Melanie Wood This is my first fanfic, so please be nice. Its 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 veiwpoints, 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. Moon Memories Chapter One. _Splash_ a tear falls of the girls 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 friend seeing me, especially not the Earth Prince, Darien, I believe he calls himself now, who often graces these paths with his presence. I really 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 hotsprings 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 hotsprings 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 only 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 hotsprings, 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 giver 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 even 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, thats it for now? What do you think? Tell me on mwood95@sghs.nsw.edu.au Ok, a list of my favourite authors. This is just in case anyone is reading this. Lianne - totally the Queen of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask Romance! Fushigi Kismet - Past Loves is totally the greatest! Razzz - Man to Man really made me think at times. Sailor Jes - Always Watching You is my favourite Silver Millennium so far! Andrew M Hujsak - I love the "What if..." and he writes it so well! And finally, Sue Mei, my absolute favourite fanfiction writer. Read all her stuff NOW! Ok, thats about it for now, but I will come up with more, I promise! ....