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Chapter 1: Goodbye
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As Serena Tsukino slowly walked up to the black door in front of her, she raised her fisted hand but hesitated. Drawing her hand back to her chest, she closed her eyes and fought back the tears that threatened to form. She shook her head slightly and forced herself to knock, lightly rapping on the wood. She felt the soft taps resonate through her knuckles, almost as if it would be the last time that she ever knocked on this door. Again, she felt the tears come but took a deep breath and made them retreat back to the ducts of her eyes.
She heard the bolt of the lock click and felt a soft gust of wind as the door opened to reveal Darien Chiba's lush, retro apartment. The patio door was open and a breeze was moving through, tranquilly causing the curtains to move with the air. Serena's face beamed with a small smile at the scene but when she met the deep blue eyes of Darien, the light on her face became even more brilliant. His broad shoulders and chest were covered with a light blue, button-down shirt. Blue jeans and boots covered his long legs and large feet. His dark hair was bushy and unkempt, almost as if he had just woken from a nap, calling out for a brush to attack the small knots that were surely lurking in the mane. He smiled back and leaned forward, meeting her lips with his and welcoming her into his home.
"What a nice surprise. How are you today?" Darien asked, as he swept his arm behind him and into the apartment, holding the door open for her enter uninhibited.
"I'm all right. This is going to be a short visit; I just wanted to drop off a present for you."
A comical grin played across Darien's face as he looked on at his pig-tailed love. Her pink dress came down just passed her knees, fitted in the chest and waist with a free-flowing skirt that swayed back and forth with her hips as she moved. A small white shrug covered her shoulders and exposed back with the sleeves extending halfway down her slender arms. The most adorable Mary-Jane's covered her small feet, bucked over small, frilled white socks that were folded over at her ankle. Her blonde hair was up in pig-tails with buns at the top of each gathering that were accentuated with small, pinkish-purple flowers.
He reached for her and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her and resting her body against his, "Why a short visit?" A small pout entered his face, his bottom lip poked out and puppy dog eyes replace his own. Serena could not resist a small giggle.
"Put me down! I'll drop your present!"
For the first time, Darien noticed that Serena was holding a small potted plant in her hands. The same type of flowers that were in her hair rested in the pot that she was trying desperately to balance in her small palm as Darien held her captive, tightly against his chest. He quickly put her down and took the plant from her so that she didn't drop it. Placing it on the short coffee table in the living room, he looked at her questioningly.
"Those," she said, pointing to the plant, "are Forget-Me-Nots." She moved and took a seat on the green couch in front of the coffee table, Darien followed and took a seat next to her.
"I've been thinking lately; and with all of the trouble we get into – I mean, all the evils that we face for the greater good and such. I'm scared that we are going to leave each other too soon, again. I don't want to leave you without a memory of me. So I'm giving you these, so that you…forget me not." A fake giggle escaped her lips and sad smile struck her face, but no matter how she tried she couldn't fight back the tears that had started to form in her eyes.
"Meatball…"
"I have to go! I love you."
Serena jumped up and rushed out of the apartment, not bothering to give Darien a goodbye kiss for fear of him grabbing her and demanding to know what was wrong. She left the front door standing wide open and no matter how Darien tried, he just couldn't wrap his head around what has just happened. Standing, he grabbed his black jacket and his keys and followed Serena's path down the hall.
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Raye Hino stood at the steps of the Cherry Hill Temple sweeping away all the dirt and leaves that, she reminded herself, would only end up there once again in an hour or so. The wind picked up and helped her a little, blowing some of the leaves away and down the steps. The small breeze lifted her raven hair off of her shoulders and neck, giving them a short break from her heavy layers. Standing up straight, in her red and white priestess robes, she looked down at the ground and grew suddenly annoyed with her arduous chore. Raye gripped the broom in her fists and tossed it angrily away. Her satisfaction was interrupted by an irate, "OW!" She spun around to see Serena standing with the broom at her feet, rubbing her head.
"Geez Raye! I know I'm not your favorite person but come on!"
Raye gave a slight giggle as she walked over and picked up the broom. "Silly Meatball Head. Why is it that flying objects always find their way to the top of your head?"
Serena smiled a bright smile and shrugged her small shoulders.
"So, what are you doing here? I don't have any new comics for you to steal and Grandpa's out for the afternoon so no tea and dumplings for you today."
"Actually, I stopped by to say hi." After a quizzical look from Raye, Serena continued with her explanation, "I was running some errands around the corner, it seemed convenient and I hadn't annoyed you today. Flying brooms were not foreseen, but then again, you are the one who can see the future, not me."
Steadying a suspicious eye on the blonde standing in front of her Raye said, "What's wrong Serena?"
Her pointed question caught Serena off guard and she stumbled over her response, "Nothing's wrong…I just. Nothing's wrong, I just brought you a present."
Raye continued to stare at her friend with questions in her eyes. Serena reached into her bag and pulled out a small box. It was covered in burgundy leather with gold trim and a small latch on the outside. Its corners were squared off and pointed and its top was as flat as the bottom "What's this?"
"Well, I've been saving it for your birthday," Serena said, fiddling with the box, "but I couldn't wait any longer! I'm just too excited about how much you're going to love it and I can't keep it a secret for another day!"
Her arm shot out robotically and she dropped the box into Raye's hand. Raye accepted it and turned it over in her hands, examining it carefully. She slowly lifted the tiny latch on the front and pulled the lid up. It swiveled on its hinges and sat upright. Raye's plum eyes slowly examined the object, developing a small twinkle as they did. She slowly reached her fingers into the box and pulled out a small, golden, cherry blossom tree, pendant attached to a simple gold chain. She felt the pendant with her fingertips, beautiful pink, sapphire leaves decorated the thin branches and Raye couldn't help but smile.
"Turn it over," Serena whispered. Her excited murmur floating on the wind and catching Raye's ears.
She obeyed and examined the back where there was something engraved; NEVER FORGET. LOVE SERENA.
"Serena, it's beautiful," Raye breathed. Her eyes were sparkling as she flipped the pendant over and over in her hands. Then a spark jumped in her brain and she shot her head up to stare at the strange girl in front of her, "But wait! My birthday isn't for months! You are the most unprepared person I know! What does 'never forget' mean? This isn't for my birthday! What's going on?"
"I'm glad you like it Raye! I've gotta get going. Happy early birthday. Bye!"
All, Raye could do was watch the pig-tails of her friend bounce up and down in the air as she jogged down the stairs that Raye hadn't finished sweeping yet. Just as suddenly as she had arrived, Serena was gone again and Raye was left confused. She played with the small pendant between her fingers, questions running through her head. Finally resigning to make a few phone calls and tossed the broom away again.
"OW!"
"Sorry Chad!" Raye picked up her pace to avoid the angry rocker.
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Light taps could be heard in the kitchen of Lita Kino's small apartment. Baking equipment, materials and ingredients littered the counters and small table. Lita was in the middle of it all covered in baking powder and flour with a rolling pin, beating some misbehaving dough. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and there were a few slightly discolored spots where run-away-flour clung. A light pink apron covered her long sleeved blue shirt and khaki pants and light pink slippers covered her feet. She continued to remove and replace cow spotted oven mits as she checked on baking cookies.
Repeated taps snatched her attention away from her projects, her eyes focused a bit and she wiped her hands on her apron. Moving away from the kitchen counter, she headed into the living room toward the front door. Taking a quick look through the peep hole, Lita smiled as two familiar blonde buns of hair came into focus.
She unlocked the door, flung it open, threw out her arms and prepared for the bombarding hug attack that would surely occur. She waited three or four seconds then slowly open her eyes; never letting her guard down. Serena stood there meekly, staring at the tall woman in the doorway. Her blue eyes seemed sad and troubled somehow.
"Hey Serena! How's it going?" Lita put as much bright and bubbly happiness into her greeting as she could hoping that it would resurrect the hyper girl that she had come to know and love; but like the hug attack, she never showed up. Only the sad girl who stood in her doorway responded.
"Hey Lita. Got a minute?"
Serena's voice was pleasant enough, happy and bright, as usual. It was strange though, it seemed forced. The hair on Lita's arms and on the back of her neck stood on end as she stepped aside to let Serena through the door.
"What's up kiddo? You seem down." Lita put her arm around Serena's shoulders, giving her a small, half hug.
Serena shrugged as she looked around, "It smells like cookie dough in here." A small grin played across her lips and her eyes seemed to lighten up for a split second.
Apprehensively, Lita pounced, "I'm baking," scenes of her wracked kitchen played before her mind's eye, "you wanna help?" In her head, Lita's oven exploded, "Cookies always taste better when you've made them yourself."
Serena shook her head and Lita let out a small, relieved sigh.
"I can't really stay long. Got an appointment with my mom." Serena danced on her feet, shifting her weight back and forth on her tip toes. Lita noticed her hands were behind her back.
"What are you hiding there?” Questioned Lita as she tried to lean over and peek.
Serena gave a weak smile, "I made you a present. Its funny you were baking today." Lita smiled and waited. She crossed her arms over her chest patiently.
"You remember your first day at Juuban, when we met? You shared your muffins with me."
Lita grinned at the memory and nodded.
"Well, I never did repay you for sharing your lunch with someone you didn't even know."
Lita interrupted, "You were the only one who wasn't scared of the 'karate maniac' who was kicked out and transferred for fighting. The giant girl that no one would come near," she took a breath. "You were my savior."
Serena seemed to get sadder with the proclamation and Lita almost regretted saying it.
"Well, anyway," Serena continued, "you let a complete stranger scarf your food. Not even just a stranger, me, Serena, lover of all things edible; except vegetables. Those are not too tasty," she shook her head for emphasis as she said that last part.
"Anyway, my mom helped me make them. They are no where near as good as yours, but they are the best I could do."
Serena slowly pulled her hands from behind her back, revealing a small basket covered in a pink blanket with cute, little bunnies on it. The blanket was wrapped around something and nestled inside so that the blanket could flip open to reveal the basket's contents.
Lita smiled and took the small package. It was warm in her hands and she could smell the faint scent of chocolate. She wrapped her long, slender fingers around the edge of the blanket and pulled it back carefully. The raised blanket revealed freshly baked, chocolate chip muffins. They smelled marvelous and looked absolutely scrumptious. The bread was golden brown and the chocolate chips looked perfect, not too melted but still soft enough not to be hard.
"Wow, Serena," Lita looked at her incredulously, "you made these?"
"Well, my mom helped. She supervised to make sure nothing exploded. You know me and ovens," Serena gave a quiet giggle. "But I'd better get going."
"You don't want to taste them?"
'First?' Lita added in her head with an inside chuckle.
Serena smiled, "I ate your muffins once, plus everything else you've baked, cooked, grilled, filleted; heck, I've even eaten most of the things you've burned." She paused and put her hand on Lita's shoulder, "These are yours."
She gave Lita a hug, smiled again, and then she was gone. The door clicked closed and Lita felt like she had missed something. There was almost a sad shadow cast over the air, making it heavy; like there was a missed goodbye or something.
The deafening silence was interrupted by a harsh beep coming from Lita's school uniform that was strewn out over her bed. She walked into her bedroom and placing the basket on the side table in the living room as she passed. She walked to her bed, reached into the pocket of her light brown, pleated skirt and pulled out the communicator disguised as a calculator. The small device beeped again and Lita pressed one of the two star buttons on the side to answer it. Raye's face popped up on the miniature monitor almost immediately.
"Hey Raye."
"Lita, there's an emergency meeting at the temple, now. It's important."
"Yes ma'am, be there in a bit."
"Thank you. Raye out."
The screen went dark and Lita tucked the communicator into her pocket. She untied her apron and removed it as she walked out of her bedroom and back into the living room. She draped the cloth over the back of a chair and stared at the basket of muffins as she straitened and fluffed her floured hair.
'I'll be able to talk to Serena again at the meeting. Maybe she'll be able to talk if everyone thinks there is something wrong with her.'
Lita nodded at her thoughts as she walked out the door and started toward the temple.
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Amy Anderson sat upright at a table staring at the complicated math problem on the black board. She would occasionally glance down and jot a note of some sort onto her paper but then would return her gaze to its intense stare at the writing on the wall. She had several books scattered about on the table, completely consuming the top of it. When she would take her notes she would consult the pages of the books, checking and double-checking before actually writing anything down.
She was dressed comfortably for a day of studying. Pressed khaki pants and a white, fitted polo covered her body. Black mules hung off of her toes as she slipped them on and off while concentrating. Her glasses sat on the edge of her nose so that she could see clearly when she glanced down at her books and a black head band held her azure bangs out of her blue eyes.
"Amy!"
The harsh whisper invaded Amy's ears and she looked up quickly. Her startled eyes searched as her hair swished about her head and tickled the top of her neck. Her gaze settled on a small, pig-tailed girl in the doorway of the classroom.
"Hi Serena." Amy sighed with relief.
"Hey." Serena smiled, still whispering. "Can I talk to you out in the courtyard?"
"Sure," Amy said with a smile. She swung her legs out from under the table and walked to the door, following Serena outside.
"You know, you don't have to whisper," Amy said once they were outside under the trees. "It's the weekend, there's no one there."
"Yeah I know, but its still school. While I fail at it quite a bit, I try to be quiet while I'm in there." Serena gave a slight quiver, "Ew. School on the weekend. Bleck!"
Amy giggled a bit and sighed leaving a contented smile on her face, "So, what's up Serena?"
"Oh, nothing much. I just wanted to say hi." Her smile spread wider across her face and in a scheming voice added, "I got a present for you."
Amy just smiled and waited.
Serena's smile erupted into a pout; her bottom lip poked out and her brow furrowed. She stamped her foot, clenched her fists and squealed, "You always take all the fun out of giving you presents. Even on ones you aren't expecting!"
"I'm sorry Serena." Amy apologized in her most calming tone, "You know I'm just not like that."
Serena kicked a small stone with the tip of her shoe and sucked her bottom lip back in. "I know," she whined.
Amy put her hand on Serena's shoulder and sighed. At the touch of her hand Amy saw Serena's face fall deeper into sorrow. Not the fake, forced pouting from before, but real unhappiness that overtook her entire expression. Amy's own face contorted with concern and she tightened her grip on her friend's shoulder.
"Are you alright Serena?"
The blonde's head shot up and she did full turn around from sorrowful to bubbly, "Yeah! I'm fine." She shook her head violently, almost as if she was shaking the sadness away and then turned back to Amy, "Anyway, I've got a present for you!"
Serena sat down on a bench in the courtyard and started pulling her bag open. Amy sat next to her and placed her hands on her knees, waiting patiently. Continuing to rifle through her bag, it was another minute or so before Serena had her hands on what she had been looking for.
With a toothy grin, she lifted her eyes to meet Amy's blue ones. Keeping the object concealed in its bag she said, "OK, hold out your hands and close your eyes."
Amy smiled and obeyed obediently, holding her hands flat out in front of her. She felt the object's weight first. Bulky and solid, not hallow. It felt almost like leather, bumpy and textured. Amy slowly opened her eyes and found in her hands the most beautiful book she had ever seen. Burgundy leather with silver trim, in pristine condition; it was a gorgeous volume of 'Pride and Prejudice'.
"Serena," Amy gasped, "this is absolutely beautiful! It must have cost a fortune!"
Serena scoffed and shoved the idea out of the air with a wave of her hand. "What's a few bucks between friends," she said with a smile. Her eyes lit up as she watched her friend look over the outside and she whispered, "Open it."
After flipping it a few more times in her hands Amy did as she had been told. She slowly pulled the cover up, the spine cracking as bit as the leather gave way to a newly create crease. Inside, written in Serena's horrible scribble, was a small note of dedication.
Dearest Amy,
You are the best friend that a girl
could ever have. Loyal and true,
trustworthy and brave. You have
always been there when I needed
you most, both a friend and as a
guardian. I love you will all of my heart.
This book is a token so that you never
forget my love for you.
With all of my heart and soul,
Serena Tsukino
Amy paused as a small tear slid down her rosy cheek, "Oh Sere—" Amy stopped mid-word as she looked up to find Serena gone. The seat she had been in was now empty, her bag was gone, and Amy was left alone in the small courtyard.
A small chill ran up her spine as she mumbled to herself, "That's strange."
A muffled beep coming from her pocket made her jump slightly as she contemplated Serena's odd and quite disappearance. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her small, pink, communicator and pressed the star button to answer it. Raye's face appeared on the screen almost instantly.
"Amy, there's and emergency meeting at the temple, now. Can you make it? I think we have a problem."
Amy nodded with a reassuring smile.
"Raye out." And with that, the screen went dark.
Amy held the radio in her hand and looked around the courtyard once more for a sign of Serena. With a defeated sigh she clutched her book to her chest and began walking toward the table to gather her books and head for the temple.
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Mina Aino skipped happily along the sidewalk on her way home from the arcade. The new Sailor V video game had come out and, after collecting all her quarters from the week before, she had gone to enjoy a nice, stress-free afternoon of fake-bad-guy-bashing and dime milkshakes in honor of the brand new game's release. Her blonde hair was partly wrapped up in a red bow and what remained free bounced happily up and down, tickling the back of her knees. She was comfortably dressed in a pair of grey shorts and a yellow lined, orange shirt. Her new sneakers cushioned her steps and her ankle bracelet tickled her leg slightly as it rolled up and down on her ankle.
Stopping to wait for a traffic signal to change so that she could cross the road, Mina let out an annoyed groan as the communicator in her pocket began to beep. She hung her head and her arms in resigned defeat for a moment before pulling the small computer out of her pocket and pressing the star shaped answer button to reveal the face of the raven haired girl who was determined to ruin her afternoon.
Mina forced down another groan while forcing a happy smile as she said, "Hey Raye, what's up?" Her chirpy voice annoyed her almost as much as the sure feeling that she was getting that trouble was afoot.
"Mina, there's an emergency meeting at the temple, now."
"What's it about?" Mina asked before she could stop herself. She winced, expecting a blow as a reaction to the small groan that she let slip into her voice.
"It doesn't matter what its about! Just get here!" Raye barked. "Raye out," came a calmer, but still aggravated goodbye.
Mina felt like a fog horn had gone off in her eyes and with a sad sigh, stabbed the button of the communicator with her finger to end the transmission. "There goes my stress-free Saturday."
She did a turn about and started dragging her feet along the ground. As she began her trek she started thinking about the number of evils that Raye could have sensed this week and suddenly snapped out of her sullen stupor as a memory came flooding back to her brain.
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Mina slowly walked down the sidewalk on her way home from school. It was a cool, breezy Friday and the wind kept ruffling her school uniform, making the walk nice and comfortable. Her hair flew in the air, keeping her neck and shoulders nice and cool and the trees rustled, creating a nice, soothing music to walk to.
Her serenity was interrupted by a loud explosion somewhere nearby. The ground shook slightly and Mina opened her eyes and started searching for the source of the blast. Over the wall to her right, about three or four blocks away, Mina spotted a large plume of smoke rising toward the sky.
"VENUS POWER!"
Pulling out her transformation wand and pointing it to the sky, the magic words sprung the orange pen to life. Long orange ribbons shot out of the wand, wrapping around Mina's body as she held the pen high above her head. The ribbons fused together and from the magic emerged Sailor Venus, the beautiful Sailor Scout of love. Her magic sailor suit was white with an orange, pleated skirt and dark blue bow at her chest; a light orange bow sat on her lower back. She had orange shoes with a small heal and an ankle band. The red bow that held her hair still remained in place and a golden tiara accented with an orange jewel was wrapped around her forehead. There was an orange choker clinging to her neck and her arms were adorned with white gloves that had orange trim where they came to a stop at her elbows.
After her transformation was complete she jumped over the fence and race toward the scene of the explosion. She considered calling the other Scouts but decided it would be better to see what they were going to be dealing with before alerting the others to a disturbance.
When she was about half a block away from the smoke she discovered that the source of the blast had come from the park. She slowed her pace a bit as she got nearer to the scene. She could hear faint voices in the not so far distance. She found some bush to hide in and crept, stealthily, through the park.
"What!?"
The voice was high pitched and stressed; directly following the outburst was another crash and what sounded like blades cutting through something.
"Your queen said she would give me a day!"
'Sailor Moon?' Sailor Venus questioned herself as she peaked through the bushes at the scene in the park.
Sailor Moon stood in the middle of the play-ground, face to face with an animated, human sized laying card. It was oblong and flat, with short, stubby legs that came out from the bottom two corners of its body and long arms that came out from the top two corners of it's body. The back of its body was decorated with a complicated, red pattern and on it's front was a black spade with green vines wrapping around the symbol. The Ace of Spades was talking but Sailor Venus was paying attention to the razor sharp, spade shaped blades that the card was holding in its right hand.
"I'm your warning. My Queen doesn't trust you." The Spade's voice was harsh and raspy, he seemed to spit the words that the sailor suited heroine before him.
Her face contorted into an expression of disbelief and exasperation, "How can your Queen not trust me?" Sailor Moon screeched, "I'm the good guy!"
Without warning, the Spade released the blades in its hand and sent them flying toward Sailor Moon. She dodged them quickly, but they clipped her hair flying behind her, Sailor Venus suddenly realized how sharp they really were and decided it was time that she partake in the party occurring before her.
"Venus Crescent Beam Smash!"
The beam of white hot light hit the Spade from behind, making it scream out in agony. The sound resonated through the sky covering the park and bounced of off the trees back and forth over the area what the spade and the two soldiers were. The Spade slowly burned and disintegrated before Sailor Moon's eyes, leaving behind only a small pile of dust. As the ashes settled at Sailor Moon's feet, she could see Sailor Venus standing behind where the Spade had once been.
"What was that about?" Sailor Venus asked as she glanced from the pile of ashes to Sailor Moon and back again.
Sailor Moon shrugged, "I don't know. You know these monsters, they always talk in riddles."
Sailor Moon reached up to her chest and lifted her crystal locket from her bow. Her Scout uniform glowed pink for a second and then the ribbons were retracted back into the locket and her clothes were replaced on her body. Sailor Venus pulled out her transformation wand and followed in Serena's example holding it out at arms length before her, closing her eyes, and concentrating her energy on powering down. Orange ribbons replaced her Sailor uniform and as they slithered away left her civilian clothes in their place.
"I was looking for you anyway, Mina. I'm really lucky you showed up now." Serena said with a smile, motioning toward the dissipating pile of ash. She kneeled down and started going through her pack.
"Yeah, but Sere…"
"Here it is!" Serena interrupted and stood back up. In her hand she held a black, velvet covered box.
Mina raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to the side, "What's that?"
Serena held it out to her, "A present.” Her innocent squeak echoed in the space of the park.
"For what?" Mina asked hesitantly.
"Just look!"
Mina took the box, forgetting for a moment about the monster. She slowly opened the box and looked inside. A small, golden, heart shaped pendant sat on a green, velvet pillow with a light golden chain looped through the eye at the top of the heart. Mina's breath caught and she pulled the necklace from the box.
"It's a locket," Serena informed as Mina continued to examine it.
She pushed her nail under the cap of the pendant and flipped it open.
On the right side there was an adorable picture of Serena and Mina giggling and smiling. On the left side was an engraving; Love Always. Serena.
"Wow! Serena this is beautiful!" Mina exclaimed. She looked up to give Serena a hug but she wasn't there anymore.
"Huh?”
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Mina looked up and was brought back to reality. The realization that she had forgotten something so important because of some video games caused images of Raye stampeding over her crumbled body to dance in her head.
Allowing a small, nervous giggle to escape her lips and scratching her head she said, "I should get some treats for the meeting, to soften the blow a bit. 'Cause when Raye yells at me, it is going to hurt, a lot."
She broke into a steady run as she moved toward the cake shop between the corner she was on and the meeting. She wondered if the others knw what was going on with Serena, maybe the enemy had attacked on of them. She picked up speed a bit as thoughts continued to race through her head.
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"Welcome to Wonderland" copyright 2006 by Bella Luna (beautifulmoon29@aol.com)
Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon, its associated characters and canon, as well as all that is afflilated with the creation, distribution, and promotion of Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon belong to Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha.
The text of this work was created by Bella Luna (beautifulmoon29@aol.com) and is her exclusive property. Not to be used without her personal permission.
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