K all, here is the first chapter. Sorry it took so long, but I really dislike it (just this chap), which makes it difficult cuz I'm very excited for the rest of the story. But yeah, I dont like this one so much, but its background info, so schmeh, gotta get it out of the way. This takes place two years and half years after the end of the series, so we're not in the time of the prologue anymore. Don't worry, we'll get there, eventually...Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: Don't own Sailor Moon, but the original characters are mine. Coo.
To Stand Before a Priest
Chapter 1: The Press Conference
I know what he sees in a peasant like her
Probably makes him rise like yeast!
Well, the girl may think she's very clever!
The boy may keep her here forever!
But I can tell you this: they'll never
Stand before a priest!
-Once on This Island, Pray
Ami Mizuno made a subconscious choice not to look outside of the windows of her limo. She used to have issues with things like this, public speaking, stage fright and whatnot, but there was something that was just a bit too heavy and a bit too glitzy about all of this for her to fear it.
'I should have been working on applications for an abroad program at a medical school,' she thought to herself. Everyone had better things to do today, but making time for this conference also wasn't such a big deal. After all, as senshi she and her peers had learned that a lot of the time "the better things" you had to or wanted to do would sometimes just have to wait.
'Things will never be the same after this'. She sighed on that thought; everyone's future plans were going to have to be adjusted because of this.
"Did you hear me, Madam?"
Ami looked up, startled from her thoughts.
"We've arrived, Miss Mizuno," restated the driver.
"Ah, yes. Thank you Miki," she said lightly. She handed him a small tip, because he had agreed to drive her in the last minute. "Don't worry about picking me up, I think I'll be going out with the other girls afterwards,"
"Understood," said the gruff man through his thin yet characteristic moustache.
"Well, this is it. Thank you!" and with one last deep breath, Ami opened the door and stepped outside of the limo. She was immediately greeted with camera flashes, and microphones being shoved into her face.
"Ami Mizuno, a couple of questions please!" "Sailor Mercury, why won't you agree to another album?" "Is it true that the five of you are going to partake in the next government elections?" "What do you have to say the small organizations of non-believers of the Silver Millennium?"
Ami tried not to focus her eyes for fear of immediate disorientation in response to all the flashes. Some of these people were really ridiculous. "I'll answer questions only at the press conference, thank you. Excuse me."
Breaking through the crowd, and surrounded by the bodyguards who had waited for her, she quickly walked to a backdoor of the Fugatsumi hotel and convention center.
After she was quickly escorted through small hallways to the backstage area, Ami was greeted by three girls hugging her.
"Mako, Mina, Rei!" she exclaimed. "Where's Usagi-chan?"
The three girls faces fell. "She's having a bit of stage-fright" Makoto admitted.
"It's a lot to deal with," Minako continued.
"Yeah, It's been different these past couple of months now that her monarchy has caught up with her," Rei muttered.
Ami looked past her three friends and saw Usagi sitting in a chair looking down, and twiddling her fingers. She walked toward the chair gracefully, and kneeled down to the floor as so to get to eye level with her friend.
"Hey, Usagi-chan! I'm sorry I was late, it happens to the best of us, right?" she said.
Usagi giggled a bit, and hugged her friend whom she hadn't seen as frequently like the others. Pursuing medicine was a long and time-consuming dream. It had changed Ami's lifestyle, and thus the relationship and dynamic of the five girls.
It had been two and a half years since Galaxia was defeated. They had spent a large portion of their teenage lives fighting and growing at the same time. Suddenly there was no more war, and much more free time. It had given them all a lot of time to grow as their individual selves, and not who they were or who they knew they would someday have to be.
During those two years Mamoru had returned to America much to Usagi's dismay. This time however, she was fortunate to actually keep in touch with him and know of his safety. Her trust in him grew stronger even though they were far apart, and she often felt guilty, but was also appreciative of the fact that he would always call her since her parents were scolding her about the cost of phone calls to America.
At the end of their last year of high school, the girls had gone into the heart of Tokyo to watch the filming of a new teen-pop movie. In the middle of the dramatic breakup between the two main characters, a small boy was seen hanging off the railing of one of the tall office buildings. The girls ran to an alley, and transformed to save the child. They later learned that his mother had left him unattended in her work place, and worst of all that they had been discovered. For, when filming a movie, there are many cameras set up taking different angles and shots. A long shot camera had caught all of Minako and half of Usagi transforming.
To this day Usagi and Mina cursed that small boy and his mother. "Couldn't even watch over her punk kid," Minako would always grumble when the topic came up. Despite two years of close calls in front of friends and family members, the senshi had finally been exposed.
Luna told them that it would have to happen eventually, and it was better now that they were out of school, and legal adults. They hid Mamoru and the Outer's identities out of respect, particularly Mamoru because he would be staying in the states until he could sell his apartment.
The next six months turned the girl's lives upside down. They were suddenly superstars. They appeared on magazine covers, were in interviews, even released a pop single. Their fame extended extensively into the pop culture world, they had had many photo shoots, and were being offer large amounts of money from car companies and fashion designers just to be seen in their brand.
Usagi had stated from the minute of the exposure that she was Princess Serenity, reincarnated from the Moon, something that was taken with a grain of salt and used to mock her in tabloids at first. But as the days passed, more and more people were claiming to be reincarnated Lunarians. The details were still much in question with the general public, though most came to believe Usagi and the tales of The Silver Millennium.
The girls didn't want to let on that they knew the future, but they had mentioned that the world would enter a great sleep, and then the people of earth would realize Usagi was in fact the reincarnation of this princess she spoke of (they were however, very careful to leave out the part that the public would affirm this through the coronation of Usagi as Neo-Queen Serenity).
After their exposure, it seemed as if the sleep began immediately, yet at a very a slow pace. The girls had predicted this in the first place, and when the world saw it actually happening the rate of believers greatly increased.
"I'm sorry guys," Usagi said forcing herself to smile. "I just got in an argument with Mamo-chan earlier…"
They all rushed to her side, Makoto looking as she was getting her fists ready for a couple of good punches.
"What happened?" "What did he do to you?" they asked.
Usagi shook her head. "No, it's not like that. We're trying to figure out things. Getting married, moving in together, sle--," Usagi blushed and looked down.
"What's that you say?"
"Nothing! Nothing!" Usagi exclaimed waving her hands around. "I mean you know me, I want to do it all right away, and he wants to wait. And it's really okay! Yeah, it's just fine! On to the mics, right girls?" Usagi was trying to hide her emotions.
"You know Usa-chan, Mamoru probably just wants to make sure he'll be able to take care of you and support the two of you before rushing into anything," said Minako maternally.
"That's right, he's only been back from the university for four months!" chirped in Mako.
"But I have enough money for us both!" Usagi whined.
"Baka Usagi, he probably wants to be able to take care of you and not the other way around," Rei stated.
"I'm sure he just wants to make sure that he can make you happy," Ami said.
Usagi smiled and nodded. 'That's what he was saying to me,' she thought. 'And besides, I almost blurted out that we hadn't slept together yet…'
Despite him returning, Usagi hadn't been able to spend as much time with Mamoru as she wanted. He spent the first month moving back in, the next two finding a job, and then the one after that working. They were in such different stages of their lives, his life was still normal. She on the other hand was rich without even doing anything. She just got her picture taken in a designer gown with the other girls, and suddenly the cash came flowing in. The business was paying such high wages for a senshi, since they were the trendiest thing in Tokyo.
The girls all let themselves splooge on their first checks, but after that promised to save everything, and tried to live normal lives. It wasn't that hard, since that was what they always wanted, so putting away the money in the bank was as good as pretending it didn't exist.
Minako would also chirp in with "You know what they say, Crystal Tokyo wasn't built in a day!"
"It's Rome, Minako-chan. But yes, you're right. It's a pretty big palace, and it'll probably be us paying for construction," Ami corrected.
Usagi felt better. She hadn't mentioned the other thing bothering her: Mamoru's new friend Topaz. Topaz was also from Japan, and so he and Mamoru quickly became friends. He had prophesizing powers like Rei, and quickly could tell that Mamoru was not just an average human. Throughout their two years studying, bits and pieces came to Topaz, and Mamoru became more comfortable telling him about his secret life.
Topaz came from a family of Politicians and was already finding a sure way into Parliament at his youthful age. The biggest difficulty was that Usagi didn't think Topaz liked her very much. He was kind of possessive of her Mamo-chan.
On one hand, she was fairly patient with the situation. She had always been good at making friends, Mamoru hadn't. He was not good at reaching out to people, and she could see how happy he was that he had reached out to someone and become good friends. He attributed it to her, saying that he learned so much from her, and touched, she would always forgive him at that point.
"So, do you think it'll be alright?" Makoto asked towering over her.
"I think so, I'm going to his place after this conference," Usagi replied.
There was a clunking noise, and then a familiar voice, "You forgot this Usagi-chan!"
"Luna! Where have you been?"
"The world's not ready for talking cats Usagi, and this place is more guarded than you'd imagine," Luna replied, and then gestured to the disguise pen on the floor.
The girls all scowled at Usagi, and asked her how she could forget something so important. Usagi just whined about being so nervous that she forgot, and they all ended up laughing. Fame certainly had its price, and all of the girls now had a Luna disguise pen so that they could continue doing everyday activities in the public.
"Ne, Usagi, its time for your press conference, okay?"
She nodded at Luna, petting her on the head, and stood up, "Let's go girls," she said.
The five of them made their way out to the stage, amidst flashes of lights, cameras and fancy suits. Ami and Rei pretty much lead the answering of the questions since together they were the most book and street smart. They particularly watched out for Usagi. Since their discovery, the girls had learned to be very careful of what they said, and how they said it. However, the whole thing was still very overwhelming to Usagi, and if Rei or Ami thought there was a question she shouldn't answer, they'd pinch her thigh from under the table.
There were, of course, a lot of tabloid-esque questions, most of which Minako took care of since it was her area of expertise.
The main problems arose, naturally, with the mentioning of the Silver Millennium.
"You say you were the Princess of the Moon a thousand years ago?" asked one reporter.
"Yes, that's right," Usagi stated,
"Are you a reincarnation of that very soul?"
"Yes, that's how it is".
"Then do you believe yourself to be entitled as a Princess right now?"
"I don't really expect much of anything from anyone at the moment".
"Do you think you're better than the rest of us because you're of a unique race?"
"No, of course not".
The questions continued, with animal-like vigor, and the girls could see Usagi beginning to grow uncertain.
"Do you believe the common people who claim to also be of your race, Miss Tsukino, Princess Serenity?"
"That's enough," Rei stated calmly, yet with assertion. "I'm afraid we've run out of time, and must go. Mizuno Ami will read our closing statement".
As Ami stood up and spoke into her microphone the rest of the girls began to leave single-file, waving and smiling to the flashing cameras.
Usagi sighed once she was backstage, and picked up her Luna disguise pen, seeing it as her most valuable treasure. She pondered for a moment, and then decided this time that she'd transform into someone on security, an easy way to make her escape.
"I'm off to Mamo-chan's!" she cried out, happy to escape to normalcy.
"Um, Usagi, remember, that tonight we have to go the grand ball at Senator Yamamoto's mansion," Minako called out.
"And that you're supposed to bring a date," Makoto mumbled softly.
Usagi sighed. Another responsibility. Her weekends used to be about having fun and being lazy, now she had so many places to be all at once. Most of the rest she found was on weekdays earlier in the morning.
"Alright, thanks guys. I'll give Motoki a call," she said before taking off.
The other girl just watched her with pity.
"That baka, Mamoru!" Rei spat. "Everyone think Motoki-san is her boyfriend because Mamoru won't be seen with her in public since he fears the loss of his privacy,"
"We've all lost our privacy," Makoto agreed. "I don't know why we have to protect his…"
Ami sighed. There was nothing fair about the situation. Despite their bitterness all of the girls knew that Mamoru's identity had to be hidden. He was the royalty of this planet, and if that were to be exposed then Crystal Tokyo would surely begin to rise, something the girls all agreed they weren't ready for yet.
"I don't know how much time we have left is all," Ami said solemnly. "All of South America has entered its sleep, and the Great Sleep is traveling north. I don't know how long it will take to get here,"
"Another time, Ami," piped in Minako. "Let's go home, and meet up with Usagi later on at Crown and get shakes and prepare for the night."
They all nodded, forcing their foreboding thought out of their minds.
"Mamo-chan!" Usagi knocked. "Mamo-chan!"
There was no answer at the door. "He knew I was coming…," she said aloud, and then chose to use her spare key.
All the lights were on; she even noticed that something was baking in the oven, 'strange,' she thought.
From behind her, she heard a startled voice cry out, "Usako!"
"Mamo-chan! Why didn't you answer me? You know yo—", she stopped mid-sentence, for when she turned around she faced her half-naked boyfriend only a few feet in front of her. She tried desperately to gain composure, but this was pretty much the most of him she'd ever seen.
"Gomen Usako, I was in the shower. I'll go get changed. Be right out!" and much to Usagi discontent he went into his room, closing the door behind him.
A couple minutes later, he emerged back into the apartment, fully clad and dressed. He sat down on the couch and kissed Usagi before taking her up into his arms.
"How did the press-conference go?" he asked.
"You didn't watch it on TV?" she asked, surprised.
"I'm sorry. You know how busy I've been".
She whined, pouting, and then unexpectingly brought her fingers to his sleek, still wet hair.
She ran her fingers through it, noticing how much it felt like silk, how nice it felt in between her fingers, rubbed up against itself. She noted how much nicer his hair felt than her own, but also took in the account that her hair was about 3 feet long…
Slowly, her fingers left his locks and moved down onto his face. She ran her thumbs across his eyebrows, down the bridge of his nose, his jaw, right below his eyes, the cleft between his bottom lip and chin.
"Usako…" he whispered. "What are you doing?"
"I don't want to forget you Mamo-chan…I don't see you very much, I want to know you, remember you with my hands, my touch in addition to my eyes," she said quietly.
"Usako," he murmured, unsure of what to make of his girlfriend's spontaneous new behavior. "You've always been a strange one," she backed away from him at this point; she was trying to be serious after all! "But I love you regardless".
Her face lit up, as she threw her arms around him.
"I'll try and make more time, okay?"
She nodded her head from its resting place on his shoulder.
"Mamo-chan…?" she asked after a moment.
"Hai?"
This was it. This was what she had been waiting for. He was going to say no, but she knew she had to try.
"There's a ball tonight, and I was hoping, maybe you'd come,"
"Usako…you know I can't do that. Motoki will go with you."
"But I want you, Mamo-chan! You're my boyfriend, not Motoki-kun!"
"Motoki watches out for you when I cannot, Usako".
"Please! Come with me as Tuxedo Kamen! Then no one will know its you. They all assume Motoki to be Tuxedo Kamen anyways!"
Mamoru sighed, unsure of what to do or say exactly.
"…Please.." she added in.
"Alright," he said, briefly full apprehension. Yet upon seeing her face, he saw how much it would make her happy. That's all he wanted to do.
"Oh Thankyou,Thankyou,Thankyou Mamo-chan!" she exclaimed, tackling him once more.
He smiled; it was going to be a long day.