DISCLAIMER: Sailor Moon is the brainchild of Naoko Takeuchi, but this fanfic and some of its characters are mine.

The Earth Saga: Part 2

By Sailor Nena

Serena woke up tired and in pain with the dawn. She was trying to understand what had happened. Her memory was very selective: she remembered meeting Luna and the Scouts, trying harder in school to prove to them that she was fit to be the Moon Princess, selecting the Lunar Academy because it would be the best place to continue her training, and fighting Baryl and her minions, but Tuxedo Mask was still a great mystery. Some blurry memories identified him as a protector, others as an enemy, and the rest as a lover.

How could this be? Had he betrayed her? Or had it been a plan to trick Baryl? She closed her weary eyes and saw him kiss her with a soft, sweet, igniting passion. Her lips felt the sting of his lingering lips once again. How could she still tremble under this kiss? Why was its power still so strong?

Serena got out of bed and took a cold shower. She had a feverish, nightmarish night, and had awakened sweaty and confused. She put on her Lunar Academy underclassman uniform: navy blue sailor pants and a uniform shirt like the one she had worn the previous year. She still had half an hour before breakfast, so she sat in front of the mirror examining her worn out face. "I wish I could get rid of these bags!"

"Try make-up." I suggested without appearing. She was too tired to question anything that was outside the norm.

"How?" I made myself visible as Sailor Nena, took her eye shadows, and applied them skillfully. Being the daughter of ambassadors has placed me in the public eye enough to understand the necessity of keeping appearances. "Will you always appear like this?"

"If you ask me to."

"Where are you during the day? Don’t you have a life like the rest of us?"

"I had a life that I’m obliged to continue, but my main priority is to follow you around."

"Who are you?" I knew who she was, so it was only fair to let her know who I was. I pressed my broach and appeared in my school uniform (just like Serena’s, but mines was silver, where hers was blue, and the sleeves were not as puffy). "You?"

"Who did you expect? Harruna?"

"Anyone but you. You are so much older than me!"

"Only two years! Now, go eat breakfast before it gets cold."

Serena was sitting in math class when she received her first major flash backs that nearly killed her. She was doodling in her notebook as her teacher reviewed the math she was supposed to have taken the year before:

"When you have a problem you can’t FOIL, life x²-x+3=0, what do you do?"

"Why are you such a mystery, Tuxedo Mask?"

"Does anybody remember what formula we used?"

"Are you friend or foe? Why can’t I remember?" She traced his face among her notes.

"You have to remember this! It is vital!" Serena looked out the window and saw Darien walking towards the school. "C’on, I know you know this!" Someone walked behind him and slapped him on the back. "Serena? That’s right the quadratic formula." A flash or images bombarded her! She saw herself smack Darien’s back; followed by an image of them being captured by the Negaverse and being chased into an elevator. Then she saw a huge fireball race down to claim their lives. Next, she saw Sailor Moon staring a-gap as Tuxedo Mask appeared before her. The image of an ice crystal piercing his back followed this image; finally, she was kneeling beside his dying body as he touched her cheek.

She awoke with a start in the school infirmary. The nurse took her blood pressure and temperature, which was excessively high. I was in the bed next to her. She had gone into convulsions the second the flashes began. Sharing a special connection to her, I had a milder case at the same time, therefore I awakened sooner. "So," the nurse began, "are you two on any medication I should know about? No? Good. The ambulance will be here in a few minutes. School policy requires me to accompany you two there for further examinations.

Serena and I were separated in the hospital. In the middle of my examination my doctor disappeared and was replaced by a younger one, who had a strange resemblance to Andrew. I asked him if he had any relationship to him, and he answered,

"Nena, its me."

"It can’t be you! You are too old!"

"Let’s just say I did a little time traveling to prep someone here. Doctor Liza Aniko will take care of you guys every time you come through here. I figure it would be easier than risking a treatment that is not appropriate for your bodies. Now, Serena already knows this; she will tell the others. Your biological composition is still the same as the one you had on the Moon Kingdom. If you need emergency care, most human remedies will work, but others can kill you. Besides, injuries from the Negaverse tend to be very difficult to explain."

"You say you are from the future. What future? Why did you come back? Is there something you are not telling me?" He took a hypodermic needle and stuck it in my arm.

"Don’t worry," he said, "you will forget everything soon enough."

"Morena, wake up!" I opened my eyes and saw Serena by my side. "How are you?"

"Confused." A young woman of about twenty-five with dark eyes and short hair walked into the room. She was a bit on the heavy side and wore glasses that made her face seem wider. Her most charming quality was her warm smile that seems to hypnotize her patience into trusting her.

"Hello, I’m Dr. Aniko. You two seem to have caught some heavy fevers, but you are both OK now. You can return to school or take the rest of the day off."

Her name seemed oddly familiar, but neither Serena nor I could place it. It was as if it had appeared from a dream.

We walked in late into Darien’s class; he was less than pleased. "We thank the sleepy heads to join us." He said as we took our seats. Sergio asked how we were, and we put his mind at ease. Darien, annoyed that we were talking in his class, interrupted us by asking, "Is the tea party done, or should I wait." Serena was sick and tired of his constant insults.

"If you do NOT like the position of the MOON, GET UP AND CHANGE IT!" She revolted.

"Watch that mouth, I might just listen."

"That’ll be the day the Moon and the Sun have tea together!" Needless to say, our classmates read every single drop of subtext in this exchange of blows, and started to take bets on how long it would take them to explode and kiss. I gave them a month, tops.

At the end of class, Darien retained Serena to inform her that he was her new biology tutored. "No way! I DON’T want to see you more than I have to!"

"Do you think this is pleasant for me? I have better things to do than baby-sit a fourteen year old that doesn’t get how her body works!"

"It’s easy for you to say because you are a science guy. My sciences are social! I’ll take politics of your stupid biology any day!" She fired back. Through this argument, they had not noticed how physically close they had become: their foreheads were only a few micrometers apart. Darien, suddenly noticing his awkward position pulled back and stated,

"Starting today, everyday after school in the senior gym."

"Hey Serena! Darien not here yet?" I asked as I entered the gym. School had been over for quarter of an hour. He still hadn’t shown up.

"Why are you here?"

"I’m learning how to fight." Darien walked in laughing with Sergio. Its strange how two guys that do not know each other can form a strong friendship by talking about sports, cars, and girls.

"About time!" Serena protested, "Any longer and I would have be a rotting corpse!’

"Jeeze, had I known that, I would have waited Meatball head!"

"Don’t call me that!"

"What ever you say, Meatball Head." Serena’s face turned red and smoke began to rush out of her ears. Darien just gave her one of his ‘I’ve-got-you-under-my-control’ smiles, and her stomach started to do Olympic gold meddle gymnastic performances. "Morena, Sergio will be your tutor. Be nice!" Darien sat next to Serena, and Sergio approached me. After the first few minutes of courtesy, we all started to work: Serena braking her head to understand the eight life functions, and I breaking my back as Sergio beat the living daylights out of me in hopes of teaching me how to fight. It was a painful sight.

A slithering vine burst out of the center of the park. It crawled towards the playground unnoticed by the locals. It rapped itself around the swings and monkey bars, and released hypnotic pollen into the air. The children rushed to play like a heard of elephants stampedes towards safety. They played and played, releasing endless energy for the Negaverse in their mesmerizing dream world.

After three straight days of this routine, Serena had placed Darien as number one on her hit list, and I was so sore I could hardly write. Darien was late on this afternoon, so Serena, buying me more time to recuperate, started to interrogate Sergio.

"So, you are from the States right?"

"Actually," he answered, "I’m from right here, Tokyo, but when my parents died, I was adopted by an American general and moved there soon after."

"How old where you...when it happened?"

"Four. It was on my baby sister’s first birthday."

"Where is she?"

"I don’t know. We where separated the day our parents died and haven’t seen each other since. That’s why I’m here; to find her." His voice was tinged with nostalgia and sadness; his eyes where painted with loneliness.

"You must miss her."

"Allot." They were talking softly and secretively now. "But I’m going to find her." Darien approached them like a lion approaches the predator that has violated his territory.

"Darien, finally decided to join us?" Serena smiled triumphantly. She didn’t understand why, but she sensed she had something to do with his bad mood. Darien unconsciously eyed Sergio like he would a rival and asked,

"Don’t you have a GIRL to tend to?"

"Yes I do!" Sergio, ignoring what his male instincts were telling him, got up and pulled me complaining to my feet.

"Don’t I ever get a brake? My body aches so bad!" My pleads, like Serena’s, went unanswered.

Later that afternoon, we met in Rei’s temple for a fire reading. We were still trying to identify our enemy, but the fire was less than helpful. "Morena," Luna began, "does the name Astron ring a bell? May be from the Moon Kingdom or something?"

"No, it’s the first time I hear it, but…doesn’t it mean Darkness of Moon?"

"She’s right." Amy answered. "But I can’t find anything in my database."

"And I can’t find anything in my fire without something of his!" Rei protested. Suddenly, the fire burst into black and white flames and Rei became possessed by its power. "The Darkness-darkness, which you seek-seek, can be found-found in the greenest playground-playground!" Rei fainted after speaking in an echoing voice and we all rushed to he. She quickly recovered.

"What did that mean?" Serena asked as soon as she made sure that Rei was fine.

"How should I know, Meatball Head! I was in a trance when the fire said it!" Rei shot back. Serena just stuck her tongue out at Rei.

"Wait," Amy called out, "isn’t Farehill Park, where Astron attacked, known as the greenest park in the city!"

"Yeah," Lita continued, "and they just inaugurated a playground there the other day!"

"Yeah, they named it Greenest Playground; I know because I was there as Sailor V to cut the red lace." Mina concluded.

"Then what are you gals waiting fore?" Artimist asked. "Get going already!"

The girls arrived at the park in time to see the police barricade the playground. They could see the playground full of children playing surrounded by a glow of pink-blue light. The mothers cried as they saw the inability of the police to take the children out of their trance.

"Come on guys, there is no time to lose! Moon Tiara Magic !" Serena’s tiara rushed towards the vine on the swings, causing it to scream in pain.

"Where is the face of this monster, so I can use it as a punching bag?" Lita demanded.

"It has no head." Amy answered after she scanned it. The tiara dust dispersed, and they saw it had had no effect.

"The monster is really just a large vine!" Amy replied. "And its only weakness is that it is a plant."

"So, what does that mean?" Lita asked.

"We freeze it, smash it, cook it, fry it, and chop it!" Serena answered. "NOW!"

"Mercury Bubbles Freeze !"

"Venus Crescent V SMASH !"

"Moon Tiara Magic !"

Mercury’s bubbles froze the vine, but it also scared the kids away. Venus’s attack chopped the vine into two pieces, but it did not kill it. The two pieces became separate monsters, but between Mar and Jupiter they were slowed down enough for Moon to finish them off. Together they were able to destroy it.

"Who do you think you are interrupting the children’s playtime?" A young girl appeared in front of them; her bangs were in her eyes. Her hair was wildly flowing behind her as if it had never been cut or combed. Her attire consisted of badly fitting general pants and an outgrown shirt. She looked careless and unkempt, as if she had never been taught proper hygiene, but instinctively tried to follow it.

"Who are you?" Sailor Moon asked baffled. She was expecting Astron not her.

"I am Cassandra, Daughter of the Negaverse! Feel my wrath! DARK CHILD ATTACK!" A beam of Negative Energy knocked the girls off their feet. Before I could jump in to help, another attack had been issued, only this one was against Cassandra.

"Gemini Twin Light ATTACK!" Two beams of light, one black one white, shot against Cassandra. She quickly dodged it. And prepared for another attack, but a red rose cut in front of her leaving her defenseless towards the attacks of the Scouts.

"You should know better than to use children for you dark plans. Sailor Scouts, the future generations of the Earth are counting on you!"

"Friend or Foe, he’s right and cute!" Serena thought; she stood up and prepared to fight.

"CASSANDRA! RETURN NOW!" A deep male voice thundered through the sky.

"As you wish." She disappeared into thin air, and I decided to end the mystery of Sailor Gemini this instant. I followed him out of the park, where he ran into Tuxedo Mask.

"You are still here?" Tuxedo Mask asked him.

"Yes, and you should know that I am not leaving."

"I don’t trust you Gemini; you are not from before!"

"So I’m new, what are you afraid of Tux?" He passed his hand through his hair. "Look, we are in the same position, man; I know you are use to being their only protector, but you gotta understand. I’m here to help."

"Prove it! Prove that you are on our side!"

"You are so untrusting Darien!"

"How did-wait, what makes…?"

"The roses, I saw you pick them this morning; one of them had a white spot on its stem; that’s the one you used to save me, but to show you that I DO trust you and that I am NOT a threat." He changed into a Lunar Academy Upperclassmen uniform: just like mine only that the guy’s shirt has a boy scout knot instead of a bow. I purposely made some noise to make him look in my direction. I saw his face, clear as day, looking in my direction. He saw me and did a high jump landing in front of my escape path. "Where do you think you are going little girl?" He asked as he examine me, or should I say Sailor Nena.

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