Hello everyone! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to write any of my story on the do-nothing holiday, because I spent it doing homework. But I've been working hard on both this week (and getting up really early in the morning sometimes), so I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer:
Sparrowflyaway: "*cackling maniacally* I am about to set my Master Plan in motion. Soon the rights to Sailor Moon shall be mine! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! … ...Oh, wait. I'd need to get to Japan to set my Master Plan in motion. I don't have nearly enough money! How am I going to get an expensive plane ticket to Japan if I can't afford one? Also, I'd need to speak Japanese before I could set my Master Plan in motion. *sigh* Foiled again..."
"Say, Luna, what exactly is so familiar about that little girl?" Usagi asked, looking down at her midnight-blue friend as they walked through the park. Luna frowned thoughtfully.
"Well, she looks very familiar, but it's not just that. I keep sensing a very strong aura around her. It's unlike anything I've ever sensed before," Luna said. Usagi couldn't help giggling.
"That's a lot like what you said when you first met Sunshine," Usagi said, smiling
"Hey, Usagi-chan? You there?" Rei's voice echoed out of Usagi's bag. She stopped walking and pulled out her communicator.
"What's up, Rei-chan?" Usagi asked.
"I asked the Fire about that sixth scout from Melina's dreams, and I got a picture of a little girl. She looks about seven and she has white-blonde hair," Rei said. Usagi and Luna gasped simultaneously and looked at each other.
"Rei-chan, Luna and I just saw a girl who looked exactly like that," Usagi said, turning back to her communicator.
"Looks like we'd better head back and keep an eye on her," Luna said, before jumping up onto Usagi's shoulder. "Can you take care of Melina, Rei?" Rei nodded.
"Sure thing. But she doesn't really need me to take care of her. She's doing much better than yesterday," Rei said, smiling.
"That's good to hear. Call us if anything changes, OK?" Luna said.
"OK. Let me know if you guys find out anything," Rei said, before the screen went blank. Usagi slipped her communicator back into her bag, turned and began to walk home again.
Mr Arian walked up the stairs with a glass of milk, and was just in time to see the last roof tile zoom back into place. Sora slumped onto the end of the attic steps and sighed exhaustedly.
"I think that'll do for today, honey. Why don't you go for a walk and get some fresh air?" Mr Arian said, holding out the glass of milk for Sora, who took it gratefully and gulped it down.
"OK, Daddy," she said, giving the empty glass back to her father. She stood, walked downstairs and out the front door.
"Hey, look, there she goes!" Usagi said, pointing up the road. "Should I go say hi?"
"No, I think it's best to just keep an eye on her for now. We still don't know who she is," Luna said. Usagi nodded and ran after the little girl.
Melina woke to find Sunshine curled up on the end of the bed asleep. She's probably exhausted, Melina thought, smiling as she pictured her faithful companion watching over her all night. Melina stood and crept outside, where she sat down beside the door with her back against the Temple wall and stared absently into the distance. I can't believe I'm a senshi, she thought, a small smile playing on her lips. It just feels so right.
"Good morning, Princess. How are you today?" Sunshine asked, walking outside. Melina squirmed uncomfortably at the title.
"Sunshine, it feels strange, you calling me Princess. Why are you doing it again?" Melina asked. Sunshine smiled.
"I didn't get the chance to tell you yesterday, what with you transforming and all, but I will tell you today. But I think it would be wise if the other Senshi were present too, so you may have to wait until later," Sunshine said, curling up beside Melina. Melina sighed resignedly and stared off into the distance, thinking about what had happened yesterday. She had felt so frightened when she saw David collapse...
"David! What happened to him?" Melina said, sitting up.
"He's fine. The others made him go home," Sunshine smiled. Melina relaxed and thought about how wonderful it felt to be a Senshi.
Great, I'm lost, Sora thought, glancing around the street. Where am I? She looked around and noticed a sign that said "Cherry Hill Temple" pointing to a set of stairs going up a hill with trees on either side. Maybe someone there can help me, Sora thought, walking towards the steps.
***
"Hey, she's heading to the Temple!" Usagi said, pulling out her communicator. "Rei-chan! Are you there?"
"What is it, Usagi-chan? I'm in the middle of making breakfast for Melina," Rei asked shortly.
"She's headed your way, Rei-chan!" Usagi said. Rei gave her a puzzled look.
"Who is?" she asked.
"That little girl we've been following! She's going to the Temple!" Rei gave her an astonished look and then turned off her communicator without another word. "Rei-chan-! What do I do now?" Usagi asked.
"Follow her!" Luna said impatiently. Usagi nodded and ran towards the steps leading to the Temple.
Melina's thoughts about yesterday were cut short by a small voice.
"E-excuse me, but I'm lost. Where am I?" the small girl asked, her silver-blonde hair sparkling in the sunlight. Melina and Sunshine stared at the girl, both thinking how strangely familiar she was. Sunshine tore her gaze from the girl and leapt onto Melina's shoulder.
"Introduce yourself, Melina," Sunshine mumbled into Melina's ear. Melina smiled at the girl as she stepped forward.
"Hi, I'm Melina. What's your name?" Melina asked, extending her hand to shake hands with the girl.
"S-Sora. I-I'm Sora," the young girl stuttered, shaking Melina's hand. As soon as they touched, a new memory began to unfold in the minds of Melina, Sora and Sunshine...
"Come along, Amaterasu, it's almost time for Senshi Training," Sunshine said, dragging Amaterasu's unicorn toy from her grasp and throwing it onto a bookshelf. A thirteen-year old Amaterasu pouted at the sight of her beloved toy being thrown so unceremoniously onto a shelf.
"But, Sunshine! Do I really have to have more Senshi Training? All I seem to do is get hurt!" Amaterasu whined, dragging a chair over to the bookshelf and scrambling onto it to retrieve the toy. Sunshine's sun shape flashed, and the chair slid away from the bookshelf before she could reach her goal. Amaterasu pouted again and sat down in the chair.
"Well, at least you won't be alone in Senshi Training today, darling," a voice said. Sunshine and Amaterasu turned to see King Alexander entering the room, his large hand entwined with that of a seven-year-old girl with waist-length, silver-blonde hair. Amaterasu smiled happily at the sight of the little girl.
"Hey, 'Ra! What'cha doin'?" Amaterasu giggled, running to the girl's side and taking her hand.
"Hi, 'Su. I'm so hot!" the girl smiled, fanning herself.
"Now, you be nice to your cousin, won't you, Aurora?" Alexander asked. The silver-blonde girl nodded, smiling cheekily. Alexander knelt beside Sunshine as the girls ran around the room, pushing chairs towards the bookshelf in an attempt to retrieve Amaterasu's toy.
"I think it would be wise for us to keep an eye on Aurora. She still doesn't know how to control that rare power of hers, and she hasn't awoken as a Senshi yet either. Who knows what sort of mischief she could get up to," Alexander whispered, ducking as Aurora sent a vase flying across the room. Amaterasu dove, managing to catch the vase. She got to her feet, suddenly stern.
"Aurora, that was Mummy's favourite vase. Don't you dare break it, or I shall get very angry," Amaterasu scolded, passing the vase gently to her father. Amaterasu cast one final withering look at Aurora, before leaving the room.
"Sunshine, isn't it time for Senshi Training?" she called over her shoulder. Sunshine smiled as Aurora ran after her older friend. Sunshine bowed to Alexander, then hurried after the two girls, catching their conversation as they walked down the hall.
" 'Su, I'm real sorry for almost breaking your mum's vase," Aurora said, walking beside Amaterasu. The older girl sniffed, then her angry look faded as she spotted the golden vehicle that was to take them to the Moon.
"Look at that! It's so pretty, isn't it? Come on, 'Ra, let's hurry and get in!" Amaterasu said gleefully, grabbing her friend's hand and hurrying towards the vehicle.
Sunshine leapt off Melina's shoulder and Melina and Sora reeled away from one another as a second memory emerged just seconds after the first one...
"OK, girls, enough chatter. We're here for Senshi Training, remember?" Sunshine said, before climbing out of the vehicle and bowing to the waiting Queen and Princess of the Moon.
"Good afternoon, Amaterasu, Aurora. And thank you for escorting them once again, Sunshine. Perhaps you'd like to go and have some refreshments in the palace while Athena and Aphrodite take Amaterasu and Aurora for Senshi Traning," Queen Serenity said.
"Thank-you, Queen Serenity, but King Alexander requested that I keep an eye on the girls, and I intend to," Sunshine said, bowing again. Queen Serenity smiled and nodded.
"Who are Athena and Aphrodite?" Aurora whispered to her older friend as the stepped out of the vehicle.
"Mercury and Venus. They're nicer than Mars, but they're still really strong," Amaterasu whispered back, her smile turning into a look of fear as the two Senshi emerged from the palace.
"Hello, Amaterasu! How are you today?" Venus asked, smiling. Amaterasu smiled back weakly and followed Venus and Mercury, her hand still clinging tightly to Aurora's. The four girls, along with Queen Serenity, Princess Serenity and Sunshine, walked through the palace to a courtyard, where they found Mars throwing fireballs at a number of targets. Amaterasu's eyes widened as soon as she spotted the Fire Senshi, and immediately tried to hide behind Venus.
"Nice, try, Amaterasu, but you're not getting away that easily," Mars said, walking over and dragging Amaterasu out into the open. She let Amaterasu go when she was on the opposite side of the courtyard, and then stood between Amaterasu and the others.
"Ares, Queen Serenity said that Athena and I will be training Amaterasu and her cousin today, not you. Now put that away," Venus said, pointing to the dancing flame that Mars had conjured. The Fire Senshi pouted.
"You're not Queen Serenity or Princess Serenity, so stop giving me orders, Aphrodite," Mars called over her shoulder, extinguishing the flame anyway. "Looks like you got lucky," she said to the cowering princess before her, before turning and walking towards the door that the others had come through.
"I may not be Princess Serenity, Mars, but I am her cousin, and she wouldn't be happy if I just stood by and let you start flaming Amaterasu, now would she?" Venus said, glaring at Mars. Mars just shrugged and left. Venus turned to Amaterasu and smiled.
"There, now, it's OK. She's gone. Shall we get started?" Venus asked. Amaterasu wiped her eyes and nodded.
"Aphrodite, shall I take Amaterasu and you take Aurora, and we can swap over later?" Mercury asked. Venus nodded, and turned back to Amaterasu.
"Good luck!" she said, before the four girls spilt up and walked to opposite ends of the courtyard.
"Are you ready, Amaterasu?" Mercury asked, opening her hand and conjuring a glowing snowball. Amaterasu looked at the snowball apprehensively, but she nodded. Mercury smiled and threw the snowball at Amaterasu, who quickly dodged out of the way, a large, spiky ice crystal forming on the spot where she had been standing. Amaterasu stared at the crystal for a second, before remembering that Mercury was there and running away from another snowball. After about five minutes, their half of the courtyard resembled an iceberg, and Amaterasu was running out of room to run away from the snowballs. On the other side of the courtyard, Aurora wasn't faring much better. She was only just able to avoid Venus' Love Chain and the glowing orange hearts that she kept throwing. She ducked behind a fountain and panted hard, wishing she could go back to having fun, like she and Amaterasu had been doing earlier. She remembered wanting to throw something at the toy to knock it off the table, and how she had thought that the only thing big enough to knock it off was the shelf. If only I could use that power now, she thought, I'd stand a chance against Venus. Aurora closed her eyes and searched deep inside herself for her power. She sensed a strong power in her heart, and, thinking that that was what she was searching for, unleashed it. Venus, who had crept up on Aurora, was just about to throw another love heart at her, but dropped it in shock at the silver five-pointed star glowing on Aurora's forehead. Aurora opened her eyes and smiled, before being enclosed in a silver ball of light, which faded to reveal Aurora dressed in a silver and white Senshi fuku.
"Oh! Aurora's awoken her Senshi powers!" Venus shouted. Everyone turned to look at Aurora, who opened her eyes and stared in amazement at her outfit.
"Sailor Orion. Finally," Queen Serenity said, smiling at the newly transformed senshi. A warm, gentle breeze blew through the courtyard, a phemomenon that everyone noted was rare and strange, as there was no wind on the Moon. Sailor Orion smiled at Venus.
"You ready to try again, Aphrodite?" Orion asked, smiling. Venus smiled back and conjured another glowing orange heart, which she threw at Sailor Orion. Sailor Orion simply twirled her arms and whipped up a strong wind, which blew the orange heart back into Venus face, exploding on impact. The Senshi of Love stumbled backwards, clutching her stinging nose.
"Nice one, Aurora. I think that'll do for today. Besides, it looks like Mercury's about to turn Amaterasu into a popsicle," Venus said, nodding towards the other two, who had also resumed training. No sooner had Venus said this, than Mercury scored a direct hit with a snowball, and Amaterasu shrieked before being frozen in an ice crystal.
"Oh dear, we'd better get Mars to come and help her out," Mercury said, staring at the terrified look on Amaterasu's frozen face.
"No need," Sailor Orion said, before conjuring a strong jet of wind, which she used to cut away the ice surrounding her friend. Finally, Amaterasu was free, but her skin had taken on an icy blue colour, and she was shivering and backing away from Mercury.
"Come on, 'Su, let's go inside and warm up," said Sailor Orion, her fuku glowing and fading back into her princess dress. Amaterasu stared at her friend, before smiling and taking her hand. Aurora flinched at the coldness of Amaterasu's hand, but didn't let go, instead leading her older friend into the palace. Sunshine watched them go, before shaking her head and turning to Queen Serenity.
"Well, at least the Senshi training worked for one of the girls," she said. Queen Serenity nodded in agreement.
"And it was her first session of Senshi Training. It's amazing that her Senshi powers awoke so fast," Serenity said. Sunshine bowed to Queen Serenity and went to find the girls.
The three backed away from one another, feeling dazed and disoriented. Seconds later, Rei emerged from the Temple to find them staring at each other. Rei instantly registered that this girl looked exactly like the one she had seen in the Fire.
"Are you OK, Melina?" Rei asked, tapping Melina on the shoulder. Melina flinched away form the touch, her mind reeling from the memories. Sora shook her head to clear it, then noticed how much Melina looked like that girl who had been frozen, and how much Melina's cat looked like that other cat called Sunshine.
"Did I miss something?" Rei asked, looking from Melina to Sora and back again. Melina jumped a little at the sound of Rei's voice.
"I-I'll explain inside, Rei-chan. It was nice to meet you, Sora," Melina said, before picking up Sunshine and walking inside. Rei smiled at the little girl, before noticing Usagi and Luna standing at the top of the steps.
"Hi, Usagi-chan. What brings you here?" Rei asked, knowing full well the real answer, but expecting not to get it.
"What, do I need a reason to visit my friends now?" Usagi giggled.
"Well, I'm kinda busy right now. Melina just went inside, and she's acting pretty weird," Rei replied.
"Oh, really? Is she OK?" Usagi asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I think so," Rei said. Usagi smiled and nodded to Rei, who smiled back and went inside. Usagi turned to the small girl beside her.
"Hi, Sora, is it? I'm Usagi. Are you OK? You look a little lost," Usagi said. Sora tore her gaze away from the door to look at Usagi.
"Yeah, I am a little lost, I just moved here with my Daddy. I went for a walk and lost track of where I was going," Sora said, blushing a little. Usagi smiled.
"I know you just moved here. I live right across the road, and I watched the movers carrying in all of those things from the moving van," Usagi said, smiling. Sora stared at her for a moment before smiling.
"Would you be able to take me home, then, Usagi?" she asked.
"Sure, I'd be happy to!" Usagi replied, holding out her hand for Sora to take. Sora took her hand, happy that she had found a friend so quickly in her new town. Neither of the girls noticed the thoughtful expression on Luna's face as she tried to remember why this little girl looked so familiar.
Author's notes: this was a fun chapter to write, but I had to weave it in around homework, meals, sleep and the other stories that I'm starting(I'll get them up soon, I promise!) Stay tuned!