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Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon!
Ten Years Earlier
The trek up the stairs to her shrine home was more difficult than usual, Rei silently noted. Perhaps that was because of what she had seen only ten minutes earlier. It happened so quickly. Sailor Moon was hit, she disappeared, and only seconds later, the offending youma disappeared in a cloud of orange dust, taking any chance of finding her with it.
The miko barely realized that she had made it up the stairs. How would she explain this to her fellow senshi? How would she explain this to Usagi's parents? Luna? And Usagi's teachers? People didn't just disappear without a trace!
She walked into her room, where the remaining senshi were waiting. "You're back," Minako said with a smile. "Were you able to catch Usagi?"
"I saw her," Rei mumbled back.
Makoto frowned. "She didn't come back with you?" The raven silently shook her head. "Then where is she?"
"Gone!" Rei screamed, the built up tears finally came down in a mighty waterfall. "She disappeared. She vanished into thin air!" Minako, Ami, and Makoto exchanged worried looks. The story behind this couldn't be good…
"Rei," Minako found that, suddenly, her voice was hoarse. "Explain to us exactly what happened."
Tuxedo Kamen impatiently waited outside of Usagi's door. Fifteen minutes ago, he knocked on the door. Ten minutes ago, he explained how important it was for them to leave before dawn. Five minutes ago, he ranted about how time was of the essence and seemed like a crazy person to anyone looking on. Yet, her notorious record of always running late stubbornly stood. Tuxedo Kamen groaned. At the rate they were going, they would not even leave the headquarters until noon—sometime next year!
The door opened. Tuxedo Kamen sighed happily. The door opening was something he thought he'd never see in his lifetime. "Finally!" he exclaimed. "Are you ready to go?"
The disguised Usagi didn't look at him. "Ready," she said as she walked past him.
Tuxedo Kamen frowned. "Hey," he ran to keep up with her. "What's wrong with you?"
"We're in a hurry, aren't we?" the blonde replied with a question of her own.
The man's frown deepened. He didn't like the tone she was using. Was she angry about something? He started to say something, but stopped. His best instinct told him not to pry—at least, not yet.
The walk to through the Eastern Headquarters was an uncomfortably silent one. Usagi did her best to ignore Tuxedo Kamen and Tuxedo Kamen racked his brain to figure out what could possibly be making her angry.
Eventually the couple made it out of the headquarters and to the manhole's cover. Tuxedo Kamen climbed the ladder first, pushed the cover away, and stuck his head out of the safety of the secret city. Usagi assumed it was safe when the rest of his body followed. She climbed up and joined him on the surface. Once she was off the ladder, Tuxedo Kamen closed the hole.
He took her hand in his and hurriedly ran to an alley between two crumbling buildings. "We have to stay in the shadows," he explained in a whisper.
"Why?"
"Remember what Rei said? Beryl beefed up her security," Tuxedo Kamen explained. "We need to stay as inconspicuous as we can. At least, until we make it to Dark City."
Usagi frowned. "Dark City?"
Tuxedo Kamen nodded and led Usagi to the other side of the alley. "You might know it as Nagano. That's our first stop."
"There are still people that don't live in the sewers?" Usagi asked.
"Of course," he pulled them out of the alley and led them into the shadows of another crumbling building. "The rest of the world fell into Beryl's clutches pretty easily. The only few cities that wouldn't obey without a fight were Tokyo, of course, Nagoya, and Hiroshima."
"Why is that?"
"Quiet!" Tuxedo Kamen hurriedly covered Usagi's mouth and tensed up. He covered them with his cape. The couple stood as statues against the rumble as silently as they possibly could.
Two rough looking youma walked by, roaring as they went. Once they turned a corner and disappeared, Tuxedo Kamen released Usagi and breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close."
He sighed again. "Tokyo held on to the hope that the Sailor Senshi gave them. As long as the Sailor Senshi were there, they wouldn't give in to Beryl."
"And Hiroshima?"
"Rei and Makoto were there when Beryl took over the world. They convinced the people that Beryl wasn't what they needed. They listened. Something similar to that happened in Nagoya, thanks to Minako and Ami."
Usagi nodded. "And that's where the Resistance Headquarters are?"
"Exactly. Your brother is stationed at the Southern Headquarters in Nagoya."
"I see." Usagi sighed.
"I know," Tuxedo Kamen squeezed her hand slightly. "A lot has changed since the last time you've been here."
"You're right. And if this is what happens if the Sailor Senshi fail in my time, then I'm going to work even harder to defeat Beryl."
Tuxedo Kamen smiled. "That's the spirit. Our first mission is to make it to Nagano. It'll be a two day journey. If you're not up to it, turn back now."
Usagi rolled her eyes and ran ahead, careful to stay in the safety of the shadows.
By the time daybreak came along, Tuxedo Kamen and Usagi were no longer in Tokyo but were in the surrounding forests instead. With the safety of the forest on their side, the two decided it would be best to take a ten minute break. "Are you hungry?" Tuxedo Kamen asked.
Usagi shook her head. "For once, no," she mumbled.
"You sure? The Resistance cooks prepared a lot of food for the journey," Tuxedo Kamen insisted. He pulled a container out of his subspace pocket. "You like strawberries, right?"
Usagi looked at the container with desire. "W-well a small snack wouldn't hurt. I need the energy, after all." Tuxedo Kamen chuckled and handed the container to the young girl. Usagi yanked off the container's top and popped a strawberry in her mouth. "Delicious," she said in a singsong voice with a smile. "So sweet!"
Tuxedo Kamen's eyes softened behind his mask. Though the Luna Pen made her look older, she still kept the same expression that she had when she ate something sweet at age fourteen. "Beautiful," he whispered to himself.
Usagi looked up from the container. "What was that?"
Tuxedo Kamen cleared his throat. "Nothing. I was just wondering why you were acting strange earlier. It was like you were—."
"Ignoring you," Usagi interrupted and finished for him. "I was ignoring you."
"Why?"
"Because you kept information from me yesterday," Usagi explained. "I wanted to ignore you until you told me what you were hiding."
"So that's what happened," Tuxedo Kamen said more to himself than to Usagi. He sighed. "Usagi, I plan to tell you, but I don't think the time is right. That's okay, right?"
It was Usagi's turn to sigh. "I guess. But don't think I won't stop trying to figure out on my own."
The couple heard roaring from a distance. To know that the roars belonged to Earth's new dominant species made Usagi shudder. This didn't go unnoticed by Tuxedo Kamen. He took her hand in his. "Don't worry. It's going to get better. Now that you're here, we can't lose."
Usagi looked to the forest's ground. "No pressure or anything."
Mamoru chuckled. "Exactly." He stood. "Come on. We have to keep moving." Usagi nodded, stood, and let Mamoru lead her through the dense forest.
Hours later, even at enhanced speed, the super duo made it to Dark City. Tuxedo Kamen de-transformed just before they reached the city's gate. One glance showed that the formerly beautiful city certainly live to its new name. The buildings were in terrible condition, just kept up enough to allow people to live there. The venders were youma and the citizens of the city were shouting and arguing over the over-priced goods that were offered. "Wow," Usagi mumbled.
Mamoru nodded. "This is what the non-Resistance world looks like now. People are starving while the youma eat like kings and steal their energy. There are plenty of vaccines available but humans aren't allowed to have any. Wearing a Sailor fuku is completely illegal, not exceptions. Anyone that mention Sailor Moon's name in a youma's presence can face up to 25 years in prison and become subject to torture. Cities who believe in the Sailor Senshi are reduced to rubble, which is why everyone in underground in Tokyo."
"And I thought politicians were bad before," Usagi mumbled. "This is ridiculous."
"No kidding," Mamoru mumbled in return. He squeezed her hand. "Stay close and don't speak to anyone. If anyone finds out who you are, we're in serious trouble. If anyone asks, your name is Bunny, we're married, and we are visiting family. I had a Resistance recruit make your papers and I have them close by." Usagi nodded. "Come on."
Mamoru guided "Bunny" through the rowdy crowd and into one of the weak building. "Why are we here, Mamoru-san?" Bunny asked. The youma clerk looked at them from its magazine.
"Just Mamoru," Mamoru said loudly, making sure the youma could hear. "We're married now remember, Buns? I think we've moved past formalities, don't you?" He finished his sentence with one of his signature smiles.
Usagi blushed. "Y-yes. I guess we have." He's just pretending, Usagi had to remind herself. "What are we doing here, Mamoru?"
"We need some supplies. We can't go to your parents' house empty-handed, can we?" Usagi opted to say nothing more and silently watched as Tuxedo Kamen tucked various items under his arms. He went through the aisles at a record speed and walked to the cash register when he was done. He smiled a wide smile at the youma, hiding his usual disdain towards the beast and all of its kind. "Hello. How are you today?"
"Doing well," the youma replied. He rang up the items. "Will this be all?"
Usagi sniffled. "That's all."
"Are you okay, ma'am?" the youma asked. It had pretty good manners for a savage, disgusting beast. It bagged the items and exchanged the bag for Mamoru's money.
Usagi nodded. "Yes. I just have to sne—!" Usagi sneezed.
The sneeze triggered a glitch in her disguise. Her true form was revealed for a second and it didn't go unnoticed by the youma. "Hey!" Usagi widened. She had been found out before even getting to the next headquarters! "You're Sa—."
The youma didn't get to finish its sentence before a sword went through its torso from behind. The youma gasped for air and looked at its green blood drip from the sword. It died in the matter of seconds and fell limp on the sword. The sword's owner pulled his weapon out of the youma's body and stepped out of the shadows. "Gross," the man complained. "Youma blood stains take forever to get out of metal…"
Usagi was confused by the last thirty second's event and glanced at Mamoru to see that his face lit with recognition. "Artemis!" he exclaimed.
"Artemis," Usagi repeated the name. "As in Minako-chan's cat?" This man in front of her looked nothing like a cat. He was a handsome older man that towered over the small girl, even in her disguised form. He had piercing blue eyes and his white hair, one could easily tell it wasn't white from old age, fell perfectly onto his broad shoulders.
Artemis smiled. "The one and only." He sheathed his sword, took one of her hands in his, raised it to his lips, and pressed a kiss on it. "It's nice to see you again, Princess."
"I-I don't understand," Usagi tried to make sense of the new information. "You're supposed to be cat! Why? How are you human?"
Artemis chuckled. "It's a long and complicated story that will become clear when you regain your memories of the Silver Millennium."
"What are you doing here, Artemis?" Mamoru asked. "We were supposed to meet you at your house."
"Luna," Artemis sighed as he explained. "She was worried that you were taking so long to arrive. She thought you had been captured. It was either go out and search for you or stay at home and have her yell my head off."
"Is Luna human, too?" Usagi asked, allowing her curiosity to seep in her voice.
Mamoru nodded. "Luna will explain everything when we get to her house. For now, though, let's get out of here. The youma will start to smell this one's blood and we don't want to be here when they do."
Usagi nodded as Artemis showed them the way he sneaked inside. The secret entrance was much safer than the front door at this point. "You knew Luna and Artemis lived here?" Usagi asked Mamoru in a whisper.
"Yes," Mamoru replied. He smiled at her. "I told you we were meeting family, didn't I?"
Usagi grinned. "I suppose you did."
Artemis opened the secret door and checked to make sure no one was watching. "The coast is clear," he whispered to his partners in crime before creeping out of the doorway.
"How did you discover this, Artemis-kun?" Usagi asked.
"It was completely due to luck, Usagi-chan," Artemis replied. "I heard your sneeze. We're lucky I got there in time."
"You heard my sneeze over this crowd?"
"I can always hear my princess when she's in trouble. Call it a perk of being a royal guardian."
"Oh," was all Usagi could say.
The three eventually came to the little house that Artemis and Luna owned. Perhaps it was because they lived on the outskirts of Dark City, but the two had one of the nicer houses in the area. Artemis opened the door and ushered the two inside. "Luna!" Artemis called into the house. "I'm here!"
"Daddy!" a little voice chirped. Moments later, a little grey blur flew into the arms of Minako's former cat.
He chuckled. "Hi, sweetheart." He returned the hug.
Usagi laughed. "Artemis, who's this little cutie?"
The little girl released her hug and turned to the "twenty-four" year old. "I'm Diana! Who are you?"
"I'm—."
"Diana," Luna walked into the room, her long black hair flowing behind her. "I told yo—." Her eyes widened when saw spotted the blond. She breathe the name she hadn't brought herself to say in years, "Usagi."
Usagi smiled back. "Luna."
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~Koneko~