Title: Overture
Author: Amarylis Cemetery
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: All Sailormoon characters belong to Takeuchi Naoko and Toei, etc.; this piece of fan-written fiction intends no infringement on any copyrights.
Fandom: Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon
Pairing(s): Usagi/Mamoru
Word count: 2144
Feedback: Would be lovely. But I'm not going to hunt you down if you don't.
Summary: (AU, U/M) Aware of her status but not of her past, Usagi struggles against the Dark Kingdom, unwilling to allow the senshi into her heart. Will she succeed on her own, or will she be forced to accept their help - and their friendship?
Notes: Beta-ed by Nell. This, too, was a lot of fun to write. This shows the huge distiction between Usagi and Sailormoon - Sailormoon is a darker, focused, determined version of Usagi, without many of Usagi's ideals, even though the Usagi part gets in Sailormoon's way a lot of the time. Usagi is the conscience, Sailormoon is the action. In a way. Anyway, 'Stalkermoon' was Nell's amused comment at the end of the last chapter, and I had to include it. It was just gold. (Questions regarding Tuxedo Kamen will be addressed at a later date; yes, he is in this. I promise.)


Chapter Six:
Rose

Face crimson and breath shallow, Usagi clutched at her chest, leaning against the brick wall of an antique store.

Well. That was unexpected.

Her hand rested on top of her brooch even after she changed back into her normal self. She panted, gasping for air, eyes wide.

Note to self, she remarked dryly, no more spying. Spying equals bad. Even with my low intelligence, I get that. Suddenly, Usagi shivered, and rubbed at her arms. A cursory glance at her watch told her that it was far too late for her to be out, especially when it was unlikely that any more youma would attack that night.

She swore, dashing home. Thankfully, she was able to make it back without being spotted, collapsing on to her bed after shutting her window for the second time that night.

No more leaving in the middle of the night, Usagi decided, without a good reason to. And that does not include random impulses to practically stalk men I will likely never meet again. She sighed and threw an arm over her eyes. "Usagi, you moron," she whispered. "You're creepy, and you need to try not to do that again. Because it was creepy, and you know it. Stop being stupid. God - next, they'll be calling you Stalkermoon, instead of Sailormoon!"

Thoroughly disgusted with herself, Usagi didn't even bother changing when she turned on her side and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for sleep.

She blinked blearily, dry eyes unwilling to stay open. She'd slept a grand total of four hours the night before, and after a harsh day of school, Usagi was exhausted. With a groan, she threw her head back, nearly draping herself over the back of the booth. In her left hand, she weakly clutched her melting milk shake and barely made a protest as it slipped from her grasp. She glared up at the person who stole her drink and, even in her sluggish state of mind, widened her eyes in surprise.

Mamoru, holding the sweating glass in his hand, stared down at her with a smirk on his face. Usagi groaned and laid an arm over her eyes.

"I'm ignoring you," she slurred, drifting between sleep and wakefulness.

"Is that any way to greet the guy who helped you not too long ago?" she heard him ask with something in his voice that made her pause.

"One," she started, moving her arm to narrow her eyes at him, "you forced your help on me, remember? Two, I'm tired and cranky. Go 'way." Where the hell is Motoki? she grumbled to herself darkly. He's supposed to beat guys off with a bat around me. She harried a glance around the arcade and saw Motoki grinning at the counter. Jackass.

Vaguely, Usagi realized that if she was completely awake, she'd be horrified by how much she was swearing in her own mind. The thought made her snicker.

"What are you laughing at?" Mamoru sat on the other side of the booth and, with a shot of indignance, Usagi noticed he was slurping down her drink.

"Hey!" She sat up completely and made a grab for the shake. "That's mine! You can't just steal someone's milk shake!" He calmly held it above his head with an amused smile, too high for Usagi to reach. Well, she could've just stood up, but she was far too tired to even do that. After a couple more attempts, she pouted and slumped against the booth cushions again.

"Jerk."

He raised his eyebrow. "I helped you, remember?"

"Yeah, and you were a jerk about that, too!" she countered petulantly, before rubbing her cheeks. God, she was exhausted.

"Hey, are you okay?" Usagi glanced at Mamoru and saw the same concerned look on his face that he'd had when he accosted her. The memory instantly made her suspicious, and she sat up straighter.

"Oh, no," she warned, pointing at him. "I may be tired, but don't you dare try to pull the concerned thing on me again." Fed up with him, she grabbed her briefcase and staggered to her feet. When Mamoru tried to help her up, she glared at him and shook her arm from his grasp. "I don't need your help," she hissed, stumbling out the door on her own.

Stubbornly, she ignored him as he followed behind her. He was like a great, giant bat, she decided, which brought a small giggle from her lips. Almost belatedly, she dodged another pedestrian after she started to slowly veer to the right. Geez, that was the third in as many minutes. She needed to be more careful.

Careful could wait until after she slept, Usagi grumbled in frustration, waiting for the light to change so she could cross the street. She was very aware of Mamoru standing right behind her, and the fact that he wouldn't leave her alone was beginning to wear on her nerves.

A mere four blocks later, she found herself stopping abruptly and turning on her heel.

"Look here," she said lowly, dark gaze trained on Mamoru, "I get that you feel some bizarre need to help me, god knows why. But I don't need you to follow me, okay? I'll be fine." Mamoru stared back impassively. For a few moments, they stood there just like that - Usagi glaring and Mamoru completely unfazed. Then she threw up her arms with a groan and stalked off, mind concentrating on just getting home.

When she walked up the stoop of her home, Usagi didn't even care that Mamoru was still standing by her mailbox. She didn't care that he watched her go into the house. Nor did she care when she entered her room and saw him still staring from her bedroom window. She just cast him a scowl and fell against her bed, squeezing her eyes shut.

It wasn't long until she drifted into a deep, restful sleep.

That is, to say, until an incessant beeping filled her room. Usagi groaned, unwilling to wake up, but the beeps just wouldn't stop. Annoyed, she sat up and looked for the source, vaguely noting that she probably missed dinner, judging by the darkness that had seeped into the room while she slept. When her eyes fell on her communicator, they widened. She scrambled to her feet, quickly shutting her curtains, and turned on a light. She then transformed, thankful that the added internal light hid her transformation from prying eyes.

She pressed the 'confirm' button and Mercury's face popped up on the screen.

"What is it?" she asked, all business.

"There's a youma, down by the jewelry store, Osa-P," Ami panted, glancing to something off screen. "Do you know where that is?"

"Of course I do," Sailormoon replied, annoyed. "I'll be there as soon as I can." Instead of putting the communicator back in her dresser drawer, she just slipped it in the bands of her gloves before heading to her window. She cast a look back to her bedroom door and then her clock, which told her it was just past time she should still be asleep. With a grin, she quietly opened the window and slipped outside.

Thank god she'd taken that nap. Now that she was feeling more energized, anger at Mamoru filled her veins, and she couldn't wait to take it out on a youma. Normally, she'd be disturbed by that thought, but she wasn't feeling quite normal at the moment.

She made it to the store in record time, arriving just as the youma flung Ami into one of the glass cases. Sailormoon winced in sympathy as the ice soldier tried to carefully get back up without cutting herself even more on the broken shards. Turning from her friend, Sailormoon charged her tiara and threw it at the monster, watching as it sliced through one of the arms, ricocheted off a pillar, and returned to her hand.

With its attention focused on her, Sailormoon led the youma to the back room where the money, but nothing breakable, was kept. Grinning darkly, she opened her mouth and screamed at the top of her lungs. The bun covers in her hair shook as sonic waves washed from them, the youma flying into the wall and crumbled beneath the waves. It howled in agony, still yelling even after Sailormoon herself had stopped.

Not missing a beat, she slipped her wing-like pins from her hair, throwing them at the monster like darts. Four pinned its limbs, while the other two were both stuck in its legs. With a feral smile, she removed her tiara for the second time that night. The glow of the powered weapon cast a glare on the goggles, obscuring her eyes. Grunting, she let it fly, satisfied as the youma dissolved into powder, sinking into the carpet and walls until it disappeared completely.

She recalled the frisbee and pulled the pins from the wall, sticking them in their proper resting place. She walked out into the major display room, finding not only Ami wounded, but the store owner and her daughter, Osaka Naru. Guilt flashed in her eyes as Sailormoon thought about how she really should've helped them first, before tackling the youma on her own.

And that, her mind grumbled, is exactly why you have to work on your own. Stop with the bleeding heart routine - heal them, then go. Taking out that youma was more important than them, remember?

She felt vaguely disgusted, but in that moment, Sailormoon wasn't sure if it was because she felt bad for the victims, or because her own attitude was cruel.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, she raised the wand she'd retrieved after the battle high above her head. She concentrated merely on healing the other three in the room, letting the soft light mend their wounds. Ami was the first healed, since her uniform protected her far more than the average outfit, followed by Naru's mother. Naru, who appeared to have taken the brunt of the attack, took longer, but was quickly back to normal. The redhead smiled at Sailormoon, causing the unwillingly caustic young woman to grin back.

"You might want to get yourselves checked out," she advised. "I tried my best to heal you, but who knows if I missed something. Better safe than sorry, right?"

"Well done, Sailormoon," she heard a voice commend her, and turned to peer narrowly around. There was a silhouette of a man in one of the high, stained-glass windows, which she regarded suspiciously.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked bluntly, loath to play any games with the mysterious visitor.

There was a silence pause. He turned to the window, before turning his head back to face her. "Is the Illusionary Silver Crystal here?"

"What makes you think I'd tell you if it was?" She was insulted by his imposition. "What do you want with it?" Behind her, she could hear Ami stand to back her up. A part of her felt warm at her friend's gesture.

He chuckled. "What makes you think I'd tell you?" he shot back, turning her own words back on her. She glared. "So, it isn't here, is it?"

Without waiting for a reply, he held out his hand and a stream of fire erupted from his palm. Sailormoon ducked out of the way, pulling Ami down with her. The fire blew over their heads momentarily before dissipating.

Even with the light from outside obstructing the view of his face, she could see a wicked grin bloom there. "I'll see you around, Sailor Soldiers."

Irrational anger rising in her throat, she hissed, "Who the hell do you think you are?"

She sprang into action, dashing for the window as he leapt out of it. She bounded upwards and outside, catching a glimpse of his long, grey legs against the shadows of the night. Clenching her fists harder, she followed as well as she could, but he seemed to know the area better than she. It wasn't long until she lost sight of him, and she punched the building roof in frustration, ignoring the ache in her knuckles and the cracks in the cement when she lifted her hand.

She stood there for a long while afterwards, seething.

Who did he think he was?

When the anger finally drained from her, Sailormoon moved to return home. To her surprise, a rose waited by the edge of the building, a deep red ribbon tied around the stem. An envelope lay below it, the word 'Sailormoon' written in the center like calligraphy. She pulled out the one-sided white card and frowned as her eyes scanned the letters.

'The Silver Crystal will be mine. I'll see you again sometime soon, Soldier of the Moon.'

It was signed with the pseudonym Fire General.

The violet-black rose petals crushed between her fingers.