Part one
A new home shattered

Serena looked out the window of her apartment as the cars rolled by on the street. Each one was in a hurry to get where they needed to go. Each person let the world go by without much thought. America was very different from her home in Tokyo. There wasn’t much to look at in America, save for the leaves that fell from the trees in autumn. People were not as friendly and they didn’t give her a second look when she passed them in the street. New York was the city where she had been living for five years and she had tried desperately not to give Tokyo a second thought, but it was difficult. Her roommate hadn’t pried that much into her past, but once in a while she would find herself drifting into deep thought about her past home. Maybe even finding a lonely tear drifting down her cheek. When she was at her job in the café down the street she found herself thinking about the soda shop in Tokyo where she and her friends spent countless hours giggling over boys and such. Life was different but Serena felt that she was finally adjusting to the change. She had just recently made a new friend at the café and her roommate had stopped asking questions about her past. Serena finally thought that she had found her new home in New York.

A loud knock came from the door. Serena turned her head and said, “Come in.”

Her roommate Jessica pushed opened the door. She smiled at Serena and hung up her jacket. “It’s getting colder out there,” Jessica said as she rubbed her hands together. Serena nodded. Jessica flopped onto her bed and reached an arm across to her bedside table. Out of a drawer she pulled out a CD.

“You want to listen to Blink 182?” Jessica asked Serena. Serena nodded and brought the stereo over to Jessica. Jessica put in the CD and sounds beamed out of the speakers. Jessica bounced out and grabbed her hairbrush off of the table and started to imitate Blink. Serena smiled and Jessica bounded around the room with the hairbrush. Jessica grabbed Serena’s arm and brought her up.

“Dance with me,” she said. “Don’t always look so glum.” Serena took her hairbrush off the table and struck poise as she lip-synched to the words. Both girls smiled as they bounced around the room screaming the words out in an off tone manner. Just as the third song came on both girls were out of breath, Serena’s alarm clock went off. Jessica flicked off the stereo.

“You should get going to the café! You’re going to be late.” Serena had forgotten all about the café. She threw her hairbrush onto her bed and slipped on her shoes.

“Where is my jacket!” she said to Jessica as she opened to door to the closet. Serena didn’t wait for an answer. She grabbed Jessica’s jacket off it’s hanger and said, “I can’t find mine so I’m going to take yours, but don’t worry, I’ll give it back later.” Jessica nodded as Serena rushed out the door.

Mrs. Mannsy, the landlady, was going around to the rooms collecting the rent. Serena passed by her and said hello. Mrs. Mannsy didn’t return the kindness.

As Serena rushed down the stairs she stopped and realized that she was acting like a little fourteen year old girl who use to always be late for school. She looked at her watch and decided that she wasn’t going to be late and to take her time. When she reached the bottom of the staircase she stopped and walked slowly to the door. A man in a black trench coat sipped a cup of coffee by the door. A brown hat was tipped over his face and a newspaper was folded up under his right arm.

Serena looked at him quickly and didn’t think much about him. As she walked down the sidewalk she looked at all the people rushing busily to different places. She tried to imagine why each of them had chosen New York as their home. Was it the same reason as hers? Had they been running from something? Were they hiding from something? Their past perhaps? She tried to look into people but it was always the same. There was nothing there except for thoughts of where they were going and how long until they got there. Once in a while she may have seen a person walking slowly, dragging his feet and watching people as she was. Serena could guess what they were thinking. They were doing what she was doing, trying to figure people out.

Serena reached the café and proceeded into the back room to hang up her coat and put on her apron. Ray was behind the counter handing a woman a cup off coffee and he smiled at Serena as she entered the café. When she emerged from the back room she said, “It keeps getting colder out there.” Ray nodded.

“Well what do you expect from winter?” he said. Serena shrugged. She scanned the café. There were about five people sitting in small room. A man and a woman arguing in the back corner and three young teens sitting at the counter sipping what looked like hot chocolate.

“Its really slow today,” Ray said.

“I can see that,” said Serena. She took a rag from under the counter and went to wipe down the tables. From the corner of her eye, she spotted a tall man in a black trench coat walk in and sat down at a table. Serena tucked the rag into her pocket and went over to the man to take his order.

“Can I help you?” she said to the man as she got out a pad of paper and a pencil. The man looked up at her and squinted his eyes.

“I’ll have a bagel and a slice of cantaloupe,” he said. Serena scribbled his order down on the pad of paper and ran it over to Ray behind the counter. Ray took it and went into the back room to prepare the food. Serena looked over at the man as she leaned up against the counter. She thought for a moment and realized that he was the same man who had been in the apartment building when she left.

“Is he following me?” she whispered to herself. She watched the man as he took off his hat to reveal a full head of soft brown hair. It was cut short and blew around a bit as the three teens left the café. His eyes were gentle yet piercing. They were a deep brown and agreed well with his tiny nose. His lips were a pale pink and they were thin like Darien’s...like Darien. Her mind began to drift. Ray tapped her on the shoulder and shoved a plate of food in front of her. Serena shot back into reality and took the plate from Ray.

The man looked up into her eyes as Serena put the plate in front of him. They looked at each other for a moment and then their gaze broke and Serena walked away.

“Thank you,” the man said in a deep voice.

“If you need anything, my name is Serena.” The man smiled and began to eat.

She walked back and put the rag back under the counter.

“Is he an old friend?” Ray asked.

“What?” Serena said.

“Is he a friend?” Ray repeated.

“I…I don’t know…I think I know him. I can’t remember,” Serena said. Her mind was trying to recall where he was from. She struggled for half an hour watching him eat. This man was from somewhere in her past, but where? She thought about Tokyo, but he wasn’t from there. As the man was finishing the last few bites of his bagel, Serena brought him a recite.

“You can bring the money up to the counter when you’re done,” she said in almost a whisper to the man. He nodded to her and proceeded to chew his bagel. Serena backed up behind the counter. Ray was waiting behind the cash register for the man to bring up his money.

“Let me take care of him,” said Serena. Ray looked confused but figured that she was trying to pick up a new boyfriend or something. The man walked up to Serena and handed her the money.

“Thank you for your business,” Serena said to the man, not taking her eyes off his.

“Your welcome, princess,” he said quietly so that no one else would hear.

Serena perked up. “Who are you?” she said. The man put his hat on and began to leave. Serena rushed out from the counter. She banged right into the corner of the counter and knocked a stack of plates onto the floor. They shattered and Serena fell into their glass fragments. “Wait!” she yelled out to the man as he went out the door. Serena struggled to get up and Ray rushed over to clean up the mess made by klutzy Serena. As Serena ran out the door she came to a halt and looked both ways but there was no sign of the man.

“Good job Serena,” Ray said as she walked back into the café.

“Sorry,” she said and bent down to help Ray pick up the remaining pieces of glass.

“Who was that guy?” Ray asked.

“I don’t know,” she said.

“A new boyfriend that forgot to take your number?” Ray said.

“Something like that,” Serena said

As Serena was walking home from work she took the long way and looked down every ally for the man. The sun was setting and she was about an hour walk from her apartment. She shoved her hands down into her jacket and watched her breath funnel out of her mouth. She had been searching for hours and there was still no sign of the man.

As she opened the door to her apartment building she went up to Mrs. Mannsy and asked if she had any messages. Mrs. Mannsy handed her a yellow piece of paper that was folded into thirds.

“A man in a black trench coat asked me to give this to you,” Mrs. Mannsy said. Serena looked wide-eyed at the note and took it with a shaky hand.

“What’s the matter dear?” Mrs. Mannsy said. “A new boy friend?” Serena shook her head. Mrs. Mannsy shrugged and went back to her work. Serena shoved the note into her pocket and walked up the stairs to her room. Serena gripped the handle but decided to read the note before she went into her room. She took it from her pocket and unfolded it.

Scribbled on the piece of paper in blue ink said, Princess, I need to talk to you. Meet me at the corner of 52 and 3rd street right when you get this. It’s important. Your friends are counting on you, and I don’t mean in New York.

Serena couldn’t believe what she was reading. Rey, Lita, Amy, Mina…Darien.

She was in awe and could barely keep from crying. Without even thinking she turned away from her room and ran out of the building. She wanted to get to the corner of 52 Street and 3rd as fast as possible. As she was running she stopped and thought about what she was doing. Did she really want to hear what this man had to say about her past friends? She had come to New York to forget about them and what they had done to her. How they had hurt her. She stopped and sat down on a nearby bench. And what if he wanted her to go back? Could she do that? “Can I do that?” she said to herself. The sun was now completely set and the street lamps flickered on. The sound of traffic was buzzing in her ears and she could hear the sound of someone crying. Her mind was spinning with thoughts. She had tried so hard to put it all behind her, only for it to look her in the face once again. She wanted Sailor Moon out of her life for good, but she was starting to understand that it was never going to happen.

She cupped her hands over her head and crunched up her face as hard as she could. “This can’t be happening!” she yelled out. She let out a sob and sunk down low on the bench. A cold hand touched her shoulder. Serena froze then quickly stood up. She looked into the eyes of the man who she was going to meet.

“How did you find me?” she said, wiping the tears off her cheeks.

“I make it my business to know where you are princess. Although I must say, I did have trouble finding you these past years.” He sat down next to Serena on the bench and removed his hat.

“I know you,” Serena said.

“You should,” he said. “I have protected you all of your life. You shouldn’t remember though, I wasn’t expecting you to.” Serena looked off into the sky.

“You’re not from Tokyo. Who are you?” she said.

“I’m not from Tokyo, that’s true, but I am from your past. Don’t’ try to remember, because you won’t be able to.” He turned to Serena and took her chin up in his hand. She didn’t flinch but let him examine her fetches.

“I knew I had found you when I saw your eyes look at me in your apartment building. Those same eyes that I have always loved.” He sighed and brought his hand down.

“Tell me who you are,” she said.

“In time,” he said. “Right now you are needed in Tokyo. I think that you should have figured that out by now seeing as how you left at the most crucial moment in the battle against Montag.” Serena looked down to avoid his accusing gaze.

“They didn’t need me,” she said.

“Are you stupid?” he asked. “Of course they needed you. They are falling apart without you! This has been going on for five years now! Rey has…I don’t even want to start on Rey!” He grabbed a hold of her arm. Serena let out a gasp and pulled away.

“You haven’t forgotten who you are, and you will always be her. Tokyo needs you.” Serena thought for a moment. Her worst fears had come back to haunt her. She thought back to the last day in Tokyo.

“Serena,” Amy said over the communicator, “There is something going on downtown. We have picked up a large mass of energy and we think that it has something to do with the Negaverse.”

“The Negaverse? We defeated the Queen and the Negaverse went with her,” Serena said to Amy.

“I guess we were wrong because this is definitely Negaverse energy,” Amy said.

“Alright,” Serena said. “I’ll be there as fast as I can.” She switched off her communicator and rushed behind a building to transform.

“Moon Prism Power!” she yelled and held her broach above her head. A warm pink light flooded out from the silver crystal and surrounded her body. Her school uniform disappeared and in its place was her sailor uniform. She wasted no time and ran as fast as she could down the street. Oddly enough, she saw that there was no one out on the street. No cars, no people, nothing. She tried not to pay attention and kept running.

Suddenly the ground began to shake and Serena fell to her knees. The pavement split opened and out poured a white fire that burned her eyes. From the fire rose a tall man dressed all in a white suite with silver hair that fell across his thin face. His eyes were cold, silver color and in his right hand he held a sword with a gleaming gold handle.

“I’ve been waiting for you Sailor Moon.” He held his sword high above his head and lunged at her. Sailor Moon dodged him and took her tiara in one hand.

“Moon Tiara Magic!” she said and let the tiara fly from her hand in the direction of the man. He held out his hand and smiled. The tiara rested gently in his opened palm. Sailor Moon gasped. The man threw it down on the ground and pointed his sword at Sailor Moon. A white light came from its tip and plunged towards Sailor Moon. She couldn’t move. The white light held her in place as the man walked over to her. Sailor Moon contracted her muscles as hard as she could to move from his strong hold but it was no use. She was completely frozen. As he approached her he drew out a dagger and chuckled.

“So Sailor Moon, it seemed that you aren’t as strong as you say you are,” he said in a raspy voice.

“Wrong,” she said. “I’m stronger. My name is Sailor Moon and I fight for love and justice. You are not going to win.” With all of her power Sailor Moon pulled herself up from his strong hold. He gasped and Sailor Moon snatched the sword out from his hand. As she plunged it into his stomach he leaned over and dug his dagger deep into her shoulder. She let out an agonizing cry and fell to the ground. The man sunk back into the white fire from whence he came.

“Don’t think that we are done!” he yelled at her. “I’m not beaten that easily!” Sailor Moon grabbed the dagger out from her shoulder and stood up. She watched as the ground closed up and the fire disappeared.

“That was too easy,” she said to herself and started to run downtown to join her friends.

As she approached the place where Amy had called from she saw utter destruction. It was like a bomb had gone off. The entire downtown lay in ruble. The scouts were off to one side battling with four things. They looked to be white gas hovering in the air but they moved to the scouts and attacked them. Sailor Moon saw Jupiter lying on the ground and a gas form hovering above her. As she ran up to them, the forms left. The scouts searched the sky but saw nothing. They all stood in ready position and Jupiter let out a groan from the ground. Tuxedo Mask was perched on top of a crumbled building. It looked like he had been fighting as well.

“What happened?” Sailor Moon asked as she approached them. They ignored her and helped Jupiter up. Darien came down from the building and looked at the scouts.

“What happened?” he asked them. “Where did they go?” The scouts shrugged. As Sailor Moon got closer to them she saw that their faced had dark outlines that were marked with fresh blood. Jupiter looked to be half-dead as she leaned up against a wall. The scouts turned their attention to Sailor Moon as she approached.

“Where were you?” Amy said.

“I was-” Rey cut her off before she could finish.

“We don’t want an excuse Serena. You are late for everything. We thought that maybe you would put more importance on your friends, but I guess we were wrong.”

“No, it’s not like that,” Serena said. She searched her friends’ faces for some support but found none.

“Why were you late?” Amy said again. “We really could have used your help. I called you and you said that you were coming.”

“I was,” Serena said.

“Listen Serena, we don’t want an excuse. In fact, we don’t want anything. You don’t take responsibilities. We almost died out here. We have a major problem and you don’t even show up! Some friend you are. Some leader you are! A real leader would be here no matter what!” Rey was eating her out.

Serena felt tears coming up in her eyes. “You won’t let me explain,” she said.

“What is there to explain?” Mina said to her. “Like Rey said, you don’t take responsibility, and a leader needs to take responsibility. Maybe it’s time for a new leader.” Rey crossed her arms across her chest and nodded.

“I agree with them,” Amy said.

“No! What are you talking about! I’m a great leader. I said I was sorry that I was late and you won’t let me explain,” Serena said.

“I seem to remember that you were late last time we called you because you couldn’t find your something or other! Even if it was a false alarm last time, you promised that it would never happen again and here you are doing it again and at such a crucial fight! How could you?” Rey said. Serena looked over to Darien but he stood silently and glared down on Serena.

“You’re no leader,” Darien said as he turned away and left.

“No, Darien,” Serena said. Her face was warm with tears.

“Why don’t you just go,” Lita said from her leaning position. Serena looked around one last time and then realized that her friends had abandoned her.

She turned around and started to walk away. From behind her she could hear a gasp from her friends. They saw Serena’s back with blood dripping from the dagger wound. Serena didn’t want to look back; she just kept walking and didn’t stop until she was home.

As she ran up to her room to change she started to cry. She tore off her sailor uniform and pulled on a pair of old blue jeans and a tight red sweater. Then she sunk down onto her bed and bawled her eyes out. Twice her mother knocked on the door but Serena said she was practicing for the school play. Her mother bought it and left Serena alone. Serena looked at the wound on her shoulder and saw that it had stopped bleeding. She took a bandage from the medicine cabinet in her bathroom and put it over the wound. After about an hour of crying Serena pulled out her suitcase from under her bed and began to pack. Her family had been planning a trip to New York and they would be leaving in two weeks. After packing, Serena tiptoed down stairs and took her ticket out from the envelope on the counter. She knew that the airport was only ten blocks down from her house and she decided to walk.

With her suitcase in one hand and her purse in the other, Serena walked down to the airport and up to the woman behind the ticket counter. Serena sucked up her gut and placed her ticket on the counter. “I need to exchange this ticket to an earlier flight,” Serena said. The woman looked at Serena and said, “How old are you?”

“I’m eighteen,” Serena lied. The woman shrugged and got together a new ticket for Serena.

“You will be leaving from gate three in about five minutes.” Serena nodded and gathered together her things and headed for her gate. She boarded the plane with no problem and took he seat. As the plane took off, she said a silent good bye to her family and vowed never to return.

That was five years ago and she had lived fine in New York. In fact, she was really beginning to like New York, and now she was being asked to do what she had vowed she would never do.

“Do I have time to make a decision?” she asked him. He nodded and put his hat on his head.

“I will come see you tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll explain everything to you tomorrow.” Serena stood up and watched him walk away. She felt an icy chill run down her spin. She was doing what she had vowed never to do. She wondered what her friends would say when they saw her again. Then she realized that they probably wouldn’t accept her back. If she was going to go back then she couldn’t let them know that she was back. Not right away anyway...

To be continued