Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is the Brain Child of Naoko Takeuchi/Kodansha + TOEI Animation

By Sailor Nena

"Serena pulled herself out of her bed with her body aching from the previous night’s fight. "So, Luna, will it always hurt this much?"

"No," the cat stretched, "after you train a bit, you will be fine. Do you always wake up this late on the weekend?" She looked at the clock. It was twelve-thirty.

"No," Serena opened her closet. "I usually get up latter. Who was he? Will he always be there?"

"Who? HIM? I don’t know. I’ve never seen him before."

"He was so dreamy!" Serena sighed.

"He could be our enemy!" Luna warned.

"HIM? Nah, not him. He’s too CUTE!"

"Serena!" Luna reprimanded, but Serena was already in a different planet.

Serena had picked her short flowing black skirt with matching jacket and a red top for the days attire. She skipped happily down the street heading for the arcade. "Hey, gorgeous!"

"Gi’me some suga’"

"Hey babe, let me show ya some REAL fun!" Some nearby boys began to yell and whistle. She hurried her step in disgust and tripped over a lost, small, golden puppy that had crossed her path. She fell headfirst against a tall man, who caught her and left her suspended in his arms three feet from the ground.

"I’m sorry," Serena began, "I didn’t see the dog."

"You don’t seem to see anything, Meatball Head." The sun was behind the stranger’s head, so she had been unable to see his face, but his cocky tone revealed his identity.

"Darien! It had to be you!"

"Me? What did I do? You are the one that fell on me, Meatball Head!"

"Don’t call me that, Spaghetti Brains!" Her eyes flashed with anger. There was something about the way her eyes twinkled when she was angry that enticed him.

"If I were you I would NOT insult what is keeping you from the floor, Meatball Head!" He loosened his grip, and she tightened hers to prevent from falling. "Now, Serena, I had no idea you felt this way." He gave her his audacious smile.

"Don’t get TOO happy! I only prefer your arms from the cold, hard, dirty, concrete floor by the with of a hair." Her voice was tinge with annoyance; her eyes twinkled with fear, excitement, anger, and surprise.

"Awww, you hurt my feelings!" he said in a babyish voice and let go. Serena fell hard on her behind with a scream, and for the first time, Darien realized she was wearing a short skirt as an unholy thought swept through his mind. The whistles from the boys began again. Serena blushed with embarrassment.

"I hope you enjoyed yourself."

"Thanks, I did." He said with a giggle. She picked up the puppy and looked at its collar. She could not see Darien surprisingly looking down at her. He was wearing his usual outfit with the green jacket. His hair was carelessly combed, leaving it hanging sexily from his head.

"Are you going to the university?"

"Huh? Yeah, why?"

"Because you can take him home." She gave him her-daddy-can-I-please-have-this smile. "It’s the least you can do."

"I CAN DO? He’s the reason you tripped!"

"And you enjoying yourself! Com’n Darien," she whined, "I’m going in the opposite direction." She looked at him with her more adorable puppy-eyes.

"Fine, I wouldn’t want you to trip, again."

Serena turned away frustrated. "That guy really gets on my nerves!" She walked away unaware that he was still staring at her with the small golden puppy in his arms.

"That girl has something…WOE, Darien, hold on a moment…. This is Serena, Meatball Head….Yeah she has a great body and wouldn’t look bad on your record, but she is still only a kid, and acts only like a kid. Yeah, she is also very nice, and at times there seems to be some intelligence behind those sapphire blue eyes of her, but….Darien, she is off limits! She would be OK, if she weren’t so annoying." Darien thought as he looked at the puppy’s collar. "That brat! You don’t live near the university at all! I’ll have to take you home after class. Oh, you will pay, Serena! You will pay with more than concrete!" His eyes flared with emotions he did not understand.

"Hi Andrew!"’

"Oh, hi Serena! How are you?"

"Fine, is that new Sailor V game in?"

"Yeah, it’s behind that line of human bodies." Serena looked at the excessively long line.

"May be next time." She thought and went to play another game. Three hours later, Serena had beaten her old high score twice and spent all her money. "I guess it’s time to visit Molly. I wonder how she’s doing after last night." She left the arcade only to be greeted by a very familiar, golden, puppy. "Hey, there. You lost?"

"So, Meatball Head, you talk to animals?" A sarcastic voice laughed.

"Why are you surprised? After all, I speak to you." She picked up the puppy and gave him a bright happy smile, though her eyes revealed her mixed feelings.

"So now I’m an animal?" There was something in his eyes that she did not recognized.

"If you say so. Weren’t you supposed to take him home?"

"Yeah, but you lied." He took the puppy from her hands, "Lights Street is over at your school!"

"No, you are thinking of Light Avenue!"

"No, you are the confused one!"

"Here, give me the dog; I’ll take it home." She tried to take the dog from him, but he pulled him away.

"His name is Odysseus, and I’ll go with you to prove you wrong." He gave her the puppy.

"Just like her to get distracted by a boy!" Luna thought as she watched from the roof of the arcade. "All with a DOG, when cats are soooo much better!" She followed them until she was able to jump on her shoulder.

"Luna!" she shrieked. Darien began to laugh.

"You are such the animal magnet today!"

"Luna, don’t tell me your jealous, girl!" Luna jumped into her free arm and began to coddle. With the golden sun kissing her hair and the rose petals of her cheeks blooming, she looked like a modern goddess in Darien’s eyes, but he would not admit it to anyone, not even himself.

"Here, Odysseus." The puppy jumped from Serena’s arms into his. "Your cat?"

"Yup, got her yesterday." She smiled at her feline guardian.

"What did you say her name was?"

"Luna."

"The Roman goddess of the moon." A young man said. They looked at the source of the voice. He was no more than thirty years old and he had a gray streak on each of his blond temples. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans, blue shirt and beige sports jacket. He was also very handsome with emerald green eyes.

"Professor!" Darien exclaimed in surprise. "Serena, this is my mythology professor…"

"Quite it, Darien. We know each other already, right Serena?"

"Whatever, Chuck." Serena said more to herself. "Don’t even think about talking in Latin to me." She warned smiling. He laughed at her remark.

"Pop quiz, what are the other mythological moon goddesses, Moon Child?"

"Artimis, Diana, and" she hesitated, "Selene." He smiled at her.

"Have you found your Endymion?" His smile darkened. She took a retreating step back. Darien took notice of her sudden defensive position and took action. He put his arm around her neck.

"Endymion….Endymion? Have you been keeping something from me?" He kissed her cheek; then, he took her hand. "Com’n, it’s getting late. See you ‘round, Professor."

"Bye!" Serena called behind her and she tried to keep up with Darien’s pace. "You know you just got me into a LOT of trouble!"

"ME? What did I do?" He asked disgraced.

"He is the biggest, nosiest gossip my parents know! I can hear him EMBELLISHING the situation to my FATHER! I WOULDN’T BE SURPRISED IF HIS RETELLING HAS NOT A CORNELL OF TRUTH!" She pulled her hand free. "I am so grounded!" she whined.

"How was I suppose to know? He is my teacher, not my friend! And it is your fault! If you had agreed with me where Lights Street was, we wouldn’t have passed the university!" He was screaming with anger and she followed his example,

"AND VICE VERSA! IF YOU HAD LISTENED TO ME IN THE FIRST PLACE…" She was silenced by Darien’s index finger on her lips.

"You know what vice versa means?" He said more relaxed. Serena’s anger reached its peak. She kicked him with all her strength. He screamed with pain. The dog rushed to the ground, and so did Luna. She was prepared for anything he could do to retaliate, except what he did. She was prepared to hear him scream, and perhaps see him raise his hand towards her, but he did not.

"Not a bad kick, Meatball Head!" He laughed, kissed her cheek again, and patted her on her other. "Maybe some day you’ll be able to do some damage." Her anger rose to its climax one more time. All thoughts blurred in her mind. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him to eye level. Her eyes burning with a passionate anger. She took a deep breath and said,

"You are not worth my time." She let him go as she slowly regained her cool.

"Odysseus!" A little girl in a navy blue sailor outfit cried. She ran to the puppy and picked him up. "Thank you!" she said to Serena.

"He’s yours?"

"Yup. Thank you miss, and can you thank your boyfriend too, he is so tall, that I don’t think he can hear me." The little girl said. Serena was shocked by the girl’s assumption. She was going to correct the girl, but Darien stopped her.

"Be more careful with him, doll." He smiled and the little girl ran away with her blue pigtails bouncing behind her and Odysseus chasing after her sea green eyes. "I guess you were right, Meatball head."

"Why didn’t you let me correct her?" Serena asked insulted.

"It wasn’t worth the argument. It is not going to change the greater cosmic scheme of things. Well, I gotta go. Bye Meatball Head."

Serena walked back to the arcade furious. She thought back at his words, ‘It wasn’t worth the argument. It is not going to change the greater cosmic scheme of things.’ "Of course it was!" she mumbled to herself, "And yes it did! If enough people think something true, it becomes true! Look at history! The bad guys always lose because the winners write the history books! THAT BRAT, and then he PATS me on my cheek like if I were a DOG! Who does he think he is? He is lucky that I was in a hurry, or he would have felt my right hook!" Serena began to laugh at the last time she gave someone her right hook. It seemed so long ago, as if a lifetime had passed since then.

She had been five years old and notorious for fighting. No matter what the odds were, she would be right next to the "little person" helping them out. A boy around her size had stolen her lunch, and she was decided to fight for it when three of his bigger friends decided to join the fun. The two medium ones of the group grabbed her arms, while the boy that stole her lunch and the biggest boy in the fight took turns using her as a punching and kicking bag. No one, not even the ones she had stood up for in previous fights, jumped in to help her. She exploded in furry and pain and broke free giving the biggest boy her right hook. The punched managed to break two of his ribs, but she was so hurt that she could not walk for a week.

After the incident, she had promised herself and Molly, who had gone for help, never to put herself at risk again. "I wouldn’t mind breaking a promise for him!" she

thought as she punched her left palm. Serena thought about her promised. Being Sailor Moon went against it. She had become Sailor Moon the night before and had gone into a fight without thinking of anything. She sensed Molly’s predicament, and that was enough for her. It had felt, and still felt like the right thing to do. "Luna said it was my destiny," she thought, "and only mine, but she never said I had to. Would it change the greater scheme of things? It was my tiara, not his rose, that destroyed that monster. I wish I could talk to him about it. Wonder what Luna gotta say ‘bout this." She looked down at Luna, who had suddenly become tense.

"Serena, I’m getting bad vibes from that place!" Serena followed the cat’s eyes.

"The arcade, are you crazy?" Serena turned and walked towards Molly’s house leaving Luna behind.

"I don’ like this!"

"Yes, can I help you, sir?" A middle-aged man with a bolding scalp, a thick mustache, and a potbelly asked.

"Are you the manager?" A blond, younger, more fit man answered asking. The other loosened his tie and unbuttoned his sweaty white shirt collar.

"That would be me. What can I do for you?"

"Your energy will do!" the handsome blond laugh sucking all of the manager’s energy.

"Techno, you know what to do!" he barked as another man appeared. He was wearing a cyber helmet. Circuit chips made up his face, and the bottom half of his right arm was a sword; the bottom half of the other was a shield. Techno had no legs, just one appendage that was connected to tank-like wheels. On his chest, there was a third mechanical arm, and his height was equal to the general’s.

"Yes, Master Jejeje-dite. I will get right t-t-to work." He answered in his cyber voice.

"So, you want to play video games?" The manager screamed from a platform in front of the arcade. The crowd of teenagers in front of him screamed an affirmative.

"And you want to play for free?"

"YES!"

"Well, then the next three hundred thousand games are free!" The crowd of kids stampeded the arcade and began to play as crazy obsessed maniacs.

"I can’t believe I missed Molly!" Serena exclaimed as she ran back to the arcade. "Oh, this is not my day!" She turned the corner without looking and crashed into someone knocking him to the ground and falling on him. "I’m sorry; I didn’t see you." Serena quickly apologized.

"Hey, Meatball Head, watch where you’re going!" She raised her surprised eyes; his eyes found hers and were taken aback by their innocence. Unconsciously, he swept her bangs from her face.

"You?" Was all she managed to say.

"Yeah, now, could you please get OFF me!" With the surprise of the fall, she had not realized she was lying on top of him in the middle of the street. She quickly reacted and noticed something else.

"I will, as soon as you let me go." When she crashed into him, his arms had wrapped around her waist, and he had not released her since.

"Huh?" He realized where his traitorous hands were hiding. Two dark figures appeared. One yanked Serena to her feet; the other grabbed Darien by his shirt and stood him up.

"Would you care to explain what’s going on, son? Darien looked at the officers. They were young, fit, and cocky; they were a headache waiting to happen.

"Nothing."

"Really? Then what were you doing with her on the floor?"

"She fell on me."

"Then why were you holding her down?" The other officer asked. Darien shot Serena a look of disbelief, but she was looking down at an imaginary piece of dirt on her skirt.

"He didn’t." She whispered, then looked up. "I fell on him, that’s all."

"Really?" The first police officer asked sarcastically.

"Daddy! Daddy!" A little girl with blew pigtails in a miniature sailor outfit followed by a golden puppy ran towards them. "Daddy, look! Odysseus is back. Oh, looky! That’s the girl and her boy friend! They found Odysseus! Why are you yelling at them?" The first police officer became nervous,

"I’m not honey!" he said, "So," he turned to the couple, "you two are a pair." Serena gave Darien a dirty look.

"So it wasn’t worth the argument?" she mumbled to Darien, who decided to annoy her.

"Yeah," he started with the officers, "You know how that can get." He slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her close. "Right, Doll?"

"Don’t call me doll." Serena punched his arm lightly, but he gave her a freezing look that made her stop, and with a dark smile, he lowered his face upon hers. She held her breath and pulled back slightly; he pulled her closer. He smiled at her reaction; their lips were barely apart. He went in for the kill, but the second officer stopped him,

"Hey, don’t forget there is a kid here."

"Sorry." Darien said as he released his prey. Serena breathed out in relief. She took his hand.

"Well, we should go." She smiled. He took the opportunity to slip his hands around her waist.

"She doesn’t like to share me, but you two probably know all about that." The officers laughed at his comment."

"Com’n Sweetie-Pie." They walked away and as soon as they were out of sight, she broke free. "I’ll kill you if you ever touch me again!"

"Hey, you are the one who called me Sweetie-Pie! Where have you been? No one says that anymore!"

"Oh, and who calls their girl doll to begin with?" She retaliated

"Hey, what would you know?" He stepped forward.

"ALLOT MORE THAN YOU! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING BACK THERE?"

"What? YOU MEAN THIS?" He pulled her close and tried to kiss her again, but she gave him her right hook. He clenched over in pain, and the sudden realization of her action caused her to burst into tears.

"OH MY GOD, I’m sorry! Did I hurt you? Are you ok?" Darien stood up strait and laughed.

"You are a violent one, Meatball head!" He whipped her tears away, "Don’t be such a cry baby!" Her tears disappeared, and she felt an old spark ignite once again.

"This wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t such….such…" She was so furious that she could not think strait.

"I’ll be seeing you." He waved as he walked away before she could reorganize her thoughts.

"He is so annoying!" Serena felt a familiar, pleasant sting on her hand. "I guess that’s the end of my promise." She said as she flexed her fist.

"What was I thinking? To get out of the problems with the cops, that was natural, but that…what was that?" Darien asked himself as he rubbed the soar spot Serena’s fist had left. "Meatball Head has a mean punch? What’s the world coming to? Before you know it, I’m going to start liking her! Now that I think of it, I was looking forward for that kiss! God what’s happening to me?" He smiled as he remembered how her eyes had flared up in fear and surprise when he was about to claim her lips.

"He felt a strong pain on his side. "What’s happening? Is it her punch?" He clumsily entered an alley and changed into Tuxedo Mask.

Serena entered the dead arcade, which floors were covered by a rug of lifeless teenaged bodies. The manager was in the center laughing his head off.

"Excuse me, sir, what’s going on?" He turned to her with fire in his eyes. She screamed and ran into a corner. She took in a deep breath and was ready to cry when Luna screamed,

"Quickly, change into Sailor Moon!" A sudden rush of bravery flooded her soul.

"Moon Prism Power!" She began her epic transformation into Sailor Moon. Ribbons rapt themselves around her body; boots covered her legs, and a tiara formed on her forehead. "You think you can turn video games into your own energy bank and get away with it? I am Sailor Moon, Champion of Love and Justice! In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!"

"G-g-get ready to feel the power of T-t-t-techno!" He turned a full circle from the waist up as his body shifted from human form into his real self.

"May be this wasn’t such a good idea." Serena thought as Techno charged strait at her with his sword aimed at her heart. She screamed in fear and fell to the ground as his sword stabbed the air where she had been a second earlier. "I don’t want to do this anymore!" She cried as she crawled away.

"T-t-t-t-techno will destroy you!" He said as he turned to attack again.

"Sailor Moon, use your tiara!" Luna ordered.

"Oh, yeah! Moon Tiara Magic!" The golden tiara turned into a glowing discus, which went flying towards Techno; he blocked it with his shield.

"Ha-ha, Ha-ha, p-p-p-pitiful attempt, S-s-s-sailor Loser!" Techno charged again, and Sailor Moon fell back scared over some of the bodies.

"Molly!" she exclaim as she saw her friend among the victims. "Alright you techno-reject! You do NOT mess with my friends and get away with it!" A familiar spark had ignited once again in her eyes, and an old will to win consumed her essence. "This time I WILL defeat you!" She charged at him screaming, did a jump-flip over his head, and before he could attack… "Moon Tiara Magic!" She threw her tiara at him once again. This time it sliced him in two.

"Nice job, Sailor Moon. Care to try it with me?" Jedite drew his sword and charged at her; she tried to move, but there were to many bodies blocking her. A red rose cut between them.

"Still picking on children, Jedite!? Why don’t you try me?" Tuxedo Mask yelled as he jumped from a video game directing an attack with his cane. Jedite retreated.

"This will not be the end of it!" Jedite’s words echoed.

"Sailor Moon, are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes, are you?"

"Don’t worry about me. You did a good job today, Sailor Moon. Keep it up!" He jumped and disappeared.

"He is so dreamy!" She sighed.

Serena came out of the arcade laughing with Molly. "I can’t believe you saw her!"

"I know! She is cooler than Sailor V. I wonder if they are related!"

"Hey, are you lost?" Serena asked a familiar golden puppy as he rubbed against her leg. She looked at his collar. "Odysseus!"

"Hey, Meatball Head! Did you see where the little girl went? I know the officer is over there, but I don’t want to go through that again."

"Serena, who’s your friend?" Molly asked in a whisper.

"Some non-human reject! Oh, hello officer." Serena finished nervously. "We found your dog again."

The officer eyed them; "Do you always call him a non-human reject?" She remembered their previous encounter.

"It’s a term of endearment." She tried to convince.

"Yeah, I call her Meatball Head, and she calls me a non-human reject." Darien pitched in. He didn’t feel like having to spend the afternoon in a prescient due to whims of a cocky cop.

"Why aren’t I convinced?" The police officer asked. Darien decided to take charge.

"I don’t know, and I don’t care!" He took her hand. "We do NOT have to take this. We are leaving."

"The HELL you are!" They turn to see a new man with smoke coming out of his ears.

"Daddy! What are you doing here?" Serena began.

"Daddy? Oh, boy!" Darien mumbled

"Is this the young man that Chuck caught you with, making out in the middle of the STREET!"

"MAKING OUT?" Darien, Molly and Serena screeched.