Title: Dream Prince
Author: Raya Light
SM Montlhy Challenge Theme 03JAN06: "Dreams that do come true can be as unsettling as those that don't." -- Brett Butler, 'Knee Deep in Paradise'
Genre: Drama
Version: PGSM (Between Act 0 part A and Act 0 part B)
Rating: G

Disclaimer: All characters owned by Takeuchi Naoko and Bandai Entertainment. I'll even give them the police

Dream Prince

Sailor V stood in the shadows and watched the tall man rummage through the jewelry cases in the store across the street. Even though he appeared to be just a common thief, Artemis had insisted that they needed to check him out. Personally, Sailor V thought they were wasting their time, but he had been unusually insistent for some reason so she had finally agreed.

She frowned as she studied the man, and then winced and absently rubbed her head. There was something about him... something familiar that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

He moved into the beam of light that a nearby street lamp threw into the building, and her eyes widened curiously. He was wearing a black tuxedo, and a plain white domino mask covered his face. 'What an strange outfit for a thief,' Sailor V thought as she tilted her head slightly for a better view. The man turned slightly to pick up something out of a nearby case which caused the long cape hanging from his shoulders to shift and flutter. The movement brought another sharp pain to her head, and she gasped as she reached up for it.

"Minako?"

Artemis' worried voice sounded very distant as the scene in front of her dissolved into a strange grey mist. For a brief second, she saw another tall man with dark hair, this one dressed in white and green. A feminine voice called out, and the man turned towards the sound. His silver and green cape shifted and fluttered with the movement. And then, the vision disappeared.

"Minako? Are you all right?" Artemis asked again from beside her feet.

"En...dymion?" Sailor V replied hesitantly. Her hand lowered from her head to her racing heart as she stared in wide-eyed shock at the thief. "It... It can't be..."

"Prince Endymion?" Artemis said sharply in shock as he turned quickly to look across the street again. "It can't be. He's dead! Besides, he isn't a thief."

Sailor V watched the man closely, studying his movements and mannerisms intently as he pulled the string tight on his bag and prepared to exit the premises. In the distance, the wail of sirens could be heard coming closer. Every movement seemed to confirm her suspicions. When he walked boldly out of the store and turned sharply into the dark alley next to it, she was absolutely certain that the man was the prince of her dreams.

She was also in too much shock to follow him. By the time Artemis' nudges and urgent commands penetrated, the flashing lights of the arriving police cars made it impossible to do so without being seen. Instinctively, she drew back further into the shadows. Artemis fussed quietly, and she absently picked him up.

"Minako... Why did you say 'Endymion'?" the little white plush cat finally asked. He watched her intently, not liking the pale color of her skin or the trembling he felt throughout her body.

"Because that's who he was," she replied softly. "And if he's here..." Her voice trailed off, but Artemis' sharp ears caught the hope and excitement and fear that filled it. 'If he's real, that means the rest of my dreams might...' she thought to her self.

"It can't have been him," Artemis replied as he shook his head. "I told you, Prince Endymion isn't a thief. Besides," his voice became more triumphant, "you've never met Prince Endymion. You..." Suddenly, the little cat stopped, afraid of saying too much too soon. Sailor V did not have all of her memories back yet. She was missing the most important ones. The ones about living in the Moon Kingdom, her princess, her mission, and the most vital of all: her true identity. He decided that telling her that she had died before the prince first came to the Moon would probably not be a good idea.

But, Sailor V seemed to come to abruptly, and shook her dark golden head as she turned to slip away from the crime scene. "Yes, I have," she replied confidently. "I've seen him in several dreams. I'm not sure how, but... I met him on Earth." Artemis stared up at her, wanting to argue but held silent by the conviction in her voice. Her face scrunched in thought under her mask. "I think... I think I was there when he first met his princess..." It was Artemis' turn to shiver as he remembered the outcome of that ill-fated meeting and romance.

Silently and swiftly, Sailor V carried her four footed comrade through the night and back to her hotel room. Once there, Sailor V placed Artemis on her night stand and then changed back to Minako Aino. She sat down slowly and carefully in front of her desk and stared out the window with blank brown eyes.

"Minako? Are you feeling all right?" Artemis asked, worried by the unusual silence. She nodded absently in response. "Does you head hurt? Do you need to lie down?"

Minako suddenly scowled and turned to glare at him. "I'm fine," she insisted. "Don't badger me. You sound like my mother."

"Sorry, sorry," he said as he backed up carefully. "You just seemed... Never mind. You mentioned that you had seen the prince in your dreams. I always meant to ask you about them. What do you dream?"

Minako looked at him quietly for a few moments, and then relaxed with a little sigh. "They started when I was a child," she began. She told him about her dreams of a prince and princess whose faces she could not see, the impressions of a queen and friends that she couldn't remember on waking up, the scattered images of a grand castle and a green kingdom. When she finished, she had calmed enough to go to sleep.

Artemis watched her sleep for a few hours, and then went to the window to look at the newly risen moon. 'What should I do?' he asked it quietly in his mind. 'The Prince is here. The Enemy is waking. That means that the Princess...'

'Find Sailor Moon,' a soft voice whispered in his mind. 'She will lead us to the other Senshi and to the Princess. Find Sailor Moon...'

Six months later, during their final battle with the Cutie Kenko, he finally found her.