A/N: Wow, I got this done really fast, but I was really inspired to pick this story back up again in a fierce way. So there's another OC in this chapter, but he's like a mixture between an OC and a borrowed character. If anyone has watched Tinkerbell Secret of the Wings, you might recognize him as the keeper of all fairy knowledge.

Anyway, this chapter takes place in late september. Stella's birthday is September 22nd, the first day of Fall. The story is probably going to pick up after this, moving faster through time. Michiru and Serena are still emailing each other back and forth, so one of their conversations will be in the next chapter... Maybe... And maybe one from Mina too, jury is still out though...

Also, I think I forgot to mention this in an earlier chapter, but Brigitte speaks with a Southern American accent. I'll go back and edit that in at some point, but I've included it in this chapter

Anyway, review please

Chapter 9

"So Stella is coming home next week for her birthday before heading to Paris and I have no clue what to get her!" I said to my friends at lunch. It was mid September and we had been at school for a few weeks. I had fallen into a routine of school, homework and club activities and finding time to work out to build up body strength as well as hanging out with my friends. That last one was pretty hard to manage with my schedule, but we often arrived at school early to get in socializing time. "Do either of you guys have any ideas?"

"Don't ask me," Sofya replied, eating her tofu salad, "I've never met either of your sisters so I don't know what Stella would like."

"Brigitte?" I asked, looking at the brunette.

"I've only seen her in passing at Christa's shop Serena. I've never really talked to her," the brunette replied, her southern accent drawing out her words. A week after classes started, Brigitte's teacher switched lunch period with another teacher so he could have lunch with his daughter everyday at the preschool across the road

"Anna you're my last hope?" I cried, turning to my dark haired friend.

Anna paused in her pizza mid chew to take in my pleading face. "I don't know either Sere," she gasped out around her food, "I've never spent time with her. Dawn's the one I see most often. Stella is a reclusive one and she's in France for most of the year."

"Uggh, you guys are no help," I said, slamming my head down on the table, "This is the first birthday I've spent with either of my sisters in years, and I have no clue what to get my own sister." Tears started forming in my eyes out of frustration. "I'm a horrible sister!" I wailed, placing my hands over my eyes.

"You're not a horrible sister," Anna said, patting my head gently, "You haven't seen them in years, so it's no surprise that you don't know them very well. I mean, you told me the last time you saw them you were a small child. Why don't you take what Stella likes now and find something from that?"

I perked up a little at that, "She's really into music; maybe I can make her a playlist or something."

"That's a good start," Brigitte said, "What else?"

I shrugged, "I don't know, get her something for her dog?"

"As a fellow musician, I like having lots of blank music pages around so I can work on my own compositions," Sofya put in, "Or maybe something to keep her music instruments polished."

"Why don't you ask Dawn for help," Anna said, "She knows Stella better than anyone and I'm sure she'll be willing to help you."

"Yeah I guess," I sighed, "I just wanted to be able to do this on my own."

"Sometimes you have to know when to ask for help when you've reached the end of your rope," Brigitte said.

"You've asked us for help, now just ask the person closest to both you and Stella," Sofya included, finishing up her salad.

"I guess I should. Dawn's picking me up after school today and we're going shopping; she has to pick up her own present for Stella so I'll ask her then."

"Good of you to take my advice," Sofya said, "I mean, my name does mean wisdom so my advice is usually worth taking."

Brigitte, Anna and I stared at Sofya for a minute, just blinking in disbelief before looking back at each other. "Just ignore her," Anna said, "This is her usual behavior."

The bell rang just then signaling the end of lunch, and my friends and I headed back to class. The rest of the day passed pretty quickly and before I knew it I was climbing into Dawn's car. "What should I get Stella for her birthday?" I asked immediately after I got into the car.

"Books, music, movies, clothes," Dawn offered, "Basic stuff like that. Unless she asks for something specific, I usually stick to those things."

"Ugh," I said, throwing my hands up in the hair, "That's all that I managed to come up with at lunch. I wanted to get her something good, something special since I haven't been around these last few years."

"Serena, I'm sure Stella will love whatever you get her."

I sighed and sulked in my seat the entire way to the store. "Stop sulking Serena," Dawn said as we walked into possibly one of the weirdest stores I've ever seen. Shelves of stuff consisted of half the building, while things flying planes and other things hung from the ceiling.

"What is this place?" I gasped, looking around.

"This is one of Stella's favorite stores; they have just about everything in here, all sorts of things. The guy who owns this place is super nice, and often finds things for us when we need them. There's an old bookstore on the top floor and that's where I'm headed. Last time I was here, I saw a few books Stella would like so I'm hoping they're still here. Why don't you look around down here, see what there is to find," Dawn said mysteriously, "I always find something new every time I come in here."

Dawn headed upstairs and I looked around me, not even sure where to start. Eventually I wandered into what I assumed was the toy and knick-knack section. I was beginning to lose hope that I would find something to get for Stella when I spotted something from the corner of my eyes caught my attention. I turned my head to get a closer look at it. Picking up the box, I read the description on the back of it and a smile slowly formed on my face.

"This is perfect," I whispered, skipping off to find Dawn to show her my find, still looking at everything around me as I passed. I found the staircase and headed up the stairs. When I wound up on the second floor, I gaped at all the clutter of books around me. While the ground floor contained lots of knick-knacks and other whimsical objects, the second floor contained possibly every book in existence. Books were stacked on shelves, chairs, desktops and there were even stacks on the floor.

I wandered through the maze of books and dark shelves until I finally found Dawn in a worn out, over stuffed chair towards the back of the store. It was a little reading nook stowed away in a cave of books that anyone would probably miss unless they were looking for it.

"Hey," Dawn said when she saw me, putting down her book, "Did you find something interesting downstairs?" I showed her what I picked up downstairs and she whistled, "Mhm, I didn't know that that was in the store. Stella will love it."

"I think so too," I said, looking around the room at all the books instead of focusing on my sister, "Who owns this place and why does he keep it like this?"

Dawn chuckled, "His name is Dewey. He's an eccentric old guy with bushy white hair, and this," she gestures to the chaos around us, "is his filing system."

"How do people find anything in here?"

"Everything is arranged by subject, then by author. Really, it's like a normal library or book store, just with more books than usual."

"Did you find the books that you wanted?"

"Yeah, Dewey was nice enough to set them aside for me until I came back to get them."

"That was nice of him, where is this Dewey anyway?"

"Right behind you," came an unfamiliar male voice. I whirled around and came face to face with sparkling blue eyes, and white hair. "You must be new, I'm Dewey, welcome to my shop," he said, making a big gesture with his hands. He stopped at studied me for a minute, "Oh hey, look at that, we have the same hair color. We must be related." Dewey patted the white tufts of hair sticking up on his head. I took a minute to analyze the older man in front of me. He was a few inches shorter than myself and had a round body. He was wearing an old jacket with patches on the elbows and a worn pair of tan pants with patches on the knees. The very air about him seemed to scream 'eccentric bookworm.'

"Dewey," Dawn tisked, "This is why you have such a hard time bringing in new customers, you keep scaring them."

"Awe shucks," Dewey said, his face turning red, "Sorry about that Dawn, anyhoo, who's your friend here?"

"This is my youngest sister Serena; we both came to get presents for Stella's birthday next week."

"Ah, another sister," Dewey cried, grabbing my hand and shaking it up and down, "It's so nice to meet you, did you find something downstairs that struck your fancy?" I showed him the box in my hand. "Ah, yes, Stella will most definitely love this," he said, examining it, "I almost forgot I had some of those in the store… As matter of fact, I'm not exactly sure what all is down there."

Dawn sighed, "Dewey, we must discuss your managerial skills at some point. While your organization practices are… interesting, you need to keep better track of what you have in the store."

"Eh," Dewey just shrugged, "If I keep track of what's down there then that means I'll have to replace things if they run out. And besides, I like my little store of oddities just the way it is."

My sister just rolled her eyes and picked up a stack of books from the floor. "Right, you have everything you need?" She asked me.

"Yeah, I just got this thing," I replied, waving the object in my hand.

"Okay, Dewey, we're ready to check out now."

"Awe," the older man replied, "You're leaving already?"

"I have to go to work and Serena has homework to do, we can't stay here all day."

Dewey sighed, "Alright, alright, come on downstairs, and we'll get you sorted out. Ah, wait, I have a present for Stella back here some where." Dewey rustled through some books and pulled out a dusty old tome. "Here it is, this one is on me, make sure she gets it on her birthday."

Dawn took the book and opened the cover, chuckling at what she saw. "Thanks Dewey, I'll make sure she get's it," she smiled, placing it in her bag, "now let's get going already, places to go, things to see and all that."

"What was the book that Dewey gave you?" I asked as we left the story after checking out.

"Oh, it's just an inside joke between Stella, Dewey and I. When we first wandered into his shop years ago when our adoptive parents were shopping nearby, we introduced ourselves to Dewey. He was so enamored with our names that every year on our birthdays he would give us something relating to space or the stars."

"So what was the book?" I asked again.

"A really old copy of Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. He was the first person to propose that the Earth revolved around the sun, and mapped many of planets and stars," Dawn replied, pulling the book out of her bag and handing it to me. I flipped through it, utterly confused at the writing, since it was in a different language. "You should prepare yourself too."

"Why?"

"I saw Dewey's eyes light up when he heard your name too. He'll probably dig out everything he has on the moon in his collection."

"Hey, wait!" I heard Dewey call from behind us. I turned around and saw him running out of his shop, a book in his hand.

"Dewey?" I said, looking at the man curiously.

He just smiled and handed me the book in his hand. "I thought this would suit you well. Bye Dawn, bye Serena, I'll see you two later," and he was gone, back in his store.

I looked at the book in my hand and read the title. "Moon myths and More?" I asked, looking over at my sister.

Dawn just laughed. "I knew it," she said, placing her bag in the back seat of the jeep.

"Why'd he give me this?" I demanded. He couldn't know about that could he?

"Your name silly, like I told you a minute ago. Serena is a derivative of Selene, the goddess of the moon, so naturally he would give you a book on the myths of the moon," Dawn explained like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Internally I sighed that the book wasn't about anything other than my name, but part of what she said flittered back through my mind and I paused. "I thought the Moon goddess's name was Serenity?"

Dawn looked puzzled for a minute, "Serenity? No, I've never heard that one before. I've heard Hecate, Artemis, Diana, Luna and Selene, but never Serenity. Where did you hear that before?"

"Oh, just something I read before, must've been a mistranslation," I laughed, trying to wave off the subject. I really didn't want the conversation to continue in the direction it was going.

It looked for a minute like my sister was going to say something else but an alarm went off on her phone. Taking out her phone, Dawn screeched when she saw the time. "Oh my gosh, I've got to get you home and get to work before I'm late."

"I can drive you to the theater," I offered, "Then I can drive myself home. It would keep you from having to come back to the city."

Dawn looked apprehensive, "Are you sure you'll be able to find your way back home? You haven't been driving all that long to know the roads very well, and traffic is always a horrendous mess."

"I've got GPS, I'll be fine," I replied.

Dawn seemed to think for a minute before nodding and tossing me the keys. "Alright, get in and let's go, just remember I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't in a hurry," she told me seriously before she climbed in the passenger seat.

I rolled my eyes a bit at that. "Such a worry wart," I muttered, climbing into the jeep.

"Big sis! Little sis!" Stella cried as she saw us waiting for her at the airport. She dropped her bags and put an arm around each of us, squeezing tight. "I've missed you guys sooo much. It's kind of upsetting that I'm only going to be back for a few days before heading to France."

"The life of a traveling musician," Dawn laughed, picking up one of Stella's bags, "At least you'll be staying at your flat instead of in hotel rooms; it's homier… And the airline didn't lose your luggage this time."

"You have a flat in Paris?" I asked Stella, grabbing one of her other bags.

"Yeah, I think one of TJ's friends… or relatives, something like that, is staying there right now. TJ said she wanted a roommate since she didn't want to live alone in a new city, especially one of the largest in the world. Since both he and Hailey vouched for her, I said it was okay, I had a spare bedroom anyway," Stella said thoughtfully, "I wish I could remember what her name is or how she knows TJ, but it just slipped my mind."

"And you're okay with a complete stranger staying in your flat?" I asked, incredulous.

Stella looked at me strangely for a minute. "You'll learn this eventually," she started, "but when you find your very best friends, you'll find that you can trust them in every aspect of your life. I don't know what kind of friends you have back in Japan, but if you didn't know that, then they mustn't have been very good friends."

My eyes teared up and I looked towards the ground. "I thought they were those kind of friends," I whispered, "but I was wrong. I only had, well, have one friend from Japan like that."

"One friend like that is better than many fair weather friends," Stella said, bumping my shoulder with affection, "and besides, aren't sisters like, the best type of friends."

"Why's that?"

"Just something that Dawn told me. Sisters don't always have to like each other, but they always love each other," my frosty haired sister said matter-of-factly, "Dawn gets on my nerves sometimes that I just want to strangle her sometimes-" "I heard that" Dawn said in front of us, "- but I'll always love her, and she'll always love me even when I drive her crazy. The same goes for you; we'll always love you, no matter what, even when your crazy teenage angst rears its head again."

I couldn't decide whether to cry or feel offended with that last remark so I merely smiled. "Thanks," I replied, "I'll always love you guys to, even when you get overbearing and all adult like." I playfully nudged her shoulder, pushing her a little off kilter before taking off back towards the Jeep.

"Hey!" I heard Stella cry out behind me as she dashed up next to me.

"Bunch of children," I heard Dawn mutter as we passed her to get to the car first. Stella and I started pulling on the door handles when we reached the jeep, but they wouldn't open. "I have the keys," my oldest sister said as she walked up to us, rattling the keys in her hand.

"So Stella, your birthday is tomorrow," Dawn started once we got everything stowed away and headed down the road, "Christa and Anna are coming over for the party, along with Flora and Fauna. Are Hailey and TJ going to come?"

"TJ's back in England with his family," Stella told her, "Hailey's flying in tomorrow morning just for my birthday before she heads back. She's informed me that we're going to the salon to get a facial and my nails done." My middle sister rolled her eyes at that, "She spends far too much time at the salon if you ask me."

"So how did she talk you into going?" Dawn asked, "It's not exactly your most favorite thing in the world to do."

"I like getting a manicure as much as the next woman, but I can't really keep my fingernails looking nice playing musical instruments all the time."

"This is true," Dawn said, looking at her short nails wistfully, "I love having my nails done, but if I'm painting, I can't keep them looking nice. I always get paint stuck under them which is unpleasant."

As I listened to my older sisters' conversation from the back seat, I looked at my own nails, all bitten and roughed up. My old… friends I guess, made fun of me and scolded me for not taking care of them like a proper princess should. I snorted a little, thinking of when I would have had time to do them with everything that I had going on back there.

"Everything okay back there?" Dawn asked, looking at me through the review mirror.

"Yeah, just thinking," I said, "Do you think Essie will like Jacey?" I looked at the small dog sleeping in her carrier on the backseat with me.

"Jacey's the puppy you got right?" Stella questioned. At my confirming nod, she continued on, "Essie's pretty friendly, and laid back. Plus we're only gonna be here for a few days. If Essie doesn't like her, she'll just stay in my room or outside. Much like a cat, she has a mind of her own."

"Sasha probably rubbed off on her, though she tends to act like a dog occasionally. They spend way too much time together when they were little and we were both in school," Dawn pondered.

"How does Luna like Jacey? She seems more like a proper cat," Stella directed back at me.

I chuckled, "Luna tolerates her presence and absolutely loathes when I leave her alone with Jacey because apparently Jacey likes to play with her and snuggle."

"Oh dear," Stella murmured, stifling a yawn. "Why are my flight in always so late at night?" She moaned. "It's a good thing tomorrow is Saturday, I can sleep in a bit before Hailey so rudely wakes me up and drags me out on my birthday."

"Well it is relatively late; it'll be almost midnight by the time we get home, but still, you usually stay up later than this," Dawn commented.

Stella snorted, "It's jetlag. I don't care if people say you only get it by flying west to east or whatever, I get it as soon as I set foot in the airport, it's horrible. And it's not like I sleep on planes anyway, so uncomfortable."

I tried to stay awake and listen to the conversation, but I had a long day at school so my eyes start to droop and I slipped back into my dreams.

Dreamscape

I was about the same age as before in the last dream, so maybe 9 or 10. I was creeping up behind this small reddish figure dozing in the garden in a patch of sunlight. When I was almost upon the small figure, an ear twitch back and the reddish blur darted up and away from me. I gave chase around the garden, climbing up trees and crawling under bushes trying to catch the blur, giggling the entire way.

I had almost caught up with the blur in front of me when I heard an angry voice call across the garden. "Serenity!" My mother's voice called out, "Serenity where are you?!" I groaned and tried to bury myself further into the bush I was hiding in, willing my mother to disappear back to whatever cauldron she came from. "Serenity!"

Finally I got tired of her yelling and I stuck my head out. "Yes?"

"You get out of that shrub right now, this is not how a princess behaves!" She yelled, pointing to a spot in front of her feet indicating where I'm supposed to go. I sighed and slowly crawled out of my hiding spot, grinning inwardly when I saw her face practically turn purple in anger. "Serenity, what have you done to your new dress?!"

"My name is Selena mother," I bit back at her, "and if you've forgotten, I hate dresses, I can't run around and play in them very well."

Her eyes crackled with a sick mixture of anger and magic as she grabbed my arm and yanked on it hard enough to surely leave a bruise later. "For the last time, your name is Serenity, like all crown princesses of the moon before you, and you will act like one. Now go change your clothes, you're having dinner with the squires of the planets tonight."

"Awe mother!" I whined, "I wanted to spend time with Anna tonight. This is the last night she's here before she goes back to her home for knight training. She won't be back here for another 6 months. She's my best friend!"

"You will do as I say," she yelled at me, "all the other knights and squires are leaving tomorrow as well. I was hoping that you would get to know the squires, the younger princesses, better because they are going to be your good friends one day."

"I don't think so," I contradicted, "They're not very nice, so stuck up and condescending."

The queen took a deep ragged breath, "You will do your duty as a princess; are we understood?"

"Understood," I squeaked out as she squeezed my arm tighter.

She realized my arm with a smile. "Good," mother said, "Now run along and put on a new dress."

I sighed and headed towards my room, rubbing my arm to relieve the ache. On my way back to my room, I saw my absolutely favorite person in all the worlds. "'Rora!" I yelled, running up to her.

She turned around and smiled at me, holding out her arms for me to jump in them. "How are you going Selena?"

"Selena…"

Selena…

"Serena," Dawn whispered, shaking me gently. "Wake-up, we're home."

"Hmm," I murmured, still half asleep. I sat up straight, rubbing my eyes to fully wake up, the strange dream slipping away from my mind like breath in the wind. I couldn't seem to wake up fully, my tired mind pulling me back into my dreams.

"No, no, no," Dawn said as I slumped over, trying to go back to sleep. My oldest sister pulled me out of the car and slung one of my arms over her shoulders. I leaned most of my body weight on my sister, too tired to walk straight.

I was barely aware of my sister basically carrying me upstairs and settling me on my bed. "C'mon Serena," Dawn's voice swam in my consciousness, "You've got to help me out here. You're too big for me to change your clothes by myself like I used to." I grunted in response and lifted my arms weakly. I felt my tee shirt slip off and my pajama top was pulled on me. I wriggled my jeans as far down on my hips as I could and Dawn pulled them the rest of the way off, replacing them with my shorts.

I sighed in content as I felt myself being tucked into bed and a soft kiss placed on my head. "Good night Serena," was what was said to me, but all I heard was a familiar voice whispering in my mind Good night Selena…

"Alright, alright, enough with the cake and distractions, give me presents," Stella ordered, pouting in her seat, looking slightly ridiculous with her party hat on and streamers caught in her frost colored hair.

I grinned over at Anna who rolled her eyes and we both started snickering quietly. Dawn, Christa and Hailey placed small packages in front of Stella, each with their own creative flair. Anna, Dr. Fauna and Flora dropped cards

on the stack and I quietly placed a gift bag behind the packages. Even though Dawn said that Stella would love it, I still felt a little hesitant about the present.

"Dewey told me to give this to you," Dawn said, handing the book that the odd storeowner gave her to her.

Stella took the book from Dawn's hands and groaned when she saw the title. "He's such a bookworm… and a practical joker, it's weird," she sighed placing the book down, "Another one to go in the pile. I mean, they're interesting to read, but still, this is a little ridiculous. How does he find these books?"

"Like you said, bookworm," Dawn replied, grinning.

Stella started opening her other presents, receiving several books from Dawn, salon quality hair gel and shampoo from Christa and gift certificates from Anna, Flora and Fauna. I watched as she opened Hailey's present and gasped when she pulled out an absolutely gorgeous leather jacket. "Wow Hailey," Stella breathed, "You've really outdone yourself this time." She pulled it on and it fit like a glove.

"Did you design that?" I asked Hailey while Stella cooed in her new jacket.

"Yes dear, I've always had a flair for fashion, so I went to school majoring in fashion merchandizing and design. My family's connections helped me out a lot too so I can do what I love," Hailey sighed, "And I get to live and work in England where someday I'll become Mrs. Hailey Huntington."

I looked back over at Stella when Hailey's eyes glazed over in a wistful expression that I've seen on many girls when thinking about their future weddings. I turned my attention back to Stella as she placed the jacket back in its box and picked up my present. She slowly opened the bag and took the tissue paper out. Pulling the box out of the bottom of the bag, Stella looked at it curiously, turning it in her hands to read the description on the side.

"It's a star projector," I blurted out, drawing Stella's eyes to me, "I found it in Dewey's store. It projects images of constellations and the night sky on the walls and ceiling."

Stella blinked at me and squealed, running over to hug me. "It's perfect!" She squealed, crushing me in a hug, "This is just what I need in my flat in Paris to sit on my bedside table."

I sighed in relief that she like the present, but also that she released me so that I could breathe again. "I'm glad you like it," I wheezed out, still trying to catch my breath.

The party continued on for another few hours, all of us just sitting around talking, playing games and having fun. Eventually everyone but Hailey left. The caramel haired blonde was staying at the house since she only flew in for a few days. She was staying downstairs with Stella though, not in the guest room so I still had my side of the upstairs to myself.

I started to get dressed for bed when I felt a pain on my upper arm and winced. I took my shirt off and looked at my arm. I gasped when I saw a bruise in the shape of a hand forming on my upper arm. "Serena what happened," Luna said when she spotted the bruise.

I wracked my brain, thinking of what could've happened, then I remembered my dream from the night before. I couldn't remember the details, but I remembered feeling intense pain in my arm. "I think," I started, "This happened in a dream."

"A dream?" Luna asked, "How is that possible."

"I don't know. I had a dream last night that I don't remember much about, but I remember feeling a pain in my arm and frightening pair of ice blue eyes. Next thing I know, this bruise has formed on my arm."

Luna looked thoughtful, "How could a dream do this to you?"

"I'm not sure, but I know that it felt so real, even if I can't remember it to well. It felt like I had been through it before."

"Maybe it was a memory, memories have been known to cause pain, but not to this extent."

I touched the bruise and flinched a little. "I think it looks worse than it actually is," I said, "I'll just put a bandage on it to keep people from noticing it. It would be awful hard to explain if anyone saw it."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Luna asked.

I sighed, "No… Actually I'm kind of frightened to go to sleep, but I can't stay awake forever. And I'm not going to run away from dreams, or memories, whatever they are. Usagi ran away all the time, and I'm not Usagi anymore."

"I'm proud of you Serena," Luna said as I crawled into bed.

"Thanks Luna," I murmured as I drifted off to sleep.

A/N: Review please