Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon and other characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi.
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Luna hadn't returned all night to the Tsukino house, and Usagi was able to get a full night's sleep. She awoke with a smile on her face and a fresh outlook on life the next day.
It was a bright cloudless Sunday. The morning was spent looking at different dojos with Kenji and Shingo. They had found one not too far from their home with a sensei that connected well with both Usagi and Shingo. He was strict with his teaching, but was also understanding and patient with his students. Usagi and Shingo would be taking classes three times a week for self defense, tumbling which incorporated a lot of gymnastics, and kung fu; surprisingly, Usagi was excited to start. The afternoon rolled by and Usagi was ready to tackle her homework for the weekend. She hadn't had the chance to even look at it from the events of the previous couple of days. After a hearty family lunch, Usagi was just getting herself settled onto her table when she heard a scratching at her window.
Luna was back asking to come in through the closed window.
"Good afternoon Luna!" Usagi sang.
The black feline was a little perturbed at the difference from the young girl. After the tears that she had left the girl in, she thought that Usagi would be taking her role more seriously.
"Now, Usagi," Luna began to preach. "We need to discuss your responsibilities as Sailor Moon!"
Now, Usagi was a good girl, who was endlessly cheerful and typically had the patience of a saint, but she did not take well being talked down to; much less to a cat who seemed to just want to boss her around. As she liked to remind people, she was blonde, not stupid.
Usagi pursed her lips in slight frustration, but didn't want to let the cat's tone bring her down. "I think that's actually a great idea Luna, I think you should follow me for this discussion." Without another word Usagi got up from her desk and walked out of her room.
Luna, not completely understanding what was going on, followed in confusion.
"Mama, she's here," Usagi called as she walked down the stairs into the kitchen. Luna's hackles began to rise.
"Ok, let me call your father and Shingo, let's talk in the living room, sweetheart," came the reply.
Usagi continued down the hallway and into the living room.
"What do you think you're doing?!" hiss-whispered Luna. "You are not supposed to reveal your secret identity to anyone!"
Usagi rolled her eyes at the feline, wanting a moment to get real with the cat. "Listen Luna, even if it wasn't for the fact that I love my family and that they always know everything that is going on with my life, I'm still only fourteen years old. I'm not old enough to be making these kinds of decisions without some kind of supervision and no offense, but I don't know you. You gave me this brooch, forced me to fight these evil creatures that I know nothing about, and then up and left to me without any kind of explanation for a whole day while in the same breath telling me that I'm 'going to have to do better than that'," Usagi's rant had gone from whispering back to Luna to a full out rant.
Luna was horrified at the girl's outbreak and was even more horrified at the sight of her family rounding the corner to enter the living room. She didn't know what to do, she tried to use her mind meld, but found that it wasn't working on Usagi's family members; which meant they already fully knew what and who Luna was.
While all of this was processing, Ikuko had decided to break the ice, "Well, it seems that Usagi has started this conversation with Luna without us, but let's back track a little here."
The family made themselves comfortable in the living room; Usagi dumped herself on the sofa next to her brother, crossing her arms in a pique. Shingo grinned and turned to the black cat sitting on the ottoman, "It takes a lot to get nee-chan riled up, but once she does, she'll hold the grudge for awhile, believe me, I know. Don't worry though, she'll eventually forgive you, she always does." To this, Usagi just snorted.
The nonchalant manner in which the Tsukino's were addressing Luna impressed her. She was after all, a talking cat.
Ikuko cleared her throat, "Hello Luna, I am Ikuko, Usagi's mother," she said politely as if to a guest she wasn't sure was welcome in her home.
Kenji nodded at the cat with an impassive face, "I'm Kenji, the father."
"I'm Shingo," Shingo declared, "Nice to meet you!" He was the only one fascinated to be talking to a cat, but then again, he was only ten years old.
"So Luna, Usagi has explained what she could about being Sailor Moon, but like she said, you didn't stick around very long to explain much to her, so if you could please enlighten us?" Ikuko asked as politely as she could. She knew that this cat was technically her daughter's advisor for all Sailor Moon related things, and it wouldn't be good to start off on the wrong foot.
Luna hesitated for a long moment. She wasn't sure how to proceed. Technically Sailor Moon was the first Sailor Scout she had awakened, so she wasn't totally sure of protocol. She knew that her partner, Artemis had awakened Sailor V the previous year, but he had been able to get the girl to comply with maintaining her secret identity. Granted, it didn't seem that Sailor V's relationship was as tight with her parent's as Usagi's, but that was neither here nor there.
Since the cat, excuse the expression, was literally out of the bag, she took a closer look at the Tsukino family. Usagi was still pouting while looking out the window; Luna recognized a very stubborn spirit in the girl that she had not expected, next to her, Shingo had an eager, positive look on his face. Kenji had a solemn look in his eyes that said he almost wanted to disbelieve that any of this was actually happening. His gaze was wary, as if he wasn't quite sure he could trust Luna with the life of his daughter. Ikuko was another matter entirely. Her entire posture and the look in her eyes posed a challenge to Luna. It said, prove to me why I should let my precious daughter take part in all this. Prove to me that this cause is worthy, and prove to me that you will lead her honorably and safely.
Luna felt the force of Ikuko's gaze rival that of the departed Queen Selenity. She quivered slightly at the intensity of the scrutiny, but pride and the righteousness of her cause steeled her conviction.
Luna cleared her throat. "I guess I should start from the beginning. My name is Luna of Mau. Royal advisor to the ruler of the fallen Moon Kingdom from the Silver Millennium." She paused trying to find her words. "I know that current Earth history paints a very different past, but over a thousand years ago, Earth was united as one kingdom and the planets in this Solar System not only had life, but also housed their own kingdoms. From all of the kingdoms in this system, the Moon Kingdom was the most powerful, and the head kingdom of the Silver Alliance; most of the planets were part of the Silver Alliance. Earth, however, for some reason or another, was not. This lead to hostilities between Earth and the planets in the Silver Alliance." Luna had started getting lost in the memories of her story.
"Towards the end of the Silver Millennium, the solar flares from the sun were becoming vicious effecting the Earthlings. Because they were not part of the Silver Alliance, they didn't have the protection that the other planets had from the evil influence. A war broke out. It was terrible. The army that Earth had amassed was great and the evil supporting it was even greater. Queen Selenity of the Moon Kingdom was able to seal away the evil, but the cost was too great. The great evil did its job and all the great kingdoms in the solar system were destroyed, the Earth Kingdom included." Luna shook her head trying to clear it. There were times when her memories were crystal clear, but there were still so many gaps in her memories; as if they had been tampered with. She was resistant to admitting it, even to herself, but sometimes it did make her question her motives. .
"So, I am assuming you know that Usagi is the Sailor Scout, Sailor Moon." Three heads nodded. "The Sailor Scouts were elite warriors from that time whose sole purpose was to protect their home planets and this system from evil and destruction." Silence ensued as the family took this information in.
"From the time of the fall of the Silver Millennium, the Scouts have been reincarnated time and time again waiting to be awoken to defend this system. The reason why the Sailor Scouts are being awakened now is because the evil from the past, the Negaverse, has found a way to break from it's seal and is trying to destroy this planet and maybe the whole Solar System again."
Luna turned to Usagi who was looking at her with a queer look in her eyes. As if memories from her own past had started to haunt her. The girl was clearly listening, but her eyes weren't seeing the present. Luna wondered if she remembered her own past. She had never thought to ask if Usagi had memories of her past. Come to think of it, she never remembered a Sailor Scout for the Moon. Curious. She would need some time to think it all over. As it stood, from her instincts and from information that she had gathered at HQ, Usagi Tsukino was Sailor Moon, regardless of whether she existed in past or not.
Usagi's eyes cleared and she locked eyes with Luna. Luna wanted to ask if she recalled her memories at all from the time of the Silver Millennium, but she was too dignified to ask in front of her parents. Luna felt that there was something off about Sailor Moon, but she couldn't quite figure it out. Her mind would go fuzzy thinking about it. She shook her head; she'd have to think it over later.
"So that's why the Sailor Scouts are back," Luna ended her explanation.
Kenji, ever the pragmatist had to ask, "Isn't this something that government can take care of? I mean, I work for the news, and no one has said anything about this Negaverse."
Luna grimaced, "People of this time are having a hard time coming to terms with ideas of the supernatural. I'm not really sure what it is, but no one from any of the governments around this planet are willing to listen to reason." Luna sighed in frustration, "This is actually a worldwide crisis, but even with the evidence of the Negaverse attacking cities, no one seems to want to take action against them. It's very frustrating."
Kenji nodded, even he had a hard time believing that the Negaverse existed, it would make sense that the government and the media would cover up the attacks with conspiracy theories.
"But at the end of the day, the Sailor Scouts need to be the ones to fight against the Negaverse anyway," Luna continued to explain, "conventional means of attack won't work against the enemy."
"There are even more Sailor Scouts?" Shingo asked curiously. He had only ever heard of Sailor V prior to Usagi's confession.
Luna nodded at him, "Yes, I have yet to find them though. It took me awhile to locate Usagi."
Ikuko was silent throughout the entire story telling. As a mother, hearing that your daughter was one of the few soldiers that could fight in a war of apocalyptic proportions, sent chills through her body. On one hand, she was terrified for her daughter. The war that she was up against seemed almost impossible to beat! An age old enemy that had survived hundreds of years that had managed to destroy several alien kingdoms!? But part of her… part of her knew that her Usagi was up to it; she new that her daughter had the spirit, the stubbornness and the love that it would take to protect her world.
If the destruction of their planet was on the line, Ikuko wouldn't be the type of mother to stick her head in the ground. She wouldn't let her denial of the situation prevent her from providing her daughter with the best weapons possible.
Luna watched on as if she could read Ikuko's conflicting thoughts war with each other. As she saw the woman's eyes close, head bent almost in grief, Luna almost started to panic, thinking that Ikuko would somehow forbid Usagi from her destiny as a Sailor Scout. Before she could do no more than inhale, Ikuko's eyes opened with a hardened conviction, but what Luna saw in her eyes was hope.
Ikuko turned to look at her daughter sitting on the couch next to her brother. Usagi's hand had unconsciously migrated into her brother's hand, and the siblings held on to each other. Usagi's jaw was set, her face impassive; a look Ikuko had never seen on her daughter before. She realized belatedly, that she would be seeing a lot of new looks from her daughter. Usagi looked like she had made her mind. No matter what Kenji or she had to say about the situation would change her mind. Her daughter was stubborn like that; probably a trait that she had received from her mother.
All eyes were on Usagi. She could feel their gazes, but her sight was still full of scenes that she couldn't be sure were hers. The memories were hazy at first, as Luna had started her rhetoric, but as her story continued, she could see people; friends that she cared about deeply, a mother whose beauty and grace seemed holy, and a love that was deeper than the vastness of all of space. She couldn't see their faces clearly, but she could feel them around her—how they made her feel and how their emotions made her react. As her vision cleared from her memories, she was filled with a hardened conviction. She may not have met these friends yet, she may not have the same love from that time, but she would do everything in her power to honor their memory by fighting as hard as she could against the Negaverse.
She blinked and turned to face her family and her new advisor. She broke out into a smile that seemed more like a smirk, "Let's do this," was all she said. If the Negascum thought they could just take over and destroy Earth, they had another thing coming; not on Sailor Moon's watch!
Hope you enjoyed!
Ok, so I was going to make this post an extended chapter which includes Ikuko finally confronting Luna, BUT I'll bargain with you all. If you have liked the story so far, please leave a review. If I get enough reviews (good reviews preferred), I will post the next chapter mid-week.
Thanks for reading!