June 30, 2013

Usagi, unable to sleep for another second, hopped out of bed. “Luna, wake up! We have to get ready for school!”

“Maybe you do, but not me,” Luna grumbled, curled up at the foot of the bed with her eyes shut. “It’s not my fault you over…sleep—wait a second! It’s only 6:43! Is this some kind of a joke?”

“No way! It’s just… I’m finally 16, Luna!”

Luna sighed. “Just let me get a few more minutes of well-deserved beauty sleep—please.” She quickly fell back into her regular cat nap.

Usagi watched her midnight body rise and fall as she snored lightly; a symbol of how relaxed their lives had been recently. There hadn’t been anything beyond average human criminals the police were able to handle, so the soldiers had been able to rest.

Sailors Uranus and Neptune returned to their far-away stations, guarding the solar system from unwanted strangers, and Sailor Pluto had returned to the Gate of Time after setting things back to the way they were before Galaxia had invaded. The only ones who retained the memory were the soldiers; regular people didn’t need to remember that they had once died a horrible death, and they definitely didn’t need to fear that it would happen again.

Sailor Saturn resumed her deep slumber within average, 14-year-old Hotaru Tomoe, who didn’t remember a thing of being a Sailor Soldier, or any of the other terrible events before that, and lived happily with her father, Professor Souichi Tomoe.

Mamoru went to America on his scholarship exchange. Usagi missed him, but they talked on the phone when he wasn’t too busy, and sometimes he sent her pictures of him, his friends, his apartment, his adventures, and the New York cityscape (he had gained quite a knack for photography). She kept them all on a string of lights hung in her room, held by clothespins.

Usagi threw on her uniform and looked at herself in the mirror. She couldn’t wipe the huge grin off her face, or the bubbling excitement from her heart. She couldn’t remember looking happier. There’s no particular reason for her joy, except that…

Everything is perfect! she thought to herself, beaming. “Hey, Luna! Luna!” she said eagerly, shaking the silky-black cat awake

Luna groaned. “Never mind about beauty sleep…” she muttered. “What is it?”

“Aren’t you forgetting to wish me a happy birthday?”

“Yeah, happy birthday.” The tired cat let her eyes slide shut once more.

“Mama!” Usagi called, coming out into the kitchen.

“Usagi?” Ikuko answered, bewildered. “How are you up?” Ikuko kissed her daughter on the forehead.

Usagi giggled. “I dunno, I just was super excited to be sixteen I guess!”

Ikuko smiled. “Well, I’m glad, because I just finished cooking up your favorite—double chocolate pancakes! Happy birthday, my beautiful, darling daughter!”

Usagi’s eyes glittered. “Thanks, Mama!” She happily sat to eat her pancakes. Could her day get better? The only way she saw how was if a “certain someone” popped the question. She was, technically, old enough to get married now. She’d have to start hinting it to him.

“Oh, right, Usagi?” Ikuko said.

“Mmf?” Usagi replied, mouth full of delicious pancakes.

“Papa and I will be going to his high school reunion today, and we won’t be back until Sunday evening, most likely. Sorry to do this to you on your birthday, darling.”

Usagi’s good cheer faded slightly. She swallowed, and smiled more brightly than she felt. “It’s fine, just have a nice time! Don’t worry about me!” She quickly finished her pancakes, and downed a glass of milk.

“Usagi!” someone shouted from outside. “Come on out! Let’s go to school!”

Usagi sighed knowingly. “That’s gotta be Minako-chan… I’ll see you on Sunday, Mama!” She gave her mother a hug and a kiss.

“Goodbye, Usagi! Have a happy birthday, sweetheart!” her father said as he walked into the room, still tying his tie. She hugged and kissed him as well.

“Thanks! ’Bye, Papa!”

“So I heard we’re getting a new Physics teacher starting today!” Minako told Usagi as the pair walked to school, under no stress to make it before the tardy bell.

“Really?”

“I hope it’s a cute guy! I heard he’s from out of the country!”

“So cool!” Usagi said. “I wonder if he has a cute accent!”

“He’s probably gonna be tall, dark, and handsome!” Minako squealed. “I’m so excited to go to school for once!”

“But it’s not for the education!” The girls giggled loudly.

“Hey, guys!” someone behind them called. They turned to see Makoto running toward them. “I saw you ahead of me and almost had a panic attack, I thought I was late!”

“That’s so mean, Mako-chan!” Usagi whined, faking tears. “I can get up early sometimes too!” Usagi pouted.

“Yeah, me too! You’re so mean!” Minako cried.

“If I’m so mean, then I guess you don’t want this lunch I made especially for your birthday? I’ll just throw it in the trash then. It really was a good lunch,” Makoto threatened playfully, pulling a wrapped bento box from her bag, and walked toward a nearby trash can.

“Wait!” Usagi cried, leaping to save the lunch from utter damnation.

“I thought not,” Makoto said triumphantly, and handed her the box.

Usagi sighed with relief. That was a close one. “Thanks for the lunch, Mako-chan!”

Makoto laughed. “It’s my pleasure!”

“Students of Juuban Municipal High School,” the principal addressed. “Please welcome our newest teacher, Ms. Setsuna Meioh.” Setsuna stood from her chair, from a line of other teachers on the stage, and bowed to the audience with a smile. “Ms. Meioh will instruct the first-years in Physics,” the principal continued. “I expect all of you to treat Ms. Meioh with the utmost respect. She has a doctorate’s degree in astrophysics. This concludes our assembly. Please proceed to your classrooms immediately.”

“Setsuna-san is our new teacher?” Makoto said incredulously as the group walked to their class.

“I wanted it to be a hot guy!” Minako whined.

“You all should be grateful,” Ami chastised. “She’s very brilliant in physics, we’re lucky she’s teaching high school and not college. She’s a world-renowned physicist, especially in her theories about wormholes.”

“But why is she here?” Usagi wondered aloud, seeming distracted in thought. “It worries me that she’s come to our school. Why isn’t she at the Gate of Time? Something is not right.”

“Usagi,” someone called behind them. They all turned and saw Setsuna behind them. “I must speak with you privately.”

I knew it, something’s wrong, Usagi thought to herself, her anxiety growing greater and greater with each passing microsecond. “Of course.” She turned back to her friends. “I’ll meet you guys back in class?”

“Yeah.”

“We’ll see you there.”

Usagi gave them her best smile, and followed Setsuna to an empty classroom.

“What is it, Pluto?” Usagi asked tensely.

“You are correct, you know, about why I am here. Something will soon be terribly wrong; not for the world, but for you.

“Within the next week, your life will turn nearly upside down. You will have to go to a new place to live, and that place will cause you much pain. You will not be alone, but you will have more enemies than friends.”

“Is there anything I can do to make things better?”

“I am afraid not.” Setsuna’s face crumbled. “I am so sorry, Princess. That place will be a personal hell for you, but it is a necessary evil in your journey to becoming Queen.

“In addition, you will have no contact with your friends here, and you will not be able to see them until you graduate from high school. I am deeply sorry.”

Usagi shook her head. Her heart pounded in her ears as she processed the news. “It’s not your fault. It’s necessary.”

“That is all I needed to tell you.” Setsuna sighed. “There is only one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“You cannot tell them what I have told you.”

“Why not?”

“If they know, they will try to alter the mission. But it is necessary for your growth and development into a just queen and a loving mother for the mission to continue with no interruptions. These are instructions from Neo Queen Serenity herself. Do you understand?”

Usagi nodded, not trusting her voice. “Yes,” she squeaked. Taking a deep breath, she strengthened her posture. “Is that all?”

Setsuna nodded. “I am so sorry, Princess.”

Usagi smiled, tears pricking her eyes. She’d just gotten all her friends back, and now she had to abandon them again? It just didn’t seem fair. “It’s alright. I’ll be okay.”

After school, Usagi’s friends gave quick goodbye-hugs to her before rushing home to change and grab her birthday presents. They had all planned to meet her at her home at 4 to celebrate. Pluto’s warning had all but left her mind. Usagi wouldn’t let it dampen her mood. She was going to celebrate her sixteenth birthday in peace and joy. Besides, Pluto had said within the next week, but not necessarily today. As Usagi skipped home, she filled her thoughts with the wonderful time she would have with her friends.

While she could, her brain reminded her.

Usagi frowned, and shoved the thought away. She would not let Pluto’s warning interrupt her special day.

When Usagi entered her house, the first thing she noticed was an envelope on the little table near the door addressed to her. It must have been from her parents. She tore it open and pulled out a pink birthday card with a cute smiling rabbit holding a birthday-candled cupcake on the front. She opened the card.

“Wishing you sweet, happy memories on your birthday,” the generic message said, and beneath it, there was a note from her parents.

“Sorry we couldn’t be home for your birthday, sweetie! We left you presents on the dining table. We hope you enjoy them, and we hope you’ll forgive us. Happy birthday, sweet girl!

-Mama and Papa”

Usagi smiled. She couldn’t feel angry with them after that. She wandered into the dining room, and, as promised, there were two boxes wrapped with shiny, rose-gold wrapping paper, tied with silver ribbon. She wondered if it was okay to open them even though no one was there, but then thought that no one would mind.

She opened the first box, small and rectangular. Inside was a crescent moon pendant covered in diamonds about two inches in diameter, which hung from a delicate silver chain. Underneath it, a folded note:

“You light up my life like the moon at night. You are a diamond, precious and strong.”

A tear slid down Usagi’s face. She quickly wiped it away, and opened the next present, a short box, but very long and wide. When she lifted the lid, her breath was stolen. Inside was the most beautiful dress she’d ever seen. The inner layer was a carnation-pink silk, with a sweetheart neckline, and knee-length. The outer layer was a white lace pattern, with long sleeves, a similar sweetheart neckline, and an a-line hem ending in a train. The look was finished with a pink velvet ribbon at the waist and a pink velvet choker. The note with this one read:

“You are beauty, you are grace, you are purity, and you will one day show the world love and kindness.”

Usagi hurried to her room with her new gifts to try them on.

The dress accented her form in an elegant way, and the necklace was a perfect final touch. Usagi reached in her closet for a pair of white cotton flats with a bow on each toe. She let her hair down and looked in her full-body mirror. She smiled, and hurried to her bathroom to apply a little mascara and lipgloss to complete her look.

“I’m home,” she heard from downstairs.

“Shingo!” she said, heading down to meet him. “Welcome home!”

“Where’d you get that dress?” Shingo asked.

“Mama and Papa’s gift to me for my birthday. They left it on the table. Do you like it?”

“It’s cool.”

She smiled. “Thanks, kiddo. Hey, my friends are coming over later so don’t do anything to embarrass me, got it?”

Shingo rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I’m gonna go play COD.”

Usagi squinted at him. “Isn’t there something you’d like to say to me?”

“Oh yeah. Happy birthday. And here.” He pulled a poorly wrapped package from his bag and handed it to her.

“Thank you!” she sang, and went into the dining room. She tore through the wrapping to find an orange t-shirt with a tiny cartoon Sailor V on the front, winking and making a “V” with her chubby fingers. She smiled.

“I saw it when I was at the outlet mall with my friends last week. It was on sale,” he called from the other room. “No big deal.”

She laughed. “Thanks.” She started heading up the stairs to put the shirt away when the doorbell rang. “Coming!” she called, and her stomach flipped. She checked her watch. 3:45

When she opened the door, Makoto and Minako were standing there. “Hey! Sorry to ask, but could you help me to bring in all the food? I kind of made a lot,” Makoto said sheepishly.

Usagi’s eyes brightened at the last part, and she nodded vigorously. “I’d love to! Thanks a lot, Mako-chan!” She set the shirt down on the table where the card had been and hurried to help Makoto and Minako with the food.

Usagi heard Minako’s laughter from inside. “Wow, this shirt is great!” she called.

Usagi giggled as she returned inside. “I know, isn’t it? Shingo got it for me.”

As they were taking the last containers from the back of Minako’s father’s car, Rei rode up to the house on a red bike. “Hey guys!” A present was tied to the rear rack of the bike. “Happy birthday, Usagi!”

Usagi smirked. “Wow, I never thought I’d hear a nice word out of you!”

Rei narrowed her eyes at her, and rode her bike straight up to her before braking, making Usagi back up for fear of getting hit. Rei laughed. “It’s a one-time thing.”

Usagi pouted. “Yeah, whatever.” She stuck her nose up and continued inside with the container she held—thankfully, she hadn’t dropped it due to Rei’s little stunt.

Someone sighed. “Why can’t you guys just play nice?”

“Hey, Ami!” Makoto said, smiling. Ami was holding a card, and Usagi felt relieved. At least it wasn’t a huge study book like she had gotten for Rei’s fifteenth birthday. They all continued inside to drop off their various packages and containers.

Usagi grinned. “Thank you all for coming!” A growling sports car revved outside as it made its way down the street. The car turned off just outside Usagi’s house. She and her friends shared a look of confusion.

“Maybe it’s Haruka and Michiru?” Ami guessed.

“Would they leave their post?” Makoto wondered aloud.

A knock came at the door. “Let’s find out,” Usagi said, and went to answer the door.

There stood Mamoru, in a light-blue button-down shirt and nice jeans, his hair tousled lightly and a bouquet of peonies in his hand. He smiled awkwardly. “Uh, hey,” he said, and swallowed. His tanned face darkened slightly. “Y-you look nice.”

“Oh my god!” she mouthed, unable to make her voice work. “How—what—why—?” she stuttered, too excited to form a cohesive thought, and threw herself on him with a squeal. She took in a deep breath to help herself calm down, and was overwhelmed by the scent of roses and after shave, his usual smell. Her heart swelled in her throat, and tears stung her eyes as she took in this warmth that felt like home.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly, and Usagi felt complete.

He pulled away after a few moments and looked at her, obviously dumbfounded. “Wh—” he started, and then swallowed. “Uh, I— um, what—what’s up?” His voice cracked a little at the end as he turned visibly red. He rubbed the back of his neck, clearly nervous for some reason. “When’d you get the dress?”

Usagi giggled. Now she understood. “My parents gave it to me for my birthday. Actually, they left it for me. They’re not here right now.”

His face darkened from the blush. “Wait, what? Is it even okay for me to be here?”

She laughed again, and moved to take his hand and lead him inside, taking the flowers from him. “Don’t be silly, the girls are here to keep watch over us. Plus, Shingo’s here too.” Then, to her friends, she called, “Guys, guess what? Mamo-chan is here!”

His anxious expression broke into a warm smile, something rare when it came to him. It was Her Smile, because he only smiled like that with her. Every other smile he made just wasn’t the same.

“Ugh, they’re not even kissing yet and I’m already nauseous,” Shingo said.

“I thought you were playing Call of Duty,” Usagi said, and shot him a Get out of here if you know what’s good for you look.

He rolled his eyes, unafraid. “Look, man, don’t have a cow, I just want some cake.”

Usagi rolled her eyes right back, and then turned to Makoto. “Makoto, please give him a slice of cake,” she said, and added to herself, so he’ll leave us alone. She went into the kitchen to find a vase.

Makoto smiled. “I’d be glad to.” While she served him a slice, everybody took their seats at the table. Usagi set the flowers in the center. “Cake or presents first?”

“Well, I already promised Minako she could go first, and this cake is probably the best present ever, so presents first,” Usagi decided, exaggerating, of course. Mamoru’s arrival was the best present she could have received all day. She squeezed his hand, still not over the fact that he was here.

“Yeah, right!” Minako said sarcastically, and was about to continue her boast when Shingo stuck a forkful of the cake into her mouth. “Yeah, right,” she said again, this time honestly.

Usagi laughed, and opened Minako’s present, a small, DVD-case-sized parcel. Inside was “The Last Story”, a game Usagi had been begging her parents for for over a year. “You’ll have to buy it with your own money if you really want it,” they’d said. “Oh my gosh!” Usagi squealed. “Thank you so much, Minako-chan!” Usagi squeezed Minako until she was gasping for air. “Sorry,” she said, letting go. “Just… thank you.”

Next was Makoto’s present. Another dress? she hoped, noting the box size and shape. Makoto’s dresses were beautiful, so Usagi was optimistic. When she opened the box, there lay a cute, cotton white dress with puff sleeves and a cotton-candy pink pinafore. At the top right of the pinafore, there was a small patch of a rabbit sitting on a crescent moon. “This is so cute!” She grinned and squeezed Makoto. “Thank you so much, Mako-chan!” She took a deep breath. “Okay, Ami’s next!” Ami handed her the envelope.

Usagi tore open the envelope to reveal a gift card to the nearby comic and video game store for ¥5000. “Thank you so much, Ami! You know I’m definitely gonna use this!” Everybody laughed.

“Don’t let it interfere with your studies!” Ami said worriedly.

Usagi rolled her eyes playfully. “Then why give it to me?” she said, and laughed. Rei handed her a box. “Thanks,” she said, and opened the box. Inside was an incense burner with a variety of different scented incense sticks and cones, and a box of matches.

“That’s from the brand new shipment we got. We haven’t even started selling them yet. They’ve been blessed to help with different things, like luck, romance, friendship, studies, et cetera,” Rei said nonchalantly.

“Wow, you’re being so nice to me today!” Usagi said, and everyone but Rei laughed.

“Don’t get used to it,” Rei retorted, and blew her a raspberry, which Usagi returned, full force.

Last was Mamoru’s present. Her stomach filled with butterflies as he handed her a small box that looked suspiciously like a ring box. She smiled and unwrapped it. Not to her surprise, it was a ring box, but she still let out a little gasp as she opened the box. In the delicate velvet sat a moonstone ring with an intricate, silver band. She looked up at him in awe. “This must have cost a fortune!” He only shrugged in response, smiling sheepishly.

Usagi’s eyes welled up. “It’s beautiful.” She wrapped her arms around him in gratitude. She released him, but they kept their arms around each other’s waists. “Thank you all for the wonderful gifts, I really appreciate it. You guys are the best. I feel super bad that I don’t have anything to give back.”

“Don’t feel bad, you gave us all something that we couldn’t ever dream,” Minako said comfortingly. “You gave us friendship.”

“Yeah,” Ami said. “If it weren’t for you, we would all be alone.”

“That’s something that can’t be reciprocated, but we try,” Rei added.

“That’s why we do what we do, we care about you a lot and we want you to know that,” Makoto said.

“We love you, Usako,” Mamoru said. “I love you.”

Tears welled up and spilled from her eyes. “Thank you guys so much,” she blubbered. “I love you too.” She wiped her eyes and smiled widely. “Jeez, I’m such a mess,” she laughed, and Mamoru wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

The friends merrily continued with dinner, then proceeded to the den to watch a movie. Rei and Minako occupied the floor, Ami and Makoto each took a chair, and Usagi and Mamoru curled up on the couch.

About halfway through the movie, she heard a knock at the door. They paused the movie, and she stood. “I wonder who it could be?” she said, and left to check the door. “Coming!” she called, and opened the door. A pair of police officers were standing there, his hands folded reservedly. Confused, she said, “May I help you, officers?”

“Are you a relative of Kenji and Ikuko Tsukino?” the one on the right said.

“Y-yes, I’m their daughter,” she said warily. “What’s the matter?”

They took off their hats. “The couple were engaged in a fatal car accident this afternoon,” the one on the left said. “We’re terribly sorry.”

Her heart leapt into her throat, and the only thing she heard was its pounding. “What? That… that can’t be. You must…must  have the wrong… people…they… they were… but…”

“I’m sorry,” one of the officers said.

Everything became muffled. Someone called her name, but she couldn’t recognize who it was. Her knees gave out, and she fell against the door. One of the officers said something else, but it didn’t register.