years, but now somehow arisen and attempting to
rattle her arm off.
A few of the apparition's words made their way into her mind before she
fainted. Words that she had thought to never hear again.
"Usagi," her mother's voice demanded. "Wake up this instant, you're
already LATE!"
***
Tsukino Usagi awake slowly. Even after 15 years, she couldn't find her
way to being a morning person, not that it really mattered. Her mother
always got her up and out the door in time for a nice brisk, headlong
suicide dash to school.
Her eyes drifted open just as her mother was preparing to resort to the
cold water treatment.
Over the years, Usagi had become fairly well versed in the methods her
mother employed in waking her up. Cold water was the very last weapon
in her arsenal, which meant that she was seriously late for school.
Her eyes snapped wide open, and a familiar mantra formed on her lips:
"OhmygodI'msolate!"
Her mother breathed a sigh of relief at not having to spend the rest of
the morning drying out the mattress and hurried took a step back as
pajama-clad tornado that was her daughter went dashing past. She made
her way downstairs and gathered up the more portable items of Usagi's
breakfast and her lunch.
Usagi spared two point three seconds to give her mother a hug as she
snagged the proffered food, darted out the door, and made her way at
amazing speeds toward school, a piece of toast gripped firmly between
her teeth.
***
Serenity groggily came around and found herself to be running somewhere.
Well, she wasn't really doing the running, but her body was.
//Where am I going?// she thought.
//Iamsolate! Gottogettoschool!// another thought answered. It sounded
almost exactly like her own mental voice, but it certainly wasn't hers.
//Err... Hello?// Serenity projected. //Can I have my body back?//
"Ican'ttalkrightnowIamsolate!" her body said, drawing strange looks from
several pedestrians that had been trying to mind their own business.
//I'll just wait till you get to school them... well, I guess it's we
since you seem to be in control of my body,// she said with a resigned
mental sigh. She was fairly certain that she could wrench away control
if she needed to, but doing so would have to be a last resort because of
the possible side effects.
Whoever was controlling her body seemed completely unaware of this and
dashed along even faster.
As they ran along the streets, places and people began to tickle
Serenity's memory. She got the distinct impression that she had been
here before, but couldn't place most of it immediately. Things
certainly didn't look like Neo-Tokyo, though.
Her body rounded a last corner and heaved a sigh of relief. After a
couple seconds, Serenity identified the building ahead as a school. A
junior high school. Juban Junior High, to be exact.
Suddenly, things began to fall into place and Serenity realized who was
in her body with her. It was her. And this was apparently the past.
It was a big shock, but also a big relief. Time travel wasn't anything
new to her.
Though the fact that she was apparently without her body was a new twist
on things. And the Silver Crystal was nowhere to be found, which meant
that there was no direct way to contact Sailor Pluto. This could be
bad. Very bad.
Might as well have a talk with myself, she decided.
***
All morning, Usagi had been feeling a bit strange. Her head felt...
full. She was used to having cobwebs and the like when she first woke
up, but this was something different, though not altogether
uncomfortable. Not to mention the strange thoughts that would surface
in her mind periodically and take quite a bit of effort to ignore.
Now it was time for lunch and she was sitting underneath a tree with
Naru, chattering about various subjects, boys being a particular
favorite.
//Ahem, do you think we could talk?// a strange voice that sounded
suspiciously like her own asked inside her head, much louder than
before. The thought was, if anything, annoyed.
"What?!" she exclaimed and jumped slightly.
"Usagi-chan, are you alright?" Naru leaned forward slightly, a look of
mild confusion and concern on her face at her friend's outburst.
She shook her head to clear it. //I'm hearing things again. Just like
this morning,// she thought and frowned slightly. "Yeah, Naru-chan, I'm
fine. Just thought I heard someone calling my name is all."
//Would you like to actually listen to me? I've been trying to get your
attention all morning. Don'tspeak! Think what you want to say,// the
voice tried again.
Usagi's expression turned puzzled. //Err... Hello?//
//There! That wasn't so hard, now was it?// The voice sounded
decidedly happy, though it also held something of a mother praising a
child.
//Who are you and what are you doing inside my head?//
"Usagi-chan, are you sure you're alright? You keep staring off into
space like that..." Naru asked as she waved her hand in front of Usagi's
eyes which had been slightly glazed through most of the internal
dialogue.
"Oh... ah... I'm just fine! I was just thinking about Motoki, that's
all!" Usagi answered hurriedly. //We'll talk later.//
"Oh, I know, isn't he just..."
Serenity sighed mentally, //Whatever.//
And things went back to normal for a while.
***
Serenity dozed lightly inside Usagi's head, waiting for a chance to talk
to herself, strange as that may sound.
She finally got her chance when Usagi was sitting in detention, slowly
working her way through a set of kanji exercises. Another memory
tickled her mind and she gave a short mental laugh.
//What's so funny?// Usagi thought back to her, more than just a little
annoyed. //Who are you, and am I going crazy?//
//Well, I'm you, it's possible we're both insane, and you don't know
kanji,// Serenity smirked slightly.
//If you're me, then you can't do it, either, so there!// Usagi stuck
her mental tongue out at the voice.
//Really?// Serenity exerted a good deal of her will and grabbed control
of her writing hand. Such a limited grab at control wasn't likely to
cause any damage to the body, at least. It was amazingly easy, her past
self having nowhere near the experience with mind control and possession
that she did.
"Hey!" Usagi exclaimed, drawing an odd look from the teacher overseeing
her and the other two students sharing her detention.
Soon, the page was covered with perfectly drawn characters and she
released her control of the arm. //There. How's that?//
//Errr... perfect... except for one thing...//
//Oh?// Serenity replied, a bit shocked. She had spent almost five
years learning how to write the junk and was rather proud of her
ability.
//No one is going to believe that I wrote this...// Usagi replied,
causing Serenity to heave a sigh of relief. //But it'll still get me out
of here, I hope.//
She took the paper up to the teacher who was standing watch. "Sensei,
I have completed the assignment, my I go home now?"
The teacher shot her a disbelieving look and perused the work. She
immediately walked past Usagi and began to search the classroom.
Usagi, puzzled, followed after her. "Umm... Sensei, what are you
doing?"
"I'm trying to find the person that did this work. I know your work,
Tsukino-san, and I know that those two," she gestured at the two boys
sitting near the front of the room. They smiled sheepishly. "Couldn't
have done it."
"Oh... uhh... I just got a flash of inspiration, that's all." Usagi
laughed nervously and began debating the intelligence of handing in the
paper.
The teacher heaved a sigh. "I guess you can go, but next time, I want
you to sit closer to the front of the room so I can keep a closer eye on
you."
Usagi bowed slightly in gratitude and took her leave.
//Great, that little stunt of yours almost got me in trouble,// Usagi
fumed at herself.
//Hey, it's been a while since I was in school. How could I be expected
to remember how bad a student I was?// Serenity shot back. //Besides, it
got us out of there, didn't it?//
Usagi just grumbled.
//Say, where are we going, anyway?// Serenity was suddenly serious,
almost sensing what was coming.
//We are going to talk, that's where.//
//Oh, goodie. How about we talk while you walk?// Serenity suggested as
a sudden idea hit her. //We can go to the arcade or something. I
haven't played a good game of Sailor V in far too long.//
//Sailor who?//
//Mina-chan,// was the only answer she received.
***
They arrived at the arcade a short chat latter, Usagi now knowing about
as much about the situation as Serenity. However, she was having
trouble getting any facts about the future out of the voice that claimed
to be her future self.
//And why won't you tell me anything USEFUL about the future?// she
asked for the third time.
//Well, let's put it this way, if I accidentally give you information
that changes your future, I might end up not existing. I can't tell you
anything important, sorry.//
Usagi grumbled to herself again, only slightly concerned that she was
beginning to make a habit of it. The doors slid open at her approach
and she looked around the arcade, hoping that Motoki was working.
//So, what was it you wanted to do here?//
//Sailor V! It should me the fourth machine in the second row, near the
fire extinguisher.//
//If you're from a long time in the future, how do you manage to
remember things like that? I have trouble with things that happened
just a few months ago.//
//Trust me, if you spend anywhere near as much time as I did in here,
you'd know the whole place by heart.// Serenity smiled mentally to
herself at the prospect of enjoying one of the many activities she
hadn't been able to engage in for several hundred years.
//Is this it?// Usagi peered at the machine skeptically. The blazing
title "Barbarian Warrior Goddess" was surrounded by scantily clad,
highly muscular men and women.
//Err... no. I don't remember this one at all.// Serenity watched the
demo game kick in. //It doesn't even look like her.//
//Well, this is a total bust, Motoki's not even here,// Usagi pouted.
//He has a girlfriend, you know.//
//He WHAT!?! How COULD he?// Usagi almost broke down wailing, but
Serenity seized control of her body.
//Not on my watch, you don't. Just because he's not available doesn't
mean that there isn't someone out there that was destined to be with
you.//
Usagi sniffled mentally, but it just wasn't the same. //Hey, aren't you
sharing facts about the future with me? Didn't you just spend fifteen
minutes talking about how you couldn't do that?//
//Err... well, I'm starting to think that this may not really be the
past, after all. So I don't guess it really matters what I tell you.//
//Wait a minute, if you're not in the past, why are you in my body? And
if you're me, how come you can write kanji as well as the teachers?
And-//
//I never said I wasn't you. I'm just not the you that you'll grow up
to be. Get it?//
Usagi thought for a few seconds. //No, not really.//
Serenity sighed. //Okay, let's head over to the shrine and see if anyone
else is having our problem. You do know where it is, right?//
//Which shrine?//
//Never mind, I'll just do the walking. Mom isn't expecting us home for
a while, is she?//
//Nah, I usually go hang out with Naru-chan. But she's helping her mom
set up for some big jewelry show.//
Serenity, still in control of the body, nodded.
After a few more minutes of walking, the Hikawa Shrine came into view.
//Here we are,// Serenity announced.
//This place? Isn't this a shrine a bit small? We could always go to
the big one over on-//
//It's not the shrine I want to see, but the people.// Serenity marched
up the stairs, a faint grin of nostalgia on her face.
She spotted Rei's grandfather, who looked up from sweeping the stairs at
her approach.
"Excuse me, kind sir, but I'm looking for a Ms. Hino Rei. Would you
happen to know where I can find her?"
"Of course. I'm always happy to help out a pretty young lady such as
yourself. She's around back chopping wood for the furo," he smiled at
her in a benevolent manner that Serenity suspected would change into a
leer the second she turned her back.
"Thank you very much." She bowed and continued up the stairs.
//So, exactly who is this Rei person, anyway?//
//One of my dearest friends. She's the only I can think of to talk to
about what's going on.//
Usagi accepted the answer grudgingly. //But will she help us? I mean,
she doesn't know you yet.//
//Got any better ideas?//
Usagi let it go at that.
By that point, they had reached the top of the stairs, and the faint
sound of wood being chopped could be heard from behind the living
quarters area of the shrine.
Moving stealthily, she made her way around the corner and spotted Rei,
dressed in her Shinto robes, wielding a small axe and cutting small log
down to size for use in the shrine's furo heater. When the maiden
stopped for a second to catch her breath, Serenity cleared her throat
quietly.
"Excuse me, but are you Ms. Hino Rei?" she managed to put a hint of
doubt into her voice, just in case.
Rei looked up, startled. "Serenity-sama?"
Serenity broke out into a wide smile. "Now where have I heard that name
before?"
Rei dropped the axe and threw herself at Serenity in a bone-crushing
hug.
Chapter 2
Wake Up, Wake Up
Queen Serenity awoke slowly. Even after 1500 years, she couldn't find
her way to being a morning person, not that it really mattered. When
royalty wanted to sleep in, everyone else usually decided that a late
morning to early evening schedule suited them just as well. Thus, most
of her personal responsibilities could be taken care of in the
afternoon, and the few that couldn't, her daughter was more than capable
of handling.
That meant that most mornings she was able to gently rise from her
slumber and greet the day gracefully and happily. It was amazing how
much easier life was if one actually got adequate sleep at reasonable
hours. After all, dawn was something best experienced only from the
other side.
This morning was different, however. For one thing, someone was shaking
her quite violently and yelling. After a couple seconds of foggy
confusion, her mind reached out for the Silver Crystal, readying herself
to draw upon its awesome power if this was an emergency, which it almost
certainly was. In shock she realized that she could not find it and her
eyes snapped open, a deep sense of foreboding filled her, but she was
ready for anything.
Well, anything but the face that gazed down on her. It was a ghost.
Dead for hundreds of years, but now somehow arisen and attempting to
rattle her arm off.
A few of the apparition's words made their way into her mind before she
fainted. Words that she had thought to never hear again.
"Usagi," her mother's voice demanded. "Wake up this instant, you're
already LATE!"
***
Tsukino Usagi awake slowly. Even after 15 years, she couldn't find her
way to being a morning person, not that it really mattered. Her mother
always got her up and out the door in time for a nice brisk, headlong
suicide dash to school.
Her eyes drifted open just as her mother was preparing to resort to the
cold water treatment.
Over the years, Usagi had become fairly well versed in the methods her
mother employed in waking her up. Cold water was the very last weapon
in her arsenal, which meant that she was seriously late for school.
Her eyes snapped wide open, and a familiar mantra formed on her lips:
"OhmygodI'msolate!"
Her mother breathed a sigh of relief at not having to spend the rest of
the morning drying out the mattress and hurried took a step back as
pajama-clad tornado that was her daughter went dashing past. She made
her way downstairs and gathered up the more portable items of Usagi's
breakfast and her lunch.
Usagi spared two point three seconds to give her mother a hug as she
snagged the proffered food, darted out the door, and made her way at
amazing speeds toward school, a piece of toast gripped firmly between
her teeth.
***
Serenity groggily came around and found herself to be running somewhere.
Well, she wasn't really doing the running, but her body was.
//Where am I going?// she thought.
//Iamsolate! Gottogettoschool!// another thought answered. It sounded
almost exactly like her own mental voice, but it certainly wasn't hers.
//Err... Hello?// Serenity projected. //Can I have my body back?//
"Ican'ttalkrightnowIamsolate!" her body said, drawing strange looks from
several pedestrians that had been trying to mind their own business.
//I'll just wait till you get to school them... well, I guess it's we
since you seem to be in control of my body,// she said with a resigned
mental sigh. She was fairly certain that she could wrench away control
if she needed to, but doing so would have to be a last resort because of
the possible side effects.
Whoever was controlling her body seemed completely unaware of this and
dashed along even faster.
As they ran along the streets, places and people began to tickle
Serenity's memory. She got the distinct impression that she had been
here before, but couldn't place most of it immediately. Things
certainly didn't look like Neo-Tokyo, though.
Her body rounded a last corner and heaved a sigh of relief. After a
couple seconds, Serenity identified the building ahead as a school. A
junior high school. Juban Junior High, to be exact.
Suddenly, things began to fall into place and Serenity realized who was
in her body with her. It was her. And this was apparently the past.
It was a big shock, but also a big relief. Time travel wasn't anything
new to her.
Though the fact that she was apparently without her body was a new twist
on things. And the Silver Crystal was nowhere to be found, which meant
that there was no direct way to contact Sailor Pluto. This could be
bad. Very bad.
Might as well have a talk with myself, she decided.
***
All morning, Usagi had been feeling a bit strange. Her head felt...
full. She was used to having cobwebs and the like when she first woke
up, but this was something different, though not altogether
uncomfortable. Not to mention the strange thoughts that would surface
in her mind periodically and take quite a bit of effort to ignore.
Now it was time for lunch and she was sitting underneath a tree with
Naru, chattering about various subjects, boys being a particular
favorite.
//Ahem, do you think we could talk?// a strange voice that sounded
suspiciously like her own asked inside her head, much louder than
before. The thought was, if anything, annoyed.
"What?!" she exclaimed and jumped slightly.
"Usagi-chan, are you alright?" Naru leaned forward slightly, a look of
mild confusion and concern on her face at her friend's outburst.
She shook her head to clear it. //I'm hearing things again. Just like
this morning,// she thought and frowned slightly. "Yeah, Naru-chan, I'm
fine. Just thought I heard someone calling my name is all."
//Would you like to actually listen to me? I've been trying to get your
attention all morning. Don'tspeak! Think what you want to say,// the
voice tried again.
Usagi's expression turned puzzled. //Err... Hello?//
//There! That wasn't so hard, now was it?// The voice sounded
decidedly happy, though it also held something of a mother praising a
child.
//Who are you and what are you doing inside my head?//
"Usagi-chan, are you sure you're alright? You keep staring off into
space like that..." Naru asked as she waved her hand in front of Usagi's
eyes which had been slightly glazed through most of the internal
dialogue.
"Oh... ah... I'm just fine! I was just thinking about Motoki, that's
all!" Usagi answered hurriedly. //We'll talk later.//
"Oh, I know, isn't he just..."
Serenity sighed mentally, //Whatever.//
And things went back to normal for a while.
***
Serenity dozed lightly inside Usagi's head, waiting for a chance to talk
to herself, strange as that may sound.
She finally got her chance when Usagi was sitting in detention, slowly
working her way through a set of kanji exercises. Another memory
tickled her mind and she gave a short mental laugh.
//What's so funny?// Usagi thought back to her, more than just a little
annoyed. //Who are you, and am I going crazy?//
//Well, I'm you, it's possible we're both insane, and you don't know
kanji,// Serenity smirked slightly.
//If you're me, then you can't do it, either, so there!// Usagi stuck
her mental tongue out at the voice.
//Really?// Serenity exerted a good deal of her will and grabbed control
of her writing hand. Such a limited grab at control wasn't likely to
cause any damage to the body, at least. It was amazingly easy, her past
self having nowhere near the experience with mind control and possession
that she did.
"Hey!" Usagi exclaimed, drawing an odd look from the teacher overseeing
her and the other two students sharing her detention.
Soon, the page was covered with perfectly drawn characters and she
released her control of the arm. //There. How's that?//
//Errr... perfect... except for one thing...//
//Oh?// Serenity replied, a bit shocked. She had spent almost five
years learning how to write the junk and was rather proud of her
ability.
//No one is going to believe that I wrote this...// Usagi replied,
causing Serenity to heave a sigh of relief. //But it'll still get me out
of here, I hope.//
She took the paper up to the teacher who was standing watch. "Sensei,
I have completed the assignment, my I go home now?"
The teacher shot her a disbelieving look and perused the work. She
immediately walked past Usagi and began to search the classroom.
Usagi, puzzled, followed after her. "Umm... Sensei, what are you
doing?"
"I'm trying to find the person that did this work. I know your work,
Tsukino-san, and I know that those two," she gestured at the two boys
sitting near the front of the room. They smiled sheepishly. "Couldn't
have done it."
"Oh... uhh... I just got a flash of inspiration, that's all." Usagi
laughed nervously and began debating the intelligence of handing in the
paper.
The teacher heaved a sigh. "I guess you can go, but next time, I want
you to sit closer to the front of the room so I can keep a closer eye on
you."
Usagi bowed slightly in gratitude and took her leave.
//Great, that little stunt of yours almost got me in trouble,// Usagi
fumed at herself.
//Hey, it's been a while since I was in school. How could I be expected
to remember how bad a student I was?// Serenity shot back. //Besides, it
got us out of there, didn't it?//
Usagi just grumbled.
//Say, where are we going, anyway?// Serenity was suddenly serious,
almost sensing what was coming.
//We are going to talk, that's where.//
//Oh, goodie. How about we talk while you walk?// Serenity suggested as
a sudden idea hit her. //We can go to the arcade or something. I
haven't played a good game of Sailor V in far too long.//
//Sailor who?//
//Mina-chan,// was the only answer she received.
***
They arrived at the arcade a short chat latter, Usagi now knowing about
as much about the situation as Serenity. However, she was having
trouble getting any facts about the future out of the voice that claimed
to be her future self.
//And why won't you tell me anything USEFUL about the future?// she
asked for the third time.
//Well, let's put it this way, if I accidentally give you information
that changes your future, I might end up not existing. I can't tell you
anything important, sorry.//
Usagi grumbled to herself again, only slightly concerned that she was
beginning to make a habit of it. The doors slid open at her approach
and she looked around the arcade, hoping that Motoki was working.
//So, what was it you wanted to do here?//
//Sailor V! It should me the fourth machine in the second row, near the
fire extinguisher.//
//If you're from a long time in the future, how do you manage to
remember things like that? I have trouble with things that happened
just a few months ago.//
//Trust me, if you spend anywhere near as much time as I did in here,
you'd know the whole place by heart.// Serenity smiled mentally to
herself at the prospect of enjoying one of the many activities she
hadn't been able to engage in for several hundred years.
//Is this it?// Usagi peered at the machine skeptically. The blazing
title "Barbarian Warrior Goddess" was surrounded by scantily clad,
highly muscular men and women.
//Err... no. I don't remember this one at all.// Serenity watched the
demo game kick in. //It doesn't even look like her.//
//Well, this is a total bust, Motoki's not even here,// Usagi pouted.
//He has a girlfriend, you know.//
//He WHAT!?! How COULD he?// Usagi almost broke down wailing, but
Serenity seized control of her body.
//Not on my watch, you don't. Just because he's not available doesn't
mean that there isn't someone out there that was destined to be with
you.//
Usagi sniffled mentally, but it just wasn't the same. //Hey, aren't you
sharing facts about the future with me? Didn't you just spend fifteen
minutes talking about how you couldn't do that?//
//Err... well, I'm starting to think that this may not really be the
past, after all. So I don't guess it really matters what I tell you.//
//Wait a minute, if you're not in the past, why are you in my body? And
if you're me, how come you can write kanji as well as the teachers?
And-//
//I never said I wasn't you. I'm just not the you that you'll grow up
to be. Get it?//
Usagi thought for a few seconds. //No, not really.//
Serenity sighed. //Okay, let's head over to the shrine and see if anyone
else is having our problem. You do know where it is, right?//
//Which shrine?//
//Never mind, I'll just do the walking. Mom isn't expecting us home for
a while, is she?//
//Nah, I usually go hang out with Naru-chan. But she's helping her mom
set up for some big jewelry show.//
Serenity, still in control of the body, nodded.
After a few more minutes of walking, the Hikawa Shrine came into view.
//Here we are,// Serenity announced.
//This place? Isn't this a shrine a bit small? We could always go to
the big one over on-//
//It's not the shrine I want to see, but the people.// Serenity marched
up the stairs, a faint grin of nostalgia on her face.
She spotted Rei's grandfather, who looked up from sweeping the stairs at
her approach.
"Excuse me, kind sir, but I'm looking for a Ms. Hino Rei. Would you
happen to know where I can find her?"
"Of course. I'm always happy to help out a pretty young lady such as
yourself. She's around back chopping wood for the furo," he smiled at
her in a benevolent manner that Serenity suspected would change into a
leer the second she turned her back.
"Thank you very much." She bowed and continued up the stairs.
//So, exactly who is this Rei person, anyway?//
//One of my dearest friends. She's the only I can think of to talk to
about what's going on.//
Usagi accepted the answer grudgingly. //But will she help us? I mean,
she doesn't know you yet.//
//Got any better ideas?//
Usagi let it go at that.
By that point, they had reached the top of the stairs, and the faint
sound of wood being chopped could be heard from behind the living
quarters area of the shrine.
Moving stealthily, she made her way around the corner and spotted Rei,
dressed in her Shinto robes, wielding a small axe and cutting small log
down to size for use in the shrine's furo heater. When the maiden
stopped for a second to catch her breath, Serenity cleared her throat
quietly.
"Excuse me, but are you Ms. Hino Rei?" she managed to put a hint of
doubt into her voice, just in case.
Rei looked up, startled. "Serenity-sama?"
Serenity broke out into a wide smile. "Now where have I heard that name
before?"
Rei dropped the axe and threw herself at Serenity in a bone-crushing
hug.