A/N: Hello lovely fanfiction readers. This was my very first fanfiction. I wrote it very quickly almost two years ago and posted it without much editing. Recently, I was struggling with the sequel, and I came back to 'A Twist in Time' and, admittedly, I was super appalled by the quality of this story.

So, with the help of my bee eff eff, and Sailor Moon Bae-ta extraordinaire, Ninjette Twitch, I buckled down, and literally rewrote the whole thing. Seriously, guys. This is not the same story that it was before. I'm hoping that those who have read it and might take a peek again, will think it's an improvement. I am, however, keeping the original on Archive of Our Own under the same Pen name for those who preferred the first version. (Though, in all honesty, that version makes me cringe.)

I will be keeping the original authors note just below this one. Hopefully, you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Edited: Sept/2019

Original Author's note:

Authors Note: This is my very first fanfiction. I have always been a silent reader, but I wanted to give life to the thoughts bouncing around in my head.

Just wanted to let anyone who reads this know, that this fanfic is based in a slightly AU universe of sailor moon. It is loosely set in season 1. I recently watched Sailor moon crystal, and I liked that version a billion times better than the anime, but my world is a mixture of both. Any questions, let me know!

The prologue is set at the end of season 1 anime right before the final fight just as Mamoru's brainwashing wears off when he dies to protect Sailor Moon.

Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own any of the characters within this fanfiction, nor do I have any intention of making money off of this. Sailor Moon does not, nor will it ever, belong to me.

Enjoy! Also, please review!

Prologue

The stone floor was cold and unyielding as Mamoru fell to his knees. He inhaled sharply as the memories flooded back in unrelenting droves. There were hundreds of forgotten moments that clawed their way back to the forefront of his mind, away from Beryl's fog that had, up until this point, managed to keep them carefully locked away.

He gasped, his heart hammering against his ribcage as he was assaulted by a barrage of fleeting images. All of them included her. A young girl with bright eyes and a winsome smile, a whirlwind of sunshine with silky blonde hair. Usagi.

Then there were even more memories of the same girl, though they weren't as clear. This time she had gleaming silver hair and a serene smile curled onto the ample curve of rosy lips. Still a ray of sunshine. Serenity.

Those beautiful memories took his breath away, and his vision blurred with tears as they were darkened by a slew of new memories; awful ones that were painful and did not belong. Heinous things that should never have happened. What had he done?

His hands trembled as the flashes of what Beryl had made him do cut into him, and he choked on the onslaught of emotions as he clenched them into fists with disgust and anger. The very same fists that had, only moments before, been wrapped around the slender curve of her neck; choking the life from her.

It took a moment for his stomach to settle and his eyes to focus. A strangled cry of horror lodged in his throat at the sight of Usagi in front of him. She struggled to sit up, the purple discoloration of the bruises he'd inflicted a stark and painful contrast to the creamy, white smoothness of her skin. He'd broken her, laid his hands on her in the most atrocious ways possible. The painful realization tore him into shreds inside. How could he have done this to her?

He was frozen in disbelief, still reeling from what he'd done when she lifted her head. Her body trembled as she, with great difficulty, tilted her chin upwards. Her eyes were round and glistening with unshed tears as they peered up at him. Her lower lip quivered as she bravely met his gaze, the expression on her tear and blood-stained face silently pleading with him to remember. It took his breath away, humbled him, because how could her gaze still be filled with so much hope and love after what he'd done to her?

He shuddered, trembling with guilt, as he took in the sight of the beautiful, brave girl that he did not deserve as she struggled through the pain of her injuries to kneel in front of him.

He reached for her, and the bile rose in his throat when she instinctively flinched, her delicate features cringing in preparation for another attack.

Choking on a broken cry of dismay, he pulled her into his arms and buried his face in the tangled mess of her silky blonde hair. "Sailor Moon."

His words were strangled, a guttural sound that tore from his lips as he tightened his grip around her trembling body. It broke his heart to hear the muffled whimper as the tension in her stiff form eased, and she sagged against him in relief with the realization that he was no longer Beryl's puppet.

"No! Endymion! Kill her!" He froze, suddenly remembering where they were, as he whipped around to face the source of the high-pitched, offending cry of rage that rippled shrilly around them.

Usagi shuddered in his arms, cringing with terror, and her fear only fueled the fury that tore through him. With a snarl of rage, he jumped to his feet in one swift movement, pulling Usagi's limp and injured form up with him.

Usagi's gasp only dimly registered as he lunged for the sword that had clanged noisily to the stone floor only moments before when he'd held the weapon, prepared to strike down the love of his life through the dark, mind-numbing fog of Beryl's darkness. This time, he raised it menacingly towards the red-haired witch, the muscles in his body tensely coiled as he widened his stance and stood protectively in front of Usagi.

Beryl stood tall, her eyes wide with disbelief before her gaze darkened with unfettered rage and hatred. The dark energy that radiated from her body poured off of her in suffocating waves that made his skin crawl. The crimson red of her eyes pulsed with fury as they flicked over his shoulder and bore into Usagi, her lips curling into a sneer over sharp teeth as her gaze icily perused the Moon Senshi with deep-seated hatred.

With his heart pounding a steady thumping beat in his ears, his breath lodged in his throat, and the thick, heavy air in the Dark Kingdom pressing in on him, he knew what was going to happen and what he needed to do.

He tensed, anguish mingling with his anger as he watched Beryl lift her arms up high. Long, claw-like fingernails curled upwards as her sinewy, ashy arms tightened and she called upon the dark energy that lingered in the air. With a sense of horror and dread, Mamoru felt the energy swirling, twisting as she called it towards her and gathered it in the palms of her outstretched hands before she attacked with a cry of rage. The beam of smoky, purple-tinged darkness burst from her red-tipped fingernails and exploded with piercing accuracy that was aimed directly for Usagi's heart.

His breath hitched, and for a heart-stopping moment, the image of Usagi falling under Beryl's attack flashed through his mind. "No!" The exclamation of anger bubbled up in his throat, tearing from his lips with a determination-filled growl. It was a desperate, rasping sound that echoed painfully in the darkened chamber around them. He refused to lose her like this to Beryl.

It was a split-second decision that he did not regret. His movement was quick as he stepped to the side to intercept the beam that was meant for Usagi. He only had a moment to look back and fix his gaze onto her.

He wanted to memorize the contours of her face. It broke his heart to see her beautiful blue eyes wide and glistening with horrified disbelief. He wanted to comfort her, tell her that it was going to be okay, that, no matter what, she would prevail. There wasn't time, though, and he could only watch as she pressed slender, gloved fingers to her lips in an attempt to unsuccessfully suppress a strangled cry that echoed around them and within the aching cavity of his chest.

The sapphire hues of her gaze met the cobalt hues of his, and she shook her head, confused, still not understanding what was about to happen.

He was going to sacrifice his life for her. It was the least that he could do for having weakly succumbed to Beryl, and for having allowed himself to forget what she meant to him.

I'm so sorry, Usako. I'm sorry that we have to go through this again. I'm sorry that I wasn't strong enough to resist Beryl. I'm sorry that we didn't have enough time together in this life. I promise you that in the next one, I won't be as stupid as I was in this one.

He hoped that his pleading glance conveyed all of the things that he did not have time to say before he closed his eyes with an accepting sigh and prepared himself for Beryl's death blow. He held his breath, waiting for the darkness to pierce into him.

He was prepared for the pain and the inevitable agony that would accompany the end, so he was surprised when nothing happened.

The sound of Beryl's shrill scream and Usagi's cry of horror that had echoed off the stone walls only moments before had suddenly gone silent. It was as if the sound had been forcibly sucked out of the room. He slowly opened his eyes, the anticipation more than he could bear, and they narrowed in confusion.

He sucked in a startled breath of air, straightening as he fixed his gaze onto the red-headed witch in front of him. Beryl stood utterly still, her body frozen and unmoving. Even the flyaway tendrils of her coarse hair were stuck, suspended and framing her face still contorted into a mask of hatred. Her features were harshly illuminated by the dark beam of energy that had suddenly halted just inches from his face.

His breathing quickened and the confusion and panic settled firmly in his chest as he twisted around to face Usagi. She was also motionless, a softer-edged statue of beauty. Her facial expression filled with devastation and horror and her arms lifted, frozen in place as she desperately reached out to him in an attempt to pull him away.

With a sharp intake of air, he took a tentative step towards her. "Usako?" he murmured, the sound of his voice practically deafening in the silence around him.

He swallowed thickly, thoroughly bewildered, as he tried to understand what exactly was happening.

"She can't hear you."

The sound of a voice, soft and lilting, rippled through the room and he tore his gaze from Usagi's prone form and abruptly whipped around in search of its source.

The figure that stepped towards him from the shadows along the walls was a woman. She was tall, regal looking, with long, lustrous waves of emerald green hair that flowed delicately behind her and tumbled around her shoulders with every confident step she took forward. She wore a white fuku with a black pleated skirt and a belt that held shiny silver keys dangling noisily from her waist. In her gloved hand, she carried a long silver staff.

She was clearly another Senshi, but he didn't recognize her.

His brows drew together into a frown, every muscle in his body tensed and coiled in preparation of an attack. "Who are you?"

His demand was uttered hoarsely, his tone distrustful as he stepped closer to Usagi. Shifting his focus to protect her from this new unknown.

The Senshi stopped and quirked an eyebrow in clear exasperation. "There is no need for that, Endymion," she stated firmly, her hardened gaze tinged with wisdom and an understanding that made him pause. "I'm here to change things. Do you recognize me at all?"

He shook his head in a curt, jerky movement. "No," he snapped forcefully, though her question elicited a brief wisp of familiarity that flashed through his mind. He didn't know her now, but had he known her before? He tried to dig deeper, but just like all of the memories that belonged to Endymion in his former life, it was dull, and he couldn't quite grasp it.

She moved closer, the heels of her boots clicking methodically across the stone floor before she stopped and lowered her staff with a sharp clang that reverberated throughout the room. "I'm Sailor Pluto. I'm the Guardian of time and the soldier of change. I need you to remember everything, Endymion."

Her quiet command sent shivers rolling down his spine. The tone of her voice emanated a harsh and unyielding authority. She could have whispered them and he still would have been affected by the forceful impact of her words.

He didn't have time to react before she lowered the staff again and a flash of light erupted from it, flooding the room and enveloping him in its bright shining brilliance. He instinctively lifted his arms to shield his eyes from the blinding light when something happened.

The mere flashes of his past life that he'd been privileged to glimpse before were no longer flashes. The memories that had belonged to Endymion assaulted his mind in one fell swoop, and in one instant, he remembered every single moment of the life he'd lived thousands of years ago as if it were yesterday.

He gasped, choking on the breath that was lodged in his throat before he released a strangled cry and covered his eyes to dull the ache pulsing through his head. The pressure in his skull was unbearable as his mind expanded and strained against the memories of two lives. It didn't last long though, and when it passed, he let out a shaky breath of relief. It felt good to know, to finally remember all of it. He'd spent so much time chasing down the wisps of things that danced around the edges of his mind. To finally have access to every single moment made him want to weep.

He choked as the very last memory clicked into place. It was of Serenity; her eyes wide as she screamed his name. He nearly stumbled with the intensity of it. God, he loved her. She was his everything.

The love that Mamoru harbored for Usagi in this new life was just the beginning. It was unfurling slowly as they clumsily stumbled and waded through complex latent emotions from their past lives, but it was only an echo compared to what it would become and to what it had been. That love exploded in him with a ferocity that took his breath away as it expanded throughout the fiber of his very being.

He reached for her motionless hand, gasping on the intensity of his emotions. "Serenity," he choked brokenly as her name spilled from his lips.

He was overwhelmed with the desperate need to hold her again, to feel her body pressed protectively against his. To be able to brush his lips along the soft, trembling curl of her lips.

He clenched his eyes shut and let it wash through him, his mind quickly filtering through the sheer magnitude of his recovered memories. It took a couple of minutes, but the raw fervor of it dulled until it finally subsided enough that he could manage to function. He straightened his stance, no longer the confused, slumped over posture of brooding, broken, orphaned Mamoru, but with the confident and proud attitude that belonged to Prince Endymion.

His gaze locked onto the Senshi of Pluto and he warily studied her. "I know who you are," he replied, his voice steady, confident, though tinged with confusion and distrust. "You're part of Queen Serenity's outer Senshi." The statement was firm and harshly matter of fact. Everything that he'd been trained to be as the Prince of the Earth, all the knowledge that he'd been taught about the Lunar Kingdom, was now firmly embedded into memories that no longer felt like they'd occurred thousands of years ago. "I thought you were a myth, Sailor Pluto. What are you doing here?"

Pluto's lips curled into a hardened smile. "You were about to die, Endymion. Again. She would have brought you back this time, but something isn't right. The timeline in the future needs to change, and everything now depends on you to fix it," she appealed, eyes flashing with fierce determination.

Mamoru frowned and shook his head with confusion. He didn't understand. "What do you mean?"

She tilted her head, fixing him with a patient stare that only the lonely Guardian of time could have managed. "I can't tell you everything. I know you hate riddles, Endymion," she chuckled as if recalling a private joke, "but we need to change this timeline. I have to send you back. You're going to have to start over again."

His brows rose, surprised by her declaration that confused and irritated him in equal parts. "Send me back where?"

She nodded patiently, and continued, "I'm going to send you back to the beginning when Serenity —Usagi— first became the Moon Senshi," she replied crisply, and his eyes widened, bewildered and confused. She was going to send him back to the beginning? "You're going to need to redo this timeline, but this time, you're going to remember everything. Listen to me carefully, this is very important; you need to save your Shitennou this time. It is imperative that you do so."

He inhaled sharply at her plea, and Mamoru's face fell as her words called the memories of them to the forefront of his mind; his generals, his mentors, his friends. Beryl had corrupted them, one by one, in both of his lives it would seem, though she'd managed to find them first this time around.

"This is also important, Endymion. Please, listen carefully. I know this is going to be a difficult task, but Serenity's timeline must stay as close to the original as possible. She must become the Moon Senshi in the same way that she did before."

Pluto's determined-filled warning confused him at first, and it took a moment before he understood what she meant. His expression hardened, and he stepped back towards Usagi, who was still frozen in place. "I'm not staying away from her," he snapped, and a flash of frustration momentarily broke through her calm, polished veneer and flashed across Pluto's face.

She sighed softly and shook her head, her green locks of hair tumbling gracefully over her shoulders with the movement. "I know you won't," she began softly. "Even if you tried, you wouldn't be able to. You've both always been so determined; your attraction a magnetic force bringing you together, despite the consequences." Her words were riddled with reproach and a tinge of sadness. "I am not asking you to stay away from her. I know that you can't. I am simply asking you to refrain from changing her timeline too greatly. I know that it will be difficult and, at times, impossible. But in order to have the most ideal outcome, she needs to become Sailor Moon, and she needs to remember you at the right time."

He frowned as he tried to process the request when the room suddenly began to shake. It flickered slightly, and the ball of darkness moved somewhat closer before everything came to a standstill again. Mamoru nervously shielded Usagi and eyed the orb of death apprehensively.

Pluto's form shuddered as her brow furrowed in concentration. She was struggling to maintain control of the situation. "I'm running out of time, Endymion," she whispered and peered up at him with pleading eyes. "Save your generals and protect your princess."

He clenched his fists in frustration. He had so many questions to ask her. "How do I save them?" he demanded with desperation because he could feel time running out, too.

She tilted her head, her eyes twinkling brightly as she offered him a wane smile. "Endymion, can't you feel it? You're the Prince of the Earth. The powers you once held as that Prince are with you now. It's amplified even, with the memories of both of the lives that you've lived."

Even as she said it, he knew she was right. He could feel the golden power of his ancestors flowing through him. Centuries ago, the heir of Earth could inherit its powers. He'd once been its protector, and he could, at one time, connect with the energy that pulsated throughout the planet. It was a power that had been forgotten long ago. He'd only had minor access to it as Tuxedo Kamen, but now he could feel it pulsing through his fingertips. The ability to heal and the power to fight.

"It's time, Endymion," Pluto whispered, and he could see her straining against the unseen power she was using to freeze time.

He could feel the panic set in. "Wait! You speak as if you know me. As if you know her?"

Pluto smiled warmly. "I do know you, Endymion," she said, and he felt something pulling at his senses. It must have been her getting ready to hurl him back.

It was a struggle now to keep his eyes open. "Wait! How will I know if it worked?" He stammered out desperately, and she laughed. The sound was soothing, like a wind chime tinkling in the breeze.

"If it works, then I'll tell you myself when we meet again. Good luck, your Majesty," she whispered gently as her figure and the scene before him flickered before it disappeared, and everything went black.