Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon and I am not making any money off this story. It's just something to entertain myself with.

Note: I just want to say that this is my first fanfic story. I would greatly appreciate reviews and constructive criticism. Please NO flames. Despite popular belief there is a difference between the two and flames can be very hurtful things. Just thought I should point that out.

This story is an AU in that it does not follow the original story line. You'll notice that as soon as it gets into a few chapters, or maybe even before. In my story all the scouts have been found and are working together, but only Jadeite and Nephrite are been defeated; the other two generals have yet to make an appearance. Darien has also always been aware that he is Tuxedo Mask, there never was a time when he was unaware that he was fighting along side Sailor Moon. However, the Senshi don't know who he is and he doesn't know who they are in civilian forms.

Additionally everyone is still looking for the princess but the Senshi don't know that Tuxedo is looking for her too. Also, the Senshi's attacks from the anime and manga most likely won't be in this story. Well, that's somewhat true, I didn't want to keep the names of the original attacks but some of the attacks I used are the same, just different. That's confusing, sorry about that. You'll understand when you read later on.

In addition, I'd like to warn you that the first two chapters or so are more background information than anything. I wanted to make sure all the information was there about what was going on so you can have a full understanding of what was happening. Oh, one more thing, Artemis never appeared with Minako/Venus. No one knows anything about his existence, let alone current whereabouts.

Umm… I think that's all I have to say about what's different about the story. If I think of anything else I'll be sure to add a note at the beginning of the chapter. I'm really sorry for such a long note too, I just wanted to make sure there was no confusion. Well, here's the story. I hope you like it. Please comment on it!

Third Revision Post Date: 5/2/09 Small word error revisions; changed several "Sailor Moon"s to "she"s.

Second Revision Post Date: 9/13/08 Small word-choice revisions. Added a summary of events at the end.

Revision Post Date:4/11/08 Revised from first person to third person point of view and fixed minor errors.

Original Date: 1/21/07

'Another night, another fight.' A pretty blonde teenage-girl thought to herself as she raced toward the park in answer to her friend --Ami's-- call over the communicator about an other dimensional monster, called youmas by their beckoners and now her and her friends, that was running around.

'I don't think I'll ever understand why the youmas come out so late at night and look for energy to steal. I mean, who was running around in the middle of the night for the Dark Kingdom to steal energy from in the first place?' She thought to herself with a roll of her eyes as she stopped in the middle of the empty street and threw one of her hands up into the air.

"Moon Prism Power!"

The blonde sighed as the now familiar dazzling pink and red ribbons and bows burst from the broach she held before changing her into her Senshi form. As the final bow melted into her uniform, the wind picked up and danced around her, making her 'odangoes' dance in the air also.

The Champion of Love and Justice, Sailor Moon, stood in the place where Serena Tsukino once stood. The moonlight gleamed off the red jewels on her odangoes, which sat on either side of her head, and her moon shaped earrings, making them glow eerily in the night. Without a second thought to her appearance the now-outfitted girl once again raced toward the youma in the park and her awaiting friends.

As the teenager raced toward her friends, she couldn't stop her mind from wandering back to when all of this began. It had almost been eight months since she had first accepted her destiny as Sailor Moon. Her talking cat, no matter how lunatic that sounds and ironically enough named Luna, was the one who first told her of her destiny. The two had first crossed paths when she saved Luna from a group of kids that were bullying her. Curiosity piped in the cat and she began to follow her before determining her to be a Senshi, a warrior sworn to protect the universe. As Serena soon learned though, there was so much more to the duty.

Luna told her that she was once, about ten thousand years ago, one of the protectors and defenders of the Moon Kingdom and the rest of the universe. Primarily however, she was one of the bodyguards of the would-have-been ruler of the universe and all its inhabitants-- Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom. The princess would have ruled over all the universe because the inhabitants of the planets (with the exception of Earth) were under the Moon Kingdom's rule and willingly allowed the royal family of the Moon to rule and guide them in an alliance and monarchy known as the Silver Alliance. Every planet had their own royal family to rule over them but the Moon monarchs had the final say in everything.

Sailor Moon and the rest of the Sailor Senshi, as Luna told Serena they were known and would now be known as, loved their princess and were honored to protect and serve her. They lived their lives peacefully on the Moon and home planets and were respected and revered by many. Unfortunately, all of that was destroyed when an evil sorceress from Earth became jealous of the Moon and the Lunarian royal family's power and the long life spans of those on the Moon and other planets. The inhabitants of Earth, the sorceress included, were the only ones in the entire universe that lived a short eighty years or so. It was incredibly rare, and considered good fortune, to live past such an age.

The Terran royal family, Luna claimed, were the exception to that rule because they were able to live much longer --some for centuries at a time. However, since the sorceress was extremely loyal to her royal family, she refused to harm any of them to gain the secrets of their long lifespans. Instead she turned to the closest non-Terrans --the Moon inhabitants-- to gain the secrets of immortality and, as an added bonus, to gain the Silver Imperial Crystal. Besides being the source of all the Moon and the Lunarian royal family's power, the Silver Imperial Crystal was the strong power in the universe; so strong it could destroy whole planets if the wielder chose to do so.

Halfway through her tale, Luna admitted that she didn't quite remember everything since it had happened so long ago and that, while she was only put in a deep sleep and not reincarnated like the Senshi, the age of time hadn't been so great to her memories and she could only remember a few things. However, she had been quick to assure Serena, the things she did remember were vital to their mission and no doubt accurate. Some of those things she couldn't recall were the events that led up to the downfall of the Moon Kingdom and the entire Silver Alliance but she could recall the last hours of the Moon Kingdom.

At some type of celebration on the Moon, the evil Earth Sorceress appeared with an army of youma while everyone was preoccupied with the festivities and managed to kill all the Senshi --who were protecting the royal family-- before finally killing the royal family themselves. The dying Queen of the Moon, with the last of her strength, used the Silver Imperial Crystal to grant her wish of reincarnating everyone --the princess included-- on Earth to live a new, peaceful life free of responsibility. Before all of her strength and powerful magic drained out of her, Luna proudly recalled as she had yet to be sent into sleep, the Queen sealed the evil sorceress and her army away for the rest of eternity.

Of course, that was not how things turned out, no matter how much the Queen wished it to be so. Somehow the sorceress managed to break free of her seal and, with the help of her Dark Kingdom generals, have unleashed her youma upon the Earth for her revenge. Before she was put into her sleep, Luna was ordered that, if the sorceress ever managed to escape, she had to find and awaken all the Sailor Senshi. With their help, she had to then find the reincarnated Princess Serenity and destroy the sorceress once and for all. Then the princess was to decide the fate of the senshi and if she decided to wield her mother's mantle once more.

'Of course, at that time, I didn't believe any of what Luna had said. I mean an evil sorceress planning to seek her revenge with late night movie monsters?' Sailor Moon thought to herself with a grin, 'It would still seem hard to believe if I didn't have to fight the youmas all the time.'

However, that same night Luna informed Serena of her destiny was when her beliefs changed. As she was walking home past the park, she heard terrified screams of what sounded like a group of little girls. Rushing toward the sounds, thinking it was a bully terrorizing the girls, she came upon a ugly green monster that was practically oozing slime. She could still remember the terror she felt when she noticed that in its clutches was a young girl that looked only nine or ten and was glowing a sickening blue color while noticeably becoming weaker and limp by the second. Looking around, she'd instantly noticed three other girls running for their lives towards the exit of the park and for that she had been thankful. After all, it was easier to attempt to save one girl opposed to four. 'And I knew that despite how scared I felt and how much I wanted to scream my own head off and run with the other girls, my mind flashed back to the story Luna told and before I knew it, I felt an urgent need to help the girl. Something inside me had wanted to come out and help and that's what I ended up doing.'

No matter where she'd looked, nothing was with her that could be used as a weapon, so she had ended up chucking large rocks that had been lying nearby at the monster with the hope it would disregard the girl and choose to chase after her instead. She had been lucky. The monster decided she was too much of an annoyance --'no doubt hated what little bravery I had too'- and had dropped the girl before giving chase. She'd ran around in sheer panic for nearly ten minutes before Luna had finally called out to her. The black cat did a back-flip, --'which I would have laughed at if I hadn't been so terrified and relieved to see her'-- causing a pink and gold broach to come sailing toward the girl. When she grabbed the broach, Serena didn't take time consider the strangely conflicting emotions that ran through her once she made contact with the object.

Nonetheless she could still remembered the sense of relief, power, and rightness but at the same time the feeling that it was so very wrong to be holding it and that she wasn't supposed to transform. When Luna had yelled out "Now, Serena! Do it before it comes any closer! Say 'Moon Prism Power' while holding the broach!" once again the emotions came crashing into her, this time more strongly and she had been hard pressed to not drop the broach where she stood. Instead, her mind had flashed back to the little girl she had found and what others the monster might attack if she did nothing. In the end, she used all of her willpower to ignore the tide wave of emotions that crashed into her in favor of listening to Luna's advise. As soon as the phrase left her mouth, intense power that she would never forget charged through her veins.

Stunning pink and red ribbons flew out of the broach and incased her small body before forming a white body suit, a blue skirt, a red bow on her chest and lower back, red round jewels came to cover her odangoes on the top of my head, moon shaped dangling earrings appeared, and a pair of knee high red boots enclosed her feet. The Champion of Love and Justice, Sailor Moon, first made her appearance on that night.

Of course, as soon as she'd completely transformed and got her bearings back, the reality of the situation came crashing down into her. She didn't know what she was doing and had just transformed into a being that once existed ten thousand years ago according to Luna's narrating. She had absolutely no idea as to how to protect herself and, more importantly, how to destroy the monster. 'Worst of all thought was the fact that Luna had completely disappeared after my transformation. Leaving a newly formed Senshi completely on her own wasn't the smartest thing to do.'

With no way to protect herself, the new Senshi had spent the next twenty minutes dodging slime balls --acid slime-- that the youma could conveniently throw. Luna had yet to make her appearance, leaving the girl in terrified and frustrated tears, which caused her to fall down everywhere in her panic at trying to protect herself. Serena would never forget the pain that hit her when she had missed a step in her running and fallen down only for the youma to throw three acid slime balls into her exposed back. They had burned painfully, straight through her uniform bodice, leaving all sorts of blisters and scorch marks in their wake.

In pain and desperation from the unwelcome attack, the blonde Senshi had screamed out with all her might, feeling a desperate need to call out to someone, even though she didn't know who. 'ENDYMION! HELP ME, PLEASE!!!'

She'd ended up calling out to a person she had never heard of before in her life, but what had always confused her the most was that it was a telepathic call instead of the vocal one she had been expecting to release. Nonetheless, there had never been enough words to express the gratitude she had felt when her call was answered by a curiously mental tug, not to mention the sense of comfort and peace that she so desperately needed that came with the answer. That comfort and peace lasted the entire youma fight, at least until the youma became tired of playing around with her and had backhanded her across the face before beginning to choke the life out of her. The next thing she knew, she had been miraculously swept out of the youma's chokehold and lifted up by a man in velvet and silk that smelled strongly of roses.

Looking over the man's shoulder, Sailor Moon got her look at the death of her first youma encounter. A cane, or more specifically, the sharp sword that came out of one end of it, was sticking out of the youma's chest where black fluid oozed welled up to the surface of the wound in a semblance of blood. A single red rose, complete with dangerous thorns, also stuck out of the youma which the Senshi later learned was what had immobilized it in those final seconds. The man that had saved her jumped into a tree a good distance away and they both watched as any signs of the youma disappeared into a pile of dust that slowly blew away into the night.

'That night both Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask had been born into this world to fight evil.' The girl thought with a bittersweet smile, 'Neither of us knew what to make of our new destinies but in an unspoken agreement, we decided that if we were together, we would protect one another and could overcome anything the Dark Kingdom threw our way. And that's exactly how it has been between us ever since.'

"Thank you for saving me." Sailor Moon had uttered softly as she looked into her savior's face. She thought she had caught a glimpse of blue eyes but before she could know for sure, the mask once again obscured anything from her peering view. That mask has always kept her and the rest of the Senshi from knowing the true identity of her silent knight-in-shining-armor but she, in the very least, holds a deep respect for his privacy and secrets, just as he does their own.

His white silk glove had come to rest on the new senshi's cheek for the briefest of seconds, --'To this day I wonder if it was just wishful thinking that that had happened'-- before he gave a slight nod of his head and answered the blonde. "Remember Sailor Moon, I will always be there when you need me most. You will always have me to come to." He had said confidently, as if he knew the deep fears in her heart that even she hadn't been aware of at the time, "You are destined for great things and I know that you can conquer any obstacle that comes your way. Just remember to always believe in yourself first and foremost."

With that being said and one last look at the girl, Tuxedo Mask had jumped into the night with a flurry of black silk and red velvet from his cape. Glancing down to where he had been standing, a single red thorn-less rose was lying innocently on the ground. As Sailor Moon looked after him, she picked up the rose and held it close, wondering where the rose came from and why it seemed so important to her.

'I still feel silly for thinking that.' The blonde thought with a smile, 'I mean I had just met the guy, I shouldn't have been thinking anything like that. Especially after I was almost killed. Of course that didn't stop me from keeping that rose. To this day it still sits on my desk looking as if I had just picked it from a bush that very morning. It's never wilted or even faded in all this time and I can't help but hope it never does. That it's magic never fades. It reminds me there was still hope that night, even though everything changed for me. That night I accepted my destiny as the Champion of Love and Justice and even though I become tired of it and sometimes wish to abandon it with everything in my very being, I cannot help but remember that it is my destiny to keep fighting and protecting. The destiny to protect everyone out there that cannot protect themselves. And that's why I keep continuing on.'

Luna appeared shortly after Serena had jumped down from the tree and de-transformed after watching Tuxedo Mask's departure in silence for a few minutes. "Well done, Serena." She had praised with a hint of pride etching her voice, "I knew that you were a Sailor Senshi. You had a rough start but you managed to pull through and destroy the youma all by yourself."

'And that's when I knew she had never watched the fight.' Sailor Moon thought with a frown. 'Otherwise she would have known about Tuxedo Mask right away.'

Luna had walked away after her praising, not allowing Serena the chance to explain what really happened; that she hadn't been the one to kill the youma and that instead had cowered in fear and was almost killed. Secretly though, she couldn't help but feel happy and relieved her new guardian was proud of her and never bothered to correct the black feline. It gave the senshi a small bit of courage, enabling her to believe in herself, that she would be able to carry out her destiny.

During their conversation neither of them ever noticed the golden sparks that danced across Serena's back, slowly healing her burn marks before disappearing from sight. They would never know that the sparks had only appeared when Tuxedo Mask had touched the soldier's back while taking her to safety.

As said though, that was almost eight months ago. A lot can change in such a long period of time and it had. Over the entire eight months, the other Sailor Senshi were found and, in one case, came to the others. In the end, a team of young woman formed the Sailor Senshi circle.

The first Senshi to appear was a new transfer student from Germany at Serena's school, Ami Mizuno. Ami was revealed to be Sailor Mercury, the Sailor of Ice and Intelligence. Because she appeared in only a short month after Serena first transformed, the two quickly became close friends and learned to help and even rely on each other in those early months.

Quickly after she became Sailor Mercury, it was learned that she was the Senshi of Ice because of the attacks she can form. Most of her attacks were defensive, like her 'Veiling Bubbles' that becomes a mist to hide in and her 'Arctic Dome' that is a small shield. She does, however, have a few offensive attacks such as her 'Glacier Point Frost' that are sharp ice shards she can throw and her 'Sub-Zero Arrows' which are freezing arrows launched from her frozen bow. Both attacks can temporarily paralyze the youmas, much like Tuxedo Mask's roses do.

Unfortunately for everyone, it was also quickly discovered that Mercury can only form the majority of her attacks at their strongest levels when she is near a source of water. That didn't deter either her or Serena in those early months, however, because she simply became more of a strategist than a fighter. It is also appropriate to be the strategist because Mercury is also the Senshi of Intelligence, making her the best strategist possible for the Senshi. With her Mercury Mini-Computer she is able to find the youmas' weakest point so it can be destroyed much faster. Her own intelligence also comes in handy when the need comes; she is able to determine tons of details and facts by just analyzing the situation within a few minutes. 'I'm still amazed how smart Ames is. I think I always will be.' Sailor Moon thought with a fond smile for the blue-haired girl.

The next scout to appear was Rei Hino, the Shinto priestess of the Hikawa Jinja that her and her grandfather manage. She goes to a private Catholic school named 'T*A Private Girls School' on the other side of town so Serena and Ami only learned of her when there was a youma attack at her temple involving young children and women going missing on buses. At the ensuing youma battle with the Dark Kingdom general Jadeite, she turned out to be Sailor Mars --the Senshi of Fire and Spirit.

Rei appeared four and a half months after Serena first transformed and they are still going through a rocky phase. 'Which I cannot help but think is related to her element-- fire After all, Rei's explosive temper usually leaves me running from a youma fight, the arcade where we hangout, or the temple- the place of our Senshi meetings- in tears most days.' Both girls still have their moments when they pal around and seem to be great friends though, no matter that the bouts of friendship lasts only between a few minutes to a few days.

Rei became the Senshi of Fire and Spirit because of her ability to manipulate fire and her physic senses, surprisingly enough even before becoming a Senshi. After her first youma fight, she told the others that she had always been able to see visions in fire and has been in tuned with it since before she could remember. She can meditate in front of the Sacred Fire at her temple for hours at a time, discovering the answers to her questions. Ever since she became Sailor Mars though, Rei has been able to actually manipulate fire into forming 'Fierce Inferno Arrows', dangerous fire arrows that she launches from a flaming bow, and 'Blazing Fireballs of Fury',a powerful series of fireballs that will attack an enemy,and her physic senses have increased significantly. While she was only able to sense negative energy before, she was never able to determine where it came from. Now she is able to get an almost exact location of where the negative energy comes from and follow up on it. She has also said her visions and ofuda scrolls, pieces of holy paper with incantations she can throw at youmas to paralyze them, have become much stronger too.

The next scout to turn up was Sailor Jupiter. In civilian form the Senshi of Lightning/Storms and Protection is Makoto Kino. Makoto showed up one day at Serena and Ami's school, coming from a school only a few miles away, six months after Serena first became a Senshi. While every Senshi would agree that Makoto is an amazing person that will stand up for anyone --'and also makes some of the best food ever. Yum!'-- she has the habit of getting into fights and, while it is usually defending someone who is too small to do so for themselves, schools refuse to tolerate fights of any kind. Which is exactly why she was expelled from her old school: she was defending a fifth grader from a tenth grade bully. Nonetheless, since Makoto has a tendency to defend others it only made that much more sense when she was branded a Senshi, especially the Senshi of Protection.

As Sailor Jupiter, Makoto truly is the scout of lightning and storms. Almost all of her attacks summon lightning through an antenna that appears out of her tiara, specifically out of the emerald jewel in the tiara. Two of her lighting attacks she can summon are 'Divine Lightning Air Strike' which is lightning that rains down on the enemy and she also has 'Echoing Thunder Thorns' which are dangerous airwaves charged with lightning and energy that she hurtles at the enemy. Another one of her attacks is 'Petal Storm Fury',whichis an attack that summons any type of flower petals to create a powerful electricity-charged whirlwind that impacts the enemy, causing it to get electrified and it can also temporarily blind the enemy.

'I'd never want to get on her bad side in a lightning storm. There's no telling what she might do, even on accident.' Sailor Moon thought with a wry grin.

The last, and final if Luna is right, Senshi to appear came to the rest of the team. Sailor Venus, the Senshi of Love/Beauty and Light was a savior to the rest of the Senshi. While they had all been badly beaten by two youma and the Dark Kingdom general Nephrite, Venus had appeared and single handily defeated both youma and fatally wounded Nephrite. After she managed to free the other Senshi and Tuxedo Mask from the shrinking dome they were trapped in, Sailor Moon had taken out the general once and for all.

Immediately after the fight she disappeared with a promise to return. The next day after school when the Senshi had been discussing the mysterious Venus, a woman came up to their usual table at the Crown Arcade. Without preamble she had quietly introduced herself as Minako Aino, a new transfer student enrolled at Tokyo University from England. Then she went on to say she was also Sailor Venus and the former Sailor V, the Senshi of England that had fought youma, criminals, and thieves alike while being a model turned international icon.

That was only two short weeks ago and none of the other Senshi had found much else about Minako or Sailor Venus. While she appeared at every battle and helped, she would quickly disappear from sight and she also only spent time with the Senshi as a civilian once or twice. 'She really is a mysterious woman. We don't even know how old she is or why she was Sailor V in the first place. One thing I would especially like to know is how she received her powers when the rest of us only got our own powers when Luna told us who we are and gave them to us.' The odangoed-girl thought to herself curiously, 'It's a big mystery and I'm curious as to why none of the other Senshi, or even Luna!, have asked her either.'

Minako is the scout of Love/Beauty and Light because all her attacks have a love or beauty theme to them and are in a light or energy form. Her attack 'Explosive Hearts On Fire' are little energy formed hearts that are similar to bombs in that they explode on contact when she throws them at enemies. Another of her powerful attacks involve the heart-linked chain which she carries around her waist. The chain is just what it is --a chain-- but in the fight right after Nephrite died, it turned into a very powerful whip that is encircled with the same energy that makes the explosive hearts. When Venus threw the whip and yelled "Stunning Whip of Wrath!" the chain wrapped around the youma. Then a powerful electric shock surged from it into the youma, instantly killing it.

Unexpectedly at that fight, the rest of the Senshi learned that when Venus uses that particular attack it uses so much of her energy that she almost collapses afterwards. Which is exactly why she hasn't bothered to use that attack again; she simply uses the chain as a chain to grab a hold of the enemy now and she even used it once to pull Mercury out of the way of an attack. 'Even if Venus is so suspicious, it really is nice to have all of the Senshi together and working, at least for the most part, together too.'

With all the other Senshi appearing and all the time that has passed, Serena could consider only one thing to remain a constant: Tuxedo Mask's presence. Unfailing, he has been to every single youma fight that Sailor Moon has been to. 'And it doesn't matter if he appears and helps or not, I can always sense his presence --his very soul you can almost say-- at every battle so I know he's always there watching and waiting for when he's needed.'

Within that first month of lonely battles, it was easy for her to determine that Tuxedo Mask is a man of his word. He never once failed to appear when she needed him the most or when a youma had been too strong and overpowered her. He easily appeared and saved her in the nick of time before helping her defeat the monsters. Because of that, she readily placed her faith in his promises -all said in his own little ways- that he would always be there for her and that she could count on him. 'After all, he's never given me a reason not to believe him in all this time.'

Even if he hardly ever stays late after a battle (if he does, it usually is to see if she was all right after a close call) there are still times when she will talk to him and he will give his silent approval and support. 'I can never tell him how grateful I am for that. That and his advice in believing in myself first and foremost. I know his encouragement will always be with me when I think of that and of the rose he left me during out first meeting. And lets not forget,' She admitted to herself with a guilty wince, 'that Tuxedo Mask is practically the main thing that keeping me going lately. Well, besides Darien, but that's a whole different story.'

She knew that if it wasn't for Tuxedo Mask, she probably would have given up a long time ago and simply handed her broach and yielded her powers back to Luna. She knew it and she also knew that he knew it as well. There was no doubt in her mind that he could easily sense her hesitation when she's called to a youma battle or even when she dodges out of the way when she's had a horrible day and just wants to give up. She knew that as easily as she knew that even him, her big, strong, and brave protector feels the exact same way once in a while. 'And I also know that he is furious with himself, and me, when we feel that way. It frustrates him that we can't merely give up and quit fighting. Of course never to give up and die but to not fight anymore and finally have normal lives. But we both know that we can't give up. We have to keep going. The world is counting on us and we are counting on each other.'

The blonde Senshi groaned as she realized she had almost completely slowed down to a stop during her musings. 'Please let me make it on time. Please, please.' She chanted to herself as she once again picked up her speed into a full out run.

She knew that she won't be able to deal with anything tonight if she arrived to a battle late, again. Recently Sailor Mars, then Rei later on at their Senshi meetings, would go through her now-usual belittling that would leave her in tears. Even though she knew that she and Rei had never gotten along a hundred percent, lately the fire Senshi's temper had become worse. 'It started to get worse about a week ago now that I think about it. During that really tough youma battle in the afternoon.'

On that particular day, Serena had had detention once again and had been unable to sneak or plead her way out. In the end she'd arrived incredibly late, almost a full hour, and none of the Senshi had been happy with that little fact. As soon as Sailor Moon had burst into the scene and "moon dusted" the youma, she had been assaulted by Mars's scathing remarks about everything. The priestess had started in a deadly quiet voice, slowly describing all her fellow teen's faults in being a Senshi but at the end of her tirade, she had been red in the face because she had ended up screaming as hard as she possibly could.

Sailor Moon herself had been choking back sobs near the end of the rant but she refused to allow herself to stop Rei's words. The fact that none of the other Senshi had tried to stop the irate Sailor Mars, not the accusations themselves, was what hurt her the most though. 'When I looked at them, they all instantly looked away from my eyes. I saw what I needed to see though: they all believed Rei, at least partially.'

When Mars had finally stopped, Sailor Moon had feebly tried to defend herself but she knew her words had fallen on deaf ears. None of the senshi wanted to hear excuses; they were all furious 'and with good reason too, though. I could try harder in school and not get detention so often. It's just so hard to be exactly how they want me to be.' In the end, the final say on the matter came from Sailor Mars in the force of a slap that knocked the blonde to the ground.

As Sailor Moon had look up tearfully (and fearfully) up at the raven-haired girl, her mind had reeled with amazement that her friend had actually physically struck her. Nonetheless, it was the look in the opposing girl's eyes that surprised her the most. A look of complete and utter loathing; Mars had looked as if she hated her with every fiber in her being that night.

As Sailors Moon and Mars stared at one another in silence, Mercury, who was on the sidelines with Jupiter, covered her mouth with a gasp before closely moving toward the downed girl to check for injuries. She never made it that far because as soon as the blonde had shakily stood to her feet, never breaking eye contact with Mars's glaring violet eyes, she'd been blocked by a black form while the smell of roses invaded the area like a tidal wave. Tuxedo Mask had finally made his appearance that night.

Sailor Moon had easily felt his presence minutes after her own arrival but he had never interfered in the fight, instead keeping a silent watch. At any rate, Moon herself had managed to destroy the monster within a few minutes of Mercury's careful strategies so there had never been time for him to help out properly. 'Then Rei's verbal attack began and I was too distracted to feel his presence anymore. I assumed he had been gone long, like he and Minako usually are.' It became a surprise to everyone when Tuxedo Mask decided to interfere with their own personal fight that night. At that precise moment he had jumped down in front of Sailor Moon was when the chaos truly ensured.

The masked man instantly began yelling at the other Senshi, even the quiet and stunned Jupiter and Mercury. He accused them of, among other things, letting her --Sailor Moon-- down and not focusing on what was important: that the youma had been destroyed, no matter how long it took. 'And some of the other things he said… I swear my ears bled with the names he called them. Then some of his words and insults didn't even seem to be in Japanese or English. I'm still trying to make sense of that, actually.'

Nonetheless, Tuxedo Mask did exactly as he said he would --protect Sailor Moon and be there when she needed him most, all the while defending her and her capabilities as a Senshi. In reaction, Sailor Mars, and the newly appeared Luna, --'who I know was hiding in the trees or wherever she goes, just like every battle'--, didn't waste anytime in hurling their own insults and comments back at him while they justified their opinions of belittling Sailor Moon.

Mercury and Jupiter, stupefied with the events unfolding around them, could only continue to gape at the scene of all the fighting people while Sailor Moon firmly placed herself behind her savior. In her mind it had been the only way to hide the fact that she was so relieved Tuxedo Mask was actually defending her with no qualms or hesitation. 'To cut a long story short, that night was a big mess and I ended up being carried away by Tuxedo Mask after a particular nasty comment that I didn't catch coming from none other than Sailor Mars.' Sailor Moon thought to herself sadly, 'Since then Rei has been even worse and has the shortest temper ever. Now she looks at me with barely concealed disgust, dislike, and suspicion way more than usual.'

With a shake of her head, Sailor Moon ducked through a low hanging branch before finally bursting in on the battle. With a quick survey, she realized that while she had made it before the youma was destroyed, she should have arrived sooner. Much sooner.

Sailor Mercury lay beside a large oak tree unconscious and, by the look of it, seemed to have gotten thrown practically through the tree before falling where she now laid. As the warrior was about to race over to the Ice Senshi, she saw Sailor Jupiter race over instead. The blonde senshi watched in dread until she saw the brunette release an obvious sign of relief; Mercury was going to be all right.

With sheer determination, Sailor Moon glowered at the lion-like orange and red youma before her. 'I have to destroy it before it managed to hurt anyone else, especially my friends!' The feeling of eyes burning into the back of her head caused her to turn around to glimpse the complete loathing and murder etched into Mars's eyes. With a disdainful sniff in Moon's direction, the raven-haired Senshi looked away before firing a pair of flaming fire arrows at the youma, making it rear up in pain. Seconds after, a dozen golden hearts came rushing toward the youma from the right. Sailor Venus, who was favoring her left arm and left leg, gave the newly arrived Senshi a reassuring smile before walking over to Mars. 'How does she still manage to walk so determinedly with those injuries?' Moon thought to herself, amazed. Within moments both Venus and Mars where engaged in a furiously whispered discussion with a glaring Luna joining in momentarily. With a guilty frown, Moon tried to ignore the sound of their whispers in favor of destroying the youma. 'Come on, Serena, concentrate!'

The single Senshi took off her golden tiara and focused all her energy into the ruby jewel that lay in the center. The entire tiara soon became a golden-power charged discuss and was flying through the air straight toward the youma. The discuss hit the lion-like creature's chest dead-center, causing it to release an inhuman roar of pain and rage. As its roared died down, the monster collapsed into a pile of dust before blowing away into the night.

With an absentminded wince Sailor Moon caught her returning tiara, ignoring the usual blisters and burn marks that formed on her hands as a result of the tiara's power. As it cooled down once again, she slowly returned it back to its proper position on her forehand. Taking a second to breathe in deeply, she turned around to face where the others were still talking. 'Punishment time soon, no doubt.' To preoccupy herself from thoughts of her future reprimanding, she turned and watched as the still-transformed Jupiter helped a newly awakened Sailor Mercury stand before checking her once over again. Within moments Jupiter gave a wide grin and a thumbs up sign to the bluenette. 'A sign of good health. Thank goodness Ami will be okay.'

As Mercury gave a shake of her head and smile at Jupiter's actions, she gave a quick wave to Sailor Moon that the blonde half-heartedly returned. 'I just wish I'd been here sooner.' Her guilt ten-folded as she noticed the smaller senshi was leaning on Jupiter for support and limping slightly as the two walked away. With a heavy heart she watched them become parts of the shadows for several minutes. Straining her ears slightly, she could tell that Venus, Luna, and Mars were still conversing behind her with no signs of stopping. 'Might as well go home then if they're not going to say anything. I know no one's majority hurt now, sore no doubt, but not seriously injured at least. Nothing can keep me here longer than I'm needed or wanted then.'

As the warrior's gloved hand had just begun to slid up to her broach, Luna's voice reached her ears. "Sailor Moon, remember what we were talking about earlier. Remember what will happen if you keep failing in your duties." The cat's voice was calm with a sense of furious finality that stilled the girl's movements.

'Sounds like they're ready to feed me to the dogs.' Sailor Moon thought with a quirk of her lips, despite the tears that began to rain down her cheeks silently, 'Of course how can I forget what Luna and I talked about? How can I forget all those harsh words and the fact she believes I'm a "crybaby and irresponsible leader that can't get her act together and lead the others properly"? I highly doubt I'm going to forget that anytime soon.' Sailor Moon broke out into a full-fledged run as Luna's earlier words pounded themselves back into her head. 'Crybaby. Failure. Disappointment for the Princess. What didn't she call me? Then there's the fact that if I don't begin fighting the way Luna thinks I should, I'm going to be "put on indefinite probation and my leadership role striped away" and if I can't fight how she wants be to even after training, I'm "removed from the senshi team and my powers will permanently be taken away".'

The blonde sucked in a harsh breath as she finally stopped on the other side of the park, far away from the others. She slowly slid down a tree to sit on the ground as tears continued to create silver paths on her face. 'And they want me to stay away from Tuxedo Mask more than ever now. Just because we don't know his true goal during fighting doesn't mean he's working for the Dark Kingdom like they think he might. So what if he has "mysterious actions"?', She paused before making a face as she sniffled a few times. 'Just what are those actions anyways? Is saving me really all that mysterious? I know defeating a youma sure isn't. And now they say that if I continue to talk with him and defend him, I'm a traitor to the senshi and Princess Serenity! Doesn't that make a load of sense? I just know they'll never believe me when I say that he doesn't work for the Dark Kingdom. Just because he hasn't said he's one our side doesn't automatically make him on their side either. No one wants to hear it though. At any rate, Tuxedo Mask seems to be on my side. At least when he saves me and defends me that's what I like to think.'

"Maybe it would be better if I just let them kick me out." She told herself as she began wiping off her tear stains, "Then they won't have to be so hard on me because I won't be in the way anymore. I mean, it's like they think I could care less about the welfare of the world. I'm not trying to be careless in my actions. I just… I can't simply wish to be the person they want be to be and have it happen. No matter how much I wish I could do that for them, it's not going to happen."

The blonde thought about what it would be like to leave the team before instantly deciding she won't be able to do it willingly. Leaving would mean that she would be helpless to save anyone from a youma if she had the chance; instead she would have to watch them fall prey to something she swore she would protect the world from. She knew she would be disappointing millions of people by quitting, let alone if they ever discovered she thought about it. 'And there's that promise I made to Tuxedo Mask and myself too. I promised not to give up, that I'd try my best and never stop fighting and protecting all those people. I have to honor that.'

As if he knew that he was being thought about, a thornless red rose slowly drifted down from the tree limbs above her. As it landed in her blue-skirted lap, she smiled in remembrance. 'Exactly like that first rose.' "We can do this Sailor Moon. Just stay strong, all right? We'll get through this. Together."

A flash of red caught her eyes and she turned to watch as her vigilant savior jumped from treetop to treetop out of the park and out of her searching sight. "I will Tuxedo Mask, I will." She answered softly into the still night around her, "And we'll make it together like we promised."

She knew that as long as she wasn't alone in the youma fights and that Tuxedo Mask kept believing in her when even she lost faith in herself, then she'd make it. She refused to allow the others make her break her promise and stop fighting. She would try her best and they'd make it together. She was sure of it.

First chapter done! Please review and if you have any questions about the chapter or the story in general, go ahead and ask! I'll answer the best that I can without giving too much away.

REVISION EDIT:

Summary of events

- No Artemis; no one knows he exists or where he's at.

- Luna hid during Moon's first battle (and all later battles), forcing the newly formed Senshi to stumble around, unaware of what to do.

- Scared and petrified during that first battle, Moon sent out a telepathic call of "Endymion! Help me, please!". Tuxedo Mask arrived minutes later and single handily killed the youma. Luna doesn't know he did and Moon never told her.

- When Sailor Mars appeared, Jadeite died.

- When Venus appeared, Nephrite died.

- Mars became exceedingly violent toward Sailor Moon about a week ago and slapped her. Tuxedo Mask immediately came to her defense when no one else did.

- Venus came only two weeks ago so she is practically a stranger to everyone. Serena wonders why Venus had her powers before Luna gave them to her. No one asks Minako though.

- Luna told Serena to get her act together and be a better Senshi and leader. If she doesn't (and doesn't stop defending TM) she will be put on probation. Worst case scenario is that her powers are stripped away and she will no longer be a Senshi.

Tiger Celeste