The Brooch
By Jason C. Ulloa


Chapter 4


Orphan's Quarters, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 3, 1992. 9:58 P.M.


Ryoku laid in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He should be asleep by now - Mizuno-hakase had even 
ordered it, knowing that he was the type of person to try to play down his injuries for others (like 
Hotaru for example) so that they would worry less - but he just couldn't manage it. Too much had 
happened today; his mind couldn't stop thinking about it.

By all rights, he should be dead right now. Dead because of a stupid error in judgment. Dead because 
he let his emotion rule his reason. He should know better than to charge into a battle alone when he 
knew nothing of the opposition's numbers or strength. For all he knew, there could've been a Mage out 
there. And he charged into that unknown without waiting for backup.

Mamoru had personally tore him a new one and for good reason, he admitted to himself. He had been 
trained better than that. 'Kinoma-sensei must be rolling in his grave right now,' he thought with a 
tight grimace. 'His prize student making such an elementary mistake. What was I thinking?'

But this pensive rumination was just something to keep him from thinking about what happened to Usagi. 
However, his current thoughts always seemed to return to the girl.

There was a soft padding in his room; so soft that if his room wasn't so quiet, and his mind was in 
less of a contemplative mode, he might not have heard it.

"So, which one are you?" he asked quietly, turning over toward the noise. "Must be the white one," he 
said, half to himself. "One step sounds heavier than the other. Your front right and hind left were 
both wounded, I believe."

"With all your injuries, I'm honestly surprised you were able to remain conscious through the whole 
thing," Artemis said from the floor.

"I guess this'll teach me to leave my door open," he snorted in a soft mutter. "Really, Setsuna-san 
should've known better."

"If it'll make you feel better, I closed the door behind me."

"Thank you. I take it your friend is watching over Usagi?"

"Yes." Artemis was quiet for a few minutes before speaking again. "Can't sleep?"

"No. I can never really sleep very well if something is bothering me," he said as he shifted onto his 
back again. "Can I ask you your name? With everything that happened today, I sort of forgot. Sorry."

"Artemis. And the other one is Luna."

"I remember her name," he replied flatly. "Artemis, tell me. What happened back there... did it really 
happen? Or, did I just imagine it?"

The white cat leapt up to the bed, almost jumping too low because of his injuries. He padded over to 
where he was looking him straight into his eyes. "Yes, what you saw really did happen."

Ryoku regarded the cat for a long time before nodding. "It seems too preposterous to be real, yet I saw 
it with my own eyes," he said, looking away from the cat.

_________________________________________________________________


Three hours ago....


"What the hell?" Ryoku exclaimed and letting his gaze follow the whip to its owner. He swallowed as a 
Whip Hunter stepped out of the shadows. "From bad to Hell," he muttered under his breath.

"Ryoku-san! Naru-chan!" he heard Usagi cry out as she crested a mound of dirt and rubble, stopping dead 
in her tracks. He was about to yell at her, telling her to leave when one of the two sentries stabbed 
its sword into his right shoulder, causing him to bellow in pain.

"Usagi!" he gasped as the sword was pulled free from his shoulder. "What are you doing here? Run!"

The white cat that was limping near him tried to lunge at the second sentry to keep it from attacking, 
but it was blasted away by a negative energy burst.

"Artemis!" a black cat that just now crested the mound screamed.

Ryoku heard the cat talk, but his concentration was more on the whip binding his hands together. The 
other Youma sentry took a swipe at his head, missing as he managed to duck under it. However, the other 
sentry was expecting it and kicked him in the side of the head, stunning him. It followed its kick with 
a lunging attack, which stabbed him in the side. Fortunately, the blade missed hitting anything vital.

As he struggled to retain his consciousness, he noticed that the black cat had thrown something at 
Usagi, which she easily snatched out of the air. He shook his head violently, to clear it and backed 
further away from the sentries, closer toward the Whip Hunter, all while keeping an eye on Usagi.

Something in Usagi's demeanor changed the moment she set eyes on whatever was in her hand. Her clear 
blue eyes took on a cold, bitter cast as they slowly rose to glare at the Youma before her. The black 
cat was speaking to her but he could tell that she was no longer listening.

He knew that look in her eyes. That look was one he wore many times before, whenever he faced Youma in 
battle. He, and many other Shishu that came before him.

That was the look of bloodlust; of the desire to utterly destroy one's enemy.

She raised one hand into the air and shouted one single phrase.

"Moon prism power, make-up!"

Under other circumstances, it would have been an utterly ridiculous thing to say. Completely ludicrous. 
Stupid, even. However, seeing the change envelope Usagi - feeling the backwash of the surge of power 
filling her - somehow, it didn't seem as inane as it should have been. He stared in complete shock as 
light engulfed her body for a few seconds before dissipating, revealing Usagi in a strange-looking 
uniform complete with a short skirt and a jeweled tiara on her head. He knew that it was still Usagi, 
but the way she moved and carried herself as she slowly strode toward them....

This was an entirely different person.

The girl strode straight toward them, her blue eyes flashing with a cold fury that lay just beneath 
the surface. "Let him go," she said coldly, her voice soft, yet commanding. One of the sentries snarled 
as it turned and advanced on her. The moment it took its first step toward her, her lips stretched into 
a dark smirk.

"Then, die."

That was all the warning she gave before she launched forward in a burst of speed, taking the sentry by 
surprise as she delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to its head, knocking it clear off its feet. While 
the Youma was airborne, she rushed forward and caught it, then flung it at the Whip Hunter. The Hunter 
was knocked to the ground some distance away, the fall causing it to yank Ryoku down with it.

While she started toward the other sentry, he took the opportunity to disentangle himself from the 
Hunter's whip appendage and grab his sword. Whatever had happened to Usagi had apparently given her 
some kind of unnatural strength and agility. He could never lift a Youma over his head, let alone toss 
one with the ease she displayed. And her speed! He could only hope to move so fast on a good day. She 
was easily twice as strong and one and a half times as fast as he was.

He watched, sword in hand, as she punched and kicked the sentry in rapid succession until the Youma 
fell to the ground, unconscious. Once the sentry hit the ground, she leaped into the air and stomped 
down hard on its throat, snapping its neck. Ruthless, efficient, and brutal. He was half-tempted to 
nod his head in approval. Instead, he rushed the other sentry and dismembered it with two clean slashes 
of his blade. Stunned by the loss of its limbs, it never noticed the third decapitating slash until its 
head rolled off its neck and bounced onto the ground; the body slumping and toppling over afterward.

Ryoku turned to advance on the Hunter Youma, but stopped as Usagi held up a hand. "He's mine," she 
muttered, her voice harder than steel. He gave her a questioning glance for a moment, then nodded, 
finding his answer in her cold glare. He turned back to the Hunter and deliberately sheathed his sword 
as he stepped back from the battle. However, one hand remained poised near the hilt, ready to be drawn 
on a moment's notice. Usagi noticed this and frowned slightly, but nodded.

The Hunter had recovered from the attack and was now advancing toward Usagi, its whip appendage 
cracking in a threatening manner. Unfazed, Usagi removed the tiara from her forehead and whispered, 
"Moon tiara action." As she whispered those words, the tiara formed into a discus of glowing white 
light. He watched in complete stupefaction as she flung the shimmering disc at the Hunter, severing 
through the whip in several places as it lopped off the Hunter's head in one pass. The disc arced 
gracefully through the air as it returned to its mistress' waiting hand.

"Usagi?" Ryoku called out uneasily as he stepped toward the girl. She seemed calm enough now, but she 
was still wearing that strange uniform and emanating powerful waves of energy of a kind he had never 
felt before. If she was emotionally or mentally unstable....

"You are injured," she said after giving him a quick scrutinizing look. "You will need to have those 
tended to."

He blinked for a moment. She sounded all right, but there was a different tone to her voice from what 
he remembered. It sounded more... commanding. Almost regal. Not that there were anything like kings or 
queens anymore, but he had heard of such things in his history lessons as a child. He could imagine a 
queen sounding just like her.

"I'm fine, Usagi," he replied, despite the fact that his wounds were still bleeding. "I'm more worried 
about you. Are you all right?"

She gave him a puzzled look for a moment, then her expression turned to one of understanding. "Ah, yes. 
She is fine; just sleeping."

It was Ryoku's turn to look confused. "She?"

"Tsukino Usagi," she replied, tilting her head and giving him a look that suggested that he should know 
what she was talking about.

This only served to make him even more confused. "But... aren't you...?" he asked, pointing at her.

"Jovan, I'm surprised at you," she said, one corner of her lip stretching into a half-smirk. "I thought 
you, of all people, would've recognized your Princess."

"Jovan?" he repeated, utterly confused.

Her smirk faded as she saw his incomprehension. "You... don't remember me? How? Why? Don't tell me that 
you don't remember the Silver Millennium, or the Moon Palace, or...." Her voice and expression started 
to get more and more desperate as she went on. "Jovan, it's me!" she all but screamed as she grabbed 
him by his shoulders, not even noticing him wince in pain as she did. "Serenity! Princess Serenity!"

"Princess... Serenity?" a voice behind them said in astonishment, causing her to whirl around to see 
who spoke.

"Luna?" she said, recognizing the black cat. "Oh, thank heavens! I'm so glad to see you!" She broke 
away from Ryoku to bend down and pick Luna up.

"Princess, how is it that you are alive?" Luna asked, quite astounded. "I thought you had been killed 
when the Dark Kingdom destroyed the Moon Palace!"

"Whoa, hold it!" Ryoku shouted, holding up his hands. "What do you mean, the Dark Kingdom destroyed the 
Moon Palace? What Moon Palace? As far as I know, the Dark Kingdom has been here for the past fifty 
years destroying and enslaving over two-thirds of all humanity!"

"This happened centuries ago, Jovan. Centuries and another lifetime ago. I was another person back 
then. A princess named Serenity, who was being groomed to rule after her mother, the Queen." The girl 
glanced down to the black cat in her arms. "What about Artemis, Luna? Is he all right? And the girl 
that Usagi was so worried about; how is she?"

"Girl?" Ryoku repeated, then smacked himself in the head. "With everything going on, I can't believe I 
forgot about why I ran out here," he muttered self-deprecatingly.

"Wait," Luna said, stopping him. "Artemis is keeping an eye on the girl. She has an injured leg and is 
unconscious from a blow to the head. Other than that, she's fine.

"I see," he said, relieved. He then turned back to the strangely-dressed girl and the cat in her arms. 
"By the way... Serenity, my name is Ryoku. Not Jovan. You must be mistaking me for someone else."

She shook her head as she stared at him. "You're sort of like me... Ryoku. Your name may have changed, 
but you're still Jovan. At least, as far as I'm concerned." She added the last part almost as an 
afterthought.

He frowned in confusion again, but let it go for now. "What about Usagi? You said she was sleeping?"

"Yes," she replied, nodding somberly. "As long as I'm conscious, she remains asleep."

He gave her a confused look, but dropped it a moment later. "Let me get this straight. You're supposed 
to be this princess of a kingdom that was destroyed by the Dark Kingdom a long time ago, right? So, how 
come we've never even heard of the Dark Kingdom until fifty years ago?" he asked skeptically.

"Over the course of several millennia, even myths can be lost to the flow of time," Luna said sagely. 
"I'm not surprised that you haven't heard anything of either our kingdom or the Dark Kingdom.

"The Dark Kingdom had destroyed our kingdom, however, our Queen did manage to stop them and seal them 
away in the end. This is why they have not been seen since their reappearance fifty years ago." She 
stopped and shook her head worriedly. "I'm not sure how they managed to break through the seal, but the 
fact remains that they are here now. What's worse is that they have already taken control of most of 
the entire world. Stopping them is going to be quite the difficult task."

"More like close to impossible," Ryoku snorted. "Thanks to their numbers, they would've enslaved us all 
years ago if Beryl hadn't taken over half of her Youma with her when she left the planet to conquer 
other worlds." He had heard stories from his father about how Queen Beryl had projected her image into 
the sky and announced that she was leaving her Generals in charge while she went off to conquer in the 
name of the Dark Kingdom. If there were this many Youma on the Earth now, how many did Queen Beryl have 
with her now? What if she came back to finish what her Generals had started and completely enslave the 
human race?

"That is why we must eventually revive the Sailor Senshi," she stated seriously as she put Luna down. 
"The brooch that Luna gave me has awakened the power of the Silver Millennium within me; a powerful 
heritage from a life long past. With this power, and the powers of my fellow Sailor Senshi, I can 
eventually stop the Dark Kingdom."

"Strong words, Serenity," Ryoku remarked. "There is nothing I would love more than to help you get rid 
of the Dark Kingdom, but the odds are astronomical! Jadeite alone took out several Shishu bases during 
his reign. To our knowledge, we have only the one base left and several small outposts scattered 
throughout the prefecture. Even with your powers, how can we win?"

She stared at him for a long time before her expression turned sad. "Is this what you've become, 
Jovan?" she stated coldly as she rounded on him. "A whimpering coward? The Jovan I knew never cared 
about such trifling things as the odds of success, or being dramatically outnumbered." She advanced 
forward, poking a finger at his chest. "The Jovan I knew would do whatever it took to defeat the enemy, 
even at the cost of his own life," she continued, her voice rising with anger. "The Jovan I knew risked 
his life to protect the Moon Kingdom and to protect me! And here I find that, several millennia later, 
his reincarnation is a spineless coward!" She turned her back to him and folded her arms across her 
chest. "Never mind. I'll fight by myself."

His expression became stone cold during her harangue, but now it was steely enough to break even the 
hardest crystal. "You will do no such thing," he said in a soft, yet fierce tone. "I may not remember 
my past life like you do, but I do know my current one. And I will tell you this: Kino Ryoku is no 
coward.

"If you want to destroy the Dark Kingdom, get in line. I was here first."

"Well," Usagi said, turning back around and smiling in satisfaction. "That definitely sounds like the 
Jovan I knew." Her smile faded as a concerned frown crossed her features.

"Is something wrong, Princess Serenity?" Luna asked as she padded over to her mistress.

"Usagi seems to be stirring," she replied as she glanced between Luna and Ryoku. "Unlike me, she 
seems to have no awareness of me as I have of her." She sighed brusquely, one corner of her mouth 
turned down in a half-grimace. "This might become a problem if Youma should attack when she's 
conscious. As I said before, as long as I'm conscious, she remains asleep. This means that the reverse 
is true, as well." She paused as she seemed to consider something. "And Luna?"

"Yes, Princess?" the black cat answered attentively.

"I'm not really a princess anymore, Luna," she said with another sigh. "Serenity perished along with 
her loved ones an eternity ago. I'm a Sailor Senshi now. So, would you please call me Sailor Moon?"

Luna nodded understandingly. "As you wish, Sailor Moon. I'll let Artemis know as well."

Sailor Moon nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Luna." She turned to Ryoku as the black cat padded away. 
"Jo... No. Ryoku. Usagi will be confused about all this, so I want you to help her as much as you can. 
Also, watch over her as you used to do for me. I feel that it is no coincidence that she was drawn to 
you. Will you do this for me?"

Ryoku gave her a tiny smirk. "I thought you knew me better than that, Sailor Moon."

She blinked at him for a moment, then laughed softly. "Yes, I suppose I should've expected an answer 
like that from you. You really haven't changed much since I last knew you." She stepped toward him and 
placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, my friend. I knew I could count on you."

Sailor Moon stepped back and dropped her hand as her transformation dissolved and faded away. Once it 
was completely gone, Usagi toppled forward toward the ground.

"Usagi!" Ryoku said as he lunged forward and caught her before she could hit the ground. Carefully, he 
lowered her to the ground and checked her pulse. It was slightly slower than normal, meaning that she 
was asleep.

"You've got quite a few surprises in you, you know," he said as he bent down and picked her up. "Makes 
me wonder what the future holds. Could your powers really help us defeat the Dark Kingdom?"

"Oi! Kino! You all right?"

Ryoku turned in the direction of the shout and spotted both Sanzou and Mamoru rushing toward him. 
Sanzou was carrying a familiar-looking young girl in his arms. "Naru!" he gasped, recognizing the girl. 
"What is she doing out here? I thought she was supposed to be helping Setsuna-san watch the children."

"They came to me, telling me that you ran out here by yourself to save her without coming to us for 
assistance," Mamoru said with a stern, disapproving scowl. "I'm surprised at you, Kino. You, of all 
people, should know better than to run off into a battle without either a strategy or assistance."

"I'm surprised you're still alive considering what you were up against," Sanzou added, nodding toward 
the Youma corpses. "Three sentries and a Hunter? Not even I would've bet on you coming back alive."

"Kino, you will report to Mizuno-hakase at once upon our return," Mamoru commanded. "I will have Sanzou 
see to the care of the two girls, but I want to speak with you further about your lack of prudence."

"Yes, I understand," Ryoku replied penitently as he followed the two senior Blades back to the Hikawa 
Jinja.

_________________________________________________________________


"Sailor Moon...," Ryoku murmured to himself as he continued to mull over what happened. So, he knew 
Sailor Moon in a past life, did he? From what she told him, this Jovan guy he had been in their past 
life must've been some kind of guardian or soldier of sorts. Hmph. History repeating itself, maybe? 
Hopefully not; that kingdom of theirs had been destroyed, after all.

So, how was he supposed to be able to help her defeat the Dark Kingdom? Just himself and her? Super-
powered or not, they wouldn't last very long. Still, she did mention something about reviving her 
allies. Sailor Senshi, wasn't it? "Artemis?"

The white cat glanced down at him from his resting spot on Ryoku's pillow. "Hm?"

He snorted. "Make yourself at home, why don't you," he muttered under his breath, almost rolling his 
eyes in annoyance. He had never even noticed the cat climbing up his pillow and laying down on it. 
Well, what was done was done. Might as well let him stay there.

"Artemis, what do you know about the Sailor Senshi?" he asked, staring up at the ceiling.

"My memory is pretty spotty from the long hibernation we went through, but here's what I can recall. I 
may have to corroborate with Luna to see if we can fill in any holes in our memories, though.

"The Sailor Senshi were created during the founding of our Moon Kingdom. They were to serve as the 
backbone of our kingdom's defenses."

"Sort of like the last line of defense in case the front line defenders fell to the enemy," Ryoku 
observed.

"Right. As such, they were given the ability to tap into their respective guardian planets and channel 
their planet's mana flows into attacks, mostly elemental-based. In the beginning, they were only going 
to create five Sailor Senshi - one for each Inner planet - however, due to the fact that there was 
always the possibility of a threat from outside our solar system, four additional Sailor Senshi were 
created to defend against those threats, each given the power of one of the Outer planets. As such, 
those four were stronger than the Inner Senshi."

"Okay, so I take it there was a Sailor Mercury, Sailor Venus, and so on," Ryoku said, turning to regard 
the cat on his pillow. Since it was so dark, Artemis' eyes shined eerily in the near darkness. "But you 
never mentioned Sailor Moon. Where does she fit into your story?"

Artemis was silent for a while. "I'm not entirely sure," he replied finally. "Luna might know more 
about her than I do. What I do know is that her powers come from the very essence of the Silver 
Millennium; the powers inherited from her previous life as Princess Serenity for when she would wield 
the Silver Crystal - Ginzuishou."

"Ginzuishou?"

"I don't really know much about that, either, I'm afraid," he continued. "It's a very power crystal 
that will respond to its user's will or desire in proportion to her intensity. The stronger the user's 
will, the more powerful the Ginzuishou will be. However, the crystal uses the user's lifeforce as a 
power source, so there is an inherent danger in using it for anything more than an emergency."

"A double-edged sword, is it?" Ryoku supposed. "Still, if one were desperate enough...."

"Then, yes, it could become a powerful weapon," he agreed. "But, it would only work against evil."

"Like the Dark Kingdom."

"Yes."

"Good enough for me. Anything that could weaken or destroy the Dark Kingdom would be very useful, 
especially considering the situation we're in. So, where is this Ginzuishou?"

"Who knows?" Artemis sighed. "From what I can remember, a great evil was sealed inside the Ginzuishou 
before we were put into stasis. The Queen had divided the Ginzuishou into seven pieces in order to 
ensure that the great evil would not be able to free itself from its prison ever again." He sighed 
again, his head limping morosely in his paws. "The Queen had intended for everyone to be reborn in a 
peaceful future. What could have happened to make everything go so horribly wrong?"

"I wish I could tell you, Artemis," Ryoku replied, glancing back toward the cat sitting on his pillow. 
"I really wish I could."

_________________________________________________________________


Orphan's Quarters, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 4, 1992. 1:03 A.M.


In the darkness, Luna watched as Usagi tossed in her sleep. Every so often, she would moan or whimper 
for a moment before settling back into a calmer sleep. A worried look etched itself across her face 
as she recalled earlier events.

On the one hand, she had her Princess back. Serenity - or rather, Sailor Moon - seemed to remember her 
past life as the Moon Princess, which was a good thing to her mind. That meant that she didn't have to 
explain as much; she would already know all about the Ginzuishou, as well as it being split into seven 
pieces, among other things. On the other hand, even though she remembered her previous incarnation, her 
personality seemed to have altered drastically. Princess Serenity was a kind and gentle soul. Violence 
such as what she had demonstrated earlier with the Youma sentries was virtually inconceivable. How 
could such a pure innocent turn so cold and brutal?

Luna's attention was brought back to Usagi as she began to stir again. "No...," she murmured 
desperately as she tossed violently in her bed. "No!" She sat bolt upright in her bed, staring out at 
nothing. Her breathing came ragged as small droplets of sweat beaded on her forehead. "A nightmare?" 
she said, frowning in confusion as she took in her surroundings. "What happened? How did I get back to 
my room?"

"How are you feeling?" Luna asked as she approached Usagi's bed.

"Who's there?"

The black cat leaped up onto the bed and sat down beside her. "It's just me. Luna."

Usagi jerked back in shock. "Y-you can talk? What's going on here?"

Luna sighed as she shook her head. She had a feeling this wasn't going to be easy. "Do you remember 
anything of what happened earlier?" she asked quietly.

"This must be a dream. Yes, that's it. A dream. After all, cats can't talk." She glanced down uneasily 
at the cat sitting next to her, the cat's yellow eyes shining slightly in the faint moonlight. "Ryoku-
san is going to laugh when I tell him about this dream," she said, laughing weakly.

"Somehow, I doubt it," she remarked dryly. "Usagi-chan, this is no dream."

"Ah! And she knows my name, too!"

"Usagi-chan! This is NOT a dream!" Luna snapped irritably.

Usagi's eyes widened as she nodded rapidly. "Right! Not a dream."

Luna took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing. "Listen. Do you remember anything of what 
happened earlier? This is important."

"Earlier?" she repeated quizzically. "Well, the last thing that I remember was running after Ryoku-san 
as we went to go save Naru-chan. When I got there, I saw one of the Youma sentries stab Ryoku-san in 
the shoulder."

"And?" Luna encouraged after she trailed off.

"After I saw that, I started to grow angry," she continued softly, as if she was afraid of what she had 
to say. "It was almost like before, when I blacked out at Stores or when I had that nightmare...."

"Usagi-chan?"

"What...," she whispered in a voice almost too low to hear, "what happened back there?" She looked 
toward the cat with a look of dread etched on her face. "What did I do?"

Luna said nothing as she hopped off the bed and padded off. She returned a moment later, carrying 
something in her mouth. "Do you recognize this?" she asked after tossing it to her.

It was still too dark to see clearly, but the sensations she felt once the brooch landed in her hands 
felt all too familiar. Already, she could feel her anger stirring in the back of her mind. She pushed 
the feeling away with a bit of effort and shuddered slightly.

"What... is this?" she asked cautiously as she placed the brooch on the bed.

"That belongs to you," Luna explained as she hopped back onto the bed again. "That brooch gives you the 
power to transform into Sailor Moon."

"Sailor... Moon?"

"Yes. A Sailor Senshi, a soldier of justice."

"A soldier of...," Usagi repeated as she stared uneasily at the brooch. "Me? What are you talking 
about? I'm no soldier or anything like that."

"But you are, Usagi-chan," she replied seriously. "If it wasn't for you, Ryoku-san, Naru-san, Artemis 
and I would all be dead right now."

"What?" she gasped, turning sharply toward the cat. "How-?"

"Like I said," she continued, nodding toward the brooch, "that gives you the power to transform into 
Sailor Moon. As Sailor Moon, you have the power to stop the Dark Kingdom and save humanity. It's your 
duty-"

"Stop," Usagi interrupted, cutting her off flatly. She picked up the brooch and held it out to Luna. "I 
don't know why you think I can become this Sailor Moon person. I'm not a fighter. I'm just a normal 
fifteen year old girl, not some powerful warrior. I'm slow and clumsy and-"

"Usagi-chan!"

"I promised him!" she cried as her eyes started to become wet with tears. "My entire family died before 
we could reach this place. I was the only one who survived. Before my father died, I promised him that 
I would survive. I promised that I would continue to live, so that their deaths would not be in vain." 
She paused long enough to wipe the tears away from her eyes. "But now you're asking me to become this 
Sailor-whatever and risk my life fighting the Dark Kingdom! Do you even know how many Youma are out 
there? There are thousands... no, tens or hundreds of thousands of Youma out there, not to mention 
Beryl's Four Generals, who are all stronger than a hundred Youma each! No matter how strong you think I 
can be, I would just end up dying eventually! I don't want my family's deaths to be meaningless!"

Luna stared at the brooch in Usagi's hand for a moment longer. "I cannot take it back, Usagi-chan. It 
already belongs to you." She hopped down off the bed and headed for the door. Before she left, she 
stopped long enough to say one more thing.

"Usagi-chan, I won't take the brooch back, but I won't force you to use it, either. Can you at least 
promise me that you'll keep it with you? Please?"

Usagi glanced down at the brooch once more. As she stared at it, the sensations she felt from it began 
to shift slightly. Before, all she felt was anger. Now, she could feel other emotions as well.

Sadness. Regret. Indignation. Wrath. Fear. Those she could easily feel on the surface. However, there 
was more that she could feel lying underneath the surface.

Pride. Joy. Love. Peace. Hope.

Hope....

Her hand closed over the brooch. "All right, Luna," she replied quietly. "I'll keep it. But that's it."

"Thank you," Luna said gratefully, then quietly left the room.

_________________________________________________________________


Shishu Headquarters, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 4, 1992. 7:28 A.M.


Usagi yawned once as she approached the Shishu headquarters building. She hadn't gotten much sleep as 
she had a lot on her mind after receiving that brooch. Upon waking up in the morning, she had taken a 
better look at the brooch and decided that as long as she was stuck with it, she might as well wear it. 
After all, it was the only piece of jewelry she owned. At least it looked nice enough.

The sound of loud yelling caught her attention as she drew closer to her destination. As she passed by 
the training grounds, she saw several young men running around the edge of the training grounds. So, 
these were the new recruits Ryoku was going to train?

She blinked as she spotted Sanzou easily jogging after the group, barking at anyone who looked like 
they were slowing down. 'That's strange. I thought Ryoku-san was supposed to be training the new 
Recruit Blades.' Giving the sudden change in recruit trainers a quick mental shrug, she walked past the 
training grounds and entered the building.

"Ah, you must be Tsukino Usagi-san," a young brown-haired man wearing thick-rimmed glasses said as he 
came up to greet her. "I'm 6th class Blade Konno Mikiyasu. Chiba asked me to show you around the place 
before you start."

"All right," she nodded and proceeded to follow Konno during his tour of Shishu headquarters. "Konno-
san, do you know where Kino Ryoku-san is? I thought he was supposed to be training the new Recruit 
Blades, but I saw Sanzou-san out there instead."

Konno paused in opening a door and turned back toward Usagi with a reluctant look on his face. "I 
suppose you haven't heard. I'm surprised since I hear you live in his quarters."

"Heard what?" she asked, growing concerned.

"I don't know if I should be telling you this...."

"Please?"

He glanced down at her for a moment, giving her a considering look. Finally, he turned back toward the 
door and opened it. "Kino's been put on restricted duty," he told her as he turned the lights on.

She halted in mid-step as she entered the room. "What?" she exclaimed incredulously. "Why?"

"Chiba and Sanzou both decided that Kino was becoming too reckless as of late," he explained. "So until 
further notice, he's going to be on restricted duty. Anyway, this room is where we keep most of our 
supplies; uniforms, stationary, extra cleaning supplies, and so on. Kinda like Stores, only it's for 
Shishu in particular."

Usagi nodded as she followed Konno out of the room, turning off the lights as she exited. "Konno-san, 
what exactly is restricted duty?"

"Basically, all Kino can do is defend against invasion. He's not allowed to leave Hikawa Jinja for any 
reason except to save a life. And even then, he's not allowed to leave unescorted."

"Well, that doesn't sound too bad...," she considered.

"But the worst part is that as soon as he's healed from his new injuries, he is going to join the 
Recruits Blades and go through their training along with them. And knowing Sanzou, he's going to be 
especially hard on him since he should know better by now."

"Oh...," she said quietly, not really knowing what else to say. She felt bad for him, but there was 
nothing she could do to help.

She remained silent for the remainder of the tour through the headquarters building, nodding only in 
response to Konno's explanations and descriptions of each room they visited.

_________________________________________________________________


"That should do it," Konno said as he led her out of the last office. "All that's left is the Admin 
Office, and you've already been in there. Do you have any questions for me?"

"No, Konno-san," she replied with a quick shake of her head. "Thank you for your time."

"It was my pleasure," he replied with a grin and a quick salute. "Well, I shall leave you to get 
started, then."

"Um, wait a minute," she called out as he started to leave. "Where exactly am I supposed to start, 
anyway?"

"Eh?" he said, blinking in surprise. "Well, right now, you're the only one on our cleaning crew, so I 
guess it's up to you. When we get more people, that may change, but for right now it's all up to you." 
He shrugged slightly. "At least, that's the way I see it."

"Oh," she said as she blinked uncertainly. "Well, all right, I guess. I'll just have to do my best!"

"Right," he agreed, nodding cheerfully. "Good luck, Tsukino-san!"

"Thank you again, Konno-san!" she replied as she waved goodbye to the departing Blade. After he left, 
she took out the keyring that Mamoru had given her the day before and stared at it for a moment. "So, 
where do I begin?" She picked out a key at random and separated it from the others. "One's as good as 
all the rest, I guess. Well, time to go to work!"

From his vantage point on the balcony of the second floor, Mamoru nodded to himself and smiled faintly. 
Her heart was in the right place, at least.

_________________________________________________________________


Hikawa Jinja Proper, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 4, 1992. 11:53 A.M.


No matter how many times she tried, she just couldn't sleep past noon for some strange reason. Even if 
she went to sleep at 10:00 A.M. she would be up less than two hours later. It was strange, but she had 
long since grown accustomed to that singular quirk in her sleeping habits.

Rei rose from her bed and slipped into her usual miko robes. She had all day to herself, so there was 
no sense in wasting any of it lying in bed, now was there? Once she was all dressed, she slid open her 
door, only to find Minako standing in front of it with her hand raised as if to knock.

"Ah! See Grandpa? I told you she'd be up by now!" she shouted down the hall as she lowered her hand.

"Okay, okay," the elderly priest said sheepishly. "You don't have to make such a big deal about it."

"Aw, you're no fun, Grandpa," she sighed as she turned back to Rei and shrugged. Rei merely rolled her 
eyes in response. Minako was only one of a few of her friends who called her grandfather 'Grandpa'. 
Ryoku also called him 'Grandpa', but only when he was by himself or with other people who called him by 
that nickname. Otherwise, he would refer to him as 'Hino-sama', like everyone else.

"So, Minako-chan, what brings you here so early in the morning-"

"Afternoon."

"-afternoon?" Rei corrected herself flatly.

"It's about Ryoku-sama," Minako said as her smile quickly dropped. "I just heard from Ami-chan that 
he was injured last night after taking on four Youma by himself, three sentries and one Hunter, in 
order to save both Usagi-chan and Naru-chan!"

"What?" Rei exclaimed as she stepped out of her room and closed the door behind her. "How badly is he 
hurt?"

"Several sword wounds; some severe, but nothing life-threatening," she reported. "However, that isn't 
the bad part."

That stopped Rei in mid-step. "What do you mean?" she asked as she started walking again, albeit at a 
faster pace. "What's the bad part?"

Minako brought a finger to her lips, indicating silence. Rei frowned, but held her tongue. As far as 
she knew, what she had to say might cause trouble if the wrong people heard it. Of course, this 
wouldn't be the first time that Minako said something that got her in trouble, but at least she was a 
little more cautious with what she said as of late.

Once they were out of the shrine and on their way down the stairs, Minako finally spoke. "Ami-chan told 
me that after Kobayashi-sensei tended to Ryoku-sama, her mom and Chiba-san made everyone leave the room 
and closed the door behind them."

Rei frowned slightly. "That doesn't sound good."

"It gets worse," Minako continued. "She borrowed a stethoscope from Kobayashi-sensei in order to listen 
in on what was going on. From what Ami-chan could hear, they were both yelling at him for doing 
something very stupid and very reckless; Chiba-san more than Mizuno-hakase, but they were both very 
upset with him for something."

"For what?" she inquired.

"Ami-chan didn't hear that part. All she heard was that he could've gotten himself, Usagi-chan, and 
Naru-chan all killed last night for doing something without thinking."

"Hmph," Rei snorted as she tossed her head. "I always knew that idiot would do something like that 
sooner or later. He can be too caring for his own good sometimes. He's just lucky he didn't get killed 
or get someone else killed."

Minako gave her a sidelong glance and sighed to herself. Rei liked to pretend that she only cared about 
Ryoku as a friend, even if they all knew differently. She knew him the longest, having practically 
grown up together. Hearing her talk about Ryoku with that much familiarity always served to remind her 
exactly how much of an advantage she had in their little rivalry.

Still, she wasn't once to give up so easily. Ryoku, himself, taught her that.

"Come on, Rei-chan," she replied dismissively as she shook her head. "You know he wouldn't do anything 
like that if he could help it. Besides, there's more. Chiba-san has put Ryoku-sama on restricted duty 
and after he's recovered from his injuries, he's going to have to go through recruit training all over 
again!"

"What?" Rei yelled incredulously. "That's insane! Why would Ryo-kun have to go through that all over 
again? He's qualified enough to TEACH the new recruits, rather than become one again!"

"I know," she agreed with a solemn nod. "That's what Ami-chan said when I talked to her. She was pretty 
upset, too. Last night, she asked Hotaru-chan to keep an eye on him. So far, Hotaru-chan's said that 
Ryoku-sama's been really quiet today; not even coming out of his room to eat with the others like he 
usually does. The only people he's allowed to enter his room are Hotaru-chan and Setsuna-sensei."

"That's definitely not like him," Rei remarked worriedly. "He likes to keep an open-door policy with 
everyone who lives there. He wouldn't do something like this unless it was something really bad." They 
turned down the road that would lead them straight to the Orphan's Quarters, Rei leading the way as 
Minako trailed behind thoughtfully. "Restricted duty is bad, but not enough to affect him so much as to 
make him close his doors to everyone but his closest friends. Even retraining as a recruit isn't enough 
to worry him like this. He's been through much, much, much worse than that."

Minako nodded as she waved to Ami and Hotaru, who were waiting for them outside the Orphan's Quarters. 
"I know. That's why we're all here, isn't it?" she asked, smiling back at her friend. "He's done so 
much for us. The least we can do is be there for him, whatever the problem is."

"Do you really think he'll tell us, though?" Rei asked as they joined up with the others. "He usually 
doesn't like to burden other people with his problems."

"Maybe," she shrugged, then turned to Hotaru. "Hey, Hotaru-chan, would you mind letting Setsuna-sensei 
know that we're here to see Ryoku-sama?"

"Okay," the young girl acknowledged and went inside.

'Thank you for bringing Rei-chan, Minako-chan,' Ami's notepad displayed as she turned it to her. 'I'm 
really worried about Ryoku-san, and so was Hotaru-chan. I was hoping that with all of us here, we could 
try to cheer him up or find out what's been bothering him.'

"And you figure that if you by yourself isn't enough, then if all three of us ask him at once...," Rei 
suggested. Ami smiled and nodded.

"Well, if his three girlfriends can't drag it out of him, then no one can," Setsuna said as she came to 
the entrance.

Minako nodded enthusiastically. "That's right!" Beside her, both Ami and Rei were blushing, Ami more 
considerably than Rei.

"W-what?" Rei stammered while Ami put a closed hand up to her mouth. "What are you talking about?"

Setsuna merely smirked at her. "What, indeed," she said as she turned to go back inside. "If you want 
to go see Ryoku-san, then let's go. Hotaru-chan's already there waiting for us."


=================================================================


Author's Note: So? How's that for original? Oh sure, everyone's done the reincarnation thing, but to 
have one's past life manifest as a separate personality? And even better, a COMPETENT Sailor Moon! Not 
that the original Sailor Moon was incompetent, but she does have the ditz personality going for her, so 
that makes her less effective. In this story, we throw that out the window! Whee!!! And no, I'm not 
going to do that stupid bit where Luna recognizes a Senshi and poof, she's a Senshi. Too damn easy. And 
they ain't gonna be in "order" either, so don't expect Ami to become Sailor Mercury just yet. One more 
thing, anybody notice who's missing? Don't expect them to arrive right just yet. There's still a lot 
that has yet to happen before they make their appearance. I've got plans for this story, so sit tight. 
Things are gonna get interesting soon.


Disclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective owners. Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko 
Takeuchi and a bunch of big companies. No copyright infringement is intended.

Questions? Comments? Anything?
Email: jasonulloa (at) hotmail (dot) com

Copyright© 2004, 2007 Jason C. Ulloa
All Rights Reserved.