SAILOR MOON: 1987

OBLIGATORY LEGAL DISCLAIMER: Stuff in this story I didn't create: Sailor Moon, and anything else created by Naoko Takeuchi. Stuff I did create: Anything and everything I did create. Amount of money I'm making from this story: zero dollars and zero cents.

USAGI TSUKINOS BEDROOM

DECEMBER 21, 1986, 10:30 AM

"I guess you're right," Usagi Tsukino said. "There's a lot more to a guy than looks. Take John McCoy, for example. He's not exactly a hunk, but I can totally see myself growing old with him. Of course, I'm not exactly drop-dead gorgeous myself. I'm a bit on the short side, my nose is a little too small for my face, and I probably could stand to lose a few pounds."

"I have it on good authority John doesn't think that at all," Luna said. "I've talked to him a time or two, he said that there may be other girls who may be prettier on the outside, but on the inside, you're the most beautiful girl he's ever met. He said you have a very big heart, a kind and generous heart. He loves you, Usagi Tsukino. I've seen it myself. I've seen the way his face lights up whenever he sees you. And you were one of the first people he told when he first became Golden Hawk."

EPISODE 11: WHEN JOHN MET USAGI

"I know he loves me," Usagi said. "And I love him. We've loved each other since the day we met, even thought neither of us were aware of it at the time. Come to think of it, I doubt either of us knew about romantic love at the time, and if either of us did, neither of us cared. I mean, I was 5 at the time, although John had recently turned 6. John had started kindergarten in Hawaii, due to his dad being stationed at the submarine base at Pearl Harbor. In January, his dad was given a medical discharge, due to a service related injury, and moved his family back to Orange County. John, his parents, and his older sister."

"I didn't know John had a sister," Luna said.

"He doesn't talk about her," Usagi said. "I'm not privy to the details, all I know is that their parents disowned her a few years back. As for John, he doesn't talk about her, he feels that she betrayed him, as far as he's concerned, he doesn't have a sister. And if you go to their house, and look around, you'd think John was an only child. They burned every photo she was in, along with her artwork, report cards, baby book, everything. They gave her the Chuck Cunningham treatment."

"Who's Chuck Cunningham?" Luna asked.

"On Happy Days," Usagi said. "Originally, Howard and Marian Cunningham had 3 children. You've seen the show before, you know about Richie and Joanie. However, in the first few episodes, Richie and Joanie had an older brother, Chuck. After they wrote Chuck off the show, they never mentioned him again. In fact, there were a few later episodes where Howard mentions that he and Marian only had 2 children. Basically, it was as if Chuck never existed. That's pretty much how it is with John's sister. Just do me a favor, don't ever mention that you know about Debra."

"Who's Debra?" Luna asked.

"John's sister," Usagi said. "That's her name."

"I figured that out," Luna said. "What I meant was that I officially don't know that John has an older sister."

"Okay," Usagi said. "Enough about her. I want to talk about when John and I first met, back in kindergarten. He was a scared kid, but when I first looked into those brown eyes of his, I could tell he knew things would be okay."

JANUARY 19, 1976

SIERRA VISTA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, PLACENTIA, CALIFORNIA

MRS. CARR'S CLASS, 8:30 AM

"Class," Mrs. Carr said, "we have a new student today. This is John McCoy, he just moved here from Honolulu. Does anyone know where Honolulu is?"

A girl, her blonde hair in pigtails, raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Tsukino?" Mrs. Carr said.

"Hawaii," Usagi Tsukino said.

"That's correct," Mrs. Carr said ."Honolulu is in Hawaii. Now Mr. McCoy, if you would have a seat next to Miss Tsukino, we can begin class."

John took a seat next to Usagi. "Hi," Usagi said. "I'm Usagi Tsukino."

"I'm John McCoy," John said, nervously. Looking in Usagi's eyes, he saw a kind heart, a kind and generous soul. He knew things would be okay...

BACK IN THE PRESENT, USAGI TSUKINO'S BEDROOM

"I think he's known from when we first met I had a kind heart," Usagi said, grabbing 3 bottles of nail polish from atop her dresser, the first a deep red, the second a brighter shade of red, the third fuchsia. "Which one do you think I should wear on my fingernails?" she asked Luna.

"I wouldn't know," Luna said. "I'm a cat, remember, I don't wear nail polish."

"Maybe you should," Usagi said. "Maybe I'll polish your claws for you."

"You do, and I'll scratch your eyes out," Luna said.

"I doubt you would actually carry out that threat," Usagi said.

"What makes you think I won't claw your eyes out?" Luna asked.

"Because I'd be no good as Sailor Moon if I were blind," Usagi said.

"Good point," Luna said. "But I prefer my claws to be unpolished, if you don't mind."

"Whatever you say," Usagi said. "I think I'm going to go with the bright red myself."

"I never understood why you human females polish your nails, anyways," Luna said.

"Me neither," Usagi said, as she started polishing her fingernails. "I guess I wear nail polish because I like the way it looks when my mom does her nails."

"Can I ask you a personal question?" Luna asked.

"I don't guarantee I won't tell you to go fuck yourself," Usagi said, "but ask away."

"How come you don't look anything like your parents, or your brother?" Luna asked.

"Because Kenji and Ikuko Tsukino aren't my biological parents," Usagi said. "They adopted me when I was only a few months old. I don't know much about my biological parents, except both of them are dead. I don't know my biological father's name, just that he died in Vietnam. As for my birth mother, her name was Serena Campbell, she was only 16 when I was born. From what I was told, there were complications with the birth, she died just a few hours after I was born. She did, however, live long enough to give me a name. She named me Bunny, which is why when Kenji and Ikuko Tsukino adopted me, they changed my name to Usagi. In a way, my name's still Bunny, Usagi is the Japanese word for rabbit. Kenji and Ikuko are the only parents I've ever known, and I love them. They showed me kindness by adopting me into their family, and I try to repay their kindness by being kind to all, man or beast."

"About that," Luna said. "I have a little confession for you. Remember how you and I first met?"

"Some little boys were mistreating you," Usagi said. "I ran them off."

"I wasn't in any harm," Luna said. "I made them only pretend to mistreat me."

"Why would you do that?" Usagi asked.

"You could say it was your final exam," Luna said. "The final test to see if you were worthy of taking up the mantle of the Pretty Guardian of the Moon."

"I thought we decided on Sailor Moon," Usagi said. "You know, shorter, to the point, it even sounds more like a superhero name."

"Anyways," Luna said. "I'd been observing you for a while, and I could see you had a kind heart. The person to take up the Sailor Moon mantle has to have a kind heart. But I had to be absolutely certain your heart was kind enough. I figured if you had just passed by and allowed a poor feline to be abused, your heart wasn't kind enough, so I had those boys pretend to abuse me. But you didn't just pass by, you got involved, and chased the boys off. You even removed the bandage from my forehead, which, unfortunately, prevented me from speaking at the time. It was when you removed the bandage when I knew without a doubt you were the person to take up the mantle of Sailor Moon. Once I found you, it was easier to find the other Sailor Guardians. But finding John, that was serendipity. And while he sometimes thinks of himself as nothing more than a mercenary, he has been a valuable member of this team from day one."

"That's just John McCoy being John McCoy," Usagi said. "Remember when we first started teaming up, he would disappear as soon as the battle was over? Of course, part of that was him acting out a mysterious stranger fantasy of his, but I think part of it was a feeling that he doesn't really belong."

"Why does he think that?" Luna asked. "He may not have Sailor Guardian powers, but we can count on him to put his ass on the line for us without a second thought."

"You call someone a misfit enough," Usagi said, "they'll believe they are a misfit."

"None of you have ever called John a misfit," Luna said.

"I'm not talking about any of us," Usagi said.

"Oh, I see," Luna said, understanding who Usagi was talking about.

"Sometimes, I wish I could go back in time and repair all the damage that has been done to him," Usagi said. "But I can't, and I've learned to accept that."

"I suspect there's more to John McCoy than even you know," Luna said.

Usagi's communicator went off at that moment. "Attention!" Ami Andersen said. "This is Sailor Mercury, trouble at Orangefair Plaza, it involves Zoicite."

"Pretty Guardian of the Moon, Make-Up!"

UNTIL NEXT TIME...

OUR NEXT EPISODE: SEVEN GREAT BEASTS #1:FIGHTING ONE OF THEIR OWN