First off why did it take me so long to get this to you? When I last updated in August of 13 I was headed into a deep burnout. I spent around 8 months where I was unable to write anything much this monster of a story, trust me I tried to work on it, I think spent about 5 minutes hissing at my computer screen before I realized I needed a break. When I finally came out of it my writing style had undergone a shift again and I cringed at the thought of working on the original version. So I decided a rewrite was in order. But I wasn't quite ready and fully out of recovery yet. I spent NaNo of 2014 working on the idea that is my next planned story and then slowly began to work on the new version after taking December off. I've taken the policy of taking the month after NaNo off to give myself a breather and prevent another burnout, it's harder than it sounds. NaNo 15 rolls around and after going through 3 different openings I finally start actually picking an intro and begin truly working on it. 2016 wasn't kind to me (Two surgeries, pneumonia and my Mom got diagnosed with cancer (she's doing well!) all in the course of 11 months), so I end up not getting much work done outside of NaNo again. 2017 emerges and when life finally started calming down in the summer I made the decision that I wasn't going to wai all the way until NaNo again to work on it. And I start setting deadlines finding ways to engage and not over exert myself.

Second and maybe most important, there have been several changes. I'm not going to name them off, mainly because I'm expecting new readers and I don't want to spoil anything before we even get started, but old readers are going to pick up on them quickly, as in the first scene quickly. New readers are welcome to check out the old one if they wish, I'm leaving it up so old readers or curious readers who stumble upon it first by accident can be directed here. Just keep in mind it's a bit dated.

Speaking of new readers welcome aboard. Thanks for checking this out. This whole crazy idea began life in Summer of 2012 when I pondered what would have happened if Haruka had gotten stuck in the time episode from Episode 9 during a rewatch (which I'll admit the thought of was a lot more hilarious than this turned out to be). From there it spiraled into well this thing.

A slight note just so everyone knows. Chapters are planned for every other week on Fridays. Preferably in the evening but no guarantee. This is to keep me and my beta from getting overloaded. I would like to keep as far ahead of the posting chapter scheduled as possible. Once I'm actually done writing and getting it edited I might consider switching to a once a week format. But only then.

I'll bring this up again when we get to the Black Moon Arc since that is where this kicks in for the most part but keep in mind I do take elements from the manga. Particularly the final fights I always felt were just a bit better in the manga then the 90s anime. Not that I don't love some of the 90s finales, I just think the manga did it better, to be honest. I say for the most part and only starting with Black Moon because I liked the Classic Finale in the 90s. So yeah if you're a 90s anime purist maybe stay away from this?

This is an alternative adaption of the 90s anime so I do lift a lot of episode ideas from it. However not every episode is going to get converted. This is due to a combination of reasons including: can't quite wrap my head around a full-blown chapter alternate version, with the current characters the episode no longer works, and maybe the biggest: I don't feel like rewriting all 200 episodes (this is still fairly lengthy even without all 200. I love the 90s anime I do. I grew up with it and even if I do have a preference to the manga now that I'm older I still like it but there's some stuff from it that just doesn't work in this). So yeah episodes got cut. IE: Jadeite arc in the anime is about 13 episodes while in this its only eight chapters.

Dedicated to every single person in the past 4 years that put the old version on alert, favorited it, or just left a comment. The fact you guys never really gave up on me finishing this is what made me finally get serious about this rewrite. I hope this turns out to be worth the wait for you all.

Chapter 1

New Moon Rising

Chapter 1
New Moon Rising

It was one of those dreams again — the one with the white castle against the starry sky and the seemingly endless gardens. It was pretty even if it was odd that she seemed to keep having dreams about this place. Honestly of all the things she expected to have reoccurring dreams of this wasn't it.

She frowned looking around. From what little she had been able to piece together through the dreams it seemed like she was somewhere near the front of the building, judging by her height she was definitely younger than her current self.

"Serenity!" She heard someone call turning in the direction of the voice. She still couldn't see who exactly was talking, but she could hear someone else call out from the same direction, "Come play with us!"

"Coming!" She heard herself call back. She glanced back towards the gardens one last time. She could make something out in the distance beyond the horizon but wasn't sure what it exactly was. A mystery for another dream she guessed as she turned and headed in the direction of where the voices had originated from. Maybe today she would get a face to these voices finally.

"Harmonia!" She called happily as she rounded a corner. But before she could finally get one of her seemingly never-ending questions answered the scene faded away again.

"That weird dream again." Usagi muttered to herself sitting up in bed. Rubbing sleep her eye while looking out the window for a second, she had been having the dreams on and off now for several months, and she could never make any sense of them. But then again, they were just dreams, so the girl wasn't entirely sure why that bothered her to begin with.

Her eyes moved over to the clock and noticed it was flashing. Power had gone off apparently at some point in the night. Usagi grabbed her cell phone from the side of the bed hitting a button to bring up the screen to check the time. 'Double uh oh' she should have been up almost forty minutes ago.

"I'm going to be late!" The teenager shrieked throwing the bed covers off and grabbing her right leg. No time to lay around she was going to have to run if she wanted to make it to school on time.

"You okay?" Usagi looked up to see her longtime friend Naru giving her a concerned look. It was lunchtime things were finally beginning to settle down somewhat after a chaotic morning of rushing to school, tripping over a cat, and being scolded by Ms. Haruna about her latest test result. Honestly, it wasn't like the girl wasn't trying. She just had issues that didn't seem like they were going to be resolved anytime soon.

"Oh, I'm just fine between getting to school late and that stupid test we got back." Usagi replied. The blonde had never been one to use sarcasm, but today wasn't a good day, so she let it slip just this once. The only good thing was that Yuki was still giving her distance after the incident back in December. She wasn't sure what had changed so much that made her finally back off. But if it meant Yuki's reign might finally be over, she could care less.

Naru winced in sympathy taking a seat at the empty desk across from her. Out of everyone at the school the redhead knew and understood the education issues possibly the best. "That bad?"

She took Usagi's silence to be a yes deciding to switch topics she asked. "What about your head? How's that doing?"

"Better today at least. That's the only thing going right apparently." Usagi said after a moment rubbing her head lightly. They had told her it would take a while for it to heal completely. But it was annoying and tiresome just how long it was taking in her opinion.

"That's good. They did say it could take up to a couple of months for all the symptoms to stop." Naru reminded her.

"I know its just hard because school was difficult before I got stuck with the side effects of a concussion. Now I am stuck with that on top of everything else." Usagi muttered. This wouldn't have happened at all if the school had done its job and punished the ones responsible before it had escalated to the incident that had happened before the winter break. Usagi sighed running a hand through her bangs exasperated with the subject and all things contingent with the current subject before deciding to change the topic away from horrible school-related matters rather than actually answer the question. "Anything new with you?"

"Well… Mom's been acting a bit odd the last couple of days." Naru confessed accepting the shift in topics as a sign that school wasn't an area to broach today.

"Odd how?" Usagi asked frowning. Naru and her had spent most of their early childhood growing up together until Naru's family had moved to Tokyo about four years ago. While Naru's parents could be classified as working parents running a jewelry shop and Usagi hadn't had a chance to really know them on a personable level because of the hours they kept Usagi thought that she knew what her friend's mother normally behaved like.

"Mom decided to have a major jewelry sale out of the blue. I can't recall one single sale since she took the shop herself after Dad died. I wonder if she's going through a mid-life crisis or something ya know?" Naru responded frowning slightly. Like Usagi, she had originally hailed from further up Honshu but her family had decided to move down a few years before the quake hoping to do better in the jewelry market in Tokyo and its surrounding suburbs.

"Maybe she is just trying to save money for something special." She suggested trying to relieve her friend of her worries. It did seem odd but hey maybe her Mom was trying to surprise Naru with something?

"Maybe, not sure what though." Naru said tapping her shoe slightly. Something about this just felt off.

"Have you actually tried asking her about the sale?" Usagi asked.

"Between school and her work I haven't had time to ask... yet anyways." Naru confessed.

"Well maybe just ask her then. What's the worst that could happen?" She suggested with a slight shrug.

"Could be nothing I guess..." Naru trailed off.

"It's not like you to worry so much Naru. I'll come with you after school if you want, and maybe we can both figure this out together." Usagi suggested with a wink.

"Thanks. I really appreciate it." Naru gave her a relieved smile.

"Hey what are friends for?" Usagi said.

"Are you sure you're okay Usagi? I appreciate the support but if the crowd's too much..." Naru began. She had managed to escape detention today with a warning from their teacher about not being late again. So as soon as the classroom was clean, they had made a beeline for Naru's family shop, but the crowd was proving to be a bit much. The normally quiet shop was buzzing with activity that she wasn't used to seeing. The crowd in the shop was a bit much for her. However, she had made a promise to her friend.

"No. I'm fine. It was a bit much when we first walked in, but I think I'm okay now." Usagi hadn't been very fond of cramped spaces since the quake. But she would put up with it for Naru, "So do you see your Mom?"

"Can't see her yet, but I think I hear her." Naru commented as they stepped into the shop.

"Well, then when all else fails just follow the voice." She suggested giving her a friend a light shove in the direction of the loudest of the shouting. She couldn't see her either, but like Naru, she could make her out... barely over the other noise.

It took some pushing and shoving but they eventually made it to the counter where Naru's Mom was trying to make sense of the chaos. Naru attempted to strike up a conversation with her Mom over the noise, but it was difficult to tell if anything was actually being heard. It looked like something was being said in response since even though she was having a hard time hearing what either was saying she could see lips moving. This went on for a couple of minutes with her standing there until something weird happened.

One second Naru's Mom seemed to flicker and be replaced by what could be best described as some odd monster. Blue hair that reached for the sky contrasted a dark complexion and a long face. Usagi blinked and blinked again harder. Afterwards, Naru's mom was back again as if nothing had happened. Rubbing her eyes slightly she wondered. 'Maybe I'm was just so tired from the late nights up studying for end of semester tests that I'm was starting to see things?'

"Usagi? You okay?" Naru asked. Looks like she missed a piece of the conversation. Not that Usagi would have been able to hear them.

"I'm fine. I think I'm just tired from the last couple of days... and the noise is just getting to be a bit too much I think." Usagi said. 'What was that?!'

"Ah yeah I think it's getting worse now that more people are getting off work." Naru made a face. "See ya tomorrow at school?"

"See you tomorrow." Usagi said giving her friend a tight smile before heading to the shop's doors. Maybe she just needed a good nap. It appeared the stress was getting to her.

Usagi didn't head straight home from Naru's place... even though she knew she should. She wasn't quite ready to deal with another long talk with her parents about school. So instead she decided to blow off some steam at the local arcade her and Naru sometimes frequented before meandering home.

That got sidelined when Usagi ran into a guy upon leaving the arcade. Technically it was her fault that the argument had even started. So frustrated with the last test she failed to check behind her in her preoccupation as she balled up her test and tossed it over her shoulder. It just so happened to end up hitting someone in the back of the head. Usagi just couldn't seem to catch a break today it would seem.

"Watch where you toss things Odango Otama," Came the new voice.

"Don't call me that." Usagi snarled whirring around to face the voice. She hadn't been called that in years! Not since Shingo's death. She knew it was silly, but she disliked when anyone else used that nickname.

"Well, I wouldn't be even talking to you if you hadn't tossed this abysmal test at me." He said hoisting the slightly wrinkled paper up in front of him with disdain.

"It wasn't like I was purposely aiming to hit you." Usagi argued snatching the paper from his hand angrily.

You shouldn't be throwing paper around anyway. Don't you know there are trash cans around odango atama..." He pointed out condescendingly.

"Yeah well, you're a jerk," That earned her an eye roll. It wasn't the best come back but Usagi wasn't in the best of moods and unfortunately, he was bearing the brunt. She knew it wasn't his fault. He was catching her at the end of a long day and she was tired.

"Fine whatever. Catch you later Odango Otama." He said turning and heading in the opposite direction.

"Don't call me that!" Usagi yelled after him.

'Huh, he looks like the guy I've seen a few time in some of my dreams. Kind of weird...' She thought watching as he turned the corner and disappeared. Usagi had been having dreams of a white palace since the earthquake but hadn't been able to make much sense of them. For the most part, there hadn't been many people. Voices? Yes. Actual people? No. Regardless, a guy in the suit of armor stuck out among other things.

This was the first time. However, Usagi had run into anyone that resembled anything in her dreams or in those occasional flashes she got when she let her mind wander into la la land. She let out a sigh turning back in the direction of the way that would take her home.

Usagi had purposely taken the long way home from the arcade. She wasn't looking forward to yet another conversation about her grades as it was. The teenager decided the delay tactic was the best option available. She still got an earful from her Mom when she walked through the front door. Apparently, her mother had bumped into one of her classmates at the market and had found out they had got the tests back so that the teenager could delay it no longer.

"I did try to talk to them after school. I've been in their office at least twice a week since we got back from the break if not more but they aren't very helpful. Even if I got in the special program, I don't know if it would help me. I feel like I am just too far behind." The blond said clearly discouraged on the matter.

Her mother let out a sigh running a hand through her own curls before saying. "We'll figure something out. If not for this year than for the next. I do want to see you go to high school, but they are making this whole process unnecessarily difficult."

"It would help if we could find a good psychiatrist." Usagi muttered. Or if she could somehow get accepted into that one program at Mugen Gaken. But considering how long the wait list was she would probably be well into high school before any hope of that happened. So, doctors, it was. It just was hard since so far the ones Usagi had been trying to see had rubbed her the wrong way for some reason. She knew if they could get everything documented that school would become a lot less of an issue. Usagi just hadn't found one she tolerated long enough to actually get the documentation.

"We'll find someone." Her mother assured her. That was easy for her to say. Usagi swore she had seen more doctors than there were days in a month since the earthquake. At this point, despite her efforts to the contrary, Usagi was starting to become resigned that she wasn't going to ever find a good fit.

"Where in the world did that cat come from?" her mother asked changing the topic. Turning the blonde saw a black cat had apparently followed her into the apartment but they had been so caught up in the discussion about school work they had missed her entirely.

"Huh. It's that cat from this morning!" Usagi realized with surprise realizing where she had seen the black cat before. She didn't think she had seen any cats with that mark outside of her dreams.

"How did you find her?" Her Mom frowned looking back at her.

"Find her may not be the best way to describe it. I tripped over her in my rush to make it to school on time. I didn't even realize she had followed me home until you said something." Usagi confessed picking the cat up to take a closer look before turning to face her Mom.

Her mother sighed before beginning, "You know that the apartment complex doesn't really allow for pets. You're going to have to go make sure she goes and gets outside of the building."

Usagi knew her Mom was right and they really couldn't be keeping pets right now but… "Can't she just stay for tonight? I'll take her out first thing in the morning when I leave for class!"

Her mother sighed again getting that fond exasperated look before saying, "All right just for one night... but I better see her leaving with you as you head to class tomorrow."

"I will make sure. You won't regret it!" The girl said grinning huge. It was only one for the night but hey she got to have a pet again!

After grabbing a snack from the kitchen tossing her bag on the floor and flopping against the bed. Usagi would start homework shortly she just wasn't in the mood right now as she let her thoughts drift off for a bit.

That didn't last long as Usagi was brought out of her thought by the sound someone clearing their throat. She frowned looked over at the door but Mom was still somewhere else in the apartment. So where had that noise come from? The only other living being in the room was that cat who had come in behind her. And cats certainly couldn't talk last she had checked (Well there was the one from her dream, but a dream was just that).

Then there it was again much more loudly and clearly, this time frowning she scanned the room until she came face to face with the cat, who upon realizing that they had finally gotten her attention opened its mouth, and much to her shock actually began to speak. "Hello, Usagi my name is Luna. I have been searching for a very long time for you."

Usagi actually fell off her bed in shock landing on her back. Today just couldn't get any more crazy for her, could it?

"Ow..." she muttered rubbing her backside as she sat up the cat, Luna, she thought it had called itself, looking at her with a look of concern before it could speak again Usagi started. "Don't. I am already having a hard time with this whole talking cat thing."

"I am actually Mauan, not a Terran cat." Luna slowly corrected.

"Right..." Usagi wasn't exactly sure she wanted to know what a Mauan was at the moment.

Usagi just stared at Luna as she. It. Well, the teenager wasn't sure what pronoun was the correct one to use so for now 'she' would have to do. Luna continued to blather on. This. This had to be a dream. A really strange dream brought on by the stress of school. That was the only logical explanation for this situation. Cats did not start talking out of the blue. Usagi knows it had claimed to be Mauan, whatever that was, so that might be why but still this whole thing was too weird not to be a dream. She pinched her arm. Ouch! Okay, apparently not a dream then.

"You are Sailor Moon sworn to protect this system from any invaders that try to threaten the planet's peace." Luna explained to her as she finally got over the whole situation enough for her to actually register what Luna was saying. Apparently, she had missed a good chunk of something. Maybe it was time to move past the thing where she was a talking cat for some reason and move on to the fact that Usagi was being asked to protect a planet.

"Luna... Earth isn't exactly known for being peaceful." The girl pointed out slowly. It wasn't so much that she was expected to fight off some bad guys, despite the fact she wasn't sure if she was the best for that kind of job, kind of sounded interesting. It was more that this planet and peace really didn't describe Earth at the moment. Maybe whatever fantastical time Luna had come from, but not now.

"Compared to some places it is. Trust me on this one. Earth needs protection from possible invasion from alien forces. I'll fill you in more on why you need to take this role as we go, but for now, I need you to become Sailor Moon!" Luna insisted.

"You need to explain why it's so important to me Luna. I've had a lot happen to me in the past two years. I'm not just going to agree without knowing at least something about what I'm getting myself into." Usagi argued back. Protecting Earth from outside aliens she could understand the importance of, but why her? The girl didn't get that part so much, and Usagi wasn't about to go rushing headlong into this no matter what Luna apparently wanted.

Luna hesitated for the briefest period seeming to mull over her options. Then with some hesitation obvious in her voice, she began. "There's a woman, though I'm not entirely sure how human she is anymore, who wants to rule the Earth by force. You and your Senshi companions are the only thing that is truly standing in her way of getting what she needs."

"But why me specifically? Why not the girl five doors down the hall?" Usagi asked jerking her thumb back towards the front entrance. Okay, maybe not the best example since that girl was younger than her but she was trying to make a point.

Which Luna seemed to understand as she answered. "Not everyone in the world can be a Sailor Senshi. I have been awake in Tokyo for many months now and you are the first one I've managed to find. It could take me years to find another viable candidate to be Sailor Moon and I do not know if there is even another one out there. By the time I might find one it might already be too late."

"So I'm your one hope is what you're saying." Usagi asked making a face. She still wasn't sure if she liked this but if she really was Luna's only choice…

"Well, not the only one. If you take up the mantle of Sailor Moon, you will belong to a team of very powerful girls your age who will help you in your quest to bring down Queen Beryl. As Sailor Moon, you are inherently one of the most powerful among the Sol Senshi, so your presence in this battle is a much-needed necessity." Luna responded naming their enemy for the first time.

"How do we even know she is even trying to actively take over the Earth? I haven't exactly seen something that screams alien forces to me." Usagi said. Well, there was that incident at Naru's shop but she still wasn't convinced her tired brain hadn't imagined that.

"That's because they are choosing to take the subtle route in overtaking the Earth. They've always been good at blending into the background when they please even in the old Kingdom days. Usagi! Please! I already spotted a youma earlier today. I know you want to understand more about your role, but please this isn't the best time! I truly need your help!" Luna pleaded.

"Youma?" The blonde asked hand going towards the broach that Luna had presented her with during the conversation.

"They are low-level minions that work for Queen Beryl. They do miscellaneous jobs but this one's job, in particular, is to gather energy to help make the Dark Kingdom stronger." Luna explained.

Usagi took a deep breath closed her eyes for a second and opened them again herself staring at Luna. She really didn't understand why the cat needed her help in particular but if Luna was insistent, "Fine on one, no actually wait two, conditions."

Luna looked so relieved, "Name it."

"After this event is done tonight we need to tell my parents. Two, I tell my teammates on my terms about my 'conditions' not on yours." Usagi insisted.

Luna hesitated there. "Technically for their protection were not supposed to tell anyone your secret identity."

"Luna I'm clumsy by nature and I have to walk around with these..." Usagi motioned at the prosthetics. "Most of the day. There is no way I will be able to get out of the house every time one of Beryl's minions shows up unless my parents know what I am doing exactly. I am already going to have a hell of a time convincing my mother I need to go out tonight as is." The girl argued.

Luna sighed, "All right. I won't say I like it, but I do see your point on the matter."

"And me telling my new teammates about my issues?" The blonde didn't think Luna would protest but she wanted to check.

"I would prefer you tell them sooner but if you wish to wait a bit, I won't tell them." Luna said.

"Alright, I guess I'm on board then. I won't say I like this whole thing entirely. But I'll do it." Usagi finally agreed.

"Thank you, Usagi." Luna said with a sigh of relief.

"So what's the transformation phrase again?" Usagi asked picking up the broach. She thought she had vaguely remembered Luna mentioning it before but in all the chaos she had forgotten it. A deal was a deal. Usagi still wasn't sure how she felt about the whole fighting evil thing but Luna seemed convinced that she was the right person for the job... Even if Usagi, personally, wasn't sure she was.

Luna actually smiled then. "Moon Prism Power! Make Up!"

"Well all right then. Let's do this." Usagi hoisted the broach high above her head repeating after Luna. "Moon Prism Power! Make Up!"

Usagi and Luna almost made it out of the apartment without incident. Almost. Her Mom had caught her right when after she had passed the living room.

"Usagi what is that outfit your wearing?" Her Mom said frowning slightly coming into the hallway to get a better look. Well, that was technically the smallest detail but it was a place to start. Usagi had stopped liking skirts after the quake especially short ones. She put up with her school uniform because it was just that, her school uniform, but other than that she almost never wore skirts nowadays. Yet here she was walking around in what was definitely not a full-length skirt by any stretch of the imagination.

"Your daughter is Sailor Moon, One of a group of girls who are destined to fight the evil that is currently threatening our world." Luna explained coming up to her Mom to try and explain what was going on.

"The cat talks-!" Her mother said faintly. Apparently, she was handling it about as well as Usagi had at first.

"Why is that the thing everyone gets caught up on?" Luna grumbled a bit.

"Luna, you're going to have to learn to accept that most people are going to have this reaction when you first open your mouth. Talking animals aren't normal." Usagi reminded the cat. She was starting to wonder just how much Luna had interacted with people before meeting her because it didn't sound like a lot.

"Moments like this make me miss the days of the Silver Alliance..." she heard Luna mutter under her breath.

"The what?" Usagi asked raising an eyebrow. While most of the earlier conversation was a blur, she didn't remember Luna saying anything about the Silver Alliance.

"A story for another time." Luna said shaking her head.

"Why my daughter though? Why out of every single person on Earth must she be the one that fight's this evil? We've been through enough as is." Usagi's Mom asked deciding to focus on the one thing she could understand at the moment- not the talking cat. The fact her daughter was being asked, not even asked it even seemed to her, to fight some evil was distressing enough without trying to wrap her mind around the talking cat.

"Apparently, I'm the only one for the job." Usagi answered giving a tight smile cutting in before Luna could say anything else. She knew that if Luna started spewing that destiny thing again, it wouldn't go over well with her parents. Luna maybe convinced it was her destiny but she still wasn't a hundred percent sure about the whole matter. And she doubted her Mom would buy the whole destiny crap.

"She won't be fighting alone. There are other girls who are meant to work with her and help protect her." Luna said stepping in for the first time. Wisely deciding not to mention that none of those girls would be with her tonight. She had a feeling that if she did there would be no getting Usagi out of this apartment and to fighting the youma.

"Even so I still don't like this." Her Mother said shaking her head. All she and Kenji had left was Usagi. She couldn't imagine her being in danger fighting these creatures.

"Mama. Naru's the one in danger. I can't just leave her." Usagi said. She wasn't hundred percent certain that Luna was taking her to Osa-P but she doubted it was a coincidence that Luna had shown up today after what she had seen that afternoon. She understood partly what her mother was feeling but she couldn't just leave Naru alone to be hurt by these youmas if that was indeed where they were headed.

"Fine go. But be careful and we are going to have a long talk about this when you get home." Usagi's mother assented with the look on her face clearly saying the discussion wasn't over nor was she about to give up on this issue. She didn't like it but if she knew her daughter, then she was pretty certain that even if she tried to keep her in Usagi would find a way out. Her and Naru were too close not to and she was worried if Usagi wasn't allowed out and Naru was hurt somehow Usagi would have even more guilt.

"Thank you, Mama. I'll be back soon!" Usagi called before slipping out of the apartment. "That could have gone worse." Usagi said more to herself than to Luna. She was glad she hadn't run into her Dad on the way out. They might not have gotten out at all if that was the case.

"Really?" Luna said skeptically looking back at the apartment. That had not been the definition of a good conversation by her standards.

"You don't get it quite yet. We lost my little brother two years ago since I'm the only child left they have gotten more protective of me since then. Honestly, the only reason I think we got out was because the full implications of what you were saying haven't sunk in yet." Usagi said shaking her head. She honestly was surprised they had been able to make their case to get out. She wondered if it was partly because they were in shock. She had a feeling that the next time around was going to be more difficult.

"My condolences." Luna offered after a moment.

"Sometimes I half expect him to walk through the front door like nothing happened." Usagi confessed. She knew it wasn't possible. Shingo was dead. There was little doubt about that. But some days she just wanted to forget that.

Usagi was more than a bit surprised when Luna lead her to Naru's family shop. Of all the places she had been expecting, this was not it, but it did kind of make sense. She had seen that weird thing earlier that day when she had come here after school.

"Moon?" Luna said looking up at her.

"Oh sorry just thinking about something from earlier." Sailor Moon confessed.

"About something we discussed or something else?" Luna asked.

"Something else. This is my friend's family shop. I came by earlier because she was worried about her Mom and wanted some moral support while she talked to her. When I was there, I saw something that was just plain weird." The girl confessed.

Luna frowned slightly but chose not to push it for now. This would be a topic to go over later when they didn't have an imminent youma attack to deal with.

"Huh. so that's what I saw earlier at the shop." Sailor Moon muttered more to herself than to Luna. She thought she was still partly in shock over the whole situation. How did a monster replace her best friend's mother?

Luna frowned looking up at her. "You saw her earlier today?"

"As I said before my friends family runs the shop. When I was there, I saw this" Usagi made a motion at the creature. "for a brief second instead of her mother. Didn't have a clue what it was. Thought I imagined things honestly because of exhaustion and stress from school."

Luna frowned glancing over at the creature before looking back at her, "That is odd, to say the least." That was unexpected, to put it mildly. Lunarians usually didn't have much in the way of seeing through illusions. But maybe Usagi was an exception. She wasn't going to complain though they needed all the little help they could get.

"What do you mean?" she frowned.

Luna paused before shaking her head, "Not now we will address the matter later. For now, we need to do the proper introduction speech."

"I'm not doing an intro speech." The teenager said as they moved to reveal themselves.

"Sailor Moon-" Luna began in protest again.

"I'm not. I don't get the point of introductory speeches. They seem to waste time and make me a target." she argued back. They had been squabbling over this topic the entire way over from the moment Luna had brought it up on the journey over. Maybe it was something she was missing but as of right now she really didn't understand Luna's insistence on this subject.

"They are tradition, and in some cases a good way to distract the target. Do it at least once and I won't get on your case about them again." Luna promised. Would she have preferred Usagi did them? Yes. Was it really that much of a pressing matter? No.

"Fine. Just this once." Sailor Moon agreed realizing that this was one argument she was never going to win. "Hey creepy face! Let go of my friend!"

She could hear Luna muttering something in the background but chose to ignore the cat for now especially since said cat had called her by name a few minutes ago as the youma swiveled to look at her. Okay, that made it infinitely more creepy. Taking a deep breath and a good swallow for measure the skirted hero took the chance and went over the orchestrated speech, "For Love and Justice I am the pretty sailor suited soldier! Sailor Moon! In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you!"

"So what do I do now?" she asked Luna continuing to stare at the strange monster creature in front of her. Sailor Moon really hoped that thing wasn't human... or had been human. It really hadn't reacted to her speech other than dropping Naru so Luna may have a case then.

Before she could get a proper answer out of Luna, the creature made a hand-wavy motion at the unconscious people scattered about. What were they still doing there at this time of the night anyway? Naru's family shop didn't stay open that late normally. All of sudden they were getting up on their feet. Okay, this youma thing was getting creepier by the minute. Before she had time to process what was fully going on, she found herself being chased around by a bunch of youma controlled people. This was going to be a long night.

"Oh no!" Sailor Moon said running away from the…well she wasn't exactly sure what they were. Other then they seemed to be under some weird spell thanks to whatever it was she was exactly fighting.

"Sailor Moon! You need to turn around and fight the youma!" Came Luna's ever so helpful comment as she ran in the opposite direction from said youma and youma controlled people.

"Easy for you to say!" The blonde yelled back over her shoulder. Seriously she was putting enough effort keeping herself in front of these people forget fighting the thing that Luna kept calling a youma.

Luna was about to fire back a comment back when a rose, really, sliced through the air distracting the youma and breaking the spell judging by the fact everyone suddenly fell down. Well, credit for good aim there.

"That was ridiculously good timing." She said to herself. The teenager didn't have a clue how that had worked other than apparently his distraction had broken the youma's spell leaving it wide open for attack.

"Sailor Moon you need to defeat the youma!" Luna said coming out from behind her hiding place as she could vaguely hear the youma being lectured by whoever threw the rose. Or maybe the guy was lecturing her. She wasn't sure which at this point and wasn't paying close attention. There were more important matters at hand, like getting rid of creepy face.

"How?" As it was Luna hadn't been the most forthcoming about what was needed to accomplish the task they had set out to do.

"Your tiara is your weapon against the enemy. You need to remove it, aim it in the direction of the youma, and throw it while using the right command words!" Luna explained.

"Luna I don't know the first thing about throwing objects!" Sailor Moon pointed out to the cat. Yep definitely going to be a long night- especially since she wasn't sure if whoever threw the rose in the first place had actually stuck around.

"The tiara acts like a boomerang of sorts. So even if you miss on the first throw, it will return to you. You just need to get a hit in. Don't worry so much about the aiming right now. We can get that down later." Luna assured her. As Sailor Moon reached up for her tiara, Luna spoke, "The command you need is 'Moon Tiara Magic'."

She removed it, tried her best at aiming and tossed the tiara with the command. "Moon Tiara Magic!"

The youma managed to dodge it on the way out but as it swung back around to return to her, it actually hit. Quickly turning whatever it was into a pile of dust.

"Good job Sailor Moon!" Luna commended coming to her side.

"It seems kind of short range." The girl noted as the tiara returned to her and she put it back on her forehead. It hadn't strayed that far before it had begun to swing back towards her. Really of all the attacking methods, this had been the last thing she had been expecting. It was effective at least. She wasn't really ready to address the fact of what she had done to the youma at the moment.

"Well you will have more attacks that are longer range then your tiara, eventually, but that will take time and training to use to them properly. You'll rely on your teammates to do more long-range damage in the meantime." Luna said slowly. Usagi was going to guess that there were consequences for trying to reach a power you weren't ready to handle too soon.

"So uh, what now?" she asked glancing around. The victims of creepy face were still unconscious but who knows how much longer that would be?

Any response from Luna was cut off by a new voice, "Usagi is that you?"

Crap Naru had woken up and apparently recognized her. Despite Luna's repeated assurances that she wouldn't be able to recognize her. Time to try and fake her way out of it. "I don't know who you're talking about."

"Usagi we've known each other since we are in kindergarten. You're my best friend but you're a horrible liar." Naru said sitting up looking clearly amused.

"Uh well..." she could hear Luna sigh next to her. What could she do? Naru had seen her and she was right. Lying had never been her strong suit.

"Sailor Moon that's not the way to respond to someone unmasking you." Luna hissed.

"Unless you have some magical memory wiping device I don't see how we can get out of this situation." Sailor Moon argued back.

"I can still hear you ya know," Naru commented sounding slightly amused.

"That device would be useful right about now." Luna commented.

She shook her head turning back to Naru who had fallen quiet. "So what happened?"

"She followed me home," Usagi jerked her hand at Luna, "And told me its now my apparent sworn duty to fight youmas and save the world."

"I am supposed to act as an adviser for the senshi." Luna explained.

"Well, an adviser excuse isn't going to exactly fly with your apartment buildings owner. What are you going to do about that?" Naru asked frowning.

"Yeah still have to figure out what to do. Mom let her stay for now because it was just for a night." she commented frowning her mind starting to shift to a possible solution.

"I am technically supposed to be with Usagi at all times." Luna protested.

"Luna. You really don't have a say in the matter. My apartment doesn't allow for pets. Plus it's not like you can come to school with me." She argued. She turned back to Naru, "Do you think you can come up with something, so your mom will let you keep her?"

"It shouldn't be too hard." Naru agreed.

"I still don't like this." Luna commented her tail swishing slightly in agitation but seeming to finally cave and walk over to where Naru was.

"Luna, I am over at Naru's on a frequent basis. Just because your living with her doesn't mean you won't see me. I'll be back tomorrow afternoon first thing," Usagi tried to assure the cat. She turned back to address Naru. "I should probably get home before it gets too much later or more people wake up. Do you think you'll be all right now that the youma's gone?"

"I should be. And yeah better get out of here before people jump to the wrong conclusions." Naru agreed.

"See ya at school." she waved at her friend before taking off towards the back exit of the shop.

Usagi was initially surprised to find her Mom still up when she got back to the apartment, though it made sense. She had told her she was going off to fight some evil. She knew if the situation was in reverse she would have been worried. "Thank god your safe." Her Mom said pulling her into a hug as soon as she was close enough. Pulling back to get a full look at her. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine Mom." Usagi reassured her. "Does Dad know?" Usagi asked after a moment. The what he knew being left out since it seemed fairly obvious. Had her Mom told her Dad that she had been apparently recruited to fight evil?

"No. I didn't think that was a conversation to have minus you and that cat." Her Mom tripped over cat for a moment. Apparently still having a hard time that this whole thing had gotten started because of what appeared to just be a cat. "Where is she anyway?"

"Luna's staying at Naru's for the moment. Naru offered to take her in for the meantime. Luna wasn't overly happy about it." Usagi said making a face going back to the previous argument they had had at Osa-P. Luna really hadn't been happy about the new situation when she thought about it.

"We still need to have a conversation with her. In private." Her Mom said after a moment. Guess they were going to have to figure a way to sneak the cat back in. They had done it once before it shouldn't be too difficult to do it a second time hopefully. As good friends as the Osakas were this was not a conversation to be having at a close friends house. "I still don't understand why you have to be the one that does this." Her Mom muttered to herself.

"Luna made it sound like this is my role and no one else can do it." Usagi confessed paraphrasing some of the conversation they had had. Still dancing around the fact that Luna had called it her destiny at one point.

"But she was also saying you would have teammates! Wouldn't they be able to do the job?" Her Mom asked before continuing. "Don't answer that; it was a rhetorical question. I understand that the whole part of being a team means you work with others. You can't just push off your assumed responsibilities." Her Mom let out a sigh. "I just don't like the idea of you in danger." Her Mom said after a moment. Usagi was all her and Kenji had left at this point. The idea of her constantly being in danger was unsettling.

"It's not forever Mom. It's just until we take care of this Dark Kingdom trouble that Luna was mentioning. Eventually, I'll be able to go back to a normal life." Usagi tried to assure her. Or at least that's what she assumed. Honestly, Luna hadn't once brought up what would happen after she beat this Dark Kingdom.

"I get it, I don't like it, but I get it to an extent. You're needed for some reason. Your father may stop you." her Mom pointed out. Kenji was even more protective of Usagi then she was. This was going to be a difficult long conversation to have. She had partly given in because she knew after everything else there was no way to convince Usagi of not helping others. Kenji, on the other hand, would probably take a lot more to get through on the matter.

Usagi quietly admitted to herself that she wished her father luck stopping this but she didn't have high hopes, not with how it sounded with Luna. It didn't sound like this was negotiable. She understood from the short conversation they had had so far she was needed. She might not understand why she herself specifically was needed but hopefully in time she would.

End Chapter 1

Well that's the new chapter one. -grins nervously- I hope it was worth the wait for everyone.

Chapter 2 will go up on 11/24 and from there we move to the once every two weeks schedule. So expect 3 on 12/8.