Chapter 2: Changes

Author's note: I've been working on this part for awhile, and in all 
honesty, there are some parts that need work. But I have been asked to 
post this a few times, so here it is, in its final form. There are some 
rocky transitions, so bear with me. I'm sure I'll update it sooner or 
later. And please please please let me know what you think of it. 
See Readme for standard disclaimers.	

*****
	"YOU CAN'T GO MAMO-CHAN." Usagi whined. She didn't think it was 
fair. She had just gotten her boyfriend Mamoru back after the battle in 
the future, and now he was leaving her again to go to America.
	"Usako, it'll be alright. I won't be gone long. I promise."
	"But Mamo-chan... what if you meet some other girl over there?"
	"Usako," he took her left hand in his. "I promise to not only 
come back, but to love no one else but you."
	She sniffled, and he kissed her gently as he heard his flight 
being called. "I have to go, Usako. I love you."
	"I love you too."
	Mamoru walked away, and towards the gate to meet his plane. He 
didn't like to leave his girlfriend, either, but if he didn't go to the 
university this year, he never would be able to. Behind him, he heard 
his girlfriend wailing. "Gomen, Usagi. I'll be back" he whispered.
	
	Usagi's friends understood how she felt, but her wailing was 
drawing attention.
	"Usagi no baka!" said Rei "Do you want the whole world to hear 
you?"
	"No.... I'm gonna miss him"
	"We all will, Usagi-chan" said Minako
	"But he said he'd come back." continued Ami.
	Usagi smiled at her friends, and looked over the terminal. A lone 
figure on a bench, a young man about her age, she figured, was hunched 
over, clutching his suitcase.
	"Who's that?" Usagi wondered aloud.
	"I don't know," Makoto said, "He probably just got in. He looks 
American."
	"I think he's upset. I'm gonna go talk to him."
	"Usagi.. you don't know him" replied Ami
	Usagi smiled, "well, I guess I'll have to change that."
	As they watched Usagi walk away, her friends sighed. "Usagi is 
Usagi, ne?" said Minako. The others just nodded, not quite 
understanding their other blonde friend.

	As Usagi walked toward the young man more things became apparent 
to her. He was hurt, and when she got closer, she realized he was 
crying. It broke her heart to see him cry, whether she knew him or not. 
She walked over, knelt in front of him, and asked softly: "Are you 
alright?"


*****
	Paul looked up into Usagi's face and realized it was the girl he 
had seen crying before. He sniffed, and said "I'm okay."
	She smiled softly at him "No you're not." she sat on the bench 
beside him. "Do you want to talk about it?"
	"I don't even know you."
	"I'm Tsukino Usagi."
	"Paul Anderson"
	"Anderson? That's a funny name."
	"Gomen. I'm Anderson Paul."
	Usagi giggled. "Oh I get it. Well, Paul-san, now we know each 
other. Wanna talk about it?"
	Paul couldn't help but smile at this girl with such a bubbly 
personality. "I just moved here from America."
	"But that's not why you are crying, is it?"
	"No.... my girlfriend died this past week." The tears began 
again. Usagi put her arm around Paul, who leaned in and wept on her 
shoulder. 
	"Why does this feel so right?" Usagi wondered "I don't even know 
him."
*****

	"What is that odanga atama doing??" Rei asked aloud.
	"I don't really know." replied Ami. The girls all stared as Usagi 
first knelt in front of the young man, then sat beside him, then put 
her arms around him and he leaned into her embrace.
	"Do you think she knows him?" asked Makoto.
	"If she does, she's never mentioned him before." said Ami, still 
watching.
	"Do you know anything about this, Minako-chan?" asked Rei. Minako 
didn't answer. "Minako?"
	"Huh?" replied the blonde. "Oh.. sorry.... he looks familiar. I 
think I've met him before, but I don't know when."
	Before anything more could be said, Usagi and the young man came 
walking up.
	"Minna," said Usagi "This is Anderson Paul, from America. He's an 
exchange student at our school. Paul-san, this is Mizuno Ami, Aino 
Minako, Hino Rei, and Kino Makoto."
	Paul nodded his greetings, pausing to give Minako a second 
glance. "Have we met before?"
	"I don't know" she replied. "I think so."
	"You two know each other?" asked Usagi, incredulous.
	"I think so," Paul said slowly, "but I cant for the life of me 
think of from where."
	"Me either."
	"Usagi..." Rei began "I hate to break up the introductions, but 
your parents are probably waiting for us."
	"Oh yeah!"
	"Wait," said Paul "before you all leave, could I have a way of 
reaching you again. If I'm gonna be living here, I'd like to get to 
know some people"
	"Well, we're gonna be at the Hikawa Shrine." said Minako
	"Where's that?" asked paul.
	"Just find one of the bus stations," Rei told him, "And look at 
the map. We're on top of a hill, and rather hard to miss."
	"Okay. when?"
	"3 o'clock tomorrow." said Ami.
	"I'll be there. Thanks, all of you."
	"You're welcome." makoto said.

	After Paul was out of earshot, Rei looked at the other girls, an 
expression of shock on her face. "Do you realize we just invited a 
total STRANGER to the shrine with us tomorrow?"
	"I know" said Usagi. "I think he's a nice guy."
	"but.."
	"Rei... I don't know why," said Ami, "But I feel like we can 
trust him. Were you getting bad feelings from him?"
	Rei thought a moment. "No not at all. Its just.. we're never that 
open."
	"He is soo familiar," Minako said.
	"He reminds me of....." Makoto began
	"Your sempai" the girls concluded, laughing.

*****

	Paul walked away from the encounter with his new friends? feeling 
better than he had in awhile.
	"I'm glad I got to meet those girls. They seem really nice." He 
thought to himself as he was walking to the city bus stop. "That blonde 
seems familiar. But from where?"
	He rode the bus in silence and got off at the appropriate stop.  
He entered the building that would, he thought, be his home for quite 
awhile, and got in the elevator on his right.  As he rode it to the 4th 
floor, he couldn't help but think of Usagi, and Minako. 
	"You know..." He thought to himself "Now that I think about it, 
both of them look familiar. But from where?"
	His thoughts were interrupted by the doors of the elevator 
opening. While he was walking towards his apartment, he took the parcel 
out of his bag, and fished out the key.
	"Well, here it is," he said, opening the door to his new home. 
Inside was a nicely furnished apartment, with a balcony. He removed his 
shoes, and walked to the window, leading to the balcony/porch. "Wow. 
what a view! That must be the park." Off to his right, a short way 
away, he saw a tall hill. "And that must be the hill where the shrine 
is."
	Turning around, he saw the rest of his belongings piled off to 
one side. He walked over and pulled out 2 particular pictures. One was 
his picture of Serena, which he put on his mantle. The other was his 
autographed poster of Sailor V.  He unrolled it, assembled its frame, 
and then hung it on the wall above his sofa.
	"Now it feels like home." he smiled.
*****
	That evening the dark kingdom, for the first time in over a year, 
began to buzz with excitement. HE was coming. All the youma knew it. 
And when he arrived, they thought and said among themselves, the Senshi 
would pay for what they had done.
*****
	The girls had left the airport, and, in very short order, arrived 
at the Hikawa shrine for a slumber party.   Makoto had brought plenty 
of food for everyone, including extra for Usagi, whose eating habits 
were legendary.  After they had all eaten they settled in to talk.  
Invariably, their conversation turned to Paul.

	"Usagi-chan, what were you thinking when you went up to Paul-san 
today?" Ami asked. The others, curious of their friend's answer, all 
turned to their young leader.
	"What do you mean? Usagi answered
	"What drew you to him?"  Rei asked.
	Usagi hesitated for a moment, running through the meeting that 
morning in her mind, trying to recall exactly what happened. She set 
the piece of shrimp in her hands down on the table, and spoke, a 
distant look in her eyes.
	"I saw a young man sitting alone in a big airport, in a foreign 
country, with no friends, and his world crashing to pieces around him. 
My heart broke to see him like that.  But... beyond that, I was drawn 
to him. Like I was drawn to you all when we first met, before we knew 
we were Senshi." she paused, and smiled at each of her friends 
individually.  "He seemed special, and I wanted to make him feel 
better."
	"Plus, he's major cute!" Minako said. "Do you like him?"
	Usagi didn't answer. She simply stared out the window. Finally 
she turned back. "I don't know. I don't think so."
	Minako smiled at this, and as the others turned to tease her, 
Usagi quietly slipped out of the temple, and sat on the front steps. 
She stared at the stars above her, her mind wandering, trying to figure 
some things out.
	Inside the temple, the girls were still discussing their new 
friend, trying to figure out where Paul and Minako had met before. 
After a few minutes, they began to worry about Usagi, and Rei 
volunteered to go out and check on her. As she left the room, the 3 
remaining girls smiled.
	"No matter how much they fight" Makoto said "They really care for 
each other."
	"Sometimes I wonder..." said Minako, staring out the window at 
the shapes of Rei, looking for Usagi.
	"Wonder what?" asked Ami.
	"You think?" Makoto said.
	"Sometimes, I think so. She is so quick to fight, and then to 
make up."
	"What are you two talking about?" asked Ami, confused. The other 
two just smiled at her. "We'll tell you when you're older." they said 
almost as one. Ami just shook her head, and they went back to 
gossiping.
	
	Usagi, meanwhile, was staring at the stars, playing memories in 
her mind. She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Rei until 
the brunette softly placed a hand on her shoulder. 
	"Usagi.... are you alright?" Rei asked, concern evident in her 
voice.
	"Hai, Rei-chan," the blonde answered, not looking at Rei.
	"Alright, what is it," Rei asked. "You are defiantly not acting 
like yourself."
	Usagi sighed. "You're too good at reading me, Rei-chan." the fire 
priestess just smiled. "Rei-chan... who does Mamoru love?"
	"Nani?"
	"Who does Mamoru love? Me, or Serenity?"
	"You're the same person." the other answered, confused.
	"No, we're not" Usagi answered. "I may be her reincarnated, and I 
may be destined to become her again, but right now I'm someone 
different. I'm Usagi, and I'm Sailor Moon, a Senshi that I don't even 
think was supposed to exist. Serenity was before, but I'm not her. I 
can feel it every time I use the Ginzuishou. She..." Usagi paused, 
searching for words "She is channeled by the crystal, and I become more 
like her. From what I saw of Neo-queen Serenity, Usagi was more 
prominent, though she was... will be.. whatever... is a true 
combination of both. Right now, though, I'm just Usagi." She shook her 
head. "Did that make any sense?"
	"I think so. You mean that, even though you were Serenity before, 
and may become like her sooner or later, you're not right now?"
	"Exactly.  I'm just me. And that's why I want to know who Mamoru 
really loves. When I was just Usagi, and Sailor Moon, he hated me.  
When I found Serenity in myself, we suddenly were madly in love. When 
he lost his memory, he hated me again, and when he got it back, he 
loved me again. See where I'm going with this?"
	"You think he loves you for Serenity."
	"Yeah... but its more than that."
	"What then?"
	"Rei-chan... I've never had a boyfriend before Mamo-chan. I'm 
gonna end up marrying him.  What if I never find someone? What if Usagi 
never knows what its like to be loved? I'm so scared, Rei-chan."
	"Scared of what?"
	"I'm scared no one loves me!"
	"Usagi, don't be silly. Of course people love you.  Your parents, 
and your friends. We all love you. And I'm sure Mamoru-san does as 
well."
	"But... what if he doesn't love me for who I am now?"
	"Have you asked him?"
	"No."
	"Usagi, you have to ask him"
	"I don't want to!"
	"Why not?"
	"I don't want him to say no" Usagi began to weep uncontrollably, 
tears of pain that her best friend had never seen before. Rei noticed 
the others coming outside, and she waved them back in, knowing Usagi 
didn't need a bunch of people around right now. She drew her crying 
friend into a hug, and when the tears had subsided into hiccups, she 
lifted the young girls chin to look at her.
	"Usagi, what brought all this on?"
	"Paul"
	"Why Paul?"
	"Because when I met him, he seemed to like me because I was just 
Usagi. He's the first boy who really did, well, besides Umino.  I mean, 
I know you all like me for Usagi, because you did before any of you 
were Senshi, but Mamo-chan didn't. He changed when I discovered 
Serenity. No one has ever really loved me romantically. I'm not 
interested in Paul like that, but it made me think that just maybe, no 
one ever will" The tears welled up again in the young girl's eyes.
	"Usagi, I want to tell you something, but I'm scared to."
	"What is it, Rei-chan?" Her friend's tear streaked face looked up 
at her in concern. 
	"I have to tell you a story first, about when I was younger."
	"Okay...." Usagi answered, unsure of where this would lead.
	"You know my father left me when I was little, ne?"
	"Hai, you told us."
	"Did I ever tell you he took me back?"
	"Nani?"
	Rei nodded sadly. "Its true. I went back with him, thinking 
everything would be okay.  But he found out that I was dating... 
someone, and went ballistic. He hit me, and screamed, and threw me out 
of the house."
	"Oh, Rei-chan I'm sorry"
	Rei took a breath. "Usagi, I dated Mamoru for my father's sake. I 
wanted to prove to him I was normal."
	"What do you mean?"	
	"My father..." she paused "My father didn't like who I was 
dating."
	"Why? What did he do?"
	"Usagi... she didn't do anything."
	Usagi was silent, processing what her best friend had just told 
her.  "Oh" she said quietly.
	"You hate me now don't you?" Rei was crying, about to leave.
	"No. Rei-chan, wait!" Usagi tugged on her friend's arm. "Rei-
chan, please, what happened?"
	"You don't hate me?"
	"Of course not, you are my best friend."
	"I'm glad." Rei paused. "My father... my father saw me kiss her, 
and he grabbed me by my arm, and threw me to the ground. He hit me in 
the face, and called me..." Rei's voice became stricken "called me a 
tramp and a lesbian, and told me that I was worthless. Then he picked 
me up and threw me outside."
	"Kami-sama, Rei. I had no idea."
	"Usagi... do you know why I'm telling you all this?"
	"No, I don't."
	Rei smiled hesitantly "Because I wanted you to know that there is 
someone who loves you like that."
	Usagi looked confused. "I don't understand."
	Rei shook her head. "I'm just gonna have to spell it out for you, 
ne?"
	"Rei.. what are you talking a...." Usagi never finished her 
sentence, as Rei tenderly kissed her lips.  Rei pulled back after a 
moment, tears in her eyes. "I love you Usagi."
	Usagi stared at her friend for a moment, and started to cry.
	"Usagi. I'm sorry, Usagi. I never should have said it. I never 
should have..."
	"Rei-chan... I've never known what it was to be in love. What I 
have with Mamo-chan is like... is like a memory of love. Kinda like 
what Mako-chan has for her sempai.  You've just told me that you love 
me. I'm crying because I love you too."
	"You do?" Rei asked.
	"More than anything." The smile Usagi got in returned shone like 
the sun. "Rei-chan?"
	"Yes?"
	"Why do you always fight with me?"
	Rei sighed. "Usagi, remember at the hot springs, you asked me 
what the scar on my back was from, and I told you I had fallen?"
	"Hai."
	"That was where my father threw me on the ground. That scar has 
made me want to hide the way I felt about you from the moment that I 
saw you. It was the voice of my father, screaming 'lesbian!'"
	Usagi pulled her friend into a hug. "I wish you had told me 
then."
	"Really?"
	"Really."  They never could figure out who started their next 
kiss. All they knew was that it was more passionate and pure than any 
they had ever had before. When they finally parted, after more than a 
minute, they could only stare at each other breathlessly. That is, 
until the applause started.
	The two girls turned abruptly, and saw Minako, Makoto, and a very 
red Ami standing there, smiling at them.
	"We heard Rei screaming a second ago, and came out in time to see 
you kissing." Ami stammered.
	"Yeah," said Minako, looking at her watch "A minute and thirty 
seconds. Not bad for what I guess is your first kiss together."
	"Second, actually, but the first didn't really count," said 
Usagi, smiling. Rei could only stammer nervously.
	"Don't worry, Rei-chan," Minako said, "We think you two are great 
together!"
	"Yeah," echoed Makoto.
	"Umm.." began Ami, "What are you gonna tell Mamoru-san?"
	Rei and Usagi turned to stare at each other. Usagi spoke first. 
"First of all, I'm certainly not going to call him right now. I will 
wait until I can see him in person and talk to him. Until then," here 
she looked apologetically at Rei, "Nothing is going to happen between 
Rei and I, except for some long talks." She smiled at the fire-
priestess, who still hadn't spoken.
	"Rei-chan" said Makoto. "are you okay?"
	"I think so." said Rei, "I just had no idea Usagi was that good 
of a kisser." The others laughed as Rei turned even brighter shades of 
red.  They then went inside. When they were settled in, preparing their 
sleeping arrangements, Minako took her glass of tea from the table, and 
held it up, with a mischievous grin on her face.
	"I'd like to propose a toast." She said. the others turned to 
look at her. "To Rei and Usagi, who have finally found someone they 
love," Rei and Usagi smiled at each other, but Minako wasn't done, "and 
who will never again have to worry about the perils of birth control." 
Makoto died laughing, Ami and Rei both blushed. Usagi, for her part, 
reached for a pillow.
	"Minako-chan. You are soooo dead!." The ensuing pillow fight 
lasted nearly an hour, but was called off when they almost broke Rei's 
grandfather's favorite vase.
	When they finally decided to go to bed, Rei and Usagi took their 
places, which had been set up right beside each other.
	"We always knew, didn't we?" asked Rei.
	"I think we did." Usagi answered. "No more fights?"
	"Well, maybe for fun."
	"I love you, Rei-chan."
	"I love you too, Usagi-chan." Usagi smiled at that response, 
knowing that it was the first time Rei had ever called her that.

*****
	Thousands of miles away, Chiba Mamoru had arrived, in broad 
daylight, at his new home in Los Angeles, California. He had no idea 
the changes his life would take, and how soon the changes would be. As 
he shut all his curtains, blocking out the light of the sun, he took 
some medicine to help sleep away the jet lag, and shut out his lights, 
a plane ticket to Tokyo, Japan on his bedside table.  A plane trip that 
would forever change the lives of his girlfriend and her friends.

End Chapter 2.