I don't own Sailor Moon. It rightfully belongs to Naoko Takeuchi.

COVID sucks and it's ruining my life. But I hope you are all safe and dealing with this a lot better than I lmao.

I'm sorry for the delay. Thank you again for the love you've given this story. I'm always happy to see that people are enjoying it and I feel like crap when my updates aren't as frequent as they should be.

But nevertheless, I'm really glad for all your support. Thank you.

A long chapter for all of you. Hope you enjoy it.

Also one small other thing. To Guiliana Pozo who posted a review. Normally I answer by PM's but this one I just wanted to add here:

I'm really sorry for your loss and I hope you're doing okay. I'm really flattered and emotional of the fact that reading my fic helped you dealing with the whole situation and that it made you feel better. I don't know Spanish which is why I'm writing in English because I don't want to butcher the language, but your review made me both incredibly emotional and sad for you and I hope you're doing okay! Stay safe and everything will get better I know it. It may take a while but it's going to hurt less as time passes. Thank you for taking the time to tell me that. My thoughts are with you!

And OMG THE MOVIE ETERNAL IS COMING TO NETFLIX JUNE 3RD KSABKBAOBS IM SO EXCITED

Luna explains and I listen though it all.

She goes through what I already know, not all of it as she admitted to not remember everything but it still matches with what the princess and queen told me. About the Silver Millennium, the kingdom on the moon and about Princess Serenity and her mother and four Sailor Guardians; Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus. She tells me about the tragedy, the fall of the kingdom, the being reincarnated and the awakening of the evil that had destroyed the kingdom all those thousands of years before.

She also goes through the fact that she'd been searching for the reincarnated Sailor Guardians and the Princess as well, so they could fight off the evil that was awakened and could keep the Princess and Silver Crystal safe. When she finishes, I'm sitting on the ground by my house's gate, holding my knees to my chest. The tear shaped crystal was safe and sound on my jackets pocket.

"So," I start saying and the cat focuses her vermillion gaze on me as well as the guy with his dark one, but I focus on the cat, "What is it you want me to do? You told me you were looking for me but you never explained why."

She hesitates, eyes moving from me to the guy, whose name I still don't know, and then back to me, "Usagi-chan, we need to find the Sailor Guardians so we can fight off the evil and protect Earth. And I know it isn't proper to ask this but," Luna bows down her small head, "We need you to fight as well, Princess."

Ah, so she does know. I was wondering that ever since she began her explanation; other she knew I was the supposed reincarnation the person that she'd been searching for. I finally let myself look towards the male in our presence and meet his gaze, "And you? What's your excuse?"

I know who he is. It's hard not to know. The similarities are too strong. He's obviously the reincarnation of the Prince of Earth but that does still doesn't explain why he was there, because apparently he was the one that carried me to my house after I collapsed. He didn't know me. I didn't know him; memories from a thousand of years and this weird pull between us, be damned. We didn't know each other.

And yet, he helped me.

Maybe it was out of the goodness of his heart. Maybe he's just that nice.

But I'm not sure if that's the case.

Maybe he remembers you from the hospital too, a part of me brings out and I force it down immediately because it was about ten years ago. Why would he remember something like that?

"I don't remember everything that you do," he starts speaking and I keep our gazes on each other. He doesn't move to look away, "Just some things and well, the Princess. When I was young, I had an accident. I ended up in a coma and woke up with no memories of what had happened to learn that my parents were dead and with a girl I didn't know in my dreams that was telling me to find the 'Silver Crystal'," he pauses for a second and it's like his gaze gets more intense, "And I remember you."

Well, that proves it. He is the boy from the hospital.

But I still jolt at the confession like thunder struck me. He . . . remembers me? From all those years ago? A part of me wished he didn't, it would make all of this much, much easier but he does. He knows me and not because we're both reincarnations of people that don't exist anymore.

"You were the first face I saw and I couldn't - didn't want to - forget," he admits and I end up looking away, because his gaze was too, too much, "I wanted to talk to you, to say something, but you were out of the room before I could."

"Why did you want to talk to me?" I manage to speak but my voice is small, weak, like my mouth if filled with cotton balls. I don't like feeling like this.

The guy hesitates, like he isn't sure himself, before he gave a small shrug, a weak smile spreading across his face, "I don't really know. You just seemed so . . . familiar and conforting and I didn't have anyone else. I was alone, empty, and I didn't want to feel as alone anymore."

I look down at my hands, not sure what I'm supposed to say. What does someone say to something like that? Because I'm pretty sure the only reason he felt like I was familiar is the same reason of why he seems so familiar to me as well, like I've known him forever, like he's home and no no no.

It's the damn Princess' feelings and I'm getting tired of them making me feel like this.

But even so, I feel so bad, sad, for him. He lost his parents at such a young age and the only thing he had were weird dreams about finding a crystal. He shouldn't have been alone. Accidents happen everywhere but why do they happen? Why can't we all just live normally and safe?

"I'm sorry about your parents," I murmur, looking up to him again, "No child should go through what you did. I'm sorry about that."

"I've grown past it," he assures me, but it doesn't make it any less of a bad thing to have happened to him, "It still hurts sometimes but I've learned how to move on."

I wish it had been as easily to move past the whole reincarnation thing but I decide not to focus on that for now. Instead, I hold out an hand, "Thank you for helping me and my friend. With all of what happened, we haven't been properly introduced. Tsukino Usagi."

Even though it was bit embarrassing that a boy dragged me home in my pathetic state. I chose to move past it, otherwise it'll be all I think about when there's much more important topics to have in mind.

He takes it with no hesitation for a couple of seconds, "It was no problem. Chiba Mamoru."

I manage a small smile before turning to the cat. She was watching us, waiting for my answer, I'm guessing but I don't even know exactly what the question is.

Is it will you fight to protect the Earth?

Or is it something else because I don't know. I don't want to know. I don't want any of this and I'm sure that Luna knows that but even still, she asked me to fight beside her and the other Sailor Guardians.

I stand up. Luna straightens herself, her gaze fixed on me.

"You want me to fight?" I aks her.

A beat passes and she nods, albeit seeming a bit reluctant, "We need all the help we can get to seal away our enemy. We need the Sailor Guardians and we need you, our Princess, to fight as well."

"Why?" I say and I don't think I'm even talking to her anymore, "Why do we need to fight? Why us? Because a thousand of years ago we were these people? Because it's our destiny?" The word leaves my lips like poison, "Because if that's the case, it's utter bullshit. It's fucked up. We were born now, as us. We're not them anymore. They lived and died, that's it. Screw reincarnation and all that crap. We're living now as us, not them. So why should I fight a battle that has nothing to do with me?"

"But it has to do with you," Luna insists and I want to laugh, "You're Princess Serenity's reincarnation and—"

"So?" I throw back at her, arms crossed, "So what if I'm her reincarnation? It doesn't mean shit. I'm tired of people thinking that because I was this person before I'm just gonna go and save the world, because it's my so called destiny. My fate. When in reality, it doesn't mean absolutely anything. Because my name is not Serenity. It's Usagi Tsukino as far as I now. And I thought this second chance was for them to finally be free from everything that happened, to be able live as normal people."

"It is but—"

"The Silver Millennium is gone," I state, a bit mercilessly but still, it's the truth, "It's waste land, now. Its people are gone. The castle, everything that made the kingdom alive, is gone. There's no more moon royalty anymore. The Queen and the Princess are both gone. And if you think that me being Serenity's reincarnation means anything, it doesn't because I'm not her. I'm never going to be her," I hold out the tear shaped crystal in my hand, "If it's this you're worried about, you don't need to. I'll keep it safe. It's mine after all, right? And it's the thing the evil wants so why not leave it with the most normal girl that no one will suspect?"

The silence in thick. She doesn't say anything. I don't say anything. Chiba-san doesn't say anything. We just stare at one another, scarlet against cerulean blue, and for one second, one small second, I actually feel for her when her little ears go down against her head and she looks down.

I didn't want to be mean. Being mean to her, who seems as sweet as she can be being, well, a cat, was never something I wanted to do. I just wanted to make her understand.

Why is it so hard for people to understand? I don't want any of this.

. . . but be yourself, not me . . .

I remember the Princess telling me that. She had sounded sad but kind, never telling me to be her because in some way I know that she knew I wasn't her. And she wanted me to be me.

For me to be Usagi. Just plain and normal Usagi.

Why couldn't Luna understand?

"What about your family? And friends?"

The cat looks back towards me and there's this new spark of determination crossing her gaze. She's not giving up, is she? But bringing my family, my friends, into this conversation is a low blow. Even for her.

"They have nothing to do with this," I state firmly, narrowing my gaze. She doesn't seem fazed but regret seems to appear in her little face for a moment and I continue, "Don't bring them into this conversation when there's absolute no reason for them to be mentioned. And one of my best friends was hurt because of this! She's in the hospital!"

"Exactly! It put your friend in the hospital!" she throws back at me, "Imagine what they could to your parents, your little brother—"

"Stop!"

The word leaves my lips in an almost but not quite scream and Luna falters, tail curling around her.

How dare she—

How dare she bring up my family, try to use them against me? I knew that she wasn't going to give up but this, trying to guilt trip me into agreeing with her? Naru was already a target and now she's bringing my family into this?

How dare she—

I try to focus on breathing but I'm just so . . . fucking angry.

At everything.

At this whole thing, at the damn Princess, at having been reborn in this place like why me? Why does it have to be me in the middle of all of this? I don't want any of this.

I hate hate hate hate this so much.

The crystal is tightly squeezed in my fist and I can almost feel it reacting to me, to my emotions. It's starting to almost hum and it's power begins to leak out of it and I focus on not letting it go any further because I don't want any other of those damn monsters to show up.

I glare at the feline with every ounce of anger I have, nearly not stopping myself from taking a step towards her, "You did not just try to use my family, my little brother who is a child against me," My eyes are stinging but I don't stop talking, "Do you want me to fight them that badly? So badly that you're bringing people who don't have anything to do with this to this conversation?"

"It's not like that!" she exclaims, sounding offended, her ears flat against her head, "I didn't mean it that way, Usagi-chan! I just need to you to understand that if we don't deal with the enemy, many people will be in danger or worse, die. Your family may end up in danger!"

I'm understanding what she's saying, I really am but I'm just . . . tired of all of this. I just wanted a chance to live, to live a normal life. And when I have a second chance, it's in the middle of all of this where I most definitely did not want to be.

God, should I just die again and just be dead?

A beat passes.

No, I think, furious at myself for even thinking something like that, why did you think something like that, Usagi?

No matter what all of this is, I'm happy with my new life. And I don't want to waste it.

But do I really have to fight against those monsters to live it completely?

"Tsukino-san," there's an hesitant hand on my arm and I flinch, turning around to meet dark blue eyes. Chiba-san is looking between me and the cat, unsure of who to focus on I'm sure before settling his gaze on me, "Calm down. I'm sure that that wasn't what she was saying."

I want to scream at him, at them, but his hand is still on my arm and it's warm and comforting. I move my eyes away from him because it's getting to muchmuchmuch.

"I just need you to understand that, as long as they are here on Earth and trying to get the Silver Crystal, you'll never be safe," Luna says, her eyes pleading me to understand, "Your family won't be safe, everyone in this planet won't be safe. This planet is in danger and we're the only ones who can do anything about it."

Protect the Earth . . .

I breathe. Close my eyes, breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth.

. . . and yourself and everyone dear to you.

I open my eyes. Luna is still sitting in the same place as before and Chiba-san's hand is still on my arm, like an anchor and honestly, I'm quite grateful for it.

"I'm sorry I lost my temper," I tell her, cleaning my face and wrapping my arms around myself, "I didn't mean to. I just . . . Naru was hurt and you mentioned my family and . . ." Breathe in, breathe out, "They're precious to me, you know? They mean the world to me. I love them so much I would do anything for them and you mentioned them and the daemon's attack and I . . . I'm sorry and—"

"I'm sorry too," Luna tells me, closing her eyes briefly before locking them with mine, "I never meant to use your family against you. I just wanted to make you understand that everyone is in danger."

"I know," I sound numb, much like before. I feel numb and the reason I feel like this is so simple, yet I didn't want to admit it, "But I'm still not fighting. I'm not . . ." who you want me to be, "the one you need. You need the other Sailor Guardians. They'll do a better job at this than I will."

I can't fight. I don't know how to. I'd be destroyed the moment I tried.

I don't want to fight.

"We need all the Sailor Guardians and that includes you," Luna says and when I look back at her, she's smiling, "I understand you don't want me to refer to you as the Princess and I won't. And I know you don't have any wish in fighting, but we need you, Usagi-chan. We need you to help us fight them. We need you to be Sailor Moon."

The name rings in my head. Sailor Moon. It comes with this sense of familiarity but I can't say I've ever heard the name Before. But it feels like I should've, like I should know it.

But I don't.

It's just a name.

"You can't just . . . drop something like this on me and expect me to just go along with it."

I don't even know if I'm talking to the Princess and Queen or just Luna but I suppose it works for all of them because that's what they're doing. Saving the world? Protecting Earth? Why should I care for any of that?

"All of you can't just drop the fate of the planet on my shoulders and expect me to accept it like it's nothing. I'm not Serenity," I repeat what I've been saying this entire time, "I'm not her and I will never be. She's gone. And I . . . I have a life, friends, a family. I'm not this person that lived a thousands of years ago. I'm Tsukino Usagi."

I meet her vermillion eyes again. They look a bit teary but I still force the following words out of my mouth.

"I'm not fighting. I'm sorry."

With that, I bow down to her and to Chiba-san and turn the fuck around to go back home.

(Not long after Usagi turned and left, Aino Minako rushed into the street and came to a stop in front of Luna with Artemis.)

The next morning, I wake up to get ready to go to the hospital to visit Naru, only to find a golden brooch on my nightstand.

Despite the immediate feel that I shouldn't come anywhere close to it, I pick it up. It's pretty small, a warm golden color with a crescent moon as a decoration and a gold star in the middle, with four smaller circles, one on each quarter, in four different colors; red, blue, green and orange.

It's the brooch that was thrown at me during the battle, the thing that was supposed to have helped me battle that . . . that thing. Did Luna leave it here? Why? I most likely will never use it.

Protect the Earth and . . .

I close my hand around it and breathe.

Against my better judgment, I keep it in my bag, next to the Silver Crystal in a small closed compartment, and go along my morning to get ready, kissing Mama and Papa goodbye and also telling them where I was going and I'm off.

I don't call Natsumi because I don't want to worry her, but also because I wouldn't be able to explain how both Naru and her mother ended up in the hospital. I couldn't exactly say that a monster possessed Naru's mother and hurt them both while in it. So, I refrain from telling her, knowing she'll be worried sick when she gets to school and neither Naru or me will be there, but I'll figure something out.

I think. I can't lie to save my life.

Well, I'll deal with that when it comes to it.

The hospital was lobby was mostly empty which made it easier. I moved to the counter and asked the woman if Naru would be able to get visitors and when she said yes, I just asked for the numbed and thanked her.

White, white, white. Why are hospitals so white? God.

Room 141

Room 142

Room . . . There we go. Room 143. I reached out for the handle, only realizing now how much it's shaking, and decide to knock first because Mama would have my head if I barged in without warning. After hearing Naru's soft 'come in', I slid the door open and my eyes met hers immediately.

"Usagi," she says quietly, lips forming a small smile and with that I knew something was wrong, "Hi."

"Hey, Naru," I move closer to the bed and sit down in the only chair. She looked better, not as pale as before which I took as a good sign but there was something on her face, "Are you okay?"

"Mm," she nods, fingers playing with the covers, before she hesitates and shakes her head, "No, no I'm not. I . . . I don't know what happened. Mom was . . . M-Mom was strange. She hurt me. She didn't look like Mom at all, which is why I called you but . . ." Naru looks up to me. Her body's shaking, I notice in an instant and she looks like she was about to cry, "I don't understand. Why did she hurt me? It's like . . . It's like she was possessed."

"It's okay, Naru," I tell her gently, taking one of her shaking hands in mine, "It was a . . . a crazy night, so maybe you just think you saw something or—"

"I'm not crazy," Naru says, lips trembling but she still narrowed her eyes at me, "I'm not. I know what I saw! Something possessed my mother and attacked me!"

"I . . . I didn't see anything when I got there," I decide to lie because how would I be able to explain the daemon to her? Or how I made it go away? She'd think I'm insane. I hate that I have to lie to her, "When I got there, both your mother and you were on the floor unconscious, one of the windows broken. I think it was just a-a burglar and . . ."

She scoffs and rips her hands away from mine, "Just say you think I'm crazy like everyone else and go."

"Naru, I don't think you're crazy," I try to make her understand, "I don't, but . . ."

"Usagi, I can't even look my mother in the eye!" Naru exclaims, teary eyes narrowed but the expression breaks as she whispers softly, "I can still feel them . . . I can still feel her claws around my neck and the sick grin on her deformed face. It was my mother!" she cries, desperate, "It was my mother who had her claws around my neck and made me fall unconscious! She came to see me, you know? To see if I was alright and I couldn't even look at her, much less talk to her. I was terrified. So please spare me the lie because I know what I saw. When I first woke up in the middle of the night, I couldn't go back to sleep because of the monster. So, please, don't lie to me."

Tears have gathered in my eyes but I don't let them fall. It's not what Naru wants. She doesn't want pity. She wants to be believed in. She wants me to believe that what she's saying is true and I know that it's true, but I can't explain this.

The machine tracking her heartbeat starts to beep like crazy and not even two seconds later, two nurses are barging in the room to calm Naru down and take me out of the room.

After being told that Naru was asleep, I leave the hospital, feeling worse than ever before.

Before I decide to go home because I doubt Naru will want to see me again today, I walk into a small jewelry store next to a cafe that Mama loves a lot and come out of it with a chain attached to the top of the Silver Crystal making it a necklace basically.

They didn't damage it and it's much more safer to have it around my neck, underneath my shirt where I can both hide it and use it if ever needed.

I hope not, but still.

And also, I did promise Luna I'd keep it safe.

Was it also vulnerable to easy grabs? True, but I believe that I wouldn't let it happen easily. It's better to have it close to me like this, instead of inside my bag or at home without supervision.

Knowing what this world is like now, something is definitely gonna make sure I regret this.

With that done, I walk to school.

"Naru is what?"

I shush Natsumi immediately, pulling on her arm so she can sit back down and meet her concerned gaze. There was some passing students that look at us for a second and then continue with their life.

"Naru is in the hospital, I went to see her this morning," I repeat what I had just said, shushing her when my friend was about to speak up again. "She's okay, Natsu. They treated her already."

Not the mental trauma regarding her mother, I think to myself but don't say because the guilt still makes me nearly throw up. It's my fault. I didn't get there fast enough. And now Naru has to pay the consequences.

God, I'm such a terrible friend.

"But what happened?" Natsumi demands, stabbing her chopsticks onto her food. "Why did she end up in the hospital?"

I hesitate, taking a small bite from my bento. This was one of the reasons I wasn't sure I should've told Natsumi about Naru's situation, because I didn't know what to say in the terms of explaining. I can't just tell her that Naru's mother turned into a monster that wanted to absorb human's life force and nearly killed both of them while doing so.

She'll think I'm crazy.

But I can't lie to her either. Natsumi's my friend, one of my best friends. And the one thing we all promised each other was never lie or hide anything. Because that's how friendships end. With secrets and no communication.

But to explain the monster, I'll also have to explain . . .

My hand reaches out for my neck where the Silver Crystal is.

I'll need to explain this too. And to explain the crystal itself, I'll need to explain the princess and the Luna and the Sailors and the reincarnation thing and that's the last thing I want. I don't . . . I want to get away from all that.

But . . .

"Usagi!" Natsumi jolts me out of my thoughts and I face her again. Her shoulder length black hair is a wild curly mess and it really accents her fierce blue glare. "Can't believe you're daydreaming right now! What happened to Naru?"

I swallow. Lick my dry lips and open them, "I . . . It's gonna sound unbelievable but . . . I promise that what I'm about to say is completely true."

"Just say it!" She snaps, blue eyes never leaving my own.

"Naru was . . . She was attacked by . . . by her mother. And . . ."

AMI

She didn't mean to stay watching them. She really didn't.

But one thing Mizuno Ami is good at after spending the last two years of middle school, and well most of her life really, alone is that she's way too good at observing people. And she didn't even mean to be watching them like this, really! Tsukino Usagi's golden blonde hair was beacon to everyone around her and it was hard for Ami to not look at her.

Especially when the girl seemed so . . . genuine.

Her eyes would convey any emotion that she was feeling, either being in glares to keep people away or widening in surprise. Her face was way too expressive to be able to hide anything. And when Usagi's with the only two girls she hangs out with, she just radiates happiness and comfort. She smiles and snorts and is the definition of happiness.

Ami has wanted to have someone smile like that at her too.

She has wanted to be Usagi's friend ever since she first saw her in the first year of middle school, even though she wasn't as approachable then as she is now.

And now . . .

Ami doesn't understand the memories that has broke free in her head the previous night. She had been studying late and then this headache exploded in her temples and she hadn't been able to stop herself from crying out in pain, which of course woke her mother.

The memories had rushed in and stuck in her mind like they belonged there, but she still hasn't gotten used to them. The supposed life she lived before and the people that she had been friends with and being a Sailor Guardian - whatever that meant - and the fact that one of those said friends had been the princess of the place she lived before on the moon . . .

She looked exactly like Tsukino Usagi looks.

The golden hair, the crystal blue eyes, everything. It was hard for Ami, especially when she got all the memories just yesterday, to look at the blonde girl, who is still talking with one of her friends, and not see the princess from her memories.

. . . "Mercuryyy," Serenity whined, falling back onto her bed with her hair spreading all over the covers, "I'm tired! Can we do something else?"

She - me, Ami realizes with a jolt - sighed, lips fighting back a fond smile. It's futile. The smile comes forward anyways. The book she was holding was placed beside the identical one, "Princess, you need to learn all this. It's very important information that you will need when you succeed your mother as queen."

"But Mercuryyy . . ."

"None of that. Let's go over this again."

"Ughhhh." . . .

Ami blinks back into awareness, the memory fadingbehind her lids. Her bento lies forgotten in her lap. Usagi and her friend are no longer sitting where they were.

"Ami-chan," she jumps when something - well, someone - climbs onto her shoulder. Luna's whiskers poke her cheek, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she responds. The cat had appeared to her this morning, along with a white one and it didn't take long for the memories to help her understand who they were. She grips her transformation pen, that she keeps in her pockets since the previous night, "I'm fine. It was . . . It was just a memory."

Luna hums and rubs her whispered cheek against Ami's right one, "I can imagine just how . . . how much they must feel to you, but this is our duty. As one of the Princess' Guardians, it's your destiny. We're doing this for her, to protect her and the planet."

I know, Ami thinks, closing her eyes.

And she does. She knows that she has to do this. There's no one else but them; the Four Sailor Guardians. She just wishes she could have the ability, the strength, to say no as their reincarnated princess had done, to not fight. She doesn't think she has the strength or stamina to handle it.

But she doesn't. She keeps quiet. After all, the Earth needs to be protected. The Princess and the Silver Crystal need to be protected.

The four of them would have to be enough.

.

.

.

NATSUMI told me she needed time to process everything I had told her and I agreed.

I didn't expect anything else really. Honestly, I'm still surprised that she believed me, but she trusted me enough to know I wouldn't make up something like this. You don't have the creativity for that, she had told me, laughing and dodging as I has swiped at her face. But she was right. Imagination wasn't my strong forte.

Nevertheless, she had accepted everything I told her and just told me to give her a few days, to go see Naru and to assimilate everything in her brain.

And I know what it feels like, so of course I let her have all the time she needed.

It wasn't like the enemy knew where the Silver Crystal was. It was still safely hidden with me.

After school, I didn't go straight home. I walked through the center area of town, to see if I could find any place that was hiring. Working is still one of my goals. I need my own money. I can't be asking Mama and Papa all the time whenever I want to go out and get something. They have their things to handle, bills to pay and they're already sustaining me and Shingo.

There was only one problem: I'm fourteen.

Before, the legal age to truly start working in my country was at eighteen. You could start taking your driver's license, you could drink. You were legally an adult the moment you turn eighteen.

But here, in this world that's alike my own but still so, so different, being fourteen it's notenough.

So I have to find a way, make up something that would help me get one.

I use my brain to think of a story I could tell and with luck they'll believe me enough to not check it out; maybe I could tell them my parents were having a lot of issues handling the bill and the house and their jobs and two kids at the same time. And I'm trying to get some money to help them out, because I hate being able to not do anything.

Will anyone buy that?

No. The answer is no. I already went to like three different shops and nothing. They told me the exact same thing every time. I understand you want to help your parents and you're being very kind in doing it, but kids like you should only focus in school.

Well fuck.

I don't think it's today that I'll finally find a job.

Frowning and maybe even sulking a bit, I take my usual way home. The park I pass everyday is pretty much empty at this time, at the end of the afternoon. There's no kids on the swings, or any mothers chatting. There's only a cat walking around that scares me for a second because it was like I was seeing Luna in its place but no. It's grey and not paying any attention to me.

"To think, I'm starting to be scared of cats," I mumble to myself, perhaps being crazier than normal.

I'm turning around, about to leave the nearby area-

When there's something spawning to existence a couple of meters behind me. In the park. Whatever it is and how I even felt it spawn before the explosion hit is beyond me, but the sudden harsh gust of wind sends me to the floor and sends leaves and twigs everywhere. I hear the cat yelp and see it running away. There's no people around but me and I'm starting to think that whenever any sort of weird thing happens and it's only me that's nearby is not longer any sort of coincidence.

I'm pretty sure this is happening because I'm here alone.

The wind calms down and when I feel that it's safe enough, I bring myself to my feet, grab my bag and, clearly stupidly because I apparently didn't learn with what happened the day before, I ran towards the commotion.

I have to cross a few trees so it's faster and I know that there's a lake somewhere where it happened and-

There!

In the small dock that the lake has, there's this light. I cant quite describe it. It's filled with all sorts of colors and it's slowly disappearing, leaving only behind a shape in the floor.

It's a person, I realize. A small person. It's a child.

And instinct brings me forward, running towards them.

The first thing I see it's pink. Bright pink hair but dull in the night and oily, in two completely messed up pigtails. A pink and white sweatshirt that is dirty and ripped in some places and beige shorts. She's- because I'm sure that it's a girl - barefoot and pale, her hand tightly closed around something.

And when she finally pushes herself up just as I'm getting to her side, I notice how young she looks.

She looks like she's younger than Shingo. About four, five maybe? She's a small thing, tiny and unprotected. She's also shaking, I notice, looking around her in fear and holding her arms around her body in an attempt to protect herself.

I feel a tinge of sorrow as I look at her.

Why is a child appearing out of a beam of light like that? Who is this girl?

"Hey," I say quietly, to not startle her. It doesn't matter anyways because in a sudden and rushed movement, her eyes are on me and they're a vivid scarlet. And somewhat familiar, the shape of them. She's hurt too, a cut below her eye is still bleeding and there's bruises on her chin and forehead, dark bruises. I swallow my concern because I need to make sure she knows where she is first, "It's okay. You're safe."

But instead of nodding like I expected her to do or maybe even scream at me or asking for her parents, the child's eyes fill with tears and in a second, she's sobbing and throwing herself at me, her small and trembling arms going around my waist tightly.

"Mama!"

And my whole brain just freezes.

What the fuck?

Here's to AU being written in the summary and coming truly alive. This has been in my mind ever since I thought of the story itself, believe it or not.

I very much like to experiment and I'm having the time of my life with this fic and the headcanons and thoughts I've had for this series.

Yes, it's exactly who you think it is. Yes, she's younger than she is in canon. Yes, everything will be explained. Yes, the timeline, the present and the future, in my story's universe is absolutely fucked and it'll be explained in future chapters. Yes, I don't know why I'm writing this down and being annoying.

I love her, okay? Her 90's characterization was awful but the manga one was very much better and it'll be the one I will use for her in particular.

It feels good to finally be finishing this chapter! Hopefully you're not disappointed! Nothing much happened, but it's still an important progress in the story. And I'm feeling so good in coming back to this piece and finishing it.

Thank you for reading and I'll see you all next time!