Moon Memories. 

This is my first fanfic, so please be nice. It's set in an alternate
Universe, which I guess, is pretty obvious. It is made to pretty much
replace the end of Sailor Moon R and is set in all different times. In
between chapters it also jumps viewpoints, so be careful. It mostly
centres around Serena and Darien, though and is partially a romance
between them, so if you are looking for something else, go somewhere
else. 

Chapter One. 

_Splash_ a tear falls off the girl's cheek and into the flowing water.
_Splash_ and another, soon followed by more and more teardrops falling
from enormous blue eyes. 

They break my heart. I've always hated to see her cry. My beloved. The
only person that I have ever loved and trusted wholeheartedly no matter
what. I miss her so. I sigh and turn around. I can't risk her or any of
her friends seeing me, especially not the Earth Prince, Darien, I believe
he calls himself now, who often graces these paths with his presence. I
truly wish that I could talk to him though, give him a piece of my
mind. 

No one hurts my Serena and gets away with it. Endymion will pay, I swear
to her that. She can't hear me, but I swear it. And Serena is mine,
although I know her better as Serenity or Sere. I gave her up because I
wanted her to be happy, which I thought he could make her. 

'How wrong a person can be' I think, glancing back once more at my sweet
Sere. I knew her from before she was born. You could say that I knew her
Mother quite well. You see, I am her Mother. I know, I know, I'm
supposed to be dead, but things don't always work out the way you think
they will. I remember the first time I felt her in my arms. Its been a
millennium, an entire millennium since I was able to hear her call me
"Mother." I was so young then. Ah, how time had passed. 

How I wish that I could hold her in my arms again, dry her tears and see
her laugh. The first smile from Sere after tears is the most beautiful
sight that I could see. 

Many times since she was reborn I have wanted to reveal myself to her,
but something has always stopped me. Even when she began to show up as
Sailor Moon I have not been able to approach her. Maybe it is fear. Fear
that she will not know me. Fear that she will not want to know me. 

Sometimes I wonder what it would like to be Sere. All heart, with no
fear of what thew consequences of loving the wrong people could bring.
She just loves everyone. 

The tears have stopped now, I am sure of it. I know my daughter's heart
better than I know my own. But then again, I'm not sure that I know my
own at all. 

I know that they all think I'm dead. I made sure of that. This way I can
watch over her more effectively. Every thing that had happened in her
life I know about. From her first crush to her burst appendix. Of course
I have been there. How could I stay away? She has never realised how
often that I have actually been near her. I was her first nanny. Her
baby-sitter for six years straight. Even her substitute teacher although
she did not like that one very much. 

I would have stayed as her baby-sitter except for the fact that her
younger brother Sammy complained than Serena got all of my attention.
Well of course she did. She's my daughter. I could not tell that to
them, obviously. Ken and Elaine believe that Sere is their daughter. I
guess that is the way I wanted things. 

That is a story this very old woman has to tell. It started about
fifteen years ago. I could feel the increase of dark kingdom energy. I
knew it was time for Sere to be reborn. I started to search around for
her father, my dear Phoebus, my husband and the King of the Sun. The
eldest of our sons was named after him. When I found him, I started
searching for two people to raise her. I knew there was no way I could.
It would be too dangerous for her. Beryl was on my tail and closing in.
It broke my heart to realise that I would lose her again, but it was
necessary. 

I started an affair with Phoebus, but when I found out I was pregnant, I
left him. It broke his heart, I know. It almost shattered mine. My only
comfort was the fact that I knew Sere was on her way. It was all I had
left and I lost that soon enough too. To try and make him happy again I
made sure that he ran in to a lovely red-headed woman that I had met in
the grocery store. Elizabeth, I think her name was. Anyway, he ended up
marrying her and is making a wonderful father to her son Andrew and
their daughter Lizzie. 

When I was four months pregnant I went to the Hot Springs as I needed a
break from Tokyo. City life was really starting to get to me, and my
morning sickness was horrendous. 

When I was there I met a young couple named Elaine and Ken. They had
apparently been married for two years, but had no children as yet. They
were at the Hot Springs for the second wedding anniversary. Tragically, a
few years before, they had found out that Elaine was unable to have
children. I could imagine how hard that would have been for her. 

I knew instantly I wanted them to raise Sere. I befriended them in hopes
of convincing them to adopt my beautiful little girl. 

It worked and I agreed to meet them a month after Sere was due to be
born. To this day I know they still remember that conversation and I
know that I will never forget it. I only pray that when she finds out,
Sere can forgive me for it. 

I remember Sere's birth this time more clearly than the first one and
not because it was more recent. I had decided against a hospital
believing that I would have the power of the moon to heal me. I know now
that the only thing that could have stopped that pain was the Crystal
itself. I was so proud when Sere managed to find it. By the time 36
hours had passed I was screaming, and covered in blood. But it was over.
I was finally holding my little girl again. For a month I never let her
out of my sight and rarely let her out of my arms. I knew it was only a
short matter of time before I had to hand her over to someone else and
lose her forever. 

On the day I was supposed to meet Elaine and Ken I was incredibly
nervous. I had no idea how I was actually supposed to give her up.
Driving back to the hot springs, Sere was crying in the passenger seat
beside me. I think she knew what was about to happen. She always was
very sensitive to my moods. 

I arrived an hour or so before the set time, so I sat down where we had
agreed to meet, by the statue of the Guardians of the Lake. I started
playing with Sere for what I thought could have been the last time. 

Ken and Elaine arrived exactly on time and approached me timidly. I
heard their footsteps, but still I didn't look up. When they were
directly in front of me I finally glanced at them. Looking into Elaine's
fearful eyes, I suddenly felt a spot of calm. I knew this was what was
best for Sere. 

I stood up and handed my baby to Ken. He took her and looked me
searchingly in the eyes. For the first time since they arrived, he
spoke. 

"Are you sure Serenity?" He asked in a soft voice. Sure, no I wasn't
sure. How could I be? But the words I answered him with told a different
story. 

"No. . .yes. Can I ask you to do a few things for me?" "Anything."
Elaine spoke up, hugging me. My best friend. I looked away. This was so
hard to tell them. 

"About fourteen years from now, a female warrior by the name of Sailor
Moon will emerge out of Tokyo. She will be the most powerful being in
the universe." I stopped to gather my thoughts. Ken and Elaine looked
confused. There was no way I could blame them. "This child, and yes, she
will be a child, will be in incredible danger. There is no great
guarantee she will survive. But even if she dies, the number of people
she takes down with her will be considerable." 

"So she's evil, then." Ken said, trying to make sense of the tangled
story I was telling them. I almost laughed at the thought of my sweet
Sere ever being evil. But the time was too serious for laughter. 

"No. She'll be an angel." 

"But you said-" Elaine started. I cut her off. 

"The people she kills will all be evil. It is the job of this young girl
to lead the world back in its true direction. As I said, it is possible
she will die, but not likely." 

"And she has to do this all by herself?" Elaine asked with fear in her
eyes. I wondered if she knew, but quickly dismissed the notion and
answered. 

"No. By her side will be her protector and love, Tuxedo Mask, and her
court, the Sailor Scouts." 

By this time Ken and Elaine were completely bewildered. 

"Do you think. . .you could tell us. . .why we need to know this?" Ken
inquired politely. 

"Serena, the baby you are holding now, will be that child." Ken jerked,
almost dropping the baby. I had made up Serena on the spot. It was the
only thing I could think of that was close to Serenity. 

"Although it will be a lot harder to do if you drop her on her head and
give her permanent brain damage." He looked at me in amazement.
"H-How?" 

"That's not important." I allow myself a small smile as I drop this
bombshell. "But it will have something with a talking black cat with a
crescent moon on her head by the name on Luna." Elaine sat down quickly,
but managed a few words. 

"Her name's. . .Serena?" 

"Yes. I hope you don't mind." 

"Actually," Ken replied, looking at his wife "we were going to name her
Serenity. I suppose Serena is close enough to that." I smiled grimly. If
I had named her Serenity, the dark kingdom lackeys would have been on
her tail before they finished saying the word. I stood to go, then
turned again. 

"Just a few more things." 

"Anything." Ken answered. He had no idea at the time what he was
agreeing to. 

"Thank you. 1. You will never tell her of her destiny. She will discover
that be herself. 2. You must never tell her what you know until 3. You
tell her everything on her 15th birthday. 4. Never question anything.
You know, late nights, unexplained bruises, cut classes, cover for her,
etc. 5. Never let her date anyone other than Tuxedo Mask. He will most
likely go by the name of Darien. Tall, dark-haired, blue-eyed and a few
years older than Serena. Do anything you can to encourage them. Is this
acceptable?" 

"Of course." I knew that Elaine would do it too. 

"Oh, and one other thing." 

"Yes?" 

"As she gets older, she may be drawn to a particularly unusual
hairstyle. Don't say anything about it, OK?" 

"What hairstyle would that be?" I gestured to my own hair, which I had
put up in its traditional odangos. 

"This one." Without another word, I waved goodbye, hugged Elaine and
Ken, kissed beautiful Sere one last time, got in my car and drove away,
my heart breaking more every second. I was wishing desperately that
I had died that day. 

If only the crystal had drained all my energy, and just sent Serena
here, instead of requiring my presence so she could be reborn. . . 

TO BE CONTINUED 



Anyway, that's it for now? What do you think? 

Tell me on mwood95@sghs.nsw.edu.au.

And check out my site at http://members.tripod.com/~Aurora_Moon/index.html.
Anything new will automatically posted there first.