Sorry about the wait, for those who have been patiently waiting. My husband and I are currently moving and I haven't had much time in typing like I used to when I first started typing this story years ago. The first 5 chapters had been done already and chapter 6 is a super new chapter, and I struggled with the fighting scene. Also I plan on adding some things into the previous chapters, and have already been trying to work on them too, so be on the lookout for that... I don't own Sailor Moon and never will, that honor belongs to naoko takeuchi T.T

Without further adieu, here is chapter 6.

Chapter 6

A Date Gone Bad

A boy walked into a small dark room, lit only by candles, of a black castle that resided in a dark blackened land. No sun ever seemed to shine there, with all the dark rainy clouds that seemed to hover just above the castle itself and always had a feeling of doom and gloom.

"My princess you called for me," the boy, who appeared to be sixteen, said bowing to her on one knee, his head lowered looking at the ground. His hair was dark brown, nearly black, strait and just below the ears. He was tall with a slim face and had muscles that were well hidden beneath his loose clothing. He wore a grey suit, almost similar to a male priest. Above all, the thing that stood out the most were his golden amber eyes.

"I have had enough time waiting!" His princess screeched at him angrily. Her face was of beauty despite her being young, the girl appeared to be maybe fourteen, pale face with long onyx black, wildly wavy hair down to her waist. Her eyes dark blue, and held a sinister look. When she was mad her eyes would turn red. Her dress was black, covering most of her body, arms and neck too, with a dark green sash tied around it. She carried a staff with a red skull at the top. "We have been searching for years for a weakness. And not one of my spies have found a single one."

"Princess," he said wincing, her yelling was hurting his sensitive ears. "There may be a way to find one, if at least one of our spies were friends with the detestable princess of the white moon."

In hearing that, his princess threw her small simple silver tiara that adorned her head, it barely grazed his cheek, leaving a small cut. "No one can do the job, our hate runs too deep in us," she roared. "No one would want to get near her. She is also protected by the traitors that once worked for your master. I insisted that they should have been killed the moment they decided to turn against her."

"Our queen wanted to use their power-"

"A lot of good that did her!" she muttered, turning from her subject.

"My princess allow me to befriend this princess," he said calmly, finally looking at his mistress.

"You!?" She rounded on him. "You are my most faithful servant. I would be nothing without you. What is left of my kingdom is only being held together because you make it so."

He stood, and walked up to her. He then touched her decollate face gently. "Don't worry, I will not become a traitor. One day we will rule over all the earth, and the king and queen of the white moon will bow down to you, and will deem you the queen that shall rule over all."

"We cannot do it unless we get both the golden crystal and the silver crystal," she said.

"Leave it to me." He whispered to her, then gave her a kiss.

#*#*#*#*#*#*

I thought about what Kaden and I could talk about. I wanted to avoid the topic of the golden crystal as much as possible. The subject alone threw up my suspicions of deception from other people. If Kaden was asking about it though, I honestly wanted to know why. Curiosity was one thing, but if he had plans to steal it, and replacing it with a replica, I would need to put my guardians on high alert, especially Venus.

Shortly after my talk with Dad, I sought out Kaden and told him that I wanted to go out to eat with him, not really a date, because it wasn't going to be fancy. I also told him to dress in a regular tee shirt and jeans, or shorts. We wanted to be left alone to talk and didn't want anyone to recognize us for royalty. He seemed eager and teased me about looking like a mere commoner. Stating that I was to beautiful not to be looked at twice.

I dressed in a local schools uniform, which hadn't changed much since my days with Sailor Moon. I wore a white shirt that had a blue sailor collar, and short sleeves that had blue cuffs on the end of them, and a big red bow on the front on my chest, and I had my golden broach hooked on it with my pink moon crystal safely nestled inside it. The skirt was blue and went to my knees, and had a small blue bow on the back just above the waist. As I got dressed, I realized that I was happy to be getting out of the palace, it had been sometime since I had the luxury to do so. A knock sounded on my door relieving me from my worrisome thoughts.

I opened the door to find Cere and Pallas looking like they were upset with me. They too were dressed in the local school uniform, they even managed to have normal hairstyles too. Cere had her light pink hair in a single braided ponytail that went down to her waist, while Palla had her light blue hair down, which was just below her shoulders and was somewhat curly. Confused at their choice in clothes, I blinked at them for several moments. I stood there like an idiot for several seconds before finding my voice.

"Why are you dressed so?" I asked, feeling silly by the question.

"You honestly think that you're going out in public, away from the safety of the palace, by yourself," Cere scolded.

"Your father sent us to go with you for protection," my blue haired senshi answered, rather calmly.

I silently cursed. Honestly, I didn't want Cere to come with me, she was such a gossip just like her adopted blonde haired mom Minako. Unlike Cere, Palla was kind and courteous enough to mind her own business unless she felt something needed to be addressed and brought out into the open. "Really Cere, I will be fine I can, after all, hold my own. Besides, it's not like we have had any attacks in forever."

"To bad," Cere said sticking out her tongue. "You are not leaving here with your hair in its traditional buns, it would draw too much attention." She guided me to my chair near my dresser mirror, pushed me down into it and started tackling my hair.

As she did this Palla started talking. "Venus, or rather Minako, sent us after she had a talk with Endymion. She told us about what you said about your theories concerning Prince Kaden and his family, and thought it would be wise to send us to keep an eye on you. She instructed us to stay near enough to be of assistance if necessary, but at the same time not to be too near that we are intruding in your privacy."

Cere laughed. "As if Usagi wouldn't tell us the details of her date." She said, winking at me through my mirror, and I blushed.

I was about to tell her off and tell her that I wasn't really going on a date, when a thought occurred to me, I hadn't even asked Cere about her date yet. I haven't really had the time nor the chance to do so. "What did you do on your date, the other day, Cere?"

"Tory and I had a fight," she sighed, her pink eyes holding sadness within them. "He told me that I should quit being a your… oh how did he put it… maid or servant. He said that you were selfish and spoiled, and that you needed to look after yourself. I kept telling myself that, because he did know that I was a senshi, I couldn't get mad at him because he honestly doesn't know about it. Unfortunately for me, I have a smart mouth and totally went off on him. I was hurt that he didn't understand the friendship between you and me," she then laughed. "I then took the soda I had and dumped it on his head, and left him setting there with his mouth open in shock," then added bitterly, "he has yet to call me back and apologize."

I was disappointed that I wasn't getting ideas for what to do on my outing, as I never had been out with a guy before. I bit back my disappointment, not wanting them to find out that I had no clue in what I was about to do. "Ouch, you can be cold sometimes," I said, laughing. "Sorry that your date turned out bad."

She shrugged. "Not your fault he was being stuck up," she replied finishing my hair. "There! What do you think?" Cere asked, sounding proud of her handy work.

She had put the sides of my hair up in a simple single rounded bun, instead of its traditional egg shaped buns, leaving no stands of my hair in the bun loose and left the rest of my hair to fall feely in the back and not in a ponytail. I sat there looking at myself for a good minute. "I barely recognize myself," I told her feeling impressed.

"You look good no matter how you put up your hair," Cere remarked, and Palla nodded in agreement.

"Are you ready for your date?" Cere asked.

"It's not a date," I grumbled, feeling my cheeks grow heated.

"Then why are you going out to eat with him," my friend, probed, knowing that she was getting under my skin. "It classifies as going on a date."

"So if I go out to eat with you or, June, is it then considered a date?" I countered.

Palla sighed, shaking her head. "Honestly, you two sound as bad as Rei and the queen. Besides a date is an appointment to meet at a stated time, so essentially you are both correct."

"Even the best of friends argue sometimes," Cere told, her grinning.

"Really, Cere, sometimes you can be so impossible," I complained.

"Well I can't always be likeable."

I heaved a sigh. "Can we just go already?"

"Alright Usagi, Leave her alone Cere. You will only make things worse." Palla said.

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#

After finding my parents and giving them hugs, Cere, Palla and I left. I had been hoping to go with Kaden too, but I hadn't been able to find him, instead my parents told me that he had already left ahead of me. I hoped that he would remember where I said we were to go eat, which happened to be near the Crown Game Center that my mother used to go to when she was younger. It too hadn't changed all that much since my days with Sailor Moon, surprisingly so considering the place was by far older than me, although Motoki didn't work there anymore. He had moved on, according to my mom; sometime before she ascended the throne. He was such a good guy, nice and easy to get along with, much like an older brother would be.

The closer we got to the designated meeting place, I became unsure of what I was doing… I didn't think it would be this hard to muster the courage really, mostly because I knew that Kaden would think that I had been asking him for a date. That and I didn't really know what you were supposed to do on a date, not that I wanted this to be considered one. I expected him to think that I just wanted to get to know him better. I really didn't feel like I was asking for much.

Cere seemed to notice that I was looking a little nervous. She elbowed me. "Not getting cold feet are ya? Not thinking about standing up your date are you?"

I groaned. "It is not a date," I told her through gritted teeth. "Also I'm not getting married, cold feet is when you're getting scared of marriage."

"Same difference."

"Cere," Palla spoke up. "I don't think you are helping very much."

"Exactly," I muttered, grateful for Palla's considerate nature.

"It's not as if she hasn't heard the rumors about her," Cere countered, talking to Palla. "Why shouldn't she consider the possibility?"

I felt as if the blood had drained from my face. "Rumors… what rumors." I was afraid of what Cere might say. She had a bad habit of saying the wrong thing to the wrong person, even giving the wrong information.

Cere grinned a knowing smile. "People think Kaden has a… thing for you. Most people already think that you are going to marry Kaden later this year. It has been a rumor that has been going around for a while, even before his visit earlier this week."

Palla nodded. "Although we have told them, countless times, there hasn't been an engagement, but they feel that you and Kaden seem exceptionally close."

I felt my face flush again, this time in anger. "That's absurd!" I shouted, throwing my fist in the air. "Why would they think that in the first place?!"

"Who would think what?" I heard Kaden ask form behind me.

"I… uh… I-I was just telling Cere… that…. Um…" I looked at my friends trying to seek help.

"Lady Serenity was just telling Cere that people are silly for telling her that she isn't a good leader," Palla told him, calmly.

I gave her a thankful look, glad that she had come to my rescue. "Yeah, that's what I said," I laughed nervously.

"I see," Kaden said looking at me, sounding amused, yet skeptical.

"Anyway," Cere drew out, she then pushed me towards him. "She's all yours," she told him, giving him a wink. Then both she and Palla left, hopefully very far so that they couldn't hear a single word that I could tell Kaden. Cere also had a bad habit of gossiping. I swore that I would strangle her later. 'Why does she always have to embarrass me,' I thought bitterly.

"So" Kaden said, taking me away from my death thoughts towards Cere. "This is the place?"

I looked up at him then, as if noticing him for the first time. He wore a somewhat tight brown tee shirt, it hugged close to his body, and blue jeans. It was the first time I had seen him out of his usual prince garb. He had nice muscles that could make any girl blush with delight. He almost looked, dare I think it, super attractive.

I blushed again, against my better nature, and turned to face the direction that he was facing. The building we were looking at was an ice cream shop. Not only did they sell ice cream but they sold lunch-like food, mostly anything you can possibly eat with hot dogs and sausages, and anything that you can possibly eat with their hamburgers. It was a place that my mom's past self would visit a lot when she was younger, I would often go with her. Mamoru would buy me ice cream too. Even in my own time, Mom and dad would take me here during times when they had free time, dressed as civilians. One time mom and dad started an ice cream fight! Even my mom's friends had joined in. I smiled from all the memories that I had here. "Yep this place is very special to me. It's one of my favorite places to be."

"They say that you have a sweet tooth Serenity," he said, with a small chuckle, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised." He then put an arm around my shoulder. "Shall we go in my Lady?"

The place was much like a fast food restaurant, only they actually had a waitress that came to the tables so that you could order your food. Many tables had benches by them seating up to four adults. There was some tables that connected to a wall in the far right corner that were tall with tall legged stools pushed underneath the tall tables. We went in and sat down in a booth next to a window where you could watch the city bustle about, and ordered our food. I wanted a burger with cheese, pickles, ketchup, with a small order of French fries

"Please call me Usagi when we're in public like this," I told him after the waitress had left with our orders. "Serenity isn't a common name in Japan, also I took my hair out of its usual odango style so that I wouldn't be recognized as easily."

"Why would you want to hide yourself from your subjects?"

"Well for one, if there was another attack on Crystal Tokyo, my friends and I may need to investigate," I explained. "Also it makes it easier to go where I need to go without an audience following me."

"I suppose that makes sense."

I started messing with a napkin dispenser that sat in the center right of the booth that we had chosen to set at, trying to think of a conversation to start up while waiting for our food. I wanted to ask him about his mother's interest in the golden crystal and how much did she know about it, without coming off as rude or suspicious. Also I wanted to avoid the subject of Helios if I could.

It was him who spoke first. "Is something troubling you, La- Usagi?" Kaden asked, taking my hand and putting back the object of my sudden curiosity.

"Yes and no," I half muttered to myself, and gave a sheepish giggle scratching my head with my free hand, near the base of my bun. "Honestly I was trying to think of something to start a conversation," I replied, my face turning slightly pink with embarrassment.

Kaden chuckled. "Would you like me to make the first move?" He asked, suggestively, as he entwined his fingers with my hand that he still held.

"Uh, I guess so."

"Ok, let me think," he tapped his chin in deep thought, looking down at the table as he did so. "First of all why did you invite me for this… date?"

"I don't count this as an actual date. However, I suggested that we… go out tonight so that we can get to know each other informally. We have some years of catching up to do and I want us to actually be friends again."

Kaden smiled, as if liking my answer to his question. "La- Usagi, I'm glad that you want to be friends," his smile then faded, his brown eyes showing a hint of sadness. "But can we really just start over that easily? Just like that? I mean, I have many years of regret of all the horrendous things I have done to you. That can't just simply be forgotten, can it?"

It was my turn to smile. "Well why not? If my mom can give pardon to a criminal like the Death Phantom in the past then why not you?"

"Usagi… the Death Phantom eventually got obliterated because of the crimes he committed," he reminded me quietly, looking at our hands that still remained linked together.

"True," I admitted with a nod, "however, he was given a chance to change his ways, which is what I'm offering to you now; a chance to start over on a clean slate. It is what my mom would do."

Kaden looked back up at me and I smiled, hoping that I looked sincere with what I was saying. He then brought my hand to his lips and gave me a small kiss, holding it to his lips a few seconds before finally releasing it. "I think you are too forgiving, Usagi."

"Haruka once said something similar to my mother and me some years ago," I sighed, and looked out the window. "My mom always has this… unshakeable faith that there is good in everyone, and that some have a harder time showing it than others. She once told me in confidence that each time that she had to end a life, especially the evil ones, that it saddened her to great end." I looked back a Kaden. "I always felt that she was too hard on herself, death is inevitable. My mother has managed to prolong our lifespans and it had lead us to many marvels of technology. One thing my mom manages to forget is: that with life comes death, some sooner than others and my mother has helped many people live their life by defeating the evil that wished to kill more than just a single life."

"Sounds like your father speaking," he laughed.

I surged. "Maybe, but it's just how I feel."

The waiter then came to us with our food and handed it to us and we thanked her. Kaden took a few bites and resumed our conversation. "I like your way of thinking. However sometimes history has a way of repeating. Death Phantom is just one of many in a long line of villains. There will be more."

I swallowed the bite of hamburger I had just taken before I answered. "And that will be up to my mom's guardians to defeat the said new villain."

"And if they should fail?"

"Then we shall use the Pink Moon Crystal."

"What if you aren't powerful enough?"

I didn't get to answer his next question; my watch communicator suddenly came on, and Cere's voice was heard. "I am sincerely sorry for interrupting your lovely casual date, Usagi," she said speaking fast and sounding out of breath as if she had been running, "but we have a… problematic situation on our hands."

This could only mean one thing. "Are we dealing with an enemy with powers?"

"Yes, and Sailor Pallas and I are fighting it as we speak," she replied, suddenly whispering, "We can only fight it until you get here. We need your power to actually defeat it. I am not able to get ahold of Sailor… AHHH!"

I panicked then. Kaden signaled me to go and I ran out of the restraint. After I got out I tried contacting Cere again. "Sailor Ceres! Sailor Ceres! Please answer me!" I started running towards the palace, I needed the help of the inner senshi. Finally Cere contacted me, and I stopped running.

"I do not know how much longer we can hold it off, we need you now!"

"I'm on my way," I told her. "Where is your current location?"

I heard her mutter a curse. "About two blocks from the restaurant where you and Kaden are eating."

About that same moment, I heard horrified screaming coming to the right of the place I just had been. After running into and alley and transforming into Eternal Sailor Moon, I then ran to where the terrified people were. I was thankful for action again but did not like people getting hurt for the sake of that action. I eventually came to a person who appeared to be sitting on something that appeared to be a large smoky grey insect like tarantula. It was towering and it was nearly as big as I house. I have heard of spiders that have been rumored to kill birds, but this was an entirely new proposition. It kind of freaked me out to be honest.

After looking around for my fellow sailor senshi, and finding them, I took a good look at the person setting on top a gruesome creature. I assumed that the person was a he, but he was hiding behind a mask of sorts. The mask was like the kind you see when it came to theater symbols, and was like a pale white color, his hair was red and super short, nearly buzz cut like. He was short, maybe to my waist if he had been standing next me. Guesses were, that he was no more than maybe six or seven. The boy wore a loose dark blue, near black, cloak that hid the rest of his body from view. "May I ask who you are," I finally asked after looking him over.

"Names do not matter, girl." The boy said.

"If you intend to hurt these people, then I'm going to have to ask you to leave," I commanded him.

"And just who are you? Only my princess may command me around." he countered. "If you are with that repulsing queen of the light then I will have to kill you."

"I am the protector of the city of Crystal Tokyo," I told him. "They call me Sailor Moon. I am the senshi of Justice and Dreams. I cannot, and will not, allow you to destroy this beautiful place."

"Sailor Moon is the one who destroyed my queen," he shouted. "Nagai attack!"

He jumped off the repugnant creature as it came charging at me. I jumped out of the way as one of its razor sharp legs swiped at me. Sailor Ceres was then standing next to me. Her sailor fuku showed signs of her fighting, with a bad tear on her pink skirt, her front dark lavender bow was slightly singed, as if it had been burnt from something that she had barely dodged.

"Sailor Pallas finally contacted Sailor Mercury. She told us to hold him off as long as possible, and try to get information from him." We started running again as the spider thing had spotted us.

"And just how does she expect us to get information from him!?"

"We already have a bit." She replied. "He seems to know me and Pallas. He's been calling us traitors to his queen. Also just now he said that Sailor Moon destroyed his queen."

"I destroyed no one," I said in disbelief.

Again the creature swiped at me and Ceres. It missed us and broke some of the concreate road with its weight. We jumped up onto a building and started leaping across houses and other buildings, with the thing just behind us. "Well I do know one thing," she finally said, looking over her shoulder at the thing the boy called Nagai. "I think you should make an attack at our ugly friend here."

I grinned at her, and turned around. I took out my mother's spiral heart moon rod, which she had given me sometime after all my guardians had been assembled, and aimed it at the creature. "Time to turn you into moon dust! Moon spiral heart attack!" I yelled out as pink hearts came out of it. Somehow, it managed to side jump to another building and spat out a dark yellow colored infected smelling stream of liquidly substance. Ceres managed to pull me away in time before it could hit me. The place I had been standing previously melted away.

"That was close. Don't let that stuff touch you," She informed me, as she sat me down. "That stuff will burn you. It managed to hit Pallas on the leg earlier and left a near third degree burn on her. It nearly got me too, but I was slightly faster. Haruka's racing regimens must have paid off."

"Is she ok?"

"She said not to worry about her," my pink haired friend told me. "Mercury told us that she was sending Jupiter to come help us with this monster."

We looked up as the masked boy floated above us. "My pet is faster than you. And soon it will burn you alive in its acid!" He gave an annoyingly evil laugh. At his words, the monster again spat more acid towards me and I scrambled to get out of the way. Unfortunately for me, the liquid hit my mother's moon rod, disintegrating it.

"Well there goes our chances…"

I nodded. "Now what should I do," I groaned. Another stream of acid came from the monster, and we took off running again.

"We can't run around forever," Ceres told me.

"Jupiter Oak Evolution!" Several oak-like leaves came flying at the creature hurting it and it gave a strangled cry.

We turned around. Sailor Jupiter stood there, with her hands on her hips, smiling at us. It was Mako in her transformed state. Her main sailor fuku was green, and like all the senior sailor senshi eternal forms, she had two layer skirt with the second layer being lighter than their main color. Her golden tiara had a small green star on hers and her white gloves went past her elbows and had three green rings on them. Her huge front bow was pink with a large green star on it. Her sailor collar was green too. She had see-through green pads on her shoulders. She also wore green ankle high lace up boots.

"Are you happy to see me?" she winked at us. Then turned to the cloaked boy and gave him a hard stare. "Go back to where you came from! Leave this place, or in Jupiter's name, I will sentence you to your death."

"Not until I can avenge the death of my queen in the nightmare princess's name," he replied.

I heard my communicator beep, and I turned it on. "Sailor Moon, tell Jupiter that its weakness is its belly near the abdomen."

Jupiter looked at me. "Sailor Moon, I will attack it there and you can finish it off," she told me looking at Mr. Ugly, trying to calculate the way in which she could harm it.

"Pardon me Sailor Jupiter," Ceres interrupted, "Miss Moony here, lost her moon rod to the spider-zilla's acid stuff."

Instead of looking horrified at the news. The senior warrior looked thoughtful. "I may be able to think of something," she said after a moment.

Just then, Nagai spit another smelly stream. Jupiter grabbed both of us and jumped off the building we were standing on and landed on the ground.

"Mars Flame Sniper!" A fiery arrow came whizzing toward it just then. The fire burning a huge patch of its grey fuzz off.

"The only one that should be allowed to burn things around here is me," yelled an angry female voice. "In the name of my home planet Mars, I will chastise you."

Sailor Mars stood several yards away from us to our right, near an entrance into an alley. It was Rei in her transformed state. Her main sailor fuku was red, also in eternal senshi form, she had two layer skirt with the second layer being lighter than her main color. Her golden tiara had a small red star on hers and her white gloves similar to Jupiter only with red rings. Her huge front bow was violet with a large red star on it. Her sailor collar was red. She had see-through red pads on her shoulders. She also wore red high heels.

Mars wore her infamous frown on her face. "In the name of her majesty, Neo Queen Serenity, we demand to know who you are."

"I am here only for the head of your Queen!"

Cere and I stood there as Mars and Jupiter engaged in combat, each throwing out their individual attacks. I fell to the ground on my knees, head in my hands, trying to hold back tears. I wanted to help, but once again I was nothing but useless, just like the times back in the past. What would the real Sailor Moon do? Father said she had never been defeated, and here I was just setting here; defeated. A powered up sailor senshi, just like Mom's eternal guardians, and powerless. I wanted to be Sailor Moon, a reliable friend, with the confidence to do what was right, to stand my ground. I wanted to be the guardian of legend, to fight with the unshakable faith that I could do it. I thought of Helios, and of wanting to protect him, and that world of dreams that I love, and I remembered the feeling I had when I wanted to save that world.

Then I felt a power I hadn't felt before come to me. In a flash of light a new rod came to my hand. The rod was similar to my pink moon stick, only golden and much longer. The heart on top had golden wings on the sides, but instead of a crystal like look it was solid red with a golden crystal-like crescent moon etched into the heart, it was setting on a light blue, also crystal-like, cloud and the star was gone from on top of the heart. Then the name of the rod and the attack came into my mind.

"Sailor Moon," Ceres said, looking at me in disbelief. "What is that? I don't recall you ever having that in any of your practice battles with the inner guardians."

"This is my new Dream Rod," I answered. I held it up high 'Please work…' I thought desperately and yelled in the strongest voice that I could possibly muster. "Moon Crystal Dream Captivation!" A light blueish-gold light came forth from my Dream Rod.

Nagai let out a blood curdling cry and was gone, leaving a real tarantula in its place.

"I will report this to my princess, mark my words Sailor Moon. My queen will be avenged," he bellowed angrily at us before vanishing into black smoke.

Ceres and I gave each other a high-five. The ugly thing was gone, and I defeated it. I was on cloud nine, my first real win, nearly by myself, only I knew that Mars and Jupiter mostly defeated her. "Good job Sailor Moon," my pink haired friend exclaimed happily.

Jupiter and Mars ran over to us. "Good job, Sailor Moon," Jupiter praised me with a small wink.

"You now have your own attack," Mars remarked. "May I see," she asked holding out a hand. I handed her my rod. She looked it over. "Astonishing…. However, I am confused by the cloud on the heart, and that attack name. Moon Crystal Dream Captivation."

"We need to report to Queen Serenity and tell her what we know and also inform King Endymion about this damage."

I knew that my father and mother, as parents, would be happy for me that I now had my own weapon and attack. However, as King Endymion, he would be stressed by the budgeting that he would have to do to fix all the damage we guardians and the spider had caused. Mom, as queen, would have to come up with some sort of speech to the general public to keep them calm about the situation. The sailor guardians, all thirteen of us, would have to investigate. Although, the Sailor Quartet would have a harder time because of school.

Suddenly, Sailor Ceres put a gloved hand to her mouth, looking upset. "I completely forgot about Sailor Pallas! She's hurt and I had to leave her so that I could lead the monster away while she tried contacting Mercury!"

Mars placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "No need to worry about your friend. Mercury called June and Visa to go and get her and take her to the palace so that she could treat Palla's wounds. They will be waiting for you."

The four of us de-transformed back into our civilian state. Cere turned to me, looking more relaxed. "I will go on ahead. As for you, I want you to go back to your date. I'm sure that he hate to be left hanging."

"I totally forgot about him!" I exclaimed, feeling mortified. I looked at the two older senshi, as if asking for permission.

"Go on," Mako told me approvingly. "You have earned it. We will report to your parents. Tell your guy we said hello." The three of them left and started chatting amongst themselves. I smiled at them; they are really good friends, even if the older guardians were different than my visit to the past. I hoped that I could have the same closeness of friendship with the Quartet that my mother and her senshi seemed to have.

When I could no longer see them, I took off running back to the restaurant. I found myself holding out hope that Kaden was still there. I wanted to finish our conversation, and my food, even if it was already cold. When I got back to the table where we had been setting, the food was gone and the table was clean. My shoulders sagged in gloom. Strangely, I was slightly saddened that he hadn't waited for me to return. He knew about my senshi duties, but I was aware that he didn't know what all that entailed.

As I was leaving the place, it started pouring. My tight bun somehow came out, soaking my hair even further, making it look a few inches longer than when I had it up in my odango pig tails. I hugged my body to fight off the blast of wind that rapidly came my way. At that moment a strike of thunder crashed in the distance lighting up the sky. I gave a small shriek of terror before darting off under a nearby store's umbrella-like overhang.

"Curse my inability to get over the putrid fear of thunder," I muttered to myself, leaning against the wall, looking down at the ground. Unfortunately, the canopy didn't keep my legs and feet dry. "Just go away you horrendous storm!" I cried. My head in my hands trying to shut out the sounds of the storm.

I felt an arm wrap around my right shoulder, while another took one of my hands. "Hey honey, it will be ok. You did a good job today," I heard the person say, a woman.

Surprised, I looked up unto my mom's crystal blue eyes. She was smiling down warmly at me. She was dressed in a simple baby blue tee shirt and a white floral patterned skirt that clung tightly to her hips and legs and was just below her knees, and she wore white platform sandals, her platinum blonde hair in its usual hairstyle.

"How did you find me," I asked trying to hide my shock.

"A mother knows," she said with a wink. "I snuck out of the palace. I wanted some fresh air and decided to go to the old arcade, much to Mamo-chan's disagreement. "She laughed. "On my way there, I heard some commotion, and decided to follow the noise. I noticed Ceres and Pallas fighting that horrendous looking tarantula! Man that was terrifying! When Pallas got hurt and Ceres had to leave, I rushed over to her and helped her contact Mercury and Venus. I was the one who told Mercury to send Jupiter to help Ceres, and to have the rest of the Quartet help me get Pallas back to the palace. From where Pallas and I were, we saw that you were the one who defeated the monster, and I'm very proud of you."

"But why didn't Mercury insist that you come back to the palace too," I asked.

The rain had finally eased up. She let go of my hand but kept her arm around me. Mom started walking and kind of led me along beside her. It was like old times. I was glad to have her comfort even as the thunder was growing further away.

"Oh but I did," she replied with a small laugh. "However, I explained to her that I wanted to see my daughter take on a real threat, and I think even a man like Endymion will be impressed. You did have me a little worried when my moon rod got destroyed, but then became amazed by your new weapon and attack. The light that it admitted was absolutely stunning."

"I am honored by your praise, Mom," I said, finally smiling, not sure of what else there was to say. "Honestly, for a moment, a few thoughts came to my head that I wasn't a true enough senshi and leader to call myself Sailor Moon," I told her almost sheepishly.

She waived a hand. "Perish the thought my daughter. For now, let us get home and cleaned up. Kaden is waiting back at the palace for you."

"You said it," I said in agreement, looking back up at the sky, which had now cleared and left a shining beautiful rainbow in its stead. My heart felt lighter then. 'A perfect ending to an awesome achievement,' I thought, as we headed home.

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*

"This is the only fail that you are ever going to have," the dark princess shrilled at the masked boy.

"T-this Sailor M-moon is different, she-" the boy in the mask stuttered as he fidgeted with his dark blue cloak, not looking at his princess.

"Nonsense! I want her killed, and I want her head on a golden platter," she told him. "I want her to be killed in front of the sailor guardian's and the traitors. I want them to suffer a loss so grave that they bow down to me!" Then she laughed at the thought, her laughter ringing in the very halls of her dark castle.