Hi! I've been reading so much Sailor Moon lately. Aside from house hunting, it's really the only thing I've been doing. Honestly, though, considering how much I've loved the series since I was in my teens, I'm surprised it's taken me this long to write anything!

Set post Galaxia and during the rainbow crystal arc of the first season.

In any case, disclaimer that I don't own the Sailor Moon verse goes here. ;)

A Bubble In Time

Chapter One

Serena was humming happily to herself as she made her way to Darien's apartment, carefully balancing her shopping bags. Her fiancé was gone for a week, and she was looking after his place while he was away. She was secretly using it as a test run for living here when he inevitably asked her to move in with him. (Mina was sure that it was happening soon, she was getting certain vibes from him, apparently)

The doorman let her in, smiling a greeting as she almost skipped into the building. She waved and trilled a greeting even as she passed him and headed towards the elevator. Darien's apartment (hers too soon, she was sure of it!) was beckoning, though, so she didn't stop to chat with the man.

Once inside the apartment, she set about putting away the groceries she'd brought with her. Darien didn't have any real food in here, just all nutritious stuff. Not chocolate, no ice-cream, nothing! So she'd popped down to the local market and picked up a few things, so that she wouldn't starve to death while she was here.

Serena packed everything away, save for a pack of dango, then munched on that as she lounged on the couch, flipping through a manga she'd picked up. She became completely engrossed in the story, to the point that she was blocking out everything around her. That was fine, it was what usually happened when she was reading something new.

It was because of that, that she didn't notice a strange bubble of some sort forming behind her, and was therefore completely taken off guard when it exploded, sending her flying with a pained and panicked squeal, forward onto the floor. Groaning in annoyance, Serena got to her feet as quickly as she could, readying herself for an attack, only to freeze at the sight of what seemed to be a portal in the living room.

A portal? What the heck was a portal doing here? It didn't look like any of the ones that she'd seen before, and of course, over her career as Sailor Moon, she'd seen her fair share. It was kinda like a bubble, the sort you blew out of those soapy sticks but without the soap, and large enough for a person to walk through if they wanted. Her fingers twitched with the need to call Amy over to analyse it.

Stepping closer, but still keeping her distance, Serena tried to see if she could see through to whatever was in the portal, or on the other side of it. There was a room, a very familiar room. On the other side of the portal, it seemed that there was another version of Darien's apartment. Was it the past? The future? An alternate reality? A trick? She scowled at that last one.

"Hello?" she called, not really expecting an answer, so when a person appeared before it, and she gasped at who it was.

"Darien?"

"Meatball head?"

Serena scowled. "Don't call me that!" she snapped, then wondered why on earth Darien was even calling her that.

The past? If so, she totally called it.

"What are you doing in my apartment?" he demanded.

"House sitting," Serena said. "What are you doing in a bubble?"

"I'm not in a bubble," he snapped at her. "Why the heck am I letting you of all people house sit for me?"

Serena poked her tongue out at him, then closed her eyes and thought a moment. Opening them a moment later, she said, "This is obviously some sort of time travel bubble. What's happening over there in your time?"

"Time travel?" Darien repeated, then scoffed, "That's ridiculous!"

"It is not!" Serena insisted. "I've already come across it a few times, and it's the only thing that fits!"

"…How on earth have you come across time travel before?" Darien asked, a little confused. "You know what, never mind. I don't want to know. So, time travel? Still not really believing it, Meatball Head."

Serena rolled her eyes at him. "Stop calling me that," she told him, then stepped closer to the portal.

"What are you doing?" he asked her as she walked around the bubble, noting that she seemed to have an almost 3-D view of the past apartment.

"I really think I should call Amy," she mused, ignoring his question. "She could analyse it, possibly even close it."

"Why would your friend Amy be able to do that?" Darien asked.

Serena seemed to cotton on to the fact that it was likely that this Darien didn't even know that she was Sailor Moon, or about the other Scouts. "What year is it there?" she asked.

He told her and she grimaced. "What?" he asked. "What year is it there?"

"It's been… three and a half years," she told him, thinking that his version of her was likely fourteen or fifteen there. "Four, if the me there is still fourteen."

"…You're fifteen," Darien said.

Serena took a deep breath, then said, "I'm eighteen."

His brow quirked at that.

Suddenly Serena had an idea. It was a bad one, and Raye would probably yell at her for it if she was here. But Serena really wanted to do this. Her instincts would prevent it if was harmful. Probably. They were really good for self-preservation, though she'd trained in fighting instincts along with it over the years.

So, Serena lifted a hand, and reached out to touch the portal.

"What the hell are you doing?" Darien snapped, even as her hand connected, and a flash of light momentarily blinded her.

Blinking away the spots before her eyes, Serena looked around to see that she was now in the past Darien's apartment. "It worked!" she murmured, half disbelievingly, half triumphantly.

"You idiot!" Darien was suddenly in her face, features angry as he grabbed her arms and shook her lightly. "What the hell were you thinking? What if that had killed you?"

Serena looked up into Darien's eyes, a little awed at the worry there, even this early in the time line. Then she shrugged and said, "I had a feeling it would work, I knew I'd be fine."

He released her and pushed himself away from her, running a hand through his hair in an obvious sign of frustration. Serena glanced around the apartment, seeing it looking unchanged over the years kinda bumming her out. Well, she was going to change that in her own time. She looked over to Darien, who was now staring at her, and she lightly flushed.

"So…" she began conversationally. "Are you looking for the rainbow crystals yet?"

A small part of her really, really, enjoyed the look of shock on his face. He was stunned, she could tell. Serena grinned at him cheekily.

"How do you know about the rainbow crystals?" he asked.

"They lead to the Silver Crystal?"she said, then reached into the top of her blouse (gleefully noting the slight flush of his features at the thought of what else was down there) and pulled out her Imperium Crystal. "This thing, right?"

And she'd stunned him yet again. His mouth flapped open and shut like a fish out of water as his brain obviously tried to comprehend what was going on. Finally, he asked in an almost strangled voice, "Why do you have it?"

"Why do you think, brainiac?" she said. "I have it because it's mine."

Serena swung the crystal back and forth on the gold chain it was on, then stuffed it back into her blouse. She saw all the conflicting emotions pass over his face, that at this point in her life she would never have been able to see. She could almost see the gears turning in his head, and saw the moment that he reached his conclusion in the split second before his eyes widened and he rather shakily spoke.

"Does this mean… that you're the princess?" he asked in an almost whisper.

Serena smiled brilliantly.

So what did you think? Review please!