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Moon Over Chicago by Horosha

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Series Title: Moon Over Chicago

Created by December Lewis, Chivon Ruddock and Horosha

Written by December Lewis and Horosha

Disclaimer: "Sailor Moon" is the property of Naoko Takeuchi,
Kodansha Ltd. and Toei Animation Ltd. As such, I'm getting
no compensation for writing this fiction other than my own
enjoyment and to bring pleasure to the fans of this wonderful series.

If you have any comments, our e-mail addresses are:

http://V_Bashaw@hotmail.com

http://cemberl@yahoo.com

I also want to thank December Lewis for deciding I'm good enough to
work with her and create this series. I would also like to than Amy and
Fate Testarossa for inspiring me once more.

WARNING: Moon Over Chicago is a violent series with adult situations,
slang and bad language. As such, this series is rated R and anyone under
the age of fourteen should get parental approval before reading it.

Interlude

She was in the garden again.

That thought floated through her head as she sat on the beautiful
marble bench. As she always did when she was in the garden, she looked
around her. It was clearly evening, but the garden still looked serene.
White roses and calla lilies grew in various areas. White stone paths led
to other areas of the garden. Fountains could be heard trickling in the
background. The garden always seemed as familiar as it was peaceful; it
was how she knew she was dreaming. Nothing in this serene existed on
Earth.

She wasn't a stranger to this dream garden. She started seeing it in her
dreams when she was ten years old and had seen it regularly since.
The garden wasn't in every dream she had, but it appeared in all of her
life changing dreams. It was in this garden that she found the rosary
and habit that helped her realize the religious calling on her life. It was
in this garden that she saw the vision that led her to be in the church on
that fateful night. Given all of that, the young girl focused her attention
on the garden and its surroundings. God was trying to tell her something.

As she looked around the garden, her eyes stopped at the center of the
courtyard in which she sat. A beautiful light, pure and peaceful, was shining
in the center of the courtyard. Amazingly, it wasn't hard on the eyes. In fact,
the soothing nature of the light gave the young dreamer hope. She felt like she
could look at the light for hours and enjoy her rest.

But she wasn't given the opportunity. Soon, birds of prey noticed the light as
well. From out of nowhere they became swooping down from the sky, trying to
destroy the light. A few of these birds seemed to be determined, not so much to
destroy the light, but to take it for themselves.

"No!" the girl heard herself shout as she rushed to try and shoo away the crows and
vultures, "No. Leave this light alone. Go away!"

Yet, for all of this shouting and shooing, the girl quickly weakened. As she sank to
the ground in front of the light, she heard a deep voice say, "Protect the Light. Find
and protect the Light."

Suddenly awake, the girl shot out of bed. Pushing her dark black hair out of her face,
she shivered. What did that dream mean? What was the light and how was she supposed
to find it, much less protect it? "Madre de Dios," the young girl whispered as if in prayer. Sure at this point of not being able to get back to sleep, she climbed out of her bed. Finding the last gift her mother had given her, a rosary, the young girl decided to spend the rest of the night in actual prayer. If nothing else, this would give her a few moments of peace.
********

The Flight of the Valkyries was the ring tone that came from the cellphone in District Attorney Kerwin Lafitte's pocket. The stocky man's eyes looked up and took a moment to look around his office before he reaches in and pulls out the device and opens it, "Lafitte speaking."

"Bad Moon Rising," it was a password and the blue steel-eyed man touched the scrambler button on his custom-made phone, "You can speak freely, Chief Detective."

"Our first Sailor Moon sighting might have just occurred, Mr. Lafitte," the DA's eyebrows lift but then noticed the sour tone from the police officer, "some Shadow scrum dropped a possessed UPS man in the middle of a residential section of our town and he attacked a girl."

"The girl survived the attack?" the fifty-year-old man leans forward in his chair. To get the identification of Sailor Moon this early in the campaign against the Sailor Scouts would be a stroke of luck.

"Yes," the sound of a notebook being flip open could be heard, "a Mary Eve Baker, age 15, called Molly by her friends, was found unconscious in the kitchen of her parent's home along with a severely injured Donald Gibson, an UPS man, who was also unconscious." The man pauses to wet his lips, "when revived by the police officers answering the nine-eleven call, the dazed girl told them she was attacked by Gibson and her life was saved by woman she identified as Sailor Moon."

"What is Gibson's condition?" the concern in his soft voice wasn't for the attacker's health.

"He is going to die on the operating table even through the paramedics were able to stabilize his vitals while in transit."

Lafitte smiled at the chilly finality of the senior detective's tone, "Are we sure it wasn't this Baker girl who defeated the possessed man?"

"Yes, Mr. Lafitte, there are several witnesses in fact."Another pause and noise of papers, "Amber Terrance, a teenage student walking home from school saw a platinum-haired woman in a magical girl costume go crashing through the Baker's front window," a third pause, "and the woman, who made the nine-eleven call, Phillis Ann Fraiser, also saw a young woman with silvery hair and a gaudy costume running around in the Baker's front yard."

"No one saw her leave?" Lafitte looks up at his office door.

"The officers found the back door open so it is possible that Sailor Moon left that way," there seems to be a note of satisfaction in the detective's voice.

"You are glad she nailed Gibson, Mr. Folks?" the gray-haired man couldn't help be amused by how the Chief of Detectives' passion for police work would supplant his duties as a Master.

"Anyone who cleans up the shit the Shadows do gets my vote of approval," certainty rings in the detective's words, "Oh, we not going to be able to make Baker disappear either, her boyfriend is the son of two of my best officers."

"Does she glow?" the man in the three-piece suit frown.

"Like a light bulb," there was a shrug in that voice.

"Are the investigating detectives under our control?" something about the way the Chief of Detectives attitude worried the DA.

"One is the mother of Baker's boyfriend and her partner is a by-the-book kind of man."

The man combs his hand through his graying hair, "Are we one-hundred-percent certain that this is Sailor Moon and not Sailor V," this was probably the one and only time he hoped it was the cursed blonde.

"A police artist has done a composite picture of our rescuer and her hairstyle is different from Sailor V," the sound of a door opening, "and Sailor V's MO is kill first, ask questions later," a long pause before he added, "plus Gibson was exorcized, freed from his possession."

Lafitte didn't go pale at the news, how can you when you have expected this news to come sooner or later, "So we have a new Sailor Scout, who might be Sailor Moon."

"True, Mr. Lafitte," Mr. Folks tone turns thoughtful, "we could be dealing with another Sailor Scout trying to confuse us like Sailor V did when she first appeared in London."

"And we won't know for sure until we have her corpse hanging on a cross," his gray eyes like marbles, "even thou Sailor Moon is the only one who can perform exorcism."

"Unless this group of Sailor Scouts have a new winkle . . . " his words stop as another voice interrupts the detective. This pause last longer before the detective started up again, "I need to go now, Mr. DA, we've a new sighting of Sailor V in Chi-town."

The Master groaned and shook his head, "It looks like the chickens are coming to roost," he stared up the ceiling before adding, "just keep me up-to-date of any new developments so we can present a detailed report at the next council meeting."

"Will do, sir."
********

A young woman lay curled up on the bed of a room in an apartment in a cheap hotel behind Dante's Inferno, one of several juice bars in Evanston that feature the rock music scene. Her long hair spread over her face, neck, her shoulders and most of her chest in an onyx shroud, leaving only it's ends spilling over her slowly raising and lowering tanned breasts, her dark nipples peeking out. Reclined next to her is a range-haired man with a cigarette dangling from his slack jaw, his expression shows a faraway look and he holds a twelve-string guitar against his chest, his hand slowly picking out a tune.

"She is here."

The man's soft brown eyes look away from the guitar, it was the shadow hiding in the darkness of the bathroom that he stared at, "What happened?"

"She freed a man possessed by one of our minion," the voice had the quality of dried leaves crackle underfoot.

"How can you be so certain?"

"Only the Instrument of Peace has the power of exorcism," only if you looked hard enough could you see the empty darkness within the empty room.

"Unless the Sailor Scouts have evolved like they did on the Moon Kingdom and the other sky kingdoms," he tossed the words out carelessly as his left hand drifts down and gently combs back the hair out of the woman's face.

"It is as she said it would be," the voice seemed to show no reaction to the man's counterpoint.

The young man nodded, his old eyes stare into the woman's onyx orbs, her gaze glazed over by what was in her blood, coursing through her brain, "Correct"

"She should be eliminated soon," the gloom around the glow of the light bulbs sharpened as the presence move from the bathroom, "she could be one of them," for the first time the voice showed emotion, hate.

"No," lazily his hand moves to the strings of his guitar, a couple of beautiful notes fill the smoky air and the darkness suddenly shivered, "she is our edge against the Masters," his fingertips call up another enchanting cord and the shade dropped to the floor, "and if she is indeed a Sailor Scout then she could be our way of controlling them," his other hand surrounded the neck and the tenor of his next pluck caused the woman next to him to coo in her drugged state, "Understand?"

The harmonic sound had the desired effect, the creature of the hollow life crawled back into the bathroom, its voice full of pain, fear, "Understood, Nightwing."

The man waited until the pitch black of the other room lost the smell of the Pit, then he turns her attention back to the woman next to him, his hands once more putting away the musical instrument and gathering the woman into his embrace. A soft giggle escapes her lips as she softly nuzzled his chest, "Coyote . . . Totem Spirit . . . guide . . . " her bottomless eyes close, her breathing slowed.

Maybe it was a trick of the smoky light, the heavy heat of a closed room, the man's features angular, narrow, predatory, "Keep thinking that, my pet," his smile wolfish despite his hand stroking her ebony hair tenderly, "listen to your owner's voice."
********

Chapter Two: The Bitter Fruit of Victory

Location: Guerisser Residence

It was not easy for Serena to get up the next morning. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the afternoon before play out in her mind. She saw her new friend, scared and tied up on the kitchen table. She saw the twitching UPS man bleeding on the floor after she had hit him with a frying pan. It was difficult for the young girl to get through the rest of the night because she had no idea of the condition of the possessed man. If he died, it would be her fault.

Sleeping was even harder, for when she slept, she saw different endings to her first battle. Sometimes she was too late and she saw her friend dying on the floor. Other times, she didn't hear Luna giving instructions and she ended up killing the possessed attacker. Or, she didn't get away in time and she was shot by the police. That one had her shaking for a few minutes after she woke up.

Given her restless sleep, she was up early the next morning in a rather subdued mood. She surprised the whole family by being awake early enough to actually eat breakfast with the family before school. And although her mother and father were clearly worried about her behavior, neither pushed for information, for which Serena was grateful.

As the teen left the house that morning to walk to school, she pulled out one of her most treasured possessions, her grandmother's rosary. Her grandmother had given Serena the pearl rosary, which she had received at her confirmation, for Serena's first communion. Ever since receiving it, Serena had treasured the pearl rosary and had often used it at times when she was really troubled, as she felt the presence of the Virgin Mary as well as her beloved grandmother when she used it.

And Serena was really troubled that morning.

Standing in front her house, she kissed the cross that is her family heirloom and began the Apostle's Creed.

"I believe in God, the Father Almighty."

A lot of yesterday came down to a sense of disbelief. Oh, she believed in God, but she hadn't believed in magical warriors in sailor suits until she became one. She really wanted to believe that all this Fallen stuff was some bad dream, until she walked by the darkened house of the Bakers. Molly's parents had rushed to the hospital after they had heard what had happened to their daughter and they still
hadn't returned home. The quiet house with its shattered picture window marked by police tape, as was the kick-in door, seemed to tell its own disturbing story.

She remembered the police breaking down that door as she reverted back to her normal self, she remembered watching them from her bedroom window as the sound of the ambulance filled her eyes before she saw it and she remembered as the polite knock upon her front door once Molly was carried away by the men in white while a second ambulance appeared for the UPS man. She opened the door and faced the two police detectives, both in their conservative suits and serious expression. Once she let them in and all three were seated, it was then the questions came as she knew they would but she can't stop herself from bursting into tears, holding Luna tight in her embrace, as she told the police officers lies after lies.

No, she hadn't heard Molly's screams. She was in the bathroom, taking a shower.

No, she hadn't seen anyone leave the Baker's home. She was in the bathroom, taking a shower.

No, she hadn't known anything was wrong at Baker's home until she saw the police arriving.

Forcing herself to continue down the street toward her school, Serena reached the first pearl bead in the rosary and started Our Father phrase. When she reached the phrase, "Who art in heaven," her heart seemed to ache. Ever since Luna first told her about her "calling," it had been anything but heaven. She could still hear Luna telling her that the Fallen were looking for her, killing anyone they thought might be the Instrument of Peace.

At the end of the block, Serena had reached the second bead. More desperate than before for comfort, she began to whisper the first of three Hail Marys, "Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee."

Besides being worried, the teen realized she also felt alone. This other sailor that Luna mentioned aside, she was facing a slew of monsters and evil with just a talking cat by her side. She also couldn't talk to anyone about what she was facing. Assuming the person even believed her words, sharing this information would just put them in danger. Wouldn't it? Would it be worth risking it if she wasn't so
alone?

By this point, Serena had reached the school grounds, something she was only barely conscious of. Although the air was filled with the petty concerns and prattling conversation of high school students, she didn't hear any of it, so focused was she on the second Hail Mary.

As she uttered, "pray for us sinners," for the second time that morning, the sensitive teen almost started to cry. She had severely injured, possibly even killed a man, unnecessarily. Thou shalt not kill was definitely a commandment and she didn't think about what possible options there were before she bashed the possessed man with a cast iron frying pan.

On her third Hail Mary now, still searching for peace, she uttered the phrase "now and in the hour of our death," and froze. Death. She almost caused several deaths. As she closed her eyes, she was back in Molly's kitchen, with Luna looking at her accusingly.

"Your indecision almost got your friend killed, think about it," the sound of the front door being kicked in echoed throughout the house, "now Move!"

She almost got Molly killed. Molly was attacked, and based on other things that Luna had told her, this was just the beginning.

Someone once told her that the hardest thing to do was to praise when you were in pain. She didn't really understand what that meant until today. It was very hard to start the Glory Be in her frame of mind, but she managed. She had gotten as far as invoking the name of the Holy Spirit when she walked into an obstacle.

Blinking, the teen looked up to see a familiar face that looked a little worried. "Girl, I called you three times and you didn't seem to hear me," the tall redhead said, "If figured if I stepped in front of you, you'd at least see me."

"Oh! I'm sorry, Lita," Serena said apologetically, "I really didn't hear you."

"That's okay. Obviously your head was somewhere else," the taller teen replied. For a second she looked at Serena as if to say something, and then appeared to change her mind, "Hey, look. Why don't we have lunch together again today? I tried this new dish last night . . . and I could use some feedback on it. So, up for it?"

"Oh-oh, yeah sure! I'll see you at lunch," the blonde teen smiled a few seconds later than she should have, in her friend's opinion. As they separated to stop by their lockers, the taller girl decided that she would need to keep an eye on her friend that morning. Something was definitely up.
*******

Location: Room 222 Japanese Language Class

It took most of Serena's willpower just to remember where her favorite class was and make it to her desk before her energy level took a nose dive and she flops onto her chair, her head seeking out the comfortable darkness of her folded arms upon the top of her wooden desk.

"Ohayo, Odango-kun."

It took a minute for everything to click in Serena's gray matter or her muffled voice to say, "Ohayo, A.." she stopped herself, remembering the class rules just in time, and lifted her head to give Ami a tired smile, "Ohayo, Idzumi-kun." The mushy feeling in-between Serena's ears kept her baby blues locked on the big brass belt buckle that held the four-layered black skirt her friend wore, tiny white outlines of teddy bears and 'Skirts for Kids' printed on the fabric.

"You don't look well, Odango-kun, do you worry about Molly-kun?" Ami's expression seemed neutral yet the way the three layers of chrome alum ruffles hang from her long-sleeved black sweater, Serena could tell the goth girl was leaning forward a little. Was Ami concern?

Serena gave Ami another feeble smile, "Hai . . . Idzumi-kun," she wasn't surprised a brain like Ami would know about Molly's situation, the attack was all over the news, "Molly-kun is my first friend and
I haven't heard . . . "

Just then Mr. Takei comes into the schoolroom, which kills the buzz of talk in the room and sends the students to their desks and chairs. What caught everyone's attention, including Serena's sleep weak eyes, which caused her to jerk her body to rod straight, was the earthy young lady following the teacher into the classroom. It was the one she saw at the school meeting, standing on the podium with the
teachers and the principles. She tried to remember the name, it was on the tip of her tongue but lack of sleep made her forgetful.

"Miss Guerisser."

The blonde immediately focused on the Japanese teacher, "Hai?"

The black-haired man motioned to the lady with the turquoise hair band that pulled her raven hair back over her small ears, the lady's eyes shielded by an expensive pair of mother-of-pearl sunglasses, "This is one of our school councilors, Miss Wynona Tempus."

Even in her sleepy state Serena was able to stand, "Konnichi . . . " she catches herself when she sees the puzzled look on those beautiful features, "Good morning."

Wynona smiles, showing her even teeth, "Morning, Miss Guerisser," there was an unusual accent to her words, "the vice-principal has asked me to discuss with you about how you feel about what happened to Miss Baker."

The young body under her clothes tensed but she nods, "Alright, ma'am," she picked up her book bag while the taller woman moved toward the door.

"Don't worry, Serena, I'll give you a copy of my notes when we meet in the biology class," the blonde blinked when she heard Ami's offer, she smiled at the ivory girl before she moves to join the tanned woman at the door.

There was a rummaging of Serena was doing with her memory as she followed Native American down the hallway, her wandering gaze finally got her to notice how every inch of the young woman's body was covered by long-sleeved, reddish brown blouse, matching slacks and heelless brown shoes. They entered the school's office, a busy place with secretaries and other school councilors moving about, and the two go into Wynona's office where the tanned lady picked up the folder that has the teenager's name on it.

"I wear gloves because I have a skin condition," Serena didn't realize her baby blues were staring straight at the taller woman's hands, now noticing the brown leather gloves on those long-fingered hands.

"Opps! Sorry about that," she puts her backpack on the floor next to the chair she sits down on, "I didn't mean to stare."

"It's alright, I get that a lot since I've moved off the reservation" Wynona sits down behind her desk, opening the folder, her eyes scan the contents before she looks up. Her expression is polite, "I want to let you know that Miss Baker will be released from the hospital late this afternoon."

A wave of relief swiped the tired depression from Serena's mind, "Thank God."

Wynona returns the nod, "The hospital called here to inform us of the condition of Miss Baker, one of our students," she crossed her arms, "which leads me to my first question, Miss Guerisser . . . "

"Please, Miss Tempus, could you call me, Serena," the blonde knew she was taking a risk, "I've never been one for formal conversations."

"Only if you call me, Wynona," another polite smile from the young lady, "Now tell me, Serena, how do you feel about your classmate being attacked?"

The shift in gears put an icicle into the blonde's soul, "Yes, Wynona," she sits more upright in the chair, "Well . . . really badly because Molly lives next door to me yet I didn't hear her screams because I was in the shower," got to keep her story straight.

"You slept well last night?"

"Awful actually, I couldn't forget the sight of Molly being taken out on the stretcher."

"Did you have any dreams?"

"Yes . . . " now she was in a pickle, and the teen bit her lower lip. Could she lie to this lady and make it believable? "I was at Molly's grave . . . putting flowers on her grave . . . feeling hollow inside."

"I see," Serena's nervousness didn't go away, the sunglasses perched on Wynona's nose stopped her from telling if her fib was accepted or not. "Did you feel glad it was Molly's home instead of your home that the attacker entered?"

"NO!" The odango girl was already halfway out of the chair before her hands clench the armrests, stopping her cold. Wynona's reaction to Serena's outburst was to give the student a mild look, making the blonde feel even more guilty, "Sorry . . . ma'am . . . Wynona," she lowered herself back into the chair.

"That is alright, Serena," she gives a slight nod, "these questions are meant to get a reaction from you so I can learn if you need help and what kind," her eyes glance down at the folder on her desk, "for example I'm sure that your immersion into a formal education system has been a major cause of stress in you."

"Huh?"

A couple of blinks from the blonde caused the raven-haired woman to broaden her smile, "I mean that going to school with other students must be a downer at times."

"Oh, that," Serena relaxed once more, "It's new, yes, but being around others my age is a blast," she gave an eager nod, "and I've been in much more crowded places that this before."

"Like Calcutta?"

"Oh, yeah!" she leaned to one side, her usual bright smile firmly in place, "and Bombay and Beijing and Hong Kong before my parents took me and by brother up into the Yukon Territory."

"It must have been dangerous to live in those places?"

"Well, any place is dangerous if you don't understand the rules of survival."

"And you do?"

"Yep!" Serena counted off on her fingers, "One: Don't talk to strangers. Two: Never walk by yourself, always walk with your friends or parents. Three: Be sure of your surroundings. Four: Be sure of what you are eating. Five: Show respect to other people's culture and traditions."

"You seem wise for your age, Serena?"

Sarcasm? Praise? It was so bloody hard for Serena to tell because of those dark lenses shielding her councilor's eyes, "Me? Wise?" a bark of laughter from the teen, "Nah! Just my parents making sure their daughter knew how to handle herself when they were busy with their work," she decides some humble pie was called for, "besides my parents always made sure me and my brother had a nanny when we were in a big city."

"Did you help your parents with their projects?"

"Yeah, once I got older but later I helped take care of my brother, Samuel."

"Did you resent taking care of your younger sibling?"

"Nope, I enjoyed taking care of Sammy," her tendered smile quickly changed to a pout, "he only later became a royal pain in the you-know-what."

"I see," the raven-haired girl closes the folder before she holds out a hall pass to the blonde, "I think that is all for now, Serena."

Serena blinks. Is that all the questions? She was expecting a grilling similar to the one the police gave her, "Eh . . . okay," standing up she takes the offered slip of paper.

A loud caw coming from the blinder-covered window caused Serena to fumble the slip of paper, exclaiming, "Ack!"

"Buffalo Pea," a frown upon Wynona's lips as she goes to the window, "bad bird," pulled the blinder up, "you scared Serena."

"A raven?" Serena had seen plenty of ravens and crows in her life and more since arriving here at Evanston, it was she hadn't noticed the window behind the blinders was open. Then comes a flutter of black feathers and another raven, slightly smaller than the first raven landed on the ledge, "Two ravens?"

"Oh, I see you brought your girlfriend with you," the gentle stroke of the big raven chest showed no fear before she turns to the curious blonde, "Serena, this is my pet, Buffalo Pea, and his mate, Moon Glow."

Serena can't think of anything more than to give the two black birds a little wave, "Hi there."

Buffalo Pea cawed again while Moon Glow flew between Wynona and Serena to land on a wooden pole that Serena had originally assumed was a coat rack. The blonde takes a step toward the small raven, who was now taking what looked like jerky from a small bowl. She wasn't looking at the bird, her eyes were locked on the intricate images she saw: doves, apples, lambs and a face?

"Caw!"

"Ah!" Serena's hands are up to protect her face from the claws and beating wings of Buffalo Pea as the bird flew into her face.

"Buffalo Pea!"

At once the raven broke off its attack to land on the bird perch next to its mate, the creature's beady eyes stare at Serena, cawing at the blonde, the warning is quite clear to her. The teen looks at her hands and forearms, sighing at seeing for scratches on them.

"I'm sorry, Serena, Buffalo Pea is protective of his mate," she gives the indignant raven a cool glare.

Serena smiles politely, "It's alright, Wynona, with the amount of time I've had around wild animals I should know better," she flipped open a compact she took out of her backpack, and more relieved to see from her reflection on the lid's mirror that her face was untouched.

There was a dismayed look on Wynona's lips, "I've had the two ravens since I was a child," her hand gently ruffled the male raven's breast features, "and growing up on the reservation has left me a little jaded when it comes to how others react to them."

"Because the raven is a sacred bird," the blonde still couldn't read the raven-haired girl's eyes but the language spoke volumes, "North America isn't the only place where they are so honor."

A slight nod comes from Wynona, "Indeed," she then picks up the slip of paper Serena dropped and gave it to the teen once more, "Just remember that I'm here to answer your questions and offer advice," Wynona stands up and holds out her hand, "I want you to feel I'm someone you can trust."

"I will, Wynona," the young girl leaves the councilor but as she walked down the hallway, going back to her Japanese class, she was still seeing the images of the carved pole and the face up near the crossbeam that was used as the perch. The face didn't look like Serena's although it did look European, yet there were the twin hair buns above the face and the way the two ponytails flow from them, twisting around and becoming the pole itself, with the animals resting in the locks.
********

Third Period: Room 322, Biology Class

The bell for the next class rang as Serena entered the Japanese class so she didn't get much chance to say anything to Ami except to get the notes from her classmate, say thanks and head for her English class. The English teacher gave her a list of books to select from for her first book report as well as give her a list of words to look up and memorize for Friday's test.

At entering her Biology Class, the blonde raised her hand to give Ami a wave but the gesture lost all of its heart at the sight of the empty seat next to Melvin. She knew Molly was safe, she knew her friend was alive, but it looked so wrong not to find the redhead sitting next to her boyfriend.

"Hi, Serena," Serena blinked at the goofy grin on Melvin's face and he held out his cellphone to the blonde, motioning for her to take it.

Serena took the phone, looked at the tiny screen and burst out laughing, and she laughed and laughed and laughed, tears of joys trickling down her rosy cheeks as she struggled to her seat on plop down, her hand still holding the tiny machine. Already seated next to the tickled-pink blonde, Ami's owlish expression had a sapphire sparkle in her bottomless eyes. It was a normal reaction that even got to
Andrew when he came from his desk to investigate the disruption after the school chimes go off, he chuckled as he read the words on the screen while bending over Serena's shoulder.

The words? Simple:

MOLLY: GO GET THEM, TIGER!!!

It felt so good to laugh, for Serena, to feel her anguish spilt from her eyes and hear the sounds of cheer around her, she is even able to let out an aww when Andrew said, "Now, class, time for me to teach and for you to learn."

"Here you go, Melvin," Serena gave the phone back to the brown-haired teenager, "and thanks a lot," she then gave the boy a puzzled look, "but why the message from Molly? Didn't you see her this morning?"

"When I got there, Molly was still sedated in a deep sleep," Melvin takes the cellphone from Serena, "and they wouldn't let me see her because I'm not a family member."

An icy finger once more ran down Serena's spine. What if the Fallen were trying to pump Molly of what she knew of Sailor Moon or try to brainwash her, but then she remembered the message, "So this is Molly's way of letting you she's doing fine."

Melvin nods and turns his attention back to the front of the class as did everyone else focused on Andrew as he begins his lecture. For the first time since the combat Serena felt better about what she did, but as she listened to her teacher and wrote down her notes, she would occasionally glance over at Ami. She couldn't help but be attracted to the blatant way the super genius held herself apart from the rest of the student body. Then there was the laptop that Ami had with her, a Sony, and the way her pale hands move over the keyboard at an incredible speed. Serena had seen office personnel do the same thing but only a few could match Ami's speed or skill, not one word on the bright screen was misspelled.

The class bell chimed and Serena began to put her notes away when Ami spoke up, "Here is a copy of my notes from our Japanese language class," the blonde looked up to find the goth girl holding out a CD case to her.

"Thanks, Ami," Serena takes the CD, "I hope I can return the favor to you soon."

"But there is something else you want to ask me, isn't there," a blank look appeared on the odango girl's face, "at least that is what your tone told me."

"Oh, yeah!" Serena giggled softly as she stood up, "I didn't know I was being so obvious about my curiosity about you, Ami."

"Why don't you ask Melvin?" Ami looked over her shoulder at Melvin, "I'm sure he has most of the answers," the gaze got the bespectacled teen to make tracks to the door.

"No-no," Serena waved her hands in mock surrender as she was reminded of what happened to Melvin's science project, "it isn't anything I really need to know," she picks up her backpack and walks with Ami toward the door.

"You can ask, Serena," Ami's words caused the blonde some surprise, "I really don't have anything to hide."

"Really?" the sound of Ami's black army boots matched her nod, "My questions could be too personal."

"Like the reason why I'm so pale yet don't have pink eyes like an albino." The blonde's jaw dropped open, "No, it's not mind reading either," an air of superiority crept into the goth girl's words, "just deductive reasoning."

"Oh," Serena couldn't tell if she was relieved or disappointed, instead she asked, "so the answer is?"

"I suffer from a genetic defect similar to vitiligo," the blonde couldn't help but noticed how the students gave them a wide berth, well as much as a crowded hallway could, "I have no skin pigmentation, which also means I need to be fully clothed whenever I go outside to prevent severe sunburn," they reach Ami's locker first, "but unlike albinism I don't have white hair nor pink eyes although I do need to wear sunglasses when outside."

"Eh . . . " Serena's tone showed some concern, "doesn't it get hot wearing all these clothes during the summer?"

"I'm use to it, Serena," Ami opens her locker and retrieved her lunch bucket, "just as I'm use to students avoiding me like I've got AIDS."

"I don't," Serena puts on her patient smile, "I think you're the cat's meow, Ami."

Ami's head moved slightly forward to stare deeply into a pair of baby blues, her soft words reaching her classmate, "I hope you say the same thing on Christmas Eve." Was there hope or pessimism, belief or deduction? Serena couldn't tell what was in those lake blue eyes. The clang of the locker and her vision cloaked by a braid of raven hair caused the blonde to blink, snapping the blonde out of her
musing, "I see you in PE, Serena."

Serena opens her mouth, wanting to say something to Ami, something witty or insightful even to the back of the leaving girl, but a new voice spoke before she could, "Yo, Serena!"

"Hi, Lita," the aftereffects of Ami's last words show on Serena's face.

"Whoa, GF," coming up Lita had seen the tail end of the previous discussion, "did the school genius smack you down?"

"Sort of," Serena gives one more glance in the direction the goth girl had gone. "Well, let me get my lunch and we can find a place to eat."

"Yeah, hopefully we won't have to play dodge ball at the same time," Lita gave Serena a wink as she followed the blonde. The giggle coming from Serena lightened the mood, "Now that sounds more like the spark plug I met yesterday."

"Thanks," Serena smiled before she sighed, "It's just one of those days," they reach her locker, "what with Molly being attacked yesterday and the police asking me questions," she opened the lock, "I've been in and out of the dumpster all day."

"I noticed," Lita held her lunch bucket with both hands in front of her.

Serena pulled open her nodded, "Sorry about that, Lita, heaven on my mind sort of thing," she takes her lunch bucket out before facing her friend, "So where do we eat?"

"Follow me, GF," Lita leads her friend to the stairs and they begin to go up.

"We're eating in one of the classrooms?" Serena didn't sound trill with the idea, three walls and windows she was getting enough before and after lunch.

"Nope," Lita pointed up with her right forefinger, "higher"

"Oh," Serena's eyes perk up. Up, up, up and then a single door which Lita opens to the main building roof, "Cool!"

"You like?" Lita grins, the gravel of the flat roof crunched under their feet.

"Just like in an anime!" Serena is almost hopping as she noticed the edge of the roof is lined with a twenty-feet storm fence.

"I thought you might like it," Lita sat at one of the several sets of steel tables and matching chairs, "although you can't move the tables or chairs."

Serena saw what Lita meant, iron rings around the table legs and the chair legs held them firmly to flat blocks of concrete, "No lie," she planted herself next to the redhead, "Andre the Giant you have to be to lift one of those."

"Andre the Giant?" Lita opened her lunch bucket, "Who?"

"You mustn't be a wrestling . . . " Serena interrupted herself as her nose picked up an aroma, "aw . . . is that what I think it is?"

"Yep!" Out of Lita's lunch bucket came silverware, her thermos and three containers of various sizes, "New Orleans sausage gumbo, hot spiced cider, shrimp salad and rum drizzled angel food cake." If this was an anime show drool would be dripping from Serena's mouth while she held her silverware at attacking position, "What about your lunch?"

Serena blinks and then giggles, "Nothing as fancy as yours, Lita," the odango blonde opened her own lunch bucket, "Just a tuna fish sandwich, apple slices and a thermos of milk."

"All donations to our meal are appreciated," Lita's emerald eyes glitter with amusement as she watched Serena pull out her containers from her lunch bucket, but then the redhead's turned serious, "You can come out of hiding and join us," her voice loud, "we are just two defenseless girls."

"Eh?" At a twisting of her neck, Serena spotted a boy wearing thick glasses coming out from behind the roof entrance, "Melvin?"

"Sorry, Serena, I didn't mean to eavesdrop," Melvin edged slowly toward the door, "I came up here because the wireless reception here is the best," he held up his laptop.

"That's alright, Melvin," Serena eagerly opened the containers for both her and Lita, "join us, there's plenty for all."

"I've already eaten but I don't mind watching," Melvin stopped going for the door, "if you don't mind."

"More the merrier," from Lita's tone Serena could tell her friend was carefully studying Melvin, "I'm Alithea Woods but everyone calls me Lita." The thoughtful look deepened at the change of the boy's expression, "You heard of me?"

"He has," Serena took the sandwich out of its container and poured half the gumbo in it, "Melvin is the Curious George of the high school," she nods in the young man, "him and his computer."

Lita took up a spoon and took a bite of the gumbo, "Are you the reason why Serena new about my background?"

Melvin laughed nervously as he sat down, "Yeah, sorry about that," scratches the back of his head, "I told my girlfriend and she told Serena. I don't blab what I know to everyone," he placed his laptop on the table, "but I do answer questions when I think it's appropriate."

"Why do you . . . need better reception . . . privacy to go on the net?"

With eyebrows up, Melvin was caught off-guard by Serena's question, the blonde shoving the food into her mouth. He looked at both girls, clearing thinking before he opened his laptop and turned it on, "I'm trying to see if there is a connection between the attack on Molly and the murder of Jennifer Morrison."

Chalk had more color than what Serena's face and Lita's reaction was clearly negative, her right hand flashing out and rapping her knuckles on the top of Melvin's head, "Tactless aren't you, Einstein," her words growls out, "You just couldn't delay until after we ate to drop that bomb," despite her tone the
redhead took a big bite of her share of a tuna sandwich.

It took supreme effort for Serena to continue eating, saying, "Tell us."

Melvin gave Lita a sweat drop look which the tall teen rewarded with a slight nod, "Well, Serena, since you are a newcomer to Evanston," he plugs in a laser mouse, "you don't know about the string of unsolved murders of young teenage girls in and around the suburbs of Chicago." Serena fought to keep her eyes from showing her knowledge, trying to keep Melvin and Lita from realizing she knew about the murders, allowing only her pallid face to hide the fact, her hands kept busy putting food in her mouth. The brown-haired boy accepted the petite girl's silence as agreement, "So I was using my laptop to access police files at the Evenston Police Department as well as those at other police departments, whose jurisdiction covered those other murders."

A disgruntled noise comes from Lita, "So what, a couple of white girls get killed and everyone gets on the police backs," she takes a big gulp of milk, "but when sisters from my hood get killed, it's just another bunch of ghetto bunnies get offed by their own."

"Although those numbers are going down since Sailor V showed up," the sound of Melvin's typing punctuated his words, "in fact your neighborhood seems to be in the middle of her activities."

Two green eyes narrow and Melvin seemed to cringe but Lita went back to eating, "I've seen her."

Serena's black mood vanished and Melvin's typing stopped, "You have?" Serena's full mouth slurred the words.

Lita shrugged and popped an apple slice in her mouth, "She's just some blonde saltine wearing a trashy outfit that would give any man over the age of ten a moose in his pants," Serena almost choked on her own food and Melvin's blushed, "and I would've kicked those bangers' butt without her jumping in."

"Sailor V rescued you . . . " The image of Sailor Moon in her head caused Serena's cheeks all rosy, making her wonder if the uniform was adjustable, but then an idea popped into her head, "Melvin, is that why you knew about Lita, because she was rescued by Sailor V?"

"I wasn't rescued," Lita complained as she picked up the cyan cup that had the milk in it.

Melvin shakes her head, "Actually I was checking out the deaths of Alithea's parents . . . " too late, the boy tried to stop himself but both of them could see the pain flash in the tall girl's expression.

"Go on, four eyes," a soul in pain, that was what Serena heard in Lita's voice, "what about my parents."

Sweat on Melvin's forehead, "Um . . . you see my parents are police officers and . . . they are concern about police competence," Serena could miss the brown-haired youth's nervous glances at the ginger-haired girl, "the detectives assigned to some murders cases . . . eh . . . they don't have a great closed case percentage."

The sound of plastic breaking, Serena's eyes go wide as they lock on Lita's right hand, the scattered remains of one of the plastic cap cups there, "Lita! Your hand!"

"Fuck . . . " Lita looked at her hand, turning it over, staring. "Sorry, GF . . . " Milk all over the table, Melvin panicky lifted his laptop off it, "get you a new cup for your thermos."

"Forget the cup!" Serena is off her seat, taking Lita's hand, opening it carefully, gently picking out the plastic, "Thank God, just a slight cut on your life line," she smiles gently at her tall friend, "you should go see the nurse."

Lita grinned, "For a scratch like this?" Serena could still see sadness in the corner's of those emerald eyes, "I'll get a bandage when we go to Home Eco."

"Alright," Serena replied after giving Lita a hard look and let go of the redhead's hand, "but I get to put the bandage on, okay?"

Lita nodded before she turned her eyes back to Melvin, "What about the guy that attacked your girl, Melvin," her green eyes flashing, "he could be a serial killer like that guy who killed and ate those boys."

"We might never know for sure," the brown-haired teen frowned while helping Serena wrapped up the split milk, "He died on the operating table."

Died?

Died.

"GF?"

The ground felt missing under Serena's feet, like nothing was there. Her stomach felt overstuffed, she could feel it in her throat, wanting to get out of her mouth and she turned away from Lita and Melvin, barely able to make it to the garbage can, grasping the cement holding and plunging her head down as she opened her mouth. Her stomach heaved, the acid taste of the food shoot out of her mouth, the smell of it in her nose and a hand on her back gently rubbing between her shoulder blades.

"It's alright, Serena," the voice was Lita's, soothing, "I didn't know you were so sensitive about such things like that," the hand rubbing in a circular motion between the blonde's shoulder blades, "I won't make that mistake again."

The man was dead, he died because Sailor Moon hit him too hard. She had killed someone, murdered someone and responsible for his death. She had sinned against God. She didn't want help, didn't want anyone telling her it was all right. She was a murderer. Dry heaves were hitting her system, noises coming from her as her body kept trying to cleanse her soul.

"Serena?"

"I...I better clean up . . . " the face that looked at Lita was bone white, "See you . . . next class . . . " Serena grabbed her backpack and fled from the rooftop, running down the stairs, ears ringing of the friend's shouts but she didn't look back. It was as if the hounds of Hell were dogging her heels.

Fourth Period: Room 344, Home Economics

Serena politely asked the Home Economics teacher if she could just sit out in the hall. The teacher could see how green around the gills the blonde was and asked if she was ill. The teen nodded, said she lost her lunch. The teacher nodded and let Serena sit outside on a bench, the adult suggesting the teen should go to the nurse's office. Lita was the last student to get into class and she smiled at Serena, placing her friend's lunch box next to the blonde but not saying anything. Serena glanced up, nodded her thanks but she kept her eyes firmly on the floor. Once her tall friend was inside and the hallway became empty, the teen slipped her cross and prayer beads out of her shirt and her lips begin to move as counted the dark brown beads. It was worse than before, Serena straggled with each phrase, the
sound of her own voice, how hollow, how much the words taste like ashes. It wasn't that she didn't believe the words anymore or that her love for Christ was any lesser than before, it was just she felt unworthy of the love given to her by God through Jesus. She had sinned, taken a life that couldn't be given back.

"Thou shalt not kill."

Serena jumped at the words before she realized it was her own voice.

"Chill out, GF?" It is Lita that Serena's baby blues saw and she blinked, now notices that the hallway is full of students heading for their next class, one hand of the amber teen reaching out to her friend, "do you want to go to the nurse's office?"

A shake of her blonde head is Serena's reply and she let her worry beads to slip back down her top as she stands, "No," her own footfalls mixing with the sounds of other feet moving with Lita just a few steps behind her.

Fifth Period: Gym

The shrill sound of a whistle broke the chatter of the girls gathered on the floor, "Ladies!"

The voices of the teenagers disappear although one of them hadn't been chatting, Serena. For her gym was turning out to be worse than Home Economics. There was a coldness to Ami's aloft attitude. The pale girl's onyx orbs empty of emotion whenever the blonde's own gaze turned to her. The goth girl seeming to be even more of a loner in the crowd of teenage females. Another straw to break Serena's back and another guilt for her to bear. She could also feel Lita's physical presence sticking close to her like iron slivers to a magnet, yet even that attempt at protective comfort kept reminding the odango girl what she had done to her friend's food.

"Today will be Volleyball so I'll pick the captains for the teams and let them decide the teams." Two arms went up with hands waving fanatically at Kineta MacClean, causing the P.E. Teacher to roll her eyes, "and yes, Miss Spencer, you can be one of the captains since it would make sense with you being a professional volleyball player and all."

"Golly good!" The crimson bow in Mina's flaxen-hair bounces with the enthusiasm of its wearer as she joins the teacher, turning and giving her classmates a winning smile and flashing the sign of victory.

Mrs. MacClean frowned at Mina before she called out the other captains which included Lita. Serena could see her tall friend stiffen at the calling of her name, clearly showing her resistance to leaving her friend's side, but the smaller girl wasn't going to add the tall girl's hot anger to her misery, "Go on, Lita, I'll be fine."

Lita gave Serena a hard look, the emotions those emerald gems communicated to those sapphire gems, let both owners know that one didn't believe for a second those words nor the hand reaching, touching and squeezing the other's hand, yet when her name was called a second time, Lita stood and went to stand with the other captains and promptly picking Serena as her first choice, giving the odango girl a nod when she joined her. The picking for the teams was a little slow after the first wave since only a few of the students knew each other from junior high school, something that was lost on Serena as her depression pulled her back in deep. She becoming the instrument of reaction and not action, her following Lita to one of the volleyball courts, taking up a position on the court and barely noticing that their first opponent was Mina's team.

"I'll let you serve first," Mina flipped the ball underhanded to Lita with easy, "that way you have a fighting chance."

"Why thank you, Lady Blue Eyes," Lita caught the ball and spun it on one finger, "I'm sure you are going to regret it."

Most there didn't notice the two boys playing basketball in one of the corner baskets and those who did were perplexed by as to why Kineta let them. It was clear the P. E. Teacher saw them but she just ignored them.

It was another student of Lita's team that fired off the first serve, the setup of the return shot was a little sloppy requiring another setup but then Mina came in for the spike. The ribbon-haired teen must have iron springs for legs, the height she reached put her head above the plane of the net, even in her distrait state Serena saw it.

"SERENA!" The angle Mina took to spike the ball, Lita saw where it was going and she saw how wooden Serena stood. The redhead took a few steps before launching herself sideways and reached out as far as she could with one hand. Serena heard her name, saw the grin on Mina's face, saw black diamonds hollowed by white filling her vision for a few seconds before her whole face felt the sting of pain and the impact knocking her off her feet.

"Serena!"

"Christ! Her nose is like a fire hose!"

"You fucking beotch! You didn't need to hit it that hard!"

"Don't blow your head! How did I know she was going to stop it with her face!"

"Didn't you notice how messed up Serena was?"

"I just thought she was one of those dope babies you Americans keep popping out."

"Your saltine ass is grass, Blue Eyes!"

"You and what legion, Red!"

Voices? Whistle?

"Girls! Break it up! Make room!"

Serena can feel someone knees now holding her head off the hardwood floor, feeling something being stuffed up her nose, but her vision was still a jumble of images caused by the ringing in her head.

"She needs to get to the nurse's office! Now!"

"I can carry her!"

A new voice. From someone Serena hadn't heard before.

"I can do it!"

"No, Alithea, Alex is a professional athlete and has more endurance."

"But . . . "

"No buts! Guerisser could be suffering from concussion!"

Serena felt two set of hands lifting her up, drapping her on someone's back, feeling two slender arms wrap around her hips, strong fingers lacing together so her behind rested on them, "Grip my neck," the new voice said and the blonde complied. The blonde wrinkled and squeezed her eyes, trying to get her eyes to work right, while she could feel the person she was on turned and begin to run, but it wasn't the heavy tread of a man or jerking of impact that someone should have when carrying someone. Instead the motion was fluid under Serena, she could feel her hair fluttering out with the speed she was being carried.

Hair?

Why wasn't Serena feeling the hair of her carrier against her own face? She wished her vision would clear, her arms could tell the neck was slim and the shoulders were supple but there were muscles in there too.

The hot summer air flowed over Serena's body as they left the gym and headed for the building containing the nurse's office, but the bright light caused the odango girl to groan and her vision started to fade.

"Stay awake, Serena!"

Lita voice? Yes it was, breathy like she was running next to Serena and whoever was carrying her. Serena forced her eyes to stay open, tried to get her brain to stay working. Alex? Could that be Alex Kennedy, the one Molly was talking about? That would be nice, what of the body she was against felt nice, strong but not over muscled. She hated those pictures that showed men to be nothing but rippling masses of muscles, biceps and tendons, they looked so ugly.

Air cooled suddenly, sunlight replaced with soft light and footfalls echo. Were they inside a building? Probably. Then a door opened and a shout caused Serena's head to ache, "Nurse!"

"What's wrong?" A new voice, older, feminine and alert but not panic.

"Our friend here got hit in the face by volleyball," Lita's voice, Serena was sure of it, "her nose just flowed with blood and her eyes are glassy."

Glassy? Maybe that explained why they didn't work right.

"Put her on the bed," the calm voice replied. Serena could feel once more two pairs of hands lift her from her carrier and gently lay her on the bed, one gently smoothing her hair from her face. She could see shadows in her gaze of various shades of gray, "her nose is broken," the voice informed the group.

"We should call an ambulance." Ami? Was Ami here?

"No, I can fix her nose here," the nose of a cabinet being opened, things being taken out, "I'm certified for such things."

Someone spread the eyelids of Serena's right eye before a blinding light filled it. The odango girl hissed in pain, "Please . . . hurts," her right hand feebly pawed at the source of the light.

A collected sigh can be heard by Serena and someone said, "Well, since your cute friend seems to be still thinking, I need to head by and finish practicing with my brother, Gilbert."

"Thanks for your help, Alex, I didn't mean to sound so protective," Serena picked up an apologetic tone before she let out another hiss of pain as the glaring light did the same thing to her left eye.

"No skin off my nose, Alithea," hearing Lita groaned dramatically at the pun did make Serena feel a little better despite the dull ache, then her nose was cleaned by something damp, the top of the bridge pressed by something stiff, and layered by tap that spread onto the edges of her cheeks.

"Maybe we can play a few hoops together, I was impressed you kept up with me despite the pretty package I was carrying," it sounded to Serena like this Alex guy was flirting with Lita.

"Maybe we will and I rather be called Lita if you don't mind," a little hint of competitive fire in the redhead's words.

"Lita it is then," good humor is in Alex's words as a door is opened, "see you later," then the door closed.

"There, there, young lady," Serena focused on the nurse's voice, "your nose should be fine as long as you don't bump it against anything," color was back in her vision although the images were still blurred, the nurse a mess of white, pink and brown, "and you only have mild concussion so I'm going to give you a note to excuse you from P. E. for the rest of the week."

"Ah ha . . . " Serena sounded like she had gone a several rounds with Mohammed Ali and by crossing her eyes she could see her bandaged nose, "Sorry for being a bother Miss . . . "

"Bellamorte, Melissa T. Bellamorte," her voice was polite as she pulled a sheet and blanket to Serena's neck, "now rest here while I talk to your friends and see if they can tell your sixth period teacher that you are going to miss the class," Serena heard the rustling of sheets and she tilts her head enough to see that the bed is surrounded by a white sheet divider. She could hear the low voices of the nurse, Lita and Ami but not the words they were using. Then came the opening and closing of the front door and the rustle of the divider occurred followed by the woman's voice, "Your friends have gone to your gym class and to your next class to let the teachers know what happened to you."

Serena blinked several times, her vision cleared and she could make out the nurse's features better, indeed a young woman with platinum blonde hair, delicate bone structured face and pale amber eyes, "Oh, Okay," suddenly the odango blonde hated the way she sounded, muffled and weak. Wasn't she suppose to be a hero, yet here she was in bed in the nurse's office, her nose pancaked by volleyball.

"I'll be back momentary, I need to go to my desk and call your parents to let them know what happened," Melissa's white teeth shined in the soft light. "Would you like me to ask them to pick you?"

"No, I can make it home," again that weak, muffled voice, it grated on Serena's nerves.

"All right," Melissa turned and leaves the bedside and after a moment Serena could pick up the sound of a click, guessing that the nurse had gone into her private office to call Serena's parents.

It took seconds for Serena's self-loathing to magnify by what had happened. She is supposed to be Sailor Moon, a hero, yet she allowed her own emotions to leave her weak and indecisive, costing the life of another to save the life of another. Luna had to be wrong, she couldn't be the Instrument of Peace. Even now as the conflict raged inside of her mind, she clutched her cross, tried to calm her mind with the rosary like she had this morning, but there was something wrong. The calm eluded her, fled from her soul, the words summon none of the peace and comfort of before. She had killed, murdered, and now the grace was gone.

A soft sob left Serena's lips and she pulled herself out of the bed, the white sheet falling away from her body as she stood, feeling lightheaded for a moment as she stumbled through the divider into the office, trying to get her eyes to focus properly, feeling the tears upon her cheeks but not sure it was because her eyes hurt or because her soul hurt. It was an uncontrollable feeling of hopelessness that ate away at the blonde's fragile being. Was this how the condemned felt like, the loss of hope, of love, of forgiveness? She sensed her hands opening doors, her feet moving, running. Was she running away, fleeing from what took away her grace or was she running to find a way back? Back to where?

The garden. Yes. The peace, the joy and the warmth. The fields of rolling grasses, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil standing tall and noble, the sounds of birds and squirrels amongst its heavy branches, the butterflies moving from flower to flower as did the honey bees and bumblebees, the rivers flowing between flowering meadows, the snow-capped mountains breaking above wisps of clouds, and the animals coexisting with each other. No taking of life for the need to kill was no longer there. The harmony of living, caring and belonging was everywhere.

Sun, hot. Serena's chest heaving, her lungs burn for need of oxygen, her tendons threatening to knot and knot again. She can't breathe through her nose. Why? Oh, her nose is broken. Her green sweats soaked with sweat and her long hair tails sticking. Sweats? Serena noticed she is still wearing her gym clothes with the school name decorated with drops of her blood. Finally catching her breath she found herself almost straddling a steel guardrail and before her was a gray granite staircase, the measured steps leading up a small hill, which upon its crest was a church. The style was clearly Neo-Gothic done on a small scale. The spires and bell towers stretching to the sky, the oval and oblong windows filled with stain glass. A large door was set in deep inside of a stone entrance layered by arches.

The Church of Mary Magdalene is the title found on the large wooden plaque hanging from the hooked signpost. Was someone trying to help her? A year ago she would have passed this off as just the randomness of life but after meeting Luna and all the talk of destiny and Sailor Moon, she wasn't sure anymore where predetermination ended and freewill began, yet her curiosity was roused out of the windstorm of emotions that were making a prisoner of her being.

It was cool in the shadows of the arches and upon close examination of the door Serena found it to be two doors instead of one, and adhering to the center of each there was two unrolled scrolls made of lead, the writing on the left one was in Latin while the other one was in Greek. The running must have done her some good because the petite blonde was able to focus on the punched lettering. Her parents
were traditional Catholics so while she could read Latin fluently, the only Greek she knew were from her Sunday School lessons, which were several years old. Slowly she mouthed the words of the Latin script, linked each one to the other until she recognized the words came from Saint Augustine, "Est autem fides credere quod nondum vides; cuius fidei merces est videre quod credis," she calmly says before translating, "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe." Turning to the other script there was a pause and a groan from her lips, she struggled to understand the words since her Greek was worse of the worse. Finally the words clicked together for her and an icy finger ran up and down her spine at their source, the first chapter of the Gospel of John and their possible meaning, "The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it."

Serena hadn't noticed her hand was moving over the Greek script until when she reached the end, and the slight pressure of her fingers caused the door slowly swung open on oiled hinges. She blinked, waited for her eyes to adjust to the candlelight before she entered the place of worship. Hanging ponytails frame her face as she looked to either side, letting her eyes adjust to the tinted light inside the House of God. At not finding anyone inside she stepped in and lifted her head to scan the vaulted arches that allow the freestanding walls to look thin and arty, the stain glass windows lit the world with tales for the worshipers to witness. Slowly Serena walked down the middle pathway between the pews, her baby blues noting that the usual steel rod at the bottom to allow people to kneel without difficulty was missing. The stories of the stain windows were the normal ones you would expect at a Catholic church until she got to the one located above the cross from which hangs Christ, his expression of divine agony, his torn and tortured body showing what the price he paid to give each of us a chance to live in his Father's kingdom.

Feet glued to the floor, it would have looked like that to any passerby should they see Serena standing before the altar, her head turned up due to shock. There was a divine glow coming from this moon white-haired woman's face, her hands holding a cup above her blissful face while abstract flows of holy water gush from the bejeweled yellow cup to empty into the deep below her feet, but she didn't stand
upon the calmed surface. Instead the figure wearing white plate armor sat upon the edge of a full moon.

"Sailor Moon?" Serena's blinked hard at how her soft whisper was magnify to echo within this house of stone and she looked about again to check for peepers but found none. Again she studied the portrait and then studied the other windows, immediately realizing that the others were about the strong and divine women of the Holy Book. Again she felt her own inferiority rest upon her young shoulders, her
spirit feeling the burden of what this church seemed to represent, and in this state her drifting gaze caught sight of the confessional.

Traditional. That would best describe the confessional. Oak, several layers of lacquer, the two tiny rooms made as one, one for those who confess and feel guilt, one for those who listen and forgive. Serena touched the top of the door and ran her hand down to the ring doorknob. She opened the door to find a hard wood stool and then the gingerbread window that once slid open would allow the priest to interact with the person seeking penitence.

"Confession?" Was this the reason she ran from her school, her soul full of grief and sin seeking cleansing? Was her flight one of blind emotion? Serena stared at the unpadded seat fore several minutes before she stepped into the device, sat down and closed the door.

The sound of the window being slid open caught Serena totally by surprise. Someone had been in here all this time? The blonde was in a panic but quickly she iced her fear, silently chiding herself about not showing proper respect to the priest waiting for her to confess her sins, "Bless me Father," someone trained to honor the sanctity of the confession, "It has been several years since I've confessed my sins due to my parents living where there was no Catholic priest." She paused for a minute in case the priest wanted to say something, but when no words were spoken, she continued, "There are many sins a girl like I have made, what with an annoying little brother or mean spirited girls or overbearing adults, but I always believed since God had a son he wouldn't hold any of these against me." Again another pause
by the blonde, again silence, but this time she has to force the words out of her brain and out of her mouth, "Today . . . I discovered . . . the man I stopped from killing a friend of mine . . . died . . . " tears trickled down her cheeks, "I killed him . . . but . . . but . . . he won't be the last . . . I . . . I have a destiny . . . to fight . . . to protect . . . and there are others . . . they want to kill me . . . to kill my friends . . . to kill my family . . . kill people . . . " she is shaking now, "but God said . . . thou shalt not kill . . . " her body bent over, "Jesus said . . . he who lives by the sword . . . dies by the sword . . . "
her head touching her knees, "I . . . I don't want to kill."

Serena sobbed in the silence that greeted her confession, waiting, waiting, waiting for the priest to give his advice to her, to assign her penance and to ask her to say the Act of Contrition. The silence so unbearable, the very emptiness riding her back, bending her soul to match her body until she couldn't bear it any more. Her body springing from the stool, her right hand barely unlocking the door before her
body smashing into it sends it open.

"Stop."

Serena stopped like the word erected an invisible barrier in front of her. Both fear and hope ricocheted within her being, her body turned to face the speaker, but her mouth dropped open at the sight of who is standing there, "Sister?"

Indeed a nun is standing there but not any ordinary nun either, the complete virgin white of every piece of her uniform told Serena this was a nun-in-training. The face framed by the cowl looked young, Hispanic or Latino, with her eyes a rich coffee brown or black and lips thin. Serena could tell that even under the formless clothing, the nun was a little taller than the blonde with a body modest in portions. Then Serena's heart beat as loud as drums in her ears when she saw one of the nun's hands resting on the door to the confessional.

"Sister . . . ?" Serena said again, a pleading tone now to the word. Would the nun keep her secret? There was nothing, no oath that kept her lips of a nun-in-training closed. Was she a member of the Fallen? Did she hide in the confessional so to learn of others' sins and use those weaknesses against worshipers? Was this supposed to happen, was this how she was being punished for breaking God's
commandment, a payment of a life for a life? A ruffle of cloth, the sound of light steps, a whimper of fear came from Serena's lips as the nun moved closer.

A smile, it appeared on the nun's face, her eyes full of gentleness, the surprise of seeing both confused Serena, then the words came, "May the Almighty God have mercy on you, and forgiving of your sins, bring you to life everlasting. Amen." The billowing sleeve of her nun garb slipped back as she raised her right arm, revealing a bluish-white glow around a young hand, "May the Almighty and Merciful God grant you pardon, absolution, and remission of your sins." Serena felt a spark of hope inside of her, then it became a crashing waterfall as two soft fingertips touched her forehead, drawing a cross upon it, "May Our Lord Jesus Christ absolve you, and I, by His authority, absolve you from every bond of excommunication and interdict as far as I can and you may need. Three more crosses drawn upon her
forehead, the purity of the waters filling her soul up to overflowing, "I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." Serena's own mouth began to move, silent words matching the words spoken to her, her soul cleansed, "May the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the merits of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of all the Saints, what good you have done or what evil you have suffered be to you for the remission of sins, growth in grace and the reward of everlasting life. Amen."

The final word wrap around Serena's being, the absolution had long since washed her surroundings from her sight, and it is a long time before reality winked by into existence. It was the cool stone her knees touch the petite blonde noticed first, the second thing she noticed was her head bowed and her hands pressed together in prayer. This in of itself would be pleasing to the odango blonde, but what really surprised her was finding the nun kneeling in front of her, the white-clad lady hugging her tight and a soft whisper in Spanish coming from within the cowled head, "Con la ayuda de la Virgen Maria le he encontrado."

"Maria? My name is Serenity?" Serena blinked several times, surprised by how normal her own voice sound, the anguish and pain she felt the whole were still there, but had become manageable. "You better explain yourself, Sister, I've got a lot of people looking to put my pretty head on a platter," she wanted to sound tough although after what just happened she felt more like dancing for joy, "maybe by
first telling me your name since you now know mine."

The nun gave Serena a curious look, tilting her head slightly, "Don't you know who I am, Instrument of Peace, you did come to me for confession and absolution?"

"I'm a fourteen-year-old girl who got drafted into this magical girl story by a high-minded black cat," the nun's eyes narrow but Serena continued, "I know I'm this Instrument of Peace, this Sailor Moon, created to protect all mankind from the Fallen, but other than a few bits and pieces I'm just as clueless as the next person."

The nun gave Serena a measured look before saying, "My name is Raye Ceniza Perez, I was born in Panama City, Panama, but I came to live with my mother's father after my parents died when I was five. My grandfather, Father Patrick Deiria, is the senior Father here at this church," a hunt of pride at the mention of her grandfather, "and I go to Saint Mary's School for Proper Ladies and I plan to
become a nun after graduation."

"But you are more than a nun-in-training isn't you, Raye," Serena's looked up into the taller girl's face, "or you wouldn't have been able to give me absolution."

Raye nodded, her cheeks tint, "Since I was a little girl I've had versions and dreams that come true," then her eyes flicker with ire, "I've also seen things, creatures, who look and act like people but are not," then she frowned, "and I'm sure there are others who cloak their true selves from me with their coat of multicolors."

"The Fallen?" The word came out even before Serena could stop herself from saying it. Raye nodded once more before standing up and helping the petite girl to stand, "Well, you haven't given me my penance nor have I said the Contrition."

It looked to Serena that Raye realized her mistake but the nun decided to follow a different track, "First let me ask you about this person you murdered," the pit of Serena's stomach suddenly felt bottomless. "When you stopped your friend from being killed, did you know at the time of any other way of saving her life?" Serena shook her head. "After the battle, did you know of a way to save your friend's life without taking another life?"

Serena thought for a moment, thinking about the exorcism she performed, finally noticing the amount of time it took her to do the ritual and wondering if she could have done it while being attacked, "No, I don't think so."

"Was this your first battle?" Serena nodded to Raye's further questions, "How much do you know of your powers?"

"Not much, I've kind of new to this hero stuff," shame upon Serena's face, "Luna has been trying to get me use to the idea of being Sailor Moon, let alone whatever powers I have."

"Luna?"

"She's the black cat I mentioned earlier," a pout is added by Serena, "I went to the pound to get me a new pet but oh no, I couldn't get just an ordinary cat, instead I end up with a Spirit Guide with a letter informing me that I have a destiny to follow."

"A letter?"

"Figure of speech."

"Oh," a puzzled look flash across Raye's face before saying, "Then the advice I can give you is to learn what and who you are," her tone showed some puzzlement over Serena's less than stellar attitude, "the Instrument of Peace, Sailor Moon, is a holy warrior, a paladin."

Those words sank into Serena but then she looked curiously at the nun, "How did you know about me . . . eh . . . about the Instrument of Peace."

A glitter in those dark chocolate eyes told Serena of Raye's caught her correction, so the next words aren't really a surprise, "For your penance, Serena, you will learn to accept your destiny."

Now Serena eyes got very wide, "Hey! How do you know my nickname?"

"Probably from me, GF," both of the girls look toward the entrance to find a figure outlined in the afternoon light, "when I saw how upset you were this morning, how you were clutching your rosary, I headed over to Raye's school and caught her before the first class," the figure came into the dimness, "told her what you looked like, especially your unique hairstyle, and I asked her to swing by our school so she could talk to you," the back light turning her hair into a fiery halo.


"Lita!" A smile on flowered on both faces but then Serena became shamefaced, "Oh, Lita, I'm so sorry about running off!"

A flash of white showed in Lita's smile, "No problem, GF," she took out her cellphone as she joined the others, "I better call Ami so she can let the others know I found you."

Serena sighed with relief but concern butted in, her gaze going back and forth between Raye and Lita, she wondering how much her tall friend had overheard, the petite girl knowing that the confession needed to be completed. Raye saw Serena's worry, "You can say the Contrition, Serena," Serena saw the soft expression of friendship upon the nun's face, "Lita knows that I'm an ordained priest."

"What?"

"Chill it, girls," Lita placed her hand over the opened cellphone, "unless you want the Great Brain to know Raye's secret."

"Sorry," Serena nibbled her lower lip, thinking about how dumb it was for her not to think of this explanation of Raye's priestly power, "How . . . eh . . . when?"

"I had a dream," Raye's whispered, "I was wearing not the attire of a Bride of Christ, instead I wore the collar and frock of a priest," her tone strong, "the dream repeated itself again and again until I went to my grandfather and told him about it," determination hot in her eyes, "from that day onward he trained me for the priesthood and last year he ordained me."

Serena lets out a high-pitched whistle, "I've heard of Protestant ministers as teenagers and women, but doesn't the Catholic Church have a ban on women becoming priests let along all the requirements of going to the Seminary?"

"Grandfather shares my belief of my visions and dreams coming from God," Raye forced her voice to stay a whisper, "so not to follow the mandate they lay out for me would be to deny the destiny given to me by the Lord Almighty," her Latino accent becoming stronger the longer she spoke. "Besides the great numbers of women becoming nuns far outstretches the lesser number of men joining the priesthood, soon the ban will be lifted and I'm ready for it."

In the echo of Raye's righteous declaration Serena heard a hint of old pain, her mind's eye imagined a crying five-year-old girl, the cubby face stained by teasing words from childhood friends and scorn from disbelieving adults, "I believe you, Raye, how can I not," her gaze turned upward to look at the stain glass window above the cross.

"Yes, that is a representation of the Instrument of Peace but I do not know how or why it is here, nor why the Church of Mary Magdalene was built here," a relieved smile is on Raye's lips, she doesn't need to follow Serena's gaze to know what the blonde is looking at, "according to my Grandfather the church was built a long time ago, by the first French Catholic missionaries coming to this part of the country,
but I have my suspicions about them being Catholic."

"Oh?" Serena returned to Raye.

"Gnostic . . . " Raye stopped at the sound of Lita closing her cellphone.

"All set, GF, Ami is going to pick us up in front of the church," Lita's smile slipped a little when she glanced about the church.

"I wish this place didn't bring you grief each time you come in here, Lita," gently Raye takes hold of Lita's right hand with both hands, "I will grieve for your loss always but it was that tragedy that brought you to me."

The shared look of tenderness between Lita and Raye and the shimmer of unshed tears in the redhead's emerald eyes made Serena feel uncomfortable and she tried as quietly as possible to tiptoe away from the two, but Raye spoke up, "You still need to say the Contrition, Miss Serenity Guerisser."

Serena stopped and faced Raye, she brought her hands up in pray, her head bowed in submission and her tone imploring, "Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because of Thy just punishments, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I finally resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the next occasions of sin. Amen," once more she felt her soul quiver like it was a bell.

"Remember your penance, Serena," Raye no longer held Lita's hand and the tall redhead had moved to fill the space between the two girls, "and remember you never alone when God walks with you."

Serena nodded but looked back-and-forth between Raye and Lita, the odango blonde's curiosity visible enough for a lopsided smile to appear on Lita's lips, "Alright-alright, GF, the reason I know Raye is because I used to go to Saint Mary's and I knew of her then."

Serena knew she didn't need to press Lita for more information, she could guess why her tall friend didn't go to the Catholic school anymore, with the death of Lita's parents and the high price of going to a Catholic school could very well outstrip what money the redhead's grandmother had. Instead she asked, "So you are a Catholic, Lita?"

"N-o, Baptist, National Baptist," Lita pulled out her purse and gave a blue card to Serena, "That's the address to my church in Chi-town," she gave a mischief look to Raye, "come on by both of you, I sing in the choir and we really shout our joy to God."

A giggle from Serena and a smirk from Raye, both set of eyes were happy, "Maybe I can get my parents' permission to go," the tone the blonde used suggests she didn't need to be very persuasive to succeed.

"Well, we better get out front to meet Ami," she then leans over and hugged Raye around the waist, "I'll see you tomorrow, Raye, and thanks for the help."

"I helped only little," Raye blushed at physicality of Serena's affection, "for it was God who guided the lost lamb to His home so it could be made well in both body and soul."

Serena blushed at Raye's words and followed Lita out of the church with the nun in their wake. To recover from that awkward moment the blonde asked, "So why did you go to a Catholic school, Lita?"

There wasn't an immediate answer but it came when Lita picked up her backpack where she left it at the main entrance, "For different reasons my parents rejected our heritage so they sent me to Saint Mary's to knock the ghetto out of me."

Serena blinked hard and she heard a disgruntled sound coming from Raye's direction, "You sure sounded ghetto to me, Lita, and probably to Melvin too."

Lita chuckled, "Thanks but I did that on purpose to throw a monkey wench in that boy's rumor mill," she leads the group out the door, "also it was the reason my parents moved to this town."

"So you are living in Chicago?" Serena stopped and turned to Raye.

"Yep, living with my mother's mother in the middle of the city," all three girls wave to each other before Serena and Lita go down the steps while Raye watched them, "but I commute to Juuban High School because even my grandmother realized I'm too much of an Oreo to go to an inner city school."

"You shouldn't talk of yourself like that, Lita," Serena frowned up at her tall friend and having to use the handrail to correct her balance, "I mean you should be proud of whom you are instead of listening to what others call you."

Lita's raised eyebrows show she was surprised, "You have some strong . . . " she stopped as a white limousine came into view. "There's Ami."

Serena's mouth dropped open, "A limo?"

"Ami Shabon doesn't flaunt it but her mother is rich," Lita grinned as she waves at the vehicle, "and her father is a famous artist so our local little gothling probably has a fat bank account to draw a monthly stipend from," the tall girl waited until the rolling piece of wealth came to a stop before adding, "and I
think her mother is very protective since I've seen Ami in that ride and with a personal bodyguard."

"Bodyguard?" Serena felt a little silly at repeating her surprise and the heavy tint of the back windows reminded her of Ami's sensitivity to sunlight.

The white limousine came to a halt in front of the two girls and the back door opened, revealing a female bodyguard wearing sunglasses and a polite smile, the back organized so that two sets of seats faced each other. Ami leaned forward, "I've got your backpack, Serena," she was wearing sunglasses too, "the vice-principle was so nice in opening your gym locker for me."

"I'm so sorry for causing so much trouble for you, Ami," Serena scooted inside and sat across from the goth girl while Lita sat next to her while the bodyguard sat beside her charge, "I'll promise never to runaway again," she crossed her heart.

"Accepted, Serena," there was a flicker of emotion in Ami's pale face before she returned to her normal expression of neutrality.

A wide smile showed Serena's shinny teeth, "Rome wasn't built in a day, eh?"

Once again there is that flash of emotion in Ami's bottomless orbs but it quickly disappeared when she reached into her book bag, pulling out a small white box, "I didn't want to risk losing this for you."

Serena accepted the box and smiling wide when by opening it her cross and rosary is revealed, "Thanks for keeping it safe, Ami."

"Opium."

"Eh?"

Serena noticed Lita's frown at Ami's comment but her tall friend asked, "That's a beautiful rosary, GF. Is it pearl? How long have you had it?"

With baby blues glancing at Ami as she undid the clasp of the rosary, Serena felt strange, she knew what opium was, had seen the effect of the drug and its derivatives in the streets of the cities of India and Africa, but what the goth girl meant the blonde didn't know nor did Ami's expression volunteer anything. Mentally shrugging Serena put the religious symbol around her slender neck, "Yes, it was my grandmother's rosary, she gave it to me as a gift for my first communion," the silver clasp clicked together behind her neck, "I was told it was made in Greece so I think the pearls and silver came from there too."

"Nice," the smile on Lita's lips looked thin to Serena and the glanced the redhead gave Ami seemed to dare the pale teen to say something. Ami returned the glance but doesn't say anything. Instead she nodded toward the bodyguard, who touched her throat with one hand, saying, "Drive to Miss Guerisser's home."

The long white car pulled out so smoothly Serena could barely tell it was moving as she put the rosary and cross under her blooded top, "Jesus H..." the petite blonde made a face as she looked down at herself, "I look like a victim from a slasher movie."

The chuckle from Lita seemed to pop the tension in the backseat and this time Serena was quick enough to catch the tiny smile on Ami's lips before it vanished. "I'll close my eyes so you can change your clothes," she smiled at the teen genius, "and I'm sure Ami would too," then she winked at Serena, "although I don't know about the bodyguard."

"Mrs. Chase, please close your eyes," the bodyguard nodded at Ami's order before the goth girl brought down her black lashes, "I think I'll take a nap."

Lita grinned, "Forty winks sound good and this ride is smooth," Lita sagged in the backseat, resting her head in a corner as her eyes close.

Serena's eyebrows touch her hair at hearing the breathing of both of her friends slow and deepen, clearly both were exhausted from helping her or both were very good actors thus pretending to sleep. Either way she waited a few minutes to make sure neither woke before she began to change her clothes, trying to do it as quickly as possible. As she changed, the petite blonde looked at each of her
friends and tried to measure what each of them meant to her. She could tell both were complex individuals, neither one of them seemed to be your typical teenager. Molly had called Ami a goth girl while Melvin pointed out the heartaches of Lita's recent past. Serena already had an inkling that Ami was so intelligent that it made her an alien when compared to any other teenager. Lita seemed to be in the same boat as Ami but for completely different cause-and-effect. Cause: Parents death, Effect: outsider full of emotions. Then there was Raye. Her confessor? Yes. Her friend? It seemed that way. Serena already knew she owned the nun-in-training . . . correction . . . the priest for giving back to her the feeling of spiritual wholeness, feeling she was once more a part of the body of Christ, and she could
think about the death she caused with regret but not with horrific grieving she was suffering. The only way Serena could repay Raye was to carry out the penance she was given, to continue being the Instrument of Peace, Sailor Moon.

"Finished?"

Two baby blues blink at the mumbled word and Serena realized she was sitting there, thinking, "Yes, Lita," a glance out the window also told her something else, "and we're at my home." Those same eyes look at Ami and then at Lita, "Would you like to come in and meet my family?" She let her eyes stare deeply into her friends' eyes.

There is real regret in Lita's emerald eyes and there was a hint of the same emotion in Ami's eyes, "I wish, GF, but I've got a train to catch and grand-mama expects me home for dinner," a soft smile on those painted lips, "and on time for once."

"I too have a time limit," out of her pocket Ami pulled out an old-fashioned pocket watch, Serena's eyes widen as she noticed it was gold, "I have a chess tournament to go to in Chicago." The goth girl turned her head to look at Lita, "Can I offer you a lift, Lita?"

"If you don't mind being pulled over by beat cops or being scope out by the local gangstra," Lita chuckled to take an edge off her warning, "I live in a rough neighborhood and many will think of you as some richie out slumming."

The cloak of superiority seemed to fold around Ami, at least to Serena it looked that way, the pale girl's expression becoming almost a dare, "Thank you for the warning, Lita," her gloved hand put away the watch before she pulled out a white cellphone.

Serena caught a movement from the bodyguard, a hand touching something and the door next to her and Ami popped open, "Time to rumble with your parents, Serena." The blonde tried to suppress her giggle but it still came out as a snort. A quiver of Ami's lips and the Lita's shinny eyes from her own words added to the mirth, but it did get Serena to step out of the car.

"I'll see you both tomorrow," the window rolled down enough for Serena to look in, "and thanks for caring about me."

"Whom would I find to share my lunch with," Lita winked at Serena and then grinned at Ami, "or introduce me to such lively company?" Was Ami amused? The petite blonde couldn't tell from her angle.

A simple wave came from Ami as the window rolled up while the limo pulled away, Serena watched the car until its patch brought her attention to a home with a broken front window and surrounded with yellow crime scene tape. She stood there as the events of the last four days played through her brain at warp speed and her expression became determined, "No, Luna is right, they would be killing girls even
if I wasn't here."

"Hey, Serena."

A squeal of pure joy comes from Serena as she heard those words, she doesn't remember turning around or vaulting over her home's fence. It was a blink of seconds which left two girls hugging each other, and tears of relief rolling down the blonde's pink cheeks, "Molly."

"It looks like our daughter likes our pick-me-up surprise."

"I think our daughter is enjoying it just as much as your daughter is."

Serena didn't have to look up to recognize the voices of her mother and Molly's mother, all she could do was keep her face pressed to her friend's right shoulder, her muffled voice asking, "I'm so glad you're here, Molly."

Serena felt Molly's squeeze before the redhead held the blonde by her elbows, saying, "After Melvin told me about how you were going about looking like a three-day road kill, I figured I better get out of the hospital as soon as possible."

Serena noticed something in Molly's expression but could recognize it, "So you're alright?"

"A clean bill of health," Molly's emerald eyes sparkling, "of course the doctors want me to take an easy for the rest of the week," her grin got a little bigger, "which means no school until next week."

"Lucky," the false pout on Serena's face got a big smile from Molly.

"Now let me see your face, young lady," two strong arms took hold of Serena's shoulder and the teen found her concerned dad staring intensely at her face, an expression of relief on his face appeared, "Your nose doesn't look broken."

Broken nose?

"I agree," Ilene stood next to her husband, combing her daughter's bangs out of her face to get a better look, "the way the nurse was talking on the phone I was quite sure your father would need to take you to the hospital."

"Well, her eyes aren't puffy enough for a broken nose so I think the school nurse overreacted," Ken voice was calm as he continues to carefully hold his child's shoulders, "Serena, your head feel okay?"

"I feel fine, Papa," Serena expression showed she had completely forgot about the broken nose and her concession after what everything that had happened to her at the church, especially since neither Lita nor Ami really made an issue of it once they caught up with her.

"Then we'll take her to our family doctor tomorrow after school," Ken lets go of Serena's shoulders.

"Agreed," Ilene nodded.

She heard Molly giggle and found her friend pressing a hand mirror into one of the blonde's hand, "See for yourself, Serena."

Blonde eyebrows meeting blonde hair was Serena's reaction, the odango blonde really expected she was going to look like Sammy's raccoon, a fate worse than death in her opinion. Instead she found almost no black eyes and her nose looked only slightly swollen, "It looks like you won't need a nose job, Sis."

A quick sticking out her tongue at Sammy as Serena' initial reaction, she hasn't noticed her brother joining them, "I would rather not look like that fleabag of a pet you have, Sammy."

"Now-now, no fighting in front of our house guests," Ilene's pleasant voice stopped the sibling rivalry in its tracks, her gentle right-hand beginning to lead Serena toward the front door.

"House guests?"

"Yes, Serena," Molly walked on the other side of her blonde friend, "Your father and mother invited me, Mom and Dad to stay at your family's home until the police allow us to move back into our home."

"Cool!" Now Serena was truly surprised and delighted, she hugged her mother, hugged her father and even turned to hug her brother.

"Oh no you don't," Sammy left his sister in the dust, dodging between adults and going into the house, which got a laugh from everyone.

Serena giggled as she watched her brother's rapid retreat only to find her throat suddenly close around her mirth, the sight of Luna in her bedroom window plus the pissed-off look on that pussy's face, "Oh-oh."

"I hope Luna will get use to the crowding," Ilene also saw the black cat, "she hasn't come out of your room since the Bakers came."

"Won't help her much since I'll be bucking with Serena," Molly takes hold of Serena's right hand with her left hand, "if that is all right with you?"

"Oh . . . of course!" Serena actually loved the idea of sharing her room with her best friend, although she knew Luna was going to be even more put out.

"Good, dear," Ilene smiled, "Your father already took out the spare futon and placed it in your room," Serena's mother led the group into the house.

"Great! Dad!" Definitely, Luna was going to have a cow.
********

Guerisser Residence: Serena's Bedroom.

"I wish Mom wouldn't tease me about my cooking," Serena's voice can be heard before she opens the door to her bedroom, "I know I'm not much of a wiz in the kitchen."

"At least you know how to cook rice," Molly followed her friend into the room, spotting the futon place on the floor on the right side of Serena's bed.

A roll of eyes from Serena, "And a few other things that I can list on two hands," it isn't hard to note Serena is looking around the room.

"Looking for your cat . . . eh . . . Luna?" Molly stood next to her friend.

Serena paused and looked over her shoulder at Molly, there was something in the redhead's tone setting off bells in her blond head, "Yeah, I think her time in the animal shelter has made her leery of strangers."

"I can understand that," Molly got a strange look from her blonde friend, "I mean from a cat's point-of-view."

"Oh." Serena spotted her closet is cracked open, "I think I know where Luna is hiding."

"You don't need to drag her out if she doesn't want to meet me."

Again there was that strange tone coming from Molly, "Not a chance, Molly," Serena didn't even look back as she knelt at the closet, opened and crawled in, "Luna isn't getting her way this time." Was that a giggle from Molly? Serena decided that this day had to fit into the Guinness Book of World Records for Weird Day on Earth, especially when she spotted the moonlight glow of the horned moon on the cat's forehead, "Luna . . . " then she saw something shining under those inky paws, "Hey! My brooch."

"Keep your voice down, Serenity," Luna nose to nose with Serena, "Molly mustn't see me and I took the brooch just in case it was too much of a temptation."

"What do you mean, Luna?" Serena looked a little confused, "Molly saw you peeking out the window just now and she's too good a person to steal anything."

"Serenity, I mean she saw me yesterday during your first battle," an eon expression on the black cat's face, "unlike you my physical features aren't cloaked by any disguise spell, only my spirituality is hidden."

Serena blinked several times before she realized that what Luna said made sense, Luna remained in her cat form all the time and so she had to remain recognizable by everyone. "Luna, you can't hide here forever," she took the brooch from Luna and stuffed it in her pocket, "and Mom is already commenting about your behavior," she tried to sound determine, "sooner or later you are going to get Molly curious
about you," then an idea hit her, "in fact I think she already is."

Luna sighed and bowed her head in defeat, "All right, Serenity," she allowed the blonde to pick her up. Not letting anything out the black cat was sort of proud of Serena. Whatever happened between dawn and dusk, there was a positive effect on the teenager's warrior spirit, which banished all the apprehensions Luna had after a night of watching her charge tossing and turning, a captive of her own demons.

Serena brought Luna out of the closet, holding the cat in the fold of her arms as she came to stand before the redhead, "Molly, this is Luna," the nice touch of sweetness to the blonde's voice, "Luna, this is Molly."

"Meow."

Molly stood there for a moment, smiling down at Luna, before one of her hands began to gently scratch the black cat's chin, "Nice to meet you, Luna." At hearing Luna purring at the caress Serena relaxed, "Would you please tell Sailor Moon how much I owe her for rescuing me," the purring stopped cold, "you being her helper and all."

A family of swallows could have made a home in Serena's mouth before she said, "Sailor Moon?"

"Yeah, Luna was with Sailor Moon, giving her advice and everything," she stopped scratching the cat's chin and put her finger against her right cheek, staring toward the ceiling and with an obvious fake wonder on her face, "and Sailor Moon knew my name and was very affectionate when comfort me and she even jumped the fence to get to your home just like you did." Serena just stared straight at Molly,
so did Luna, the blonde unable to decide if she should tell the truth or lie through her teeth, but Molly once more took the lead, "Oh, Luna, tell Sailor Moon that I'll keep her secret," she tilted her head to one side and smiled wide, "I'm just glad to have her as my friend."

That did it. If this was Molly's strategy to get Serena to confess, it worked like a charm. It wasn't a direct confrontation, it wasn't a demand for answers or even a suggestion of acknowledgment. The blonde dropped onto the bed with a bounce, still holding Luna, and with her right hand stroking that black-haired back, she looked up at her friend, "Are you sure, Molly? Being my friend could get you killed or worse."

"I owe Sailor Moon my life."

"You don't owe me anything. It is my duty as given to me by God to protect all mankind from the forces of evil."

"But Sailor Moon can't do it alone with just Luna to help her."

"For now it is enough."

"Maybe Sailor V will help Sailor Moon?"

"According to Luna, Sailor V will help me."

"I would still like to help Sailor Moon in whatever capacity."

"If those I am fighting against discover you helping me, I might not be able to protect you."

"They might still come after me just because you rescue me or because I'm a girl."

"You notice how the murders of girls seem to be piling up?"

"Not hard to notice when your boyfriend worries about his parents getting the blame for not solving these murders."

"No way I can talk you into sitting on the sideline?"

"Nope, my mind is made up to help Sailor Moon."

"Sure?"

"Hell or High Water!"

Serena held out her right hand, "Welcome aboard."

Molly shook the hand and sat down on the bed next to the blonde, "So where do we start?"

During this whole time Luna was looking back and forth between the two teenagers, her amber eyes getting larger and larger, her purring dead despite Serena stroking her furry back. Then she heard her owner say, "Luna, tell her."

"Serenity, this isn't something you can involve noncombatants in," Luna bounced out of Serena's lap and turned to face the two teens, anger in her words, "only the Sailor Scouts have the heavenly power of God survive and succeed against the Fallen," her looks hard at Molly, "I'm sorry, Mary Baker, to sound harsh or ungrateful but what aid you could give Sailor Moon is, at best, minimum."

"I know, Luna," a sweet smile is on Molly's lips, "but isn't it true that evil only succeeds when good people do nothing."

Luna is taken aback by the redhead's response and she sat down, "True, but can you handle the passion of the Cross," her anger cooled, "and the grief it will bring to your loved ones?"

"I must, Luna," a sober expression on Molly's cute face, "I couldn't think of myself as a Christian unless I help Sailor Moon."

At seeing Serena take hold of Molly's right hand and squeeze it, Luna sighed, "Very well," the Spirit Guide hooped up on the bed, "Don't say I didn't warn you," She slipped between then and stood in the middle of the bed, "but don't say I didn't give you a fighting chance." With that the little animal did a back flip and at the apex a flash of light is seen with the pop sound added. Dropped at Luna's feet are
three objects: a five-inch pink wand with the tip decorated by a red heart bounded by a crown of thorns, and what looked like two wristwatches each with a tiny screen plus an even smaller pad full of brightly colored buttons.

"Wow! Cool!" these were the words that came out of both girls as they scoop up the created items, "These watches look like they came from Dick Tracy!" Serena held one of the objects close to her face.

A clear-cut cough comes from Luna, "Well . . . like minds works . . . " clearly she seemed a little embarrassed by the comparison.

"Dick Tracy?" Molly looked at Serena and then Luna while holding the other watch and the wand, "You mean the Warren Betty-Madonna flick?"

"Pale imitation of the comic strip," Serena giggled when she turned over the wristwatch and saw the stylized cat face on the back as a trademark, "So the wristwatches are communication devices," her baby blues switch to the circular object her friend held, "but what about the wand?"

"As you surmised, Serenity, the wristwatches are communication devices but much more complex than the current ones available," Despite her early embarrassment Luna was pleased by Serena's quick deduction, although it being connected to comics and cartoons did bother her a bit, "but the wand is specifically meant for Molly."

"Oh?" Molly's emerald eyes lit up and she looked more carefully at the pink wand, "What does it do?"

"It's a disguise wand, Mary Baker," Luna shifted to lecture mode, "for a short period of time, approximately sixty minutes, Molly will be able to disguise herself as any humanoid being of the same mass," she began to clean one of her forepaws, "she will even have the abilities that goes with the guise but only temporary."

The green eyes of the redhead kept getting bigger and bigger as a certain black cat explained the wand she held in her hands, finally Molly said, "Someone pinch me."

Two fingers twitch but Serena stopped herself, "Why don't you try it out?"

"No!" Luna gave Serena a disapproving look, "Your parents or Sammy could walk in unexpected," both girls look disappointed so she added, "instead we will use a secured place where we can practice."

"Why not use one of the karaoke booths at the Crown?" suggested Molly with a renewed grin.

Serena quickly nodded, "They are soundproof and the ones at the Crown are large enough to have a party in," two sets of eyes lock on Luna, "What about it, Luna?"

Luna had a feeling that more than practicing was going to happen in the room but what else could the feline expect from teenagers, "all-right but I want to be there with you."

The two girls did high-fives but it was Molly who asked, "Now I'm an official member of this little conspiracy maybe you should tell me what I've gotten myself into."

Cat and owner nodded, which launched Serena into telling about what happened when she found Luna at the animal shelter and the blonde becoming the Instrument of Peace. With a few corrections from Luna, an hour passed before Serena finished the abridged version, "Any questions?"

During the hour long dialogue Molly pulled out a pad of paper and a pen from her overnight bag. "Well, I'm a little confused about how these sky kingdoms were each connected to the Sailor Scouts," she chewed on the black cap stuck on the end of the pen, "weren't the Sailor Scouts essentially archangels?"

"Correct, Mary Baker, the original Sailor Scouts were archangels given female guises by God," Luna becoming more alert, she hadn't expected such a question from the redhead and thought Serena compressed telling would be enough for the girl, "but by the time of the Silver Millennium things were much more complex in all ways politically and strategically."

"Huh?" Serena looked up from putting one of the wristwatches on.

"I think Luna means it became more than just a once in a lifetime battle of good versus evil," the movement of a pen over paper showed that Molly was writing.

"Very good, Mary Baker," Luna was warming up to Molly by the second.

"Teacher's Pet," Serena made a face, Molly stuck her tongue out and both end up giggling and leaning against each other's shoulders.

Luna rolled her eyes and thought for a second that lessons delivered by claws might work here, instead she stayed in lecture mode, "As Mary Baker has surmised the fact that the numbers of the Fallen had greatly expanded and the distance need to cover by the Sailor Scouts meant that each one of them had to be much more powerful and able to operate independently at the point of contact until reinforcements could reach them," a couple of times blank looks appeared on Serena's face so the black cat asked, "Do you understand?"

"Eh . . . I think I do, Luna," Molly sounded less than certain, "each of the sky kingdoms adopted a Sailor Scout?"

"That was a good guess, Mary Baker," Luna glanced over at Serena but the blonde seemed to more concern about what was being discuss than her friend was giving all the right answers, "in essence each of the sky kingdoms adopted an archangel into their royal family so that the divine power was passed down from one generation to the next," she rubbed one of her ears with a forepaw, "thus someone in each generation was a Sailor Scout."

"In what way being a part of a bunch of royal families helped the Sailor Scouts?" Serena held her wristwatch to her ear like she thought it was broken.

"The foundation of the Silver Millennium civilization was based on genetics, crystal technology and environmental science," Luna hooped off the bed and went over to her water bowl, "each one of them interlocking with the other to such an degree that if one of the three was removed the others would collapse."

"But why was the Instrument of Peace become Sailor Moon?" Serena pressed a button on her new wristwatch, "Why didn't it become Sailor Earth?"

"Originally that was the idea of the sky kingdoms but at the last moment God changed the plan," Luna drank from her bowl before adding, "he told the council that Earth already had a defender and that the Moon Kingdom would need one."

"Council? Defender?" Serena looked at the screen of her wristwatch when the device beeped.

"The Solar Council, each member representing the royal families of the sky kingdoms and the Earth Kingdom," Luna knew they were starting to get off the subject but Serena asking questions were a good sign in her judgment, "and the male heir of the Earth Kingdom is designated with the title, Defender of the Faith."

"A male heir?" Stereo responses came from the two girls with Serena adding, "So we are going to get a hunk for our very own?"

"Really, girls," Luna was about to tell them to act their age but decided against it, "Anyway, each sky kingdom became responsible for the training and equipping of their Sailor Scout while guidance was supplied by the spirit guides, like me, when necessary."

The tail end of Luna's answer got Molly looking at her notepad, "How many spirit guides are there?"

"In the Silver Millennium there were many spirit guides, some specializing in specific area while others gave general guidance," then a look of sadness touched her eyes, "but many have died in the battles against the Fallen and we are a loose organization, keeping mostly to ourselves until God calls upon us to help the Sailor Scouts."

Serena slipped off the bed and gathered Luna in her arms, "So Artemis is the only one you know of?"

"Yes," Luna nuzzled the gentle hand stroking her small head, "if only he wasn't such a lazy idiot," her tone becoming angry, "always breaking rules, taking the easy way out, ignoring the chain of command," her claws flexing.

"Owe!" Instantly Serena dropped Luna, "Hey! I'm not a pincushion," she glared at the cat.

"Sorry," Like any cat, Luna landed on her feet.

"Sounds like a difference in aptitude," Molly couldn't miss the way Luna's fur stood on end.

Serena didn't miss it either, "They sound like an old married couple," Serena whispered behind her hand into Molly's ear, which caused the redhead to giggle.

Both girls got an evil glare and a long pause from Luna, "Any other questions?"

Molly retrieved her yellow notepad, "You seem to hint that even in her non powered state Serena could detect the other unrevealed Sailor Scouts?"

"Yes," the question seemed to calm Luna down although her tone was still frosty, "due to the nature of Instrument of Peace, Serena is able to detect unshielded and some shielded divine or demonic powers."

Serena slowly nodded at Luna's explanation, "You mean if I suffer a strong attraction to someone I see or meet, they might be a Sailor Senshi or a Fallen?"

"They could be," Luna hooped onto the bed and begin to clean the tip of her tail, "there are also objects containing either divine or demonic energies as well, for example the wristwatches and the disguise wand."

"Let's test it out," Molly gathered up the wand, her wristwatch and waited for Serena to take off her own. Once done, the redhead quickly walked over to the closet and slipped inside, pulling it closed, "Ready!"

The teen looked at the cat, who nodded, before she let herself relax, her baby blues staring at the closet while her breath slipping through her parted lips. A slight intake of air in seconds show something happened.

"What do you see, Serenity?"

"It's . . . it's not wh . . . what I see . . . " the girl struggled to speak, "it's more what I feel . . . I . . . I don't see anything special . . . " her voice is soft, "but something in my head . . . its tells me . . . something special . . . inside . . . " her voice petered out and after a moment she could sense the divine objects moving closer and then something touched the middle of her forehead, which broke the spell and her eyes focused on Molly's face just a few inches from her face, "Whoa . . . too much heaven on my mind."

The redhead giggles as she lowered her right finger from her friend's brow, "Kind of left yourself defenseless."

"Doesn't usually suck me in like that," those baby blues of Serena's blinked several times.

"Most likely fatigue is making you more vulnerable to the multiple-layered reality it shows you, Serenity," Luna moved over to sit next to her charge.

"I'm a little curious, Luna," Molly sat on the other side of Serena, "since I'm here I can guess that the Fallen failed to destroy the Silver Millennium but what happened to those sky kingdoms," she smiled a little wider, "since I don't think the government could keep astronomers and scientists from blabbing."

"They are in ruins," a sad sigh came from Serena, "at least the Moon Kingdom is from what I saw."

"The Earth Kingdom was taken over by the Fallen," Luna sounding sadder than Serena, "a princess of the Earth royal family was corrupted by them and once her parents were assassinated, she became the queen and used her position to convince the people of her kingdom to support her in a war against the sky kingdoms."

"Their first target was the Moon Kingdom?" Molly offered a guess.

"Yes, Mary Baker, it was although its selection was due to the Earth Queen's ire for the Moon Kingdom's own queen, Celena," a disgusted look appeared on that furry face, "she had an unhealthy love for her brother, who was the Defender of the Faith, and when he sided with the sky kingdoms against her and started to live at the Moon Kingdom's court, she went off the deep end."

"A really twisted sister," Serena muttered under her breath before she getting up and made her way to her dresser, wanting to hide how much pain this was causing her. She knew of no one there nor did she have a personal stake but it didn't stop her from feeling sorrow, "So the Fallen are stopped but at the cost of the Moon Kingdom."

"But what happened to those other sky kingdoms and the Earth Kingdom?" A quick glance into her wall mirror showed to Serena that Molly was opening her suitcase while asking that question.

"How much do you know about the Moon?" the question caught both off-guard and they looked at Luna, which caused her to repeat, "Mary Baker, Serenity, how much do you know about the Moon?"

Molly and Serena looked at each other before Molly says, "Well, its too small to have an atmosphere, its gravity is much less than the Earth and it is mostly covered by craters."

"Also the United States went to it several times about thirty . . . forty years ago," Serena begun to change into her pj's, "something about a space race."

Luna nodded, "That is the Moon you both know," then her amber eyes get a faraway look in them, "but the Moon I knew was covered with pillars of manmade crystals with each having the girth and height of a redwood tree," Serena couldn't miss the pride she heard in that voice, "Those pillars absorbed the radiation raining down from the Sun and the black star-studded sky. Turning the Moon into habitable planet and they used their technology to beam that power to the Earth Kingdom and to the other sky kingdoms."

Molly pulled on her lime green pj's over her panty-clad body, "So when the Earth Kingdom attacked the Moon Kingdom it was like someone hitting a light bulb with a baseball bat."

Luna blinked at Molly's comparison but then nodded somberly, "Baseball bats of several megatons to be exact, Mary Baker, and despite the Moon Kingdom's defenses, the Earth Kingdom unleashed a battery of missiles that left the Moon looking as it does today, a cratered planet," her voice dropped to a whisper, "then the army of the Fallen came."

Without hesitation, even through Serena only had her pajama top on, she went over to Luna and tenderly pulled the black cat onto her lap as she sat on the bed. Her bare thighs could feel the spirit guide shivering she stroked her pet's satin fur, "It's alright, Luna, it happened long ago."

Luna curled up in the warmth of her owner bare lap, "I know but it still hurts, Serenity," she was on the verge of tears, "it was my first mission as a spirit guide and even with the Sailor Scouts augmented by the cosmic power of the planets and their training it ended in mutual destruction for the Silver Millennium,
for the Sailor Scouts and for the Fallen."

"We'll do better this time around, Luna," Serena looked up at Molly, "Right?"

"Right," Molly smiled assuredly as she patted Luna's head, "All . . . "

The door to Serena's room opened and a head with a mop of brown hair looked in, "Hey, Serena, Mom wants to know if you and Molly want some ice . . . " a pillow stuffed the boy's mouth.

"Sammy!" Now Serena turned so Luna hid the blonde's nude bottom, "Knock first and ask if you can come in."

"Give me a break, Sis," Sammy ducked behind the door as another pillow sail out of the bedroom, "we took baths together."

"Not with Molly you have," a retort and a third pillow came sailing through the opening before the preteen closed it fast. The petite blonde glared at the door, she was sure her brother was getting even for the gag she pulled earlier.

Molly giggled, got up, "Let's join them, Serena," she picked up Luna from her friend's lap and headed for the door, "I think Luna would like some melted ice cream."

"Thank you, Mary Baker," Luna's tail swing back-and-forth, "so few appreciate the heavy burden a spirit guide carries."

"Oh, Luna," Molly paused as she about to open the door, "what about those people who triggered Serena?" She almost giggled again as Serena did a hoop-wiggle-twist dance to get her pj's bottom, "Shouldn't we check to see if any of them are Sailor Scouts? Maybe get them into the mix as soon as possible?"

"No, Mary Baker, they will answer God's calling," certainty in Luna's eyes, "when it is their time to . . . Oaf!"

"Ack!"

"Sorry!" A black cat and a redhead compressed between a door and a blonde.
********

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