Missed Opportunities

Part 1

By Charma (neomoonies@hotmail.com)


"I can't believe I got a 35 on this math test.  Mom's gonna kill 
me!" Serena Tsukino groaned, angrily kicking stones out of her way as 
she walked home from school.
	"Cheer up Serena.  It's not like it's out of the ordinary or 
anything.  She'll get over it-she always has before!" Molly said 
cheerily, not very concerned over Serena's failing grade because it 
really wasn't out of the ordinary.
	"But she said that if it happens one more time, she won't let me 
go to the arcade after school anymore!  And that means no Andrew-and no 
Sailor V either!"  Serena wailed.
	 Molly sighed, then checked her watch.  *Just in time,* she 
thought to herself.  "Oh, sorry, Serena, but I gotta go.  My mom's 
waiting for me at the jewelry store.  Don't worry, the thing with your 
mom will turn out okay, you'll see!  See you later!"
	"Bye," Serena responded glumly, looking down at the sidewalk.  She 
continued on her way alone, muttering casual obscenities to herself.  
"Why does Mom even have to see this test anyway?  What she doesn't know 
can't hurt her.  Good bye, worries!"  And with that, Serena crumpled her 
test into a compact ball and pitched it into the air, not caring where 
it went or who it might hit.
	

	Darien ambled along the busy Tokyo streets, not happy, but not 
sad; not angry, but not calm.  Sort of restless.  Almost numb.  He 
seemed to be a detached member of this universe.  Sure, he existed, but 
he didn't really *live;* not to the truest sense of the word, anyway.  
Perhaps he felt like a mere spectator of life's going-ons because he 
didn't know himself.  Ever since his parents' death, he's been an 
orphan, not really belonging anywhere, with no memory of the past 
whatsoever.  And he always felt a tug on his heart that he couldn't 
explain whenever he looked closely at the sky blue color of the sky, or 
the golden brightness of the sun.  It almost reminded him of 
something...someone...
	Coming out of his slight-unconsciousness, Darien became aware a 
white ball of paper speeding his way.  Not really concerned, he easily 
ducked, letting the wad fly over his head and at another innocent 
bystander.  *It's someone else's turn to get hurt this time,* he thought 
to himself, a slightly bitter tinge on his thoughts.      
 	Shaking away these dark notions, Darien smiled wryly to himself as 
he heard a shout, probably from the victim of the wad of paper.  Then he 
heard a shrill voice begin to apologize excessively.  Darien frowned and 
closed his eyes as a small headache suddenly crowded his mind, but then 
it vanished just as quickly as it came.  He relaxed and opened his eyes, 
only to see a beautiful, delicate butterfly perched precariously on a 
blood-red rose of a large rosebush in the midst of the traffic and 
mayhem of Tokyo.  *Exquisite.*


	"Andrew!  I am so sorry!"  Serena shrieked, covering her face with 
her hands in embarrassment.  "I so didn't mean for that to hit you!  Are 
you okay?" 
	"I'm fine, Serena.  I'm fine!" Andrew responded with a grin.  "You 
have got quite an arm, you know that?"
	"Do you think so?" Serena asked eagerly, basking in his praise.  
"Uh, yeah," he answered warily, backing away from her over-eager 
posture.  He hoped she knew he already had a girlfriend.  "Well, I 
gotta get to the arcade or I'll be late for work.  See you around!"
	"Whatever you say," Serena replied dreamily.  She turned and 
skipped happily towards home, reveling in the compliment Andrew gave 
her.  "Good arm, good arm, I have a good arm!" she sang blithely.  
	But since Serena can't skip for long without tripping over 
something, fall she did.  And the cause of the fall?  A black cat with a 
band aid covering its forehead.  
	"Oh look, it's a kitty!" Serena exclaimed, picking it up 
delicately.  "Oh, are you hurt or something?  Let's see what's under 
this bandage."  Serena drew the band aid off the cat's forehead and 
underneath it, she discovered a brilliant crescent moon.  "Wow," Serena 
murmured.  "It's beautiful.  Why do you seem so familiar, kitty?"
	"Because I'm your guardian cat, Sailor Moon," the cat replied.
	Serena stared at the talking cat with wide eyes, and then looked 
around her, frantically searching for other people who might have been 
the source of her answer.  Unfortunately, there was no one around except 
Serena and the strange cat looking intelligently at her.  "Am I 
dreaming?  Whoa, I'm more upset about this math test than I thought I 
was," she said to herself, shaking her head in attempt to clear the 
confusion.
	"No you're not dreaming.  And you should be worried about your 
grades!" the cat responded.  "My name is Luna.  Like I said before, I'm 
your guardian cat.  Nice to meet you, Serena.  I've been looking for you 
for a long, long time."
	"L-l-luna??  I'm going nuts!" Serena cried, and, dropping the cat 
from her arms, speedily made her way home.
	"Wait!  Serena, you have to listen to me!" Luna called, racing to 
catch up.
	Serena got to her house in record time, ran to her bedroom, 
ignoring questions from her mother about her math test, and quickly shut 
the door.  She leaned against it in relief, gasping for breath.  *Whew, 
I lost her.  The heck was a cat doing talking to me??*
	"Hello again, Serena."  
	Serena looked about her in terror and found the cat sitting on the 
window sill.  "You know, if you really wanted to keep me away, you 
should've shut this window," Luna advised, chuckling.  "But now that we 
have some privacy here, you must hear me out.  Never mind the fact that 
I'm a cat.  Just listen to me as if I were a human, okay?"
	Paralyzed at the door, Serena nodded mutely.
	And so, Luna told Serena of the legendary Sailor Scouts and their 
quest for peace and justice.  She explained Serena's role as Sailor Moon 
and then added in the fact that they were searching for the long lost 
moon princess as well.  Serena, of course, didn't believe a word of 
Luna's tale, but Luna challenged her by telling her to try to transform.  
Expecting nothing to happen, Serena held her hand in the air and said in 
boredom, "Moon Prism Power."  Much to her disbelief, a swarm of light, 
sound, and color surrounded her and she felt herself being transformed 
from an ordinary human being into the superhero Sailor Moon.
	"Oh wow!" she squealed.  "I'm Sailor Moon!  I look just like 
Sailor V!"  She danced around her room, making mock poses and faking a 
fight with an invisible opponent.  
	"Sailor Moon!  You have to take this seriously!" Luna scolded.
	"But it's too cool to be serious!" Sailor Moon protested.  
Suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks as she heard a voice call for 
help.  Molly's voice.  "What was that?  Molly's in trouble?  Luna, 
what's going on?"
	Luna looked at Sailor Moon grimly.  "Sailor Moon is needed."
	Sailor Moon looked around her room in uncertainty, and then 
nodded.  "Okay, let's go."
	The pair made it to the jewelry store in time to be witness to 
chaos in the small store.  As Sailor Moon realized the cause of the 
chaos, she began having second thoughts about her destiny as a fighter 
for justice.  "Luna!  Look at that thing!  I'm supposed to fight that 
youma??" 
	"Sailor Moon, you have to, or else these people will be in a lot 
of trouble, your friend included!" Luna shouted.
	"Fine!  I'm going."  Mustering up her small amount of courage, 
Sailor Moon stepped into the store and, with artificial confidence, 
shouted, "Stop trying to hurt these innocent people, creep!  I'm Sailor 
Moon, champion of justice!  I will right all wrongs and triumph over 
evil, and that means you!"
	"Who did you say you were?" the hideous creature drawled.  "Sailor 
Loon?  What a laugh.  Do you think little old you can stand up against 
me, a powerful Negaverse warrior?"  With that, the youma began to 
prepare an attack carelessly, not believing that this Sailor Moon could 
possibly be a threat to her.
	"Luna, what do I do now?" Sailor Moon whispered in panic.  
	"You will know your powers when you need them!" Luna said.
	"I need them now!" 
	"It will come to you!" Luna insisted.  "Just listen to yourself."
	In terror, Sailor Moon backed up until she found herself trapped 
in a corner with the youma blocking her escape.  "Okay.  I'm Sailor 
Moon.  What would Sailor V do in a situation like this??"  
	The youma shot a bolt of energy at Sailor Moon, but she just 
barely got out of the bolt's way.  The beast shot more energy at her, 
and each time, Sailor Moon successfully, but clumsily dodged the attack.  
	The youma made a low growl deep in her throat and began to gather 
a large ball of energy in her hands.  "I've had enough of you, brat.  
This will finish you off!"  
	*What the heck do I do now??* Sailor Moon thought in desperation.


	Crouched outside a window of the jewelry store was maybe Sailor
Moon's only hope just then.  He was a figure clad in black with a top 
hat crowning his head and a mask concealing his identity.  "Whoever this 
girl is, she's not doing too well.  It looks like she could use my 
help," Tuxedo Mask murmured to himself.  *I'm not doing too well either.  
It's got to be bad when you don't even know who you are or where you 
came from,* he thought.
He watched in horror as the monster began to prepare a final 
attack on Sailor Moon.  By instinct, he procured a rose from thin
air and shot it down to the ground below him in an attempt to distract 
the youma.    


	"Luna!" Sailor Moon screamed, frozen in terror.  She looked around 
frantically, searching for a weapon, or something that could save her.  
It was then that she saw Molly's prone body, lying lifelessly on the 
floor.  "Molly."  Sailor Moon felt an intense rage grow inside of her at 
the sight of her broken friend.
	"Moon Tiara Magic!" she shouted, and hurled her tiara at the 
youma.  The tiara intercepted the energy beam that was directed at her 
and destroyed it.  Sailor Moon quickly threw another tiara at the 
youma's heart.  Its impact killed the youma and turned it to dust.  
Sailor Moon stared at the dusty remains with a mix of relief and horror.  
*Did I just kill something?*
	"Sailor Moon, come on!  These people will be okay, but we need to 
get out of here," Luna commanded.
	"Okay, I'm coming!" Sailor Moon replied distractedly.  "Wait, 
what's this?"  She picked up a delicate red rose off the floor.  "How 
did this get here?"
	"Who knows, someone probably dropped it," Luna answered 
impatiently.  "Let's go."


	Tuxedo Mask smiled softly when he saw Sailor Moon take the rose 
with her as she left the store.  "I'm glad it's getting a good home," he 
joked to himself.  
With interest, he watched the exiting pair turn into a dark 
alleyway.  "That Sailor Moon really handled that youma.  It's a good 
thing that the fight wasn't so bad that she needed my help."  It was 
true his pride was a bit injured; neither the youma or Sailor Moon even 
noticed the rose he shot down during the fight.  "But it's just as well.  
I need to figure myself out before I can become allied with Sailor 
Moon,"  he said quietly.  


	Serena climbed into bed that night worn out and tired.  "What a 
day!  First I found out I'm Sailor Moon, then I destroyed a youma and 
saved tons of people, and now I'm grounded because of that stupid math 
test!"
	"You know, Serena, I'm really proud of you.  You were great during 
that fight today.  You've far exceeded my expectations," Luna praised.
	Serena blushed with pleasure but then a frown creased her brow.  
"I don't know, Luna.  I was pretty scared out there.  If I hadn't seen 
Molly lying unconscious, I don't know where I'd be right now."
	"What matters now is that you defeated that youma and are one step 
closer to defeating the Negaverse.  Everyone gets scared, Serena.  Even 
me," Luna admitted.
	"Hmmmm," was all Serena could say in her state of near-sleep.  
"Good night Luna," Serena mumbled.
	"Good night, Sailor Moon," Luna responded, extremely happy and 
content that she had finally found the fighter for justice.  *Serena may 
seem clumsy and irresponsible, but I know I can trust her.  I know she 
can help us.*  Luna purred in her sleep as she dreamt of a world of 
peace.
	Serena, meanwhile, spent her night dreaming of roses, masks, and 
her soul mate, a dark shadow whose face forever eluded her eyes.


	
To be continued...