A.N.: Alas, still not mine… Notes on the bottom…

The Dancing Dream

Chapter 7

By Magawa

Usagi woke the next morning feeling better and more refreshed than she had in days, maybe weeks even. And it was all due to some fantastic dream. Sure she couldn't completely remember what it was about except that it all revolved around the dark-haired man with the stormy-blue eyes.

"Endymion."

The name slipped from her lips as softly as an endearment and was as unexpected to Usagi as it was to Luna.

"What was that Usagi?" Luna queried raising her head curiously.

"Oh I just now remembered the name of the man in my dream. It was Endymion."

"Hmm..." Luna tried not to look too hopeful as she asked, "Do you remember anything else?"

"Not much really," Usagi stated before giggling. "Except that I nearly died by falling off the balcony and he saved my life!"

Luna chuckled too before teasing her young mistress, "Oh well then, is that all? No big deal." She ducked out of the way as Usagi playfully smacked at her.

Usagi stretched, rolled and groaned before finally making it out of her bed and onto her feet. "Luna! I don't wanna go to school today," Usagi whined.

Luna stealthily crept up behind Usagi until she was just a foot or so away. Swishing her tail back and forth animatedly, Luna leapt at the backs of Usagi's legs propelling her forward.

"Too bad!" Luna chuckled as her princess turned to glare at her after catching her balance. "Now get a move on Usagi. You don't want to be late for school."

"Geez you're in a good mood," Usagi grumbled half-heartedly before continuing. "You and Artemis must have mad-up for you to be this cheerful…"

Luna swiveled her head around so fast she nearly fell over. "What about Artemis?"

Usagi just laughed at the look on her cat's face. "Don't play coy with me young lady," she said in mock sternness. "Artemis? The other court guardian you love to hate and hate to love?"

Luna narrowed her eyes dangerously. "And just who did you hear that from?" she growled.

"Oh Luna I'm just teasing you," Usagi said quickly. "But he likes you too you know."

Luna shook her head retracting her claws. 'I never said anything about Artemis. I know I didn't. She must be remembering more of the past again…'

"Well if you see Artemis tell him I want to talk to him," Luna stated regally while Usagi clapped her hands in excitement at the thought of their kitty romance.

"If I see him I'll be certain to let him know!"

"Good," Luna replied. "Now get to school or you'll be late."

"Great Serenity! I am SO dead!" Usagi squealed before running out.

"And so the square root of 45 is…?" The teacher droned on as Usagi rolled her eyes. Nope not sleeping in class today! She'd had a good night's sleep and all the kitty romance excitement to keep her awake and occupied. But that didn't mean she was just going to sit there and take notes… That was Mercury's cup of tea, not hers. She just figured she'd doodle again. That was really far more entertaining that whatever her teacher was talking about – even if the answer was only 6.7 – Who really cared about that sort of thing anyway?

This time she decided to sketch out Artemis and Luna sitting together as she had seen the two of them do so many times before… She hardly looked up when the teacher called her name.

"Yes Chandra?" Usagi asked innocently, unaware of the curious stares she was receiving. Kasahara-sensei didn't seem to notice the lapse though either.

"Ser…er, Usagi, you must try to pay attention. You are better than this. You used to be such an excellent pupil. Come now, what is the answer to this problem?"

Usagi glanced quickly at the board before returning her gaze to her drawing. "You're going easy on me today, Chandra. The square root of 45 is obviously 6.7."

Usagi's teacher smiled a real smile before proclaiming her correct.

When class finally ended, Makoto and Ami crowded around her desk.

"Wow Usagi! Way to go on that problem. That was a really hard one too!" exclaimed Makoto in real excitement.

"Yes Usagi, I'm quite impressed," Ami put in.

"Stop kidding you two," Usagi scolded. "We've been doing problems like that and harder since we were all ten years old."

Makoto and Ami just looked at each other uncertainly. "Except for the fact that we haven't all been going to school together since this past school year," Makoto stated earnestly.

"And yesterday you were complaining about a simple multiplication problem and I don't think they even started teaching me square roots until I was in the sixth grade," Ami rejoined.

Usagi looked startled for a moment. "Don't you two remember at all…?"

Makoto and Ami shook their heads 'no' slowly. "And something else, why did you call Kasahara-sensei 'Chandra'? And what's more, why on Jupiter didn't she seem to notice it wasn't her name?"

"Stop scaring me like this you two," Usagi put in swiftly. "I called her that because that is indeed her name!" She's been our tutor for years now."

Makoto and Ami shook their heads at her again before saying very quietly, "We need to have a scout meeting…"

Usagi's eyes widened a little further.

"Luna, am I crazy?" Usagi asked petulantly turning large liquid eyes at her guardian.

Rei snickered in the background.

"No, Usagi, you're not crazy. Chandra really was your tutor. But in your past life," Luna stated drooping her head a little at the thought of trying to explain without giving too much away.

"Past life?" Makoto asked curiously.

"Luna what do you mean?" Rei demanded.

"I thought as much," Ami said nodding knowledgeably. "It makes sense with some of the odd things Usagi's been saying lately. Plus we are senshi, guardians, born to protect the princess. And a princess being reincarnated fits right into many of the old myths and legends. As her guardians we would have to be brought back too," she finished before glancing around at their gaping stares. "What?"

Luna recovered enough to reply, "No, you're quite right Ami. I just wasn't expecting you to have figured it out so quickly." 'Thank Serenity that I don't have to explain anything…They'll all be remembering more and more now…'

"So these are just memories?" Makoto asked with confusion in her eyes.

"Chandra is remembering them too," Usagi stated quietly.

"Hmm that's true," Ami pondered.

"I wonder though if she actually remembers though," Makoto mused. "She didn't even seem to realize that Usagi didn't call her Kasahara-sensei."

"But why would our old tutor be reincarnated too?" Rei asked. "I thought it was just us, as the princess' protectors."

"You're right," Ami responded. "I don't know exactly why someone like Kasahara-sensei was reincarnated too."

Usagi was strangely quiet.

"Well, let's end this meeting for today," Luna said firmly. "We've all got plenty to think about. And I have the feeling that we'll all be remembering more and more as time goes on."

In this dream she was younger, much much younger. It was as if she were looking down on herself and watching. She remembered this day, this memory. It was the first day she'd met the boy from her dreams in grade school.

He was shy and polite with dark locks that were just a little too long and absolutely a mess. Thick glasses hid his eyes and he had to keep pushing them up to be able to see clearly. He was shorter than most of the boys in the room. His introduction was short and polite and it was obvious that he was painfully shy. She remembered being curious by him – he didn't seem to be like all the other boys. He was different somehow.

She watched again as he was assigned to sit next to her, and she felt again that boundless excitement to be able to meet someone new and sate her curiosity about him. She turned to him, introducing herself immediately with her best smile.

Instead of the shy polite response she was expecting from the boy, he asked "Has anyone ever told you your hair looks like dumplings? Or maybe spaghetti and meatballs… Either way, your hair's really weird."

But what surprised Usagi the most out of this exchange were her own words: "Mamoru-baka you jerk! Take that back!"

A.N.: All right, all right. I know it's mind-numbingly short for one of my chapters, but as I just posted the last chapter three days ago… It begs the question, "Who loves ya, baby?"

So give a little love in return and leave the stressed authoress a review. She finished with all her exams today and this is her therapy session.

Oh and 'Chandra' is a name in Sanskrit mythology of a demon character, but the actual word means 'moon.' And near as I can figure teachers are demons anyway (this is me conveniently forgetting that I'd like to maybe be a teacher someday…).

And you may have noticed Usagi's speech becoming a little more formalized. It's all part of the process…

Cheerio! 3/15/06