Konnichi wa, minna! I didn't forget about the sequel! I've just been working through all my ideas all this time, and despite the fact that they're still a bit jumbled, I've finally started this story! I hope you enjoy it--it's a different spin on things. More action will come soon. And more romance of course.

And I do not own Sailor Moon, unfortunately. So please don't sue. Plus you wouldn't get much out of me. LOL! This disclaimer applies to all chapters of all of my stories.

Thanks!

-Moon Pie

Leaving Oblivion

Chapter One: Torment

Screams pierced the air constantly. The attack was swift and brutal. The Moon's battle was strictly defensive, blindly hoping that their former ally, the Golden Kingdom, would be freed of the evil one's control.

The Princess was fleeing to a pre-arranged protected location, when the witch intercepted her. The witch only laughed when the princess spat words of anger at her.

"You tried to defeat me once, and failed, princess. And now, with your kingdom crumbling before your eyes, it will be my pleasure to send you straight to oblivion!"

"HOLD!"

The witch paused, a cruel smile twisting her face as she recognized the voice. The prince glared daggers at the witch as he stepped protectively in front of the princess.

"Ah, none other than the Prince of Earth graces us with his presence. How… perfect. I'll offer you one last chance to join me and reign at my side, or else watch all you love be destroyed."

The prince snarled. "Never."

"Well, then, die. Die with the knowledge that you failed her in the very end."

With that, the evil woman sent a deadly blast towards them. Instinctively, the prince shoved the princess out of the way. She screamed, and watched as he crumbled. She crawled over to him, oblivious to the war that surrounded her, and cradled his body.

Wordlessly, she began to weep.

He couldn't speak. Blood filled his mouth and soaked the pure white gown of the princess, oozing from the wound in his chest. He reached up a trembling hand to trace her lips and then cup her cheek.

I'm sorry, he mouthed. I love you. Then, the hand fell limply to the surface of the moon, already stained red.

"NO!"

Usagi shot straight up in her bed, tears still in her eyes.

It took her a moment to reinsert herself into reality.

She looked around her room. Pink walls, stuffed bunnies everywhere, true to her name of course.

She was not on the moon. She was not watching that horrible scene unfold before her. She was normal, boring, Tsukino Usagi.

However, she mused, that story would make a killer movie. Maybe she could sell the idea, and make millions, she thought, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

She glanced at the clock.

"AAAAAAIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Mrs. Tsukino rolled her eyes, as she heard her daughter's customary morning shriek. She smiled, and took her post at the door with a lunch bag and a piece of toast. About two minutes later, a blond tornado flew down the stairs and through the kitchen, wailing.

"I'm sooo late! Why didn't anyone wake me up! Oh, and thanks for lunch, Mom!" She shot by, snatching toast and lunch alike from her mother's hands.

Just like that, she was out the door. Mrs. Tsukino laughed, then yelled after her. "Don't choke on the toast, dear!"

Usagi flew around the corner and dove through the classroom door as Haruna-sensei was closing it. In the process, she managed to bump the bookshelf, causing all the books to topple onto her.

Miss Haruna didn't even flinch. "Detention, Tsukino."

Usagi groaned from under all the books. "Aw, man!"

Not even a whole hour had gone by before Usagi's punctuality-driven adrenaline rush completely faded. Soon, the fatigue she'd tried to outrun caught up with her. She squirmed in her seat, trying to stay awake. For months now, she'd been denied a good night's sleep because of her crazy dreams. Sometimes they were pleasant, sometimes they were not. Sometimes she remembered them in the morning, sometimes she didn't. But every morning she woke up exhausted and sore from tossing and turning all night.

I deserve sleep! She thought to herself. It's not my fault I'm having crazy dreams. But they might make me rich someday…

With that thought, Usagi's head floated down to her desk, and this time, she did not dream.

The lunch bell woke her up.

She opened her eyes to find a big, red, 30 staring her in the face.

"Tsukino-san, here is your test from yesterday. I didn't want to put it on your desk for fear you would drool all over it and blur the score. I thought it wasn't too bad of a mark, seeing as you fell asleep after writing your name."

Miss Haruna had obviously had a date cancelled, because she was in that self-pitying daze. She pointed listlessly to the scrawled signature.

"For only randomly circling answer choices before I could take it up, that wasn't too bad. See you in detention."

Usagi groaned again, stuffing the test into her pocket. She glimpsed Naru waiting for her at the door. She grabbed her lunch box, then scurried over to her.

"Naru-chan! Why didn't you wake me up?!" Usagi demanded as they walked outside.

Naru's laugh was high pitched and light. "Why would I? Miss Haruna was totally out of it, and you had detention anyway." She sobered for a moment. "Plus, you have these black circles under your eyes, Usagi-chan. I'm just looking out for you."

Usagi smiled. "Arigatou, Naru-chan."

Several hours later, after her silent detention with Miss Haruna, Usagi walked down the road to the Crown Arcade. As always, despite Motoki's efforts to snag her attention, Usagi found herself drawn to the Sailor V arcade game. Sure, she was a popular hero figure for junior high school girls, but something about the game, was addictive to Usagi. Every time she played it, she found different ways to get through the defenses of the enemy, and every time, she reached a new level. Today, she lost a little early because she nodded off in the 17th level. The game over siren woke her up.

"Daijobou, Usagi-chan?" Motoki tapped her shoulder, looking her over with the concern of an older brother.

Usagi shook the sleep from her head, blinking owlishly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a black cat staring her down with big, red eyes. She blinked, and it was gone.

"Hai, hai, Motoki-chan." she said, slowly. "I just haven't been sleeping well."

He nodded in understanding, remembering his own last year of junior high before the entrance exam.

"Go home and get some rest, Usagi-chan. I'll make sure no one beats your high score," he said with a wink.

Usagi grinned wearily. "Arigatou."

As she walked out the door, she remembered the test in her pocket with a groan. She pulled it out, and unfolded it slowly.

The big red 30 smirked back at her, mocking her.

"There's no way I can show this to Mom," she moaned. And without a second though, she crumpled it up and tossed it over her shoulder.

"NANI?!"

Usagi flinched, knowing exactly what that meant. She turned slowly. "I'm sorry, sir," she began, looking at the sidewalk.

Chiba Mamoru had been walking along in a daze. The blurred shape and face of the woman he dreamed of every night floated before his open eyes. Just as he thought the mist was clearing, and he would be able to see her face in detail, something bounced off his head and all went black for a moment.

"NANI?!" he cried annoyed, catching the offending projectile when bounced off his head.

When he opened his eyes a second later, he saw a young woman bowing slightly before him. Her long blond hair, in a very unique hairstyle cascaded from two buns and brushed the floor with her head bowed, and for some reason, he found her hairstyle extremely attractive. Her figure was curvy and pleasing, despite the childish school uniform's efforts to conceal it.

"I'm sorry, sir," she started out. Her voice was like laughter in the silence of all his emptiness, and her eyes, scrunched up in a cute frown, were like the night sky itself.

However, as he absently uncrumpled the piece of paper she'd tossed at him, and when he saw it, all his thoughts of her beauty evaporated.

"A thirty?! Are you lazy or just stupid?!" he demanded, tossing it back at her. "Next time look behind your back before you throw your horrible marks at people, Odango Atama!"

Similarly, Usagi had been admiring the man's good looks, though she had to crane her neck slightly to do so, but when she heard his cold, biting words, (not to mention she was a bit giddy from lack of sleep) she forgot the eerie feeling of finality that had washed over her, and yelled back, "You know NOTHING about me, jerk, so shut your face!"

She grabbed her test, and stalked off.

Mamoru smiled just slightly as she walked off, though his conscious was a little uneasy. The girl was very cute when she was angry, though, he thought in his defense. For a moment he'd forgotten the enormous weight on his shoulders, and the failure and blame that was ever-present in his own life. Depressed again, he trudged back to his apartment.

Silence met him when he turned the key and pushed open the door. He dropped his school briefcase at the door, and shut it behind him. He plopped down on his couch, and instinctively reached for the framed photo that sat on his side-table.

The last photo of his parents, before the accident.

Mamoru remembered nothing about them.

Almost.

He did have one memory, though, that he never told the doctors or shrinks about. His only link to his parents was the one memory he wished he didn't retain.

"Mamoru, be still, please, your father is trying to drive, honey."

The seven-year-old child did not comply. Giggling and squirming, he continued to cause a ruckus.

His mother turned to face him from the passenger seat. "Mamoru, that's enough. It's very stormy and dangerous outside, and your father needs to concentrate on driving."

The child pouted, and when his mother reached for the toy, his reflexes were quicker, and he moved it out of her reach.

"Mamoru! That's enough, son!" His father turned to quickly glare at him. "Be quiet and mind your mother!"

But that one moment his eyes left the road, the car strayed across the double-yellow into the opposite lane. The oncoming truck's headlights got the father's attention, and he instinctively swerved out of the way, but the road was slick, and he lost control, and the car crashed through the barriers around the mountain road, and plummeted down.

After ten years, it stung every time. He scrubbed the tears away, turning the photo face down. He wandered over to the window. Apparently he'd dozed off, because the moon was out now.

When he looked at it, he felt the weight of a failure he didn't know. Something far worse than distracting his father while he was driving. Something that made his skin clammy and his eyes water. Something…ancient. Some ancient failure haunted him, and he was reminded of it every time he looked at the moon.

"You're so beautiful…" he whispered to it, thinking of the woman in his dreams. "But why must you torment me every single night?"

No one knew he was crying. He was utterly and completely alone. Empty.

But he did not know that a girl just down the street began to thrash in her sleep.

What do you think, guys? Interesting beginning? I hope so! Please review! I'll be back with the next part soon! I finished this the same day I posted the prologue, but I decided to hold off a day just to see if the prologue got any responses. See ya soon!

Arigatou,

Moon Pie