Legends

Chapter 1

By Richan

 

 

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Sailor Moon. However, I do own lots of spare time now that I have to look for a new job. (Downsizing sucks!)

Warnings: AU, OC. There are a couple of things that I have taken from both the manga and the anime series. This story is a mixture of both, starting from the moment that Chibiusa returns after the battle against Wiseman. Pluto was killed in the action (like in the manga).

Author's note: I apologize for whatever words I screw up. I am just learning Japanese, not counting the few words I have learned reading fanfiction. Gomen for any mistakes I make. ^_^ Also, I am borrowing names from Pokemon, since I'm being lazy and not finding any original names. ^^;;

 

 

 

  Serenity smiled as she held her daughter in her arms as she was wrapped in her husband's arms. It was good to know that Small Lady was safe and had returned from her adventure into the past. Standing tall once more, she and Endymion held onto their daughter's hands as they and the senshi walked into the Crystal Palace.

 

  Ami looked at her Queen and frowned slightly. She wasn't sure the news she had to tell was all that good. But, it was her duty as both a doctor and a senshi to do what she could for Serenity.

  "What is it, Ami?" Serenity asked. She saw the way the blue-haired woman's brows furrowed in worry. It almost made her want to frown before she remembered that she was feeling fine now that the nausea had passed. Still, Ami and Luna had insisted that she get checked over to make sure there was no lasting damage from the crystal she had been incased in.

  Looking at Serenity, she took a deep breath. "Serenity," she began. Ami broke off, not sure how to put the news she had.

  "Ami, please, you can tell me anything," Serenity encouraged.

  Sweating slightly from the internal pressures her brain was giving over her indecision, Ami blurted out, "You're expecting a baby!" She closed her eyes, not willing to see the reaction she was sure that she was going to get.

  Silence greeted this announcement, making Ami open her eyes again. A surprised look was on Serenity's face; as if she wasn't sure what reaction she wanted to give. The look quickly passed, to be replaced by excitement. "Are you sure, Ami-chan?" Serenity asked in an increasingly excited voice.

  Nodding, Ami breathed a silent sigh of release. Then she stifled another one at the thought of the reactions of everybody else. Sheer terror flowed through her at what Luna would have to say.

  Serenity gathered the senshi together in her and Endymion's private quarters. They were still having problems dealing with the death of Sailor Pluto, but they tried to do their duty as best they could. Each noticed, however, that King Endymion had a strange look on his face; as if he were scared something was going to happen, again, to Serenity.

  Sailor Mars shook her head at the ridiculous thought. The Wiseman and the people of Nemesis had been beaten by the senshi they had once been, so their life in Crystal Tokyo should be smooth sailing. At least until the next enemy appeared.

  Serenity cleared her throat in an understated manner, gaining everybody's attention. "I have news to share with all of you," she said. As she did, she gathered Small Lady into her lap as she sat on the chair in the large chamber. Smoothing down the soft pink hair that had somehow escaped the confines of the hair-tie, she looked at the others. "Soon, there will be another heir to the throne."

  The senshi looked at each other puzzled, but for Sailor Mercury, who seemed at little uncomfortable. Luna, on the other hand, was startled into silence before she changed into her human form.

  "Serenity!" she began. "When did this happen? Was this started before Nemesis attacked? Did it hurt the baby?"

  The last word shook everybody's thoughts as they focused their attention on their queen. She, on the other hand, had a smile much like her name. The soft motion of her lips granted a small measure of peace that rose in the ensuing panic.

 

******

Sixteen years later...

 

  Sailor Moon gave a small laugh as she watched her friends and senshi struggle to reach the finish line. Sailors Ceres and Palla were fighting for each of them to reach it first, but Sailor Vesta ran past them. Sailor Juno stood halfway along the route, refusing to run any further as she complained about the training Sailor Moon was making them do.

  Giving a small laugh as the wind blew her pink hair into her face, she released the end of the tape she was still holding. "I just wanted you to warm up before we get down to some rather serious training," she said, still giggling slightly.

  Sailor Vesta nodded before Sailor Ceres bonked her on the head. "Showoff," muttered Sailor Ceres as the five of them settled down to some training.

 

  Serenity watched as her younger daughter looked out the window briefly before turning back to the book laid out in front of her. She was so much like her father it was uncanny, right down to the deep, blue eyes and the midnight-black hair. Even the name they had given to her was her father's. Although no one can replace the original 'Mamo-chan,' she thought. Still, she was worried about the Mamoru-chan who sat so still as she poured over the book that Ami had brought to her. She was the youngest of all the children that had run around the palace. Now, she was the last one left, being the only one born by any of the senshi, herself included, after the attack by Nemesis so long ago.

  A noise at the door broke her thoughts. Turning her head, Serenity smiled as Rei approached her. The senshi of Mars had matured much like herself, but there were still times when the urge to do something to disrupt that calm exterior rose in Serenity. Instead of doing so, she rose and left the room with Rei to talk about the feelings she had been having lately about dangers rising in the solar system.

  Mamoru looked up as the door closed. She knew her mother and father were worried about her. She also knew that they were thinking the wrong thing. Both of them thought that she was jealous over her older sister being Sailor Moon.

  *That* was the furthest thing from her mind at the moment.

  She looked down at her book. Mamoru had asked Ami for the book, but what she had read hadn't answered her question. The dream book had nothing to offer as way of an explanation of what she was quickly becoming to notice was a nightly occurrence.

  That strange, dreadful dream of past and future haunted her. Each morning she awoke drenched in sweat at the awful dreams that seemed so real, as if she could reach out and touch them. She was starting to become afraid of going to sleep, exhausting herself each night before crashing into bed, but even that was not helping any more.

  Closing the book, Mamoru sighed at the sounds of her sister and her friends enter the royal chambers. Hoping to escape to her own rooms before they entered the rooms, her wish wasn't granted as she saw the five of them enter in happy spirits.

  Usagi saw her friends halt as she walked backwards in front of them. Turning, she saw her younger sister, book in hand, about to leave. "Mamoru," she asked sweetly. "What have you been reading? More homework?"

  Bara, also known as Sailor Ceres, laughed lightly before she saw the scowl on Usagi's face. "I thought that you were officially out of school for the spring, Mamoru-san," she said.

  Ran, who was Sailor Juno in her other form, smothered a laugh, but it wasn't meant to be mean. "I am glad that we are too old for school," she said. She turned her blue eyes to Mamoru. "You don't have much longer, though, do you?"

  Mamoru shook her head sharply before she rushed from the room.

  Usagi huffed and put her hands on her hips. "Guys, come on," she pleaded. "Don't tease her." She puffed up slightly. "That's my job!"

  She giggled as Kiku and Sakura came to stand next to her. "So," Kiku, Sailor Vesta, said. "It's really a job for onee-chan."

  Sakura laughed. "You mean even Sailor Palla can't do it?" she pouted.

  Shaking her head, pink hair flying, Usagi looked at her friends. "Nope."

  Mamoru heard the five of them start giggling about the latest idol singer before she left for her rooms. It was nothing that hadn't been said before, but it got old after a while. Still, they were older than she was, and she might, eventually, learn something from them.

  Reaching the outer room that was the barrier to everyone but her parents and the cats, she dropped the book on the table to remind herself to give it back. Closing the doors of her inner sanctum, Mamoru leaned against them for a moment to inhale the sweet scent that drifted through her room. Plants lined each wall, with only small niches throughout holding some of her things.

  She may not have power flowing through her like Usagi, but she had her father's touch when it came to growing plants. Still, he said she had taken it to an extreme, and Luna had countered that it was to compensate for what she didn't have. Mamoru had been clueless about that remark for a while, since she had only been seven at the time. Now, though, she knew what it meant. It didn't worry her though. She didn't want to have to deal with some of the things her sister and her friends had to.

 

******

  Rei stared at Serenity. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, SAILOR PLUTO VISITED YOU LAST NIGHT?"

  Blue eyes bore down for a moment before the Queen did a totally Usagi action of rubbing her ears. "Rei-chan," she chided. "It was meant to be a secret for the moment, not shouted to everyone in Crystal Tokyo."

  Violet eyes flashed for a moment before she settled down. "But, how?"

  Serenity sighed. "It wasn't Setsuna," she said quietly.

  This made Rei stare again for a minute. "There is a new Sailor Pluto?" she asked. "But.... I guess I don't understand. Who was it?"

  "That I cannot tell. That is for her to tell," Serenity answered. There were some prices to pay for being a ruler. Still, she knew that the new Sailor Pluto was the best choice, even if she didn't know it herself for the moment. This Sailor Pluto had come back into the past to talk to her.

  "Will Sailor Saturn be reborn as well?" Rei had to ask the question. Even now she had nightmares about the battle in which they had lost the Senshi of Saturn. They had almost lost Jupiter as well. She had survived, but with almost no power left. Still, she did the best she could to help her fellow senshi even if she could barely transform.

  Serenity shook her head. "That I do not know. Pluto would not tell me."

  Sighing, Rei looked at her hands for moment before raising them to Serenity. "The refusal to tell us something, even if it is important, must be inherent for all Sailor Plutos," she said, impishly.

  "Rei-chan!" Both laughed at the thought that with the staff of time came the mask the Sailor Pluto had worn.

  "Am I interrupting something?" a male voice asked. Both women looked up to see Endymion at the door, dust still on his lavender cloak from the journey he had been on.

  "Endymion!" Serenity rose and walked over to greet him with a small hug.

  Rei rose as well. "I will let you two be alone, since this means my husband is home as well," she said with a smile.

  Endymion nodded. "He is probably looking for you right now."

  The couple watched as Rei closed the door behind her, leaving them alone. Endymion saw the look on her face. "What is the matter?"

  Serenity didn't answer immediately. Instead, she took his hand and lead him to the sofa in the next room. Once they were seated, she turned to him. "Well, it started like this...."

 

******

  The room was oppressive, stifling hot and no air to breathe. She had to get out of here before she suffocated, but there seemed to be no way out. The one window she had found didn't open and the glass would not break, no matter how hard she had hit it. A scream threatened to erupt from her throat as she got more and more frustrated.

  Finally, it let loose as a hand touched her shoulder.

  "Gyah!"

  'Gyah?' Where had that voice come from, Mamoru thought sleepily as she slowly woke from the nightmare. Opening one blue eye, she found herself staring at Artemis. "Gyah!"

  "I just said that," the white-haired man uttered, taking a step back.

  "Gomen, Artemis." Mamoru opened the other eye to find that dawn was touching the night sky, pushing the light of the stars back as the sun began its journey across the horizon. "I... I was just having a bad dream."

  Artemis frowned. "You've been having a lot of bad dreams lately, haven't you?"

  Mamoru tried to laugh. "They're nothing, Artemis."

  He hmphed. "I think that you should go see Rei-chan, or even Tenchi-san," he advised.

  "I will not talk to Tenchi!" Mamoru stated. "He always laughs at me and calls me Mamo-chan! As if I'm my father." She crossed her arms and looked steadily at him.

  Artemis saw the look and mentally sighed. If there was one thing she was like her mother, it was being stubborn about something. Oh, the trait didn't show up most of the time, but if either of them felt strongly about something, or in this case somebody, they couldn't be budged. "Then you should talk to Rei-chan about this. That book isn't going to do you any good, anyway." He saw her eyes waver slightly, and knew that she would go see Rei.

  "Very well, Artemis. Just don't tell anyone." She glared at him as he opened his mouth. "Especially my parents. This is something I have to work out for myself."

  Sighing, he nodded his head. "Very well," he repeated, before getting hit with a pillow.

 

  Rei knelt in front of the small fire in the room. It wasn't the same as her Grandfather's temple, but it was sacred and she wanted to thank it for granting the prayers she had asked about her husband's safe return. Hiroshi had returned with the king, exhausted, but healthy. An hour later, she tiredly walked out of the room to find Mamoru on the small porch outside the fire room, reading a small book.

  As she approached, the girl put the book down and rose to bow slightly. "Rei-san, I have a question to ask you."

  Surprised at this, she nodded as she saw the serious look on Mamoru's face. "Let's have some tea while we talk."

  The two talked for almost two hours before Mamoru left for her own rooms in the palace. Rei sat back and thought about what they had talked about. This was something she would need to ask the sacred fire. A thought went through her mind. She wondered if she should ask her son to find the answers. He was able to delve more deeply into the mysteries it held than she. On the other hand, she had noticed distrust between him and Mamoru. But, it was actually more like a rivalry. What they had to be rivals about was lost on her. Shrugging her shoulders, Rei decided that she would have to take care of this herself.

 

******

  Serenity eyed her two daughters. Their personalities were as different as they looked. Usagi was almost her exact image, down to the sometimes downright laziness she had exhibited when she had been younger. Mamoru was much like her father, only a more feminine version of his looks. Thankful that they were both healthy, she turned her attention to the others sitting around the table, entirely missing the flirting looks Usagi was giving the men and Mamoru's disgust at those looks.

  Endymion saw the scowl on his younger daughter's face and hid a laugh. He knew well of Usagi's penchant for flirting as even he had been the recipient at one point or another, but the reaction of Mamoru really helped him laugh. It was like seeing himself when he was younger, even as she dealt with some of the same problems he had had. He just wished she hadn't inherited his inability to make friends. She seemed as friendless as he had once been.

  Mamoru wiped the scowl off her face. Why her father thought it funny was beyond her. All she wanted to do was go back to her room, not eat dinner with fifty people she saw everyday. She would rather be with her plants than the senshi and their families. Deep down she knew it was to celebrate the coming home of her father and the rest, but she didn't want to hang around with the 'old fogies' as she mentally called them.

  She held in the giggle that threatened to break free at the thought. The scowl quickly replaced it as she thought of why everybody else was old and she wasn't. When she had been smaller, much had been made about her being born when she did. Personally, even now she didn't think it was all that special. But it would have been nice for there to be other people her age among her parents' friends.

  Desserts were brought to the table, bringing her out of her sinking thoughts. Yum, chocolate. Digging in, she never noticed several pairs of eyes trained on her.

  Serenity and Endymion delighted in the way Usagi and Mamoru's eyes lit at the unexpected treat. Luna watched on in her usual grace, making sure that *everybody* in the royal family wasn't making a disgrace out of themselves. Rei was watching for signs of anything that was going wrong, with either Serenity or Mamoru.

  Next to her, her son, Tenchi watched the family at the head of the table in curiosity. He had seen Mamoru leaving his mother deep in thought. Even though he couldn't understand Mamoru, preferring her older sister for at least flirting than the solemn aura the younger girl presented, he wondered what she had to think about so seriously that she had to ask his mother. Well, more serious than she usually was. She was too much of a deep thinker for such as he. Usagi and her friends knew how to have fun.

  He looked down at the elder princess to find her watching him with curious eyes. Realizing he must have been staring at either her or Mamoru, Tenchi turned his attention down the table. There, he found his father talking seriously to Haruka and Makoto's middle son, Shigeru. That would take some thought to figure out that situation.

  After dinner was over, the group slowly broke into parents and children in different rooms. Tenchi picked a corner to watch the others before he noticed that Mamoru hadn't entered the room. His eyebrows rose a little at the thought that he should see what was going on. Besides, he had often wondered what her rooms looked like. Everyone in the palace knew they were off-limits, but he was feeling a little nosey this evening. What harm would it do anyway? Besides, Mamoru was probably off hiding in the library, which everybody knew was where to find her when she was missing.

  Tenchi sneaked quietly out of the room, no one noticing his disappearance. He walked swiftly down the hall, cursing his shoes as they clicked on the hard marble floor. A guard stood outside of the royal chambers, but waved him on once Tenchi said he had come to get something for his mother that Serenity wanted her to have.

  Once out of sight of the guard, he took a right when he said he was going left. The hall was dimmer here, the soft glow of the candle-like lights giving a softer appearance to the walls. Three doors greeted him, but he knew which one to take. The first down the hall he ignored. That was Luna and Artemis' chamber. The second was Usagi's. He could tell that by the trail leading from her door. Judging from the wild tales his mother told him, her mother had been the same way. Still, it was hard to believe that the Queen had once been a slob.

  Tenchi slowed as he passed the second door. There was no telling how well anyone could hear through the walls and thick doors that he was coming, but he didn't want to give himself away. Slowly opening the door, he found the first chamber almost dark but for the lone small light on the table. Stepping up to the second pair of doors, he listened for a minute before deciding that he might as well open them.

  The door opened easily and quietly. He had been worried that a squeak might give him away. Pushing the door open even farther, he saw the jungle that grew inside. Jaw hanging slack, Tenchi stood in awe at the living walls before he noticed the bed set in an alcove. There he saw Mamoru lying on her stomach, chin propped in her hands as she gazed out the windows. Shock ran through him as he realized he really was intruding, and there was a huge chance of getting caught. Tenchi cringed as he imagined the way his mother would yell at him for being stupid. Yes, he was a baka, but he shouldn't have let his curiosity get away from him.

  Still, there was something about the room that felt right to him. This was truly Mamoru's room, from the green on the walls to the angry blue eyes.... Shimatta. He was in for it this time.

  "Tenchi!" Mamoru saw him standing in the door, a glassy look in his eyes as he looked around her room. So much for trusting him of all people to not enter when it was a royal command. She got off the bed in less than a second and flew over to him. Her hands on hips, she glared up at him. "What are you doing in here? Get OUT!"

  Mamoru pushed him out the doors into the small front chamber.

  Tenchi blinked and found himself in the hallway again. How had she done that? Her blue eyes had been spitting mad at him, fire burning deep within them. He could feel where her hands had been on his chest to push him. They were so small.... He looked at his own hands for a moment before a noise alerted him to somebody coming. It was time for him to split.

 

******

  Heavy footfalls sounded close by as the feeling of darkness approached. The plant she hid under offered no protection from the shapeless shadow that hovered over. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out as the world went black.

  Mamoru sat up in bed, breathing erratically as the dream slowly left her. Her fist pounded the bed in frustration before she threw the covers off and walked into the bathroom. Splashing water on her face, she walked over to the large window to the left of her bed. The window gave a large view of the fountain that danced with grace in the moonlight. She wished she could be up on the moon instead of here, or anywhere that she could get away from these nightmares.

  Rei had offered some advice, but it hadn't seemed to help at all. Instead, the dreams were intensifying night by night. Mamoru didn't want to go to her mother about them, for she would use the crystal to banish them and weaken herself. No, she wouldn't let her mother do such a thing for something as stupid as some bad dreams.

  Refusing to go back to bed, she stayed at the window until the sky began to lighten to lavender, then to pink. A sigh left her as she made the bed. At least now she had school beginning again and the homework she was sure to get would help take her mind off of what was going on. Too bad she would be the only one being taught.

  An hour later, Michiru raised her head as Mamoru entered the small schoolroom. Her last pupil to teach was in her final semester and she would miss it. She took a closer look at her student and frowned. Dark circles lay under the blue eyes that somehow looked haunted. Concern washed through her, and she decided to get to the bottom of it.

 

  Michiru watched her student as she left for the day. Even with whatever was bothering her, Mamoru was as eager to learn as she ever was. Perhaps even more than usual. She would have to talk with Serenity about it.

  Nodding her head, Serenity saw the worry on Michiru's face. "I have the feeling that she wants to work it out by her self," she finally said. Concern flashed across her face at the thought of her younger daughter, almost too quick for the other woman to see. "Let her ask for help before you offer it. Although Rei-chan has done what she could."

  A sigh of relief at the advice escaped the green-haired woman for a moment. She knew the queen knew what was best, but that still didn't make it any easier while you waited.

 

  Usagi peeked in the schoolroom. It was almost time for Michiru to finish teaching Mamoru for the day. Expecting to see the two of them, an empty room greeted her. A tiny frown crossed her lips as she wondered where they could be.

  Behind her, the others were giggling over some book they had found. The volume had been sitting at the breakfast table, and the fortunes told by what your dreams held were fascinating. For the longest time Usagi had been trying to think of where she had seen it before, finally remembering that her younger sister had been reading it the previous week.

  "Is there something the matter, Small Lady?"

  Usagi jumped at the voice and found Haruka standing behind her, a slight smirk crossing her lips. Standing as tall as she could, she glared back. "Don't call me 'Small Lady!'"

  "Whatever you say...Small Lady."

  Throwing another glare at Haruka, Usagi led her friends down the hall to her room. Laughing, the tall, blond woman looked into the classroom herself, puzzled as to why Michiru wasn't here.

  "Haruka-san?"

  She turned to find Satoshi, Minako's son, approaching. "Hai, Satoshi-kun?"

  "Serenity-sama wanted you to know that Michiru-san is talking to her."

  "Thank you, Satoshi-kun," Haruka said, starting towards her queen's chambers.

 

******

  "Good going, tensai!"

  "Urusai, Mamoru!"

  Rei held her ears as the bickering continued. Was this what she and Usagi had been like when they were younger. Nyah. She had never been so immature as this. Still, it reminded her of Usagi fighting with somebody, but who was it? The more she thought about it, the more elusive it became. Shrugging her shoulders, she figured it would come to her later. For now all she wanted was to shut her son and Mamoru up.

  Sliding open the door, she stopped in her tracks as she saw the mess the two were in. Two muddy messes were glaring at each other, their eyeballs the only spot where mud had been wiped clean.

  "It's all your fault, Tenchi-CHAN!"

  "Be quiet, Mamo-CHAN."

  "Tenchi, Mamoru," Rei said quietly. She held back a laugh as the two of them snapped their heads up at her voice. Sometimes it paid to be an adult. "Go get the hose and wash off. Then I want you, Mamoru, to go back to your room. The two of you act like three year olds, sometimes."

  Tenchi glared at Rei for a moment before he went to the back of the house. Mamoru stood there for a moment. "Um, Rei-san?"

  Rei eyed her. "Hai?"

  "Would you like to join me for some tea? I mean later this afternoon?"

  The violet-eyed woman looked at her carefully. "Thank you, Mamoru-chan."

  "Arigato." Mamoru bowed slightly before she headed off.

  Rei stood there for a moment in thought. There was just something about the way those two fought that made her just want to grab the two and force them to be alone. Her son was already eighteen. She didn't know what made him pick on Mamoru so badly. She was only fifteen.

  She was still thinking about such things when she arrived at the royal family's chambers. She stood in front of Mamoru's door, still unsure about this. About to turn away, Rei found the doors opened by a much cleaner girl than she had seen a little bit ago.

  "Rei-san, dozo, come in," Mamoru ushered her in through the small first chamber to the larger one behind it.

  Rei stopped at what greeted her. She had known that Mamoru was much like her father, but she hadn't realized that her love for plants had surpassed even his talents. "Sugoi!"

  Mamoru laughed. "I guess it is pretty overwhelming at first."

  Rei looked around the room and found the young girl was standing by a small table, tea things scattered across its surface. She made herself comfortable as Mamoru poured out the tea. Taking a sip, she gathered her thoughts.

  "So, what did you want to talk about?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

*********

*********

Bara means Rose

Ran is for Orchid

Kiku, Chrysanthemum

Sakura means Cherry blossom

Tensai can mean either 'genius' or 'natural disaster'