Welcome to Chapter 4. My thanks to EmeraldLady, Laura1786, SNOWCUB, Silver Moonlight-81, Zogeta, eXzistenZ, depth-orca, and Matakishi Hirata-san for reviewing for the last chapter.
If any one was wondering, this story will be rather angsty for a while. Just bare with me, I won't turn this fic into a tragedy.
Dedication: To the men and women of the United States military.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon (duh)
Enjoy
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Book I
Chapter IV
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"Things are going to be quite different."
I was almost ready for school when I heard my parents moving around and preparing themselves for the day ahead. Finally I heard my mother head down the stairs to start making breakfast for the rest of us.
'I never knew that they got up at 6:30. They are going to flip when they see that I woke before they did. I hope that I don't give them a heart attack or something. At least I'll be able to eat an actual breakfast this morning.'
I was right – sort of; my mom was so shocked that I was awake that she dropped the pot she had been holding.
"Oh, Serena, honey, are you okay? Did a bad dream wake you up?"
"No, I actually woke up all by myself this morning. I guess I won't be late for school today."
"Serena, you don't have to go to school today if you don't want to. Your father and I know that yesterday must have been really hard for you. Even Sammy was shaken up and he didn't know Andrew very well."
I sighed to myself. A few days ago I would have done anything to get out of going to school, but now, now things are different. I have to be educated. I don't have smart friends to rely on anymore.
"No, mom, that's okay. I'm going to school today. Me not being there wont change anything that happened yesterday, and besides, it will help me take my mind of things."
I gave my mother a smile to affirm what I had just said. It was a pathetic attempt at a smile, but my mother got some sort of assurance from it.
"If you insist on going to school, I won't stop you. Are you going to have breakfast with us this morning?"
"Of course. Do you think that I would pass up an opportunity to eat," I responded with an actual smile. My mom always tried to take care of me no matter what. I hope that someday I'll be just as good of a mother as she is.
'I always thought that I would be with Darien, but now I guess that isn't going to happen. We won't be raising a family of our own,' my smile began to fade as unpleasant thoughts started to plague my mind once again, 'No, damn it. I have to stop thinking like this.'
I shook the awful thoughts from my, and occupied my mind by watching my mother cook breakfast for my family. I never knew how much love and devotion she put into her cooking. I sat in the chair watching my mother's every movement until the rest of my family came downstairs.
My father said and asked me almost the same thing as my mother which didn't surprise me. Parents typically say the same things. It was Sammy that astonished me this morning.
"Uh, Serena, uh," Sammy stuttered as a slight color started to climb up his cheeks, "I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry about what happened yesterday, and if there is anything I can do for you just ask." By the time that he had finished his little speech, his face had turned almost as bright as a tomato.
"Aw, isn't this a touching sibling moment," I replied slightly giggling. Sammy's face turned brighter at my comment, but before he could give and retort, I pulled him into a hug and whispered, "Thanks, Sammy, I'm glad I can depend on you, kid."
Sammy pulled away and wrinkled his nose, "Now whose fault is this mushy sibling moment?"
"You started it."
My entire family burst out in laughter. We rarely had tender moments like that, and it felt good. 'I hope things here will always stay the same.'
Breakfast ended too soon in my opinion. Before I knew it I was heading towards school. I didn't have the need to run since this morning I had left my house on time. My limbs were grateful for that fact, since I had still not completely recovered from my past battles.
I made it through the day paying attention to all of my subjects. With all of the work that I was doing, my mind had no time to wander to the tragic events that had taken place because of my failures and shortcomings.
"Serena, if you would like, you can stay in the classroom and do your homework. I was happy that you had all of your work in today. There were a lot of mistakes, but if you stay after then I can help you with the material," Mrs. Botterili said as I was walking from her room.
I thought for a moment. There wasn't going to be a Scout meeting this afternoon, the arcade was probably closed because of the damage and Andrew's death – not that I would want to go there even if it was open – and my mother probably wasn't expecting me home so soon after school.
"Sure, Mrs. Botterili, here is just as good of a place as any to do homework."
I sat in a desk for the next hour concentrating on my work. From time to time my teacher would come by and check my work. When she saw that I had something wrong she would stop and explain the problem to me. I hung on her every word, and I was actually learning.
I inwardly winced; Amy had relentlessly tried to teach me this same stuff, and I had ignored her help. I started feeling guilty and depressed again, but I quickly shook my sentiments away and continued to listen to Mrs. Botterili.
"Serena, I think that you finally understand this. I think you are going to pass the quiz tomorrow with at least a B. Have you finished all of you assignments?"
I nodded and beamed proudly at Mrs. B.
"Thanks for your help, Mrs. Botterili. I'll see you tomorrow."
"It was no problem, Serena. Have a nice day."
I finally left the school with, for the second time in a row, my homework complete, and an entire day left of doing nothing. I was determined not to waste the day.
'People have died because of me. I have to make sure that nobody else dies. Lita was right; I can't throw a punch with out klutzing out. I have to train myself to be the awesome warrior that people believe me to be.'
While I was waiting for the light to turn green so I could cross the street, I contemplated how I was going to train myself. I was going to be hard. I had no sparing partner, nothing to use as a target, and no place to train in privet.
I was so deep in thought that I think I missed several chances to cross the street. I had come to a terrible dilemma, but I was determined not to let that stop me. After a few more moments of thought, and another missed opportunity to cross the road, I came up an innovative way to train, and I even had thought of a spot that I could go.
I checked my wallet to see how much money I had. Finding that I probably had enough, I turned and ran to the store. I didn't even cross that street.
Twenty minutes later I was headed towards Raye's shrine with two new items: a roll of heavy duty trash bags and a ball of twine. As discreetly as I could I climbed the steps to the temple, and ducked into the cover of the trees along the path.
I didn't see any reason why I couldn't still train at the temple. Raye had found a place on their property that no one ever went to. I wouldn't be disturbed there, and no one would ever know that I had been there. It is still the perfect place to train.
My only chance of getting caught lay in the fact that I need to borrow a shovel. I knew where Raye's was stored, but if I ran into grandpa or Chad, I would be in trouble. Crossing my fingers in hope that I would get away with the shovel, I ran from the cover of the trees to the tool shed, grabbed the spade, and made a mad dash for the trees.
I hid behind a tree and listened; nobody had seen me. I breathed a sigh of relief, and I continued to walk on toward the place where I would train myself.
About an hour later I stood staring proudly at my makeshift punching bag. I had quadrupled lined the garbage bags, and filled them with dirt. Then, I had used the string to fashion a sort of sling, and hung the bag from a tree limb.
"Ha, I feel like a genius now. I just hope this will hold up. I guess I'll see in a minute or two," I practically shouted to no one. Then, I grabbed my broach a prepared to transform.
"Spirit of the Moon, I summon thee."
Moments later I stood in my silver and gold garb holding the Moon Staff. I set my staff aside and started to punch and kick at my 'punching bag'. With every punch and kick, I tried to recall the fighting lesions that Raye and Lita had given me. I continued punching at the thing until sweat ran down my body and I was ready to collapse. When I felt as though I could take no more, I picked up my staff and used that as a weapon against the poor bag.
It wasn't long before the crescent moon on the staff had sliced into the plastic. I still continued to beat the bag. With each blow that I dealt it, more and more dirt poured out. I finally came to a stop when the almost empty bags slipped from its sling and fell with a soft thud onto the ground.
Near exhausted, I returned to my normal form. Then, I put the bags, shovel and string into the hole that I had dug earlier. I kicked the dirt back into the hole, half covering my supplies. With that task done I headed for home, ready for a nice warm meal, a hot shower, and my nice comfy bed.
On my way home I noted my cracked and bruised knuckles and several other sore and bruised places on my body. 'I hope no body notices these injuries.'
I could almost smell my mother's delicious dinner cooking as I walked up the driveway. But, my nice peace wasn't meant to be. I felt a familiar pain shoot through my body. It was the pain that told me when something was attacking the city.
'Damn it. Couldn't the bad guys have waited till tomorrow to attack?'
I tiredly threw my book bag into the bushes, and ran as fast as I could to where the monster was. As soon as I was out of sight from all people, I, for the second time today, transformed into Spirit Sailor Moon.
I wasn't sure how I was going to beat this monster. I had used a good portion of my energy while working out.
"Ah, shit, this isn't going to be fun."
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You like? Drop me a line and tell me what you think. No flames please. Constructive criticism is always welcomed though.
Matakishi Hirata-san was I better in describing Serena moments this chapter. Thanks for the input.
-The Golden Lady