Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or Smallville, and I'm not affiliated with either of the two.

Chapter 2:

The next morning, once the chores were finished, Clark and Usagi headed to school early to register her for class. Normally, Usagi would have been outgoing and excited, but she was still processing the fact that she was miles from home. She wondered why Pluto hadn't found her yet. Pluto knew all of these portals inside out. It was when Principal Reynolds called Juuban High School to find out which courses to place Usagi in, and found out that the school didn't exist, that Usagi came to realize something was seriously wrong. Luckily between her hysteria and Clark's protests they managed to convince the principal there was a mix up and he let Usagi enroll temporarily.

After that grueling experience, Clark headed to the Torch office to pass in his article, with Usagi in tow. Chloe was there bright and early, as usual.

"Hey Clark. Did you finish the article on the - whoa, who's that and what did she do to her hair?"

"My hair? What's wrong with it?"

"Chloe, this is Bunny. She's an exchange student."

"Bunny?" Chloe asked oddly. "Is that your real name?"

Usagi sunk back, slightly offended.

"No," she said, her voice containing a slight quiver. "My name is Usagi."

Chloe sucked in a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Bunny. Sometimes my snark meter goes into overdrive and won't shut off."

Clark sighed. "Bunny, this is Chloe."

Suddenly Pete popped his head in the doorway. "Hey guys what's up? Whoa, who's the new girl?"

"Bunny." Usagi said. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm Pete Ross. If you need an escort to show you around the school..."

Usagi blushed. "Thanks but Clark already offered."

"Should've figured." he laughed. "Clark's like the welcome committee around here. Well if you ever want to go anywhere, I'm always available."

"Really subtle, Pete." Chloe said. "Give the girl some room to breathe. She just started school."

Pete threw up his arms in frustration. "A guy's gotta try, right?"

The warning bell sounded through the office and Chloe winced. "Time to go." she said.

"What classes did Reynolds put you in after?" Clark asked Usagi.

"Hold on a sec. It says here I have math." She made a face. "And it says that I have english and geography for the rest of the morning."

"Those are my first three classes, which means all you need to do is follow me." Clark said, smiling. "Well we'd better go. Chloe, are you coming?"

"I...uh, kind of got a lot of work dumped on me this morning. I'll catch up later." she smiled weakly.

But Clark wasn't convinced. "You sure?"

"Yeah..."

"Okay. See you later." he said.

After they'd left, Chloe sat down and looked at her blank computer screen. She bit her lip nervously and frowned. Work? Who was she kidding anyway? She sighed.


Mamoru tumbled to the ground on a dusty road. He watched the portal close and glanced around. Nothing but corn for miles. He sighed.

"Usako, where have you gone?" he said.

Standing up and wiping the dirt off himself, he walked along the same gravel road as Usagi had yesterday, but unfortunately in the opposite direction.


Usagi walked into the Torch office at the end of the day. Sure enough, Chloe was gazing numbly at her computer.

"Chloe, I wanted to talk to you for a minute." Usagi said.

"Sure, what about?" Chloe said, turning off her monitor.

Usagi met Chloe's eyes with her own. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you care, anyway?"

"Because I do. You're not fine. What's wrong? Is it about Clark?"

Chloe tensed.

Usagi looked at her curiously.

Chloe turned her head away, but against her better judgement, she began to confess.

"Yes. I've been trying to get him to notice me the way he notices Lana."

Usagi looked confused.

"Lana...pretty girl, head cheerleader, well not anymore, she quit, and got a job at the coffee shop...and...and..."

Usagi smiled and giggled. "You're babbling. I do that a lot."

Chloe began to relax a little more at Usagi's warm demeanor.

"She's always been number one with Clark. But then you came from, wherever, and soaked up all Clark's attention without even trying. I could set myself on fire and he'd never notice me that way." Chloe murmured.

Usagi wiped the tears off Chloe's face and put her hand on Chloe's arm. "I can see that you care about him a lot. And I can't say I know what you've been through, but I'm not here to make it worse for you. I won't lie. I may have just met Clark, but I find it hard not to care for him. He's a wonderful guy. He's helping me get through some challenges that have come up in my life. But I have no feelings for him in the way you're thinking. I'm already in a relationship with a great guy, and we're very close. So, you see? There's really no need for us to fight. I'd like to be your friend, if you'd let me."

Chloe nodded.

Usagi saw the doubt in Chloe's eyes. "You can trust me. I won't let you down like your friend Lana has."

Chloe looked at Usagi curiously. "How is it that you're so perceptive, Bunny? You just know what to say."

Usagi smiled. "I have to keep some secrets."

Chloe laughed softly. "That's always the way, isn't it? I don't know what it is about you, but your directness is refreshing. Thanks."

"Friends then?"

Chloe smirked. "Sure. I certainly don't need anymore enemies," she quipped.

Usagi grinned. "Alright. See you around, okay?"

"You too."

Chloe smiled. It was going to be nice to have someone like Bunny around for a change.

Clark waited for Usagi by the truck, occasionally checking his watch. Usagi bounded outside a few minutes later.

"Hey. I was wondering where you were."

"I had some loose ends to tie up." Usagi said.

"Fair enough. Ready to go?"

"You bet!" she said, hopping into the passenger's side.

In a few minutes they were on the road.

"How was your first day?" Clark asked.

"Not bad," she said. "I still can't believe that I didn't get a detention, or that I scored a seventy-five on that Algebra quiz."

"Why is that?"

"I'm just trying to pass back home." She looked at her lap.

"There can't be that big of a difference in the material, can there?" Clark asked.

"No, there's not. I think it's the pressure. Everyone home expects me to be really smart, like my friend Ami."

"Well I'm glad you're getting some relief." he said. "By the way, Chloe and Pete are going to investigate that gateway you were talking about later tonight."

Usagi's face lit with delight. "How did you get them in on this without telling them anything?"

"I might've told a white lie."

"Like?"

"Like the gateway might be meteor related and confirm Chloe's theory."

"You're not so bad at stories yourself."

Clark paused. "I have lots of practice." he said, softer than he would have liked.

Usagi noticed his change in tone. "What's wrong? Did I say something?"

"No, nothing. I was just thinking."

"Something's bothering you. People don't get serious in the middle of a conversation for no reason."

"Just drop it, please?"

"Clark, you can talk to me. It's ok. I'm not going to tell anyone. I can just listen if you want."

"Did you tell me everything, Bunny?"

"No, of course not."

"Exactly, you lied, or omitted, or whatever you want to call it. Everyone has things they keep to themselves, because revealing them could do more harm than good. Would you tell everyone everything about you if you knew it would hurt them?" Clark said.

"No, but if you never trust anyone, the only one you end up hurting is yourself."

Clark was surprised at the fire in Bunny's eyes and the passion in her voice as she spoke.

"If I never had my friends I wouldn't have had the strength to go on. You need someone to watch your back, and to support and encourage you because no one can do it all themselves. Maybe I don't look like it, but I'm speaking from experience. If there was a time I thought my friends left me, it would be the time I'd give up. But I don't, because I know they are always with me. Can you say you have that? Because whether or not you admit it I can see in your eyes that you need it. Your friends care about you. They want to be there for you. Open up and let them worry about the danger. They may be more ready than you think."

"I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Neither do I. But you should give them the choice. More people than you think are willing to make the sacrifice."

"And that's what I'm afraid of! I don't want anyone to have to make sacrifices!"

"You're taking away their right to choose. They'll resent you for that."

"They already do." he said sadly.

For the remainder of the ride, both stayed silent and contemplative. By the time Clark had pulled into the driveway, he needed a quiet walk to calm his thoughts. Usagi's voice interrupted his brooding.

"Clark! Are you coming inside?"

"No. Actually, I think I'm going to go for a walk. Tell Mom I'll be back for dinner."

Usagi looked at Clark, and realized she had given him a lot to think about.

"Will do. Don't think too much. You'll need to save some of that brainpower for tonight!" she said with a wink, and headed for house.

Clark looked at her moving figure with confusion. He just didn't understand how she could switch from serious to cheery in less than a minute.


"Clark must be gone to think." Martha said.

"Yeah. He seemed like he needed some alone time."

Martha smiled. "Well after dinner why don't you and I go to the store to pick up some new clothes for you? You can't keep wearing my things forever."

"Sure." Usagi replied. "Until dinner's ready though, I think I'll take a jaunt out to the loft. Maybe explore a little. If that's ok?"

"Go right ahead. Dinner is going to be a while anyway."

After twenty minutes of poking around, refraining herself from being too nosy, Usagi was bored with the loft. The only interesting thing was the locked desk drawer and the box with a green rock inside. The locked drawer piqued her curiousity for obvious reasons but the green rock she'd never seen before. Maybe it was the meteorite that Clark was talking about?

All she could really do was hope to ask Clark about it when he came back. In the meantime, she headed outside to look around the farm. A small distance into the fields sat what seemed like a hole covered in wood, or a storage space built into the ground. She supposed it was a storm cellar. After all, she'd heard about them but had never seen one. Curiosity overcame her and she bent down to take a look. A large black lock loomed up at her, and it set off a radar in her head. Why would the Kents keep their storm cellar locked? That had to be a hazard when a tornado randomly came flying through Lowell County. Something had to be down there. Something the Kents didn't want anyone to see. She knelt over the door just enough to peak through the crack in the wood, but it was too dark to see anything other than a few scattered tools and boxes.

"Seems pretty normal." she thought, but she just couldn't shake the ominous feeling.

The storm cellar seemed to be another dead end, for now, so she headed back to the loft and plopped on the couch. "What to do, what to do?" she asked the air.

She couldn't exactly go look for clues herself. A little pathetic, she supposed, but she hadn't really been in Smallville long enough to know her way around. There wasn't much for her to do except wait for dinner.

She sighed and watched the dust on the ceiling as the sun began to set. Her eyes caught a twinkle of the sun in the telescope glass and suddenly she realized how she could relieve her boredom.

A few minutes later, and about five japanese curse words, Usagi had the telescope functioning and was gazing at the sky. But it was just too light to see anything and so Usagi switched the gaze to a lower view. A blue blur raced across the fields so quick that Usagi questioned whether it had even existed. Clearly she wasn't supposed to see it, whatever it was.

"Like a blue shooting star...I wonder." she said aloud.

She turned and was face to face with Clark's blue shirt. She looked up.

"Hi." he said smiling. "Mom said dinner's ready when you are."

"When did you get back?"

"A couple of minutes ago."

Usagi looked up at him, but didn't respond.

"You ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I'll be there in a minute."

"Don't be too long. Wouldn't want it to get cold." Clark said, and headed back inside.

Usagi stared out the window with a thoughtful gaze. A blue blur. Clark's shirt was blue. And he'd arrived just after the blur crossed the fields. She looked up at the sky questioningly.


Mamoru was almost halfway into town by the time a vehicle finally stopped. He had been standing there trying to hitch a ride for what seemed like forever, but the red truck and sleek silver lexus that had passed him had not even showed signs of slowing.

A brunette in a black jeep rolled down her window. "Need a ride?" she asked.

"That would be great." Mamoru said, getting in.

"Where are you headed?"

"Into town, to a hotel."

The girl smiled. "A traveler with no baggage. How mysterious."

Mamoru laughed nervously. "Not really. I travel very lightly."

Her brown eyes seemed to be questioning him, but the brunette said nothing as she pulled back onto the dirt road.

"By the way, I'm Lana."

"Chiba Mamoru."

"Chiba? Sounds foreign."

"I'm from overseas." he said. "You can call me Darien if you want. It's the name I go by in America."

"You've been here before?"

"I spent a year here on exchange studying to be a doctor."

Lana smiled. "So are you going to be here long?"

"I don't know."

"Well there's a vacant apartment above the Talon I'm looking to rent, if you're interested. Our last tenant just up and left for no reason."

"The Talon?"

"It's a coffee shop I co-own with Lex Luthor."

"Well, I'll, um, keep it in mind. How much are you renting it for?"

"I don't really have an up-front price in mind, but if you're only going to be here on a day to day basis, we could work out something, I'm sure."

Mamoru smiled, a little relieved. Money had been the last thing on his mind, but now that he was in this place, he realized the importance of being able to pay to stay somewhere while searching for Usagi. With limited money he needed all the breaks he could get.

"That sounds reasonable. I appreciate all of your help, Lana."

"Don't mention it."


"I don't see a gateway, Clark." Chloe said skeptically.

"Whoever is using it, do you really think they'd leave it open all the time?" Pete asked.

"Look Pete, I know I'd usually be all over this, but it's hard to investigate something with no clues."

"Wait, what's this?" Clark asked, bending over to pick something out of the grass. "It looks like a driver's licence, but I don't understand what it says."

Usagi's head perked up curiously. "Can I see?"

"Here, have a look."

Usagi took the piece of plastic into her hand and realized the writing was in fact kanji. "It is a driver's licence. It says..." she began, but trailed off as she saw the picture. "Mamo-chan..." she whispered softly.

"Bunny what is it? What does it say?"

Usagi pulled herself together long enough to answer. "It says Chiba Mamoru." she said, pointing to each kanji as she pronounced it. "The rest is just his birthday and general information."

She felt her finger rub against something coarse on the back of the licence. With a peeling noise, it fell to the ground. Chloe had it scooped up before Usagi could react.

"Bunny, this is a picture of you. Do you know this guy?"

"I..." Usagi said. "Yeah, I do."

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "But...?"

"I...I..." Usagi said, her eyes tearing up a little. "I don't want to talk about it."

Chloe quickly headed over to give the girl a hug. "Hey, it's all right. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Chloe said. "Why don't I take this and try to find him for you?"

Usagi nodded, regaining her composure. "Thanks," she said, her face quickly turning a rosy shade of red.

"I think we've found just about all we're gonna find. How about we head back?" Pete said.

"No. Now my curiosity is piqued." Chloe said. "I mean, what if something else fell?"

Pete shrugged. "I'm not sure what you're hoping to find, Chloe. The clue we have is as good as any."

"Maybe some proof." she said, stumbling through the grass.

"Of what?"

"That the meteors are behind this." Chloe said proudly. She whipped around quickly and held up a rock embedded with green pieces.

"That's the same as the rock in Clark's loft!" Usagi exclaimed. "Is that what it is?"

"Of course. You didn't know?"

"I just moved here, remember?"

"Right." Chloe said as she tossed the rock to Clark. "Here, Clark, hold this for me while I look for more."

Clark's eyes flickered with panic and he stumbled slightly backward as the rock neared. Usagi noticed him backing up to his truck and using it as support.

"Clark what's wrong?" Chloe asked.

"Chloe what are you doing?" Pete exclaimed, a panicked look on his face.

"Hey, it's glowing!" Chloe said, looking at the meteorite on the ground. "I've never seen it do that before. Pete, Clark, are you seeing this?"

She glanced up to see Clark looking sickly and having trouble standing up.

"Get it away from him!" Usagi said frantically. But Chloe just looked dumbfounded at Clark and then at the glowing rock.

"Lana's necklace." Chloe said, as if something crucial finally clicked.

Quickly Usagi darted toward the rock and kicked it away. She grabbed Chloe's shoulders and shook her. "What's wrong with you?"

"I-I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? He's your friend! Couldn't you see that was hurting him?"

"I didn't know!" Chloe protested bitterly. "How could I know? It's not like Clark tells me these things!"

"It's okay." Clark said. "I'm okay. No more fighting."

"Clark, I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Chloe said. "Forgive me?"

Clark smiled. "Of course. If you forgive me for not telling you."

Chloe smiled too. "Is that why you turned into a super-klutz around Lana?"

"Yeah."

"Well, all's well that ends well. I'm going to get rid of this ugly old thing." Usagi said. She threw the rock out into the field. Suddenly she felt her body shudder. "We should get home now. It's too chilly for my liking."


Mamoru glanced around at the apartment he was going to be renting. Strangely enough it was furnished, as though someone had used it and left, as Lana said. It would have to do long enough for him to find Usagi.

A knock sounded at the door, and Lana opened it a crack. "Hey." she said.

Mamoru smiled. "Hi."

"How's the apartment?"

"Great, actually."

Lana smiled back, and walked into the room. "I'm kind of here for another reason too."

"What's that?"

"I don't suppose you want to cover a shift for me? One of the girls I hired just got the 24 hour stomach flu and I can't find a replacement on such short notice."

"Sure, when is it?"

Lana smiled. "Ten to three tomorrow. And thanks so much."

"It's the least I could do."

Lana left and the door closed. Mamoru continued to look around the vacant apartment.

"Well Usako, if this is the main hangout, hopefully you'll drop by for a coffee tomorrow."